Thursday, January 19, 2012

Our Hong Kong Holiday (October 2011): Day 2 (Hong Kong Disneyland)

I did a lot of research prior to our trip and most of the info I got came from the Hong Kong Thread of PinoyExchange (PEx). Thanks to commoner who created the thread and to all the PExers who contributed. :) 

We were a party of 5 adults and 1 kid (a senior at 62yrs, then 29, 26, 25, and 18 yrs old, and a 2yr-old-kid).  The promo tickets were bought in February 2011 (tagal ng paghihintay, hehe).
 
OCTOBER 28, 2011, Friday (HK Disneyland)
Today was Ryken's day! Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is his favorite show (it's the theme of his 2nd birthday) so we were all sure that he would be delighted to see the Clubhouse gang in person. :)

The little boy woke up late (around 10:00am) so we were able to leave Golden Crown at noon.  I didn't wake him up and let him rest else he might get cranky.  We ate breakfast at the hostel.  We brought 3-in-1 coffee (Nescafe Sweet 'N Mild and Original Flavor), Nissin Mini Seafood Cup Noodles (which was a mistake because HK is a noodle country! argh.), buns, and peanut butter. Solb na kami :) We bought mineral water from a nearby convenience store and just refilled the bottle in the hostel since there's free purified water in the lobby.  We also brought this as baon 'coz as I read from other blogs / trip reports, mineral water / softdrink is expensive in Disneyland.
Mickey train
We arrived Hong Kong Disneyland at around 1pm and we were able to enter the park at around 2pm since we had a looong photo session before entering (excited tourists! hehe..).
love this pic
see the pumpkins? :)
It was Halloween and Disney was decorated for the occasion.  We rented a stroller for Ryken so it would be easier for him to move around.  The stroller had a name tag so it won't get mixed up with the others.  Rental fee is HKD60.00 but there's a deposit of HKD100.00 (if I remember correctly) which will be given back to you when you return the stroller.
the Mickey Mouse pose
Sleeping Beauty's Castle


We first ate lunch at Starliner Diner using our meal coupons.  We ordered fried chicken and burger with fries then additional orders were fruit basket (HKD22.00) and drinks (juice was at HKD25.00 and coke slush was HKD26.00).  Wala pa kami sa mood na mag-Chinese meals, hehe.
busog na ang bata
Since we arrived late, I checked the show and parade schedules and they were just a few minutes apart so we had an Amazing Race-type of experience in the park to be able to catch all the shows.  We first went to Autopia where Ryken enjoyed the car ride.
yeah, dude, this is my car :)
Ryken was the driver
Buti na lang hindi sinita sina Papa kasi bawal ang age ni Ryken to drive the car.  The driver must be 4years or older if I remember correctly. :) Pasaway talaga.  We then proceeded to Main Street to watch the Flights of Fantasy Parade (3:30PM).
yes, I know, Ryken sat on a trash bin (mukha namang malinis eh, hehe.)
We loved the parade, of course! This is my second time to enjoy Disneyland (my first was in Los Angeles with my brother) and I was really happy to see Mickey Mouse and all the other Disney characters again.  My brother even saw former schoolmates in UP who performed in the parade.

Next stop was the Festival of the Lion King but we missed the 4:15PM show and the next one was at 5:15 PM so we went to Tarzan's Treehouse first (the "pier" was right across the entrance to the Lion King show).  We rode on a motorized raft to reach the treehouse.  Since my mom is afraid of heights, she just stayed at the entrance while we young ones went up.
hanging bridge
Ryken got scared of the leopard because it roared (sound effect)
playing the xylophone
yabang ng bata sa balsa :)
When we got back, we fell in line for the 5:15PM show of the Festival of the Lion King.  It was free seating inside the theater.  Ryken fell asleep at the beginning of the show but quickly awakened when Simba roared, hehe.. The performers were excellent!  They all had good singing voices.
It's Simba!
characters we love: Timon and Pumbaa
Fire acts with Scar
Circle of Life (I got teary-eyed here)
Ryken's also familiar with Lion King because we let him watch the movie.  The experience was surreal, it's like being a kid again.  I don't know why I got teary-eyed when they all sang Circle of Life at the end.  Buti na lang napigilan ko, baka pinagtawanan pa ako ng mga kasama ko. :)

The show lasted for 45 minutes and we ran to the Storybook Theater right after to catch The Golden Mickeys Show at 6:15PM.  The show was in Cantonese but there's a small LCD screen at each side of the theater translating the script to English.
Ariel, the mermaid (the first time I saw a mermaid "on air")
Tarzan (lupit ng abs!)
I like the wave effect here
do you see Belle and the Beast? (galing 'no?)

