Garet Posted May 19, 2013 Share Posted May 19, 2013 I'm planning on going to Hong Kong the first week of October for Korean thanksgiving, how busy do the parks get? We were thinking two days for Disneyland since the website doesn't mention fast-pass for the two new rides so we assume we'll be waiting and we want to see it all and get in a few re-rides (plus the cost between a 1 or 2 day ticket wasn't too bad) but we aren't sure about Ocean Park since there is only a one day ticket however we heard it has a high attendance rate. Is it possible to do all of Ocean Park (including a quick look around the aquarium and see some pandas) in a day or should we plan and save for 2 days? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterFEV Posted May 19, 2013 Share Posted May 19, 2013 Isn't Korean Thanksgiving the 3rd week of September this year? (19th Sept?) The reason I ask is that you would be much smarter going to Hong Kong in September rather than the 1st week of October - it's actually one of the absolute worst weeks of the year to try visiting Hong Kong, with the only other exception being Chinese New Year. Understand that Hong Kong's tourist attractions are significantly affected by the holiday calendar in China. In 2013, the 1st week of October is China's Golden Week - which means the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong from mainland China will be CRAZY! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garet Posted May 19, 2013 Author Share Posted May 19, 2013 Isn't Korean Thanksgiving the 3rd week of September this year? (19th Sept?) The reason I ask is that you would be much smarter going to Hong Kong in September rather than the 1st week of October - it's actually one of the absolute worst weeks of the year to try visiting Hong Kong, with the only other exception being Chinese New Year. Understand that Hong Kong's tourist attractions are significantly affected by the holiday calendar in China. In 2013, the 1st week of October is China's Golden Week - which means the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong from mainland China will be CRAZY! Rather embarrassingly considering I'm living here, you are right I just realized the calendar i was using was a 2012 calendar so yes 16th-20th if i can get the extra two days off from work, will it be much quieter this week than that week? This may also explain why when looking into costs, the two day ticket right now stopped on the 30th september. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galvainze21 Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 I have been to Ocean Park twice and Disneyland once (before the expansion). Ocean Park covers a huge area in 2 separate sections. The last time I was there I only did the rides and saw some of the animals. I didn't have time for the rest of the animals or any shows. Make sure you go on the cable car! It now has the new B&M coaster too. I don't know what Disneyland is like with Toy Story Land and Grizzly Gulch area expansions, but it only brings the park's number of coasters up to 2. As it is enormous and unique I would recommend 2 days at Ocean Park and 1 day at Disneyland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterFEV Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 Just wrapping up a weekend in Hong Kong visiting both Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park. If you plan it right - one full day at each park should be absolutely fine. There are 4 coasters at Ocean Park (for now....make sure to get all 4 in while you can) and 3 coasters at HKDL. Here's the trick with the parks at Hong Kong - every time I visit these places, it seems eerily similar to a few regional parks in the USA (SFGAdv for example) where most of the guests don't arrive until after 11am. I've found that if you get there before park opening - you can cover TONS of stuff before any sort of crowd starts arriving. Disney, for example, officially opens at 10am - although the front gates open at 9:30am with a rope drop at the Hub at 10am. If you're at the turnstiles at 9:25am, you'll be in great shape. Also, both parks - especially Ocean Park - have challenges keeping guests in-park after dark (which means the lines start dropping fast after dark. For both parks - hit as many rides as you can before 11:30am. Save the crowded afternoon hours for the two live shows at HKDL and the animal exibits at Ocean Park. Couple more tips: Ocean Park: Upon arrival - take the funicular. Most guests take the cable car in the morning - the funicular rarely has a queue and is a fraction the time. It drops you right into Thrill Mountain. HKDL: Skip the fireworks (they aren't that great anyway). All the major rides typically have no wait time at all the last 30 minutes of the day with all guests crowding onto Main Street. It's 30 minutes of ERT on Mystic Manor and Big Grizzly Mountain! Finally - both parks are GREAT with Single Rider Lines at the coasters. Most important, have a great time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garet Posted May 26, 2013 Author Share Posted May 26, 2013 Just wrapping up a weekend in Hong Kong visiting both Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park. If you plan it right - one full day at each park should be absolutely fine. There are 4 coasters at Ocean Park (for now....make sure to get all 4 in while you can) and 3 coasters at HKDL. Here's the trick with the parks at Hong Kong - every time I visit these places, it seems eerily similar to a few regional parks in the USA (SFGAdv for example) where most of the guests don't arrive until after 11am. I've found that if you get there before park opening - you can cover TONS of stuff before any sort of crowd starts arriving. Disney, for example, officially opens at 10am - although the front gates open at 9:30am with a rope drop at the Hub at 10am. If you're at the turnstiles at 9:25am, you'll be in great shape. Also, both parks - especially Ocean Park - have challenges keeping guests in-park after dark (which means the lines start dropping fast after dark. For both parks - hit as many rides as you can before 