Drowsy in Disneyland

HONG KONG (The Philippine Star) – "Don’t expect too much," Hong Kong veteran Maryanne Chua, who was acting as tour guide for her relatives also spending the Holy Week in the former Crown Colony, told our group on the express train to Disneyland. "Just enjoy what is there." Happily, "what is there" didn’t and wouldn’t disappoint a newcomer to Disneyland, whether in Hong Kong or at Anaheim in California, including the kids and kids-at-heart in our group who were, yes, expecting too much and got it to their brimming hearts’ content during the whole-day adventure. But if, like yours truly, you’ve been in and out of the "original" Disneyland, you’d get drowsy especially if, in preparation for the four-day Hong Kong trip, you had to do three advance columns and put to bed dozens of pages. The Maundy Thursday we were there, the place was crawling with tourists, a good number of them Filipinos who must have put Disneyland No. 1 on their must-see itinerary, conveniently downgrading the Ocean Park as an alternative, you know, in case there was time to spare. A friend kept texting me, asking if our group had visited Disneyland and how I found it compared to "the one at Anaheim." I texted back, "Not as huge as ‘the one at Anaheim’ but good enough." That is, even if more attractions have yet to be completed.

If you’re traveling on very limited budget (like our group) and cannot afford to stay overnight at the Disneyland Hotel, you must wake up at the crack of dawn, take a quick breakfast at your hotel’s coffee shop, rush to the Ocean Terminal to take the Star Ferry from Tsim Tsa Tsui (Kowloon side) to Central (Hong Kong side) and walk a few blocks to the Express Train Station to catch the first trip to Disneyland, armed with tickets bought by a cousin in advance (HK$295 each for adults and HK$210 for children, on ordinary days). The Hong Kong Disneyland is, just like "the one at Anaheim," from the welcome arc to the tree-lined sidewalks to the colorful buildings straight out of a fairy-tale book to the souvenir shops. Guests are welcomed with songs from Disney movies blared out from loud speakers. Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Goofy are there, ready to pose for souvenir shots, and the various rides attract queues of eager-beavers. A cable car (with limited seats) goes around for a quick tour of the wonderland. Two parades are scheduled, one a little after lunch and another at dusk, featuring such favorite Disney characters as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, etc. Cap the day by watching fabulous fireworks.

· In the Adventureland, you can watch the Festival of the Lion King (featuring Filipino talents like Anna Fegi and Ralion Alonso), a colorful pageant of music and dance; Rafts to Tarzan’s Treehouse; Tarzan’s Treehouse (brace yourselves for what you will find inside); the Jungle River Cruise (very popular with the kids); and the Liki Tikis (the guidemap says, "Sway to the beat of jungle rhythms pounded out by ‘leaky’ tiki poles").
· After a quick lunch, rush to the Fantasyland for a quick visit to the Sleeping Beauty Castle, Cinderella’s Carousel, Fantasy Gardens, Snow White Grotto and other attractions like Mickey’s PhilharMagic, The Golden Mickeys, The Many Adventure of Winnie the Pooh and the Mad Hatter Tea Cups.

Now, did our group get to see all these? The kids and kids-at-heart did, but drowsy as I was (and having seen "the one at Anaheim" several times), I simply took a quick look-see of a few attractions and passed the rest of the day tourist-watching from a nook at the fast-food joint facing the Orbitron. Yes, we caught the grand parade but purposely missed the fireworks, no thanks to the intermittent drizzle. The rest of the group bought all sorts of souvenirs. All I brought home were my train ticket to Disneyland, the entrance ticket and a copy of the guidemap and brochure. Oh, well. Been there, done that.