Hong Kong Travelogue - Experiences and itinerary along with Tips and deals

Having visited Disney resorts in US, we always wanted to take our kids at the right age to experience Disney and Hong Kong was the closest destination from Pune.

Travel dates: 26th April to 1st May

Weather : 22C and luckily gloomy but extremely hot on some days. Best time to go since it gets hotter after Mid May

Planning and Prep:

1. Bought Air tickets well in advance from Mumbai and opted for Cathay Pacific (CP) direct flight considering the flight time of 6 hrs only and also 30kgs per passenger. Don't go for cheaper budget flights, you will have to pay for extra luggage and long stop overs.
2. Had booked hotel using Agoda, since I found it to have the best deals amongst the other sites like booking.com. Agoda also has an option of including kids on the reservation with no extra cost. It only lists hotels where kids are allowed for free. Most hotels in Hong Kong have free stay policy for 2 kids under age 12, but Agoda was the only site which explicitly pointed it out. We finally landed up in Best Western in Tsim Sha Shui at Austin road.
3. Applied for e-visa for Indians on the HK which is called Pre-arrival registration. It is easy to apply and you get immediate approval after filling in a few details. Once approved, immediately save that as a pdf file and get a print out and keep it with you.
4. Bought iVenture card package for attraction tickets in Hong Kong, you will save more than 40% and it will also help you skip ticket lines at these attractions. We bought a 3 day combo pass without Disney package.
5. Keep checking the Disney site for offers on tickets. Sign up for MyDisney account to get some offers. I got a great offer where I bought a 2 days ticket for $689 HKD and as a tourist got $30 HKD gift vouchers and being a My Disney account got extra $50 voucher for each adult ticket. Since we were 2 families (4 ad + 4 ch), I created 4 different MyDisney accounts and made 4 seperate purchases, with 1 adult + 1 child ticket on each purchase. Hence, I got $200 ( $50 X4) extra in my disney vouchers. Keep in mind, these 4 $50 vouchers need to be used on the first day visit at Disney, else these expire.
6. Bought Hong Kong dollars (HKD or $) If you are planning to do a lot of street shopping please take lot of HKD cash. Also for Octopus card, the card used for local transport in HK, cash is the only mode of payment. So ensure you take enough to fit your needs. For a 6 day trip, approx travel expense using train and bus is $200 / adult and $100/child. Most taxis dont take credit cards either, so you'll need more cash. Minimum taxi fare is $24. I would probably plan $750 cash/ adult considering some shopping and water, ice cream, etc.
7. Being an Indian family with vegetarians amongst us, we made sure we took a lot of food with us which can last for 5-6 days. Lot of Parathas, Khakras, Theplas, Bakarwadis and other snacks for kids. 
8. Download the apps for Disneyland and Ocean Park to get real time updates while you are in the park
9. Carry umbrellas to beat the sun and the occasional rainfall

Enroute to Hong Kong airport:

1. Since we were 2 families , we needed 2 separate SUVs to go to Mumbai airport from Pune. Don't go for Ola or Uber, they are cheap but if they dont turn up on time, you have no one to go to. Go with a known taxi provider.
2. 48 hours before the flight I got a notification from Cathay to check in and since we wanted Window seats for kids, I immediately checked in and blocked the seats online. Even though I checked we still had to stand in line to drop off the bags and also get a phyical boarding card. For those who have checked in there is a seperate line for CP counters. There I realized the only advantage of online check in was that your seats are blocked, which was good for a 8 member group to sit in line. It was a decent red eye flight with only one meal on the way to HK.
3. Once you reach HK airport you need to fill in the Immigration form and have your passports, boarding cards, hotel booking details and your e-visas ready to show that to the immigration officer.
4. After Immigration collected our bags and went to counter A13 at  HK airport which is to the extreme left once you collect your bags. Here is where you can pick up your iVenture card. We also got a Data Sim card which can be used for 5 days in HK, but realized it was still active even on the day we departed.
5. Went to the MTR (name for local transport in HK) counter to buy rechargeable Octopus card. We need to buy 1 card for each individual, there are Adult and Child cards seperately. You have to pay a $50 deposit for each card which is refundable when you leave HK.  Octopus card is a must have for any HK visitor since it is valid at some convenince stores and also at some McDonalds, KFC etc. The only catch is you need ONLY Cash to buy and reload Octopus cards. These cards can be recharged or reloaded with a min amount of $10 at any MTR counter at railway stations.
6. From there we went to the hotel using the Double decker bus from Airport to Jordan which cost $33/adult and $17.5/kid. There is also an option to take the train, (Airport Express). Taxi to Tsim Sha Shui or Mongkok area will cost in the range of $300-$400 and also there is an extra charge per bag, so be prepared if you are going for Taxi. 
7. Communication is a challenge once you leave the airport so do your home work on the bus nos. and or train routes. Study the Hong Kong map.

