Walt Disney World and Disneyland(s) Discussion

[Coheteboy]

The next morning, I was once again up at 5:30am. Not "sorta awake" but totally up. I decided to get showered and out the door. It was raining again, and it took a good while to find a taxi drive by at that hour. This time, I decided to go to the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel for breakfast.

I had to lie to them and say that I was meeting a friend who was staying there. They kept asking for a room but I said I didn't know. (fortunately I knew enough mandarin to get by and finally let me in).

I wanted to come back to have a drink at the Bacchus Bar afterwards but seeing how difficult it was to get in, it didn't seem like it was worth it.

Ballet Cafe it is..

Yup, it's super weird that Pepsi is served here. Apparently Pepsi gave them a way better deal than Coke did.

Even leaving the premises of the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel was like leaving a military base. I needed a room key to LEAVE the back door! Uhhhh I don't have one. I used the same excuse of visiting a friend at the exit security guard and he let me out. SHEESH!

To get to Shanghai Disneyland from the hotel, you need to walk this bridge.... it's a nice walk actually but it is kind of a hike. In the rain.

From the bridge, this is a part of DisneyTown where the Hot Toys store is located.

I learned my lesson from the previous day that the first thing I need to do is Roaring Rapids. The fastpass kiosks is a huge pain because it's one line and you choose either Soaring or Roaring when you get to it..... that means the line for fastpass is as long as for an entire ride itself.

The crazy thing about Shanghai disneyland (that I actually like) is that there's no rope drop! They just let you into the park prior to park opening... guests are allowed to queue up to whatever they want to and when the park officially opens at 9am, they'll have people ready to board, instead of waiting that extra 5-10 minutes for a guest to physically GET there.

I hovered around Roaring Rapids because the queue didn't quite open yet but I knew there was no way I was getting a fastpass. It ended up being a 20 minute wait for the rapids once I finally got in line, which is totally fine with me.

The problem with going on a ride for the first time is not knowing when or where you'll encounter the beast in the ride. Nor do I know how bright it will be. This is the best I could do in the split second I had. There's also no riding this ride again because the queue after i got off was two hours the rest of the day.

Now that I've gone on Kali River Rapids, Grizzly River Run, Roaring Rapids.... I'd say that Kali is by far the worst rapids ride Disney has. The thrill is about tied with Grizzly, but Roaring has a giant animatronic. So it kinda wins there, but visually it doesn't have an iconic peak. It's only next to the big mountain.

While waiting to get off the rapids, it poured. REALLY HARD. I had to escape into the nearby shop and buy a poncho and wait out the rain. I had no umbrella and an expensive camera.

When it finally eased up, I walked over to see what I haven't done in Fantasyland. I was actually able to grab a fastpass for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train so I'll come back later

Alice in Wonderland maze, based on the Tim Burton movies

Choose a door

A few more castle shots

More later!

 

[cokebabies]

I find both Kali and GRR to be shrug-worthy rides.

Universal realized that rapids rides are kind of boring by nature and just went with, "Here's a rapids ride where you will be soaked to the bone" for Popeye. And it's much more fun (as long as you're not trying to stay dry - then it sucks).

 

[Coheteboy]

I find both Kali and GRR to be shrug-worthy rides.

Universal realized that rapids rides are kind of boring by nature and just went with, "Here's a rapids ride where you will be soaked to the bone" for Popeye. And it's much more fun (as long as you're not trying to stay dry - then it sucks).

Oh I agree with Universal's flume rides... they're amazing. And there's a lot to look at. Just in a Disney category, Kali is really weak even compared to GRR.



Moving right along, this is still day 2 of Shanghai Disneyland. It was a Tuesday but the crowds were pretty strong. From what I've heard, Shanghai Disneyland is a success. That's a good thing overall. That means they'll continue to get some neat unique attractions hopefully.


I went on to check out the Marvel Universe attraction. Imagine Star Wars Launch Bay but for Marvel. Now, this as well as the launch bay were last minute additions to Shanghai Disneyland. They weren't part of the original layout so they're just kind of tacked on. But there's so much space in this park that it's really hard to tell.

Lots of costumes on display

Spider-Man meet & greet

Now to walk over to check out Star Wars Launch Bay. This is the area between Mickey Avenue and Tomorrowland.... it's pretty massive. Looking at the map, this probably could be another land but I'm not sure what they're gonna do with it. By now a ton of frogs and other creatures live in there no doubt. You can hear the croaking at night.

You can say hello to both Vader AND Kylo Ren in Shanghai. Here's Vader.

(not a meet & greet boba)

You can say hello to R2-D2 and C-3PO with the red arm. He speaks to you in chinese.

