Family Travel Archives - Page 6 of 12

May 16 2017

Cheapest lap infant award tickets for international travel

In general parlance, you usually hear that lap infants are “free” until they turn two. That’s generally true – if flying domestically you can bring your under 2 year old on a plane and they can sit on your lap free of charge. However, on international flights, you have to pay at least some money for a lap infant – not free. This extends to lap infant award tickets – even if you pay for your flight with miles, you’ll have to pay cash (or miles, for some airlines) for your lap infant.

Most airlines charge 10% of the adult cash fare for international lap infant award tickets. So regardless of how you pay for your ticket (cash or miles), the lap infant ticket costs 10% of the cash fare. So a lap infant on a $400 cash fare costs $40. For business and first class lap infant tickets, this can be very expensive! Our Cathay Pacific flight (paid with 140,000 AA miles) to Hong Kong cost $8000 if bought with cash. The lap infant should have cost us $800! (Not sure how AA screwed it up, but they only charged us 10% of the coach fare so oh well. I was ready to pay $800.)

For families, if you have the miles flying in business class or better often can help make the long hauls more bearable. You can lie flat with your child or get some rest while the other parent takes care of them. And it IS possible to avoid expensive cash outlays for the infant award tickets. I thought I’d share the airline award programs that offer the cheapest lap infant award tickets. Use these programs to save money or miles when booking your lap infant award.

Note, in almost all cases, you will book the lap infant ticket with the airline issuing your ticket, aka whoever you pay your miles to. This seems a little counterintuitive at times, but I’ve never had to pay the carrier I’m flying, always the carrier who I paid miles to for the ticket. As in all of life, there are exceptions, but they are few and far between.

I’ve listed what I’ve found to be the cheapest programs in alphabetical order but I’m sure I missed some so let me know your experiences below! If a program isn’t listed here, it’s likely to cost you 10% of the adult revenue fare (or more). I’ve also included a few notes of things to bear in mind for each program.

Air Canada (Aeroplan)

Infant award ticket cost: $50 or 5000 miles (economy), $75 or 7500 miles (prem. econ.), $100 or 10,000 miles (business), $125 or 12,500 miles (first)

Airline Partners: Star Alliance

Transfer Partners: Membership Rewards

News broke last week that Air Canada will move away from their Aeroplan program, well let’s hope that they don’t change their lap infant award ticket fares! You can use Air Canada’s Aeroplan miles to book flights on Star Alliance carriers. Star Alliance still remains the largest airline alliance and you can pretty much get where you want to go anywhere in the world.

Lap infant award tickets seem pricey, but not if you know the best airline award programs to use. These airlines have the cheapest lap infant award tickets!

Flat rates really help to save money, and the flat rate of $125 or 12,500 miles for first class is one of the best in the business. $100 or 10,000 miles for business class ain’t too shabby either. One thing to beware of for Aeroplan, they do levy fuel surcharges on a lot of routes so you need to factor that into your calculations. Still, a lot of times you come out ahead booking through Aeroplan. Check out their reward chart here.

Asiana

Infant award ticket cost: 10% of mileage cost plus taxes and fees

Airline Partners: Star Alliance

Transfer Partners: Starwood

While it’s tough to beat Aeroplan’s flat rate, a close second would be programs that offer lap infant award tickets at 10% of the mileage. For a 100,000 mile adult redemption a lap infant award ticket would cost 10,000 miles. Asiana’s program operates in this fashion which is great if you need to fly on Star Alliance.

Lap infant award tickets seem pricey, but not if you know the best airline award programs to use. These airlines have the cheapest lap infant award tickets!

The Asiana program has a few things going for it. First, it allows family pooling, which makes a big difference when you are sitting on tiny balances for your kids (though less of a difference than you might think, considering you probably don’t credit to Asiana often). Asiana has some great sweet spots, like 50,000 one way in Lufthansa First Class (or any first class) to Europe but they hit you pretty hard with the fuel surcharges. Still, 5,000 miles for the lap infant for LH F is tough to beat, so it’s something to consider.

To me difficulty of getting miles presents the biggest difficulty with Asiana. Bank of America offers a credit card with a modest signup bonus but other than that you need to transfer from Starwood, which can be difficult to earn. Still, if you can get the miles, it’s a program worth taking a look at for your lap infant needs.

