The Chewys’ Hong Kong Disneyland Photoshoot by WanderSnap

Posted on December 6, 2017 by missuschewy

During our recent trip to Hong Kong, I featured WanderSnap in one of my Instagram posts and subsequently received a handful of DMs asking me to share more about this revolutionary photography portal. In case you missed it, I had previously blogged about our very first experience with WanderSnap in Bali earlier this year. 🙂

WanderSnap affordably connects families and businesses with local photographers to create beautiful work and life images. What I like about WanderSnap is the flexibility it gives. You won’t find yourself groaning about fixed photography packages that are way out of your budget. Instead, there is a huge pool of snappers for you to choose from based on how much their works resonate with you, as well as the snappers’ hourly rates. Of course, that keeps everyone happy!

Why hire a snapper from WanderSnap when you can simply take selfies? Honestly, I’m so done with selfies. As we are a growing family (from two to four lol), it gets incredibly challenging having to make sure everyone is in the frame, and smiling at the count of three. On good days, we get a good shot out of 20 tries. On bad days, let’s not talk about it. LOL.

We visited Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea last March and one of my biggest regrets is not taking enough photos while we were there, having the time of our lives. For our Hong Kong trip, I made up my mind that selfies are not going to cut it. Naturally, the first thing that came to my mind was WanderSnap! We had such a great experience in Bali, so why not do it again? You can search for a local snapper based on destination and there is a large pool of Hong Kong snappers for you to choose from! Also, there are really good Singapore snappers if you are planning a casual shoot of some sort 🙂

Creating beautiful memories in Disneyland is a dream come true for me. Scott Abraham was our snapper and you can view his WanderSnap profile here. He is from Scotland and is currently living in Hong Kong while furthering his studies. Even though Scott is only 21, he has many years of photography experience and his works speak for themselves. Scott’s travel and landscape photography is just so amazing and impressive! Also, I found it hard to believe that he is only charging US$50 per hour. We engaged Scott for 1.5 hours and purchased his admission ticket to Disneyland. Best decision ever!

We communicated via whatsapp the day before the shoot and agreed to meet at 10.45am outside Market House Bakery along Main Street, U.S.A. Scott arrived early and was already waiting for us to commence the shoot.

Thankful for great weather on the day of our photoshoot, albeit a little too bright and sunny! Haha. Mini misschewy was having her morning nap but not to worry, you will get to see her very shortly 😛

Having a snapper with you means you get tons of pretty photos! Prior the shoot, I told Scott that my wish was to cover at least Main Street, Fantasyland, and Toy Story Land. It always helps to do some homework beforehand!

Cracks me up to see Little misschewy acting all dainty.

Look who’s awake! 😀

I love Fantasyland because it’s very fairytalish (duh lol).

It was Little misschewy’s second time on Dumbo the flying elephant! First time was at Tokyo Disneyland!

It wasn’t part of the plan but stepping into the Fairy Tale Forest (presented by Pandora) gave us plenty of photo opportunities!

Scenes from princess fairy tales come to life in a magical garden setting beautifully crafted in miniature scale.

We paid Tinker Bell a visit! She’s really cute and funny!

This is one of my favorite candid shots.

Loving the oh so colorful Toy Story Land!

Hello Sheriff Woody!

The cast member working in Andy’s Toy Box created these bubbles for us! Major love!

The Chewys are reporting for duty and looking out for Little misschewy! Haha.

This photo gets me all teary-eyed. Some day my prince will come..

Time for some ice cream to reward the girls for being quite cooperative during the shoot! Hehehe.

I don’t think I will ever get tired looking at these photos! If you are planning to engage a snapper for your next holiday, get $50 credit when you create an account with WanderSnap via this link https://wandersnap.co/friend/travelwithcharlene during signup! Thanks WanderSnap and Scott for these priceless photos of our family! Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about WanderSnap. Also, stay connected with us on Facebook www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy 🙂

The Chewys’ Hong Kong Disneyland 2017 Trip

Posted on November 30, 2017 by missuschewy

Hola chewy friends! This is gonna be a photo heavy post on our two days (8th & 9th November 2017) in Hong Kong Disneyland! I had previously reviewed the newest hotel in Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, Disney Explorers Lodge, and you can read about it here.

Many of our friends thought that we were crazy beyond words to book a 7.30am flight to HK, especially since we were taking Little misschewy and Mini misschewy with us. It was actually my idea and when I sounded misterchewy out prior to purchasing our air tickets, he was totally up for the challenge. LOL. Yup, we left our house at 4.30am to head to the airport. I wanted Disneyland to be the first stop of our HK trip and planned to reach there as early as possible so that we could make the most out of our admission tickets!

We spent a considerable amount of time in our hotel room when we checked in at Disney Explorers Lodge but luckily, I still remembered to perform my timekeeping duties. Hehe. When we reached the park, it was around 2pm which wasn’t too bad considering we reached HK airport at 11.30am!