Another photo opportunity is the Falcon cockpit.

off the to side is a lego play area

Kylo Ren

All the queues for the meet & greets were 5 minutes tops. Some had no wait at all. Either it's because there's SO much other things to do and this is so tucked away that people just don't venture back here, or Star Wars just isn't a big deal. Maybe all of the above.

Here's an Imperial walking around with the Stormtroopers

To finish up Tomorrowland, I went on Buzz Lightyear one more time, this time with a camera so I can show you how different it is. It's mostly digital.

The lack of animatronics will sure to disappoint people who have been following Disney Parks attractions, but it's still fun for what it is. I also like that they removed all "toy" aspects of the ride making it more of a legitimate Buzz adventure rather than a TOY Buzz adventure. In that respect, it still makes no sense to have the Pizza Planet aliens involved....

more to come.

 

[UK Collector]

Thanks for sharing the photos! Looks so good. Hoping to get there next year.

New Guardians ride details:

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...-opening-at-disney-california-adventure-park/

 

[Coheteboy]

Thanks for sharing the photos! Looks so good. Hoping to get there next year.

New Guardians ride details:

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...-opening-at-disney-california-adventure-park/

Disney's definitely trying to spin it... but even those imagineers saying how beautiful it will look still can't describe it without mentioning "power plant" or "oil refineries". Big sigh.



Back to Shanghai, continuing on Day 2. I finished Buzz Lightyear and it was time to head to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. This ride is identical to the one in Florida with a few minor cosmetic changes. The house at the end is smaller and in the distance, so no witch animatronic at the end.

I had zero time for shows.

Restrooms are a good way to escape the humidity. Nice and air conditioned.

What you'll notice about Shanghai Disneyland is that there is a TON of areas of open lawns with park benches. In China, monopolies are discouraged and/or illegal, so Disney actually can't prohibit guests from bringing food into the park. What happens then is you have way too many restaurants without any patrons. It's a weird situation that will be interesting to see what happens. Living in the states, there wasn't a point in our lives without a Disneyland or Disney World. We know that food is overpriced at theme parks and zoos. Food in China though is SO inexpensive and abundant that they're absolutely appalled at the prices for food.

Venturing back to Treasure Cove to explore the land some more. This really has become one of my favorite lands in the park. There's so much detail... although I understand the general complaint that it's not perfectly themed... (why does Barbossa have a restaurant called Barbossa's Bounty?)

Hopping on Pirates of the Caribbean again! Gotta love those 5 minute waits!

Below, I tried to capture the special effect that still boggles my mind. It's a skeleton that transforms into a full bodied fully clothed animatronic Jack Sparrow before your eyes. I know there's some sort of Pepper's Ghost trickery involved but I cannot figure it out. This was also super hard to photograph btw.

More still to come...

 

[xipotec]

Universal and WDW in 35 days!

 

[cokebabies]

Even with only photos, that Jack effect looks ridiculous.

And that picnic concept is mind-boggling to me. This is how I know Disney has completely brainwashed me. I actually thought, "Yeah you pay insane prices for food, but that's just part of the experience." Literally - I have been convinced that paying high prices is almost a perk of going to a park.

 

[Coheteboy]

Even with only photos, that Jack effect looks ridiculous.

And that picnic concept is mind-boggling to me. This is how I know Disney has completely brainwashed me. I actually thought, "Yeah you pay insane prices for food, but that's just part of the experience." Literally - I have been convinced that paying high prices is almost a perk of going to a park.

Haha I remember growing up being pretty stingy when it came to food but now I just avoid getting burgers at Disneyland (IN N Out is too good!). But food quality overall has gone up at the resort and I enjoy it. The food at Shanghai disneyland was also STELLAR. I mean, I loved it. It was fantastic. Overpriced? Sure... but pretty much in line with what we'd pay here.


For instance, it's 55 CNY for a Turkey Leg, which translates to $8.24.... that's $2 LESS than what we pay, which is $10.99 actually.

Venturing back into Adventure Isle. I learned via a high school friend that her husband is working at Shanghai Disneyland and that we should meet up. Her husband was also an old coworker of mine years ago so it was pretty cool to be able to talk to someone! I do love exploring parks by myself but it's nice to sit down over a meal with some company.

This here is the logo for Camp Discovery, where you climb the mountain and what not. I bought a pin of it.

Imagineers created these cute little guys called Aborri or something like that. They're everywhere.

Here's a camel outside the gift shop

Guest Services location for Adventure Isle where one would get fastpass for Roaring Rapids or Soaring Over the Horizon. Now it's just a place for people to ask questions and get a map.

