The 'I survived SDL's Opening Day' TR!

[zanzibar138]

Well, I haven't been to Asia yet, I am only preparing a Hong Kong / Shanghai / Tokyo trip for next year. But when I look at getting around Hong Kong or Tokyo, it seems less daunting than Shanghai. Could also be caused by all the paperwork the visa brings with China and all the 'advice' is posted about the police and authorities in China on the website of our embassy. Things like: bring at least 2 forms of ID, don't store them in the same place, leave a copy of your IDs with family, register yourself with the embassy as soon as you arrive, be reminded the police has a lot more authority than in the Netherlands, don't argue with police, follow instructions immediately etc. etc. It really puts me off to visit China. I am really curious to see Disney Shanghai (and Shanghai itself, it's a city with an interesting history & culture), but when I read this, I think: 'Maybe it's better not to'. I will go, but it takes out the enjoyment of planning a trip.

But back to the fun stuff what did you think of the shows, were you able to see the castle stage show and Tarzan?

I wouldn't let that stuff get you down. Those warnings are pretty much par for the course in any Asian country - I would pretty much follow that advice for Hong Kong too. Police are all in camo and carry around rifles - it can be pretty intimidating. We've done a lot of travel through many Asian countries and never had any issues with police at all. As long as you're not doing anything wrong, you've got nothing to worry about! In fact, the security people at Disney (not actual police I know, but similar sort of lines) were quite friendly and approachable, even if they didn't speak any English lol! And registering with the embassy is something you don't have to worry about - your hotel will take care of that for you, it's why they will need your passport when you check in, and just means the check in process takes a few minutes longer than you might normally expect. Honestly, I felt much more comfortable getting around in China (even on my own) than I did in France with all the scammers and pickpocketers there!

I will be doing full reviews of all the shows I saw later in my TR. Unfortunately I didn't get to see the castle show as they were still taking down all the opening ceremony related props from in front of the castle, and didn't start the stage show until Sunday (my last day was Saturday ). I did manage to catch Tarzan and also the Pirates stunt show, and enjoyed both very much. The language barrier was a little bit of an issue with the stunt show, but not noticeable at all with Tarzan because there wasn't much dialogue. There was also a Baymax show in Tomorrowland, which I didn't bother to watch but looked cute, and the Tai Chi with Character show in Gardens of Imagination. I really wanted to watch that one when I just happened to walk by as it was starting, but it was too glary and I'd forgotten to take my sunnies so I had to give up. It looked really cute though with some great photo opportunities!

 

[Agent 86]

Well, I haven't been to Asia yet, I am only preparing a Hong Kong / Shanghai / Tokyo trip for next year. But when I look at getting around Hong Kong or Tokyo, it seems less daunting than Shanghai. Could also be caused by all the paperwork the visa brings with China and all the 'advice' is posted about the police and authorities in China on the website of our embassy.

I've been to China twice (each trip for around four weeks). I wouldn't worry about. I took my passport. I also took photocopies of my passport. I never registered with the Australian embassy. And I don't think I ever interacted with any police officers. If I did, I would just follow their instructions as I would in any other country (well, maybe not Russia).

Travelling around central Shanghai is pretty easy. Maybe not quite as easy as travelling around central Tokyo or Hong Kong, but pretty close.

 

[bswift]

I've only been to Hong Kong and I have to say, I'm a little "scared" of Shanghai too. I really want to go to SDL though so I think I'd probably end up staying in the Disney "bubble" and not visiting downtown Shanghai. I'm a bad tourist

 

[Karin1984]

I have over a year to overcome my fears, but now I think better get a Disney Hotel instead of something downtown to avoid travelling back far late at night. I do want to sightsee, as it's a long way to get to Shanghai, and the culture is completely different than mine. There is no way I'm going to Shanghai and only go to Disney!

I had forgotten about the stuntshow, I take it the sort of stunts are the same as in the Indiana Stuntshow in WDW and the Motor stuntshow in Paris. I can imagine the language is less important.

