I’ve been to Disneyland three times in my life. Once as a child back in the US (the original Disney theme park) with my folks, once four years ago in Paris with my then-boyfriend, and finally once again two weekends ago in Hong Kong and I loved it every single time. I think part of the magic of Disneyland, or Disney in general, is that it always reminds you of the childlike part inside your heart. That sounds like a cheesy ad for the theme park, but it’s true. You step inside the gates and see the Mickey ears and balloons and all of a sudden you’re a kid again… at least for a little while.
That’s how I felt when I left for Hong Kong a couple of weekends ago with my folks to see the new Disneyland theme park that opened last year. This one was pretty funky for me because I knew some people who actually auditioned and got a job to work there so I was looking forward to seeing them as well. Not to mention, I was looking forward to doing the mandatory gift shop tour and spending needlessly on souvenir items that would probably end up gathering dust on my shelf, but hey, it’s a part of the experience.
Anyway, we arrived shortly after noon and even as the bus dropped us off on the long stretch of park that you have to navigate before reaching the gate I could already feel the excitement stirring. And I wasn’t the only one excited. My mother has loved Mickey Mouse for years. Even more than me, I think. She’s always collected Mickey souvenirs and shirts and clothes and accessories so she was beside herself thinking of all the stores and stuff we’d get to see along the way. My dad, on the other hand, was contemplating his sitting and waiting options for the day.
When we finally made it through the large entrance area, which is the beautiful expanse of land they turned into a park (it really could have easily been the grass maze in Alice in Wonderland) I made a mental checklist the top 10 things I wanted – no, needed – to do that day:
1. Buy myself a Mickey Head Ice Cream – This was one of the first things I did seeing how they had an ice cream stand right outside the gate! I love those Mickey head-shaped, chocolate-covered vanilla ice cream pops on a stick. Nothing spells theme park fun better than ice cream.
2. Get myself a pair of Mickey Mouse custom ears – These Mickey ear hats have been around for as long as Disneyland has and it’s tradition to grab a pair when at the theme park. You can even have your name embroidered on the back.
3. Look for as many hidden Mickey’s as possible – I even snapped a photo of a couple while I was there. They started as early as the park in front of the entrance and could easily be found throughout the entire day. Some were harder to find than others, but I think my last count was well over 50.
4. Ride Space Mountain – How can one go to Disneyland and not ride the famous Space Mountain? Since this particular park is a bit smaller than the original they didn’t have room for both of their staples so I didn’t get to ride Splash Mountain. Still, Space Mountain was fun and thankfully it took us only 15 minutes to wait in line for our turn.
5. Watch the Golden Mickey’s Show and look for friends – I must admit I was a little surprised at how popular the show was. I missed it the first time because I didn’t line up early enough. In either case, I made it in for the final show of the day and enjoyed watching the homage to all the Disney classics, though I do admit it was slightly weird watching them all talk in Chinese. There were available subtitles in English so it was cool, but still… kinda creepy! Oh, and I caught some old friends I knew from theater working on stage so that was fun.
6. Watch the famous Disneyland parade – Luckily on a bathroom break during lunch I noticed people congregating on the sidewalks of Main Street and I heard them announce that the parade was about to begin. I found a prime spot on top of a bench and got myself a pretty good view. And luckily too, because the parade was awesome!
7. Have my picture taken with Mickey Mouse (and any other characters I might bump into along the way) – This was particularly fun. I wasn’t surprised to find that the line to nab a photo with Mickey was longer than other lines but it was worth it. Even though I know it’s a novelty character costume, I still find myself believing it’s really Mickey Mouse… oh, and he posed with my tabo (long story…) too!
8. Buy as many souvenirs as can fit in my bag – I think I may have gone a little overboard on this one. I only brought one tiny suitcase for the five-day trip and it was not enough. I ended up leaving with a huge carry-on bag and stuffing half my stuff into the additional suitcase my parents had to buy. But, hey, it was worth it.
9. Watch the fireworks display – Though I didn’t get a front row seat on Main Street, as I wanted to avoid the huge crowds, I did manage to watch the amazing fireworks display from in front of the beautiful Disneyland Hollywood Hotel, which brings me to…
10. Check into the Disneyland Hollywood Hotel and have Mickey waffles for breakfast – This was incredible! And I totally enjoyed slipping my tired and aching feet into a pair of Mickey slippers as I finally got to relax. And the next day, I got to enjoy those awesome Mickey-shaped waffles at the delicious Chef Mickey restaurant, yum!
My trip to the Magic Kingdom was a complete success. It’s nice to revisit your childhood every now and then. But sooner or later, you gotta face reality and head on back to the real world – bummer!