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Keith and Della's HK New Year - Dec 2011

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's HK New Year

Postby KeithS » Wed Jan 04, 2012 3:01 pm

How many fluffies did Della buy?
Not that many - less than ten, but we already had a lot of fluffies from back in April.

Here is a taste of the photos to come this weekend. How about a photo of the Christmas tree during the snow :D
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Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

Mel
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Re: Keith and Della's HK New Year

Postby Mel » Thu Jan 05, 2012 2:08 pm

Ohhhhhhh! -/ -/ -/
The Big Trip: DL, WDW and Disney cruise 2016

mushu mama
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Re: Keith and Della's HK New Year

Postby mushu mama » Thu Jan 05, 2012 3:40 pm

Thats a great shot Keith... must have been amazing having all that 'snow' falling.
1999- Tokyo DL, 2008- DLR/Cal Adventure, 2012-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2013-Tokyo DLand/Sea, 2014-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2015- Paris DL, 2016 - WDW/Disneycruise , upcoming - May 2018 - HongKong DL

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's HK New Year

Postby KeithS » Thu Jan 05, 2012 6:35 pm

Here's another photo for today while I prepare to do a big upload on the weekend:
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This shows a view of Toy Story Land from the Parachute Jump. One thing I like about this shot is that you can see that Disney have themed the tops of the buildings, such as the Slinky Dog ride box. They didn't need to do that, but they did anyway, and that is cool in my book :)

Also - look out for Andy's footprints on the ground, this is Andy's backyard after all!
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's HK New Year

Postby KeithS » Sun Jan 08, 2012 10:54 am

Okay - here it is, my trip report!

I'll post a separate entry for each day to make it more manageable - there will be a few photos, but hopefully I've made them small enough for everyone to download without too many problems!

29 December 2011

We left home at 9:30 for the short drive to Sydney airport. When we arrived, we went up to the Qantas Club check in counter and the girl said we had been upgraded to Premium Economy! That’s a great start for the holiday! We then went straight through immigration and security and after a short look at the shops; we headed up to the Qantas Club for an hour to relax.

Our flight was then called for boarding and at the gate, there were hundreds of people waiting, but we jumped the queue with our Premium Economy tickets and got straight on board. We had great seats, a window and aisle with a bulkhead in front of us – so there was plenty of room including our own standing place. The flight was very comfortable and before we knew it, we had arrived in Hong Kong!

We got some cash out of the ATM then caught a taxi to the hotel. After checking in and upgrading our annual passes to platinum (New Year was a block out for our gold APs) we headed up to the room (no. 6019) to find some gifts on our beds and Christmas themed towel animals everywhere! Too excited just to sit down, we headed downstairs to the shop and a look at the Christmas decorations in the lobby, which included a magnificent gingerbread house and Christmas tree.

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The door of our room

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Our room

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The Gingerbread House in the hotel lobby

We went back to the room, ordered room service (Club Sandwich) and headed off to bed, it was now after 10pm (1am Sydney time).
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's HK New Year

Postby KeithS » Sun Jan 08, 2012 10:54 am

30 December 2011

We woke up around 7am and set off for the Hollywood Hotel to grab some breakfast and take a look at the shop over there. We ate at the Hollywood and Dine as is our first day tradition, then came back to our room to prepare for a day in the park.

We arrived at the park at opening with a plan to do the railroad followed by the new Toy Story Land – but the plan went astray once we saw all the xmas decorations and then Mickey’s Toy-Riffic Street Party was about to begin, so we grabbed a spot on Main Street to watch the show which was a mini parade with a show stop. It concluded with snow on Main Street which was fun.

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The Fountain

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Arriving at the park

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Candycane Decorations

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The Christmas Tree

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Close up!

After the Toy-riffice Street Party, we then headed to the railroad station and did a complete lap. We then walked from Main Street, through Fantasyland to Toy Story Land. On the way however, we ran into Duffy at the end of Main Street, so we lined up for photos.

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Duffy!

Toy Story Land was really great fun. There is some excellent theming here and our first ride was on the RC Racer coaster. It was fun and really got the adrenalin pumping. We were going to try the other two rides, Slinky Dog Spin and the Toy Soldier Parachute Drop, but both had long waits. We decided to grab a bite to eat and found that Toy Story Land sold cone-pizzas! I grabbed two and Della had one.

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Entrance to Toy Story Land

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RC Racer - Great fun!

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This will the the other TS Land entrance once Mystic Manor is open

Mystic Manor under construction!

