ไธๆตท่ฟชๅฃซๅฐผไนๅญ – Shanghai Disneyland
“The Happiest Place On Earth In China”
Last week (Wed – Sun), our program had a 5-day vacation. Some students decided to take the opportunity to hike through the Longsheng Rice Terraces in Guilin, some students ventured as far as the Tibetan Autonomous Region, and some simply caught up on some sleep in the dormitories. However – my friends and I decided to take an adventure to the “Happiest Place On Earth”… the newly opened Shanghai Disneyland!
The park has been the headline of many media programs for the past few months. As a nearly 6-billion dollar joint-venture by Disney and the Chinese government, this park represents the first Disney venture into mainland China. Investors, government officials, and Disney fans alike are all eagerly awaiting. Park tickets price about the same as its American counterparts, but promises a uniquely Chinese experience. While still upholding all the Disney themes that millions around the world travel to Orlando and beyond for, the park also manifests a lot of Chinese culture throughout its rides and themes. Also, the Shanghai Disneyland castle is the biggest Disney castle ever built!
The park was so much fun, and definitely held true to the Disney standard. Tron was so fast and incredible (rode it twice), Mickey spoke Mandarin Chinese to me (which was awesome), and we had dinner at the first Cheesecake Factory ever opened in mainland China! The biggest issue? Lines. This can be divided into two separate issues: first, the pure number of Chinese people resulted in some rides having lines of up to 2.5 hours… and second, since Chinese people aren’t necessary as used to the line-up culture that Americans are, cutting in line is a terrible problem. I’m just glad Shanghai Disneyland had fast passes.
Check out the pictures below… I definitely recommend the trip. If you are in Shanghai (or near the city), put it on your itineary. However, I don’t think the park yet merits an entire trip just for Shanghai Disneyland (unlike Orlando with 4 parks, there’s only 1). But they have quite a few extra parks in the planning stages… so I’m interested to see what else comes up in the future!
Let me know what you think of the pictures :)