A (2019) HalloXmas trip to Asia - Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo! - COMPLETED 5/1!!!

[crazycatstacy]

I am loving your trip report!

 

[TwoLittlePrincesses]

I can’t wait for Tron to open at WDW!! Your trip looks so cool so far!

 

[Steppesister]

All of the snacks and foods look so pretty! And the park is just so fun and different! I am really enjoying your report, Lesley!!

 

[missjackiemcg]

They also had these cute hard plastic cups, which I think you were allowed to take with you… well I took one anyways!

I totally would have taken one, too!! Hopefully you're allowed to...they haven't shown up to arrest you yet, right?

Also some photos in the lobby – I did really like this and Disney Tourist Blog mentioned it feels like a cruise ship lobby, which I totally agree with!

YES, that is EXACTLY what I was thinking looking at your pictures!! It totally looks like the atrium on a ship. I love the openness of it.

Completely worth the cost of Memory Maker!!! The one they're building for MK is identical to this one, right?? I'm a little nervous, but your face makes me think it will be fun, not scary!

These symbols on the sign reminded me of Legends of the Hidden Temple!

Totally. My brother and I absolutely loved that show!! We always wanted to be on it

 

[Lesley Wake]

Ok, so sorry I haven't responded here in a while! Had my latest WDW trip and I hoped to do some TR while I was there, but just no energy! Then I came back and work was in the way! Anyways, hopefully I'll get more done on this TR soon!

Part 2 – Character stalking down Mickey Avenue!

I continued through the park to my next priority…

I loved these benches – so on theme!

Onto Pirates of the Caribbean!

As I arrived they made the park opening announcement, though the ride was still a walk-on.

One thing to be aware of, the lap bars go across the entire row. Obviously I’m bigger than the average guest and was seated in a row with some smaller women, who pulled down the bar pretty far, making it tight on me. It was fine though.

But that ride! OMG – wow! I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew things broke all the time. But I think it ended up working perfectly! I just don’t know what to say, it was amazing! Just the immersion and effects just all made for an amazing experience. There was one point on the ride where I was convinced something was a screen, then we went around a corner and I realized it was a physical set piece! And another time, Jack pulls on a rope on the screen, and suddenly physical things within the ride happen! It was awesome!

(Not my video, but the best POV I could find)

Some merch photos in the dump shop – pretty cute costumes!

Photos on the way out of the land. I just loved the openness of it! (I didn’t end up doing these explorer canoes – they seemed pretty popular though, so make sure you do them early before the line gets too long)

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[Lesley Wake]

At that point I was pretty hungry so I decided to stop and grab some proper breakfast, heading back to the Gardens.

I loved seeing the CMs making these flower Mickeys every morning! They were so precise that they used their pickers to make perfect circles! And someone even used bottle caps to make one!

So, a funny anecdote:

It had started to warm up, so while I wore jeans to the park in the morning, I had thrown some shorts in my backpack since I knew the previous day was pretty warm. I went to get changed and came out wearing a short sleeve shirt and shorts, and was pretty comfortable (I can’t remember if I ever switched back into jeans at the end of the night). But, anyways, as I walked out of the bathroom I passed by a mom putting a warmer coat on her daughter who was already wearing a sweater and heavy pants… I guess I just ran hotter than other people? Because I’d see guests walking around all bundled up in blankets. I think it was mid-70s, but sunny, so felt hotter. So, I guess that was yet another thing that made me stand out in Shanghai!

Oh and I did take photos this one time in the bathroom of the Chinese style toilets (since it was empty). All of the bathrooms had Western style at one end, and there usually wasn’t any wait for those even if the squat-style had a lot of people. It is also very obvious from the outside of the stall which one it is!

Ok, back to the TR…

For breakfast I ended up stopping at Il Paperino and getting a Donald waffle. I think they may have had some special Halloween version, but I just got a normal one. Though they definitely don’t give enough syrup!

Some ice cream options, but they all seemed a bit unfamiliar (Papaya milk, Sea salted cheese), so I skipped those.

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[Lesley Wake]

I decided to walk around Mickey Avenue and took some “stalker” photos of characters – each line looked way too long for me! I did like that they met in pairs though! And do you notice the common theme in all their Halloween outfits?

Mickey and Minnie

Donald and Daisy

Goofy and Pluto

Chip and Dale (they were leaving on a break and I forgot to go back and get a better photo)

Shellie Mae and Stella Lou

Gelatoni and Duffy – Duffy was preening while Gelatoni was busy signing autographs

Loved the stickers on the suitcases!

No character here right now, but I think some of the Disney villains meet here during the day.

Loved these mosaics (they were on a marquee by a store opening)

More Halloween decorations around the street

And my first funny experience – when a Chinese grandma saw me standing there going to take a photo of Donald & Daisy and she decided she wanted a photo of me with her grandsons. One was right there but the other was much more interested in the Ducks! Eventually he came over and we did a nice photo.

