Fascinating. How did you approach the CM and did you have to do the I'm-a-foreigner-need-help-please dance with the eyes and hands? And where were you?
Interesting that Disneytown was deserted at lunch… From my research I’m starting to think that a lot of the domestic Chinese like to picnic or bring their own stuff into the park, perhaps in front of the castle. We’re hoping to do lunch somewhere in the park and then dinner in Disneytown - but we're worried about how busy it'll be and if we should figure out how to make reservations. At least getting out and in is easy. What day of the week did you go?
Mark
For the WiFi, we went to a small customer service kiosk. It was just a CM standing in a little hut with a bunch of maps and times guides. We needed one of them, can't remember which, so we stopped. While we were there, I figured I'd ask the CM about the WiFi. I don't remember exactly where the kiosk was, but it was probably back around Pirates. That was our first ride and we got WiFi not long after that. Maybe between Pirates and Challenge Trails. ETA: It must have been between those two. We did not have WiFi when we did Pirates and the second thing we did was Challenge Trails and we had Wifi while my wife waited for me to do that.
The CM spoke good English, so it was easy. I asked how to get on WiFi and he said we had to enter a mainland number. I said we didn't have one and he said, excitedly, "But I do!" and whipped out his phone. He asked to see my phone and I handed it over. He had the PIN sent to his number, then entered it into my phone for me. Then he asked for my wife's phone and did the same.
We were there on July 4th last year, a Tuesday. It was a sold out day as was most of the week before our trip. We didn't eat dinner in Disneytown, so I don't know what that would have been like. It was a crazy end of the day, though. A nasty storm went through in mid afternoon and shut down most of the rides and emptied the park early.
Oh my goodness - such great info!!!
A few other flight tips - keep your umbrella with you and out. They will inspect that, too. And everyone there has one. DSLRs and lenses also needed to be separate. At two of the three airports we flew out of, they inspected my DSLR and lenses... very closely.
At two of the airports, they let you take liquids on the plane - just like in the US, you couldn't take them through security, but anything you purchased on the air-side, you could take on. When we flew out of Beijing, they wouldn't let any liquids on the plane. Even if you bought it at the duty free shop. It didn't make sense why they'd sell it to you, then not let you take it on. There was a small note that they gave you in your ticket jacket that explained that you couldn't take liquids on and we noticed that right away. I looked in the duty free shop and didn't see any notes telling you that. It could have been a restriction just if you were flying to the US, not sure. That would explain the lack of signs and the selling of bottles that you couldn't carry.
Well, when the fam and I went to Disney Paris, we were quickly put off by all the smoking and selfie sticks and all, despite ample signage advocating the contrary. I think if you go in understanding why it is the way it is, versus dreading it, I think it'll be a fair ways to remembering the good parts instead of the annoying. We got over it in Paris (but all of us being fluent in French didn't hurt), and overall came away satisfied from that one.
Personally, I'm most worried about the public defecation (in the park and out) and the line jumping. I do get how both evolved, and credit the Chinese government for at least trying to change things, but there's well over a billion people to convince and no time limit to do it. When we did Tokyo Disney Sea, it was easy to realize a line jumper was a Chinese tourist compared to the throngs of orderly and patient Japanese Disney goers, but here will be an exercise in patience.
I grew up in an Asian family (my wife didn't) and know a lot of the bluntness and he-who-is-loudest-is-right aspects common to many Asian cultures; so hopefully I can help buffer things if/when they get annoying. And failing that, there's always yelling at the line jumpers in unintelligible random English words.
Alas, I'm unable to convince my wife that Roarin' Rapids would be a dry ride, after she was the one between us that got soaked on Splash Mountain.
I personally don't mind it! But as they say, happy wife, happy day at Disney. OTOH, we did Everest four times at WDW during our honeymoon, once with the FP, then the remaining times when the lines disappeared at the end of the day. I've only ever done single rider once at the INdiana Jones ride in Paris, and was in and out in twenty minutes; hoping Tron will be a similar fun time because I am NOT missing that one!
Mark
Smoking - I really don't remember seeing much in SDL. If we did, it wasn't anything that stuck out to us.
