Visit Hong Kong: Central Mid-Level Escalators

The Central Mid-Level Escalators are the world's largest outdoor covered escalator system in the world.  It runs for nearly 1/2 a mile!  

From 6am - 10am, the escalator goes down, primarily for the commuters.

From 1030am to midnight, the escalator goes up.  

We decided to take the escalators up to the top.  

Along the way we saw numerous attractions, restaurants, and shops that you could stop at, but we simply just kept going until the escalators ended.

There are adjacent steps for when you need to go in the opposite direction of the escalators, or simply for those who prefer to take the stairs.  

There are several stops along the way in which you can check out the views from landings between escalators.  

We did not want to walk all the way back down once we got to the top, so we ended up taking a mini bus back to a train station to get back to our hotel. 

The escalators provide more convenient transport options for those who live along the path that the escalator traverses.  

We saw many residents with their carts full of groceries, visitors finding spots to eat, and the occasional influencer blocking pedestrians as they took photos.

The Central Mid-Level Escalators have become a tourist attraction over recent years, but visitors should be respectful, as they are in the middle of a neighborhood where people live and work.  

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Visit Hong Kong: Ngong Ping 360

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The Ngong Ping 360 experience involves taking a cable car to the Ngong Ping, where you can explore the village and even do some hiking.

We bought our tickets off of Klook, which was a few dollars cheaper than buying them on site.

You take the cable car from Tung Chung (there are two kinds of cable cars - a "crystal" which offers "80% more visibility, including a glass bottom, and a standard car - we went in a standard).

Depending on crowds, you may have to share your cable car, but it was pretty slow the day we went, and we had the cable car to ourselves both ways.

The views were spectacular, as we could see the Tung Chung Bay, Hong Kong International Airport, as well as waterfalls, and even hundreds of stairs which people can actually hike on (it's called the Ngong Ping Rescue Trail).  

You could even see the Big Buddha from the ride.

It was a beautiful 25 minute cable car ride to the Ngong Ping Village, a portion of which was really touristy, with American and international chain restaurants and shops.

There were some parts of the village that seemed to have more authentic shops, but they too were also selling lots of souvenirs.

The big draw is the Big Buddha, or Tian Tan Buddha.

Tian Tan Buddha

There are other attractions in the area to see, such as the Po Lin Monastery.

We then took a hike on the Wisdom Path, which ended with a display of wooden columns with inscriptions of the Heart Sutra by master Sinologist Professor Jao Tsung-I.

It was so beautiful!

There are numerous hiking trails in the area that you could explore if you have time.

The ride down was just as spectacular as the ride up.

There is not much shaded area in Ngong Ping Village, so it can get quite uncomfortable during the hot and humid days.  Be sure to bring sunscreen, umbrellas, neck fans, plenty of water, and insect repellent.

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Visit Hong Kong: Ocean Park

One of my kids wanted to see a panda since we were in a Special Administrative Region of China, after all, so we made a decision to go to Ocean Park.

Ocean Park is an aquarium / zoo / amusement park all wrapped into one (it reminded me of Sea World).

It is a huge property, full of steep hills, and to get from one side to the other, you can take the Ocean Express (a train ride which shows videos as if you were underwater) or ride the Cable Car.

There were all sorts of carnival type rides, thrill rides, and other types of experiences. 

The Rapids

The Rapids is similar to the white water rides at other parks, but it was much shorter in duration.  It was fun, however, and we did get wet.  The family rode this ride multiple times.

They do offer FasTrack to beat any standby lines for rides and attractions, but there was no need for them at all when we went.  The lines were pretty non existent for everything.  

We did see a panda!  When we arrived to the Giant Panda Adventure, Ying Ying and Le Le were nowhere in sight.  We waited for a while, and thought we may have to return to try our luck, but as soon as a bunch of kid groups came in, Le Le emerged (we think he was brought out because of the kids).

We saw all sorts of animals and sea creatures.

My favorite exhibits were the Sea Jelly Spectacular and Shark Mystique.

The Grand Aquarium was large, but they had a lot of Baby Shark props and decals over some of the tanks, which may be appealing to some kids, but IMO they shouldn't have been on some of the displays. The props were fun for photo ops, however.  

They had numerous eateries on site (including Michelin Guide recommend eateries), and we went to Ice Cream Delight for some much needed cool treats.  

We had lunch at Club Panda, since it was air conditioned.  

There were several gift shops, animal experiences (for extra), and even a water fountain show.  

Of note - I did get a lot of bites here (from both mosquitoes and midges), so make sure to bring insect repellent in addition to sunscreen.

There really was a lot to do at Ocean Park.  You can spend an entire day there!  

Ocean Park Hong Kong

180 Wong Chuk Hang Road

Aberdeen, Hong Kong

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Visit Hong Kong: Hong Kong Disneyland

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We went to Hong Kong specifically to visit Disneyland.  We haven't been to all of the Disney theme parks yet, but so far, Hong Kong Disneyland is my favorite.

Getting to Disneyland was super easy on the train (they have a dedicated Disney line you can transfer to).  We bought tickets online for a Tier 1 day, which meant the crowds would be minimal.  You can buy tickets via Klook for slightly cheaper, but we bought tickets through Disney just a few days before the day we visited. 

As soon as we entered the park, we noticed Duffy was featured vs Mickey at the entrance.  Duffy and Friends are huge in Asia.  

I immediately checked the wait times and we saw that Frozen Ever After only had a 10-minute wait, so we proceeded to that ride first. 

It was a great ride and my fave of the park. The animatronics were so neat and the ride itself was so fun!

The rest of the day in terms of rides went the same - we never stood in a standby line longer than 15 minutes, and we even got to ride multiple rides more than once. There was no need to buy early entry, premiere access or "fast passes" (they sell them per ride).

There were many rides also found at other parks, such as Jungle River Cruise, "it's a small world," and Hyperspace Mountain, which differed slightly from other parks.

There were also some rides like Mystic Manor that were unlike rides we've been on at other Disney parks (I thought it was going to be like the Haunted Mansion, but it was completely different).

The park is overall small compared to other Disney parks, but it didn't make it any less fun. 

The food options, in my opinion, were not as good or plentiful as in other parks, but they did have some cute options as well as cool looking burgers.  

I did love the ice cream options. We can never leave a Disney park without getting ice cream, and Small World Ice Cream had the best treats!

There is a parade - Mickey and Friends Street Celebration, but it was literally just 5 minutes long.  

During the time we visited, they had a Find Your Super Power: Battle in the Sky drone show that was super neat.  

The “Momentous” Nighttime Spectacular really was spectacular.  It was the best Disney fireworks show I've seen and lasted a good 20 minutes.  

It was a combination projection / light / water / fireworks show and it was so amazing.  

We caught two taxis to get back to our hotel (we didn't want to wait for a larger taxi) vs catching the train (it was only 25 minutes to get back vs almost an hour on the train).

We also lucked out with weather. We visited during the summer rainy season, but it was breezy with just a few light sprinkles.

It was a very long day at Hong Kong Disneyland, but truly magical!

Hong Kong Disneyland
Lantau Island, Hong Kong

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