Goldspark Hop-on, Hop-off Tour – Two Perspectives Review
His Perspective
Rating: 3/5
Would I go back: No
Would I recommend: Yes
Comments: The most efficient way to see the sights, with stops at or near all major attractions. It is no BigBus tour, but it is the only game in town.
Her Perspective
Rating: 3/5
Would I go back: Maybe
Would I recommend: Maybe
Comments: Cost effective. Brings you right to all the major attractions. If you only want to see one or two things, and not hear about everything else, just get a taxi.
Overview
The open top bus sightseeing tour follows a specific route with 13 stops close to major city attractions. You can get on the bus at any stop. When you get on the bus for the first time on the day, the tour guide will give you a “one-day pass ticket”.
Cost
Price*: $25.73 USD (per person)
Vendor: https://goldsparktours.com/en-US/product/CJFIEZ
*Price is as of the writing of this article. Prices subject to change at vendor discretion.
Our Experiences
To start the day, we did note that you could get on the bus at any location. There was a location close to our hotel, but the pick-up/drop-off location was, was vague. So, we decided to just take the hotel shuttle to the starting point at the Macau Outer Harbor Ferry Terminal. Once there we had a hard time finding the starting point as there was no attendant ready to guide you, or sign that clearly stated it is the pick-up location.
Using a mix of Google Maps and comparisons to the route map on their website, we were able to find the starting point and a bus arrived shortly. The person that issues your tickets is also the guide, so they will not be there until the bus arrives. Spoiled by Big Bus tours, our first question was, where are the headphones. On these tours, there are no headphones. There are speakers on the bus and the guide does give information about the sites over a microphone, but it can be very hard to hear with the wind blowing.
The tour stops at 13 locations, though we only had two locations that we were focused on: The Wynn Macau (StarWorld Hotel) for their hourly Tree of Prosperity show and Macau Tower for the observation deck.
Wynn Macau Tree of Prosperity
We arrived at the Wynn about 45 minutes prior to the start of the show. After walking around the hotel for about 20 minutes, we noticed that people were starting to gather around the show’s location, so we went to secure a good view. We are glad that we did because the location filled up quickly and those arriving 5 minutes before the show started, were unable to see a good portion of the tree.
At the start of the show, the ceiling opened to reveal projectors that were projecting a light show on the ceiling above it. After a few moments, the floor opened and a 30+ foot (9+ meter) tall, 24-karat gold and brass leaf covered, tree rose from the ground. INSIDE THE HOTEL! The show lasted about 15 minutes, and we then had another 45 minutes to wander around until the next bus came.
Macau Tower
Stopping at Macau tower, we knew that we wanted to go up the tower to see the sights. We found that tickets to the observation deck were going to cost us $50.98 USD for “the family package” which includes two adults and one child. Though it was just the two of us, it is a better price than buying two adult tickets on their own.
We noted that there were several restaurants in the tower as well. Since we were both getting hungry, and could use a drink, we decided to look for one at the top, and we were in luck. We found the “360 cafe”, which should change its name to 360 buffet. It is a rotating restaurant at the top of the tower, that features a significant buffet. There are several different time windows for the buffet, and depending on lunch or dinner hours, different prices.
- Lunch: $43.49 USD (per person)
- 11:30am – 1:00pm
- 1:30pm – 3:00pm
- Dinner: $70.98 USD (per person)
- 6:30pm – 10:00pm
Some quick math in our heads told us that for an extra $36 USD we would see the same view but also get what appeared to be an amazing buffet. Since it was already 1:15pm, we would be right on time for 1:30 serving time and be able to get the most of our 90 minutes. That is the option we chose and an amazing buffet it was. Everything from soups and salads, to beef and pork, to pasta and veggies, and even seafood was on the buffet. At that price, it was well worth it even if we didn’t have the amazing scenery to look out at.
When we were done with that amazing feast, we made our way back down the tower and waited for the next bus to come pick us up. We then rode it around to the stop just outside of our hotel, which was three stops short of the end of the bus route. By that time, our bellies were overly full and we had enough.
In all, it was a great day, made great by the sights we saw, not the bus. That is not to say that the bus was bad, it just could have been better. Highly recommended if you are looking to see several things in one day. If you only want to see one or two things, take a taxi.