We specially chose a Monday out of our Shanghai trip to visit Shanghai Disneyland, thinking it would be less crowded. Well, it was still pretty crowded with some queues needing around 1.5 hours as the afternoon approached. Thus, we could only manage certain rides/shows for that day, but we had a rather fulfilling time visiting those rides/shows we picked.
Journey to Shanghai Disneyland
Early in the morning, we quickly finished our breakfast and took a taxi from our hotel to Disneyland. The journey took around 40 minutes.
The place was so huge that It took a while to walk from the taxi stand after alighting, to where the actual ticket entrance was (abt 15~20mins). Therefore, do note this into your preparation time.
Shanghai Disneyland – Ticket Queue
There were long queues outside the entrance, spread out on two sides. We joined one of the queues and it did not take too long before we got into the theme park, since we had already bought the tickets online.
Shanghai Disneyland – Fastpass
Using the Disneyland app, each visitor is entitled to one Fastpass for selected rides. (*this was in 2018). *Updates on the website showed they offer “Premier Access” now in 2025.
Shanghai Disneyland – Disney Town
Entering the Shanghai Disneyland, we first come across Disney Town (great for photo-taking). As we wanted to hurry to specific rides first, we gave this place a miss, intending to come back later (alas, no time, we never did).
The temperature was around 22 degrees Celsius that day (March), so it was quite cool to walk around. However, the sun was brightening, so we had to squint our eyes sometimes while taking pictures.
Shanghai Disneyland – Photo Opportunities
Beside the iconic Disneyland castle, there are plenty of beautiful structures around the entrance area for photo-taking.
Disneyland Photo-Pass
We bought a photo-pass at 199 RMB from an official Disney photographer and queued up to take photographs in front of the Disneyland castle. The photographs turned out well, except for a little squinting of the eyes.
Our First Disneyland Photos!
There were six photos and three were with a frame.
This photo-pass is used for all the photographs taken around Shanghai Disneyland. You have to present this after a ride to associate the photos. At that time, we did not quite understand what that meant. When Vin and Dar took two rides later, he did not do this association at the counter, so we did not have a copy of their photos in ride! (only know of this much later). Sigh.
Shanghai Disneyland – Adventure Isle
Entering the Adventure Isle, we started queueing for our first show of the day, ‘Eye of the Storm: Captain Jack’s Stunt Spectacular‘ show.
1. Captain Jack’s Stunt Spectacular Show
We got into what looked like a saloon and the actors started interacting with us, performing funny antics in Mandarin.
Vin started getting bored halfway and thought this was all we had queued up for. Just then, the doors in front of us opened up and we headed into an auditorium with a stage and seats. This was more like it!
It was an entertaining show as they acted out the scenes in the movie and added some interesting stunts. I especially like one where Jack was constantly propelled into the air by gushes of air below. It was quite amazing how he controlled his movements. They spoke in Chinese but I think if you are familiar with the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, you could still understand from their actions.
Outside the show venue was a huge pirate ship for people to enter and explore. We have no time for this as we were rushing for our next ride! It would certainly be nice to board the ship.
2. Pirates of the Caribbean – Battle for the Sunken Treasure
This is a ride we marked as the “must-do” for this Disneyland Trip. That’s why we came to this first in the morning, for fear of long queues later.
A queue was expected but fortunately, we were still moving along in batches and not stagnant. It was also not boring because we passed by several interesting “pirates set-ups”. It aimed to bring the visitor into the pirates’ realm with the spooky items and dialogues.
Thrilling Ride with a Scary End
It was the most interesting ride we took and if we had more time, we would have gone on it again! The visuals were stunning and together with the sound effects, we really felt as if we were on a pirate’s adventure! Do take note that the entire ride is cast in darkness with cinematic lights, so it might not be suitable for children afraid of darkness.
