# The 'I survived SDL's Opening Day' TR!



## zanzibar138

For those who are unfamiliar with my story, attending an Opening Day was on my Disney bucket list, and Shanghai gave me a great opportunity to tick that one off! You can catch up on my PTR here.

In a nutshell, when the opening date was announced, I sweet-talked my boss into letting me have the week off, sweet-talked my husband into letting me chip into our holiday money, and tried to find a travel buddy to go with. When no one was interested, I decided to just go solo.

I'm very excited to be able to share with you one of the very first experiences of SDL, and I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed 'researching'!

*Contents*
General Observations
* Shanghai City
* Disneyland Park in general
* CMs
* The general public

The Journey to China and Navigating the Train System
* Singapore Airlines flights
* Maglev train
* Shanghai metro trains and stations
* City hotel

A Walk Around the Century Park and Shanghai Science Area
* Sightseeing in the area

A Quick Note About the Dorsett Shanghai
* City hotel for consideration

A Wander Around Downtown Pudong
* Sightseeing and eating around Lujiazui station and waterfront area

A Little Bit of Disney in the Big City
* Shanghai Disney Store

A Quick Note About Facebook Access
* Tips on getting around the Great Firewall

The Journey to Disneyland
* Catching the train to the resort area
* Disney metro station

All the Shuttle Buses
* Shuttle buses around the resort
* A little bit on the Toy Story Hotel

The Disneyland Hotel and Wishing Star Park
* Checking in at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel
* Quick walk around the public areas at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel
* Path to Disneyland through Wishing Star park

The Final Countdown to Opening!
* Entry procedures for opening day including bag check and ticket redemption

The Road to Tron
* First impressions of Gardens of Imagination and Tomorrowland
* Full review of Tron

Focus on Tomorrowland
* Tron FPs
* Full review of Buzz Lightyear
* Brief overview of Tomorrowland

Focus on Gardens of Imagination
* Enchanted Storybook Castle from the front and sides
* A little bit on Photopass
* Garden of the Twelve Friends
* Fantasia Carousel

Shopping on Mickey Avenue
* Brief overview of Mickey Avenue
* Photos from the pin shop and candy shop
* Meet and greets with Minnie, Goofy and Pluto

Mickey's Storybook Express Part 1 & Part 2
* Mickey's Storybook Express parade 

Finally, Some Lunch!
* A brief mention of Tron by FP
* Full review of Wandering Moon Teahouse
* A little bit on Disney Town
* More on shuttle buses
* A little bit on guest behaviour

Lounging at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel
* Club lounge at the hotel
* My room at the hotel

A Walk to the Park
* Lobby and Hakuna Matata Oasis at Shanghai Disneyland Hotel
* Wishing Star Park

And Speaking of Tinkerbell
* Brief mention of Mickey Avenue
* Full review of Peter Pan's Flight

An Update on PhotoPass
* Brief explanation about what happened with my PP

Night Time in Tomorrowland
* Short comparison of Tron at night
* Show lighting in Tomorrowland

Igniting the Dream Part 1 and Part 2
* Ignite the Dream night time spectacular 

Ignite the Dream - Grand Opening Special
* Special Grand Opening finale

And the Park Emptied Out...
* Full review of Seven Dwarves Mine Train


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## zanzibar138

I have sooooo many photos to go through before I can start my TR for real, but I wanted to get something down while it's all still so fresh in my mind. So here I'll be sharing a few observations and general impressions from my few days.

*Shanghai City*
Well, this specifically relates to the Pudong side as I never actually made it to the old part of town. Pudong is much newer and more westernised than I was expecting. It actually reminded me of Singapore! It seemed pretty easy to get around (I took the train as far as the river that divides old and new Shanghai), and has some great parklands and new public spaces with lots of artwork and new architectural buildings.

*Disneyland Park in General*
The best word I could think of to describe the park is 'spacious'. The paths are wide and there are a lot of open spaces and garden areas. Because of this, it is able to absorb a large crowd and still be reasonably pleasant to visit. However, the crowds obviously do gravitate towards the attractions and therefore the lines get pretty long. FPs are gone within a couple of hours to mid-afternoon, depending on the ride. Surprisingly, characters had pretty short waits. There are lots of mature trees scattered throughout the park providing shade, and most queues are cleverly covered (so the covering is actually part of the theming, not just a generic roof structure).

*CMs*
Communication was a bit hit and miss. The CMs at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel spoke great English, at the Toy Story Hotel they spoke decent English, at the park in customer facing roles they varied reasonable to pretty basic. Non customer facing CMs, like bus drivers and security staff (who still obviously need to communicate with guests) were very poor at English, and struggled to understand the most basic phrases like 'Disneyland Hotel'. CMs in general seemed enthusiastic and happy to be there, and generally made up for communication issues with general friendliness and genuinely wanting to help.

*The Public*
I'm very pleased to report that for the most part, park goers were very civilised, sometimes even downright friendly and helpful! Someone pointed out to me before I went that people like to fill the space in lines. This is exactly how I would describe it. If the queue area is wide enough for 2 people to fit side by side, 2 'mini queues' will form in the space of one. People will move between these 2 lines whenever there is a gap. If you are not literally touching the people next to you, someone will see a gap there and squeeze their way in. As much as it was an annoyance (it's actually really hard to keep your spot in line), it's really not cutting, it's just a cultural difference, and it's hard to get too upset over. There was also plenty of people making their way through the line to meet up with other members of their party. Again, this seemed to be widely accepted. Toilets seemed to remain in pretty good condition from what I saw. This was probably helped by most of the toilets being squat toilets. There were just a few western style ones in each block.

Of course I did see some examples of the behaviours that we were expecting. There were some lines that became a bit of a crush. I saw a couple of people pull down their toddlers pants and hold them over a puddle or garden bed, even when there a toilet 20m away. I also saw someone have their toddler pee in a bottle while in line. On the surface this appears to be a great solution. However, the toddler didn't have a good aim and there was quite a bit that didn't make it to the bottle. Then the parents just left the bottle right there in the queue. There were a few suspicious looking small puddles around which I avoided just in case. I only saw a couple of people spitting, and it was into a bin or garden bed, which I don't mind so much. There was also the odd person wandering around the park smoking. Queues were definitely looking past their best by about lunch time, with what I would call a reasonable amount of rubbish on the ground and stuffed into crevices around the queue. I did see a couple of heated moments between guests, which nearly ended with fist fights, but there was plenty of security around and they were on the scene very quickly.


Well, I've leave it there for now and go prepare to board my flight! Will add more when I can.


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## Royal Consort

Thanks for your trip report! Great that you were able to make this memory of being there at the open of a new Disney park.



zanzibar138 said:


> Of course I did see some examples of the behaviours that we were expecting. There were some lines that became a bit of a crush. I saw a couple of people pull down their toddlers pants and hold them over a puddle or garden bed, even when there a toilet 20m away. I also saw someone have their toddler pee in a bottle while in line. On the surface this appears to be a great solution. However, the toddler didn't have a good aim and there was quite a bit that didn't make it to the bottle. Then the parents just left the bottle right there in the queue. There were a few suspicious looking small puddles around which I avoided just in case. I only saw a couple of people spitting, and it was into a bin or garden bed, which I don't mind so much. There was also the odd person wandering around the park smoking. Queues were definitely looking past their best by about lunch time, with what I would call a reasonable amount of rubbish on the ground and stuffed into crevices around the queue. I did see a couple of heated moments between guests, which nearly ended with fist fights, but there was plenty of security around and they were on the scene very quickly.



That's all okay then. lol. Actually, this fills me with a bit of horror. I hope that Disney gets on top of this to firmly establish a culture of what's acceptable and what isn't in this park. Establish this early and it will continue into the future. I hope it doesn't get a bit Disneyland Paris; where they have rules but no one will ever ever enforce them.


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## BelleBway

Thanks for the posts and I look forward to reading more!  I'm still in the planning stages for a fall trip to SDL so I'm eager to hear about everyone's experiences there this week.


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## heaven2dc

I also want to thank you for posting!  I got so excited looking at the pics of Shanghai Disney from opening day that I may just use my kids' inheritance to book me a trip!  (j/k....maybe )   Hope you will be able to post a few pics when you have a chance!


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## lffam

oh that a great overall summary,  thanks for sharing. I'll look forward to all the detail and of course the pictures,  when you get some time !


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## Tigerlily75

Thanks for sharing your experience, looking forward to the rest!


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## Karin1984

Royal Consort said:


> That's all okay then. lol. Actually, this fills me with a bit of horror. I hope that Disney gets on top of this to firmly establish a culture of what's acceptable and what isn't in this park. Establish this early and it will continue into the future. I hope it doesn't get a bit Disneyland Paris; where they have rules but no one will ever ever enforce them.



I don't think that will make a difference. There will continuously coming new parents with their young children to the parks, you will have behavior as described. Because it's considered normal to have young children doing their business on the streets, or spitting, you cannot expect people to know or understand that there is a tiny place in their huge country where different behavior is desired. It's the same with Disneyland Paris and smoking. Not until the general idea about smoking is changed in the whole of France, you will see a change in Disneyland Paris in guest and CM behavior.

This does make me replanning the order of my trip to Asia next year, maybe put Shanghai first, then Hong Kong and end with Tokyo. As the manners between Chinese & Japanese is quite different and as the last impression stays with you the longest, I think I want to remember Japanese guests more than I want to remember Chinese guests.

For the language issue, I read that in Japan if a CM doesn't understand English, they get someone who does. Did that happen in Shanghai, Zanzibar138?
Eitherway, bring on the pictures! And the reviews about the rides and shows etc, I saw a video of the Voyage of the Crystal Grotto, but what happens inside the grotto was hard to see.


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## zanzibar138

Royal Consort said:


> Thanks for your trip report! Great that you were able to make this memory of being there at the open of a new Disney park.
> 
> 
> 
> That's all okay then. lol. Actually, this fills me with a bit of horror. I hope that Disney gets on top of this to firmly establish a culture of what's acceptable and what isn't in this park. Establish this early and it will continue into the future. I hope it doesn't get a bit Disneyland Paris; where they have rules but no one will ever ever enforce them.



Welcome aboard 

Please don't get me wrong - these were just isolated incidents, it wasn't like it was everywhere you looked. Just like any other Disney park around the world, 99% of guests were very civilised.



BelleBway said:


> Thanks for the posts and I look forward to reading more!  I'm still in the planning stages for a fall trip to SDL so I'm eager to hear about everyone's experiences there this week.



Welcome aboard 

Hopefully I'll manage to get onto this quickly enough to help you out with your planning!



heaven2dc said:


> I also want to thank you for posting!  I got so excited looking at the pics of Shanghai Disney from opening day that I may just use my kids' inheritance to book me a trip!  (j/k....maybe )   Hope you will be able to post a few pics when you have a chance!



Welcome aboard 

Pics will be coming soon!



lffam said:


> oh that a great overall summary,  thanks for sharing. I'll look forward to all the detail and of course the pictures,  when you get some time !



Welcome aboard 

If anything, you might find I go into too much detail lol!



Tigerlily75 said:


> Thanks for sharing your experience, looking forward to the rest!



Welcome aboard 



Karin1984 said:


> I don't think that will make a difference. There will continuously coming new parents with their young children to the parks, you will have behavior as described. Because it's considered normal to have young children doing their business on the streets, or spitting, you cannot expect people to know or understand that there is a tiny place in their huge country where different behavior is desired. It's the same with Disneyland Paris and smoking. Not until the general idea about smoking is changed in the whole of France, you will see a change in Disneyland Paris in guest and CM behavior.
> 
> This does make me replanning the order of my trip to Asia next year, maybe put Shanghai first, then Hong Kong and end with Tokyo. As the manners between Chinese & Japanese is quite different and as the last impression stays with you the longest, I think I want to remember Japanese guests more than I want to remember Chinese guests.
> 
> For the language issue, I read that in Japan if a CM doesn't understand English, they get someone who does. Did that happen in Shanghai, Zanzibar138?
> Eitherway, bring on the pictures! And the reviews about the rides and shows etc, I saw a video of the Voyage of the Crystal Grotto, but what happens inside the grotto was hard to see.



Welcome aboard 

I think you're on the money with the ingrained behaviour. It will be difficult for CMs, but they were doing their best. They stepped in quickly to defuse any arguments, I saw them telling people off for smoking and using selfie sticks, and they were doing a great job of directing people to the back of the line in the shops etc.

I did have a couple of CMs find someone else to help me, but not always. To be fair to them, it wasn't always a practical solution (like on the bus, or in the middle of an attraction etc).


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## the_princess

Yeahhh you're back... I can't wait to see the pics and get the details


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## AquaDame

While I'm not certain I'll ever brave Shanghai to see this park I'm so glad you did and are sharing! Thank you!


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## Feistygirl916

Wait just a second... You were saying about squat toilets being the majority, but were you talking about the park? I'm confused. There's no way there would be major amounts of squat toilets in the park! Please tell me I am reading this wrong


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## zanzibar138

Some of you may be aware that I actually started my trip with a long weekend in Perth. This was mainly for catching up with my family who live there, and I'm sure no one is that interested, so I'll just skip straight to the exciting bit!

*The Journey to China and Navigating the Train System*

On Tuesday night (well, technically first thing Wednesday morning), I took the Singapore Airlines flight leaving Perth at 1:10am. Flight time to Singapore was 5h 25m. During that time I caught up on Zootopia, then fell asleep while watching Kung Fu Panda 2. We were served drinks just after take off, but no food until just before landing when we were served breakfast.





I had a 1h 30m layover at Singapore airport. This would have been a real rush if I'd had to change terminals, but lucky for me, I just had to walk to the gate literally next door to the one we'd landed at. I had been planning to log on to the free wifi at the airport and have a quick catch up on facebook etc, but it's all registered use now and they send a PIN to your phone. Since I wasn't planning to use international roaming, I had no phone to receive a PIN, so I just did some of my puzzle book instead. It wasn't long anyway before we were boarding again.

The next flight left at 8:05am, with a flight time of 5h 20m (so yes, Singapore is pretty much exactly half way between Perth and Shanghai!). We were served breakfast again after take off. This was much the same as the first flight - I dozed on and off between movies/TV shows.





I was so excited when we finally landed in China! Immigration wasn't too painful, and my luggage was already there when I got to the carousel. I had nothing to declare, so walked straight through customs and followed the signs to the Maglev train. There was plenty of English signage around the airport, and it was quite easy to get around.

China is still very much a cash based society, and I knew that I would need some local currency to purchase my train tickets. I'm not sure if you can buy Maglev tickets with a credit card, but definitely not metro tickets. I found the ticket window, and managed to get across that I wanted 1 Maglev ticket by using some words, but mainly gesturing. I actually had great timing, and there was a train waiting at the platform when I arrived. I just had time to stash my luggage on the racks and settle into my seat, then we were off! The train was fairly empty, and it was kind of a nice introduction to China. It was all very straight forward and comfortable. It's not necessarily the cheapest option though - a one way ticket cost me 50 yuan. The train got up to 301kph, and very soon we were arriving at the other end.

















This is where it started to get a little tricky. I needed to transfer to Line 2 to get to my hotel. It was relatively easy to follow the signage (which was all still in English) and the maps, but transferring platforms meant that I had to go up and down levels, and not all the escalators were working, so I did have to lug my bags up and down steps occasionally. This is definitely not a city built for the mobility impaired! It was easy enough to buy my ticket for the metro line. Again, there is an English option on the screen, and you just choose the station that you want to go to. I only needed to go one station, which cost me all of 3 yuan. The machines accepted $1 coins, or $5, $10, $20 or $50 notes. One of the trickiest bits was getting through the turnstiles with all my luggage, but I found a little trick to it which came in handy for the rest of the trip - if I held my luggage handle low, it went through fairly easily. Trains were frequent and I was soon on my way again.

I had studied the exits for the next station at home, and was planning to take exit 3. Again, it was easy enough to find the exit, but there was no option except a long flight of stairs. I was just standing there weighing up my options when I was approached by a friendly fellow asking where I was trying to go and whether I needed any help. It turned out that I could also take exit 2, which had an escalator. The kind man escorted me to my hotel - the Yangjianhua Hotel on Meihua Road), as it was on his way. We chatted as we walked and I found out that he was actually a Kiwi living in Shanghai, and he was on his way to pick up his son from school. He was planning to go to Disneyland on the 19th. At the hotel we said our goodbyes and I went to check in.

The hotel staff didn't speak English, and weren't very welcoming. The whole check in process was pretty much completed in silence. I was given a room on the ground floor, and had to pretty much find it myself. Luckily it was only a small hotel! The room itself was basic, fairly small, and not the cleanest I've seen, but it did the job. For my purposes, I had definitely been prioritising location and price over luxury.


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## zanzibar138

the_princess said:


> Yeahhh you're back... I can't wait to see the pics and get the details



Welcome aboard 



AquaDame said:


> While I'm not certain I'll ever brave Shanghai to see this park I'm so glad you did and are sharing! Thank you!



Welcome aboard 

Shanghai itself is actually quite non-threatening. If you can handle Singapore or Hong Kong, I'd say you'd be ok. But glad to share anyway 



Feistygirl916 said:


> Wait just a second... You were saying about squat toilets being the majority, but were you talking about the park? I'm confused. There's no way there would be major amounts of squat toilets in the park! Please tell me I am reading this wrong



Welcome aboard 

Yes, you did read correctly. The majority of toilets at Disneyland (within the park) are squat toilets. It really doesn't make any difference though. There are still western style toilets in every toilet block for those who'd prefer to use them. You have to remember that this park was built for a local audience who are more comfortable with squat toilets. I actually preferred it - the western style toilets were pretty much always vacant and clean! In fact, the toilet blocks in general were always clean. Despite my trepidations before the trip, I never saw anything disturbing in the toilets.

Interestingly, at the hotels (which are obviously built for visitors), the toilets are all western style.


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## bswift

Thanks for sharing your trip review, can't wait to read the rest!


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## zanzibar138

bswift said:


> Thanks for sharing your trip review, can't wait to read the rest!



Welcome aboard 

I can't wait to get to the exciting stuff! But I thought it was worth including information about getting to and around Shanghai proper as well so that people can know what to expect there too.


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## Agent 86

Karin1984 said:


> This does make me replanning the order of my trip to Asia next year, maybe put Shanghai first, then Hong Kong and end with Tokyo. As the manners between Chinese & Japanese is quite different and as the last impression stays with you the longest, I think I want to remember Japanese guests more than I want to remember Chinese guests.



That sounds like a good idea to me. Even with Shanghai now open, I think most people would still consider DisneySea to be the best Disney theme park, if not one of the best of all theme parks.


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## heaven2dc

You are so brave to travel alone!  I was so worried when that gentleman helped you at the station (I'll confess that I tend to worry over the littlest of things) - so happy you ended up at your hotel safe and sound!  Love reading about your adventure!!


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## zanzibar138

Agent 86 said:


> That sounds like a good idea to me. Even with Shanghai now open, I think most people would still consider DisneySea to be the best Disney theme park, if not one of the best of all theme parks.



Welcome aboard 

I think I would go Hong Kong, Shanghai, then Tokyo 



heaven2dc said:


> You are so brave to travel alone!  I was so worried when that gentleman helped you at the station (I'll confess that I tend to worry over the littlest of things) - so happy you ended up at your hotel safe and sound!  Love reading about your adventure!!



I don't really consider myself brave lol! I have to admit I was a little worried about 'stranger danger' too, but I figured as long as we were out on the street in full public view it would be ok.


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## Dentam

Excited to find your TR!!  I am going at the very beginning of August and look forward to reading all of your experiences and tips!

Oh, just thought of my first question: did you see if they take Disney gift cards at the restaurants/quick service places and gift shops in the park?  What about Disney Visa cards?  Or will I need to be prepared with local currency?


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## zanzibar138

Dentam said:


> Excited to find your TR!!  I am going at the very beginning of August and look forward to reading all of your experiences and tips!



Glad you found it too  Hopefully I'll be able to get at least a decent way through it before you leave for your trip!

I think the biggest tip I can give is to go in with an open mind. You will experience difficulties, and you will see things you don't like. Just go with it, and don't let it ruin the rest of your amazing trip


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## distravel

Thanks for doing a trip report. We are going on the China ABD trip in October then returning to Shanghai for a a few days to visit my brother who lives there (not close to Disney though - over an hour by subway). We plan on visiting Shanghai Disneyland for a day or two. We still may stay at the Disney hotels as my brother does not have enough room in his apartment. Do you know if Disney will transfer the luggage if we decide on spending 2 nights at Toy Story Hotel then two nights at Shanghai Disneyland Hotel ? Looking forward to the rest of your report.


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## Dentam

zanzibar138 said:


> Glad you found it too  Hopefully I'll be able to get at least a decent way through it before you leave for your trip!
> 
> I think the biggest tip I can give is to go in with an open mind. You will experience difficulties, and you will see things you don't like. Just go with it, and don't let it ruin the rest of your amazing trip



That's good advice, thanks!  I'm sure there will be a bit of culture shock to deal with!

Do you know if the gift shops and quick service restaurants take Disney gift cards or Disney Visa cards?  I'm planning to stay at the Shanghai Disneyland hotel, so I might just apply my gift card online to that expense.  Should I plan to have cash on hand for stuff in the parks?

ETA: I just looked on the Shanghai Disneyland site to see if I could pay for my room with my gift cards and it looks like they're not setup to do that.  Bummer.  At least I can use my Disney Visa!


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## zanzibar138

distravel said:


> Thanks for doing a trip report. We are going on the China ABD trip in October then returning to Shanghai for a a few days to visit my brother who lives there (not close to Disney though - over an hour by subway). We plan on visiting Shanghai Disneyland for a day or two. We still may stay at the Disney hotels as my brother does not have enough room in his apartment. Do you know if Disney will transfer the luggage if we decide on spending 2 nights at Toy Story Hotel then two nights at Shanghai Disneyland Hotel ? Looking forward to the rest of your report.



Welcome aboard  That sounds like a great trip!

Staying onsite is definitely the most convenient way to go. Most downtown Shanghai hotels would be about an hour away on the metro. They certainly do transfer luggage between the hotels for you  I was a bit concerned with the language barrier that I wouldn't be able to communicate that's what I wanted, but obviously the CMs have been well trained and immediately offered it as an option when I said I was going to the other hotel.



Dentam said:


> That's good advice, thanks!  I'm sure there will be a bit of culture shock to deal with!
> 
> Do you know if the gift shops and quick service restaurants take Disney gift cards or Disney Visa cards?  I'm planning to stay at the Shanghai Disneyland hotel, so I might just apply my gift card online to that expense.  Should I plan to have cash on hand for stuff in the parks?



Hmm not sure about Disney gift cards, but I can't imagine that Disney Visa would be a problem. I used my Visa card with no issues - I don't imagine that the 'brand' would change anything. China is very much still a cash society, so it's a good idea to have a decent amount with you, especially if you are planning to leave the Disney bubble. I think most of the restaurants and shops had credit card facilities, but you may want to purchase something from one of the many carts scattered around the parks (popcorn, turkey legs, ice-creams, drinks etc), and they definitely only accept cash. Personally I got a certain amount of Yuan before I left and put a certain amount aside for each day as a budgeting tool. I only used the cash, and when it was gone, it was gone. On the last day I had a bit left over, so I bought a few more souvenirs. Don't forget to leave enough cash for the taxi ride (or train fare/shuttle bus etc) back to the airport though! I was charged 111 Yuan, and just rounded it up to 120. You can definitely negotiate cheaper set rates not using the meter, but it's pretty tricky if you don't speak Chinese


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## Dentam

zanzibar138 said:


> Hmm not sure about Disney gift cards, but I can't imagine that Disney Visa would be a problem. I used my Visa card with no issues - I don't imagine that the 'brand' would change anything. China is very much still a cash society, so it's a good idea to have a decent amount with you, especially if you are planning to leave the Disney bubble. I think most of the restaurants and shops had credit card facilities, but you may want to purchase something from one of the many carts scattered around the parks (popcorn, turkey legs, ice-creams, drinks etc), and they definitely only accept cash. Personally I got a certain amount of Yuan before I left and put a certain amount aside for each day as a budgeting tool. I only used the cash, and when it was gone, it was gone. On the last day I had a bit left over, so I bought a few more souvenirs. Don't forget to leave enough cash for the taxi ride (or train fare/shuttle bus etc) back to the airport though! I was charged 111 Yuan, and just rounded it up to 120. You can definitely negotiate cheaper set rates not using the meter, but it's pretty tricky if you don't speak Chinese



This is very helpful, thanks!  I guess I will have to save my gift cards for my next trip to WDW.


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## zanzibar138

*A Walk Around the Century Park and Shanghai Science Area*

After settling in to my room, I decided to head out for a wander. I was surprised to see it had started raining, but it was only light drizzle so I decided to keep going. Unfortunately it kept getting heavier and heavier, and I decided to turn back before I reached anything of note. The area was quite clean and safe, and I felt perfectly ok being out there on my own.

I needed something to eat, so I decided to head to the supermarket just near the hotel. It was so interesting seeing all the different food items there, and I picked up a few things which I thought would do me for snacks over the next few days. I didn't find any substantial items that I found appealing, but I got by eating some of the snacks for a makeshift lunch back in my room.

I decided to try going out again, this time with a bit more purpose. I wanted to check out the large park near the hotel (Century Park). I thought instead of getting on the train at my closet station (Century Park), I could walk through the park to the next station along (Shanghai Science). It had stopped raining when I set off, and I enjoyed the walk. For the most part, it was easy to get around, and the park was easy to find. I was surprised to see that it cost 10 Yuan to enter, but I wasn't really bothered to pay a couple of bucks to stroll through nice parklands. I was surprised to find there was hardly anyone around! I really hadn't encountered any crowded areas yet.





































Soon I was at my 'exit', and continued wandering towards the train station. From here, the path was very clean and symmetrical.













I soon came across Shanghai Science metro station, and its namesake Science & Technology Museum.













There were some large sculptural elements at the end of the path that were drawing me in, so I decided to walk slightly past the station to check them out.













On the way back to the station, I was approached by someone offering me a shopping tour. I politely declined, and he left me alone. The entire walk had been lovely and peaceful, and I had felt quite safe being on my own.


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## zanzibar138

*A Quick Note about the Dorsett Shanghai*

I just thought I should briefly mention this hotel, as it is in the same area as the one I stayed at, in fact directly above the Century Park station so very convenient. As much as I don't think there are any official 'good neighbour' hotels or anything in Shanghai, it does offer a Disney package. The package includes a shuttle bus to Line 11, so that you don't have to worry about changing train lines. It was a very limited schedule.

The hotel itself looked very nice, and I was very happy with the area, so I would definitely consider it as an option if you didn't want to stay onsite (either for cost or convenience if you wanted to be closer to the city). I probably wouldn't bother to pay extra for the Disney package, as it was so easy to catch the train (even with the transfer points), and would be much more convenient than relying on such a limited shuttle schedule. This hotel was around $180 for the night I was looking (the night before opening day).


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## RachelleBeaney

Subbin in  Thanks for your advice on my pre-trip report too! Interesting to hear you have family in Perth - I am from Perth also  Ironically all my family is over in Melbourne (and I've been over once this year and will be over 2 further times in August and Nov for various family events!) .. Am excited to read about your travels to Shanghai


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## zanzibar138

RachelleBeaney said:


> Subbin in  Thanks for your advice on my pre-trip report too! Interesting to hear you have family in Perth - I am from Perth also  Ironically all my family is over in Melbourne (and I've been over once this year and will be over 2 further times in August and Nov for various family events!) .. Am excited to read about your travels to Shanghai



Haha! We're opposites! Welcome aboard


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## BecBennett

I didn't know you were after a travel buddy! I would have wheedled my way onto that trip so fast!!


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## zanzibar138

*A Wander around Downtown Pudong*

Once again, the train and ticketing system was easy to navigate. Unfortunately I hadn’t double-checked on the map exactly which station I needed, so I just made my best guess based on how far away they were and what stations sounded familiar lol! Turned out that I did pretty well, and picked Lujiazui Station, which is just on the Pudong side of the river, right in the middle of the tourist area. The train was crowded, but it wasn’t a problem. I just remembered reading about pickpockets on crowded trains and made sure I held my handbag where I could see it. I never had any problems.

It was quite a quick trip, and it was drizzling again when I exited Lujiazui Station. I took a few pictures of the grand finance building next to the station, which contrasted nicely with the Jetson-esque Oriental Pearl Tower, trying to protect my camera from the rain by staying undercover.













On such a cloudy, drizzly day, it didn’t seem worthwhile trying to get any views from the tower, so I gave that a miss and decided to find some more substantial food instead. Luckily for me, there was a dumpling restaurant directly across the road. After a fair amount of gesturing, I ended up with a selection of mixed dumplings. The next mission was to find a table, which seemed like an impossible task until some nice girl offered me a seat at their 4 seater table (there were only 2 of them). I was so hungry, I forgot to take a photo until I’d already devoured one delicious dumpling!





By the time I exited the restaurant, the city was starting to light up, and the rain was getting heavier again. I decided that I would have to bite the bullet and buy a cheap umbrella from the nearby 7-11.





Then, with my new trusty umbrella (which broke after about 5 minutes lol! – it was still usable though) I headed out for a wander towards the river. I ended up unintentionally doing a little block, past some viewing areas by the river and some park like bits, then back up the other side of the Oriental Pearl Tower. Again, I was surprised to see how few people there were around. I practically had the whole waterfront to myself!





On the other side of the river is 'The Bund'. This is pretty much the place to be according to all the guidebooks and travel websites I came across, and is where you get the iconic view of Shanghai's city skyline, which is actually the Pudong side. However, I was quite happy to wander on the Pudong side and view the Bund. I was certainly on the right side for the crowds (or lack thereof!). If I'd had more time and possibly if it wasn't dark yet or raining, I might have been tempted to see what all the fuss was about.





























I got a decent view of some of the Pudong buildings on my way back from the waterfront.













Near the train station was a large landscaped roundabout with a raised pedestrian walkway all around it so that you didn't have to worry about traffic.





It had been a lovely little wander, and I'd felt safe on my own the whole time, despite the lack of crowds. Shanghai had surprised me!


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## zanzibar138

BecBennett said:


> I didn't know you were after a travel buddy! I would have wheedled my way onto that trip so fast!!



Well to be fair, I didn't actually put a call out on the DisBoards. Perhaps I should have!


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## zanzibar138

*A Little Bit of Disney in the Big City*

From my perch on the raised pedestrian walkway, I couldn't believe my eyes when I spied this beauty!





Was that really what I thought it was? What luck! I'm sure if I'd actually set out to go to the Disney Store, I never would have been able to find it. Yet, out of all the shops in all of Shanghai, there it was right in front of me! I simply had to go down and check it out.

















There was an intense feeling of celebration in the air, with the Disney Store celebrating its first anniversary in Shanghai.





Inside, it was just as magical as I'd hoped, with whimsical castle props and classic characters floating around the ceiling in hot air balloons. CMs were friendly and happy, and it was a magical place to be.













There was a great selection of merchandise, and I was very tempted to buy up big, but I held myself back, knowing that I had a limited budget and would need every last cent for Opening Day memorabilia! Among the merchandise was a whole heap of tsum tsums.













Of course I couldn't resist picking up a couple of little things. Joining the queue to pay, it gave me the biggest thrill to see this magical countdown clock on the wall behind the counter!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/JqwPMJ]
	


After much longer than I had anticipated, I finally emerged from the Disney Store, filled with even more excitement and anticipation for the next day! It was raining again of course, and the top of the Oriental Pearl Tower had been engulfed by cloud.





I hopped back on the train (again, very easy straightforward trip back to Century Park), and caught the end of the official Shanghai Disneyland opening ceremony on TV while catching up on facebook and preparing for the next day. It was the perfect end to the perfect start of my opening day trip![/url]


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## zanzibar138

*A Quick Note about Facebook Access*

As a lot of you would probably know, China blocks a lot of websites that us westerners would tend to use for communications with people back home (for me I rely a lot on facebook). Because I was on my own, I really wanted to be able to access facebook for that communication aspect, just to keep people back home informed of my whereabouts and that I was ok.

A couple of weeks before I left, I heard about VPNs, which basically means that you can log onto a server which is not based in China, and get around the firewalls that way. I ended up going with Express VPN, which was more expensive than some of the others, but got good reviews. I set it all up before I left, and used the ABC (American Broadcasting) website as a test run, to see if it would let me watch US videos. It didn't work the first time, but the guy on instant chat was very helpful and asked me to try another server (you can choose which one you log on to, and there were a few options in the US). On the next server that I tried, it worked perfectly!

It was very easy to set up. Basically you purchase a plan from the website (the shortest plan is a month for about USD $12), then download the software onto your device. They have software for basically every operating system, so you can use it on any device (up to 3 devices on the one plan). When you've connected to the internet, you just go into your VPN software/app, and choose which server you'd like to connect to. Once you're connected, you should then be able to access the services available in that country. I connected to Hong Kong from China, and it worked perfectly! I had no problem at all connecting to facebook or any other websites (not that I tried many).

I have heard that some hotels offer a free VPN for their guests, so you wouldn't need to provide your own. However, I haven't heard of this at either of the Disney hotels, and it's not something I would rely on. If you absolutely can't get by without access, I would recommend signing up for a VPN before you go.


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## Karin1984

Thank you for all the touring information! When you say it's easy to navigatie through train & ticketing, was this because there was an English language option or because the system makes sense and is well designed? 

I'm used to navigate through big cities, but not in countries where I do not speak the language. Somehow Tokyo and Hong Kong seem more doable than Shanghai.


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## Royal Consort

zanzibar138 said:


> I have heard that some hotels offer a free VPN for their guests, so you wouldn't need to provide your own. However, I haven't heard of this at either of the Disney hotels, and it's not something I would rely on. If you absolutely can't get by without access, I would recommend signing up for a VPN before you go.



zanzibar138: I recall you saying that you had booked Club at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel. We've booked for early next year. Can you tell me about your experience there and what you felt about the value in club (i.e. evening cocktails, snacks, the lounge?)


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## zanzibar138

Karin1984 said:


> Thank you for all the touring information! When you say it's easy to navigatie through train & ticketing, was this because there was an English language option or because the system makes sense and is well designed?
> 
> I'm used to navigate through big cities, but not in countries where I do not speak the language. Somehow Tokyo and Hong Kong seem more doable than Shanghai.



