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

[Fairy Floss]

You should have been there too! We missed you that night.

I believe she headed back to the club lounge at the hotel

Yep! I was in the club lounge improving international relations
But those pics of yours Pio ....
I'm thinking I should have been with you - elbowing people out of my way to get pics

 

[dolphingirl47]

I love all the night-time photos, but this is by far my favourite. It is absolutely stunning.

I definitely had a 2-man escort out to the Downtown Disney gate at the Tomorrowland side where I caught up with the others.

Wow, that is what I call service

Corinna

 

[tiggrbaby]

What an amazing last night!

Sounds like you are testing to see what the park escort services are like at each location!

 

[franandaj]

You got some great nighttime photos, and I can't believe your nerve. I am one to be so scared off by security that I would never even think about crossing them, much less run away to get photos.

You have taken some spectacular pictures over the years with your penchant for overstaying your welcome! I am one on the other hand to head back to the lounge for a drink or two and then retire.

 

[zanzibar138]

Next time, I need to see if I can find this spot again and work out what the fireworks look like from here.

I'm sure you would do it a lot more justice than I did PIO but here's an idea:

Roaring Mountain was also very pretty at night.

Ooh yes it is! Especially with the twinkle effect!

Ignite the Dream from Front and Center

Well worth the effort. These shots are amazing!

The Frozen montage seemed to go forever!

Yes it did. As a person who doesn't mind Frozen, but isn't a huge fan, I was waiting for it to finish lol!

One last thing. Make sure you stay in front of the castle after Ignite the Dream. They do project the prettier backdrops from the show.

I actually really love this part

I definitely had a 2-man escort out to the Downtown Disney gate at the Tomorrowland side where I caught up with the others.

And I thought I was late out lol! You were probably another half an hour

 

[Montanabel]

And I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Disney might have my mug shot somewhere in their systems!

Lol!! That story is gold!

 

[Mom2m&k]

Love your trip report! Your pictures are amazing and I love your sense of humor! Your mom is adorable. Can't wait to read about Hong Kong!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Well PIO - I have spent the best part of 3 days reading your Trip Report and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Loved all of the incredible photography and the witty commentary. I feel like I have a great grasp on Shanghai Disney now and hope to get there very soon. You dedication to getting the best shots is amazing and I especially enjoyed you and your DMs additional info regarding Chinese culture and history. Awesome read - thanks!!!!

 

[pinksand]

Just read through this whole thread and it's wonderful! We are going to Shanghai DL and Hong Kong DL in November, so I'm eagerly awaiting the HKDL portion.
And your pictures are breathtaking! Thanks for sharing!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sorry for being MIA, everyone.

It's been a bad flu season for me and life's a little frantic right now. But I hope to get back to this TR next week and move this along to the Hong Kong part.

 

[tiggrbaby]

Feel better!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Sorry for being MIA, everyone.

It's been a bad flu season for me and life's a little frantic right now. But I hope to get back to this TR next week and move this along to the Hong Kong part.

I am sorry that you have been feeling unwell.

Corinna

 

[PrincessInOz]

Lol!! That story is gold!

I only have Japan and Paris to tick off now.

Love your trip report! Your pictures are amazing and I love your sense of humor! Your mom is adorable. Can't wait to read about Hong Kong!

Thank you. I'm sorry it's taken me this long to get back to this TR. I do plan to finish it!!!

Just read through this whole thread and it's wonderful! We are going to Shanghai DL and Hong Kong DL in November, so I'm eagerly awaiting the HKDL portion.
And your pictures are breathtaking! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for reading!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Well PIO - I have spent the best part of 3 days reading your Trip Report and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Loved all of the incredible photography and the witty commentary. I feel like I have a great grasp on Shanghai Disney now and hope to get there very soon. You dedication to getting the best shots is amazing and I especially enjoyed you and your DMs additional info regarding Chinese culture and history. Awesome read - thanks!!!!

Hello stranger!

Hope you and your family are doing well. Dare I hope that you're heading to Shanghai soon?

