Written in July 2016
Part 4 of our °o° Shanghai Disneyland Diary.
Entering the new Digital era. *Three* Are you ready. *Two* Is time for Tron. *One* Swwwoooooshhhhhh!!!!!!
Part 4!! I really wish I could sound sci-fi-ish, but I can't.. sobs. Anyway, today's post gonna be interesting cause we will be sharing our first TRON ride experiences, first thought of the fireworks show, how we got lost in Disneyland or.. lost in wonderland...hmm...? And also meeting Rapunzel, our favorite Disney Princess!
INDEX
Not fancy of long words? You can read our short summary here 1|2|3|4 and the full index here 5.Hop on the Magic Train and jump to specific parts of the post that you wish to read by clicking [Choo Choo] ヽ(✪‿✪○)ﾉ.+ﾟ*｡:ﾟ+ before the sub-title.
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Shanghai Disneyland Travelogue Pt.3
[Choo Choo] 11. TRON
[Choo Choo] 12. We got Lost
[Choo Choo] 13a. Garden of Imagination
[Choo Choo] 13b. Alice Maze & Rapunzel
[Choo Choo] 14. Ignite the Dream Fireworks
(For full index list, click here)
11.TRON LIGHTCYCLE POWER RUN
After the parade ended, we head off to Tomorrowland and ride TRON!! We planned to save the best ride tomorrow, but yoooo! Short queue in parade hours! WHY NOT????
Before going in, we have disposed our bag in the locker. The locker is located on the left-hand side of the Tron entrance, and it's free! Although you still need to insert a coin to unlock the locker, you'll get your coin back.
Since we're not FastPass holders, we went to the regular queue. Walk thru some dark areas and a transparent bridge thingy where you could get a glimpse of the Tron vehicles below you. It moves fast, and we quickly entered the super cool looking "Headquarters"!!
This place
Precisely what you've seen from the pictures, the great lights, the futuristic layout. THE TRON FEEEELLLSSSS. As fast as a heartbeat, it's already our turn. WE GOT THE LAST ROW and had no freaking idea of how this ride works. *laughs*
We got the memo to pull the handlebar towards us during the final check-up. As you pulled the handlebar, the back support "thingy" will be followed, and press on to your back to hold you in place. So it was secure and safe to goooooo! Oh, you will find it safe and very comfortable tooooooo :D
TRON: LIGHTCYCLE POWER RUN [10/10]Thrill Level: ★★☆ | Our Wait Time: appx. 25 mins
Pure excitement. Pure happiness, and a little bit afraid. (STRONG GRIP LMAO).
Tron Lightcycle Power Run is a high-speed dark roller coaster ride where you straddle the Lightcycles and lean forward like you're on a racing motorcycle. The bike is very similar to the one in the movies. It has a pretty blue neon glow and a small compartment to store your phone/smaller objects.
Went out, went in glide and turns. To kick it up a notch, the Imagineers even add unique lighting and graphic effects giving us a full 360 experience throughout the ride. The visual was stunning; there's like a projection on the wall or everywhere, it gives an illusion that we were in an endless space. It felt as if we've turned into pixels entering into a sci-fi video game from the future. While riding Tron for the first time, we never expect it could be THAT FAST, we were surprised! Picture above. Too fast that it only lasts about 1 min.
Tron is an excellent replacement to Space Mountain since the ride isn't available in Shanghai, both of them are fast and beautiful in the dark;. However, Tron allows you to have memorable, thrilling experiences, the duration is shorter than Space Mountain. Overall, we love the ride! Please try it if you have the chance to go to SHDL.
Great Tron photo spot! Check out the dynamic architecture!
12. WE GOT LOST
Not far from Tomorrowland, there is an entrance to Downtown Disney. We decided to take a look until... We LOST EACH OTHER!!! We were busy in our biz and doesn't aware of our surroundings, Lin's phone battery was dead, and Von's was close-to-death. So calling each other might be a little…difficult. What about charging the phone eh?? funny...our phone cables were LEFT IN THE HOTEL!!!!
"WHERE ARE YOU?!" - the only question repetitively popped up in our head. Except for Von, she added the F-word in between.
We searched from Downtown Disney to Marvel Academy to Mickey Avenue. Along with funny and awkward conversations with the CM, such as, "Do you saw a girl with Spiderman Ears walk by??" "I lost my sister, what should I do?" "She is 20+" "Oh, we only search for kids below 12" LMFAO. To get lost in the largest Disneyland and most populated country globally, especially with our Asian FACE bonus. It might take hours to get back to each other.
Then we have this twin telepathy thing going on.
Lin kept hoping Von to be in the locker room while Von keeps cursing her to come to the Locker room. So, when Von walked out from the lockers... BAM! Lin was walking towards it. We spot each other at the same time!!! AHHHHH FUCKNALLY! WE REUNITED! HELLL YEAHHH! NOW WE CAN GET BACK ON TRACK!!
Enchanted Storybook Castle at 4pm.
13. GARDEN OF IMAGINATION, ALICE MAZE & RAPUNZEL
It took 30mins-45mins to reunite at Mickey Avenue. From there, the evening glow on the castle was breathtaking! We took a few shots of the castle, and with the Photopass Photographer's help, we had this fantastic shot!
After the hectic morning, we decided to chill around Garden of Imagination and have a quick stroll at Alice in Wonderland Maze (which is located at Fantasyland) as well.
Walk along with the Garden of the Twelve Friends, a mosaic art series of the Chinese Zodiac in Disney Characters. We are born in the year of Rooster, so Alan-A-Dale is our Pal.
Once Upon a time...
