A Naive Aussie's TR - Completed!

[zanzibar138]

It may be small but it looks a pretty park and so quiet this day (and beautiful weather after all those grey skies!) Somehow Grizzly mountain looks more like a wolf than a bear to me? What sort of ride is it? (very rollery coaster in the end?) I like all the Asian food!!

Yes it is pretty, and unique too with the mountains in the background like that. In person grizzly mountain is very much like the one in Anaheim. But I can see how you might get a wolf from my photos It was a fairly tame rollercoaster along the lines of BTM, except it has the short backwards bit in the middle and then a blast off section at the end. It's nothing like Rock N Roller Coaster or California Screamin though!

Did you sing along out loud? Our family love singing along on POTC....Yo Ho Yo Ho a pirates life for me.

I did hum out loud, and counted down just as we were about to take off - it's kind of hard to 'sing' the Space Mountain song Next time we go to Anaheim I'll definitely be singing on POTC and Haunted Mansion

 

[zanzibar138]

Continued...

Dumbo was followed by the marching band, a few dancers, and the Mickey airship.

Next was Pooh, followed by some bouncing Tiggers and acrobatic bees.

This is where the parade stopped again for the interactive bit. The bouncing Tigger near us was great, and wished us a happy anniversary as he was bouncing around! The girl on the bee float wished us a happy birthday lol!

Next up was the princess float. Cinderella wished us a happy anniversary and did a little swoon thing.

Then there was the jungle themed float with some dancers. We got another happy birthday from one of them.

Fairies was next. I didn’t manage to get very good photos because of all the interaction with Tinker Bell! She was very excited that it was our anniversary, and made a little loveheart sign with her hands.

Continued in next post...

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Hi!

I have just caught up and I am so glad I did! I am loving the diversity of your report....................snow one minute, ice cream the next!

I am so interested to see and read all about the other parks as I will be getting to each one eventually! We have postponed our big 4 castle trip until the end of of 2015 now, so I have loads of time to read and plan ( and save!!! ). It is now actually the 5 castle tour as we will be ducking over to Shaghai for the new park as we are going to be in Hong Kong so it's too close to miss! You will be there before us so I will be looking for your report then too!

And waht a wonderful DH you have............such a lovely surprise for your anniversary

Looking forward to more and thanks so much for a great report

 

[PrincessInOz]

I still think that parade is one of the best in the Disney stable. For me, I think only the AK parade beats the one at HKDL; but not by much.

Great pictures. Brings back lots of memories.

 

[zanzibar138]

Hi!

I have just caught up and I am so glad I did! I am loving the diversity of your report....................snow one minute, ice cream the next!

I am so interested to see and read all about the other parks as I will be getting to each one eventually! We have postponed our big 4 castle trip until the end of of 2015 now, so I have loads of time to read and plan ( and save!!! ). It is now actually the 5 castle tour as we will be ducking over to Shaghai for the new park as we are going to be in Hong Kong so it's too close to miss! You will be there before us so I will be looking for your report then too!

And waht a wonderful DH you have............such a lovely surprise for your anniversary

Looking forward to more and thanks so much for a great report

Glad you're enjoying it!

I don't even know what the logistics of going to an opening day are, or whether the general public are even allowed But I plan to be there anyway, and just get into the park when I can. So yes, hopefully I will be able to put up a TR before you go. It's not supposed to be open until the end of 2015 though so you'll be there quite early in the piece.

And I agree, they're too close to go to one and not the other. I'm planning to come back via HK again as Mystic Point will be up and running by then

I still think that parade is one of the best in the Disney stable. For me, I think only the AK parade beats the one at HKDL; but not by much.

Great pictures. Brings back lots of memories.

I've only seen the parades at HK and DLP, so not sure what I'm missing out on in the US (they were doing their massive refurbs while we were there and there were no parades). I LOVE the HK parade though, and TBH the one in Paris doesn't even compare.

 

[zanzibar138]

Continued...

