Shanghai and Hong Kong Disneyland March 17 – Day 7 Complete in Hong Kong Proper; 12/04

[PrincessInOz]

100 Yuan = A Disney Scammer Problem



We got in line.





I know that there has been a lot of press about the rudeness of the Chinese people where lines are concerned. Our first experience with queue cutting was here. There was a couple that just barged their way towards the front of the queue. Whilst I didn’t like it, there really wasn’t anything I could do. Afterall, the group of people in the front and to the back of where the couple joined the line just let them in. It really must be a cultural thing. As Elsa said….Let it go.

I will say that we did see a few instances of queue cutting during our time here. By and large, they were in the minority. The majority of queues were quite orderly.



However, it wasn’t long before another incident completely overshadowed any queue cutting behaviour and everything kinda paled into insignificance after that.


It was about 8.20 am when we joined the queue. The Park wasn’t schedule to open until 9 am; so I amused myself with a bit of people watching.

It didn’t take me long to spot the people walking up and down the queues with bags of merchandise. They were selling headbands, hats and whatever else would fit into a tote bag. And yes, there were people buying the merch.


But there were also a few people walking up and down the queues without merchandise. They weren’t exactly yelling but they did tout their ‘wares’ and my Mandarin speaking mother filled me in on the details. My mother told me that these people were selling fast passes. 100 Yuan would get you 2 fast passes to choose from the rides that are linked to the FP system. That’s $20 in my money.

My mother also told me that you would need to give them your phone number and they would text you in about an hour to collect the fast passes.


There were people buying!

With all the security measures in place and TONS of guards everywhere, it was just mind-boggling as to how the scammers were there at the entrance and still able to get away with it.


Anyway. We were to experience Countermeasure Mark 1 of how Disney was dealing with the scam at one of the FP rides later in the day. At the time of our visit, Disney CM were asking to see our park ticket when we wanted to redeem our FP. The CM would check that the ticket number matched the FP number.


Err…….I think I figured out why the scammers were wanting your phone number and why it would take an hour to collect the FP. I guess that’s the time it would take for them to custom print your fast pass with your ticket number and deliver them to the park.

So much for FP and Ticket matching!



Since our return, I gather that Disney have now introduced Countermeasure Mark 2. They are now selling Premium Access passes. And they aren’t exactly cheap! A single land-specific FP sells for 120/150 Yuan for peak/off peak (about $24/30 in my money) or a set of 7 FPs for all the FP rides sells for 480/600 Yuan (about $96/$120 in my money).

It remains to be seen if the Countermeasure Mark 2 kills the scam.




(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

6 + 1 = 7 at Floral Mickey (Fairy Floss)



We were pleasantly surprised to find that the gates opened at 8.30 am.


I know that we should have been walking very fast towards one of the major attractions….but we found ourselves lingering in front of the park.





The Floral Mickey at Shanghai was worthy of a closer look.





I’ve always liked the Floral Mickey displays at the front of each park. I know it’s just pansies, but there’s something rather special and magical about it.





Naturally I took my mother’s picture.





So there I was…..





……minding my own business…..and finding a friendly Photopass Photographer to boot…..





….when I got photobombed!!





Who are these people?????

My mother and me…..plus 2, of Aussie Wendy and her DD…..plus 2, of FireflyFi and her DF……plus 1, of @Fairy Floss.





And no! We didn’t plan it. We’re all such Disney-philes that Rope Drop is the only option! Plus, if you tarry a little at the entrance, you’re bound to bump into each other!



(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

7 + 1 = 8 is Enough at Mickey Avenue (Zanzibar138)




I think FireflyFi and her DF had plans of heading towards one of the big attractions. We got them to stop for a bit longer to grab a picture of the group at the start of Mickey Avenue, with the castle in the background.


Thank Goodness we did!


@zanzibar138 had been for a run around Wishing Star Lake and was a couple of minutes behind everyone else. But she caught up with us right as we were arranging ourselves for a group picture and photobombed us.

It’s been an Aussie Dis-sers trip, 6 months in planning. So….here we all are…..finally. Aussie Wendy and her DD, me, FireflyFi and her DF, Fairy Floss, Zanzibar138 and my DM.





