Disney Explorers Lodge — Hotel in Hong Kong

(Part 1) The cheaper 4 star alternative as compared to the 5 star Disneyland hotel. Our package was about $1700, booked a few months in advance. We brought our two small kids aged 2 and 3.5 and stayed for one night.

We drove, it was easy and car park was $190 for the entire stay until 2359 of the day of check out. It also includes parking in any of the other car parks, including disneyland hotel and disneyland itself. This by itself is probably one of the best things, because even on the day of check out you can e.g. spend the day in disneyland till evening and drive back afterwards without surcharge. However, the car park is without shade.

Check in time is 3pm. We arrived at 1pm and checked in, but the room would not be ready until about 320pm (we were informed when room would be ready by text). There were no activities available between 1-3pm.

We killed some time by wandering around the Explorer Lodge hotel and the ‘parks’ outside. They are all out in the open and there is no shade. We took the shuttle bus to Disneyland hotel. Somehow the shuttle bus sits about 50 meters away in plain sight with the air con on whilst people waiting at the stop sweat it out. Not sure why the shuttle bus cannot just wait at the stop and share the air con.

If you drove, I recommend driving rather than taking shuttle. There is nothing wrong with shuttle bus but you need to wait between 10-20 minutes between each one (they do not follow a strict time schedule, you just get to the stop and hope for the best), but the driving time in between the stops is less than a minute. We tried to go to the kids playroom in the Disneyland hotel but found they were fully occupied.

We checked in and decided to beat the heat by going for a swim. Unfortunately we could only reserve one swim session. If we wanted to swim another time then we would have to ‘walk in’. It means waiting 15 minutes after the session has started to see if pool is at capacity. The pool was packed with people, even at night. There were too many people to enjoy anything. They clear everyone out of the pool after each session. Probably not just for clearing things up but also to allow more people to utilise the pool.

We had a super early dinner (5pm) at Chart Room cafe. The food is decent and kid friendly. We had the baked pork chop rice, kids omurice set and a flatbread pizza. Of course it is a bit pricey ($500 for 3 meals and a beer) but probably still the cheaper option out of the three restaurants (dragon wind and color restaurant).

The room is standard with two large single beds (or two small double beds, depending on how you look at it). There is a shower but no bathtub. Baby crib or detachable bed rails (to stop kids rolling off the bed at night), or a baby bathtub can be requested. The kids had an early night and adults went for a midnight snack. The Chart room cafe has some takeaway snacks, including mickey waffles, baked potato with sour cream (not recommended), and popcorn. There is also a limited selection of alcohol (white/red wine by the bottle, beer, miniature whiskey/rum/vodka with miniature cans of ginger beer/soda). There is no bar but the color restaurant does serve a larger variety of drinks including cocktails.

By the night, we were beginning to regret our stay. We had not yet managed to enjoy the scheduled activities. It was just too hot for anything outdoor.

We had breakfast in the Dragon Wind restaurant. It was a standard hotel buffet breakfast with a variety of western and chinese food. There was also roast beef and gammon ham. Kids under 3 eat for free. If you have a disney pass/magic access then you can get 10% discount if the breakfast is not included.

Check out time is 11am. We went to visit our friend staying in the Frozen Suite of the Disneyland hotel, which set them back $6k. Overall, the disneyland hotel does everything just a bit nicer compared to the Explorer’s Lodge. There is live piano music heard...

