Tuesday

Day 12: Disneyland

The day didn't start great. There was a lack of enthusiasm for anything, which made the idea of going to spend a day in the rain less appealing than a teaspoon of nato. I decided to voice my concern. You'd have thought I would have learnt my lesson last time but alas I missed a few obvious red flags along the way.
Nevertheless
Shuttle bus & a train before catching the train made just for Disney. The MickeyMouse ear windows give it away.
Arriving at the station you get a sense that it was designed for a mass of people, opening out onto a concourse that could potentially host the numbers of a Tiananmen Square gathering.
Through the bag search & ticket booth & there you are - standing in the happiest place on earth (well, one of the 6 or so dotted around the globe).

In an Asian market it feels uneasy, unusual even, & they do try to be the poppets of energy you expect for the brand. But honestly it's not their style (I do assume though that the Tokyo version could pull it off).

Took the park train to get an idea of park size & a bit of an overview we were surprised at how quick it took.
Made our way toward the lockers to drop off the wet weather gear we had packed in case Huey let us down & rain insisted. Which it eventually did.

We started out in Adventureland on the Jungleboat & it was actually pretty good. Do remember though, this is my first Disney, so expectation has nothing to compare with. But with the Grizzly closed for maintenance we thought our adventure riding for the day was to be dismal.
We rode pretty much everything - opting out of the stage shows. Yes we did Poohs adventures, the Mysterious House...even the small world one (you know the one with the song you can't get out of your head). In ToyStory world we got our parachute licence & rode the race car track - its vertical. Inverted even. Going forward was fine - it was the reversing that did us in. The back seat didn't help. We were also glad we hadn't eaten.
A bag of popcorn while we continued to meander & find some wifi. We were in Disneyland & had to post a selfie to prove it.
A bit of a wander through some of the shops with the idea we won't buy until the end of the day. Knowing we still had about 6hrs to fill in made that easy.

I say fill in because HK Disney, on a quiet day like we had felt very small. There was no time wasted standing in queues nor lines to join for food & shopping. It was a very civilised day.

The weather may have been responsible. Or was it just a normal Tuesday? Given the 2 rides closed & numerous eating pavilions also redirecting is elsewhere - it's probably a normal day this time of year. Glad we hadn't forked out for 'express passes'

The only other thing to see at Disney is the parades. The first one we missed (I think we were on the train) & the second one we missed on a ride in ToyStory. Knowing that parades happen throughout the day we didn't mind. Except. The parades don't run in the rain. And rain or did from about 1pm until long after the fireworks at 8:30 that night.
We got a few things to commemorate our trip & made our way back to the train some 9hrs after arriving.

Walking into our hotel room nearly 12 hrs after we left crossing our fingers we will still come in under the 30kg limit Cathay have set for us.

One last job before bed was to checkin online. There were no seats left on the plane for us to choose. So that will be tomorrow's problem when we get to the airport.