Very long over-dued post.
Before Jules started "big girl" school, we took a short post CNY trip to Hong Kong. We don't usually travel off-peak cos we usually had to wait for the school holidays when the little sis was done with the term. This time round though, she didn't want to come with us even though she was have a recess break cos she had exams after so it was just my parents and us. The idea was to take Jules on a short trip before she started school and before our holidays will now henceforth have to be only during school breaks - for the next 20 years at least. Hong Kong was our choice of destination of (1) the cool weather it would be in Feb (2) good ole Cantonese food that my parents love (3) visiting my aunt and cousin who lives there and (4) DISNEYLAND for the little munch'kin.
Before Jules started "big girl" school, we took a short post CNY trip to Hong Kong. We don't usually travel off-peak cos we usually had to wait for the school holidays when the little sis was done with the term. This time round though, she didn't want to come with us even though she was have a recess break cos she had exams after so it was just my parents and us. The idea was to take Jules on a short trip before she started school and before our holidays will now henceforth have to be only during school breaks - for the next 20 years at least. Hong Kong was our choice of destination of (1) the cool weather it would be in Feb (2) good ole Cantonese food that my parents love (3) visiting my aunt and cousin who lives there and (4) DISNEYLAND for the little munch'kin.
Jules was told months ahead about our upcoming trip to Hong Kong to see Mickey. Promises of having breakfast with Mickey made her eyes lit up so wide, it was like she didn't believe our words. She would go to bed saying each night "tomorrow Juju wake up, juju go Mickey house!". When we still never boarded that elusive flight to Hong Kong, I think she must have thought her parents are just big liars.
So when the big day came and she saw our luggages lined up at the door, she got really excited!! It was all on her face! I was actually not in the best of health for the trip - fighting a bad cough and fever and on my second round of antibotics. But Jules' excitement was infectious and it really made me feel better inspite of the flu. My dad and sis saw us off and I think Jules was a little sad that the rest of the family won't coming along. My parents were heading to Macau while we spent two nights in Disneyland before we were to meet up again in Hong Kong city. It was a short flight - 3+ hours and I was a little concern how we were going to keep her occupied. All other flights she has taken (with the exception of our 45min flight to Penang) where red eye flights to Australia when she promptly fell asleep. I was convinced she was going to ask me to open the exit doors and jump off the plane! But no, just like a savvy traveller, she made herself comfortable, buckled herself (and her friend Angel the dog) when the announcement was made for us to do so, sipped on her own cup of apple juice, had mash potato from the child's meal for the first time (I regretted letting her have her way with that mash, it definitely wasn't dairy-free but she was eating it with so much gusto, I couldn't bear to take it away from her. The price was an afternoon of upset tummy that thankfully cleared up by the end of the day) and watched Frozen on the inflight entertainment. I didn't even have to take out her coloring or the toys I had packed along.
We arrived to a cool 12 deg and were a little undressed for the weather. So we bundled Jules in whatever we could and made a dash for the cab stand. We checked ourselves into the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and made hat home for that the next 3 days. On our first evening, we booked a character dining dinner at the hotel which was to be one of the highlights for Jules (or so I thought). Instead of telling her "you better finish your dinner quick or Mickey won't come take photo with you", I found myself telling her "you better eat else Mama will ask Mickey to come over!". She was probably the only kid in the entire restaurant afraid of Mickey and his friends. It is the first time she has ever seen cartoon characters come alive and at such close proximity. We did bring her to the Disney show last year but were seated a distance from stage so she wasn't so overwhelmed by their size. But this time, just the sheer size of the characters was enough to scare her off. We did manage some photos with the characters - not without her clinging onto me for her dear life. Well at least she still managed to smile.
We all retreated for an early night after a day of travelling and all that trauma she went through from seeing her life-size Disney friends. Thankfully she slept like a baby. We got up all refreshed the next morning ready for a day at the park. I've heard horror stories about how the crowd can get ugly at the park - stories of queue-cutting, pushing and shoving. My parents were also convinced that we would somehow lose our daughter in the crowd and insisted we held her close with a leash - which we did but not for very long. It was a manageable off-peak crowd so we pretty much just let her doing some running around in the nice cool weather. There weren't many rides that she could take given some height restrictions, but we went knowing this full well so no regrets there. Plus, the plan was to just stay for a couple of hours (for going even the afternoon parade) cos she had to nap (yes, I'm a bit of a nazi when it comes to her sticking to her naps. It's that or deal with a cranky child at 6pm. No thank you.) We rode on the Cinderella Carousel, Winnie the Pooh's Adventure, It's a Small World and Dumbo. You should see the look on her face after each ride. She was totally mesmerised especially by the Its a Small World ride - which is still beautifully done outside out Japan. Ask Jules today and she still has very fond memories of the park so I take that to mean she had a really good time and it was special. We visited the Toy Story Land before calling it a day at the park carrying with us lots of gifts and toys for Jules and her cousins.
If you're planning to visit Hong Kong Disneyland with the kiddos, here are some tips I can offer:
- If you can, stay for 2 nights at any of the 2 Disneyland hotels. That way, you can spread your visit to the park over 2 days and the kids get their much needed rest in between. The hotel packages do come with 2 day park entry tickets.
