HK: Disneyland

Originally posted on Jan 13 2007 on my Friendster blog.

To all those affected by the floods, my prayers are with you.

We all woke up with the same thought in our heads, "Disneyland today!" Breakfast was hurriedly consumed and we were all waiting in the lobby for the mini-bus to be brought around when someone had that fateful idea to buy some food from 7-11 first. Drat that cheesy bun...

Anyway, we were supposed to spend the later half of the day at Disneyland. First on the itinerary were two obligatory visits to a jewellery factory outlet and a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) outlet. The HK govt had stakes in both establishments, if not a controlling majority share. Our group being seasoned travellers, we recognised those places as tourist traps and were in and out of there in record time. Back in the minibus, someone asked our disinterested tour-guide why we couldn't just skip the visits to these places.

Fellow tourist 1: Eh Stanley, why do we still have to go to these places when YOU know and THEY know that we won't buy anything? Waste time-lah..

Tour-guide: *shrugs* Government owned-mah, have to support our local economy.

Fellow tourist 2: But we are on holiday here, already supporting your economy!

Tour-guide: Aiyah, you don't have to buy anything you don't want to, but we have to take you here first. If not, you might spend it all buying souvenirs at Disneyland, nothing left to spend elsewhere.

Whole bus: ..... *sweat*

Disneyland was cool... I loved the shows! They were great to watch and brought me right back to my childhood. I felt like a kid again. The rides generally catered more to the under 12 age group, with Space Mountain being the exception. However, Space Mountain wasn't all that scary to me. I think it was a little more terrifying for my brothers since there was not much head-room and my brothers are tall. They had to duck their heads for fear of losing them (literally) as the ride hurtled at top speed along the tracks, in darkness (it's space, after all) with steel bars and support beams criss-crossing mere inches overhead. The ride ended with a camera taking your picture as it rounds the last corner at high speed and stops suddenly. You can see my brothers trying to make themselves as short as possible.

I'm not quite sure what the guy in front is doing though... And my eyes were still swollen.
The day ended with the nightly fireworks show at Sleeping Beauty's castle. It was a breath-taking display, with the fireworks synchronised with the swelling orchestra music playing familiar theme songs from classic Disney cartoons. After the last fireworks exploded in a blaze or light, the crowd sighed in appreciation and there was a light smattering of applause.

As we turned away from the castle, Main Street lighted up in front of us, beckoning with cheery Christmas music. As the crowd slowly walked down Main Street, 'snow' started falling. Well, it wasn't real snow, just small flecks of foam sprayed over the crowd as we walked to the exit. Nevertheless, with the castle behind us, the gigantic Christmas tree in front of us, bright lights, cold weather and music all around and 'snow' falling, there was some sort of magic in the air. It was like a fairytale, a dream from long ago. People all around were smiling and laughing, kids were jumping up and down trying to catch 'snowflakes'and no one was in a hurry to leave. I felt like a fairytale princess in my own private kingdom.

I'm no kid nor am I a hopeless romantic. I've been to theme parks all around the world with more exciting rides, cheaper souvenirs and more plentiful seating. Heck, I've even visited Disneyland Japan (many years ago). However, Disneyland HK beats them all hands down in terms of ambience and atmosphere. If you ever get the chance to visit, I strongly reccommend staying for the fireworks, which is the last event before closing.

P.S. Do try and visit on a Tuesday or Wednesday, it won't be as crowded.