Hong Kong VS Shanghai Disneyland, which one is better?

I've been a Disney parks nerd for years, done Paris, California, and Orlando. Last month I spent two weeks in China (Typical route: Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing) and squeezed in two days for Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland. Here's some quick take.

Hong Kong Disneyland – small but mighty
Went on a weekday in July. Weather was brutal but crowds were manageable. HKDL is the smallest Disney park out there (Orlando folks, you'll feel it), but it still delivers. Grizzly Mountain mine cars were a blast, decent drops and a fun surprise in the second half that got me good. Lion King show is a must just line up 35 min early if you want decent seats. Biggest surprise: Mystic Manor. People said it was creepy but it's legit fun, gave me Night at the Museum vibes. Pretty sure it's HK exclusive so don't skip it.

Shanghai Disneyland – chaos but make it magical
Went during peak summer break (July and August in China = absolute madness). Thank god I splurged on the 8-item fast pass, but Zootopia: Hot Pursuit and Roaring Rapids each took about an hour. Hot Pursuit though? Unreal. The theming is insane, full immersion, I'd go back just for that ride. Tron was a bit underwhelming ngl, not as thrilling as I expected and the lean-forward position got uncomfortable after a while. Skipped Rex's Racer 'cause I wasn't feeling great but honestly watching people scream from below was its own form of entertainment lol.

Squeezing in two Disney parks in between 14 days maybe a little ambitious, but the whole trip has been awesome. I was pretty worried about the VPN situation before coming to China(most Western apps are banned over there) Recommended by a Redteago eSIM and it worked completely fine the whole time.(don't have to switch eSIM is a huge help cos the package works fine in both area) Been posting Ins Stories and lived with my friends back home all day no lag or weak signal. That said, Google Maps is basically useless in China, so you'll want to download Amap or Baidu Maps instead. Also make sure you set up Alipay before you go because literally everything runs through it.

Happy to share if anyone's planning a similar trip, ask away!