Day 1:Peak Tram

1. Checked into the hotel around 2pm and left for Peak Tram. This wasnt part of our iVenture card, so bought seperate combo tickets for $99/adult
2. Get down at Central Station and walk to the peak tram station about 800mts.
3. We went at night, so got a night view of the amazing HK skyline.

View from the Peak

Day 2: 3 day iVenture card experience begins

1. Took the Rickshaw sight seeing bus from Pier 6. Got down at central station and walked down to Pier 6. There are 2 rickshaw bus cos. that operate here, one supports iVenture the other doesnt. Look for the purple or violet colored bus, NOT the red and yellow colored bus.
2. Show the iVenture card and hop on and hop off anywhere you like. There is also a link which you can use to track the next bus. typically a bus passes every stop every 30mins.
3. It's a great experience just to ride the double decker bus with an open top, it is also air conditioned below if it gets too hot in the afternoon
4. After riding the bus till 4pm or so we went to take the Sunset Cruise (Watertours Victoria Harbour Cruise) . The Sunset cruise is on the Kowloon side, dont get confused that it's in the same pier where you boarded the bus.
5. Once we got to the pier, we met the iVenture card agent at Terminal 3 and she gave us a sticker to get on to the cruise.
6. The best part of the cruise was FREE DRINKS (Beer, whisky,etc) but no snacks. It's a really good experience to see the HK skyline at dusk.
7. After the cruise we went Shopping to the Temple Street Night Market. It is a road side market with lot of stalls selling all kind of stuff. It is open from 5pm to 1130pm. The vendors know the tourists and they will quote prices 3X times. So be ready to haggle. Generally anything you ask is around $180 to $200. I always started with $40 and ended up somewhere around $60-$70. I bought a couple of handbags which were quotes for $150 each but ended up buying 2 for $80 :) Keep lot of Cash on you when you visit here.

Day 3: Day of the Ocean Park (OP)

1. Since this was part of the iVenture package, we realized that we had to book this 24hrs in advance. we realized that when we picked up the cards at the airport.
2. We decided to go today, so had emailed to this id ( reservation@holidayworld.com.hk ) and got confirmation the same day.
3. Since it is through iventure, you dont get physical tickets to the OP, but you are part of the group tickets tour, so we had to go with the travel agents. We went to K11 Art Mall near Holiday Inn Golden Mile Hotel in Jordan. We got all directions in the email we received.
4. From K11, they took us in a bus to OP and let us in.
5. Once we entered the pass we took the cable car to Marine World. The famous Dolphin show is here at the Ocean Park Theatre, check the timings in the app and be there 20mins before to get a good seat. Sit in the front middle seat to get a good view and a chance to be a volunteer to interact with the seals.
6. There are some rides where where you might get wet, so take an extra pair of clothes and a poncho. You can also buy an OP poncho for $40.
7. Water to drink is very expensive in parks, so do keep some empty water bottles with you so that you can fill it up using water fountains, found outside some of the rest rooms.
8. Most rides in OP have a height limitation for kids to get on, if your kid is less than 120 cms, dont expect too many rides for the kid and they are very strict about it. Even 1cm less and you wont be let in
9. Explore rides in the Marine world till about 3pm and then come down and head to the Panda experience. Pandas sleep at 5pm so try to be there around 3 or so to get to see them.
10. Then we saw the bird show in the Bird Theatre at 5pm. Check the show timings when you visit in the app and plan accordingly. be there 20mins before to get a good seat
11. Then we went to the Aquarium, a Must Visit.

