Ocean Park vs Disneyland

When you think of theme parks in Hong Kong, the first thought that comes to your mind is probably "omg, Hong Kong Disneyland!" Well who's to blame you. That's what really excites me when I go to HK as well. But it seems forgotten that before Disneyland came along, Ocean Park has always been the place to go to.

I know that many people visit Hong Kong over the weekends, you know, the short getaway kind of trip and that explains why they only have time to visit 1 theme park. So I thought I'd share a bit of my experience at Disneyland and Ocean Park and the main difference that they have to help with your decision!

Tickets

For starters, the main difference you'd notice is the price of the tickets. For adults, Ocean Park costs HKD $345 (SGD $58) whereas Disneyland is pricier at HKD $499 (SGD $84.50).

Well but I'm sure the price of the tickets are secondary since you were already planning to spend at a theme park.

So let's talk about the theme park itself.

Atmosphere

As Ocean Park is up on a mountain, there's lots of greenery so it's a good place to go to if you want to see the mountains of Hong Kong. It's also split into 2 sections. The bottom half is full of animal shows and shops whereas the top half is more for the thrilling games. Hence, there's a cable car to help you travel to the top to scream your hearts out while taking roller coasters. A little tip but don't bother going to Ocean Park right when it opens unless you're very sure you can get to the front of the cable car queue. That's cause a lot (seriously a lot) of people rush and queue for the cable car which means you'll probably have to queue for half an hour.

Sadly, the cable car is the only transport up so you have no choice but to queue. The best timing to go is around 12noon. My friends and I queued for about 15 minutes and we were comfortably seated in the cable car, with our cameras out, ready to take awesome scenic shots.

 

As for Disneyland, the buildings are definitely prettier in my opinion. It's also understandable that it's a lot newer seeing that it has only been around for a few years. I find that every spot at Disneyland is also a picture perfect one because the buildings are just so pretty and beautifully decorate, especially during Christmas when they have Christmas lights up. That's definitely something that I didn't feel at Ocean Park. Honestly, there was only one spot that I wanted to take photos at and that's the Old Hong Kong road. (I'll get to that ltr)  It's really a whole different atmosphere between Ocean Park and Disneyland. I felt more at peace at Ocean Park due to the greenery but managed to unleash my inner kid at Disneyland. 

Food

At the bottom half of Ocean Park, there's a place called Old Hong Kong Road. There's where you can find traditional HK goodies such as egg waffles and dim sum. All these food are suitable for travelling around aka takeaway food. That means that you can grab them on the go!

At the top half of Ocean Park, the food are really the same at every stall. They all sell popcorn, hot dog, fried squid, siew mai etc. The kind of food that isn't filling. Not exactly a bad thing cause I doubt you'd want to go on a roller coaster on a full stomach haha! I didn't eat much on top because nothing seemed appealing to be honest. I much prefer the food at Dinseyland.

 

Food such as waffles and ice cream are disney themed. That means that they come in the shape of mickey mouse which I personally thought is really cute. However, that also means that it's pricier than Ocean Park's food cause the latter serves quite ordinary food in my opinion. I'd much rather pay a little higher price to buy the food from Disneyland just so I can take a photo of it hahaha! And your trip to Disneyland isn't complete until you buy their waffles! Remember to take a photo of it and instagram it!

Of course Disneyland serves proper food as well. We had our lunch at a restaurant which is something like a Singapore food court style. There were basically a few stalls selling different kinds of cuisines from around Asia and you just order and bring it to your seat yourself. A meal cost around $17. Quite pricey but you're at Disneyland. Of course their stuff are pricey hahaha. 

Rides

And to the most important part in deciding which theme park to go to. Let's talk about their rides.

 (Spot me hehe)

 

The rides at Ocean Park are definitely hell lot scarier than the ones at Disneyland. If you're an adrenaline junkie, skip Disneyland and just go to Ocean Park. You won't find anything that thrills you at Dinseyland and you might just get bored of the place (like Vanessa haha). Ocean Park caters to those who are up for a fun time and isn't afraid of scary rides. You see the second photo under the rides section? Well I took that twice and I felt like I jumped off a 50 stories building twice. The second time was worse than the first actually but I'm still so proud of myself for taking that.

There's a roller coaster at Ocean Park that I didn't take a photo of cause I didn't take it. It had freaking lots of drops and 2 360degree turns if I'm not wrong. Only Heyse dared to take it but none of us were willing to take it with her. In fact, the queue was actually quite short cause very little people were crazy enough to take it. So you might not want to go to Ocean Park if you're with kids or don't like taking roller coasters.

Nevertheless, there are carnival games available. It's a little pricey so remember to bring along enough cash if you're planning to bring the little ones to enjoy such games. Ocean Park is a little more like a carnival in this aspect. There are the typical games such as hitting down the blocks (as shown), throwing a ring into a bottle, kicking a ball into a hoop etc. Such games aren't available at Disneyland! But honestly we didn't spend a very long time at the carnival area cause the prizes weren't that attractive.

