Nrthwnd

^ That was a wonderful choice for our last night at HKDL! I had already seen the dinner selections with a bit of a walk through 'tour', and took in the available times to eat there. And nothing worked for what I wanted to do with my time there. Until the Farewell Dinner was announced. And the breakfast setup was really nice, too! And varied as much as dinner was. Would definitely do it again, with or without TPR, lol!

^ It was! Buttery smooth to the cut, it was exquisite! And I don't enthuse that much about a meal, trust me. And more pix of the meal when I get to my final day at Disney, the day I leave Hong Kong for home... In my current ongoing tour report on China! Doing HKDL now. http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=63786\

^^ I had this really nice afternoon meal at the Corner Cafe on Main Street, just before I left for home. It was pricy sure (around $50), but it was the new themed meal for their Hallowe'en celebrations, which we just caught the beginning of. And it was pretty much totally Western cuisine. And a view of the Flights of Fantasy parade that day too. The food was woooonderful. I would buy it again! The counter service was very reasonable IMhO. I ate at the counter service in Adventureland and had a very nice meal for I thought, under $10. I also did with others the Royal Banquet Hall in Fantasyland, which was various foods (fish and chips, ribs; east indian) counter services. The food was delivered fast, except for Cheryl's poor veggie skewers which took - for - ever to get. But it was good, she admitted, when she finally got it, lol. Good prices here, too. Good old Jack guarding my main course, beef! Sunday early afternoon. This was my dinner meal the Sat.night before. Very good and a good price, I felt. Cheryl and the aforementioned skewer, on the Friday of our tour. Maybe you have to call in, and order ahead for these? Hmmm.

^^ Haven't found anything quoted by Disney on the opening date(s) for MM. They are keeping it really close and private for this one. I check a lot of the Disney sites every other day, and even on the main HKDL site, there's no mention of the place... except this sign posted which I snapped while there for the TPR China Tour, last Sept. You can just make out the year, yes? It does say '2013' there. (o;

I think we're apparently doing better than the rest of the country. No snow, some rain has fallen, but you can walk outside and it's not that cold at all, IMhO. Hmmm. 5'C/40'F right now. That's not too bad.

