Lounging at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel
I received the royal greeting again when I got off the bus at the hotel, with two CMs who seemed to be stationed at the shuttle bus stop, just to help people getting off the bus. They very helpfully directed me to the reception desk to check on my room.
Unfortunately my room still wasn’t ready, and wouldn’t be for a while. Apparently the VIPs who were previously in my room had been somehow unable to vacate the premises because it was raining, and so they were still cleaning. I wondered who on earth might have had my room the previous night that would have that much pull that they would be allowed to just stay as long as they needed to when there were more guests coming in! I wasn’t really concerned though. After all, it had all been much smoother than I was expecting and I was happy to just check out the hotel for a bit.
Still, the CMs were clearly upset about the situation and wanted to do everything they could to help me. One of them (I had a handful of them working with me by that time lol!) made a mysterious phone call, then excitedly told me that she would take me up to the club lounge. Of course, I was staying club level, and I would have expected them to allow me access to the lounge after the usual check in time (3pm) if I asked, but she was so excited, I didn’t say anything. Her and another CM escorted me to the lounge, where they introduced me to the concierge there and told me to ask if I needed anything, and they would find me when my room was ready.
Well, at that stage I pretty much had the lounge to myself, and I was kind of starstruck. I’m really not used to that kind of VIP treatment! I realised what a silly decision it had been to have lunch in the park (although I had wanted to try out Wandering Moon Teahouse), and checked out the food offerings, wondering what else I could fit in.
There was all sorts on offer! Sweets, savouries, western, Chinese, salads and pizzas… I ended up with a little slice of pepperoni pizza and a mini Mickey shaped strawberry tart. Both were delicious. Because I had allowed myself to get so dehydrated, I decided to start with some water and a Pepsi rather than getting straight into the alcohol.
As I was sitting at my little table, looking out over the drizzly lake to Storybook Castle and reflecting on the day so far, I felt myself getting a little choked up, thinking I must be the luckiest girl in the world to be having this experience!
Next thing I knew, there was someone else coming to introduce himself to me. He seemed to be a managerial type, and my first thought was that my room must be ready. It wasn’t, but this CM was there to offer me compensation! I really didn’t feel like I needed any compensation, but I was crossing my fingers for FPs lol! What I got though, was a voucher for a plush worth up to 200 Yuan (that’s about AUD $45 worth). I couldn’t believe my luck! I had been eyeing off the beautiful Grand Opening Mickey plushes in the stores, and had written it off as out of my budget. I must have been absolutely grinning from ear to ear. This CM also reminded me to let them know if there was anything else I needed, and encouraged me to go and take full advantage of the buffet lol!
I decided that it was time for a celebratory drink, and wandered back over to the bar area for a nice glass of wine.
I also ended up with a couple of extra mini pastries from the buffet.
As I sat enjoying there enjoying my wine and pastries, the lounge started to fill up. I’d been there for a while, and was starting to want to move on. I thought while I was there still waiting for my room I’d check out facebook, but I needed to provide a room number to get onto the wifi. I went up to ask the concierge if there was any way around it, and unfortunately there wasn’t.
It was definitely getting to the time where I was keen to head back to the park, so I asked if there was any update on my room while I was up there. Unfortunately there wasn’t, so I asked if I could have my bags back so that I could at least grab a cardi (the rain had really kept the temperature down today), and pack my souvenirs for the day so that I didn’t have to keep lugging them around with me. The concierge said she would send for them straight away.
I visited the (humungous) bathroom while I was up, trying to ready myself for heading back to the park (after the rain, my hair really needed work lol!). I came back out and found a nice comfy lounge in the corner to wait for my luggage to arrive. The lounge was emptying out again (all the people who had come for an early dinner before heading back to the park).
A few minutes later, the concierge came to get me. Not only had my bags arrived, but my room was finally ready (it was getting close to 6pm by now)! I was escorted to my lovely room by both the concierge and the bell boy carrying my luggage. When we arrived the bell boy left us to it, and the concierge gave me a little tour and showed me how to work the light up bedheads.
It was really a beautiful room, and I was a bit sad that I didn’t have time to stay longer and enjoy it. I didn’t have a spectacular view, but it wasn’t terrible, over the vacant block of land next door to the lake.
The bathroom was nice, with plenty of water provided, but a disappointing stash of toiletries lol! I found some more in one of the drawers.
Everything felt plush and luxurious, and there were cute little details all around (mainly Tinkerbell themed).
I especially loved the ‘recycle’ and ‘un-recycle’ bins lol!
So after a quick look around and gathering my gear, it was off to the park again!
I'm so glad you're enjoying it, even if I am a bad influence lol! I would definitely recommend it to any Disney fans visiting the area, and the Toy Story Hotel is so much fun 
I can't wait to hear what you and your daughter think!
If you mean the large column type things near the Shanghai Science station, as far as I could them and the other sculptural installations in this area were just there to look good 