I'm glad you're finding it helpful. I'm pleased to report that it was because of both - plenty of English around at the train stations (you just have to press the English language option on the ticket machine), and just made sense  It very much reminded me of Hong Kong's system, so if you can manage that, I'd say you'll be fine.



Royal Consort said:


> zanzibar138: I recall you saying that you had booked Club at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel. We've booked for early next year. Can you tell me about your experience there and what you felt about the value in club (i.e. evening cocktails, snacks, the lounge?)



You may recall that I only booked club level because that was the only room left on opening night. Personally I don't find much value in club level usually, because I really don't take enough advantage of the benefits - usually I'm only in the hotel for showering and sleeping - and I knew that I would have even less time to take full advantage on this trip! Having said that, I actually did head back to the hotel mid-afternoon for a short break, and was escorted to the lounge (because my room still wasn't ready). It was very comfortable, with a lovely view over the lake and to the park - you could definitely see the fireworks from there. I found the food selection good, with plenty of western and Chinese options, and sweet and savoury. I didn't see any cocktails as such, but there was pretty much a full liquor cabinet available so you could quite easily make your own or ask for one. In the morning the breakfast selection was good too, with the usual American style offerings like bacon, eggs and sausage, a Mickey waffle station, and Chinese offerings like rice and dumplings, and plenty of pastries. I just wished I had more time in the morning to go back for seconds!

FWIW, I got lots of pixie dust thrown around me because they took so long to get my room ready. I'm not sure if I would have got such treatment if I wasn't staying on club level, or whether that was their base customer service level.

I'll be adding photos of the lounge area as I go, so keep an eye out for that further along in my TR.


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## SugarRush

Really enjoying this so far. Can't wait to read more, thank you for sharing


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## zanzibar138

SugarRush said:


> Really enjoying this so far. Can't wait to read more, thank you for sharing



Glad you're enjoying it


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## Karin1984

zanzibar138 said:


> I'm glad you're finding it helpful. I'm pleased to report that it was because of both - plenty of English around at the train stations (you just have to press the English language option on the ticket machine), and just made sense  It very much reminded me of Hong Kong's system, so if you can manage that, I'd say you'll be fine.



Well, I haven't been to Asia yet, I am only preparing a Hong Kong / Shanghai / Tokyo trip for next year. But when I look at getting around Hong Kong or Tokyo, it seems less daunting than Shanghai. Could also be caused by all the paperwork the visa brings with China and all the 'advice' is posted about the police and authorities in China on the website of our embassy. Things like: bring at least 2 forms of ID, don't store them in the same place, leave a copy of your IDs with family, register yourself with the embassy as soon as you arrive, be reminded the police has a lot more authority than in the Netherlands, don't argue with police, follow instructions immediately etc. etc. It really puts me off to visit China. I am really curious to see Disney Shanghai (and Shanghai itself, it's a city with an interesting history & culture), but when I read this, I think: 'Maybe it's better not to'. I will go, but it takes out the enjoyment of planning a trip.

But back to the fun stuff  what did you think of the shows, were you able to see the castle stage show and Tarzan?


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## zanzibar138

Karin1984 said:


> Well, I haven't been to Asia yet, I am only preparing a Hong Kong / Shanghai / Tokyo trip for next year. But when I look at getting around Hong Kong or Tokyo, it seems less daunting than Shanghai. Could also be caused by all the paperwork the visa brings with China and all the 'advice' is posted about the police and authorities in China on the website of our embassy. Things like: bring at least 2 forms of ID, don't store them in the same place, leave a copy of your IDs with family, register yourself with the embassy as soon as you arrive, be reminded the police has a lot more authority than in the Netherlands, don't argue with police, follow instructions immediately etc. etc. It really puts me off to visit China. I am really curious to see Disney Shanghai (and Shanghai itself, it's a city with an interesting history & culture), but when I read this, I think: 'Maybe it's better not to'. I will go, but it takes out the enjoyment of planning a trip.
> 
> But back to the fun stuff  what did you think of the shows, were you able to see the castle stage show and Tarzan?



I wouldn't let that stuff get you down. Those warnings are pretty much par for the course in any Asian country - I would pretty much follow that advice for Hong Kong too. Police are all in camo and carry around rifles - it can be pretty intimidating. We've done a lot of travel through many Asian countries and never had any issues with police at all. As long as you're not doing anything wrong, you've got nothing to worry about! In fact, the security people at Disney (not actual police I know, but similar sort of lines) were quite friendly and approachable, even if they didn't speak any English lol! And registering with the embassy is something you don't have to worry about - your hotel will take care of that for you, it's why they will need your passport when you check in, and just means the check in process takes a few minutes longer than you might normally expect. Honestly, I felt much more comfortable getting around in China (even on my own) than I did in France with all the scammers and pickpocketers there!

I will be doing full reviews of all the shows I saw later in my TR. Unfortunately I didn't get to see the castle show as they were still taking down all the opening ceremony related props from in front of the castle, and didn't start the stage show until Sunday (my last day was Saturday ). I did manage to catch Tarzan and also the Pirates stunt show, and enjoyed both very much. The language barrier was a little bit of an issue with the stunt show, but not noticeable at all with Tarzan because there wasn't much dialogue. There was also a Baymax show in Tomorrowland, which I didn't bother to watch but looked cute, and the Tai Chi with Character show in Gardens of Imagination. I really wanted to watch that one when I just happened to walk by as it was starting, but it was too glary and I'd forgotten to take my sunnies so I had to give up. It looked really cute though with some great photo opportunities!


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## Agent 86

Karin1984 said:


> Well, I haven't been to Asia yet, I am only preparing a Hong Kong / Shanghai / Tokyo trip for next year. But when I look at getting around Hong Kong or Tokyo, it seems less daunting than Shanghai. Could also be caused by all the paperwork the visa brings with China and all the 'advice' is posted about the police and authorities in China on the website of our embassy.



I've been to China twice (each trip for around four weeks). I wouldn't worry about. I took my passport. I also took photocopies of my passport. I never registered with the Australian embassy. And I don't think I ever interacted with any police officers. If I did, I would just follow their instructions as I would in any other country (well, maybe not Russia).

Travelling around central Shanghai is pretty easy. Maybe not quite as easy as travelling around central Tokyo or Hong Kong, but pretty close.


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## bswift

I've only been to Hong Kong and I have to say, I'm a little "scared" of Shanghai too. I really want to go to SDL though so I think I'd probably end up staying in the Disney "bubble" and not visiting downtown Shanghai. I'm a bad tourist


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## Karin1984

I have over a year to overcome my fears, but now I think better get a Disney Hotel instead of something downtown to avoid travelling back far late at night. I do want to sightsee, as it's a long way to get to Shanghai, and the culture is completely different than mine. There is no way I'm going to Shanghai and only go to Disney! 

I had forgotten about the stuntshow, I take it the sort of stunts are the same as in the Indiana Stuntshow in WDW and the Motor stuntshow in Paris. I can imagine the language is less important. 

What is this Tai Chi show? Characters doing Tai Chi?  That would be great to incorporate Chinese culture into Disney! Also something I thought about is with the Garden of the 12 Friends with the Zodiac, I suspect each year, when a new Zodiac year starts, they will have a little celebration there.


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## zanzibar138

Agent 86 said:


> I've been to China twice (each trip for around four weeks). I wouldn't worry about. I took my passport. I also took photocopies of my passport. I never registered with the Australian embassy. And I don't think I ever interacted with any police officers. If I did, I would just follow their instructions as I would in any other country (well, maybe not Russia).
> 
> Travelling around central Shanghai is pretty easy. Maybe not quite as easy as travelling around central Tokyo or Hong Kong, but pretty close.



I found Shanghai just as easy to get around as Hong Kong 



bswift said:


> I've only been to Hong Kong and I have to say, I'm a little "scared" of Shanghai too. I really want to go to SDL though so I think I'd probably end up staying in the Disney "bubble" and not visiting downtown Shanghai. I'm a bad tourist



Don't be scared! Shanghai is so easy to get around, it's worth taking a trip into town if you've got the time.



Karin1984 said:


> I have over a year to overcome my fears, but now I think better get a Disney Hotel instead of something downtown to avoid travelling back far late at night. I do want to sightsee, as it's a long way to get to Shanghai, and the culture is completely different than mine. There is no way I'm going to Shanghai and only go to Disney!
> 
> I had forgotten about the stuntshow, I take it the sort of stunts are the same as in the Indiana Stuntshow in WDW and the Motor stuntshow in Paris. I can imagine the language is less important.
> 
> What is this Tai Chi show? Characters doing Tai Chi?  That would be great to incorporate Chinese culture into Disney! Also something I thought about is with the Garden of the 12 Friends with the Zodiac, I suspect each year, when a new Zodiac year starts, they will have a little celebration there.



Like HK, I would recommend doing a split stay and staying in the downtown area for Shanghai sightseeing, then transferring to an onsite hotel for SDL. I would be quite happy taking the train late at night on my own, but the trains do seem to finish up pretty early, and it's nice to not have a big journey 'home' at the end of a big day.

The stunt show is pirates themed, so it's more about canons and sword fights and ships. I'll be doing a full review with pictures later on. The actual stunt bit was good, and easy to follow, but there was a very long lead up which was pretty much all dialogue and very hard to follow with the language barrier.

From what I could see of the Tai Chi show, Chip N Dale start doing some Tai Chi with the Tai Chi master, then Donald arrives and causes his usual chaos. It looked like just a fun little show, with the characters being a bit silly while doing the Tai Chi. I'll upload the photos I've got when the time comes.


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## zanzibar138

*The Journey to Disneyland*

It was an early morning (5am), as I planned to be on the first train from Century Park station, which I had estimated to be at around 6am. All I had to do was get dressed, repack my bag, and chow down the fruit salad and yoghurt I had bought at 7-11 the night before, so I thought an hour would be plenty of time. I was very wrong. I ended up checking out at about 6:20am, and was probably at the station by 6:30am. Once again, I had my heavy suitcase, and was forced to lug it up and down stairs with no escalators around.

I had on this occasion that I realised the ticket machines don’t take 1 Yuan notes. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough 1 Yuan coins to get me to Disneyland (the ticket cost 5 Yuan, and I only had 3 coins). Luckily there was a handy convenience store, where I purchased a little bottle of chocolate milk to break one of my 100 Yuan notes. Then I was able to get my train ticket and continue to make my way through the station which was really not designed for travel with luggage. The train was absolutely packed, and I only just fit on board, but I only had to go one stop to Longyang Road, so it wasn’t the end of the world.

At the next station, I followed the signs to Line 16. It was quite easy to find, and there was a train at the platform, so I hurried to get on board! Once on board, I realised that I hadn’t checked which direction the train was going, and had a brief moment of panic before realising that I was already at the end of the line lol! There was a lovely girl standing next to me who helped to reassure me and point out where I had to get off to transfer to Line 11. For the most part, I found the locals quite friendly and helpful. The train got more and more crowded before finally taking off, and I got stuck right in the middle, wondering how on earth I was ever going to struggle out of there with my luggage! Luckily quite a few people got off at Middle Huaxia Road, and then again at Luoshan Road (my stop), so it didn’t end up being too much of a push to get out.

By the time I found Line 11 at Luoshan Road, it was becoming a lot easier to get around with my luggage. Things were a bit better laid out, and there were plenty of escalators. I was a little bit dismayed to see that there were quite a few people getting on the train with me (I wasn’t able to get a seat), and assumed that they would all be heading to Disneyland and that I had lost my ‘jump’ on the crowds. However, I was surprised to see most of them get off at the other stations along the way. After Xiuyan Road I was able to sit down, and after Kangxin Highway there were only a handful of us left! I was getting ridiculously excited coming into the Disney station, and tried to see out the window to get a glimpse of Disneyland. There wasn’t much to see though.

Disney station was clean and spacious, and very easy to get around. There were cute Disney touches everywhere, from the rail guards, to having the Fab 5 escort us up the escalator!





I really loved the swirly Mickey and Minnie sculptures in the main concourse area.









From there, it got a bit confusing, and I wasn’t quite sure which way to go for the Disneyland Hotel. The exits were labelled ‘Disneyland’, ‘Disney Town’ and ‘Wishing Star Park’. The exit for Disneyland was closed off for some reason, so I tried Disney Town. I tried to ask one of the security guards for help, but all I got was a blank look.





After wandering around the vicinity of the station for 5 minutes, I started to realise how heavy my luggage was getting (I still have one of the cases with only 2 wheels, and my wrist was getting a bit sore!), and saw how far away the Disneyland Hotel looked, with no sign of a bridge across the lake anywhere nearby.





I decided to ditch my original idea of walking to the hotel and take the shuttle bus instead.


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## Tigerlily75

Inbetween updates I decided to go read some of your older trip reports from your signature, I loved reading/seeing HKDL. We were so close last year, even seeing the Mickey trains, but I couldn't bring myself to go. All my life I wanted to go to Disneyland, and I knew my first time had to be the original - Anaheim. I finally made it there in January this year . (And we're going back in September). 

But now I want to do them all! Especially Tokyo. Do you have any plans to go to WDW Orlando?

In one of your reports you also mentioned where you work/ed, I can't remember which one now so it may not still apply, but if so I live right nearby there, and even have access to the staff shop there as I work in emergency services. But I learnt quickly not to go very often, I can't have copious amounts of chocolate in my cupboards because then I just ... eat it .


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## MagentaMulan

Following along! I've always wanted to travel to the Disneylands in Asia but not sure if i can handle the long flights. Maybe one day!


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## wanderlust7

I love the Mickey sculpture!  It looks like Chinese paper cutting, what a great way to bring in the culture.

I'm enjoying all your photos.  Thinking maybe we'll go in a couple years and visit my friend who lives in Shanghai.


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## zanzibar138

Tigerlily75 said:


> Inbetween updates I decided to go read some of your older trip reports from your signature, I loved reading/seeing HKDL. We were so close last year, even seeing the Mickey trains, but I couldn't bring myself to go. All my life I wanted to go to Disneyland, and I knew my first time had to be the original - Anaheim. I finally made it there in January this year . (And we're going back in September).
> 
> But now I want to do them all! Especially Tokyo. Do you have any plans to go to WDW Orlando?
> 
> In one of your reports you also mentioned where you work/ed, I can't remember which one now so it may not still apply, but if so I live right nearby there, and even have access to the staff shop there as I work in emergency services. But I learnt quickly not to go very often, I can't have copious amounts of chocolate in my cupboards because then I just ... eat it .



I get that - I wanted to go to the original first too. I hope you get a chance to go back to HK though, it's well worth a visit  Unfortunately I don't have any Disney trips in planning now, but the next park I go to will probably be Tokyo. To be honest, I find WDW the least appealing park to visit. I will have to go one day of course, will probably make it a big coast to coast trip and run a half marathon at each one to get the special medal - I'll have to have an actual reason to visit WDW.



MagentaMulan said:


> Following along! I've always wanted to travel to the Disneylands in Asia but not sure if i can handle the long flights. Maybe one day!



Haha! Think of us Aussies who have to endure a 14 hour flight (at least) every time we want to get to a US Disney park! Even HK, our closest one, is an 8 hour flight. It's not so bad - if you did HK, Tokyo and Shanghai all in one trip it would be well worth it!



wanderlust7 said:


> I love the Mickey sculpture!  It looks like Chinese paper cutting, what a great way to bring in the culture.
> 
> I'm enjoying all your photos.  Thinking maybe we'll go in a couple years and visit my friend who lives in Shanghai.



That is definitely an opportunity you shouldn't pass up


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## zanzibar138

*All the Shuttle Buses*

After I’d decided to make the switch to the shuttle bus, the next thing was finding out exactly how to get it. Right next to the train station, there was a large bus depot type area, but the only stops I could seemed to be for metro buses servicing the local area. There was another row of buses a bit further up, so I checked that out, but it looked like that was for CM shuttles. A little bewildered, I wandered into the little information centre type thing that was conveniently placed right next to the station, hoping that someone would be able to speak English well enough to give me some sort of advice.

Success! The first guy I spoke to seemed to understand what I wanted, and described the bus that I wanted as ‘blue’ and ‘stars’. The only place I could see a blue starry bus was over at what I’d thought was the CM shuttle area. I made my way over and tried to get on, only to be asked for my staff ID. Turned out I’d been right all along.

I started to make my way back to the original row of buses, thinking that I must have missed something among the metro signage, when I saw the CM from the information centre waving madly at me and pointing to that section lol! So I went to check it out in more detail. I was getting very confused. Those bus stops were definitely for metro buses. I saw a CM hanging around the area, and decided to try my luck asking for help again, and asked which line for the Disneyland Hotel? He pointed to the last line, so over I went. You may be interested to note the ceiling fans at the bus shelters - a very nice touch when it was hot and humid.





A few minutes later, a blue bus with stars pulled up, and I piled on, relieved to finally be on the right track!





It was a fun bus ride around the outside of the park, glimpsing a few bits and pieces along the way. Soon we pulled into the driveway for the Toy Story Hotel, and I was excited to see it in person! To my surprise, everyone else on the bus got off (there were only a handful of us, but I wasn’t expecting to be the only one heading for the Disneyland Hotel). I sat there waiting for the bus to get going again, but was approached by a CM from the Toy Story Hotel who informed me that the bus wasn’t going to the Disneyland Hotel, and I would need to get off.



 

To the credit of the Toy Story Hotel CMs, they did the best job of looking after me that they could. There was a lot going on. There were people everywhere. The normal shuttle bus stop was being used for media preview shuttles, and the CMs were breaking their necks trying to check everyone’s ID, while still directing the plebs to the normal shuttle buses. No one could speak much English. I was told to catch the next shuttle bus that was going to the Disneyland Hotel, and the CM would come to get me when it arrived. He even offered for me to go and wait in the lobby, but I hoped it wouldn’t be that long! Unfortunately it was that long! I’d been standing there for probably 15 minutes, waiting for this bus to arrive. In the meantime, there was a bus to Disney Town every couple of minutes, but the CM kept insisting that the bus to the Disneyland Hotel would be along any minute. It wasn’t a bad wait, there was plenty to see while I was standing there. I particularly liked that they had a whole set of CMs lining the approach to the main entrance door to the hotel, whose only task was to wave and cheer as people headed towards the park. I thought it was a nice touch.





A senior looking American CM appeared while I was there, associated with the media preview people. She didn’t take much interest in me, but she did look my way a couple of times, and in the end I said to her ‘I’m just going to catch the next bus to Disney Town’. When the next bus came, the CM who had been helping me tried to stop me from getting on, but the American CM explained our plan to him, saying ‘she’s been waiting far too long’. I had a fleeting thought that it would be nice to get a bit of pixie dust for my trouble lol! Obviously they were far too busy for anything like that!

Once I was on the bus, the rest was quite straightforward. The bus depot at Disney Town was much easier to navigate, with big signs everywhere in Chinese and English displaying the information for each bus, and I quickly found the one going to the Disneyland Hotel. No sooner had I lined up, then the bus arrived. I tried to confirm that it was the correct bus, but no one understood me at all, so I gave up, fairly certain that it was. I was pleased to see us head in a different direction when we left the bus depot. I was surprised that there wasn’t much traffic around by that time. The roads were pretty quiet, even the large roundabouts at the entrance to the resort area.



 





I was quite pleased with that, as it meant the travel time on the bus was pretty quick, and before I knew it, we were finally entering the driveway for the Disneyland Hotel!


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## Dentam

Thank you for detailing all of your train and bus transfers!  I'm sure this will come in handy when I travel there in a month!  It looks like I will be at SDL from August 3-5th.  Getting excited!!


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## zanzibar138

Dentam said:


> Thank you for detailing all of your train and bus transfers!  I'm sure this will come in handy when I travel there in a month!  It looks like I will be at SDL from August 3-5th.  Getting excited!!



I hoped it would help someone! It's not the most exciting stuff to read, but I thought it was worth including all those nitty gritty details.


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## xiphoid76

zanzibar138 said:


> For those who are unfamiliar with my story, attending an Opening Day was on my Disney bucket list, and Shanghai gave me a great opportunity to tick that one off! You can catch up on my PTR here.
> 
> In a nutshell, when the opening date was announced, I sweet-talked my boss into letting me have the week off, sweet-talked my husband into letting me chip into our holiday money, and tried to find a travel buddy to go with. When no one was interested, I decided to just go solo.
> 
> I'm very excited to be able to share with you one of the very first experiences of SDL, and I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed 'researching'!



Thank you so much for this thread.  I can not wait to go in January.  We are staying at the Disneyland hotel.  Do you know if credit cards are taken at the quick service eating places?  Or is cash preferred?  What food did you enjoy most?  I am a picky eater and this is my biggest fear - but I think there will always be something I can eat   I probably have tons more questions...we are just so excited to go next year.  Your reporting on the crowd behavior was very interesting to hear - have heard conflicting reports about how good/bad they have been.  I think it is all a matter of perspective.  
Going to Shanghai first then Tokyo and then home (one to enjoy the awesome Tokyo parks and two to avoid getting a chinese visa).  Have a great day!


----------



## Dentam

zanzibar138 said:


> I hoped it would help someone! It's not the most exciting stuff to read, but I thought it was worth including all those nitty gritty details.



Absolutely!  Thanks again!


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## GusIsaFoxhound

This has been great to read- thanks! September last year was my second time to Anaheim, and we had just booked a second tour to China (last one, Sept 2014) and then found out about Shanghai Disney, which made me twice as excited to be going back to China. Hubby isn't so keen on going, only coz I insist. (He stayed home last year, and I went with my sister- her first time, both in our 50's.) Anything I can find out before we go makes it easier to keep him amicable! I'll keep reading your reports if you keep writing them. Thanks again!


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## zanzibar138

*The Disneyland Hotel and Wishing Star Park*

As soon as I got off the bus, I was swooped on by Bell Services who took my bags for me and pointed me to a little desk they had set up out the front for storing luggage. It was such a quick process, I didn't even get a chance to get a photo! There were lots of CMs hanging around, ready to direct anyone who looked lost. Another American senior looking CM saw me taking photos of the entrance and offered to take one with me in it.





Inside, there was hardly any line for check in, and it moved very quickly. I had been expecting absolute chaos, so this was a pleasant surprise!

Of course, my room wasn't ready (which was definitely expected), but they were still able to complete all the paperwork to make life easier later on. And of course they were storing my luggage for me too. The CMs at the check in desk were friendly and enthusiastic, and spoke great English. It all went very smoothly (much more so than expected).

After check in I had a quick wander around the hotel, as I was looking for a bathroom and somewhere to grab a bite to eat before heading off. The bathroom was just up past Bacchus Lounge and Ballet Café. Even the bathrooms were beautiful!





I stopped in at Ballet Café on the way back for a quick bite. I ended up with a Mickey shaped chocolate muffin.









I stuck my head in at Bacchus Lounge on the way past, to check out the view!





Next was a quick tour around the lobby, taking in those amazing marble columns with stained glass tops. I don't think it's as big and airy as the lobby at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, but it was certainly spacious and luxurious feeling.













I didn't go too much further, as I was already running so late and was pretty concerned about how far back in the line I would be! But I did head down the stairs to Lumiere's Kitchen, and saw the Beauty and the Beast statue that has graced so many Facebook updates already.





I planned to do the walk to the park, as it really didn't look that far from the hotel, taking the shortcut through Wishing Star Park. Unfortunately leaving the hotel from the back, I didn't get the CMs waving me off as I left for the park, but I did get to see the beautiful gardens and experience the walk through the lovely Wishing Star Park.

















The back gate is only accessible to hotel guests, and you need your room key to open it. Fortunately for me, there is also a security guard stationed there, and he happily opened the gate for me when I explained that I didn't have my room key yet.





Unfortunately it started raining pretty much as soon as I left the hotel grounds, so I wasn't keen on using my camera too much (the model that I have has proven to be very sensitive to water). I wanted to take photos of the beautiful rose garden, and the glass bottom bridge near the hotel, but it was just raining too much.

Along the way I was approached by some locals wanting to take photos with me. This didn't happen nearly as often as I was expecting, and I didn't mind it when people were friendly and polite about it. The only thing that really bothered me was when people just openly stared at me as I walked past - I found it a little bit unsettling. Luckily, that didn't happen very often either, and I probably copped it more than most being blonde with ringlets and blue eyes, and dressed like a Disney character lol!

The rain died down a bit more toward the end of the walk, just as I was going over the bridge leading to Disney Town. It was a nice bridge, and on the other side of the lake there was a row of fountains.





At the end of the bridge there was a little gateway to exit the park and enter Disney Town. I’m not entirely sure why they kept Wishing Star Park fenced off and only open at certain hours, especially being the shortcut back to the hotel. It was clear that they were really expecting people to take the shuttle buses to and from the hotels, and it wasn’t really set up for walking (no real signage, paths – except for the shortcut through Wishing Star Park – were just alongside the main road). It wouldn’t have taken much more than 5 minutes to walk from the hotel gate to Disney Town through Wishing Star Park.

The path from there to the park really went between the two areas of Disney Town – the main part and Lakeshore – so I didn’t see much of it. Lakeshore was one rectangular building with a few shops and restaurants, a bit like a covered market.





There was one shop there which was drawing a pretty big crowd. I can only imagine it was something to do with Marvel or Star Wars lol!





I spied a few familiar shops as I strolled through Disney Town. Starbucks was there, and of course the World of Disney store right at the end. There were quite a few people heading towards the park, but not as many as I’d expected.





Next thing I knew, I was exiting Disney Town and entering the park entrance area! I was so excited, I think my heart skipped a beat or two!





I decided to stop for a quick photo of the Steamboat Willie fountain before joining the queue. There were plenty of people around doing the same thing. There were also plenty of people who just seemed to be there to watch proceedings!





Then, with butterflies running rampant in my tummy, I finally headed towards the entrance!


----------



## zanzibar138

xiphoid76 said:


> Thank you so much for this thread.  I can not wait to go in January.  We are staying at the Disneyland hotel.  Do you know if credit cards are taken at the quick service eating places?  Or is cash preferred?  What food did you enjoy most?  I am a picky eater and this is my biggest fear - but I think there will always be something I can eat   I probably have tons more questions...we are just so excited to go next year.  Your reporting on the crowd behavior was very interesting to hear - have heard conflicting reports about how good/bad they have been.  I think it is all a matter of perspective.
> Going to Shanghai first then Tokyo and then home (one to enjoy the awesome Tokyo parks and two to avoid getting a chinese visa).  Have a great day!



As far as I'm aware, credit cards were pretty much accepted everywhere apart from the carts around the park. As I mentioned before though, I used cash as a budgeting tool, so I didn't actually try to pay on the card at quick service places. Now food... let's see... I'll see if I can remember what I ate from when I arrived at Disney property (apart from the club lounge at the hotel).

* Mickey shaped chocolate muffin from Ballet Cafe - just like you'd get at home
* Prawn and egg with rice from Wandering Moon Teahouse - it was actually a kids meal, but was the most appealing thing on the menu, I probably wouldn't recommend eating there if you're picky
* BBQ pork ribs from Barbossa's Bounty - I enjoyed this a lot, but the corn on the cob that came with it was awful
* 'Treasure' ice-cream sandwich from Sunnyside Marketplace - yum!
* Mickey shaped apricot Danish from Remy's Patisserie - pretty much like what you'd get at home
* Donald waffles with chocolate ice-cream and sprinkles from Il Paperino - yum!
* Lunch at Royal Banquet Hall - will get into more details later, but it's a bit on the fancy side for a picky eater
* Kids dim sum at Mickey & Friends Marketplace - I didn't quite know what to order here, so I ordered the kids meal which came with a variety of things

There is plenty of western style food around if you look hard enough, but a lot of the Asian style food is also plain-ish and suitable for picky eaters. If you like dumplings, definitely give them a try. I actually forgot to eat a lot of the time, which is why there isn't a huge amount of stuff on my list considering I was there for 3 days. I wanted to get some popcorn to eat during Ignite the Dream on my second night, but the popcorn stands were all shut! So do keep that in mind.



GusIsaFoxhound said:


> This has been great to read- thanks! September last year was my second time to Anaheim, and we had just booked a second tour to China (last one, Sept 2014) and then found out about Shanghai Disney, which made me twice as excited to be going back to China. Hubby isn't so keen on going, only coz I insist. (He stayed home last year, and I went with my sister- her first time, both in our 50's.) Anything I can find out before we go makes it easier to keep him amicable! I'll keep reading your reports if you keep writing them. Thanks again!



Glad you're enjoying it! Sounds like a great trip you've got planned. Where are you off to on your tour?

I will definitely be continuing with my TR, albeit at a fairly slow pace.


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## disney144

What were food prices like? Drink prices (of the adult sort?)

How was the walk from the hotel? How long did it take? Was the boat running?


----------



## heaven2dc

Interesting walk from the hotel to the park!  The hotel is absolutely beautiful


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## zanzibar138

disney144 said:


> What were food prices like? Drink prices (of the adult sort?)
> 
> How was the walk from the hotel? How long did it take? Was the boat running?



Food was expensive. It was around 85-95 Yuan for an adult meal combo (which came with a drink). Kids meals seemed to be a fairly standard 65 Yuan. Snacks were also the usual US kind of prices. Soft drinks were 15 Yuan, and bottled water was 10 Yuan. You can use xe.com to work out the exchange rate in your local currency. I didn't buy any adult beverages so can't help you out there I'm afraid.

Sorry I did mean to say that the walk from the hotel was about 10 minutes. It was a lovely walk, definitely a nice way to get to and from the park if the weather's decent. I didn't think to check out the boat until the end of the day, and at that point I was pretty exhausted and couldn't be bothered trudging around trying to find it. I believe it was running, but I couldn't tell you the schedule or anything like that.



heaven2dc said:


> Interesting walk from the hotel to the park!  The hotel is absolutely beautiful



Definitely!


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## zanzibar138

*The Final Countdown to Opening!*

With all the chaos with the buses etc, I had really forgotten to take notice of what time it was. I know that it was about 9:15am when I was waiting around for a bus at the Toy Story Hotel, and I'm going to estimate that it was about 10am by the time I got to the park entrance - much, MUCH later than I had anticipated (I was thinking around 8am).

I was really surprised with how well organised this part was, even if I didn't really know what was going on most of the time lol! Of course we started with the line for bag check. There were 2 lines on the end that had bag scanners and metal detectors for the people to walk through. They were moving a lot more quickly than the old 'open the bag and have a look' lines, so I joined one of those.





After that, we were directed to the ticket booths to exchange our printed tickets. I hadn't realised that I would have to do this, but I just showed one of the many CMs hanging around the printed ticket that I had and pointed to the ticket booths with a questioning expression, and he nodded yes. It was pretty easy to figure out really. The queue looked long, but it actually moved pretty quickly.









I could just see the top of the World of Disney store from the line.





After getting my official opening day ticket (yay!), I followed the crowds to the turnstiles, stopping for a quick photo opportunity on the way.





At the turnstiles, only every second line was being used, and they were all moving quite quickly. I was a bit confused at this point, as I was sure we wouldn't be being let into the park yet!





As I got closer to the front of the line, I saw people having their photos taken, and then leaving. It was all very civilised, with CMs at the head of each line supervising and directing people when it was their turn. Soon, it was my turn, and I got a brief peek inside the park again!









The CM pointed me in the next general direction and basically said 'follow the crowds'. I passed a little facilities centre with luggage storage and bathrooms. I thought it would be a good opportunity to take care of business before being stuck in line again. The process so far hadn't taken that long, and it was probably still only around 10:30am.

Finally I headed towards the holding area, a large grassed area to the side of the entrance. As I entered the area, I was handed a little welcome/instruction pamphlet, a park map, a little certificate and opening day button, and a wrist band with the number 1C on it. I was then directed to holding pen 1C. I don't know how many holding pens there were, but considering how late I'd been, I wasn't too disappointed with 1C. They seemed to be smallish pens, and I seemed to be relatively close to the front of the line. I then settled in for a long wait.





I thought it would have been nice for them to provide some sort of entertainment for us while we were in line (apart from the Disney music playing in the background). Perhaps have Mickey and Minnie come up on stage to welcome us or something. We were pretty much just left to our own devices. The only 'entertainment' were the CMs walking the lines selling ponchos, umbrellas and water, and giving out more maps (but only Chinese versions). They were doing a roaring trade!





I did meet some nice boys from Texas, and spent a few minutes talking to them, but they were in 1B, so we were kind of separated. It rained reasonably heavily at times, and I spent much of my time trying to avoid having my eyes poked out by umbrellas lol! Still, it was an exciting atmosphere, and the time actually went very quickly!





At what seemed like a very early time, there was movement in the earlier holding pens. I thought it couldn't possibly be time to go in yet, and again, thought there might be some sort of fanfare when it was opening time. People kept moving though, and disappearing, then the holding pen in front of us started moving!

A few minutes later, my pen was moving! We were escorted back down the way we'd come towards the turnstiles. I felt a bit like a rock star, with CMs lining the walkways waving and cheering, security lining the gates, people watching from outside, and some Disney celebrities hanging around - I may have bumped into Bob Iger around the park and not known it!









We entered the park to one side of the turnstiles. Then, at around 11:50am by the looks of the Mickey clock, we were pretty much just let loose!





There were more CMs lining Mickey Avenue, waving and cheering. I think they must have had every single CM rostered on, just to stand there and wave lol!













And there, at the end of the walkway, was Storybook Castle!


----------



## GusIsaFoxhound

*We're doing Beijing, then Shanghai, seeing friends in Ningbo and Nanjing, back to Shanghai (and Disney!) before home. Doing a bit of Fast Train travel, which he is looking forward to.*


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## zanzibar138

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> *We're doing Beijing, then Shanghai, seeing friends in Ningbo and Nanjing, back to Shanghai (and Disney!) before home. Doing a bit of Fast Train travel, which he is looking forward to.*



Sounds like fun! My DH is very interested in the train between Shanghai and Beijing. It might just be the reason I get him to China in the end lol!


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## bswift

Yay, we're up to the good bit! There's so much excitement in those photos


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## zanzibar138

bswift said:


> Yay, we're up to the good bit! There's so much excitement in those photos



Yep, sorry it took so long to get to!


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## GusIsaFoxhound

We're only doing one day in the park. Do-able? I'm making a list of the must see/do bits, and then anything else will be fine. I intend being there for the whole park hours, no matter what DH thinks!


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## zanzibar138

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> We're only doing one day in the park. Do-able? I'm making a list of the must see/do bits, and then anything else will be fine. I intend being there for the whole park hours, no matter what DH thinks!



One day is better than none 

What's on your must-do list? I'll try to give you some ideas on a game plan!