So, now that we finished lunch, we continued our touring of Hong Kong Disneyland First day touring, con't... Around that time we also took in the two main attractions (for us) in Fantasyland, that being Mickey's Philharmagic and Pooh's Hunny Hunt. Now, having been to the copies (other than Pooh being trackless) of these attractions in Tokyo Disneyland, and all in Japanese language, I was expecting an all-Chinese dialogue show, etc. Not to be! The Pooh ride and Philharmagic were all done in english! As was most of The Golden Mickeys show, too. And Buzz Lightyear Space Rangers, as well. So I really wasn't ready to actually understand everything, lol! Which was a nice surprise, And then we headed through Adventureland, doing the Jungle Cruise (with a pretty good english speaking joking guide with us, I must admit), climbing Tarzan's Treehouse getting more ride time on Grizzly Gulch Mine Cars, and eventually into Toy Story Land. Passing of course, that lovely building that would become Mystic Manor in the not-too-distant... Some where in the late afternoon, I wanted to head back to the hotel, so I left my group still wandering around, got back to the Hollywood Hotel, had a cocktail or two and just relaxed before our Final Group Meal Together that evening. And it was to be in the outstanding Chef Mickey's with a truly International Buffet available for us. And The Head Mouse hisself showed up for photos with each table group. It was all good food and fun. And cause this was for most of us The Last Night together. So after dinner, several of us hung around the bar-lounge for more cocktails, China tour stories (there were many, lol) and then hugs and goodbye. But - I had to get some good sleep, for tomorrow i was going to tour HKDL a second day! In Adventureland - POP QUIZ - what's the difference between this photo of me and my head collection.... ....and this photo? This was fun to do. And then I found The Chair. Ah, power. I 'think' I was trying to get the name of our Jungle Cruise boat. Fail. Ah. Ain't they cute? Betty and Benoit about to embark on their "dangerous journey". With our pretty good joking guide to their left. The elephant bathing falls. And...."dangerous stuff" ahead!I think there were dangling snakes here at this scene. More animals. More jungle. More bad jokes. The whole thing is very well laid out, considering it is going around an island? Guess what? They got a tree'd safari too! And for the finale of the cruise - we got FIRE! That was well done, too. After the Jungle Cruise, we headed to the tree house for a quick little raft ride over, and a good view of some of the rest of the park. And after we got over there, I spotted this flying away. Awww. Hope they got another one. From the tree house, a view of Space Mountain there. And looking the other way - Grizzly Gulch Mtn! With a turret of the main Hong Kong Disney Hotel poking up. And, a Jungle Cruise boat passing by. We did a half-park train ride from Fantasyland to Main Street. (This was a view of Autopia in Tomorrowland.) That's all they were allowing - no round trips. So we hopped off the train, run around and back thru the Stn. and get back on, on the same car, same seats! It wasn't very busy at the time, lol. And back to Tomorrowland! Then I started to head back to the hotel, and I come across these Australians hanging around the old crypt 'n casket. Hi Michael, Kathryn and Maria! And I couldn't resist taking at least one pic of the fountain outside the park's entrance. It looks even better at night, all lit up. So I get back to the Hollywood Hotel, into the lounge, and order me up a banana daiquiri! I also found a pair of Mouse Ears at the park too! They embroider names on them too, but I foumd that out too late. Ah well, next visit, lol. So here I am, ears on, strawberry daiquiri in hand (I had more than one, hmm?). Ready for dinner! But before we headed into the restaurant I got a pic of me and Mr. TPR Touring, himself...Robb! Thanks again to you and Elissa for another amazing tour. Bearhugs! Hi guys! It was great touring with all of you. We did it! Hello, hello! See y'all again soon, on another amazing TPR Tour! Another good looking group. See you all again, somewhere soon! Here's my table with our little crew! Hi guys! And I see Brian can't wait to dig into everything, there. An across-the-table shot, from Benoit. And then I decided to make this face. Also take by Benoit. Silly me. And Jon's still doing something with electronics there. And Brian is....thinking. Hmmm. Then The Head Chef shows up, and each table gets it's prized photo with.... Him. But there's still time left for the Dessert Buffet, eh Jon? And after dinner, it was back to the lounge for some of us, for last cocktails and tour stories. Thanks Benoit for this photo of you and me. And after that, to bed and a good sleep, and then...more HKDL touring for me!

HAPPY ROBBIE BURNS DAY!

I think the park food could be improved....just a bit?

"Holly Holy" Neil Diamond I saw him and loved him... way before Vegas. Happy Birthday Neil!

^ Well like I said, the first and only time before Alegria arrived in town, was in 1986 when they (literally) debuted at EXPO 86 at the end of the fair. And they were one of The Big Hits there. And then..... never came back. So I guess we were a bit "starved for Cirque" when 2003 came around and Alegria was announced, lol.

Here's a photo from my current trip report of TPR in China, when me and Jon got on the Toy Story Land Parachutes, and I got this photo of the show building (in back there) of MM. Cool, huh? And the building(s) in the foreground is the restaurant and probable gift shop/bathrooms It's all there, it is. You can compare the size of it all, by checking out those people walking along the pathway, on the left there.

I would expand the space and spread out the layout that Goudurix currently occupies at Parc Asterix. Although that triple loop is sometimes (?) a painful experience, I think it could be better, possibly, with a tiny bit more 'running track' to it, around and within it. Everything else has spread all around it, so why not this coaster too? My choice. >>>>>>> And Go back in time to ride DL Matterhorn, the way it was originally designed to do, run single cars. The left side was awesome, I remember.... at age 10! <<<<<<<<<< The coaster in question..... at Parc Asterix, France. 2008 TPR Tour. Oops. Maybe 4 loops????