Tribal Table is the main eatery in Adventure Isle. Really good! Food pictures are on the phone which I will have to upload later.

Here's a menu from a smaller food location, but all of these in the park are closed because of the lack of people eating. To save on workload and operational costs, they're trying to direct all business into the main dining locations.

I ended up spending much of the afternoon walking and talking with my friend so I actually didn't do much else for awhile, but we wandered into places and he told me about them. Here's more pics from Barbossa's Bounty. Every room is different.

Two more menus from smaller food locations that weren't open:

Here's something interesting.... I guess Toy Story Land was announced but they cancelled abruptly. Now they have these restrooms between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland (there's room enough for another land) that looks eerily like Toy Story.

Right next to that is an obvious attempt at a last minute eatery. It wasn't open when we were there but I'm told it is on busier days.

More from Mickey Avenue

Here we're leading up to the main dining facilities of Mickey Avenue. The facades and rooms for eating though all vary depending on where you want to sit. So while the food you get isn't particularly themed, where you choose to sit will be.

Here's the main entrance

more still to come

 

[cokebabies]

Haha I remember growing up being pretty stingy when it came to food but now I just avoid getting burgers at Disneyland (IN N Out is too good!). But food quality overall has gone up at the resort and I enjoy it. The food at Shanghai disneyland was also STELLAR. I mean, I loved it. It was fantastic. Overpriced? Sure... but pretty much in line with what we'd pay here.

For me - and probably a lot of other people - it starts with "less income / more shocked at the cost / stingier and splitting a chicken fingers and refilling a water bottle at Club Cool in Epcot" and gets more and more easy to spend money as the income gets higher and the expectations of costs during a trip become closer to reality. Though I am sure it's much different to someone visiting DLR on a day trip versus someone going to WDW / DLR as a once a year (or more) vacation.

For instance, it's 55 CNY for a Turkey Leg, which translates to $8.24.... that's $2 LESS than what we pay, which is $10.99 actually.

More (AKA"most") importantly - is there Dole Whip there?

And this is all one single park, correct? It's weird because it's obviously very heavily DLR, but I also get a lot of vibes from CA (especially the middle section of those pics), MK, Epcot, Downtown... it's basically an idealized version of a bunch of the parks, it seems.

Also in regards to your dismissing your picture quality recently - so many of these pictures just spit in the fact of that idea. They don't have dream-esque lighting / filtering / whatever, but the angles / framing of so many of them are just gorgeous, for the most simple things. The shots of that hubcap mickey, and the chocolate mousse cups - they're fantastic.

If you're not faking modesty, then maybe you've just seen behind the curtain a bit as a photographer, and don't realize how great these shots look to an outsider.

 

[Coheteboy]

More (AKA"most") importantly - is there Dole Whip there?

I couldn't find any if it existed, but I also didn't get a chance to explore every food location since a lot of them were closed. I don't think there is one though. (There's an amazing Mango Dole Whip at Hong Kong Disneyland though!!! More on that later on)

And this is all one single park, correct? It's weird because it's obviously very heavily DLR, but I also get a lot of vibes from CA (especially the middle section of those pics), MK, Epcot, Downtown... it's basically an idealized version of a bunch of the parks, it seems.

Yep, this is only one park and it's an interesting mix of ideas and concepts. Whereas Hong Kong Disneyland was more of a replica of the original Disneyland with some changes, this is definitely a grab bag + a lot of new. For instance, it definitely leans more heavily on newer movie franchises, but there's a good sprinkle of classic rides too. I really loved it because of that though. I know that many (me included) do complain sometimes of rides and attractions that are based on a movie. Gone are the days when Disney comes up with an original storyline like Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean. But there ARE movies where you WANT to see something built on it and it's pretty fun to see TRON come to life (it would work beautifully in Epcot and they could really teach us about computers and stuff while they're at it).

Also in regards to your dismissing your picture quality recently - so many of these pictures just spit in the fact of that idea. They don't have dream-esque lighting / filtering / whatever, but the angles / framing of so many of them are just gorgeous, for the most simple things. The shots of that hubcap mickey, and the chocolate mousse cups - they're fantastic.

If you're not faking modesty, then maybe you've just seen behind the curtain a bit as a photographer, and don't realize how great these shots look to an outsider.

Haha, well, you really are kind. I have a very good camera but for the most part I don't take more than 2 seconds to take a photo. I'll look up and shoot, point it somewhere else and shoot. Very rarely do I think about it.... which I guess is not me trying to say that I'm a natural but, because I don't think about it is maybe why I don't consider it that amazing.

