Hong Kong Disneyland

Just got back from our Disneyland trip this afternoon. For Isaac and I, it was our first time ever at any sort of Disney theme park. It was truly cute to see Isaac so excited the whole day! We saw a fantastic musical rendition of "The Lion King", trotted over to experience the "Leaky Tikis", and waited 45 minutes to go on the "Winnie-the-Pooh" ride. Now, Pooh bear has a special place in Isaac's heart, as it was "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" that captivated him most as a toddler. And so we had no choice but to stand and wait to get into the ride. There must have been over 300 people ahead of us. Unbeknowst to us, people were also using "fast passes" to cut into the front of the line. This seemed enormously unfair, and unfortunately we didn't find out until later that we could have had one "fast pass " ourselves! Oh well. One of the downfalls of living in a foreign country is that sometimes vital information doesn't get passed on! The other frustrating thing about waiting in that particular line was that it also included many teenagers and adults: without kids! Apparently these people had decided their day wouldn't be complete without this ride, which described itself as, "a slow, whimsical journey though Pooh's many adventures. At times there may be a mild rocking motion...".

We spotted more of these overgrown Pooh lovers later as we stood in line to "meet" that silly old bear. I lost count of the 25-40 year olds ahead of us in line who were vying to get a picture with a fuzzy, six-foot costume (which was probably smothering some poor employee in its depths). This is one aspect of Chinese culture that I have yet to understand; that almost frantic fascination with anything cutsy and popular. Oh yes, and the never-ending pursuit of a photo opp.! Maybe they all just remain young at heart :) Isaac certainly enjoyed meeting Pooh, and gave him a big hug and kiss. How much cuter can you get?

My husband had a chance to bond with Isaac, too, as they shared a thrilling ride on "space mountain", shot robots together with Buzz Lightyear, and re-lived his favorite ride from childhood: "It's a Small World". I thought that was amazing, too, although a slight sensory overload. On our way out we stopped to gaze at "Tinkerbell's Castle", all lit up. We agreed that it had been a great day. Then we headed out on our 2-hour, 4 train ride back to the border crossing . . . well, nothing's perfect !