Next was the Hawaiian float with Lilo and Stitch. We got a happy birthday from one of the Hawaiian dancers, and even the guy on top of the swing! I was completely amazed that he even noticed our buttons from there!

Last was the Toy Story float.

As we were leaving the park anyway, we followed along behind the parade. Since we were heading to the HKDL Hotel, we decided to walk again.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we walked down the stairs to find Victorian Spa. I just love the beautiful decorations all throughout this hotel.

We found the spa, but unfortunately they had no vacancies before we were going to have to leave, so we werent able to get our massages.

On the way back out I took a photo at the entrance to Enchanted Garden (which is where the character breakfast is).

Id decided that I would finish off my shopping in the hotel, since its always quieter in there during park hours. I pretty much had the place to myself! They have a changing room in the shop, so I tried on a couple of tops. Ended up buying a top, jacket, and 2 pairs of earrings. DH decided to wait for me in the lobby.

After my shopping expedition, I found DH and we decided to stay for a drink. While we were sitting there the band came out to play.

We considered having some snacks there before heading back to the park, but all they could offer us was a high tea. There was a bit of confusion, when I was asking about snacks, I think I referred to a small meal. The CM kind of nodded, went away for a few minutes, and came back with a little cup of milk lol! I thanked him very much for his trouble, but left the milk behind. We decided to head back to the Hollywood Hotel and see if we could get a small meal there.

While I was dropping off my shopping bag in our room I took in the view from another angle.

We headed down to the lounge, and ordered drinks and a customised pizza  we just chose from a list of ingredients on the menu. We actually enjoyed the atmosphere in there, and the CMs were great!

Since it was getting late after our pizza, we decided to take the shuttle back to the park. Unfortunately we just missed one, but the next one wasnt too far away.

Soon we were entering the park again (a little later than I had hoped lol!). The CM at the turnstiles gave us some more stickers.

Continued in next post...

 

[PrincessInOz]

Smacks, slacks and snacks! I think I remember having a CM with the same problem.


And a small meal translating to milk? That sounds like what I got at Ocean Park!

 

[zanzibar138]

Smacks, slacks and snacks! I think I remember having a CM with the same problem.


And a small meal translating to milk? That sounds like what I got at Ocean Park!

It was a bit awkward, I didn't quite know what to do with the little cup of milk that he'd gone to so much trouble to get for me

 

[zanzibar138]

Continued...

We headed straight for Grizzly Gulch again. I wanted to make sure we saw it and rode the mine train at night. It was even quieter there than it had been during the day!

As is usually the case with these things, the mine train was more fun at night! In fact, it was so much fun, we thought we’d do it again. We couldn’t be bothered exiting and re-entering the line just to walk round and round, so we asked the CM if we could take a shortcut, and she just opened up the gate for us to go through. The second time we lined up for the front row, which was also great fun!

After the ride, I got a few photos of the area. Mystic Manor was lit up, and I really liked the colours in the pools.

Then it was time to head back to the hub to get a spot for the fireworks.

We were there about 10 minutes before they started, and just stood in the middle of Main Street. It was a good view for the most part, besides the guy filming the whole thing on a ipad he was holding over his head. And people kept moving around and getting in the way. I had decided I wouldn’t bother to take photos so I could just enjoy the show, but I couldn’t help getting a few.

After the show we leisurely made our way out, so I could take photos on the way.

On the way out, we stopped at City Hall to enquire about luggage storage for the next day. We got the information we needed, but we thought we’d just stop in at the luggage storage place to make sure our suitcases would be accepted.

As we were walking past the fountain, the little fountain show thing was starting up. We stayed to watch.

Then it was time to make our way back to the hotel. We got our things a bit more organised, ready to get all packed up in the morning.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I think I might have to think about heading back to Hong Kong when Mystic Manor opens up. It looks beautiful at night and I suspect that Grizzly Gulch ride might be something that we're going to enjoy as well.

