Reflection on Shanghai Disneyland

REFLECTIONS of SHANGHAI DISNEYLAND 

First all photos here are those of Lynn P. Gurnee from her IPhone. The weather was marginal during our two days at the park so did not want to deal with a camera rain cover. 

This trip included meeting up with friends, meeting new friends and spending two days at Shanghai Disneyland. 

If one is going to go to Shanghai Disney I will recommend the Toy Story Hotel even if you are visiting the city and other local locations. What makes this recommendation is the availability of the Shanghai Metro System and the park. The hotel is bright and just fun, even if you are not a Disney fan. It is close to PuDong Airport and a cab ride is about 100-120RMB, exchange rate is flexible, and only takes about 30 minutes. 

As I said, the Metro is a short complementary shuttle ride away. Once on the Metro, it is easy to go to any part of the city you should wish to go.  The Disney Shuttles will also take you to the park entrance and Disney Town. Disney Town is in essence Downtown Disney/Disney Springs kind of area, lots of shops and restaurants. Also, there is an early entrance for hotel guests and this is a nice perk. The other nice perk for staying at the Toy Story Hotel is you can choose a fast pass for each day of your ticket. We chose Tron and the 7 Dwarfs mine train as our two. 

From talking to others, the summer is hot and crowded and although the winter is cold and wet there are minimal crowds. Most attractions were a 5 min. wait. 

The Hotel and Park cast members are very friendly and helpful and have a great happy attitude which is infectious. 

One can go to many websites and or guide books to get information on the various attractions. I will just give you my thoughts on some of my favorites and other observations. 

First off the park is huge and going back and forth will add many many steps to you step count. 

The Castle is probably the most beautiful of all the parks. I was in awe. The overall theming is very well done. 

Attractions are all in Mandarin with little English, but you will get the idea if you have been Disneyland or Walt Disney World. 

TRON is a fun attraction, prior to riding this coaster I was told it is FAST. I was underwhelmed by the speed, but everything else was great. 

Buzz - is fun and you can pull the laser blaster out and fire in many directions. I have no clue where the high value targets are. 

7 Dwarfs Mine Train is a nice smooth coaster, the swinging cars add to this ride. Also the seats seemed bigger to me compared to the WDW attraction. 

Soaring is Soaring, lots of nice scenes reminding me of places we have been. The queue reminded me of Indiana Jones at Disneyland. 

Yes there are popcorn buckets, nothing excited me during this visit. I did see three flavors, Cherry, Caramel, Salty. Just had the Caramel and Cherry and they were very good. 

There are many restaurants and other food offerings scattered all over the park. One can choose as they desire. 

I was very impressed with the two live shows we attended. Tarzan has a 12 on a 10 scale. No spoilers other than don’t miss it. Same holds true for the Pirates show. A couple of the stunts are jaw droppers. Lynn makes a good point in that it is the talent of the performers that makes these shows. 

The parade is great and the floats were very well done. I liked the Mulan Float for the drummers. 

Technology is top notch throughout the park.  

Yes worth a visit and the off season made it enjoyable, just come prepared for cold temps and rain. Personally give me the cold and rain over hot and crowded any day. 

Lynn took all these photos with her iPhone.