British Airways

Infant award ticket cost: 10% of mileage cost plus taxes and fees

Airline Partners: Oneworld

Transfer Partners: Membership Rewards, Ultimate Rewards

British Airways saved our family a ton of cash the first time we took our daughter back to Asia. British Airways Avios are easy to earn and can transfer from both Membership Rewards and Ultimate Rewards. The downside of Avios comes in the form of the distance based award chart, which gets pretty annoying. But when you consider booking a lap infant on your award, sometimes Avios can make sense. 10% of the mileage fare beats the $800-$1000 or so you’d pay when booking the same premium cabin with AA miles.

For example, now a one way direct first class flight on Cathay Pacific cost 140,000 Avios or 110,000 AA miles. But the lap infant cost would be 14,000 Avios or something like $1000. So in some cases using British Airways will save you overall. So even though people mainly use British Airways for short haul flight these days, don’t ignore them for long haul flights if you plan on bringing a lap infant in a premium cabin.

Korean Air

Infant award ticket cost: 10% of mileage cost plus taxes and fees

Airline Partners: Skyteam

Transfer Partners: ~~Ultimate Rewards~~ (RIP)

Korean Air is a bit of a hidden gem in my mind, especially since their fuel surcharges have gotten less expensive. They have great availability on their own flights, including in premium cabins, and infants only cost 10% of the mileage fare. If you’re flying to Europe from the East Coast they can be a great option for flying on Delta metal too (and saving on lap infant award ticket fees).

The biggest drawback with Korean Air is having to create a family plan with all your family members. It’s not super difficult (as in it no longer requires faxing) but it can be a bit cumbersome. Create the family plan earlier rather than later so you don’t need to deal with it if you need to buy last minute tickets. You can also hold awards for a ridiculously generous amount of time, two weeks (here’s how to create a family plan and an award hold). As a Chase Ultimate Rewards partner, earning Korean Air miles is pretty straightforward and you have a lot of options, making Korean Air a great option.

Lufthansa Miles and More

Infant award ticket cost: Just taxes and fees

Airline Partners: Star Alliance

Transfer Partners: Starwood

Lufthansa Miles and More only charges taxes and fees for lap infant awards which is great! But they charge high fuel surcharges, not great. The best way to use Miles and More is for flights with carriers like United who don’t charge fuel surcharges. If you can find flights on United to Europe you like, you can get to Europe and back for 105,000 miles round trip and not too many fuel surcharges while taking your lap infant for very little as well. I probably like the Miles and More program the least out of all the programs in this post, but if you have a lot of SPG points lying around, they can be a good option. Check and compare the Asiana and Lufthansa award charts before you make your decisions.

Final Thoughts

If you want to fly in a premium cabin, lap infant award tickets can be expensive, even if you pay for the flights with miles! When deciding what to book, there are a ton of factors – convenience, point balances, out of pocket cash costs, etc. etc. If you can, I recommend using one of these five programs to book at least one person in your party’s ticket. That way you can attach the lap infant to their ticket with the lowest cost possible. It takes some extra work but with the potential to save almost $1000, it’s worth it in my opinion.

Let me know if there are friendly lap infant programs I missed and any tips and tricks you might have in the comments!

May 11 2017

Hong Kong Revisited: Toddler jet lag, our experience, and some ideas for how to deal with it

Jet lag hits almost every human hard, but in my experience, toddler jet lag is the worst. 18 months – 3 year old kids possess the wonderful qualities of knowing what they want but not adequately expressing those needs. They also begin to assert their independence with little to no concept of what that actually entails. So toddler jet lag can be pretty brutal, especially when doing a 12 hour time change for 7 short days!

At this point in our family travel careers, we’ve handled toddler jet lag 5 or 6 times (2x to Asia, 4x to Europe or so, I lose track). I thought I’d share our latest experience in Hong Kong along with some thoughts on how to minimize jet lag’s deleterious effects on toddlers.

