Photo TR: Japan and southern China

Here is a short snippet from the sealion show.

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That is a very impressive entrance for a park. Chimelong Paradise was one of the nicest parks TPR visited back in 2012, and it looks like Ocean Kingdom is a big step up when it comes to theming.

This park is definitely up there with Disney as far as theming goes. I was really impressed with Ocean Kingdom and with the amount of work they put into making this park great.

That is a very impressive entrance for a park. Chimelong Paradise was one of the nicest parks TPR visited back in 2012, and it looks like Ocean Kingdom is a big step up when it comes to theming.

 

 

This park is definitely up there with Disney as far as theming goes. I was really impressed with Ocean Kingdom and with the amount of work they put into making this park great.

The Walrus Mountain area looks great.

Lets visit a few more Lands...

The next land we come to is Fun Zone which is the kiddie area. The Octopus Carousel is technically in this area along with some other kiddie rides and games and this ride, Happy Bump Bump Bump.

We walk over to the center body of water, the area known as Hengqin Ocean, to watch the water show.

Hmm, strange. I have not seen Parrot Coaster go yet today. I hope it is open because that is what I came for.

This ship has an entrance to get on it but it was blocked and it is not even listed on the park map. Wonder what gives. Can this be classified as SBNO?

Where you get on the ship is blocked by the only resemblance of a Halloween display in the entire park.

The next land we come to is Polar Horizon, the penguin exhibit is located in this area.

It was really cold in the penguin exhibit, much colder thanI remember Sea World Orlando's penguin exhibit being.

Since we were the only ones in the exhibit they let us hug the emperor penguins. No... not really, they were not real.

They had a "shark tunnel" in the penguin exhibit and you could watch them swim all around you.

The ride found in this area is the Polar Explorer. I would say this ride is like Journey to Atlantis at Sea World California except it has no vertical elevator lift but it does have a longer roller coaster section. Oh and only a 5 minute wait. empty park = AWESOME!

Inside this mountain is the polar bear exhibit and Polar Explorer travels in and around the mountain. Okay, here is the one gripe I will call them out on. The roller coaster section is behind the mountain and is pretty much on the property line and a mountain is right behind it. From the roller coaster section you can see dried out shrubbery and dirt and all the natural things you would see on a mountain but it takes away from the illusion of the rest of the park. Yes, you only notice it when on this ride but I rather wish they had planted some large trees to block that view while on this ride. I know it is a small little thing that hardly anyone will notice but if you are going to make this a world class park, which it is, the little things like that will stand out to some people. Sorry, just my little gripe, everyone still go to this park.

So I said my comment earlier would come back and bite me in the butt, that is me in the back row right with no plastic rain coat. I got so wet that I was still damp when we arrived in Macau later that night. I encourage everyone to spend the 10 yuan on this ride or bring an extra set of clothing with you.

These brown bears are looking down on you at the beginning of the ride.

The begging bears. You could buy fruit and throw them to the bears to eat, they kept standing up and begging for food. It was adorable yet sad in a way that their life consists of begging for food.

These two polar bears kept just walking around in circles. It did not look normal and I really felt sorry for them.

The polar bear exhibit was themed as a fishing village.

Even the restrooms were highly themed to the area.

Here is video of the begging bears.

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Reminds me of a little snippet in An Idiot Abroad where Karl Pilkington is in China and they have begging black bears, I think it was these ones

Really glad you liked this park, I was worried that my TR earlier this year makes it look like I'm exaggerating about it being one of the best theme parks and I like it better than Disneyland.

Back row Polar Explorer experience is not like a typical water coaster, it's more like they are pouring water into the boat!

Really glad you liked this park, I was worried that my TR earlier this year makes it look like I'm exaggerating about it being one of the best theme parks and I like it better than Disneyland.

 

Back row Polar Explorer experience is not like a typical water coaster, it's more like they are pouring water into the boat!

As far as Polar Explorer goes the first drop got me drenched, like I was just dropped into a dunk tank drenched, the second drop was just adding insult to injury and felt like even more water than the first drop was dropped on me, LOL.

