I thought I wasn’t going to have anything to report the month of May. But I got my hands on the trial period tickets (BEFORE the grand opening on June 16, 2016) from a friend since her husband worked for a company that helped out Disneyland. This friend was from the school I taught English at. The English was taught through a Christian organization which we belong to. Many blessing to us and the kids on those regards. Funny thing is she asked at 10 PM the night BEFORE. And you HAD to use the tickets on May 18, a Wednesday. I had a tennis lesson from 9-10 AM and that was it. Easy peasy – cancelled the lesson, informed the kids’ teachers and told our driver. L couldn’t come since he had to work.
Now it’s game time! Boys woke up at the usual time on their own. Told them we didn’t have school today and they gave me the BIGGEST smile. I informed them we were going to a park and they weren’t too excited. Then I showed them pictures of the castle and C got it. X still was unsure even though he’s been to Disney World more than a dozen times.
I have to meet my friend’s husband near the Mickey fountain. Holy sh!t. This place is packed. I was already getting very anxious about going because there were people everywhere. I was very tempted to call our driver to pick us up because I felt claustrophobic. So before I pick up the tickets I take the boys to the bathroom. Noticed that majority of the stalls are squatty potties. Really Disneyland?!!! Well, it is China. No problem, I have boys, they can aim in the hole right? WRONG. One soils his undies and his shorts the first 5 minutes we got there. No problem, I have a change of clothes. Then the next minute the other kid keeps rubbing his eye. He got suntan lotion in his eye so we have to wash it out with water, then his shirt gets all wet. No big deal. I have a set of clothes for each boy. Now it’s very close to the time I’m supposed to meet M. I call his phone and it’s busy. Then it’s not going through. Then I get voicemail. Ummm, he might think I’m a stalker. Finally he calls me back! I meet him near the congested mickey fountain in the front. Exchange has been done. Thank goodness. In the meantime, this old lady started inspecting X’s superman shirt and his cape and starts asking questions, in Chinese, and touching X’s shirt. My goodness, back off lady. Can’t you see X doesn’t like it. Sigh.
Now where’s the entrance. Right next to the fountain. But there’s this REALLY loooooong fence you have to go around just to get to the one opening in order to get to the place to show that you have a ticket to get in. At this time, it’s hot, kids are hungry and there are quite a lot of Chinese folks around. It’s no joke. So once we muddle past the first checkpoint, we need to go through security. No big deal. I’ll pick the shortest line which ended up being the LONGEST wait. I ALWAYS pick the slowest line. Never let me pick people! So someone mentioned we can’t bring food into the park. With my knowledge of Disney World, they let you bring as much food and non alcoholics drinks as you please. So I tried. And I succeeded. Bag of pretzels, cliff bars, bottled waters and apples. Score. Then we go through the ticket line. The lady informed me my youngest didn’t need a ticket since kids 1 m and under get in free. I read about this on the website, but wanted to play it safe so I went ahead and bought the ticket. I told her to scan the ticket anyways. Oh yeah, keep in mind there is very little English spoken at the park. VERY LITTLE!
I knew I needed a stroller since we didn’t bring any to Shanghai. I wanted a double stroller because I wanted to party all night at Disney. So I ask. Do you have a double stroller I can rent. No. We only have single. Do you want two strollers? Ummmm. Do I have 4 arms? No, just give me the single stroller. That will be 50 RMB. Disneyland, please invest in double strollers. I know China has the single kid policy, but there will be people visiting from different countries.
No double stroller = minus 1 for Disneyland
Then we get inside the park. I hear crickets. Well, just a lot of music playing in the background. But really, the park was EMPTY. All my worries about too many people being in the park quickly vanished. First place we went to was Tomorrowland. The Star Wars attraction was still in the works so couldn’t enjoy that. So first stop was Buzz Lightyear. A FIVE (5) minute wait. A 5 minute wait in Shanghai Disneyland was like winning the powerball lottery in the US! And it was more like going through all the twists and turns until you get to the front of the line. I think the 5 minute wait time was a formality. On this ride compared to Disney World, I liked how you could remove the laser gun and shoot at the targets and turn the cart around. It made for better target practice.
Next ride was Peter Pan in Fantasyland. 5 minute wait again!!! In Disney World, a 60 minute wait, MINIMUM. Ummm, at this point I am loving being here. Great weather, no pollution, well behaved kids – I couldn’t ask for more. The Peter Pan ride was really the same as DW too, just a couple new props and an added forest to the ride.
Then was lunch. We always ate at the Pinnochio restaurant in DW since the kids liked the pizza and they liked waving to the people on The Small World ride. In Shanghai, they served noodles, soup, rice bowls and mickey mouse pizza. The sauce for the pizza was a tad bit sweet. Not my favorite, but it was nonetheless really cute. Kind of pricey for so-so food, but we are at Disney. Everything is expensive at Disney.
Then we went on the Voyage to the Crystal grotto boat ride where it highlights the Disney movies. They had little scenes from Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and many others. While waiting in line, this 5 yo boy kept pushing X to go forward. The parents weren’t saying anything so I had to tell him to stop. Keep in mind, this is common. Chinese kids can do anything. They are seriously the kings or queens in the family.
