When the Paris Disneyland opened 20 years ago, the French newspaper Liberation announced the new arrival with a pair of mouse ears above its masthead. Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post isn’t given to such daring moves, but there’s no doubting that Asia now has a new tourist destination.
The opening of Hong Kong Disneyland earlier this month, inevitably, drew a star cast. Movie star Jackie Chan was his usual cheerful, ebullient self and Chinese vice-premier Zeng Qinghong flew down from across the border to cut the ribbon.
Disney isn’t about to change the formula that has worked so magnificently for the last 50 years. So, the first thing that visitors see as they arrive in Hong Kong Disney is Sleeping Beauty’s Magic Castle, rising like a nursery story come to life. Inside Mickey and the gang are wandering about, amiably posing for digital shutterbugs.
But Hong Kong Disneyland is slightly different from other theme parks around the world. One thing in its favour: Lantau Island, where the park is situated, is very beautiful and you can see tree-covered mountains rising in the distance behind Sleeping Beauty’s castle. Lantau Island is about 35 minutes from Hong Kong’s city centre and 10 minutes by train from the city’s airport.
The world’s newest Disney park has been built on 320 acres of reclaimed land and there are plans for further expansions if the park does as well as expected. It’s unquestionably smaller than other Disney parks around the world but the company reckons this should be just right for the time being.
What are the main attractions? Well, you can walk down Main Street, USA with its gaslights. This part of Disneyland is based on Walt Disney’s memories of America in the 1900s when he was growing up. On the opening day, more than 100 performers took part in a parade that included some of Disney’s top characters and outlined how they evolved over the years.
Then, there’s Fantasyland which is dominated by the Sleeping Beauty Castle. In the Fantasy Gardens you find all the Disney characters wandering about including Mickey and Donald and Winnie the Pooh and his friends. If you are a Winnie the Pooh fan you can even get into what’s called the Enchanted Honeypots and go for a whirl in the Hundred Acre Woods where Pooh and his friends Tigger et al, hang out.
Many American newspapers were underwhelmed by the rides on offer in Fantasyland and thought them too tame. But if you don’t mind riding on the tame side, you can take a spin in Mad Hatter Tea Cups, the Cinderella Carousel and Dumbo the Flying Elephant. No gravity-defying drops here.
Ok, if you’ve had enough of cartoon characters, how about a detour into adventureland and a Jungle River Cruise? Along the way, you’ll meet elephants that have come for a quick splash in the water and there are surprises at every turn. Also, you’ll soon find yourself examining Tarzan’s intricately constructed tree home which is one of the main attractions in Adventureland. The cruise ends with a grand techno finale with fire and water.
Of course, there’s still more for people who can’t get enough. Tomorrowland has the Space Mountain that’s famous for its stomach churning rides. Other rides include Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters in which you can help the hero of Toy Story to eliminate all his enemies and nasty Emperor Zurg. If you are still craving for adventures in outer space there is Orbitron, which is a gentler ride in flying saucers.
There is also Mickey’s PhilharMagic, in 3D which shows parts of Disney’s classic movies like Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. The 3D glasses make it seem as if the characters are right in front of you.
Disney’s theme parks are famous as places where you can heap your plate high. And Hong Kong Disney is no exception. In fact, Indian travellers will probably prefer Hong Kong’s cuisine to anything on offer in Florida and California. Here you can eat everything from dim sum which comes from the Steam Kitchen to Kashmiri curry (from the Curry Kitchen, naturally).
Overnight guests get the usual Disney treatment. There are two ornate themed hotels to choose from if you want to stay. The bigger of the two is the 600-room Hollywood Hotel, designed to bring back memories of Hollywood during its heyday in the 1930s and ‘40s.
The Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel is a six-storey Victorian-style resort with 400 rooms. And, if you want to get married in Disney-style, there’s a garden gazebo for such ceremonies.
How do Indian tourists get there? Cathay Pacific flies four days a week directly to Hong Kong. From Mumbai there are Cathay flights to Bangkok and on to Hong Kong. Tourists from Calcutta would do best flying to Bangkok, then to Hong Kong.
Entry into the park costs HK$350 (Rs 1,980) on weekends for adults and HK$295 (Rs 1,670) on weekdays. Children: HK$250 (Rs 1,410) on weekends and HK$210 (Rs 1,190) on weekdays.
