A few years ago, we took our 3 kids, flew across the Pacific and visited family in Hong Kong. We HAD to visit Hong Kong Disneyland, and had our first experience at Disney’s Avengers themed park. I expected the new Avengers Campus at Disneyland to be similar, but it’s actually quite different!
Hong Kong Disneyland
Stark Expo opened up in 2016 in Hong Kong and is a similar experience to Avengers Campus in Disneyland California Adventure, except they actually have completely different attractions. I remember their longest wait was the Iron Man Experience, and my young children were all tall enough to do the Antman and the Wasp.
Disneyland California Adventure
The 2 main RIDES are –
- Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure – This ride requires you getting on virtual queue at 7 am, exactly the same way as Rise of Resistance. Do not hesitate and just “Join Boarding Group” to get in, since spots are limited and run out within a minute or two. There is another chance for virtual queue at 12 pm. We didn’t have any trouble getting in virtual queue for Spider-Man or Rise of Resistance on this trip, perhaps because Disneyland just reopened in June to out of state visitors, and their limited capacity makes it easier to get on.
Once your group is called, you will need to get in line in person. When we were in group 19 for the Rise, we went as soon as our group was called and were able to walk on with no line at all! But when we were placed in group 102, we weren’t called until after lunch, so there was already a long line. We waited in line for about 60 minutes after our group was called. It was pretty hot outside, and we saw people (especially kids) who waited under a shaded area for their family/friends to turn around to cut down waiting under the scorching sun. We did this for a bit too, since the line winds back and forth, and it wasn’t too difficult to catch up at certain spots.
The ride experience uses the newest technologies, and you can shoot webs like Spider-Man to capture Spider-Bots that reproduced out of control. This ride has NO HEIGHT Requirement, so even my 3 year old was able to enjoy it and really loved it! Even after we came home he would still show me how he slings webs with his little hands like Spider-Man! You can compete with family or friends on this ride with how many Spider-Bots you capture, the more you get, the more points you have, kind of like the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.
Guardians of Galaxy
When The Avengers Assemble show was going on at Avengers Headquarters, everyone was outside watching Black Widow fight off the bad guys (that’s what my kids say, and since I don’t know the names of people she fights throughout the day, I will just say bad guys too). Because of this, Guardians of Galaxy wait time went from 60 minutes to 10, so we took advantage of the short wait time and took the girls to go. If you want to prioritize getting on this ride, I would suggest going when an Avengers show is going on at the Headquarters to minimize wait time.
The height requirement for this ride is 40 inches. Because of that, I thought it was totally safe to take my two older children (ages 6 and 8) on it. Little did I know, this ride is pretty much exactly like The Tower of Terror, but with the storyline replaced. My middle child absolutely hates the feeling of free fall and was crying after this ride. I felt very bad. If you have a child who doesn’t like the feeling of 0 gravity, or hates Tower of Terror, please don’t take them on this ride! My lesson learned here is – just because my kids reached the height requirement doesn’t mean I should take them on the ride!
Entertainment –
Avengers Headquarters – the Avengers appear regularly and it’s pretty cool to watch them spring into action and be the heroes that they are.
Ancient Sanctum – you can encounter Doctor Strange here, we also saw Thor appearing with Doctor Strange when we went. There is normally a crowd, but there are places (curbs of plants) where kids can stand on with your help to hoist them up on the outside so they can see clearly.
I don’t think the Avengers encounters are on any schedule, but if you walk around the Avengers campus, you are bound to run into someone. We saw Captain America, Black Widow (in an awesome fight scene), Thor and Doctor Strange in Ancient Sanctum, Falcon/ Captain America (on top of Avengers Headquarters), and had the chance to take pictures with Spider-Man.
Dining and Shopping –
Pym Test Kitchen is delicious, but the wait is the longest, so mobile order early, which gives you a window of time to arrive and click “I’m here” to get your food when you want it.
Pym Tasting Lab – we didn’t go because we’re not big on drinking especially with kids, but if you enjoy a delicious cold alcoholic drink during the day this is the place to visit
Shawarma Palace – a convenient stand that features wraps and falafel, this line was kind of long when we were there.
Terran Treats – shortest line of them all! We got delicious churro spirals (green) and cosmic orbs (like a purple cream puff), as well as drinks in an Ironman’s arm (cool merchandise, quite pricey, I believe $30).
WEB Suppliers and The Collector’s Warehouse are the stores for toys, apparel, keepsakes and more. You can get some cool Spider-Bots at WEB Suppliers. There is also a Campus Supply Pod which we didn’t get a chance to visit. If you have and liked it please let me know!