Notices
Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong Theme Parks Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong Holiday Planning Questions, Suggestions and Tips.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 5 Jul 19, 09:18 PM  
Link to this Post
#1
clochette
Apprentice Imagineer
 
clochette's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 15
Shanghai Disneyland in a Day - 27th June 2019

DD has spent the last year in Shanghai as part of her degree. We were going o go and visit but this, unfortunately never happened. I was more disappointed about not seeing Disneyland Shanghai thanDD but she nobly stepped into the breach and visited for me. Being the dedicate dibber that I am, I "encouraged" her to write a trippie. As we paid for the ticket for her 21st birthday, she as happy to oblige, so here it is.
*
Getting up at quarter past six on my birthday wouldn’t be my first choice of celebration, but I’m certainly glad that I did. I was on the metro by seven. I don’t live near a line eleven stop, so I had to catch a line thirteen train and transfer. The good thing about the Shanghai metro is that every line has at least one transfer station with every other line, so no matter where you are in the city, you can get to where you need to be. As a side note, it is also a lot cleaner than some metro systems (Paris); this came in handy later.
The station for Disney is right at the end of line eleven. It’s just called Disneyland Station (迪士尼: díshìní in Chinese), and the signs on the metro are all in Chinese and English, so there’s no need to panic if you don’t speak Chinese. First thing in the morning, not all of the trains go as far as Disney, stopping at Luoshan a few stops before Disney, but if your train stops, you can just get on the next one.
The metro station itself is, naturally, decorated with assorted Disney characters (and when I went, a sizeable pool of vomit). Out of the station door is a little walk to get to the entrance of the park, but obviously everyone is going to the same place, so you don’t have to worry about getting lost. That part comes later.

Because I went on a Thursday in term time, it was off peak. I don’t know if that made a difference in ticket price, but it meant that the acres of queueing space was only half full (or half empty, depending on your point of view). I’ve been in China for a little while, but if you’re not so familiar with China and Chinese school holidays, you might look at all the queueing space and wonder if it’s all really necessary, but let me assure you, it very much is.
The other thing about queues in China is that they’re seen more as a guideline. I had my ankles taken out three times by the same woman with a pushchair, and my friend nearly got into a fist fight with some child’s mother after she accidentally trod on said child as he tried to crawl between her legs. Throughout the day, we developed a tactic to deter queue jumpers, but that was a surprising start to the morning and a lot to handle at twenty-past eight in the morning.
We suffered for just over an hour in sticky heat before getting into the park. Summer in Shanghai is brutal, and at the moment it’s rainy season, which means it’s cloudy, hot, and the air has so much water in it, walking feels more like swimming. The park says you can’t bring your own food in, but I really would recommend a decent sized bottle of water for the queue alone.
The most important thing to bring to the park, however, is your ID. When you book tickets to Shanghai Disneyland, it asks you for an ID number before you’re allowed to book. If you don’t bring that ID (not a photocopy, the real thing), you’re not getting in. This isn’t discrimination against foreigners; Chinese people are required to bring their ID cards too. You also need either the email they send you with ticket confirmation, or you can download the app and have it on your phone there. You’re given a paper ticket when you get to the barrier, but you don’t need that at all once you’re through. You don’t even scan it on the way out of the park, so don’t worry if you lose it.
There is of course the bag checks and security scans, but that was all done very quickly, and it’s all very standard; a quick look through your bag and a step through a metal detector and you’re all done, and you can finally get into the park.
First things first, obviously, ears. If I’d have thought about it back when I left for China, I would have packed the ears I already have, or maybe my tiara, but at that point in time, I had bigger things to worry about, and besides, there was a weight limit on baggage. The ears they sell in the park cost 129 yuan, which in the grand scheme of Disney isn’t too bad. They’re popular too; walking round, I could hardly see anyone not wearing some form of Disney merchandise, even the men. I did see a lot of long-suffering boyfriends forced into matching ears and outfits by overly excited girlfriends, but they seemed to take it all in good humour.
I was very surprised to see that Shanghai Disney doesn’t have the same traditional Main Street USA as Paris and Florida. There is a similar sort of area, but it’s not the first thing you see walking into the park, and it’s not quite the same. The first thing you see is the “Gardens of Imagination”, which is just a fancy way of saying a lot of flowerbeds and then the castle.
The normal and sensible thing to do would be to plan your day beforehand for maximum efficiency. I am many things, but never normal or sensible. When we got into the park, newly purchased ears on, I had no idea where to go first. I ended up wandering into Tomorrowland. Whilst Tomorrowland in Paris and Florida both have this campy sort of “1960’s perception of the distant year 2000” feel to them, in Shanghai, Tomorrowland feels very futuristic. It’s all done up in surprisingly clean white pavements, and the massive Tron building has a very modern design to it.

