Postby KeithS » Tue Mar 25, 2014 12:17 am
Day 2 - 24 March 2014 - Hong Kong Disneyland
We were up at 6am this morning, even though the park didn’t open until 10am. I guess we were still on Sydney time. We took it easy and decided to have breakfast at the Hollywood and Dine café in the Hollywood Hotel down the road. We walked over to the hotel and had a look at the site where the third hotel is to be built but there is no sign of activity there yet – not even any white stakes in the ground etc.
After eating breakfast, we went to the shop in the Hollywood Hotel before heading out the back of the hotel for the walk along the waterside back to our hotel. There is a lot of construction going on out the back of the Hollywood Hotel, but you can’t tell what it is yet. It is a big area, so maybe a DVC wing, or perhaps some backstage offices for Disneyland in case they want to free up land nearer the park. Who knows?
When we got back to our hotel, we just got our backpack ready and then headed off to the park. I should mention now the weather is glorious! Blue sky and about 24 degrees, with a cooler breeze blowing – great t-shirt weather! We took the walk to Disneyland from the hotel and listened to the music as we went – that is one of our favourite Disney park walks. As we approached the entrance fountain, we saw thousands of people coming from the railway station towards Disneyland – it looked like it would be a busy day.
We got to the entry to the park and made our way through the turnstiles. Another Disney adventure was about to begin! We headed into Town Square and saw that the entire right hand side of Main Street was covered in a printed scrim as they were doing maintenance for the entire length of the street. The printed scrim was terrific though as it still looked like the Main Street buildings. We headed straight towards the castle and then went left through Adventureland and into Grizzly Gulch – our first new land to check out.
We noticed here that the crowds were non-existent! The new roller coaster was a walk on and we loved it! I think it is better than Big Thunder in Anaheim as there is so much variety on this coaster – chain lifts, backwards section and a linear induction launch – all in the same coaster. It is very smooth and not scary – just a great thrill ride.
We walked past Chip ‘n’ Dale in their cowboy outfits and headed over to Mystic Manor. Again, this is another new section of the park and again it was a brilliant attraction and a walk-on for us! The queue is well themed with lots of little nods to Imagineers and Disney fans. The attraction itself features the trackless ride system similar to Poohs Hunny Hunt and the ride is kind of like a Haunted Mansion crossed with the theming of Tokyo’s Tower of Terror. The special effects on the ride are terrific – I really enjoyed this!
After a quick trip to the gift shop, we headed into Toy Story Land and hopped on RC Racer before checking out the new ‘Andy’s Toybox’ shop that had been built since we were last there. Lots of good things, but we didn’t buy them until later in the day as it was time now for lunch. We’d been told the fish and chips in Grizzly Gulch were good, so we headed over to the Lucky Nugget Saloon and grabbed them – and wow, they were amazing. I highly recommend getting them on your next trip to Hong Kong!
After lunch, we headed on up to Fantasyland and a mandatory trip on It’s a Small World. The Golden Mickeys is down at the moment, so no viewing of that on this trip. We walked on to Space Mountain next which is still a favourite and then Buzz Lightyear (I won with over 200,000 points).
It was now time for Della to take the lead with some Main Street shopping. We did both sides of the street and picked up a bit of loot. We then grabbed some Mickey Icecreams and staked out a spot on Main Street to watch the parade. We had a really good close encounter with Eeyore during the parade stop which made us laugh.
After the parade, we headed back to Mystic Manor and Grizzly Gulch to do the new rides again, and back to Toy Story Land to buy the stuff at Andy’s Toy Box. It was beginning to get cool and so we got our jackets out of the locker and went to dinner at the Royal Banquet Hall – I had a yummy steak and Della had a bacon pasta meal.
Straight after dinner, we wandered back to the castle to watch the 8pm fireworks. Once that was finished, the park closed, so we made our way down Main Street and walked back to the hotel. It was a really fun day where everything went so well. We had lots of little cast member encounters and fun little things throughout the day. If every day goes like today, we’ll be very happy!
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