Tung Chung Cable Car Terminal

Probably a really nice ride on a clear day but my wife and I went up on an overcast day which limited our visibility quite a bit. First tip is to consider paying extra for the crystal bottom car but not for better viewing but rather for the shorter lines. We had to wait almost an hour to head up in the standard car line while the crystal bottom car line moved quite quickly. Second tip is to face the direction of travel when you board the cable car. The opposite side of the car experiences a cold draft and is quite unpleasant during cooler periods. Perhaps in the hot summer it makes more sense.
Although we had limited visibility on the way up, we could see a waterfall or two and caught a glimpse of the big buddha as well. There is also a striking view of the Hong Kong airport which always has aircraft departing and arriving. We actually enjoyed more getting to know the other six strangers in the car riding up with us. It can be a great way to meet folks and share experiences. The ride up can be a little unsettling for the faint of heart as it can be quite windy causing the car to sway quite a bit. It never felt unsafe though.
Once at the top, we walked through the tourist trap village straight to the Big Buddha. Well worth the wait to come up seeing the giant statue. You are able to walk completely around it as well as inside below it are some shops and literature.

Yep, this is the terminal. You get in the very, very, very, very long queue and you wait and then you get in the terminal car and it is beautiful. You get to see the city in a whole new way and it’s worth the journey for sure (you can also do the crystal bottom one if you want a dizzying view of the water below).
Buy tickets in advance. I got that tip and it saved us so much damn time. And it’s a way better journey than the ferry though. Take this instead.

The Tung Chung Cable Car is one of the main transportation options to go to the Big Buddha on Lantau Island. Easily accessible by MTR, it’s going to be your fastest option to get to the Big Buddha if you don’t already live on Lantau, barring any line issues (see below).
The line suuuuuucks! If you plan to take this mode of transport to the Big Buddha, especially on a weekend, do yourself a favor and buy a ticket in advance! These can probably be purchased from a travel agency, although I honestly have not researched that point.
ProTip: If price is no object, get the «crystal cabin» ticket. The view isn’t really much better than the regular car (the only difference is the floor is transparent), but you won’t be waiting in line so long to board the gondola.
In terms of view, all you really get is the airport (yawn) and some distant views of the Big Buddha, which to be honest aren’t that spectacular compared to the closer up views you get once you’re actually on site.

It’s a terminal for cable cars. As such it’s good at what it does. The line gets crazy long, and from what I could tell, the real bottleneck was in ticket selling. I don’t know why, lots of windows, not much conversation needed (two ticket types, and some add ons), but I suspect the volume of newbies and language drama keeps the flow not flowing as well as it could.
That said, the terminal is nice, the staff we interacted with were friendly.
We didn’t opt to do the crystal car (clear bottom) because even without a fear of heights, there’s such a thing as too much.

Many people or guide books may tell you to take the Ferry from Central to Lantau so that you can see the skyline down town. Don’t do it! If you do you will only get a few minutes when you leave or come to see it and you can only see it unobstructed from the back of the ship where if you don’t hold on to the rail you might fall off. After being almost forced to take the ferry back (by an unwelcomed third-​wheel traveling companion), I can truly tell you that it wasn’t worth it! The bus ride from the ferry terminal to the cable car is around 50 minutes. Then you have to wait for the ferry which in our case was an hour (this doesn’t include the 35 minutes or so we waited for the jammed packed bus to take us to the ferry terminal). The ride to Central was around an hour with no view except for the last few minutes of the ride. Then you have to walk like 25 minutes to the metro over the land bridge and through all the passage ways. It took over three and half hours to get back to the hotel. maybe even four. Truly and unforgettable experience. and not in a good way. Don’t be a sucker! Take the MTR! It was only a 35 minute ride with one change of line for us from Kowloon. You can actually see a lot from the MTR too since most of the trip is above ground. If you want a good view of the harbor I recommend instead going to Kowloon and walking down the Avenue of the stars on the harbor or booking some boat that actually spends some time around the skyline and isn’t substandard.
The Cable Car Terminal is just a quick 5 minute walk from the MTR terminal. I think you can buy your tickets online and skip the line to buy tickets but we had not researched this before hand and we were stuck waiting in a long tine to buy the tickets. I did, with much resistance from my ‘friends,’ push to pay 100 more or so Hong Kong dollars for the Crystal Car. I highly recommend this. The view is spectacular from the floor of the cable car and even if you are afraid of heights I recommend getting over this. Riding in a Crystal Car allows you to skip what can be another hour long line for the standard cars at the end or beginning and have virtually no wait at all at either end. The ride took longer than we expected maybe about 20 or 30 minutes each way. It’s not a short ride. It is however a most beautiful one. You get to see the airport and the hills and you can even see the Buddha statue from the cable cars coming in. I really can’t see taking a bus up to the top when something as wonderful as this cable car ride is available.
(Even though they give you a bracelet to wear you will still need your ticket to be scanned for both directions. So don’t misplace it!)