TR(tdl/sdl/hkdl)-> This Is Where Your Dream Begins; A New World in Every Chapter. COMPLETED 12/8!!!

[katt789]

Saturday October 29

Today is very great day!!!

We were GOING TO THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA!!! AHHHH!!!

After the headache that was finding our own way out to Mount Fuji, Kara & I knew we would rather do a tour from somewhere. Abby, hesitant about the city bus, had noticed there was a tour run by our hostel, it was straight to the wall with no shopping stops, and fairly cheap considering it was transportation there & back, entry to the wall & lunch was included! We'd booked it the day before to make sure we'd get in, since Saturday had the best air quality & weather forecast!



The tour left the hostel at 7:30am, we were bundled up, and thankful that the van was warm!! We stopped at a few other places to pick up more people & were off to the Wall!! We reached the first part of it within an hour of the last pick up, but continued on driving, I think it was around three hours between leaving Leo & arriving at our segment of the wall. A guide hopped on the bus saying we'd be taking a quick bathroom break & driving up a bit more before we got out of the van.



Once out, he talked to us a bit about the history of the wall, how everyone in the past knew that the wall meant death, you'd either die building the wall (which was un-honorable) or die fighting on the wall (an honourable death). He also said that the locals usually called it "The Long Wall". We had about 3 hours, and there were 7 tours he urged us to see, but not go past the 7th, it was one way up, one way back, and that the first segment was going to be the hardest; then he bid us on our way, and we were off!



IMG_2318 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
a1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2322 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


The first steep climb WAS DEFINITELY the hardest, between the air not being the greatest & the bit of asthma that I have, it was actual hell & I thought I might not make it at points.

a2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2325 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Luckily, that was the worst of it & we were soon hiking our way along one of the wonders of the world!

IMG_2332 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
a4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2337 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2341 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



It was seriously so amazing to think that we were actually ON the Great Wall of China! THIS was what all the stress & money had gone to pertaining to having to get a visa, and it was totally worth it.

v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
a5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2352 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2353 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


Of course all of our FRIENDS came out to play too!

a6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
v13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2363 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2366 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2370 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

 

[katt789]

We came across a particularly deserted patch of the Wall and obviously, it was photoshoot time, and time for us to try out some tricks!

IMG_2361 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
a7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
a8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
k2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
v6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
k5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
#chanlife

v14 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickrv11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
v16 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
v5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2354 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Kara took the time to bust out some dance moves;

v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

And do the BEST handstand she had all trip (probably because she was wearing runners and NOT a skirt for once in her life lol)

IMG_2356 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

JUST LOOK AT HER GO! HOW FREAKING EPIC?! It inspired me to do something crafty of my own, but since I hadn't been stretching enough

k6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


IMG_2381 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

IMG_2386 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

IMG_2389 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

There were quite a few points during the climbing that I had to stop to rest, my lungs were REALLY not having it, it was difficult, because the other 2 were totally fine, and I felt super bummed out about it, and at points I was INSANELY frustrated with myself not being able to keep up; which was kind of silly since it wasn't something I could control, it wasn't like I was out of shape or anything, I was just struggling. We reached a point that I wasn't sure I could climb up, especially given how much time we had left, but with the patience of the other two we did make it up and just a TEENY bit further before I said I would need to start heading back, who knew if it would take longer! (our climbing was made SO much easier by the presence of the Mulan soundtrack…nothing motivates quite like "Make a Man out of You")

IMG_2405 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

IMG_2410 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

 

[katt789]

In total, I think we made it to 4 tours, and the huge added bonus was since we had chosen to do the hostel's tour, we were in a very uninhabited portion of the wall & there were multiple points where we were practically alone! It was also a segment that was much more local people, as the only tourists we saw were people from our van! How cool is that!?



IMG_2412 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2414 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2391 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
Things got a little artsy;

IMG_2417 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2420 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
And then they got REAL silly

IMG_2423 by Katt mccluskey, on FlickrIMG_2425 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

It was somewhere around there that we were either singing or listening to Dream Along With Mickey and pulling out some choreo, but hey, that's nothing new.



We obviously had time for a jumping picture;

v17 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Aaaaand everyone should know that those don't always work on the first try….

v18 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



The time came that we realized we should start heading back, and BOY OH BOY, climbing DOWN some of those super steep hills was SO much harder, it took longer, since we had to go SO much slower, not to mention it was just SCARY! Lol.!

IMG_2427 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2429 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

You really cant capture the steepness in photos!