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## bswift

zanzibar138 said:


> Yep, sorry it took so long to get to!



Oops, not trying to rush you, just excited to read it all


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## GusIsaFoxhound

zanzibar138 said:


> One day is better than none
> 
> What's on your must-do list? I'll try to give you some ideas on a game plan!


Tron, of course (maybe only once, as I'm not good with simulator rides, but gotta try it!), Pirates. Definitely Peter Pan- I didn't get to do it at DL our first visit, but did it twice last September- it was awesome). Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride, and maybe try the Jet Packs (see Tron bracket!) I haven't checked out much yet of non-rides, but any suggestions? (Not into princess stuff.)


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## zanzibar138

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> Tron, of course (maybe only once, as I'm not good with simulator rides, but gotta try it!), Pirates. Definitely Peter Pan- I didn't get to do it at DL our first visit, but did it twice last September- it was awesome). Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride, and maybe try the Jet Packs (see Tron bracket!) I haven't checked out much yet of non-rides, but any suggestions? (Not into princess stuff.)



Well in that case, you will be thrilled to hear that Tron is not a simulator at all, but a fully fledged, amazing rollercoaster!

First of all, I would recommend getting there well before park opening, so you can be one of the first in line for a SDMT FP. Study the park map before you go so you know exactly where you're heading, because the FP lines build up quickly, and you don't want to waste that first half hour just waiting to get a FP! If you want to try to ride anything in Adventure Isle, do it once you've got your FP. The standby for Soaring will probably already be over an hour, but you might get lucky with Roaring Rapids (especially depending on the time of year you're going). If you want to try the Challenge Trails, I would also do that while you're in the area, then ride Pirates (it's a quick loading ride and the line never seems to get too long). If you're not interested in Adventure Isle, ride Peter Pan then go to Pirates.

By that time you can probably get another FP. I would recommend Tron. While you're in the area, ride the Jet Packs - it's slow loading, but doesn't seem to be that popular and the wait times are pretty decent. Also try Buzz if you're interested in that.

I would recommend both Tarzan and the Pirates stunt show, and both would be good afternoon activities while it's at its most crowded and hot (if you'll be there in summer). If you're not into princesses, I probably wouldn't bother with the castle show. Another nice activity you can do while it's hot is explore Camp Discovery. It's nice and quiet in there and the cave areas are cool (in both ways lol!). Pirates is a good one to ride when it's busy because it's so quick moving. When it's time to get another FP, try Peter Pan. The parade was cute, but with only one day, staking out a spot and then watching the parade will take up a lot of your precious time. If you'd like to see it, but not that fussed about the view, it's easy enough to walk up right before it starts (or even while it's going) and still see quite a lot of the floats - you just miss out on the ground level performers.

You didn't say whether you want to see Ignite the Dream. I'd recommend it, but it's also something that you don't necessarily need to put a lot of time into if you're not that fussy about your view or seeing all the projections. If you don't want to invest much time at all, you could view the fireworks and lasers from pretty much anywhere you can see the castle - I think the bridge to Tron or from across the lake in Adventure Isle would both be nice places to see it from if you're not that fussed. If you're willing to stake out a spot, the good news is with all the garden beds in front of the castle, there are plenty of spots up against a fence. Try slightly to the side (I was over near Dumbo) for less crowds. If you don't care about Ignite the Dream at all, definitely use this time for rides.

After Ignite the Dream is finished, most people will leave. That is your opportunity to hit up a few more rides. Try SR for SDMT, and do Peter Pan again, and Voyage to the Crystal Grotto if you're interested. You could also try Pirates again or Tron, depending on your preferences.

Try not to spend too much time criss-crossing the park. It is a MASSIVE park, and it takes AGES to walk from one section to another. It's hard with FPs, but I would try to focus on one section at a time to avoid wasting too much time 'in transit'. The quick service locations I went to were all great, didn't need too much time, and I managed to find seating fairly quickly. I had breakfast before I went and pretty much all I needed was lunch and snacks to get by. Be aware that the lines for turkey legs and corn dogs are longer than many rides lol!

Hope that helps!


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## GusIsaFoxhound

HUGE help! Thanks. I'm rapt that Tron is an actual rollercoaster instead of simulation- I'm there for it!! I'll keep all this in mind.


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## BelleBway

Does Tron have any big drops?  It doesn't seem like it, but I want to know what I'm getting myself into.  I enjoy all the WDW/DLP/TDR coasters (except for the DLP Indy/ TDR Raging Spirits because I think they're lame, not because I think they're scary...) but I'm not into really big roller coasters.  Thanks!


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## zanzibar138

BelleBway said:


> Does Tron have any big drops?  It doesn't seem like it, but I want to know what I'm getting myself into.  I enjoy all the WDW/DLP/TDR coasters (except for the DLP Indy/ TDR Raging Spirits because I think they're lame, not because I think they're scary...) but I'm not into really big roller coasters.  Thanks!



It's hard to tell because it's completely dark inside. It's very smooth. There were a couple of instances where it felt like there was a little drop, but nothing big. If you can handle Space Mountain at DLP you'll be fine


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## BelleBway

zanzibar138 said:


> It's hard to tell because it's completely dark inside. It's very smooth. There were a couple of instances where it felt like there was a little drop, but nothing big. If you can handle Space Mountain at DLP you'll be fine



Awesome!  DLP Space Mountain is one of my favorites.


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## zanzibar138

BelleBway said:


> Awesome!  DLP Space Mountain is one of my favorites.



Mine too, and I LOVED Tron, so I reckon you'll like it too!


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## zanzibar138

*The Road to Tron*

I was convinced that I’d missed something at opening, so I headed straight towards the castle, hoping to maybe see some sort of ceremony or something.





Of course, there was nothing, only the annoying remnants from the official opening ceremony blocking the castle (this was a point of contention for the next couple of days).





I was feeling a little lost at that stage, as I had really been expecting the first hour or so to be taken up by ceremony and wading my way through the crowds. On the plus side, crowds were not an issue at all. Mickey Avenue was super short, and once it opened up onto the Gardens of Imagination area in front of the castle, the crowds dispersed very quickly, and the walkways became practically clear! I went back to my plan (which I had written down on a piece of scrap paper in my handbag in case of such feelings of lost-ness). Second on my list after experiencing any opening ceremonies was shopping. I decided that wasn’t going to be the best use of my time, and skipped to the next thing – getting a FP for Tron.

I walked through the Gardens of Imagination on the way through, past Dumbo and the Mickey meet and greet. At this stage, I decided not to waste time taking photos, and to focus on staying ahead of the crowds. Gardens of Imagination was underwhelming. The majority of the land was just pathways in front of the castle, broken up by simple garden beds and little ponds. This proved wonderful for Ignite the Dream, absorbing a lot of guests, while providing a lot of ‘front row’ viewing opportunities up against a fence. I’d hardly call it a ‘land’ though.

Moving on to Tomorrowland, there was a small queue forming at the entrance to Tomorrowland, at the iconic sign with the Tron dome in the background. Next to the walkway was a huge open area of completely inaccessible garden. For now, it’s lovely and really enhances the spacious feel of the park, but I have to wonder if they are going to make a more productive use of that space. I was pleasantly surprised at the wide, spacious paths around the park, and the vast amounts of open space.

My first impression of Tomorrowland was good, if a little sterile. It’s clear that the whole land has been built around the Tron attraction, which is probably why they decided to stick with the modern futuristic theme instead of going with a Jules Verne style, which some people thought may have been more appropriate in a city like Shanghai which is already very modern and futuristic. The area was made more tactile with the Tron vehicles (it’s clear why they decided to make part of the ride outdoors), jetpack ride, fountains, stage area, and also the varied levels across the whole land. I also loved that you could see the castle from the Tron 'bridge'. I really liked the juxtapositioning of the castle against all the different lands!









I decided to make my way across the raised walkway to the Tron entrance, thinking that I might be early enough to get a decent standby wait time. I was right! Only a 30 minute wait, and it didn’t even seem that long, probably closer to 20 minutes. As I was entering the queue, I was told that I must put my small handbag into a locker. This was probably one of the few downfalls of this ride, but given the nature of the ride vehicles, would have been fairly unavoidable.

The lockers were a bit chaotic at that stage, but there were plenty of CMs around helping. There was an English option on the screen, but it didn’t seem to always work. It was fairly straightforward anyway and I think it would have been easy enough to work out even without the English. The lockers were large enough to fit a backpack. I was allowed to keep my camera with me (I was pretty keen to photograph the queue and loading area!).

Back to the line!





There was a small portion of the line ‘outside’ under the dome. I did notice that pretty much all queue areas in the park were somehow covered most of the way, even in keeping with their theme. There were also fans keeping the line cool. This section of the line probably took me 10 minutes to get through, and I just happened to bump into the boys from Texas (who I’d met in the holding pen) while I was waiting!









The interior part of the queue was amazingly well done, with all the Tron theming, and even an awesome surprise element! It was a rather long queue, and now and then we had to wait for an automatic door to open to get through to the next area. This was a great way of keeping the crowds evenly dispersed, and ensured that we were held in the surprise area long enough to see the surprise!













The loading area was accessed via a long ramp leading to a platform in the middle of two loading bays, kind of like a train station! The great theming was continued in this area, and between the theming, video and ride vehicles being loaded, there was plenty to keep us occupied for the last 5-10 minutes of our wait.

























The ride vehicles are definitely unique! I was expecting them to be something like the motorbikes at Dreamworld, or jetskis at Seaworld (apologies to my non-Australian readers!). They were really nothing like it! I liked that there was a little bridge across the track between light cycles so that you didn’t have to clamber over if you were on the far side (which I was every single time I rode lol!). Once you were at your light cycle you sat astride and put your legs in what I can only describe as leg braces. To lock yourself in, you pulled in the handlebars which lowered the back brace and raised the leg braces to put you in the riding position. There was a tiny compartment to put things between the handlebars, which possibly would have just fit my tiny handbag in it. There was plenty of room for my camera, although I did see another girl having trouble fitting her hat (baseball cap style) in there.









It was comfortable enough, except I got a bit of a stiff neck from keeping my head up to look at everything. Also, on the last day of my trip my lower back was getting quite sore from all the standing around on hard surfaces, and the final stop was quite jarring. Other than that, no problems! For those who are wondering how I got on with a skirt, I didn't have any problems as I always wear bike shorts underneath at theme parks. Without bike shorts, I would have been a bit more careful, but I don't think it would have been a real problem. I have seen photos of regular sitting style cars though (at the back of the carriage) for those who are unable/unwilling to go into the ride position. I was lucky enough to get the front row on my first ride!





I don’t think it will give too much away if I say that the launch is right at the beginning, and launches you out into the exterior of the dome. Most of the ride is inside, and is much like Space Mountain, but with a lot more twists and turns and ups and downs. There are also lots of lighting and projection effects inside the dome, with one particular effect that was really cool! Overall I thought it was a great, fun ride, even for someone who hasn't seen Tron and knows nothing about it. I'm sure there were some details that were lost on me, but the theme generally made sense and was easy to follow.

The rather long exit is not particularly well themed, but then the ride is over by then so it doesn’t matter too much. Along the way there was a CM stationed giving out certificates to everyone for being ‘the first rider’. Based on how many of these I got for a variety of rides, I’m guessing they were given to the first 1000 people or so. The exit came out at the gift shop of course, with plenty of unique Tron themed merchandise. The best one was the Mickey riding a remote controlled light cycle. Unfortunately that was out of my measly small souvenirs budget. Another cool option was a little light cycle (like a matchbox car kind of size) that came in pieces that you could put together yourself. Other than that, there was the usual array of t-shirts, stationery items, plush toys (all in Tron outfits) and ornaments.

I walked through the shop and came out back at the lockers, grabbed my gear (which was nice and easy to figure out), and was ready to enjoy the rest of Tomorrowland.


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## Karin1984

I haven't seen the movie Tron, but the outside... I'm not sure if I am a fan of how it looks. It doesn't look very Disney to me. Maybe it will look better in person. Also with the fountains outside, it looks more like a very modern park in a metropole to me. Although that's probably the general idea ;-)

The inside of the building I do love and the vehicles... it just makes me so excited for this ride! It's so different from most coasters.
What kind of camera do you have that you could bring it with you on the ride? I take it a small camera which fits in your pocket?


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## PrincessInOz

Just joining this TR!  

Sorry for being MIA...but I was away as well and have just picked up the threads of real life.  Will be reading avidly along!


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## zanzibar138

Karin1984 said:


> I haven't seen the movie Tron, but the outside... I'm not sure if I am a fan of how it looks. It doesn't look very Disney to me. Maybe it will look better in person. Also with the fountains outside, it looks more like a very modern park in a metropole to me. Although that's probably the general idea ;-)
> 
> The inside of the building I do love and the vehicles... it just makes me so excited for this ride! It's so different from most coasters.
> What kind of camera do you have that you could bring it with you on the ride? I take it a small camera which fits in your pocket?



Hmm that’s true, and I suppose that was always going to be the trouble with trying to build a modern Tomorrowland in a modern city like Shanghai. Mostly it could have been any city square area, except for the Tron dome. To be honest, I don’t find any Tomorrowland exceptionally ‘Disney’. The only thing that comes close is Discoveryland at DLP.

I actually quite like the Tron dome. I know I’m going to get seriously flamed for this, but I actually find it much more inspiring than the Space Mountain structures in most Tomorrowlands. I think the smooth flowing shape is a much better fit for a futuristic theme, and like that it’s more interactive and you can actually see part of the coaster.

FWIW, this area really comes alive at night!

As for the camera, I have a Sony Cybershot HX90v. It's a large pocket size camera, but I didn't have any pockets lol! I was able to put it into the little compartment between the handlebars while on the ride. I think pretty much all point and shoot cameras would fit in there.



PrincessInOz said:


> Just joining this TR!
> 
> Sorry for being MIA...but I was away as well and have just picked up the threads of real life.  Will be reading avidly along!



I was wondering when I'd 'see' you! Hope you had a great trip


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## zanzibar138

*Focus on Tomorrowland*

After experiencing Tron for the first time, I decided that I must do it again! So I headed down to get a FP. At SDL, FPs are distributed at centralised kiosks in each land. In Tomorrowland, FPs are distributed for both Tron and Buzz. I thought the FP kiosk looked kind of like a mini Tron dome, and there was a great view of the ride just after the launch to entertain me while I was standing in line.









I only had to line up for a few minutes. There were heaps of FP machines within the kiosk (I think 14 from memory), and the line split into 2 at the end. At the head of each line there was a CM directing people to FP machines as they became available. There were another couple of CMs flitting between machines helping people. It was pretty much the same as legacy FP at the US parks, but you scan the QR code on your ticket instead of inserting it in the machine, and then you just have to make sure you choose the right ride. You can view the screen in Chinese or English, and it will spit out a FP in the language that you used (I found this out when I forgot to choose English once and got a FP that was all in Chinese – luckily I was still able to pick out the times on it lol!). I didn’t mind the concept of having the centralised kiosk, but I felt like it didn’t work that well when there was one really popular ride and one not so popular one. The popular ones got long lines forming right at opening (eg Soaring), and if you wanted a FP for the other ride, you still had to wait in the incredibly long line. It wasn’t an issue in Tomorrowland, but was a problem in Fantasyland and Adventure Isle.

The FP I received had a return time around 2-3pm, so I planned the rest of my day around that. I decided to ride Buzz next, as it only had a 5 minute wait, then check out Gardens of Imagination in a bit more detail and hit the shops. After that I envisioned it being time to head back to Tron to use my FP, then make the trek back to the hotel to see if my room was ready yet. Yep, things were going that smoothly that I was quite happy to schedule in an afternoon break!

Buzz turned out to be an absolutely walk on, and continued to have a relatively short wait (I saw it get up to 30 minutes) throughout my visit. It’s definitely one of the higher capacity, quick loading rides in the park, and didn’t seem to be amazingly popular. Being a walk on, I didn’t get to spend much time in the queue, but I did miss the etch-a-sketch instruction screen from the US parks. This queue seemed quite plain in comparison.









As it was so quiet at that stage, I was given a whole car to myself, so I had no one to compete with! Nonetheless, I gave it my best shot. I found this version of the ride much easier to score well on than others. The laser pointers were different colours, so you could easily pick out which one was yours, and most of the targets were pretty easy. I’m not sure if there were higher scores for some of the targets, because they didn’t seem to be different shapes or anything like they are in the US. I still aimed for the more difficult ones though, and was pleased when I hit most of them. I actually got my highest score ever (by quite a long way), and ended up in the second highest category on my first go. While it was kind of fun to get such a high score, I did feel like it was a little bit too easy.









I didn’t find this version of the ride as cheerful as the others. It was far less colourful, a bit dingy, and kind of felt almost industrial. While I wasn’t particularly trying to follow the story, I found that it was less obvious than the other versions (where I don’t particularly try to follow it either, but get the gist of it nonetheless). The ride stopped momentarily towards the end, and I took the opportunity to grab a quick photo instead of going for a higher score! The official announcement was in both Chinese and English, although I found that generally CM instructions were only given in Chinese.





On this occasion, we quickly got going again and finished off the ride.





Overall, while I enjoyed the ride (and the novelty of getting such a huge score!), personally I prefer the colour and brightness of the other versions and didn’t feel an overwhelming urge to do this one again.

I was in less of a rush when I left, as the crowds didn’t seem to be building that much, so I had a bit of a look around Tomorrowland on my way out. There was a Baymax show happening at the stage. I briefly paused to see what it was all about, but didn’t bother to stop and watch for long. It seemed to be Hiro and Baymax doing aerobics or something. The crowd was joining in, doing all the movements – I was pleased to see how much they were interacting and seemed to be enjoying it.





I had a bit more of a look at the fountains on the way through, and figured out how all the paths joined together. There was still a queue at the Tomorrowland sign, so I gave that a miss again, but had a bit more of a look at the extensive garden.





I never really bothered to get a good look at the jetpacks. It was kind of tucked over in the corner of Tomorrowland, a bit out of the way. Neither did I bother to try and find the Star Wars or Marvel attractions. I was much more interested in exploring the Gardens of Imagination.


----------



## Karin1984

zanzibar138 said:


> Hmm that’s true, and I suppose that was always going to be the trouble with trying to build a modern Tomorrowland in a modern city like Shanghai. Mostly it could have been any city square area, except for the Tron dome. To be honest, I don’t find any Tomorrowland exceptionally ‘Disney’. The only thing that comes close is Discoveryland at DLP.
> 
> I actually quite like the Tron dome. I know I’m going to get seriously flamed for this, but I actually find it much more inspiring than the Space Mountain structures in most Tomorrowlands. I think the smooth flowing shape is a much better fit for a futuristic theme, and like that it’s more interactive and you can actually see part of the coaster.
> 
> FWIW, this area really comes alive at night!
> 
> As for the camera, I have a Sony Cybershot HX90v. It's a large pocket size camera, but I didn't have any pockets lol! I was able to put it into the little compartment between the handlebars while on the ride. I think pretty much all point and shoot cameras would fit in there.


What I do like in the dome, this is more the 21st century idea of futuristic. And it really matches the ride. I can imagine it looks gorgeous at night. (Pictures?  )

What I meant with not really Disney is that in the other parks I feel more like I am in a different world, not necessarily the future but something out of my own world.

In your next post, do I understand all the fp machines are all together in one spot in the park, but the different rides do have different machines?


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## zanzibar138

Karin1984 said:


> What I do like in the dome, this is more the 21st century idea of futuristic. And it really matches the ride. I can imagine it looks gorgeous at night. (Pictures?  )
> 
> What I meant with not really Disney is that in the other parks I feel more like I am in a different world, not necessarily the future but something out of my own world.
> 
> In your next post, do I understand all the fp machines are all together in one spot in the park, but the different rides do have different machines?



Patience, patience... I'll be uploading night time pictures in time.

I don't get that feeling in any Tomorrowlands. It's probably why it's always my least favourite part of the park.

All the FP machines are the same, and offer FPs for both attractions.


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## PrincessInOz

Love the look of the Tron ride!
That's a great score for Buzz!  Well done.


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## angai379

Loving your report so far!! It'll be 2 years before I can head to Shanghai, and it's exciting to see. Thanks for reporting.


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## helenk

I had convinced myself that the park was going to be too busy to go to it when I visit my daughter in Beijing in July. But after reading your report I really want to visit. We can take the train from Beijing to Shanghai and spend 2 days. I am so torn, go this year or wait a year


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## Karin1984

@helenk Not sure if vacations in China have started already, but I've been keeping an eye on the app for the past few days. And the busy rides are SDMT, Roaring Rapids and Soaring, which all 3 have FP. All three reached up to 100 - 120 waiting times (4-6PM), but the last two hours of park opening seem pretty deserted. Today, around 8PM (Shanghai time)  SDMT was 45 minutes, Soaring 30, an hour later SDMT was 20 minutes, all other rides had a 5-10 minute line. And the park closed at 10PM.

The only thing I do not get is the early closures. On a Saturday Roaring Rapids closed at 5, today at 7, both times the park was open till 10.


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## zanzibar138

PrincessInOz said:


> Love the look of the Tron ride!
> That's a great score for Buzz!  Well done.



Thanks, I definitely think it was easier though!



angai379 said:


> Loving your report so far!! It'll be 2 years before I can head to Shanghai, and it's exciting to see. Thanks for reporting.



Glad to have you aboard!



helenk said:


> I had convinced myself that the park was going to be too busy to go to it when I visit my daughter in Beijing in July. But after reading your report I really want to visit. We can take the train from Beijing to Shanghai and spend 2 days. I am so torn, go this year or wait a year



Do it, do it! Although no one can deny it will be busy, due to the huge spaces in the park, it was actually quite pleasant to just be there for the day, even if you don't get to experience everything due to long waits.



Karin1984 said:


> @helenk Not sure if vacations in China have started already, but I've been keeping an eye on the app for the past few days. And the busy rides are SDMT, Roaring Rapids and Soaring, which all 3 have FP. All three reached up to 100 - 120 waiting times (4-6PM), but the last two hours of park opening seem pretty deserted. Today, around 8PM (Shanghai time)  SDMT was 45 minutes, Soaring 30, an hour later SDMT was 20 minutes, all other rides had a 5-10 minute line. And the park closed at 10PM.
> 
> The only thing I do not get is the early closures. On a Saturday Roaring Rapids closed at 5, today at 7, both times the park was open till 10.



Yep, Roaring Rapids does seem to close early for some reason. It did while I was there too. Maybe they think people won't want to ride it at night or something? Who knows?

The crowds definitely ease off at night. Everyone spends an hour or so staking out a spot for Ignite the Dream, then watching the show, then the majority of people seemed to leave right after the show. The fairly limited late night train timetable would definitely be one reason for this behaviour, with trains on some lines finishing quite early (so people have to actually get to that line in time to catch the last train). It did seem like a lot of people wanted to fit in one last ride, so immediately after the show, the wait times tended to spike temporarily, but if you then hang around a bit longer, you'll find a practically empty park!


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## RandomlyrachelG

This sounds like so much fun! I have eagerly anticipated reading the opening day trip reports. One of these days I'll go back to China and that trip will definitely have to include Shanghai!


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## zanzibar138

*Focus on Gardens of Imagination*

I briefly consulted my map (the only one that I planned to use out of the several handfuls that I actually took lol!), and decided to check out the Garden of the Twelve Friends next. I thought it might be nice to take the path through the castle on the way through, to check that out in more detail.

The Enchanted Storybook Castle got a bad rap during park planning. From the get-go, there have been complaints about everything from its size, shape, style and colour. To be completely honest, I thought it looked amazing all along, but it had been suggested that it lacked whimsy and 'magic'. In person, I thought it was absolutely beautiful and, judging by the reports that I have been reading from opening day, it seems that it has been winning people over left right and centre.













Unfortunately there was a lot of opening ceremony 'stuff' in front, blocking the full view of the castle. Much of this had been removed in the few days that I was there, but I'm not sure how much of it will be staying. I know that the little huts on either side of the temporary bleachers are required for Ignite the Dream, and possibly the castle stage show, but I'm not sure if the large light stands are required for the projections. I suspect that all the red 'boxes' have probably been removed by now. It was unfortunate for my visit that I wasn't able to experience the castle, stage show and Ignite the Dream in all of its glory, but it was one very minor point of contention in an otherwise ridiculously smooth and easy opening day experience!





As with the other castles around the world, there are all sorts of critters and characters sculptured into the castle.

















At the very top of the castle is a gold plated lotus blossom.





I just stuck to the front part of the castle on this visit. In other parts of the castle there is the Royal Banquet Hall restaurant, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, the castle walkthrough (which I never did because the line was always so long!), and the grand hall in the middle with the massive chandelier and princess mosaics.





On the other side of the castle, I ran into a photopass photographer. It turned out that there were heaps around, and a lot were just twiddling their thumbs waiting for someone to photograph! I got HEAPS of photos taken by the photographers, but I didn’t realise until I was on my way home that you need to download an app in order to view/order your photos. I don’t have any smart devices so that’s not an option for me. The only other way to purchase was in park, but I’d already left. So unfortunately I have no information to give you on photopass. The photographers were generally pretty keen to get me to do the ‘bunny ears’ pose lol!





Hidden away near the path to the castle, there was a little pathway leading to a secluded park. I took this path, thinking that it might lead to the Garden of the Twelve Friends. I was surprised to see a little shrubby/treed area surrounding a large rock pool with cascades. There were various nature sounds being piped into this area, and it was practically empty. It was a lovely little hideaway from the crowds, but I couldn’t help thinking that the lovely castle view was kind of wasted on that space being so obstructed by trees. The path kind of wound around the pool and led me back out to the main walkway.









From there I finally found the Garden of the Twelve Friends. More like the ‘wall’ of the twelve friends lol! Still cute though. The mosaics were definitely a popular photo opportunity. I was planning to get photos of them all, but some of them were a bit too crowded and I decided to come back later.





Here a few of my favourites.





















The Fantasia Carousel was just around the corner, so I decided to check it out while I was in the area. This was pretty cute – I loved the little Pegasus foals!









There were lots of cute details around the outside too.









And with that, I was pretty much done with Gardens of Imagination.


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## zanzibar138

RandomlyrachelG said:


> This sounds like so much fun! I have eagerly anticipated reading the opening day trip reports. One of these days I'll go back to China and that trip will definitely have to include Shanghai!



Yes, you will definitely have to include Shanghai in your next trip!


----------



## aussiecookfamily

zanzibar138 said:


> On the other side of the castle, I ran into a photopass photographer. It turned out that there were heaps around, and a lot were just twiddling their thumbs waiting for someone to photograph! I got HEAPS of photos taken by the photographers, but I didn’t realise until I was on my way home that you need to download an app in order to view/order your photos. I don’t have any smart devices so that’s not an option for me. The only other way to purchase was in park, but I’d already left. So unfortunately I have no information to give you on photopass. The photographers were generally pretty keen to get me to do the ‘bunny ears’ pose lol!



You can access all your photopass photos online at www.disneyphotopass.com.cn you have 30 days before they expire. Prices were around $12 per photo or $75 for every photo they took which is pretty good value if you got lots taken. As usual they have all the fancy borders, including special Grand Opening borders.


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## zanzibar138

aussiecookfamily said:


> You can access all your photopass photos online at www.disneyphotopass.com.cn you have 30 days before they expire. Prices were around $12 per photo or $75 for every photo they took which is pretty good value if you got lots taken. As usual they have all the fancy borders, including special Grand Opening borders.



Oh wow! Thanks for letting me know - I'll have to check it out quick smart! All I saw on my photopass card were the options for the app or the in park store.


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## zanzibar138

*Shopping on Mickey Avenue*

Mickey Avenue was busy with people still entering the park.





It wasn’t completely nuts though – there was still plenty of room to move.





On either side of Mickey Avenue, it’s pretty much one big shop, with the main one being on the left hand side as you enter. As usual, there are plenty of cute details in these shops.





On this side, the merchandise was pretty much sorted by theme rather than by merchandise type. To start with, there was a room full of general Shanghai Disneyland merchandise including keychains and some pins. After that there was a classic Mickey/Minnie section, and a princess room. Right in the middle there was a high end jewellery/collectables store, which had some fairly well priced large Grand Opening themed LE figures and such. I was pretty torn – even at those prices, just one of these items would have pretty much blown my whole souvenir budget! Next there was a room full of Grand Opening merchandise. This was what I was most interested in. There was a heap of stuff available, from plush Mickeys to puzzles, stationery packs, t-shirts, ornaments… There was pretty much something there for everyone! I was after pins though, and I still couldn’t see any Grand Opening ones. At the end of the store was just sci-fi themed merchandise including Tron and Star Wars. I started to think I’d waited too long to do my shopping and they’d already sold out of pins, so I asked a CM. I was relieved when she directed me to the pin store across the road!

At the pin store (which was also part of the photopass store), there were pretty much all the Shanghai Disneyland specific pins, as well as the coveted Grand Opening pins! There weren’t a whole heap of Grand Opening ones left. I really wanted a classic Mickey or Fab 5 style in front of the castle or something. What was left was a bit more generic or obscure. There were a few that were just characters, and only the backing said anything about the Grand Opening. They were too generic and I wasn’t interested. The other ones had a character with Grand Opening written on the pin. They were quite cute and blingy, but there were only the more obscure characters left. I picked up a Daisy one and continued looking, and when I looked back a couple of minutes later, they were gone! I also picked up Pooh and Tigger, and was happy enough with that. I decided a Tron pin might be fun too to go with my ‘first rider’ certificate! There was a whole range of pins from the different unique lands and rides. I would have bought one of each if I could! As some people have pointed out, there weren’t really any more generic Shanghai Disneyland pins – you kind of had to pick a theme.

With a fistful of pins, I headed to the checkout, and admired the details while I was in line. One wall was full of Mouse family portraits.





The other wall had pictures of Mickey’s Mickey Avenue construction and opening. I thought the one of the dedication of the Mickey statue was so cute, with Mickey wiping away a tear and Donald getting the grumps lol!









Next door was the candy shop, which I hadn’t checked out yet. It was pretty busy in there at the time.





As I exited the pin store and made my way back down Mickey Avenue, I saw Minnie out doing meet and greets, and the line looked pretty short! I couldn’t pass up that opportunity when she had been my Disneybound inspiration for the day, so I joined the short line.

I’d just managed to time it for when she was taking a short break, but they weren’t kidding when they said only 5 minutes over there. It was probably less than that! In the meantime, I checked out some of the detail around me, starting with Practical Pig Hardware and Three Little Pigs Construction, cleverly placed next to B.E. Wolf & Co Demolition.









My eyes wandered across the road. There was a lot going on over there!





And then of course there were the window displays around where I was standing.









And I loved this acorn tree next to Chip N Dale’s Treehouse Treats, and thought I must come back after dark to see all the acorns lit up!





There was the people watching too. Most people weren’t that exciting, but then there was this girl with this amazing bag! She was getting requests for photos left, right and centre!





So it was hardly a boring wait. And Minnie was back before I knew it!





Around the corner I spied another character opportunity – Goofy and Pluto! There was a little bit of Radiator Springs theming in this area.









It was starting to rain again, but only lightly, and I could keep out of it fairly well by staying under the eaves in the queue area.





It was a very short line, and it wasn’t long before it was my turn.


----------



## zanzibar138

*Mickey’s Storybook Express Part 1*

***This update will be in two parts due to image limitations***

As I finished up my meeting with the dawgs, I saw a crowd forming along the parade route, and heard some fanfare going on. I thought I’d timed it perfectly, and was surprised to be able to still get a front row spot! A few minutes later, the Grand Marshall car came past. It must have been so awesome to get to Grand Marshall for the very first official parade!





There was actually a very long break between the Grand Marshall and the actual parade. The crowds were still building, but the rain was easing off, and I got talking to another westerner who was standing next to me. She was from Norway and her husband was there covering the event as a journalist for some Norwegian publication. She hadn’t been able to get a media pass, but she was doing some photography and interviewing for him. So if anyone sees me in some European publication, you’ll know why lol!

Finally the parade started. I hadn’t actually been meaning to bother to watch the parade – it was just circumstance that led to me being there with a front row spot. However, once the music started and I saw the first characters appear from around the bend, I was surprisingly excited to see it!





The first float was Casey Junior with the Fab 5 and some dancers dressed in what I can only imagine are railway signalling inspired costumes, as well as a couple in a more classic 50s kind of dress. This float was accompanied by a cute, upbeat version of the Casey Junior song, which still gets stuck in my head at the drop of a hat (so will now be in my head all day lol!).

















Mickey was the engineer of course!





For some reason, the seven dwarves followed along behind. They did get their own song, but there was no sign of Snow White.









The next float was Toy Story themed, accompanied by the usual array of Toy Story characters, plus Lotso, and some colourful pogo stilt walkers.





























And of course the green army men did a bit of a choreographed routine.









I loved the addition of a walking Slinky behind! In fact, many of the floats had cute details at the rear which was a nice touch.





Next up was Rapunzel, which I thought was an odd choice to get her own float (in a parade that didn’t even include any other princesses except for the Frozen girls). I guess Tangled must have been really popular in China!









This float was accompanied by dancing ‘thugs’, including the guy who liked to do mime.









There was another cute detail on the back of this float too. Maximus is one of my faves!


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## zanzibar138

*Mickey's Storybook Express Part 2*

The next float was Nemo, which was a cute (if slightly odd) addition.













The pelican dancers were awesome!





There were also other sea creatures represented among the dancers.









And of course, Mr Ray made an appearance.





Ah, the obligatory Frozen float. As usual, this drew plenty of oohs and aahs from the crowd, and excited screams from little girls. The float was accompanied by snowflake dancers and a very cool giant snow monster (easily the best part of the float IMHO!).





















I was very excited for the next float, which was Mulan. There were plenty of soldier inspired dancers to start.









I was also thrilled to see Mulan depicted as Ping, rather than wearing her princessy ‘Reflection’ dress. The larger than life Khan was just beautiful.









This float was full of wonderful detail, including drummers, lion guards, a dragon motif, Mushu gong, and even Mulan lanterns, all on a beautifully ornate float clearly inspired by Chinese architecture.













To mark the end of the parade, we got the caboose. I thought this was a strange way to end the parade, a very simple float with a hodgepodge of characters. It was almost like Mulan was the finale of the parade, and this was an afterthought. Plus, I wasn’t quite sure what the thought was behind the massive genie on top of the float. I think I remember Aladdin music playing, but it certainly wasn’t an Aladdin themed float.


