What is this Tai Chi show? Characters doing Tai Chi? That would be great to incorporate Chinese culture into Disney! Also something I thought about is with the Garden of the 12 Friends with the Zodiac, I suspect each year, when a new Zodiac year starts, they will have a little celebration there.

 

[zanzibar138]

I've been to China twice (each trip for around four weeks). I wouldn't worry about. I took my passport. I also took photocopies of my passport. I never registered with the Australian embassy. And I don't think I ever interacted with any police officers. If I did, I would just follow their instructions as I would in any other country (well, maybe not Russia).

Travelling around central Shanghai is pretty easy. Maybe not quite as easy as travelling around central Tokyo or Hong Kong, but pretty close.

I found Shanghai just as easy to get around as Hong Kong

I've only been to Hong Kong and I have to say, I'm a little "scared" of Shanghai too. I really want to go to SDL though so I think I'd probably end up staying in the Disney "bubble" and not visiting downtown Shanghai. I'm a bad tourist

Don't be scared! Shanghai is so easy to get around, it's worth taking a trip into town if you've got the time.

I have over a year to overcome my fears, but now I think better get a Disney Hotel instead of something downtown to avoid travelling back far late at night. I do want to sightsee, as it's a long way to get to Shanghai, and the culture is completely different than mine. There is no way I'm going to Shanghai and only go to Disney!

I had forgotten about the stuntshow, I take it the sort of stunts are the same as in the Indiana Stuntshow in WDW and the Motor stuntshow in Paris. I can imagine the language is less important.

What is this Tai Chi show? Characters doing Tai Chi? That would be great to incorporate Chinese culture into Disney! Also something I thought about is with the Garden of the 12 Friends with the Zodiac, I suspect each year, when a new Zodiac year starts, they will have a little celebration there.

Like HK, I would recommend doing a split stay and staying in the downtown area for Shanghai sightseeing, then transferring to an onsite hotel for SDL. I would be quite happy taking the train late at night on my own, but the trains do seem to finish up pretty early, and it's nice to not have a big journey 'home' at the end of a big day.

The stunt show is pirates themed, so it's more about canons and sword fights and ships. I'll be doing a full review with pictures later on. The actual stunt bit was good, and easy to follow, but there was a very long lead up which was pretty much all dialogue and very hard to follow with the language barrier.

From what I could see of the Tai Chi show, Chip N Dale start doing some Tai Chi with the Tai Chi master, then Donald arrives and causes his usual chaos. It looked like just a fun little show, with the characters being a bit silly while doing the Tai Chi. I'll upload the photos I've got when the time comes.

 

[zanzibar138]

The Journey to Disneyland

It was an early morning (5am), as I planned to be on the first train from Century Park station, which I had estimated to be at around 6am. All I had to do was get dressed, repack my bag, and chow down the fruit salad and yoghurt I had bought at 7-11 the night before, so I thought an hour would be plenty of time. I was very wrong. I ended up checking out at about 6:20am, and was probably at the station by 6:30am. Once again, I had my heavy suitcase, and was forced to lug it up and down stairs with no escalators around.

I had on this occasion that I realised the ticket machines don’t take 1 Yuan notes. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough 1 Yuan coins to get me to Disneyland (the ticket cost 5 Yuan, and I only had 3 coins). Luckily there was a handy convenience store, where I purchased a little bottle of chocolate milk to break one of my 100 Yuan notes. Then I was able to get my train ticket and continue to make my way through the station which was really not designed for travel with luggage. The train was absolutely packed, and I only just fit on board, but I only had to go one stop to Longyang Road, so it wasn’t the end of the world.

At the next station, I followed the signs to Line 16. It was quite easy to find, and there was a train at the platform, so I hurried to get on board! Once on board, I realised that I hadn’t checked which direction the train was going, and had a brief moment of panic before realising that I was already at the end of the line lol! There was a lovely girl standing next to me who helped to reassure me and point out where I had to get off to transfer to Line 11. For the most part, I found the locals quite friendly and helpful. The train got more and more crowded before finally taking off, and I got stuck right in the middle, wondering how on earth I was ever going to struggle out of there with my luggage! Luckily quite a few people got off at Middle Huaxia Road, and then again at Luoshan Road (my stop), so it didn’t end up being too much of a push to get out.