It was a bit of a walk past where we were dropped, but we found a building marked "Leo Hostel" and all gathered in there until everyone was back & we moved into the restaurant next door to eat! There was rice, and 4 different dishes, green beans with bacon, eggs with tomato, a salad & a chicken vegetable dish. It was good! We all scarfed it down after being so hungry for so long! Our breakfasts had not held up! It was also absolutely freezing in there! Apparently Beijing doesn't know what heaters are!

When everyone was done, we climbed back into the van & headed back into the city. The drive ended up taking AGES, due to traffic & us being the last stop. When we got back we pretty much ate dinner & went to bed, it had been a cool day, but one heck of a long & tiring day!

a10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

 

[katt789]

Sunday October 30

It was our last day in Beijing!!! And our thoughts were mainly that we only had to suffer through one more night of cold in the hostel! Bahaha! The weather was freezing & the air quality was BAD today, so we were layered up with masks on!

a5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We ate our snacks from the convenience store while we got ready & headed to the train station with a brief few stops along the way! Our in the street they had these fresh steaming dumplings just Everywhere!

v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Abby was eyeing them a bit, and because the locals can be a little ruthless when it comes to selling their produce, no one was surprised when we ended up inside while Abby ate her giant pot of dumplings! (and it cost like, $1….)

v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

She really enjoyed them! I was hesitant to try with not really eating a lot of pork…or meat in general on this trip…lol. After she finished, we made our way to the next stop at Starbucks! Abby really wanted to try the cheese latte she had seen online, and I needed coffee. I opted for the Black Forest Latte, it mainly tasted like a mocha, but it had chocolate whipped cream! They didn't have the latte Abby wanted but she found something else yummy instead.



Our train ride today was insanely long as we were headed to the Summer Palace, which was way on the other end of the city! I couldn't remember much specific information about where we were going at this point but it seemed mildly self explanatory. We had also been on a hunt for an ATM this morning that WOULD WORK! Both Kara & I were seriously low/out of cash by this point & none of the atms we were finding were working with our cards! I got my issue resolved eventually but was OUT of money by the time we reached the palace so Abby became my Mom for the day, helping me out lol. The through ticket for the Summer Palace cost 60CNY, and included admission into some of the internal attractions that you'd usually have to pay extra for, so that was an added bonus!



Right on the inside we saw a cute little river "town" area that was included so that ended up being our first stop! It was super cute, though was lacking any rails along the water & we were pretty concerned with falling in!

IMG_2431 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2439 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2441 by

Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

k1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
a6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


IMG_2450 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2456 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2458 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
I'm a snake in the Chinese Horoscope lol, explains my natural draw to Slytherin lol!!

IMG_2461 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2482 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


Today was all about exploring, and this was certainly the place to do it! THE PALACE WAS HUUUUUUUUGE!! And we didn't have a map, so we climbed around, wandered and

Hoped we would end up in the right place!

IMG_2491 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2492 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
a8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
v5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

I miss the selfie stick…I won't lie…
v6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
.…the picture of sophisticated grace…

a2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We were LITERALLY rock climbing through parts of it, obviously you didn't HAVE to go that way, but there were SO many nooks and crannies to explore it was INSANE!

IMG_2499 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

 

[katt789]

When we came out on the other side of the thing…sort of…it was also kind of only halfway through, but hey, we found another lagoon, and there were some pretty neat looking boats. We also had a very language difficult chat with a local about something, but god if I can remember what it was supposedly about…

IMG_2506 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2509 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2513 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
v7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

IMG_2525 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

We found some more little hidden court yards, and actually managed to find some Autumn leaves!

IMG_2531 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2536 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
And it wasn't long before Kara was being weird again….

IMG_2540 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

IMG_2544 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
It's okay though because shortly after that I found a PERFECT MERMAID ROCK

IMG_2549 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Basically we're all ridiculous, we exited the little courtyard and Abby & Kara started picking up piles of leaves and tossing them around while they sang Colors of the Wind…

The three of us stopped for lunch inside the Palace Abby was the smart one & got the vegetarian dish, while Kara & I opted for a dish that we thought was the "kung pao chicken" from the sign out front. The rice was good.... The chicken was downright gross, I ended up picking around it & neither of us really enjoyed our meals lol.

a7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



We still had to find what we thought was the legit PALACE area, so we began trekking again!

