The Magic of Disneyland Hong Kong

I never thought I would go to one Disney Park in my lifetime, let alone four. I have so much good to say about Disneyland Hong Kong. Forget the U.S. parks, this one is amazing.

I relented and took a photo with the old boss. They were so cute and the line was short.
Disney-Regular Note: There are no ‘cut offs’ to lines here. They have breaks every 15 minutes!

This must be Sleeping Beauty’s Asian Holiday home…

One of my favorite parts of the park was Fairy Tale Forest hosted by PANDORA. It was perfect for little ones with tons of interactive storytelling and a meet and greet with Tink.

Mystic Manor is Hong Kong Disneyland’s version of The Haunted Mansion. I loved the story line and characters. I hope they make a movie about it! The little monkey is adorable! There was a callback to Haunted Mansion hidden in one of the galleries, the staring busts!

Something brand new that was awesome?? Toy Story Land!!

I felt pea-sized and ecstatic to be in Andy’s World.

Next up was Theater in the Wild for The Festival of the Lion King. This varied slightly from the WDW version in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. They had the same floats (perhaps a bit fancier) but instead of an interactive circus performance, they told the entire story of The Lion King. I was so happy to see Scar (who looked great) sing Be Prepared with the hyenas.

Everything was beautiful and the dancers were so great! The singing could’ve been better, but I’m guessing there aren’t many who can do The Circle of Life justice in Hong Kong.

One experience I wish would come to the States is Mickey and the Wondrous Book. This is a thirty minute production with singing, dancing, and incredible graphics. You go down south with Tiana, Let it Go with Elsa, and even witness a sing off between Rapunzel and Merida! If for no other reason than to escape the heat and rest your feet, dont’t miss it!!

One cannot leave Disney without riding Dumbo. Pretty sure it’s a rule. (oh T-Spin…)

As we snagged a few souvenirs from the gift shop, we were able to catch the end of “Disney Paint the Night” Nighttime Spectacular. Gorgeous floats with so much Pixar!!

I have become such a fireworks snob from working at Walt Disney World. If it isn’t perfectly choreographed to music, color-coded for villains and heroes, then it gets pretty hard to impress me. “Disney in the Stars” was alright, but I wasn’t tearing up about it. (anyone who doesn’t cry watching Wishes needs to ask Oz for a heart)

Overall, I loved this park. We went just after open and spent all day there. Nearly everything was walk on. If there was a line, it was never more than twenty minutes. I never felt crowded or rushed to finish an experience. It felt like what Disneyland should be, or what it must have been a long time ago. If you want to know which park is going the be the greatest experience for your kids, Hong Kong Disneyland is your best bet.

The price is good too given the exchange rate coming to about $70 US dollars. We got to do about 80% of the attractions, but that wasn’t due to lines. It was due to the fact that the kids couldn’t do some rides and most of Tomorrowland was under construction. Still though, that’s pretty high for day at the park.

Tokyo Disney on New Year’s Day

So technically, we didn’t go to Tokyo Disneyland, with the castle and the princesses and parades. We went to the more adult park next store called Disney Sea. After comparing the two, the rides I wanted most to ride were there. Plus, it was New Year’s Day, and I figured Disneyland would be more crowded.

First impressions, everything was so pretty. Everything looked brand new! This park has been around for 14 years and it looks incredible. Pluto was even there at the gate to greet us!

The view as you enter is the great Mount Prometheus. It has a ride inside it, as well as a role in the night show, Fantasmic. It also periodically spits fire.

We explored American Waterfront, which includes Toy Story Mania!, the Tower of Terror, as well as a mishmash of American-esque culture, architecture and restaurants.

 

Instead of The Twilight Zone being the driving theme of this ride as it is in the U.S., they decided to go with an explorer theme (mimicking the park’s attractions) basing it off a man named Harrison Hightower, a shady guy who stole artifacts from all over the world, landing him a spooky cursed item. It was fun, smart, and hey, they avoided paying royalties to CBS!

We went inside Uncle Scrooge McDuck’s (a gift shop) and tried on a few silly things.

Silly was sort of a theme for us.

There were tons of old presidential propaganda posters everywhere.

Duffy the Disney Bear is HUGE here. There’s an entire store devoted to it. There’s a zillion different outfits, accessories, you name it. These were very old bears being displayed by an old man. He graciously let them model for me.

A view of Mediterranean Harbor

On Mysterious Island (where the mountain is) are two rides and a restaurant. This is the gift shop for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

We made reservations for Magellan’s, a super swanky place, for lunch!

While we waited for our time, we explored the fortress around the restaurant.

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Lunch was delicious. We splurged and got the four course meal, which made us feel a lot like Jack Dawson in Titanic. It was very good.

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Next, we hopped aboard the Disney Sea Electric Railway to get to Lost River Delta, the land where our next ride was. On the way, we passed over Port Discovery where the water rides are. The ride below is called Aquatopia, and it looked to be a sort of bumper cars on the water. IT WAS COLD PEOPLE. Why those people risked getting wet was beyond us.

Lost River Delta had the ride I was most excited for, Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull. I didn’t get to ride it in California, which was a huge bummer, because I wanted my mom to ride ‘my ride.’ I say it’s mine because it has the same ride path and vehicles as Dinosaur: the ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, where I worked for two years.

Indiana may have been running around, but all I heard was Dr. Seeker yelling, “Abort! Abort!” in my head.

Next, we headed to Arabian Coast. An Agrabah themed land. It was beautiful!!

