Welcome to the Jungle: The Happiest Place in Southeast Asia

The subway train to Hong Kong Disneyland.

I am so excited!

Hang on, Kade.

Boy it doesn't get any better than that sign right there! After our train ride and subsequent subway journey we ended up at "The Happiest Place in Southeast Asia!" If you didn't already know this, the Getzingers are HUGE Disney Junkies. Disneyland is truly our favorite place in the world so we were very excited to get the opportunity to take in Hong Kong Disney.

When you get to the station that takes you to Disneyland the train has Mickey shaped windows which give the train a really distinctive look. When the kids saw the train that just about sent them over the edge with excitement.

The orphanage visit was so amazing but ultimately it took a lot out of all of us. We were going to spend a short day and a half at HKD to try and relax and have a different kind of enjoyment. This was just what we needed. Disney brings out the kid in all of us and we were ready to play.

When you get off the train you head up an escalator and there is the entrance to the park. If only we weren't carrying our suitcases. Off to the transfer bus we went; to check in at the Disneyland Hotel. After that process we finally headed to the park about 4:30.

Now one thing we had been told about Hong Kong Disneyland is to think of it as Disney-Light. It is not nearly as large as the original and it can pretty much be covered in a full day or day and a half, especially since it doesn't have an adjoining park like California Adventure. Being that it is Disney-Light, from Sunday-Wednesday the park opens at 10:30 and closes at 7:30. Since we spent Tuesday and Wednesday at the park that meant we only had three hours for our first day.

We wanted to waste no time so we went right in and got started. After a quick trip down Main Street U.S.A., as it is named, we headed straight for the only roller coaster ride at the park, Space Mountain.

Aside: That is a pretty funny statement seeing as how we were in H.K. but that is what the main street is called just like the original Disneyland. I often wondered if people in Asia come to HKD and go back home thinking, "Is the US really full of shops that sell trinkets at ridiculous prices along with food that you need to sell a kidney to afford?" Ah, yes, yes it is.

The best thing about HKD is the short lines and much smaller crowds. Our wait to get onto Space Mountain was 5 minutes. That was sweet! The ride was quite fast with lots of turns but no real drops like the original. It was still a lot of fun and all of us loved it.

After that we wandered around and took in two cool shows. The first was a 3-D movie called "Mickey's Philharmagic" which was full of surprises like water spraying at you and the smell of food wafting through the air at the appropriate junctures of the show. The 3-D effects were amazing. The next show was "The Lion King, Live" This one was a half hour live action version of the Lion King reminiscent of Lion King the Musical. Great costumes, fire performers and great singing and dancing. Very impressive!

After that we milled around taking in various rides and waited for the 7:30 fireworks show above Snow White's Castle. The display was ohh and ahh worthy. A great way to end our time there the first night.

After we filed out of the park we climbed back on the bus and took the 5 minute ride to the hotel. Since it was so early we decided we should use the pool. We got ready, headed downstairs and out to the pool. The kids were the only ones in the pool. It was great. There were a lot of people staying at the hotel but no one was using the outdoor pool. We had it all to ourselves.

After that we headed upstairs to shower up and hit the hay. It had been a full day and we were ready for some sleep. We needed our rest because we were spending the entire day at the park tomorrow!