Applying the “if it ain’t broke” principle, I decided to drag my friend onto Buzz Lightyear. It’s the same soup, just reheated; shoot the Z targets, destroy Emperor Zurg’s secret weapon, we all know the drill. What my friend didn’t know is you get points for shooting the other gun, and she felt very betrayed when I shot her, got points for it and ended up beating her. Also the ride stopped three times, but the guns kept working, leading to a score that makes me seem a lot better than I really am (the trick is to shoot the smaller targets when the ride stops; they’re worth more points).
At this point, it is worth mentioning that the park does have WiFi, but you need a phone number that is capable of receiving text messages. It does accept international phone numbers, but I don’t know what the cost for that would be.
Another aimless wander took me to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The queue said one hundred and five minutes, but I promised my friend it probably wasn’t that long, we could see the queue and it would be so worth it.
Well.
We could see the queue. About five percent of it. The first part of the queue is outside, in direct sunlight, without shade. A few Chinese people had the bright idea to bring umbrellas with them, but like I said, sensible has never really been my style. I got off lightly; I didn’t sunburn at all, even got a little bit of a tan, but my friend burnt all across her shoulders, neck and chest. So let that be a lesson; even when the weather forecast says it’s going to be cloudy, bring your sun cream. Especially if you’re ginger.

Once you get inside, you realise that that was the easy part. The inside queueing area isn’t air conditioned. There’s fans on the ceiling, but they are of little to no use whatsoever. “Oh, neat,” you think, looking at the wall. “They’ve made it look wet, the attention to detail is something else!”. You lean against it, only to realise that it is not, in fact, wet-look paint, but the wall is just wet. That is how hot and sticky the queueing area is.
Remember the anti-queue jumping strategy I mentioned? We perfected it in the queue for Pirates of the Caribbean. We each leant against the respective wall/fence/chain/etc., and linked arms in the middle. There was a woman behind us in the queue with two children. I don’t think she realised my friend and I both speak Chinese when she was telling her children: “Look, those two girls aren’t paying attention, you can get past them!”. I would like to reassure her that yes, we were paying attention to her and her children, we were just more occupied with the cute baby in front of us.
When I finally got onto the ride (three rows ahead of the woman that kept trying to push in front of us), I was expecting the same as the Paris version; the same story with bits in English, bits in Chinese. Nope. Completely different storyline, and everything was in Chinese (shocking, I know, in China of all places). I think the story is about tracking down Jack Sparrow? Either way, there are two sections of the ride which are just rooms filled with water with a big screen surrounding you. It’s very cool, and a little disorientating, but mostly cool.
Another aimless wander (sensing a theme?) led us to the Peter Pan ride, which only had an hour’s wait. The queueing area was much better. Although most of it was outside, it was sheltered, and the ceiling fans were doing their job. I think the lack of unruly children also contributed to the almost relaxing atmosphere. We didn’t even wait an hour, either. I did nearly choke when “Wendy” was doing her safety announcement. She starts off very standard, the “keep your hands, arms, feet, etc.,” but I misheard her at the end. What she actually says is “Keep an eye on your children, see you in Neverland!”. What I heard was “Keep an eye on your children, or they’ll be in Neverland forever!”. I’m not really sure how I heard it so wrong, in English too, but I had to listen twice more to make sure I was wrong.
Peter Pan at least was the same as everywhere else, except perhaps a little less noisy than Paris, but I guess it’s a newer ride. By the time it was over, I really needed a break, which brings us onto the subject of toilets.
Most countries in Asia have squat toilets as a standard, and China is no different. All the toilets in Disneyland are squat toilets, but a quick heads up: you flush the toilet paper. I’m not sure what kind of plumbing/sewage system the have in place around Disneyland that would be so difficult to install everywhere in Shanghai, but that’s another rant for another day. For the time being, let me just recommend you practice your squats, especially women.
Toilet shenanigans dealt with, I needed to eat. Walking around in all that heat makes you sweat like nothing else, and you need to refuel occasionally. A bottle of water costs 10 yuan, which by Chinese prices is an arm and a leg, but when you convert into English prices it isn’t too bad. What was outrageous, however, was the 68 yuan ice cream I bought purely because it looked like Donald Duck’s butt. Was that a financially sensible decision? No. Do I regret it at all? Also no.