Eight is definitely enough!




The full complement of Aussie Dis-sers for this Shanghai trip!



(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

That Disney Feeling



The first time I went to a park outside of America was in 2012. After years of visiting Disneyland and WDW, I finally ventured out to Hong Kong Disneyland.


Then. I wondered if a non-US park would engender the same feeling of being at Disney. That feeling that hits you in the heart and at the back of the throat as you choke to hold back the tears.

In Hong Kong, it took me half a day to experience that feeling.


In Shanghai…..it was immediately down Mickey Avenue.





We (FireflyFi and her DF went off to do their own thing. The rest of us hung about as a group.) wandered slowly down the only Disneyland park without a Main Street, USA and ran into a group of Cast Members.





Despite the language barrier, they all understood the power of click-click-click.





For me, Cast Members hold a lot of power over whether you have a good experience or not at Disney. The group here kicked it off because they were so obviously happy to be there for us. It was to be a good experience.





The facade down Mickey Avenue was just different. I gather that the stores and facades here represent different eras of Disney history. There was so much newness to take in and I had to choke back the tears of finally being at a Disneyland again after 3 long years.





I had always thought I would come back and spend a bit more time here and explore the stores/facades. I never did. Next time.


At the end of Mickey Avenue was a major drawcard for me. The Storyteller’s Statue is the same as the one found at DCA. I was just lucky to get there with no one around.





That is one heck of a view!




By this stage, we were all itching to head for a ride!

 

[zanzibar138]

OMG I just love all your entrance pictures! I was finding myself starting to choke up a little reading along. Those group shots turned out really well, and I also love your CM pictures. I totally agree - despite the language barrier, the CMs at Shanghai have generally been among the best I've come across. I found them to have such enthusiasm and a genuine happiness to be there and sharing the experience with guests. Similar to how I find the CMs at HK, but probably with a touch more enthusiasm since it's still all a bit of a novelty.

I noticed you ate a salad. Are uncooked vegetables at the Disney resort safe to eat? Anything we should avoid to avoid tummy issues (obviously we will not drink tap water)

I was very naughty and completely let my guard down at Disneyland. I was quite happily eating fresh fruit and veggies, drinking iced drinks, and filling up my water bottle out of the drinking fountains in the park. I'm guessing that they use treated water throughout since I never got sick. I still wouldn't recommend drinking the tap water at the hotel though.

Our hotel is the magenta bit at the bottom of the sign. It doesn’t have the distinction of being the closest hotel to the park. The Toy Story Hotel (top left) is a lot closer.

Just wanted to clarify. Despite its proximity to the park, the Toy Story Hotel is less walkable than the Disneyland Hotel. You may notice that there's a shortcut path from the Disneyland Hotel to DisneyTown through Wishing Star Park. This walk takes a maximum of 10 minutes. There is no such shortcut from the Toy Story Hotel, and the long driveway takes you a fair distance out of your way, so the walk was a good 20 minutes. AussieWendy and I tried to take a shortcut over the lawn once, so that we didn't have to go all the way around the driveway, and were promptly told off by the security guard lol!

This is one of my regrets. I had decided that this set of mugs needed to come home with me on this first morning. It had the name of a number of Chinese cities, including Suzhou on them. I just forgot to buy a set!

There's always something, isn't there? These are great! Definitely one for next time.

 

[Flossbolna]

I have read that one problem Disney has is that they are not the majority partner. So, running the parks they have to work with their local Chinese partner. So, who knows how that comes into play with the scammers...

Sorry that the sky was not really waking up very much that morning. But I am starting to get the impression that they did something similar to Paris there with the colors. DLP is known for having very dark and strong colors because those look still good on grey days, while WDW and DL have more pastel colors that pop in sunshine. I love the picture with the flowers and the lake in the front and the castle in the back. I think this is the first picture I have seen of that castle where it does not look like a monstrosity. So far, I am not a fan of that castle. But I will reserve judgement until I see it in person.

