Hong Kong - Disneyland or Ocean Park? And my top 5 tips for visiting both parks.

We would say both.  We visited both parks and have to say that they were both excellent but we enjoyed our day at Ocean Park more.  I don't think you can visit Hong Kong without a visit to Disneyland but make sure you don't forget about Ocean Park as well!

I've listed a few tips for a successful day at the bottom of this post so keep reading.

Our Day at Disneyland Hong Kong

We travelled to Disneyland from central Kowloon on the metro.  It was an easy trip and it took us about 40 minutes.  We had to get off at one station to swap trains and we were super happy when this Disney one turned up to take us to the park.  It was so cool with Mickey shaped everything and Disney memorabilia inside to look at.

We arrived early so we were there when the park opened at 10am.  

Waiting for the ribbon to be cut by the special guest to let us all in for the day meant you had a good clear view of the princess castle.

When the park opened we headed straight to our favourite rides.

Buzz Lightyear

And Autopia

Then we headed to the other side of the park to try out the new ride Grizzly Gulch, a really cool roller coaster.  Can you see me waving there?  That was the calm before the storm so to speak!

And the Mystic Manor was really cool too, such a clever ride using lots illumination.

Another big favourite of ours is the Parachute ride in the Toy Story Section, you drop down from what you can see in the picture, so much fun.

And of course the day wouldn't of been complete without our turn on the tea cups.  Only Emma and I went on them while Nathan and Anthony went to stand in line for fresh fairy floss.

It's becoming a tradition (one I like a lot) to have fairy floss at Disneyland.  It's just too good.

And my last few photos are of It's a Small World, you seriously can't do a trip to Disneyland without this ride.  I still have fond memories of it when I visited as a child.

Our day at Ocean Park Hong Kong

We found Ocean Park really easy to get to as well.  We caught the metro once more and then a bus.  I was worried about which bus and how to get to it once at the station but the sign posting was excellent and you could buy your tickets for ocean park before you got on the bus which was convenient with no lines.

We arrived early and had to wait for the gates to open but it there were animals to look at at the entrance and time went quickly.

Ocean park is set on a mountain with two sides to it (one part of the park on each side) so to get to the other side when we arrived we caught this train.  Everything at Ocean Park is sea themed, including the train.

When on the other side you have all the big rides.  This was the first one we went on, a roller coaster set on the side of the mountain called the Hair Raiser.  

This ride below was another one we really loved, it was a mine type roller coaster and was set over the water.  It was pretty amazing to be on a roller coaster and then look down to gorgeous turquoise water.

And some of the other rides.

Like I said before, Ocean Park is set over a mountain so there are lots of hills.  Some parts are so far and steep you catch these crazy long escalators to get around.

When it was lunch time we swapped mountain sides and headed back towards the front of the park.  We caught the cable cars this time which was just amazing.  The views were fantastic.  I doubt many people think of beaches and water like this when they think about Hong Kong.

The photo below is the view from the highest point of the cable cars.  You can see the front end of the park.

On the other side of the park you can see the gorgeous Giant Pandas which I was super excited about and I wasn't disappointed.  It was freezing in their enclosure though, I left shivering.

This side of the park has different animals as well as a huge aquarium and lots of street performers and things like that.  It has a great acrobatic show too.

There was a big selection of gold fish, so many different kinds.

So you can see that there is much variety at Ocean Park.  We really enjoyed our day there.

My top 5 tips for visiting both these parks:

• Go Early - this would be my most important tip.  Most people in Hong Kong get going late and then stay up late.  When we went to these parks we had them pretty much to ourselves until lunchtime.  We didn't line up for any rides at either park until after 1pm and because we had been early we had been on them all so a big line up meant we didn't need to worry about going again.
• Keep you map handy - in Disneyland you want to go to all your top rides first and then walk around and find the others.  Ocean park is a bit of a maze to get around and we got lost a few times even with the map.  

• Stay in Kowloon - personally I wouldn't stay on Lantau Island where Disneyland is.  It may be fine for getting to Disneyland but it is a trip to anywhere else.  I would rather travel for my one day to Disney than every day to somewhere else.
• Do one day at each park rather than buying a two day pass for Disneyland.  You don't need two days at Hong Kong Disneyland it is not very big and you can see so much more if you go to Ocean Park on the second day (or first).
• Buy your souvenirs early - if they are small and you don't mind carrying them.  At Disneyland they offer a percentage off if you buy before midday and also the shops are not crazy busy like they are at the end of the day.  The shops were open while we waited for the park to open making this easy without wasting valuable ride time.