Woke up 7am, took some shower then headed to nearest McDonalds for breakfast. At around 8am we took the MTR to Lantau Island / Tung Chung station. We first saw Citygate Outlet and checked around and decided to wait for Nike shop for me to buy a back pack since we really need it for our hand carries for Ngong Pin and Disneyland. But since Nike shop opens at 11AM we decided to head to Ngong Pin. We went to the bus terminal (Bus 23) bought a roundtrip ticket (35HKD each) since we are saving our octopus card for the remaining MTR rides.
After strolling NP, we headed to the Giant Buddha. ***TIP#03 – I think summer is the best time to enjoy Nong Pin Village, Take the Cable car ride and climb the stairs to Giant Buddha. Due to foggy and windy weather, you’re not able to see the Giant Buddha clearly from the village. You still need to climb the stairs like in Lourdes Grotto in Baguio before you can have glimpse of the Buddha but still not that clear due to weather condition. And I did not insist with my Mom to try it…you know oldies alibis.
We took again bus 23 back to Citygate outlet to purchase a Nike bag and fortunate enough im able to buy one. We arranged our hand carries in preparation for Disneyland. We took MTR again from Tung Chung to Sunny Bay and transferred to the Disney Train Resort line. We arrived at around 2PM in Disneyland an hour behind our schedule. ***TIP#04 – Be strict with your time. If you have this kind of itinerary for a particular day in HK, wake up at around 6AM and you should be traveling at around 7AM. Stay in Ngong Pin until 10:30AM check the Citygate Outlet until 12NN and should be in Disneyland at exactly 1PM. We took our traditional pictures in front of the main entrance, the fountain and the entrance proper after the ticket booth. You might be checked by one of the Disney employee, I think they are conducting a random checking of the visitors with the country of origin and age. After that, we took another picture in front of the famous Cinderella Castle - the one featured at the Disneyland logo.
We walked at the USA main street while checking what show we will watch first. Thanks to PEX for the proposed Disney itinerary. We first watched Mickey's PhilharMagic. Donald duck is very funny and naughty as always. All you can say is a big Wow! and many laughs while watching the show. My Mom loved it since its her first time to try a 3D show. I think it’s already 4D because you can also smell and feel it with wind effects and fragrances during the show.
After that we checked the Beauty and the Beast food court stroll around a bit and look for an empty bench for a few minutes of rest and snack. After that we looked for good spot to watch Disney on Parade. ***TIP#05 – Don’t choose any curved spot or where the parade will take a turn since you’ll not be able to get a great view of the Floats. Choose the straight street at the right part of Tomorrowland facing Cinderella Castle after the circular garden in front of the castle. Its where the parade will be starting. Its also near to other attractions right after the parade. Even we are not able to get the best spot for the Disney on Parade, its still a great one – the floats, the dancers in costumes, Disney characters and most of all the Princesses. I got starstrucked when I saw Alice, Cinderella, and Ariel. They are really damn very beautiful just like a real cartoon character turned to life. Another thing about the parade, the sounds are very good and really appropriate for the festive atmosphere of the event. I also spot some Pinoys on the parade and they really dance gracefully.
We skipped Winnie the Pooh adventure due to long lines and headed to Adventureland and rode the boat for Jungle River Cruise. It’s also a must try, their animals are almost real with great robotics to animate them. I was amused with the giant frog like stone formation where the water flamed. Some of the kids on the boats cried because of fear. Haha! The ride is very much jungle-like environment with matching storytelling of the boat crew.
From Jungle River Cruise we just came in time for the Festival of Lion King. I can say another must watch show. It’s like an amphitheater where the show will be played in the circular stage in the middle. It’s a great story telling of tale of Lion King. The two Chinese playing monkeys are great actors. The lightings and effects are also great especially the surprise fire effect and interactive stage with all great 4 floats and also the actors. ***TIP#06 – Upon entering the theater, choose the audience section at your right for the best view of Simba’s float together with Timon and Pumbaa.