Both times we've taken our kid(s) to Asia, we've had to deal with some severe toddler jet lag. Here are some ideas for how to minimize the negative effects. — After London we prepared ourselves for some rough jet lag in Hong Kong

For the record, M (4 years old), absolutely killed it jet lag wise (unlike in London, above). She adjusted better than everyone in our family including her grandparents. I only have one personal datapoint, but from what I hear from my friends who take their kids back to Asia, post toddler stage they can handle it pretty well!

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Our experience in Hong Kong

Like I said at the top, Hong Kong and Boston have a time difference of 12 hours. That means 6:00 PM = 6:00 AM, up is down, down is up! We compounded our jet lag issues with a flight that left Boston at 1:45 AM, an adventure unto itself.

So H, our 20 month old, experienced some severe toddler jet lag issues. When we travel we generally co-sleep, for the most part I handled this duty in Hong Kong. Let’s take a look at the play by play of what happened. Note, we couldn’t let him cry it out at any point (which we happily would have done) because my parents and M both were sleeping in (separate) adjacent rooms).

Night 1

We arrived in Hong Kong at 5:00 AM and had a full day. H had only slept about 9-10 hours total between home in Boston and the flight. That night he woke up 3 times, 1-1.5 hours each time. In an incredibly foul mood every time, often full blown crying. Jess ended up having to stay up with him from 4:30-9:30 AM, then H slept for like 3 hours.

Night 2

After a decent day (outside of eating, jet lag sapped my son’s appetite), H went to bed at 8 PM. Promising! But then he woke up at 10 PM for about an hour. After sleeping from 11-1 AM, H woke up AGAIN and at this point I had tired of carrying him around or what not. So I made the decision to take him for a walk in Causeway Bay at around 2 AM.

He seemed to enjoy it, and it was nice walking around the quiet city, but I was pretty exhausted. He also didn’t even bother falling asleep. The two of us crawled back into bed around 4 and slept from 430-630 AM, and then we got up and made our way to Hong Kong Disneyland. I’d definitely say this night hurt the most.

Nights 3 & 4

At this point, H finally started truly adjusting and I also had come up with some more techniques. Night 3 he woke up every 2-3 hours, but instead of holding him I just switched to using our Beco carrier (affiliate link). That saved a lot of frustration because even when he kicked and screamed he had nowhere to go and I had no way to drop him. I also caved and gave him milk, which at that point just had to be done for sanity’s sake.

On night 4 he only woke up twice and only stayed up for an hour each time and I managed to cut out the milk. And with that, he finally beat jet lag! Night 5 he had a regular night of sleep, just in time to go home three days later. 🙂

Tips for beating toddler jet lag

As you can see, toddler jet lag can be pretty brutal. We experienced similar difficulties in London and on our first trip to Taiwan. Some might ask whether it’s worth it to travel with kids that young. Personally, I believe it is. You also sometimes do not have a choice, especially if you need to go overseas to visit family. So here are some ideas based on what I’ve learned about how to deal with toddler jet lag.

Try to create a regular sleep schedule as soon as possible

All kids, but especially toddlers, thrive on routine. Our son likes doing things at home in the same order and same way every day. This comes down even to silly things like he gets frustrated if mom is the one giving him a bath or if dad is the one changing him afterwards (it must be the other way around). Travel helps break kids out of their routines in a good way, but when dealing with toddler jet lag you really want to create your road routine as soon as possible.

Thus, we try to create a regular sleep schedule as soon as we can. That might mean putting the kids down at 8 PM and then taking a relaxing midnight stroll, but it’s the 8 PM part that matters. Dinner, bath, bed: we rinsed and repeated every night, shooting for 8 PM, and that really helped to speed up getting over jet lag.

Be flexible with naptime (or even bedtime) until the child adjusts

While we try to create a solid routine for bedtime and morning, we try to be flexible with naps. Think of it this way: your kid uses naps to catch up on whatever sleep he missed at night. So we made sure that we left plenty of space for naps. Sometimes that would be an extra nap in the morning, delaying our day activities. Other times that meant a long stroller nap while we explored Hong Kong.

But I think the key thing here is don’t sweat it too much if your child misses his “regular” nap time. Jet lag throws everyone for a loop, so just let them sleep when they need to sleep and be flexible until the issue has mostly subsided. Really, you have to be more flexible about naps when on the road in general so this is just an extension of that.