Which day of the week was it that you were there? It looks like early morning crowds were not too bad! Oh, and Starbucks looks good. We might visit there, too.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

I have read that one problem Disney has is that they are not the majority partner. So, running the parks they have to work with their local Chinese partner. So, who knows how that comes into play with the scammers...

Sorry that the sky was not really waking up very much that morning. But I am starting to get the impression that they did something similar to Paris there with the colors. DLP is known for having very dark and strong colors because those look still good on grey days, while WDW and DL have more pastel colors that pop in sunshine. I love the picture with the flowers and the lake in the front and the castle in the back. I think this is the first picture I have seen of that castle where it does not look like a monstrosity. So far, I am not a fan of that castle. But I will reserve judgement until I see it in person.

Which day of the week was it that you were there? It looks like early morning crowds were not too bad! Oh, and Starbucks looks good. We might visit there, too.

Hi jumping in. I was not a fan beforehand of the castle either. It did grow on me while there and did not look as big a monstrosity mish mash of styles as I feared it would but I still think I like DL Paris castle the best of them all. I agree that I think the colours were stronger here like DLP, for the hazy skies reason. We were there Sunday-Tuesday (Sat night firework pics in PIO's room). It was reputed to be a quiet time following celebrations held a week or so before - PIO will remember what they were I forget. It was quiet. The rain helped a lot but even our fine Tuesday, while it was a lot busier, those first few hours in the day were much quieter so it is worth getting up for rope drop and hitting the "biggies" early and making use of FastPass. Even so, in the afternoon we could still get onto most rides with reasonable wait times and lots were still walk-ons.

 

[Flossbolna]

Hi jumping in. I was not a fan beforehand of the castle either. It did grow on me while there and did not look as big a monstrosity mish mash of styles as I feared it would but I still think I like DL Paris castle the best of them all. I agree that I think the colours were stronger here like DLP, for the hazy skies reason. We were there Sunday-Tuesday (Sat night firework pics in PIO's room). It was reputed to be a quiet time following celebrations held a week or so before - PIO will remember what they were I forget. It was quiet. The rain helped a lot but even our fine Tuesday, while it was a lot busier, those first few hours in the day were much quieter so it is worth getting up for rope drop and hitting the "biggies" early and making use of FastPass. Even so, in the afternoon we could still get onto most rides with reasonable wait times and lots were still walk-ons.

Thanks!! We will be there on a Thursday and Friday in June. I am expecting more crowds than you had on a rainy March day...

And I agree with you on the DLP castle - just the prettiest of them all!

 

[darrenf67]

4 + 2 = 6 at Starbucks (FireflyFi and her DF)


We headed on around the corner.




Ooh! Look! A Starbucks.





The all ubiquitous Coffea arabica species has made it’s way into the Disney empire. Not that I’m complaining!





At Disneytown, it’s opened from 7 am. It’s about the only establishment opened at this time of morning at Disneytown.





I was pleased to find that Starbucks was a viable option for breakfast compared to the café at the resort.






Even more pleasing….the numbers against the items on offer looked reasonable.









We had time to check out the merch at Starbucks.





This is one of my regrets. I had decided that this set of mugs needed to come home with me on this first morning. It had the name of a number of Chinese cities, including Suzhou on them. I just forgot to buy a set!





Oh well. Something for next time.


At 30-something Yuan for a cup of arabica bean, I reacquainted myself with my qwafee addiction. This was my breakfast.





This was my mother’s.





Even more of a pleasant surprise. We bumped into more of the Aussie Dis-ser contingent here without even having to make any plans. This is @FireflyFi and her DFiancee. They were also having brekkie at Starbucks.





We had a lovely time catching up on their news and the travel day they had yesterday. But as they were lingering over their coffee, my mother and I decided to head on ahead when we had finished ours.





(Continued in Next Post)

We stopped here each day as well!

 

[darrenf67]

1st View of the Park



Anyone that goes to Disney will know the feeling of walking through a gift shop at the exit of every ride. I think Disney has taken this to a new level. Looks like Disney found a way of making sure that their guests walk past the gift shop when they enter and exit the park entrance at Shanghai.





Ooh look! World of Disney! It’s just past the Starbucks. Unfortunately/Fortunately, it was closed. (You can circle the right answer.)




