"Lai Yuen" and Ocean Park Hong Kong were Hong Kong Disneyland in the eyes of the ChildrenBefore Hong Kong Disneyland, there were 2 amusement/theme parks in Hong Kong.The very first one was "Lai Yuen" Amusement Park. My parents brought us over there only once. The setup was very similar to a carnival. There were games, merry-go-arounds, roller coasters and animals. I still remember feeding an elephant with bananas.It was like an "eyes-wide open" experience to me at that time. I found the short movie below on YouTube, it shows exactly how "Lai Yuen" Amusement Park was.
In 1977, Ocean Park Hong Kong came along. The setup was a bit different. It mainly focused on the sea animals. Roller coasters and other rides were not available until a renovation later. In the late 1990s & early 2000s, the number of visitors decreased so much that Ocean Park Hong Kong almost closed for business. In 2006, with the coming of
Disneyland Hong Kong,
Ocean Park Hong Kong
redeveloped the whole theme park and became a very keen competitor of Disneyland Hong Kong.
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