Day 2: Solo at Shanghai Disney
- Laura Hohman
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
If you missed the first post, take a look at my check-in at the Toy Story Hotel and Disney Town here at Day 1: Solo at Shanghai Disney.
To enter the park you will need:
Your Phone! The Early park Entry ticket is on your Shanghai Disney Resort App, so be sure you can find it, and your phone is charged.
Your Passport! Each gate uses your passport to assign your ticket to you. Be sure you have your passport so you can get into the park, and reentry if you decide to leave and come back later (which I did as well).
Day 2: Early Park Entry
One of the perks of staying at a Disney hotel is the 1 hour early entry to the park. For anyone doing a single day, I find early entry essential to make sure I can hit the hot rides before anyone else does. And man, did I learn how competitve the ride situation is at Shanghai Disney!
Early Park entry is supported through the back of the Disneytown area. See the yellow tag on the map below.
The bus only starts at 7:30am, while early entry begins at 8 am. This means if you want to get there earrrly to get in line, you are walking to the entrance.
Waiting to get in:
Once you make it to the back of Disneytown, you need to swing to the left to get into the line. That's where the first scan on your Shanghai Disney Resort App happens! The attendant will scan your Early Entry QR code on your app, tied to your hotel stay. Then you get in queue and wait a while.
I got in line at 7:15 am and was in the first 50 people or so. By 7:45 am (when the buses came), this queue is pretty full and long.
Turnstiles and entry actually starting around 7:50am, so we got in extra early :)
My Ride Itinerary:
Zootopia: Hot Pursuit
Zootopia is HUGE at Shanghai Disney! These characters were everywhere, and Judy Hops was the most cosplayed character around. This is the only park with a dedicated Zootopia area, and long lines usually to go with it, so that was where I b-lined to immediatedly. Unfortunately, this is on the complete opposite side of the park, and it was already 80 degrees F in 67% humidity.
Pirates of the Carribean area
After Zootopia, the park was already insanity. I made my way over to the Pirates area and made it onto the Pirates ride in under 5 minutes.
This ride is amazing! Such cool set pieces, amazing graphics, and more. Unfortunately, the person the row infront of me on the boat had their phone up with the light on recording the entire time (More on this behavior later).
Soaring Over the Horizon
Next up, the Soaring line was at 10 minutes, so I hit that up next.
Generally, I found this ride a bit underwhelming and not my favorite. Plus side is that most the queue was inside.
Peter Pan's Flight
I jumped into a classic dark room with Peter Pan's Flight. This had a cool top track flying "ship" vehicle. My favorite part of this ride was when you flew through the nursery room of the Darlings. But generally fine, wouldnt wait more than 15 minutes for this ride.
Voyage to the Crystal Grotto
This is a unique water boat ride since its the only ride in any Disney park that has you go underneath the castle.
Eye of the Storm Stunt Show
While none of this was in English, the crowd is so good and the cast is extremely engaging. This is a do not miss in my opinion. Great stunts including an insane wind machine!
Tron Lightcycle Power Run
This was the longest ride I waited for all day. I waited for a break in the line and managed to only wait 60 minutes.
The immersion of this ride is really cool, and the interior line experience was great.
Illuminate! A Nighttime Celebration
I found a spot in the garden 2 hours early to secure a great view of the castle to prepare for the nighttime project show and fireworks. This was a good idea because after that it quickly was swamped by people.
Overall, I really liked this show! There was unique music I hadnt heard before, and a great mix up of different IPs and content. Don't skip it!
This was an incredible day and I had so much fun at Shanghai Disney.
There are a few things that made this Disney park different from others I've visited.
Shanghai Disney Resort App Required
As mentioned above, all tickets and content is tied to your app, so be sure to prepare before you get there.
Phones recording all the time
I was not prepared for everyone recording with their phones all the time on every ride. This killed some of the immersion for me and the magic.
Running
People run from one ride to the next! This seems to be a culture thing, since there is no real rush, but no staff stop people from running and it does create a bit of additional unneeded anxiety.
Alipay
While the larger shops will take credit cards, some of the smaller ones only accept Alipay.
That's a wrap! Thanks everyone and let me know how your Disney trip goes!
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