Fantasy After History in Dapitan City

Gloria's Fantasyland in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte, is the first and biggest amusement park in the Visayas and Mindanao

A fireworks display caps the Festival of Colors parade and show at the Gloria's Fantasyland

Except for the makeshift stalls selling souvenirs, candies and snacks, the iron gate and a small building undergoing renovation, the Rizal Shrine looked like an entrance to an enchanted forest. The park is leafy, shaded by trees and the hills behind it. The museum was closed and under construction, the biggest concrete structure in the shrine. The Dapitan Bay was placid, and the few fishing boats were almost motionless on the water. Huts of bamboo, wood and grass could be seen among the foliage, replicas of a clinic, homes and students’ domicile of Jose Rizal. Old men and women unobtrusively were sweeping off dried leaves and litter and keeping the place clean. They could be hardly noticed except they were clad in all white, a thing one associates with cults. They are actually Rizalistas, members of a group which believes the novelist, eye doctor and the Philippines’ foremost hero is a divine being. They came from all over the country and help maintain the shrine, which is sacred to them. Visitors often chat them up, and they are friendly, but mostly they just go on in their quiet ways, as quiet as the surroundings and most parts of Dapitan City.

During his exile here from 1892 to 1896, Rizal bought about sixteen hectares of land in the barangay of Talisay with money he won from a lottery. Here, he temporarily lived and became very productive—writing, sculpting, studying, teaching, exploring the place and helping out the local community. The place later became a national shrine and a major historical landmark of the Philippines. This is what Dapitan in Zamboanga de Norte is known for. About 650 kilometers southwest of the capital Manila, the city is generally sleepy and rustic.

At the town proper, many structures are old, and there are constant reminders of Rizal. The biggest structure in the area is perhaps the Church of Saint James the Greater, where Rizal attended mass. In front of the church, he made a relief map of Mindanao. The plaza was expansive. Nearby is the Casa Real, Rizal’s official residence in Dapitan, and the old city hall. The street names are associated with Rizal such as Noli Me Tangere and Josephine Bracken, one of his lovers. At the coast, a monument, the Punto del Desembarco de Rizal, was installed, marking the site where Rizal first disembarked. The area, with its historical landmarks and several ancestral houses, was declared the country’s first Heritage Zone in 2011, in time for the 150th birth anniversary of the hero.

There is another face of Dapitan City, and it starts at other side of the Punto del Desembarco de Rizal, where Sunset Boulevard starts and ends with the new, almost palatial city hall, greeting visitors coming from Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte’s capital. The coastal street is lined with resorts, coconut trees and, incongruously, street lamps of futuristic design, similar to those along Roxas Boulevard in Manila. This is the so-called new Dapitan with modern developments, and its brightest structure is the Gloria de Dapitan, an entertainment, business and dining complex in the barangay of Dawo.

Heralded by a wall of dancing and colorful lights, Gloria de Dapitan has bars and restaurants, a bowling center, a fitness gym, a “five-star cockpit,” a beauty salon, a computer arcade, an Internet café, a billiards and dart hall, a disco pub, a coffee shop and bakery, boutiques, shoe and souvenir shops, a pharmacy, a money changer, a spa and food stores. A big water fountain with lights sits in the middle. A call center is expected to be put up in the future.

The three-hectare complex was built by the Jalosjoses, the most prominent political family in Zamboanga del Norte, whose patriarch is the former representative of the province, 73-year-old Romeo Jalosjos. Contrary to many visitors’ conjecture that it is named after former Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a political ally, Gloria de Dapitan simply means “glory of Dapitan,” something, it is hoped, that will be the pride of the city.

