Disney around the World - Day 6 Part 1 - Shanghai Disneyland 2018/10/19

It's the 6th day of our big Disney trip and we're in Shanghai China going to Disneyland! 

The kids are still working to get on the right time schedule here. Today they woke up at 5:20am. We hung out in the room for a while, getting showers and waking up until we finally left the room at 6:45am. From there we headed through the gardens at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel towards the walking path to the park. 

Just across the water, you'll find Disneyland. 

This walking path has been great! No need to wait for the ferry boat to pick us up. 

The kids can get out and stretch their legs. 

And we can see the fish down in the water below. Tomorrow we might need to bring some crackers or something. 

Our first stop of the day. The Downtown Disney Starbucks. 

With coffee cups growing outside. 

We placed our order then I went to wander around. 

There's an upstairs for when it gets busy. 

A coffee tumbler wall. 

There's Ruston and Jacob! 

We hopped in line for the parks at 7:10am, which was quite a bit earlier than yesterday. 

As a result, we are quite a bit closer to the front today too. 

The kids enjoyed their chocolate muffin from Starbucks, and we passed the time in line playing Disney Tsum Tsum games on my phone. 

It is getting really full behind us. A couple people are pushing through and cutting the line, but what can you do? 

A guy and two girls pushed through us, but the lady in front of us wasn't having any more of it. Even though I couldn't understand the language, she was really telling them off. After talking amongst themselves, the guy pushed on through and just didn't stop. The girls didn't try again and just resigned themselves to being there. 

We know from yesterday that they don't open security until exactly 8am. With just a few minutes to go, and with hundreds of people behind us, Alli says "I have to go potty!" Lovely.

I handed all my stuff to Theresa and hop the fence barrier because it's the closest way out of the queue. I stepped over another barrier with Alli in my arms trying to make my way out of the area. I made my way over to where there were guards stationed by one of the breaks in the barrier and after asking a couple times for "bathroom" I was directed to the boathouse near the walking path. Whew! We made it in time! But now the challenge is to get back in! 

I knew our queue was quite full, but what I couldn't see was a whole other area where the people behind them had to wait. Hundreds or even thousands more people were queued after that, I knew that if I had to get in line there, it would be 30-45 minutes until I got in. I went back up to the same guard and the same barrier where we were let out. At first he was waving no, no, then maybe he recognized Alli's pink jacket or something, and he let us back in. Whew! 

Because I had left all my things with Theresa, I was directed to a line for people with no bags, and I breezed right on through security, getting inside even before the rest of the group made it in. 

Ruston hopped in line to get his cast member tickets while I kept the kids occupied, stealing an idea from Ruston, making Mickey out of leaves. With tickets in hand, we headed into the park! 

We're in! 

Main Street is filling up with people! 

The goal today is to go on rides that we missed yesterday, 

I wonder what the story is behind this shop with the ship bow, mast, and sail on top. 

Our first stop is in Tomorrowland, which is oddly to the left as you're walking down Main Street. In all the other parks, I think it's to the right. 

Who is tall enough (just the adults), and doesn't get motion sick (just Jacob and I), to ride the Jet Packs?

This looks like a Dumbo ride for adults. 

You control the up and down with these buttons apparently. 

I had my phone in my shirt pocket to take a photo before we launched. The cast member saw it and made me put it in a holding bin. She didn't make Jacob take his out of his pocket, but once we got going it was way too fast to consider pulling out a phone. It may look like a Dumbo ride, but it spins a lot faster! 

While Jacob and I were on that, Ruston, Theresa, and the kids went off to Buzz Lightyear. The grounds here look beautifully maintained. 

Lots of water and green plants. 

Almost like a combination of Epcot and Magic Kingdom together. 

Then it was on to Buzz Lightyear where T put up a high score. 

And after exiting through the gift shop, someone was there to give the kids candy. 

Ruston figured, since he's here in Shanghai, he might as well meet his boss. 

Hello Mickey! 

While he did that, Jacob and I took the kids to ride Dumbo, which also has an interesting placement, and not what we're used to. Instead of being behind the castle somewhere, it's in front of the castle! 

After waiting in a very short line, we made it to the front! Alli got to pick a pink Dumbo!

And right in front of us is Jacob and Ian in their teal Dumbo. 

Yep, there we are, in front of the castle. 

It's a stretch for the littles to reach the controls to make Dumbo fly higher, but they both had a fun time. 

Looking towards the massive castle. 

Look this way Alli! Uh, thanks for the help Ian. 

And before we leave, we've got to make sure we take some pictures in front of the castle. 

Gotta take some pictures for the Christmas cards. 

So fun to be able to travel and do things like this with our friends. 

Let's head over to the next ride. 

Over to Peter Pan's Flight. We had a FastPass, but the line was so short we didn't even need it. It would have been faster to go through the regular line than to wait for people to scan their FP and go in. At least right now, this ride has nowhere near the popularity of the Peter Pan rides in Orlando or Anaheim. 

Oh, and make sure you're sober when you go on this ride. 

And I don't know why. This ride has a great combination of animatronics and digital screens and it all comes together really well. 

I like how even though it's the same story that's been told multiple times at multiple parks, the imagineers change things up. Here Peter Pan is shaking Tinker Bell's fairy dust over Wendy, Michael, and John to help them fly. 

After Peter Pan, it was time to use our other FastPass of the day for Snow White's Mine Train! 

Yesterday was Alli's first time on a big roller coaster and she wasn't sure she liked it. She was a bit nervous about going on it again today. We talked about what was scary to her, and she said it was the drops. 

I told her that I could hold on to her and we spent the next few minutes comparing hug sizes to see what would be enough. 

Cute girl. 

She's got a good hold of me, but she's brave enough to do it again. 

Sitting in front of Jacob and Ian, I was able to get fun pictures like this. 

Ian loves these kinds of rides. 

At the end of the ride, before pulling into the station, we see a bunny sticking its head out of a log. 

But it's Dopey! And a couple other critters too! 

And afterwards, Alli said that she liked the ride this time, and thought Dopey was funny at the end. Great! I hope you can go on more rides like this later!

We'll end it there for now, and pick it up in the next post.