Stay, Stray, Play and Feast: Chinese Disney Adventure: Getting High in Disneyland Shanghai (Shanghai Disneyland Series 10)

Chinese Disney Adventure
Getting High in Disneyland Shanghai
Shanghai Disneyland Series 10

Day 1

It would be our 5^th day in Shanghai and we checked
out of Oakwood as were are moving to Pudong for

the next 4 days for our Shanghai Disneyland vacation.

We arrived in Novotel Hotel Clover

in Pudong after an hour taxi ride,

… and the cavernous hotel lobby impressed us-

….as it was breathtakingly beautiful,
with a modernized classic design.

There were numerous registration

counters so checking in was a breeze,

…and we were on our way,
our room at the 21^st floor.

This would be our home for the next four days
while visiting Shanghai Disneyland.

We rested for a while after unpacking, and took the free
shuttle to Shanghai Disneyland to look for a place to eat.

We walked our way,

…to Downtown Disney,

…and stumbled upon Xin Wang Restaurant.

Xinwang is a popular Chinese restaurant
chain, known for its “cha chaan teng” menu.

As a typical tea restaurant, the food choices comprise
mostly of Hong Kong’s greasy spoon staples,

…we were happy to dine here, as it made delicious authentic
Chinese cuisine available in a western owned Disneyland.

After our very lat afternoon lunch,

…we strolled and window- shopped at Downtown Disney,

…before returning to the

hotel early evening to rest.

Day 2

We all woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel,

...and took the first shuttle to Shanghai
Disneyland from Novotel Clover.

It wasn’t a peak season,

there were very few people,

…and the queue to the

ticket booth was tolerable.

With our horrific experience for the past five days in Shanghai

and the Chinese locals seem not to comprehend the principle of

waiting for one's turn. We decided to upgrade our tickets at the

Guest Services to buy Disney Fastpass for the major attractions.

This may be the reason why it is only in Shanghai Disney

where one could buy as many Fast Pass Tickets as you can.

This would not assure that no one would squeeze in on the

Fast Pass lane but shorter lines, equates to longer tolerance.

This is one advantage of Shanghai Disneyland compared

to other Disney parks as guests had an option to purchase

as many Fastpass tickets as they want to avoid the queue.

Our main goal for our first day in Shanghai Disney

is to complete all the major Fastpass attractions.

We then posed for few obligatory photos at the portal.

While this area is usually a train station in other

Disney Parks, this one is not, as the Shanghai Disney

does not feature the classic steam railroad locomotive.

We also took photos at the Mickey Avenue.

…the park's equivalent to Main Street, U.S.A.

It was is inspired by Disney’s

popular cartoon characters,

…as well as iconic Disney movies.

At the end of Mickey Avenue is the Storytellers statue,

which depicts a young Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse,

…that leads to The Gardens of Imagination.

We caught the last part of Fantasyland’s

Mickey’s Storybook Express musical parade.

…as we turned right to Adventure Isle-

…counterpart to Adventureland in most

of Disneyland Parks in other countries.

We queued at FastPass lane of the popular Roaring Rapids.

a river rapids ride through the land's towering Roaring Mountain.

We we’re appalled when a group of youngsters still pushed their
way in front by cutting us on line despite that there very few
people as the FastPass lane.Someone also grabbed my
daughter’s raincoat after the ride without asking for permission.

The same thing happened at the Soaring Over the Horizon,

where a family of four cut us on line again in an almost empty

FastPass lane where it was only my family and them on queue.

Soaring Over the Horizon is a simulated hang gliding flight

experience across the world. It is an all time favorite Disney ride

for my family, and the counterpart of Soarin’ Over California

in Anaheim and Soarin’ Over the World in WDW Orlando.

We then passed by The Camp Discovery, took our

photos at the entrance but decided not to go there,

…and proceeded to the Treasure Cove Zone.

Themed to an 18th-century harbor town in the Caribbeans

inspired by the classic movie the Pirates of the Caribbean.

We immediately queued at the Pirates of the Caribbean:

Battle for the Sunken Treasure, the zone’s main attraction.

