Shanghai Disneyland News And Updates

Any news about why Roaring Rapids still isn't open to guests?

 

I didn't know the Chinese like to get wet. The Japanese sure don't.

 

Japanese guests don't mind getting wet if they have plenty of notice. TDR has some incredibly wacky summer shows that pretty much exist only to get the crowd soaking wet (with designated dry zones as well, and some people wear ponchos) that are very popular. Splash Mountain is drier than the US versions and has adjustable effects, but that's mostly because of how cold it gets in winter


Although the jets appear to be vertical, they're actually launching at about a 45-degree angle into the audience



That said, the Chinese market is very different from Japan. I'm sure we'll learn all sorts of interesting trends in what they do/don't like once the park opens, but I suspect that getting wet on a water ride won't be much of an issue, at least during Shanghai's oppressive summer weather

 

Fortune Magazine posted an article about the Imagineer of SDL's Tomorrowland.

This Man Built Shanghai Disney's Tomorrowland

 

This is one bautiful Starbucks location

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.co.at/2016/06/discover-shanghai-disneyland-disneytown.html

 

I guess most Starbucks locations aren't very big, but that one doesn't seem overly huge to me (considering it's one of the biggest in the world). Counting outdoor space, it seems like the one in DTD Anaheim is nearly as large

I don't drink coffee, but I frequented the Starbucks near my hotel when I was in Shanghai. It was one of the few places open early enough in the morning to get breakfast before our tours left each day. I try not to eat at US chains when I'm in another country, but it was nice to have a familiar breakfast toward the end of a long trip and I was just happy that they were actually open!

 

The Hollywood Reporter posted an article about TWDC adding another 800 million US Dollars to the resort.

Walt Disney Co. Sets $800M Expansion of Shanghai Theme Park on Eve of Opening

Since Tom Staggs is mentioned in the artcile, this must be old news, since he is no longer with the company. A few months ago TWDC alredy announced the 800 million Dollar expansion, so I guess THR is either very late on that topic, or they just wanted to post something about SDL, since it's opening tomorrow.

 

Since there are so many Starbucks locations in the US, Starbucks is nothing special for Americans, but for us it still is. I like Starbucks a lot, because the coffee is quite good and reasonable priced. I don't like the speciality coffees, I always get either an iced coffee or just the regular Pike Place Roast, and so it's good to know to get a decent coffee in the same quality around the world.

We once wanted to get a coffee from Starbucks at DTD Anaheim, but the lines were too long. It's a big location, but apparently not big enough. I guess that's why they are going to open a second location at DTD in summer. We alsways got our coffee from the Starbucks next to our motel.

Since we are already on the Starbucks topic, in my opinion Starbucks is a great addition to the Disney Parks, especially inside the themeparks. I know many are against that, but at least at WDW and DLP the coffees from Nestle that were available inside, tasted really badly. So Starbucks is a huge improvement and at WDW and DL they are nicely themed and you have to look carefully to realize that they are Starbucks coffee houses. So hopefully DLP will also get a Starbucks inside the parks.

Do you know, if SDL features a Starbucks inside the park? Tokyo, Hong Kong and Paris don't as far as I know.

 

I always thought that the opening ceremony of the park is tomorrow, but apparently there's alsready something happening today. Here's a live stream to a concert in front of the castle.

 

I watched the video online earlier, but just got through watching the Disney Channel special. It was basically the exact same concert thing, but cut down for time slightly

The real difference was that they decided to have one of the current Disney Channel stars (Sofia Carson?) do voiceovers to clue the audience in on the action. Except that the chatter was non-stop, and really only said things that were completely obvious. Instead of telling us useful information, like who some of the performers were, she just said things like "Oooh! Now the castle looks like it's frozen!", as if we couldn't see that for ourselves. It was a very strange TV special, but I definitely got the impression that the in-park stuff was not intended for American audiences at all

 

TRON Realm coming to SDL

Shanghai Disney unveil TRON Realm, Chevrolet Digital Challenge interactive experience

 

I guess that's what's going in that mysterious office building between the Tron show building and the guest walkways. It looks and sounds suspiciously similar to the Test Track post show area where you can create additional cars and "drive" them, but I guess it could be fun even without the ride element

 

Concept art of a Main Street that never was.

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.co.at/2016/10/shanghai-disneyland-concept-art-of-main.html

 

A covered Main Street would have been cool. Too bad they cheeped out. I think Disney would have lost their shirt if they did any more than they did to SDL considering the cost overruns.

