Saturday, November 13, 2010

Disneyland revisited

It has been awhile. A long while and we thought why not? The kids recently had a week off from school here (sort of a fall holiday, it typically falls anywhere from late September to late October) and we headed out to Disneyland. In our early days in Hong Kong, we were annual pass holders. I almost remember those lazy weekends with nothing to do. Phil and I would decide to spend head out there for an afternoon. Nowadays the kids have so many athletic events each weekend, the weekends seem busier than the school week. In a burst of planning, we were able to use air miles to get day passes to Disneyland plus a night at the Resort. An instant made holiday!
Disneyland was just as I remembered it. Despite the reports in the press that Disneyland’s attendance numbers are way up, we did not have to contend with any crowds at all. Granted we were there in the middle of the week and in the morning but still. We walked onto all rides and right into each show. For the small world ride, the kids asked why we had to walk through rooms and rooms of line control just to walk right on the ride. Who would wait that long for this ride? Tori exclaimed. I did not have the heart to tell her that I made her as a baby wait hours for the very same ride in LA.
This trip to Disneyland was not without its firsts. It was the first time I called Disneyland security to report a missing child. As it happens, the twins and I went on a tamer ride while the other two went to ride Space Mountain over and over again. As we walked off our ride through a gift shop, we lost Adam. I searched on my own for a few minutes and then alerted the staff in the gift shop. They were not too worried but called security in. By the time the security woman arrived, Adam had been gone twenty minutes and Royce and I were crying. That being said, Hong Kong is very safe and I was not nearly as worried as I would have been anywhere else in the world but still…..The security lady asked me if I had a Chinese boy. I said no. She said there was a lost Chinese boy in Adventure Land. Just then, the call came in that there was a blonde boy in Tomorrow land. We all walked over and were all reunited. That is when we called it a day and spend the rest of our time solely at the Disneyland pool.
The kids of course had a great time but even the adults did. We realized that for the first time ever we were not hot at Disneyland. Hong Kong is suppose to have a cool winter this year. So far we have had a delightful fall with weather that is actually fall like. Temperatures have been in the seventies with bright sunny skies. There is nothing like a slight drop in the heat and humidity to get everyone in a good mood. Oddly enough, the kids actually had to wear sweatshirts over their Halloween costumes. Definitely a first for them in Hong Kong.