We then grabbed fast passes for Winnie the Pooh and Space Mountain, with a trip on Small World in-between – both fast passes had return times of around 2:30, so we headed over to Main Street to do some shopping. We got Duffy clothes and pins.

We went and did our Pooh ride, but when we got to Space Mountain, the ride broke down so we never rode it. Instead, we went back to Main Street to watch the Parade followed by hot chocolates.

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Parade

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Princess Aurora

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Minnie and Goofy

Back to Toy Story Land to try the two rides we missed, but it was packed over there, we did buy Slinky-dog neck pillows though, they are a lot of fun!

From there, we checked out a couple of more shops and bought a Christmas hat for Della before watching the Toy-Riffic Street Party again. The tree was lit up now, so Della got me a Christmas hat and we lined up for photos with Mickey and Minnie in their Christmas gear.

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Mickey and Minnie

Following the photos, we grabbed a spot on Main Street to watch the Castle Illumination ceremony which begins with lighting the tree, then travels down Main Street to light the castle – it was great as Mickey and Minnie came out on a huge sled near the Christmas Tree, then cast members carrying large snowflakes stood in a line down Main Street and their flakes illuminated one by one until the castle also lit up. It was awesome and it snowed again too.

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The Castle after lighting

We then headed back to Fantasyland to have dinner in the Royal Banquet Hall. They had a traditional Christmas buffet which turkey, beef, ham, salads, soups, desserts, fruit and lots more. It was very nice.

After dinner, we headed down Main Street to the photo shop and picked up our pictures – we finished with just 15 minutes left before the fireworks display which is always brilliant. After that, the park closed and we took a leisurely stroll back to the hotel.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's HK New Year

Postby KeithS » Sun Jan 08, 2012 10:55 am

31 December 2011

We got up early this morning so we could head to the 7:30am session at the Enchanted Garden character breakfast. We sat next to another Australian lady Amanda with her daughter April who we chatted with throughout the morning and ran into a number of times in the park. We ate the usual bacon, eggs, hash browns etc, and finished just in time for the characters appearance. We had Mickey, Goofy, Pluto and Daisy, and they were all in their Christmas gear! It was terrific fun.

After breakfast, we headed to the park for rope drop. As we were going through the entrance tunnel, I heard someone beside me talking about going to Toy Story Land, and weirdly, I knew the voice so I turned to look, and sure enough, it was an old colleague of Della and mine from the Commonwealth Bank – Trina! We all laughed and took photos with her and her family, it was great to catch up as we hadn’t seen each other in years – and here we were in Hong Kong Disneyland!

Della and I headed to the Hub and after rope drop, we lined up for photos with Chip and Dale in their Christmas gear. Then we headed straight to Toy Story Land to ride Slinky Dog. We ran into Trina again and she asked us to take her daughter Jasmine on the RC Racer ride as they were all too scared, so we were happy to go along with her. Then we went to the parachute drop which was fun too.

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Early morning with Chip 'n' Dale

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On the parachute jump

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You get a good view from up high

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Slinky Dog Spin is also a fun kids ride

After Toy Story, we ran into Amanda and April from breakfast who told us that she’d managed to find a cast member who would pull a Christmas Mickey and Minnie from the window display, so Della and I headed to the Main Street shop to ask for the same. We left our name and hotel room number with a cast member and a request for the Mickey and Minnie, as well as a gingerbread man – all these items had been previously sold out, so only the window display remained. They said they'd call us if they could get them out overnight.

After visiting the shops, we headed into Tomorrowland and went for a ride on Buzz Lightyear. We also got a Fastpass for Space Mountain which was for after lunch. We then went into the Starliner Diner for a bite to eat and ran into Trina and her family again, so we sat down together and had a good catch up.

We then went to Space Mountain to use our Fastpass and while we were in the queue, it broke down again, but this time it was only temporary and they got it working pretty quickly so we were able to ride it.

From there, we headed back to Fantasyland to ride Della’s favourite – the teacups. We then took a side trip through Adventureland before doing Della’s other favourite – Jewellery Shopping!

To help me recover from the jewellery store, we headed up to the Tomorrowland parade corridor so I could photograph the Princess float in the Flights of Fantasy Parade.

We then headed through Adventureland and back to the Main Street shops before going to the Christmas tree in Main Street to get some photos of the xmas stockings around its base. We then grabbed a spot in Main Street to watch the Toy-Riffic Street Party.

After the parade, we headed up to the new Toy Story Land to see it lit up at night – it looked really good. We then walked back to Main Street via Fantasyland and Tomorrowland to view the Christmas Illumination ceremony. After the ceremony, we went to dinner at the bakery in Main Street and sat on the porch of 320 Main Street to watch all the people pass us by.