The most surprising thing was at the end of the ride and we were shocked for a moment. I will keep the suspense here but Ling was so scared that she finally cried out, even though she was perfectly fine with the boat ride throughout. (*Maybe this gave her trauma as from then on, she grew scared of such thrilling rides each time we go theme parks…)
Disneyland Souvenirs
We bought souvenirs from the souvenir shop here as it had the interesting Metal Earth- “The Black Pearl”. Vin and Dar had built the Titanic with this series before so they are familiar. The Fridge magnet is our usual buy from each place we visit. Cost: 119 RMB for Metal Earth | 30 RMB for Magnet
Snack Break
While walking towards Fantasyland, we saw a cart selling popcorn and could not resist buying. The caramel popcorn tasted great and helped filled our stomach for a while so we could rush for more attractions! (35RMB)
Next, we tried to go for the “The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh” but the wait-time was about 1hr 17 mins! Disappointingly, we had to give that a miss and went to the main Disney Castle to take a tour instead. (Update: We managed to take this in our 2024 Japan Disneyland Trip instead!)
3. Once Upon A Time Adventure
We entered the Magic Mirror Portal where Snow White’s Fairy-tale world was shown in Chinese and the audience could do some interactions with the screens. We tried to interact but they do not respond too well to our touch. In the middle, we were separated into smaller groups as the area was small. As I did not know due to walking ahead, Vin and Dar was forced to go to another wing of the castle. We saw the same thing though, as we confirmed later when we met up.
There was a lot of climbing up to do! I carried Ling to climb up as I was afraid we would not be able to catch up with the rest in the tour (and got separated from my own family…hmph!)
4. Great Acrobatic Show – Tarzan: Call of Jungle [ *Not Shown anymore ]
Next, we went for the Disney Show – Tarzan Call of Jungle. [NOTE: This show seemed to be cancelled (2025). Not available on the website now. Frozen:Sing A Long or Mickey’s Storybook had replaced it]. We were very impressed with the live stage show which has great music – iconic score from the Disney feature film Tarzan and high-flying acrobatic action. The breathtaking acrobatic stunts made me think it could have been a ticketed show by itself and we would had to pay a lot to view it. However, it was included in the Disneyland Tickets! We left the show, thoroughly entertained and felt it was a great show not to be missed!
5. TRON – Light Cycle Power Run
We then walked to Tomorrowland for the highlight of our Shanghai Disneyland Trip – The TRON Lightcycle Power Run! It is a high-speed adrenaline filled thrill ride which only one member in our family could do -Daddy Vin ( >.< Both Dar and Me did not dare to take it).
He had earlier booked a Fastpass using the Disneyland app and the timing of the ride is at 3:22. We walked to the ticketing entrance to send him off on the thrill ride.
Shanghai Disneyland – Tron Ride Experience
Vin’s account:
At the entrance, there was a special queue for the Fastpass. There was a staff who validated my Fast-Pass on the Disneyland app against the photo that was (secretly) taken at the moment when I first entered Disneyland.
When I walked along the path, the ambience quickly changed into a futuristic world and I felt as if I was in the TRON world. Along the way, there was a transparent wall where I could see the rides zooming off on their tracks.
Thanks to the Fast-Pass, I only waited for around 15 minutes to get on the ride. Visitors were advised to keep all loose items in the small compartment in front of each’s TRON light cycle.
Once safely seated, the light cycles were moved forward to the starting point and a timer started to count down. Instead of slowly accelerating, the light cycles immediately sped off at high speed the moment the timer reached zero!
It was all a fast and blurry ride for me, since I had taken off my glasses in fear that they would fly off. It was one of the fastest and immersive rides I had taken and one that I would want to take once more!
Fast-Food Lunch at Tomorrowland
While waiting for Vin to come back, I ordered a children’s set at the “Stargazer Grill” opposite the Tron Ride which consists of fish fingers, fries and a packet of milk. I also ordered a pack of fries for myself + a cup of soft drink (Total = 83 RMB: 48 RMB + 20 RMB + 15 RMB respectively). There’s open air seating, so he would easily spot us when he walked out. He soon joined us and ordered a burger for himself. He ordered a Korean Style Burger Set which came with Ice Tea (Total: 85 RMB)
6. Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue
By this time, our toddler had fallen asleep. Thus, we decided to move to the “Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue” Ride which is located nearby in Tomorrowland. It is a dark ride with visuals on the screens, where the participants had to shoot at certain objects to gain points. I could not join them due to sleeping Ling. Thus, Vin and Dar went ahead while I waited at a sitting area outside. Dar enjoyed the ride very much and they happily spent some father and son bonding time, firing away.