ALICE IN WONDERLAND MAZE [6/10]
Fantasy Level: ★★☆ | Our Wait Time: appx. 5 mins
Choose a door and entered Tim Burton's world of Alice in Wonderland. Meander through the mysterious, whimsical garden and met the one and only Cheshire Cat. Bow down to the Queen of Hearts (well, not really) and "headed" over to Mad Hatter's Tea party! Accompanied by an interactive experience and beautiful decorations, this attraction is worth a walk.
There's also a tall hedge maze in the wonderland, we joke about walking a different path of the maze and meet at the end, but we do not want to take the risk hahaha. The tea party seems pretty chaotic with the kids mad hating around, it's hard to get a decent photo there. Nevertheless, we got our magic passport stamped and still feels like a winner! Visiting here in the evening was lovely, our thought would be better at night because it creates more Tim Burton's vibe.
Coming out from Alice's. WE SPOT RAPUNZEL'S MEET AND GREET. OH MY GOSH, BEST DAY EVERRRRRRR????!!! We hurry queue for her, hoping there is no Princess exchange in between.
RAPUNZEL [10/10]
Best-day-ever Level: ★★★ | Our Wait Time: appx. 25 mins
Someone cue the kingdom dance because we met Punzyyy! ╰(*´︶`*)╯
Von went first and told Punzie, "You are my favorite Princess!". Rapunzel gave her a thank you hug, and she goes "Oh! I like your hair, they have so many colors!" Von responded with glee, "I like yours too, they have so many flowers!" They giggled, and so on.
Lin asked about Flynn, then Rapunzel corrected her, "oh, you mean Eugene?" and did the Smolder WHAT?! we didn't ask for this! (New bucket list: see Flynn/Eugene do the smoulder) Our conversations ended with a meet up at snuggling duckling, with the order fitzherburger.
Rapunzel is our favorite princess, maybe she's someone we relate to the most. Conversation with her feels really fun, it's like we have that magic tink going on, where we could just chit chat forever. (Tell us it doesn't sound weird )
We got a stamp on our magical passport too, personally by the cast member tho because the machine was overheated. With this summer heat and crowded park, who wouldn't know?
14. “IGNITE THE DREAM” FIREWORKS // DAY-1 VIEW
We decide to wait for the fireworks at about 7pm, we choose a pretty far distance to watch the fireworks for Day 1 because we thought the fireworks (and pictures) will look better with this lake view. While waiting, we sat and tested a few shots. We were a little worried about whether we have to watch sitting down because the view is horrible from that angle, but yeah, eventually everyone stands up.
If you watch the fireworks behind the lake, it will be something like this.
IGNITE THE DREAM FIREWORKS [10/10]Entertain Level: ★★★ | Our Wait Time: appx. 1 hour
THE SHOW
Disney never fails to impress us. Their firework show will always be the best we've seen.
It started off with Mickey, as he opens up a spark of magic that transports him to a journey of adventures from The Lion King to the Little Mermaid and many other Disney movies. Of course, the show is accompanied by songs and soundtrack from each of the films and incredible fireworks display transitioning one part of the story with another. There is also a water display in front of the castle, but we couldn't see it from here. It was less princessy compared to the other fireworks show we have seen a very balance between boys and girls. We really want to watch it the second time, especially in a closer look.
THE VIEW
Viewing from far away, the display is a teeny small, but it is still bearable and clear enough to see what's going on. Watching the fireworks far away still has its perks. We can view everything in one frame and able to capture the entire thing with our cameras.
Tho, standing behind a lake helps at giving a photogenic shot/view. However, we still tend to zoom into the castle during the fireworks show, as you can see from most of our blog posts. *laughs*.
OUR THOUGHTS
In our humble opinion, "Ignite the Dream" fireworks or the show's title/concept somehow represents the park's success and achievement. Shanghai Disneyland is a new discovery, a new adventure, and a new challenge to all, it became another "living proof" that imagination and dreams do come true if you work hard and believe in it. To celebrate their success, they wanted to inspire more dreamers by igniting the sparks within this spectacular firework show. (get it? The fire in the fireworks ignite the spark in the dreamers).
Okay, we don't know how we got that thought, but that's how we felt. It may be wrong or not exactly what it means, so as we say, just our opinion.
After the show, the castle has flowers projecting on it and plays the music "Ignite the dreamers within" which is their official song written primarily for the grand opening. It's also played and projected during the grand opening broadcast.
After taking 1 or 2-night photos with the castle, we head to Mickey Avenue for some shopping. We wander there for an hour or more but to leave with only 1 item purchase... It's pretty unbelievable to think about it. There are definitely many items to shop for, and it's wasn't that expensive compared to HK & JP. Wonder why our shopping mood isn't there, guess we're all worn out... *TOTAL REGRET*. But yeah, we didn't feel bad at that moment, we're still amazed by the experience we had in SHDL and went back to our Toy Story Hotel on cloud nine.
Credits: Tron: Anavar DA || Rapunzel: RevPixy DA
Other Pixels: engrampixel.co.vu || Kaomoji: japaneseemoticons.me
* // DISCLAIMER: All information we share in this blog is based on our personal experiences during our visit to Shanghai Disneyland in June 2016. Information we share might change / not be accurate during the time of your visit. We advise our readers to use our information as a basic guideline/ for references only. We are not associated with the Walt Disney Company and any other entertainment company. All characters belong to Disney. All photographs (unless otherwise stated) contained on this site are our own, taken by us (fattybunbun.blogspot.com). This means that we reserve the rights to all photos taken and posted by us. The purpose of this blog is to document and share our Disney experience with the readers.//*
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