This audio-animatronic dark boat ride is the hi- tech and modern update

of the classic Pirates of the Caribbean found in other Disneyland parks.

My son was drawn to Siren's Revenge,

a shipwreck-themed interactive play area

set aboard a wrecked French galleon.

We walked around the Shipwreck Shore,

…and watched the Explorer Canoes sailing by.

We then decided to gp Fantasyland,

…and caught the tail end of the

Magical Disney Parade along the way.

We then proceeded to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train,

...which was teeming with people and we were thankful

we didn’t have to wait very long as we have a Fastpass.

It was noontime when we finished the ride

so we decided to have lunch at The Barn.

It is a farm themed restaurant at the Fantasyland,
that offers farm style cuisine on the menu.

While theme parks are not usually known as

‘foodie’ destination. but since Disney opened

a Flavor Lab, in WDW Orlando dedicated to

food research and development for its parks,

Disney dining anywhere in the world has lately

became an awesome culinary experience and

the food at The Barn was of no exemption.

After lunch we caught Winnie the Pooh

coming out from a meet and greet kiosk,

…my young son Tim approached the lovable Disney Bear,

…and they walked hand in hand along the way-

…to the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh,

It was already past noon when we passed by the theater staging

For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration.

It was a perfect relief fromthe scorching noontime sun,

and turned out to be an awesome musical as well.

After the show, we went to the nearby

Voyage to the Crystal Grotto,

…a boat ride around and under the castle,

…. that takes guests past scenes

from popular Disney movies.

We then headed to Tomorrowland.

This is probably the most futuristic-themed land

among Disney Parks around the world with the

ultra- modern looking Tron Lightcycle Power Run

Jet Packs as the most visible attractions at the portal.

The kids got in the Jet Packs ride,

…Shanghai’s more modern take of

Astro Orbiter in other Disney Parks.

We then tried the TRON Lightcycle Power Run

- an adrenalin pumping re- invention of Space Mountain

found in other Disneyland Parks around the world.

Unlike the other Tomorrowland in other Disney Parks,

Shanghai’s version does not have the Space Mountain,
and instead is home to TRON Lightcycle Power Run,

an indoor Tron- themed high speed motorcycle roller coaster.

We then queued ar the Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue,

a variant of Buzz Lightyear dark rides in other Disney Parks,

It was already late in the afternoon when

we left Tomorrowland and we have already

visited all the major Fastpass attractions.

We walked our way Mickey Avenue,

…bought bread and pastries at the Park Bakery

…and settled ourselves on a bench

at the Garden of Imaginations,

…to watch the light and fireworks display-‘

“Ignite the Dream, A Nighttime

Spectacular of Magic and Light.”

After the fireworks display,we walked our way back, to

the parking area, and took the shuttle back to the hotel.

We had our dinner at the Food Exchange,

…Novotel Clover’s in house restaurant,

…and enjoyed the massive spread of

Chinese and global dishes at the buffet.

We retired to our room near midnight

and all had a good night sleep after an

exhilarating day in Shanghai Disney.

Day 3

We we’re more relaxed on our third day as we have already
completed riding all the major Fastpass attractions the day
before..We woke up late, had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel-

…and took the shuttle to Shanghai Disneyland.

The Disney Town,

...all the way to the park portal looked deserted.

There were also very few

people at the Mickey Avenue.

After arriving at the Gardens of Imagination,

we heard the announcement that the Disney’s

Magical Parade was about to begin in few minutes.

So we positioned ourselves at the curbside of

Mickey Avenue and Gardens of Imagination,

…to watch the parade.

Our place was perfect,

…and we enjoyed watching the

parade without any obstruction.

Mulan has the most elaborate and

the most ornate float in the parade.

It was preceeded by medieval Chinese Army

marching in a perfectly choreographed unison.

It was a sight to behold.

Then came the gigantic float with Mulan

astride a huge vegetarian- bodied horse-

… filled with numerous intricate

Chinese symbolic figures and objects.

Without the popular and traditional Disney Princesses

like Cinderella, Snowhite and Belle in the parade,
and the emphasis of the more massive oriental float, it

is clear the Mulan takes the lead in Shanghai Disneyland.