The most prominent feature of Gloria de Dapitan is the theme park Gloria’s Fantasyland whose façade in the shape of a castle, bathed in light, welcomes visitors. On December 14, 2014, the nightly parade was launched, marking the completion of the theme park. According to Svetlana “Lana” Jalosjos, daughter of Romeo Jalosjos, the vice president for sales and marketing, and the unseated mayor of Baliangao, Misamis Occidental, they have invested about P200 million on the theme park. The presence of such a park, with a level of sophistication and technology unexpected in the region, can be surprising. Gloria’s Fantasyland is the first and biggest amusement park in the Visayas and Mindanao. There is none in Zamboanga City, the most urbanized hub in the region and the country’s third largest city, 156 nautical miles from Dapitan. Even Cebu City, the country’s most important city outside Metro Manila, does not have anything like it, said Lana. It is perhaps the second biggest theme park after The Enchanted Kingdom in Santa Rosa, Laguna. 

Inside Gloria's Fantasyland in Dapitan City

A water feature inside Gloria's Fantasyland in Dapitan City which looks like a sculpture at the Bonifacio High Street in Taguig City

 

A carousel in Gloria's Fantasyland in Dapitan City

Said to be the most expensive horror house in the country, Gloria's Fantasyland's horror house is impressive

The three-hectare entertainment, business and dining complex Gloria de Dapitan, owned by the Jalosjoses

The 5D theater of Gloria's Fantasyland in Dapitan City

Gloria’s Fantasyland is the brainchild of Romeo Jalosjos. It is said that it is a gift to his daughters, who wanted to go to Enchanted Kingdom when they visited him when he was at the New Bilibid Prison. Jalosjos was convicted of raping an 11-year-old girl and sentenced to two life terms in 1997. His sentence was commuted by Macapagal-Arroyo to 16 years, three months and three days in 2007, and then later to 13 years, five months and 15 days because of good conduct. He was released in March 2009.

In May 2009, Gloria’s Fantasyland opened. Lana said it is the vision of his father that this place will be where people can be children again. Barred from running for public office ever by the Supreme Court, Jalosjos spends most of his time on family businesses, which include the Dakak Park and Beach Resort in a cove in the barangay of Taguilon, perhaps the best resort in the Zamboanga Peninsula and even in Western Mindanao, which started in 1988, and the production of Eat...Bulaga!, the country’s longest running noontime variety show. Dakak and Gloria de Dapitan employ about 1,200 workers, one of the biggest employers in the peninsula, Lana revealed.

Apparently and admittedly patterned after the world-renowned Disneyland, Gloria’s Fantasyland is meant to fill a gap in this kind of entertainment in the tourism of the Visayas and Mindanao, Lana said. She remembered starting out with just 26 small kiddie rides. Over the years, there was a demand for more thrilling rides. Thus, interactive rides were imported from China. The highlights of the park prove to be the 5D theater and the Zimerman, the single-loop and double-corkscrew rollercoaster, said to be the only one in the Philippines. The Ferris wheel remains to be the most conspicuous fixture. The Apollo crudely simulates a ride in a rocket ship. The Galleon is a giant ship that rocks riders to and fro, one of the most fun rides. The classics are present—the carousel and the bumper cars.

The most successful feature of the park is the horror house. The most expensive horror house in the country, Lana described it. It is said to be more “detailed” with eleven rooms and a story as visitors walk through the house. They hired costume and set designers who worked with the popular Shake, Rattle and Roll movie franchise.

To complete the Disneyland-inspired format, the parade was added. For the parade, they hired professionals from Metro Manila such as Peter Macrohon as entertainment director, Wally Tuyan as choreographer, Rolando de Leon, a scenographer who works for the regional branch of network giant GMA 7, as float and costume designer, Joey Nombres as lighting design consultant, etc. For its launch, they invited Eat...Bulaga! hosts Jose Manalo, Wally Bayona and Paolo Ballesteros; the country’s most popular child performer, Ryzza Mae Dizon; and the country’s most popular actress, Marian Rivera, to do a short show. It was an extra treat for the locals, who thronged around the center stage, and for the crowd at the gate, outside the park, squealing at very glimpse of the celebrities when the gate partially opened.

