Hong Kong has two major amusement parks, out of which Disneyland is the one known by most tourist but personally I actually like Ocean Park much better – It offers much better value for money, especially if you want to see a giant panda (super cute!) or actually take some rides which are very few and have long lines in Disneyland.
Disneyland Hong Kong
Disneyland is located near the airport at Lantau island and has a special “Mickey Mouse” mtr (metro) connection making it very easily reachable. The park has been built with a lot of effort and attention to detail, and if you’re a Disney fan you’re definitely going to enjoy it.
For me the major let down was the low number of rides, and the 30+ min lines to most of them. To help people manage the long lines they’ve even built a mobile phone app which function seems to be informing people how long the lines are to each attraction.
To avoid the long lines, it’s best to go right when the park opens and enjoy the most popular rides before the crowds arrive.
For me, the most memorable part of the visit were the excellent Disney themed treats, such as the ice cream and waffles 🙂
Kids will surely also enjoy the many shops with Disney products on the main street 🙂
Ocean Park
Ocean park is the other major amusement park in Hong Kong. Compared to Disneyland, it’s much less known internationally but it’s definitely a favorite among the locals and those wanting to see the giant pandas. Since the opening of the new metro line in 2016, it has also been very easily reachable via metro and is actually just some 10 min from Central.
In addition to being a full blown amusement park, Ocean Park is also a zoo. The animals are scattered around the park in different themed areas, such as polar adventure and rain forest. The biggest attraction re of course the giant pandas, but in addition there are also plenty of other animals such as koalas, kangaroos, penguins, dolphins and sea lions.
If you want to experience something very special, you can even book a private encounter with the penguins, dolphins or seals in a large swimming pool for the price of roughly 130€. The private encounters need to be booked in advance.
Summary
So why do I like Ocean Park more? There are actually plenty of reasons, but these three are the most important:
- it’s much cheaper
- it has much more rides and they are typically with much shorter lines
- it has plenty of amazing animals
That said, especially if you’re a Disney fan, you’ll definitely enjoy Disneyland too 🙂
Travel the World with Taru 
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