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They're supposedly not allowed and security would check bags and if found were just telling people not to remove them from their bags, instead of sending people all the way back to luggage storage, but not much they can do when people break them out in the crowds. Selfie sticks and those cameras popped out on both nights. Not many but you can see two selfie sticks and one of those cameras in this person's Youtube. I cheated a little bit in that in the TR I made it look like one night but we gave up going into the crowd on both nights. Asian parks don't really use any mortar fireworks, even Tokyo's new show is very light on all pyro but they make up for it on effects and projections so we were more than happy to sacrifice visibility on fireworks to watch the castle projections sitting down with beer and waffles away from the crowd standing. It'd also have been hard on our son to see well at his height. Some local friends also recommend the benches behind the castle in Fantasyland if you're the opposite and want fireworks but don't care about projections but want to be away from crowds.

So very early in the planning we had originally planned to visit Ocean Park to get one last trip into the theme park and finally try out the water park. Personally, with so many rides closed and SBNO I was already hesitant to visit, Hair Raiser I have ridden twice before and it is probably one of the roughest and one of my least favorite B&M rides out there, the only saving grace is the view from it since the mine train is now gone. However, shortly before the visit, the pandas gave birth and it was announced the exhibit would be closed so we decided we'd focus on the water park instead. The park only had a handful of slides and speaking to friends who lived there, we were warned that even though some slides were listed as closed on the site or entrance, more tended to be closed once you'd paid to be inside and that lines could very long especially since a lot of rich Chinese would buy fastpasses. The only day we could visit the water park was the very last day of operations, and we already knew the headliner slide would be closed at least so we gave up on a Hong Kong water-park. However, some things all began to line up for us.... Originally, we'd planned to do a day-trip on the ferry to Macau after Disneyland. However, the Macau Tourism Board was doing a promotion that they would give you a one-way ticket for free. If you land in Hong Kong airport you can go direct to Macau from a transfer area, skipping Hong Kong immigration and customs while the company will transfer your luggage from the plane to the bus and then be driven across the new road bridge connecting Hong Kong and Macau to mainland China. I'd been very hesitant to go from the airport since it would fall onto a 3-day weekend and crowds were expected to be huge but the convenience and free ticket sealed the deal and so our day trip to Macau turned into a 3-night stay opening up opportunities to visit some places we couldn't schedule before. Walking around the strip on a Friday night I noticed the famous Studio City Ferris wheel and remembered they'd very recently opened a water park. However, there was no way I was going to visit a water park on a Saturday in the middle of a public holiday especially when it was quite an expensive water park.... .... and off to the water park, we went the next day. You wouldn't believe there's a bunch of giant slides on that roof they were very well hidden. To be fair, I was sold on visiting even if crowds were huge because the park runs flash sales of buy one get one free tickets. The entrance (and the wholeindoor part of the park is space-themed.) It's also located next to a Five Guys which has become popular in Asia lately. The entrance to the park from the lockers and changing rooms. Changing rooms although divided into male and female were all actually individual cubicles once inside. This park was pretty unique in unlimited towels are provided to all guests from here you can take as many as you want. One downside to unlimited towels however was we saw people grabbing stacks and just throwing them on sunbeds everywhere to 'reserve' them. Even shortly after opening a lot of beds were covered in towels even though we almost never saw people using them. You can get a good idea of the space theming here. A lot of rocky outcrops and alien statues scattered around. Disclaimer: I took the majority of these indoor pictures during the opening 30 minutes as we did a lap while others were changing or at the end of the night, I went back in after changing my clothes to get some pictures of the layout. I wanted to avoid getting too many people in their swimsuits so the park will look empty even when I refer to it as busy. The first thing you will see when you enter is the Command Center children's play complex and Launch Tower bigger slide complex next to it. However we headed straight to the Lightspeed Shuttle master blaster since we heard it's line could get quite long very early on. It's packed in and around a lot of the indoor part of the park. Lines tended to be a little overstated, it had a wait-time of 30 minutes but those stairs are actually the loading so we were on in under 10. By the time we finished, the line was already picking up though. We also noticed people with red wristbands. These turned out to be fast-pass holders. They were about $225 US Dollars a person, and even though we timed our rides smartly and didn't have many waits over 30 minutes people were still buying fast pass. The Teleport Tower was next. Unfortunately it's hard to see this complex from inside but it's home to two big raft slides and two mat racer slides that go from separate sides of the tower but connect at the end where you can see the other racer. A picture I stole from the official website to show off the slides. The park is quite new and they seemed to be testing out some new operations. We'd heard in reviews frustration that Black Hole Slingshot (the raft ride with two Aquaspheres/Rattler ending) shared a line with the much less popular Wormhole Whip (raft slide with 3 constrictor turns) but they had split the line and now sent Whip riders up the line with the mat racer people so even when the line got huge (60 minutes) and to the bottom of the stairs later on for Slingshot, the Whip remained walk-on almost all day. Over on the other side of the park was the Launch Tower complex. This is home to the one/two person smaller versions of the other tower. The blue slide is a Tailspin slide, and the pink is a constrictor/rattler slide. Rounding out the indoor section slides was this drop slide. There was also a lazy river. Two options, either unlimited laps but life jackets required, or a single lap on an inner tube. As well as a pool that led into/out of the lazy river. A surf ride was available and was free once you signed a waiver. Notice again the stacks of towels people had left all around the park abandoned as they grabbed more later. There were towel dispenseries all through the park but I guess when it's not yours there's not really any concern about where you put it. And finally a climbing wall with a 5 meter drop and (not pictured) a high up outdoor pool with a glass floor, there were too many people using it to grab pictures. We thought the food was really good in the indoor restaurant and the Waggyu burger was one of the nicest I've ever had at a water park. With crowds picking up indoors, we headed to the outdoor section to check out the few slides there, deciding we'd return to the indoor section once the sun had gone down. The famous Ferris wheel and main hotel dominate the outdoor area skyline. There was a main pool out here but sadly the towels holding sunbeds struck again so we didn't spend too much time in here. The famous Parisian also looks down onto the pool/lazy river part of the outdoor complex. There was quite a lot for young kids out here, a slide complex pictured here and some mini-versions of the bigger slides. A children's boomerang and children's raft slide that were all under shade. The sun was hot so unfortunately this is the only picture of the outdoor tower complex I grabbed. It consisted of a bowl slide and a regular 2 person slide on the lower level and on the top level the park's biggest slides. A circle raft boomerang slide and an ordinary circle raft slide. It was also home to a drop slide that was all the way on the top level. To my shock, my son decided he didn't want to regret skipping the biggest slide and was going to try it. It was a one-and-done for him, but considering he's never tried one before and the height of it, I was genuinely surprised he did it at all. There was a swim-up bar on the lazy river but it was always packed. If I had one negative about the outdoor area, it needs some tables for people to eat at. We saw the snack bars but since all sunbeds were covered in towels and we weren't sure if/when they would return we had to eat and drink standing in the middle of pathways as people went around us. After a quick go on the slides outside we headed back and spent the rest of the day inside. I put my camera into my locker until after I changed so this was my last picture of the day. We did head into the main Studio City complex however, there was a famous buffet inside called Hawker that had been recommended often, and the food did look delicious... ... but we felt pretty full and just couldn't justify spending so much on buffet when we weren't hungry just to say we'd been so settled for ramen instead. Heading out, you can see how close the Parisian is to Studio City. If you're going to visit the water park combine it with visiting the Strip. As you can see the Parisian/Londoner/Venician are all within walking distance and the water park doesn't open until midday. Goodbye Studio City, Next TR: Adventure and tourist things in Macau before back to Hong Kong for some tourist sites.