By the time I found Line 11 at Luoshan Road, it was becoming a lot easier to get around with my luggage. Things were a bit better laid out, and there were plenty of escalators. I was a little bit dismayed to see that there were quite a few people getting on the train with me (I wasn’t able to get a seat), and assumed that they would all be heading to Disneyland and that I had lost my ‘jump’ on the crowds. However, I was surprised to see most of them get off at the other stations along the way. After Xiuyan Road I was able to sit down, and after Kangxin Highway there were only a handful of us left! I was getting ridiculously excited coming into the Disney station, and tried to see out the window to get a glimpse of Disneyland. There wasn’t much to see though.

Disney station was clean and spacious, and very easy to get around. There were cute Disney touches everywhere, from the rail guards, to having the Fab 5 escort us up the escalator!



I really loved the swirly Mickey and Minnie sculptures in the main concourse area.





From there, it got a bit confusing, and I wasn’t quite sure which way to go for the Disneyland Hotel. The exits were labelled ‘Disneyland’, ‘Disney Town’ and ‘Wishing Star Park’. The exit for Disneyland was closed off for some reason, so I tried Disney Town. I tried to ask one of the security guards for help, but all I got was a blank look.



After wandering around the vicinity of the station for 5 minutes, I started to realise how heavy my luggage was getting (I still have one of the cases with only 2 wheels, and my wrist was getting a bit sore!), and saw how far away the Disneyland Hotel looked, with no sign of a bridge across the lake anywhere nearby.



I decided to ditch my original idea of walking to the hotel and take the shuttle bus instead.

 

[Tigerlily75]

Inbetween updates I decided to go read some of your older trip reports from your signature, I loved reading/seeing HKDL. We were so close last year, even seeing the Mickey trains, but I couldn't bring myself to go. All my life I wanted to go to Disneyland, and I knew my first time had to be the original - Anaheim. I finally made it there in January this year . (And we're going back in September).

But now I want to do them all! Especially Tokyo. Do you have any plans to go to WDW Orlando?

In one of your reports you also mentioned where you work/ed, I can't remember which one now so it may not still apply, but if so I live right nearby there, and even have access to the staff shop there as I work in emergency services. But I learnt quickly not to go very often, I can't have copious amounts of chocolate in my cupboards because then I just ... eat it .

 

[MagentaMulan]

Following along! I've always wanted to travel to the Disneylands in Asia but not sure if i can handle the long flights. Maybe one day!

 

[wanderlust7]

I love the Mickey sculpture! It looks like Chinese paper cutting, what a great way to bring in the culture.

I'm enjoying all your photos. Thinking maybe we'll go in a couple years and visit my friend who lives in Shanghai.

 

[zanzibar138]

Inbetween updates I decided to go read some of your older trip reports from your signature, I loved reading/seeing HKDL. We were so close last year, even seeing the Mickey trains, but I couldn't bring myself to go. All my life I wanted to go to Disneyland, and I knew my first time had to be the original - Anaheim. I finally made it there in January this year . (And we're going back in September).

But now I want to do them all! Especially Tokyo. Do you have any plans to go to WDW Orlando?

In one of your reports you also mentioned where you work/ed, I can't remember which one now so it may not still apply, but if so I live right nearby there, and even have access to the staff shop there as I work in emergency services. But I learnt quickly not to go very often, I can't have copious amounts of chocolate in my cupboards because then I just ... eat it .

I get that - I wanted to go to the original first too. I hope you get a chance to go back to HK though, it's well worth a visit Unfortunately I don't have any Disney trips in planning now, but the next park I go to will probably be Tokyo. To be honest, I find WDW the least appealing park to visit. I will have to go one day of course, will probably make it a big coast to coast trip and run a half marathon at each one to get the special medal - I'll have to have an actual reason to visit WDW.

