Rantings of a Semikal Junkie: 2nd Day in HK *Disneyland Mania* (September 9, 2009)

We woke up around 9AM yesterday. My legs were still aching from walking the streets of the night market in Mong Kok. But I have to set it aside because Tuesday was Disney Day! Tito Bamba and Tita Cat got good friends working at Disneyland Resort so all of us got in for free. Yebah!

From Sunny Day Station, we transferred to the train heading to Disney. On the train, I saw Cris Villonco. I am not sure if you are familiar with her, well I'm just saying. :-) We walked along Main Street and there we had a picture session with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, then with the Toy Story characters followed by some shots with the famous Disney Castle at the background.

JC and Charm, Tito Bamba's and Tita Cat's kids, dragged me to Astro Blasters to shoot some enemies. After the ride, we rushed to the Disney Storybook Theatre to watch Golden Mickey Awards. The show presented a synopsis of several Disney animated movies like Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Tarzan, Pocahontas, Mulan, and lot more. It's like an award show wherein the host, Bebe, gets to go back in time to be with the main characters of each animated film. It was filled with awesome dance moves and acrobatics and the mascots were all perky. In the end, everyone were winners. :-)

We rushed to Adventureland to watch Lion King. I was so amazed I dropped my jaw. The effects, the dance moves, the song numbers, the acting, the lights...uber spectacular! The cast was very diverse. There are Black men, Caucasian, Chinese, and even a few Filipinos. I am still speechless until now.

Around 2:30PM we decided to get some chow. We entered Tahitian Island where they serve various Asian rice meals. I had Indian curry while mom had Indonesian rice goreng. It wasn't as good as I thought. Our concessionaire in the office makes better curry. :-) For beverage, I had a bottle of Coke. Here is one good advice: try to bring a liter of water with you if you'll go to Disney because the cost of 1 bottle of drink is HKD 20 which is tantamount to PHP 128. Ulul, anu yun gaguhan? To relieve the shock caused by the price of drinks, I headed to a nearby smoking area and grabbed a stick of Lights.

Next on the list was a Donald Duck 3D film at PhilHarMagic. This is the Rialto version of Disney. Not bad, but not good. Just right. Before the parade starts, me and Charm decided to ride the Space Mountain. This is just a mini-rollercoaster but I shrieked a bit. :-) By the time we went out, the parade is just about to begin.

The parade featured the likes of Donald Duck, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Cinderella, Little Mermaid, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Goofey, and the rest of the Gang. It was a walk down the memory lane because I literally grew up watching Disney animations. The parade was followed shortly by High School Musical encore.

Tito Bamba and Tita Cat left us with the kids so that means we'll ride all we can while waiting for the fireworks. We took the Wild River, Utopia (this is like driving lesson 101), Tea Cups, Buzz Lightyears, back to Space Mountain, then Grand Carousel, then several other rides that I forgot the names.

The main part of my Disney visit was the fireworks display. The main castle changes colors from blue to yellow to green etc. Images of famous Disney movies were projected with narrations on the background. It was succeeded by a spectacular display of fireworks of different colors from different directions. I felt like a kid.

My Disneyland visit was a dream come true. It's not bad to go back and pull out the kid in us once in a while. :-)