After the parade, we crossed

to the Gardens of Imagination,

…to see the Marvel Universe.

It is a meet-and-greet pavilion

featuring Marvel characters,

…and Marvel Super Heroes.

We explored the Gardens of Imagination for a while,

…then passed by the Adventure Isle,

…on our way to Treasure Cove,

…to and queued at the Fandango Theater, to watch the
Eye of the Storm: Captain Jack’s Stunt Spectacular,

…a stunt show inspired by the

Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

We returned to Adventure Isle,

to watch Tarzan: Call of the Jungle,

…a breathtaking live acrobatic stage show.

We then had a sumptuous

lunch at The Tribal Table-

…a tropical forest themed restaurant where guests

could dine, jungle style in Shanghai Disneyland.

After a heavy lunch, we relaxed

by the at the Shipwreck Shore,

…and contemplated on riding the Explorer Canoes.

We finally decided that to

sit and relax by the shore,

…watching the canoes sailing by.

We then crossed the Fantasyland,

… on our way to Toy Story Land.

This zone is the Shanghai Disney’s first expansion,

…and the kids queued at the Woody’s Round Up

a horse and wagon spinning Teacups-style ride.

We then tried the Slinky Dog ZigZag Spin,

which is a modernized caterpillar ride.

From the Toy Story Land, went to

the Enchanted Storybook Castle.

We explored the largest castle

in any Disney theme park,

… and the only functional castle

as it offers several attractions,

We then rested at a bench, .while the kids
queued at Dumbo, the Flying Elephant.

It was already late in the afternoon when we called it a day.

We walked back to the Mickey Avenue,

…just like this morning, it was almost empty.

We decided to shop for some souvenirs.

There were also very

few people at the portal,

…so we took the chance

of taking our photos,

…and walked our way to

Disney Town to have dinner.

We have been is Shanghai

for the past eight days,

…and today is our penultimate day in the city where we

have been eating nothing but Chinese food for a week-

…so we decided to dine in Wolfgang Puck.

Wolfgang Puck is one of our favorite restaurant,

.so we always take the chance of dining in this

wonderful steak house whenever we see one.

It was a perfect culinary conclusion to our

almost two weeks Shanghai family vacation.

We returned to to the parking area
to catch the shuttle back our hotel.

It was srill early in the evening and we still have a lot of time
to pack up and prepare for our trip back home the next day.

Day 4

It was our last day in Shanghai, we are all packed and

ready to go for our early afternoon flight back to Manila.

We had breakfast at the hotel and took a
free shuttle to Pudong International Airport,

…and arrived just in time for lunch.

We had a sumptuous lunch at Acting Café,

…and we were boarding our plane right after.

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This Shanghai trip was my second time to visit mainland China
after two decades. Despite the country’s leap to first world
modernity Shanghai, I observed lagged in terms of civility.

Chinese locals seem not to comprehend the principle

waiting for one's turn. Someone would always try

squeeze in from hotel check- in counters, taxi queues

and subways. Curing our nine- day stay, there was not

a day that we were not bumped off while queuing.

Chinese people have the are gross penchant of spitting

anywhere and everywhere even on trains, hotel lobbies,

restaurants and even carpeted theater floors. They would

later step on it and rub the spittle with their shoes probably

in a sickeningly futile attempt to clean up disgusting mess.

We once took a taxi with the driver who has been cleaning his
ears non- stop while driving .He later unrolled his ear cleaner

which happened to be a paper bill and used it as a change.

Another taxi driver kept on spitting on the cab's dirver's side window with his
expectoration ending up splattered on the glass of the car’s backseat window.

Some mainlanders are rude. While in a restaurant, my wife

went to the toilet for a while and left her handbag and shawl

her chair to signify that it was occupied. However and elderly

lady yanked them out, placed on top of our table and took the

chair without asking for permission. I was there all the while

I just stared in disbelief for the brazen display of disrespect.

There was also an instance that my daughter’s raincoat

was grabbed from her without asking for permission

as we went out of the Roaring Rapids river rapids ride.

These Chinese bad manners seem acceptable and normal
like they were part their cultural identity and tourists
should just bear their unpleasant habits, grin and have fun.