Following along! I've always wanted to travel to the Disneylands in Asia but not sure if i can handle the long flights. Maybe one day!

Haha! Think of us Aussies who have to endure a 14 hour flight (at least) every time we want to get to a US Disney park! Even HK, our closest one, is an 8 hour flight. It's not so bad - if you did HK, Tokyo and Shanghai all in one trip it would be well worth it!

I love the Mickey sculpture! It looks like Chinese paper cutting, what a great way to bring in the culture.

I'm enjoying all your photos. Thinking maybe we'll go in a couple years and visit my friend who lives in Shanghai.

That is definitely an opportunity you shouldn't pass up

 

[zanzibar138]

All the Shuttle Buses

After I’d decided to make the switch to the shuttle bus, the next thing was finding out exactly how to get it. Right next to the train station, there was a large bus depot type area, but the only stops I could seemed to be for metro buses servicing the local area. There was another row of buses a bit further up, so I checked that out, but it looked like that was for CM shuttles. A little bewildered, I wandered into the little information centre type thing that was conveniently placed right next to the station, hoping that someone would be able to speak English well enough to give me some sort of advice.

Success! The first guy I spoke to seemed to understand what I wanted, and described the bus that I wanted as ‘blue’ and ‘stars’. The only place I could see a blue starry bus was over at what I’d thought was the CM shuttle area. I made my way over and tried to get on, only to be asked for my staff ID. Turned out I’d been right all along.

I started to make my way back to the original row of buses, thinking that I must have missed something among the metro signage, when I saw the CM from the information centre waving madly at me and pointing to that section lol! So I went to check it out in more detail. I was getting very confused. Those bus stops were definitely for metro buses. I saw a CM hanging around the area, and decided to try my luck asking for help again, and asked which line for the Disneyland Hotel? He pointed to the last line, so over I went. You may be interested to note the ceiling fans at the bus shelters - a very nice touch when it was hot and humid.



A few minutes later, a blue bus with stars pulled up, and I piled on, relieved to finally be on the right track!



It was a fun bus ride around the outside of the park, glimpsing a few bits and pieces along the way. Soon we pulled into the driveway for the Toy Story Hotel, and I was excited to see it in person! To my surprise, everyone else on the bus got off (there were only a handful of us, but I wasn’t expecting to be the only one heading for the Disneyland Hotel). I sat there waiting for the bus to get going again, but was approached by a CM from the Toy Story Hotel who informed me that the bus wasn’t going to the Disneyland Hotel, and I would need to get off.



To the credit of the Toy Story Hotel CMs, they did the best job of looking after me that they could. There was a lot going on. There were people everywhere. The normal shuttle bus stop was being used for media preview shuttles, and the CMs were breaking their necks trying to check everyone’s ID, while still directing the plebs to the normal shuttle buses. No one could speak much English. I was told to catch the next shuttle bus that was going to the Disneyland Hotel, and the CM would come to get me when it arrived. He even offered for me to go and wait in the lobby, but I hoped it wouldn’t be that long! Unfortunately it was that long! I’d been standing there for probably 15 minutes, waiting for this bus to arrive. In the meantime, there was a bus to Disney Town every couple of minutes, but the CM kept insisting that the bus to the Disneyland Hotel would be along any minute. It wasn’t a bad wait, there was plenty to see while I was standing there. I particularly liked that they had a whole set of CMs lining the approach to the main entrance door to the hotel, whose only task was to wave and cheer as people headed towards the park. I thought it was a nice touch.



A senior looking American CM appeared while I was there, associated with the media preview people. She didn’t take much interest in me, but she did look my way a couple of times, and in the end I said to her ‘I’m just going to catch the next bus to Disney Town’. When the next bus came, the CM who had been helping me tried to stop me from getting on, but the American CM explained our plan to him, saying ‘she’s been waiting far too long’. I had a fleeting thought that it would be nice to get a bit of pixie dust for my trouble lol! Obviously they were far too busy for anything like that!

