Did That All Happen In Just One DAY?!

 

To say this day was an adventure is an understatement. We had so many experiences that it is hard, even now, to imagine that it was just one day! 

We woke up and Lucky Dragon had red eyes that were crusted over. Sadly, it seemed he had gotten pink eye that had been passing around the school. So I went on a search for eye drops. There was only one pharmacy open. It looked like it was going to be just a 5 minute drive. We could make it to the pharmacy and back for rope drop at Disneyland. 

However, the 5 minute drive turned into 40 because there was a bus that had crashed on the freeway and it was shut down with 50 different ambulances. It required us to take a detour (that took more time and more money). We arrived near the pharmacy, but not all the way. The driver was yelling at me in Cantonese and waving for us to get out. I refused because it was not where we wanted to go. We finally walked into a nearby hotel together and the concierge explained that he could not go further because of pollution ordinances, I would have to take the bus. 

We found the bus stop, waited for a bu. When it came it did not take cash. Sigh. So we went on a hunt for a 7-11 to get bus passes. Then waited for another bus. We finally made it to the pharmacy and they told us that we had to get a prescription. But luckily, there was an expat doctor's office just five doors down! So we ended up in a clinic getting a prescription. While we were there, the doctor told us to be careful with the Typhoon coming. I did not think too much about it then. I just wanted to get the medicine and be on our way. 

With that finally done we stopped in a small family style store that was packed to the brim with stuff. You had to walk slowly and often sideways to make it down the aisles. We bought some umbrellas for shade in the park. Lucky Dragon found some Uno cards. Little did we know that both of these purchases were going to be life savers later. 

We retraced our steps --walk, bus, taxi, 5 minute trip turned 40 minutes because bus and ambulances were still in freeway- and we made it to Disneyland Hong Kong! 

One of the places we were so excited to see was Mystic Manor! It is a place we all have been wanting to compare to Haunted Mansion. Because Chinese culture is so different when it comes to death and ghosts, Disney Imagineers came up with a different, more whimsical, theme for Mystic Manor. We loved it. 

We took lots of photos because we knew that Lady Hiva was going to be sad that she was not riding it with us! 

We went to the Big Grizzly Mountain ride. It is comparable to the WDW Big Thunder Mountain. However, it was also very unique! We loved it. Each Big Thunder Mountain is a bit different at all of the parks. We love Florida because it is our "Home" resort. But both the Paris and Hong Kong versions are fun too! Even the California version has some loveable differences. 

Next we went on the Jungle Cruise. Again, a ride that Lady Hiva would have wanted to see with us. There were some notable differences--there was fire, they spoke in Cantonese and English, and the jokes were not really the same. But it was still the same sucker-punch type joke material and a few scenes mirror what we see in WDW. 

They did not have double strollers to rent, so I rented a wheelchair and they had to both wiggle in to ride. We learned long ago that we needed to have them ride if we wanted to avoid meltdowns and refusals to move on as the day got hot. 

Another part of Hong Kong that we were excited to see was the Castle of Magical Dreams. It was originally patterned after Disneyland California, but it felt a bit small and unimpressive (that is how we feel after being used to Cindrella Castle in Florida, seeing Sleeping Beauty castle was shockingly underwhelming) so they decided to renovate it. Now it honors all the Disney Princesses. There are several spires that are dedicated to a different princess. You can see the art on the walls and the ornament on the top to signify which princess. 

Another ride we enjoyed was It's A Small World. It was so much fun to see the differences in the ride. We liked how they organized it into continents. There was an Asia room, a Europe room etc. We also liked seeing the characters from the movies in the diorama for the country they were from. 

I thouhg this sign warning people it was the last chance to exit was funny! 

The Lion King show was still full of colors and music, but again very different from the version in Florida. 

Those eyes, though. 

These two would wheel themselves away while I was taking a photo etc. They thought it was hilarious to see me turn around and find them gone. They would work together as a team (one pushing the right wheel and the other pushing the left) to see how far away from me they could get before I finished my task and chased after them! 

We spent plenty of time walking through this optical illusion garden. 

We wanted to make Lady Hiva proud and went back through Mystic Manor again! It was just as fun the second time so we could just soak in all the details. 

They had a Tsum Tsum event that if you bought a jar you had 5 minutes to fill it with your favorite Tsum Tsums. These two had so much fun  doing it. The people loved watching them do it too. 

There was a storybook garden with details of several movies including castles. We had so much fun exploring it. 

By the afternoon they had closed all of the outside attractions because the typhoon was getting closer and bigger! 

I wanted to go back and see the storybook garden in the dark. It did not disappoint. 

By the time it hit 2000h, there was rain! We decided to miss the night show (they had already cancelled the fireworks) and we went to find a Five Guys to eat! Our plan was to be back the next day, but little did we know all our plans were going to drastically change. 

We ate at Five Guys then walked along Victoria Harbor. It was fun to do that. 

It was a crazy day for sure. We packed a lot in! I am glad we did because the next several days we were on lock down due to the typhoon!