Plenty of “distractions” once you enter the park. Gotta focus! Haha.

We first passed by Mickey and Minnie at Town Square, Main Street, U.S.A and was appalled to see the long, snaking queue of fans, which actually shouldn’t really come as a surprise since they are Disney’s most popular couple! Just a few metres away, we spotted Donald and Daisy! There was a queue too but it looked manageable so we joined in without hesitation.

It’s really sweet that the mascots interact with the fans. Little misschewy was shy but after we had our photographs taken, she kept saying “Daisy Duck hugged me!”

We were really lucky because the queue for Duffy and Stella Lou was quite short too!

It is easy to miss Market House Bakery, so be sure to keep a look out because there are plenty of goodies to fill your hungry tummies!

Just look at those Donald Duck and Winnie the Pooh donuts! Cuteness overload! We bought one and I wanted to take a nice photo under natural light but Little misschewy just wouldn’t allow me. LOL.

It was time for the Flights of Fantasy parade but we gave it a miss because our plan was to watch it the next day. Since most people were watching the parade along Main Street, U.S.A., it was a splendid time for us to go for as many popular attraction rides as possible!

Our first ride was Orbitron at Tomorrowland. We queued for about 5 minutes only!

Have you seen anyone eating while on a flying saucer ride?

Try your hand at one of the game stalls if you visit HK Disneyland!

I have always enjoyed It’s a Small World since my first ride at Tokyo Disneyland many years ago!

Sing along to the classic anthem of world peace during a musical boat tour hosted by the children of the world. Climb aboard a cozy boat and set sail along the Seven Seaways canal for an approximate 9-minute journey.

It was hard to take photos because of the dim lighting and there was plenty of movement from the singing and dancing dolls, and also the boat ride. Taking videos would be a better idea!

Due to routine maintenance and inspection, It’s a Small World will be temporarily suspended from January 3 to 16, 2018.

When we were in Fantasyland, we grabbed FastPass tickets for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh!

Another highly recommended ride for young children! The four of us shared a Hunny Pot and were taken through a colorful, song-filled storybook wonderland!

As it was quite some distance to walk to the Baby Care Centre at Main Street, Mini misschewy and I managed to find an empty bench near Mad Hatter Tea Cups which was temporarily suspended during the time of our visit. A baby’s gotta drink when a baby’s gotta drink!

In the meantime, misterchewy and Little misschewy went for the Cinderella Carousel which looks even more stunning at night.

Boy, were we famished after a long day! Early dinner beckoned at the Royal Banquet Hall.

This medieval dining hall serves American, Japanese and Chinese specialties. Be spoiled for choice as you choose from four food stations — Grill, Japan, Guang Dong and International.

I had the Japanese Curry Pork Chop Bento (HK$139). The portion was quite huge! Food tasted mediocre but still acceptable.

The hubs chose the Baked Pork Chop with Rice Combo (HK$129) so that Little misschewy could share some of his food which was non-spicy.

We bought the 3-in-1 meal coupon which includes an ice cream or popcorn.

Just look at these! How cute!

Decided it was a good time to squeeze in a bit of shopping before the night time parade! So in love with the new Disney character, Stella Lou!

Continued shopping before fireworks began!

Called it a day after watching “Disney In The Stars” Fireworks!

We were ready to conquer Disneyland again on our second day! Dedicated about 1.5 hours in the morning for a photoshoot which I will blog about in a separate post!

Time to reward ourselves with some food and it was lunch time anyway! Love the Explorer’s Club Restaurant at Mystic Point!

Both kids were asleep so we queued for Mickey and Minnie!

Grabbed a good spot for the Flights of Fantasy parade!

Sofia the First!

Little misschewy was so excited to meet Snow White in person!

Isn’t this such a sweet photo?

We skipped the night time parade and fireworks on the second day since we had already experienced both the day before. Did some last minute shopping along Main Street!

Do you know that there are two Disney stores at Hong Kong Airport? If you regret not getting something you like at Disneyland, you can always try your luck at the airport!

If not, there is always Airfrov that you can count on! Get travellers to shop for you! New users can get $10 credit just by signing up on Airfrov’s website or app! Go to the Credits page and redeem “CHEWY” code BEFORE you post a request. The credits can be used for $5 off $35 spend, or $10 off $70 spend (before service & delivery fee). Some of the items you see in this photo aren’t mine! 😉

Hope you enjoyed reading about our two-day trip to Hong Kong Disneyland! Stay tuned to our next post!
Stay connected with us on Facebook www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy 🙂

Disney Explorers Lodge in Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel Review

Posted on November 23, 2017 by missuschewy

Hello everyone! I will be starting a series of blog posts on our recent family trip to Hong Kong (8th to 13th November 2017) and this first installment is a review of Disney Explorers Lodge, the newest hotel in Hong Kong Disneyland which opened on 30 April this year.

In the past, staying at a hotel in Disneyland had never once crossed our minds. Since we were travelling with Little misschewy and Mini misschewy this time, we decided that staying in Disneyland would be a nice experience for all of us! Plus it would be well worth the money since there are four of us! LOL.