C wanted to go on the tea pot ride, and the line was only 10 min long. As we were about to get on, they were having a malfunction so we were sent away. I think the man up above knew I didn’t want to go! So thank you.
Then was Winnie the Pooh which X loved. It was the same as DW. As we were exiting the ride, I saw a toddler being held by his grandmother and he was pooping in a plastic bag. In the corner. In broad daylight. And there was a bathroom right around the corner. I just shook my head. Only in China.
Now it was time to go through the Alice in Wonderland maze which was very cool to me since I hadn’t seen it before. I laughed because there was this mirror where it makes you look tall and skinny. This one lady was dressed to the “nines” and kept taking selfies of herself while all these poor hot sweaty kids were waiting in line. Once again, all I could do was shake my head.
We left Fantasyland and ventured into Treasure Cove to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Xander passed out in line. And this was the longest line we waited in! 25 minutes. I think he went over the threshold (weight wise) as to how much I can carry for a long period of time. I was estatic once we got to the front of the line since my arms were going to fall off. X passed out on my lap the whole ride. If we were at Disney World, they would have made him sit next to me. Since they weren’t really enforcing any rules, he layed on my lap. No complaints from my side! First of all, the Pirates of the Caribbean ride was by far my FAVORITE ride. It was a mixture of an IMAX movie, props and a boat ride. So fantastic! And it was fairly long (compared to the other rides).
Right after the ride, X woke up. Not grouchy thank goodness. I promised them mickey bars or ice cream. Whatever came first. We searched the WHOLE park for ice cream. Nada. Zip. Sigh. So we settled on caramel popcorn. Remember my post about dessert not being sweet here? Well, guess what, caramel popcorn isn’t too sweet either. And my taste buds are changing because I liked it, strange enough.
We ran into a Chinese pirate, then explored a cool pirate ship at the landlubber landing. Then saw the show at the castle which was fun seeing it in both Mandarin and English.
As we were walking to check out Camp Discovery at Adventure Isle, I saw a 9 yo boy peeing in the bushes. Once again, the bathroom was right around the corner. Oh Disney, you are going to have to control this behavior or else it’s going to get dirty quickly. Camp Discovery was for kids 106 cm and taller so we didn’t stay too long.
So we pretty much walked around the whole park, then I asked if they wanted to do another ride before our fast pass time for the Seven Dwarfs mine train ride. They both said Buzz unanimously. Alrighty then. Buzz it is.
So we walk to tomorrowland and we come across Darth Vader and 2 storm troopers. Wow. I know Darth Vader is supposed to be mean in the movies, but he was certainly playing his role. A little too well. He was a douche nugget – such a mean guy. Only posed for one picture, but stopped several times as if he was going to pose with all the kids that were surrounding him. He even pushed C out of the way when he wanted to start walking again. So I explained to C that he is a really mean guy and C didn’t really care. Phew. He just wanted to go to the Buzz ride where he scored 223,000 points.
Now it’s time to use our fast pass for the Seven Dwarfs mine train ride. You have to be 97 cm tall for the ride. With shoes on and thick socks, X just made it! Since it’s only two people per row, I told C he had to ride by himself or possibly with a single rider. He said no problem and had a nice lady riding with him. Keep in mind this was the first roller coaster ride for both kids. C’s response at the end – can we go on this EVERY time we go to Disney? X’s response – that made my dizzy, but I liked it, but I don’t want to go again.
As we were about to leave the park, we stumbled across the meet and greet for Mickey. 5 minute wait again. No problem! Kids loved meeting Mickey again! Then we exit the meet and greet and stumble across The Avengers meet and greet. Why not, it’s late, why not push the kids more. There was this cool interactive Iron Man game where you try to shoot the bad guys. You need a photo pass card in order to play the game. Then X wanted to visit with Captain America. The line was long and I was exhausted. After 15 minutes of waiting, we got to meet him. And let me tell you, the 15 minute wait time was nothing because Captain America treated my boys like they were the most special things on the planet. He took them to see his shields, talked to them about his current shield, asked them questions and gave them big hugs. All I could hear from the English speaking people in line was… what is he doing with those boys and they have a new dad, Father ‘Merica. My Darth Vader encounter was erased with such an incredible meet and greet with Captain America.
After an amazing time and great behavior, the boys were able to purchase something at the store. X picked a light saber and a softball set while C picked out key chains (which he shared with X) and Star Wars cars that came with a Darth Vader car case. As we walked out of the store, the alarm beeped. They tried to ask me a question, but no one spoke English so I walked away. I think they are too shy to confront anyone so I forsee a lot of merchandise leaving the stores too easily. But if someone wanted to check my receipt, I would have happily obliged.
We finalized the night with bottled waters and lays potato chips since they don’t sell butter popcorn. Water and chips were 10 RMB or $1.60 each. Not bad considering DW sells water for 4 USD!
Shanghai Disneyland, you have done an awesome job.
Very well done.
My advice, get double strollers, ice cream carts, butter popcorn, more English speaking employees and HUGE signs that say NO PEEING AND NO POOPING.