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  • Day 5

    Shanghai Storm

    October 1, 2019 in China ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

    We were up and at em this morning for our second and final magic morning at Shanghai Disneyland, Another early start had us at the Hotel Guest park entrance just on 7am, but this time we were covered in ponchos and jumping puddles as forecast rain stubbornly sat over the park. We managed to fit in Buzz Lightyear, Pirates of the Caribbean and Soaring around the world within 90 minutes, which is stunning considering yesterday's wait time for Soaring Around the World by itself was 180 minutes. After this early morning ride tour de force it was time for the consumption of mass quantities, which naturally meant another visit to Remy's Pattisserie on Mickey Avenue. This has become our brunch du jour as we feast on haute cuisine, a sausage roll and giant chocolate chip cookie. I could really get accustomed to this health food. Now fully mentally and physically replenished it was time for our scheduled Fastpass ride, Seven Dwarfs Minetrain. This is a very popular ride, and even in steady rain the queue was sizable. Fortunately our Fastpass queue only took about 15 minutes and then we were flying through tunnels, roaring past dwarves and zipping by animated critters. Once I had enjoyed the company of the little people I could select a new Fastpass and the only ride I had yet to do was Roaring Rapids. This is very similar to Grizzly River Run at California Adventure, and both rides guarantee you get wet. Today that outcome was a moot point as everybody was already soaked. Jean doesn't do these rides. Too many drops and too much moisture, so she hiked back to the warmth and dryness of the hotel. I had an hour and a half to kill, so I roamed the park and Disney Town. The shops in Disney Town have followed the Disney trend of being more expensive than their counterparts anywhere else and these shops are right on trend, which means the tightass in me ain't buying anything. I'm still happy to browse though and give the shop assistants false hope. One peculiarity of the shops here is that you are greeted when you walk in and then one of the shop assistants stands beside you wherever you go in the shop. Eventually I decided to test this, so did three laps of the Superdry store as my new shadow dutifully followed. Could be a new Olympic sport!
    Eventually my Fastpass time rolled around so I trekked back across the park to Islands of Adventure and Roaring Rapids. This is a great, fun ride and my seven new Chinese chums in our raft, giggled and shrieked in all the right places as we made the most of the moment. Wandering off the raft I finally sloshed out of the park and made my way through the wind and rain to refuge of the Disneyland Hotel. So long Shanghai, it's been wonderful. Tomorrow we say Ni hao Hong Kong.
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