I'll put it this way I guess... my style of photography is very editorial. I present it as it is to the best of my ability (in focus, proper exposure, etc). Nothing really artistic about it I suppose, but I'm really happy if people get enjoyment out of the photos! It's why I do it I suppose.




Next up is the Garden of the Twelve Friends, aka the Chinese Zodiac. Some of these are selected well, some of them could do better.

Rat

Ox

Tiger (this one could have been a better one, but I guess they wanted a good guy?)

Rabbit

Dragon

Snake

Horse (maybe I would have went with Khan from Mulan)

Lamb (I think the lamb from Lambert the Sheepish Lion would be better)

Monkey

Rooster

Dog (plenty of Disney Dogs that could have fit the bill)

Pig (I would have went with HenWen from Black Cauldron)

Here's a shop that sells Duffy Merchandise on Mickey Avenue. It's a nod to Walt's love of trains though.

Fantasia Carousel is located right next to Mickey Avenue in Gardens of Imagination. So yes, it's in FRONT of the castle. I actually don't mind.

I was still with my friend who was off for the day so we went to Disney Town for some beers. Happy Hour is buy one get a free refill! At a Disney Resort! AMAZING!!!!! It poured rain while we were here so it worked out.

I came back in and went to the other ride in Gardens of Imagination: Dumbo. The wait said 10 minutes but it was actually 20. Grrr

Okay check this out.... that fortress in the background is Pirates of the Caribbean

I had another fastpass for Tron so I head back over to Tomorrowland. This will be my third trip to the Grid.

On the way I took pictures of Tomorrowland's Stargazer Grill. They say this is the largest eatery in the park but it didn't seem that way to me. Cokebabies, this is where they have burgers and stuff so if you go, this might be your ticket.

I regret not getting the spaceship Mickey plate

Despite Fastpass, they had shut down one loading zone of TRON so it wasn't very fast. This is when I saw firsthand that growing up without a Disneyland gave all of these employees very little real world experience with how to handle things. This might take some time.

more later

 

[Coheteboy]

By the time I finished riding TRON a third time, it was night, so took some evening Tomorrowland shots.

I guess I walked all the way to adventure isle for some reason...

And I waited a spot to watch the Ignite the Dream fireworks from top to bottom.

After that, i never got a chance to eat dinner due to the park closing at 9pm. I spent the remaining hour shopping and finding last minute gifts for family and friends. Two days in Shanghai Disneyland and there was so much I didn't do. Granted I spent a good portion of the day hanging with my friend, but the weather wasn't also helping with it's on and off again rain showers. It was more of a physical drain in that regard.

I definitely can't wait to return to really see the things I didn't get to see. And to eat the things I didn't get to eat!

While this WAS supposed to be the end of my Shanghai Disneyland experience, with my flight to Hong Kong the following afternoon, I did last minute swing by the next morning on the way to the airport for a few last minute pictures.

more to come

 

[forestlite]

Fantastic shots Coheteboy!!! Love the colors on the TRON ride. Keep 'em coming!

 

[Coheteboy]

Fantastic shots Coheteboy!!! Love the colors on the TRON ride. Keep 'em coming!

Haha no more night shots i'm afraid! We're on the last morning of Shanghai Disneyland now. So this morning in the parks was completely unplanned, but met some folks who walked me in to get more photos. Really amazing of them to do that. I unfortunately didn't ride any more rides, but I walked around and explored a few other restaurants that I didn't get to look at.

Mickey Avenue before opening

Sculpture by Peter Pan's Flight

It was a rainy morning so it was annoying, but I decided to focus my time on Fantasyland as I spent the least amount of time actually exploring the land.

I went in to explore Pinocchio's Village Haus Kitchen

Each dining room tells a different chapter of the Pinocchio story

Next, a look at the Tangled Tree Restaurant. Since the seating is all outdoors and it wasn't set up yet, i didn't document that part of the eatery.

Went back to Adventure Isle's Tribal Table to get that menu

Back to Gardens of Imagination

more exploring to come

 

[ShadowX81]

RIP Electric Light Parade

 

[cokebabies]

I like that, even halfway across the world, Disney parks all have that "it just rained" sadness / dullness to their pictures.

That could be the one thing that actually unites us all.

 

[Coheteboy]

It is a bummer that I didn't get ANY blue skies at all. I'm just mad jealous when I see other people post sunny blue sky photos and it's just stunning.


On my bonus morning, people started to trickle in and I took more pictures of things. Took one last look at treasure Cove

Into tomorrowland...

