Long time, no post. There are a lot of reasons why, but let's just say life got in the way. Now it's time to get back to Hong Kong, at least as far as posting goes.
Ocean Park is a large amusement park on Hong Kong Island split into two by a mountain.
The entry area has a lake and a nautical theme. There aren't really rides on this side of the park, so I grabbed the cable car over the hill to get to this:
That's a fun looking coaster, huh?
The cable car is one way to get from one side of the park to the other, similar to the sky buckets at other amusement parks. These are a little more common in Japan as a form of transportation due to the mountainous terrain. And at Ocean Park, you can't just walk from one section to the next.
Another benefit of taking a cable car is the view!
The mountain is a lot higher than it looks at first, and the cable car gives a great view of the ocean when the weather cooperates.
What's that in the distance? The awesome coaster I teased above! It's built right next to the cliff-side. And I'm not surprised given the limited amount of space the park has. Hair Raiser is the name given to this coaster, and it's by far the most thrilling ride in Hong Kong. I got on several times, it was so good.
Many of the park's coasters use the hill to their advantage.
Nearby is an ice-themed section of the park where Artic Blast is located.
Arctic Blast, like most of the park's coasters, is pretty tame. It has a compact layout that makes it feel like it's going faster, but not really anything else going for it.
After Arctic Blast, I journeyed down the hill to the Mine Train. Nice little theming touches like this can be found around the park.
The park would get really busy by mid afternoon, but early in the morning this ride had nobody else on it.
It's hard to get a picture of a lot of coasters in this park. But Mine Train goes way out over the hill. Unfortunately it's really tame too, and being out in the open removes a lot of the thrill.
The park has a few flats, but this Enterprise was closed. I don't see it listed on the park's website so it might have been removed.
The back side of the park doesn't offer much as you walk from the Mine Train back to the main rides area in the loop, though you'll eventually come to a dolphin tank.
The dolphins swim and play in the large building when they aren't doing shows, and you can see them get fed and practice their tricks.
So far away... I didn't go back to the Mine Train after that first ride because it's just so far away.
Back in the main ride area, there are more flat rides, including the obligatory pirate ship.
Another coaster and... not surprisingly, a Ferris wheel. Let's check out this area of the park from the open-tub Ferris wheel, shall we?
Swings!
That coaster from before! It is somewhat painful and gets boring pretty fast. By the way, it's called The Dragon.
S&S Tower. Either they're toned down from their original excitement level or Asian S&S towers are weaker to begin with. Or I'm jaded.
Off in the distance, the dolphin show had begun.
Whirly Bird is one of those flying swing-style rides but less exciting.
This area of the park has its own cool little art piece too.
The theming reminds me a lot of the Roller Coaster Tycoon games.
While the front side of the park has several non-ride exhibits, there are some aquariums on the back side, including the shark tank.
Sharks are hard to photograph in the dark. Here's a ray instead.
There was a nice traditional garden but it was closed off.
The jellyfish exhibit was pretty cool, with several color-lighted tanks.
Another group is going on The Abyss.
Games, carnival style!
Penguins!
After riding all of the coasters and checking out the exhibits, I headed back to the front. I wasn't able to get any good pictures, but a tunnel runs from one side of the park to the other with a "submarine"-themed tram to get you across. It lets you out near the cable car entrance on the front side of the park.
One area in this part of the park is themed similar to a tropical island or maybe a Mayan civilization called Emerald Trail.
There's a long path up a hill including bridges and nice plants.
Near the top is a big building. Note the two obvious steel doors, which were both locked. What secrets lie inside that temple?
The front of the park holds the kid's section, where you'll find some rides for the little ones.
There are some animals here too, like these millipedes in a case.
There are plenty of play attractions to wear kids out. I remember going to Great America in Santa Clara as a kid and playing in the play area for hours. That play area is gone now, replaced with rides of some sort.
Hot air balloons for the kids instead of a Ferris wheel. Good call!
Okay, product placement alert. But these seats were popular as a photo opportunity too.
Pandas!
The merry-go-round had some nice theming too.
Up near the cable car is an "old Hong Kong" themed area. This double decker bus sits near the city's entrance.
There aren't any rides here, but there are several stalls selling food and gifts.
Despite the lack of attractions, this area of the park remained busy. But by this point the entire park was getting busy.
This old tram car was a hit, too.
You could pull some levers and such, but the upstairs was off-limits. I reached my camera up to get a picture.
The park even put some old advertisements to enrich the experience.
Ocean Park is older than Hong Kong Disneyland and has more thrilling attractions. Both parks are good though. I wish Ocean Park would get more new thrill rides to replace the quasi-thrill rides it has scattered around the park. The park was so busy on what should be an off day that the park could really use some more rides to eat up the crowds. On the other hand, I guess finding space for them is tough.
Ocean Park has
a good website here with hours, rates, and other details.