And there were some other characters I was happy to see too. Nick Wylde, Judy Hopps, Marie, Pinocchio, Captain Hook, and Mr and Mrs Incredible all made an appearance. The characters on this float did seem to change with each parade. In the coming days, I also saw Stitch.













Overall, I thought it was a cute parade, and was glad that I had seen it properly. However, it wasn’t Disney’s finest offering, and I didn’t feel the need to see it again. It seemed a little disjointed, with what I thought were some odd choices. I think it would have been better if they'd either ditched the train theme, or really used it throughout as a cohesive element (like they do in Hong Kong with the hot air balloon theme, or in Anaheim with the music theme). It really could have done with some more interactive or visually interesting elements too, like some more acrobatics or perhaps some 'mini floats' (like the ladybug things that the characters sit on in Paint the Night).


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## PrincessInOz

Interesting parade.    The first couple of costumes had me excited....and then the hodge-podge of bits and pieces.  I hope they eventually figure out how to link the elements together....or maybe they already do and we haven't figured it out yet???

Glad you found some pins.


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## zanzibar138

PrincessInOz said:


> Interesting parade.    The first couple of costumes had me excited....and then the hodge-podge of bits and pieces.  I hope they eventually figure out how to link the elements together....or maybe they already do and we haven't figured it out yet???
> 
> Glad you found some pins.



I just think they need to keep the train/travel theme going throughout the parade and they'd be set. Not sure why they haven't done it that way.


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## zanzibar138

*Finally, Some Lunch!*

Well, not quite yet. I needed to use my Tron FP first (and of course, get another one to ride it at night!).





I had realised though, while I was standing around waiting for the parade, that I hadn’t actually eaten or drank a single thing since leaving my hotel at around 6:30am, and that I was starting to feel a little under the weather.

Of course, I had to do Tron first so that I didn’t miss out on a FP for tonight, but after that I headed straight to the Wandering Moon Teahouse. As I entered, I was handed a menu and warned (well, it sounded like a warning to me) that it was all Chinese food. I said ‘great’ and headed in!













Well, it did turn out that I didn’t recognise anything on the menu enough to work up the courage to order it lol! So my very first meal in the park was the kids prawn and egg with rice, which also came with apple slices and a little bottle of water. I pretty much finished the water off in one gulp, and made a mental note to remember to seek out water in the coming days so I didn’t get to that point again.





Ordering was easy enough, despite the language barrier. There was a large copy of the menu on the counter that you could point at to avoid any confusion. Having said that, I did cause some confusion by ordering a kids meal lol! It set me back 65 Yuan. I was a little disappointed that I hadn’t been brave enough to try any of the more exciting dishes, but this one was pleasant enough.

There was plenty of space in the dining room, which was lovely with wood and bamboo throughout, and slate flooring. There were also pictures and little artefacts scattered around. It was quite a pleasant ambience, and wasn't insanely crowded.









After lunch I decided to head back to the hotel to see if my room was ready. It’s a big park, and I could feel myself fatiguing already! (To be fair, I was nursing a hip injury left over from my Oxfam walk). I thought I’d try out the Disney Town entry/exit, just for fun. I never tried to use it as an entrance so I’m not sure whether you could get in there or not.

It was a little tricky to find my way from there, and I’m sure I didn’t take the most direct route. There were lots of pleasant looking eateries, and it would definitely be a good way to escape the crowds of the park and enjoy a nice sit down meal. Unfortunately for me, it had started raining again, and I wasn’t too keen on getting my camera out to take photos. Even more unfortunately, this would be the only time I visited Disney Town on my trip!





I did stroll through the World of Disney store on the way through. It was actually a good way to get a brief respite from the rain lol! There were a few cute details in there, including the globe which was being projected with steampunk imagery. I didn’t linger too long though, as I was keen for a rest and to get back to the park!

















The rain was getting heavier and heavier. I had been planning to walk back to the hotel, but I decided to take the bus instead. By the time I got to the bus stop, the skies had well and truly opened up.





It was pretty quiet at the bus stop at that time of day (it actually never did get insanely busy), but there were a couple of family groups around. I was surprised to see one woman (an older woman, probably a grandma) pull down her toddler’s pants and hold him over the curb so that he could do his business in the road drain. There was a toilet block about 20m away, maybe even less! To be honest though, it didn’t really affect me. I didn’t have to see anything and it was quite easy for me to let it go. The woman even flashed me a smile at one point and I smiled back. Clearly she saw nothing wrong with her actions, and she seemed like a friendly woman. It wasn’t my place to say anything (and who wants to cause drama when they’re on holiday anyway, when it’s much easier and more pleasant to exchange friendly smiles?). FWIW, this was the least offensive of only two experiences I had with toddlers urinating in inappropriate places.

And with that, the bus pulled up and whisked us away to the hotel!


----------



## helenk

Well I have enjoyed your trip report so much. You are a bad influence on me though I booked a quick trip for myself and my daughter. Just 2 nights at the Toy story hotel. But I just felt I couldn't pass up going to this park while I was in China. Reading your report and seeing your pictures just drew me in.


----------



## zanzibar138

helenk said:


> Well I have enjoyed your trip report so much. You are a bad influence on me though I booked a quick trip for myself and my daughter. Just 2 nights at the Toy story hotel. But I just felt I couldn't pass up going to this park while I was in China. Reading your report and seeing your pictures just drew me in.



Thank you so much  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!


----------



## PrincessInOz

I was wondering if we were going to hear about kids urinating everywhere.  Seems like Shanghai Disney isn't immune to it.


----------



## zanzibar138

PrincessInOz said:


> I was wondering if we were going to hear about kids urinating everywhere.  Seems like Shanghai Disney isn't immune to it.



Obviously you weren't privy to the hysteria surrounding the trial operations. Photos of kids peeing in garden beds etc were all over the internet, and people were terrified that they wouldn't be able to turn around without seeing it happening. I wanted to reassure people that it's really not that bad. I do agree that any amount of that kind of behaviour is problematic, but I don't think it's something Disney is really going to be able to stop anytime soon, and in the meantime it doesn't have to ruin anyone's trip.


----------



## Aussie Wendy

I think I like your quieter area rather than The Bund. Fascinating glimpse of some of Shanghai and not how I imagined it. What were those graphical towers - just art or did they have a purpose? Your ability to obtain food with no language skills and get something normal and edible is heartening!


----------



## zanzibar138

Aussie Wendy said:


> I think I like your quieter area rather than The Bund. Fascinating glimpse of some of Shanghai and not how I imagined it. What were those graphical towers - just art or did they have a purpose? Your ability to obtain food with no language skills and get something normal and edible is heartening!



Shanghai wasn't at all how I'd imagined it either! It really was a clean modern metropolis, not unlike Singapore (well, the Pudong side anyway). I'm not sure what you mean by the graphical towers  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


----------



## GusIsaFoxhound

DH is now talking about TWO nights at TSH- whoo hoo!!! So I'll get a full, full day of Disney. I'm prepared to let him stay at the room if he wants to- I'll just let myself loose. 
Zanzibar, this is just great- so informative for me to get these hints. 
So, are there no water fountains about, or did you just not notice?


----------



## Dentam

I leave for Shanghai in 11 days!  I will be booking our hotels at SDL tomorrow - leaning toward the first night at Toy Story and the second at SDL Hotel.  I am getting so excited!!

I have heard that you should only drink bottled water there so I will have to remember that.  I'm so glad to hear that ordering food wasn't too difficult.  I've heard so much about the popular turkey legs that I may need to try one of those too.  

Thanks so much for doing this report.  It has really helped to know more about what to expect when I get there!


----------



## zanzibar138

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> DH is now talking about TWO nights at TSH- whoo hoo!!! So I'll get a full, full day of Disney. I'm prepared to let him stay at the room if he wants to- I'll just let myself loose.
> Zanzibar, this is just great- so informative for me to get these hints.
> So, are there no water fountains about, or did you just not notice?



Woohoo! That's great news that you'll get a whole day!

I came to learn that there are drinking water fountains at all the toilet blocks. They don't stand out much though, you have to actually look for them. You will also get bottled water provided at the hotel (I think there were 2 bottles in the bedroom and 2 in the bathroom).



Dentam said:


> I leave for Shanghai in 11 days!  I will be booking our hotels at SDL tomorrow - leaning toward the first night at Toy Story and the second at SDL Hotel.  I am getting so excited!!
> 
> I have heard that you should only drink bottled water there so I will have to remember that.  I'm so glad to hear that ordering food wasn't too difficult.  I've heard so much about the popular turkey legs that I may need to try one of those too.
> 
> Thanks so much for doing this report.  It has really helped to know more about what to expect when I get there!



So glad to hear that my report is helping people!

First night at Toy Story and second night at SDL Hotel is definitely the way to go. I'll admit that Toy Story was a bit of a let-down after club level at the SDL Hotel lol!

Generally yes I would stick to bottled water. However, the drinking fountains throughout the park are safe to use (well, I used them, it tasted fine and didn't get sick!). See above as well, that you do get bottled water at the Disney hotels.


----------



## Aussie Wendy

zanzibar138 said:


> *The Disneyland Hotel and Wishing Star Park*
> 
> 
> Next thing I knew, I was exiting Disney Town and entering the park entrance area! I was so excited, I think my heart skipped a beat or two!



I love this picture with the hazy castle in the background! Very confusing complicated arrival. Glad you made it! Wonder what will be the usual opening hours for Wishing Star Park? Sounds like KL - not expected to walk anywhere and confound the locals when you do!


----------



## Aussie Wendy

LOVE the Mulan float and so pleased to see her not as a princess-and yes the Frozen float and monster are great too. Not having littlies at home I am not as "over" Frozen as some families!  Yes the floats did seem a bit disjointed though I think I have thought that at one other parade somewhere but can't recall which one.


----------



## Dentam

zanzibar138 said:


> First night at Toy Story and second night at SDL Hotel is definitely the way to go. I'll admit that Toy Story was a bit of a let-down after club level at the SDL Hotel lol!



Yes, I definitely want to end the trip with the best hotel!  We try to do that on all of our trips, saving the best for last!


----------



## zanzibar138

Aussie Wendy said:


> I love this picture with the hazy castle in the background! Very confusing complicated arrival. Glad you made it! Wonder what will be the usual opening hours for Wishing Star Park? Sounds like KL - not expected to walk anywhere and confound the locals when you do!



Thanks! I like that photo too.

I believe Wishing Star Park will generally be open between 7am and 7pm, possibly with shorter hours during winter. I'm honestly not sure why there is a need to close it at all  You can actually get in from the hotel any time you like by scanning your card to open the private gate. The problem was that you couldn't get in on the Disneyland side.



Aussie Wendy said:


> LOVE the Mulan float and so pleased to see her not as a princess-and yes the Frozen float and monster are great too. Not having littlies at home I am not as "over" Frozen as some families!  Yes the floats did seem a bit disjointed though I think I have thought that at one other parade somewhere but can't recall which one.



I don't have littlies at home either, but still over Frozen lol!

I wasn't that keen on the Paris parade either, but I can't really remember it off the top of my head.



Dentam said:


> Yes, I definitely want to end the trip with the best hotel!  We try to do that on all of our trips, saving the best for last!



Definitely! Us too!


----------



## zanzibar138

*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!


----------



## Aussie Wendy

So you may have slept where someone important had just been lying (almost) - lol! A very long delay for your room though so glad you got decent compensation given how much you paid for it. You deserved it! Club level looks very nice!


----------



## Dentam

Wow, the SDL Hotel looks so amazing!  I can't wait to get there!!

I'm so glad they gave you the voucher for the plush and that you had time in the club lounge to relax.  And your room was ready just in time!

I hope the rain let up for your evening in the park!


----------



## zanzibar138

Aussie Wendy said:


> So you may have slept where someone important had just been lying (almost) - lol! A very long delay for your room though so glad you got decent compensation given how much you paid for it. You deserved it! Club level looks very nice!



To be honest, I wasn't actually planning to take a break that day. I was just going to get my room key when I got back after the park closed, and I would never have known about the delay! But part of the reason I decided to go back in the afternoon was because of how much I paid for the room and wanting to get the most value out of it, so yes it was nice that they were able to offer me something to help make up for it.



Dentam said:


> Wow, the SDL Hotel looks so amazing!  I can't wait to get there!!
> 
> I'm so glad they gave you the voucher for the plush and that you had time in the club lounge to relax.  And your room was ready just in time!
> 
> I hope the rain let up for your evening in the park!



It's really a beautiful hotel. Like the castle, it met with some negativity during planning, but seems to have turned everyone around when they actually see it.

After that massive downpour just as I was leaving, it seemed to clear up for the rest of the day. Almost like that's just what it had been needing all day lol!


----------



## Dentam

I forgot to ask - did you mention using Facebook while you were there?  I wasn't sure what communication I'd have while there since I think there's a lot of censorship.  I thought Facebook was banned in China.


----------



## zanzibar138

Dentam said:


> I forgot to ask - did you mention using Facebook while you were there?  I wasn't sure what communication I'd have while there since I think there's a lot of censorship.  I thought Facebook was banned in China.



Yep, I was on facebook briefly on the couple of occasions I had a few minutes to spare. I used a VPN to get around the blocks. I went into a bit more detail about it in this post.


----------



## GusIsaFoxhound

Booked into TSH yesterday- Sept 18th and 19th. So excited! Did you stay there as well, Zanzibar? Sorry, I should scroll back through, but 6 long pages..............! 
Keep it coming, though- we love it. 
We're planning on getting our tickets from TSH. Good idea? I'm prepared to go by myself if DH doesn't want to go. I'll just get ideas from you, and anyone else who posts up in the meantime.


----------



## Dentam

zanzibar138 said:


> Yep, I was on facebook briefly on the couple of occasions I had a few minutes to spare. I used a VPN to get around the blocks. I went into a bit more detail about it in this post.



I will check out your post - somehow missed it at the time.  Thanks!


----------



## zanzibar138

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> Booked into TSH yesterday- Sept 18th and 19th. So excited! Did you stay there as well, Zanzibar? Sorry, I should scroll back through, but 6 long pages..............!
> Keep it coming, though- we love it.
> We're planning on getting our tickets from TSH. Good idea? I'm prepared to go by myself if DH doesn't want to go. I'll just get ideas from you, and anyone else who posts up in the meantime.



Yay how exciting!

Yep, I stayed at the Toy Story Hotel my second night. Loved it - was so cute and fun! I can't see any issue with getting your tickets from the hotel, just means one more thing to do when you check in, but if you won't be in a big hurry it doesn't really matter.

Actually I did read on someone's blog (can't remember which one now), that when they got their ticket through the hotel, it was actually attached to their room key. This had some repercussions for FP, as they couldn't use the room key in the FP machines. I think they had to go to Guest Services on the way in, and they could choose 2 FPs for the day to attach to their ticket. In a way, this could actually be a better way of doing it, but it might be worth seeing if you can find some more information if that's what you're planning to do.

Glad you're still enjoying the TR  I'll try to pick up the pace a bit and at least try to cover one whole day before your trip lol!



Dentam said:


> I will check out your post - somehow missed it at the time.  Thanks!



No problemo!


----------



## zanzibar138

*A Walk to the Park*

I had decided earlier that if the weather had improved, I would walk back to the park. I was keen to get some more photos of Wishing Star Park. It looked like the rain had indeed eased off.

I took the cute Mickey themed elevator down to the lobby level (Mickey greets guests in Mandarin). I took a couple more photos as I wandered through the lobby area again. Looking back, I didn’t take anywhere near enough photos of this place!









I spied a little sign to the Hakuna Matata Oasis along my way, so I decided to make a quick detour to check that out.





It was a cute little water play area for kids, with characters from the movie scattered around the area. It was a cute idea, but I’m still not sure how it fit in with the theming of the hotel.













I felt like a real VIP when I was able to use my room key to open the little gate to Wishing Star Park. It felt like I was entering a secret garden!





I liked the large rose garden directly in front of the hotel, and thought it was a really good fit.









I took the boardwalk up to the bridge. There was another regular concrete path you could take as well.





I really loved that they had a glass bottom bridge there! It was so unexpected and a cool detail. There was a regular bridge to the side, for those who weren’t comfortable with the glass option. There was a little sign on the other side with a little story about the bridge, but I have to admit being in a rush to get back to the park, I didn’t read it.













The views over the lake had been better earlier in the day when it was a little less misty. I hadn’t noticed the big Adventure Isle mountain back then though. The castle and Tron dome were also visible from the area.





















After a quick stroll through Disney Town, I was back at the park gates again and ready for action!


----------



## RachelleBeaney

Reading along and enjoying your thoughts and musings on the park  Thanks again for all your awesome advice!


----------



## Aussie Wendy

Very pretty park. I wonder if I could spring just once for the "nice" hotel whenever we get here??????


----------



## katt789

SO incredibly thankful for this TR! We're headed down over to SDL/HKDL/TDL in October and planning the actual park days has been a bit tiresome, esp shanghai since it's so new and there aren't really touring plans or anything for it!! There's so much information here and I LOVE IT! So thank you os much for that!
I'm super excited to explore both the city & the parks
Did you find the air quality to be bad any of the days you were there? Did you track it at all? After talking to some friends working over there I've become more concerned lol.
The park looks BEAUTIFUL, I'm seriously so excited to see it all in person!
Would you say Tron would be the best thing to do first? Or head the opposite side to like, Adventure Isle/Soarin and that stuff? We've got 3 full days in the park, so we can start on one side one day and the other next I guess lol.
The parade is such a cluster eff, like, I was thinking about it the other day and how the only princesses are Rapunzel & Frozen (both you were looking familiar and beautiful in your pics  lol)
What camera/editing do you use on your photos?
Can't wait to keep reading!


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## distravel

Zanzibar138,

Thanks for report and all the great pix. It is really helpful for planning our day in the park in October. Would it be crazy (or even possible since you have to show your passport) to just buy two entry tickets  to double our fastpasses so we can finish the park in one day?


----------



## zanzibar138

RachelleBeaney said:


> Reading along and enjoying your thoughts and musings on the park  Thanks again for all your awesome advice!



You're very welcome 



Aussie Wendy said:


> Very pretty park. I wonder if I could spring just once for the "nice" hotel whenever we get here??????



I think you could convince DH to splurge on the nice hotel. However FWIW the Toy Story Hotel was very reasonable as well, and a lot of fun!



katt789 said:


> SO incredibly thankful for this TR! We're headed down over to SDL/HKDL/TDL in October and planning the actual park days has been a bit tiresome, esp shanghai since it's so new and there aren't really touring plans or anything for it!! There's so much information here and I LOVE IT! So thank you os much for that!
> I'm super excited to explore both the city & the parks
> Did you find the air quality to be bad any of the days you were there? Did you track it at all? After talking to some friends working over there I've become more concerned lol.
> The park looks BEAUTIFUL, I'm seriously so excited to see it all in person!
> Would you say Tron would be the best thing to do first? Or head the opposite side to like, Adventure Isle/Soarin and that stuff? We've got 3 full days in the park, so we can start on one side one day and the other next I guess lol.
> The parade is such a cluster eff, like, I was thinking about it the other day and how the only princesses are Rapunzel & Frozen (both you were looking familiar and beautiful in your pics  lol)
> What camera/editing do you use on your photos?
> Can't wait to keep reading!



So glad to hear you're getting so much out of it! I'm going into a lot more detail than usual because I know the information around on logistics etc is still pretty vague. I'm pretty familiar with HKDL too, so yell out if you have any questions about that - I know it can be hard to find much information on that too.

I didn't have any problem with the air quality. You can probably see by my photos that it was quite hazy that first day in the park, but it didn't cause me any problems. I don't have any respiratory conditions though - I would recommend taking precautions if anyone in your group does. I didn't track it or anything either, so have no idea whether I was actually reasonable quality or not. Not sure whether your friends work in Shanghai or elsewhere, but apparently Shanghai is not as bad as other cities being as it's close to the coast.

The park is seriously beautiful. Disney have done an amazing job with the theming and level of detail on this one 

I would concentrate on Adventure Isle first on your first day. Be there for rope drop, head straight to FP for Soaring, and then directly to Roaring Rapids. Having said that, Roaring Rapids may not be as popular when the weather's not as warm. It's also worth considering doing SDMT first if you're interested in that - FPs were running out pretty quick and standby waits were long all the time. I'd save Tron for your second FP for the day. They didn't seem to go as fast, and the later you leave it, the more chance you'll have of getting a night time FP!

My camera is a Sony HX90V - I love it! It's the perfect size, but has an awesome zoom and takes really good quality shots, even at night. Funny story with my photos... I have been using Photobucket for all my DIS pictures, but I ran out of storage space, so I tried out Flickr. I noticed that there was an editing tool built in, so I've been going a bit nuts trying it out. I don't usually edit my photos, but I'm liking how some of them have turned out  It's taking ages to get through them all though, so I've been trying not to hold up the TR too much by just uploading the originals and then editing the posts afterwards when I've edited the photos (which is why you'll notice some posts have edited photos and some not).



distravel said:


> Zanzibar138,
> 
> Thanks for report and all the great pix. It is really helpful for planning our day in the park in October. Would it be crazy (or even possible since you have to show your passport) to just buy two entry tickets  to double our fastpasses so we can finish the park in one day?



Hmm, I'd never considered doing that! I suspect you would have trouble activating a second set of passes. The only way I can think of to do it would be to enter through the turnstiles, then immediately exit and enter the park again through a different set of turnstiles with your second lot of tickets. Seems like a lot of bother and expense though. Honestly, I would just take what FPs you can get and focus on enjoying the park. It would definitely be possible to do all the major rides in one day if you timed it right, utilised SR, and were willing to wait for some attractions. Based on my experience, here's what I would plan.

Be at the gates at least an hour before opening so that you can be one of the first ones through.
Get FPs for Soaring
Ride Roaring Rapids
Do the Challenge Trails
Get FPs for Tron
Ride Buzz Lightyear
Do the castle walkthrough
Ride SDMT with SR
Get FPs for Peter Pan if any are left
Ride Pirates (using SR if available)
Watch Pirates stunt show
Explore walk through attractions in Treasure Cove
Watch Tarzan show
Watch parade
Explore Alice's maze
Ride any 'secondary' rides if there's a short wait and you have time (Winnie the Pooh, Hunny Pot Spin, Jet Packs etc)
Find a spot for Ignite the Dream and watch
Ride Pirates (using SR if available)
Finish out the evening in Fantasyland, ride Peter Pan if you haven't already and Voyage to the Crystal Grotto

You'd be pretty much on the go the whole time, and that doesn't account for shopping, eating or resting, but I still think it could be doable.


----------



## distravel

Hmm, I'd never considered doing that! I suspect you would have trouble activating a second set of passes. The only way I can think of to do it would be to enter through the turnstiles, then immediately exit and enter the park again through a different set of turnstiles with your second lot of tickets. Seems like a lot of bother and expense though. Honestly, I would just take what FPs you can get and focus on enjoying the park. It would definitely be possible to do all the major rides in one day if you timed it right, utilised SR, and were willing to wait for some attractions. Based on my experience, here's what I would plan.

Be at the gates at least an hour before opening so that you can be one of the first ones through.
Get FPs for Soaring
Ride Roaring Rapids
Do the Challenge Trails
Get FPs for Tron
Ride Buzz Lightyear
Do the castle walkthrough
Ride SDMT with SR
Get FPs for Peter Pan if any are left
Ride Pirates (using SR if available)
Watch Pirates stunt show
Explore walk through attractions in Treasure Cove
Watch Tarzan show
Watch parade
Explore Alice's maze
Ride any 'secondary' rides if there's a short wait and you have time (Winnie the Pooh, Hunny Pot Spin, Jet Packs etc)
Find a spot for Ignite the Dream and watch
Ride Pirates (using SR if available)
Finish out the evening in Fantasyland, ride Peter Pan if you haven't already and Voyage to the Crystal Grotto

You'd be pretty much on the go the whole time, and that doesn't account for shopping, eating or resting, but I still think it could be doable.[/QUOTE]

Wow Zanzibar! Thanks for taking the time to share an awesome game plan. I just have to resign myself to the fact that we may not get a chance to do everything and just enjoy the day as it unfolds. Looking forward to the remainder of your trip report.


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## GusIsaFoxhound

Distravel, I'm only having one day there, and closer to when we leave (early Sept) I'm going to decide what I MUST see or do (Tron is number one, and I hope to do it more than once!!) and make sure I do them. Whatever else is the bonus on top of the day. DH has developed connections in China recently, so maybe I'll get back to do more someday. I'm still looking forward to my one day.
BTW, anyone reading this who is only planning to go to Shangahai Disney, please try and see more of China as well. It's a beautiful country, and it would be a shame to ignore it just because of The Mouse. I'll be on my second trip, and it's just a coincidence that SDL has opened just before we go. (GOOD coincidence!!)


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## zanzibar138

distravel said:


> Wow Zanzibar! Thanks for taking the time to share an awesome game plan. I just have to resign myself to the fact that we may not get a chance to do everything and just enjoy the day as it unfolds. Looking forward to the remainder of your trip report.



You're welcome  I hope it's helpful for you. I agree though, better to prioritise half a dozen attractions that you're really interested in and count anything else as a bonus.



GusIsaFoxhound said:


> Distravel, I'm only having one day there, and closer to when we leave (early Sept) I'm going to decide what I MUST see or do (Tron is number one, and I hope to do it more than once!!) and make sure I do them. Whatever else is the bonus on top of the day. DH has developed connections in China recently, so maybe I'll get back to do more someday. I'm still looking forward to my one day.
> BTW, anyone reading this who is only planning to go to Shangahai Disney, please try and see more of China as well. It's a beautiful country, and it would be a shame to ignore it just because of The Mouse. I'll be on my second trip, and it's just a coincidence that SDL has opened just before we go. (GOOD coincidence!!)



Totally agree. I was pretty bummed I didn't have enough annual leave to spend any more time in China. Next time, I'll definitely see if I can convince DH to come with me and spend at a couple of weeks over there exploring


----------



## distravel

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> Distravel, I'm only having one day there, and closer to when we leave (early Sept) I'm going to decide what I MUST see or do (Tron is number one, and I hope to do it more than once!!) and make sure I do them. Whatever else is the bonus on top of the day. DH has developed connections in China recently, so maybe I'll get back to do more someday. I'm still looking forward to my one day.
> BTW, anyone reading this who is only planning to go to Shangahai Disney, please try and see more of China as well. It's a beautiful country, and it would be a shame to ignore it just because of The Mouse. I'll be on my second trip, and it's just a coincidence that SDL has opened just before we go. (GOOD coincidence!!)



I totally agree that seeing China is the priority with Shanghai Disney as the bonus. We are spending our other extra full day in Shanghai taking a day trip to Suzhou and a Water Town. We would love to spend more time in Suzhou and at Disneyland but don't have enough vacation. Have a great time on your trip in September!!!


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## Dentam

I will be in China for two conferences in Shanghai, then going to Beijing for two days, then hopefully to Suzhou and then ending the trip at SDL!  Flight leaves early tomorrow morning!!  Thanks again @zanzibar138 for all of the great tips!


----------



## zanzibar138

Dentam said:


> I will be in China for two conferences in Shanghai, then going to Beijing for two days, then hopefully to Suzhou and then ending the trip at SDL!  Flight leaves early tomorrow morning!!  Thanks again @zanzibar138 for all of the great tips!



Oooh! Tomorrow morning! How exciting! Have a wonderful trip


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## Dentam

zanzibar138 said:


> Oooh! Tomorrow morning! How exciting! Have a wonderful trip



Thank you!  Our hosts are taking us to the Oriental Pearl Tower for dinner as soon as we arrive!  Then I have to give a talk the next day - hope I'm awake for it!  lol


----------



## zanzibar138

Dentam said:


> Thank you!  Our hosts are taking us to the Oriental Pearl Tower for dinner as soon as we arrive!  Then I have to give a talk the next day - hope I'm awake for it!  lol



Ooh that sounds awesome! Just get some strong coffee into you - you'll be right


----------



## zanzibar138

*And Speaking of Tinkerbell*

Re-entry to the park was easy (I had been a little apprehensive). There was no line, I just walked up to the nearest turnstile, scanned my pass and went in.





My FP return window had started, but I really wanted to ride Tron after dark, so I thought I’d try to find something else to fill in the time. Since I had no smartphone (and there was no wifi in the park anyway), I made my way to the billboard over near the castle listing all the wait times for the park.





Nothing really stood out, so I decided to take the long way around to Tron through Fantasyland. As I walked past Peter Pan, I noticed that it still had only a 30 minute wait. It would be tight, but given that Peter Pan was so close to Tron I thought it was worth doing. The Peter Pan building was pretty similar to its Anaheim counterpart.





The queue area was better themed though, with sculptures of the characters throughout.













There were other little details like this pirate ship weathervane too.





It was in this queue that I discovered the local way of queuing. The queue area was wide enough for 2 people to stand side by side. So that’s what people did, whether they were in the same party or not. Unfortunately for me, being solo, this meant that it was very easy for people to creep past me. If I wasn’t literally touching the people in front of me, whoever was beside me would see a vacant space there and fill it. I found myself getting annoyed, because I was only just going to have enough time to get to Tron before the end of my FP window, and I was concerned about how much longer I was going to be with all these people squeezing through. It really wasn’t cutting though, just a different way of queuing that I was going to have to get used to. It was a bit of an exhausting time for me trying to actually keep my place in the queue!

I was quite pleased when I finally got to the head of the line and could start to relax. I was loaded into the back of the ship with a small family in the front. It’s always fun being in the front, but the back still offered the same views really.





It’s been a while since I last rode Peter Pan (because it’s usually too long to wait), so I couldn’t tell you exactly what has changed in this version. It’s definitely a more advanced version though, with projection lighting and effects added in to the scenes. It was definitely worth doing, and I would recommend it even if you regularly ride it at a different park, especially given the wait times were often shorter than those in Anaheim!


----------



## GusIsaFoxhound

Oh, I adored Peter Pan at Anaheim last year. Didn't do it on my 2006 visit for the same reason you mentioned- lines much too long. Couldn't believe what I'd missed out on, and am looking forward to doing it at SDL.
Still loving the photos! I have a new camera which seems to work really well, and hope to get some as nice as yours. Was there anywhere you couldn't take your camera? Mine fits into my pocket as well, so will be with me as much as possible.
I was at DL last year with my sister, and want to show her photos of SDL. Who knows, she might come over sometime, too.
Zanzibar, I'm jumping the gun here, but could you walk from TSH to the park? It's one thing I want to confirm in my pre-plan.


----------



## Flounder89

There was no wifi in the park?? The website states there is wifi..
Q.

Is wireless Internet service offered in Shanghai Disneyland?
A.

Yes. Wi-Fi will be available in Shanghai Disneyland and in many other areas throughout Shanghai Disney Resort.

For more information on Wi-Fi availability, please check back in the near future!


----------



## Dentam

A new update, yay!  I'm waiting for my first flight to board and this is just what I needed!


----------



## helenk

Flounder89 said:


> There was no wifi in the park?? The website states there is wifi..
> Q.
> 
> Is wireless Internet service offered in Shanghai Disneyland?
> A.
> 
> Yes. Wi-Fi will be available in Shanghai Disneyland and in many other areas throughout Shanghai Disney Resort.
> 
> For more information on Wi-Fi availability, please check back in the near future!


We are in Shanghai Disney now. Wifi in the parks is spotty. We had wifi in queue for Soarin' and I was able to connect over by Tron and the back of the Castle.  But in a lot of spots nothing. The Toy Story Hotel has wifi and we have a great connection.


----------



## helenk

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> Distravel, I'm only having one day there, and closer to when we leave (early Sept) I'm going to decide what I MUST see or do (Tron is number one, and I hope to do it more than once!!) and make sure I do them. Whatever else is the bonus on top of the day. DH has developed connections in China recently, so maybe I'll get back to do more someday. I'm still looking forward to my one day.
> BTW, anyone reading this who is only planning to go to Shangahai Disney, please try and see more of China as well. It's a beautiful country, and it would be a shame to ignore it just because of The Mouse. I'll be on my second trip, and it's just a coincidence that SDL has opened just before we go. (GOOD coincidence!!)


We had one full day in the park and even with the heat , 100 degrees, and the crowds , we were able to do alot. We rode Soarin', Pirates of the Caribbean, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Tron,Buzz Lightyear, Seven Dwarfs mine train, Voyage to the Crystal Grotto. It was too hot to walk around the Alice in Wonderland Maze and the wait for Roaring Rapids so we passed on it.  My daughter had a bit of sun stroke so we left the park after eating some dinner and went to the hotel to rest. I went back around 8:00 so I could see the fire works and just walk around to get some pictures. I wanted to walk through the Castle but it was roped off. Had the temps been cooler we would have been able to do more.


----------



## katt789

Great update!!! I'm excited to see all the new changes in the rides we already know!!

and good to know about all the wifi information, al though we'll be renting a portable wifi device for parts of our trip, it'll still be nice to not have to necessarily have one while in Shanghai disney!!


----------



## zanzibar138

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> Oh, I adored Peter Pan at Anaheim last year. Didn't do it on my 2006 visit for the same reason you mentioned- lines much too long. Couldn't believe what I'd missed out on, and am looking forward to doing it at SDL.
> Still loving the photos! I have a new camera which seems to work really well, and hope to get some as nice as yours. Was there anywhere you couldn't take your camera? Mine fits into my pocket as well, so will be with me as much as possible.
> I was at DL last year with my sister, and want to show her photos of SDL. Who knows, she might come over sometime, too.
> Zanzibar, I'm jumping the gun here, but could you walk from TSH to the park? It's one thing I want to confirm in my pre-plan.



The only place I couldn't take my camera was the Challenge Trails. The CM did say I could have taken it if I could put it in my pocket (my outfit that day didn't have pockets), but I've heard of others being told that they must put *all* their loose items in a locker.

You could walk between TSH and the park if you were really keen, but it would be a long walk and isn't set up well (ie just a concrete path on the side of the road, no special Disney touches or anything). I'm estimating the walk would take close to half an hour, because the TSH driveway kind of goes back on itself and I couldn't see any shortcuts for pedestrians - could be mistaken though.

I would catch the bus. I was nervous before the trip, expecting the buses to be crowded and awful. They were actually very civilised, ran very frequently throughout the day, and were a very convenient way of getting around. I only had to stand once, when I left the park right on 10pm, but I never had to wait for the next bus or anything.



