Shanghai advice/help

maclondon · 8 Apr 19, 04:19 PM

I was there on Saturday, which was a holiday weekend and lovely weather - so it was very crowded, but it's a big park so it did not feel overly busy, except at the fireworks - which I didn't want to watch but had to get across to go to tomorrow land while they were on.

I'm here for work so had no real choice - that was the only day i could go, I bought the 8 fastpast pack, which was �95! but by 10am every fast pass was gone. I'll do a full trip review in a second post. I was alone so did some single rider and got some regular fast passes (rapids and buzz).

I got there for rope drop and left at close - did every ride, some twice. and tarzan/pirates show. i loved it, queue cutting wasn't bad, maybe one person passed by per queue, each time it was to genuinely meet someone ahead. The weird thing is how close everyone stands - they are literally touching you all the time. Just get used to it!

Tron is incredible, day or night (80% of it is indoors anyway)
and yes Pirates (and the whole treasure cove land) is amazing
soarin' is still soarin', I don't get the popularity. This one is at least themed well, rather than being like an 80s shopping mall. you cans see the grid on the screens in the white scenes though which is annoying, and tall towers are wobbly.

7DMT felt a bit faster/twistier, but i may be making that up. The end is rubbish - no house/witch.

winnie the pooh is identical but in Chinese.

peter pan is upgraded, but essentially the same experience.

roarin rapids - is the best (fastest, most fun) of those round boat rapids, I've been on - you don't get soaked (like kali! ) but despite that EVERY SINGLE person buys a poncho, except me!

food is pretty much all Asian, and there are lots to love. I think theres only one place that does burgers. (there's more in disney town - i didnt go there)

I didn't do Camp Discovery, the high wires thing, as I think that's more a thing to do with friends.

the buzz thing is pretty much the same - it seemed a little more accurate.

toy story land is new, small and very well themed. The rex racers was closed for maintenance, i did woodys round up at 9:30pm when it was a walk on - its fun but not something to queue up for.

they aren't really into pins much - I had to hunt them down, less choice than WDW.

they love zootropolis (zootopia) the two characters are everywhere

both shows are great- tarzan is a circus show, no dialog as such and follows the story

pirates show has tons of talking - you won't get any of the jokes, the story is followable (kinda) bad guys, jack, fight, escape, win!

it starts in the queue area then moves into the theatre - and the last 10 mins are all stunts and the clips you will have seen on youtube etc. it's very well done.

One thing you will love - EVERYWHERE takes uk credit cards, unlike Shanghai where paying for things is almost impossible with a CC. Everyone uses wechat pay or alipay (including the fake merch sellers on the metro) some places ONLY take those, no cash, no CC. wechat/alipay aren't really available to uk users - you can use some slightly dodgy sites to activate a wallet, then get Chinese friends to send you money for cash.

so enjoy using your cards like normal in the park.

The parade is good, fairly short.
I didn't watch the fireworks, as I was riding ! no queues, they are on early 8:30pm even though park shuts at 10 (on the day I went) so 9-10pm everything was walk on (except Tron and soarin') tron did drop to 30 mins during the fireworks, soarin' was at 210 minutes when I went on Fast pass. there were no fast passes available for that andi got in at rope drop, registered my card and was trying to get them as soon as possible.

I did have one issue with my fast passes (and premium access passes) disappearing from my app. I went to guest services and they confirmed that they were all linked to my ticket so i just used that to go on the rides, not the app, which also stopped me panicking about running out of battery.

they app was struggling with a capacity crowd, by mid-morning it was all working again and was fine all day. wifi seemed to work everywhere 99% of the time.

that said I went on a holiday weekend, the app was saying no tickets will be sold on the day so I presume the park was at capacity. I think if you go on a 'normal' day you can just use FP and that early hour/late hour to avoid queues.

getting in, DONT take a bag, the bag check queues are over 1 hour.
no bag, walk in.

