Day 4: Ocean Park
Ocean Park is Hong Kong’s local theme park. It’s sort of a cross between SeaWorld and Six Flags. It’s also the only regional park which regularly outperforms its local Disneyland. That demands being seen! This would be the day’s big adventure.
Ocean Park wouldn’t open until 10. Actually, all of Hong Kong tends to wake up late and then move slowly, no doubt thanks to the jungle humidity. Once again, my morning is wide open. Too bad it’s Sunday, so the congee palace I wanted to try for breakfast isn’t open. In fact, nearly everyplace is closed, and after walking the empty streets for a while I settle on an automat. A coin-op menu out front takes my order (college student ramen and a fried egg) and minutes later a sarcastic waitress with a depleted cigarette brings the feast, then coughs. It’s certainly a memorable meal.
Eventually the time comes to take the metro out to Ocean Park, perched dramatically on Hong Kong Island’s south shore. From the station, it’s a short pedestrian bridge straight to the park entrance – Hong Kong overall is really user friendly! (It turns out this new MTR line just opened earlier this year.) I arrive at 9, plenty of time to purchase tickets, plot a plan-of-attack, then do rope drop. Pretty substantial crowds start to gather. It
is the weekend!
Ocean Park has by far the most spectacular theme park location I’ve ever seen! Its lower half is The Waterfront, which rests near the bay nestled between towering jungle mountains. Better still is The Summit, which lies nearly a mile away, precariously perched atop a mighty mountain crag with 360 degree views of the Hong Kong archipelago thousands of feet below! The Summit is an amazing setting, filled with the world’s most picturesque roller coasters.
Overall, Ocean Park is colorful and fun, with cool theming mixed randomly. Asia’s largest aquarium sits before a coastal fountain show, next to a cartoonish village, a recreation of Old Hong Kong, costumed mascots, and a bloody
Saw maze. It’s the start of Halloween Bash (Ocean Park boasts Asia’s largest Halloween event, apparently), and everywhere are orange banners and “propkins” made to resemble Dia de los Muertos catfish or something. The whole park is like a festival. It seems like craziness to me, but it obviously speaks to its Asian fan base.
Based on touring research, I’ve learned to go up to The Summit first. All of Ocean Park’s rides are up there, and their lines get long later in the day. The Waterfront’s aquariums and marine mammal exhibits can be done afterwards.
The Summit is reached in two manners – cable cars, or the Ocean Express underground funicular. For morning efficiency, I opt for the funicular. The cable cars – Ocean Park’s best ride, actually – will be my way down from the mountain. Ocean Express is surprisingly well-themed, with a submarine steampunk vibe, and even a huge Bioshock-style dive robot. Inside the train, window screens like on Universal’s Hogwarts Express simulate an ocean journey complete with giant squid attack. For a purely functional ride, it’s really well done. (Part of a major redevelopment plan made in response to Disneyland.)
The Summit continues this state-of-the-art theming only intermittently. It has several random lands: Thrill Mountain, Polar Adventure, The Rainforest, Adventure Land, and Marine World. These areas clash vibrantly, with a garish Technicolor circus right beside a faux-Arctic and a Mexican rainforest. There are terrifying pumpkin-skull monsters plopped everywhere.
Attractions throughout are a mixture of flat rides, roller coasters, and SeaWorld-esque aquatic displays. My touring strategy focuses on the coasters, starting up at the peak and moving downslope. The entire Summit area is hugely mountainous, and even with its many generous escalators it’s a major workout to explore …exacerbated by that dang humidity. If you’ve ever visited Magic Mountain near L.A., and tried climbing Samurai Summit on foot…picture that, but an entire theme park!
The fun begins with Hair Raiser, a B&M floorless coaster themed to a clown eating you. Purely as a coaster, this is Ocean Park’s best. B&M always makes exceptional, smooth rides. The views from on-ride as just
incredible, but that’s the case with every ride here. And such an improbable place for a coaster, right on a mountain peak (a part of that peak has been mined away to make room)!
Because I’ve been so focused on beating the crowds this day, I’m not just the first to ride Hair Raiser, the ride goes out with
just me. Never ridden a coaster 100% solo before! That’s something in itself. Dispatch from the station took about 10 minutes, because the operators were still doing their morning safety checks when I arrived.
Dispatch times were slow all day long. They were too at Hong Kong Disneyland. That’s the pace of life in southeast China, and you get used to it pretty quickly.
Following a hair raising ride, I find nearby Polar Adventure. This land boasts a pair of indoor exhibits featuring Arctic animals, Antarctic animals, and AC. The latter is the main draw. It’s neat enough seeing walruses and penguins. I don’t linger in here long.
Polar Adventure has its own coaster, Arctic Blast. As a family-friendly ride, it’s drawing much larger crowds than the nearby Hair Raiser, and it’s the only full coaster train I’ll ride today. The ride is motor-powered, not gravity-powered. Technically it might not be a real roller coaster. The train does two circuits around a short track circling the land. Thrill-wise, it doesn’t rise above Flight of the Hippogriff. Ah, but those views! Arctic Blast glimpses bays on
both sides of the mountain, which is something Gadget’s Go-Coaster can’t claim.
Making ludicrously good time, I trek down winding escalators through The Rainforest. This “land” is mostly just there to justify The Rapids, a drenching white water ride. There is no force on Heaven or on Earth that’ll get me on a raft ride in this humidity! I move on.