Darnit. < slinks back to mini-donuts dinner >

The closest "Book of Mormon" came to us was in Seattle, just after New Years. Way too soon after The Holly-Daze for us. So, we passed. Darnit. *And always hoping a possible maybe second touring company of it, will come to our town this time*

Alegria was our first tent show, in 2003. This was FINALLY happening, nearly 20 years after their first and only appearance at our world's fair, in 1986! Needless to say, EVERYBODY bought tix and I think they sold out in less than a couple of days, which for it's time very unusual for our city and anything 'cultural', lol! Anyway, I always remembered the two singers, the main theme song, most of all of it, heh heh. And I too have the cd, the programme, and the video to watch again and again. It's still always been my first fave. "You always remember your first time..." Zed now comes second. I was so ready for that show (TPR Japan Tour'11), already owning the cd and knowing it's history, at the time. Finding out it was closing (end of 2011) made me feel so sad, for the company, the musicians AND the theatre, lol! The whole experience there at Zed, I could just imagine like it was/is, in Orlando and La Nouba, having never seen that one.

I was looking through my set of photos taken from my 2009 Scandinavian Tour with TPR. Remembering back, it was an awesome tour, and any time Robb & Elissa offer it, do it! You won't regret it. But... I looked at the photo below again - and NOW I remembered why I included the server! Why, didn't she just co-host the Golden Globes with Tina Fey? Still, not a bad look-alike, yes? No? And are there any of you out there with similar photos? I'm curious and interested and wondering.... (EDIT to add: And I looked everywhere in here for a similar thread. Found nothing, except the Dead Celebrity thread. And... "they ain't dead, yet!") I mean, come on. Pretty good Poehler look, hmmm? Or to be more exact... NOW we know Amy's day job, hmm?

Now, after all of this discussion.... After March 15th, will the coaster be.... two credits?

And a Happy Happy Anny to you both! Best wishes always.

So, after seeing the current show last week, I've figured out my little list here.... Alegria Quidam Varekai Corteo Kooza Zed AmaLuna 7 in total...so far.

Looking good there, Shane.