Spending a night in a hotel in Disneyland isn’t cheap but there are special hotel offers listed on the Hong Kong Disneyland website where you can save up to 40% off when you book 21 days in advance. One day in HK Disneyland is definitely not enough especially when you have young kids in tow, so we selected the Room and 2-Day Ticket Package which starts at around HK$3624 (S$626). The standard rate (room only) for a one-night stay in Disney Explorers Lodge averages about HK$2600 (S$449) to HK$3350 (S$578), depending on season, so the package is really enticing and value for money!

DISNEY PRO TIP: This is not mentioned anywhere in the HK Disneyland website if you search under Travel Information but there IS an airport shuttle service which you can request, by emailing Disney Resort Centre at online.reservations@hongkongdisneyland.com
This is only for hotel guests. Per trip, it costs HK$40 per adult and HK$20 per child (3 to 11 years old). We took the Combo (1 Adult & 1 Child) at HK$50 + 1 Adult at HK$40, which is HK$90 (S$15.50) in total. Do take note that the operating hours of this airport shuttle service is only from 10am to 8pm.

Upon confirmation, we received this Airport Shuttle Counter Map which was really useful in helping us locate the counter service staff upon our arrival at the airport and we were led the way to the shuttle bus at the carpark. This airport shuttle service is very convenient and highly recommended if you are planning to head straight to Disneyland from the airport. The journey from the airport took about 15 minutes.

We chose to stay at Disney Explorers Lodge because it is the newest hotel of the three and also because I was attracted to its exploration theme. I absolutely love the lodge motto “ad explorare et somniare” (“to explore and dream”). Interestingly, the rooms are facing and furnished according to the four unique tropical climates of Asia, Oceania, South America and Africa.

Since we arrived on a Wednesday, there wasn’t any queue for check-in, much to our relief. However, the check-in process took a little longer than expected and Little misschewy started to grow impatient, so we went exploring the huge lobby together!

There is also a hotel map framed on the wall at the lobby.

Yay finally! The hubs received a smaller version of the hotel map (as compared to the one on the wall), park admission tickets, attraction priority pass, field guide, guide map, times guide and a handful of stickers!

Time to freshen up in our hotel room before visiting the park!

Even the hotel lift is so cool! Wish I had taken photos of the lift buttons and all!

How cute is this room key card!

All of us were so excited upon entering our room and boy, was it huge! Little misschewy was the most exhilarated of all and couldn’t stop gushing over all the little Disney-related details she discovered while prancing around in our room.

I had earlier requested in my email to be provided with a baby cot but a bed guard was attached to one of the beds instead.

We stayed in the Oceania wing, overlooking the beautiful Rain Drop pool.

Breathtaking, isn’t it? I wanna wake up to this everyday!

Gotta love the bathroom amenities! We brought home the tin box as a souvenir.

There are toothbrushes for kids too!

Plastic cup for children to prevent breakages!

I was quite amused to find hotel room slippers in different sizes!

Ready to conquer HK Disneyland with our guide map and times guide!

There are resort shuttle buses to ferry hotel guests to and from the park. You may also choose to walk, although I would advise against it since the shuttle bus comes very frequently.

I have confirmed with Disney cast members that this is a loop service, starting from and ending at the Disneyland Resort Public Transportation Interchange.

Will be blogging separately about our two days in HK Disneyland!

Apart from in-room dining, there are other dining options available in Disney Explorers Lodge, namely Dragon Wind, World of Colour Restaurant and Chart Room Cafe. In the interest of time, we only had breakfast at Chart Room Cafe.

Really adorable Mickey pancakes but mediocre in taste. If you have the time and budget, you might wanna go for the character dining buffet experience at Dragon Wind, where the Disney characters mingle with guests and go to every table for photo taking! We skipped that because we are not a fan of buffets.

Disney merchandise collectors will be happy to know that there is a shop at Disney Explorers Lodge, called The Trading Post. You can find some items that are exclusively sold at this shop.

DISNEY PRO TIP: What do you get when you place two of your room card keys side by side? Hehe. You need not return these cards upon checking out! They are meant as souvenirs for Disney Explorers Lodge guests 🙂

When we returned to Singapore, I received an email to participate in a survey for being a hotel guest of Disney Explorers Lodge. The reward is a couple of wallpapers which you can use for your PC and mobile phones.

Hope this review on Disney Explorers Lodge is useful to you! Feel free to comment or email me at missuschewy@gmail.com if you have any questions. You may also drop me a text at my Instagram @missuschewy 🙂

missuschewy

Singapore Lifestyle and Travel Blog

Tag Archives: The Chewys Hong Kong Disneyland 2017 Trip

The Chewys’ Hong Kong Disneyland Photoshoot by WanderSnap

The Chewys’ Hong Kong Disneyland 2017 Trip

Disney Explorers Lodge in Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel Review

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