The Happiest Place in China

Julie and I grew up near Disneyland and went quite a bit growing up.  Our kids?  Not so much.  That was the way it was until Christopher found out what he was missing.  Because of this “Disney Awakening” we have been to Disney parks in California, Florida, Hong Kong, and Tokyo.  So since we were planning a trip to Shanghai we HAD to plan a trip to Disney’s newest Park – Shanghai Disney.

The park opened just 3 years ago in an area of Shanghai that could only have been named by government body: The Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone.  There are just a handful of hotels in the area and we selected the Courtyard by Marriott as it was close (with a shuttle), new, and reasonably priced.

Our rooms were reasonably sized and well appointed (lots of marble everywhere).  They were actually nicer than we expected them to be.  What was missing was hooks to hang towels on.  It was kinda odd that there were no towel bars or hooks.  The other thing that was in short supply was a bathroom mirror.  There was a small one, about 8” in diameter, that pulled out from the wall.  On day 2 we found another one on the back side of the closet door so you could see how you looked, but that was it.

We checked in and headed to Disney Town for a late lunch.  We decided to buy our tickets for the next 2 days as well.  Luckily one cast member spoke decent English and she was able to help us.  The 2-Day tickets set up back about $150 each, not too bad. 

When we were buying them they asked for our passports which were back in the room.  I got them to accept my Singapore ID card and they dutifully logged my FIN number (Foreigner Identification Number) in the ticket record.  I needed to show it the next day and we would be issued the actual tickets.  We left a little apprehensive, but the next morning it worked fine.

We hopped the first shuttle the next morning (7am!) and were in the entrance line quickly.  We were with an American and British couple who live in Beijing, working in education.  Now line etiquette is different in China—you push where you can.  But the five of us did a pretty good job of blocking anyone trying to move ahead of us.  We were though the security and entrance lines and in the park by 8:45. Success!

Shanghai Disney is known for its long lines and this was a Saturday, the busiest day of the week.  We had the Disney App (pronounced A-P-P in China) and logged in our tickets via QR code (what else?).  We selected a FastPass for Tron later that afternoon.

We headed off to Pirates of the Caribbean as the wait lines were short first thing in the morning.  Growing up in Orange County California, Julie and I have probably been on Pirates of the Caribbean at least 200 times, so we know the ride well—or thought that we did.

Looks familiar, but just the bones are left

We were loaded in the boat and took off.  There is no Blue Bayou or swamp cabins at the beginning and you launch immediately into the “pirate experience”.  Rather than the deep voiced “Dead Men Tell No Tails” there is a higher pitched voice saying something in Mandarin.  We floated through a variety of scenes and all of a sudden I realized that we were moving sideways in a controlled manner.  This was NOT the Pirates that we knew.

Without spoiling if for those that will go someday, let me just say that this is a very different and much more immersive experience.  More like one of the Harry Potter rides at Universal Studios in Orlando.  And I had no idea that it would be different than what I was used to which made it kinda special for a sixty-year-old.  (Special enough that we went on it several more times during our stay at Disney.)

Forkie

Disney can also be masters of illusion.  While there were a lot of people at the park, it never really felt crowded.  Very wide pathways that always have plenty of room to pass people.  And the pathways were always curving this way and that so there were never a lot of people in your field of vision.  They also pumped in bird sounds.  We heard a lot, but saw few.  After a while we realized that the chirps weren’t from actual birds, but speakers.

Tron

We enjoyed the rides.  Many, like Peter Pan, were quite familiar.  Others were new, like Tron.  This is an indoor/outdoor roller coaster (think of Space Mountain) in which you are straddling a Tron cycle instead of sitting in a rollercoaster car.  A very different experience and one that was a little hard on my neck as you are leaning forward and straining your neck upwards to see where you are going.

Soaring was much like the other versions, but with two exceptions.  First the ending of the around the world flight is in Shanghai, which is quite appropriate.  The other difference in the introduction/safety video.  It was all in Mandarin and seemed to be a mystical story that was being told.  While we didn’t understand it we enjoyed it.

Of course we had to wait for the fireworks over the castle at the end of the night.  The Disney fireworks displays are so much different from the ones I remember in the past.  With synchronized video projectors they use the entire castle as a screen and the coordination of projection, music, and fireworks is impressive. 

So we found a good spot near the entrance and staked our ground.  Now unlike the other parks we have been to there were not taped off zones to sit and walk.  They just grew organically as people came.  Soon we were having to defend our space as more and more came.  God forbid if there had been an emergency and some of us or all of us needed to leave quickly.

I have learned in China that you have to be somewhat aggressive when waiting in line—it is the complete opposite of Singapore.  But in the chaos I had a chance to talk with my neighbor in the crowd.  He asked where I was from and then gave me a big “Welcome to Shanghai!”.  One of my favorite things about travel is the people you meet.

Perhaps one of our favorite rides wasn’t a ride at all.  It was the Alice in Wonderland

 maze.  It is a walk through area where you go from area to area, based on the story.  There are little things to see and play with, and each area is very different from the one before and the one after.  Really liked it as we hadn’t seen anything like it before, it was a new experience.  And it as that way for everyone.

