Hong Kong: Day 4 (Hong Kong Disneyland, Part 2) and Home

Read Hong Kong: Day 4 (Hong Kong Disneyland).

I read up on Hong Kong Disneyland online, and my main takeaway was, The place is huge. There's no way you can explore Disneyland's every nook and cranny in one day, so just take it easy.

Oh, and it's better to come in early and on a weekday.

Disneyland is so big that the night before, J asked me what I wanted to accomplish (he had been to HK Disneyland years ago with his family) and we actually plotted it out on Google Maps so we could see how far we had to walk from one location to the next.

(I wanted to tell our Tim Ho Wan seatmates--and the young 'uns out there--that when you're close to turning thirty? There will be days when you want to be in bed by, like, seven? And you're tired all the time? Totally. Snapchat!)

I don't quite know how Snapchat works.

We could have done more, obviously, but I want to be drinking beer by seven.

So from Hong Kong Station, you get on the line heading to Sunny Bay. From Sunny Bay you transfer to the pink line heading to the Disneyland station.

The train's destination is unmistakable.

I mean, just look at it.

There is a bag check prior to entering the theme park. This was the only bag check I experienced in Hong Kong.

Hot, fresh, delicious Vader.

 

Everything is expensive! So if on a tight budget, just eat before heading to the park.

 

I'm more interested in the shows than the rides. (Also, I no longer have the stamina/patience to wait hours in line for a ride.)

Tip: check the play times first!

I highly recommend the following:

Mickey and the Wondrous Book (Fantasyland)

Mickey Mouse and Goofy find a book and--basically this show is an excuse to include Disney's well-loved songs in one 30-minute musical. Great production value. (And I'm pretty sure three or four of the biriteras are Filipinos.) I love the Disney princesses medley. (This is a new production, so this already features Tangled, Frozen and Brave.)

The production we saw was in Cantonese. Mickey and Goofy speaking Cantonese! It was great. (Subtitles appear on the screens onstage.)

"A peek inside won't hurt!"

Festival of the Lion King (Adventureland)

aka The Lion King summarized in a 30-minute play. If there's something Disney knows how to do well, it's spectacle. This has fire dancers, aerial dancers, a spinning stage, puppets, animatronics, probably a stage manager developing an ulcer from all the cues they have to take note of.

rawr

Flights of Fantasy Parade (Main St.)

I didn't take a lot of photos because I wanted to just stand there and watch it. 

 

These cute Buzz Lightyears made my day.

 

After browsing the shops--I was surprised that there were so many shops! I thought there'd be more food places--we briefly looked into the Art of Animation displays.

Villainy!

 

 Below is the Toy Story Zoetrope in action. 

What is zoetrope?

a 19th-century optical toy consisting of a cylinder with a series of pictures on the inner surface that, when viewed through slits with the cylinder rotating, give an impression of continuous motion. 

   

 It started to pour, so we decided to head home. (And get those beers!)

 

The next day

We took the Airport Express this time.

Some airlines (not ours) already have check-in counters at the MTR Airport Station. Very convenient.

Oh, Hong Kong. We'll be back. I'm still dreaming of those steamed rice rolls.

Till next time, then.

I saw this cute silicon mug lid in one of the stores in the airport. My personal souvenir. 

Got this sticky note from HK Disneyland after buying some pasalubong. (They show you a roulette on a tablet at the cashier after you pay, and you can win small prizes.) (Not sure if there are big prizes.) (Bahay at lupa, ganyan.)

I never win anything, so adding this here for posterity's sake.

READ THE FULL HONG KONG SERIES