The first time I took the family to Halloween nights at Chimelong Paradise was in 2012, we stayed at the Chimelong hotel overnight. Even back then they were advertising the heck out of Ocean Kingdom so that got me excited to go. I remember seeing your report back in March and was excited to visit (it sucked that some rides were not open when you went). It was also because of your report (and another one I had read on trip advisor) that I thought for sure I was going to need 2 days at this park due to the crowds (luckily the park was empty), all I got to say is I am glad I could not book a room at the hotel and opted to stay the night in Macau because we were done with the park by 5pm, that's including seeing the 3 sea life shows, and we had to find things to do until 8 because the wife wanted to see the fireworks show. Nope, your report was absolutely spot on... well, except we slightly differ our opinions about Parrot Coaster, or Soaring Over the Rainforest for you, but I still have that portion of my report coming up.

The next land you come to is Ocean Beauty and this was the absolute highlight of the park. In this land you will find the Beluga whale show, the deep sea odyssey ride and the Ocean Beauty aquarium (situated underneath the parks marquee giant whale structure). The aquarium is huge and holds 5 Guinness world records...

Largest aquarium

Largest underwater viewing dome

Largest aquarium tank- 5.99 million gallons

Largest aquarium window

Largest acrylic panel

on to the pics...

The aquarium is under the parks marquee structure giant whale.

Up close and personal. The whale is also used during the fireworks show as a projection screen. It is that big.

The Guiness world record plaques are proudly displayed as you walk in the aquarium.

A coral waterfall display as you enter.

The rays have a display of their own.

Some of the sharks that could be found in the display.

Sand eels looking for food. These guys were really cool.

Video of the sand eels

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Throughout the display there are also these overhead viewing windows with various sea life.

In one of the overhead displays they had these crabs. Ever wonder what they look like from underneath?

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I was told this is the single largest piece of "curved" acrylic in the world but Guinness doesn't recognize it because it is "curved" they only classify as a "piece of acrylic".

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On to more pics...

The support structures in the aquarium are contained within these coral rocks.

The eels were really cool, they looked like stuffed animals.

Jellyfish are always colorful.

Fish be swimming everywhere.

This is one of the Guinness records, largest underwater viewing dome. Everywhere you look it is just water. If you look to the left there is a tunnel and that is part of the Deep Sea Odyssey ride which I will get to in a minute.

More from the underwater dome. this is one of the tunnels that lead from the main dome.

Lily really enjoyed the aquarium, the sheer spectacle of it made her very happy.

And here you have two Guinness records in one, largest aquarium window and largest single acrylic panel. I will tell you that this picture does it no justice, I had to stop and stare in pure amazement of the sheer size of the view. That is ONE piece of acrylic people.

Looking at it head on it looks like the glass is paper thin but here is the actual depth of the acrylic.

Looking head on at a small area that this panel encompasses.

Lily was even left speechless by the sheer size of this window.

That is one big piece of acrylic (converted it to just a tad under 130ft)...I guess they poured it on site?

Finally, in this land is Deep Sea Odyssey. I compare this ride to Little Mermaid ride at Disney, you board a clamshell vehicle that tilts forward and backward and spins all while you travel past props, video screens and through the aquarium. I don't have any pictures from the ride itself but here are a couple from the que.

The signage is very nicely done.

There is a lot of detail in the que.

The story is we follow a mechanical fish in this submarine as we explore the ocean. It was a cute ride and I enjoyed it more than Little Mermaid.

The entrance to the Beluga whale exhibit.

Here is the stadium for the beluga whale show. I was going to include a video of it but my internet is acting upright now so I cant upload it to YouTube, sorry.

That is one big piece of acrylic (converted it to just a tad under 130ft)...I guess they poured it on site?

Like I said, pictures do it no justice. This was the most impressive thing I had seen in a long time.

^ Same here! Only Interstellar and Outlaw Run impressed me more than that.

Did you do the dolphin patting zoo?

^ Same here! Only Interstellar and Outlaw Run impressed me more than that.

 

Did you do the dolphin patting zoo?

No, I'll be honest I thought that the dolphin show / Battle of the Pirates ride was as far as we could go. I never looked at the map until we were in Macau so we missed that area.

