Disney Land

When most Americans reflect on vacations that they took as a kid, the most common destinations will have been the mountains, the beach, and Disney. While I spent plenty of time in the woods and at the beach as a kid, I never got to visit Disney. It just wasn’t really something that my family saw as a great option. While this is fair, and looking back, I think a vacation to the Dominican Republic might have been slightly cooler, I realized this week that I might have missed out just a little bit. On Thursday, I visited Shanghai Disneyland, one of six Disney resorts worldwide, and one of three in Asia (there is one in Tokyo and one in Hong Kong). It was a very fun day!

I went with my girlfriend, Nadia, and her mom who was visiting Shanghai. I had never been before but these two were Disney experts, which was cool because I got to hear fun facts as we walked around the park.

According to several friends who had visited Disney Parks before, this one was much smaller than the others, but that ended up being rather advantageous as we were able to ride almost every attraction there.

We started by going on the Tron rollercoaster. The park was only built two years ago and so it is very technologically advanced. This really showed in the Tron ride. Instead of sitting, you are on an imitation motorcycle and essentially leaning over the bike. The coaster is half inside and half outside. The inside portion features hundreds of screens that completely surround the track, providing visuals of other motorcycles, as though you are racing them. While it wasn’t the fastest or most intense roller coaster I had been on, it was by far the coolest as it was not just thrilling but also interesting.

Next, we went and watched a Pirates of the Caribbean show – completely in Chinese. While this shouldn’t be surprising, I wasn’t quite expecting it. The show was cool regardless as it had several special effects – at one point, Jack Sparrow was floating on the stage as he was over top of a wind tunnel.

Later, we went on an adventure course. We weren’t sure what this would entail, but it ended up being a ton of fun and rather thrilling. We were given harnesses and then tethered into a track that ran the length of the course. Essentially as you walked, your tether would get pulled with you in the overhead track. This prevented you from being able to fall. Throughout the course, falling was a very real possibility. There were obstacles where you had to climb over broken wooden bridges, or boulder along a rock wall that was next to a waterfall, so the rocks were wet and slippery. I didn’t end up falling, but there were a few points where I wasn’t sure if I would or not.

Following this, we went on a virtual journey to landmarks around the world. You are essentially on a ski lift-type bench in front of a panoramic screen. The screen shows aerial views of several notable places such as Shanghai, the great wall, the arctic, the Taj Mahal and the Sydney harbor. The screen shows you dive down or soar up, and with it, your seat reacts to give you the experience of falling or climbing up. It was very neat.

We then took a break from rides to watch the parade. This is a collection of several Disney characters who walk down the street, dancing and interacting with the crowd. It was fun to see, and something I’ve been told that they do at all Disney parks.

Following this, we explored Cinderella’s castle. They gave a short tour which included giving the backstory for many of the Disney princesses.  The castle itself was beautifully constructed.

We finished off rides by going on the Buzz Lightyear ride and Tron again. The Buzz Lightyear ride carries you throughout an indoor track where you shoot at targets that are located around you. The more you hit, the higher your score. It is a competition between individuals, and I got one of the highest scores of anyone on the scoreboard.

At 8PM, they do a firework and visual light show surrounding the castle. They project images and videos of infamous Disney characters on the castle, while shooting fire and fireworks off around and above it. It was really cool to see and made me understand the overall appeal of Disney.

The one thing that was super interesting was which Disney characters they really focused on. Since Disney has only had a presence in China for around ten years, a majority of the characters that they show off have come out since then. For example, Cinderella is not seen anywhere, and Snow White only makes minor appearances. I never once saw Mickey Mouse, and very few things around the park, other than apparel, were themed after him. Frozen and Toy Story (the third iteration came out in the 2010’s) were heavily used, and very recognizable. This was very unusual, but made you realize that you weren’t at Disney in the states. Regardless, it was a great day, and it makes me want to explore other Disney parks.