A first timer’s guide to Shanghai Disneyland 2024 (Part 3) - Shanghai Disneyland Park

Authentically Disney, Distinctly Chinese 

By now, you might have heard this phrase from Bob Iger. Some of these features include: there is no Main Street USA like in the other parks. Instead, there is a smaller version called Mickey Avenue with the usual row of shops at the entrance of the park. This leads to the Gardens of Imagination right before the castle. 

There is also the Garden of the Twelve Friends, "an oasis where the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac are depicted by popular Disney and Disney Pixar characters." Also, when we were there, it was the Chinese New Year period so there were lots of festival decorations.

Largest Disney Castle in the World

The castle is the largest and tallest Disney castle in the world and it sure did look like it in person. That helped give a large canvas for the nightly ILLUMINATE! A Nighttime Celebration show - which was amazing and absolutely worth catching. There is even a walkthrough attraction with scenes from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (I thought it was Dwarves). 

How are the rides in Shanghai Disneyland?

There isn’t a Haunted Mansion ride in the Shanghai park. This is also the only Disneyland park without the It’s a Small World ride. There is a Toy Story land - which was the last area to open before Zootopia - which features very similar rides to the area in Hong Kong Disneyland, such as the Slinky Dog Spin and Rex’s Racer. 

There are the usual Disneyland rides like Soaring Over the Horizon (expect long queues as with all the other parks), and Roaring Rapids. There is also Camp Discovery, consisting of rope courses and challenge trails, for all ages. 

There is a Marvel Universe indoor area which consists of some simulator games, a merch store and probably the main draw - a whole series of Ironman suits. But the area did feel a little lacking, like a lacklustre indoor area. It didn’t help that there were many park goers sitting around taking a rest. 

The more exciting rides in the park are Tron and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and there are plenty of kid friendly rides like Peter Pan’s Flight, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Fantasia Carousel, and Dumbo the Flying Elephant. 

Frankly, there aren’t exactly many rides in the park. What was memorable were the unique Pirates of the Caribbean ride - which is wayyy better than those in the other parks, and the Tron coaster. The Eye of the Storm: Captain Jack’s Stunt Spectacular is also a very popular live action show, but we didn’t catch it. 

Food in the park

Food wise, there wasn’t anything memorable that stood out. We tried the fun looking foods in the park like the Mickey Mouse ice cream, the usual pretzels, churros, and a bunch of stuff I can’t remember now. For sure, the next time we go we’ll have to try more of the foods and take more photos for you guys. 

General Culture at Shanghai Disneyland

If you're wondering if you should visit the park because of the negative accounts from past visitors, you're not alone. We thought about it for many months before finally deciding to just give it a go. We had also seen videos of the queue cutting and shoving, and people running all over the place.

Thankfully, when we were there, we didn't experience these unpleasantries. People queued in an orderly manner in the queues and didn't push or shove. They did stand rather close sometimes, so it depends on the personal space boundaries of the people queuing behind you. Nonetheless, we still did queue closer to the people in front just in case there were people who were looking for opportunities to cut the queue.

For those rides where there isn't a single-file queue, i.e. a large standing space outside a door outside a theatre, it was more chaotic. Some people did try to squeeze into any available space to get to the front. There were others who were more chill and didn't squeeze. So I suppose it's the same as everywhere else, with some people behaving uncivilised and some civilised.

How many days to spend at Shanghai Disneyland?

It would very likely be possible to do the main things you want in one day, but two days would be comfortable. For us, we actually went back to the hotel in the afternoon to take a nap, before heading back to the park at night to take a few more rides. It’s quite an experience to be (brisk) walking into the park when most people are exiting. 

Plus, with two full days in the resort, there’s also the Shanghai Disneytown to check out right outside the park. Look out for more on Disneytown and the Toy Story Hotel in upcoming posts! 

You can check out the rides and attractions in Shanghai Disneyland here.