Aquarium

Bird Theatre in Ocean Park

Penguins in Ocean Park

Day 4: Big Buddha (iVenture card) and Disneyland

1. We chose to do Big Buddha and Disney the same day to save money on the commute :) since they both are in the same direction.
2. Took the MTR to Tung Chung and opposite Tung Chung is the cable car to Ngong Ping.
3. Our iventure package had a standard cable car but we upgraded to a Crystal Car by paying $80/adult extra. It is an amazing experience in the crystal car where the floor is glass. Each cable car accommodates upto 10 people. 
4. Get there early in the morning around 8am, even skip breakfast if possible, because other wise wait times are like 2hrs.
5. One of the best rides I have ever got on with stunning views on this 25min ride
6. We got down to the amazing views of Big Buddha (BB) and walked about 200 steps to get to the  statue. 
7. The walk to the BB is through this amazing Ngong Ping village. There are eateries like Subway and an Indian restaurant if you are hungry
8. Headed back to the Tung Chung station via cable card and took the train to Disneyland
9. The kids were extremely excited about Disney and the whole experience begins when you sit in a Mickey themed train from Sunny Bay station to Disneyland

DisneyLand:

1. Extremely important here is to study the map and have the app downloaded
2. The app gives you the wait times for each ride and any upcoming shows in Disney
3. There are 3 rides in Disney which offer you FAST PASS (FP) for free. FP is nothing but something like an advance booking to that ride at a particular time. It is advisable to take a FP instead of standing in line for these 3 rides which are the most popular ones and have long wait times (45-60mins). the 3 rides are:
1. Iron Man experience
2. Disney Space Mountain
3. Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
4. You can get only one FP at a time. To get a FP, go to that ride and there is a FP self service counter, scan your disney tickets to get a FP. the tickets has the time range when you can come back to experience the ride.
5. Once we got in we went to the Iron Man experience and got a FP for space mountain. The wait times were very less since we went late. Based on our experience it is good to get all the rides done on the first day evening so that the next day you can focus on some of the remaining rides and also meet all the characters
6. Then we watched the night parade, an unbelievable experience for all of us
7. After that we went Shopping, didnt forget that we had the $50 vouchers :) which were only valid on the first day of the visit. Finished all the shopping the same day so that the next day focus is all about meeting the princesses and the Disney characters :)

Day 5: Disneyland

1. Second day to Disney was full of excitement and everyone was eager to meet Mickey Minnie and friends and ofcourse the girls were excited to meet the princesses
2. Meeting Mickey Minnie is the biggest attraction in Disney, be prepared for long wait time. the other way to tackle it is for one person to stand in a line while the other roam around Disney looking for other characters. We did the same, I stood in line while my kids and wife went and met Goofy, Pluto, Chip n Dale where there is comparitively less wait times. By the time the kids were done with others, it was our turn to meet Mickey
3. The other place we went was the Princess Castle, since our daughter was crazy about them. We met Sofia, Cindrella and Aurora. There is a long wait there too, so try a strategy by splitting and making sure someone stands in lines while others roam around.
4. We also met Moana, who was new to HK disney and my daughter was extremely thrilled to meet her
5. Then we focussed on the rides, since we had already seen the night parade, we just went to all the rides and also got FPs so we could get in and out quickly
6. For some it was the rides, but for us it was more about meeting Characters, so prioritize accordingly and enjoy the experience
7. If you have visited other Disney parks, this one is comparatively smaller and if you have kids in teens then it is possibe to do it in a day too

Hong Kong Disneyland

Main Street Disneyland

Night Parade at Disney

Day 6: Ladies Market and back to Mumbai

1. It was time to checkout of the Hotel and wanted to get some last minute shopping done
2. We went to the Ladies Market in Mongkok and it's pretty similar to the Temple street market, except it opens during the day, from 11am to 6pm
3. Then we were on the way to the Airport, again took the Bus (route A21 from Jordan) with our luggage. We didnt want to take the train since we would have to change it 2 times  to get to the airport from where our hotel was.
4. Bus has place to store the luggage, even as big as 30kg bags, so no worries taking the bus and is extremely comfortable with free wifi in the bus
5. Since we were running against time, we didn't have time to redeem the balance on the Octopus card. The balance on Octopus card can be redeemed at the airport where you check in your bags near airline ticket counters.
6. Again, we had checked in and selected our seats 48hrs before departure so it was easy for check in and dropping off the bags
7. Hong Kong airport is extremely busy and terminals are very far way from the ticketing counters so plan to be at the airport atleast 3hrs before your flight
8. We had to again get into the Immigration and other  formalities and boarded the flight back to Mumbai

Hope this helps you out, if you have any other questions feel free to comment. Thank you!