 

[PrincessInOz]

Day 7: Shanghai Disneyland to Hong Kong Disneyland




A Final Walk to Disneytown


Final moments at Disney.....any Disney.....are always bitter for me. It’s when I know that the time is coming up fast where I have to suspend the fairy tale and resume real life. It’s not that my real life is bad or anything….but….real life is impossible to measure up to the fairy tale. Perhaps that’s why Disney is so successful. It knows how to keep raising that fairy tale bar higher and higher as the quality of our real lives raises higher and higher. And on the cycle goes, making real life comparatively bitter to the taste of a fairy tale.





I think you know what I mean.






But….before the return, there is always the last look-around.






I took the back exit out….





…and walked towards the park.





It was a very cold morning.





There was frost on the ground.





With hardly anyone around, it was very easy to reflect on what a great time we had had at Shanghai Disneyland.





You know…..It’s taken 4 mornings before I finally took note of the walk around Wishing Star Lake.






There were lots of pretty elements to admire here.









It was also rather early in the morning. And you know what they say about the early bird. In this case, the early bird was a long tailed shrike.





There were also some ducks flying about on Wishing Star Lake.





I kept walking towards Disney.










I don’t recall how long it took me to meander across. I did spend more time than most taking pictures and as I was in no rush this morning, I have the feeling I may have taken 20 - 30 minutes to cover the short distance.





(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)


Lakeshore, Disneytown



From the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel and walking round Wishing Star Lake, you end up in the Lakeshore section of Disneytown. As it’s name suggests, it’s the section that is closest to the Lake.





There was definitely a nautical theme this side.










It’s not a very big section and seems to comprise mostly of eating places.





It was nice and quiet for photo-taking…..









….but I was definitely attracting the attention of the locals.





I was so early that there was no one else around! Makes me hard to miss where security was concerned. But they left me alone.





Oh…in case anyone is curious. It’s definitely just Pepsi here.







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[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)


Disneytown Proper



Everything is pretty close in Shanghai so it took me less than a minute to walk towards the main part of Disneytown.





It wasn’t opened. So I amused myself by taking yet more pictures.





The Disney touches are exactly what you would expect.





But there are distinctively oriental elements here as well.





I did a little window drooling.





Aside from Starbucks, these were the other two establishments that opened at 7.30 am. The bread rolls that my DM bought for breakfast came from the Bread Talk place. For the Aussies reading, it’s pretty much like Bread Top.





I never made it inside the Lego Store here.





Next time.





I kept meandering around Downtown Disney. I was just enjoying the quietness of Disneytown.













Next time I’m here, I’m going to have to schedule some shopping time in.





At the end of Disneytown closest to the Tomorrowland entrance, there are a couple of well known American chain restaurants. Wolfgang Puck and the Cheesecake Factory are both chains that I like eating at when in the US. However, with the plethora of Asian options here, I never made it to either.






Our restaurant with the nearly cooked chicken was at this end of Disneytown.





I liked the little references to the theatre end. This is where you’ll find the Lion King Theatre.






Another part of Disneytown is Spice Alley.









It’s actually just the second laneway of Disneytown.






I loved the touches of artwork here.




















Despite the lovely mosaics, I have to say that my favourite artwork here was this one. So cute with the Asian costumes.




(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)

For anyone heading to the Far East, if you find one of these stores, it might be worth checking out if you’re after gold jewellery. They are doing a range of Disney jewellery right now.







As with the other laneway, there are heaps of eating establishments here.

















It wasn’t all only food. There were retail shops here as well.














By the time I’d done the loop, there was a queue waiting to get in the Park entrance.




Lucky them! They get to spend the day at Disneyland.





I was definitely shipping out today.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I haven't read your TR since July which seems like forever. But I was able to read all of your latest.

You had a nice night and Ignite the Dream looks like a very nice nighttime show that I would enjoy a lot. I would enjoy taking pictures with you at night at that park but I don't know if I can last that long.

Nice morning even though it was cold. The Disneytown pictures look very nice.

 

[TLPL]

Is there anything worth buying in Shanghai Disney? Or they have the same thing you can find in US parks? We have been to WDW so many times I rarely buy anything any more, unless its very unique. Anything caught your eyes?