- For the full Disney experience, it is worth it to pay a little more for the Kingdom Club benefits at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel. The Kingdom Club entitles you to free breakfast (a very decent spread if I may add) and the kids get to meet and greet the Disney characters before bedtime. There's also free use of the Kids Club room - where they are daily activities for the kiddos.
- Go off-peak and during the cooler months of between Nov-Feb. I think it makes time at the park a much more pleasant one. I can imagine queuing in the heat will just zap up all your energy, irritate the kids and take away that little bit of magic from a Disney holiday.
- Book a meal at one of the character dining outlets for an experience to dine with your Disney friends. OK so it didn't turn out the way we had expected but I would imagine if your kiddo is not like mine, it would be really quite fun to have your favourite Disney friends be around at breakfast or dinner. But I would say just once will do cos the experience is the same - you smile, they snap the photo and you end up feeling obligated to buy the photo merchandises.
So after 2 very lovely nights in Disneyland, we headed off to the city where we met up with my parents who had a great time themselves in Macau. The next few days was spent eating and meeting up with my aunt, uncles and cousins who live in Hong Kong. We only get to see each other once a year (especially my cousins who don't fly home very often unlike my aunt) so it was really nice just hanging out and spending time with them. And when the locals bring you around for food, you can be assured you've having some of Hong Kong's very best! Oh that roast goose we had for lunch - I still dream of it today. And Jules polished it up - all by herself. Didn't even want to share! And it case you're wondering - no it's not for that famous Yung Kee, it's from a hole-in-the-wall eatery on the street next to Yung Kee. So soooo good.
The little sweet gestures from the wonderful people at the Landmark Oriental also made our holiday a delightful one!! Topped that with the Disney magic experience, I think it'll be one holiday that Jules will remember for a while!
Till our next getaway!!
We all retreated for an early night after a day of travelling and all that trauma she went through from seeing her life-size Disney friends. Thankfully she slept like a baby. We got up all refreshed the next morning ready for a day at the park. I've heard horror stories about how the crowd can get ugly at the park - stories of queue-cutting, pushing and shoving. My parents were also convinced that we would somehow lose our daughter in the crowd and insisted we held her close with a leash - which we did but not for very long. It was a manageable off-peak crowd so we pretty much just let her doing some running around in the nice cool weather. There weren't many rides that she could take given some height restrictions, but we went knowing this full well so no regrets there. Plus, the plan was to just stay for a couple of hours (for going even the afternoon parade) cos she had to nap (yes, I'm a bit of a nazi when it comes to her sticking to her naps. It's that or deal with a cranky child at 6pm. No thank you.) We rode on the Cinderella Carousel, Winnie the Pooh's Adventure, It's a Small World and Dumbo. You should see the look on her face after each ride. She was totally mesmerised especially by the Its a Small World ride - which is still beautifully done outside out Japan. Ask Jules today and she still has very fond memories of the park so I take that to mean she had a really good time and it was special. We visited the Toy Story Land before calling it a day at the park carrying with us lots of gifts and toys for Jules and her cousins.
If you're planning to visit Hong Kong Disneyland with the kiddos, here are some tips I can offer:
- If you can, stay for 2 nights at any of the 2 Disneyland hotels. That way, you can spread your visit to the park over 2 days and the kids get their much needed rest in between. The hotel packages do come with 2 day park entry tickets.
- For the full Disney experience, it is worth it to pay a little more for the Kingdom Club benefits at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel. The Kingdom Club entitles you to free breakfast (a very decent spread if I may add) and the kids get to meet and greet the Disney characters before bedtime. There's also free use of the Kids Club room - where they are daily activities for the kiddos.
- Go off-peak and during the cooler months of between Nov-Feb. I think it makes time at the park a much more pleasant one. I can imagine queuing in the heat will just zap up all your energy, irritate the kids and take away that little bit of magic from a Disney holiday.
- Book a meal at one of the character dining outlets for an experience to dine with your Disney friends. OK so it didn't turn out the way we had expected but I would imagine if your kiddo is not like mine, it would be really quite fun to have your favourite Disney friends be around at breakfast or dinner. But I would say just once will do cos the experience is the same - you smile, they snap the photo and you end up feeling obligated to buy the photo merchandises.
So after 2 very lovely nights in Disneyland, we headed off to the city where we met up with my parents who had a great time themselves in Macau. The next few days was spent eating and meeting up with my aunt, uncles and cousins who live in Hong Kong. We only get to see each other once a year (especially my cousins who don't fly home very often unlike my aunt) so it was really nice just hanging out and spending time with them. And when the locals bring you around for food, you can be assured you've having some of Hong Kong's very best! Oh that roast goose we had for lunch - I still dream of it today. And Jules polished it up - all by herself. Didn't even want to share! And it case you're wondering - no it's not for that famous Yung Kee, it's from a hole-in-the-wall eatery on the street next to Yung Kee. So soooo good.
The little sweet gestures from the wonderful people at the Landmark Oriental also made our holiday a delightful one!! Topped that with the Disney magic experience, I think it'll be one holiday that Jules will remember for a while!
Till our next getaway!!
