Zhenru

Arriving in Shanghai was layered with question marks. We only bought our tickets a few days prior and with no visa (which is mandatory) we had hoped we would qualify for the 144 hour free visa. While standing in the customs line we were aware that we might be turned away from entering. But with minimal questioning (less than entering back into the US) we were let through. Now for our true purpose here Shanghai Disneyland. After finding out that it was in fact open for Chinese New Year we quickly found out that it was sold out.
We then had a one day window before our visa expired to make it into the park. After several failed attempts at securing tickets we found out that an account must be made and a Chinese bank account was necessary. It appeared as though our efforts were in vain. That was until George stepped in. The hotel concierge using his own personal bank card secured us two tickets and armed us with all vital information for our visit.
We had arrived, and our sixth a final Disneyland park was about to be checked off the list. The entrance was lined with police barricades in long switch back formations that ended in the actual turnstile. This was our first not so subtle bit of foreshadowing. After entering the park and basking in the castle (which is enormous) and the main street area we headed for the Shanghai version of Pirates of the Caribbean. We placed ourselves in line, it was here that we learned that "line" was in fact a relative term and forward moving crowd was more appropriate. If there is a type of line other than single file I'm not aware of it, but here it exists. Any free space beside you on either side would be filled/pushed past. The only exception seemed to be when someone looked up and saw that we were foreigners and a semi wide birth would be given. This was a panic attack on a turbulent plane during a Black Friday sale. Patience was our only tool and it was being used at an alarming rate. Very near the breaking point and after what seemed like an eternity we finally boarded our boat and experienced Pirates. This ride is what I imagine my very first
ride on the original pirates was like. We glided through wide eyed and in awe the entire time leaving behind the "line" issue and finding ourselves totally immersed in this extremely convincing world. Deciding to eat immediately after our new line understanding was in fact a mistake. I found myself standing in the middle of the food court feeling unplugged from my normal grid and reinstalled backwards in an incompatible configuration like trying to play a VHS tape in a CD player truly chaotic. The remainder of the day was spend walking the park getting familiar with the layout and soaking up its attention to detail. Endured yet another "line" was just to exhausting so as night fell we perused a few gift shops (which also resembled Black Friday) interestingly enough when it came to paying people seemed less eager to push there way to the front of the line. A few metro stops and we were safely back at our hotel greeted by George and just a bit shell shocked from it all. Our sixth and final Disneyland checked off the list.Read more