Friday, December 3, 2010

Hong Kong - Day 7 (Part 1)

5 November 2010 - Friday
Finally, today is the Disneyland Day. But I'm going to split this day into 2 parts. So here is part 1.

We are checking out from Lee Garden Guest House today as we will be transferring over to Disney's Hollywood Hotel. Two things to be happy about. One is get to go to Disneyland. Another is to change to a nicer hotel. Haha.
However, we could see dark clouds above us which sort of dampen my spirits a little.

Before heading out, we decided to grab some breakfast at the 7-11 just opposite our guesthouse. Hubby had been eyeing this 7-11 store for quite some time, wanting to try out their snacks, after tasting the tasty 'Woon Chai Chi aka Fake Sharksfin's Soup' on Day 6.

Ordered some microwaved beehoon and siew mai. Then 2 char-siu paos for me. And a cup of hot milk tea. All for HK$19.

The beehoon tasted like crap. haha. Pao was OK. Siew Mai was OK. Milk tea was normal. But it did got us full though.

We then lugged our luggage to the MTR station. As it was drizzling, the difficult part was to hold an umbrella on one hand and pull our luggages on the other. Pulling our luggages on the tarred road was not east ok? Luckily, the MTR exit was near our guesthouse. Once at the MTR Exit and walking down that flight of stairs, the rest was easy.

MTR station has tiles which made rolling the luggage a smooth ride. And there were lifts, so don't need to take the escalators.

We then took the MTR at Tsim Sha Tsui Station and got off at Lai King Station. Then transferred to Tung Chung Line and got off at Sunny Bay Station.

Then we took the Disneyland Resort Line to Disneyland. You won't miss it. The MTR windows were in Mickeys!

Even the handrails were all Mickey!



Upon arrival, see if you can see this little thing at at the steel pillars 'Disneyland Resort Station'

Walk out the station exit and on ur right will be the Disneyland Park.
But first, we needed to turn left to get to our Disney's Hollywood Hotel.

Walked to the Disneyland Bus Station.

Took the free Shuttle Bus, which go through the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, Disney's Hollywood Hotel and the Disneyland Park.

After about 5 minutes, we were there - Disney's Hollywood Hotel.

Once we got off the bus, the hotel staff immediately asked us to leave our luggage there. They gave us a tag and assured us that our luggage are safe with them and they would send it to our room once we checked in. We were kinda impressed.

We walked into the hotel and saw so many people in the lobby. And the queue to check-in was so long. After about twenty minutes, it was finally our turn. They told us that room was not ready yet since it was still early but they would check us in in their system and give us 2 key cards. When we return later, we just go to the counter and get our key cards activated!

We then purchased the Disneyland Park Stay2Day tickets for HK$398 each. This enabled us to go to the park for 2 days. Also got our Guide Map and Times Guide from the Hotel.
(I dunno why but this freaking photo refused to rotate to the correct position!)


WARNING!!! DISNEYLAND PARK SPOILER IS ABOUT TO BEGIN.
PLS DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN TO HONG KONG DISNEYLAND!


Disneyland Park Hours: 10:00am to 7:00pm (on 5 Nov 2010)
Adult 1-Day Ticket Price: HK$350
Child 1-Day Tickey Price: HK$250
Adult Stay2Day Ticket Price : HK$398 (only avail if you stay at Disneyland Hotel or Disney's Hollywood Hotel)

After that, we took the shuttle bus to the Disneyland Park!

The moment you walk through the walkway, you could hear Disney's music blaring on its speakers. It makes me feel so happy. It makes me feel like a kid again!


This was what greeted us - Mickey surfing on the fountain.

We then walked towards the entrance.

There was a person checking our bags (check for what I don't know!...weapons? :P )
And because ours was a Stay2Day tickets, we had to scan our fingerprint on to that scanner so that we could return tomorrow or anytime. Wow!!!!!!

Love this photo. So disneyland. Hehe.

Besides Main Street USA, Hong Kong Disneyland only has 3 lands - Adventureland, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland.

We walked around the main street U.S.A but did not take any photos because it was raining.
We then decided to start exploring Adventureland first. We hurried over to watch the Festival Of The Lion King 12noon show.

