TRIP REPORT: Day 6 Shanghai Disneyland Day 1 – Thursday 26th September

[NatsyNoo]

I was so excited for the day ahead! I just knew that this would be my favourite Castle park, and for some of the more modern rides within it (and I wasn’t wrong!). We woke at 6.45am, knowing that to stand a chance of getting the first bus, we needed to be out by the shuttle stop in plenty of time. We got down at 7.15am, and were amongst the last to make it on the bus at 7.35am, so our plan worked. By 7.45am, we were in the park (even though it wasn’t due to open until 8am! I wasn’t complaining).

The first job was to link our tickets which we had just collected from the turnstiles to our Shanghai Disneyland App and secure our first Fastpass which was for Soaring for 9.35am. I did this whilst walking to Tron (I already knew that Tomorrowland here was to the left of the Castle not the right, so sort of had my bearings) and by 8.05am, Tron was done! Oh my gosh, we absolutely LOVED it and couldn’t wait to ride it again and again on this trip.

Next to Tron was Buzz Lightyear’s Planet Rescue (like Astro Blasters but more modern and much better!) and I won! In fact, my first ever Galactic Hero (admittedly, it’s much easier to achieve here than in the other parks).

Our next ride was Peter Pan’s Flight which we knew wanted to do because, again, they had modernised it here, but it wasn’t the sort of ride we liked to queue for. It was lovely, the way they had enhanced it.

By 8.50am, we had also ridden on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which was a walk on. The ride here that everyone goes for is Soaring (with a ‘g’) Over the Horizon.

At 9am, we were boarding our boat for Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure. I was absolutely mesmerised. It was incredible. Like, phenomenal. The effects they use are amazing, the combination of screens, staging, lighting and animatronics created the most perfect experience. It deserves the hype and more and is now our #1 dark ride in all Disney Parks (with Mystic Manor a close second; and Tron our overall favourite ride), and Disney need to spread this magic to other parks. Again, we would be riding this again over and over again this trip.

With the Extra Magic Hour wisely utilised, we headed for breakfast at Remy’s Patisserie which is located on the corner of Mickey Avenue (their version of Main Street). We had 2 cinnamon donuts (RMB35/£3.80 each), a Mickey Chocolate Muffin (RMB35/£3.80) and two drinks (RMB15/£1.60 each) which was absolutely delicious.

Whilst we were eating, Chip & Dale were interacting with Matt which was very cute and funny.

Our Fastpass time for Soaring had arrived, and as we were walking to Adventureland, we past a Duffy & Shellie-May model on the floor made of Coca-Cola bottle tops. It was so clever. We were admiring it and taking photos when a Chinese man asked to take our photo. It was so funny. At first, we thought that he was asking us to take his photo, but no, he wanted a picture with us, lol.

Right, onto Soaring then, which we had reached at 9.50am. The pre-ride was different but the ride itself was identical to the versions in Disneyland and Epcot with the exception of the Castle scene at the end, which was replaced with a view over Shanghai itself, and the Pudong area in particular. It was nice to see the Oriental Pearl Tower again.

At 10.35am, our second Fastpass was up – Roaring Rapids. I had brought a poncho will me as I had heard it was a soaker. I was right. They even sell ponchos in the queue line for RMB10/£1 each.

We wanted to get some photos of the Castle next, whilst the sky was lovely and blue. We walked through the Gardens of Imagination to get there, and saw the zodiac row. This was a lovely touch to this Chinese park.

We got some lovely pictures of the Castle too!

The queue for Meet Mickey was only 10 minutes, so we decided to head over to that. The backdrop was lovely! They also had portraits of all of the Castles, it was amazing to think that we would have visited them all by next week!

[NatsyNoo]

Just around the corner was Voyage of the Crystal Grotto which was now open (it opens slightly later than the rest of the park) and only a 10 minute wait. This was the park’s best equivalent of It’s a Small World and is a lovely unique attraction. It's basically big scenes with music and a water show to match, really cute!

After this, we fancied another ride on Tron which was a walk on and of course rode Buzz again too!

We also popped into the Marvel attraction for a look around.

Come 12.30pm, we decided it was time for lunch. We decided on the Pinocchio Village Kitchen as I wanted one of the Mickey pizzas as the place that sold them in Hong Kong was closed due to the park being so quiet. I had the Peking Duck (RMB95/£10), Matt had BBQ Pork & Pineapple (RMB88/£9.50), and I also got an iconic Shanghai snack, the Shellie-May Pannacotta (RMB45/£5). The food was all delicious.

At 1.20pm, we headed over to meet Duffy & Shellie-May. We were there 10 minutes before it opened and the queue was already so long. We waited 45 minutes. Matt did not enjoy it, lol, but I was grateful and time was on our side as we had already done so much today. I was stunned at how many gifts they received from guests, and how many different poses everyone did with them! That explains the wait time!

