Disneyland

Our first surprise was on the train heading to the park. It's the only Disney park in the world that is part of a city's main transport system. The MTR runs throughout Hong Kong and the Disneyland Resort route takes you straight from the Sunny Bay station to the park itself. As soon as I saw the train pull into Sunny Bay Station, I knew we were in for a treat, with the familiar sight of Mickey ears greeting us in the shape of the windows. Inside were plush blue seats and models of the main Disney characters, all helping to transition you from the real world into a world of magic and imagination.

That continued when we arrived at the Disneyland Resort station, which reminded me of a grand Victorian station, with steps and escalators leading up to the ticket barriers to outside. From there, it's a short walk and you're greeted by a superb water feature, with Mickey surfing the fountain waves, surrounded by his closest friends, including Goofy, Minnie, and Donald. Your attention is first drawn to that and then, as you wander around, taking it all in, you realize that the real attraction is to your right, with the park awaiting you down another short avenue.

We found out quite late on during our day in the park that it's the only other park in the world to be based so closely on the original Disneyland in California. As soon as we realized that, it made so much sense. There are touches of California everywhere you look, from the Mickey topiary that greets you as you enter the gates, which is almost exactly the same as the one from Disneyland, to the castle, which has some similarities to the original Sleeping Beauty Castle and is nowhere near as dominating over the park as the ones in Florida and Paris.

It's important to know that this is the newest addition to the Disney theme park family, having opened to visitors in 2005. That means that it has fewer attractions than the more established parks. Notable omissions include Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mountain. Even It's a Small World isn't here... yet! It's due to open later this spring, but it's interesting how many Disney classics that we take for granted at the other parks aren't in existence here two and-a-half years in.

Despite that, this park has charms of its own and, like every other theme park; it also has unique attractions and familiar rides that are superior to those found anywhere else. The Imagineers had a tremendous challenge here with the language issue. It's the only Disney park in the world to be based in a place that has two official languages -- English and Cantonese -- and it's a challenge that they managed to respond to, ensuring that no-one is left out.

The park has four lands, going clockwise: Main Street USA, Adventureland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. That's exactly the way we explored it, heading to Adventureland first. The first attraction we came across was one much beloved by many Disney fans for its corny jokes -- the Jungle River Cruise. Here's where they came up with a brilliant way to tackle the language issue, with two separate waiting areas, depending on your language. You'll then be taken around with a skipper who's fluent in your language - and yes, they do still crack exactly the same corny jokes as you'd find in the American parks! The piranhas added into California put in an appearance here and, as you'd expect, the animatronics all just look so much fresher and smoother. The stunning finale sees you facing fire and water, and is a great touch.

Adventureland is also home to the Liki Tikis, an interactive water play area for youngsters that looked like a lot of fun, Festival of the Lion King, and Tarzan's Treehouse, which is set on an island in the middle of the Jungle River Cruise and is reached by rafts. Sadly, our day didn't leave enough time for exploring any of these attractions.

Without a doubt, Fantasyland is where most of the action takes place, as it's home to the majority of the park's rides. It's not necessarily the line-up you'd expect, although you will find the familiar Dumbo flying over the roofs of this land, Cinderella's Carousel and the Mad Hatter Tea Cups. Other attractions include Mickey's PhilharMagic and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, both of which pretty much appeared to be carbon copies of their cousins in Orlando. Interestingly, they have added ride photos to Winnie the Pooh, but we couldn't see any other differences. The Snow White Grotto by the castle will be familiar to anyone who's been to Disneyland, but sadly there's not much to the castle itself. It's little more than a walk through attraction and it's a shame not to see something more exciting in there, as you find in Disneyland Paris. You can also hop on the railroad around the park at the Fantasyland Train Station, but sadly we felt this left a lot to be desired, with very few views into the parks, thanks to some rather enthusiastic tree planting alongside the tracks!

Perhaps the biggest surprise here is the Golden Mickey's, the stage show that anyone who's been on board a Disney cruise will be familiar with. This started off the same as the version we've seen on board both the Magic and the Wonder, but then changed halfway through, adding in various new scenes and bringing in different movies. The songs are all performed in English, although the interaction between scenes is in Cantonese, although you'll find English translations on big screens next to the stage. Another great example of how the Imagineers dealt with the language issue.