IMG_2565 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
v8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The architecture and the beautiful paint style/decoration still continues to awe me, it's all so pretty!
IMG_2572 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2579 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



The three of us felt like we hadn't hiked up enough stuff in the last little bit, so we climbed our way up a GIANT amount of stairs to see what the view was like from the top!

a10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2606 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2615 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

It still kind of makes me laugh, just kind of boggles my mind to see such ancient architecture and detail and classic Chinese things, with HUGE sprawling MODERN cities and skyscrapers in the background lol!



In the end, we knew it was coming up to closing time & we still needed to FIND our way OUT! Seriously, SO BIG! SO CONFUSING!! But no matter, we were not trapped, we managed to get back to the entrance before closing time, and started to find our way home.

IMG_2632 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




Once home it was another stop for snacks, and then dinner in the lounge. I opted for pasta today, and it was good! We attempted showers before we packed but the water would just NOT heat up, and no one wants to shower in cold water when the hotel room's freezing too... We opted for an earlier bedtime after everything was packed and ready to go for the next morning!

 

[MomoMama]

Sad to see the Japan portion ended, but how exciting to read about China!

I have not thought about visiting China, but your TR is so intriguing. Especially the great wall...the pics are amazing! The air quality and food (especially with food allergies) are main concerns for us. But now I'm thinking maybe we should plan a short visit, when my kid is a bit older and I'm not too old to climb the walls. It may have been a long and tiring day, but it seems so worth it!

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[katt789]

Casual self promotion, if you haven't watched our Shanghai Disney Vlog yet, HERE'S THE LINK!

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Also for part of today's interactive update, click HERE for the amazing loop music!

Tuesday November 1st

Good morning! Good morning! It's time for a Disney day, good morning!

Except it wasn't a good one right off the bat, it ended up kind of being a grumpy one. We had alarms set super early, thinking the park opened at 8:00am, and not being sure how heavy the crowds would be, or if we'd need to exchange our tickets at the booths or not. Either I had been thinking of Tokyo, or Shanghai had changed their park hours since I'd checked, but turns out they didn't open til 9. When no one got up after multiple alarms, I got up to start getting ready, and turned the light on in which it was said "did you not hear me say it doesn't open til 9?". I had not... Otherwise I would have left the light off, duh, it was morning, I had no coffee, and it was like, a month into the trip, I was a grump. Luckily, it didn't end up causing anything and we slowly got up and had a breather taking our time getting ready.


Even with taking our sweet time, we were AGES early, especially with finding out that we didn't need to stop at a ticket booth! Just your passport & confirmation number was needed at the turnstile! When we arrived at the Resort the excitement was in FULL FORCE!!! Ahhh!!! This was really real, it was really happening!! SHANGHAI DISNEYLAND!!! We went through bag check & the metal detectors, and then lined up for the turnstiles. Shanghai Disney had Wi-Fi, but you have to enter your phone number & they text you a code, so we had to turn our phones on to get said text, but it was worth it since that was the best Wi-Fi we'd had in China so far!! The gates ended up opening shortly before 9:00am!! AHHH!!

a2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2654 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT THOSE BEAUTIFUL BLUE SKIES, LIKE THIS IS CHINA PEOPLE!!
THEN WE WERE ACTUALLY WALKING DOWN MICKEY AVENUE WITH THAT GIIIIIANT CASTLE AT THE END OF THE STREET!
a1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
k7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
Yeah...those selfies close to the castle were DEFS from later on, but #yolo



The park itself not yet open we joined the cluster mob of people at the rope, positioning ourselves on the RIGHT for Adventure Isle (weird, right?) and waited while the final minutes ticked by. The announcement sounded, AND WE WERE OFF!!



Seriously.



It was freaking crazy



WAY worse than any kind of rope drop run in Florida. It didn't make matters easier that all the fp kiosks for each ride, were condensed by the land the ride was in, and one line. So Soaring, Roaring Rapids & potentially one other, all had 1 giant line. When you got to the front, you scanned your ticket & chose which ride you wanted. By the time we had finished the ordeal, it had been FIFTEEN MINUTES. Seemed crazy to me!! Fast passes secured, we backtracked a little bit to head over to Treasure Cove, AND MAN OH MAN WAS I SO FREAKING INSTANTLY IN LOVE!!!

IMG_2672 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

This place was 1000% amazing guys!!! To preface, I have ALWAYS loved all things pirate & POTC related. When the first movie came out, I was 14 & we went to see it over 10 times IN THEATERS, once at the cheap theater we saw in two times in a row. That soundtrack is one of my FAVES, and this land was definitely my favorite in Shanghai Disney! All the theming is absolutely brilliant, the soundtrack's constantly playing & it was just so wonderful!!

