The theme park on Lantau remained a fantasy world beyond their reach, until yesterday.

The trio from Kwai Fong were finally able to enter the magic kingdom, together with 2,000 other underprivileged children and their chaperones, paid in full by the Liberal Party.

Seated in Disneyland's Animation Academy, Tang looked on as her daughters with 30 other children took directions from Disneyland artists in drawing Winnie the Pooh, and marveled at her children having fun with others.

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"It's the festive season and we want to share the Christmas spirit with children who have been deprived of enjoying themselves in a theme park like this, and to allow their parents to spend the day with them," said catering constituency lawmaker Tommy Cheng Yu- yan.

Addressing a throng of youngsters eager to explore the park for the first time, party chairman James Tien Pei- chun told them to study hard, help their parents and to have a happy new year.

He shrugged off suggestions that the event was nothing more than electioneering. Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee defended Tien, saying most of the 2,000 guests were children, ineligible to vote.

A grandmother with her 11-month- old granddaughter was busy racing from queue to queue to have their photo taken with characters they had only seen on television, while 11-year-old Leung Hui-ho, accompanied by his father, preferred to pace himself while trying to cross every ride off his wish-list for the day.

Many children were notified about the excursion through their schools. Most were unabashed to admit they had no idea what the Liberal Party was.

Funded by the party's charity fund, Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, families from across the territory were offered a chance to spend a day snacking, smiling and savoring the rides and attractions, free of charge.

The excursion to Disneyland is the first-ever large scale event organized by the Liberal Party, an event that it hopes will become an annual affair, according to former legislator and party member Ho Sai-chu.

Set up two years ago, the charity fund - now amounting to HK$10 million - entertains applications from any CSSA individuals and families seeking assistance ranging from essentials to computers for studies.