Flounder89 said:


> There was no wifi in the park?? The website states there is wifi..
> Q.
> 
> Is wireless Internet service offered in Shanghai Disneyland?
> A.
> 
> Yes. Wi-Fi will be available in Shanghai Disneyland and in many other areas throughout Shanghai Disney Resort.
> 
> For more information on Wi-Fi availability, please check back in the near future!



I was quite surprised not to see wifi in the park. I must have been in an out of range area - I forget where it was.



Dentam said:


> A new update, yay!  I'm waiting for my first flight to board and this is just what I needed!



I'm so excited for you! Glad I could help you fill in the time at the airport 



helenk said:


> We are in Shanghai Disney now. Wifi in the parks is spotty. We had wifi in queue for Soarin' and I was able to connect over by Tron and the back of the Castle.  But in a lot of spots nothing. The Toy Story Hotel has wifi and we have a great connection.



That would explain why I didn't see any network then when I tried to connect once (I did have an old outdated iPhone with me that my friend lent me with a translate app on it, but it was so old that it didn't support the SDL app).

And yes I agree, no problem with the hotel wifi!



helenk said:


> We had one full day in the park and even with the heat , 100 degrees, and the crowds , we were able to do alot. We rode Soarin', Pirates of the Caribbean, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Tron,Buzz Lightyear, Seven Dwarfs mine train, Voyage to the Crystal Grotto. It was too hot to walk around the Alice in Wonderland Maze and the wait for Roaring Rapids so we passed on it.  My daughter had a bit of sun stroke so we left the park after eating some dinner and went to the hotel to rest. I went back around 8:00 so I could see the fire works and just walk around to get some pictures. I wanted to walk through the Castle but it was roped off. Had the temps been cooler we would have been able to do more.



Sounds like a great day! I hope your daughter pulls up ok after a rest.



katt789 said:


> Great update!!! I'm excited to see all the new changes in the rides we already know!!
> 
> and good to know about all the wifi information, al though we'll be renting a portable wifi device for parts of our trip, it'll still be nice to not have to necessarily have one while in Shanghai disney!!



It's always fun seeing the differences between parks, and there were a LOT in Shanghai!


----------



## PrincessInOz

Catching up.  Peter Pan looks great, despite the different queuing technique!  You definitely need a travel partner.


----------



## zanzibar138

PrincessInOz said:


> Catching up.  Peter Pan looks great, despite the different queuing technique!  You definitely need a travel partner.



Yep, it certainly would have been handy in lines!


----------



## zanzibar138

*An Update on Photopass*

After being directed to the Photopass website by a kind DISer  I have been having some serious issues trying to actually make a purchase! First of all, regarding the website - the photos are shown in such low quality it's pretty impossible to pick out which specific ones you might like to purchase. With that in mind, and being pretty keen to get them all, I was just trying to purchase the whole lot. It took a little bit of trial and error, but I finally found the option to purchase the whole lot. I couldn't figure out whether it was only going to give me a day's worth, or everything attached to my card, so I decided to start with Day 1 and decide from there if I wanted to purchase the other days if I needed to. When I tried to make the purchase, I couldn't get the visa or mastercard options to work, and obviously I can't use any of the Chinese specific payment methods. I emailed the PP helpdesk.

The next day I had an email back from the helpdesk, saying that they had fixed the problem and to try again. Try again I did, however the issue was still there. I emailed back saying it still wasn't working.

I received an email back a couple of days later, advising me that if I wasn't able to make my purchase through the website, perhaps I would have more luck with the app. I replied explaining that I don't have a smart device and can't access apps that aren't available to windows, and asked if they had a phone number I could call to give my credit card details. I didn't hear anything back after this for a few days, and it was getting pretty close to the cut off time for my photos, so honestly I kind of gave up.

On the 16th (so exactly 30 days after my first day there when my first lot of photos were due to expire), I received another email asking if I'd had any success with my purchase yet. I replied saying that I hadn't had any luck, and I didn't think it was going to happen now because my photos would expire, but asked again about a phone number, just in case. I received an email reply a couple of days later saying that they were looking into it further and would come back to me with a solution in the next few days.

Over the weekend, I got my solution! They emailed me again, saying that they hadn't been able to come up with a solution, and to make up for all the inconvenience to me, they had uploaded all my photos to the cloud and I was free to download them any time within 30 days! So I now have (most of) my PP photos in my hot little hands, all for free! Unfortunately they weren't all in there - I know there are some missing from my character lunch, and I also had someone take a magic shot in front of the castle on the last day which also isn't there. However, I'm happy enough with what I've ended up with.

I'll be going through and adding them to the relevant posts as I go


----------



## bswift

Hmm, seems like it's better to go to SDL with at least one other person rather than solo? I think I've read that about the queues before. Guess I need to work on convincing my dad to come with me!


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## zanzibar138

bswift said:


> Hmm, seems like it's better to go to SDL with at least one other person rather than solo? I think I've read that about the queues before. Guess I need to work on convincing my dad to come with me!



Don't panic if you can't find anyone to go with though. I still had a fantastic time on my own! And being on my own, I was able to do a bit of 'line squeezing' (as I called it) of my own  FWIW, no one batted an eyelid when I gave it a go (although I was ready to defend myself by saying I was just trying to get my original spot back lol!), fully cementing my theory that it isn't cutting, just a different way of queuing.


----------



## Aussie Wendy

Love the Peter Pan statues, one of my favourite rides and characters (for obvious reasons - that's who I was named after by my Dad as he loved the story and who happens to be called Peter).


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## GusIsaFoxhound

Love the statues in the line-up for Peter Pan- there's an improvement on the original. I'm rapt it has FP as well, so I can be sure to ride it at least once.
Zanzibar, did you have PP or PPP. or were you looking to purchase individual pics? I plan to have PPP. Pretty disappointed to see it costs almost as much for one day than I used in Anaheim last year, but I suppose otherwise they're losing money to 10 day pass people.
(I lost our camera 5 days in, so we used the PP photographers everytime we saw one after that. Very good value, there.) 
I found the PP site really hard to get around last time, so at least I know it could be the same hassles!
If you did use PP/P, did you have to purchase it from the Shanghai Disney site?


----------



## zanzibar138

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> Love the statues in the line-up for Peter Pan- there's an improvement on the original. I'm rapt it has FP as well, so I can be sure to ride it at least once.
> Zanzibar, did you have PP or PPP. or were you looking to purchase individual pics? I plan to have PPP. Pretty disappointed to see it costs almost as much for one day than I used in Anaheim last year, but I suppose otherwise they're losing money to 10 day pass people.
> (I lost our camera 5 days in, so we used the PP photographers everytime we saw one after that. Very good value, there.)
> I found the PP site really hard to get around last time, so at least I know it could be the same hassles!
> If you did use PP/P, did you have to purchase it from the Shanghai Disney site?



I couldn't see a difference between PP and PP+. I actually wasn't aware that they would be offering anything, so I hadn't done any research on it, and just took a card when I happened to run into a photographer. Because I wasn't planning to purchase anything, I didn't bother to get any of the ride pics, but as far as I could tell, anyone could add it to their PP card. You can also use your park ticket as a PP card, but it was good to have a separate one so that I didn't have to keep getting the park ticket out. The PP cards are hard plastic and much sturdier than the park tickets. It would pretty hard to purchase separate photos, as they were so blurry on the website (so that they couldn't be screenshot) that I really couldn't differentiate much between them.

Shanghai Photopass have their own website, which is actually at the bottom of the PP cards. Information about the app and purchasing in the park are also on the back of the card. The website took some trial and error to get around, but I'm not sure what the app is like. It's highly possible that it's a bit more user friendly. One thing to note with the website is that it requires you to do yet another registration (I don't know why all the Disney websites can't be linked to one registration!), and the form wouldn't accept a _ as part of the email. It meant I couldn't use my normal email address since it contains a _. I'm still not actually sure about whether the cost of the PP covered the whole lot, or just one day, as I ended up with all of mine for free in the end (yay!).

On the plus side, there were HEAPS of photographers around, and both Tron and Pirates definitely had ride photos. Can't remember if the Mine Train had any photos, and I didn't go on Soaring or Roaring Rapids to know about those. All the characters had photographers with them. You could get pretty good value out of it as far as number of photos goes. Not sure how the website works for editing the photos and adding borders etc as I wasn't able to get that far with it, but my photos came through with a selection of borders on them (mostly two different borders and an original for each photo), so I'm guessing that there's a good variety of extras available. I ended up with about 150, but I know that there were some missing in the end, and I wasn't specifically trying to get as many as possible.


----------



## GusIsaFoxhound

Thanks, it sounds like it's pretty much the same as last time, except the one-day-at-a-time purchase. The photos were better than what I would take, plus I really want the ride photos, like from Anaheim. I'm one of those dinosaurs who prints off photos and puts them in an album along with a day by day journal of what happened. Some people scoff, but it's not only myself who likes to have a look at them occasionally. 
Sorry to take up your trip-reporting time answering my questions. Keep going on your trip!!


----------



## zanzibar138

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> Thanks, it sounds like it's pretty much the same as last time, except the one-day-at-a-time purchase. The photos were better than what I would take, plus I really want the ride photos, like from Anaheim. I'm one of those dinosaurs who prints off photos and puts them in an album along with a day by day journal of what happened. Some people scoff, but it's not only myself who likes to have a look at them occasionally.
> Sorry to take up your trip-reporting time answering my questions. Keep going on your trip!!



Oh my gosh, please don't apologise for asking questions! That is exactly the reason I'm doing this TR, so continue to ask away 

I really need to do something with my photos other than put them on facebook and in TRs... maybe one day I'll get around to doing photobooks.


----------



## aussiecookfamily

zanzibar138 said:


> I'm still not actually sure about whether the cost of the PP covered the whole lot, or just one day


Unfortunately the unlimited photos is for one day only, so at around AUS$75/day it could work out expensive if you don't plan ahead for a multi-day visit, and it looks like it will be easiest to sort it all before you leave China. Interestingly although i could access this website in Australia, I'm now in New Zealand trying to access it and it won't load.


----------



## zanzibar138

aussiecookfamily said:


> Unfortunately the unlimited photos is for one day only, so at around AUS$75/day it could work out expensive if you don't plan ahead for a multi-day visit, and it looks like it will be easiest to sort it all before you leave China. Interestingly although i could access this website in Australia, I'm now in New Zealand trying to access it and it won't load.



Yeah pretty stoked I got all 3 of my days for free!!! That's a decent amount of pixie dust 

The website was pretty temperamental for me too. It would only load on certain computers - must depend on the software or something.


----------



## zanzibar138

*Night Time in Tomorrowland*

By the time I was done with Peter Pan, it was well and truly dark, and nearly at the end of my FP window for Tron. I hurried over, not wanting to miss out on riding at night!





It was definitely better riding at night (and it had been amazing during the day!). The whole ride just felt smoother and less disjointed without the small break in theming that heading into the daylight caused. It was fun seeing the dome light up in sync with the ride too.









I wasn’t keen to hang around too long, because I was conscious of the time and didn’t want to miss out on a decent spot for Ignite the Dream. But I did want to get a few photos while I was in the area!





The Tomorrowland stage seemed to turn into a dance party every night, with a DJ playing current hits.





I enjoyed the music while watching the Tron dome change colour. It was great the way it changed colour, kind of in a sweep from the back.

















The nice fountain was also lit up, and seemed to be doing a little show routine.





I had to go down for a closer look.





It was quite dark in Tomorrowland except for the show lighting. There was a LOT of show lighting, but I did find the stairs a little tricky to navigate in the dark.





Finally, I got my Tomorrowland sign picture. I was just arriving at the sign and setting up my picture when a group of VIP westerners walked right past and started doing a photoshoot under the sign. I didn’t mind so much, except that between each photo, they all stood around looking at it on the camera underneath the sign. If they’d have moved a bit to the side to do that, I could have used that 30 seconds to get my photo and be outta there!





Anyway, with that, I moved on from Tomorrowland and went to find my spot for Ignite the Dream.


----------



## zanzibar138

*Igniting the Dream - Part 1*

Again, due to image restrictions, this post will be in 2 parts.

I wandered through Gardens of Imagination, not looking for anywhere in particular, but just keeping an eye out for a decent view. Over near Dumbo looked reasonable, and there was a little out of the way area in the vicinity. I bookmarked that spot and kept going.





I took one look at the crowd in front of the castle and turned around to take my chances with Dumbo! It was only about half an hour before the show by that time, and it was looking like a bit of a crush in there. I made my way back to my little spot near Dumbo, and was thrilled to see that there was still plenty of room right on the rail. Despite the large red box blocking much of the castle, I was happy with the spot, and figured that the little pond would give some lovely reflections.





It proved to be a lovely quiet spot, and I enjoyed some friendly interaction with the pair of older Chinese ladies next to me as we waited. One of them ran off to get some sustenance for the show, and I instantly regretted not doing the same before I’d saved my spot! By then it was too late to leave and expect to come back to the same spot.

I also kind of destroyed one of my feet during this time. My hip was sore and my legs were tired, but the ground was still pretty damp, so I decided to lean/sit on the little concrete mound at the bottom of the fence. It was angled such that the water had run off, but the angle of it didn’t make for very comfortable seating, and must have put an odd sort of pressure on my foot at an odd angle. I don’t know what I did to it, but it was giving me grief for a few weeks!

The excitement was building as it got closer to show time, and there was a collective gasp of apprehension as the lights dimmed.

The show is quite similar to Disney Dreams in Paris, and focused on Mickey, as he made his way through various Disney stories, mostly in Chinese but there were a couple of English songs. I had made a point not to watch the show on youtube as I didn’t want to ruin it for myself. In hindsight, for photography purposes it would have made sense to make myself at least a little bit familiar with when I could expect to see fireworks etc. I also may have realised that the large red box would actually block a significant part of the projections (and by significant, I mean that it was covering most of the main character projections). Still, I think for being such a pleasant place to be, the results weren’t too bad. Plus, that big red box has since been taken away, so I would actually recommend this as a great place to watch now!

The show started with a few introductory projections featuring Mickey, accompanied by an introductory spiel and a version of A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, both in Cantonese. There were actually no Cinderella projections at all, but lots of bright colours as we were introduced to the story. You may also be able to make out the top of the fountains in front of the castle in some of my photos. There were also plenty of backlighting and lasers, the effects of which were actually vastly improved with the haze. Fireworks were actually a fairly secondary element of the show, and I imagine the minimal use of them has something to do with the air pollution regulations in China.









The show transitioned to a Lion King set, starting with The Circle of Life, which was actually in English. It was quite a long segment, which also included I Just Can't Wait to be King and Hakuna Matata, both in Cantonese.

























The show transitioned into an underwater scene with Mickey falling into the waterfall during Hakuna Matata, and went straight into The Little Mermaid. It was only a short segment, featuring Part of Your World in Cantonese. I missed most of the projections, which were behind that stupid box!





Next in the underwater set was Finding Nemo, which I was surprised to see featured so heavily in both the parade and Ignite the Dream. There was a reef scene, followed by the EAC scene, followed by a brief interlude with Bruce the Shark. All in Cantonese of course, accompanied by the movie score.









The show transitioned back to land based scenes through Pirates of the Caribbean. It was mainly various battle scenes projected onto the castle, accompanied by the movie score.

















The Aladdin scene started with Mickey reaching for the lamp in the Cave of Wonders, and giving it a rub to release the Genie, who then burst into song. It was a pretty colourful number with a grand finale of fireworks.


----------



## Dentam

We were at SDL on Thursday and unfortunately the ride I was most looking forward to experiencing, Pirates, was down all day.  

Tron was great!  The lines throughout the park were so long though all day and the fast passes ran out before noon - plus it rained all afternoon.  So, we weren't able to do too much.  We saw the Pirates stunt show which was great and would have been even better if we could understand what they were saying, ha!  Also did Buzz Lightyear but my laser wasn't really working - couldn't see it.  The ride also stopped on us 2-3 times.  The river raft ride, canoes, and Crystal Grotto were all down for parts of the day also, probably due to the weather.

We loved the hotels, especially SDL Hotel which was just beautiful!  We also loved the nighttime fireworks show and got seats right in front of the castle for it.  One thing about the crowds though, is that they will climb right over everyone who has been sitting there an hour or more and try to squeeze themselves on top of you.  Two people fell over onto the girl sitting next to us trying to do this and hurt the poor girl's ankle.  The cast member was standing across the path and didn't do anything.  In my opinion, they need to do better crowd control here to keep people from getting seriously injured.  Cutting lines is also extremely common here and we had this happen a lot while waiting 90 minutes to ride Peter Pan.  Luckily there were two of us to block the way, but man, if you weren't paying attention for a split second, they would all herd on by you.  I had a woman shove my arm into the person in front of me and she just squeezed on by holding her kid.  It was either let her go or lose my arm.  The woman behind us was constantly pressing into our backs and looking for any opportunity to dart past us, and then a mom and her kids all started shoving by - I put my arm out to stop the kids since I was getting ticked by this point.  Cultural differences or not, this type of behavior is just plain rude.  She got to the front of the line and asked the cast member to let her other kids who I'd stopped behind me come join her up front.  The answer was no thankfully.  They need to enforce this with more cast members throughout the lines I'm afraid.  It's printed on the guide maps to not cut in line, but that wasn't enough to stop it from happening frequently.

Also, after the fireworks the place was just trashed with garbage and rain coats all over the ground.  The guest behavior really did take away from our experience unfortunately.  We still enjoyed ourselves and since the wait times were so long (210 minutes for 7DMT, 150 for Soaring, etc) we did a lot of walking around taking pics and getting food in various places.  We did luck out in getting the last couple of turkey legs at a stand - they are extremely popular and there was a long line for them.  A girl tried to cut right in front of me as I was trying to pay, but the cast member in that case did wave her down and told her to get behind me.

Maybe someday I will get back there to ride Pirates.  I'm still so bummed that it was down all day and had been for days we were told.  Oh well, all in all we had a good time and Disney did a great job with the details in this park!


----------



## Dentam

zanzibar138 said:


> Actually I did read on someone's blog (can't remember which one now), that when they got their ticket through the hotel, it was actually attached to their room key. This had some repercussions for FP, as they couldn't use the room key in the FP machines. I think they had to go to Guest Services on the way in, and they could choose 2 FPs for the day to attach to their ticket. In a way, this could actually be a better way of doing it, but it might be worth seeing if you can find some more information if that's what you're planning to do.



This is how it was set up for us - our room keys were also our tickets.  Unfortunately, when I tried to ask about fast passes, the gentleman couldn't understand me and said we couldn't get replacement tickets for our room keys.  So, we couldn't get fast passes at first and by the time we would be able to find the correct spot to ask up front, most of them were out for the day anyway.  Oh well, Disney still has some bugs and issues to work out for sure but that's to be expected for being open less than two months I guess.


----------



## zanzibar138

Dentam said:


> We were at SDL on Thursday and unfortunately the ride I was most looking forward to experiencing, Pirates, was down all day.
> 
> Tron was great!  The lines throughout the park were so long though all day and the fast passes ran out before noon - plus it rained all afternoon.  So, we weren't able to do too much.  We saw the Pirates stunt show which was great and would have been even better if we could understand what they were saying, ha!  Also did Buzz Lightyear but my laser wasn't really working - couldn't see it.  The ride also stopped on us 2-3 times.  The river raft ride, canoes, and Crystal Grotto were all down for parts of the day also, probably due to the weather.
> 
> We loved the hotels, especially SDL Hotel which was just beautiful!  We also loved the nighttime fireworks show and got seats right in front of the castle for it.  One thing about the crowds though, is that they will climb right over everyone who has been sitting there an hour or more and try to squeeze themselves on top of you.  Two people fell over onto the girl sitting next to us trying to do this and hurt the poor girl's ankle.  The cast member was standing across the path and didn't do anything.  In my opinion, they need to do better crowd control here to keep people from getting seriously injured.  Cutting lines is also extremely common here and we had this happen a lot while waiting 90 minutes to ride Peter Pan.  Luckily there were two of us to block the way, but man, if you weren't paying attention for a split second, they would all herd on by you.  I had a woman shove my arm into the person in front of me and she just squeezed on by holding her kid.  It was either let her go or lose my arm.  The woman behind us was constantly pressing into our backs and looking for any opportunity to dart past us, and then a mom and her kids all started shoving by - I put my arm out to stop the kids since I was getting ticked by this point.  Cultural differences or not, this type of behavior is just plain rude.  She got to the front of the line and asked the cast member to let her other kids who I'd stopped behind me come join her up front.  The answer was no thankfully.  They need to enforce this with more cast members throughout the lines I'm afraid.  It's printed on the guide maps to not cut in line, but that wasn't enough to stop it from happening frequently.
> 
> Also, after the fireworks the place was just trashed with garbage and rain coats all over the ground.  The guest behavior really did take away from our experience unfortunately.  We still enjoyed ourselves and since the wait times were so long (210 minutes for 7DMT, 150 for Soaring, etc) we did a lot of walking around taking pics and getting food in various places.  We did luck out in getting the last couple of turkey legs at a stand - they are extremely popular and there was a long line for them.  A girl tried to cut right in front of me as I was trying to pay, but the cast member in that case did wave her down and told her to get behind me.
> 
> Maybe someday I will get back there to ride Pirates.  I'm still so bummed that it was down all day and had been for days we were told.  Oh well, all in all we had a good time and Disney did a great job with the details in this park!





Dentam said:


> This is how it was set up for us - our room keys were also our tickets.  Unfortunately, when I tried to ask about fast passes, the gentleman couldn't understand me and said we couldn't get replacement tickets for our room keys.  So, we couldn't get fast passes at first and by the time we would be able to find the correct spot to ask up front, most of them were out for the day anyway.  Oh well, Disney still has some bugs and issues to work out for sure but that's to be expected for being open less than two months I guess.



Oh, how disappointing about Pirates! I noticed there was a thread here about it being down for a while. I hope they get it fixed nice and quick! Sounds like similar wait times to Grand Opening still. I guess it doesn't help when one of the most popular and high capacity rides is down. Yep, you've definitely got to get in quick for FPs! Sounds like they need to sort out the room keys as tickets thing. At least with the nice wide paths, even at full capacity, it's still pleasant to just wander around and enjoy all the details in the park. That is one of the things I can't stand at DLR when it's crowded - even if the waits aren't as long for attractions, it's just so difficult to do anything or get anywhere!

I don't think I would bother to try and stake out one of the highly coveted spots for shows/parades because of this behaviour. My view from over near Dumbo would have been perfect if it wasn't for that stupid box, and because it was a pond in front of me rather than a garden bed, no one was going to climb over the railing to stand in front of me lol! I'd also try spots in the different lands. Sure, you don't get the full effects of the projections, but there are plenty of places with a full view of the castle and fireworks. Some of the spots in Adventure Isle/Treasure Cove could be really nice with the lagoon in the foreground. Because I wasn't in the crowded spaces for the night time show, I also didn't see any of the rubbish on the ground afterwards - the CMs seemed to do a really good job of getting that stuff cleaned up nice and quick.

Fortunately I didn't have the experience of shoving in lines, just people looking for the first opportunity to sneak past. While it made the waits more uncomfortable than they had to be (being pushed right up against the other people in line so there were no gaps), I was reasonably ok with it once I got used to it. I actually saw quite a few people being reprimanded for actual line cutting (rather than 'line squeezing' as I called it), both by CMs and other guests.

I'm sorry you had some disappointing experiences, but glad that you still managed to enjoy the park


----------



## Dentam

zanzibar138 said:


> Oh, how disappointing about Pirates! I noticed there was a thread here about it being down for a while. I hope they get it fixed nice and quick! Sounds like similar wait times to Grand Opening still. I guess it doesn't help when one of the most popular and high capacity rides is down. Yep, you've definitely got to get in quick for FPs! Sounds like they need to sort out the room keys as tickets thing. At least with the nice wide paths, even at full capacity, it's still pleasant to just wander around and enjoy all the details in the park. That is one of the things I can't stand at DLR when it's crowded - even if the waits aren't as long for attractions, it's just so difficult to do anything or get anywhere!



Yes, I was really disappointed but what can you do?  I even thought about checking the next morning, which was the day we were leaving to come back home, but I thought that would be silly to pay for a park ticket just to ride one ride.  I definitely thought seriously about it though!  I'm guessing it was still down since they didn't sound too optimistic that it would be reopening the next day when we asked. 

You are right that the very wide pathways did make it pleasant to just stroll around the park, unlike DL and many times WDW.  They did a great job with that.



zanzibar138 said:


> I don't think I would bother to try and stake out one of the highly coveted spots for shows/parades because of this behaviour. My view from over near Dumbo would have been perfect if it wasn't for that stupid box, and because it was a pond in front of me rather than a garden bed, no one was going to climb over the railing to stand in front of me lol! I'd also try spots in the different lands. Sure, you don't get the full effects of the projections, but there are plenty of places with a full view of the castle and fireworks. Some of the spots in Adventure Isle/Treasure Cove could be really nice with the lagoon in the foreground. Because I wasn't in the crowded spaces for the night time show, I also didn't see any of the rubbish on the ground afterwards - the CMs seemed to do a really good job of getting that stuff cleaned up nice and quick.



We probably should have thought more about it, but at least we were seated against a fence so we were able to keep our spot pretty well.  I was actually surprised that the crowd stayed seated through the entire show, which was nice because it ensured that everyone could see - no kids up on their dad's shoulders which was a nice change from the other parks I've been to!  Your shots are great and I love the reflections in the water - good viewing spot!  Oh, and yes - the CM's were picking all of the garbage up very quickly - it just bothered us that people were such slobs...



zanzibar138 said:


> Fortunately I didn't have the experience of shoving in lines, just people looking for the first opportunity to sneak past. While it made the waits more uncomfortable than they had to be (being pushed right up against the other people in line so there were no gaps), I was reasonably ok with it once I got used to it. I actually saw quite a few people being reprimanded for actual line cutting (rather than 'line squeezing' as I called it), both by CMs and other guests.



It was just crazy to feel so on edge and like you had to defend your spot every second for the entire 90 minutes.  I didn't see any guests reprimanding each other for cutting - they all seemed pretty relaxed about it so I guess it is mostly accepted there.  After that line we really couldn't bring ourselves to wait in anymore long lines though!



zanzibar138 said:


> I'm sorry you had some disappointing experiences, but glad that you still managed to enjoy the park



We still had a great time and really enjoyed looking in the shops and getting lunch at Tony's and bakery snacks at Remy's, which was really cutely themed.  I just want to go back to ride Pirates someday, lol!


----------



## GusIsaFoxhound

You're getting closer to your stay at Toy Story Hotel, I assume? I'm waiting for that- no pressure, mind you!

(BTW, can anyone tell me how to put my own "upcoming trips" bits onto my bit? I can't see where to do it, coz I'm hopeless if it isn't in front of me from the start!)


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## zanzibar138

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> You're getting closer to your stay at Toy Story Hotel, I assume? I'm waiting for that- no pressure, mind you!
> 
> (BTW, can anyone tell me how to put my own "upcoming trips" bits onto my bit? I can't see where to do it, coz I'm hopeless if it isn't in front of me from the start!)



Yep, the Toy Story Hotel is definitely coming up. I think I'll have another 2-3 updates to finish off my first night, then a few more updates on the next morning before I finally get to checking in.

As far as the 'upcoming trips' goes, I assume you mean your signature? You go to your personal profile at the top of the page next to your inbox and alerts, hover over that and click on Signature. Then you can edit your signature however you like and just save it. It'll show up on all your posts automatically.


----------



## GusIsaFoxhound

Zanzibar, did you get PhotoPass before you left, or once you were there? I'm trying to figure out how to get it, but can't get a straight answer yet. We're only a month off leaving for China, so want to have it sorted if necessary. I don't really want to waste time getting it in the park- I just want to go, go, go!


----------



## zanzibar138

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> Zanzibar, did you get PhotoPass before you left, or once you were there? I'm trying to figure out how to get it, but can't get a straight answer yet. We're only a month off leaving for China, so want to have it sorted if necessary. I don't really want to waste time getting it in the park- I just want to go, go, go!



I didn't even know that they would be offering PP! It's pretty easy to do when you get there, and no time wasted at all. When you get your first photo taken, just get them to give you a PP card. I've heard that you can even use your park ticket as your PP card so you wouldn't even need to get one! I would recommend it though as the tickets are just flimsy paper ones, and the PP cards are plastic with all the PP information on them. You don't need to buy anything in the park - just go to the website or the app within 30 days of your visit to purchase any photos you want.

Hope that helps!


----------



## zanzibar138

*Igniting the Dream Part 2*

After Pirates, the show transitioned into a Mulan scene, starting off with an instrumental version of Reflection. Continuing in the Mulan photography tradition, I didn't come away with any amazing shots.









It finished off with a battle scene accompanied by an instrumental version of Be a Man, with a finale of fireworks caused by Mulan letting off a rocket.

Next there was a very short, random Up scene. It was just the balloons from the movie rising up the castle, accompanied by a short reprise of Once Upon a Dream.





It was a bit of a weird way to transition to Star Wars, which it looks like I didn't actually manage to get many photos of. It was a long-ish scene featuring the Star Wars soundtrack.





And then of course, there was Frozen.





This was all in English, featuring Let It Go of course, followed by the First Time in Forever reprise at Elsa's ice palace. It was one of the more spectacular parts of the show, with lots of fireworks.





















The sequence finished with Anna being unfrozen, and transitioned to a montage of Disney couples and random Disney clips, with a grand finale of fireworks.





















I started gathering my thoughts and my things, planning to rush off to Pirates. However, the show wasn't finished!


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## zanzibar138

*Igniting the Dream - Grand Opening Special*

To my surprise, the lights dimmed again and we were treated to a special Grand Opening finale! This really was special, as it was the only time that this section was performed in its entirety.

My apologies for all the photos - I got a bit carried away, and I can't choose between them!

It was actually a beautifully simple section, which as a side note was great for photography lol! The projections were inspired by Chinese traditions, and included blossoms and traditional architecture. The score was created by a Chinese composer, and seemed to be influenced by classical or possibly operatic Chinese music. It was specifically created for the Grand Opening, and was also used at the official opening ceremony. It was punctuated throughout with kind of rhythmic fireworks, getting larger, more complex, and more frequent towards the end.





























I missed the Mickey ears fireworks in the main show, but I managed to recreate them in this section using the reflections in my little pond!









































The grand finale was magnificent, showcasing the castle in its ‘natural’ show lighting against a backdrop of tumbling fireworks.









It was a really beautiful way to end the show, and I felt privileged to have been part of it.

FWIW, they did run the finale throughout the Grand Opening period (it was definitely on the next night, and I’ve heard reports of it having been shown other nights too), but without the fireworks. I’m not sure how long it will run for.


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## Dentam

They did a bit of an extra finale while we were there also, without any additional fireworks.  Just more lights and music as people were filing out.  We hung back and got right up close to take more pics and allow the crowds to die down.  

Nice pics!


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## Aussie Wendy

Love the reflections in the firework pics and pleased you got to see something extra special for your opening visit. Sounds like something they should keep and shorten some of the rest to make it more inkeeping with China (I sometimes think they should do a little more country theming as they start opening these parks elsewhere but I guess that's not what the locals want just the offshore visitors - lol!).


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## zanzibar138

Dentam said:


> They did a bit of an extra finale while we were there also, without any additional fireworks.  Just more lights and music as people were filing out.  We hung back and got right up close to take more pics and allow the crowds to die down.
> 
> Nice pics!



Will be interesting to see how long they do this for then.



Aussie Wendy said:


> Love the reflections in the firework pics and pleased you got to see something extra special for your opening visit. Sounds like something they should keep and shorten some of the rest to make it more inkeeping with China (I sometimes think they should do a little more country theming as they start opening these parks elsewhere but I guess that's not what the locals want just the offshore visitors - lol!).



I totally agree! Love seeing the different cultures infused into the international parks. I was pleased to see quite a lot of Chinese influence in Shanghai Disneyland. FWIW the local audience seemed to really get into the finale - the song probably would have meant a lot more to them than it did to me.


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## zanzibar138

*And the Park Emptied Out*

After the show, there were announcements every so often throughout the park (in both Chinese and English) reminding visitors to leave in time to catch their train. It was nice to know that I could just catch the shuttle bus back to my hotel at any time, and didn’t have to rush.

A huge amount of people were leaving the park, and even though there was less than half an hour until the park closed, I suspected I would be able to get in a couple more rides with minimal wait. I rushed over to Pirates first. It was the first time I’d been over that side of the park at all! I was happy to rush through though, and even kind of tried not to look too much as I went, so that I would still be blown away the next day lol! So I’m afraid you’ll still have to wait for photos.

Unfortunately Pirates was closed for some reason. I didn’t want to waste time hanging around trying to understand why, especially with the language barrier. FWIW, I have since read that there was some sort of private event that closed down Pirates for the last hour of park operations that day. Instead, I rushed back to Fantasyland, hoping to catch the Seven Dwarves Mine Train.

Success! Only a 20 minute wait. I was only a little disappointed that I hadn’t gone straight there – I might have only had a 10 minute wait!





I really enjoyed the theming in the queue, with all the chunky timber, and the cute ‘lockers’ for each dwarf.













There were plenty of other little details too. For those who have experienced this ride at WDW, I believe it’s pretty similar. However, not sure if the WDW version has such a great view of the castle from their queue!









Towards the end of the line, in a fairly boring interior part with many switchbacks, I had my next and final observation of little kids urinating in inappropriate places. This kid was probably 5 or 6, so well above toddler age, and I just looked over as he was trying to pee in a bottle. Of course kids of that age don’t have the greatest amount of control, and so not very much was actually getting in the bottle, and a small puddle formed around it (eww!). The kid’s father then picked up the bottle and put the lid back on, and proceeded to stuff it into a crevice in the rockwork! I hate to think what surprises await the clean up crew at the end of each day, but they do an incredible job of making everything fresh and pristine again for the next day’s guests.

I didn’t have time to dwell on that incident too much, because soon it was my turn!





I thought the ride was very cute and enjoyable. I wasn’t expecting the ride vehicles to swing from side to side, and thought it was a fun extra. Theming throughout the ride was great – I especially loved the small climb inside the mine shaft when all the dwarves knock off work! As a nice bonus, there was an absolutely stunning view of the castle going over one of the rises. Our train was held up for a few minutes right at the end, and I took the opportunity to take some photos.


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## distravel

Zanzibar138,

Loving your trip report! Reading it is a little treat for my day. Your photos are lovely, especially the fireworks and castle reflected in the water. Very creative!