IMG_2667 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Our first stop in Treasure Cove was over to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride of course! And we were greeted with a 5 minute wait (which is less time than it took to walk through the queue).
IMG_2663 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2664 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Before our trip, we'd watched a bunch of vlogs, but if there had been any glimpse of rides, especially Pirates, we would skip it, we wanted to be 100% surprised. And OH MAN WE WERE!! I DONT EVEN HAVE THE WORDS TO DESCIBE JUST HOW AMAZING AND MINDBLOWING THIS RIDE WAS!!! IT WAS WORTH THE TRIP ALONE!!! Standard boat you're loaded into (though they're a bit bigger) and off you soar into adventure. The first big room has a giant, Imax style screen around you (which I 100% admit affected me, thought I might throw up a bit.... I didn't though, which is super lucky) and you're guided through the journey. It's based more off the 2nd & 3rd movie, with lots of Davy Jones & huge battles, it's incredible. After some closer up animatronic stuff you come around the corner into another screen room to witness Davy Jone's ship surfacing & then are taken DIRECTLY DOWN THE MIDDLE of a battle between it & The Black Pearl.



Guys... I cried a single tear...



I'm NOT JOKING. That single tear of AMAZEMENT, of satisfaction, like, the improvements they'd taken with this ride, the boundaries Disney has broken is truly amazing. All 3 of us were completely mind blown by it and just in total awe as we came back into Treasure Cove! I STILL can't get over how amazing it was, someone in Florida last week asked about if POTC really was THAT amazing over there, and like, I nearly cried again just thinking about it. If you don't have plans to go anytime soon, maybe check it out on YouTube, though it doesn't give the same effect, it's still amazing.



Having 2 big e-tickets of the right side of the park established for the morning, we knew it was time to satisfy our stomachs! There was a waffle house on Mickey Ave, but when we arrived it was CLOSED! Wah!! But that did mean we got to walk past the castle again, and no one's complaining about that!
IMG_2668 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2671 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2674 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
And like, y'all, if you think it looks big in pictures, like, ITS FREAKING INSANE…


Luckily, Remy's Patisserie was across the way, welcoming us with the delicious smell of baked goodies!!
IMG_2675 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2676 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
(it was around this point I told Kara & Abby to just be prepared for this happening all week, I was constantly going to be 5 steps behind taking pictures of LITERALLY everything)
IMG_2678 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2679 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2681 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
(also can we TALK about how weird it is SHDR has PEPSI NOT COKE LIKE ***?!)
I picked up a chocolate Mickey muffin, a coffee & a pastry filled with hot curried chicken. Kara also got the chocolate muffin while Abby got the Mike Wazowski bread (which, to my surprise, was NOT melon bread like in Tokyo...)

IMG_2683 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2685 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2686 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
a4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



The three of us picked a seat outside and commented on the amazing friendliness of all the cast members while we dug into our food with the castle just off in the distance. It was while we ate, that I noticed the amazing jazzy loop music, was FROZEN!!! The loop they play in Mickey Ave/the Gardens of Imagination (aka the hub) was quick to be my favorite.(ETA; it's also what you're listening to right now) It was all the Disney classic songs you knew & loved, but redone in a classical and jazzy way! There was even tons of Hunchback music!!! And a song that sounded like Rainbow Connection but we knew it wasn't & COULD NOT figure out what it was!

 

[katt789]

All of our senses going bezerk, but our hunger satisfied, we decided to explore the GIANT and beautiful castle. We knew the stage show, Golden Fairytale Fanfare was due to start soon, but we didn't think we would be able to get a spot. Turns out the first show of the day isn't the most popular, and we were able to get a decent spot!!

v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

IMG_2689 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The show was super cute, all the spoken bits are in Mandarin, but the Disney songs were all in English. Our Host greeted us with a large smile, some waves & a big speech we couldn't understand, but the song still gets stuck in our heads all the time, and the costumes are just gorgeous!



Snow White kicks off the royal festivities with her dwarf friends & Prince.
IMG_2698 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2696 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2691 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



She's the QUEEN in China, partially because it was one of the first movies to be released & everyone knows it, partially because she was the oldest who has similar features to their culture(?) It's what we were told!

IMG_2699 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Everyone's favorite sisters took center stage next (sans Olaf which was something I was more than okay with).