Keep mealtimes regular

Keeping mealtimes regular will help both adults and kids adjust to jet lag faster. In the 80s, someone came up with this crazy fast/feast/eat a big breakfast idea that supposedly helps you beat jet lag (the Argonne anti-jet-lag diet). That’s completely unrealistic for little kids but the fact that your biological clock ties in to your eating habits makes perfect sense.

So I recommend that you try to keep mealtimes as regular as possible once you reach your destination. Snack to supplement as necessary (the kids will be grumpy after all) but try to make a routine out of your meals. This should help your kids to adjust mentally, if not physically. Like I said, H had a horrible appetite those first few days of jet lag, so we went heavy on the milk for calories. Gotta do what you gotta do.

Fill your day with activities, but not too many

I’m often tempted to just spend the entire first day in a new environment hanging out and taking it easy at home. You’d think just getting rest would help with the jet lag but nothing could be further from the truth.

For starters, you and your kids will go insane staying in the hotel or apartment all day. You need to get outside just to change things up and get them into new environments. Secondly, getting exposed to sunlight helps your body to adjust biologically.

Most importantly, you went to another country for a reason – get out there and go see some of it! I think one or two activities, or even just some scheduled walks, on the first day can really help to kick that jet lag. No need to create an action packed day, but definitely don’t just stay inside “resting” all day either.

Bring equipment to help you out

You know what works best for your kids, so be sure to come prepared. I know a long plane ride seems stressful but you need to be equally prepared for the first day or two of jet lag. Bring favorite toys, favorite stroller, baby carrier like our aforementioned Beco (affiliate link), whatever you need to keep your kids occupied.

For our kids, it’s most important to make sure we have food and snacks. They get extra cranky when tired and hungry, so we made sure to always have milk and crackers on hand. We also brought our last two Go-go Squeez pouches that I got from DisneySMMC, for true emergencies! Easy and mess free is the most stress free.

Meet your children where they are

My last bit of advice relates not only to toddler jet lag but parenting in general. You gotta know when to hold em’, know when to fold em’, as Kenny Rogers says. You can make all the plans, contingency plans, and emergency plans you can think of – sometimes your kids just won’t cooperate.

So even if you have the best plan to help them beat toddler jet lag, you have to meet them where they are. And if that means you have to go home early, you go home early. If that means you wake up late, you wake up late. If that means taking a walk at 2 AM, take a walk at 2 AM.

Meet your children where they are, both physically and emotionally, and that will really help decrease your stress and theirs. In turn, they can better adjust to the mental and physical toll jet lag can take so you can get on with your vacation!

Final Thoughts

Toddler jet lag can be pretty rough, because toddlers are rough! Still, I have loved traveling with my kids even at that age. So I do what I can to minimize the toddler jet lag, and these tips have worked for me.

How do you deal with toddler jet lag or jet lag in general? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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May 08 2017

Hong Kong Revisited: Random things to know about Hong Kong

Hong Kong blends a few unique cultures into a city that feels very accessible for US tourists. A British colony until 1997, Hong Kong residents speak a lot of English and have a lot of Western customs. The confluence of multiple cultures also creates some fascinating situations. As a former resident and semi-regular visitor, I’ve noticed a lot of random quirky things about Hong Kong on my trips. Here are some random Hong Kong travel tips to prepare you for what you might encounter!

These tips of course are borne out of my personal observations. They’re also fairly random, some of them are just idiosyncrasies about Hong Kong that I love (or hate!). Every visitor and/or resident has their own experiences and I’d love to hear yours, so let me know in the comments!

Get an Octopus card

If you do nothing else, please consider this Hong Kong travel tip. If you enjoy convenience, get an Octopus card. Octopus is Hong Kong’s ubiquitous contactless electronic payment system. You can grab one at any MTR station (counter) for a $50 HKD deposit (about $6 USD). It will make your visit to Hong Kong so much easier.

Hong Kong is a wonderful place for visitors but does have its quirks. Here are some random Hong Kong travel tips to prepare you! — Get this.

