Walt Disney World and Disneyland(s) Discussion

[cokebabies]

Is SM turning back into HSM when Halloween is over, or is it allowed to be itself for a while?

I already whined about this, but Star Wars is one of my favorite things in life - before it became acceptable. I'm talking, "Wearing a Star Wars tie to an all-boys high school in the mid-90's fandom". But I just... I hate the SW takeover of Tomorrowland. That said, I love Ghoul Mountain.

Also, for Halloween, I'm going to go as coheteboy. Here's my impression : "Aw shucks, thanks for the compliment, but my pictures aren't that great." (I will then proceed to post a dozen ridiculously good shots of DLR)

 

[Coheteboy]

Is SM turning back into HSM when Halloween is over, or is it allowed to be itself for a while?

I already whined about this, but Star Wars is one of my favorite things in life - before it became acceptable. I'm talking, "Wearing a Star Wars tie to an all-boys high school in the mid-90's fandom". But I just... I hate the SW takeover of Tomorrowland. That said, I love Ghoul Mountain.

Also, for Halloween, I'm going to go as coheteboy. Here's my impression : "Aw shucks, thanks for the compliment, but my pictures aren't that great." (I will then proceed to post a dozen ridiculously good shots of DLR)

hahaha, well... I suppose i don't personally think they're all that fantastic compared to many other photographers I've seen. It's all in context. I don't really think I'm doing anything artistic at all, just stopping to take a picture.


But anyway, it's time for SHANGHAI. While I rather give you a land by land rundown of everything, it's easier for me to just post the pictures in order they were taken, which could be pretty random.


I landed on a Sunday evening and got to my hotel around 7pm. DisneyTown closes at 10pm so I decided to hit it up, despite having been awake for over 24 hours. My hotel was only 8 miles away so it wasn't too far.

Taxis in Shanghai don't seem to know where this place is, which is frustrating. I had to look up the actual address before they went anywhere.

Here's a massive Starbucks

World of Disney store

Some of the buildings have subtle nods to important dates in Disney history

Hot Toys store!

Shanghai Disneyland Hotel from Disney Town

 

[xforce]

Cool pictures thanks

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[forestlite]

Thanks for posting those great pics coheteboy! I'm getting tempted to do Shanghai, along with Tokyo, next year. Your pics are/will definitely influence my final decision!

 

[Coheteboy]

Thanks for posting those great pics coheteboy! I'm getting tempted to do Shanghai, along with Tokyo, next year. Your pics are/will definitely influence my final decision!

I will advise you to give yourself 3 days in Shanghai Disneyland unless you plan on going back soon after your first visit!


Took a visit to Toy Story Hotel. I didn't stay here but wanted to have breakfast before my day so I took a cab and arrived a little early to walk around. This hotel is right behind Tomorrowland but you still need a bus to get to the main entrance.

The entry to Shanghai Disneyland is CROWDED! People get here EARLY to get through bag check. You also need an ID or passport with your ticket so it takes much longer to get in. I had the sense of nervousness going in because I went alone and ordered my tickets online and just hoping that whatever i had on my email was going to work. Plus getting my internet to work was nerve-wracking. Anyway, by the time i got up there it was pretty smooth and got through quicker than the Chinese nationals!

While it looks like a railroad station, it isn't. That's a let down.

More from Mickey Avenue (Main Street USA) next time!

 

[cokebabies]

I'm only going off pictures, but I'm not sure what to make of Toy Story Hotel. The building looks very nice, but the theming seems... just there. Like you take the quality of DLH and the "pretty good" theming an All Star hotel in WDW.

 

[Coheteboy]

I'm only going off pictures, but I'm not sure what to make of Toy Story Hotel. The building looks very nice, but the theming seems... just there. Like you take the quality of DLH and the "pretty good" theming an All Star hotel in WDW.

Yeah the building itself is just.... blue with clouds. There's no real architecture style or anything visually that makes you go "wow, i want to stay there!". That said, it's cute. But that's about it.




When I first stepped into Shanghai Disneyland... I just started taking pictures. It's so much to take in that i actually didn't really "enjoy" it per se because there's SO MUCH that's unique here. My overall perception of Shanghai Disneyland though is that I loved it. Absolutely loved it. But yes, it really is a chore to cover because there's SO MUCH to cover.

So here's Mickey Avenue, which is half the length of a Main Street USA.. while that may seem very strange at first, it's probably better. Reason being, in the past, it was Main Street USA and then the Castle. In Shanghai, you have Mickey Ave, then Gardens of Imagination and THEN the Castle. Gardens of Imagination is its own land so to speak with three attractions: Dumbo, Fantasia Carousel, and Marvel experience. The rest of the land is mostly beautiful gardens and viewing area for castle shows.

Since Mickey avenue is so short, most of the exterior are all facades. On the left side is mostly one giant store called Avenue M Arcade. City Hall is there of course...

