New park completes OCT East resort
ncorporating elements of an eco-park and modern theme park, Knight Valley is the final part of the OCT East resort to open outside Shenzhen in China’s Guangdong province. Park World takes a look at this ambitious new development.
Overlooking the coastline of eastern Shenzhen, Knight Valley innovatively combines natural landscape, eco-tourism, science-education and entertainment. While it features the highest concentration or rides and attractions of all four parks at OCT East, guests are never far away from an important educational message.
The park was due to be soft opened over Chinese New Year at the end of January, ahead of an official opening on May 1, and is split into six areas: Ocean Heart, Celestial Street, Dawn Camp Kiddie Land, Firth Forest, Ocean Adventure and Peak Tribe.
Knight Valley’s signature feature is a 300-metre wide manmade waterfall featuring a topographic height difference of 70 metres and a water drop of 42 metres. Inside this spectacular feature is a hotel based around the hot weather in this part of China – it’s also the perfect place to escape the climate.
Almost as breathteaking are the 2km-long Jungle Funicular and the Forest Train, which links Knight Valley with Tea Stream Valley. This spectacular 6km train ride travels high above valleys, forests, lakes and flower fields.
Visitors can overlook the entire OCT East from an altitude of 480 metres at the Peak Tribe. Located in this area are attractions like Windmill in the Clouds, Walking on the Clouds, Watch Tower and Restaurant in the Clouds.
Ocean Adventure encourages guests to develop a sense of eco discovery and awareness while enjoying a number of highly immersive attractions. The storyline in this virtual eco-environment is based around natural disaster, and guests must save the planet from the worst as they experience Earth Core SOS, the Great Tsunami, Hurricane Rescue, Roaring Torrent and the Museum of Extreme Weather.
At Ocean Heart, beach culture is brought to life with burgeoning coco woods, sandy beaches and more. A highlight of this area is a world-class ocean-themed water show. Other attractions include Ocean Square, the Square of Giant Rocks and an indoor waterpark.
Celestial Street is a place where red wine is celebrated in a special way. Guests can linger on Red Wine Street, enjoy the lake views from Food Street, or take in the Sky Dome. Above Celestial Street a 120L/12W LED screen provides an ever-changing high-resolution video backdrop.
Finally, Dawn Camp Kiddie Land is a more traditional amusement area where young guests can really enjoy themselves with Zamperla rides like the Samba Tower, Magic Bicycle, Fire Rescue, Wild Bus, Aerial Bicycle and many more. The 880-metre-long jungle ride gives the kids a real expedition.
OCT East debuted in summer 2007 and also features the Tea Stream Valley and Wind Valley eco theme parks, plus the Guanyin Lotus religious tourism area. See parkworld-online.com for a profile by designer David Edmonds of Falcon’s Treehouse.
See a video of Knight Valley below.
