I would say that the best thing that Hong Kong has this summer is the Lai Yuen (Temporary) Amusement Park down in the Central Harbourfront Event Space. The park is said to be open until early September 2015.
The admission is FREE.
The only thing you pay for is EVERYTHING INSIDE: Tokens for the games, tokens for the rides, and the food is just like normal (pay as you eat)!!!
One token is worth 10 HKD.
Most games are 2 - 3 tokens.
Most of the rides 3 - 8 tokens.
The awesome thing about the Lai Yuen Amusement Park is that there are free shows in the evenings that seem quite fun to view.
One of the main draws, for me, were the games. I'd been to the AIA Great European Carnival and the games were also my highlight. I just love winning stuff!
The games were also quite an attraction for me because they were taken from the original Lai Yuen Amusement Park, which was opened in Lai Chi Kok back in 1949. It's always cool to relive history. The Lai Yuen Amusement Park definitely felt like walking back into the past.
NOTE: The local Hong Kong games were A LOT MORE CHALLENGING than the ones at the AIA Great European Festival. Good thing? Perhaps!! Bad thing…sort of because I really did want to win myself a giant grey Tino elephant plush.
NOTE: If you are hot and bothered by the Hong Kong heat, like myself, don't worry too much about spending the afternoon at the Lai Yuen (Temporary) Amusement Park. The game booths had lots of fans around them. Some booths even had water that spritzed down on us during the midday heat.
Because we went around lunch time, there seemed to be early bird prices at the attractions. We got ONE TOKEN off for our entry into the balloon zoo, which was lovely and air conditioned!
The rides also had absolutely no lines. Most rides were for the kiddos. But one of the coolest (literally) "rides" or attractions was the haunted house. The SPOOKY SCHOOL totally reminded me of the SCARY ASYLUM of the AIA Great European Carnival. I LOVE these types of attractions for sure. I'm not so much a roller coaster person, though there weren't any roller coasters at this amusement park…but, it was nice to have other activities besides the games to add to the day!
NOTE: The Merry-Go-Round is fast! If you are prone to motion sickness…like that queasy feeling you might get when riding a Hong Kong minibus, this ride might leave you with a similar dizzy feeling.
The last stop of the Lai Yuen Amusement Park is the food stalls!
There weren't a lot of options, but they did have a good variety of local Hong Kong snacks and also the usual burger/fries/pizza mix.
With a good few hours spent at the Lai Yuen Amusement Park, we ended the afternoon with a quick bite of a hot dog and burger mix. Nothing fills my belly like a good burger. We also got a durian shake, which is something I love about Hong Kong smoothie shops…UNIQUENESS. I WILL TOTALLY drop by again when I'm in the area and in the mood to have some good ole fashion fun.
I totally recommend visiting the Lai Yuen Amusement Park while it is here!!!!!