Facade

One of the many entries to Avenue M Arcade

Goofy About Toys is still Avenue M Arcade

This comics sign is a nod to the genius comic illustrators behind Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse comics

This is the third Disney park to have its own version of Carthay Circle Theater. Here it's still Avenue M Arcade. The UPSTAIRS is dining area for Shanghai's Club 33

We're still on the left side of Mickey Avenue and the street is starting to curve further left towards Tomorrowland (which is on the left side in Shanghai). The entry to Club 33 is at the end of the street.

All of this facade is for Il Paperino (donald duck in italian) which is selling donald duck waffles. Yummy!

No, I didn't try the squatters.... I'm too American and afraid I'd fall in hahahahahaha. Fortunately they installed regular toilets for people like me.

In case you're wondering, this was all in June and June Gloom was certainly the weather I got. And a lot of rain. So it certainly did make it harder to shoot and enjoy myself. Tomorrowland was the first land I went into because TRON. I later learned that i should have covered it later since the line was mostly reasonable all day. It's other things that were in higher demand... more on that later.

The fastpass machine is on the lower level of Tomorrowland, the entrance is on the upper level.... i learned that the hard way. So I grabbed a fast pass with a return time that was in an hour and a half and then waited half an hour standby to ride it first.

the ride is so fun. I have more pics from my phone that I'll have to upload later since TRON requires you put everything in a locker (free).

Notice the last car is for disabled and resembles a Light Runner. This allows riders to sit in a normal seat who aren't able to straddle a cycle. Neat right?

yes there is a Launch Bay. I'll visit that later

There's also a Buzz Lightyear ride that I rode after my first ride on TRON but left my camera in the locker.... so I rode again the next day to take pictures.

Shanghai's answer to the Astro Oribtor (Orbiter in Florida) are Jet Packs. I scoffed at the half hour wait time and well.... ended up not riding it all weekend because it was 40-50 minutes the rest of my trip. hahaha

More pics to come

 

[Coheteboy]

After exploring Tomorrowland, I wanted to head on over to the complete opposite side of the park to Adventure Isle. This is when I learned why TRON had such reasonable waits. EVERYONE went straight to Adventure Isle to ride Soaring Over the Horizon and Roaring Rapids, two of the park's E-Tickets.

Here's where I learned how tastes differ from country to country. Rapids are the type of thrills they like.... roller coasters like TRON, less so. Walking to Adventure Isle from Tomorrowland required walking through Gardens of Imagination so here's a few pictures along the way.

I'll visit Marvel later

There was also a show going on that I didn't stop to watch

Adventure Isle. My main goal was to grab a fastpass for another ride. That ended up not happening in this side of the park as all of the fast passes for Rapids and Soaring were already depleted for the day.

Ok that's a long line, I'll come back later

Soaring is the same ride as the one in California Adventure and Epcot but with a Shanghai ending. I decided to do it anyway just to see the queue. This sucked up 90 minutes of my time. I say if you don't want to take unique pictures, skip this ride if you can get it elsewhere.

The main loading area is pretty cool but you will spend a lot of time in here

The story here is that there's a Mystic that has the ability to morph into different animals and she's the animals you see in the ride.

From there I strolled into Treasure Cove, the Pirates of the Caribbean land. this here is Tortuga Treats, the ONLY place to get Turkey Legs in the park and these clowns are waiting for the place to open in a few hours to get their turkey legs. It's limit 2 per person, demands SUPER long lines and sells out EVERY DAY. It's insane.

This is the entrance to the Pirates stunt show, I wasn't able to see

more later!

 

[Coheteboy]

Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle For the Sunken Treasure - this ride is amazing but it's also a let down. It's amazing from a technical and fun aspect, but it's disappointing that you go from having dozens of animatronic pirates down to four. But it really is a spectacular ride experience.

Amazing thing about the ride is that the capacity is so great that I was able to ride it 5 times, each waiting only 5 minutes or less. Here's a ride where the single rider line also is in effect, where they just stuff you in wherever there's room, but when it's a 5 minute wait, it's all the same.

Boarding the boats

On the right is Barbossa's Bounty eatery, not fine dining like the Blue Bayou but still pretty good. more on that later.

As you can see, not many pics from my first trip

It was about 1:30pm now and time to eat. I went to Barbossa's Bounty and gorged on some ribs over rice. Tasty! Not a lot of pictures here but I'll return to do it later.

 

[cokebabies]

Well hot damn. That parks looks fantastic.

 

[MegaPrime33]

Great photos. That park, particularly the castle, is really something else.

 

[Coheteboy]

The previous page photos of SIREN'S REVENGE is just a stationary ship that people can explore. It's very reminiscent of the Sailing Ship Columbia at Disneyland, where you can see the Captain's Quarters, the bunks, the kitchen, etc. It's a nice place to run around and offers neat views.

