Disneyland, the Hong Kong version!

It seems like all we have done lately is travel…I say this with gratefulness, excitement and exhaustion. Disneyland was the 2nd to last vacation on our Spring calendar. It was all about the kids, all for the kids, and all the kids had a blast. Thanks to another Filipino holiday, the children were out of school May 1st. Thursday night we all flew to Hong Kong to be well rested and prepped for an all day affair of Disney. We were lucky to have another family that decided to join our chaos. This always makes it more fun for the kids and for the adults. Little did our friends, the Rennakers, know, but we are quite a bunch to travel with. Someone is always asking for something, baby always needs fed, changed, sleep, and Curt and I have to take deep breathes just to keep from yelling at each other. It’s FUN! OK, normally that’s just the airport portion. Jones didn’t have a great flight. It was actually the first flight he did NOT sleep on. I realize that an hour and a half isn’t a very long flight, but when a baby isn’t sleeping when he should be…it felt like a 3-hour flight.

A quick breeze through the airport in Hong Kong and then it was a 15 minute taxi ride to Disneyland. Living in Manila, we are always amazed when the taxis travel more than 40 mph and are newer than 1990. This driver was so fast and there was no traffic! It was a gift all itself. We arrived at the Disneyland hotel, checked in and had the official adult kick off to a kid’s weekend….we had a drink! It was late and the kids were exhausted so sleep was easy to come by. The morning arrives too soon and kids are ready to get up by 6:30am. UGH! The character breakfast wasn’t until 8:30am…what to do. We strolled through the hotel, and killed some time.

The character breakfast was actually very good and we met Pluto, Goofy and Mickey. The kids played along, smiled when the cameras were out and stared in amazement at the proper times. We (the adults) were cracking up though as the characters don’t really speak inside their costumes so you rally don't notice the language/cultural barriers. This is only really funny when you hear the staff talk to them in Mandarin…hehe! Mickey is multilingual! Who knew?

It’s strange that the park doesn’t open until 10:30am as we had way too much time to stall. The kids played in the Mickey Maze made of hedges and explored the hotel for while as well. Then it was time for Jones to take a nap. The first day I stayed back with Jones and Curt and the girls, along with our friends, went on to the park. Since we were staying at the Disneyland hotel a quick shuttle bus away from the park, it worked out well for Jones’ naps. They all enjoyed the park for a few hours before I got there, then we all played together. Taking turns with each kid, eating lunch, and trying to catch a few shows. We left the park about 3:30pm for some, much needed, rest time. All 3 of our kids took a nap and I sat by the pool with our friends and had a cosmopolitan. Everyone woke up just in time to get ready to head back to the park for fireworks. We had a decent spot for watching and everyone enjoyed the display. They do such a great job at Disney. In fact, the Swine Flu gave us such an advantage that weekend. The lines were not long, it never felt too crowded, and it was incredibly clean. It was definitely magical. There were antibacterial foam stations everywhere you turned. They actually had workers using antibacterial wipes to wipe down the cars after each person rode it. Not to mention, the guy I saw wiping down the queuing railings to line up for the shuttle. It was a mother’s dream! The complete opposite of Manila…what a nice reprieve.

A late night again and an early morning to follow. Same routine for breakfast, though you can take out Pluto and add Daisy. This time Curt stayed back with Jones while I took the girls to the park with the Rennakers. It was so much fun to have the freedom to run around with them and not stop to deal with the stroller, etc. I really had a great time. Jones didn’t sleep long, so he and Curt met back up with us after about an hour. Because the lines were fairly short we were able to ride the rides and keep the flow going. Had lunch and back at it we were. The Rennakers left about 3pm for their flight back and we stayed for a few more hours to repeat some of our favorites. Back to the hotel and out to the pool where we had dinner…and drinks, of course.

The next morning we did another character breakfast and didn’t see anyone knew. While Jones took a nap, I packed us up and Curt wandered around the hotel with the girls. They played tennis, went through the maze, and who knows what else. Then it was off to the airport. The airport was the highlight for me. I have been there before, so I shouldn’t have been so shocked, but after traveling much more since the first time I was there, I was flabbergasted by how awesome the airport was. I could have lived there! Great stores, all new, all clean (can you see I like clean things) and many restaurants (even American ones). It was too soon when we had to board, I was enjoying myself. We were home by 4pm and down at our pool by 4:30pm! A little take out pizza and that wrapped up our amazing family weekend!