I’ve been really close with Mama ever since I was a kid – she helped take care of me up to my toddler years. I remember she would bring me to her office, where her officemates would make me draw and then give me money after. (Yup, I’ve been freelancing since I was 6 lol) With all that she’s done for me, I wanted to be able to give back.
Since I love travelling and would want my loved ones to have the wanderlust I have as well, my form of giving back is treating them to trips abroad. And so, one month after my Tokyo trip with family, Mama and I spent the weekend in Hong Kong.
We spent our first day in Hong Kong Disneyland. It was funny for me because I was in Tokyo DisneySea for my birthday and then one month later, I’m back in another Disney park. Not complaining, though!
We went on a gloomy Friday to avoid the crazy weekend crowd and the possibility of rain. It was a good call because we were able to do a lot of things despite arriving at the park past noon! Hong Kong Disneyland is smaller than other Disney parks I’ve been to, so Mama and I were able to roam around the entire park and have tons of fun in just 8 hours.
Aside from the entire park having wifi connection, Hong Kong Disneyland actually has an app where you can see the wait times for each attraction, see where you are in the park, and what’s near you. It actually made exploring the park easier for Mama and I! I highly recommend downloading the app for your next visit to Hong Kong Disneyland.
Mama tried her best to take photos of me, too! 😛
I let my Mama wear my birthday Minnie ears, which I got from Tokyo DisneySea. The entire park is already in Christmas mode – it adds to the magical and dreamy feeling you get whenever you’re in a Disney park!
Mama wanted to ride Hyperspace Mountain – the rollercoaster in Tomorrowland and I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea – I mean, she’s already 67! But she really wanted to try, and so after riding the Orbitron, we queued to ride the rollercoaster. The family in front of us had their grandma and grandpa with them – they looked like they were 70+. And though that wasn’t enough to calm me down, we still pushed through it. I was more nervous about it than my Mama was!
We were holding hands the entire ride, I was screaming – she wasn’t, but her grip was tight and I would squeeze her hand every now and then. After the ride, she told me that she closed her eyes the entire time so she could feel the turns and dips more, and so she wouldn’t be dizzy with all the lights. She had fun! We were supposed to ride the Mad Hatter Tea Cups right after, but we realized it was a bad idea because we’d get super dizzy.
We found our way to Fairy Tale Forest (presented by Pandora) and it instantly became my favorite spot in Hong Kong Disneyland!
The garden was really beautiful and well maintained – it had a whimsical feel to it! I loved all the mini castles it featured, and how it recreated some scenes from fairytales – classic Disney fairytales were presented as living storybooks!
We watched Mickey’s Philhar Magic (which was very entertaining!) before heading our way to Adventureland, where we rode the Jungle River Cruise! Mama had a lot of fun and thought the animals were real at first lol.
We got ourselves some food – korean squid, corn, and watermelon juice, and then watched the Festival of The Lion King musical. It was awesome! And then, we went to Grizzly Gulch to ride another roller coaster – Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars. We thought it wasn’t as thrilling as the first one we rode, but the ride surprises you in the end! It was so much fun!
After the rollercoaster, we went back to Main Street for the parade and then the fireworks. Mama and I had a heart to heart talk while waiting for it to start. I got to know her more, and I loved listening to her stories. She was ecstatic and I was, too – not only because I was back in another Disney park, but because this time, I was with my Mama, and seeing her enjoy like a kid throughout the day was heartwarming.
We ended the day with some great beef brisket and tendon noodle from Kau Kee Beef Brisket (九记牛腩) in Mong Kok. Yum!
It was a great first day in Hong Kong for Mama and I. Mama was full of life, she was still playing games on her tablet at 2AM! Haha. I love her so much!
Here’s a selfie from our Orbitron ride to end this post. 🙂
Alyssa Paula 