We then grabbed a good spot in the Hub for the final fireworks display of 2011, followed by the walk through the snow down Main Street and a return to the hotel.

When we got back to the hotel, we found party hats, party horns, masks, and an invitation to the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel countdown party which was beginning at 10:30pm. We got ourselves ready and headed down to the lobby where there was already a large crowd. Princess Aurora and her Prince were there to start with. Then Mickey and Minnie came out in their masquerade ball gear. We also had members of the Disneyland band entertain us right up to the countdown. After 2012 was announced, a DJ took over and the crowd all started dancing, led by a couple of Chinese guys who had the disco moves going! It was hilarious and we had a great time. We went back to the room around 12:45.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's HK New Year

Postby KeithS » Sun Jan 08, 2012 10:55 am

1 January 2012

We woke and and ordered a room service breakfast and during that time, Gwenda from the Disney shop in Main Street USA called us up to tell us they had gotten the Mickey, Minnie and Gingerbread Man out of the front window for us! We were planning on going straight to Hong Kong today, but we started the day in Disneyland to pick up the fluffies. We arrived just as the Toy-Riffic Street Party was beginning and as it was a beautiful blue-sky day, we stood near the Duffy parade stop for photos and the snow. We then headed into the shops and we asked to see Gwenda. Gwenda came out with a plastic bag containing the fluffies. She explained that the Gingerbread Man originally contained marshmallow which had been destroyed so he could go on display. As a result, she said she couldn’t sell him to us, but that she would give him to us for free! We were so excited, and she said it was very rare for them to ever give something incomplete away. Gwenda was fantastic and she also gave us Duffy stickers so Della was almost crying by the time we left the shop!

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Street Party Duffy

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Street Party Minnie

We had hot chocolate on Main Street, before heading out of the park and catching a train into Hong Kong and Causeway Bay.

Once at Causeway Bay, we headed to the Swarovski store, however they didn’t have a big selection, so we left empty handed. But that wasn’t the case at our next destination – the Sogo Department Store! Della bought some good loot, including new Skechers Shape-up shoes, a Britto Minnie Mouse and Nici fluffy. The store was pretty amazing, over 10 floors of stuff and it appeared to be a Japanese department store.

After Sogo, we found another cool Trendyland store – similar to the one we found in Kowloon back in April, but we didn’t buy anything this time. We then had a late lunch at McDonalds before locating another Swarovski shop. This one had more stock, so Della picked up the Cheshire Cat pendant and the Kris bear on a pillow that she’d been missing from her set.

All shopped out and with sore feet, we headed back to Disneyland on the subway. We dropped off our shopping at the hotel and hit the park with Buzzard!

We took a series of pictures of Buzzard all around the park before heading to watch the Christmas Illumination ceremony. We then decided to complete some Fantasyland rides as it was quiet. We hit the Carousel first, followed by Dumbo, and then headed over to Tomorrowland to fly the Orbitron and Buzz Lightyear. We also took Buzzard for a ride on the Jungle Cruise in the dark. It was great fun in the dark as we’d never done the Hong Kong version that late before.

We then got a sitting spot for the fireworks right in front of the castle, and Della and Buzard really enjoyed the show together! We then had a slow walk through the snow with Buzzard back down Main Street, getting lots of snow photos on the way.

Once back at the hotel, we went to the new Walt’s Café in the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and had a meal there before returning to our room for the night.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's HK New Year

Postby KeithS » Sun Jan 08, 2012 10:56 am

2 January 2012

Got up early this morning for another character breakfast and ran into April and her mum Amanda again. We chatted with them and saw Mickey, Pluto and Goofy at the breakfast. We also ran into an American lady named Rachel who was with her husband – they are Disney travellers, spending many months each year at Disney Parks following their retirement. She was very interesting to talk to.

After breakfast, we headed to the hotel shop (where else!) and bought another bunch of items – this always happens on the last day! We headed off to the park for opening, and our first mission of the day was to go over to Autopia. There was always a long queue there, so it was best to do it at opening. We got on easy and after our ride, we headed straight over to Space Mountain again as it was a walk on.

After Space Mountain, we got in line for The Golden Mickeys – and we were second in line for the first show of the day, so we were able to get right down the front. We’d forgotten how good a show this was! Once it was over we headed straight over the Mickey’s PhilharMagic and sat in the back row. We then went for a walk through of Adventureland before heading to the Starliner Diner for lunch.