We realized that was one of the things we like most about Disney Shanghai—being only 3 years old meant that visiting Disneyland was a new and different experience for almost everyone.  Even adults had kid like smiles and grins on their faces. 

And that is our best memory of Shanghai Disney.  Not the rides, the food, or the buildings—it was the smiles on people’s faces, young and old.

 

Shanghaied!

Shanghai is a great city to visit.  It is the largest city in China, which is a feat in itself (remember that China has 65 cities with populations greater than a million).  The Huan Pu River runs through it, separating the Pudong (meaning “east of the Pu”) from The Bund (meaning “embankment”).

Since I had a weeklong conference at the Shangri-La in the Pudong, that’s where we stayed.  The Pudong is full of modern buildings.  It centerpiece is The Pearl, a science fiction looking radio/TV/observation tower.  Julie and Christopher braved 2-hour lines to get to the upper viewing area (which had less than spectacular views due to the small windows up there).   There is also the Shanghai Tower, the second tallest building in the world (behind The Burj Khalifa in Dubai) which, if you know Christopher, was also a must do—so they did.

What I found different in Shanghai’s skyline was that the buildings were able to standout individually, not crammed together into a blur of towers.  This is so different than other modern cities that have sprung up quickly.

Surprisingly for a city so big, the traffic was not bad.  In the Pudong there were never really any traffic jams (especially compared with SF).  What you did have to watch out for were the electric cycles that could sneak up on you silently in dedicated bike and cycle lanes.  We saw no gasoline motorcycles at all, which I assume is part of the government’s effective efforts to clean up air pollution. 

There are elevated walkways in the central business district of the Pudong which connect buildings and malls.  Being able to stroll without having to worry about crossing streets and cars is a pleasure.  They also got you up higher for a little for better views.  There are steps that you can walk up or escalators, but note that the escalators are shutoff at the first bit of rain meaning walking up sometimes slippery steps is mandatory.

China has moved forward so quickly in my lifetime.  I remember being a kid when Nixon visited China and began opening up relations.  Everyone on we saw in China on the TV news seemed to wear Mao jackets and the streets were filled with bicycles.  In only 50 years,the streets are now filled with Audi’s, Chevy’s, and Mercedes.  There are even Chinese made electric plugin cars. 

Everyday business is conducted using mobile phones and apps (pronounced "A-P-P").  We Chat and Alipay QR codes are everywhere and acceptance of Visa (and other cards) is not ubiquitous once outside of the tourist areas.  There are stands of external batteries everywhere like in the photo.  You sign up for the service, check one out with a QR code and app, charge your phone, and return it somewhere else to recharge for the next user. 

English speakers are also somewhat scarce (although this is changing).  Many signs are subtitled in English (with some interesting translations), but not everything is.  We were looking at a restaurant menu before going in that was all in Chinese and pulled out Google Translate that uses the phone’s camera to translate into English.  Some of the restaurant staff were amazed by that piece of technology.

Which brings me to The Great Wall—not the 1500 year-old one, but the firewall that controls what information goes into and out of China.  As a westerner the impacts can be felt every day.  No Google (and that includes Google, Google Maps, and Gmail), no Facebook (limiting Julie’s posts), no Instagram, and no Twitter.  There are various workarounds.  When we were there you could access those on your mobile IF you had a non-Chinese carrier who supported roaming in China.  Hotel and other public Wi-Fi had these sites blocked.  Sometimes you could get through with a VPN, but not always.  Bing became our search engine of choice while in China.

A coworker in our Shanghai office offered to give us a tour of The Bund.   The route had us crossing the river on a ferry.  You could tell at one time these were auto ferries, but now they were just for pedestrians.  We waited for one to arrive and then it was organized chaos as we boarded.  There were two groups; the one who sprinted to the far side so they could be the first off, and the group that wanted to be seated for the 8-minute ride. 

Now there weren’t really seats, just a ship’s locker that created a bench.  A coworker got there were she was one of three people sitting in a space for two.  Her face summed up her position.  We crossed the river and when we bumped into the dock nearly everyone on board let out a loud “Oooohh”.  The ferry was worth the 2RMB (about $0.25).

Once to the other side we went to Yu Gardens.  This is a touristy area full of shops, both quaint and not.  Wandering the narrow streets where the roofs almost touch in the middle is a fun way to spend a few hours.

If you are looking for something different that takes a little less time I can suggest the maglev train to and from the airport.  It is easy to find it at the airport, just follow the signs.  It was built as a demonstration project, but 15 years later it is still going strong.  It is 30km long and covers it in 7 or 8 minutes at a top speed of 420kph (~265 mph) and costs 50 RMB (about $7).  The only downside is that it only goes half way to the city center so you need to transfer to the subway or take a taxi for the rest of your trip.

This was my second time to Shanghai.  We finished the trip off with a weekend at Disneyland which was both great and the subject of another blog.   I would like to come back and explore Shanghai more.  Julie and Christopher got to see lots more and enjoyed it.  Lots ‘to do’ in this city.