The bulk of the stores at Disneytown can be found to the left of the WoD store. We kept heading along the right fork. Not having been to Paris or Tokyo, this is the first Disneytown I've been to that's right by the gate. It's significantly closer than even the Downtown Disney at Anaheim! Absolute. shopping. heaven.



Aside from the customary bag check, the security gate came complete with walk-through scanners.





As we got our tickets at the resort, we didn’t need to acquaint ourselves with the ticket booths just past security.





It was here that we got our first view of Flower Mickey.






(Continued in Next Post)

Love this area - so unique but familiar

 

[Aussie Wendy]

I noticed you ate a salad. Are uncooked vegetables at the Disney resort safe to eat? Anything we should avoid to avoid tummy issues (obviously we will not drink tap water)

We "mostly" tried to avoid salads or veggies that weren't cooked but by Disney we were getting a bit complacent. Having seen mounds of food being prepared in hutongs such as veggies being peeled on the concrete (and given the use of pesticides in China and fertilisers) did serve to remind us that just because we were in a western style hotel or restaurant conditions may not be the same as at home. We did stick to bottled water even in Disney though I know Zanzibar was fine and used it for teeth cleaning too and reluctantly I did avoid the sliced fruit in our (non Disney) hotel buffet breakies. Still at Disney we were a lot less cautious and ate things including salad - more an end of the trip mentality. For the record both of us can have dodgy stomachs at times (hence our cautiousness), we did take probiotics that we brought with us, and we were great the whole trip and after getting home.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

PIO's pic of the map reminds me what I found most frustrating - none of the maps you are given (of hotel or park) have a map of the general area like that one showing where everything is in relation to each other. I never saw that map but I guess PIO found it around the entrance to Disneytown somewhere? I was longing for such a map.

 

[zanzibar138]

I love the picture with the flowers and the lake in the front and the castle in the back. I think this is the first picture I have seen of that castle where it does not look like a monstrosity. So far, I am not a fan of that castle. But I will reserve judgement until I see it in person.

I'll be interested to hear what you think of the castle after your trip. I was a little sceptical from the concept art and few photos I'd seen prior to opening day, but in person I thought it was just beautiful, especially all lit up at night. Having said that though, there'd be lots of photos of it around now, so you've probably got a better idea about what it really looks like than I did going in.

 

[zanzibar138]

PIO's pic of the map reminds me what I found most frustrating - none of the maps you are given (of hotel or park) have a map of the general area like that one showing where everything is in relation to each other. I never saw that map but I guess PIO found it around the entrance to Disneytown somewhere? I was longing for such a map.

I've never seen any of those types of maps for any Disney resort. Have you seen them before?

The map that PIO took a photo of is located between the DisneyTown bus station and Starbucks. It's on the left as you are heading towards the park. I don't think I saw any others now that I think of it.

 

[PrincessInOz]

OMG I just love all your entrance pictures! I was finding myself starting to choke up a little reading along. Those group shots turned out really well, and I also love your CM pictures. I totally agree - despite the language barrier, the CMs at Shanghai have generally been among the best I've come across. I found them to have such enthusiasm and a genuine happiness to be there and sharing the experience with guests. Similar to how I find the CMs at HK, but probably with a touch more enthusiasm since it's still all a bit of a novelty.

Thanks! I didn't take that many at the entrance so I was pretty pleased that all the ones that I did take were decent.
And yes, I liked the CM at Shanghai. They were very eager to help.

Just wanted to clarify. Despite its proximity to the park, the Toy Story Hotel is less walkable than the Disneyland Hotel. You may notice that there's a shortcut path from the Disneyland Hotel to DisneyTown through Wishing Star Park. This walk takes a maximum of 10 minutes. There is no such shortcut from the Toy Story Hotel, and the long driveway takes you a fair distance out of your way, so the walk was a good 20 minutes. AussieWendy and I tried to take a shortcut over the lawn once, so that we didn't have to go all the way around the driveway, and were promptly told off by the security guard lol!

