Hong Kong Disneyland

Hong Kong Disneyland is not too different from the original Disneyland. There's a Main Street U.S.A., Fantasyland, Tommorowland, Adventureland and it features Sleeping Beauty's castle. The only difference are new attractions, and some shows are in Mandarin and Cantonese.  

We arrived when the park opened, and Goofy was there, leading everyone past the castle toward Tommorowland.

Before the crowd arrived, I got a quick picture of the castle, which was under construction.   

Apparently a lot of tourists were complaining about this, but I didn't mind, and I kind of liked how cheesy the castle looked. Mickey and Minnie were standing at the big gazebo in the front of the park all day, dressed in New Years outfits. Chip and Dale, Duffy and Shellie May were also taking pictures. 

On a side note: They had Baymax balloons! ^_^

We headed to Tommorowland first, following the crowd, and we grabbed a fast pass for Space Mountain- my favorite ride. After that we got in line, which had maybe a 2-3 minute wait. Space Mountain in Hong Kong was decorated differently, but it was nostalgic for me. After the ride, we headed to Grizzly Gulch, the other big roller coaster. 

The attraction is similar to Big Thunder Mountain, being train ride through the Wild West, but your path is determined by grizzly bears. Because we arrived during the park opening, Adventureland was deserted, and we rode Grizzly Gulch three times in row. 

After that, we rode the new ride: Mystic Manor, which was a fun tour through the international gallery of treasures that magically came to life. The area had a Garden of Wonders that featured more pieces of the mansion's magical collection. We went back to Tomorrowland, and while my friends rode the Buzz Lightyear ride, I went to the big gazebo to get a picture with Mickey and Minnie.

 They had closed the line, but they told me to come back after the parade, and I could get in line to take a picture then. 

By this time, my friends and I were hungry, so we found a restaurant on Main Street that had special New Years food. 

We found Plaza Inn, and I ordered Peach chicken, which was delicious, and it reminded me of PF Changs back in the U.S. After lunch, we all chose a special dessert, and I got a strawberry smoothie. Then, it was time for the parade. 

It was fairly easy to grab a good spot for the parade, people didn't line up ridiculously early for them, so we found a spot close to the gazebo, and it was a nice view of the floats. The theme was flight, so they had floats that looked like hot air balloons, and a Chinese version of the Jonas Brothers song "Fly With Me" played in the background. 

After getting our picture with Mickey and Minnie, we decided that the Stitch Encounter would be the last stop before leaving for the new year's fireworks. We walked through Toy Story Land, which was really cool, before we stood in line for the show.

There was a huge Woody statue that talked when you walked by. 

Lots of big toys were lying around. 

They even had a box of Cootie bugs! I remember those! 

After exploring, it was time to talk to Stitch :) 

This show was the most fun interactive show I've seen. Stitch named a planet after my friend, and he asked if he could be her boyfriend ^_^ 

We couldn't stay for the night parade, Paint the Night, but I got a free booklet about it with our tickets. The floats looked really pretty, and they sold a paintbrush that would play along with the shows. 

All in all, it was a nice visit, and I enjoyed the Disney atmosphere

It was great to see Disney again, and I really liked the organization and overall communication that this park had from cast member to cast member. I hope to visit this park again, and see the updates they were working on while we visited.