Hong Kong Disneyland

Though we were initially hesitant about going to Hong Kong Disneyland because it seemed pretty small, we are glad we went. The day began with a ride on the Disneyland metro line and a welcome from Surfing Mickey:

Totally the Hogwarts Express of Disney.

Mickey Rose and Fell with the Water.

The day was much more relaxed than Tokyo Disney; the crowds in Hong Kong were almost non-existent:

Morning on Main Street USA. The Emptiest We’ve Ever Seen It.

The longest we waited for a ride was about 30 minutes for the Main Street Haunted Hotel, and that was a total aberration. Most rides had waits of about 5-10 minutes or absolutely no wait at all. We were the first ones to ride Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, and we didn’t even have to run to it. We ended up riding it 3 times throughout the day and never had to wait at all.

Though They Don’t Even Serve Alcohol in the Park, These Signs Were Posted at Almost Every Ride.

Mike Was Going to Wear This Outfit But Changed His Mind at the Last Minute.

Notice the Mountains in the Background. Notice Mickey and Minnie in the Midground.

Fully Cultivated Rattail.

The park is pretty small, and it doesn’t have a lot of the big attractions. No Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan’s Flight, Splash Mountain, or the Hall of Presidents. (We were shocked it didn’t have the last one!) We filled our day by seeing all of the shows and parades and basically going on every ride. We even saw the show “The Golden Mickeys” twice because Hanna loved it. Basically it was an awards show for Disney characters. Bebe (the world-famous reporter…you don’t know her?) got roped into many musical numbers from Disney movies, and it was quite entertaining to hear the characters speak in Cantonese:

Don’t worry. The show had subtitles, and all of the songs were in English. We didn’t miss a single plot point.

Luckily we were at the park during their Halloween celebration. (The word “celebration” is worked into almost every Disneyland song. Seriously.) We’ve never been to a Disney park during a holiday season, so it was cool to see all of the decorations and themed parades:

The Employees Got into the Halloween Spirit By Wearing Horns.

She Took Over the Park. Commence Spookiness.

Even Mick and Min Got into the Halloween Spirit.

Mr. Skellington at the Night Parade.

They had two haunted houses (the aforementioned hotel and a demon jungle), and though Mike is a wimp and doesn’t like haunted attractions, we had fun getting spooked by ghouls who popped out from nowhere.

Main Street USA turned into Ghost Town at night, and fog engulfed the street. Zombies wandered up and down and randomly performed a dance number:

Flash Mob on Main Street.

Check out the dancers in action. The video’s a bit dark, but that was, uh, intentional to capture proper ambiance:

After the nice little dance, the zombies continued to roam the street, mingling with passersby at random:

She Wishes.

All in all it was a good day. We’re glad we didn’t skip this small park because it was one of the more delightful Disney experiences we have had: no heat or humidity, no lines, no running, no rushing around, and the caramel corn was delicious.

One last note: No Duffy sightings at Hong Kong Disneyland. He must be imprisoned at Tokyo Disney.