Shanghai Disneyland – Our 12th & Final Disney Park!

Disney park bucket list complete! With our visit to Shanghai Disneyland in 2019, we’ve now visited all 12 Disney parks around the world, which made this a very special trip.

We left Hong Kong in the early morning, and the flight to Shanghai was about 2.5 hours. Going through customs in China was actually pretty quick, because we were taking advantage of the 144-hour visa-free transit policy. The Shanghai Disneyland Resort is about a 30-minute taxi ride from the airport.

We stayed at the Shanghai Disneyland hotel, right across a lagoon from the theme park. We ran into Goofy in the lobby after check in, so we snapped a quick shot before we went to our room.

The room was great. Large beds with plush pillows and bedding, and we had a great view of the Cinderella garden below.

We freshened up a bit, and changed into shirts to commemorate our visit to our 12th and final Disney Park. We took another photo in the hotel lobby before grabbing a quick bite at the Ballet Cafe. I found the food at this hotel to be much better than the Explorer’s Lodge where we stayed in Hong Kong.

We had a great view of Enchanted Storybook Castle from the cafe, and after finishing lunch we headed out the to the hotel terrace for a great view of the castle and theme park across the lagoon. You can also see Disneytown … their equivalent of Downtown Disney or Disney Springs … on the left, including a big inflatable Donald.

Getting to the park is so convenient from the hotel. You can take a shuttle bus, a boat across the lagoon, or a stroll across Magic Way Bridge and through Disneytown, about a 15-minute walk. We were anxious to see the park though, so we opted for the boat, which was already at the hotel-side dock. The ride across the lagoon is very quick, maybe 6 or 7 minutes.

We arrived the park mid-afternoon. The temperature was a good bit cooler here than Hong Kong, in the low 50s by the time we reached the park. The wind was brisk as well, but we did not let that deter us from taking in this spectacular theme park. I really cannot overstate how excited we were to finally be here at Shanghai Disneyland, our 12th and final Disney park. As the newest Disney park (opened 2016), Shanghai Disneyland really takes everything that is great and magical about Disney parks and brings it all together in truly stunning fashion. I could go on about this park for hours, but I’m sure you’re interested in some more pictures!

The entry plaza is classic Disney, with a floral Mickey, the perfect photo op as you walk in the park. Behind, the building resembles the train station that you’ll find at most other Disneylands, but one of the unique features of Shanghai is there is no train. There is also no “Main Street.” Instead, you walk out onto Mickey Avenue, which is more of a modern and cartoon-like take on the Main Street theme.

Once you make it on to Mickey Avenue, you can finally see the stunning centerpiece of this park: Enchanted Storybook Castle. It’s ENORMOUS!! I’m not exaggerating! It’s the largest of all the Disney castles, coming in at 197 feet tall. That’s 8 feet taller than Cinderella Castle in Walt Disney World, and 120 feet taller than Sleeping Beauty Castle in Anaheim. It’s truly wondrous. There’s a restaurant inside, the Royal Banquet Hall (more on that in another blog). There’s also a boat ride, Voyage to the Crystal Grotto, that goes through the bottom of the castle (more on that as well in another blog).

We spent some time taking in the beauty of Enchanted Storybook Castle and taking photos. The sun was already starting to go down, and the park was beginning to light up, so we made our way over to Tomorrowland to go on one of Shanghai Disneyland’s signature attractions: Tron Lightcycle Power Run. When this park was designed, the builders decided against replicating Space Mountain as the primary attracting in Tomorrowland. This was a risk, after all, Space Mountain is one of the signature rides at every other Disney resort in the world. They would really need something special to take its place, and this coaster fit the bill. Like Space Mountain, there is an iconic building that houses the queue and the coaster, or in this case, part of the coaster. This attraction, now also under construction at Magic Kingdom in Orlando, takes you “onto The Grid” … and into the movie “Tron.” It’s a magnetic launch coaster and the ride vehicles are like motorcycles. You straddle your seat and restraints hold your legs and back in place. On my first ride, I clung as close as possible to the cycle. OK, maybe I was a little scared! But my pro-tip, after a couple of runs, is to sit up as much as possible, pushing back against the rear restraint. You’ll see a lot more of the ride!