Many locations don’t accept credit cards or have credit card minimums (even Hong Kong Disneyland). I still find Hong Kong cash ridiculously over complicated and you’re going to end up with a ton of loose change when using cash. Loose change you’ll probably forget to use before you leave!

Almost every single store in Hong Kong has an Octopus card reader and you use it for your public transportation. You can conceivably spend your entire day in Hong Kong without opening your wallet – the tech is good enough to read through your wallet/purse in many cases. Almost all the locals in Hong Kong use their Octopus for almost everything and I’d strongly encourage you to do the same!

Bring an umbrella and watch your head

One of my favorite Hong Kong travel tips? Always carry an umbrella. The main reason to bring an umbrella stems from the hot and humid climate. Thunderstorms pop up frequently in the afternoons and if you’re visiting around typhoon season you can almost set your clock to it. Like many in Asia, you can also use the umbrella to shield yourself from the intense sun.

However you might want to pop an umbrella while walking the streets. Due to space restrictions, many apartments in Hong Kong tend to have individual air conditioning units – often the window variety (but built into the wall). That means condensation on the A/C units drips on your head constantly. It’s something I’ve only experienced in Hong Kong (and Chinatown), though I’m sure it happens elsewhere. So when you’re walking along the street, look up and make sure you don’t get dripped on!

Budget out extra time for riding elevators

A lot of people call Hong Kong home. Hong Kong also hosts what feels like a billion tourists on a daily basis. That means a lot of Hong Kong builds upwards and you visit a number of high rises.

Combining these two facts, Hong Kong elevators work a bit differently than what I’m used to. Separate elevators serve different floors, which in and of itself isn’t unique. What I find unique is that these elevator banks are located all over the place, not in one centralized location.

Thus you often need to take elevator from G to 2F, walk, then find the elevators that go to the floor you want. Or, in some cases, find the elevators that go to the floor with the elevators you want. It’s like the warp pipes in super Mario brothers! The MTR stations also require a bunch of navigation, so be sure to budget in extra time and don’t get too frustrated.

You may think I’m being silly, but it can get stressful when traveling with kids. Your destination on the 10th floor might require two elevator rides and if your kids are whiny and you don’t know which ones to take it can get frustrating. Remember, a lot of people speak English, so ask!

Two Hong Kong tips regarding elevators. It still seems that many Hong Kong residents will hit both the up and down buttons to call the elevator, regardless of their intended travel direction. And something I got a real kick out of: the “door close” button is not a placebo. It works immediately!

Escalators are kind of crazy too

Escalators are one of the most fun parts of Hong Kong for kids. It’s not uncommon to ride a three story escalator from place to place. You can also generally avoid the elevator confusion by taking the escalators (though sometimes those are placed in funny areas too!).

It’s common for escalators to not go to every floor, again for efficiency purposes. But at least you don’t have to wait to call the lift back if you take the wrong one. You still should have a general idea of where you’re going.

One note on travel with strollers: it’s still fairly common for people to take strollers with kids in them up escalators. While I saw this being discouraged at one MTR station, I still saw quite a few families doing it. It’s not ideal, but it saves a lot of time.

Parents, ditch the stroller if you can

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What IS ideal is ditching your stroller if you can. While Hong Kong seems to be making great strides in terms of increasing accessibility (unlike London), you still might have to take a pretty long detour if you’re confined to elevators. So build up those little kids’ stamina so they can walk to most destinations!

If you have a toddler you might want to consider bringing a baby carrier, even if they’re still too heavy. That way they can walk as much as they can and then you can throw them into the carrier when you need to. It makes a huge difference. If you don’t have a carrier yet or are in the market, we love our Beco Gemini (Amazon affiliate link). But whatever you use, it’ll usually beat dragging a stroller around.

Taxi colors and etiquette

Hong Kong taxis operate under a unique system. The color of the taxi determines what areas of Hong Kong it can serve. Red taxis serve Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, green taxis serve the New Territories, and blue taxis work Lantau Island. With the exceptions of the airport and Hong Kong Disneyland, you generally are restricted to using the correct taxi. If you’re taking the taxi from the airport, save time and make sure you line up for the correct color taxi.