We walked to It's A Small World after the show (which was beside the theater) but we got distracted with my hubby shouting "Si Mickey Mouse! Si Mickey Mouse!" Lo and behold, there was Mickey Mouse in his Halloween attire having pictures with the park guests.  There was a manageable line but when we reached the end, the park attendant told us that they have already cut the line and the next photo session will be at 9:30PM.  We were actually looking for the characters the whole day so we can take pictures with them but we were unlucky.  Well, just one picture with Mickey Mouse would complete our Disney adventure. :)  We also saw Chip and Dale on the other side near Mickey and at the farther end was Goofy.  They also gave candies and Disney stickers to everyone as part of the Trick or Treat.

So to buy time while waiting for the Halloween Glow in the Park Parade at 7:30PM, we went to It's A Small World.  It's my favorite here in HK Disneyland.  It highlights each country's uniqueness but also calls for unity of all nations. 
Venice, Italy
our bahay kubo :)
Taj Mahal and a snake charmer
Pilipinas represent! :)
The Glow in the Park Parade starred the Disney Villains.  There were just a few dances and props / floats that were glow in the dark.  It was great to see the Clubhouse gang in their Halloween attire, though. :)
the leader of the parade (parang Nightmare before Christmas)
At around past 8:00PM, we already "camped" at the front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle to wait for Tinkerbell's Castle Illumination at 8:30PM (part of their 5th Anniversary Celebration) and the Disney in the Stars Fireworks Display at 9:00PM.  We claimed our popcorn and drink meal coupons at the nearby food cart and munched on the sweet caramel popcorn while waiting.  My brother was able to buy a Fanta softdrink (Gosh, it's been years when we had this in the Philippines!).  My sister-in-law also bought cotton candy with a holder that lights in different neon colors.  We passed dinner to get a good place to watch the castle illumination and fireworks.
the cotton candy holder

love the color


Ryken was asleep during the fireworks.  Can't blame him, he must be really tired 'coz his Loly tried to wake him up but he didn't budge.  The fireworks display was amazing (but there's the issue of air pollution)!  We then fell in line for Mickey's photo session and we got to chat with Japanese tourists who worked in Tokyo Disneyland.  They gave Ryken a picture of Mickey :)  We woke Ryken up when it was our turn.  He was really staring at Mickey Mouse (he might be wondering if Mickey was real). :)

Ryken meets Mickey! yey!
Good thing that Disneyland was open until 12 midnight so we had time to go to the other attractions.  We went to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.  I enjoyed the bumpy ride. :)  Ryken loved the part where Tigger seemed to be playing hide-and-seek with us.
Donald Duck in 3d
our 3d glasses
After the Pooh ride, we went to Mickey's Philharmagic and enjoyed the 4d show.  Ryken didn't want to wear the 3d glasses at first but when we told him to reach for the items (while wearing the glasses), he stretched out his arm and seemingly enjoyed 'catching' them and didn't bother removing the glasses again. :)  We ate dinner at Clopin's Festival of Foods using our meal coupons but only noodles were being served at that time because it was nearing midnight and the other kitchens were already closed.  The bowls were huge and the beef tasted like our local beef pares but sweeter and more tender. :)

Our last stop was the Space Mountain and only me, hubby, and sister-in-law tried it.  I wasn't able to ride this in LA because it was on maintenance at that time so I didn't want to pass this chance.  We were having second thoughts because we just had our meal but there were no loops in this rollercoaster ride so I guess we'd survive. :)
and survive we did! :)
We had a grand time.  See you again, Mickey Mouse! :)
by the stage (before leaving the park)

4 comments:

  1. it's a small world is my favorite too! ganda ng concept. aliw na aliw ako.
    and opcors, disneyland remains to be the happiest place on earth ♥

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    1. agree to that. :) masarap maging bata uli kahit paminsan-minsan lang. thanks, sis, for visiting my blog. :)

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  2. I was searching the n@w archive for HK Trip suggestion, good that I found your review :)

    I just want to ask if enough na ba yung 1 day for HK Disneyland. We have 3 kids in tow kasi eh (ages: 3,3,5) ang worry namin baka bitin since we need to rest because of the kids, baka if we insist to make sulit of the DL in one day eh hindi mag-enjoy ang kids, baka mapagod lang :)

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    1. Hi sis! :) medyo late reply na ito, hehe. If you really want to visit all the attractions, better 'pag 2 days. In our case kasi, jampacked na ang itinerary so what we did is we just chose the Disney attractions that cannot be found in Enchanted Kingdom or Star City. Dami pa nilang activities kasi Halloween nga. So far sa case ng anak ko, nung fireworks lang talaga siya nakatulog. In all the attractions, alert siya at enjoy. :)

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