Called the Festival of Colors and described as the “soul of the park,” the parade is a pageant of extravagant and lit costumes and colorful floats inspired by world cultures and civilizations, interspersed with dancers. The floats depict China, Thailand, Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Persia and the Philippines, each with a costumed model riding on them. Models parade in costumes adorned with lights and gigantic skirts. The marching band also shimmers with light. One of the highlights of the parade is 21-year-old Junrey Balawing from Sindangan, who at 22 inches was declared the world’s smallest man in 2011 by the Guinness Book of World Records and rides on the Persia float.

After going through the theme park, the parade is followed by thirty-minute, Cirque du Soleil-inspired show called “Joie de Vivre,” a series of modern jazz, hip-hop and pop dances that feature acrobatics. The dances are energetic and impressive. And the dancers are all locals, Nombres beamed. More than 100 dancers and performers, some of them park employees and most residents of the city and nearby areas, are involved in the parade and show. Lana said the parade and show will be a permanent feature of Gloria’s Fantasyland, mounted daily starting ten in the evening. 

The marching band of the Festival of Colors of Gloria's Fantasyland in Dapitan City glows like phantoms

The Gloria's Fantasyland float in the Festival of Colors

The Queen of Fire in the Festival of Colors parade

The Queen of Water in the Festival of Colors parade

The Queen of Gems in the Festival of Colors parade

Dancers of the Thailand float

The Thailand float in the Festival of Colors parade

The Africa float in the Festival of Colors parade

People crowd around the float to take a picture of Marian Rivera during the Festival of Colors launch in December 14, 2014

Marian Rivera delights the crowds

The Mexico float in the Festival of Colors parade

The Philippines float in the Festival of Colors parade

Dances in the "Joie de Vivre" show features acrobatics

Most of the dancers are locals, and the dances are energetic and fast-paced

 

 

The blasé visitor from Metro Manila may find the theme park a tad tacky, and it is, but one can’t help but to be impressed with the level of technology and effort put in as well as to see incongruity in place as rural and laidback as Dapitan City. But Gloria’s Fantasyland is more for the locals, who may not have the chance to visit Enchanted Kingdom in Luzon or Disneyland in Hong Kong.

Capping the parade and show was a fireworks display, enthralling everyone as it sparked the night sky to brightly blossom. Its colored lights momentarily shone on the calm, dark bay, maybe on the shadowy forests and upon sleeping huddles of houses, projecting the happiest place in the Zamboanga Peninsula and auguring a future in appearance might be bright. 

The Increasing Magic of Hong Kong Disneyland

 

Sleeping Beauty Castle, the iconic structure of Disneyland, during a fireworks display after the Flights of Fantasy parade.

 As the silhouette of Mickey Mouse became clearer with the sun rising and the spurts of water glinted in its rays, elation also rose. Then one by one, other Disney characters such as Donald Duck, Goofy, Minnie Mouse and Pluto appeared around the fountain at the entrance of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. Yes, there was a part that decried the Disneyfication—that largely mercantile process of sanitization to make things safer, more pleasant—but that was set aside and relegated as just a vestige of the cynical self. Then there was this part that was delighted. I was a newcomer to this world, but at the same time I felt like I was returning, returning to that place in childhood that largely saw the world as full of wonders. 

Although, Disney promotes a formula of wholesomeness that can be restrictive and out of touch of reality, it is part of almost everybody’s childhood and has a special place in many hearts, a place of comfort, magic and fun. The worlds the Disney films create vanish as the movie ends, but they stay in the hearts. These worlds are made tangible in its theme parks in several parts of the world, enabling people to enter the beloved stories and experience new things. 

        The first Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California, in July 17, 1955, followed by the ones in Florida; Paris, France; and Tokyo, Japan. For many Filipinos, these are too far away, the magical kingdoms that they are. But with the opening of a Disneyland in Hong Kong in September 2005, just about two hours of plane ride from the Philippines, the kind of magic they offer is reachable.