You can hail taxis almost anywhere that doesn’t have double yellow lines by the curb. The easiest thing to do, though, is to find a taxi stand at the nearest hotel/mall/country club to your location. You almost never have to wait for a taxi in Hong Kong during good weather. But if it rains…good luck! Magically, all taxis will suddenly have guests.

Taxis in Hong Kong run much cheaper than in other big cities and can save a lot of time, so don’t ignore them in your travel plans.

Pack napkins and/or tissues

It can be ridiculously difficult to get napkins or tissues in Hong Kong. You usually get one and only one at restaurants – if you’re lucky. You’ll rarely find napkin dispensers like you see in the States (McDonalds being a notable exception). And if you have kids, you’ll have to wipe all sorts of things on your trip.

So buy a six pack of small tissue packets either in Hong Kong or before your trip. While it’s Parenting 101 to carry tissues or napkins around, it’s paramount in Hong Kong. You just can’t guarantee you’ll be able to find some when you need them. Oh, and bathrooms mostly use hand dryers too so you’ll have trouble finding paper towels there! Pack the napkins/tissues.

Be prepared for a late start

My final Hong Kong travel tip deals with Hong Kong residents and their time. In general, Hong Kong operates on a later schedule than most Americans. Stores don’t open until 11:00 AM, breakfast doesn’t even start until 6:00 AM in most places!

So be prepared for rush hour to be later than you might expect and plan accordingly. If you get out early, at like 8:00 AM, you can avoid most of the crowds but things you want to see might not be open yet. At the same time, if you’re taking an hour train ride to go to Tung Chung to see the giant Buddha or Hong Kong Disneyland, you probably will beat the majority of the crowds.

Use Hong Kong’s late start time to your advantage to get the most out of your vacation. And don’t forget you can keep shopping until 11:00 PM in most cases! 🙂

Miscellaneous tips

Here are some more tips that don’t warrant much explanation:

You might want to avoid speaking Mandarin so as not to be mistaken for a mainland Chinese person, Hong Kong residents aren’t the biggest fans at the moment
Recycling bins are ridiculously hard to find, unfortunately. I didn’t see my first one until Disney.
People walk and drive on the left side, like in the UK. Yet for some reason they stand on the right side of escalators to let people pass. Confusing!
Generally, 10% service charge is already added to your food bill and you don’t need to tip on top of that unless you felt service was exceptional. Even if you can’t read Chinese you should be able to figure it out from the bill (see below).

Final Thoughts

Hong Kong is a wonderful place to visit and a ton of fun for families. These Hong Kong travel tips are just my random observations over my last few trips, but like I said at the top I’m sure many of you have tips as well. Share in the comments and let me know what I missed!

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May 01 2017

Hong Kong Disneyland Best Attractions and Rides

Hong Kong Disneyland is a vastly underrated park in my opinion. The park houses unique rides and experiences that any Disney fan (and many non Disney fans) would enjoy. Here’s my ranking of my favorites –Hong Kong Disneyland best rides and attractions, not to be missed.

Two notes. Obviously, this list details my subjective opinions so adjust according to your family’s needs and preferences. Secondly, there will be mild spoilers for these rides, so if you’re like me and like to go in with a fresh slate consider yourself warned. Also, even though I ranked these, you could pretty much rank them 1A, 1B, 1C, etc.

So here are my favorite attractions at Hong Kong Disneyland, ranked in ascending order.

7. Fairytale Forest

It might surprise some that this is on the list, but I think Fairytale Forest is a great place to visit, especially if you have young kids. The Fairytale Forest gives you a chance to walk through a magical garden filled with features from five different famous Disney stories.

Hong Kong Disneyland features a lot of unique attractions. If you're visiting from the USA, here are the 7 Hong Kong Disneyland best rides and attractions! — You can get a lot of cool shots in the Fairytale Forest

Each section of the garden features a unique photo opportunity with some great framing (literally). There’s also a small diorama of a scene from each movie in each section. You also hear iconic music from each film in each part of the forest. Topping it all off, you can meet Tinkerbell. Overall, it’s a great little attraction that’s worth a look.

6. It’s a Small World

OK, OK. I know lots of people refuse to ride It’s a Small World for fear of getting that darn music stuck in your head for days on end. But I think the Hong Kong Disneyland version is well worth your time.