It was getting late and most of the rides were still occupied with people, lengthening the waiting time.
As Ling did not have the chance to experience any ride except for the first one in the Pirates of the Caribbean – Sunken Ship, I wanted her to at least sit in a ride suitable for her. Thus, we headed for the ride with the least amount of waiting time – Dumbo The Flying Elephant, located in Gardens of Imagination.
7. Last Ride – Dumbo The Flying Elephant
We had to queue for a long time to ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant. I knew it would probably be the last ride for the day, since the sun was setting.
By the time we got on the ride after 50 minutes of waiting, the skies had turned dark. However, I felt we made the right choice to do this ride at night! The lights around the Dumbo ride made it quite magical. As we made our turns, Disney Castle looked stunning too.
My only complain is that the duration of the ride was too short! We pressed on the button to go up and down, and it was over in 3 minutes! I guess they had to keep the timing at this rate or the queue waiting time would be too long. Anyway, Ling did enjoy the ride so it was definitely worth the wait! There was also a Dumbo for photo-taking, for those who did not get enough.
With most of the areas starting to close, we decided to visit the Marvel Universe Exhibition as one last activity.
8. Marvel Universe Exhibition
I thought there was not many things to do here but we discovered a fun interactive activity – Become Iron Man. One stands in front of this screen for some virtual reality fun and pretend to be Iron Man, wrecking havoc on his enemies.
Disney Castle At Night
Walking towards the entrance for our dinner, we passed by the beautiful iconic Disney Castle. It looked so beautiful at night!
Dinner At Food Court
We were famished by this time and decided to head to “Mickey & Pals Market Cafe” to eat a simple dinner. The fireworks would be starting soon and we had to eat fast. We enjoyed the food and found them delicious!
- My Order: 1 Set of Braised Chicken Meat In Sauce with some potatoes + Drink ( 75 RMB)
- Vin and Dar Orders: 2 Sets of Braised Chicken with Sausage and Mushroom + 7-Up Soft Drink + Orange Soft Drink (160RMB)
One of the egg yolk and a carrot was in the shape of Mickey!
Shanghai Disneyland Fireworks
When we finished and walked out to the atrium, we were just in time for the fireworks!
We did not stay until the end of the Fireworks show though as we wanted to get to a taxi before everyone else. There were several people who left with us too, probably thinking the same. Many taxis were waiting at the taxi stand, anticipating the closing of Disneyland, thus it was easy for us to grab one and head back to rest.
List of the Disneyland Rides/Shows We Experienced (Links to Page Explanations):
1. Captain Jack’s Stunt Spectacular Show
2. Pirates of the Caribbean -Battle for the Sunken Treasure
3. Once Upon A Time Adventure
4. Tron Lightcycle Power Run
5. Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue
6. Dumbo the Flying Elephant
7. Marvel Universe Exhibition
8. Disneyland Fireworks Finale
[ MORE INFO ]
>> Read Next Post: We went to Suzhou via Shanghai High-Speed Rail
5-Days Summary Itinerary In Shanghai 2018
We begin our China Tour with Shanghai and ended with Shanghai, touring Suzhou and Hangzhou in-between.
These were the places we visited during our 5 Days in Shanghai. (Click on the links to read more!)
- Day 1 – SSAW Boutique Hotel | Yuyuan Garden (Yu Garden) | The Bund |Nanjing Rd East Pedestrian Walk / Shop
- Day 2 – Shanghai Natural History Museum | Jing’an Sculpture Park | Shanghai Museum | Shanghai Tower
- Day 3 – Shanghai Disneyland
- Day 8 – Zhujiajiao Ancient Watertown |Superbrand Mall | Lujiazui Pedestrian Bridge
- Day 9- Shanghai Maglev Museum | Boarded Maglev Train Ride to Shanghai Pudong International Airport
Read More of our China 2018 Trip: 9-Day Family Travel Itinerary in China Shanghai, Suzhou & Hangzhou
Tips For Travelling in China: “Essential Tips for Safe Family Travel in China“
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