Well, I made it to HKD for my second trip. First, this was bittersweet. I was married 6 days earlier (March 28th) with Isabel, and was on my way home from a long job in China. But I was also using the trip as a way for relaxing a little bit before getting ready to take my 16 hour flight from Hong Kong to Newark, New Jersey and prepare myself for the 24 hours of travel from hotel to home! So on April 2nd, I got myself up, went to the train station and was in HKD in 25 minutes.
First I took a little different route than I did last time. This time I started in the Olympic station from the Monkok area and went through 4 stops in before transferring to the Disney train at laceName w:st="on">SunnylaceName> laceType w:st="on">BaylaceType>. Cost was $20 HK Dollars ($2.56) for a one way ticket. I made my way through the transfer, and got on the beautiful trains on my way to the park. Arriving at the park, I stopped and took photos of the surfing Mickey fountain, and then proceeded to wait in line for tickets for the park (the park was just opening at 10:00 AM as I arrived). I waited for 5 minutes or so, paid my $295 HK Dollars ($37.77), and went through the security check and entered the park through the right tunnel!! My second visit to HKD!
I had noticed that Mickey and Minnie were in the center gazebo in town square for photos. This provided me a good opportunity to get a photo with the big cheeses before the crowds got too big. So I waited about 35 minutes (mostly because I was behind a group of children for a field trip that I thought would get single photos got individual photos). Oh well, unfazed and happy with my photo, I am off to the first new ride, Autopia. One of my questions from my last trip report was answered. The steering wheel is on the right hand side. The wait was 30 minutes, but I made my way through the ride, and have to say the course if beautifully landscaped, and nicely done (the layout was done in feng shui). While getting on the ride, I noticed the clouds over the castle were a little dark, but knowing that the day before was cloudy, I didn't expect any rain. So I make my way to laceName w:st="on">SpacelaceName> laceType w:st="on">MountainlaceType>. I decide to get a fast pass, and also take a ride (wait time for single rider is 5 minutes). The ride (and soundtrack) is very similar to the updated laceName w:st="on">SpacelaceName> laceType w:st="on">MountainlaceType> in Disneyland. A nice ride!!
After the ride, I come out, and notice it was pouring rain outside. This is about 12:00 noon, and it just started. I wait for shelter by the exit at space mountain, and it rains and rains harder. There is a small shop after space mountain, but I didn't notice any rain ponchos. So, I decide to brave the rain, and try to see the 12:30 Golden Mickeys show!
I arrive around 12:15 the cast members were generous enough to let people enter the storybook theatre. I am early, so I take a seat in the back, center stage, hoping to take photos. You are allowed to make photos without a flash. Great, great, show. Honestly, the best show I've ever seen at any Disney park. I put it ahead of the Mulan show in Paris, and the Aladdin show in DCA. The show is done in Cantonese, but they have screens with Mandarin and English subtitles.
I'm hungry after the show, and it's still raining. The nearest restaurants in fantasyland were the royal banquet hall, and Clopin's Festival of foods. I chose Festival of Foods, without knowing what they had to eat. So I got some duck and rice and some tea for $40 HK Dollars ($5.12). Not bad, and I venture out in the rain to the festival of the Lion King show in Adventureland. Along the way, I see that no one is waiting for the teacups, so I cannot resist!! Riding the teacups has always been one of my joys from the parks. I still make it to the show in time, trekking through some heavy rains! Festival of the Lion King is very similar to the show done at Animal Kingdom, with the exception of being on a smaller stage. The ending is spectacular, mostly due to the stage which spins around and shows you all the characters! Very nice!
Ok, 2:30 in the afternoon, and still raining hard. I'm very near to the Jungle Cruise (which is still running), so I decide to wait for a boat. I am thinking that this will be interesting in the rain, as I have never been on the jungle cruise while it was raining. I wait for 15 minutes or so, and am ready for the next boat. Then a flash of lightning, and some hard, hard rains. The ride is immediately suspended, and all the guests are allowed to stay in the queue for shelter (although, I decided to leave). Knowing it is impossible for the parade to take place at 3:00, I make a dash for Mickey's Philharmagic. I catch the show, and come outside, and notice the raining has become a small sprinkle. However, the park now is virtually empty. 3:15 in the afternoon, nothing too much going on. So seeing that the next English show for Stitch encounter is 4:00 and seeing no lines, I decide to ride BLAB and laceName w:st="on">SpacelaceName> laceType w:st="on">MountainlaceType>, and then come back for the stitch encounter. I ride both rides, and come back around 3:40, get in line for stitch encounter, and notice that they switched the sign for the show--- from English to Cantonese, and the next show is at 4:30. In other words, they took all the people they were going to take for the 4:00 show in English, and they only way I could see the show was to choose Cantonese. Ok, no big deal, I'm thinking Stitch encounter is like the old Alien Encounter at DW (now called the Stitch Encounter). I will wait for this show... To my surprise, the Stitch Encounter is just like Talk Time with Crush!! Oops, completely in Cantonese, and not so enjoyable. It looked like the audience was having fun asking questions and interacting with Stitch! Oh well!!
