Shanghai March 2019 - Day 6

We were rained out on our 2nd day at Disneyland. But still managed to enjoy.

On our way into Tomorrowland, we saw 2 ladies dressed as cleaners drawing on the floor. Turned out that they were artists!

Our first ride for the day - Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue. We enjoyed so much that we went a 2nd time! Also, we only had to queue for 5 min for the ride.

After that, Daddy went for the TRON Lightcycle Power Run, a ride that Gillian and Lun Cheak raved about a lot. The kids were too scared to try, so I stayed with them while Daddy went to get his adrenaline rush. He came back really high!

While Daddy was at the TRON ride, the kids and I found a nice spot to wait for the parade to start. The Disney parade is always a highlight at Disneyland. We were about half an hour early because from previous Disneyland experiences, people start to chope places as early as an hour before, so as to get a good view.

But 20 min before the start of the parade, the sky started to darken, and the park announced that due to the weather, they would change Mickey's Storybook Express, which we assume is the full parade, to Meet the Disney Characters. I thought that perhaps meant they would showcase less floats. Turned out there were only 2 floats, with maybe 10 Disney characters. So disappointing!

Shortly after the 5-min parade, it started to drizzle. We sought shelter at TRON Realm, and had to stay there for quite a while coz the rain became heavier. Thankfully TRON Realm had quite a few entertaining games.

When the rain became lighter, we decided to venture out to Alice in Wonderland Maze. On the way, we saw that all the outdoor rides were empty, coz it's so wet.

After lunch, we caught the Tarzan show, which was amazing. Disneyland shows and performances are always great, but this one incorporated Chinese acrobatics as well. Very nice, very entertaining. 

After the show, we went for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride - closest indoor ride. This one, we had to queue for about 20 min. Probably because everybody was just going for indoor rides. We also went for the Pirates of the Carribean ride again, also because it's indoor, but that one was really exciting.

Then, shopping, or rather, window-shopping, and having fun trying out the hats and accessories.

This trip sure showed that Nadine and Aaron are growing up, not little children anymore. After browsing around the shops for quite a long time, they decided that there was nothing "worth" buying. And we convinced them to reserve their shopping budget for Lego. Very easy deal to strike because there's a Lego shop at DisneyTown.

In the end, Daddy was the only person who bought stuff from Disneyland! 1 Iron Man t-shirt and a Disney cap, but this one, but a "normal" one, as his jacket didn't have a hood to cover his head from the rain.

As the kids were shopping in the Lego shop, Daddy decided to do a bit of research on the prices, and realised that the prices are way higher than in Singapore! Had to persuade the kids to reserve their shopping for when we get back to Singapore.

Although we'd stuffed ourselves silly at Crystal Jade, Daddy and Nadine insisted that we had to go eat cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory. Aaron decided that he was still hungry, and ordered a pasta. No regrets with our orders at all. The humongous plate of pasta was super delicious, and the cheesecakes were heavenly.

Overall, Shanghai and Shanghai Disneyland really exceeded our expectations.

Shanghai Disneyland, had rides not found in other Disneylands, amazing shows, and best of all, DisneyTown where we could find good food. One other thing we didn't encounter in other Disneylands - touts selling tickets, Disney stuff, and even raincoats! They were pretty discreet though. Only big disappointment was not catching a full parade.

One other unexpected good thing that came out of this Shanghai trip - the kids got hooked on a Chinese cartoon over the 2 nights that we were at Novotel, and when they came back to Singapore, they were so much more willing to watch Chinese programs! Yay!

We enjoyed Shanghai so much that Daddy and I decided it's worth another visit some time in the future!

Shanghai March 2019 - Day 5

Day 5, we checked out of Sweetome and moved to Novotel Shanghai Clover Hotel in Pudong, near Disneyland. It was between Novotel and Disney's Toy Story Hotel. But Toy Story Hotel's room was half the size of the Novotel room, and more expensive.

The moment we walked into our Novotel room, we knew we'd made the right choice. The room was huge, with 2 queen size beds, and a children's corner with a tent! The kids loved it. Aaron even slept in the tent for 1 night! 

