After yet another long week of group projects, presentations, and essays, it was time for some relaxation and fun! The goal (brought to you by the infamous bucket list) was to visit all of the theme parks in HK in one weekend. It was pretty easy to accomplish since HK has two theme parks (Ocean Park and Disneyland). Welsonne, Taynah and I were probably what people expected to be the worst people to visit these theme parks with. Not only are we hospitality majors, but we live in Orlando, the theme park capital of the world. You'd think there couldn't be snobbier people to visit theme parks with (but you are thinking wrong because we love theme parks too much to hate them). I went in with pretty low expectations for both parks. Ocean Park, the "Asian" Seaworld had pretty good reviews from my local friends. However, a couple of exchange had gone to Disneyland prior to our trip and they told us not to go. We were told the castle is made of cardboard and the park itself is extremely boring. They were wrong. Ocean Park and Disneyland HK didn't just exceed my expectations, they blew me away. Here's the rundown of the parks:
Ocean Park--Ocean Park hands down is in the GREATEST setting in the world to put a theme park (especially one about animals). It is located on one end of HK on a mountain surrounded by the ocean. The different areas of the park are spread out and some require a cable car ride (a beautiful but terrifying one) to reach. Ocean Park is the equivalent to dim sum (dim sum is a traditional Chinese cuisine--small portions of a big variety of dishes). All of the rides, roller coasters included, were extremely short. However, the lines were also short (15 minutes was considered a LONG wait) and we ended up getting to go on every ride that we wanted to. The roller coasters were pretty thrilling, considering we were hanging off of a cliff over the ocean most of the time. The shows were disappointing compared to Seaworld but the view of the dolphin show is pretty much impossible to beat (so it made up for the fact that there were two dolphins who looked like they were about to go on strike). While the day was hot and tiring, it was so much fun and I would definitely go again if time would allow it. But seriously....did I mention the location of Ocean Park? I am still in awe.
- Hong Kong Disneyland--As I mentioned before, our expectations were low. I honestly expected a cardboard castle and no rides. But the second I stepped on the MTR to Disney and saw it covered in Mickey ears, I figured it was not going to be that bad. And it was better than not bad. Yes, the castle was HORRENDOUS. But other than that, the park was quite similar to Disneyworld. It was much smaller but had many of the same sections of the park as in Orlando, including some of the same rides. We rode Space Mountain and Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars, which were both so much fun. We got to meet characters who were all fascinated with us (sometimes it's fun to be a foreigner). The shows and parade were amazing. I actually had to refrain myself from standing up and singing along during Golden Mickeys (a mini-musical with different famous Disney songs).
In conclusion, HK has two awesome theme parks and if time (and funding and the bucket list schedule) allowed it, I would be living at Ocean Park and working at Disneyland. I cheated this week and snuck all my favorite pictures into one blog, so here is just one more:
This was taken at Ozone Bar, the highest rooftop bar in the world. It is located in ICC (same place as Sky 100) on the 118th floor. Ozone Bar is owned by Ritz-Carlton and the prices reflect that but it was an awesome experience nonetheless.