The end of the afternoon till early evening was spent at “Tomorrowland,” the ‘futuristic’ section of Hong Kong Disneyland. We got so tired walking around the park for the entire afternoon, so we didn’t explore Tomorrowland that much. Tisay and I just went for the race track ride “Autopia”, where visitors can ride cars and actually drive around guided tracks. There are other rides but by the time we got there the lines were too long and we were too tired and impatient to wait. There’s also a height requirement for “Space Mountain,” a virtual roller coaster of sorts, so we couldn’t go in without leaving Tisay behind.

A visit to Disneyland is usually capped by witnessing the nightly lights-up and pyromusical show at the Sleeping Beauty Castle. It was nice, though don’t get your expectations too high. I felt like I’ve seen many better fireworks before. The experience of witnessing it can be magical for younger children, I guess. The fireworks are accompanied by music from Disney’s animated classics so it can be nostalgic for young adults, too.

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April 14, 2011. Late in the afternoon, we took HK Disneyland’s train that goes around the theme park in a loop. There are two stations, one in Fantasyland and the main station is back at Main Street, near the entrance to the park. We made one full loop from the central station before taking a stroll down Main Street to have some afternoon snacks and shopping. Prices inside HK Disneyland are exorbitant, so be prepared. (A plastic bottle of Coke can cost as much as the equivalent of 200 pesos).

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April 14, 2011. After lunch, we left “Main Street, U.S.A.” and proceeded to the next section of the park, “Adventureland,” a jungle inspired section with a river and a small island with a giant tree at the center. We rode the “Jungle River Cruise” which took us around the waterway. There were mechanical animals (elephants, hippo’s, gorillas and other monkeys), and other ‘surprises’ at select sections and bends of the ‘river’. The ‘climax’ towards the end is a simulated earthquake and volcanic eruption with real fire and smoke, and with splashes of water.

While we were going through the ‘cruise’, it made me realize how the concept of Westerners exploring the jungle and conquering the land as if it was free for their own taking is constantly reinforced in children’s literature. The native population were portrayed as uncivilized, blood-thirsty tribes with dark skin and unintelligible chanting, worthy and deserving of Western submission.

We skipped Tarzan’s island with the giant tree at the center of Adventureland, because the lines were too long and it didn’t really look too exciting. We also missed the “Festival of the Lion King” show, which runs just thrice throughout the day.

The next section of the park is “Fantasyland,” the fairytale-inspired part of Disneyland. It has quite a number of kid-friendly rides (read, boring), such as the “Dumbo the Flying Elephant” octopus ride of sorts, the usual carousel and a teacup ride. I joined Tisay in riding the Dumbo ride, and we fell in line for almost fifteen minutes for it, only to realize that the boring ride only took us round and round on a baby elephant with big ears for just a minute.

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April 14, 2011. While waiting for our lunch to be ready, I begged off and headed to the area in front of the “Sleeping Beauty Castle” where a “High School Musical” performance was being staged.

The live performances in front of the castle are scheduled to run just thrice in a day. After the show, the performers and the mobile stage move away.

The dialogues are in Chinese and English, but all the dance performances are to the tunes of High School Musical’s popular songs. In the middle of the show, the performers will ask some participants to shoot some balls with some makeshift hoops and towards the end, the kids will be invited to come join the performers in dancing.

April 14, 2011. In celebration of my mother’s and my brother’s birthdays, and my brother’s graduation from college, our family spent a day in Hong Kong Disneyland. It was our third time as a family in Hong Kong, and Tisay’s first overseas trip. Since we’ve been to Hong Kong before, we skipped the usual “Hong Kong city tour” that the average Filipino travel agency peddles (yes, the ones that include the compulsory stops at the jewelry and/or tea shops). We went straight to Hong Kong Disneyland.

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