Very quickly after checking into the hotel, we went to Shanghai Disneyland. As advised by Gillian and Lun Cheak, we had lunch outside at Disneytown before going into the park. Had an excellent Japanese lunch.

We were expecting huge crowds even though the Shanghai Disneyland app showed that queues at most of the rides were short. But there was no crowd at all! Probably the emptiest Disneyland we'd ever been to! 1st time we could take somewhat empty shots without loads of people in the background!

We managed to do 4 rides, all with 5-15 min waiting time only: Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Voyage to the Crystal Grotto, Hunny Pot Spin and Pirates of the Caribbean Battle for the Sunken Treasure. 

Also caught the Eye of the Storm: Captain Jack's Stunt Spectacular show. Even though the dialogue was all in Mandarin, the kids enjoyed the show very much because there was so much action and the set was so impressive.

By the time we finished the show, it was starting to turn dark, even though it was barely 6pm. Was nice to see the attractions light up.

We went out to Disneytown for dinner. There were so many restaurants to choose from: Breadtalk, Crystal Jade, Xin Wang, Wolfgang Puck, The Cheesecake Factory, etc, and even a Food Republic! We went to Food Republic for the variety of food.

We finished dinner by 7pm, and still had plenty of time before the fireworks at 8.30pm. So we went to Gardens of Imagination for Aaron to meet the various Marvel heroes.

I was slightly disappointed with the fireworks. It was more a light show than fireworks. Very high tech, but not quite the magical disney fireworks we had anticipated. Too little fireworks.

Still, it was a nice, magical ending to the day.

Shanghai March 2019 - Day 4

Day 4 was nice and sunny again.

We set out for the Shanghai Natural History Museum. Decided to take the metro, instead of jumping into a taxi. Good decision, because we sort of got lost, and by chance, ended up in front of the Starbucks Reserve Roastery!

This Starbucks is not like any other Starbucks. It is roasts coffee beans for the Starbucks outlets in Shanghai. Besides being a roastery, it is also a cafe, bakery, souvenir shop and tea shop. 

It's a huge place, and sells a huge variety of coffee - not just the usual frappucino. Its bakery sells freshly baked bread and pastries. Looked really yummy, but we'd just had breakfast and didn't have space for any more food. The 2nd floor is a tea shop, all kinds of herbal tea.

The shop sells a huge variety of coffee mugs, cups, coffee makers, clothes, bags, etc, etc. Very interesting.

After our lovely cup of coffee, we took a nice stroll to the Natural History Museum, walking pass the Jing'an Sculpture Park.

The rows of plum blossom lining the walkway were beautiful! No need to go to Japan to see sakura!

The Shanghai Natural History Museum was way better than we'd expected.

It had a pretty good range of displays, although we were not sure if some of the fossils were real. Again, what impressed us most was the English signages. Very good explanations and translations.

It was quite a big place and many halls. We could have spent more time, except there were a few groups of school children, making so much noise that we had to get out of there.

From the museum, we walked out to the main road, hoping to get a cab. But every cab that came by was occupied. And as we walked further, we stumbled upon a noodle shop. So we decided to have lunch. The noodles were excellent!

After lunch, we proceeded to 大世界. It was the first, and for a long time, the most popular amusement park in Shanghai. At one point during the war, it was a refuge for Chinese fleeing the fighting in the Chinese and Japanese zones.

Today, the old building has been restored, and is a culture center showcasing various Chinese art and culture.

This guzheng artist did not just play music. She explained the art of guzheng music and its history as well!

There was a 变脸 performance too, which we unfortunately missed. By the time we got to the room, the performance was over, and the artist was explaining the art of 变脸, which was boring for the kids because they couldn't understand him.

Next was shopping - first at the 4-storey Nike flagship store, then at the Lego shop next to it.

By the time we were done shopping, we were tired and famished. Went back to the hotel to leave our shopping and then headed out to a nearby Italian restaurant for a nice hot pasta meal. End of Day 4.