IMG_2708 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2715 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2720 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



The water effects made the Frozen segment SO MUCH COOLER. It also made for some fun pictures (and challenging photography lol)



The stage was swarmed with EEEELLLEEEEPPPHHHHAAAAAANNNNNTTTTTTSSS NEXT! (They're my favorite...) along with dancers and, drummers, quite extravagant!

IMG_2726 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2735 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


Prince Ali & Jasmine made their debuts in their golden costumes of course.

IMG_2737 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Then the waterworks came back into play to help out a mermaid!!

IMG_2743 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I really liked the color scheme on her shells & tail!! I still find it hilarious that her fin is legit different in EVERY SINGLE PARK! No joke....

IMG_2748 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I had a lot of fun with the water streams with this one!!

IMG_2751 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The brave Scottish lass finished off the guest stars, on her horse nonetheless. It's super nice to see Merida actually get in on stuff, especially a castle show!

IMG_2765 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

For the finale all the characters & dancers came back out in all their Golden Glory (which meant costume changes for Elsa & Ariel, and a visit from Prince Eric).

IMG_2788 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2771 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I'm 100% in LOVE with Elsa's golden dress, I think it's absolutely stunning. Ariel's on the other hand... Eeehhhh... It looks like curtains... And the winter wear wasn't helping (neither was Jas's winter wear..) a friend the next day pointed out that it looks like a taco & now we can't get that out of our heads! Bahaha!

IMG_2774 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2790 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Overall, the show was great, much better in person! We all enjoyed it and thought it was super cute, and loved how the water effects added to it! We knew we'd be watching it again throughout the week, so it was good we liked it!! Lol!

 

[katt789]

Monday October 31st

Happy happy HALLOWEEEEEEEEEEEENNNN!!! Aaaahhhh!!! My FAVORITE HOLIDAAAAAAAYYY!!!!



Too bad we weren't doing ANYTHING to celebrate it bahahah!!! I mean, I had my Halloween earrings & socks on, but that was about it.

Our morning started off freezing & sleepy. We lugged all of our baggage on top of all of our layers & checked out of Leo Hostel. Baaaaaaaiiii Felicia, won't be back til you get heaters.



We had to exchange our vouchers for legit train tickets, so we had to get to Beijing's Railway station early, AND I REEEEEALLY didn't want to deal with all this luggage in rush hour traffic, so we left super early. The metro was fine enough & before we knew it, the tickets were exchanged & we were on our train to Shanghai! It was a bullet train, I think it took around 5 hours in total, we had our own snacks & drinks but there were some for sale too. I spent most of the time working on blog posts while the others slept.



Welcome to SHANGHAAAAIIII!



And this welcome was a MILLION times better than we had arrived by plane a few days earlier! It immediately felt nicer, cleaner & more modern, it was a much younger crowd & nearly everything was already better. Abby had the directions figured out to get to our AirBnB, and they were pretty straight forward. Upon arriving in the "gated" community, and finding the building we were staying in, I was immediately super sketched out. Bars on all the windows & around all the patios, garbage, sofa chairs on the lawns, nothing was maintained, I was more than sketched out…(like, y'all, I WISH I had a picture, I wish we'd vlogged it, like, our mother's would have all freaked out…bahaha)



Our host was there to meet us, and thankfully, the inside of the apartment was as nice as the pictures showed. A small little 1 bedroom with beds for 3, a living room, kitchen & bathroom. She went over a few things with us, gave us an extra set of keys & wished us a good time in Shanghai before leaving home. Pretty much instantly we all showered and threw a load of laundry of ALL the layers of clothes into the washer. Once all clean & not so smelly, we headed back to the Metro! It was along the way that Kara pointed on that there was a Mercedes Benz in our parking lot, and that most of the cars were super nice. Either China didn't care about building maintenance, or the people didn't, but we felt a little better after that realization. I was also thinking that maybe the area USED to be super sketch, or low income housing, but with all the new development of the Pudong area, it became a better area instead of demolishing the apartments or something.



The best part of the Airbnb, DISNEY WAS LITERALLY 2 STOPS AWAY! AHHHHH!!! It was CRAZY exciting to think that we were stepping foot into Disney land that had only been open for months!!
v12 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
We arrived at the Station & figured out where to go, resisting the urge of World of Disney, Pandora & Sephora as food was the priority! Since we don't have Cheesecake Factory in Canada, you can guess where we headed for dinner! We each got a drink to celebrate & Kara & I got burgers while Abby got the gumbo.
k2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
k3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Everything was great & we really enjoyed the evening until our server had actually disappeared. We hadn't seen him since he dropped off our food, and we were getting antsy, we had shopping to do! Eventually I grabbed to go boxes from the bar & we flagged someone down to pay. None of the cheesecake seemed like a necessity after waiting so long for service!