Coming up - All of the Fastpasses at Disney!
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[Lesley Wake]

I just started reading along - sounds amazing so far!

Thanks! Welcome to the TR!

Your Tron picture is so cool, looks like you were having so much fun, that is awesome, so excited for it to be at Magic Kingdom!!!

I know - it's going to be so much fun!

Tron sounds amazing; I can't wait for it WDW's version to be completed.

I watched the Imagineering Story on Disney Plus, so I knew Shanghai's castle was big, but man...seeing it in your photos just demonstrates how enormous it really is.

I did not know their was a different version of Soarin' in Shanghai. Pretty interesting. And always fun when you get to be in a theater with first timers. Their reactions are priceless.

Well, it is the same Soarin video, just a different queue and preshow.

The castle really grew on me! In photos and videos I always thought it looked like a gray box, but I really liked it in person!

Whelp, didn't see this til just now, but am all caught up. What a lot of material to start this TR out! I loved it all, but especially your dinner at Lumiere's. What a spread! You made it look like you were the only one in the whole place. I'm sure that wasn't the case, but it sure looked empty!

It definitely wasn't as crazy as the American parks! I think there was a whole area of the restaurant they weren't seating people in!

Hello! Long time lurker here but I had to tell you how happy I am to see a review of the Disneylands in the Asian countries! I have only ever been to HK Disneyland and we loved it. Very interested to go to the Shanghai Disneyland as my grandmother was from Shanghai and I am just watching the Imagineering episode on the Shanghai construction right now. I love your Minnie ears they are so elegant! Dinner at Lumiere’s looks wonderful! Do you mind my asking how much the dinner was? Is it pretty close to the WDW prices for character buffets? Thank you and looking forward to reading more of your review!

You definitely need to give Shanghai a try! It's so much fun!

I think it was around $70 usd, but hotel guests had a 20% discount. For the characters and amount of food selection, totally worth it!

Those EMH sound amazing! They didn’t exist when we visited, and of course we had the opposite experience to you (insanely busy at SDL, extremely quiet at TDL). Love the park though - can’t wait to hear more!

Yeah, the EMH and hotel entrance is so great! I think so many reviews of the first couple years were negative because of the bad entry experiences. Now it is so much better!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Your report is amazing so far. I hope you brought an extra suitcase for all that shopping! Were those Away suitcases I saw? The hotel and food look amazing. Looking forward to reading more!

Yeah, I bought a set of 3 away suitcases, large, medium, and big carry-on. So, they nest inside each other and I didn't have to deal with 3 separate suitcases until I was leaving Tokyo! Definitely easier to get thru the airports!

What a great start to your morning! Tron looks sooo cool and you look so happy in your ride photo!

It was great!

I am loving your trip report!

Thanks!

I can’t wait for Tron to open at WDW!! Your trip looks so cool so far!

It's going to be so much fun!

All of the snacks and foods look so pretty! And the park is just so fun and different! I am really enjoying your report, Lesley!!

It really was an awesome experience! Totally different than other parks!

I totally would have taken one, too!! Hopefully you're allowed to...they haven't shown up to arrest you yet, right?

Haha, nope! They also had one in Hong Kong, which I now use as my water cup in the bathroom! Always great memories whenever I'm brushing my teeth!

YES, that is EXACTLY what I was thinking looking at your pictures!! It totally looks like the atrium on a ship. I love the openness of it.

Yeah, and they had great music too!

Completely worth the cost of Memory Maker!!! The one they're building for MK is identical to this one, right?? I'm a little nervous, but your face makes me think it will be fun, not scary!

No, not scary. I am pretty sure it's identical and it was cool in WDW because I could picture the ride when I was watching the tracks under construction. The outside area would be somewhat similar to Slinky's high points, but its very brief (and you have a covering on top of you. The inside area would be similar to RnRC, though much more comfortable than that rough thing!

Totally. My brother and I absolutely loved that show!! We always wanted to be on it

I know! I think they are doing a reboot of it for adults?

 

[Lesley Wake]

Such a cute shirt!

Gotta keep up my shirt reputation!

Wow those look amazing! What were prices like? My phone screen isn't super clear when I try to zoom in to check.

Hmm, about $5-6 each (30-40 CNY)! Not too bad, when you consider the size and Disney prices!

It's good that such a crowd-sucker is a ride that we don't care about as much!

Seriously! The same with Tokyo - I didn't do Soaring over there due to lines but it at least helped try to draw some people away.

Okay EMH sounds incredible here.

It really was! Definitely the most valuable EMH at any park!

Oh nice! How much was that?

Around $30?