11:30am. Save the crowded afternoon hours for the two live shows at HKDL and the animal exibits at Ocean Park. Couple more tips: Ocean Park: Upon arrival - take the funicular. Most guests take the cable car in the morning - the funicular rarely has a queue and is a fraction the time. It drops you right into Thrill Mountain. HKDL: Skip the fireworks (they aren't that great anyway). All the major rides typically have no wait time at all the last 30 minutes of the day with all guests crowding onto Main Street. It's 30 minutes of ERT on Mystic Manor and Big Grizzly Mountain! Finally - both parks are GREAT with Single Rider Lines at the coasters. Most important, have a great time! Perfect, thanks for all the awesome advice, my girlfriend hates the coasters but enjoys the rest of the rides so i can single rider them. out of interest which rides did you notice had single rider, i couldn't find much info online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterFEV Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 At Ocean Park - both Hair Raiser and Arctic Blast were running Single Rider lines. At HKDL - Big Grizzly Mountain, Space Mountain, and Toy Soldier Parachute Drop have permanent Single Rider queues. Surprisingly, I didn't see one at RC Racer - although there is a Single Rider queue at the same ride at the park in Paris. Note that, compared to other Disney Parks, HKDL does NOT have very extensive use of Fastpass. There is currently Fastpass only at the following attractions: Space Mountain, Festival of the Lion King, and The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh. None of the attractions in their expansion areas have FastPass (nor does it look like these attractions are going to get it anytime soon) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garet Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 Does any-one have a good cheapish hotel they used in Hong Kong, we saw a few we liked but recommendations are always welcome from people who've been, if we believed every horror review on the internet we'd never travel again we were thinking of spending extra for our first ever stay at a disney resort but I think once we factor in ticket costs its a bit out of our price range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 We've always stayed at either the Disney Hotels or the Holiday Inn Golden Mile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garet Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 (edited) Sorry to bump an old topic but does any-one have experience getting to ocean park by public transport? We are staying one stop away from central but we will take the subway to wherever is the best place to get the bus. The Ocean Park website seems to make it that you should take 629 from admirality but it says the bus finishes at 4pm running? surely there must be buses for people who want to stay until closing time? Also since my girlfriend is bugging me about making sure we go at the best time, when is the best time to see the pandas? Edited August 8, 2013 by Garet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azza29 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 ^It looks like the last bus to the park leaves at 4pm, but the last bus from the park doesn't leave until 9pm: http://www.nwstbus.com.hk/routes/oceanpark/index.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garet Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 Does anyone know if ocean park has a rehab list, i tend to find for the korean and japanese parks that they keep one on their native language pages if there isn't one on the english page but i can't find one for ocean park. I found disney's on their calendar page, as long as there aren't any updates soon i just have to work around space mountains rehab week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterFEV Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 ^ Did you check Ocean Park's calendar page too? Because they do provide very good updates on upcoming attraction annuals. Look right underneath the calendar for "Facilities under Maintenance" http://www.oceanpark.com.hk/html/en/plan-your-visit/calendar/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garet Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 I feel really stupid I missed that, I guess the day I checked it didn't have any rides down so it didn't show up, thanks for telling me. On the plus side so far it looks like they do their maintenance in half days for a lot of the rides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garet Posted August 28, 2013 Author Share Posted August 28, 2013 Sorry for the double post but we just found out ocean parks chairlift will be down for maintenance next month, Is there many places to snap good pictures like I have seen of other TR's when they have ridden the chairlift? What I would really like your opinion on though since it's hard to tell from pictures on how good the capacity is, which is now the better plan to take since i've heard ocean park can be confusing and difficult to get around if you want to travel around the areas backwards and forwards freely. Option A) Go on the sunday the day after we land or the bank holiday friday since they will be running the chairlift on the busier days and hope the lines aren't too bad or B) Go on the weekday when it will only be the funicular railway thing and hope the lines don't jam up too much with the chairlift down to get up to the mountain and ride the rides after we've seen the aquarium and pandas. Has anyone been on a day when the chairlift has been down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 The gondolas are a real treat, I wouldn't want to miss them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garet Posted August 28, 2013 Author Share Posted August 28, 2013 The gondolas are a real treat, I wouldn't want to miss them. Hmm so looks like the choices are a bank holiday or a sunday, hopefully the crowds will be manageable to get the park done in a day still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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