Once I was on the bus, the rest was quite straightforward. The bus depot at Disney Town was much easier to navigate, with big signs everywhere in Chinese and English displaying the information for each bus, and I quickly found the one going to the Disneyland Hotel. No sooner had I lined up, then the bus arrived. I tried to confirm that it was the correct bus, but no one understood me at all, so I gave up, fairly certain that it was. I was pleased to see us head in a different direction when we left the bus depot. I was surprised that there wasn’t much traffic around by that time. The roads were pretty quiet, even the large roundabouts at the entrance to the resort area.





I was quite pleased with that, as it meant the travel time on the bus was pretty quick, and before I knew it, we were finally entering the driveway for the Disneyland Hotel!

 

[Dentam]

Thank you for detailing all of your train and bus transfers! I'm sure this will come in handy when I travel there in a month! It looks like I will be at SDL from August 3-5th. Getting excited!!

 

[zanzibar138]

Thank you for detailing all of your train and bus transfers! I'm sure this will come in handy when I travel there in a month! It looks like I will be at SDL from August 3-5th. Getting excited!!

I hoped it would help someone! It's not the most exciting stuff to read, but I thought it was worth including all those nitty gritty details.

 

[xiphoid76]

For those who are unfamiliar with my story, attending an Opening Day was on my Disney bucket list, and Shanghai gave me a great opportunity to tick that one off! You can catch up on my PTR here.

In a nutshell, when the opening date was announced, I sweet-talked my boss into letting me have the week off, sweet-talked my husband into letting me chip into our holiday money, and tried to find a travel buddy to go with. When no one was interested, I decided to just go solo.

I'm very excited to be able to share with you one of the very first experiences of SDL, and I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed 'researching'!

Thank you so much for this thread. I can not wait to go in January. We are staying at the Disneyland hotel. Do you know if credit cards are taken at the quick service eating places? Or is cash preferred? What food did you enjoy most? I am a picky eater and this is my biggest fear - but I think there will always be something I can eat I probably have tons more questions...we are just so excited to go next year. Your reporting on the crowd behavior was very interesting to hear - have heard conflicting reports about how good/bad they have been. I think it is all a matter of perspective.
Going to Shanghai first then Tokyo and then home (one to enjoy the awesome Tokyo parks and two to avoid getting a chinese visa). Have a great day!

 

[Dentam]

I hoped it would help someone! It's not the most exciting stuff to read, but I thought it was worth including all those nitty gritty details.

Absolutely! Thanks again!

 

[GusIsaFoxhound]

This has been great to read- thanks! September last year was my second time to Anaheim, and we had just booked a second tour to China (last one, Sept 2014) and then found out about Shanghai Disney, which made me twice as excited to be going back to China. Hubby isn't so keen on going, only coz I insist. (He stayed home last year, and I went with my sister- her first time, both in our 50's.) Anything I can find out before we go makes it easier to keep him amicable! I'll keep reading your reports if you keep writing them. Thanks again!

 

[zanzibar138]

The Disneyland Hotel and Wishing Star Park

As soon as I got off the bus, I was swooped on by Bell Services who took my bags for me and pointed me to a little desk they had set up out the front for storing luggage. It was such a quick process, I didn't even get a chance to get a photo! There were lots of CMs hanging around, ready to direct anyone who looked lost. Another American senior looking CM saw me taking photos of the entrance and offered to take one with me in it.



Inside, there was hardly any line for check in, and it moved very quickly. I had been expecting absolute chaos, so this was a pleasant surprise!

Of course, my room wasn't ready (which was definitely expected), but they were still able to complete all the paperwork to make life easier later on. And of course they were storing my luggage for me too. The CMs at the check in desk were friendly and enthusiastic, and spoke great English. It all went very smoothly (much more so than expected).

After check in I had a quick wander around the hotel, as I was looking for a bathroom and somewhere to grab a bite to eat before heading off. The bathroom was just up past Bacchus Lounge and Ballet Café. Even the bathrooms were beautiful!



I stopped in at Ballet Café on the way back for a quick bite. I ended up with a Mickey shaped chocolate muffin.





