Springtime in Disneyland (Part Two)

Took an unexpected trip to Disneyland last month, this time with my friend and co-worker Sonia, who recently purchased an Annual Pass to Hong Kong Disneyland. Woohoo, looks like there’ll be more trips to come!

During the previous visit, I’d managed to capture 54 of the Easter eggs on camera, and this time I was on a mission to find the rest of them. Gotta catch ’em all! (Different franchise, but the analogy still works.)

Duffy, Shellie May, and Gelatoni on Main Street.

More of those gorgeous spring flowers.

Feels good to be home.

Heihei and Pua in Adventureland, across the “river” from Tarzan’s Treehouse, which is currently closed for refurbishment. I suppose even the King of the Jungle has to keep up with the times.

Baloo, King Louie, and Kaa the python in some corner of Adventureland.

Two bears (do they have names?) by the entrance of the Mine Cars ride in Grizzly Gulch.

Another bear chilling out close by. Are these THE three bears by any chance?

Albert the monkey in Mystic Point, flanked by what look more like Faberge eggs than Easter eggs.

Little green aliens in Toy Story Land.

A grumpy Lotso, also in Toy Story Land.

Howdy!

It’s ALICE!!! Why oh why didn’t you show up while I was DisneyBounding as Alice?

Sigh, I’ll just have to make do with these photos.

As much as I love Disney mugs (and Disney everything in general), I don’t buy them as there’s no need, not to mention no space. I’ve got a Stitch mug for home use, a Chip & Dale mug for work, and a Winnie the Pooh mug for guests. Any more than that would be excessive, but gosh, is this Scrump mug adorable or what?

Yes, another Disney afternoon tea set, this time at Corner Cafe on Main Street! The “Duffy & Friends Springtime Afternoon Tea Set” included mango and lobster salad cones, mini sandwiches (salmon and cream cheese, egg salad and cucumber), salmon spinach quiche tarts, chicken puff pastry, grilled Cajun beef skewers, tomato and parmesan tarts, a Mickey-shaped scone, Duffy and Shellie May cakes, macarons, and a tropical fruit platter.

The set cost HK$318 (~US$40.90/~S$57.10) for two persons. We didn’t want the beef skewers, and they were nice enough to replace them with more chicken puff pastries without additional charges.

Two drinks were also included. The available choices were the usual coffee, tea, soft drinks, and this seasonal special, which both of us picked. I couldn’t tell what flavour it was, only that it was way too sweet. Cute sticker though.

While waiting in line for the Jungle Cruise.

Stumbled upon the Mad Hatter in his sad little corner somewhere in Fantasyland. So this time I managed to find 25 more Easter eggs, bringing the grand total to 79. Not bad, I guess?

~It’s a Small World after all~

That’s it for now! Given that it’s the start of the month, I’ll probably have more energy/motivation to do a new post soon. Hoping to cover the various bits of the Taipei trip before going away again. Wish me luck!

The Iron Man Experience at Hong Kong Disneyland

Disclaimer: I haven’t actually taken the “Iron Man Experience” ride, which had its debut earlier this January. The following are just some photos which were taken when I was in Disneyland over the Chinese New Year holiday.

You’ll see the Stark Expo first, while the entrance to the ride is round the corner and further inside. The Stark Expo is mostly a souvenir store, but it also houses a mini-attraction: an interactive screen where you get to blast baddies using Stark’s electronic glove. It’s mostly for the kids though. Apparently there’s also a character meet-and-greet in here, though I haven’t had the chance.

Ever since Disney acquired Marvel, there’s been truckloads of toys and merchandise from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). I thought these pillow/cushion things were hilarious. From the way they were leaning, it looked as though they all had little tummies.

Themed popcorn and cookie tins.

Iron Man waffles, anyone? If I’m going to be paying HK$50 (~US$6.40/~S$9.10), only a Mickey waffle will do for me.

That’s it for this post! I thought I had taken more photos, but apparently not. There may or may not be another Disney-themed post coming up, but fret not, I’ve got another trip lined up later this month, and it’s going to be an exceptional one. See you soon!