That is a extremely beautiful looking park...just wow.

But I feel sorry for all those animals in the park with little space, and in a highly unnatural environment

The next land you come to is Amazing Amazon and this land is where IT is, the main reason I came to this park... the glorious Parrot Coaster. This is a B&M wing rider coaster, it is the longest wing rider at 4192 feet (sorry about your bragging rights Gatekeeper) and the fastest at 67 MPH (again, sorry Gatekeeper) and this is one amazing coaster (I have been on the other 3 wing riders in the states and this by far is the best of the bunch). It does not rely on gimmicks (inverting first drop, keyhole near misses) but instead utilizes a solid layout with amazing rainforest theming that the train flies over and through. I rode it 3 times in a row and with the exception of a slight vibration before the Immelmann inversion it was a very smooth and forceful coaster. As you can see in my signature it made it into my top 5 steel coasters, keep in mind though, this is a wing rider and I know many people do not like them but this is one wing rider that B&M got right.

All day I kept looking towards Parrot Coaster to see it in action and never saw it run and I really started to get upset thinking it was closed and this was the whole reason of coming here but alas I found out why I never saw it run. The park was extremely empty today and they would only dispatch the train when it was full so the train (1 train operation) would sit in the station upwards of 15 minutes until it was full before dispatching (they follow this same practice on Desperado at the Nevada/California state line) so it took 35 minutes for me to get 3 rides in.

Now on to some pics...

As you transition from Ocean Beauty to Amazing Amazon you come across this quick service diner, of course the theming follows through.

I watched all day and never saw the train run the course, I really got sad thinking I would miss this credit.

But alas there it was in all its glory. The wait time said 5 minutes but as I got to the station I realized how wrong that was.

After ascending the 164 foot lift hill you drop down to the lake below. It was at the bottom of this drop as it raises to the Immelmann that I experienced the slight vibration.

After the Immelmann it goes up into this "horseshoe" turn around, it was a unique element with 2 completely different sensations depending on whether you sit on the left side or right side of the train.

After the horseshoe turn around you then drop into the splash down but this is no ordinary splash down, there are water cannons down the length of this area and they shoot water straight up and then down on the train. Yes, you do get wet on this coaster. The building on the left is the Rainforest Restaurant, if you happen to be dining in there you will have a birds-eye view of the coaster flying past you.

After the splash down you lift up into the zero G roll then down into a little S turn and up into the MCBR.

After the MCBR you drop into a tunnel and after the tunnel you raise up into the inline twist. This was the best part of the entire ride, out of the tunnel the train somehow slows WAY DOWN and as you enter the inline twist it feels like the train is going to stall and you spin very slowly which leads to a fantastic moment of upside down hang time. It was really an amazing feeling. After the inline twist you drop into a second tunnel and climax with a slight helix (unfortunately the train never picks up speed again after the inline twist and the helix has very little force to it) then you hit the final brake run. I am probably giving this coaster more praise than it deserves but I absolutely loved it and I really can't wait to get back and ride it again.

The entrance to the Rainforest Restaurant is located right at the zero G roll.

The Rainforest Outpost (gift shop) is located inside the parrot tree.

This tall tree guy (too many leaves to be groot) is the roaming character found in Amazing Amazon.

There was a Polynesian show on our way to the next land. I felt bad for the girls because there were 5 people watching their performance (including Lily and myself) but I guess the show goes on no matter what.

While im not a fan of the layout after the Zero G Roll, the first drop in the back is in my top 5 favorite first drops. If Gatekeeper is as good as this one, Wing Coasters might receive a better reputation.

The final land at the park was Dolphin Cove, in this land is the dolphin show, the dolphin habitat, a couple of flat rides and the new for 2015 5D theater.

On to the pics...

After we cross over into Dolphin Cove we get a picture with the dolphin character.

We were feeling a bit peckish so we head to Yummy Pasta for, well, yummy pasta. I don't know though, it does not look open, hmm.

They were open, YAY. Noodles and meat, mmm good.

Entrance to Battle of the Pirates flat ride.

