HONGKONG DISNEYLAND FASTBREAK ADVENTURE

Indeed it was a fastbreak adventure because we had to fit in our "escapade" within 4 hours just in time to be back to our sessions (serious stuff out of Disney!). The day was quite hot but the place was magical and the rides really fun!

Hongkong Disneyland is  a small version of the other Disneylands I have been too, but the magic remains the same! 

The Sleeping Beauty's Castle with Tinkerbell's Illumination

We got the Disney ticket a day before at a booth in the hotel for HK$350, so we won’t have to line up there, and of course, lose time. If you plan to come back, you could just add another HK$300 to make it an annual pass. 

From Wanchai, we rode a taxi to the HongKong station at the International Financial Center, where we could get the train to Disney. From the Hongkong Convention Center to IFC, it costs about HK$ 20.00 for the taxi ride.

MTR map...just follow the map

At the HongKong station in IFC

I got a Disney souvenir train ticket (round trip) costing HK$ 50.00 from the train station (MTR) the night before.

The way to Sunny Bay was quite long, but the train ride was too comfortable that it felt too near.

Then, from Sunny Bay, we hopped on the “Cartoon Train” with Mickey windows and holders and Disney characters in glass tubes throughout the train.

At Sunny Bay..we hop in the Cartoon Train

Tinkerbell...

Mickey Mouse...

Jiminy Cricket...

you start getting the feeling of Disney!

Be ready to walk around...and I mean WALK since that is the best way to feel the Disney air! Temperature this May day is about 28 degrees so, also expect the sun and the sweat! I think, April would be a better time to go there so you could still feel the cool air as you stroll around Disney.

After the train station, we are welcomed by a very large arch saying “Welcome HONGKONG DISNEYLAND RESORT” and of course, with the Chinese counterpart below.

Further ahead is a large fountain with Mickey surfing on a whale spout. I found this very interesting, and I think found only in HK Disney.

Then, we proceeded to the main entrance where we see the characteristic Disneyland railroad station, with the Glendale sign.

Park hours vary but at the time we were there (May 2011), this was the schedule:

Sunday 10: 00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Mon, Tue 10: 30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Wed-Fri 10: 30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Sat 10: 00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Mmmm.... interesting that the Florida Disneyland closed at 2:00 a.m. when we were there last Summer! It was a graduation treat!

As you enter Disneyland, don’t forget the guide map and the timetables for the shows. Actually, we only had part of the day so we had to make the most of the four hours that we had.

Everyone has to pass by MAIN STREET, USA. This is a turn-of-the-20th century American town with quaint streets and vintage vehicles. Of course, there is the town square where lots queued up to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse. The City Hall is to the left and also serves as the Guest Relations and information office. 

Of course, Mickey and Minnie Mouse...and I lover their colors!

There are also lots of restaurants and refreshments at the Main Street and of course, photo opportunities with characters which has come to life.

Of course, this is where the Flights of Fantasy Parade would start but that would still be at 3:30 pm... and could not fit our schedule.

We proceeded to TOMORROWLAND since the best ride in the place is the Space Mountain.

It had been 24 years (Tokyo Disney) and 16 years (Disney Florida) since I rode Space Mountain. Well, this time I tried it again, and it was indeed fun! 

We zoomed in the darkness in this thrilling high speed interstellar journey to the far reaches of the universe and back.  Minimum height for this adventure is 102 cm.

I saw all the small kids in queue, so I thought, if they could do it, I definitely could survive this. It pumped up my adrenaline and continued my excitement of this experience. I guess, I wanted to do it again because I was still so tense from the ride, and instead of looking at the planets and stars, I was looking at the roller coaster rails. They say you have to ride this again and again so that by the time you are less tense, you can better appreciate all the electrifying lights, music and special effects.

But I was really happy as I stepped down, aside from a little dizzy, though, for a while.

Space Mountain really brings back the youth in us!

We continued to do the Astroblasters with Buzz Lightyear. We are supposed to help Buzz L. save the universe from the evil Emperor Zurg on this interactive adventure. You can compete with your friends on who has the highest score! We had to shoot the bad guys, but in the end, I guess I got the lowest in astroblasters score and the highest in a different kind of shooting = = of course, with my camera!

Buzz explains the mission...

We moved on to FANTASYLAND.

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle is the other mainstay in all Disneylands. This castle is really small compared to all the other castles I saw, but they placed interesting lights around this castle in celebration of Tinkerbell and also calls it Tinkerbell’s Castle. This will be on for  year while it is HonKong Disney's Fifth Anniversary.
I wasn’t able to see this phenomenon at night since we left quite early, but I expect this castle is still as magical with the fireworks.

being in HongKong Disney is a different experience from that in Florida

The castle is small but it had its own character!

We saw Tinkerbell in her Pixie Hollow, her own fairy garden. The tiny tinkerbell was very cute and mischievous and I loved it when she posed when I called her...

Isn't she cute?

and she really is pixie-like!