I'm out of the show, and make another quick ride on BLAB and laceName w:st="on">SpacelaceName> laceType w:st="on">MountainlaceType>. Seeing that it is still raining, but not thundering and lightning, I walk over to Jungle Cruise to see if it is open!! It is!! I am enjoying the ride, but halfway through the ride, my camcorder gets the "dew" light. I haven't seen this yet, so I don't know how to deal with it. At this point, I am hoping my camcorder would be ok for the fireworks, as this was really the only reason I brought the camcorder along. My last visit to HKD I was able to make some videos, but I lost the tape from the fireworks. Anyways, the Jungle Cruise is nice, and the ending has a nice battle between a fire god and a water god!!
So I decide to walk back through adventureland to Fantasy land, and ride all the rides available--- Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, and the Carousel. Then I walk through laceName w:st="on">FantasylaceName> laceType w:st="on">GardenslaceType> and see Donald Duck (done up in a Chinese shirt) and have him and get a photo of me and "Isabel"! Yes, Isabel. I take out a photo so she can be in a photo of us, and Donald is a saint, and holds up the photo and does 3 different poses with it. The characters were so great, and this was such a pleasant surprise!!
So it's about 6:00 PM, and I am hungry again. Knowing that the park closes at 8:00 (well, fireworks are scheduled for 8). I decide to give myself half an hour for shopping (7:15-7:45), and make my way to the Plaza Inn for another sit down dinner. This time I have some shrimp fried rice and some Mandarin (sweet and sour) pork and a coke. This restaurant is done as a traditional Chinese restaurant, and the dining experience was very pleasant. Cost was a little more expensive ($138 HKD or $17.67), but the food was very good. I still had 25 minutes left before my 7:15 shopping excursion (it was 6:50), so I decided to ride some more rides. In that time I rode BLAB (3rd time), laceName w:st="on">SpacelaceName> laceType w:st="on">MountainlaceType> (4th time), and the Orbitron (the Astro Orbiter, but with Flying Saucers!). Raining had come down to a sprinkle, and I was about dried off!! I made my time almost to the second (I looked down on my watch and it was 7:15). I was worried about the fireworks (seeing the the visitors had dwindled down to only a couple thousand), and it was a little windy. I did some shopping (still disappointed in the merchandise), and then stood for the fireworks. Took my camcorder out, and OOPS, the "dew" indicator was still on. This upset me a little, but then I remembered my digital camera takes video. So I pulled out my trusty Sony and took some video. Nice fireworks, with some spinning "pinwheel effects". After the show, I took my tripod out and took some night photos of things (Castle, and Tomorrowland globe!). A train (MTR) ride back to Olympic station, and I make it home, 35 minutes later (around 9:00 PM).
So, from my count 21 attractions. 2 sit down meals...
And looking over the map, and my two visits, the only thing I am missing from the park is the Train Ride around the park (which itself was parked after the first couple journey's around the park, due to the rain). All and all it rained very heavily from 12:00 to 6:30 or so. The weather itself wasn't a big obstacle since I knew my way around the park (the nice things about the Magic Kingdoms is that they are basically use the same layout in all their parks), and many people were chased away (this made the park look abandoned!). My feet were completely soaked, as they were for my first visit last June. I am convinced that there is some sort of drainage problem there. The water just stays in different puddles throughout the park. As a general tip, maybe I should bring some water shoes next time!!!
Some general things I noticed.
• It must be vacation season in Australia, since most of the people I talked to who were not Chinese were from Australia. Everyone seemed happy with the park.
• Construction of a new ride beside the Storybook Theatre in Fantasyland. This is a big building. Maybe It’s a Small World is coming to Hong Kong
Disneyland?
• The three new attractions were added for Tomorrowland. The UFO Zone is a splash zone, where you dodge robots as they shoot water at each other. Children still wanted to get wet when it’s raining!
• I also noticed that the fountain in front of the park has a small “show” at night where they play music and change the colors of the water. Very nice!