Thanks for sharing. Great pics at night.

 

[zanzibar138]

I think I might have to think about heading back to Hong Kong when Mystic Manor opens up. It looks beautiful at night and I suspect that Grizzly Gulch ride might be something that we're going to enjoy as well.

Thanks for sharing. Great pics at night.

If they put as much effort into Mystic Point as they did for Grizzly Gulch, it's going to be beautiful area with awesome theming I think my next visit will be part of my 2015 Asia trip.

 

[Minniemum]

Continued...

We headed straight for Grizzly Gulch again. I wanted to make sure we saw it and rode the mine train at night. It was even quieter there than it had been during the day!

As is usually the case with these things, the mine train was more fun at night!

We love doing the rides both during the day and night. Like you, I'm more of a night fan.

 

[zanzibar138]

We love doing the rides both during the day and night. Like you, I'm more of a night fan.

Although during the day you get to see more of the theming

 

[areweindisneyyet]

Continued...

The tour left from the tourist information desk at the train station. The map had a little camera symbol where you were supposed to stop and take photos. I was following it very literally to start off with! First stop was the arch in front of the train station.

Then we were to continue walking in that direction until we reached the pier on the lake.

Next stop was the Chapel Bridge, which of course we’d already crossed the night before. I hadn’t taken any photos from this angle though.

Then we were to walk around the back streets a little, and past an old church.

When we got back to the river, there was another old covered bridge across. There was also remnants of the paddle wheel power supply the city used to rely on.

It was here that we realised there was a city wall around the Old Town! It was very exciting for me as I love the idea of city walls, and I hadn’t been expecting to see any. It was a bit hard to find exactly where we were supposed to go, and we were all very surprised to see a herd of cattle in the paddock in the middle of the city lol! We were all very careful on the snowy path, even though there were a group of teenagers along the way using the snow for sliding just for fun.

It was kind of difficult to know where we could cross the wall to get back into the city – I thought we might have to wander the whole length of it at one point lol! But eventually we found our way in and ended up back in the Old Town. We thought that was as good a point as any to stop for a bite to eat. Eventually we found a cafeteria style place, of the same chain that we stopped at for afternoon tea the day before. We only just managed to find a seat as our lunch was ready.

After filling our bellies, it was time to continue with the tour. There were a few windy bits around Old Town, which we decided to skip, having explored a bit the previous afternoon. So we went straight onto the Lion Monument. It took a while to find, and for the last couple of section the map hadn’t been that useful (it was more cartoon style than an actual map), but we managed to find it in the end.

I had never realised that the monument was over a pool of water, so I thought I’d better include the water in my photos. It must be there for a reason. Maybe because it's a nice place to go for reflection? If it wasn't for the group of kids playing a game there it would have been quite a solemn, thoughtful place.

There was a bit of a museum thing at the monument, which we decided to skip. It was getting fairly late and Dad still needed to shop for his Swiss army knife lol! So the next stop was the big church that we could see from our room. The church was beautiful in an entirely different way to something like Notre Dame. It was solid and stable, with just a few carvings at the main entrance.

From the church there was a nice view back towards the lake.

Mum had her eye on a shop for Dad’s Swiss army knife, it was like a big department store for tourists in the Old Town area. It had several floors of crazily expensive watches, jewellery and bags, and one little section of reasonably priced souvenir type stuff. Dad bought his white Swiss army knife, and I bought one for DH, then we both had them engraved which was pretty cool. It was a mission buying it though, we had to show our passports and fill in forms – it took about 10 minute just to put the transaction through!

Eventually we made it back to the hotel to have a bit of a rest before dinner. We went to an English pub style place in the same area we were in the previous night, where we all had fish and chips. Yep, very Swiss of us lol! Then it was back to the hotel for some packing and getting organised for yet another move the next day.

The English pub is where we had lunch too. I can taste the chips with vinegar right now.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

All caught up. Just loved it and what a great surprise from your husband.

