Hong Kong Disneyland
Disneyland.
We had voted to skip the Big Buddha, extend our stay past 3, past 6, all the way to half-past-nine. Even with warnings that HK Disneyland was a budding park, it was still the 'best thing' that ever happened to most of our group. Our bus took us to the parking lot, a far distance from the actual entrance. Mrs. James left us with one last thing: we would meet at 3 to decide if we wanted to leave around six instead of nine, in case the weather became unbearable.
I took off with Paulina and Peter, leaving Mrs. Grey and Kozden alone. We raided Tomorrowland, ate lunch (great teriyaki burger) and went to the teacups to meet Paulina's mom, as planned, at 1. Disneyland was surprisingly vacant. Our first ride on Space Mountain required only a ten minute wait, and lines grew to be no more than thirty minutes long. We weren't devouring the park at the rate I intended, however. But we didn't meet up with anyone else so I couldn't switch alliances.
Mrs. Grey didn't show up for nearly an hour, and Paulina sent us out frequently in little search parties to scour the grounds. They were going to wait there all day and all night until her mom showed up, so I gave up after an hour of pointless waiting. We were supposed to meet as a group at a specified location at 3, anyway. Why not enjoy yourself for an hour - her mom was probably doing just that, anyhow. As I departed my two solemn friends, I ran into Mrs. Grey and Kozden. I directed them to Paulina and Peter, and they reunited in a flurry of hugs and kisses. Mrs. Grey had been enjoying a show for forty minutes, having forgetten where exactly to meet her daughter. What a close call.
We joined them to have another lunch at the Corner Cafe on Main Street, after watching the first parade. I only had a drink, but still managed to make friends with the waiter, who told us precisely how wet we would get in the next parade.
I went off by myself for a while, to ride the Jungle Cruise (pirate style, now) and met up with Mrs. James and the gang at half-past-three. All but six or seven of us decided to leave - not even wait for the bus for a few hours, but take off on the MTR - claiming they had done everything this "lame" park had to offer. I stuck with the hardcore Disney lovers, because, as Mrs. James said, "We're only here once!"
We saw every show there was to see and rode every ride multiple times well into darkness. Some of the shows - Festival of the Lion King, the Golden Mickeys - were Disney on Broadway, worthy of the highest Disney honors. After downing some delicious crepe at the Pirate Chow stand, we moved on. The afternoon parade was a special summer event, with floats and music as usual - but the floats shot water at the audience. Nobody really cared about the performance, as long as they got wet.
We got front-row seats for the fireworks at nine, plopping down in front of the colorful "Sleeping Beauty Castle" with a few snacks from the bakery after another meal at the Corner Cafe, where the same waiter remembered me.
The fireworks display didn't seem to end. It was pretty spectacular, music blasting, perfectly synchronized, well orchestrated. We boarded our bus at half-past-nine and relaxed, with five or six seats for each of us. It was much more convenient than any Disneyland trip I've had before, taking us right down Nathan Road without much trouble. The last few miles took centuries, so we got out and walked the last bit. Mrs. James had bought ten shirts in her shopping at Disneyland, and much of the group had followed suit. We returned to the Majestic Hotel, exhausted. Disneyland was open until midnight, but my eyes weren't.
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