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## zanzibar138

distravel said:


> Zanzibar138,
> 
> Loving your trip report! Reading it is a little treat for my day. Your photos are lovely, especially the fireworks and castle reflected in the water. Very creative!



Thanks so much! Glad you're enjoying it


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## GusIsaFoxhound

It's only 4 weeks til I go- it's coming around so fast now! I love reading this (and Dentam's) TRs, and the timing is perfect for me. Thanks for the effort, and keep it coming!


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## zanzibar138

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> It's only 4 weeks til I go- it's coming around so fast now! I love reading this (and Dentam's) TRs, and the timing is perfect for me. Thanks for the effort, and keep it coming!



Glad you're enjoying it!

I actually was going to do several updates over the weekend since I had plenty of time, but I was having major issues with the photo editing software. So frustrating! Hopefully you'll get to see a bit more over the next 4 weeks.


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## zanzibar138

*Night Time Wandering*

I was (unsurprisingly) getting pretty tired by that time, so I decided not to bother trying to get in one last ride, and just leisurely made my way to the exit, taking plenty of photos along the way. From Fantasyland, I took the path towards the castle (which turned out to be the main shortcut between the two sides of the park).













From the raised walkway, I enjoyed some of the views of the Alice in Wonderland maze.





I also spied the boats for Voyage to the Crystal Grotto.





I took the path right through the middle of the castle, into the central chamber area.









There were a few people around, and I couldn’t be bothered to hang around long enough to get exactly in the centre for the iconic ceiling photo. I was happy enough with this one shot from slightly to the side.





That is pretty much as close as I got to the Once Upon a Time castle walkthrough, as the wait time was pretty consistently at an hour or more, and it hadn’t been a high priority for me.

I didn’t look very closely at the princess mosaics, thinking I would come back to view them properly on another day. Unfortunately I never did, and I couldn’t even tell you which other princesses were represented! I did love this Merida mosaic though!





I came out the other side of the castle and walked back by the Gardens of Imagination, as I hadn’t taken any night time photos there yet. I would have liked a higher quality photo of the lanterns at Wandering Moon Teahouse, but this will have to do!





Garden of the Twelve Friends took on a new life at night, with an avenue of pretty purple lit trees.





I also swung by the Fantasia Carousel, which was quite the popular spot at that time of night.









I got a few last shots of the castle on the way out.









And finally made my way through the exit.





I had really overdone it today and my hip and now foot were constantly reminding me. I had been planning to walk back to the hotel, but knew that I should save my energy for the next 2 days! I had a bit of a sticky beak as I walked past anyway, and it looked like they weren’t allowing people to enter Wishing Star Park from Disney Town, so I would have had to go the long, boring way along the road. I did also briefly consider taking the ferry, but I didn’t know where to find it or even whether it would be operating, and didn’t want to waste time and energy wandering around looking for it. Yep, bad opening day DIS correspondent! So of course I hobbled back to the bus stop, and was quite relieved to finally be able to sit down. I had also been planning on wandering around the hotel when I got back and taking some more photos, but I was absolutely done for the day by the time I arrived.

There was a little surprise waiting for me in my room! My bed had been turned down (not sure if that’s part of the normal club level service), with a lovely bookmark and cute Monsters Inc themed packet of sweets on the bed! I didn’t know about the bookmark, but I figured the sweets were still to do with my room not being ready on time.





Unfortunately I still had to organise my outfit for the next day and repack my suitcase before I could curl up in bed (to save time in the morning of course). I also did my usual routine of uploading my photos to my laptop, connecting to the wifi so that they would back up to the cloud, and putting all my electronics on charge for the night. The bed was super comfortable and cosy when I eventually did get in there, and watched the little fireworks explode above my head on the light up headboard. I drifted off to sleep with magical memories from the day dancing through my head. Bliss.


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## disney144

Zanzibar- your nighttime photos are amazing! What camera/lens are you using?


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## zanzibar138

disney144 said:


> Zanzibar- your nighttime photos are amazing! What camera/lens are you using?



Thank you so much! I was just using my little Sony Cybershot HX90v. Love that camera for travelling - it's small and lightweight, but has an amazing zoom and takes great quality photos just in automatic mode. To be fair though, I have done a small amount of basic editing, just using the program embedded in Flickr.


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## Aussie Wendy

I agree I like your Sony capabilities. Love the Merida mosaic too. You had amazing stamina on this day - no wonder you were so tired. Whenever I go somewhere that warrants a TR next, I will be trying out Flickr too.


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## zanzibar138

Aussie Wendy said:


> I agree I like your Sony capabilities. Love the Merida mosaic too. You had amazing stamina on this day - no wonder you were so tired. Whenever I go somewhere that warrants a TR next, I will be trying out Flickr too.



Thanks Wendy! It was definitely the excitement that got me through - the moment I got home I came down with a nasty head cold!


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## rwu

Zanzibar -- first, thanks so much for your trip report!  I'm planning a trip to SDL, so I _really_ appreciate all your detailed descriptions and beautiful pictures!

I had a question... I was reading another trip report where they stayed at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel, and it mentioned a hide-a-bed under the TV.  I pored over your picture which had the TV stand on the edge, and thought, well, the dimensions look right for a foldout bed, but there _are _drawer and cabinet handles on it, so I decided to just come right out and ask. 

So did your room have a hide-a-bed in the TV stand or not?  Thanks!


----------



## zanzibar138

rwu said:


> Zanzibar -- first, thanks so much for your trip report!  I'm planning a trip to SDL, so I _really_ appreciate all your detailed descriptions and beautiful pictures!
> 
> I had a question... I was reading another trip report where they stayed at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel, and it mentioned a hide-a-bed under the TV.  I pored over your picture which had the TV stand on the edge, and thought, well, the dimensions look right for a foldout bed, but there _are _drawer and cabinet handles on it, so I decided to just come right out and ask.
> 
> So did your room have a hide-a-bed in the TV stand or not?  Thanks!



Lol!

I never actually looked for one, but I'm guessing no. I think I remember that being a real cupboard, possibly containing the mini fridge. Maybe it depends on the room type.


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## PrincessInOz

Catching up!  I think we definitely need at least 4 nights here.  Those night time shots are stunning.


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## rwu

zanzibar138 said:


> Lol!
> 
> I never actually looked for one, but I'm guessing no. I think I remember that being a real cupboard, possibly containing the mini fridge. Maybe it depends on the room type.



Okay, thanks for the quick reply!


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## Dentam

zanzibar138 said:


> I never actually looked for one, but I'm guessing no. I think I remember that being a real cupboard, possibly containing the mini fridge. Maybe it depends on the room type.



Ours had a drawer with supplies for tea.  Maybe other rooms were different as you mentioned though.


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## zanzibar138

PrincessInOz said:


> Catching up!  I think we definitely need at least 4 nights here.  Those night time shots are stunning.



Thanks PIO! After dark was a wonderful time at the park - a bit cooler, the crowds started thinning out, and the park lit up beautifully. I'd say the more time, the better.



Dentam said:


> Ours had a drawer with supplies for tea.  Maybe other rooms were different as you mentioned though.
> 
> View attachment 191024



Nice work! Thanks for jumping in


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## rwu

Dentam said:


> Ours had a drawer with supplies for tea.  Maybe other rooms were different as you mentioned though.



Thanks, Dentam!

I went ahead and put the foldout bed in my room request.  I figure if they don't have them at all, maybe they'll just chalk it up to a language issue instead of thinking I'm crazy.


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## GusIsaFoxhound

Because we're only a week off leaving, I'd like to sort a few things out, so thanks if you can help. 
-I want to get PhotoPassPlus- I can just get it at the camera store just like in California?
-We can buy park tickets from the desk at Toy Story Hotel when we get there, the evening before we go to the park? So I won't have to book any? But you can't use them on FP, can you, so we'd have to go to the office box and get normal tickets to use in FP?


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## zanzibar138

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> Because we're only a week off leaving, I'd like to sort a few things out, so thanks if you can help.
> -I want to get PhotoPassPlus- I can just get it at the camera store just like in California?
> -We can buy park tickets from the desk at Toy Story Hotel when we get there, the evening before we go to the park? So I won't have to book any? But you can't use them on FP, can you, so we'd have to go to the office box and get normal tickets to use in FP?



How exciting!

I don't think Shanghai do PP+. I didn't see any signs of it - it's all just regular PP, and that includes your ride photos too if you want. It's as simple as just getting a PP card from the first photographer you see. Everything else can be done online. I'm sure you can do it at the shop in the park too if you want, I just preferred to use my time in the park doing other things.

I'm probably not the best person to ask about getting tickets through the hotel. I got mine through the website months in advance, so it was a bit of a different process for me. From what I've read though, yes it sounds like you still have to go to the ticket counters if you want a ticket that you can use for FP. This is honestly a blessing in disguise. The queue at the ticket counters is a LOT more civilised than the one at the entrance turnstiles, and they let you straight in from there. If I went again, I would be tempted to buy a single day ticket for each day, just so I could go through the ticket counters each time instead of the turnstiles lol!


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## Flounder89

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> Because we're only a week off leaving, I'd like to sort a few things out, so thanks if you can help.
> -I want to get PhotoPassPlus- I can just get it at the camera store just like in California?
> -We can buy park tickets from the desk at Toy Story Hotel when we get there, the evening before we go to the park? So I won't have to book any? But you can't use them on FP, can you, so we'd have to go to the office box and get normal tickets to use in FP?


I am leaving tonight for SDL ) 
Yes there is Photopass+, but only the one day version - so all photos you take in one day, including rides. You can buy it at several stores or over the Photopass App - I could just download that via the Apple App Store, it should also be available for Android.

You can buy tickets at your hotel, online, or at the park entrance. I've heard from some people that got their tickets at the hotel and could then book FP at the guest services counter in the park, which sounds pretty cool because you don't have to line up for it - but idk if that is still the case or has changed since opening. I would ask at the hotel, I can also try to find out for you!


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## Flounder89

rwu said:


> Thanks, Dentam!
> 
> I went ahead and put the foldout bed in my room request.  I figure if they don't have them at all, maybe they'll just chalk it up to a language issue instead of thinking I'm crazy.


I am currently in a Magic Kingdom Club room at SDL Hotel and we have the fold out bed under the TV. It is very similar to those you can find in some DVC Villas at WDW. So maybe only club rooms come with those but not standard rooms?
We also have the tea supplies and mini fridge but in a smaller cupboard next to it.


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## zanzibar138

Flounder89 said:


> I am currently in a Magic Kingdom Club room at SDL Hotel and we have the fold out bed under the TV. It is very similar to those you can find in some DVC Villas at WDW. So maybe only club rooms come with those but not standard rooms?
> We also have the tea supplies and mini fridge but in a smaller cupboard next to it.



I was in a club room. As I said though, I really can't remember what the configuration was. What does your TV cabinet look like? Thanks for contributing anyway - I'm sure all this information will be very helpful for someone


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## Flounder89

zanzibar138 said:


> I was in a club room. As I said though, I really can't remember what the configuration was. What does your TV cabinet look like? Thanks for contributing anyway - I'm sure all this information will be very helpful for someone


I solved the riddle - I was told today that there are club rooms with a murphy bed and club rooms without. So if you need it, request that room specifically


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## zanzibar138

Flounder89 said:


> I solved the riddle - I was told today that there are club rooms with a murphy bed and club rooms without. So if you need it, request that room specifically



Are there standard rooms with the fold out bed too? Or just club rooms?


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## Flounder89

zanzibar138 said:


> Are there standard rooms with the fold out bed too? Or just club rooms?


Oh I actually do not know that lol but I would imagine there might also be standard rooms with it as the club rooms do not differ that much from the standard rooms. I believe the murphy bed is also not listed as a "perk" for the club so it would make sense if some standard rooms also had it.


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## rwu

Thanks for figuring out that whole foldout bed thing, Flounder89!    Hopefully, my room request works!


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## zanzibar138

I just want to apologise for the lack of recent updates. Real life has gotten in the way a bit (as it unfortunately does), but I do definitely plan to finish this off, hopefully sooner rather than later!


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## GusIsaFoxhound

I'm off in just over 12 hours, so no time for questions or updates after this. So excited about the whole trip!!
Zanzibar, I'll still check your report out, and will pass on my views once we're back.
Tron, here I come!!


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## Flounder89

News on Photopass: As long as you use one card the whole time, you are allowed to download 3 consecutive days - either that or up to 3 cards during one day.


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## Maderita

Flounder89 said:


> You can buy tickets at your hotel, online, or at the park entrance. I've heard from some people that got their tickets at the hotel and could then book FP at the guest services counter in the park, which sounds pretty cool because you don't have to line up for it - but idk if that is still the case or has changed since opening. I would ask at the hotel, I can also try to find out for you!



I am going to SDL next month, and was thinking of buying the tickets at the hotel for the same reason - it'd be really appreciated if you could provide some feedback for this!


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## Flounder89

Maderita said:


> I am going to SDL next month, and was thinking of buying the tickets at the hotel for the same reason - it'd be really appreciated if you could provide some feedback for this!


I am so sorry I already left there Saturday and completely forgot about asking -.- But the concierge was rather helpful - all the CMs there were incredibly attentive. Maybe you can try to get in touch with the hotel directly by calling front desk and asking? Usually they will get someone for you who speaks English well enough. Again so sorry for not asking.


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## zanzibar138

And back to our regularly scheduled program 

*Another Rushed Morning*

The park opened at 8am this morning, and I knew that it would be a rush to get there early. I wanted to have breakfast in the club lounge before I went, and that didn’t open until 7am. I set my alarm for 6am, thinking that would give me plenty of time since I’d already got my outfit ready and half packed. I’m not sure what happened, but I think it was about 7:15am by the time I was actually leaving my room heading for the lounge. Today’s outfit was inspired by Winnie the Pooh.





There was a great variety to choose from for breakfast, both western and Chinese style. Next to the juices, there was a whole salad bar with fruit, veggies and deli meats. At the back there was a hot food section which had eggs, sausages and bacon, plus the Chinese style offerings. Nothing like dumplings for breakfast! Next there was a whole array of pastries and a Mickey waffle station right at the end with all sorts of toppings (I didn’t get a photo of it for some reason). I helped myself to a small selection, slightly annoyed that I didn’t have more time to enjoy the offerings before park opening. The lounge was reasonably busy this morning, and there weren’t any tables left along the windows.









Heading back to my room, I took a couple of photos along the way, just of the little garden courtyard area next to the lounge and the hidden Mickey carpets.





I grabbed my luggage and made my way downstairs to check out. I was so sad to be leaving, but I was also keen to check out the Toy Story Hotel. The CMs at checkout were great, and even seemed genuinely disappointed that I had to leave lol! As soon as I mentioned that I was staying at the Toy Story Hotel next, they arranged for my luggage to be transported over there. That was a relief, as I hadn’t known whether they offered luggage transfer services, and I hadn’t been looking forward to having to do it myself! Because I was running so late this morning, I skipped the walk to the park and just caught the bus. I was surprised that the bus wasn’t busier!

When I arrived at Disney Town, there was a steady stream of people heading towards the gates – a lot more than there had been the previous day.





Shanghai Disneyland currently only offers a maximum of 2 day tickets, so I had to purchase separate tickets to cover my 3 days. Because I was using a new ticket today, I had to do the whole ticket exchange process again. I was disappointed to see a long queue, and instantly regretted not getting up earlier (note the blue sky in the photos!).









The queue moved fast though, and soon I had my proper ticket. I was surprised to just be waved straight through to the park through a gap next to the turnstiles! Because of that, I’d just made up a heap of time and wasn’t nearly as far behind as I thought I’d be.


----------



## disney144

Hey Zanzibar. Was soarin the same as the other parks? We are disneyland regulars and considering skipping soarin in Shanghai. Everything I've read says that the line is crazy.


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## Dentam

I wish we had known about the ticket exchange before we went!  Oh well, next time... lol.


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## Flounder89

disney144 said:


> Hey Zanzibar. Was soarin the same as the other parks? We are disneyland regulars and considering skipping soarin in Shanghai. Everything I've read says that the line is crazy.


Soarin is the new movie, Soarin around the World, that you can now also find in Epcot and DCA. I would suggest you get a FP for it in the morning or head right to the line, then you don't wait longer than 20 mins.


----------



## zanzibar138

disney144 said:


> Hey Zanzibar. Was soarin the same as the other parks? We are disneyland regulars and considering skipping soarin in Shanghai. Everything I've read says that the line is crazy.





Flounder89 said:


> Soarin is the new movie, Soarin around the World, that you can now also find in Epcot and DCA. I would suggest you get a FP for it in the morning or head right to the line, then you don't wait longer than 20 mins.



I would skip it if you're Disneyland regulars. It was unique to SDL for about 5 minutes before the others changes to Soarin' over the World too. I wish they'd kept the original version in California, but that's a different topic altogether! By skipping it, you will be able to use that crucial first thing in the morning time for something else (perhaps Roaring Rapids or Tron).



Dentam said:


> I wish we had known about the ticket exchange before we went!  Oh well, next time... lol.



Oh, I thought I'd mentioned it in one of the replies on here. Or maybe it was on someone else's thread. I've definitely said something about on the boards - too hard to keep up lol! Sorry you missed it!

If it makes you feel any better, there's every chance that it could be different by now and you would have had to line up twice


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## disney144

Thanks for the response. We will definitely skip it! It's always 45 minutes at DCA, so it seems like a waste to wait for it.


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## Flounder89

Just a heads up - get their printed time schedule when you are there. During the whole week we visited, they did NOT offer FP for Roaring Rapids and it closed at 5:00 PM each day, and Pirates did not open until 12:00. Not a huge problem but we didn't know until we were in the park and it threw off our plans the first day when we noticed.


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## GusIsaFoxhound

I am putting my report under 'One Day in Shanghai Disney', if anyone wants to see it. I'm pretty useless at finding my way around these things til I've been on them for months, so aren't sure how to let you know otherwise. Duh!


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## zanzibar138

*The Beginning of Today’s Adventure*

Today’s focus would be on Treasure Cove and Adventure Isle. I had familiarised myself with the layout of the land yesterday, so today I just headed straight there. On my way down Mickey Avenue, I ran into the Disneyland Band just leaving the backstage area. I got a few waves while they were setting up, then they were off down the street.









I didn’t stay to watch the show, as I was keen to get my hands on a FP for Roaring Rapids, and I suspected I would have to be fairly quick. It was kind of strange turning right at the end of Mickey Avenue to enter Adventure Isle!









Turns out that I’d left it too late for FPs in Adventure Isle. The FP distribution there was for Soaring as well as Roaring Rapids, and Soaring was just ridiculously popular. The CM holding the sign was marking the end of the queue for FPs, moving along as more people entered. The queue went pretty much all the way to the entrance to Adventure Isle before doubling back to the FP kiosk. I estimated the wait time to be close to an hour.









With that being the case, I decided to head straight to Treasure Cove and ride Pirates before the line got too long there. I didn’t stop for many photos along the way, wanting to make full use of this relatively quiet time in the park. Treasure Cove and Adventure Isle are pretty much one huge land, set around the shores of the large lagoon in the middle. Because of this layout, it was possible to just walk in circles around the lake and see nothing but those two lands. It was actually really immersive!





Luckily for me, Pirates was quite near the entrance to Adventure Isle, so I didn’t have to walk far around the lake and it didn’t take long to get there. The wait time said 30 minutes, so I jumped in line. The SR line didn’t seem to be in operation yet, with a CM blocking the entrance to it. 30 minutes wasn’t so long that I was willing to waste time trying to figure out what the deal was with the SR line.





The wait time was probably closer to 20 minutes anyway, and the queue was so well themed with lots to look at along the way, that time went pretty quick. I found myself starting to get familiar with the local way of queuing, and actually starting to do some ‘queue squeezing’ of my own! I didn’t get a second glance, and certainly no dirty looks, which was really just confirmation for me that it was just how it was done over there (later on I would see a fist fight nearly break out over queue jumping, so I’m pretty sure I would have heard about it if people thought I was doing the wrong thing!).













































Towards the end of the queue, there were some little ‘rooms’ off to the side full of detail. There was also a little section where we were directly above the end of the ride and we could see the boats passing underneath us.





















The boats are larger than their Anaheim counterparts, with about 30 people fitting onto one boat. Despite its (well-deserved) popularity, this was one quick moving queue that never really did get insanely long. Looking back, I really should have used this time to do Roaring Rapids, or perhaps even the Challenge Trails (remembering that I had already decided not to bother with Soaring)!





OMG this ride is everything you’ve heard about and more! It is insanely good! I’m sure you have already seen the youtube videos if you’re interested, so I won’t go into too much detail here, but the effects are just incredible, and the immersion is fantastic. The underwater scenes are stunning, and it really does feel like you’re going down under the sea then coming back up in those scenes. The combination of projections on huge domed screens, animatronics, and static props really gives a whole new depth to this ride. While I did miss the old ‘Yo Ho, Yo Ho’, the new score based on the movies is compelling and I think more appropriate for the more dramatic scenes in this version of the ride. It’s easily the best dark ride I’ve experienced.

There is a gift shop at the exit, which is also beautifully themed and has a huge array of unique Pirates themed merchandise. Later, I bought DH a beer stein from there – I thought he’d appreciate it more than a t-shirt lol!





The ride had been so good that I immediately went back to the line to ride it again! The wait time still said 30 minutes, but this time it was closer to 40.


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## GusIsaFoxhound

It's a pity Pirates was closed for us. It looks amazing! There's the one to aim for if I get back again.
I've done my report in Disney Trip Reports, hope anyone interested can find it. I didn't know where exactly to put it up, and I have trouble finding it myself, so hope it's trackable.


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## Dentam

I am still so bummed that Pirates was closed while we were there!  It seems that it is closed more often than it is open, so you lucked out!


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## zanzibar138

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> It's a pity Pirates was closed for us. It looks amazing! There's the one to aim for if I get back again.
> I've done my report in Disney Trip Reports, hope anyone interested can find it. I didn't know where exactly to put it up, and I have trouble finding it myself, so hope it's trackable.



I can't find your TR... Is it in the 'other lands' section? Could you put up a link?



Dentam said:


> I am still so bummed that Pirates was closed while we were there!  It seems that it is closed more often than it is open, so you lucked out!



Yep, I was pretty lucky to be able to ride both Pirates and Tron when I wanted to!


----------



## Dentam

zanzibar138 said:


> Yep, I was pretty lucky to be able to ride both Pirates and Tron when I wanted to!



At least Tron doesn't seem to have the issues that Pirates does in terms of being shut down so often.  I really need to get back there someday!


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## GusIsaFoxhound

I don't even know where my report is! I have to go through my alerts to trace it. I have it under "One Day In Shanghai Disney, September 16". If you can find it, then explain how I link it (I said I was a dinosaur!) then I'll do it.I thought it was in Disney Trip Reports, but who knows?  
BTW, I'm the dinosaur keeping places like Officeworks open from photo printing. I just went today, cropped and altered about 800 of my 1300 photos, and..........it's down. All gone!! Next time, I will do them 100 at a time or so, so I don't lose so many! (They're still on my card- just gone from their printer-computer.) Didn't even get to the Disney ones! Managed to keep my cool and not rant at the worker who gave me the bad news!


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## zanzibar138

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> I don't even know where my report is! I have to go through my alerts to trace it. I have it under "One Day In Shanghai Disney, September 16". If you can find it, then explain how I link it (I said I was a dinosaur!) then I'll do it.I thought it was in Disney Trip Reports, but who knows?
> BTW, I'm the dinosaur keeping places like Officeworks open from photo printing. I just went today, cropped and altered about 800 of my 1300 photos, and..........it's down. All gone!! Next time, I will do them 100 at a time or so, so I don't lose so many! (They're still on my card- just gone from their printer-computer.) Didn't even get to the Disney ones! Managed to keep my cool and not rant at the worker who gave me the bad news!



Haha! I don't know where Disney Trip Reports is, so we're both as bad as each other 

Wow that must have been insanely frustrating! Well done for keeping your cool! What do you do with all those photos though?


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## GusIsaFoxhound

I simply put them in an old-fashioned album. I write up what happened each day, then the photos, along with anything that counts as a souvenir (eg, admission tickets), especially as they differ to our local ones. Sounds primitive, but I like being able to just pick it up and look through again, sooner than scanning one at a time through a phone- or a camera, I prefer that to the phone for holiday photos, too! My teen sons still like it, too.
I got a new camera this year, and the photos I got through look pretty good, even the ones from the fast train window.
Click on my name and trace it from there. That's the easiest way I have to help you.!


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## cschaaf

It's in the Disneyland Trip Reports sub-forum. Here is the link to the thread: http://www.disboards.com/threads/one-day-in-shanghai-disney-september-16.3549726/

I went through @GusIsaFoxhound profile and found the link. When you follow the link, right under the post title, it shows you what sub-forum it's in.

Maybe a mod can move it over here?


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## zanzibar138

cschaaf said:


> It's in the Disneyland Trip Reports sub-forum. Here is the link to the thread: http://www.disboards.com/threads/one-day-in-shanghai-disney-september-16.3549726/
> 
> I went through @GusIsaFoxhound profile and found the link. When you follow the link, right under the post title, it shows you what sub-forum it's in.
> 
> Maybe a mod can move it over here?



Yay thanks!


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## GusIsaFoxhound

Thanks, cschaaf, that's much better than what I could figure out! My skills are still better in the old world. One of the uses of teenagers is to help me out when I haven't a clue. (Not a lot of other uses otherwise, except for clearing out the pantry.)


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## zanzibar138

*More Adventurous Wanderings*

It was close to 10am by the time I finished my second ride on Pirates, and there was a Tarzan show at 10:45am. Based on my experience with shows in HK, and the guide map advising to ‘get there as early as possible’, I decided to head straight there. Along the way, I managed to spot Barbossa’s Bounty, where I was planning to have lunch that day.









And found a bathroom, which was nicely themed as well (of course). I think I’ve already gone into the bathroom set up, but I will again for anyone who missed it the first time around. I know bathrooms were a concern for a lot of people in the lead up to opening, and probably will continue to be for westerners heading over at any time, so I think it’s worth going into again. There are mainly squat toilets in the bathrooms – clean and well maintained looking, but uncomfortable nonetheless for those of us who aren’t used to it. However, keep walking past the squat stalls, and you will find a couple of regular western style toilets at the back, along with a disabled toilet. Although there are only a few western style toilets per block, the locals seemed to prefer the squat toilets, so the western ones were pretty much always empty. I never had to wait in line for one, and they were always nice and clean and sanitary looking.

The Tarzan theatre was tucked away off the path near Soaring. It didn’t look like there was anyone in line yet, so I thought I’d have time to check out the FPs again before joining the line. The line was still too long for my liking (especially since I was on my way to a show), so I gave it a miss and headed back to the theatre. As I entered the area, these colourful musicians appeared from around the bend.









The Tarzan area was still completely empty, and the CM told me I may as well go away and do something else and come back in 15 minutes (which would be about 20 minutes before the show was due to start). Well, I’ll admit that it threw me a bit, but I decided that I could fill in 15 minutes by wandering around the area and taking photos (since I hadn’t gotten many of the general area yet, and there was certainly a lot to see!). I started off my wanderings at the entrance to Soaring, where there was another CM holding a sign to mark the end of the line. This one said 180 minutes!





The queue area certainly did look nicer and better themed than its US counterparts, but I still can’t imagine ever waiting 3 hours for a ride!





The Tarzan theatre was close to the Treasure Cove border. I just loved how visible the huge castle was from every part of the park, and the contrast it provided with whatever land I was in. Some may say it detracts from the theming, but I loved the effect!









So I decided to wander back to Treasure Cove and try to get some of those iconic pirate ship photos over the lagoon. I was so lucky to have beautiful blue skies for these photos! The ship in the foreground is Siren’s Revenge, a walkthrough attraction of a pirate ship. In the background is Shipwreck Shore, which is a kids play area with a couple of wrecked ships. And of course there are the Explorer Canoes in there too. This wasn’t high on my priority list either (but never really seemed to have much of a wait), but from what I heard there was mass confusion with locals when they realised that they were expected to help row the boat, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this attraction gets scrapped or turned into something else.





Barbossa’s Bounty was themed like a small pirate town, and was incredibly well done. It was also incredibly quiet at that time of day. One of the things I really loved about Shanghai Disneyland was that there was always somewhere a bit out of the way to get away from the crowds.













On the other side of Siren’s Revenge there was a nice photo opportunity with the Adventure Isle mountain in the background instead of the castle. There happened to be a PP photographer in this location, who was twiddling his thumbs and came wandering over to offer to take my photo.









I’m still actually not sure what this building actually was, but whatever it was, it was brilliant!





And of course there was the Pirates ride and shop building, which was designed like a massive fort.





Time was getting on by then, and I thought I’d wander back to Tarzan and see what was going on there.


----------



## Dentam

zanzibar138 said:


> Along the way, I managed to spot Barbossa’s Bounty, where I was planning to have lunch that day.



Ah, so that's what that building was!  We thought it looked like a restaurant but didn't have time to look around the area more closely.  Love all of your pics of this area!


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## zanzibar138

Dentam said:


> Ah, so that's what that building was!  We thought it looked like a restaurant but didn't have time to look around the area more closely.  Love all of your pics of this area!



Thanks! I would highly recommend Barbossa's for your next trip


----------



## aussiecookfamily

zanzibar138 said:


> And of course there are the Explorer Canoes in there too. This wasn’t high on my priority list either (but never really seemed to have much of a wait), but from what I heard there was mass confusion with locals when they realised that they were expected to help row the boat, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this attraction gets scrapped or turned into something else.


The canoes are actually really popular now, usually a 30-60 minute, as I type this the wait is 60 mins which is longer than Pirates!


----------



## zanzibar138

aussiecookfamily said:


> The canoes are actually really popular now, usually a 30-60 minute, as I type this the wait is 60 mins which is longer than Pirates!



Oh, that's nice I'm glad people seem to be 'getting it'. I imagine it would be a pretty slow loader so if it's the least bit popular it's probably going to be a long wait!


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## Flounder89

zanzibar138 said:


> Oh, that's nice I'm glad people seem to be 'getting it'. I imagine it would be a pretty slow loader so if it's the least bit popular it's probably going to be a long wait!


It always had a long wait for us, too, but as they close early in the day we decided to hop on before closing and waited a little less than 30 on our last day and I am so glad we did it. It ended up being one of my favorite things to do as the views from the ride were fantastic and we had a nice communal spirit on the boat


----------



## GusIsaFoxhound

Flounder, as you went on the Canoes, you may be able to tell me about them. We thought they were on a cable which slowly towed the canoes along, meaning the 'rowing' by passengers is more for the experience than the necessity. Would that be right? Can't help thinking that with the wrong group on, someone could be doing much more than they would think fair!
We didn't do them, either, just because we had other things we wanted to do with our limited time. Would be fun to try. 
Zanzibar, I don't understand the HUGE attraction that Soaring has- more than 2 hours? It doesn't agree with my head (can't hack the California one, so didn't intend doing this) but the response to this in China still fascinates me.
I've almost finished my whole trip photos- have about 1200 of China, and am going to do my Disney ones tomorrow. I haven't even looked at them, except as I took them to make sure I got what I wanted. I want to keep the surprise up!


----------



## zanzibar138

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> Flounder, as you went on the Canoes, you may be able to tell me about them. We thought they were on a cable which slowly towed the canoes along, meaning the 'rowing' by passengers is more for the experience than the necessity. Would that be right? Can't help thinking that with the wrong group on, someone could be doing much more than they would think fair!
> We didn't do them, either, just because we had other things we wanted to do with our limited time. Would be fun to try.
> Zanzibar, I don't understand the HUGE attraction that Soaring has- more than 2 hours? It doesn't agree with my head (can't hack the California one, so didn't intend doing this) but the response to this in China still fascinates me.
> I've almost finished my whole trip photos- have about 1200 of China, and am going to do my Disney ones tomorrow. I haven't even looked at them, except as I took them to make sure I got what I wanted. I want to keep the surprise up!



Honestly, the times DH and I have tried kayaking, it hasn't turned out that well lol! We don't seem to have a knack for paddling at all and I've always been having to concentrate and work way too hard to actually enjoy it. That's the main reason I chose to make the explorer canoes a low priority.

I don't understand the big deal with Soaring either. I tend to get motion sickness on simulator style rides and took a couple of kwells so that I could do the one in Anaheim because it was hyped up so much. The effect was cool, but after all the hype I was a bit disappointed, and have never really felt the need to go on it again. I certainly wouldn't wait 3 hours for it! I would have waited an hour for Pirates or Tron if I'd had to, but that was pretty much my limit!


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## GusIsaFoxhound

Right with you! Tron and Pirates? Deal. Soaring? No deal!


----------



## distravel

Zanzibar138,

Leaving for our China tour in 36 hours! Have scheduled Shanghai Disneyland for Saturday October 22 so we can meet friends. I know it is very crowded on the weekends. Is there a good place to meet once we get inside the park? Thanks.

Kathy


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## zanzibar138

distravel said:


> Zanzibar138,
> 
> Leaving for our China tour in 36 hours! Have scheduled Shanghai Disneyland for Saturday October 22 so we can meet friends. I know it is very crowded on the weekends. Is there a good place to meet once we get inside the park? Thanks.
> 
> Kathy



There are plenty of places you could meet. Just have a look at the park map online and pick a spot


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## GusIsaFoxhound

Well, I've finally got my photos and journal done. Around 1500 photos, and 20 pages about our whole trip, not just Disney. DH has been away since 3 days after we got back, and I'm waiting for him to get home soon so we can order up 1000 photo sleeves from Jack Ma (ie, AliBaba) to put in binders. Last 2 trips I've glued them into scrapbooks, and it drove me crazy, especially as I then did my sister's too.  I'll use some of the leftover sleeves for older trip journals I've done. 
If I can get someone to put my photos up for me, I'll pop some on my trip report. I'll have to choose carefully so as not to be totally shown up by yours, Zanzibar!


----------



## zanzibar138

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> Well, I've finally got my photos and journal done. Around 1500 photos, and 20 pages about our whole trip, not just Disney. DH has been away since 3 days after we got back, and I'm waiting for him to get home soon so we can order up 1000 photo sleeves from Jack Ma (ie, AliBaba) to put in binders. Last 2 trips I've glued them into scrapbooks, and it drove me crazy, especially as I then did my sister's too.  I'll use some of the leftover sleeves for older trip journals I've done.
> If I can get someone to put my photos up for me, I'll pop some on my trip report. I'll have to choose carefully so as not to be totally shown up by yours, Zanzibar!



