Since my first (and only) visit to Ocean Park only 9 months ago so much has changed! Knowing that a new adult pair of pandas was arriving from China, I was already keen to visit again and see them, but the birth of twins to first-time mum Ying Ying at 19 years old, well it was no question that I would return on my next trip! From stepping off the metro at the park entrance, the impact of both the twins and the new pandas could be seen – panda-mania has overtaken Hong Kong! In the days leading up to my visit my social media pages were absolutely filled with all the places you could see panda pictures, food and merch over Hong Kong, and I got incredibly lucky in that I was already travelling when it was announced that the twins would make their debut on February 16th – my visit was on the 21st! I don’t think it had crossed my mind that I might not see them XD
Pandas pandas everywhere – all signage pointing you towards the park has a panda on it, I loved these entrance/exit signs, the panda on the entrance one is looking happy and awake, the one on the exit looks like it’s had a long day visiting pandas and is tired now! These cute little illustrations are everywhere, and I mean everywhere – this was on the brand new merch line, on fences around the park, on barriers, on the shop windows, on menus, all signage … I really love it! Considering last time I was a bit disappointed with merch, this time it was a complete 180 on that front. You can get so many different items at all price points and it’s super cute too, it completely made up for what was/wasn’t available last time (and I definitely spent enough for 2 visits worth of merch XD). And can’t forget food – there are lots of panda themed items available from different places, there was a full menu at the Club Panda restaurant but also items in the bakery and in stands around the park, which is where I got my lunch from – a super cute panda bagel and a paw-print-embossed cookie!
And there are extra education boards now as well, a lot of details on research and breeding etc. which I always like to see (plus these are decorated with the new panda cartoons).
At the time of my visit, because viewing the cubs was quite limited – no stopping, keep walking past the window – and lots of people wanted to see the cubs, the crowds were managed quite well. I queued from around 9:20AM, with park opening at 10AM. I was around 10-15 people back from the front of the ticket check. Staff let us in a few minutes early and everyone was led together as a group, accompanied by a few musicians and a guy with an inflatable panda attached to him, to the panda habitat to get in and see the cubs. After I came out of there, the barriers were up outside for the queue to form and I think it worked pretty well and was well managed by staff. I went round to see the cubs a total of 4 times, 3 of which I queued in the queueing system. On average I waited 30-45mins per time before getting into the building but I didn’t find that too long and mostly the line was always moving.