Shipwreck Shore, is another place to explore but with more water effects.

siren's revenge

Adventure Isle's APU TAKU MOUNTAIN

Hidden Mickey

A nod to the Skeleton Dance

Heading back to Adventure Isle, I was told Camp Discovery was not to be missed

Camp Discovery is what you'd get is if you took Tom Sawyer Island + Redwood Creek Challenge Trail and multiplied it by 100. This probably couldn't be done in the states because a) americans overall are too fat and b) legal issues would be endless. There's no safety net, so everything needs to be put into lockers, but it's you, a cable, and a rail.

So in short, Camp Discovery is in my top three attractions of Shanghai Disneyland. My pictures don't really give you all that much but it's really fun.


This is the lizard beast disney made up for Roaring Rapids. line still too long so I kept walking.

It's been drizzling/raining all morning and by now it's around 2:30/3pm and I needed refuge. I hit up the Wandering Moon Teahouse, a restaurant location on the rim of Gardens of Imagination (sort of in front of the castle). The restaurant is so large the backside of it faces both Adventure Isle and Treasure Cove.

I bought a Mango Ice Tea and sat down.... and then explored this restaurant. Every room is completely different. So impressed.

Every major eatery has a unique Mickey plate. I bought this one for my nephew but wish that I bought all of them.

Entrance to Treasure Cove. Next post, I venture into Fantasyland for the first time.

 

[evenflow]

Thanks for sharing. Amazing photos. Park looks awesome.

 

[forestlite]

Fantastic shots Coheteboy! I can see why it was somewhat stressful trying to cover the park with you camera. I go through the same thing even when I visit parks I've been to in the past...LOL!

 

[cokebabies]

My wife and daughter would hate the quick service. No chicken fingers?

 

[fistfulmetal]

I remember when I went to D23 and saw the layout for Shanghai Disneyland. It was jaw dropping. Just seeing those pics makes me wish I was there. Hopefully one day.

 

[Coheteboy]

My wife and daughter would hate the quick service. No chicken fingers?

Haha well you can get burgers from Tomorrowland's Stargazer Grill. I'll post more menus along the way so maybe you'll find something you'll like.



Alright, Fantasyland time... photos are presented in order they were taken so no establishing shots.. entirely at random. Here's inside the castle.

Four tile murals represent the different seasons.

There's a boat ride behind the castle... think Jungle Cruise but with disney animated scenes. There's a kind of convoluted storyline that this ride ventures into a crystal grotto, the source of all imagination and the birthplace of Fantasyland.

Decor around the waterways...

Peter Pan was a 20 minute wait? SOLD.

The galleon seats 6 so it's definitely a higher capacity ride. I think it helps.

The first Tangled themed restaurant in the world... more on this later

No Mad Tea Cups but there's a Pooh spinner! Less colorful though

I heard this was just a clone of Disney world's so I skipped it.

More next time!

 

[Coheteboy]

edit: Photobucket seems to be having a Gateway Timeout so this post might not show up until later.

Leaving Fantasyland, I decided to go back to Pirates. It was another 5 minute wait aka walk-on. Yay. I swapped out my lens to see if i can get some better shots.

The boat came back to the unload zone... i saw no one in my row waiting to board so I stayed put and no one said anything. Let's try this again!

And.... ONE MORE TIME!

It was about 8pm now and I know the fireworks show is at 8:30 and the park closes at 9... which doesn't leave me a lot of time to do anything. I thought I could ride the rapids now with a smaller wait but SURPRISE.... Rapids closed daily at 6:45pm. Turns out, that ride was barely finished when the park opened so there wasn't enough time to properly train everyone for running the ride an entire day. So.... maybe it runs longer by now but in late June, I was SOL. Fortunately I had another day so all wasn't lost.

So I took some night pictures around Treasure Cove and Adventure Isle, did some shopping.

This is Adventure Isle's main store and where you can buy some exclusive merchandise not found anywhere else. I picked up a handful of things here.(mostly keychains and the orange shirt)

The fireworks show began as I was shopping so I ran over to the castle (it took like 10 minutes lol) and tried to find a spot. Fortunately there's a lot of space and the castle is massive that it's not impossible to find viewing, but it's still not ideal for pictures when you're in the back behind people.

With just 10 minutes to spare, I thought about hitting up TRON one more time. I already ridden it twice that day and a third one at night would be wonderful... but on second thought I decided to do more shopping and picture taking so as to have less to carry the next day.

With bags and bags of TRON merch, i hit up Mickey Avenue. What sucks about a park closing at 9pm is that eating dinner is kind of a waste of time, so I was STARVING at this point. I did the Donald Duck Waffle with Ice Cream.... while it wasn't a satisfying meal, I'm glad I at least tried something unique. (cell phone pic I'll have to post another time).

entrance to Shanghai Club 33

attraction posters

By the time I left, DisneyTown was nearly closed (10pm) so I lugged all my bags and bags of merchandise to a cab and hightailed it back to my hotel, tired and eager for another day at Shanghai Disneyland.

End of Day 1

 

[Darth Waller]

Awesome photos! It looks like a very cool park, which I'm sure I'll never get to see in person.

 

[cokebabies]

Seeing Donald, not Mickey, waffles, is giving me some real perverse feelings.