The Lion King has always been one of my favourite cartoon movie.
The animated movie 'The Lion King' was being transformed into a theatrical extravaganza. The heroic journey of Simba from cub to king was staged in a show so full of color, music and Disney Magic!

You could really see the grandness in this show. The people. The costumes. The props. Amazing!





Next was Tarzan Island. You need to take a raft-like boat over to the island. As it was raining, less people were queuing up, so queue line was short. I guess this was the only good thing about it raining.

I am not a big fan of Tarzan, but I was also impressed by this island.

Disney's tarzan animated classic comes wildly to life on this island outpost. You could explore inventive gadgets and gizmos that make this towering tree, with its scenic overlooks.


Below right photo of Shu-Min, noticed that box on top. It is actually baby Tarzan, when being left in the jungle. You could hear baby Tarzan's cries as you walk along the suspension bridge.


These are Jane's stuff - bringing modernity to Tarzan's jungle home.

Some things are so almost perfectly done that kept me in awe until now. Look at this elephant. It looks so real with the hairs and all. Have you ever seen a fake elephant that looks so real?



This is what the Tarzan Island looks like from across.

Then we bought some snacks from the carts.
Corn on Cob and Chicken Pie.
I like the Corn on Cob. Really flavourful.

Chicken Pie was normal. But nice to see Mickey in it! ;)

Next was Jungle River Cruise.

This is where we cruised the classic river voyage of adventure.

This was where we braved mysterious jungles with surprises around every bend in the river. We saw animals as elephants, zebras, giraffes, hippos, cobras and orangutans.





And there was even an epic battle of fire and water.
Mind it, it was real fire. I could feel the heat from the boat.

What made this Jungle River Cruise fun was that our skipper (master of the boat) was so great, although her English was kind of funny. She made the whole cruise so much fun with her wisecracking jokes and suspense.

We then walked about and saw this lovely place full of coloured lights.

That was about all in Adventureland.

Then we walked over to Fantasyland, my favourite among the three lands.
Saw this picturesque landscaped garden.

First stop at Fantasyland was to watch the PhilharMagic show.

This is a definite must-see show. In PhilharMagic, Donald Duck brings you to relive the most memorable moment of Disney's animated films in a hilarious, eye-popping 3-D show!

It's kinda like 4-D i think because you could really smell the food of Lumiere and Cogsworth's 'Be My Guest' song in Beauty and the Beast. And you could really feel the water splashing.
And you really, really felt like touching Flounder that swam so near to you.

It was the best 3-D show I've ever been! A show not to be missed!


After the awesome 3-D show, we took a ride at the Fantasyland Railroad Station. We went aboard this charming, old-fashioned locomotive for a relaxing ride as we took a scenic route around the park.

The train was designed in such a way that everybody faces to one side of the train, so that the train just rolled along the park and everybody see the same view.

This train stops at all 3 lands and also the Main Street USA. At some places, I find that there is no view at all. I did not really enjoy the ride. Just that it is a great way to get to another park if your legs are tired.


Min then spotted the Dumbo Flying Elephant Ride and she wanted to ride that. Hubby did not want to be flying in the rain and I am not a keen person to go on these type of rides that go round and round and round. Makes me dizzy. So only Min queued for this ride.

While waiting for Min, we spotted some food carts again and stopped to have some snacks because we were hungry.

Had a Soy Chicken Wing (HK$40). It was quite a big piece. But taste was rather bland. Not worth the money I think.

After Min finished the ride, we stopped for lunch. Ordered the Spice Fried Chicken Noodle Soup (HK$48). It was a big bowl. Delicious really. Or maybe because I was hungry.


Took a few photos of Fantasy Land.

Then it was time to join The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

Alctually I don't watch much of Winnie the Pooh cartoons, so I was not too keen on this ride. And the queue for this ride was long, because this was an indoor ride.

We rode along in Pooh's Hunny Pot and was plunged into the middle of a blustery day.
We bounced along with Tigger and floated through a floody place with Piglet.
We even entered the mysterious place of Heffalumps and Woozles.



We had a nice ride. I was pleasantly surprised.

Next on the show - The Golden Mickey's Show at Disney's Storybook Theatre.