^ So are Intamin trains apparently. It's not something I pay attention to when at Everland, but T Express also got some 208 track and people have mentioned the noise.

All that food and drink before the fireworks ..... yum. I assume you timed things "between courses"? And this castle is such a Huge Canvas for the show projections on it... awesome. Great trip to HKDL for you and the family!

wonderful report. . thank you so much for sharing!

Oakwood Theme Park has officially announced its permanent closure with the owners intending to distribute the park's assets to other properties they own. The park will not open for the 2025 season. (Photos and video from Theme Park Review) https://www.oakwoodthemepark.co.uk/blog/sin-categoria/oakwood-theme-park-to-close/ It is with much sadness that we have to announce the immediate closure of Oakwood Theme Park and confirm the park will not open for the 2025 season. Following a strategic review of the business, Aspro Parks, owner and operator of Oakwood Theme Park have reached this difficult decision due to the challenges presented by the current business environment. All possible avenues have been explored to avoid the closure, and we fully recognise the impact of the closure on the local community and the loss that will be felt as a result. Aspro Parks has invested over £25M since rescuing the park from being at risk of closure in 2008. Most recently a major refurbishment of Megafobia, the iconic wooden rollercoaster was completed to great success and acclaim from enthusiasts and fans of the park. Despite the ongoing investment visitor numbers have declined, the financial performance of the park has suffered, making further investment unsustainable. The unrelenting economic challenges ahead, increases in costs, affecting all areas of the operation from; ride parts to electricity costs, food and beverage inflation, increases in NLW and changes to national insurance thresholds have all impacted the decision. A statement from Aspro Parks Group said “in the entire history of Aspro we have never closed any park or attraction. We, and our dedicated team of staff has strived to overcome numerous challenges to continue to bring joy to families and visitors across the region and country. Unfortunately, we could no longer see a sustainable way forward and will seek to improve our other parks using the assets and where possible team elsewhere”. We are aware that Oakwood has been a much-loved destination for generations and a rite of passage for many young visitors. It is for this reason we feel such a sense of sadness. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the dedication and commitment of our team members past and present, suppliers and contractors who have loyally supported us and of course all those that have visited Oakwood Theme Park over the years. We are sincerely grateful. Thank you for making Oakwood Theme Park a special place. https://www.oakwoodthemepark.co.uk/blog/sin-categoria/important-notice-security-measures-at-oakwood-theme-park/ Following our recent announcement regarding the closure of Oakwood Theme Park, we have unfortunately experienced incidents of trespassing on the premises. We want to make it explicitly clear that Oakwood Theme Park is private property and is not abandoned. Our team continues to work on-site daily, and unauthorised access is strictly prohibited. To ensure the safety and security of both our staff and the premises, 24-hour security is in place, including regular police patrols and security dogs on-site. Anyone found trespassing will be reported to the authorities and could face prosecution. We also ask that neighbouring businesses and properties are respected, and that no one attempts to use their sites as a means of access to Oakwood Theme Park. We urge the public to respect the park, as well as the hard work and dedication of those who continue to maintain the site. For any enquiries regarding Oakwood Theme Park, please contact our head office at headoffice@asprouk.com