The rides at Disneyland are definitely a lot more kiddish. The scariest ride there is probably a roller coaster called Grizzly Gulch (last photo). But even that roller coaster has 0 front drops and only 1 back drop. It's actually all of our favourite ride cause it's super windy due to the fast speed. Imagining not being able to open your eyes properly and hair flying all over the place. Hahaha so yeah, we like the ride not cause it's scary but because it's super shiok. Hence, Disneyland is definitely the place to bring kids to and if you're someone who loves Disney (like me!). 

So the main and most crucial factor you have to think about is whether you want to relive your childhood memories or if you're someone who is super on for all the roller coasters. Take for example Jolene and Vanessa. Jolene preferred Disneyland over Ocean Park cause she doesn't dare to take scary roller coasters whereas Vanessa doesn't like Disneyland at all. "Everything is so childish" as quoted from her hahaha. Personally, I would choose Disneyland over Ocean Park because I'm a Disney girl at heart(:

Phototaking

You can definitely expect a lot more scenery at Ocean Park. The view is pretty sick up at the top and you can even spot the ships on a sunny day. My absolute favourite place to take photos at is at the Old Hong Kong area. That's were you have the olden shops and transport. The first few photos were taken there! Overall, Ocean Park is also generally not as crowded as Disneyland so it's easier to take photos. Not a lot of passerbys to photobomb.

Unlike Ocean Park, don't expect to see much greenery at Disneyland. Well everything at Disneyland is pretty much... Disney themed haha! A definite must take photo place is at the castle! I mean that's after all literally at the centre of Disneyland. Impossible to miss! Furthermore, not only is the inside of Disneyland pretty, the outside and the train is as well!

 

This set of photos were actually taken 3 years back hahaha. Just in case you were wondering why I went Disneyland so many times. Okay yeah so Disneyland is really the whole package. Every spot is a photo taking opportunity. In fact, if you're planning to go Disneyland, I'd say forgo the taxi and take the train instead! That way, you can take the Disney train. Oh and remember to go earlier than the opening time cause you're probably going to spend a good 20 minutes outside taking photos. 

I definitely preferred taking photos at Disneyland over Ocean Park even though it's 10x more crowded. Everywhere is so nicely done and I couldn't resist but just captured as much as I could haha. Oh and Ocean Park doesn't have as many mascots as Disneyland (I didn't see any of both trips actually) so that's another plus point for Disneyland.

Shows

I don't have any photos for the shows at Ocean Park cause we didn't watch any. Basically Ocean Park has a lot of animal shows that appeal to kids. They also have live bands performing once in awhile and we did walk past quite a few. But we didn't stay long cause we much rather play the rides.

As for Disneyland, I went for quite a few shows actually. It just so happens that the shows timing coincided with the time that we were at that land. (lucky us!) I did enjoy myself at the shows, especially all the dancing! And of course, there's the well known parade that happens twice a day. If you want to see all the Disney characters, the parade is where you should be at! And if you're not really interested in it, this is the best time to take the rides with the longest queues (eg. Space Mountain) cause everyone else will be watching the parade!

Extras

An iconic game (for a lack of better name) at Disneyland is actually pin trading. Pin trading is a super massive thing at Disneylands all around the world. I'm actually quite surprised that most of my friends have no idea what pin trading is so I thought I'd share about it here!

You know how every shop you enter sells pins such as these?

Well you can actually buy them and trade them. 

Here's how it works.

Have you ever noticed that all the staff at Disneyland carried a lanyard around their neck or small black sling pouches? They all have pins attached to them. So basically you can buy a set of pins and trade with the staff if you like what they have. And the best part is, they can't say no! Hahaha it sounds so mean but it's just really funny how you could be potentially taking away their favourite pin.

Just go up to a staff and say smth like "Hello! Can I take a look at your pins?" and they will show them to you. We pin traded so much that one of the staff shared an insider tip with us. On some pins, there are actually hidden mickeys. Those pins are the ones that aren't for sale and are staff exclusive. So remember to get those cause you can't buy them!

It sounds really simple but trust me, you'll get addicted to it. Jolene, John, Corn and Heyse all ended up asking every single staff they saw till the point where they can't remember if they have asked someone. I actually think they might have asked the same staff twice... Haha but anycase, remember to buy the cheapest pins (Get the pack of 3!) cause you're going to trade them away anw.

Well in conclusion, personally I preferred Disneyland over Ocean Park. I went to Disneyland from the minute it opened till the time it closed whereas I probably only spent half the day at Ocean Park. I guess it's because I didn't spend as much time taking photos and queueing for rides at Ocean Park. Plus I really only took each ride once cause I'm not really an adrenaline junkie haha!

Hopefully this post helps! 

"Life is like going to a theme park, make sure you get your money's worth by going to all the beautiful lands, and scary rides. At the end of the day, you know you will be safe and it's all about the great memorable experiences."

Embellished Minds