Hong Kong
Our flights and the layover in Singapore were uneventful. Not surprisingly the Singapore Kris Lounge in Singapore is super nice. Ben and I enjoyed a quick breakfast in the lounge before continuing on to Hong Kong. I noticed something fun on our flight to HK. Putting a mirror in the overhead bin is brilliant. Not all of us are 6'4" like Jason or 6'7" like Ben, so this mirror comes in very handy to make sure all of one's stuff is out of the bin.
We have a decent amount of stuff so we decided to just take a cab from the airport to the Conrad downtown on Hong Kong Island. Watching the guy pack up the cab was great. I was curious about his trunk packing until I saw his trump card, the bungee cord.
We arrived at the hotel a little before 2PM. Check in isn’t technically until 3PM but our room thankfully was ready. We settled into the room and before we knew it my parents and Yi-Chen came calling. I went down to say hi to them while Ben took a shower. Ben, my parents and Yi-Chen then decided to grab lunch at the hotel buffet while I took a shower. I then ran up to the executive lounge to grab a quick snack and drink before meeting the family to go to Hong Kong Disneyland.
Hong Kong Disneyland is probably experienced as well, if not better, in pictures than it is in words. The few elements worth mentioning specifically are as follows. The metro system in Hong Kong is notoriously great. When Disney made it known it wanted a park in HK, a dedicated line on the metro was created. The cars are not surprisingly Disney themed.
The metro station at Disneyland HK.
The path from the metro station to the park.
The actual entry to Disneyland HK.
The castle in this park is puny. Ben’s brother James had mentioned this but no one thinks a Disney castle is actually going to be small. This castle is straight up small. Confusingly so.
Where is the castle?
I can still barely see it!
HK Disney has a really neat area called Toy Story Land (TSL). We knew the park closed at 8PM but no one told us that the rides in Toy Story Land were closing at 6:30PM. This was a real bummer because we would have started in TSL. Instead we were only able to take pictures of the neat scenery. Minus the castle, I think HK Disneyland is one of the more visually pleasing parks I’ve visited. It has endless photo spots but that makes sense. Good business plays to its audience and we are in Asia after all.
Our favorite ride was Big Grizzly Mountain Coaster. It’s sort of like Big Thunder Mountain in the States. We also enjoyed Space Mountain although it was quite different than Disneyland (CA) and The Magic Kingdom. For one, I found the ride to be considerably brighter. Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom is dark. You can’t see the turns coming. You could see the turns coming on this ride. The car itself is also different. As opposed to sitting single file behind each other, people sit two-by-two. All in, it was still a fun ride. The whole family (Mom included!) had fun riding/playing the Buzz Lightyear ride, as did the two fisted grandma below.
It doesn't matter where in the world you are, Disney is tiring.
The exterior of Space Mountain.
The interior of Space Mountain. If you look closely, you can see the two person cars.
I want to be like this lady when I am old.
At 8PM the rides in the park closed and the fireworks show started. After the show I wanted to do a little shopping on main-street to look for a Christmas ornament. I was pleased with what I found. By 9:30PM we were back in the magical Disney metro car heading for downtown.
We ate dinner in a random little Asian like diner back near my parent’s hotel. The food was fine and the service was hilariously angry. The waiters basically just threw your plates on the table. Most of the communication was done by Yi-Chen in Mandarin, so even hours later I’m still not 100% what happened at the meal. That also may have something to do with the fact that I’m tired from a long day of travel. Speaking of being tired, Mom, Dad, Yi-Chen, Ben and I are now back at our hotels and it’s time for bed. More of Hong Kong to come tomorrow!
Until then,
Katy
Metro Ad of the Day:
Mom and Dad were calling this guy "baby John".
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