And now, The (almost) Finale of My Report here... Hong Kong Disneyland First Day touring... The smallest, in terms of attractions number, of all the Magic Kingdoms around the world, I was prepared for what might turn into (literally) a 1/2 day there. At least, that's what people had reported in past trips, etc. But some new stuff was there now, since it opened, and that certainly made the difference in expanding the visit to HKDL. We had a day there, to be followed by a final group dinner at the Chef Mickey Restaurant (International buffet! And desserts! It was awesome!) that evening,. But I went one step further in adding an extra night to the end of the tour, at the Disney Hollywood Hotel, and then got myself a two-day ticket online, which when I worked it out... a pretty surprising $33 per day for park visits! Cool! And I used the ticket for a full day (Sat.Sept.29), and some time there (and lunch) on the day (Sun.30th) I left for the airport, and home. First of all, once again I had the joy of being one of the first in a TPR tour to get ERT on Disney coasters!!! Last time this happened for me, was in 2008 at Disney Paris on Big Thunder. But for HKDL, they took us to all three coasters, including the new one just opened Grizzly Gulch Runaway Mine Cars. I loved it, all of it. From the diving into and through tunnels, the backwards part, the shot back forward, the animatronics... Not too wild a ride, but just enough, to come back for more. The Toy Story Land RC Racer coaster was 'okay' with me. Definitely different as a variation on the u-pipe version. But after our free ride, I only went back once for a re-ride. Grizzly Gulch Mine Cars.... I lost count of, lol. Before they took us to Space Mountain, there was this little (what I call a) "song and dance" about a "secret route" we were going to take to get to it. And that secret route was through...... It's A Small World. And unfortunately, I actually fell for it, at first. I kept looking for the "magical waterway" to take us over to Space Mountain. Duh. The good news was, I actually enjoyed this version of IASM, as this was the version that included actual Disney characters throughout it. Much to the outcry (at the time) of "IASM Purists". But it worked out fine in my opinion. There was some obvious placements, and others you really had to look for. So I enjoyed the 'secret route'. But I didn't go back for a re-ride. Once was enough, after all. After Space Mountain (which was really good too! and in "Halloween mode" which was cool as well) we were "released to the park" and we found that one of the live shows, The Golden Mickeys, was just about to do it's first performance., So we checked that out, and then lunch.... and then, More Disney! Rise and Shine! It's Disney Time! Our view to the pool and the Hollywood Sign there. And as you can see, I am still waking up here, lol. Benoit and myself, ready to get going, Disney-Style! We went right through the main gate and down Main Street to get to Grizzly Gulch and it's new attraction. And as you can see there is a castle way down there. It's true! Now this was a Group Shot in front of Grizzly Gulch Mtn. But somehow, whoever I asked to take the pic with my camera, decided NOT to include everybody else, in it, LOL! Ah, communication... And immediately they decided to take a second shot. As the group was breaking up. Oh well. Memories like these.... And PROPS to Chuck, Cheryl and Maria for Holding That Pose, LOL! After riding (and riding and riding and...) Grizzly Gulch, we were then taken to ToyStory Land. Past the yet-to-open Mystic Manor. And... here's Toy Story land, in all it's glory! With RC Racer ahead of us, to ERT on. (o: And THIS was our "secret route" to Space Mountain.... uh.....okay, sure. Love the immediate hills behind it. THEN we did Space Mountain. FastPass style. And Cheryl is definitely happy and ready to ride, too! And when we came out of it - Dr. Honeydew! Beaker! Speaking in Chinese! It was still awesome to see 'them,' having known about this new form of mobile animatronics before. Very cool to see it in action! So just before lunch, our group decided to take in the first performance of... Here's our little posse, ready for showtime. The show itself is a sort-of "Awards Show" that features numbers from "winning Disney films" lol. Here's Tarzan, showing his appreciation for getting a Golden Mickey - for which category, I cannot remember. Of course, Mulan had to be part of the show. A closer look. There Mulan is, on the left. And her (eventual) Love Interest, in the middle. I had No Idea this number was in the first Stitch movie! I nearly laughed out loud when it flashed up on the screen. So here's the gang doing that song...I think. Finally, the Stitcher shows up. Now everybody dances the Rollercoaster! Then Ariel & Co. horns in, and we're into That Movie. More of The Little Mermaid number. These fish in back - I liked! Beauty & The Beast scrim, with Belle behind it there. The Happy Couple. With That Chandelier. Our singing hostess, who was really good through-out the entire show in what she had to do and/or sing. Finale! Without the shooting sparklers going off, darnit. And now, LUNCH! And here's Cheryl doing her bit for the veggie-veggie fruit-fruit gang...

^ Hmmm. My bad. Not sure what I was thinking of. Should've checked the video. I hope I don't get my Single Rider Line privileges taken away from me.

Oh my gracious, goodness me!

When I rode it back in 2011, I found the only outdoor portion of Splash Mountain was the drop itself. It didn't have the logs meandering around the mountain, like they do in DL. And the drop didn't go under anything. It stayed within a surrounding briar patch (like behind Elissa in that shot?) and then went back into the show building for more scenes. The load and unload stations and queues (and Single Riders Line, yes!) were all deep inside the show building, not having any outside view like at DL. And for a first in this attraction - which later WDW used for theirs - the log vehicles seated guests 'side-by-side', instead of one behind the other, like at DLs. The Japanese were very insistent about this change in the vehicle seating, as Japanese decorum (at the time) didn't really like that sort of seating arrangement. So, the 'side-by-side' log was born. At TDL. (EDIT to add: Also the counter service restaurant attached to SM, "Granny's Kitchen" (I think is it's name), is AWESOME! I went there more than once and enjoyed a few meals there. Good price and great selection, IMhO.)

IMhO I would rather go forward on that coaster at USJ. The way it's laid out I found exhilarating and a pretty good rush. Forward. The Japanese pop hits onboard were fun, too. And after that bad experience with the Indy Jones coaster (Backwards!) back in 2002 at DLParis, I would rather see what's coming up, than have to feel my body getting into stress-mode, for what was ahead.