Shanghai Disneyland (Part 1)

December 26, 2016

Shanghai Disneyland (Part 1)

Now the fun stuff! On the morning of our first day in Shanghai Disneyland, we were prepared mentally and physically to arrive early at the park. It was raining and it was seriously cold but the children (including mommy and daddy) were in very high spirit. We were very excited to spot 2nd in a row. We came prepared with a battle plan at hand. :)

Here is our battle plan (suitable if you enter the park with at least 2 people):

Arrive early, at least 30 minutes before the park officially opens (because sometimes the park do open earlier than the announce time. We arrive about 45 mins earlier the park opening time.
Queue on the furthest lane on the right hand side. We found that people are worried that they are queuing in the wrong lane so they prefer to have a person in front of them.
Be ready to sprint for fast passes. Once the rope dropped, a runner (this would be Mr. Bob) should run directly to the ride has the most anticipation (either soaring or roaring rapids). Since we a small kid (Ruzain is 4), we decided to take up soaring over the horizons.
The cruiser (mommy and kids) are now able to take steps over to other rides near Gardens of Imagination. In this case, we tried the Dumbo ride and Fantasia Carousel (on average this ride will have about 30 mins wait time. In our case none!
By the time we finish 2 rides, our runner aka Mr. Bob has arrive back to us and now we have plenty of time to explore Marvel and meet with Mickey! The best thing if you are early, there is no one there, no queue to take photos with character and try the virtual reality games. The characters take time to pose with you with different poses that you choose.
If you still have time, you can walk to Tomorrowland and try out TRON. Since, our little one is still not tall enough to join us on TRON, we talk to the case member to do PARENT SWAPPING. The cast member gave us a special coupon for this and ask for me to go in first while Mr. Bob wait with Ruzain. We were very lucky as the wait time is only 10mins and we got to ride on one of the most anticipated rides for this trip. We as in Farissa and I. She is 9 and just barely tall enough to try out TRON. Lucky her indeed.
Then, off we rushed back to our Soaring Over the Horizon ride and rode on it and was totally amazed! No wonder the queue waiting time was insane. It was about 50 mins wait time that day.
It was lunch time and we decided to go in and try the Barbosa Bounty Restaurant. I must say that the restaurant has such character but it was was quite dark to my preference. I recalled trying out the grill squid and rice. The children had hot cocoa and I bought some fruits for dessert. Lunch was uneventful but the menu was quite tasty.
After we got our tummy filled, our next target is to try and see if the wait time for the Pirates of the Carribean Ride (POTC) and Seven Dwarves Coaster (7D Coaster) was insane. POTC had about 10 mins wait time so we jump on that! Right after, we stumbled upon Captain Jack Sparrow on the way to POTC, stop and have a bit of fun with him. He was absolutely magnificent! There was totally nobody queuing to have a photo with him. The children was all giggles and he played a short game of finding a special key with him.
The wait time for the 7D Coaster was some kind of acceptable and we got on that as well. It was fun! Ruzain fit ride under the "ride height chart" and was stop by 3 cast members on the way up till the end of the wait queue. Poor guy, it was kind of funny though. He puff his shoulder to make sure he was able to ride.
The last ride of Winnie the Pooh, but it was not so famous like the one in Tokyo. There was no queue and kids stumble on Pooh himself. Pooh was adorable and wave and gave the children some bear hugs.
By then, it was about 4pm and all of us had a nice stroll back to the Mickey Avenue. We were planning to do a bit of shopping and discovered that Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Daisy Duck are available for photo op. Ruzain missed it as he was napping in his stroller. :)