Hong Kong Disneyland - countless fun and one hiccup

Disneyland would be the highlight for my little man.  We spent 2 days and 1 night there staying in their Hollywood Hotel.

AJ was very excited as we entered the fairyland.  We saw, we played and we screamed. 

Together.

AJ was totally freaked out when he saw the life size cartoon characters walking around.  He refused to take pictures with them.  Not the cute Mickey Mouse that he adores.  Not even the Buzz Lightyear that he admires to infinity and beyond.  I was like…:”C’mon, it’s not easy to catch them like that y’know and look, there is only a very very short queue!”  He didn’t budge.  I only managed to talk him into taking a pic with chef Mickey the next morning during our breakfast with a condition he imposed – only if I take with him! 

Cartoon characters should always remain in tv.  I get it.

He enjoyed most of the rides except ONE!  The one that put him in total shock - Space Mountain.  We didn’t try this last time so had no idea how it was like.  I thought since AJ met their height requirement, the ride should be suitable for kid his age.  Yeah…should be….I THOUGHT WRONG!  There was no queue, we went straight in and a rather “aggressive” roller coaster ride in an almost pitch black planetarium. While the ride slowed down coming to its end, we noticed a total silence.  As soon as Rick asked him how he was doing..he burst out crying and said…”I thought we all gonna die~~~”  Awwww poor thing….I felt terribly bad and guilty.

Luckily our next ride Astro Blasters put him out of misery…like TOTALLY!  He loved it so much that he went 20+ round.  In and out, in and out…..and thankfully there was no queue! He was happy as a bird again!

Astro Blasters

How he scored 409500 on his first ride was beyond me

We took a break from the rides, lining up for the famous afternoon parade.  There was only a small crowd we literally sitting right on the side.  Up-close and personal.

We then continued our adventure into the Toy Story land.  My favourite of all.  Loved the design and of course the toy story soundtrack.  My beloved Rex was looking utterly smart, and he talked!  So cute that I wished I could bring him home!  LOL

The overall impression with Disneyland this time is a pleasant one.  Balmy good weather, not at all crowded, virtually no queue and people were behaving themselves.  I felt like I really stepped into a fairyland.  A feeling that was totally masked by frustrations and annoyances in my previous visit.

The Paint the Night parade and the Disney in the Stars fireworks display were magical.  Glad we stayed put.

The next morning….Astro Blasters again! Countless round…*faint*

Asked if my little man wants to come here again…and his reply: “Yes,  when I am twentyyyyyy!”

Ok…obviously not with us…but his future gf!

Point taken.

LOLOLOLOL

When Hong Kong dons its cloak of dusk....

 

Our Hong Kong trip

This is history. 

Late October it was.  We came back and got suffocated by many birthday parties and other engagements.  Finally got all the photos sorted!

Anyway...

It was our short 5-day getaway.  Hectic but fruitful.  The itinerary was more or less the same as what we had 7 years back, but with a 4.5 year old in tow, we didn’t go as physical.  I was very pleased AJ managed to go on with us everyday from morning till late at night without a single complaint apart from the first day where he was obviously a little jetlag.  Reasonable and understandable.  He has once again proved that he is travel worthy.

We stayed 4 nights at Hotel Icon and later moved to Disneyland Hollywood resort hotel for one night to allow us to enjoy the night parade and fireworks we missed last time.  I will save our Disneyland experience for another post.

I was very pleased with Hotel Icon.  Thanks to my bff who recommended it.  Top notch service, friendly staff, convenient location and a modern chic room with harbour view.  The room comes with COMPLIMENTARY mini bar (oh yes, replenished every day!) and a smart phone with 3G and local/international call all for free! The smart phone proved extremely useful in contacting my Hong Kong based friends for meet up.  The hotel also provides free shuttle service to/from Sun Arcade at Tsim Sha Tsui which we fully utilised.  With the protest going on while we were there, some of the bus routes were affected.  Hotel Icon was considerate and kind to provide free private ferry transfer between Tsim Sha Tsui to Hong Kong Island, Wan Chai ferry terminal. I truly can’t fault the service and how thoughtful they are towards their guests.  We had dinner buffet on our second day at their restaurant The Market and was utterly impressed.  There were caviar, crayfish, Foie Gras and endless selection of luxurious scrumptious dishes to dig as much as your stomach could hold.  Too bad we didn’t have time to try out their high tea at The Green as I heard it is good too.

We did the typical tourist exercises – Ocean park, Disneyland, 24-hour hop-on-hop-off bus around Hong Kong and the much coveted Aqua Luna evening harbour ride.  And of course, meeting my bff and my long lost uni besty.

The hop-on-hop-off bus was a good way to go around especially when you have a little one in tow.  Due to the protest activities, half of the Hong Kong Island route was cancelled but they compensated us with their night tour which wasn’t part of our package.  All was good.  Although we didn’t have enough time to hop off at every stop, we definitely had a good look around at our full comfort.  Would have gone for their 48-hour package had we not have time constraint.

What my man did behind my back at The Peak!  That's so very sweet of him!  I didn't see the real thing only the photo evidence.  LOL

A ride on Aqua Luna was definitely my most coveted agenda.  The 45-minute evening harbour cruise was absolutely pleasing.  I lazed on the lounge bed with a drink on one hand drowning myself in the stunning Hong Kong skyline.  Totally in awe.

Our visit to Ocean Park was rather brief.  Most of their rides are not for AJ's age.  

And of course, a trip to Hong Kong would never be complete without a visit (multiple visits!) to their dessert cafes.