      Located on Penny’s Bay on Lantau Island, the 27.5-hectare Hong Kong Disneyland offers many attractions to delight the senses such as rides, shows, parades, food outlets, dining and meeting the characters, deftly created for people to have experiences uniquely Disney. Aside from the park, which has several areas with different themes, the complex has two themed hotels: Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and Disney’s Hollywood Hotel.

Hong Kong Disneyland “features some of the best attractions and entertainment from other Disney parks around the world. (It) is designed for guests to leave their troubles behind and enter a world of yesterday, tomorrow, adventure and fantasy,” the bulletin in the hotel room states.

Yes, outside, the city can be daunting, but here, everything seems orderly, shiny, new, yet familiar. Everyone seems friendly, especially the 5,000-plus employees, which they call cast members.

The bulletin further says: “Hong Kong Disneyland features original Disney attractions with elements designed especially for Asian audiences. This is reflected in our Broadway-style shows, signature attractions, restaurants, parades and fireworks. We use creativity and technology to tell our classic stories.”

So far, Hong Kong Disneyland has received more than 38 million visitors from around the world. Yes, there are people from different countries but here it seems we are all citizens of this first-rate republic. And at the same time, we are all children. We met two cheery Japanese women who attracted us because they were dressed all over in Disney design clothes with bags encrusted with Disney plush toys. They have gone to many Disneyland parks, they said, and we thought they were a kind of Disney groupie. But we saw a lot of little girls dressed as Disney princesses. Actually there is special salon where girls can have a makeover as a Disney princess.

Painted all over in pink, the dainty Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique is at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and features a showroom of Disney princess costumes, fitting rooms and rows of vanity dressers for makeup.

“We hereby invite you to step into the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, where your Fairy Godmother-in-Training will magically transform you into the princess of your dreams though the magic of shimmering makeup, Disney Princess costume and dazzling accessories. It is our sincere hope that all of the dreams that you wish will come true here at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique,” its flyer in pink says.   

For HK$1,320, the Castle Package includes “hairstyling with crown, Princess costume, Princes sash, shimmering makeup, fingernail polishing and eight by 10 inch photo with premium photo folder.” Aside from six looks, the boutique is adding the Minnie Mouse look. Unfortunately, there is no Ariel, the Little Mermaid.

By the Cinderella Stairway of the hotel, a live Disney princess, Snow White, greeted us and obliged for photo-taking sessions. Characters can pop up like that. During breakfast at the restaurant here, Goofy, Pluto and Daisy Duck went around the tables. At Chef Mickey, the restaurant of the art-deco Disney’s Hollywood Hotel, one can take pictures with Mickey Mouse in a chef costume. At Disneyland, there are several stations where people can queue up to have their pictures taken with the characters. The most popular is, of course, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse at a gazebo at Main Street, USA. The waiting in line can take up hours. Across the street, you can find Chip and Dale. The teddy bear Duffy, a new character that originated from Japan, is just around the corner. Buzz Lightyear is at Tomorrowland. There were no Tarzan and Hercules, unfortunately. 

Those who can’t be princesses or any other Disney character can buy T-shirts, and they have a wide variety of designs. The park is riddled with stores and the stores offer a wide variety of products from key chains to plates. The biggest is Emporium, which is aptly at Main Street, USA. This is the first themed area to greet visitors, a recreation of a quaint American small town. They have old-style mailboxes that are actually trash bins. At one end of the main street is the iconic Snow White Castle, the center of the park and an entrance to Fantasyland, the world of the Disney princesses. 

The Cinderella Carousel is at the center of Fantasyland, but I was fascinated by the Mad Hatter Tea Cups, a ride of giant spinning cups that had attracted me as a child. Here, we watched Mickey’s PhilharMagic, a Fantasia-inspired 4D movie which stars Donald Duck. In addition to 3D images onscreen, audience can feel real wind blasts and sprinkles of water, as well as smell the fragrance of food together with images of a banquet.

