You go to Disneyland When You Visit a City that Has a Disneyland

My colleagues went to Hong Kong last week, and I was so ready to plead-bribe them to get me another Disney Tsum Tsum when they told me they weren’t going to Disneyland. But why??? I don’t get it!

You go to Disneyland when you visit a city that has Disneyland. You eat dessert at brunch. Those are life rules.

“It’s Disneyland! The happiest place in the world. You want to be happy, don’t you?? Don’t you?” I pestered them. The conversation stopped there; maybe it was due to my crazy eyes. First, there was Augustus, who thought Hazel’s choice of using her wish from The Genie Foundation on Disneyland was lame (ref: The Fault In Our Stars). And now, people who sat in the cubicle beside me refused to go there for no good reason. 

But it’s Disneyland, Mickey Mouse lives there!

For me, Disneyland was almost a myth growing up. I never thought I would ever visit it, but later life changed in a major way, and I was lucky enough to get to see not only one but three. The first one was the Hong Kong Disneyland. I went there with Yin. The second one was in Paris, where I stayed for two days and the last one was in Tokyo a few months ago. 

I went through my iPhoto folder labelled Disneyland during the weekend and reminisced one of my happiest travel moments. The best part about visiting Disneyland was not the rides and main attractions; I was too old to sit in a small chair that took us into the cave of dancing dolls. We still did it, though. Instead, it was about other happy-inducing things like:

Riding Disneyland Train

On the day we went to Hong Kong Disneyland, we started our journey by train. I was so excited to see the train. Everything was decorated with Disney stuff. There were Mickey Mouse-shaped windows and Disney character statues on each corner.

Eating at Disneyland Cafe

We stopped for lunch at a Disney café, and I was overwhelmed by all the fun-named meal choices. I took time well after Yin made her choice, giving her a chance to snap the above picture. There were Mickey Mouse soup and cookies! And in the Paris one, I had breakfast and sipped coffee from an iconic Mickey cup and had a complete Disney Cars-themed breakfast and dinner for two days. Meals shaped in Disney characters = one happy me.

Shopping at the Disneyland Gift Shop

Disneyland elevates my mood to a roaring 10/10, and I always want to bring back something as a remembrance. That, and I love all those cute little keychains, pens, mugs, notepads, hats, and everything. I could spend hours in a gift shop, and that’s exactly what I did in Paris’s Disneyland. Since we were staying the night, I didn’t have a curfew. I came back many times, making a reason of forgetting to get someone something. And again.

Btw, may I suggest taking a page from Yin’s book? She bought a Disney tee and wore it straight away.

Meeting Disneyland Characters

For someone who is too lazy to ride on any attraction, I have an opposite reaction to meeting the characters, the ones in costumes or the life-size statues. I get really, REALLY excited whenever I see them. Admittedly, I was shy to approach the mascots to take a picture with them, especially when I had to explain to them that it was for me and not my younger siblings. 

There was only one time when I excitedly asked a costume-wearing guy to take a picture with me. Why? Because without enough processing time, my brain thought he was Dumbledore (And I LOVE Dumbledore). He wasn’t. It’s Disney. It was Father Time.

Sleeping at Disneyland Hotel

We, two adult ladies with no kids, stayed in a Cars-themed Disney Hotel. 

For some reason, it reminded me of a desert. Was the movie Cars shot in the desert? I am not sure; I haven’t watched it.

Other than the boyish-themed room, the hotel stay was fun. We got all the special treatments for being staying guests, including a buffet dinner with Disney enthusiasts and their tired but proud parents and gift shops that were open until late at night were super worth it! I particularly enjoyed the buffet dinner because I finally got to eat rice after a week of baguettes. I would do it all over again; it should be on everyone’s bucket list! How about you? Have you been to Disneyland?

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