 

[zanzibar138]

All caught up. Just loved it and what a great surprise from your husband.

Yep sure was!

What a small world that we've both eaten in the same pub in Lucerne

Hang in there everyone, nearly finished! Just got one more day to go!

 

[zanzibar138]

Hong Kong – Melbourne

As it was our last day today, we woke up reasonably early to pack, get organised, and check out before heading to the park. I planned to be there for opening again. Unfortunately DH was having some issues organising the next part of his holiday (he was going onto Thailand to visit a friend), so we didn’t make it again.

We decided to just have a quick breakfast at the Hollywood & Dine, which was kind of cafeteria style. DH had a made-to-order breakfast of noodles and eggs with chicken wings (which we both thought was kind of weird as a breakfast food). I just had a selection of fruit, yoghurt and juice from the fridge. I had left my camera in the room, so didn’t get any photos of the breakfast or the restaurant. It was definitely a quick service kind of place, but perfectly adequate for a quick breakfast on the way to the park.

Eventually we were ready to check out, so did that and caught the shuttle bus to the park (since we had our suitcases we decided it would be easier). There was no line for check out, and the shuttle bus pulled up just as we were getting to the bus stop.

First thing we did when we got to the park was stow our luggage. It was very quick and easy to do, and cost us HK$60 for each case. Well worth it for the convenience and time saved not having to go back to the hotel.

Soon we were in, and heading towards Winnie the Pooh. You may have noticed that I didn’t ever go back with my fastpass the previous day, and we thought it would be quieter not long after opening. We were in luck, only a 15 minute wait. So we jumped in line.

Then we were boarding our honeypot and bouncing along with Tigger! I did attempt to take photos on the ride, but failed miserably.

We exited through the shop. There were some specials in this shop last time I was there, so I had a quick look. There were specials again, but nothing that was of particular interest to me.

By the time we were exiting Pooh, it was nearly time for Fantasy Gardens to open.

We decided to have a bite to eat while we were waiting, and made our way to Clopin’s Festival of Foods.

We got a Schizuan (no idea how that is spelt lol!) beef between us, and watched the teacups while we were eating.

Then it was time to head back to Fantasy Gardens. The characters hadn’t all arrived yet, but I thought we may as well go around in order, so we lined up in Minnie’s pavilion. Soon enough she arrived, and there were only a couple of people in front of us in the line. The handlers saw my anniversary button and started singing happy birthday lol! I had long given up trying to correct people so I just went with it. But then they saw that DH had one too, and got very confused. We explained to them that it was actually our anniversary, which caused much amusement to Minnie, who had a good giggle (well, made lots of giggling gestures anyway). I had photos on my own first, but after learning about our anniversary, they made DH get in the picture too and got us to have a kiss.

Next up was Pooh, who also had a very short line! I hadn’t met Pooh before, so it was quite exciting for me!

We decided to give Mickey a miss, since we have lots of photos with him. The next pavilion was for Mulan, but she must have been on holidays while we were there, and Donald was there in his Chinese outfit instead. DH wanted to go straight to Goofy, so we skipped Donald and went to Goofy first.

Next we went back to Donald, and just walked straight up to him as there was no line at all! I felt a bit sorry for him!

There was a showing of the Golden Mickeys coming up, so we made our way out of the gardens and over to the Golden Mickeys theatre.

On the way out, we stopped to have a look at the official photos (as you may have remembered that I had vowed to buy one if we saw them again). We ended up getting one of the Minnie ones where we had a kiss, as we thought it was a nice souvenir of our 1st anniversary. We also got some keyrings with one of the Pooh photos on it. It took about 10 minutes to process the keyrings, then we made our way to the theatre.

Continued in next post...

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great update. Love the Donald in his chinese outfit. I must make a point of visiting the characters in that area NEXT time I go.

Looking forward to more.

 

[Disneyfanswicklow]

Fabulous photos!

 

[Minniemum]

That's a super cute 1 year anniversary photo with Minnie.