Exploring Andy’s Backyard at Toy Story Land, Hong Kong Disneyland
In a Nutshell:
- Where: Toy Story Land, Hong Kong Disneyland
- When: September 26, 2013
- *Notes: Hong Kong Disneyland Website, one of the park’s 7 themed areas, added to the park in 2011, based on the Pixar film “Toy Story and features characters from the movie, guests are made to feel as if they have been shrunk down and are playing in Andy’s backyard.
When M first suggested that we take a side trip to Hong Kong during out 2013 Japan trip, my initial thought was: Yay, Hong Kong Disneyland! Anyone who knows me is well aware of what a Disney nut I am. I have been to the Anaheim Disneyland more times than I can count and try to go to Disney World in Orlando at least once a year.
And Hong Kong Disneyland definitely did not disappoint! Although small compared to Disney’s other parks, it has some fabulous rides that are not available anywhere else such as Mystic Manor and Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars. Then there’s Toy Story Land. Based on Pixar’s popular film, “Toy Story”, this charming area was perhaps the highlight of my day at Hong Kong Disneyland. Themed to the hilt, guests are made to feel like they have been shrunk down and allowed to play with all the oversized toys in Andy’s backyard.
When we first walked through the gates leading to Toy Story Land all I could say was “Wow!” It looked like all the toys from our childhoods had magically grown to gargantuan proportions and placed in a corner of the park. And Rex, the big green dinosaur was the first one to greet us. Although he didn’t move, he did talk. “Hi, I’m Rex! I’m a predator!”
And it only got better the further in we went. Wherever we looked, there was a new toy to “ooh” and “ah” over and take a gazillion pictures of. I went especially gaga over the Lincoln Logs house and the giant walkie talkie. I remember playing with both constantly as a young girl.
And even the building housing the restrooms as well as the benches were in on the Toy Story theming. The former was made to look like it was constructed from colorful toy blocks with a sign in Scrabble tiles reading “Toilets”. As for the benches, one set looked like it was made out of popsicle sticks and the other dominoes. They were too adorable to even sit on!
Of course there were rides, although we didn’t go on any of them. It seems that the older we get, the more nausea we experience after riding on anything that 1) goes in a constant circle, 2) goes up and down, up and down, up and….., 3) gives one the sensation of swinging back and forth. And ironically enough, the 3 rides in Toy Story Land had the unfortunate (for us) distinction of falling into these categories. There was the Toy Soldier Parachute Drop (up and down), RC Racer (swinging back and forth) and the Slinky Dog Spin (around and around she goes).
But we weren’t too terribly disappointed about not being able to go on the rides. The rest of the land more than made up for it. I think the best part is that we were both able to experience a degree of nostalgia that we had perhaps not felt in quite a while. Before heading off to Fantasyland, I bought some pressed tokens as a souvenir of our time there. Then, as we strolled along the long pathway taking us away from Toy Story Land there was one last surprise toy hiding in the tall grass……Spiderbaby was there to wish us a happy Halloween!