Welcome to Ocean Park Hong Kong, the award winning theme park in Hong Kong! A little bit of everything is here - animal theme park, amusement park, and aquarium, Ocean Park has something for everyone and is definitely a place to see when in Hong Kong! 

Ocean Park first opened in 1977 as an animal, marine-life theme park but after an extensive renovation in the mid-2000's, Ocean Park has been transformed into a world class theme park offering an experience that blends education, conservation and fun for the whole family! The park has won several awards including the biannual Applause Award, the most prestigious award in the amusement and theme park industry and is the first Asian theme park to win the award. Other awards include "The World's 7th Most Popular Amusement Park" and "50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the World" by Forbes. It was also the 12th most visited theme park in 2013 and is the largest theme park in all of Asia! 

The park is separated by mountains so areas are split into The Waterfront (Lowland) area and The Summit (Headland). Access to The Summit is only available by the 1.5 kilometre cable car gondola ride or the Ocean Express railway. WE took the cable car up to the top of the mountain and returned on the Ocean Express railway, a themed futuristic rail ride that simulates the experience of travelling through the depths of the ocean. 

In The Waterfront, guests can enjoy animal exhibits featuring "Amazing Asian Animals" where you can get up close to red pandas, giant pandas, alligators, and unique bird and fish exhibits. My absolute favourite was seeing the giant pandas! 

The Goldfish Treasures exhibit showcase rare and unique Asian fish.

As we head towards the Cable Car Station to go up to The Summit, the area turns into "Old Hong Kong" and guests get to walk through Hong Kong as it was before it became the metropolitan city it now is. 

The cable car takes us up into and past the mountains into The Summit. Enjoy the scenery as you ride the gondola, which is not quite a 10 minute ride from the Lowland area to reach the top of the mountains into the additional areas of Ocean Park. 

Once you reach the top of the mountain, there are several areas to explore including Polar Adventure, the Rainforest, Thrill Mountain, Adventure Land and Marine World. Each area includes animal shows, attractions, amusement park rides, roller coasters and animal exhibits. Enjoy animals including king penguins, sharks, sea jelly, Chinese sturgeons and all sorts of sea creatures found in the ocean. Many of the amusement park rides including crazy roller coasters on The Summit side as well! 

Tuxedo Restaurant
We decided to dine at Tuxedo's Restaurant in the Polar Adventure area. Tuxedos is themed after the king penguins exhibit and you dine in an intimate restaurant setting beside the penguins and can watch them swim and feed. It was a nice break from the crowds outdoors! 

The Grand Aquarium houses an amazing collection of underwater animals as you explore the depths of the ocean and all of its marvellous species.

Ocean Park Hong Kong is a large park with lots to see and do. We didn't have the opportunity to see all that we wanted to in one day. But the animals, shows and rides we were able to experience were amazing and worth the journey. At the end of the day, it is the messages of the importance of education and conservation to the public are what Ocean Park theme park strives to convey and its commitment to the animals that is evident throughout the park in all of its details. 

For more information about Ocean Park Hong Kong, please check out their website at www.oceanpark.com.hk. 

Our Disney vacation bucket list continues with a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland! Pretty much as soon as we got off the airplane, this was our first stop in Hong Kong! Located on Lantau Island, close to the airport, Hong Kong Disneyland brings the pixie dust magic to the Asian gateway of Eastern and Western culture! 

Hong Kong Disneyland is much like Disneyland in Anaheim and Paris except that it is a bit smaller being one park and easy to see and do all the attractions you wish in 1 day. With some of the lands being very similar and old favourites of Disneyland fans (e.g Main Street, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Adventureland), there are also a couple of areas that are unique to Hong Kong Disneyland - Toy Story Land, Mystic Point and Grizzly Gulch. 

Familiar and favourite attractions include Space Mountain, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, The Disneyland Railroad, Mad Hatter Tea Cups, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, It's a Small World, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and Autopia. Fast Passes are only available for Space Mountain and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh but the longest wait time for an attraction was only about 30 minutes. 

Toy Story Land is a depiction right out of Andy's toy box, from the movie Toy Story! Everything is larger than life and all the toys come alive with the rides and attractions in Toy Story Land! The RC Racer is a thrilling, gravity-defying race that speeds back and forth on a U-shaped track. At the Toy Story Parachute Drop, guests can "drop" from the sky in a parachute training drill ride. And ride the Slinky Dog Spin to chase his tail around and around!  

Mystic Manor in Mystic Point is only found at Hong Kong Disneyland. Board Lord Henry Mystic's carriage to enjoy a ride through his amazing collection of art and antiquities gathered on his journeys around the world! (Ride is very similar to the original Haunted Mansion ride, but not as "scary") Chinese people don't really believe in "ghosts" and are not very familiar with the idea so the premise of the Haunted Mansion doesn't really appeal to the Chinese masses as it conflicts with many of their traditional beliefs. So instead, the ride itself is similar to Haunted Mansion where guests can sit in a carriage and go through the Manor and enjoy the discoveries and journeys of Lord Henry Mystic and his monkey, Albert. It is a light hearted and fantasy-driven attraction. 

The biggest attraction at Grizzly Gulch is the Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars - a wild ride through the West, where grizzly bears over take the town of Grizzly Gulch and send the mine cars racing backwards and forwards though the mountain and the town! It's not a ride for the faint of heart! I opted to pass on this ride as I get motion sickness too easily but my 6 year old LOVED the ride!! He couldn't get enough of it! 

(Video below courtesy of Theme Park Review) 

The Festival of the Lion King is a colourful pageant show of music and dance to celebrate the classic animated story, "The Lion King". 

Also unique to Hong Kong Disneyland is their evening show, "Disney Paint the Night" Nighttime Spectacular, a parade filled with all the Disney characters as they "light up" the streets of Disneyland! 

Overall, Hong Kong Disneyland gives guests a familiar Disney experience in a smaller, more intimate environment compared to Anaheim Disneyland. It is very similar to Disneyland Paris, except all the shows are in French with no English translation there! At Hong Kong Disneyland, it is easy to get around as everything is in English, Cantonese and Mandarin. 

Old favourites are present with some new and unique Disney experiences! Admission ticket prices are comparably less, with adult prices at $499 HKD, and child prices $355 HKD, which works out to be about $80 CAD for adults, and $57 CAD for children. (Disneyland in Anaheim recently announced ticket price increases to $99 USD for adults and $93 USD for children so Hong Kong Disneyland is a bargain compared to the US!) 

Hong Kong Disneyland is located on Lantau Island and is very easy to access by various modes of transportation. Hope aboard the Disneyland Express, which is the MTR train that travels from Sunny Bay Station to Hong Kong Disneyland Resort! Free shuttle busses also transports guests to and from the two Disney Resorts to Disneyland theme park. 

We also had the extra bonus of being in Hong Kong Disneyland prior to the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations and the whole park was decked out in Chinese New Year decorations and unique Chinese New Year themed souvenirs! It was the perfect mix of Chinese and Disney themes! 

Overall, we were thrilled to be in Hong Kong, and then to be at Hong Kong Disneyland on top of it all, it was an incredible couple of days! Another Disney destination completed to mark off our list!