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We didn’t feel like riding rides, but if we had, Jasmine’s Flying Carpets was there!
Instead, we headed for Mermaid Lagoon in search of dessert. (well, I had another search in mind). Yes, I found my secret treasure trove, full of whose its and whats its galore, most importantly, my Prince!!

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The line for Ariel was super short, plus the caramel popcorn cart was right next to it.
It was fate.

Freezing our butts off (if only), we headed back to American Waterfront to get a good seat for Fantasmic!. Now I had seen it at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but this show was incredible. It was done on the water, with stunts, and fireworks, and dancing, and DRAGONS WITH HUGE AMOUNTS OF FIRE. I was thoroughly impressed and almost forgot how cold I was.

I left for South Korea the next day. We shared our last ramen together at the airport. It was a wonderful trip and I can’t wait to return! We plan to go to Kyoto next time, and perhaps even The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Japan!

I can’t believe I can now say I’ve been to Korea and Tokyo. Is this real life?

This postcard represents my ‘horizons being broadened’ with Mt. Fuji on the left, and Namsan with Seoul Tower on the right.

1989 Mother Tour – Southern California

We had finally made it to the West Coast!! The end was drawing near, but California had so much fun in store for us!

First stop San Diego

…to stay with my sister and her family. I had been missing this nephew of mine hardcore. I hadn’t seen my partner in crime in nearly 9 months!!

We couldn’t wait to start making trouble.

Obviously, the first thing we needed was rest. Driving really takes it outta you. Sun, sand, and warm air was the only cure we needed.

This bug is getting so huge. I had a really hard time saying goodbye to him, knowing he will be so much bigger the next time I see him. He’ll know more things, have seen more, and maybe, just maybe, not want as many kisses from Auntie anymore…

But we didn’t want to focus on that. Instead, we focused on injury #3.

All Mom wanted was to enjoy her book and eat her sandwich, but the seagull didn’t feel that was an option. He decided she didn’t want it enough, swooped down and snatched the entire sandwich from her hand.

“Only you, Mom,” we all said

It was a perfect day with this little bug.

After a very tearful farewell, with many blowing kisses, we started out early for Anaheim, California.

Second Stop, Disneyland!!

My father went to Disneyland as a kid, my brother went as an adult. My sister went to Walt Disney World for her honeymoon, and I worked there for 3 years.

My mom was the only one to never have experienced the House of Mouse firsthand. I needed to fix that.

This was my first time as well, to Disneyland. I knew the basic Disney tricks to get us around quickly, but in terms of knowing about all the attractions, there were a lot I didn’t recognize.

I’d describe it as the better, even more kid-friendly version of The Magic Kingdom. In Florida, MK has around 13 rides that any child can ride. At Disneyland, they have over 20. Anyways, don’t get me started on comparing parks…

Another perk was Disneyland was celebrating its 60th Anniversary. I feel like these days, they have an anniversary for everything, but this one was actually legitimate. 60 is the Diamond year, so that was the theme throughout the park.

First thing we had to do was get our buttons. Mom got a First Visit and I got a Happy Birthday one, hey it was the following week…

She thought this was incredible and couldn’t believe I knew about it. C’mon Mom…(just stop by Guest Relations on your way in to get some, the building is usually labeled City Hall)

Next was the big reveal of the castle. I filmed her reaction. I’ve gotta say, I was a little underwhelmed. She probably thought it was charming and loved it. I’ve just been spoiled with the greatness that is Cinderella’s Castle in Florida, so Sleeping Beauty’s is kind of blah.

But unlike WDW, we got to go inside this one. Each corridor led to another part of the story, all self-led.

She didn’t care about Meet & Greets with Characters (thank goodness) or hitting every single ride. We picked a few areas and let the day plan itself. We rode Jungle Cruise & The Haunted Mansion and explored Tom Sawyer Island.

I couldn’t let my Mom leave this place without trying the glorious Mickey’s Premium Bar.

We got souvenirs for surprisingly cheap in a glassware shop. We each got mugs and engraved glasses celebrating the 60th.

Lastly, before we headed out, we watched the 60th Celebration Parade. If there’s one thing that Disney know how to do well (besides fireworks), it’s a parade.

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It really killed me that we couldn’t stay all day to see the fireworks show at night. It’s something I’ve always wanted to show my Mom.  I really regret not biting the bullet and delaying the schedule to stay an extra day so she could’ve seen it.

But we had a blast. We drove the rest of the day, ending in Santa Maria. We couldn’t go too far because we were meeting an old friend in the morning that we both hadn’t seen in ten years!!

I decided to try my hand at people this time and practiced with the parade dancers.

Independence Day

We met our friend for breakfast. She was my youth pastor and a wonderful friend growing up. I miss her council and complete non-judgmental understanding.

Seeing her again definitely made our morning.

We were aiming for Napa Valley, but my Mom really wanted to drive through San Francisco. This, my friends, was a HUGE MISTAKE.

Pier 39 is a mess on the fourth of July. Never ever go there. We drove for two hours looking for a parking spot. I finally had to admit defeat and take the day as a loss. It wasn’t all bad though. We got some beautiful shots going over the bridge.

We also spent the night with my sister’s in-laws who lived about thirty minutes outside the city. They took us up this humongous hill so we could watch the fireworks shows of all the surrounding towns.

Even though we lost a day, it was a blessing to see friends and family.

Next Up: Napa Valley & The Redwood National Forest!

Me: so many hours, I can’t even keep track anymore

Mom: 2