This show was all about the glitz and glamour of a Hollywood tribute. From the stroll down of the red carpet and the glamorous extravaganza of a show.

This grand, star-studded gala celebrates great Disney classics like Mulan,

...Disney-Pixar's Toy Story,

...Little Mermaid,

...Beauty and the Beast,

and many more such as and Lilo and Stitch.
This moving musical experience reminds us all to believe in the power of our dreams.

One thing though, this whole show is in Cantonese (the host speaks in Cantonese). But there are English subtitles flashing at the sides of the stage.

I love the Sleeping Beauty Castle. It looks so majestic.

And so Disney-like. It makes me think of all the 'happily-ever-after' tales.

Walk through the castle....

This is the other side of the Sleeping Beauty Castle.

On the side of the castle is the Snow White Grotto.
All the seven dwarfs are among the lush landscaping. They are Happy, Doc, Sleepy, Bashful, Grumpy, Sneezy and Dopey.

And this is Snow White's Wishing Well.

'It's A Small World' is in every Disneyland I think. It is something of a symbol of Disneyland.



It was really pretty and beautiful inside. As we cruised along the rice, we managed to take some photos. Everything looks so detailed and delicate.










You can see the Disney's characters inside. Such as Little Mermaid and Flounder in 'Sea World'.

And Lilo and Stitch in the beach in Hawaii.


And Aladdin and Jasmine flying in the Magic Carpet in The Middle East.

It's really beautiful, isn't it?

We skipped the Mad Hatter Tea Cups ride because all of us were not keen to be spun 'til dizzy.
We also skipped the character photo-taking at the Fantasy Gardens. Saved it for tomorrow when we have more time.

Meanwhile, we decided to grab dinner.
Had the Beef Brisket in Noodles (HK$40) and it was good.

This super long 1-foot gigantic sausage with two different sauces was delicious!

After dinner, we went for the Stitch Encounter. (ooopsss.....forgotten to take photos)
We entered Space Traffic Control for a close encounter with the galaxy's most mischievous little alien – Stitch!
Well, Stitch took over this tour of the stars, so things were a little wild!

The amazing thing was that we actually talked and played with Stitch. Yes, we answered Stitch as a crowd and he replied! We helped Experiment 626, which is Stitch, to escape. We shouted to Stitch where to go - left, right, which colour box to enter, etc. It was kinda fun.
No wonder they said 'It's never the same show twice!'

After the show, we were lucky enough to spot Stitch nearby and since the queue was not too long, we queued for a photo with Stitch.

We then walked towards Tomorrowland for some photos. However, we decided that we would only explore Tomorrowland the next day because we wanted to secure a nice spot to watch the 7pm fireworks show.



Walked through Tomorrowland to get to Main Street USA. Took some photos at the Gingerbread Village along the way.

Since there was still a good half an hour before 7pm, hubby bought popcorn to munch while waiting. This was a big mistake because after that, hubby could feel his throat a little sore.



We then secured the front place to watch the fireworks.

At 7pm sharp, Disney In The Stars Fireworks began.
Lights at the Sleeping Beauty Castle dimmed.
My Canon point-and-shot camera fireworks mode was useless without a tripod. Gave me these electric-fying photos. Hehe.


I switched it back to normal mode and although colour was a bit off, it was better. Hehe.

Amazing fireworks exploded to the masterfully choreographed sounds of classic Disney music. It was an awesome ~15 minutes fireworks display.



Watch the short clips of the wonderful Disneys In The Stars Fireworks.


After that, it was bye-bye to Disneyland Park for the day.
End of Hong Kong - Day 7 (Part 1). Will blog more about the Disney's Hollywood Hotel in Part 2.


Hong Kong - Day 1
Hong Kong - Day 2
Hong Kong - Day 3
Hong Kong - Day 4
Hong Kong - Day 5
Hong Kong - Day 6
Hong Kong - Day 7 (Part 1)
Hong Kong - Day 7 (Part 2)

2 comments:

chiaoju said...

i love it's a small world. it wasn't at HK Disneyland until last year i think. somehow, i had to agree that it truly is the happiest cruise that ever sailed. =)

tanshuyin said...

oohh...so the small world is a new attraction. i like it. it's really very very beautiful.

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