[Updated on 2nd April 2017] Finally tried the Iron Man burger, but as usual it’s rather underwhelming. Aside from the stamp, there’s nothing special about it, and the fries weren’t golden enough. Hong Kong Disneyland needs to make better burgers!

I’ve also tried the Iron Man ride, which I’ll talk about soon! See you!

Charlie Brown Cafe

In case the name hasn’t already tipped you off, Charlie Brown Cafe is a Peanuts-themed cafe featuring characters from the famous comic strip. From the moment you set foot in the place and take the stairs up, you’re surrounded by pictures/sculptures of Charlie Brown and friends.

The cakes shaped like the characters’ heads are a little creepy, but everything else is pretty cute.

Can’t have a themed cafe without merchandise galore. The massive Woodstock in the centre comes with an equally massive price tag – HK$2580 (~US$332/~S$472). 0_O

Tried the chocolate cake with Woodstock on it. It’s got some crispy bits in there to cut through the richness of the chocolate, which was nice. The yellow figure had a lemony scent but was mostly sugar, so it was left behind.

Also had the orange hot chocolate with Snoopy’s silhouette “printed” on the foam. One of my favourite flavour combinations is that of orange and chocolate, and this didn’t disappoint.

VERDICT

It was surprisingly quiet when I was there on a Sunday afternoon. I wouldn’t mind going back to try the other items on the menu. Needless to say, food wouldn’t be a priority if you’re a fan of the Peanuts comic strip, but approach the merchandise section with caution!

Charlie Brown Cafe
G/F-1/F, Kok Pah Mansion, 58-60 Cameron Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
尖沙咀金馬倫道58-60號國鈀大廈地下至1樓
Tel: 2366 6315 / 2366 6325

Hong Kong Disneyland CNY 2017 in 17 Pictures

The first sign (literally) of Chinese New Year is a depiction of a familiar mouse in festive colours.

At the time I was there, Mickey and Minnie were greeting guests in their usual attire. It was the following day that the characters were decked out in all their New Year finery. T.T

No shortage of auspicious couplets at the park! In case you’re wondering, here are their respective meanings, from left to right:

年年有餘 (nián nián yǒu yú) ~ abundance through the years
笑口常開 (xiào kǒu cháng kāi) ~ lots of laughter
歡樂年年 (huān lè nián nián) ~ happiness every year
金玉滿堂 (jīn yù mǎn táng) ~ a hall filled with gold and jade i.e. prosperity

More auspicious couplets! From left to right:

好意吉祥 (hǎo yì jí xiáng) ~ good intentions and luck
雞鳴盛世 (jī míng shèng shì) ~ prosperity in the year of the Rooster

The translations were done by yours truly to the best of my ability, some were more literal than others. Chinese/Mandarin isn’t my strongest language, and it’s something I want to work on this year. If you think there’s a more accurate translation, let me know in the comments! 🙂

The central decoration featuring Hei Hei from Moana. It was a fairly popular attraction and there was a queue to take pictures of it. When it was my turn, this adorable little tyke ran into my shot and refused to leave. She then asked her mother to take a picture of her. Kids these days…

After a few seconds her mother managed to drag her away, and the woman behind me in the queue offered to help me take a picture. (I was on a solo trip on a weekday, hence my usual photographer a.k.a. Edwin was unavailable).

Gorgeous spring blossoms.

The turn-of-the-century Victorian-inspired Main Street looked rather different with the addition of the Lunar New Year decorations. It’s become… Chinatown.

Castle among the hills.

There was a performance in Main Street, and quite the crowd too.

Lots of New Year merchandise up for grabs.

The latest Tsum Tsum dolls? Mickey and gang all dressed up in chicken suits. Maybe they moonlight as mascots for fast food chain restaurants serving fried chicken?

The cookie tin is too cute for words. And Donald and Daisy are one step closer to becoming turducken.

Some of the red packet envelopes really caught my eye. I’d buy some, but I’ve got waaay too many at the moment.

Main Street in the rain.

The Chinese New Year-themed cookie tins were selling like hotcakes. It’s not hard to see why – they’d make lovely gifts.

That’s all for now. I’ve got more snapshots of Disneyland, but they’ll have to wait for a later post. Goodnight folks, and happy CNY to all!