Visiting Disneyland: A Childhood Dream Come True

I was already married when I had the opportunity to visit Hong Kong.

Like we always do with any new place we visit, my husband and I spent quite a bit of time planning and discussing the Hongkong sites we should visit while keeping in mind our backpacker budget. It was at this point when I suddenly realized that I wanted to go to Disneyland, more than any other attraction Hong Kong has to offer.

The great desire to see this seemingly enchanting place came back, once I realized how close I am to it. Of course, my husband did not dare to argue with me on this one as he knows what’s good for him and our relationship.

And so a little Asian girl’s dream became a reality when I found myself at the entrance of Hong Kong Disneyland, marked by a Mickey Mouse fountain.

It was December.

The air was cool and the atmosphere was even more festive because Christmas was just around the corner. The entrance fee was pricey by Asian standards, but it was expected. While paying, my husband had an ” I owe him big time” smirk on his face. He obviously thought he should get a lot of brownie points for bringing his wife – a fully grown, over-eager adult to Disneyland.

Disneyland Hong Kong covers a large land area and is divided into different sections. At the time of my visit, they had Fantasyland, Toy Story Land, Adventureland and Tomorrowland.

After my visit, two new sections were added: Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Point. The area near the main entrance is called Main Street, U.S.A

Each section follows a certain theme and has its own attractions, souvenir shops, snack bars and restaurants. Because of the park’s massive size and the hundreds of visitors, it receives every day; it’s quite difficult to experience all the attractions in one day.

But we could only spend one day here, so we examined the free map given to us, and decided which attractions to visit.

Essential Disneyland Hongkong Travel Tips: 

• Make use of the free map they will give you.
• Plan out how you are going to manage your time.
• Prioritize the attractions according to your desire. Go first to the attraction that you like best, just in case you run out of time.

Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland, which is one of the nearest sections to the entrance, captured our attention first. As the name suggests, it adopts a futuristic theme and features attractions like Orbitron and UFO zone. Our first ride here was the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. This involves sitting on a small train and using laser guns to shoot enemy targets.

It was a short ride but surprisingly fun. Then we hurriedly walked over to Space Mountain, an indoor roller coaster that gives riders the illusion of traveling into the deep dark space. This may not be the tallest and fastest roller coaster, but it’s still incredibly thrilling because it was dark. I couldn’t see anything except for twinkling stars and planet holograms.

Fantasyland

Fantasyland, together with Sleeping Beauty Castle, was very nice to look at and makes a gorgeous backdrop for photos. But we didn’t spend so much time here as most of the rides cater to small children.