After lunch, we went to the front of the park to get some photos at the Mickey flower garden before going back up Main Street and watching the Disneyland Band perform, and we got photos with them too. We then went to do some jewellery shopping. Still in Main Street, we headed across the road for some vinylmations and other gifts which we put in our locker.

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The Disneyland Band

We headed over to Tarzan’s Treehouse to check out the construction at the new park lands. We were amazed at how much progress had been made since we were last there in April. Following Tarzan, we headed over to the parade route near Tomorrowland to grab a spot for the parade.

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Grizzly Peak under construction

After the parade, we did a final walk through of Toy Story Land and Della tried out the frozen yogurt which was very tasty – and included Mickey sprinkles. We both agreed that Toy Story Land was a winner and its theming was terrific.

We did a walk past the Liki Tikis before finding a spot in Main Street for the Toy-Riffic Street Party. Of course, we sat right beside the Duffy parade spot, and he constantly threw kisses to a very excited girl – Della! I should also make mention of the street elves who were a constant in Main Street during our stay, they were all fantastic and we had a lot of fun with them. Here they are:

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Gingerbread Elf

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Candycane Elves

After the Toy-Riffic party, we walked to the castle and had a photo taken by a Disney cameraman. Then we went to Fantasyland and caught the railroad back to Main Street to watch the Christmas illumination ceremony. While waiting, we ran into another Australian family from Brisbane who were visiting Hong Kong and a Disney Park for the first time. The illumination ceremony is great as it ends with snow on Main Street, and Della and I took the walk through the snow and the Castle to the Royal Banquet Hall for dinner.

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The Castle Illumination Float

After dinner, we went and had a look at Castle photo we got before heading up Main Street to get a spot for the fireworks for the final time. We then did our final walk down Main Street in the snow, headed out the gates, and took a leisurely stroll back to the hotel via the promenade. We finished the night with the traditional loot photo, and packing our suitcases!


3 January 2012

Got up early this morning to get ready for departure. After showering, we did a final check of the room before wheeling our bags down to the lobby. After checking out, we got a taxi to the airport and sat in the Qantas Club having breakfast.

And now, we are sitting in a Qantas Airbus A330. Time to Destination – another 5 hours 40 minutes!

THE END!

So there you go - that's our daily journal from this trip!

We had great fun and although it was only four days at the park, it felt like a nice long overseas holiday and I'd recommend it to anyone over New Year.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

sandie
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Re: Keith and Della's HK New Year

Postby sandie » Sun Jan 08, 2012 2:40 pm

Awesome trip report - with all the new additions I am getting the itch to go to Hong Kong (finally)

In April 2014 Eloise is going to stay with my friend Jeannette near DC for 2 weeks and Peter is talking about going over too and doing a two week Wild Hogs trip with his firend so it wouldn't be fair for John to get nothing........ now to decide between Hong Kong and Tokyo.................................... :roll:
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Re: Keith and Della's HK New Year

Postby churros » Sun Jan 08, 2012 2:51 pm

Hooray thanks Keith - a fantastic trip!

mushu mama
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Re: Keith and Della's HK New Year

Postby mushu mama » Sun Jan 08, 2012 3:29 pm

Great Trip report.... loved the photos... no loot photo this time? :shock:
1999- Tokyo DL, 2008- DLR/Cal Adventure, 2012-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2013-Tokyo DLand/Sea, 2014-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2015- Paris DL, 2016 - WDW/Disneycruise , upcoming - May 2018 - HongKong DL

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's HK New Year

Postby KeithS » Sun Jan 08, 2012 5:37 pm

Great Trip report.... loved the photos... no loot photo this time? :shock:
Sorry Lisa - I didn't include it - here it is!

EDIT: I've temporairly removed this photo as there are some gifts on there that need censoring until they're handed out :D
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

mushu mama
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Re: Keith and Della's HK New Year

Postby mushu mama » Sun Jan 08, 2012 7:44 pm

Wooo.... now thats what I'm talking about...

Whoa ! some quality loot there... the loot shot is always my favourite. -/

Thanks for that, looks like you guys brought home some great mementos.
1999- Tokyo DL, 2008- DLR/Cal Adventure, 2012-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2013-Tokyo DLand/Sea, 2014-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2015- Paris DL, 2016 - WDW/Disneycruise , upcoming - May 2018 - HongKong DL

Mel
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Re: Keith and Della's HK New Year

Postby Mel » Mon Jan 09, 2012 10:36 am

Great trip report Keith! Top photos too :)
The Big Trip: DL, WDW and Disney cruise 2016


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