Shanghai Disney Delights

Our plan of attack for the day was the first of the Disney Parks on our Disney/Europe and New York trip but we were up early, too early for Disney so took the opportunity to wander around People's Square which is a large landscaped green space of which we covered barely half. Prior to the Revolution much of this area belonged to the Shanghai Racing club but as horse racing was banned by the Communist Party and the grounds were taken over by them, and over time the beautiful area known as People's Square was created Not only are there beautiful gardens but there are many important buildings like Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art; the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government; Shanghai Grand Theatre, the Shanghai Museum and Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center. But what I liked most was the slice of life scenes that we came across, a man walking his dogs and people practicing tai chi or other group exercises and I seriously wanted to join in. We left our exploring behind to head to Disney's newest Park which was very easy to get to, taking Line 8 from People's Square to Oriental Sports Center Station then changed to Line 11 to Disneyland Resort which is the last station on the line (the ride took roughly an hour so factor that in to your times at the Park). Once we got there signs were easy enough to follow so it was easy enough for anyone to work out where to go. There are two hotels at Disney which like all Disney hotels cater for park guests with early entry etc and if you were going to spend more time at the park and you had the money I would probably suggest staying there for convenience but I wanted to see a tiny snippet of Shanghai that was not Disney related so was happy with our choice to catch the train today.

Shanghai Disney opened on June 16 2016 and is pretty impressive, it really has that shiny, new feel and because a lot of the older movies were not something that the Chinese were introduced to, you don't see them reflected in the park as much as the newer ones. Duffy the Disney Bear and his girlfriend Shellie Mae are also more popular here (like Tokyo Disney) than the other characters and there are stores that just sell their products. I think somehow people find teddy bears more relatable than mice in Asia.

There are some great rides but not as many as other Disney Parks....and if you are a fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean I would have to say this is probably the best Pirates ride at any of the Disney Parks because it is based on the film rather than the other way around and we did it more than once and each time found more things that we hadn't seen before (although I have yet to see them all but I can't see how it could be beaten) There are two coasters Tron and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train both equally exhilirating in their own way, one water ride which you need to do early so you can dry off during the day and lots of cutesy rides to try, the best probably being Peter Pan's Flight. There were ears (yes I succumbed after all I am going to be doing a few Disney's in the next five and a bit weeks so will get my money's worth, cute Disney food but I also had some great dumplings with an amazing soy/vinegar sauce which just made them taste better. There were amazing parades both a cute day-time one and a slightly darker one for the Halloween Parade with the Disney Villains having their chance to shine and a light show against the castle walls which was spectacular but again I am going so sound sappy and say I just loved people watching and the enthusiasm people had for everything they saw and did at the park and there were some terribly cute kids in their Disney outfits; After fireworks and hobbling back to the hotel (27,000+ steps later) we called it a sort of early night to prepare ourselves for day 3 of this adventure

#sHanGhaI #cHinA #dIsnEy