We finally ate a long delayed lunch, and even then Barbie was worried that we were sacrificing theme park exploration time; after all... when wuold we be back for this kind of experience? Still, we really did need to replenish our energies and rest our feet. I mean, between barnie and me, we could continue this demanding pace - but the kids were already burnt out with all the walking across the park and the quite hectic pace our trip demanded from us.
I could see Barbie's viewpoint, but I also could see how tired Bryce and Bernice were. This was ceasing to become enjoyable... and I was starting to feel that my feet were acheing (despite very comfortable shoes). So, we took our lunch, then walked around some more - with the intent of maximizing our one day stay in Disneyland.
Note to self - should such an experience afford itself in the future, it would be unwise - and unenjoyable to force-explore Disneyland, H.K. or otherwise, in half a day. It's just too hectic a pace... specially with kids. After all, Disneyland... as the Greeks would say, should be a Kairos moment. not a purely Chronos moment. For non-greeks, it means that the trip should be enjoyable (quality time focused) and not a purely linearly time-bound minute-maximizing event. That is why they refer to it as the Disney Magic... not marathon.
We were obviously doing something wrong - and spoiling the experience for the kids. Unfortunately, the cost of such a vacation does not lend itself to easily being enjoyed by others quite easily... specially non-H.K. residents who would need to plane in.
Going back to the Disney experience. After the much needed, albeit slightly rushed lunch. We then decided to try a few of the theme park's rides, specifically the Magic Mountain - a roller coaster, complete with health warnings that people with High Blood Pressure or a weak heart should skip... and using our quick entry pass, we were able to skip having to join the ride's queue and head string to the start of the line... see our package afforded us preferential treatment as far as the theme park's more popular rides were concerned - unfortunately, maybe because of the warning signs, Barnie decided not to join us, and just wait outside. So it was just the kids and me.
The roller coaster was in a pitch black environment to simulate space, and all we could see were starburst-pattered light shows (quite similar to the effects in Star Trek's warp speed or Star War's hyperdrive. As we careened sharply in a random manner - going left or right or up or down. I noticed (when I could) that Bernice closed her eyes for the most part, while Bryce; sitting behind us, had his head down most of the ride - how did I know? Well, he told me, and there were cameras taking pictures with the hope of convincing us to get a souvenir photo. Unfortunately, since the kids faces were hardly seen, I decided not to get said photo. Having survived that, we explored other theme-park activities.
Bernice with an 'I was here' moment.
Here she is again, ready to toss the Tommorowland globe like a large beach ball.
Lifting the Tommorowland globe while doing an Atlas pose, with a little help from Bryce. Notice I've got an admirer observing how strong I am?
What's so hard about this?
We were not too keen on other rides. For the most part, the kids (and I use the term kids here loosely - since it might be better to call them pre-teens... and in Bryce's case, he'd officially be a teen before the month ended) had outgrown them, so we simply took some pictures of certain rides - but declined taking the rides themselves.
After all, no one thought they'd miss out on the experience from the the Winnie the Pooh ride...others were not seemingly enticing enough on the outside (like the Buzz Lightyear experience), or we could not see their entrance - thus we just took a picture and decided to look elasewhere to maximize our remaining time the park.
Bryce and Benice posing separately in front of the Buzz Lightyear Space Command ride.
Simply put, the kids and I were exhausted - though the pictures may just hint at this - which shows that they (the kids) were real troopers. Barbie then insisted that we then tried, what was to admitedly be (at least, to me) the highlight of our Disney Theme Park visit - Mickey's Magical Symphony - a 3D movie.
Even while we were entering the theater to watch this, Barbie was bragging that we would enjoy this 200% guaranteed - though truth be told, I was rather skeptical, since I was really tired. We were given special 3D glasses to wear while the movie was playing (to be returned after, of course) so all we have is this picture to remind us of the experience.
The future is bright with 3D-technology and its special glasses. Arguably, the Disney attraction not to be missed - period!
The story was simple... Mickey asks Donald to help clean up while he's out - and under no circumstances must Donald play with the Sorcerer's hat (of Fantasia fame) - naturally, donald does the opposite, and everything goes awry. Never mind the story... the effects of this purely animated feature was really and utterly FANTASTIC!!! I had not exprienced any recent 3D movie lately - but this was obviously a more rewarding experience... in fact it was touted ot be a 4D experience.
This explanation was a bit of an exageration, of course, courtesy of what I'm sure is the marketing department's attempt to say that their 3D movie was unlike any other 3D experience - and though I will readily admit that it was an unforgettable experience, it was simply not a 4D experience; as the Sci Fi afficionado in me (U'm a Trek fan, as can be seen by the shirt I was wearing in the Disney experience) would reason out that the 4th Dimension - at least, for most SciFi fan, is Time. So unless ths show could trasnport us through time, it could nto bost of said 4D experience. But that's just me over-explaining what is supposed to be a rather innocent marketing tag line.
