HK Disneyland Revisit, and Plaza Inn Restaurant

I said it last time, I'll say it again: Disneyland is so much better when you bring along a little child for the experience. It's even better when you go on a weekday - no crowd to deal with nor endless queues to wait in. We wanted to bring our son to Hong Kong Disneyland for his 3rd birthday because he's gotten to the age where he could better appreciate Disneyland (at least compared to last December when we first brought him there), and also because we knew he'd love the treat. (Yes, we also threw a party for him, which would normally be enough for a birthday, but we had last year's lack of celebration to make up for.) So hubby took a day off on Tuesday last week, and together with my parents, we all spent a day at Disneyland enjoying the rides, watching the shows and eating a surprisingly good meal at one of the restaurants. We did much more than what the photos below show, but I only took photos of the rides and shows that we missed last time. The shows were fabulously performed and the rides were fun enough, and the weather was uncharacteristically fine and sunny - all made for a great day out.

A Mickey Mouse-shaped hedge near the entrance, complete with pumpkins to go with the current Halloween theme:

The boy was delighted to ride Dumbo, one of the few rides we missed last time:

Saying hello to Buzz. The boy loves Buzz, but he was pretty terrified of this one, and this was the only shot of him not wearing a scared expression:

The Golden Mickeys musical, in the style of the Golden Globes:

The "Flights of Fantasy" parade, commemorating HK Disneyland's 5th year:

The Pooh bear part of the parade procession stopped in front of us for a few minutes, and we were treated to a Tigger dance performance. I thought those springy stilts were great!

Festival of the Lion King performance - amazing voices, fabulous dancing and fantastic costumes:

By 6:30pm, I was done and would have been more than happy to head home, but we decided to stay on for the nightly fireworks show since we only had to wait only 1 hour, which was 1.5 hours earlier than the time scheduled on weekends and holidays. We wandered over to Plaza Inn Restaurant, which serves Chinese food, checked that they could accommodate the boy's allergies, and sat down for a quick bite. Service was pretty good and prompt, and it was thoughtful when one of the waitstaff came over to the table at 7:20pm and queried if we'd intended to watch the fireworks, so that we could settle the bill before we finished eating. The food was surprisingly pleasant, and not as expensive as I expected it to be. Hubby declared that it was the best food he's ever eaten at a theme/amusement park. The food was quite tasty, and I liked the "No MSG" policy.

Chicken fried rice for the boy, sans soy, sesame and nuts:

No dinner is complete without some vegetables, so we ordered a plate of Stirfried Mixed Vegetables:

The Stirfried Beef and Vegetables was yummy:

My mum was craving for some sea cucumber, and the plate of Sea Cucumber with Chicken and Mushrooms had plenty of sea cucumber in it. Hubby is not a big fan of sea cucumber (nor anything else he thinks has a slimy texture), which meant more for everyone else:

We joined the crowd of people already waiting for the fireworks, and settled down near the restaurant where the castle was visible. Unfortunately my camera battery went flat before the fireworks started, so I have no photos to show of it. The fireworks display was very good, and everyone - big and small - enjoyed it thoroughly. It was our first time staying so late at Disneyland, and I must admit that the fireworks was well worth the long day.

The Tinker Bell Castle Illumination was very pretty: