9 tips to make the most of your day at Disneyland
Shanghai Disneyland officially opens this week, after months of hype and nearly one million visitors during its trial opening period alone. If you've got yourself a ticket, you'll want to make sure you get your money's worth as it seems fairly certain you'll be battling with a few thousand others to get round.
Disney has reminded people not to turn up on June 16-18 unless they have already purchased a ticket, and tickets for the opening two weeks are already sold out. But, you can buy tickets for later dates on the Disney website, and you can make the most of your day at the Magical Kingdom by following our top tips below (note that these are based on our experiences during the pre-opening trial period).
1. Be an early bird
The park opens at 9am Tuesday-Thursday and 8am Friday-Sunday. However, before you can even get to the park gates you have to get though a separate security check, which had a good 20-minute line on our visit. If you've got the willpower, get to the park at least half an hour before it opens to get through security and be ready to get into the park on the dot of opening.
It's also worth thinking about which ride you want to go on most and heading there first - we recommend the Tron Lightcycle Power Run (above) if you're after a thrill (it's quick but easily the best thing we went on), and the Pirates of the Caribbean Battle for the Sunken Treasure for an immersive watery adventure.
2. Take the metro
Police have advised that visitors take the metro to Disneyland - and it's probably the best way to go. It takes around 50 minutes from central Shanghai, plus you get to take a look at the Disney station which is only five minutes from the park entrance. If the thought of going to the end of line 11 at 8 in the morning is too much for you, taxi drop off is ten minutes walk from the entrance, with the closest car park 15 minutes away. Car parking costs between 60-100RMB.
3. Grab a fast pass
To try and prevent visitors from spending their entire day queueing, Shanghai Disneyland operates a Fast Pass system where you can pick up a free Fast Pass ticket for a ride (from guest services in the zone of that ride) that gives you a specific time slot to come back and skip (most of) the queue. Sounds smart. The caveat is that the Fast Passes are limited, so if you want one, go straight to the rides you want to get passes for.
On our visit, there were long snaking lines just to pick up the Fast Passes (longer than for the actual rides at first), and they were all gone by 10.30am - so you might just want to go on the ride then and there if it's still early, rather than queue for a queue.
4. Wear a Star Wars T-shirt
If you want to have a photo with Darth Vader, that is. Despite there not being enough of our most-loved characters wandering around the park on our visit, the Sith lord was happily strutting his stuff in Tomorrowland (chaperoned by his Storm Troopers, of course), and fans in official merchandise appeared to be getting chosen more regularly for photos with him. Who knew Darth was such a happy snapper?
5. You can take your own food and drink
Despite some saying Disney weren't allowing visitors to take in their own food and drink, on our visit there were no such restrictions on lone men heading in with bulging sacks of provisions. That being said, the food on-site isn't as bad as some have made out either - the 'Stargazer cheeseburger' was decent, if a little on the pricey side at 80RMB for a meal. There are similarly priced Chinese dishes at 'Tribal Table', and you can pick up a Korean beef and kimchi wrap for 50RMB at Piranha Bites. Either that or...
6. You can pop to Disneytown and re-enter the park later
If you haven't brought your own sustenance and aren't convinced by the in-park offerings, don't forget Disneytown right next door, offering a wider selection of restaurants from the real world with slightly more reasonable prices (Coconut Paradise, Jade Garden, Element Fresh and the first China branch of The Cheesecake Factory are all there).
You can re-enter the park if you leave to Disneytown, so why not pop out for a bite to eat and, more importantly, a drink (alcohol is available in Disneytown, unlike in Disneyland itself). Disneytown is also where you'll find the Lion King theatre.
This may be an obvious one, but unless you plan on coming to Disneyland on a wet and windy weekday morning in January, there are going to be significant waits for many of the big rides. Hopefully they won't be as long as some of the wait times on our trial-run visit (2-3 hours for most of the big hitters). You can also check wait times for rides by downloading the Shanghai Disneyland app which gives you live updates on where people are waiting. Handy.
And bear in mind that while some of the queues are covered and there are some strategically shaped trees dotted around the site, during the summer not all the queues are under the cover of shade, so stay hydrated, wear suncream and take a hat.
8. Dare not Weild the Selfie-stick
This is one magic wand that has been ruled to not be in favour with the magical policy committee. A statement on the Disney website reads: 'To ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all theme-park guests, the use of cell phone extension poles (known as selfie sticks) will not be allowed'. So you'll have do it the old fashioned way (above) - how retro. Why the term cell phone extension pole hasn't caught on we don't know.
9. Stay late
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Hey, you've spent your hard-earned money, so why not make the most of your ticket. Not only will those dreaded lines be shorter later on, but you can also catch one of the showpieces of Disney: 'Ignite the Dream - A Night Time Spectacular of Magic and Light'. In other words, the fireworks. Although having watched the above video we can agree that this is more than just a fireworks show, and is indeed quite spectacular. The shows are at 8.30pm or 9pm depending on the day - you can check on the Disney website.
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