If this sound glib, it isn't meant to be:
Expat life is what you make of it. If your family are adaptable and resilient, you'll love it.
I've been in Hong Kong for almost twenty (20) years and it's great. We've done well (very well) here as a family, career and financially.
There are downsides to every expat posting - you tend to be the "stable" family whilst most of your friends are transient. It isn't home - in spite of having a nice house and all the trappings, you still long for "home" - in our case, Canada. We go "back" for almost all our vacations. Forget about emulating your former lifestyle - you simply can't. No lakes to swim in on hot summer days, no salmon fishing here, no lazy bike rides with the kids, no country picnics, no tailgate parties...that sort of thing. Stuff does happen, but in a different way.
We (at CX) have "bases" - different domiciles - I'll be putting in for one soon as my kids are getting to high school age and "values" are an issue with me here.
I'm not so sure about DXB (Dubai) to be honest. Are you from PHX? It gets very very hot and the place is turning into a huge shopping mall. The ruling family set out on path of turning DXB into something other than just another oil state and the path seems to retail therapy for all. Not my scene at all. The locals are (for the most part) arrogant pr!cks and treat expats there with absolute disdain.
Freedom of thought, association, speech and religion are all issues in countries outside the West - can you deal with that? Hong Kong is pretty good to be honest, but some countries really suck.
How much will you work for you bag of silver? How tired will you be? Will you be able to enjoy your rewards? How about your family life?
What about language? Ain't no Spanish out here or DXB - if you want the "full experience" you should learn to speak local - I did but I'm one of about 4 or 5 in a company of 2500 pilots.
Education - a real issue for many especially if you plan on a faith-based education (other than Islam). Costs can be extremely high if you want something other than vanilla...
To be brutal, most North Americans can't cut it. Some are very happy (like Bjammin) working for expat companies but I doubt if he'd be at CX if HKG was the only option. At the moment, EK (Emirates) don't have bases. If they did, there would be an immediate exodus from DXB. Here at CX we have about 40% of our guys on bases outside HKG - JFK, ATL, ORD, ANC, SFO, LAX, YYZ, YVR, LHR, CDG, AMS, etc. Nice option if you can get it.
Anyway, just some of my thoughts. Good luck (you'll need it).