We spent spring break in Asia, which means it’s time for a trip report! Join us on part 2 of this adventure, when we head to Hong Kong on a very long flight and check-in to Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel!
About This Post
A version of post originally appeared in the newsletter. Subscribe to see the latest ASAP. This is part 2 in our report on this trip:
Spring Break in Hong Kong, Beijing, and China Part 1 - Planning and Booking
Spring Break in Hong Kong, Beijing, and China Part 2 - Heading to Hong Kong Disneyland (you are here)
Over the next…many weeks, I'll be sharing my trip report for our recent trip to Hong Kong (w/ Disneyland), Beijing, and Shanghai (w/ Disneyland). These won't be just two entries, one about each of the parks we visited. Rather, they'll be extensive and cover from booking the trip to getting home, including plenty of non-Disney content (for more recent non-Disney stuff, visit Emjoyable Explores). This post covers our flight to Hong Kong and checking in to Hong Kong Disneyland hotel.
Flying to Hong Kong and Checking Into Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel
On April 1, the big day arrived. I managed to squeeze in a run before we left for the airport a little after 6AM.
In theory, I like the idea that if you never miss a flight you’re spending too much time in the airport. But in practice, I’m a cliché dad who has to arrive at the airport early and confirm the gate exists well before boarding. Plus, we were flying out of JFK just as the TSA issues were being resolved.
We arrived at 7AM for our 10AM departure. We dropped off our bags and got through TSA Precheck, and to the food court by 7:25AM. Around 8:15AM, we’d finished breakfast and headed to the gate, which I’d remarkably gone over an hour without getting visual confirmation of.
On the way, we stopped to see cardboard cutout Guy Fieri, of Chicken Guy! (Disney Springs) fame.
Zoe and the Mayor of Flavortown
Once we confirmed the gate existed, Zoe and Emily visited some stores while I worked on the most remote patch of wall I could find, always eager to avoid anyone who even sniffles at the start of my trip.
Boarding without a carry-on is such a treat. Weight restrictions meant we had to check at least one bag, so we checked two plus the car seat. Here’s a look at our home for the next 15 hours.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Row
I’ve been told the best way to approach jet lag is to mentally switch to destination time as soon as you board the plane. From that perspective, we boarded just before 10 “PM”. That approach is just not feasible on a flight like this, because we’d woken up about four hours ago.
The in-flight service schedule was broken up into halves. We boarded and got our first meal shortly after boarding. Then the lights went out for 5-6 hours. Then second meal, followed by another 5-6 hours of lights out. We opted to stay awake for the first portion and try to sleep the second. (Note: Emily reviewed this flight more completely over on Emjoyable Explores.)
One nice thing about this flight was that it was set to arrive at 2PM. This meant that we’d have the option to be in bed relatively quickly after landing in any case. This differs from an overnight flight to western Europe where you’re typically landing in the morning (for western Europe, you can remember you fly on a 777: a 7-hour flight on from JFK departing at 7PM lands in London at 7AM).
I have plenty of nostalgic attachment to movies on planes (I can remember when they had the drop-down screens, or the one projector screen at the front of the cabin!), so I generally let Zoe watch movies throughout the flight. But I have a "no screens until 10,000 feet" policy just to give us some time to physically and mentally settle in.
This serves at least one practical purpose—if you're using the seat-back screens, they'll get interrupted every time the crew makes an announcement. On international flights, this often takes even longer because announcements are made in multiple languages. These interruptions can frustrate little ones trying to watch their favorite show, so we're happy to just wait them out.
There were no major delays and the flight proceeded normally. I always pre-order Indian Vegetarian meals. Standard menus typically have some vegetarian option, but even this flight only had a vegetarian option for one of the two meals. Also, I just love Indian food. Emily goes Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian.
Zoe's Fruit Plate
It’s tough for Zoe. The kids’ meals on flights are often a little fun, but rarely vegetarian. We went the pragmatic route and got Zoe a fruit plate, figuring the three of us would ultimately share all three meals. This worked out fine. (Also, FWIW, except for hotel breakfasts, I find it very hard to get enough fruit when traveling. We go through a lot of fruit at home, but when traveling you have to make an effort since you can't always just add it to the side of every meal.)
I paid $25 for internet. I worked a bit, but had some issues with the wifi / splash page / my network settings / connectivity. I read a bit (Ready Player One) and watched my favorite plane movies—The Prestige and Interstellar. I’ll watch anything Christopher Nolan makes on a 10-inch airplane screen, and I wonder how it makes him feel to see his art presented thusly.
We tried to sleep most of the second half of the flight. Zoe had little issue and got a solid 4 hours. Emily and I both had the classic “I don’t think I just sat there awake for 5 hours, but it’s possible” experience.
We landed at 1:16PM after 14 hours and 53 minutes of flight time. By the time the plane had taxied, we’d gotten through immigration control (very efficient), and we’d gotten our bags, it was 2:23PM. We opted to Uber to Hong Kong Disneyland hotel, mostly hoping the driver wouldn’t spoil the surprise for Zoe (he came close, but Zoe was too tired to notice). The first order of business was to check into the hotel.
Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel Room
I’d chosen Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel simply because Emily and I had previously stayed at Explorers Lodge and Hollywood Hotel is undergoing (exterior) refurbishment. I’ll review the hotel in a full post separately (hotel reviews are much quicker to write than that still-forthcoming Disney Treasure review, in my experience).
For right now, suffice to say it was a good hotel, but you can tell that being one of only three hotels in the area (all Disney hotels) relieves it from the pressure of keeping up with the most modern design trends.
Mickey happened to be in the lobby when we arrived, so Zoe got a magical welcome. We dropped off most of our bags with bell services while I went to the check-in desk. Check-in took a bit of time because the Cast Member was earning his ears, but everyone was attentive and actively working through the steps.
✓ Meet Mickey
Our bags arrived a few minutes after we got to the room. As mentioned last week, when we arrive at a destination we’re pretty much immediately on our feet exploring, and a Disney destination certainly isn't going to be the place we change that. It was finally time to head to the park!