I remain impressed by your dedication  And I'm sure your photos are great! Looking forward to seeing some


----------



## Flounder89

GusIsaFoxhound said:


> Flounder, as you went on the Canoes, you may be able to tell me about them. We thought they were on a cable which slowly towed the canoes along, meaning the 'rowing' by passengers is more for the experience than the necessity. Would that be right? Can't help thinking that with the wrong group on, someone could be doing much more than they would think fair!
> We didn't do them, either, just because we had other things we wanted to do with our limited time. Would be fun to try.
> Zanzibar, I don't understand the HUGE attraction that Soaring has- more than 2 hours? It doesn't agree with my head (can't hack the California one, so didn't intend doing this) but the response to this in China still fascinates me.
> I've almost finished my whole trip photos- have about 1200 of China, and am going to do my Disney ones tomorrow. I haven't even looked at them, except as I took them to make sure I got what I wanted. I want to keep the surprise up!


I also think the rowing is not neccessary, but we had a lot of fun on them and we had quite a bit of speed. I loved doing them because it's such a rare opportunity to be directly out in the water and the views were amazing!


----------



## xiphoid76

Zanzibar138,
I have really enjoyed this thread...our trip to Shanghai Disney is 60 days away...we were able to buy our tickets online today - we are staying at Shanghai Disneyland Hotel.  We booked the Royal Banquet Hall for dinner as well .  We still have lots to learn about the parks, but a question came up...when we land the first day, we would like to eat dinner in one of the hotels.  Do you know how far it is to walk between Toy Story and Disneyland Hotel?  Did you try out the Ballet Cafe or Sunnsyside Cafe in the hotels for quick service?  Thanks so much!  We have two days scheduled for the parks and hoping we can see most of what we want.  Have a great day!


----------



## Flounder89

xiphoid76 said:


> Zanzibar138,
> I have really enjoyed this thread...our trip to Shanghai Disney is 60 days away...we were able to buy our tickets online today - we are staying at Shanghai Disneyland Hotel.  We booked the Royal Banquet Hall for dinner as well .  We still have lots to learn about the parks, but a question came up...when we land the first day, we would like to eat dinner in one of the hotels.  Do you know how far it is to walk between Toy Story and Disneyland Hotel?  Did you try out the Ballet Cafe or Sunnsyside Cafe in the hotels for quick service?  Thanks so much!  We have two days scheduled for the parks and hoping we can see most of what we want.  Have a great day!


You can walk through the wishing star park to the park and from there it looked like to me that you can walk over to toy story. Might be easier though to take the bus an change busses at the park bus station, or at least walk the scenic way through the park and then take the bus to the Toy Story Hotel, it is 15-20 mins over to the park already.
I personally did not try the quick service places in the hotel, but we loved Lumiere's, although it's pricey.


----------



## zanzibar138

xiphoid76 said:


> Zanzibar138,
> I have really enjoyed this thread...our trip to Shanghai Disney is 60 days away...we were able to buy our tickets online today - we are staying at Shanghai Disneyland Hotel.  We booked the Royal Banquet Hall for dinner as well .  We still have lots to learn about the parks, but a question came up...when we land the first day, we would like to eat dinner in one of the hotels.  Do you know how far it is to walk between Toy Story and Disneyland Hotel?  Did you try out the Ballet Cafe or Sunnsyside Cafe in the hotels for quick service?  Thanks so much!  We have two days scheduled for the parks and hoping we can see most of what we want.  Have a great day!





Flounder89 said:


> You can walk through the wishing star park to the park and from there it looked like to me that you can walk over to toy story. Might be easier though to take the bus an change busses at the park bus station, or at least walk the scenic way through the park and then take the bus to the Toy Story Hotel, it is 15-20 mins over to the park already.
> I personally did not try the quick service places in the hotel, but we loved Lumiere's, although it's pricey.



Although you definitely could walk between the hotels, I probably wouldn't, unless you're up for a nice long walk to stretch your legs after the flight. I would definitely do Flounder's suggestion and walk from SDH to the bus depot through Wishing Star Park, and take the bus from there to the Toy Story Hotel. Personally though, I wouldn't bother to go just for dinner. Sunnyside Café is a pretty basic cafeteria style place with not much atmosphere. I would either stick with the SDH or try one of the places at Disney Town. Ballet Café is also pretty basic, but at least there's a beautiful view of Disneyland over the lake. I would probably go for Bacchus Lounge instead, which is a bit more atmospheric.


----------



## Flounder89

I would also agree with Zanzibar to try Disneytown for the restaurants, there are plenty of options there! We did Cheesecake Factory on our first night and enjoyed to have some familiar choices.


----------



## disney144

I didn't realize that bacchus lounge had food items. Would you say it is enough to make a meal?

 We will be eating primarily counter service restaurants (for budget reasons). Any restaurant recommendations? We are not picky eaters at all! With only two days there, we want to eat the best!

Has anyone been able to find menus online?


----------



## aussiecookfamily

Although there were more counter service food options at Toy Story Hotel than at the Disneyland Hotel, I agree that it is not worth the walk there. The Ballet Cafe had basic cafe food (muffins, savoury pastries etc) but also did individual pizzas; so if you are too tired to venture out you could survive on that. But as suggested the best option is to head to Disneytown. There are lots of good options at plenty of price points, if money is tight you can load up on bread based treats (sweet and savoury) at Bread Talk, if you want something large and healthy go to Element Fresh (http://www.elementfresh.com/), there are also of restaurants offering good food at higher prices. Hope you have a great time.


----------



## zanzibar138

disney144 said:


> I didn't realize that bacchus lounge had food items. Would you say it is enough to make a meal?
> 
> We will be eating primarily counter service restaurants (for budget reasons). Any restaurant recommendations? We are not picky eaters at all! With only two days there, we want to eat the best!
> 
> Has anyone been able to find menus online?



I only ate in the parks except for a muffin from Ballet Café and an ice-cream from Sunnyside Marketplace, so I can't really tell you about the Disney Town options. And I'm just assuming that Bacchus Lounge would have some sort of food as the lounge place at the HKDL Hotel does - we had custom made pizzas there, and there were a few other options. Ballet Café is right next door though, so worst case if you get there and find that they don't have any food, you can just duck in next door.

Within the parks, I definitely wouldn't miss Barbossa's Bounty. It is the most incredibly themed restaurant I've been to, even if you can't get a table right by the water. I had the ribs which were absolutely delicious, although the corn on the side was pretty ordinary lol! Try Wandering Moon if you want real Chinese food - I was a bit scared that I'd order something I wouldn't like (I'm a little bit fussy), but regret not being a bit adventurous because some of the pictures I've seen since look really good! Mickey's Marketplace has dim sum items, great for those of us who love dumplings! And if you're happy with junk food for breakfast, you can't go past Donald's gelato shop (forget what it's called) for waffles - yummo!

Don't make the mistake of thinking that counter service is going to be cheap. With the exchange rate at the time I went (not sure what it's doing now), I was still spending $15-$20 AUD for an adult meal combo. I mainly just bought kids meals which were a bit cheaper, but still not what I would call cheap.

You'll absolutely love your dinner at the Royal Banquet Hall too. Even on my own, it was amazing!


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## disney144

We will probably skip royal banquet hall as we aren't really character people. We are anticipating spending as much as we would for counter service in other Disney parks, which is unfortunate. Thanks for the recommendations! We were definitely thinking of doing barbosas and wandering moon, so I'm glad we're on the right path!


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## disney144

One more question for you- I usually eat kids meals at the US parks. Did you find them to be enough food (with room for snacking) or were they smaller than US parks kids meals? How was the food quality? I know some kids menus are hit or miss!


----------



## Flounder89

disney144 said:


> One more question for you- I usually eat kids meals at the US parks. Did you find them to be enough food (with room for snacking) or were they smaller than US parks kids meals? How was the food quality? I know some kids menus are hit or miss!


They had an offer where you got a free kids meal with the purchase of 2 adults so I got to try kids meals on a few occasions - really small portions and mostly some type of bland rice; I would stick with the adult options. I can recommend the pork belly at Wandering Moon'


----------



## GusIsaFoxhound

Try Wolfgang Puck in Disney Town for a decent feed. We had the 'meal for 2' for about 200y (maybe 180y) which had pork and rice, pepperoni pizza, calamari, and a divine slice of vanilla cheesecake. This really is one of the best meals I've ever had anywhere- I've been living on the dream since having it! 
Disney Town has plenty of eating spots, both cafe and restaurant, and most have the menu with prices out the front. It will be easy to find somewhere to suit your needs, I think. Enjoy!


----------



## zanzibar138

disney144 said:


> We will probably skip royal banquet hall as we aren't really character people. We are anticipating spending as much as we would for counter service in other Disney parks, which is unfortunate. Thanks for the recommendations! We were definitely thinking of doing barbosas and wandering moon, so I'm glad we're on the right path!



Oh, I must be thinking of someone else who said they had a dinner reservation at the Royal Banquet Hall!



disney144 said:


> One more question for you- I usually eat kids meals at the US parks. Did you find them to be enough food (with room for snacking) or were they smaller than US parks kids meals? How was the food quality? I know some kids menus are hit or miss!



The kids meals I had were a similar size to the ones I had in the US, and certainly plenty of food for me (although I'm a fairly light eater). Mostly they were on the blander side though compared to the adult meals.


----------



## shushh

Sounds an awesome trip! Lots of great info here! Have read the main posts, now slowing going through all the posts for the extra tips. We'll be going in April next year so very grateful for this


----------



## shushh

And gorgeous photos by the way


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## Aussie Wendy

Lovely photos. Waiting eagerly for Toy Story Hotel pics now. Love the look of Adventure Isle, my fave area in Disney Paris too.


----------



## zanzibar138

shushh said:


> Sounds an awesome trip! Lots of great info here! Have read the main posts, now slowing going through all the posts for the extra tips. We'll be going in April next year so very grateful for this





shushh said:


> And gorgeous photos by the way



Glad you're enjoying it!



Aussie Wendy said:


> Lovely photos. Waiting eagerly for Toy Story Hotel pics now. Love the look of Adventure Isle, my fave area in Disney Paris too.



I will be getting onto the rest of this TR in the next couple of weeks. Gotta get through some life admin first, but have the perfect opportunity coming up to get this TR finished off


----------



## zanzibar138

I apologise for neglecting this TR for so long! I've got a couple of days free to get through as much as I can before real life is going to take over again, so let's see how much I can do!
*
The Jungle is Calling*

When I arrived back at Tarzan, there were a few people waiting in one of the queue lines. The CM at the entrance recognised me from before, and waved me into the next queue line so I was right at the front. The line built up behind me, but never really never did get that long.





I was very surprised that this show wasn’t more popular! Or perhaps most people were out taking advantage of the still short-er wait times.

At one point the last show obviously finished, and a wave of people exited the theatre. Once they were out of the way, the CMs started setting up the queue for us to enter. There were three separate lines in the queue, and they all ended abruptly near the theatre entrance. I had been wondering what would happen when we were allowed in – whether each line would be let in one at a time, or whether it would just be a free for all with pushing and shoving galore. It turned out that they actually extended each line into the entrance area, each directed towards a different door. Being in the middle queue, I was headed towards the centre door! That CM really looked after me.

While I was waiting, one of the group of westerners in the line next to me caught my attention, and asked if I was on the DIS. It turned out to be wuzefelix! We whiled away the remaining few minutes of queue time comparing our experiences so far and our plans for our remaining time. I was very jealous that wuzefelix and his party were off on their VIP tour after lunch, and that they would get to walk on to every ride! Not long afterwards, we were let into the theatre, and wuzefelix invited me to join them for the show. It was nice to have someone to share the experience with, and we managed to nab some great seats (well, bench space) right in front of the stage only a couple of rows up. The theatre was huge, with seating surrounding the stage on three sides, and it was really only the front section that filled up.

The show started with the ‘Two Worlds, One Family’ song, accompanied by the scenes from the movie projected onto the curtain. It was slightly edited to be in the same style as the Tarzan title screen above, all in sepia tones. At the end of the song, the curtain lifted to reveal the performers.





What followed was a dazzling display of Chinese acrobatics, inspired by the movie. I was blown away to notice that there were no safety ropes used at any time throughout the show. There was no dialogue, but the songs were all familiar (even if they were all in Chinese). The story strayed a little from the movie to fit the style of the show (for example, there was no Clayton, and pirates were the ones trying to capture the gorillas). It didn’t bother me – it did fit the show, and everything flowed nicely and was easy enough to follow.

They're not amazing photos, but they'll give you a bit of an idea about what sort of things they do.

























At the end of the show, the monkeys all ran up and down the aisles giving high fives. My poor old camera did not like that bit at all!


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## zanzibar138

Of course, it would be the case that when I actually have time to work on this TR, Flickr decides that it doesn't want to play! At least I got one update done yesterday anyway, and will try again in a few hours to see if Flickr has fixed itself!


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## Ritchielace

Loving your TR! Your pictures are amazing. So I  have to ask if that Frozen cake on the breakfast pastry table was real or fake? That was pretty impressive even surrounded by all that yummy food.


----------



## zanzibar138

Ritchielace said:


> Loving your TR! Your pictures are amazing. So I  have to ask if that Frozen cake on the breakfast pastry table was real or fake? That was pretty impressive even surrounded by all that yummy food.



Thanks! Sorry I've fallen so far behind on this. Still planning to finish it off when things settle down in real life.

The icing/decoration on the Frozen cake looked pretty real, but I can't say whether it was actual cake or polystyrene inside. It was clearly just meant for decoration though.


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## disney144

Hey Zanzibar. I know you covered this already, but I can't find it anywhere! How did the luggage transfer work between the two hotels? Was it simple enough? We are considering staying at toy story the first night then transferring to SDL hotel for the last two nights. I'm not sure if it's worth saving $150 if it is going to be a hassle to switch hotels.


----------



## zanzibar138

disney144 said:


> Hey Zanzibar. I know you covered this already, but I can't find it anywhere! How did the luggage transfer work between the two hotels? Was it simple enough? We are considering staying at toy story the first night then transferring to SDL hotel for the last two nights. I'm not sure if it's worth saving $150 if it is going to be a hassle to switch hotels.



It was super easy. I mentioned that I was going to the other hotel for the next night when I was checking out, and they offered to transfer my luggage for me and gave me a ticket stubb to hand over at the other end. There was a small amount of confusion at the other end because the stubb was from the other hotel, but it didn't take long to figure it out, and then they helped me up to my room with the luggage.

I'm actually doing a split stay again on my next trip


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## cschaaf

Resurrecting this thread for a few reasons:

First, it's a fantastic thread! @zanzibar138 , the level of detail that you have gone into is so helpful to those who are planning, or thinking about planning, a trip to SHDL.

Second, I have a question - more on that below..

Third, I'm hoping to kick start zanzibar into posting more of her TR!

My question - can someone explain the 'ticket exchange' thing? We’ll be buying our tickets online (or by calling in) as opposed to buying at the hotel. 
Does that mean we’ll need to print ‘tickets’, then ‘exchange’ them once we get to the park?

Thanks!


----------



## Camonkeygirl

cschaaf said:


> Resurrecting this thread for a few reasons:
> 
> First, it's a fantastic thread! @zanzibar138 , the level of detail that you have gone into is so helpful to those who are planning, or thinking about planning, a trip to SHDL.
> 
> Second, I have a question - more on that below..
> 
> Third, I'm hoping to kick start zanzibar into posting more of her TR!
> 
> My question - can someone explain the 'ticket exchange' thing? We’ll be buying our tickets online (or by calling in) as opposed to buying at the hotel.
> Does that mean we’ll need to print ‘tickets’, then ‘exchange’ them once we get to the park?
> 
> Thanks!




I was at SHDL in Feb.  I bought my tickets online before I arrived, all I had to do was show my passport at the turnstiles and was given a ticket.


----------



## zanzibar138

cschaaf said:


> Resurrecting this thread for a few reasons:
> 
> First, it's a fantastic thread! @zanzibar138 , the level of detail that you have gone into is so helpful to those who are planning, or thinking about planning, a trip to SHDL.
> 
> Second, I have a question - more on that below..
> 
> Third, I'm hoping to kick start zanzibar into posting more of her TR!
> 
> My question - can someone explain the 'ticket exchange' thing? We’ll be buying our tickets online (or by calling in) as opposed to buying at the hotel.
> Does that mean we’ll need to print ‘tickets’, then ‘exchange’ them once we get to the park?
> 
> Thanks!



Sorry this TR has gone into such a state of neglect! Life has thrown me a few curve balls recently so I've had to take some time out to deal with that. It is returning to a state of normalcy though, so perhaps I will get time to do some more updating soon - I do still plan to finish it off!

When I was there, I had to exchange my printed ticket voucher (purchased online) at the ticket booth. Once I had my official ticket, I was waved into the park, and didn't have to line up again at the turnstiles. It was actually much more civilised doing it that way - people in the lines for the ticket booth were much better behaved than the people lining up for the turnstiles!

I'm actually going again next week, and will be purchasing my tickets online before I go, so I will let you know what the current situation is.


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## Aussie Wendy

We just got back. We took the print out of the ticket confirmation email with our passports to the actual entrance turn-styles not the ticket office (as you are now told to do). There they printed off a ticket for us pretty quickly as we moved through. The security before this was the longer queues. Saw lots of people getting food confiscated as they were bringing in too much/wrong type (there is a long list of things and quantities you can't bring in).


----------



## zanzibar138

As Wendy has already clarified, the ticket exchange process is now very quick and easy. Just walk right up to the turnstiles with your print out and your passport, and they will exchange it for an actual ticket. Very painless.


----------



## Aussie Wendy

Ha ha and now I know what the Tarzan show is all about. I didn't end up taking pics from our side position as I figured we were also too far back but seeing yours wish I'd tried for one or two.


----------



## WanderlustNZ

I'm so far behind on these threads, I have so far managed to only have a quick scan through your pics - which are awesome by the way.  
It's wonderful that you have had the chance to visit twice in such a short period of time.  Where is the next trip too?


----------



## zanzibar138

Aussie Wendy said:


> Ha ha and now I know what the Tarzan show is all about. I didn't end up taking pics from our side position as I figured we were also too far back but seeing yours wish I'd tried for one or two.



I really only took those as I felt like I should document everything for people to see. Usually I don't bother trying to take photos during indoor shows (and I didn't on our last trip).



WanderlustNZ said:


> I'm so far behind on these threads, I have so far managed to only have a quick scan through your pics - which are awesome by the way.
> It's wonderful that you have had the chance to visit twice in such a short period of time.  Where is the next trip too?



Yes, I am a lucky girl! Unfortunately my luck has run out and I'll have to take my own travel hiatus for the next few years. I have grand plans for 2023, and may be able to get one or two little trips in between now and then.


----------



## WanderlustNZ

I am intrigued!  Where to in 6 years?


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## zanzibar138

WanderlustNZ said:


> I am intrigued!  Where to in 6 years?



I am in the very early stages of planning an epic 40th birthday, participating in all the Disney running events offered in September. Based on the historical timetable for September, I'll be starting at DLR with a 5k, 10k and half marathon, then head to HKDL for a 5k and 10k, and finish off with a 5k, 10k and half marathon in Paris. I'll be trying to spend at least a couple of days at each park on my way around the world, and trying to figure out how to incorporate a half marathon at WDW as well so that I can earn my Coast 2 Coast medal!

Don't want to get too side-tracked in this TR though - I'll probably start a new thread eventually in the RunDisney board.


----------



## WanderlustNZ

Sounds exciting  and exhausting 

Go you! A great way to celebrate your 40th.


----------



## zanzibar138

Ok. Time to finish off this TR before I get confused about what happened on which trip lol! I won't include as much detail going forward, or bother to edit my photos, in the interest of getting it out as quickly as I can.

* * * * *

After Tarzan, I had a little wander around the area, and checked out Roaring Rapids (which by that time had about a 2 1/2 hour wait time).











I decided to have an early lunch at Barbossa's, hoping to beat the majority of the crowds. It wasn't too badly crowded, but there was no chance of me finding seating in the waterside area!






I had the ribs, which came with rice and corn on the cob. The ribs were delicious, and I also enjoyed the rice, but the corn left a little to be desired. I should also point out that this wasn't a cheap meal. With the exchange rate at the time, it came to nearly AUD $20.











The theming in this restaurant is just wonderful - definitely the best I've seen.































After lunch I spent some time just checking out Treasure Cove and the various walkthrough attractions. It was getting hot and crowded, and as such, even the walkthrough attractions with no queue were getting tiresome.


----------



## zanzibar138

After spending so much time in Treasure Cove, I was keen to explore more of Adventure Isle. Love the little rock sculptures they've got everywhere!





My first stop was the Happy Circle character spot for meeting some Jungle Book characters. This was one of my favourite attractions on this visit. There was never any line, and inside was shady and cool. I also had great interactions with the characters and other CMs here.









The wait time for the Challenge Trails had blown out to over an hour, but I decided to check out Camp Discovery anyway.





This was a very pleasant place to be. The crowds were low (except for the line for the Challenge Trails), there was plenty to see and do, the people watching opportunities were fantastic, and inside the caves (especially near the waterfalls) was lovely and cool.

For those attempting the Challenge Trails, be aware that you are not allowed to take cameras or phones with you. However, if you have someone not doing the trails, they will be able to look out for you along the way and get some good photos from the ground.

















































After a bit of hard going for the previous couple of hours, I actually left this area feeling somewhat refreshed and ready to attempt a bit more sightseeing. On the way out, I found some more rock sculptures.


----------



## PrincessInOz

Glad you've started this again.  Love seeing the pictures.


----------



## Aussie Wendy

I agree!!


----------



## zanzibar138

PrincessInOz said:


> Glad you've started this again.  Love seeing the pictures.





Aussie Wendy said:


> I agree!!



Thanks!


----------



## zanzibar138

My plan was to visit Pooh (as I was Disneybounding as him today), then leisurely make my way out of the park and back to the hotel for a break from the heat and the crowds.





There were only a few people in line for Pooh, who was currently on a break. Despite this, it was only a 5-10 minute wait all up. Unfortunately Pooh and his handlers didn't seem to 'get' my outfit, and I left the area a little disappointed with my interactions and with my photos.





I made my way back to the park entrance through the castle, where the halls were lined with people trying to escape the heat.





On the way out, I came across a CM who was taking photos of another group in front of the castle, so I asked if he would take one of me too. He kind of sighed and looked a bit grumpy about the whole situation, but took the photo for me anyway. All other CMs that I encountered were very friendly and seemed happy to be part of the excitement.





Walking down Mickey Avenue, I took the opportunity to focus on some of the details on the shop buildings.

















And the pretty gardens around the 'Town Square' area.





I spied Pluto out for greetings here, so I jumped in line. Again, about a 5 minute wait, if that.









It was a picture well worth waiting for, with the beautiful castle in the background.





Just a couple of last photo stops on the way out.









Then it was off to bus stop for my ride back to the hotel.


----------



## PrincessInOz

zanzibar138 said:


> There were only a few people in line for Pooh, who was currently on a break. Despite this, it was only a 5-10 minute wait all up. Unfortunately Pooh and his handlers didn't seem to 'get' my outfit, and I left the area a little disappointed with my interactions and with my photos.




I think I can see why they didn't "get" your outfit.  You missed the black nose!!!!  








Seriously??? They didn't get the Poohness of what you were wearing????  Maybe if you tried it again, they might!!!





Great pic with Pluto down the "Square".


----------



## zanzibar138

PrincessInOz said:


> Seriously??? They didn't get the Poohness of what you were wearing????  Maybe if you tried it again, they might!!!



Haha yeah, I would have thought if nothing else the Tigger earrings and Piglet tsum tsum on my handbag would have given it away.

Spoiler alert... I did try again lol! Still didn't get much from Pooh. Interestingly enough though, I did get some interaction from Baloo on my outfit.


----------



## Royal Consort

Oh, you were in club whilst we were staying there!


----------



## zanzibar138

Royal Consort said:


> Oh, you were in club whilst we were staying there!



Cue 'It's a Small World'...



Seems like there was quite a large DIS contingent there for Opening Day


----------



## zanzibar138

I soon arrived back at my hotel for a little rest.





I decided to take a quick look around while I was there, since I hadn't really seen much of it yet.













I headed down to the Sunnyside Marketplace to see if there was anything suitable to take back to my room for afternoon tea. I ended up with an ice-cream sandwich, which did the job deliciously.









I relaxed in my room for half an hour or so, checked my emails and facebook, posted a new status so people back home wouldn't worry etc.













I had plans to head back to Pooh Bear for another visit, and he was due to finish up at around 5:30pm I think, so from memory I headed back out at around 4pm. I set off at a leisurely pace, taking plenty of photos along the way.













In the courtyard, Woody and Jessie were literally just standing around with nothing to do, so I went and had a few photos with them. When I left, they went back to twiddling their fingers lol!





Then it was time to get on the bus to the park.


----------



## Royal Consort

zanzibar138 said:


> Cue 'It's a Small World'...
> 
> 
> 
> Seems like there was quite a large DIS contingent there for Opening Day


No, about 2 weeks ago?


----------



## zanzibar138

Royal Consort said:


> No, about 2 weeks ago?



Oh, that trip! Yes, we were there the week of Queen's Birthday weekend. I'll have to hurry up and finish this TR so I can get started on that one lol!


----------



## zanzibar138

Soon I was back in the park, heading straight towards Fantasyland for my second meeting with Pooh Bear. I did catch a few more details on Mickey Avenue on the way through.

















I took a few photos around the area while I was waiting for Pooh. It's quite a cute little spot.













I really didn't have much better interactions this time around - still no 'comments' on my outfit. But it was worth a try.





Just across from Pooh there's a little viewing area for the Seven Dwarves coaster, so I took a couple of photos while I was there.





On my way to Adventure Isle, I got stuck at the parade route, so I just watched the last of it pass by.

















There was a bit of a crush once the parade had finished.





I was heading towards the Challenge Trails. I was pretty keen to do this at some point in the trip, and the wait time was down to 40 minutes, which was about as good as it was going to get.

Before entering the queue, everyone is required to place ALL loose items in a locker. This includes cameras, phones etc... everything. It was a little chaotic in there, but eventually I got all my items stashed and joined the queue. Unfortunately, by the time I was done at the lockers, the wait time had actually gone up again - must have been people coming through after the parade. For anyone who has noticed that I was wearing a skirt that day and is wondering how that worked, you'll be pleased to know that I had shorts on underneath (as I always do when wearing skirts/dresses in Disney parks). The CMs actually did make sure of this when I was joining the queue.













Since we were not allowed to take cameras through to the course, I have no photos of this attraction. I'll do my best to explain my experience in words.

The queue was reminiscent of the Jungle Cruise. Fairly plain but with elements of exploration thrown in. It really was quite a tedious wait on my own with no camera and not much to look at. There was also quite a bit of 'line squeezing' happening here, which I was getting annoyed about, because I knew that every single person who went in front of me would increase my wait time by a couple of minutes. As I got further towards the front of the queue, I was kept entertained by watching the people in front of me get harnessed up and start their journey along the course.

The harnessing is quite simple really. From the queue, you were called forward for a harness. There were three CMs doing this, and as soon as they were finished putting the harness on the person, they would call the next one. There were three sizes - they seemed to generally use the smallest one for kids, medium size for women, and larger ones for men. At this stage, they just literally plonked the harness on over your head.

Next, we joined another line for having our harnesses done up. This 'station' was a bench on either side of the queue, where there were two CMs sitting on each side. Basically as you passed through, you stopped to have the harness adjusted and done up. Be aware that the CMs here are not shy and will reach right between your legs for the harness straps.

Once the harnesses were done up, we were ready to be attached to the overhead line. There was a line on each side of the stairs up to the course, with a CM on each side attaching people as they went through. At the top of the stairs there was another CM who gave a brief safety overview. It was all in Cantonese, and when I looked at the CM for some sort of English translation, he just looked at me apologetically. I just had to assume that it was nothing I wouldn't be able to figure out for myself lol!

From the top of the stairs, there are three courses to choose from. They do seem to direct people to a specific course, and they all seem to be worthwhile options with some different point of interest on each. Along the course there are the various obstacles. All of the obstacles have a hard option, medium, and an easy option which is often basically just a bridge/path around it. The overhead system is designed so that you can choose your difficulty rating for each obstacle individually or overtake people if required - it's really quite clever.

On this course, I chose the most difficult option for each obstacle. They haven't taken it easy out there because it's a Disney attraction. This is a real challenge trail, and some of the obstacles are quite terrifying! A few of them saw my heart racing. It's definitely an attraction to do with a friend if you've got one to support each other. Alas, I didn't lol! However, one of my favourite memories from this trip was when I saw another solo traveller gingerly attempting one of the obstacles, and we had a friendly interaction where he gestured for me to go first, and we encouraged each other as we went. It didn't matter that we were complete strangers who couldn't understand each other lol!

As I was going around the course, I was wishing that I had been allowed to take my camera. The sun was setting, and the view from the course was absolutely stunning at that time of night with the warmth from the sunset glowing with the golden tones of the 'mountain'. There are a couple of amazing locations for sunsets in this park!

All the trails converge at the final obstacle. There is just one option at this obstacle - a single rope bridge with another single rope to hold onto. That was a bit much for me, so I took the plain old boring bridge through. Then it was back down the stairs to be unattached from the overhead line and undoing of the harnesses. There is a return point at the end for the harnesses, where there is a CM putting them straight back onto the racks at the starting point.

By the time I was done and had retrieved my stuff from the locker, the light was well and truly fading.


----------



## zanzibar138

As the sun continued to set, I made my way around the lagoon, taking pictures as I went.













As I got around to Pirates, I decided to jump in the queue as it was only 20 minutes.





I took some more queue photos in the last light of the day.













By the time I exited the ride, it was well and truly dark.

















The queue for turkey legs was among the longest in the park lol!





I continued my night time wanderings through Adventure Isle.













Couldn't resist dropping by Happy Circle to visit some more characters.









Unfortunately it was only when I'd finished there that I realised that Ignite the Dream was on at 7:30pm tonight instead of 8pm as it had been the previous night lol!


----------



## PrincessInOz

Nice updates!

Love that you took time to take pictures around the park.  I've come back with a distinct lack of them  

That Happy Circle spot is great!  So envious you got a picture with Rafiki.


----------



## Aussie Wendy

zanzibar138 said:


> I am in the very early stages of planning an epic 40th birthday, participating in all the Disney running events offered in September. Based on the historical timetable for September, I'll be starting at DLR with a 5k, 10k and half marathon, then head to HKDL for a 5k and 10k, and finish off with a 5k, 10k and half marathon in Paris. I'll be trying to spend at least a couple of days at each park on my way around the world, and trying to figure out how to incorporate a half marathon at WDW as well so that I can earn my Coast 2 Coast medal!
> 
> Don't want to get too side-tracked in this TR though - I'll probably start a new thread eventually in the RunDisney board.



All that running plus jet lag. Sounds exciting but a bit exhausting. Will you get enough of a recovery time inbetween each race and country? You don't want to do any permanent injuries to yourself (yes, you can't take the Mum out of a Mother, even if she's not your own).


----------



## Aussie Wendy

I agree with PIO even with 3 days wish we'd we'd had more time for random pics in the park, especially at dusk and after dark - I think it was so hard in the rain those first two days. Loving your pics from your first visit. I also think the Challenge Trail we did would have been easier in the dry (or to put it another way I would have been more game to try some more harder options if not slipping and half blinded by rain drops) but you have done both now so maybe not?? I also think it is a great, but unusual thing for Disney to have included.


----------



## zanzibar138

PrincessInOz said:


> Nice updates!
> 
> Love that you took time to take pictures around the park.  I've come back with a distinct lack of them
> 
> That Happy Circle spot is great!  So envious you got a picture with Rafiki.



Yep, loved my Happy Circle lol!

I think I spent more time just taking pictures around the park on this trip because it was so busy and I couldn't be bothered with the wait times for many of the rides. It does also help when the weather cooperates. I certainly didn't get to take as many as I wanted with the rainy weather we had. I have come back with a distinct lack of night time photos!



Aussie Wendy said:


> All that running plus jet lag. Sounds exciting but a bit exhausting. Will you get enough of a recovery time inbetween each race and country? You don't want to do any permanent injuries to yourself (yes, you can't take the Mum out of a Mother, even if she's not your own).



Haha! FWIW my actual Mum thinks it's a great idea 

It will certainly be an exhausting trip. I'll be building up my running fitness to a very high level so that my body doesn't go into too much shock. I plan to fly in a premium class too to make it easier on my legs - I should be able to gather enough points by then I think. I'll also be taking it very easy between runs, will only be planning a few full park days with plenty of rest. I'll be planning to walk all of the 5ks, and run the 10ks and halfs at a very easy pace with plenty of photo stops. I think it's achievable.



Aussie Wendy said:


> I agree with PIO even with 3 days wish we'd we'd had more time for random pics in the park, especially at dusk and after dark - I think it was so hard in the rain those first two days. Loving your pics from your first visit. I also think the Challenge Trail we did would have been easier in the dry (or to put it another way I would have been more game to try some more harder options if not slipping and half blinded by rain drops) but you have done both now so maybe not?? I also think it is a great, but unusual thing for Disney to have included.



I do think the first trail I did was easier than the one that we attempted. Although the dry weather definitely did make a difference. I probably would have attempted more of the harder obstacles without the rain. I probably still would have skipped the rope thing at the end though - I just don't trust myself that much lol!


----------



## Aussie Wendy

Oh I knew your Mum wouldn't agree with me - your parents are crazy running people too  It's a good job there are us lazy people around to balance you lot out and cheer you on! Seriously
 glad to hear you are planning to prep well and pace yourself.


----------



## zanzibar138

Aussie Wendy said:


> Oh I knew your Mum wouldn't agree with me - your parents are crazy running people too  It's a good job there are us lazy people around to balance you lot out and cheer you on!


----------



## charmama4

My family and I leave for HKDL and SDL(taking advantage of the 144 hour transit visa) in 2 1/2 weeks and reading your TR has been an inspiration.  Loved the pictures and already had so many of my own questions answered by reading. Thank you so much for sharing your magical experience.  We are beyond excited to say the least.  I, BTW, loved your Disneybound Winnie the Pooh outfit...adorable, just adorable.  Please post your outfits for the marathons!!