This has got to be one of the coolest flat rides I have see. Once you get into your raft the platform drops about a foot and the whole thing spins (think the tea cups at Disney) and not only do you shoot water at the people in the other rafts but you also shoot at the people surrounding the ride, who also have water guns shooting at the people in the rafts. This ride was way more fun that I thought it would be.

The entrance to the Dolphin Theater where the dolphin show was.

Warning I took no video of the dolphin show so many pictures of the show follow...

The dolphin theater had a Polynesian theme to it.

Audience member playing with the dolphins.

Can't be a Polynesian themed show without a guy eating fire.

Surfing on a dolphin.

Lily wanted to be in the show, I put Lily in the show.

Goodbye dolphins.

Once they turned on he misters this island came alive.

Definitely made for a very nice photo opportunity with the wife.

All the Chimelong mascots made their way here.

At night the park is even more beautiful than during the day.

And just like that our day at Chimelong Ocean Kingdom comes to an end. I hope some of you have been inspired to visit this park. Although small in size it really makes up for it in the attention to details. This park has not been open a year yet but they are already building a new attraction now and some major attractions are coming soon so this park should just keep getting more and more amazing.

While im not a fan of the layout after the Zero G Roll, the first drop in the back is in my top 5 favorite first drops. If Gatekeeper is as good as this one, Wing Coasters might receive a better reputation.

I remember in your trip report you mention the second half after the MCBR was terribly slow and you did not like it but me personally I loved the near stall on the inline twist. The upside down airtime on the twist reminded me of the loop on the YOLOcoaster at Magic Mountain, that had nice upside down airtime also. Gatekeeper is great but I really do not like the pacing on it. It's not very forceful and I personally just do not understand the keyhole element, it never really made me felt like we were going to hit the pillar. Honestly I prefer Wild Eagle at Dollywood over Gatekeeper as far as B&M wing coasters go.

I tried to book a room at the Chimelong Hengqin bay hotel for the longest time but their website always told me the hotel was sold out so I went ahead and booked a hotel in Macau (it is just across the bay from the park) and figured we would go to the park for a second day from Macau. Since the park was so empty the first day we just went ahead and stayed in Macau for the day which was fine since Lily was still feeling sick it gave her a chance to sleep in and try to beat her illness. I booked a room at the Venetian hotel because every time we went to Macau previously she always told me that the "Venice hotel", as she would call it, was so beautiful and I figure what the heck it's our anniversary plus living in Vegas I have a friend or two who works for the Venetian here, and although they are not exactly connected as the same company, still helped me out with a rate.

The Venetian in Macau is so big you could probably fit 2 1/2 of the Vegas version of the Venetian inside it. Heck I even got lost in the shopping area.

The rooms are identical the the rooms at the Venetian in Las Vegas. This is the entry hallway.

The bathroom was large with 2 sinks and a spacious Jacuzzi tub with separate shower.

The other side of the bathroom had a makeup table and a separate western toilet.

The bedroom portion had a very large king bed. Oh, it was so comfortable.

Then you come to the sunken living room. This room was very, very nice.

This view is from the window looking back the opposite way in the room.

While walking in the shops I found this fountain. I like taking taking pictures of fountains and statues if you have not already noticed.

Lunch in the food court. I have not been to Fat Burger in years but it takes me going to China to eat there again. WOW.

Okay I will admit that I am a fan of Korean entertainment, I love KPOP (well before PSY released Gangnam Style), I love Korean dramas and variety shows an I really enjoy the movies as well. Here is a screen capture from the 2009 Korean drama Boys Over Flowers. In this scene Jun-Pyo tells Jan-Di that he does not love her anymore and to forget about him. This was filmed at the Venetian in Macau and I set out to find this spot. It was harder than I thought it would be but...

I FOUND IT.

Now I can say I stood in the spot that Jan-Di and Jun-Pyo stood. It was very exciting for me, Lily couldn't care less, she does not watch Korean Dramas.

She played along for me. Thank you, wife.

Although I was giddy like a 12 year old school girl.

On a sad note I missed my favorite KPOP group performing live by 2 days. I was really contemplating flying back on Friday to see the concert since we would be in Hong Kong anyway but I figure I have already seen them in L.A. and that would be good enough for now.