Day #140: Disneyland vs Ocean Park

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One of the popular topics of conversation in Hong Kong is Disneyland or Ocean Park: which is better? Opinions differ but the consensus is that having two major theme parks in competition has driven up standards at both. Hong Kong is the perfect city to test theme parks, being a bit of an adult playground all round.

Ocean Park is long-established, favoured by traditionalists, and is in two parts: the entrance area, where there are the kiddy rides, an aquarium (would be interesting, but was so overcrowded it was hard to see anything) and a panda enclosure (gifts from China, which I didn't go and see due to the two-hour queue). The larger area of the park is accessed by cable car up the mountain, which is fun in itself, then there are several impressive rollercoasters and various fairground-style rides at the top. In response to Disney's arrival the Park has also developed various "shows" that were all a bit eccentric - I saw one where a climbing wall had been rigged up to look like an ice wall, with abseilers dancing down it, like a poor man's Cirque de Soleil, and a night show just before the park closes, based around the park's large fountain, supposedly telling the traditional Chinese story of the creation of the earth. The plot was hard to follow but involved fighting dragons; anyway the point was the fireworks and fire and light effects. It's quite a quirky place.

Disneyland Hong Kong is the smallest of the 10 worldwide connoiseurs say this one is a bit rubbish ("you should go to the one in Tokyo instead"). It was the first one I had ever been to, so I can't compare, but it was a surreal experience - it really is like stepping into another world, where everyone is crazily super-happy and the world is a cheerful place where we all live in harmony. It was small though - only a handful of scary rides.

I'd like to say that Ocean Park is much better because of its tradition and roots and individuality, but I enjoyed the days about the same: what Disney does well is efficiency (every ride was full and the carriages were filled converyer-belt style, so even when you had to wait for the rides you at least felt they were doing their best; Ocean Park were a bit sloppy and too laid back, so some rides you could probably have waited about half the time you actually did. Some people think this is part of the charm, but I just found annoying. It's also a hassle to get to Ocean Park, as there is no direct trasport link and there are scrums to get on the shuttle buses, whereas Disney has its own MTR line) and also the storytelling: Disney's rides have stories attached to them, even the rollercoasters. So, for example, both parks have a mine train rollercoaster, Ocean Park's is a straightforward rollercoaster where the front carriage has been made to look like a train, that's it. Disney's is a whole story where the train actually does start off as a normal mine train and then "runaway" after some mischeivous bears set off dynamite on the track, which I was amused by; the special effects in Space Mountain were amazing, and the evening show where they set off fireworks behind Cinderella's castle was one of those things you can't believe you are seeing in real life, it is so iconic and ingrained on the consciousness (for better or worse). Both were great days out though.

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