On the other hand, “The Golden Mickeys” is a live show that follows the awards show format with live performances inspired by Disney films. Tarzan is included and one can see a live Tarzan dancing onstage in loincloth. Many performers are Filipinos. In fact, the musical director of the park is Filipino, Rony Fortich.

The customized welcome for us by the Main Street.

Adjacent to Fantasyland is Tomorrowland, the space themed area where Space Mountain is the star attraction. Space Mountain, one of the top five favorite rides of Filipino visitors, is an indoor rollercoaster ride that simulates shuttling through outer space. It is dark with only stars and other heavenly bodies serving as lights, adding to the thrill of the whole speedy ride. 

On the other hand, Adventureland has one main feature, the artificial river where guests can go on an adventurous cruise pass wild animals such as hippopotamuses, elephants and crocodiles and scenes of men being chased by savage tribesmen and exploding volcanoes. This is perhaps the closest to the real thing among the rides and the scariest. A kid cried after our ride.

To these, Hong Kong Disneyland has added three new areas in recent years at the southern portion of the park, representing a 25 percent growth—Toy Story Land, Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Point.

Toy Story Land

Opened on November 18, 2011, Toy Story Land is inspired by the popular and acclaimed Toy Story movies and lets us into the world of Andy’s backyard where things are oversized and larger-than-life. You are surrounded by giant toys. Visitors are greeted by a giant six-meter statue of Woody, who you will meet at the Barrel of Fun along with the cowgirl Jessie.

In this area, you will bump into Sarge and his Toy Soldiers, men painted all over in green, who proceed to the Toy Soldier Boot Camp, where can guests are enjoined to participate in their drills as they look for new recruits. Cubot is also going around, a spinning and speaking block toy with multiple faces and voices, which visitors can play with.

There are three rides in this area. The 51-seater Slinky Dog Spin is like the caterpillar in the shape of Slinky, running around to catch his own tail. The Toy Soldier Parachute Drop has six “parachutes” with six seats each. Visitors are taken 25 meters above the ground, affording them a commanding view of Toy Story Land, and then are suddenly dropped. But the RC Racer is the most exhilarating of the rides here, in which guests ride on a giant toy race car that goes back and forth on a U-shaped track so fast and going to as much as 27 meters high an adrenaline rush is inevitable.

A giant statue of the endearing dinosaur Rex bids visitors farewell at the exit.

The Grizzly Gulch

        The one-of-the-kind Grizzly Gulch was opened in July 2012, a charming recreation of a mining town in the mountain, complete with a geyser; an assay office, where one finds the biggest gold nugget said to have found here, the Lucky Nugget; the Grizzly Gulch Old Jail with graffiti, messages and wanted posters from former prisoners, where guests can make personalized wanted posters with photos of themselves; and the snack joint Lucky Nugget Saloon at the Gold Dust Hotel. The Grizzly Gulch Welcome Wagon Show is regularly mounted for visitors.

Stories are, of course, the soul of places, and Disneyland knows this by heart. Thus, the Grizzly Gulch has a “history.” The fact sheet tells: “On the afternoon of August 8, 1888, a family of grizzly bears was scratching their backs against a boulder on Big Grizzly Mountain. A villager passing by shortly after spotted something gleaming in the rock. All that scratching had worn down the surface and revealed a bright vein of gold!

“So, on this day, the first discovery of gold in Big Grizzly Mountain was made. And from that moment forward, ever-increasing numbers of people came to Big Grizzly Gulch to seek their livelihoods in gold mining, sparking a gold rush. The Big Grizzly Mountain Mining Co. was established, bringing life and prosperity to the surrounding area and turning it into the bustling town of Grizzly Gulch we know today.”

