Grand Adventure 2017 Day 9: The Happiest Lines on Earth
Today was easily in my top five most anticipated days of the trip. Why you ask? Because we went to Disneyland Hong Kong. Jenn and I love Disneyland. We had an annual pass for three years back home and nearly three years ago to the day we went to Disneyland in Paris. We knew on this trip we had to go to Disneyland in either Hong Kong or Tokyo but given our schedule in Tokyo we elected to go with Hong Kong. Plus it gives us yet another reason to go back to Tokyo.
After a 7 AM run and a quick jaunt over the Starbucks for a coffee, hot chocolate, and two crossaints we were off. We purchased our tickets online and had them on my phone and ready to go. We ordered an Uber our first in Hong Kong who picked us up at our hotel and took us the 30 minutes to Disneyland Hong Kong. Outside of doing a little research on what rides to go on we really didn't know what to expect.
There is something magical about seeing the welcome sign at Disneyland. I don't know if this is for everyone but for Jenn and I its like were kids again. We nearly ran into the park, excited to see what Disney has up their sleeves in Hong Kong. Once we got through security we showed our mobile passes and were in. It's amazing how much Disneyland Hong Kong looks like an exact replica of Disneyland in Anaheim. Had it not been for the beautiful green hills in the background I could have swore we were back home.
The one major difference though is the princess castle which is comically small here in Hong Kong. I'm not sure what they were thinking when they built this park but the castle is way to small. I did some research and it seems that Disney agrees as it will be re-building the castle to make it much grander and to re-theme it around the movie Frozen.
Once we got done taking pictures we were off. Our first stop of the day was Hyperspace Mountain. As if there was something wrong with the projected wait time of 5-minutes we grabbed a fast pass to come back on the ride in an hour as surely the lines would get longer. I doubt we even waited five minutes before we boarded easily one of my favorite rides at Disneyland.
From there we went to Adventureland where we rode their version of thunder mountain called Big Grizzly Mountain Runway Minecars. This was probably the biggest surprise of the day. It starts off very similar to Thunder Mountain but has a huge twist in the middle. This was yet another ride we just walked on. From there we went to Hong Kong's version of the Haunted House called Mystic Manor. We walked straight into the elevator room of the ride where only four others were with us. Usually at Disneyland you can't even move at that point of the ride. Although Mystic Manor felt a lot like the Haunted House they removed any trappings of it being a scary ride and instead made it more of a fun kids ride where you follow a monkey through an adventure.
We were a little after noon at this point and we were trying to decide on lunch. Having ate many of meals at Disneyland I can say that cuisine has never been their strength. We decided instead of wasting money to get something light and went with one of their food carts. I'm glad we did because for the first time ever I finally tried a turkey leg at Disneyland. It was OK, I still think the ones in Anaheim look better but am glad I tried it. Jenn had a hot dog and corn on the cob.
After that it was time for Jenn to pick some rides and boy did she pick a trifecta. Our first stop was It's a Small World; the world's worst ride and it isn't any better in Hong Kong. I know Jenn just goes on it to torture me. From there we got a fast pass (yes you read that right) for a twenty minute wait on the Winnie the Pooh ride. While we waited for that adventure, Jenn dragged me on her families favorite ride, The Jungle Cruise. It was an experience that Jenn thoroughly loved so I'm glad we went on it. When we got off we then jumped back on Winnie the Pooh which we walked on with our fast pass. The ride was actually pretty neat, they had some really cool technology that I've never seen on a ride before.
From there we stopped and got some water and popcorn which was perfect and made our way over to the last land of the day, Toy Story Land. Disney did a phenomenal job building this small land, which reminds me a lot of Cars Land in California Adventure. Every small detail has been outfitted with Toy Story, its pretty incredible. We went on one ride while here, which was called RC Racer. You board an RC Car and go up and down a small track. It's a simple ride but it scared the heck out of Jenn. Once we got off Jenn saw a stand for a churro and made a bee-line for it. For some reason Jenn always needs a churro if we're at Disneyland its a tradition.
We had hit all the rides we came for and felt super satisfied with all the amazing experiences we had so we began making our way out. On the way out we went in search of Christmas ornaments similar to what Jenn bought in Paris in 2014. We managed to find some amazing Mickey and Minnie ornaments that will go really well with one of Jenn's amazing Christmas trees. From there we exited the park, hailed an Uber and made our way back to our hotel with a driver who looked like he might fall asleep at the wheel. He was nice enough driver and both Jenn and I noticed he was looking a little tired so we starting talking to him and before we knew it he was singing and blasting the song Hotel California from his cell phone while driving us back.
We got back to our hotel a little before 5 PM and rested for an hour. Because it's a lot warmer and more humid in Hong Kong then we expected I bought a t-shirt for our last full day in Hong Kong tomorrow at J Crew so I don't melt. From there we went to Jenn's pick for dinner, Sen-Ryo a sushi place that we've passed the last couple of days going to Starbucks.
On our last evening in Tokyo Jenn had mentioned that she wished we had gone to a conveyer belt sushi place, she loves those, so when we spotted Sen-Ryo and saw good reviews we were sold. When we got there, there was only a couple of people in there but by the time we left it was packed and the belt of sushi was fully stocked. We had a ton of different rolls from salmon and shrimp rolls, to spicy tuna and spider rolls. None of them could compare to the level we had at the Mandarin Oriental but this was all very fresh and delicious sushi. We both had green tea with the sushi which hit the spot.
From dinner we went back to our hotel and sat down in the hotel bar. Jenn got a vanilla cosmopolitan and I had a cappuccino and we split a chocolate cake. The whole thing was divine. Jenn devoured her cosmo and the cappuccino gave me the pick me up I needed. It was a nice way to unwind a bit and enjoy this beautiful hotel.
Our last adventure for the evening was to witness the Symphony of the Lights show that happens at 8 PM every night of the week in the Hong Kong harbor. We walked down to the harbor and got a great spot to view what we thought would be a spectacle but instead turned into a huge let down. Almost nothing happened the entire time, just some lights turning on and off and some spot lights changing colors. Not sure why anyone ever made a fuss about the show. Luckily it gave us a nice walk and a good excuse to enjoy the beautiful but humid Hong Kong evening.
Although the show was a let down today will go down as one of the best on the trip. We had so much fun at Disneyland today, it was good to get away from the city and enjoy what was surprisingly a quiet but insanely fun day at Disneyland. It was a chance to be a kid again and for both Jenn and I we will take that any chance we get.