The dolphin theaters are closed today. Signs in English actually described the dolphins as “surly.” I don’t know what to say. Still, Ocean Park’s oceanarium elements appear more vibrant than SeaWorld’s, more exciting. It seems animal exhibits are still novel to China’s emerging middleclass. Much of Ocean Park’s popularity stems from this.
My route continues down Asia’s second-longest escalator (!) into Adventure Land, home of Mine Train. For such a generic name, this is kind of an amazing roller coaster. Mine Train might be the best-located coaster on earth! Blue skies, deserted islands, lush jungle foliage, sailboats gliding below, Mine Train has everything…except a good layout. Just some drops, a really forceless helix. Ah, but those views!
So far I’m keeping ridiculously far ahead of the crowds. Too far ahead, in fact. I would’ve ridden Mine Train alone (like Hair Raiser) had the ride ops allowed it. Rather, the train lingered in its station while a slow trickle of guests accumulated. Again, dispatch times were around 10 minutes.
Mine Train is isolated way, way on the Summit’s far ledge. The only nearby “attractions” are the backstage aquarium facilities, which I’m allowed to peer into. Continuing my tour, I trudge along the mountain’s rocky rear slopes, not a single other person in sight. It’s past 11 now, and the sun and humidity are conspiring to do me in. I soldier on, keen on conquering the Summit, but between my flagging energy and the deserted pathways, it’s becoming a challenge.
The Summit’s final big area is its oldest, Marine World. The land’s big shark aquarium is super appealing, because it’s air-conditioned. There’s a really nice exhibit of sharks and sturgeon and jelly fish, which I enjoy at a slow pace while recovering from the heat.
This recovery was essential, because Marine World’s Dragon coaster is by Arrow Dynamics. Yeah, it’s one of those early ‘90s looping coasters which has aged
terribly, certainly not helped by the salty sea air. Most coaster parks have one of these things, and they are roooough. The Dragon is only unique for its eye-melting “purple & yellow” paint scheme. It doesn’t even have good ocean views (a real shock). It’s just a checklist one-and-done, a way to complete Ocean Park’s coaster collection. And again with the slow dispatches, only this time I join a train of other patiently waiting guests.
Arrow Dynamics’ roughness doesn’t help with heat exhaustion. Nor does the ascent. Here on the mountain’s backside, one must climb a series of covered stairways (no escalators over here) back up to the peak’s cable cars. Along the way, workmen are assembling scare mazes for Halloween.
There’s a buffeteria restaurant underneath the cable car station, featuring Ocean Park’s standard world-class amazing sea views. I consider getting a meal just to eat (it’s theme park grub, pricey and slimy). Instead I settle for a Coke. Just about the tastiest, quenchingest Coke of my life!
The Summit is complete. (Not the flat rides, same you’d find anyplace, but c’mon!) Escape from the mountain is via cable cars. These, as I’ve said, are the park’s best ride, taking exceptional advantage of the unique alpine archipelago setting!
These cable cars seem impossible. They travel up unforgiving slopes and down into ravines, over jungle rivers cascading down the cliffs. Thousands of feet below is the South China Sea and many shining beach resorts. An ocean breeze refreshes. The ride lasts for over 10 minutes and for nearly a mile. The final descent provides stupendous birds-eye views of The Waterfront and its dancing fountains.
The cable cars exit through Old Hong Kong, which is a cute mid-budget themed area. Vintage carts sell skewered street foods. I pause for a kebab of mystery meat. No idea what it was.
The Waterfront is dominated by animal exhibits. (There’s a kiddie ride area called Whiskers Harbour, which I didn’t bother to visit.) The park’s main attraction – and for Chinese guests, a bigger deal than the cable cars or roller coasters or anything else – is Giant Panda Adventure!
This is the habitat for Ying Ying and Le Le, rare giant pandas. (There’s also a red panda in here.) Ying Ying put on a show, effortlessly devouring some bamboo sprouts. Ying Ying is pretty cool, so I spent about 15 minutes watching him. The locals enjoyed it too, with a shutterbug crowd gathering, and we all got a really special panda show.
There are a few other animal exhibits nearby, which I dropped into briefly. Marsh gators, golden monkeys, assorted birds. Apart from some cute theming it felt like a small zoo, and one slowly filling with obnoxious tourists (particularly a monkey-harassing Indian family). Ocean Park gets rowdier as the day progresses, which confirms my wisdom in starting early.
One final major attraction is the Grand Aquarium, the park’s default icon. It’s a Frank Gehry design of tentacles crushing an egg. Inside is a rather lengthy aquarium exhibit, amongst the world’s largest. A descending route leads you through different ocean habitats, from the tide pools and shorelines down underwater through eel caverns and ultimately to a climactic multi-story window revealing the entire tank you’ve slowly explored.
It’s an overwhelming and thoughtful exploration of aquatic nature, carefully examining mankind’s place on earth…followed by a plush toy gift shop!
Leaving through the Aqua City shopping mall entry area, Ocean Park’s final sights are of branded cartoonishness. Here are panda bear balloons, dancing gator characters, and rice cakes fashioned to resemble more pandas (I ate two). Ocean Park is a pretty crazy place, with individually well-crafted elements. It’s also a catchall park. The good coasters and the animal exhibits all exist on different levels (literally). It’s an exhilarating, tiring, fascinating place to visit. Certainly nothing at all like visiting a Disney park.
Up next: Visiting a Disney Park