The Grizzly Gulch has one ride, the Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars, a multidirectional, terrain-style coaster running throughout the mining town. As the coaster forwards, one sees a grizzly bear accidentally triggering dynamite and launching the coaster rapidly. Another bear flips a track switch that leads the coaster to Shaft No. 4. At one-third of the ride, the mine cars reach the peak of Big Grizzly Mountain and then suddenly plummet backwards.

      

Mystic Point

The original Mystic Point is the newest feature of Hong Kong Disneyland, opening in May 2013. It features the most immersive and most sophisticated ride, and tells a fascinating story with an eccentric explorer and adventurer named Lord Henry and his monkey companion Albert as main characters.

The guidebook narrates: “Set in 1908 and deep within miles of uncharted tropical jungle stands an estate known as Mystic Point, home of the renowned adventurer and explorer Lord Henry Mystic. Lord Henry has built a private museum to display his entire collection of paintings, statues, weaponry and musical instruments gathered from around the world. As the founder of Society of Explorers and Adventurers, he has invited VIP guests to visit Mystic Manor to view his collection

“Lord Henry’s latest acquisition is an ornate music box covered in intricate carvings of monkeys, which is of particular interest to Henry’s trusted travel companion, a mischievous monkey named Albert. It is said that box possesses the power to bring inanimate objects to life through the touch of its enchanted Music Dust.”

The curious Albert opens the box, releasing Music Dust, said to be the “third character” in the story, and the Mystic Manor ride shows us what Music Dust can do as well as Lord Henry’s astonishing collection of antiquities and even some oddities. 

Mystic Manor is built in the Victorian style but has design elements from different cultures around the world such as the domed towers reminiscent of Moscow and St. Petersburg; and Moorish details.

Upon entering Mystic Manor, one is led to the Presentation Room where a portrait of Lord Henry introduces the attraction and his latest acquisition, the Music Box. The one rides the Mystic Magneto-Electric Carriage, which carries guests from one room to another. The five-minute ride uses the first trackless system with radio-frequency identification. The carriage moves as if magically. Additionally, state-of-the-art 4K HD cinema projectors are used to create 40 types of special visual effects. The ride is accompanied by a soundtrack composed by Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman as Music Dust weaves its way through the rooms, bring the objects to life. Among the wondrous things to witness at Mystic Manor are exotic musical instruments coming to life; a mosaic of a young woman transforming into the Greek mythical character Medusa; a giant, carnivorous plant at the Solarium; the Slavic god of winter blowing an icy breath to transform the landscape to winter; bugs flying out between the wrappings of a mummy; and Chinese paintings on the walls flapping and swaying in the wind.

Outside the Mystic Manor is the Garden of Wonders, where one finds the Lamassu Bas Relief, which is whole when viewed at one point and disjointed at another. Other optical illusions can also be found here.

Mystic Manor also has the Explorer’s Club Restaurant with five themed dining areas—Egypt, Russia, Morocco, India and China—and offering 16 popular dishes from Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia such as the Korean ginseng chicken soup, the Hainanese chicken rice, the nasi goreng, and the baked salmon bento box. Try the Blueberry Myst drink with a glowing “ice cube.” Mystic Point always fascinates.

 

The Mystic Manor

The shadow puppet presentation

The shadow puppet troupe

The Blueberry Myst drink

The Hainanese chicken rice set

The Garden of Wonders

Dining Disney

I never thought you could find good food in a theme park, but Hong Kong Disneyland surprisingly offers a delectable selection aside from the usual fare of popcorn, cotton candy and corn on the cob. What more, there are Mickey icons on the food! If you’re the one who delights in searching for hidden Mickeys, which are all over the place from manhole covers to benches to grill works, then eating will be a double delight.

We had to try the Mickey-shaped waffles at the Main Street Market. The outdoor café is delightfully visited by numerous Eurasian tree sparrows, most of them fat from food scraps thrown by diners. Do not feed the birds, warns the park, but one cannot help it. The waffles come with whipped cream placed on both Mickey’s ears and topped with candy sprinkles. Beside Main Street Market is the Market House Bakery, operated by Maxim’s, that offers pastries including Mickey shaped tiramisu.