This is the space between Tomorrowland and Mickey Avenue. It's a good chunk and if it was Disneyland, that would be entirely used as a whole new land. Not sure what they'll do with that in the future but a lot of frogs live there now.

Onto Mickey Avenue, a few details I didn't get the first two days.

Entry to Club 33

One last look at the castle...

And with that, I stepped away and into a cab to the airport. What really sucks is that my flight got postponed several hours... so I actually could have stayed and done a lot more had I checked my flight status, but internet is REALLY bad in China. Oh well... just leaves me with more to do next time! I'll try and upload some cell-phone pics as there were areas where I had to put everything away.

 

[dls712]

Excellent pictures Coheteboy! Really some interesting stuff to see there. Looks like a massive complex.

Thanks for taking us along for the ride.

My wife and I were in Orlando a few weeks ago. Three days @ Universal. Three days @ WDW.

Your pictures are making me think we need to make our next theme park trip an international one!

 

[Coheteboy]

Excellent pictures Coheteboy! Really some interesting stuff to see there. Looks like a massive complex.
Your pictures are making me think we need to make our next theme park trip an international one!

Thank you! The one I'm dying to go to is Tokyo Disneyland, and from everything I'm hearing, that is one of the prettiest, best maintained, and maybe easiest to handle from an international standpoint.

Well, I take that back... Hong Kong is mostly easy since English is a third language there but Tokyo has things that are truly worth seeing. I honestly don't know how well I could have handled myself in Shanghai Disneyland without the ability to speak mandarin, but I do know that many of the cast members there ARE learning english so by the time you get there it might actually be okay.

 

[pug205]

Great photo essay Coheteboy - I really enjoyed that. Having been to Disneyland, Euro Disney, and Tokyo I can confirm it is a great park. Not overwhelming in it's size, beautifully presented, and easy to do as an English speaking guest. Also helps that the Japanese are some of, if not the most hospitable people on the planet!

I highly recommended going at Halloween time as I did. The guests dress up in a variety of beautifully homemade or purchased costumes as well as Disney Princesses that match the official ones walking around the park. The guest show up with their travel bags, go to special change rooms to put on their outfits. They are also given a strict list of what is and isn't allowed in their costumes. Will see if I can find some pictures and post them. Has to be seen to be believed!

 

[Coheteboy]

Great photo essay Coheteboy - I really enjoyed that. Having been to Disneyland, Euro Disney, and Tokyo I can confirm it is a great park. Not overwhelming in it's size, beautifully presented, and easy to do as an English speaking guest. Also helps that the Japanese are some of, if not the most hospitable people on the planet!

I highly recommended going at Halloween time as I did. The guests dress up in a variety of beautifully homemade or purchased costumes as well as Disney Princesses that match the official ones walking around the park. The guest show up with their travel bags, go to special change rooms to put on their outfits. They are also given a strict list of what is and isn't allowed in their costumes. Will see if I can find some pictures and post them. Has to be seen to be believed!

Please do post some pics! I'm sure all of us would love to see them!



So I uploaded my iPhone photos from Shanghai to share, so we can start all over but from a different point of view! Reason for cellphone pics is because it's easier, especially when it rains, and sometimes we need to put everything in a locker. Also, food pics are just easier with a cellphone, so here we go!

The one caveat is that they're blurrier or not in focus, but despite it all, there's a story behind it. So here we go!


Recap, First night in Shanghai... the airport definitely reminds everyone that Shanghai Disneyland is here and it's open.

My very first meal at Shanghai's DisneyTown was at Ippudo, which is a Japanese Ramen joint. I know... I'm in China and I ate Japanese food. haha. I've been to Ippudo in New York so i just wanted to have it again. It was fine.

Some posters walking around DisneyTown... really dug these.

These pics bring up sore memories.... mostly of things i forgot to buy at World of Disney. I just assumed I'd find them later on.

I didn't buy this but it was interesting... flocked Chip n Dale

Following morning, Toy Story Hotel had some treats.

This was my breakfast though, Chicken Congee. SO GOOD. Man, I wish I could have this more often in the states but you have to go to a chinese restaurant that serves dim sum to really get it.

Empty bowl

65 CNY is $9.67, which IS a little pricey though. But boy was I full and satisfied and not feeling gross from grease and oil.

At Shanghai Disneyland, as you walk in they hand you a button. They did this the second day I was there too but I was getting drenched and kinda forgot to find a person to get one. Darn.

Tron Lightcycle Power Run. I took a picture of my locker so I would remember it but I thought you'd be interested in seeing what they looked like too.

Going into the ride, I was camera less so cellphone is all I could do.

Art on the walls

More to come. There is a picture taken on the ride too you can buy.