We  watched “The Golden Mickeys”. The lady where we got the ticket from told us never to miss this because this is a beautiful heart-warming production only in HongKong Disney! 

This is a 30-minute musical celebration of Disney films and characters presented in Disney’s Storybook Theater. I love this show and I think, I could watch it again and again.  It seems the fairytales become reality and characters come to life in a Broadway kind of show! 

The music is so comfortably familiar (I grew up with Disney) and the production numbers were amazing! You have to be there to feel and hear it! This is only in experienced in this Asian Disney, thus, the narration was in Chinese and if you want the English subtitle stay on the right side of the audience.

Toy Story

Jane of Tarzan

Tarzan

you have to see this Tarzan Air Dance live!

Mulan

Hawaii for Lilo and Stitch

Lilo and Stitch

Under the Sea with Arielle

Beauty and the Beast

...and he turns to a Prince

And it is best seen LIVE!!!


We moved on to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh on a storybook journey through the Hundred Acre Wood via a slow rail. The story is as lovable as Winnie the Pooh.

Winnie the Pooh and his honeypot

Of course, I wanted to ride the “It’s A Small World” boat ride, which has been tagged for over 40 years as “the happiest cruise that ever sailed”. 

It is an easy boat ride, where I really intended to sit in front to be able to appreciate and revisit the wonder and innocence of youth. You can try to guess the different countries...

All the continents and about 30 countries were represented as creatively costumed dolls and elaborate sets. As we passed the Philippines, the song is in FIlipino!  

with the bahay kubo

and the tarsier...

Did you know that during the ride, the songs were sang in 9 languages, four of which are exclusive to HongKong Disney: Cantonese, Putonghua, Korean and Filipino and all sang by children. The other languages were English, Japanese, Spanish, Italian and Swedish.

Winnie the Pooh and It's a Small World were very leisurely rides but quite fun for my "picture-picture" sessions. 

We passed by the Fantasy Gardens and Cinderella’s carousel, where one can ride one of the 60 colorful prancing horses.

The Cinderella's Carousel

Merlin, the magician...

one of the restaurants...there were also hotdog stands but real meals were served in the restaurants.

Mickey’s Philharmagic was a highly recommended magical 3D adventure. Unfortunately, it was closed for some maintenance.  

Next big stop is ADVENTURELAND. As we walked to Adventureland, you can see the River of Adventure, wherein the volcano sort of erupted in front of our eyes, thus,  I wanted to ride the Jungle River Cruise.

Tarzan's tree house

the queue was fine since it was a weekday...

The River Adventure was much fun! This is a big boat adventure where the funny skipper would tell us stories about exotic beasts and things, but since she has the Chinese accent, I just had to appreciate her effort to make her story interesting. As the cruise sailed, we saw Tarzan’s Treehouse, where one could also climb for a treetop adventure. I was really entertained by the jungle cruise and waiting  and afraid if I might get wet.  I wanted to get lots of shots , so you can imagine that I really do not want to get wet. I positioned myself near the lady driver and storyteller because I saw she had dry clothes, but the other girl in charge (one of the staff) joked that she just changed her clothes.  

I still wonder if this baby elephant is real or not!

crocodiles...

lazy ape... 

the hippos... 

frightened natives...

headhunters... 

The elephants and hippopotamus and crocodiles and cobras abound but reacted at the touch of the buttons. Very interesting was that they looked life-like. I was really surprised when the elephant spouted water at us! Up to now, I am still wondering if the baby elephant was real.

The climax of the ride were the geysers and the volcano eruption which also really added up to the adventure theme. 

the volcano erupts!

It is a ride which I would recommend for the young and the young at heart!


We wanted to watch the Festival of the Lion King, which is a colorful pageant of music and dance inspired by the Lion King and presented in the Theater in the Wild.

We ate at the River View Cafe which features set menu and a la carte choices inspired by Southeast Asia and China regions. We chose Wok-fried Beef Noodles and Fried Chicken with Lemon Sauce aside from the soup and the large portion of garden salad.

wok-fried beef noodles

fried chicken with lemon sauce

We also saw the Pirate of the Caribbean (only one of him) on the way out for photos with visitors and he was quite "naughty" and a bit nasty in a funny kind of way.

And we saw lots of kids on a tour with their teachers... very lucky for these kids!

It would have been more enjoyable to stay on but we had other priority schedules to follow. 

What I missed...the fireworks, of course! 

It means I have to come back for the Flights of Fantasy Parade and the Tinkerbell Illumination and the “Disney in the Stars” Fireworks.... 

But that's fine because in fact, my trip to Disney was just a SUPER PLUS and I never really included it in my itinerary!

Thank You for Visiting!

I don't intend to preempt anything or any surprises ... and I really hope I don't.


For those who just want to see Disney in pictures...I know you'll really enjoy this. 


Come to HongKong Disney Resort and just ENJOY!!!

And I had just to include this picture... see I have Mickey ears!!!...
which are actually the heads of people at my back!