Envy2

It was actually a good bit more crowded than it has been the last few times I went; I just tend to try taking pictures in a way that doesn't focus on crowds. We had to wait about 45 minutes to an hour for each of the coasters and the log flume during the afternoon and early evening. By an hour or so before closing things had cleared out a bit and we were actually able to ride Mine Train as a walk-on on our way back to the bus stop. I think that Hong Kong Disneyland is one of the factors behind the expansion and renovation programme that Ocean Park is undertaking, but overall, I'd say that Disney doesn't really seem to have hurt business too much, at least among HK locals.

I had some time to kill this afternoon before my flight, so I met up with a local friend and we headed for Ocean Park. We actually debated between Ocean Park and heading across the border to Happy Valley in Shenzhen, since neither of us had been there before, but ultimately decided that it wasn't worth the risk of getting caught in rush hour congestion in the Lo Wu immigration queues -- if only the frequent visitor e-Channel scheme would be extended to the land crossings! As some of you might be aware, Ocean Park is currently in the middle of a massive renovation and expansions programme. Since the last Ocean Park trip report was posted, the Ocean Express, a nicely-themed underground funicular system, has been opened to provide an alternative to the cable car for getting from one half of the park to the other. Here's a (rather unfortunately poor quality) photo of the inside of one of the vehicles used: The other completed renovations are probably of relatively limited interest to anyone here, since they are all related to the animal side of the park. We didn't have time to visit most of them, but did stop by the recently-opened Yangtze River Sturgeon Experience, which was interesting but somewhat underwhelming. Supposedly, by 2012, the new "Polar Adventure" area will be finished and will include the "Arctic Blast Ride," which appears to be some type of coaster from the mockup sketches. I was surprised to see that the Dragon had gotten a rather interesting new paint job since my last visit: The new colour scheme can also be seen in the distance in this photo: I'm not sure if anything else actually changed, but somehow it seemed just a little bit less painful than it used to be. That's probably just an illusion, though. The view from the cable car out over the South China Sea is still as awe-inspiring as ever: And the Mine Train continues to provide what must be one of the best views from any coaster: The log flume, while entirely routine, is a nice way to cool off after standing around in the 35° heat for hours on end: And finally, just to remind everyone that there's more to HK than theme parks: the HK Island skyline viewed from Kowloon side, and the Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau.