{"id":4803,"date":"2017-11-02T19:30:52","date_gmt":"2017-11-03T02:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/?p=4803"},"modified":"2018-03-05T16:03:55","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T00:03:55","slug":"laugh-until-we-cry-hong-kong-disneyland-hong-kong-11012017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/?p=4803","title":{"rendered":"Laugh Until We Cry \u2013 Hong Kong Disneyland, Hong Kong \u2013 [11\/01\/2017]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"See it in your mind and you will find your imagination Mysteries and magic Visions fantastic<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0I\u2019m a hard sell on the idea of \u201cthe perfect day\u201d but some days? Some days make that rating..<\/p>\n

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<\/em>, with someone who absolutely gets me, and gets why that place is important, why this matters<\/em>, who doesn\u2019t 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\u2026 that\u2026that is my definition of as close as you can get to the perfect day.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen Hong Kong Disney when it\u2019s just about to open, but it\u2019s usually at least a little bit crowded, today? Today we walked<\/em> onto Space Mountain, seriously walked<\/em>, do you know how rare that is? That is practically unheard of! And here of course it\u2019s not just \u201cSpace\u201d mountain, it\u2019s \u201cHyperspace mountain\u201d. 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\u2026<\/p>\n

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\u2019t 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\u2026still makes me sad though.<\/p>\n

That said, it\u2019s another reason to have to go back\u2026<\/p>\n

The park has grown since I was there last, which was about two years ago. When I was there last Tinker Bell didn\u2019t 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\u2019s 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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

I was also a very brave girl today. The first ride I went on was the RC Racers. It\u2019s an unassuming ride in Toy Story Land that is deceiving in it\u2019s simplicity. It doesn\u2019t go upside-down, it doesn\u2019t go at particularly high speeds. It\u2019s a U-coaster, it just goes back and forth on the same track. The thing is, it\u2019s very very<\/em> high, and it pauses at the top of the U, and you just hang there, feeling like you\u2019re 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<\/em> force me to go if I didn\u2019t want to, and that I could easily just wait at the exit for him\u2026but no, I try not to do that anymore, I\u2019m trying really hard not to let myself be controlled by what I\u2019m afraid of\u2026so..<\/p>\n

What the heck, I\u2019m all about facing my fears\u2026let\u2019s go<\/em><\/p>\n

You sure?<\/em><\/p>\n

Yup\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Okay so I kept my eyes closed for the whole ride, or almost the whole ride\u2026but I will admit it was a lot<\/em> more fun than I remembered it being. Who knows, maybe next time I\u2019ll actually keep my eyes open!<\/p>\n

We wound our way through the neatly organized circle of the park until we found ourselves in Mystic Point \u2013 which doesn\u2019t actually have a counterpart in the American parks, but which I suppose could be considered a very loose parallel to New Orlean\u2019s 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\u2026cute. And I was perhaps a little hard on it, because this time when I went through it \u2013 perhaps knowing a bit more what to expect \u2013 it was adorable<\/em> and highly entertaining. Not the same as Haunted Mansion of course, but once I got away from comparing<\/em> it to the original I was able to appreciate it as itself, and it deserves it. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2026<\/p>\n

Imagine being paid<\/em> to come up with things like that!<\/p>\n

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<\/em>, but got there just in time for the 4:30. Even the theatre was not that crowded, perhaps filled only half of it\u2019s 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\u2019t know why I always cry when I\u2019m happy, I think it\u2019s something I\u2019ve always done. But there are pieces of that show that bring my heart to my throat and always have, maybe it\u2019s partially because I miss performing, maybe it\u2019s because I\u2019ve always been able to find magic in watching<\/em> performance as much as I have in doing it, or maybe it\u2019s the storyline, but there is something about a Disney show specifically\u2026<\/p>\n

With Festival of the Lion King<\/em>, its always been about the swan for me. A ribbon dance who literally dances through air, and seems to vanish into it as well\u2026the grace of that number makes my heart weep.<\/p>\n

Darn dust, keeps getting in my eyes\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

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)<\/p>\n

We also walked directly onto Big Thunder (or rather Big Grizzly as it\u2019s called here), which still stands as my favorite ever, and the version that\u2019s in Hong Kong may actually be my favourite version<\/em> ever. It\u2019s 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<\/em> wasn\u2019t going to ruin it for Amras. So as we started ratcheting up the last hill all I said was,<\/p>\n

Oh, there\u2019s more to it than you think..<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u2026innocently using a blasting pump of TNT for a balance\u2026<\/p>\n

Hang on!<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

So\u2026you like?<\/em><\/p>\n

YES!!!<\/em><\/p>\n

Best..coaster\u2026in the park. Ever.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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<\/p>\n

Aw, it\u2019s slow! Tame! Too slow too slow!<\/em><\/p>\n

Until we went backwards, then it changed to<\/p>\n

Oh my god! Not slow\u2026no wait, back to slow, eaaaaaaaaaaaaasy<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Aaaaaah! Ohmygod! It\u2019s fast! It\u2019s too fast! Aaaaah! I think I\u2019m going to pass out!! Aaaaaaaaah!!!!!!<\/em><\/p>\n

It took us a solid five minutes after we got off the ride to stop laughing\u2026I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve laughed that hard in a really<\/em> long time.<\/p>\n

The Paint the Night<\/em> electrical parade was not running tonight, which made me beyond sad \u2013 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\u2019m 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 \u2013 this park \u2013 can always take it away. But I\u2019ve always been alone. This time, I wasn\u2019t alone, and there is no describing just how wonderful it felt to not be alone in that excited, enthusiastic, enthralled crowd\u2026<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a hard sell on the perfect day\u2026<\/p>\n

But sometimes\u2026just sometimes\u2026they definitely do come along.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

See it in your mind and you will find your imagination Mysteries and magic Visions fantastic \u00a0I\u2019m a hard sell on the idea of \u201cthe perfect day\u201d but some days? Some days make that rating.. A perfect sun-spilled day, with … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[96,98,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fire-ice-2017","category-grand-asiaaustralia-2017","category-theme-events"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3GtNE-1ft","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4803"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4806,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4803\/revisions\/4806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}