Dreams really do come true!-Hong Kong Disneyland

A few years back, before we moved to Thailand, I got a Disney credit card in hopes that one day I would have enough points to help us make it to Disney.  My kids adore Disney movies and I just knew that they would love Disneyworld.  The chances of us actually getting there were pretty slim, but I had hopes that I could make it there with them while they were still little.

Fast forward a few years and here we are getting ready to experience Disneyland for the first time in Hong Kong of all places! We all woke up feeling pretty good from a much needed nights rest.  The boys were so excited about going to Disney.  They just kept asking us when we could finally leave.  I was realizing that hopes and dreams that we have can actually happen, just maybe not how we planned.

Walking through the gates of Hong Kong Disneyland, with the music, decorations, and masses of people, is a little overwhelming.  I know this is silly, but whenever I take my boys somewhere I never imagined we would get a chance to be, I tend to get a little choked up.  I had to pull myself together quickly because we were supposed to be at the "Happiest Place on Earth!"  We really lucked out with the weather on our first day.  The whole day it was in the 70-80 degree range.  It could not have been more perfect.

Right off the bat, we made our plan of action.  What shows did we want to see?  What rides did we have to wait for and which had fast passes? When were the art lessons?  Hong Kong Disneyland was the perfect place as our first Disney experience.  The park itself is really not that big.  It has seven different "worlds".  Our first stop was Tomorrowland.  The boys were absolutely giddy with excitement looking around at all the rides.  My favorite part of all the rides was that our whole family could fit on most of them together and you could take your bags on the rides with you.  We had fun flying rocket ships, fighting the Emperor Zurg in Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, and Greyson experienced his first "scary" roller coaster by riding Space Mountain.  We would have stayed over there a lot longer, but there was more to see.

We made it to Disney!!

 Riding in the rocket ships.

  Getting ready to fight Zurg

 Getting instructions from Buzz Lightyear

Grey tackled Space Mountain and love it!

We took a Jungle River Cruise, rode rafts across a river to get to Tarzan's Treehouse and watched an amazing Lion King performance in Adventureland.  If you make it to Hong Kong Disneyland, make sure to see The Lion King Show.  That was my favorite show by far!   I heard the boys mention a few times that they would never forget this day.

We found Tarzan and Jane in the tree house.

We also checked out Mystic Manor, which Britton said was too scary.  If you have little ones and they get scared easily, this is probably not a good ride for them.  Although, I think this may have been the best ride there.  The special effects were amazing.  We also stopped by Toy Story Land to ride the Slinky dog ride.

Another favorite thing we attended was the animation classes they had.  On the first day we had a lesson on how to draw Mickey Mouse.   Everyone in the family, even 3 year old Britton, enjoyed doing this.  The boys really enjoyed learning about the history of animation.  They do love drawing and have been practicing with our Disney Creativity Studio app since we have been home.

 Taking the class very seriously!

They all did a great job!

We finished our night by heading back to Sleeping Beauty's Castle to watch an amazing fireworks show. We oohed and aahed through the whole thing.  One of the most memorable moments was walking out after the firework show and getting to experience a little more of that Disney Magic.  It was snowing on Main Street USA!  After living in Thailand for almost 3 years and the boys not getting the chance to see snow, this was a really special moment for all of them.  They could not stop smiling.

 The castle at night.  Waiting for Fireworks.

 Britton picking snow off his jacket.

If you look closely you can see snow!  Thank you Disney!

It was the most perfect day at Disney and we were excited to head back in a couple days.  We ended our night with a red taxi saying that we should have been in the green taxi line.  Waiting in the green taxi line to be told, no, we should be in the red taxi line.  Finding a red taxi that could only have 4 passengers and not wanting to take all of us home, but then thankfully changed his mind.  Why do taxis have to be so difficult?  Like I said, it's a great system if you know where you are going in the city! Check back for day 3 in Hong Kong.