Mighty Mouse

The wall to wall fantasy and candy floss excess offered by Mickey, Pluto & Co would leave an adult desperately seeking his inner child, very fulfilled indeed

The whole thing starts on anice note. We're booked oneconomy, but CathayPacific pushes us up tobusiness. So the five-hour flight toHong Kong is spent nestled in thecocoon of the full-flat seat, partitionedon both sides, entertainmentscreen in front pamperedwith a continuous supply of foodand drink.

Touchdown. After Bombay'ssticky, searing heat, Hong Kong'sovercast, chilly weather with alight drizzle and a bit of a wind is brilliant. Instant mood lift.A 15-minute taxi ride to LantauIsland, and we're at theDisneyland Hotel, on Hong KongDisneyland's sugar coated, 55-acremonument to The Mouse and hisextended familyNow, if you're a parent coming herewith a child, or an adult in a groupof adults, remember this place isdesigned for children. For the veryyoung, the wall-to-wall fantasy andmile upon mile of candy-colouredexcess will be heady but foradults who're not into this sort ofthing, it'll likely be a headache. So goonly if you're taking a child, or youdesperately want to reconnect withyour inner child.

Since it opened in 2005, the park the fifth Disney park, afterCalifornia, Florida, Paris and Tokyo has pulled in around 15 millionvisitors. From an eight-year-old'spoint of view, this place must beheaven on a good day, with its rides,shows, cotton candy and, of course,Mickey Mouse in the flesh. Sort of.

We take the bus to the park complex,where our guides for the daysupply us with umbrellas to see usthrough the rain. We start with ashort Disney-theme 3D movie,which is good value for the veryyoung, with all kinds of things dancing,bursting and twinkling in frontof your eyes.

Next up is Space Mountain, theonly adult-speed ride in this place just under three minutes long, and itgoes at about 50 kph. Now, inside acar, train or bus, 50 kph barely registers.On a roller coaster'scliffhanging table for two, it can feela bit more suicidal, especially whenit's pitch dark with only dots of lightzipping past, and there's nothingbetween you and the emptinessbelow and around. Worth it if you'rea roller coaster junkie.

Done with that, we fit in a quickmeal before some of them head offto watch The Parade down a promenadecalled Main Street USA, whichhas souvenir stores at every corner,with enough soft toys to coloniseJupiter.

The day's coming to an end. Whiledining inside the park doesn'textend beyond the Food CourtSchool of Cooking, dinner atDisney's Hollywood Hotel is a nicechange a buffet with interestingvariations on both red and whitemeat, and a decent spread ofdessert.

The next day, after breakfast inthe Enchanted Garden, where weget mugged by full-size, in-costumeMickey, Pluto & Co, we get out forone final look at the place. After aparticularly uninspiring boat ridethat no child must be put through,we head off in different directions.

The Lion King show turns out tobe the best-mounted live show we'veseen here, with decent music,performances and productionvalues. This is followed by TheGolden Mickeys, which has to bethe worst show with random dancing,narration in Mandarin andEnglish sub-titles on a little TVscreen in a corner.

By the time we stagger out of TheGolden Mickeys, it's dark and we finisha quick dinner so we can catchthe fireworks. Which are nice.Disney-scale, and done as a backdropabove and behind the maincastle.

All in all, a nice break from workingfor a living. Our flight back homeis the next day, and it ends exactlyas nicely as it started we'rebooked economy, but the airlinepushes us up to business.

Mahesh works on the HindustanTimes edit desk. His trip was organisedby Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.

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