Ah. I did wonder if it was a shorter walk to the TSH. The DLH took me about 15 minutes to walk.....and that was with me stopping to take pictures! I expect if I didn't take picture, it would have taken about 7 or 8 minutes.

There's always something, isn't there? These are great! Definitely one for next time.

 

[zanzibar138]

Thanks! I didn't take that many at the entrance so I was pretty pleased that all the ones that I did take were decent.

I also meant to comment on how beautiful your sunrise pictures are, even despite the lack of colour

 

[PrincessInOz]

I have read that one problem Disney has is that they are not the majority partner. So, running the parks they have to work with their local Chinese partner. So, who knows how that comes into play with the scammers...

I don't think they are the majority partner at Tokyo either.

I think the scammers are just too hard to put out of business; especially given that there are people willing to pay the price. And if they are printing counterfeit FP at a nearby location, they can afford to print off 'custom' copies to match your park ticket. Perhaps the Premium Access will kill off their business model. Sadly, it means that Disney have now introduced a paid FP system; which is one of the things that was always a perk for the guest over the other theme parks. It remains to be seen if Disney implement a similar paid model in any of the other parks.

Sorry that the sky was not really waking up very much that morning. But I am starting to get the impression that they did something similar to Paris there with the colors. DLP is known for having very dark and strong colors because those look still good on grey days, while WDW and DL have more pastel colors that pop in sunshine. I love the picture with the flowers and the lake in the front and the castle in the back. I think this is the first picture I have seen of that castle where it does not look like a monstrosity. So far, I am not a fan of that castle. But I will reserve judgement until I see it in person.

I know that castle has it's detractors and critics. A lot of it has to do with the vast empty space of the Gardens on Imagination in front of the castle. You'd expect the standard hub but it's not quite like that at Shanghai. The result of all that empty space is that the hub and castle area just doesn't 'flow'.

But this castle does grow on you. The longer you spend there, the more you come to like it.

Which day of the week was it that you were there? It looks like early morning crowds were not too bad! Oh, and Starbucks looks good. We might visit there, too.

I think Wendy responded. But we were there on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Early morning worked well for us.
And yes, Starbucks was good. There are 2 other (but effectively one) places in Disneytown that open at 7.30 am. One of them is a bread/pastry place. We did try them out on another day. You may find that if you like bread products that this place is also worth checking out.

 

[PrincessInOz]

It was reputed to be a quiet time following celebrations held a week or so before - PIO will remember what they were I forget. It was quiet.

I think there was Golden Week at the end of Jan, and the Blue Dragon festival (to bring on spring rains) about 2 weeks before we were there. We were also there before Ching Ming festival (sweeping of ancestral burial sites). It was quiet! It was even quieter at Shanghai Disneyland than at HKDL!!

 

[PrincessInOz]

We stopped here each day as well!

LOL. Yes, I suspect Starbucks has the monopoly on the value for money breakfast if you're an early riser (and from a Western country)!

Love this area - so unique but familiar

 

[PrincessInOz]

PIO's pic of the map reminds me what I found most frustrating - none of the maps you are given (of hotel or park) have a map of the general area like that one showing where everything is in relation to each other. I never saw that map but I guess PIO found it around the entrance to Disneytown somewhere? I was longing for such a map.

The map has a red triangle on it. That's where you'll find the sign. And yes, Zanzibar is correct. It's located right at the start of the Disney transport bus station.

I've never seen any of those types of maps for any Disney resort. Have you seen them before?

I have seen them at Hong Kong Disneyland (and have a picture of it when we get up to that point).
I don't remember if I saw them at DLR but I think there were signs like that at WDW - only relating to the specific area or resort that you were at. In any event, there are maps of WDW that you can get (non-Disney versions) from the local convenience stores that gives you that kind of overview of the whole WDW resort.

The map that PIO took a photo of is located between the DisneyTown bus station and Starbucks. It's on the left as you are heading towards the park. I don't think I saw any others now that I think of it.

I also meant to comment on how beautiful your sunrise pictures are, even despite the lack of colour

Thanks! Yes, I liked the sunrise pictures despite the lack of colour. They represent how things were when we were there and that's really important to me. In any event.....At least I got value for money from my room with a view!