hope that helps

mac

8 Apr 19, 04:19 PM	#8
	8 Apr 19, 04:19 PM maclondon Excited about Disney
maclondon Excited about Disney Join Date: Mar 15	I was there on Saturday, which was a holiday weekend and lovely weather - so it was very crowded, but it's a big park so it did not feel overly busy, except at the fireworks - which I didn't want to watch but had to get across to go to tomorrow land while they were on. I'm here for work so had no real choice - that was the only day i could go, I bought the 8 fastpast pack, which was �95! but by 10am every fast pass was gone. I'll do a full trip review in a second post. I was alone so did some single rider and got some regular fast passes (rapids and buzz). I got there for rope drop and left at close - did every ride, some twice. and tarzan/pirates show. i loved it, queue cutting wasn't bad, maybe one person passed by per queue, each time it was to genuinely meet someone ahead. The weird thing is how close everyone stands - they are literally touching you all the time. Just get used to it! Tron is incredible, day or night (80% of it is indoors anyway) and yes Pirates (and the whole treasure cove land) is amazing soarin' is still soarin', I don't get the popularity. This one is at least themed well, rather than being like an 80s shopping mall. you cans see the grid on the screens in the white scenes though which is annoying, and tall towers are wobbly. 7DMT felt a bit faster/twistier, but i may be making that up. The end is rubbish - no house/witch. winnie the pooh is identical but in Chinese. peter pan is upgraded, but essentially the same experience. roarin rapids - is the best (fastest, most fun) of those round boat rapids, I've been on - you don't get soaked (like kali! ) but despite that EVERY SINGLE person buys a poncho, except me! food is pretty much all Asian, and there are lots to love. I think theres only one place that does burgers. (there's more in disney town - i didnt go there) I didn't do Camp Discovery, the high wires thing, as I think that's more a thing to do with friends. the buzz thing is pretty much the same - it seemed a little more accurate. toy story land is new, small and very well themed. The rex racers was closed for maintenance, i did woodys round up at 9:30pm when it was a walk on - its fun but not something to queue up for. they aren't really into pins much - I had to hunt them down, less choice than WDW. they love zootropolis (zootopia) the two characters are everywhere both shows are great- tarzan is a circus show, no dialog as such and follows the story pirates show has tons of talking - you won't get any of the jokes, the story is followable (kinda) bad guys, jack, fight, escape, win! it starts in the queue area then moves into the theatre - and the last 10 mins are all stunts and the clips you will have seen on youtube etc. it's very well done. One thing you will love - EVERYWHERE takes uk credit cards, unlike Shanghai where paying for things is almost impossible with a CC. Everyone uses wechat pay or alipay (including the fake merch sellers on the metro) some places ONLY take those, no cash, no CC. wechat/alipay aren't really available to uk users - you can use some slightly dodgy sites to activate a wallet, then get Chinese friends to send you money for cash. so enjoy using your cards like normal in the park. The parade is good, fairly short. I didn't watch the fireworks, as I was riding ! no queues, they are on early 8:30pm even though park shuts at 10 (on the day I went) so 9-10pm everything was walk on (except Tron and soarin') tron did drop to 30 mins during the fireworks, soarin' was at 210 minutes when I went on Fast pass. there were no fast passes available for that andi got in at rope drop, registered my card and was trying to get them as soon as possible. I did have one issue with my fast passes (and premium access passes) disappearing from my app. I went to guest services and they confirmed that they were all linked to my ticket so i just used that to go on the rides, not the app, which also stopped me panicking about running out of battery. they app was struggling with a capacity crowd, by mid-morning it was all working again and was fine all day. wifi seemed to work everywhere 99% of the time. that said I went on a holiday weekend, the app was saying no tickets will be sold on the day so I presume the park was at capacity. I think if you go on a 'normal' day you can just use FP and that early hour/late hour to avoid queues. getting in, DONT take a bag, the bag check queues are over 1 hour. no bag, walk in. hope that helps mac