We walked back to World of Disney, where we spent a long time wandering and looking at everything. It was attached to the jewelry store & TrenD, much like TrenD & the Co-op in WDW. There was plenty to look at, and plenty to want to buy. We all ended up getting the same ears (Shanghai exclusive of course), I got a pair of Aurora earrings(which, I'm sad to announce, I now have NO idea where they are…), and Abby got the SDL Alex & Ani bracelet.
a0 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

I originally really wanted it, but since being home (and working in the food industry) I never wear the ones I have, so it seemed like a waste of a large chunk of money lol.
k5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
k6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Disneytown was very similar to Downtown Disney in terms of shops it offered, we spent a bit of time wandering through, and checked out the dance party going on (it was legit like a club!). They were also offering trick or treating & there were tons of kids dressed up! My plan had involved seeing at least one of the hotels that evening, but energy levels were crashing and we had an earlier morning tomorrow, so we took the short journey back to the BnB where our beds were calling us!!

 

[Karin1984]

Yay! We are at Shanghai Disney! (Today is my 50 day mark!)

Memo to me, I need those Chinese Mickey/Minnie ears. My mom got a headband very similar to this from her first trip to China years ago Now I can match hers!

IMG_2681 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
(also can we TALK about how weird it is SHDR has PEPSI NOT COKE LIKE ***?!)

Yes! We can! I have a serious diet coke addiction, but only Coca Cola, I really do not like Pepsi... I don't have a game plan yet for this problem.

Love your Golden Fanfare pictures. A bit jealous that I won't see it during out visit, it is replaced with a summer show, it features Moana which is great, but I wanted to see the elephant and all the costumes and other details that make Golden Fanfare great!

By the way, any reason why you posted November 1st, first, and then October 31st?

 

[missangelalexis]

Beautiful photos from the Great Wall & Summer Palace!

Yay Shanghai! Your first night sound like it was nice! And Ahh Disney! The castle is so beautiful. What a great morning you were having!

 

[AusAnnie]

Loved your photos and report about the Great Wall. We are going to China in September and I'm looking forward to seeing it. Alas, it's a tour with no time for Shanghai Disney

 

[katt789]

Yay! We are at Shanghai Disney! (Today is my 50 day mark!)

Memo to me, I need those Chinese Mickey/Minnie ears. My mom got a headband very similar to this from her first trip to China years ago Now I can match hers!
Yes! We can! I have a serious diet coke addiction, but only Coca Cola, I really do not like Pepsi... I don't have a game plan yet for this problem.

Love your Golden Fanfare pictures. A bit jealous that I won't see it during out visit, it is replaced with a summer show, it features Moana which is great, but I wanted to see the elephant and all the costumes and other details that make Golden Fanfare great!

By the way, any reason why you posted November 1st, first, and then October 31st?

Yay!!!! The ears are gorgeous!! Lol, yeah, it was weird, I don't drink a lot of soda, but when I do it's at Disney, so pepsi was weird!!
Thank you!! UGH though the summer show looks AMAZING, Kara & I were talking about how we wish we could be there to see it!
Hahahaha, I just somehow completely BLANKED and forgot to post it before we got in the parks!

Beautiful photos from the Great Wall & Summer Palace!

Yay Shanghai! Your first night sound like it was nice! And Ahh Disney! The castle is so beautiful. What a great morning you were having!

Thank you!!!
It was awesome!! It was a beautiful park!!

Loved your photos and report about the Great Wall. We are going to China in September and I'm looking forward to seeing it. Alas, it's a tour with no time for Shanghai Disney

Thank you! We had a blast!! That'll be amazing though!!!

 

[katt789]

Distraction passed, we headed around and up a pathway leading directly into the vast castle in front of us. It really is HUGE, it's bigger in person, and WAY more pretty in person!!
IMG_2801 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2804 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2806 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2809 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

IMG_2812 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2813 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



The murals inside are GORGEOUS too, I love that they all represent the seasons, and that Tiana finally get some light in the overseas parks!
IMG_2813 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2815 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
a6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

IMG_2817 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


We were on our way to behind the castle when Abby got distracted with something sparkling in the jewelry/figurine store. The huge replica of the castle of course.
a3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
v5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



While I was searching for her among all the people, I saw what I thought was a familiar face... He was all suited up, and surrounded by other suited up people... And there was suddenly a huge crowd of security in the store. I grabbed Kara's arm and "whispered"



"IS THAT BOB IGER?!?!??"



