See it in your mind and you will find your imagination Mysteries and magic Visions fantastic
I’m a hard sell on the idea of “the perfect day” but some days? Some days make that rating..
A perfect sun-spilled day, with not a cloud in the sky, in a park that means almost as much to me as California, on a day when the park is practically empty, with someone who absolutely gets me, and gets why that place is important, why this matters, who doesn’t laugh when I start to cry as I walk through the castle, but instead pauses, smiles, gives me that moment to catch my breath and then almost starts to cry himself… that…that is my definition of as close as you can get to the perfect day.
I’ve seen Hong Kong Disney when it’s just about to open, but it’s usually at least a little bit crowded, today? Today we walked onto Space Mountain, seriously walked, do you know how rare that is? That is practically unheard of! And here of course it’s not just “Space” mountain, it’s “Hyperspace mountain”. Combining the awesomeness that is one of the classic Tomorrowland rides with the equal awesomeness that is Star Wars. A jet speed ride through the dark battling Vader…
The sad thing is that the ride photo taken on Space Mountain was brilliant, and I bought the digital copy of it, but when I got back to the ship to download it I found that it somehow wasn’t showing up on my photopass L I have a sinking feeling that the clerk made a mistake with the purchase and that the photo is lost forever, despite having been paid for (along with two others in front of the castle) but I have gone ahead and put in a report to see if maybe they can find it, who knows perhaps it will turn up in a few days…still makes me sad though.
That said, it’s another reason to have to go back…
The park has grown since I was there last, which was about two years ago. When I was there last Tinker Bell didn’t have her own garden, she had a tiny little kiosk on the edge of fantasy land. Now, the Enchanted Gardens lay expansively along the border of the fantasyland causeway, detailing scenes from all the Disney princess movies, and Tinker Bell’s Pixie Hollow soars with giant bluebells and daffodils that make you feel proper fairy size. Unfortunately, Tink herself was off an adventure with Peter Pan, so we couldn’t get a photo with her, but we were able to take pictures ourselves and I suspect one of them is going to end up framed.
I was also a very brave girl today. The first ride I went on was the RC Racers. It’s an unassuming ride in Toy Story Land that is deceiving in it’s simplicity. It doesn’t go upside-down, it doesn’t go at particularly high speeds. It’s a U-coaster, it just goes back and forth on the same track. The thing is, it’s very very high, and it pauses at the top of the U, and you just hang there, feeling like you’re going to fall out of your seat. The last time I went on it, I was so terrified I actually screamed, and I honestly do not scream on many rides. But htat one? Screamed my lungs out. So today, I stood at the entrance and I looked up at it, knowing that Amras would absolutely not force me to go if I didn’t want to, and that I could easily just wait at the exit for him…but no, I try not to do that anymore, I’m trying really hard not to let myself be controlled by what I’m afraid of…so..
What the heck, I’m all about facing my fears…let’s go
You sure?
Yup…
Okay so I kept my eyes closed for the whole ride, or almost the whole ride…but I will admit it was a lot more fun than I remembered it being. Who knows, maybe next time I’ll actually keep my eyes open!
We wound our way through the neatly organized circle of the park until we found ourselves in Mystic Point – which doesn’t actually have a counterpart in the American parks, but which I suppose could be considered a very loose parallel to New Orlean’s Square; it houses Mystic Manor, which is the Hong Kong version of the Haunted Mansion. I remember the first time I saw the Manor I thought it was…cute. And I was perhaps a little hard on it, because this time when I went through it – perhaps knowing a bit more what to expect – it was adorable and highly entertaining. Not the same as Haunted Mansion of course, but once I got away from comparing it to the original I was able to appreciate it as itself, and it deserves it. It’s a wonderfully charming ride, which had a lot of brilliant moments I had completely forgotten about. Not to mention that the amount of detail that went into it is amazing all on its own.