Whilst I sat to eat my ice cream, they announced the parade would be starting in fifteen minutes, so I sat tight right up until the music started. I’m not considered tall, measuring up to a grand total of 161cm, but here in China that is tall enough to occasionally bump my head off things. It’s done wonders for my ego, and it also means that I’m tall enough to stand at the back of a parade crowd and still get a decent view. The photos were less decent, but that’s more a commentary on my skills as a photographer.
After the parade, I decided to head to Alice’s Curious Labyrinth, as it happened to be nearby. The one in Shanghai is based on the Tim Burton film, rather than the original 1951 film, and is principally a photo-op. We all know the shame of being caught taking a selfie, but here in China, they love getting as many selfies and photos in as possible. Every possible photo spot is a free for all; you have to fight for your place in the queue.

Instagram photos captured, I went to Toy Story Land. The main attraction is the Rex Racer, but I would sooner cut off my leg with a butter knife than go on that. I’m not really a rollercoasters person. I instead went for something a little more my speed: Woody’s Roundup. Again, very standard.
At this point in the day, I was getting tired, and I had plans outside Disney for the evening, so I decided to do one last ride, the main ride of Shanghai Disneyland: Tron.
I know I just said I’m not a rollercoasters person, but a friend told me her eleven-year-old sister did the Tron ride without a problem, and I wasn’t about to get shown up by an eleven-year-old, so from Toy Story Land I made the trek back across the park back to Tomorrowland.
My friend and I agreed that we would use the single rider queue to cut down on waiting time, because the regular queue was 135 minutes. For whatever reason, though, the single riders’ queue wasn’t operating when we got there, so we resigned ourselves to two hours waiting.
The queueing area for Tron is very deceptive. There’s a very long, slow-moving outdoors section, with a door to the inside at the end. There’s a roof over your head, so it’s not so bad, but it’s still a relief to step through the door and into the air conditioning after just over an hour. There’s a short hallway with a big glass pane in that suddenly turns see-through occasionally so you can see the ride go by. “We can see the ride,” you would think. “Surely, we must be close by.”. You would be wrong.
Another hour and a bit (the wait time lied) inside a different room, you’re nearly there. Except you’re still not! You can, however, watch the ride go by as you wait, but this turned out to not be s clever. The part of the ride you see stops for a few seconds, giving you time to look at the bikes themselves (a quick note: good luck if you’re wearing a skirt). The restraints aren’t immediately obvious, and the riders seem to be held in place by a singular panel across the back. That made me extremely nervous, and the information videos didn’t help. The ride clips you in by the shins, and with the back panel.
It does feel very cool, jetting off on your motorbike with appropriately flashy LED trimmings, but the weird restraints did nothing to make me feel better. However, as it would happen, the photograph they snap right before the main section didn’t manage to capture my nerves; only a perfect poker face.
It was dark by the time I got out of Tron, and getting close to nine o’clock. It doesn’t sound that late, but I live on the other side of Shanghai, and I had plans to see friends that evening, so after a quick stop by the World of Disney shop, I was back on the metro and on the way home. I say that, but in truth there was a solid ten minutes of trying to figure out which way I had walked that morning. There was also a lot of security around. This is pretty standard around Shanghai, but if you’re not used to it, the lines of security guards can be a little intimidating.
All in all, a very sticky but enjoyable day! Even though an old lady nearly knocked me over in her rush to get onto the metro and therefore beat me to a seat, I was fine to sit on the floor. Like I said, the Shanghai metro is comparatively clean, and the locals do it too, so I figured I was fine to rest my legs during the journey back across Shanghai. The cold shower when I got home was on another level, and I nearly died forcing myself to put clothes on and go out instead of crawling into bed, but if you’re not tired after a day at Disney, you’ve done something wrong!
clochette is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 12 Jul 19, 07:29 PM  
Link to this Post
#2
Wordsworth
Very Serious Dibber
 