After this, we weren’t far from Pirates, so headed over to that again; on the way to our Mine Train Fastpass.

I found the toilets here fascinating...thankfully they had western style ones too, you could tell the type from the picture on the door.

We hadn’t visited Toy Story Land yet, so we mooched through there for a bit, before grabbing some ice creams at 3pm – I got the Donald Duckberg popsicle (blueberry & lemon flavour), Matt got the Minnie Sweet Treat (premium bar, but strawberry ice cream coated in white chocolate) (RMB40/£4.35 each), a water (RMB10/£1) and Pepsi (RMB15/£1.60). We took these back to the pathway and grabbed a spot for the parade.

At 3.30pm, Mickey’s Storybook Express begun. This was a lovely parade. The funniest thing was that a family that we saw in Hong Kong Disneyland were over the way. They recognised us too and waved. A small world indeed! I loved the reference to Mulan in the parade, it's a film that doesn't get much focus in the USA so I was glad that China made the effort lol.

After the parade, we used the Tron Fastpass that we had secured, followed by a ride on Pooh’s Hunny Spot spin (i.e. the teacups) and also used a Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Fastpass at 4.40pm. This was a copy of the WDW version.

I loved the scrim around the new Zootropolis area

We decided to go and have a look around Mickey Avenue next, as we hadn’t explored that area yet.

This Duffy walk put up for Duffy month made my day!

It was time for dinner next, which we grabbed at Mickey & Pals Market Café. We both ordered the three cups chicken with spaghetti combo, which was RMB170/£18.50 for both. It was very tasty, and again, Matt was using his chopsticks!

After dinner, we took another ride on Buzz before using a further Fastpass on Tron and then a further ride on Pirates – our favourite three rides of the day.

We weren’t far off of Ignite the Dream (fireworks & projection show) now, so it was time for some shopping! My first place was the Duffy shop, where I bought a carrier bag (RMB1/10p), a Mushu Duffy plush (RMB159/£17), and a Duffy mug (one of my favourites!) RMB85/£9. In the main shop on Mickey Avenue, I got a reusable shopping bag (RMB20/£2), t-shirt covered in rose gold Mickey faces (RMB189/£20), Stella Lou & Chip & Dale blankets (RMB219/£24 each, or multibuy for RMB184/£20 each), two magnets (RMB30/£3), Chip & Dale mug toppers (to keep the drinks warm – RMB49/£5.30 each), Cutie folders (RMB49/£5.30), and a Cutie mug (RMB109/£12). I remain so pleased with my purchases!

We got a space next for Ignite the Dream, which started 15 minutes later at 8pm. It was a lovely show, virtually identical to Illuminations at Disneyland Paris, which I did expect. The park was open a little later, but we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel. The bus experience was far simpler tonight!

Back at the hotel, we changed our early entry pass at Reception (as they are only valid for 2 days, and ours had expired), showered, unpacked the shopping, prepared for tomorrow, and climbed into bed at 9.25pm, where I caught up on some notes, chilled a bit, and caught up on Facebook/Instagram since the VPN was finally working again!

What an amazing day!

Steps = 31,429

[KarenG]

Wonderful! More more more!

[NatsyNoo]

Originally Posted by KarenG

Wonderful! More more more!

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Haha part 2 is now up! I'm about to do the next 2 days and get them up tonight! That'll then be Shanghai done!

[KarenG]

Originally Posted by NatsyNoo

Haha part 2 is now up! I'm about to do the next 2 days and get them up tonight! That'll then be Shanghai done!

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Enjoyed part 2 just as much. What absolutely fabulous rides, characters and scenery!

[Gunna]

Looks a brilliant park, we’ve planned a free day in Shanghai so will definitely be going here.

Which day did you go? We are planning on going on a Monday and hope it’s not too busy.

[NatsyNoo]

Originally Posted by KarenG

Enjoyed part 2 just as much. What absolutely fabulous rides, characters and scenery!

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Thank you!

Originally Posted by Gunna

Looks a brilliant park, we’ve planned a free day in Shanghai so will definitely be going here.

Which day did you go? We are planning on going on a Monday and hope it’s not too busy.

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Please do make the time as it is absolutely brilliant!
We went on a Thursday & Friday and it was quiet both days, not much difference at all on the Friday so Monday you should be fine provided you're outside of peak holiday periods and any public holidays.

[margyloveswdw]

All sounds fabulous! It's so quiet for you (which I'm sure you planned for!) but I love how much you are getting do with very little wait.

[NatsyNoo]

Originally Posted by margyloveswdw

All sounds fabulous! It's so quiet for you (which I'm sure you planned for!) but I love how much you are getting do with very little wait.

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Thank you! Yes it seems we did time it well in Hong Kong and Shanghai!

[yellowrose78]

Wow what a fantastic day, this park looks amazing!