Part of me would still love to be an Imagineer, just so I could have a hand in designing things like curious monkeys and magical music boxes…
Imagine being paid to come up with things like that!
We had arrived at the park later than we intended (mostly due to delays in crew shore leave being granted, not as though we could control that) so we missed the first few showings of Festival of the Lion King, but got there just in time for the 4:30. Even the theatre was not that crowded, perhaps filled only half of it’s very large capacity. I forgot a lot about the show, and sitting there watching it, I fell in love with it all over again. Laughing, crying, mostly doing both at once. I don’t know why I always cry when I’m happy, I think it’s something I’ve always done. But there are pieces of that show that bring my heart to my throat and always have, maybe it’s partially because I miss performing, maybe it’s because I’ve always been able to find magic in watching performance as much as I have in doing it, or maybe it’s the storyline, but there is something about a Disney show specifically…
With Festival of the Lion King, its always been about the swan for me. A ribbon dance who literally dances through air, and seems to vanish into it as well…the grace of that number makes my heart weep.
Darn dust, keeps getting in my eyes…
Emerging from the theatre into the swiftly gathering twilight, we continued exploring the near-empty feeling kingdom, mostly just letting our feet take us where they would. Although we did stop to eat (fuel is a necessity when one is adventuring, especially since we had taken the precaution of purchasing dinner vouchers with our admission tickets, definitely a plus)
We also walked directly onto Big Thunder (or rather Big Grizzly as it’s called here), which still stands as my favorite ever, and the version that’s in Hong Kong may actually be my favourite version ever. It’s a very smooth coaster, and when we first started I just sort of bit my tongue, no one ruined the surprise for me after all, I definitely wasn’t going to ruin it for Amras. So as we started ratcheting up the last hill all I said was,
Oh, there’s more to it than you think..
Which I managed to (accidently) time perfectly because just as I said that the track chain let go and threw us into reverse, only to slow us down again just long enough to watch a pair of hungry bears trying to reach a dangling string of fish…innocently using a blasting pump of TNT for a balance…
Hang on!
One bright, loud blast of light and dust later and we go rocketing forwards again taking corners and super high speed and screaming over hills back into the main station
So…you like?
YES!!!
Best..coaster…in the park. Ever.
The most entertaining moment on Big Thunder actually came much later, when we rode at night. There is something about the park at night that remains magical and calming, and all the rides are so beautifully lit. We zipped through the near-empty queue and bravely asked the attendant to be seated at the back of the train (yup, gluttons for punishment, that’s us), and in the car in front of us is one fellow who is obviously there with his friends (who are sitting two cars up from us) and he spends the first few minutes of the ride making comments that went something along the lines of
Aw, it’s slow! Tame! Too slow too slow!
Until we went backwards, then it changed to
Oh my god! Not slow…no wait, back to slow, eaaaaaaaaaaaaasy
Until we got to the last segment, Amras and I just sat there, laughing so hard our ribs hurt, as the train once again rocketed forward at breakneck speed and the commentary from in front of us became
Aaaaaah! Ohmygod! It’s fast! It’s too fast! Aaaaah! I think I’m going to pass out!! Aaaaaaaaah!!!!!!
It took us a solid five minutes after we got off the ride to stop laughing…I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a really long time.
The Paint the Night electrical parade was not running tonight, which made me beyond sad – considering that I missed its equivalent in Tokyo, but there was nothing to be done about, so instead we spent our evening wandering through the gathering twilight; re-riding whatever we wanted due to the short lines and picking up souvenirs (I’m still vaguely regretting not picking up the most adorable Belle figurine), before taking up viewing spots for the fireworks show. The fireworks at Hong Kong Disney have saved me countless times in the past; too much stress, too much pain, that show – this park – can always take it away. But I’ve always been alone. This time, I wasn’t alone, and there is no describing just how wonderful it felt to not be alone in that excited, enthusiastic, enthralled crowd…
I’m a hard sell on the perfect day…
But sometimes…just sometimes…they definitely do come along.