----------



## zanzibar138

charmama4 said:


> My family and I leave for HKDL and SDL(taking advantage of the 144 hour transit visa) in 2 1/2 weeks and reading your TR has been an inspiration.  Loved the pictures and already had so many of my own questions answered by reading. Thank you so much for sharing your magical experience.  We are beyond excited to say the least.  I, BTW, loved your Disneybound Winnie the Pooh outfit...adorable, just adorable.  Please post your outfits for the marathons!!



Thank you so much! So pleased that my TR has been helpful for you 

I look forward to reading about your experiences 

I do tend to get slightly carried away with my Disney outfits lol! I will certainly be putting a lot of thought into my running outfits and will be posting all about them in due course in my TR.


----------



## zanzibar138

I'd had full intentions of getting some dinner before the show tonight so that I could have something to munch on while waiting for it to start. I also wasn't planning to take photos tonight, so I wasn't overly concerned about spending a lot of time trying to get the perfect spot. However, with only half an hour before show time, I was a bit too late for anything! I definitely needed to eat something, so I decided that I still had time to grab a pastry from Remy's.





Sadly there wasn't much time for photography, but I did manage to capture a few bits and pieces.













Apricot Danish with a view...





You will notice that there were still a lot of obstructions in front of the castle. This was all left over from the Grand Opening Ceremony, which I was most peeved about. I think I mentioned it before in this TR, but it's worth mentioning again for anyone who may have missed it. The night before the park officially opened, they held a grand ceremony for VIPs. I'm talking about politicians, business people and foreign dignitaries, who I assume were not necessarily Disney fans. This was televised for the locals to admire from afar. On Opening Day, they held off on opening the park until lunch time, as I think they held media previews and hosted VIPs again during the morning. There was no pomp and ceremony of any kind for the real Disney fans who had made it there for the official Grand Opening - no confetti, no opening show or parade, no characters greeting us as we entered the park. There had been no entertainment provided for us while we sat for hours in the drizzle waiting for the park to open. I'll admit it was a little disappointing (especially when there is such fanfare in other parks just for anniversary celebrations!). The real kick in the pants was that we weren't able to see the castle properly because all the seating from the VIP celebrations was still in place, and was slowly getting taken down day by day. Anyway, rant over. Obviously I still had an awesome time!

Despite the obstructions, I was relatively pleased with my spot (since I arrived there with about 10 minutes to go before show time), and couldn't resist getting a few photos.









































Throughout the show, more and more people were arriving and jostling for position. I lost a lot of photos to blur, with so many people pushing past and bumping my arm. I still enjoyed watching the show though. They played the finale again at the end, but there were no fireworks accompanying it tonight, and I had other plans!


----------



## PrincessInOz

Shame about the obstruction!
Nice view, even if you did get jostled around a bit.


----------



## zanzibar138

After having seen the practically deserted line queues the previous night, I made a bee line for Seven Dwarves Mine Train. Unfortunately things were a lot busier tonight, and there was still about a half hour wait. Fortunately the wait for single riders was only 5 minutes. I really enjoyed the view from the ride - there's great views of the castle coming over some of the rises.

I had a FP for Peter Pan, but by the time I got there I didn't really need it. It probably would have been about a 10 minute wait.











Checked out some of the views from the castle on the way to my next destination.






Voyage to the Crystal Grotto was a walk on, and was well worth experiencing at night.









































I had grand plans to stay as long as possible and get lots of photos before getting kicked out of the park. However, my legs/feet/hips hurt and I was getting pretty tired so after taking in one last beautiful view of the castle, I decided to head back to the hotel.






I did manage to find some energy for shopping, and found a nice Mickey plush to use my voucher on. Leaving closer to the official closing time, I definitely noticed a difference in the crowd level on the bus. At least I didn't have to wait for another one.






When I got back to the room, I just managed to gather the energy to lay out my outfit for the next day before crawling into bed.


----------



## zanzibar138

As I had achieved much more than expected during my first two days, I had decided to allow myself a little sleep in on this last day. Today's look was inspired by Cinderella.





As I would be heading to the airport later, I also had to do a final pack and check out before leaving for the park. The delays this morning put me about an hour behind schedule, and I arrived at the gates just after official opening time. At that time of the morning, the 'lines' were crazy! I couldn't even tell which turnstile I was lining up for - it was basically just a mass of people.









For a long time, the line didn't seem to go anywhere, and I actually started to wonder if I'd misread the times and the park actually wasn't open yet! Eventually we started moving, a teeny tiny bit at a time. Despite the delays and the mass of people, I had actually been quite impressed with the general behaviour of the crowd so far, and hadn't really experienced any line cutting or anything. However, when we (finally) got to this point, things changed.





Suddenly there was a huge surge, and people squeezing in wherever they could, cutting in and between lines. It was the only point in the trip where I just had to close my eyes and breathe, and allow myself to be carried along with the crowd. Eventually I had found myself carried into the turnstile area and next in line to get in. Even at this point, people were trying to push in front of me, and were only stopped by the fact that there was physically not enough room to squeeze past me. The CM seemed to be taking several minutes to process each group. It took me all of about 10 seconds to show my ticket, have it scanned, and walk through the turnstile to the park, so I'm not sure why everyone else was taking so long. It did explain the slow moving line though.

I had been in line for about an hour, but I was finally in!


----------



## PrincessInOz

zanzibar138 said:


> Today's look was inspired by Cinderella.



Love it!  I hope "someone" noticed!!!





zanzibar138 said:


> At that time of the morning, the 'lines' were crazy!





zanzibar138 said:


> people squeezing in wherever they could, cutting in and between lines.



OMG!  I'm so glad that we didn't experience anything like that when we went.  I don't know if I would have coped!






zanzibar138 said:


> I had been in line for about *an hour*, but I was finally in!


----------



## PrincessInOz

zanzibar138 said:


> Voyage to the Crystal Grotto was a walk on, and was well worth experiencing *at night*.



Dang it!

Another one to add to the list of things to re-do.


----------



## zanzibar138

PrincessInOz said:


> OMG!  I'm so glad that we didn't experience anything like that when we went.  I don't know if I would have coped!



Yeah I wouldn't recommend going at a busy time!



PrincessInOz said:


> Dang it!
> 
> Another one to add to the list of things to re-do.



Dang it indeed! I was looking forward to seeing your photos of it lol!


----------



## PrincessInOz

zanzibar138 said:


> Dang it indeed! I was looking forward to seeing your photos of it lol!



Let's just blame the rain.  There were lots of things I had every intention of photographing....but it was just so miserable that I didn't bother.


----------



## zanzibar138

Unfortunately, after spending an hour lining up to get into the park, I had fallen further behind schedule. Fortunately my schedule wasn't that rigid today, but I did have specific plans for breakfast, and I had been planning to do that early since I also had lunch plans!

First I made a beeline for Tron, hoping to nab a FP time that wasn't going to clash with my lunch booking. It was going to be tight, but I just made it.

FP in hand, I then headed back towards Mickey Avenue for breakfast, and immediately got distracted by the cute Chip and Dale Tai Chi show along the way!





I stood and watched for a few minutes, before continuing to my brekky destination.





Yes, waffles and ice-cream are absolutely an appropriate breakfast food while on vacation.

Inside, the store had a Venetian Donald theme.









There is not a huge range available here. It's basically a Donald waffle with either chocolate or vanilla/berry extras. I can never resist chocolate.





Yes, those are brownie chunks with the ice-cream, and little choc-bit 'confetti' to sprinkle on top. It was all absolutely delicious, but such a large serving, I really needed someone to share with.





There's not a huge amount of seating available here, but I managed to find a table reasonably easy at that time of day. As I was finishing up, I was joined by a small Chinese family. They seemed friendly and we exchanged smiles before keeping to ourselves again.

Just outside the shop, there was a photo opportunity with Daisy. I was constantly amazed at how short the wait times were here for characters.





Today I was exploring at a bit more leisurely pace, taking the time to stop for more photos as I went. I was thrilled to see that all the obstructions had finally been removed from in front of the castle.





There was another solo girl there who asked me to take her photo, and then she offered to take mine. Turned out she was a pretty good photographer, and had me do several poses. She was much better than many of the photopass photographers lol!





On the way past the zodiac 'garden', I took the opportunity to get photos of the characters I'd previously missed.


----------



## zanzibar138

PrincessInOz said:


> Let's just blame the rain.  There were lots of things I had every intention of photographing....but it was just so miserable that I didn't bother.



I was the same. There was a particular lack of night time shots in my collection!


----------



## PrincessInOz

zanzibar138 said:


> It's basically a Donald waffle with either chocolate or vanilla/berry extras. I can never resist chocolate.



We definitely need to go again.  Happy to split a Donald waffle with you.





zanzibar138 said:


> I was constantly amazed at how short the wait times were here for characters.



It was crazy how there were hardly anyone queuing for the characters.





zanzibar138 said:


> I was thrilled to see that all the obstructions had finally been removed from in front of the castle.



YAY!  That's a great shot.




zanzibar138 said:


> Turned out she was a pretty good photographer



You got great shots!


----------



## Aussie Wendy

PrincessInOz said:


> Dang it!
> 
> Another one to add to the list of things to re-do.


I know hey....at least you did a wander round the Adventureland at night. Kicking myself we didn't - came within a whisper of doing so but were just a bit tired that last night. DH is already scheming how we might fly to Europe next trip via Shanghai so he can see SDL - lol!


----------



## Aussie Wendy

and yes love your pics. You as Cinderella in front of the castle is beautiful.


----------



## zanzibar138

PrincessInOz said:


> We definitely need to go again.  Happy to split a Donald waffle with you.
> 
> It was crazy how there were hardly anyone queuing for the characters.
> 
> You got great shots!



Thanks! And yes, happy to share a Donald waffle any time  Although sadly I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to go back.



Aussie Wendy said:


> I know hey....at least you did a wander round the Adventureland at night. Kicking myself we didn't - came within a whisper of doing so but were just a bit tired that last night. DH is already scheming how we might fly to Europe next trip via Shanghai so he can see SDL - lol!



I missed many things on this first trip due to being too tired and sore. I was still getting over Oxfam I think lol!



Aussie Wendy said:


> and yes love your pics. You as Cinderella in front of the castle is beautiful.



Thanks


----------



## zanzibar138

My next stop was the Pirates Stunt Show. It wasn't a must-do for me, but all my must-dos had been done, so I thought I may as well give it a go!

On all the guides it said to arrive at shows at least half an hour prior to the starting time. I arrived basically right on the starting time, and was waved through to the queue, which was already filing into the theatre.





I loved the inside of the theatre, and quite easily filled in the few minutes waiting for the show to start by taking photos.









The show started with a drawn-out 'pre-show' that was all in Chinese. For about 10 minutes I was standing there without the faintest clue of what was going on.





I noticed a westerner in front of me, who seemed to have a local friend who was translating for him. I asked if he would mind if I listened in too. Until that point, everyone I'd spoken to had been lovely and friendly and willing to help out wherever they could. However, this guy just shot me the dirtiest look ever, and then ignored me. I continued to wonder what on earth was going on.









Eventually everyone started shuffling forward. The translator guy actually turned to me and said in quite a short and to the point way 'we're going in now'. Thanks, but I'd actually managed to figure that bit out on my own...

Considering that I'd been late to the party, I was very happy with my seat.





The show was all in Chinese, and bits of it didn't really make sense to me. Like what's with 'fishgirl'???





And this guy???





The best I could figure out is that they seemed to be doing some sort of comedy act while waiting for Jack Sparrow to arrive.





He made a fairly dramatic entrance.





From that point, I started to be able to follow the story a little better. Some guards showed up, I'm guessing to capture the pirates.





There were some explosions which revealed the rest of the stage.









It seemed like it was all over for Jack.





But of course he escaped and some sword fighting ensued.













For some reason there was a tornado coming.





I didn't get any decent shots of when the tornado hit. The fighting moved to one of those wind tunnel things that keeps you floating.





There were some more explosions.





And the pirates all escaped.









At the end of the show they picked out some members of the audience to give pirate medallion coins to. Not sure if this was just part of the opening celebrations or if it happens all the time.





I did enjoy the show, but there were a few bits that left me scratching my head, and I felt like I did miss a little bit by not understanding what they were saying. There were a several parts where the rest of the audience burst into laughter or applause and I had no idea why lol!

Next I decided to head back to Mickey Ave to do some shopping. I took a couple of pictures on the way out.





Would you believe, I accidentally stumbled across the Chip and Dale Tai Chi show again lol!





















Donald came in to crash the party.













I had to give up on the show as it was such a glary day and I didn't have my sunnies with me! After 10 minutes or so watching the show, my eyes were starting to water and I couldn't handle it anymore (yes I do have overly sensitive eyes).

I wandered through a couple of the shops on Mickey Ave.





Then I headed back to Treasure Cove for a meeting with Jack Sparrow.





Jack was quite popular and actually had a bit of a line forming to see him. To my delight, he was speaking English to everyone! We had quite a chat - I suspect he was also pleased to meet someone who could speak English.

Some of you may have noticed that I had been criss-crossing the park quite a lot this morning. Yes, I had been, and there was even more to come! This was very tiring, and not something I would recommend.


----------



## Aussie Wendy

Oh you got a piccie with Jack - lucky!! We really enjoyed the pirate show especially the stunt fighting and wind tunnel bit. They were after a treasure chest but not sure how that fits with the intro prelude. I presumed the pirates had raided the governor of the Caribbean island since we seemed to be in a grand mansion inside and they were taking the mickey out of him - perhaps it was his treasure chest? and I wasn't sure if some of Jack's pirates as always had gone AWOL on him taking things into their own hands in his absence. Some of the stage show before the cannon blowing up the stage scenes, was very English burlesque style with elements that seemed familiar from my school days and perhaps visits to shows in London ...not sure what I am remembering. I am hoping some time soon a Chinese English speaker will put up a synopsis somewhere for us to find (and ditto for Pirates too)


----------



## PrincessInOz

Nice pics of the pirate stunt show!  

I don't remember if they were handing out any coins at the end; but I wasn't paying attention at all.

And awesome that you got a shot with Jack.


----------



## zanzibar138

Aussie Wendy said:


> Oh you got a piccie with Jack - lucky!! We really enjoyed the pirate show especially the stunt fighting and wind tunnel bit. They were after a treasure chest but not sure how that fits with the intro prelude. I presumed the pirates had raided the governor of the Caribbean island since we seemed to be in a grand mansion inside and they were taking the mickey out of him - perhaps it was his treasure chest? and I wasn't sure if some of Jack's pirates as always had gone AWOL on him taking things into their own hands in his absence. Some of the stage show before the cannon blowing up the stage scenes, was very English burlesque style with elements that seemed familiar from my school days and perhaps visits to shows in London ...not sure what I am remembering. I am hoping some time soon a Chinese English speaker will put up a synopsis somewhere for us to find (and ditto for Pirates too)



Thanks for your input! Yes, that would be very handy.



PrincessInOz said:


> Nice pics of the pirate stunt show!
> 
> I don't remember if they were handing out any coins at the end; but I wasn't paying attention at all.
> 
> And awesome that you got a shot with Jack.



They made a pretty big deal out of it - I'd be surprised if they did it and you didn't notice. Must have been an opening thing.

I was looking out for Jack on our recent trip too, but never saw him out. I'm guessing he wouldn't have come out in that rain we had, but I thought he might make an appearance on the last day.


----------



## zanzibar138

From Pirates, I had to trudge across to the complete opposite side of the park for my Tron FP. I still had plenty of time, so I had a bit more of a look around the castle on the way through, enjoying the lack of obstructions!





I actually arrived at Tron a little early, so took the opportunity to get some more photos. This girl was obviously enjoying the ride!









Love the views from the Tron bridge.













With 5 minutes to go until my FP return time, I decided to see whether they'd let me through. Success!





By the time my ride finished, I had just enough time to get across to the castle for my lunch booking. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that there was a parade at 1pm, and got stuck on the other side! I figured I may as well take a few photos while I was stuck there.













After what seemed like forever, the parade passed by and I was able to get through. I was running a few minutes late by then!


----------



## PrincessInOz

Man!  What a difference no rain makes.  I totally wish we didn't get rained on so like we did.  I completely missed out on the landscape shots around the park!  


Another great update, zanzibar.


----------



## zanzibar138

PrincessInOz said:


> Man!  What a difference no rain makes.  I totally wish we didn't get rained on so like we did.  I completely missed out on the landscape shots around the park!



Yep, it made a huge difference!


----------



## zanzibar138

There was a long queue at the Royal Banquet Hall when I arrived, so I joined it and waited impatiently, knowing that I was now running fairly late and worried that they might give my booking away!









Upon arrival, I had to register at the front desk. Luckily they were ok with me running late and nothing was said about it.





I was then shown to the waiting area, where I joined another queue, which I assumed was for entry into the restaurant. The waiting area was very cute, with some beautiful artwork, and lots of detail in the wallpaper.

































It turned out that the queue was actually for the photo opportunity on the way in to the restaurant. I hadn't been expecting this! Aurora and I had a nice chat about skirts!









Then it was time to make my way up the grand staircase to the restaurant.





I was shown to what appeared to be the Snow White dining room, and seated at a large table for 4. I had been a little wary going into this, as I haven't really dined alone in an actual restaurant before, but I was never made to feel uncomfortable about it and ended up enjoying the experience, despite my huge table.









I was promptly handed a menu.





The CM came back around a few minutes later to take my order. It's a set menu, with several choices for each course. You just order the whole lot at once, along with any drinks.

I busied myself looking around with wonder and taking photos.













Keeping in mind that this was opening weekend and there had been no prior reviews of this restaurant, and it was also advertised as 'dining with royalty', I had been expecting princesses. I'm not huge on princesses, but I had been excited about dining in the castle anyway. Imagine my surprise and delight when I saw Mickey emerge, dressed in the cutest medieval inspired outfit!





I had to keep a lid on my excitement, as my appetizer was being served. I went for the leek tart, and it was quite delicious, but a massive serving! I only allowed myself to eat half, as I was concerned about not being able to fit the rest of my meal in otherwise.





I'd just finished my tart when Mickey came to visit!









For main I went with the chicken curry. Loved the cute pumpkin detail and the rice served in the shape of a Mickey head! It should be noted that there was actually no pumpkin in the curry - not sure what they did with all the pumpkin insides!





Minnie came around next, in a beautiful fair maiden gown!









Daisy's outfit was lovely too!





Donald was about the cutest thing out!





After I'd had my fill of characters, dessert was served. I had gone with the Elsa option - can't remember what everything was. It was all delicious though, and presented spectacularly!





I didn't think to ask if I could have a look around the other dining rooms, but this beautiful artwork was on the wall near the bathrooms.





I had another brief look around the inside of the castle and immediate vicinity on the way out.


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## Aussie Wendy

zanzibar138 said:


> Thanks for your input! Yes, that would be very handy.
> 
> 
> 
> They made a pretty big deal out of it - I'd be surprised if they did it and you didn't notice. Must have been an opening thing.
> 
> I was looking out for Jack on our recent trip too, but never saw him out. I'm guessing he wouldn't have come out in that rain we had, but I thought he might make an appearance on the last day.



Yes I did too and no didn't see him. They do still hand out coins but not many because I thought blow we are too far from an end to have any hope of getting any and I was right. I expect they are the same/similar as the onesthey hand out to kids after the pirate tutorial in WDW now.


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## PrincessInOz

Glad that Aurora noticed your skirt!

Lovely looking lunch.


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## zanzibar138

PrincessInOz said:


> Glad that Aurora noticed your skirt!
> 
> Lovely looking lunch.



I did get a couple of comments on my outfit today, but only a fellow westerner guest actually recognised it as being Cinderella inspired. It was a lovely lunch - bit of a splurge for me but well worth it!


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## zanzibar138

After lunch, I headed to Treasure Cove for one last ride on Pirates.





I took a few more queue photos.













Including some showing some of the guest behaviour I encountered. Like this girl clipping her nails while waiting in line.





And these ones showing some of the rubbish around the queue area.









There was a bit of a hold up at the end of the ride, so I got my camera out again and got a couple of 'on ride' photos.









After the ride, I made my way back to Mickey Ave for some more shopping. Check out the wait times for the main headliners in Adventure Isle!





The Whistle Stop shop had merchandise related to the Gardens of Imagination when I was there, including Fantasia items and Garden of the Twelve Friends. For the record, on my latest visit, it had been turned into a Duffy shop.





Minnie's Sweet Shop has a whole heap of biscuit tins and such, as well as the selection of sweets in the display case.





For some reason I headed back to Treasure Cove to go back to the Pirates shop. I guess I must have been looking for something in particular - can't think of any other reason why I would need to go back after having just been there lol!

There was a large crowd gathering for the second parade.





The Pirates shop does have some VERY cool merchandise, and I could have really spent up big in there!













Sadly, I was on a very limited budget this time around, and had to pick my few souvenirs wisely!

I must have been feeling a little lost at this stage, because I seem to have just wandered a bit.





I remember sitting and resting for a few minutes as the parade was just passing through and I couldn't be bothered fighting my way through the crowd. You can probably get an idea of how exhausted I was getting from this photo lol!





Just near me was a large expanse of lawn area designed for picnics. From memory, there are a couple of these scattered throughout the park. I wonder if they'll eventually ditch them in favour of putting in more attractions.


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## PrincessInOz

Yummy treats!  And that pirate's shop was awesome!


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## zanzibar138

My next destination was the Alice in Wonderland maze. Being a big fan of Alice in Wonderland (both the original animated version and the Tim Burton live action version), this was a definite must-do for me.

First of all, I wandered around the castle 'bridge' to get some photos of the maze from the outside.









Loved these steampunk animal garden statues, and would have totally taken home a miniature set for my own garden if they were available!













I then headed to the other side of the bridge to get some photos of the Red Queen's maze.

















The castle loomed over this part of the attraction.





I zoomed in a bit to get some photos of the tea party end of the maze too - I absolutely loved all the lanterns!


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## zanzibar138

After wandering around the top, I headed to the entrance.





There are vignettes of story leading into maze.





Entry is via one of these doors.





There are great views of the castle from within the maze.





I had a lovely time checking out the garden in more detail.





























The small cave that led under the walkway to the castle seemed to be home to the Cheshire Cat, but I didn't see any sign of him on this occasion.





I came out the other side at the entrance to the Red Queen's garden.





It was so detailed in here, I could have spent hours taking photos!

















Then over the bridge to visit the Mad Hatter's tea party.









It was fun getting lost in the maze, and I just loved the lanterns against the castle!













The tea party was incredibly crowded, so I didn't hang around there too long!


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## Agent 86

It was hard to capture / follow, but the Cheshire Cat temporarily left some cool footprints on the walls of the cave and his "smile" would appear in some of the screens. I *think* you were meant to "follow" the cat through the entire cave, but it was a little crowded and people would "stop" where they first saw something and wait for it to reappear instead of trying to follow them.

Did they let you choose which of the three doors to enter by? When we visited, they forced everyone to use the middle door for some reason (even though they all end up in the same area just a couple of metres later).


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## PrincessInOz

Love the pics!  I really liked this area.  So well done.


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## zanzibar138

Agent 86 said:


> It was hard to capture / follow, but the Cheshire Cat temporarily left some cool footprints on the walls of the cave and his "smile" would appear in some of the screens. I *think* you were meant to "follow" the cat through the entire cave, but it was a little crowded and people would "stop" where they first saw something and wait for it to reappear instead of trying to follow them.
> 
> Did they let you choose which of the three doors to enter by? When we visited, they forced everyone to use the middle door for some reason (even though they all end up in the same area just a couple of metres later).



Yeah, I saw the Cheshire Cat tracks on my next trip through 

I think I went through the middle door. Can't really remember. I do remember that the door would only open at certain times to let people through for crowd control. I was pretty busy in there at that time!



PrincessInOz said:


> Love the pics!  I really liked this area.  So well done.



Thanks! I loved this area too, being a big fan of Alice in Wonderland (both Disney versions!).


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## Karin1984

Maybe it's in here somewhere, but can you answer my questions about the Royal Banquet Hall? Do you remember how much you paid and how to make reservations? Can't find it on the website (or I am not looking in the right places)


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## zanzibar138

Karin1984 said:


> Maybe it's in here somewhere, but can you answer my questions about the Royal Banquet Hall? Do you remember how much you paid and how to make reservations? Can't find it on the website (or I am not looking in the right places)



You have to call to make reservations. I used Skype and found the process relatively painless. When you call, they will put you through to someone who can speak reasonable English. You need to give your credit card details when you make the reservation, and they will send you a confirmation email. You're supposed to take this with you, but I forgot mine and it wasn't an issue when I checked in at the restaurant.

I forget what the cost was in CNY, but I think it worked out to about AUD $80. May be slightly better now - I think the exchange rate has improved since then.


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## Agent 86

You can also make a reservation when in the park. Both times we spoke to the person at the front of the restaurant (once to make a reservation and then again to cancel that reservation), they ran off and got someone who spoke English to assist us. When we did the conversion last week, the price was still working out to be around $80 (AUD) per person, which is part of the reason why we ultimately cancelled our reservation.


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## zanzibar138

Agent 86 said:


> You can also make a reservation when in the park. Both times we spoke to the person at the front of the restaurant (once to make a reservation and then again to cancel that reservation), they ran off and got someone who spoke English to assist us. When we did the conversion last week, the price was still working out to be around $80 (AUD) per person, which is part of the reason why we ultimately cancelled our reservation.



That is an excellent point. I should have said 'you need to call to make reservations in advance of your trip'. If you're happy to wait until you arrive and you're staying at a Disney hotel, I imagine they would also be able to help you with this.


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## zanzibar138

There was one more restaurant I wanted to try for dinner tonight, so I made my way back to Mickey Avenue, stopping by the castle on the way through of course.





I was aiming for Mickey and Friends Market Café, as I felt like I couldn't leave Shanghai without eating some more dumplings.









I had no idea what to get, so I ended up getting a kids meal, which had a selection of different items.





There was one item in there that I didn't really like, but the others were delicious!

As with many of the restaurants at SDL, there were several differently themed dining rooms. I wanted to sit in the Lady and the Tramp themed room, but ended up only being able to find a table in the Daisy's Diner themed room.





When I emerged from the restaurant, I was greeted with the most beautiful sunset! The photos I took on my way through to my pre-decided dusk destination do not do it justice.


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## Karin1984

zanzibar138 said:


> That is an excellent point. I should have said 'you need to call to make reservations in advance of your trip'. If you're happy to wait until you arrive and you're staying at a Disney hotel, I imagine they would also be able to help you with this.



Thanks! (Also thanks @Agent 86 ) I can't find much information about the need to make reservations for any restaurant in Disney Shanghai, I might just wait. It is not on our must-do list, but it would ben nice for our first evening there. On our arrival day we don't have a full day, arriving somewhere in the afternoon, we want to stroll through the park, enjoying the ambiance.


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## Agent 86

Karin1984 said:


> It is not on our must-do list, but it would ben nice for our first evening there. On our arrival day we don't have a full day, arriving somewhere in the afternoon, we want to stroll through the park, enjoying the ambiance.



If you're not arriving at the park until the afternoon, then I'd make a booking in advance. By the afternoon, it is entirely possible that all of the evening slots would be fully booked. You can always cancel the reservation in the park if you ultimately decide to eat elsewhere.


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## zanzibar138

Karin1984 said:


> Thanks! (Also thanks @Agent 86 ) I can't find much information about the need to make reservations for any restaurant in Disney Shanghai, I might just wait. It is not on our must-do list, but it would ben nice for our first evening there. On our arrival day we don't have a full day, arriving somewhere in the afternoon, we want to stroll through the park, enjoying the ambiance.



I think it would be a lovely first evening activity 

Mostly I would say you'd probably get same day reservations, but if you're not arriving until late, I'd agree with Agent 86 that it might be worth booking in advance.

There are only 2 restaurants on the whole property that you even can book in advance - the other being Lumiere's character breakfast at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel. So that's probably why there's not a whole lot of information on advance reservations.


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## Karin1984

Agent 86 said:


> If you're not arriving at the park until the afternoon, then I'd make a booking in advance. By the afternoon, it is entirely possible that all of the evening slots would be fully booked. You can always cancel the reservation in the park if you ultimately decide to eat elsewhere.



You are right, I hadn't thought this through  You say you cancelled a reservation, was there a cancellation fee?


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## Agent 86

No cancellation fee. But, out of politeness and fairness to others, we cancelled ASAP after making our decision not to eat there.


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## zanzibar138

And here's what I was aiming for...





Yes, I had decided that I *needed* to see the Alice maze at dusk, for the sunset glow on those awesome steampunk statues, and the lighting up of all the lanterns. Turned out I wasn't the only one with that idea, and there was actually about 10-15 minute wait to get into the maze. In the meantime, I had plenty of time to check out the detail in the entrance area.





I also really loved the view of the castle through the trees. I had plenty of time to play around with my zoom and capture some of the detail.





Those steampunk animals really did look amazing in the golden glow of the sunset.









The Bandersnatch's chamber took on new life at this time of night too.





I visited the Cheshire Cat again, and managed to catch him at home this time around!













I just loved what was happening to all the colours when I came out the other side and entered the Red Queen's garden.













I tried to capture everything that I could see - the castle, lanterns and of course the magnificent sunset.













I love these photos, but they still don't do any justice to just how stunning it was that night.

















Eventually I had to concede that darkness was closing in, and it was time to move on.


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## zanzibar138

And sadly, that brings me to my final post for this TR. Unfortunately with a midnight flight home, it was time for me to say TTFN to Shanghai Disneyland, head back to the hotel, and start making my way to the airport.

***Because I want to finish this report on a dramatic note, I'll do a quick run-down of the logistics of getting to the airport now. I had decided to just take a taxi, as I trusted that the CMs at the Disney hotels would be able to get me into a safe one, and that they shouldn't have any trouble finding the airport. Even so, I left plenty of time for the journey, not knowing what the traffic would be like etc. It was very straightforward, my taxi driver was very nice (even though he couldn't speak a word of English), and I was at the airport far too early in the end, and had hours of time to fill in! Still, better that than arriving late.***

I took my time wandering out, capturing a few final images of the sun setting over the park as I did so.





















I waved goodbye to Mickey on the way out, with tears in my eyes, vowing to see him again real soon.


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## Agent 86

Awesome Trip Report. Thanks for taking the time to write it!


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## PrincessInOz

What amazing skies for the last night.  Great sunset colour.

Aww.  Always sad to see the end of another TR.  It was fantastic to 'be there' at the opening with you.  I know it'll be a trip that you'll remember and talk about for years to come.  You're in the select few that can truly say you were there on Opening Day.  Well done, congrats and kudos to you for making the effort to be there!!

Thanks for sharing.



ps.  Here's to the NEXT one, which I know you'll start real soon!


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## Karin1984

Yes! Thank you for all your tips and advice   it really helps preparing my own trip.


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## Karin1984

I just read back your description of the fireworks show, looked at clips online and only realized now that Disneyland Paris new fireworks show Illuminations is a copy of Ignite the Dream... fingers crossed they will have some new scenes when we are in Shanghai.


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## zanzibar138

Agent 86 said:


> Awesome Trip Report. Thanks for taking the time to write it!



You're most welcome! Glad you enjoyed it 



PrincessInOz said:


> What amazing skies for the last night.  Great sunset colour.
> 
> Aww.  Always sad to see the end of another TR.  It was fantastic to 'be there' at the opening with you.  I know it'll be a trip that you'll remember and talk about for years to come.  You're in the select few that can truly say you were there on Opening Day.  Well done, congrats and kudos to you for making the effort to be there!!
> 
> Thanks for sharing.
> 
> 
> 
> ps.  Here's to the NEXT one, which I know you'll start real soon!



Yes, it certainly was a very special trip, and one to tick off the Disney bucket list!

Looking forward to starting the next one 



Karin1984 said:


> Yes! Thank you for all your tips and advice   it really helps preparing my own trip.





Karin1984 said:


> I just read back your description of the fireworks show, looked at clips online and only realized now that Disneyland Paris new fireworks show Illuminations is a copy of Ignite the Dream... fingers crossed they will have some new scenes when we are in Shanghai.



I'm so glad that my TR was helpful for you 

I certainly did notice the similarities to the Paris show, but it was also quite different from what I remember. It has been a number of years since I saw the Paris show though, so perhaps it has been updated to a more similar one. One difference you can count on is that the show will be in Chinese instead of French


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## ChrisNY2

Really enjoyed your pictures! I was there at the end of March and had a wonderful time! It was great to relive some of the memories through your photos


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## Karin1984

zanzibar138 said:


> I certainly did notice the similarities to the Paris show, but it was also quite different from what I remember. It has been a number of years since I saw the Paris show though, so perhaps it has been updated to a more similar one. One difference you can count on is that the show will be in Chinese instead of French



Yeah... too much French ;-) 

First there was Disney Dreams, of which Ignite the Dream borrowed elements, like the flowers you had before the Tangled segment. And for the 25th anniversary a few weeks ago Disney Dreams in Paris was replaced by Illuminations which is basically a copy/paste of Ignite the Dream  

I found this comparison on Youtube for those interested.


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## zanzibar138

ChrisNY2 said:


> Really enjoyed your pictures! I was there at the end of March and had a wonderful time! It was great to relive some of the memories through your photos



So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for following along 



Karin1984 said:


> Yeah... too much French ;-)
> 
> First there was Disney Dreams, of which Ignite the Dream borrowed elements, like the flowers you had before the Tangled segment. And for the 25th anniversary a few weeks ago Disney Dreams in Paris was replaced by Illuminations which is basically a copy/paste of Ignite the Dream
> 
> I found this comparison on Youtube for those interested.



Oh wow, thanks for sharing! Will have to bookmark that to watch later.

Yes, it was Disney Dreams that I was thinking of.


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## WanderlustNZ

Finally caught up and enjoying your pics.  

I never order kid meals, not a fan of chicken nuggets with fries etc, but that dumpling kid meal looks great.  

Also, I agree that those steampunkesque garden animals look pretty cool.


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## zanzibar138

WanderlustNZ said:


> I never order kid meals, not a fan of chicken nuggets with fries etc, but that dumpling kid meal looks great.



The kids meals in Shanghai were really quite good. I also enjoyed the chicken and rice one that I had earlier in the trip.

Glad you enjoyed the TR


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## Dentam

Wow, your photos of the sunset in the maze are gorgeous!  I wish we would have taken the time to walk through that area.  Next time!


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## zanzibar138

Dentam said:


> Wow, your photos of the sunset in the maze are gorgeous!  I wish we would have taken the time to walk through that area.  Next time!



Thanks! I got pretty lucky with that sunset!


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