I checked again the itinerary and we still have enough time to check Tarzan's Treehouse. We rode by rafts to Tanzan’s Island. The tree house is very interactive. It will tell the story of Tarzan from the time he was an infant. It’s really a giant tree house including the daily things used by Tarzan. It also has a hanging bridge to the main Tree where you’ll see a big Mother Gorilla taking care baby Tarzan watching animation on something like a canvas or cabinet. At the top of the Treehouse you have a great aerial view of Adventureland. We again rode the raft to go back to Adventureland.
After Tarzan's Treehouse, we tried to check Tomorrowland but upon passing the information board, Golden Mickey show in Fantasyland is about to start. So we headed to watch it instead. We are fortunate that it’s just in time when the gate opened when we arrived. We waited for 15 – 20 minutes before the theater doors opened. They have two lanes to pile up people both the same line but we choose the right lane facing the theater and we got the best spot for viewing – 4th row in the very middle and eyelevel for the actors. Too bad may camera run out of battery and im not able to capture the show. ***TIP#07 – Bring video camera if you can to record the show. They don’t prohibit it even camera as long as there is no flash / lights that will affect the performance. I can say that you must not skip this show whatever happened. Golden Mickey is the compilation of some Disney movies like Lilo and Stitch, Mulan, Tarzan (for the girls, you’ll love Tarzan for sure), Little Mermaid, Hunchback of Notre Dame. You can also see Mickey, Minnie, naughty and funny Donald, Goofy and Pluto live. So this is a high priority show and must take note of it upon arriving Disneyland.
Its Small World is just a right turn when you exit Golden Mickey Theater so we headed there. We have enough time for it before the fireworks display. We rode a boat and experience the amazing robotics dolls dressed in different countries and culture while singing It’s A Small World song in different languages. The mini cruise if very colorful even adult (like me) will love it. Its not only those dolls are moving even some of the objects around them are moving. ***TIP#08 – bring extra batteries if you can. This has been one of the reminders in PEX. Low temperature will easily drain your camera battery. Using flash will also contribute to the quick drain. Since our cam ran out of battery I’m not able to take some pictures of the dolls.
So we are good with the must see shows. Though we are not able to check Tomorrowland and some parts of Disney we really enjoyed the shows we watched. My Mom’s wow’s are enough even we are not able to try some rides (oldies alibis you know). We are just in time to take some rest and look for a good spot to watch fireworks. The back of Cinderella Castle will be closed early to prepare for the Fireworks display since I think in most Disneyland fireworks take place at the castle. This also proved in the logo and the introduction of Disney in movies.
And the fireworks begun at around 7:30 and the whole USA Main Street are packed with expectators, (there is a 5 mins interval announcement for the beginning of the fireworks) it starts with a bit introduction to the proper show. It’s also like watching a movie since there is also an animation projected at the castle aside from the fireworks with it’s specially arrange musical score. You’ll surely go back to your childhood when watching it. It’s also another great event for your special someone.
After fireworks, we checked the USA Main Street for souvenirs and also let huge number of people settle before we ride back to our hotel. I’m able to purchase the red embossed Mickey Mouse Mug for 80HKD. ***TIP#09 – You might want to check the Airport Disney store for a good purchase since when we arrived at the airport they have 2 shirts for only 200HKD vs 160HKD for the regular shirt. There are also other promos for other items at the Disney HK Airport. We again took the trains back to Tsim Sha Tsui station. I bought our dinner at nearby Chinese fast food, purchased water in Welcome and headed back to our hotel. Again, we ate our dinner, sipped a coffee, charge our batteries and slept. That concludes our second day.
This time, we make sure we have our jackets for cold weather precautions. It took us more than 30 mins before we reached Ngong Pin Village. Its very cold and foggy (jacket to save us) and a bit windy. Sometime it also rain a bit and we are thankful we also have our umbrella. We strolled around the village and at the end is the cable car station. We did not took the cable car ride since my mom (as I said) is a bit afraid of heights and it’s the weather is not suitable for the ride but there few are still using the cable car to reach Nong Pin.
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