Join Date: Sep 18
Location: Auld Reekie
Thanks! Really informative and I love the Donald ice cream. 🤣
Wordsworth is offline Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 29 Jul 19, 10:59 AM  
Link to this Post
#3
AJ86
Excited about Disney
 
Join Date: Apr 19
great trip report! and agree the Donald ice cream looks amazing!
AJ86 is offline Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 31 Jul 19, 07:50 AM  
Link to this Post
#4
Guest
Guest
 
I also like the ice cream! A very good report, but I don’t think I will be going to Shanghai Disney any time soon, the queuing would be too much for me.
Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 31 Jul 19, 08:03 AM  
Link to this Post
#5
AntonyJ
VIP Dibber
 
Join Date: Sep 08
Location: Carfin, Motherwell
Thanks for the great report, but will not be rushing to Shanghai park any time soon, some of the social things like the queuing puts me off, it is now towards bottom of my to do list parks.
AntonyJ is offline Boy Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 1 Aug 19, 07:55 AM  
Link to this Post
#6
kk20
Imagineer
 
kk20's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 13
Mobile

Ironically enough this is the thing that puts us off. We really want to go to Shanghai Disney but you arent the only people to say the chinese queue worse than russians or italians...
kk20 is offline Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 18 Sep 19, 09:15 AM  
Link to this Post
#7
catlady
VIP Dibber
 
catlady's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 06

theDIBB Guidebook
Guidebook Photos: 4
Mobile

Very interesting report. Thank you for writing it.
__________________
catlady is online now Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 18 Sep 19, 01:50 PM  
Link to this Post
#8
Silvercat
Imagineer
 
Silvercat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 08
Very interesting, thank you so much for taking the time to write and post this. We are seriously considering going here, as it is the only Disney park left in he world that we need to visit, but I do worry about a number of things. We can put up with the queues, but the loos give me pause for thought - I am Pooh-sized and with appalling balance, am I likely to end up sat in my own widdle on the floor?

Also, you said some things about the Tron ride, but not enough for my liking - was it very scary, fast, and did you feel like you were going to fall off that bike?
__________________
Silvercat
Disney fanatic and trip report e-book writer!
Silvercat is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 04:44 PM.


Powered by vBulletin - Copyright © 2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
DIBB Savings
AttractionTickets.com

Get £10 off each Disney Ticket with the code ATDIBB10

Get up to £50 off per room at Disney or Universal with the code DIBBHOTELS


theDIBB Blog
One of the the five worlds found in Epic Universe, How to Train Your Dragon... Read More »
Disney announced that a new nighttime show, “Disney Dreams That Soar,” will run nightly at... Read More »
Walt Disney World Resort guests can get ready to have a “glowing’’ good time when... Read More »


theDIBB Menu


Exchange Rates
US Dollar Rates
ASDA  $1.2368
CaxtonFX  $1.2321
Covent Garden FX  $1.2443
FAIRFX  $1.2350
John Lewis  $1.2380
M&S  $1.2178
Sainsburys  $1.2357
TESCO  $1.2364
Travelex  $1.2353
Updated: 15:30 28/03/2024
Euro Rates
ASDA  €1.1447
CaxtonFX  €1.1407
Covent Garden FX  €1.1510
FAIRFX  €1.1432
John Lewis  €1.1457
M&S  €1.1263
Sainsburys  €1.1440
TESCO  €1.1445
Travelex  €1.1435
Updated: 15:30 28/03/2024

DIBB Premium Membership
Did you know you can help support theDIBB with Premium Membership?

Check out this link for more information and benefits, such as...

"No adverts on theDIBB Forums"

Upgrade Now



X