Traveling: China 2019

Tuesday, 30 July 2019

China 2019 - Part 3

Going To Shanghai Disneyland

Wednesday - June 5th 2019

The day has finally come, we are going to visit Disney's newest resort in Shanghai. Since our room at Disney wasn't available before 3pm, we weren't in a hurry and so we slept in. For breakfast we went to Starbucks inside a nearby bookstore. Afterwards we packed our stuff, checked out and were on our way to Shanghai Disney Resort. From our hotel it took about an hour with the metro lines to get to Disneyland. The metro stopped right in the middle of the resort, the entrance to the themepark was just around the corner. To get to our hotel we had to take the Disney Resort Shuttle Bus that runs from the metro station to the hotels.

Shanghai

Shanghai Disneyland Metro Station

Shanghai Disneyland

At Shanghai Disneyland we stayed at the Toy Story Hotel, which is one of two Disney hotels, the other one being the Disneyland Hotel. Although we still had to wait to get into the room, we could already check in and drop off our luggage. In the meantime we got our park tickets at the concierge desk and had lunch at the hotel restaurant called Sunnyside Cafe. Unfortunately the only veggie option was a slimey vegetable dish which was quite disgusting. Since we still had some time to kill, we walked around the hotel, checked out Lotso Shop, and got an iced coffee to enjoy on the sundeck of the restaurant. Finally it was 3pm and our park view room was ready. The room was spacious, looked really lovely and like the rest of the hotel it was themed after the Pixar movie Toy Story.

Toy Story Hotel

Lunch at Sunnyside Cafe

Toy Story Hotel

Iced Coffee

Our Room

Unlike any other Disney park, Shanghai Disneyland offers an afternoon ticket, which is valid after 3pm. Of course we got that ticket and headed to the park after we refreshed a bit. It was quite exciting to enter a new Disney park for the first time. Shanghai Disney Resort opened in 2016 and consists of two hotels, a shopping and dining district called Disneytown and Disneyland Park. Since it was already in the afternoon there was no queue at the front gate and soon we were inside. Once we passed through the entrance building, Mickey Avenue was lying in front of us. I knew beforehand that Shanghai Disneyland has no traditional Main Street USA, but it was still strange. However, I liked what Disney did with Mickey Avenue.

Starbucks at Disneytown

World of Disney Store at Disneytown

Entrance to Disneyland

Mickey Avenue

Enchanted Storybook Castle

Our first stop inside the park was Pirates of the Caribben - Battle for the Sunken Treasure. We heard so many great things about that new incarnation of the classic Disneyland ride. Luckily the queue was short and so we got in line. The reviews weren't wrong, that attraction was amazing and so we got in line again. Although I think it has some flaws, it is still the most impressive and best Pirates of the Carribean ride of all Disney parks. Afterwards we just walked around Treasure Cove and Adventure Isle until we got hungry. Since the park was pretty busy, the lines at the attraction were long, we decided to have an early dinner at Tribal Table. Eating vegan was complicated at Shanghai Disneyland, but Tribal Table offered a vegetable dish, which we think was vegan.

Treasure Cove

Pirates of the Caribbean - Battle for the Sunken Treasure

Treasure Cove

Adventure Isle

Caramel Popcorn

Adventure Isle

Dinner at Tribal Table

Tribal Table

Adventure Isle

After dinner we just strolled around the park to explore all the different lands. Although it was a Disneyland Park with many familiar sights, it was actually a new interpretation of Walt Disney's original themepark design. Due to the huge crowds the only other attraction we did was Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue in Tomorrowland. During the rest of the evening we checked out the stores, the merchandise and got a couple of beers at Stargazer Grill while watching people until we returned to the hotel.