Day 12 - Part 1 - Skipping from the rope drop
So we had arrived at our final day at Shanghai Disney. We were up at dawn again to get to the park at 7:15am, so we could repeat all the #winning we'd experienced the day before (beating crowds, getting key Fastpasses etc). We waited for the bus, and were again stuck listening to the music I could knew so well I could hum it by heart. The song was a traditional sounding Chinese tune which is played over and over again outside the resort and the resort hotels, which does get a little wearing because it's so the same! It would be nice if they mixed it up with some Disney tunes every now and then (I know they are aiming to be authentically Chinese and all that but some variety would be nice). While I am complaining about the theme music for the resorts overuse in the entrance areas and hotels, the music in the park itself was very well done. Tomorrowland had a very floaty orchestral score that enhanced the feel of it's "Space Port of the Future" design. Fantasyland played Disney tunes with an Asian instrumental flare. Adventure Isle just used bird noises and the sound of running water to convince you you were in a natural jungle. However Treasure Cove was my favourite, constantly playing the score from Pirates of the Carribean, it was very adventurous and stimulating!
Anyway, back to the actual report. Today when we arrived the security gate was already open, so we proceeded to the entrance gates and were about 5 people back from the front today. We were in quite a good mood, because we had beaten the crowds again, and on our way into the park we'd seen a beautiful red sunrise. It was the sort of thing that I would have associated with Japan (land of the rising sun and all), but I've never really seen anything like it! I wish I'd got some pictures, but we were in a hurry to make it to the gate early! Anyway we were allowed into rope drop at 7:50am this morning (an hour and 10 minutes before park opening). We were very unconcerned about crowds this morning, so we decided to stop for some Photopass photos out the front of the Train Station.
Once in the park we found a spot in the front most rope drop area again. It was a nicer day for photos, so we took more of the castle and parnters.
We had decided to head into Gardens of the Imagination through to Fantasyland, where our first Fastpass priority of the day, Seven Dwarves Mine Train, awaited. The top was dropped at 8:20am, a full 40 minutes before offical park opening, and we set off through Gardens of the Imagination at a quick but reasonable pace, delighted that no one else seemed to be around, or have the same idea we did. It was at this point I turned international roaming back on my phone, as we were waiting to hear back from our real estate agent as to how our home open had gone on the weekend (you may recall, we found out the offer we had on the house had fallen through the day we arrived at Shanghai Disney). I turned on the phone, and immediately got a text message from our agent that we already had another offer, and it was 5000 more than the previous offer! Well, when we got that news we were literally so excited we actually skipped through Shanghai Disney. It was such good news, and we were in such a happy and fun place, it felt like our day couldn't get any better at this point! Oh I also forgot to mention that as the park opened Zip-a-de do dah began to play, as people ran either towards Adventure Isle or Tomorrowland. It's one of Jared's favourite Disney songs, and it suited the mood of the frantic rushing so well it made us laugh, and smile! Plus we enjoyed it even more as we headed into Gardens of the Imagination and did have to deal with the mad dash!
When we arrived at the Fantasyland Guest Services location to get our Seven Dwarves Mine Train Fastpass there was already a line, but it wasn't too bad, and we only waited about 5-10 minutes for the Fastpass.
After this was headed over to Treasure Cove and rode Pirates with only a 15 minute wait! Continued to love the attraction, and as we'd rode it about 4 times as this point you'd think I would have begun to find flaws with it, but it was pretty much still perfect. The only things I could come up with (which were very minor quibbles) were that the water in the waterfall scene seems to be rushing up, but you are actually going down under the water and that there is a small section at the end of the ride, before the final scene, where you rush through an un-themed area with a few bunny hop style hills. You move through it pretty quickly and don't really notice (it is dark), but you can sometimes be stopped at the end of the area before moving into the final scene, and you can see some of the ride workings and back-end things. Still they are very very minor notes on what is otherwise the most incredible Disney ride ever conceived of.
When we were done we just HAD to ride again, so we hopped back in line, even though the wait was posted at 50 minutes. The wait probably did take about that long, but the line is always moving, so it doesn't really feel that long (if that makes sense).
By the time we were done with Pirates (x2) we were eligible for another Fastpass (the perks of getting your first Fastpass before the park officially opens!), so we headed over to TRON and Jared got us Fastpasses for that. The lines for the Fastpasses looked ridiculously long here, but Jared only waited about 10 minutes, though he did discover a cheat that allowed him to cut off some of the line. There were two sections of Fastpass machines at the Tomorrowland guest services station (one main with more machines and a smaller section to the side with fewer machines). I believe the CM's were supposed to direct people between the two from the top of the main line, however they'd left an opening to the smaller section open from the middle of the queue, and people were just heading into that area from the main line, skipping the rest of the line to the main Fastpass distribution area - so Jared did the same! Jared also said he had a great experience waiting for the Fastpasses, having a chat with a friendly Chinese man who knew some English who wanted to welcome him to China. Very sweet.
Just after he'd done this we got a call from our real estate agent confirming our offer was being signed and was a done deal, so we were once again in a very good mood as we headed off with our TRON Fastpasses in hand. Plus we were two Fastpasses and two rides down, all of them very popular attractions, and it was only 10:30! We were having a really good day. You may notice there has been a lack of pictures of all this, and I think it's probably because we were too excited, and too busy getting on the rides to actually get the camera out.
Anyway, our Seven Dwarves Mine Train Fastpasses window was available next and we headed over and managed to skip a wait of 105 minutes!! Our good day got even better. Jared did get the camera out for this one, attempting some previously unconquered shots!
I'm really not sure why Dopey's face was so pink in these next pictures (perhaps he was channelling Bashful!)
I really loved listening to the excitement of the Chinese guests as they experienced each attraction. Shanghai Disneyland is much newer and the Chinese guests seem less familiar with Disney, so a higher percentage of them appeared to have never experienced anything like the Disney attractions before, and it showed in they way they reacted to the attractions, with pure joy and awe. It was so beautiful to see
. On our ride on Seven Dwarves our coaster-mates cheered with excitement the entire ride. There were two young boys in the car behind us who we could tell, as they were boarding, were so excited about the ride! Seeing Disney through the eyes of those only just discovering it's magic is such a wonderful experience, it helps you enjoy everything a new. That awe and wonder is catching! I can't wait one day, when we have kids, to take them to Disney and experience all the magic and wonder anew through their eyes. I'm by no means a Disney veteran, but I have experienced Disney plenty of times, and sometimes I can find myself getting complacent with the experience of Disney, and I have to remind myself how incredibly lucky I am to be able to visit Disney as much as I do, and how wonderful it actually is, even if it's something I've experienced before. Trying to find that Disney magic is a lot about attitude, which I think is why this day we were really feeling the Disney magic, because our spirits were high and we weren't letting the crowds or bad behaviour effect us (there was some, we just chose not to note it).
It was a perfect day still, and we were so pleased with how well it was going we decided to stop and smell the roses for a while. First up we took some pictures of Seven Dwarves.
I now have some Photopass photos of us taken on our final day, though I don't remember when they were exactly taken so I thought I would post them here for you to see
Continued in Next Post...