IT WAS SUCH AN OMG MOMENT.



OMG IT WAS BOB IGER!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHH



(PSA for anyone who has no idea who I'm talking about, he's the CEO of Disney Parks... He's basically the Roy Disney of today.)



We frantically grabbed Abby and half followed into the store, casually freaking out while no one in the store seemed to know who he was. We tried to sneakily take a few pictures but we're pretty sure he saw, though Abby got a fantastic one.

a8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

He clearly noticed that we KNEW who he was were casually fangirling, so HE CAME RIGHT UP TO US!!!!

AAAAHHHH WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING?!????!!!
Bob freaking Iger came up to us and said hello. He asked if we were cast members, we said we used to be, and he guessed Florida correctly. Then asked if it was our first time in Asia, and asked if we were having fun so far. When we said yes he said "yeah, it was pretty fun to build" #casualsmirk and then wished us a good day and continued on his way.



We were too star struck to even be able to ask for a picture, but it happened!! UGGGHH



*cries*



We all promptly updated our Facebook statuses, and both mine & Abby's mother's were quick to ask (after my Mom had to ask who he was...) if we'd asked him for a job again... Sigh... It was SUCH A MOM THING TO ASK. Lol.



Guys.



We freaking met Bob Iger on our first day in the BRAND NEW DISNEY PARK THE YEAR IT WAS BUILT. Things were pretty amazing. To wear off a bit of the shock, we checked out a couple of gorgeous things in the shop & then meandered out of the castle, shaking with adrenaline & laughing that legit no one in that store had known who he was.
k8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2818 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2819 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2820 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2821 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Around the back corner of the castle is where the Princesses do meet & greets. We found Cinderella out, and jumped in line. It was about half an hour until we got to the front, and she had swapped out with Belle. That was completely okay because Kara & I like Belle better, and she was looking particularly beautiful today

IMG_2823 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Belle asked us how our adventures had been so far, and if we had run across any enchanted objects! She was absolutely stunning and absolutely perfect, down to her voice. Ugh. Perfection was today.

v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

 

[katt789]

IMG_2826 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
Since we were in Fantasyland, our adventures continued through there. Noting how it had such a similar feel to the States parks. A Shanghai exclusive, Voyage of the Crystal Grotto found its way in front of us, and with only a 20 minute wait!

IMG_2827 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2828 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


IMG_2832 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2835 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2840 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

IMG_2841 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2845 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

And you can't really tell, but on the globe, there were little pink flowers dotted around to mark where each Disney park was, which I thought was SUPER cute!

IMG_2847 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
v7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2851 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2852 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

IMG_2862 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2864 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
(when I was re-uploading these to put into the TR chapters I CACKLED at this picture and commented on Kara's facebook "wait…is this where Rivers of Light was the entire time..?!?!)


The boat ride was super cute, similar to the Disneyland canal boats, but with more interactive features, and bigger statues with the characters. At the end you actually go IN to the castle too! Pretty neat stuff!! There were some neat effect inside the castle, and some stuff about dreams/wishes, etc, that definitely made me tear up a bit lol. Even neater was at the exit to the ride, we found the boat from Tangled among other fun "hidden" things.

IMG_2882 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

a9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2883 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2886 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2887 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2893 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2894 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

SO FREAKNG COOL.

I also couldn't resist another castle pic….

IMG_2896 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

 

[katt789]

Having been going all morning, we stopped for a quick bathroom break, and had the time to grab a fast pass for Peter Pan's flight before heading back into Adventure Isle.

IMG_2898 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

It was officially time to SOAR AROUND THE WOOOOOOOORRRRLLLLDDDD!!! We hadn't been to a park in so long we hadn't a chance to experience it yet, and were super excited. The queue and intro were interesting... It felt more like we were heading into Indiana Jones!!



Naturally, the ride was amazing, I squealed when we raced through Africa with elephants, we all exclaimed "WE'VE BEEN THERE!" as we soared over the Great Wall & cheered as the fireworks exploded over Shanghai. (And wondered how the endings were in the other 2 parks). I was more than happy to find they still had amazing smells & the ride was great! I THINK I honestly prefer the original, but this one's pretty cool too!!