Like I said earlier - it was the highlight of our exprience. You could almost touch Donald (in fact I attempted to, as my senses were telling me he was just within reach), as he was trying to get away from a vortex (and you could feel the wind from said vortex) accidentally cast by his tampering with the hat. I also had the seeming instinct to duck as certain instruments seemed to fly to you - and judging form the noise in the theater, many reacted instinctively by not just ducking - but screaming... in an ejoyable way, of course, at the exprience.
Then there were the magically animated brooms (also from the Fantasia Sorcerer's apprentice portion) carrying water pails, and as their job of gathering water was likewise becoming messy... resulting in spashed water around; the audience felt sprinkling of water as well, reacting delightedly once again. Then Donald had to find the hat as it jumped from one well loved Disney scene to another... these from from different movies like the Little Mermaid and Alladin - with the the animation (and 3D) seamlessly flowing - both in our fronts... and later at our back (as when Donald was thrown from the screen - front, to his complaining while stuck in a hole at our back).
How much did I enjoy this? I can't recommend it enough. I laughed - and actually wept at the sheer magic I was experiecing before me. Yup - you read it right... I did weep with joy at the experience. Something I did earlier in the Little Mermaid portion of the Golden Mickey show. So I guess that's as good a barrometer as any to tell me that this movie like the previously mentioned Little Mermaid show, was something I was thoroughly enjoying. Both hit me, emotionally - but not because they were taer-jerkers... nope. Both visual extravaganzas actually reached my emotions, maybe pulling out my inner-child, making me stare at awe. For the Little Mermaid show, it was the visual spectacle on the stage... for this Magical Symphony, it was just that... the technical magic of 3D.
If I had any misgivings about our Disney experience, this one movie... this one attraction erased all such misgivings, we forgot about our fatigue, and this one attraction made our entire Disney trip worthwhile. THIS was the Disney magical experience I was looking for, and to me, it beat Lion King and the Golden Mickey shows hands down. this is what I would reccomend as a MUST SEE to anyone who had the plan and opportunity to visit Disneyland. Heck, had we not needed to serch the rest of the park for what else we could expereince, I would not have minded watching this again.
How would they top this? Think about it... this show was playing with the sense of sight (and depth), sound and touch as the water spray or the wind would make it an 'almost real' experience. So we have sight, sound and touch... I'd say add some way to integrate the sense of smell - with taste, I should emphasize... as I likewise remember Barbie telling us that the 3D Shrek movie she saw had him break wind, and they - the audience, felt - but thankfully, not smelled said 'break wind'.
Note: after our Disney experience for the day, we asked the kids what they enjoyed the most about it - and yup... it was unanimous - the 3D movie was this family's favorite experience. This was the day's saving grace and I can't thank it enough for reviving our interest and enthusiasm to move on and see the rest of the park.
Rejuvenated by the movie, we then looked for some souvenir items at the shop beside the theater - Bryce got a sun screen designed like Donald's eyes and upper beek, Benice got a Minnie doll, and me? I got a 6" statue of Mickey with the Sorcerer's hat and a small water globe on the ball - I can't call it a snow globe, because it isn't filled with snow... it was a bargain too, after mentally converting it's price into Philippine curency - and knowing that i would not see such a pice - at such a price back hOme - and since it was Mickey in Sorcerer's apprentice garb. it was a worthy souvenir for a table-top (or shelf-top) displayable conversation piece... not just of the movie - but of Hong Kong Disneyland.
Here's Bryce wearing the Donald sun shade.
Bernice wiht her Minnie doll.
We then thought to take the train ride around the park - and hit two berds with oen stone, rest while sitting down in the train, and see what else we could do from the train trip's vantage point. This was where we discovered that the train had two stations - one at the front and another at the back of the theme park.
Barbie and kids riding train - you can see the train's red 'steam' engine behind them. I can't decide who's more exhausted-looking in this picture... Bryce or his sun shade?
Same train ride, this time - its me with kids. Note the plastic bag I'm carrying? Within is the Mickey souvenir statue I got.
As I said in an earlier post, had we known about the train's path and stops, taking it would have saved us a lot of walk-time. Riding the train also made us discover where certain Disney characters were located - and we planned to go see them, with the intent of having our pictures taken with them.
Anyway, we were just killing time until the High School Musical attraction. The one that we said to ourselves, was a must see - simply because Bernice was a great fan of the two movies.