Also on Main Street, USA is Main Street Corner Café, which offers Western comfort food with international twist, and I had seafood laksa, which was filling and so delicious. The café has the Coca-Cola themed restaurant, the first in Hong Kong, which serves Coke-infused dishes.

We were treated to a special dinner at the Chinese restaurant of the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, the Crystal Lotus, where the chefs created a special menu for us incorporating the Mickey icon and other Disney characters. The menu included roasted deboned short rib and sweetened barbeque paste in steamed piggy mask buns; stuffed whole dried scallops in Mickey winter melon chicken soup; wok-fried shrimps and Disney root vegetables; wok-fried tenderloin of beef cubes, mushrooms and bell peppers; wok-fried vegetables and mock chicken in taro basket; fried rice with Tasmanian crab meat, conpoy and egg white; and double boiled whole Chinese pear topped with aged mandarin peel accompanied by fresh fruit.

Waffles at Main Street, U.S.A.

The Eurasian tree sparrows at the cafe

The appetizer of scallops at the Coca-Cola Cafe.

 

Christmas Season, Disneyland style

Hong Kong Disneyland is doubly delightful this season as it puts on Disney’s Sparkling Christmas from November 14, 2013, to January 5, 2014.

Main Street, USA becomes Christmas Town as storefronts are dressed with festive garlands, lights and ornaments, but the highlight is the giant Christmas tree with 90,000 programmable LED lights at Town Square.

Every evening when it is lit, carollers sing favorite Christmas tunes then Goofy, Mickey and Minnie appear on a giant sleigh with dancers holding luminous giant snowflakes marching down Main Street, USA. When the Christmas tree is lit to a lively musical score, fake snow falls, coming from the roof tops.

This is in addition to the regular Flights of Fantasy Parade around Snow White Castle capped by a fireworks display.

As part of the Christmas activities, the three new themed areas—Toy Story Land, Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Point—present new puppet shows collectively called Puppets in the Park. At Toy Story Land, “Let’s Tell a Toy Story” tell the stories of Woody, Jessie or Buzz Lightyear. “The Winter Wish” is a hand puppet show at Grizzly Gulch that tells the loving story of the bears from Big Grizzly Mountain. “Adventures with Lord Henry” is a shadow puppet show at Mystic Point operated by a Southeast Asian puppetry troupe and tells the adventures of Lord Henry and Albert at the Mediterranean city of Pisa, Egypt and the Great Wall of China, where they meet fascinating people and gather a collection of new artifacts.

Shopping for Christmas gifts is not a problem as Hong Kong Disneyland offers over 110 Christmas collectibles from confectionery to plush toys and warm winter wear to personalized Disney Christmas ornaments.

Buffets or set meals are offered at the park, Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and Disney’s Hollywood Hotel for Christmas dining. The Coca-Cola Café, in particular, offers interesting Coke-infused dishes for Christmas, which include seared scallops with mango salad and Coca-Cola molecules as appetizer; braised beef cheek with Coca-Cola barbecue sauce on mashed potatoes and roasted root vegetables and poached sole and salmon fillet in Coca-Cola veloute vegetable fettucine as main course choices; and Coca-Cola crème brulee with fresh berries for dessert.

Christmas ambiance extends to the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, where guests who reserve a Kingdom Club Suite enjoy festive holiday room decorations. For other room bookings, guests can request the same decorative room offer for an additional HK$600.

As you retire for the night here, it seems you will not be visited by nightmares except The Nightmare Before Christmas. This, after all, is said to be “the happiest place on earth.”

Disneyland's Hollywood Hotel

The Jungle Cruise at Adventureland.

The Flights of Fantasy parade

The Golden Mickeys

For more information, visit or click on to www.hongkongdisneyland.com.