 

The covered World Bazaar in Tokyo is convenient for bad weather, but it really lacks any of the charm of the other Main Streets around the world. It just feels like you're in any old shopping mall from the 80's (but with fancy facades on the stores); it's not an especially great theme park environment

I don't know what winters in Shanghai are like, but considering how swelteringly hot and humid the summers get, I can't imagine a glass-enclosed space would have been enjoyable for much of the year. I've never been so uncomfortably hot as the days I spent at the Shanghai Expo in 2010, when people were sprawling out in any air conditioned space available (mostly the walkways of the shared indoor pavilions) to rest and escape the heat for a while

That said, I like that this concept art shows some transportation for the park entrance complex. I'm not sure if there are any vehicles that run in Mickey Avenue, but there certainly aren't any trolley tracks, which takes away some of the lived-in feeling that (most of) the other Main Streets have

 

I'm also glad, that they didn't cover Mickey Avenue. DLP faces cold winter months and an open Main Street just adds so much to the whole atmosphere.

I've just looked at some World Bazar pictures from TDL and in my opinion it looks a bit tacky. In general TDL doesn't look very beautiful compared to the other DL parks. Judging from pictures isn't the best way, but I couldn't help to notice, that it looks old and dated, but very clean and well maintained. Maybe I've looked at old pictures, but especially Fantasyland is in need for a redo, which is happening soon. Especially Dumbo looks terrible.

 

Isn't TDL mostly a direct copy of the MK?

 

Judging from pictures isn't always the best, but in this case it sounds like you've got it right. The park is impeccably maintained and operated, but a lot of the buildings look exactly like they did on opening day, for better or worse. The park was designed to have huge walkways to absorb crowds and provide a contrast to the cramped spaces in Tokyo, but that also meant that it lost a lot of its charm along the way

Most of TDL's opening day line-up was copied directly either from DL or MK. Because the "best" Imagineers at the time were all tied up getting Epcot built, they had a B-squad that was assigned to TDL. Much of their work was copying old blueprints and converting the measurements into metric so that they could be built in Japan. For Mickey Mouse Revue, they even packed up the actual attraction from MK and sent it to TDL, leaving the MK space to become a 3D theater as a semi-temporary solution to fill the void

Walking through the park, it's sort of like a "greatest hits" of DL and MK circa 1980. You've got MK's Tomorrowland promenade (sans PeopleMover) with DL's Space Mountain at the end. DL's Pirates is next to MK's Crystal Palace, which is next to DL's Plaza Pavilion, which is just across the way from MK's castle. It has DL's Tom Sawyer Island (pre-Fantasmic! and pre-lawyer takeover), but Frontierland largely feels unique due to the configuration of the Western River Railroad, Big Thunder complex, and Splash Mountain complex, all of which are rather different from their US counterparts. It has some unique areas, like the Adventureland restaurant area, the northern half of Tomorrowland (remember the park is oriented "upside down" from the US) and World Bazaar, but it's largely an odd mish-mash of what you can find elsewhere, with unique elements scattered in for good measure

Of course, none of that is to say that TDL isn't worth a visit. The cast members are incredible, entertainment is top notch, and everything really does look like it just opened and is in perfect condition. It's really incredible to see what a Disney theme park can be like (and used to be like), all at about 60% of the price of a ticket to one of the US parks.

 

Since you have been to all Disney parks, except SDL, how would you rate TDL against the other Disneyland parks in terms of attractions and the overall look/feeling?

 

From an attractions standpoint, it's got a very solid lineup. It doesn't have as many attractions at DL, but none of them do. It typically has the better version of cloned attractions, and all the effects work perfectly and everything looks brand new; I never realized how fluffy the AAs on Splash Mountain were supposed to be until after seeing the well-maintained ones in Tokyo. The overall line-up is at least as strong as MK or DLP; even on a day of moderate crowds, I think it would be tough to see all the attractions in a single day.

Visually, the park lacks the charm that most others have. I think it would be most shocking for people who are accustomed to DL or DLP, both of which are filled with lovely detailed spaces. In a lot of ways, it feels like Epcot's Future World, with wide open paths and large buildings that are spaced far apart; it works well for Future World, but it does lack some of the "magic" that the other castle parks have. This is made even more apparent with TDS right next door, featuring some of the best theming on the planet

If you're "in the neighborhood", it's definitely worth checking out. If you only have one day, I would do TDS and skip TDL, but TDL also has a lot to offer; it's got some very unique features, even if they aren't always what we expect or prefer