Public 'elimination' - didn't see any signs of that at SDL. We saw it on the side of a highway somewhere - I think in Beijing headed to The Great Wall - but nothing at Disney.
Trash - saw a little trash. First thing in the morning, we were in the ticket line and a guy grabbed a map from the wall. Looked at it for less than about 8 seconds, crumpled it, and threw it in the bushes. We figured the rest of the say would be like that, but we didn't really see it. We saw a few garbage cans that didn't look to be full, but there was trash on the ground around them or just sitting on top. Some of the queues had trash in them, but not as bad as we expected. In fact, we went to Magic Kingdom for the Christmas party this past December and the queue for SDMT was much worse than what we saw in SDL.
Line jumping - we didn't really experience this to the degree that we expected, either. There were a few incidents of 'no personal space', but it was worse on the metro than in the queues (note: we had the Fast Pass package thing, so we only stood in a few standby lines - maybe those are worse?). The only time we got jumped was in the Peter Pan line. We were looking around and didn't notice the line had moved up. The people behind us just slid into the opening - which was probably 6' or so. We just took it as a lesson learned and made sure to pay closer attention.
In the line for the Challenge Trails, there was a 3-generation group behind me: grandmother, mother, and son (probably about 5). I was in that line by myself and figured I'd have to deal with jumping since I didn't have a partner to help block. The boy kept squeezing in front of me and the mom would yell and he'd come back. Mostly, I think he was just trying to see what was ahead and not following some 'it's okay to line jump' standard. I turned and smiled at the mom and tried to indicate that it was okay... and she said she was sorry he was doing that. I said it was fine and that was the end of that. He did it a few more times, but no big deal.
You get to a point in that line where you get fitted for a harness. The people in front of me were slower than I was (being that they were a group as opposed to me being solo) and I stood back and waited for them to get fit. I didn't want to line jump even though I think it would have been appropriate even in the States. One of the group looked at me and waived me ahead.
Roarin Rapids - I hate getting wet on rides. At WDW, I'll ride Splash, but desperately hope I won't get wet. At Universal, I'll ride Jurassic Park. I won't ride Kali or Bluto's or Dudley Do-Right. I don't mind it when there is a
chance of getting wet; I hate it when there is a
guarantee that you will get wet.
We road Roarin Rapids and I mostly enjoyed it - it spun. A LOT. Which I don't like, either.
You sit in groups of two and there are openings on either side of each of you. There were two young girls (maybe 8 or 10) two groups from my left. Early in the ride, a wave came up through the opening next to them and got one of them wet. The other girl laughed at her friend that got wet and I kind of smiled and chuckled a little bit. Later in the ride, a huge wave came through the opening next to me and soaked my right side - from top to bottom. Also went behind me and down my back. The little girls pointed at me and laughed hard. lol I had a map in my back right pocket and it was like a large spitball when I got off the ride.
It was super hot that day, so it wasn't so bad and I dried quickly. My wife was next to me and she didn't get a drop on her. Only the one girl and I ended up getting wet, so it's very hit or miss.
Lockers - When we were there, the Tron lockers were free while you rode. It looks like that is no longer the case.
We didn't see the lockers for Roarin Rapids, but it looks like those are free.
On the Challenge Trails, you can't take anything in your pockets. There are two lines: one goes through the locker area, the other skips the lockers. They weren't marked at all when we were there. My wife wasn't doing the trails, so she held all the stuff. I stood in the line for a while and we were barely moving. We finally turned a corner and I could see I was in the locker line, but it still wasn't clear if there was a separate line. A CM walked past and I asked if I had to stay there if I didn't need a locker. She said I did.
A few minutes later, another CM walked past and I tried again. He said I had to stay there.
When a third CM walked past, I asked him and explained I didn't have anything in my pockets. He said that I needed to stay in that line to put my phone in a locker. I said I didn't have a phone and he said, with a shock, "You don't have a phone!?!?!" I didn't think I'd be able to get across the message that my wife was holding our stuff. After he got over the shock, he told me I could go under the rope and pointed me where I could join the line for the attraction, skipping the lockers.