These are amazing. I was trying to figure out how you got someone to take the last photo...then I realized it was a mirror

Haha, yeah! It was actually fortunate that the ride stopped there so I could get a photo!

Are there any concerns about someone else taking your bag?

I didn't worry that much. It's right by CMs and the exit path is pretty long, so if your bag was missing you could probably alert them before anyone gets too far! And it's too obvious if someone is going thru other people's bags for valuables.

Wow so glad you didn't get hurt! But I'm laughing because in my head I picture them during construction and they get to the point where they need to connect the pathways and they're just like...oh shoot...

Yeah, definitely not something you'd see in the US parks (lawsuits)!

3 weeks is a long time. I remember we took 2 weeks for our honeymoon and I was ready to go home by the end of that!

Yeah, it was a bit too long for me! Even when I did the France trip it was 3 weeks and that was too long, so I knew this would be too, but I still wanted to go!

Because every airport needs a mascot. I spy Baby Shark as well. Which I am glad to see that they are torchured by that song as well.

Yeah, I noticed that too!

I am suprised you didn't do tron for both but I get it as well.

I sort of wish I had! Oh well!

I find it so interesting that they don't even try to hid the fact that they are censoring things. It is just accepted that they don't know everything. Which is so weird.

Yeah, just black screens. And lots of blocked websites.

Are those macroons on the bottom?

Yup! They had little sets with printed characters on them!

I hope they fix our Tomorowland.

Yeah, the definitely need to make changes to make Tron fit!

Sounds perfect. I hope they do the same here. Lockers are suck a pain.

Yeah, me too!

 

[pcbianchini]

I'm a long time lurker. I wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying your report. I love seeing all of the cool details and fun things that you are documenting. Keep the pics coming!

 

[Lesley Wake]

I'm a long time lurker. I wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying your report. I love seeing all of the cool details and fun things that you are documenting. Keep the pics coming!

Thanks! I will try to update more often too!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Gah, I lost my replies again. Darnit.

Anyway, thanks for throwing in those interesting cultural observations into all the Disney magic of it all, too! The toilets have me sort of curious, honestly LOL and I love that the Grandma wanted pictures of you with her boys

 

[Lesley Wake]

Gah, I lost my replies again. Darnit.

Anyway, thanks for throwing in those interesting cultural observations into all the Disney magic of it all, too! The toilets have me sort of curious, honestly LOL and I love that the Grandma wanted pictures of you with her boys

I really just do not understand those toilets! Especially when I saw girls wearing tights or leggings - like, how do you bend in the right position? Oh well...

And yeah, it was cute with the grandma! Someone else stopped me too for a photo!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

All of your pics look great! Loved Minnie's costume!

 

[dolewhipdreams]

So, I guess that was yet another thing that made me stand out in Shanghai!

Wow how is someone bundling up in a coat in the 70s??? How hot is it normally??

(Papaya milk, Sea salted cheese

Papaya milk I could get behind but salted cheese ice cream? Hmmm

More Halloween decorations around the street

GELATONI PUMPKIN

I love all of your photos of the details and decorations. It's such a pretty park!

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Yeah, the EMH and hotel entrance is so great! I think so many reviews of the first couple years were negative because of the bad entry experiences. Now it is so much better!

Yeh we had a pretty bad time of it getting in. We had to show up 1.5 hours before opening in order to get a reasonable spot at rope drop to do what we needed to do!

 

[missangelalexis]

Love all the Halloween decor and the characters in costume!

 

[DisneySwede]

Yeah, the EMH and hotel entrance is so great! I think so many reviews of the first couple years were negative because of the bad entry experiences. Now it is so much better!

I was super impressed by EMH at Shanghai. I was like now these are worth it! Best EMH in any park for us.

 

[Lesley Wake]

All of your pics look great! Loved Minnie's costume!

All the costumes were great, and I loved how they kept up a "deck of cards" theme with all of them! I think that tends to be the way they do all the seasonal holiday costumes in Shanghai, as Christmas and Lunar New Year also had coordinating outfits!

Wow how is someone bundling up in a coat in the 70s??? How hot is it normally??


Papaya milk I could get behind but salted cheese ice cream? Hmmm


GELATONI PUMPKIN

I love all of your photos of the details and decorations. It's such a pretty park!

Weather seems pretty reasonable normally! I was just super surprised!

And I know about the pumpkins - so cute!

Yeh we had a pretty bad time of it getting in. We had to show up 1.5 hours before opening in order to get a reasonable spot at rope drop to do what we needed to do!

Ugh! Not fun!

Love all the Halloween decor and the characters in costume!

Yes, it was all super cute!

I was super impressed by EMH at Shanghai. I was like now these are worth it! Best EMH in any park for us.

Yup! So worth it! I would never ever recommend anyone stay off-site for this reason alone!