The rooms, room order, and many of the animatronics are different. Obviously, Asia’s presence looms much larger in Hong Kong Disneyland. But the real star of the show? Characters from Disney movies sprinkled throughout the ride. Not only that, but small bits from the iconic songs from these movies sprinkle themselves into the main It’s a Small World theme. Purists might not like the Disney characters being in there, but I guarantee your kids will. (A few days after I wrote this, my four year old daughter randomly volunteered that she did indeed prefer the Hong Kong version for this very reason!)

Bonus tip: Stick around to watch the clock on the Small World facade. It’s lovely to watch!

5. Hyperspace Mountain

I’d rank this higher up the list, but Space Mountain received this overlay in multiple parks (though it’s leaving Disneyland soon). As you queue, you’re briefed by Admiral Akbar on an important mission you’ll be undertaking for the Rebel Alliance. You also get some briefing in Cantonese and Mandarin – I really appreciated hearing Star Wars stuff in another language!

The ride itself features Star Wars overlays and speakers narrating what’s going on in the mission. Most of it is in Cantonese but you can get the gist without (bad guys blow up, etc. etc.) The ride is a ton of fun and honestly I prefer it to the original (I know many disagree). It surprised me at almost every turn and I walked out with a huge smile.

4. Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars

Out of all the rides on the list, I never managed to ride Grizzly Gulch Runaway Mine Cars, much to my chagrin. But if I had rode, it might be even higher up the list. I’m a sucker for rides that go backwards like these runaway mine cars. From what I could see, the track is long, and since this is the only true ride in Grizzly Gulch, it has to be a show stopper. Watching people ride and hearing friends’ accounts, I think it definitely fits the bill.

3. Mickey and the Wondrous Book

My first day in the park, I kept seeing loads of people coming out of an attraction called Mickey and the Wondrous Book. I had never heard of it so I looked it up when I got home. Turns out it’s a theater show, featuring Mickey and Goofy trying to get Olaf back into the correct pages of a magical storybook.

Along the way they meet characters from both iconic Disney movies (Frozen) and some of the smaller ones (The Princess and the Frog). You’ll love the music, dance choreography, and hearing Mickey and Goofy speak in Cantonese. Don’t worry, there are subtitles and half the show is in English.

The show also features some original songs which sound great, too (we’re still singing it). The show features great special effects and brings joy to kids and adults alike. Don’t miss it.

2. Ironman Experience

Walt Disney World in Florida has that weird rule where they can’t showcase the majority of Marvel characters. Since no such rule exists for Hong Kong Disneyland, they built a Star Tours type ride around Ironman called the Ironman Experience. In fact, this is the first Marvel based ride in any Disney theme park.

You board a tour vehicle at a technology expo in Hong Kong, but of course things go wrong and you get involved in some superhero action. The flight simulator holds over forty people at a time so they can move the line fairly quickly. It showcases some impressive shots of Hong Kong which add to the fun.

My only disappointment? They didn’t shell out the money for Robert Downey Jr or someone who even sounds close to him. I equate him so much with the character now it jarred me a bit to hear someone else. That bumped this ride out of #1 contention. Still, don’t let that deter you – Fastpass this ride a few times!

1. Mystic Manor

It’s been a week and I’m still thinking about Mystic Manor. Due to cultural reasons, ghosts couldn’t be included in Hong Kong Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion. What they came up with instead felt nothing short of spectacular the first time I experienced it.

The premise: an explorer offers you a tour of his mansion. Unfortunately, his mischievious pet monkey Marcus opens a magical music box that brings all the artifacts to life. I actually think Mystic Manor feels scarier than the original Haunted Mansion, because these live artifacts give the illusion of putting you in real danger. Well as much as you can in a Disney park.

Another neat feature of the ride – it’s trackless. The cars give the illusion that they move on their own. It’s probably magnets or something but it looks really cool. Finally, the ride makes excellent use of color and effects. It’s absolutely my favorite attraction at Hong Kong Disneyland.

Final Thoughts

Hong Kong Disneyland features a lot of the classic Disney rides, but 5 of my 7 favorite attractions can’t be found anywhere else. Best of all, lines generally are shorter than in other Disney parks around the world, so you could probably hit all seven of these attractions in one day with plenty of time to spare.

