Hong Kong Disney...and a Typhoon

Yesterday we took a van to Hong Kong. $400 and they didn't even have a seat for all of us. The van was poorly designed and had zero trunk space, so they fold down the whole back row of seats to put in luggage. That left three seats for five of us. They made Quin sit in the front, and luckily Geh Geh wanted to sit on the floor for some reason, so that worked out nicely. It was approximately three hours, and included an emergency pit stop (Geh Geh, of course), an exit of China, and a separate entry into Hong Kong. I got emotional as they stamped Ewan's passport and he officially left mainland China. It's an exciting moment, but also a loss. He's leaving his homeland for good. He might come back to visit, he might not. Either way, he'll never live there again. He's leaving for a better life, but it's still a big loss.

Ewan didn't love the van, but we survived thanks again to Ni Hao Kai-lan.

So we have been planning for months and months to go to Hong Kong Disneyland at the end of our adoption trip. If you've been following our blog since we got Milo, you might remember how Quin and I made our way to the Disney grounds last trip but didn't go in and have regretted it ever since! It IS a costly excursion, but we felt like that would be a perfect conclusion to our trip! We have looked online at Hong Kong Disney and planned our day months ago. We knew what rides are different than the Disney parks back in the States, and we knew just what we needed to make sure we rode them. Our big kids have been absolute troopers, and we promised them a Disney day as a reward. We even booked a Disney hotel, which we have never done before. We always stay at the cheapest hotels possible when doing Disney, but we thought this would be a wonderful treat for the end of a very long trip. We checked in last night, and we were so excited! They even sold us tickets to Disneyland at the hotel last night.  We were ready!

Disney opened at 10:00 this morning, so we got ready and were there right around 10:00. SO excited!

 CANNOT WAIT!

Then the unthinkable happens. We wait in line, get our bag checked, and make it to the turnstile. And the attendant says, "All the attractions are closed today because of a potential typhoon." I couldn't even process what she was saying. WHAT!? ALL the rides are closed? ALL day? What about the infamous light parade? And how did we make it to the entrance of the park before hearing about this??? In fact, I've never even heard of this happening before! Yes. All outdoor rides, all day. The parade most likely will be canceled as well. Guys. I felt sick as can be and started crying! I had to choke it down because my heartbroken kids were looking at me for cues on how they should respond, but I'm still now, hours later, absolutely crushed. Here's the next picture we took. We were all forcing smiles. Well, most of us were trying. Geh Geh had given up on the smile. He looks how we all felt.

I don't even know what to say. We tried our hardest to make the most of the day, and we did have a fun day, but I'm still heartbroken. We got delicious waffles for breakfast and smiled as Ewan chased all the birds around.

We decided we needed to make the most of the day for Ewan. HE didn't know all the rides were closed. We could still have a fun Disney day for his first experience. There were four rides open that are indoor, so we got a disability pass. One of them is the ride we were most excited to try. It's called Mystic Manor. We got on the ride, and Ewan lost his mind. He was screaming. He was terrified and wouldn't even sit down. Quin rushed him off the ride and out the door, and the rest of us went on the ride. We then swapped after, and even when I got there, Ewan was still scared. He was afraid I was going to take him back to the ride. I sat down on the benches so he knew I wasn't going on the ride, and we had some orange juice and cuddled. He calmed down and was fine the rest of the day, luckily!

 After Mystic Manor, we headed to Toy Story Land. We downloaded this movie to Ewan's iPad before heading to China, and he's watched it several times. He loves it! So as soon as we walked into this land, he was SO, SO excited! It was the cutest thing ever to watch him explore!!

 I couldn't get the shot, but Ewan was waving like crazy to Rex!

 He even found the fence amazing! Haha!

 He just kept saying, "WOW!"

 Everyone gets a "Ni Hao!"

 Checking each other out.

 Dancing to the music!

 Life's a party in Toy Story Land!

 He saw the Slinky Dog ride, which made us all sad we couldn't go on it. Instead of being sad, though, Ewan just decided to act like a dog, complete with barking and all. So cute!

 In love with the giant baby monitor!

 And the giant crayon marking the line :)

 Again, we were all sad to be missing the RC Racers ride, but Ewan cheered us up with his enthusiasm to get to sit in RC!

 I love this cute boy!!

Army guys!!

 This guy was so cute with Ewan! 

 Jessie! Once he saw her, he had a very hard time waiting in line to meet her! He wanted to hug her right away. So funny!

 She was super cute with him as well! Gotta love Disney!!

 After he'd hugged her and said hello, he wasn't at all interested in the photo. Haha!

 "Ni Hao, Woody!!'

 Ewan had a mini meltdown that he couldn't get on the Dumbo ride. He was really upset! Luckily we found the picture posing one, and he was happy again.

 After this we rode the Winnie the Pooh ride. He was nervous to get on, but also excited. He got a little scared when it got dark, but he was thrilled with himself when the ride was over and he successfully rode it! So we thought we'd press our luck and go on another ride. Small World! Who doesn't love Small World? It was so picturesque with the mountains behind it! In fact, I think the grounds of the Hong Kong Disney resort are well above and beyond those of the resorts in the states! They're GORGEOUS!!

He was a titch nervous to be getting on a dark ride, but it won him over quickly!!

 Oh, the amazement!! I've never been so thankful Small World is an indoor ride! I'm SO glad he got to go on it! It truly made our whole Disney disastrous day worth it!

And he was SO proud and excited when we got off the ride! I adore this kid!

 As soon as we got off, he had his arms in the air and was yelling, "WAHOO!!!"

 We went on the last open ride after Small World, which was the Buzz Lightyear Blaster. He loved that ride as well! For a kid who loves shooting guns, it's perfect! So after the Blaster ride, we went to get lunch. We asked the attendant which line was for food, and she told us to get in her line because Buzz was almost there! YES! BUZZ!!!!

 Life is good!!

 After lunch, we went to the store to buy some presents. We planned to do a few more things, but the park closed because the Typhoon warning was raised to a level 8. It became mass chaos. I had taken Ewan to the bathroom and was separated from the rest of the family. It felt like hours we couldn't find each other. I was terrified! I knew they were in the store, but there were hundreds and hundreds of wall-to-wall people in there. I felt like I was drowning in people. I even started to cry at one point! Luckily Quin and the kids eventually found us, and we headed home. It was only 3:30ish at this point, and we were all again bitterly disappointed. No light parade. We walked back to the hotel and posed for a few pictures.

Quin went inside to complain that they had sold us park tickets at 8:00 the night before with no mention of a possible storm. They were extremely nice and offered to refund our ticket purchase. So kind of them!

Here's Ewan modeling his new hat! There is an episode of Ni Hao Kai-lan that talks about a hat. He's obsessed with them because of it and walks around with his hat singing "Mauzi, mauzi, hey, hey, hey!" 

 I'm trying to teach him to smile for pictures, so I pointed to my mouth and smiled. I guess he thought I meant that's exactly what I wanted him to do. He's the cutest!

 We went to explore the beautiful grounds!

 Getting lost in the maze.

Usually you can walk out to the ocean, but not today.

 Our lovely hotel!

 Made it to the end of the maze!

 His zest for life is the best.

Oh, that face!

This is how Ewan makes his way through the halls of hotels. Full speed ahead!

Today was not at all how we envisioned, but we still had a good time. I have loved these last 16 days with three of my kids and Quin. We made memories that will last a lifetime! I have to say, though, that I am BEYOND ready to hug my babies that were left home! I miss them fiercely! We leave in the morning for home and will travel nearly 24 hours to get there. USA or bust!!