By the time we came down from our flight, and knowing it would take a bit to get back to Fantasyland, it was time to use our fp's for a different kind of flight!

k9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

I'd heard that Peter Pan's Flight was similar, but a do not miss because it was so amazing. It was good, super cute, but aside from it being newer, I didn't see that many differences from the States parks! Another fast pass was available, and we went with Mine Train next! The morning was FLYING by, seriously!! It seemed like it was going way too fast, felt like we hadn't accomplished enough yet, especially with the park closing so early!! Lunch was on our minds, and Abby knew where she wanted to go (where we all wanted to eat at) was the Tangled Tree Tavern!

a10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
It was suuuuper cute, menu looked good too. Abby got a beef & noodle dish, Kara got the chicken, and I opted for the vegetarian. We all got "Rapunzel's refresher", a slushy drink as a treat.

k10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

a11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


As an extra treat, Abby ended up getting the souvenir cup! It was GORGEOUS gold, plastic, but not cheap, shaped like a wine GOBLET, with the sun, Rapunzel & Flynn decorated on the sides of it. I highly debated getting it as well but wasn't sure if I had enough room! The food was good, we all enjoyed our meals! The best part was the bowls though, they had a circle of purple with the Tangled sun on top of it at the very bottom. We all wished they were selling THOSE because it was super adorable!

a12 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



When the three of us were done eating, it was already time to get spots for the parade!! It was going by TOO FAST!! I mean, parade was at 2:00pm, so not as late as in Florida, but still! The parade route was super long, and we didn't have too much of a problem finding a spot in the hub for it.



It was a cute parade, Mickey's Storybook Express was the name. Catchy music, characters we knew & loved, and cute costumes for the performers.

IMG_2906 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2928 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2933 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

IMG_2942 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2945 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

v13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
v14 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2956 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

IMG_2960 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2962 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2979 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

We were particularly excited to see Flynn.

IMG_2983 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

MINE!

IMG_2987 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_2992 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
v15 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
IMG_3000 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

IMG_3013 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_3026 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
v16 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

 

[katt789]

commented that Elsa was really givin it with the ice powers today, lol.

IMG_3028 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

IMG_3042 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_3046 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_3048 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



The Mulan unit was an overall favorite, it was done so well!!

v17 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
v18 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

IMG_3059 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_3065 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

IMG_3077 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_3079 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
v19 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Overall, it was super cute, and much better than I had expected it to be, even having watched it online prior. It doesn't even come close to any of the parades currently running (minus HK as we haven't seen it at the time of writing) BUT, we really enjoyed it.



There was a Frozen Sing a Long starting shortly after the parade had finished, so it was OFF TO ARENDELLE for us! The queue was pretty nondescript in theming, I thought it almost had more of a "Festival of Fools" feel to it. Perhaps they did it like that on purpose to make it easier to re-theme if Frozen ever dies down, bahahah.



The show itself was super cute, I liked the style of it much more than the States counterparts. Naturally, it was all in Mandarin, but we still liked it. There were the same funny bits, movie scenes played up on the screen, BUT there were also dancers, more performers, and they cut down the song lengths! The BEST PART though, was that EVEN ANNA SPOKE COMPLETELY IN MANDARIN!!

IMG_3099 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_3104 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

IMG_3112 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_3126 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
IMG_3134 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Do the magic! DO THE MAGIC!

v20 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

JUST SO FREAKIN PUMPED

Guys... Anna & Elsa & Kristoff have very good friends who are NOT from Shanghai... Elsa & Kristoff had a few lines here & there, but Anna had full MONOLOGUES speaking Mandarin, it was seriously impressive.

v21 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
IMG_3142 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The cutest part came from the small, Chinese Elsa behind us; she was standing directly behind Kara & Abby's seats, hands on them, and when the second song started all we hear is this little "Do you want to build a snowman?" Sung in Mandarin & it was just TOO adorable!

 

[Mom2m&k]

Loving your report... such an awesome adventure! ThAnk you so much for sharing... I can't wait to read more!

 

[missangelalexis]

Such amazing pictures!! So cool that you got to meet Bob Iger! The boat ride looks so cute as does the parade!

 

[katt789]

Loving your report... such an awesome adventure! ThAnk you so much for sharing... I can't wait to read more!

Thank you for reading!!! Glad you're enjoying it!!

Such amazing pictures!! So cool that you got to meet Bob Iger! The boat ride looks so cute as does the parade!

Thank you!!! It was seriously amazing lol!! We were super jacked on life!! A lot of SDL was simply adorable!