If you’ve been to Hong Kong Disneyland, what rides do you enjoy the most? Let me know in the comments!

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Apr 28 2017

TSA Precheck – should you wait for your companion?

So the other day I semi threw my friend under the bus in my Chase Reserve for dummies post. Of course, she’s such a nice person she thanked me for it so what’s a troll to do? If at first you don’t succeed, try try again! It’s Friday and I feel like having some fun, so I thought I’d discuss another one of my friend’s views that I disagree with. I think that if someone has TSA Precheck, they should go through regardless of whether their companion does or not. She, being a nice person, thinks you should wait. So let me share my reasons why you should NOT wait for your companions who don’t have TSA Precheck. While most of my reasons assume a line of fifteen minutes or more, I still think they apply to short lines.

Of course, these are just my opinions and you’re welcome to share yours in the poll and comments below. 😀

Sometimes a person with TSA precheck travels with a companion who doesn't have TSA Precheck. Should you wait for your friend? — Look at this line at MCO – would you make someone you love suffer with you in it?

1. You probably paid for it

First things first, TSA Precheck (or Global Entry) costs money. Someone who has this benefit likely paid for it. The counterargument I’m likely to hear? “But you probably only have Precheck because your credit card reimbursed you!”

Well, miles and points friends, we can’t have it both ways. We can’t use the Global Entry credit to justify the annual fee in our mind (offsetting the cost) and then say that we got Global Entry for “free.” Global Entry cost us something whether we got reimbursed or not. And in the case of Global Entry, we had to go to that accursed interview (still impossible to sign up for in Boston!).

So for starters, if you wait for your friend, you’re giving up something you paid for. If they ask you to wait for them, they are asking you to sacrifice something you paid for. So acknowledge that fact.

2. You can take care of stuff post security to make your companions’ travel easier

OK, so it’s not great to leave someone behind, I get that. And if you just wait on the other side of security for them, you possibly should just have waited with them in the first place. BUT, you could also buy them something to eat, go check in with the gate agent to get better seats, go to the bathroom so you can watch their stuff once they get through so they can go to the bathroom unencumbered, ET CETERA.

More importantly, if you’re traveling with kids under the age of 13, they can go through TSA Precheck with you. Should they really have to wait with the non TSA Precheck person? Imagine how settled you could get the kids into the airport with the extra time!

3. Why take off your shoes and take out your laptop?

If you go through the TSA Precheck line, you don’t take out your laptop or liquids and keep your shoes on. But if you wait with your non TSA Precheck companion, you’ve gotta take off your shoes and take out your laptop. Again, non TSA Precheck person – why would you subject your friend to this? It can be such a hassle and it takes extra time.

Moreover, do you know who else gets their time wasted? Other people in the non TSA Precheck line! One function of TSA Precheck is lightening the load on the regular security line. By asking your TSA Precheck friend to wait with you in the regular line, you are increasing everyone else’s wait as well. Shame.

4. You will probably smell worse

Do you know what happens when you wait in line for 20+ minutes? You start getting stressed out about missing your flight (especially if you’re used to showing up at TSA Precheck times!). So then you start getting hot, sweaty, and uncomfortable. This may or may not result in you smelling worse depending on your genetic makeup. Who will receive the bulk of your odors? Your companion, who made you stand in line with them!

Reasons to wait for your companion

You’re nice, I guess? But answer me this – if you really loved this person, wouldn’t you have bought TSA Precheck for them in the first place? It will be way more useful for five years than any earrings or wallet or tie you might think to purchase. So think upon that!

Anyway, I know my feelings on the matter seem strong…that is because they are. But in all seriousness, I’m genuinely curious, what do people think the etiquette should be around TSA/no TSA Precheck. I’m like 90% certain Jess wouldn’t make me wait for her – like I’ve said before sometimes space can be a good thing. But yeah, let me know in the comments or the below poll – should you wait for your non TSA Precheck companion?

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Poll

Current poll results (updated 5/1/17 12:34 PM EST):

Never (55.7%)

Only if line is less than 10 minutes (31.6%)

Always, jerk! (12.7%)

Total votes = 79

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