Once upon a time, 37 years ago in 1986, there was much to celebrate... Walt Disney World Resort celebrated its 15th anniversary, ''The Disney Sunday Movie Night'' weekly anthology series first aired, Pixar Animation Studios was founded and many, many more. However, for me, none of those will ever compare to the celebration of the love between two people who have found one another and made the decision to spend their lives together...||Those people I'm talking about are none other than my parents. Their 37th wedding anniversary was coming up and I wanted them to enjoy a staycation at one of their favourite hotel resort hotels, Disney Explorers' Lodge (DEL). The entire experience felt like a dream come true! From the quick, efficient and smooth check-in experience thanks to Mr. Kin, Ms. Sandy, Mr. Henry and Mr. Thomas to our check-out date. We stayed for 2 days, 1 night which, believe me, is never enough for such a wonderful resort hotel, a.k.a. home away from home!||Our room was beautiful, spacious, clean and thoughtfully decorated to fit the occasion! If you happen to be staying long term, it is important to note that provision of toiletries and other vanity kit tools is limited. You may reach out to the reception/front desk for the items which are lacking in your room. Other than that, we felt very fortunate to stay in a room with a wonderful view of the pool, garden and ocean! ||During our stay, we enjoyed delicacies at Dragon Wind! Dragon Wind is 1 of 4 dining establishments at DEL. As we arrived on a weekend, we tried the ''Leisurely Lunch Set'', which offers a six-course meal including dessert, tea and Artisan Dim Sum. Everything tasted amazing but if we had to choose one thing to try again, it would be the Dragon Wind Appetizers which included a 'Honey-Glazed Barbecue Pork' and 'Chilled Shredded Chicken with Mung Bean Noodle in Spicy Sauce'. If that isn't up your alley, not to worry, as they also have breakfast buffet. Their buffer offers a variety of food for adults and kids alike. You can eat to your heart's content but just make sure that it is within the time limit! It can be very busy because it is just that good! ||Special thanks to Cyrus, Moon, Tiffany, Suyi, Keith, Eden, Pan, Bill and the entire Cast at DEL who took the time to greet my parents and take care of us along the way. I/We see you! ||It would not be complete without DEL's MVPs: Joe F., KC and Leo for taking the time to arrange, greet, mingle and/or pull out all the stops to make my parents' wedding anniversary magical! ||Speaking of anniversaries, in June 2025, Hong Kong Disneyland will celebrate its 20th anniversary as well with the most magical party of all! Now is as good a time as any to come to DEL/Hong Kong!||So, whether it is an anniversary, a birthday or a day off, there is always a reason to celebrate YOU at DEL! As the song goes "You're part of the story. Feel your heartbeat faster when you find your happily...

This is the first time we stayed in a Disney hotel, and we were pleasantly surprised. We know Hong Kong well, and we didn't expect the Explorers Lodge to be such a beautiful and spacious, PROPER resort. The tropical landscaping, enormous heated pool and high-ceilinged lobby made us feel like we were in Indonesia rather than in Hong Kong. Well done to the interior designers! The rooms themselves were beautifully furnished too, with high-quality wooden furniture that you don't find in many hotels these days. All the shower amenities were the large refillable kind from Rituals - very nice.||We booked through the official website, which I highly recommend. There was a special offer for the second night and also a helpful check list for whatever baby amenities you need - Tommy Tippee bottle steriliser, crib, bed guard, baby bathtub etc. These were all of very high quality and helped us feel reassured for our stay with baby. Our room came equipped with a water dispenser with different temperatures too, due to the recent ban on plastic bottles in hotels. This was a super nice addition for making our baby bottles and food, as well as filling up our bottle before going to the Park.||Restauration|The Dragon Wind restaurant is awesome. The decor is gorgeous, and although prices are on the high side (on par with any hotel of this ranking in Hong Kong, actually), the food quality is top-notch. Not a lot of Disney-themed food to be honest, but it was great to have Hong Kong food so easily available at breakfast. Service was, although not very warm, very efficient. I would like to commend one particular staff member (older male) for giving us the guest discount even though we weren't aware of its existence.||We stayed two nights, checking in the first day in the late evening and enjoying the Park the second day. We wish we stayed longer to enjoy the Lodge itself. We didn't have time to enjoy the outdoor heated pool (so rare in Hong Kong!) and children's play area - that will be for next time.||The grounds are stunning. We enjoyed meandering around with the stroller in the evenings along the leafy paths next to the well-lit pool, and there was barely anybody about. Since this was in a rural part of Hong Kong, we heard many birds as well, which added to the whole tropical experience. Needless to say, this being Disney, there were ramps and lifts everywhere, so we had no trouble with the stroller. I would just say that during less busy hours, the shuttle to and from the Park is a small one and you can board directly with your child in his stroller. But most of the day, they provide large tour buses with several steps, so you have to fold the stroller and store it in the hold. Sometimes these large tour buses would only be carrying 6 hotel guests, which to me is kind of a waste of gas and also a shame that we have to wake up our sleeping baby in order to fold...