I stuck my head in at Bacchus Lounge on the way past, to check out the view!



Next was a quick tour around the lobby, taking in those amazing marble columns with stained glass tops. I don't think it's as big and airy as the lobby at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, but it was certainly spacious and luxurious feeling.







I didn't go too much further, as I was already running so late and was pretty concerned about how far back in the line I would be! But I did head down the stairs to Lumiere's Kitchen, and saw the Beauty and the Beast statue that has graced so many Facebook updates already.



I planned to do the walk to the park, as it really didn't look that far from the hotel, taking the shortcut through Wishing Star Park. Unfortunately leaving the hotel from the back, I didn't get the CMs waving me off as I left for the park, but I did get to see the beautiful gardens and experience the walk through the lovely Wishing Star Park.









The back gate is only accessible to hotel guests, and you need your room key to open it. Fortunately for me, there is also a security guard stationed there, and he happily opened the gate for me when I explained that I didn't have my room key yet.



Unfortunately it started raining pretty much as soon as I left the hotel grounds, so I wasn't keen on using my camera too much (the model that I have has proven to be very sensitive to water). I wanted to take photos of the beautiful rose garden, and the glass bottom bridge near the hotel, but it was just raining too much.

Along the way I was approached by some locals wanting to take photos with me. This didn't happen nearly as often as I was expecting, and I didn't mind it when people were friendly and polite about it. The only thing that really bothered me was when people just openly stared at me as I walked past - I found it a little bit unsettling. Luckily, that didn't happen very often either, and I probably copped it more than most being blonde with ringlets and blue eyes, and dressed like a Disney character lol!

The rain died down a bit more toward the end of the walk, just as I was going over the bridge leading to Disney Town. It was a nice bridge, and on the other side of the lake there was a row of fountains.



At the end of the bridge there was a little gateway to exit the park and enter Disney Town. I’m not entirely sure why they kept Wishing Star Park fenced off and only open at certain hours, especially being the shortcut back to the hotel. It was clear that they were really expecting people to take the shuttle buses to and from the hotels, and it wasn’t really set up for walking (no real signage, paths – except for the shortcut through Wishing Star Park – were just alongside the main road). It wouldn’t have taken much more than 5 minutes to walk from the hotel gate to Disney Town through Wishing Star Park.

The path from there to the park really went between the two areas of Disney Town – the main part and Lakeshore – so I didn’t see much of it. Lakeshore was one rectangular building with a few shops and restaurants, a bit like a covered market.



There was one shop there which was drawing a pretty big crowd. I can only imagine it was something to do with Marvel or Star Wars lol!



I spied a few familiar shops as I strolled through Disney Town. Starbucks was there, and of course the World of Disney store right at the end. There were quite a few people heading towards the park, but not as many as I’d expected.



Next thing I knew, I was exiting Disney Town and entering the park entrance area! I was so excited, I think my heart skipped a beat or two!



I decided to stop for a quick photo of the Steamboat Willie fountain before joining the queue. There were plenty of people around doing the same thing. There were also plenty of people who just seemed to be there to watch proceedings!



Then, with butterflies running rampant in my tummy, I finally headed towards the entrance!

 

[zanzibar138]

Thank you so much for this thread. I can not wait to go in January. We are staying at the Disneyland hotel. Do you know if credit cards are taken at the quick service eating places? Or is cash preferred? What food did you enjoy most? I am a picky eater and this is my biggest fear - but I think there will always be something I can eat I probably have tons more questions...we are just so excited to go next year. Your reporting on the crowd behavior was very interesting to hear - have heard conflicting reports about how good/bad they have been. I think it is all a matter of perspective.
Going to Shanghai first then Tokyo and then home (one to enjoy the awesome Tokyo parks and two to avoid getting a chinese visa). Have a great day!

As far as I'm aware, credit cards were pretty much accepted everywhere apart from the carts around the park. As I mentioned before though, I used cash as a budgeting tool, so I didn't actually try to pay on the card at quick service places. Now food... let's see... I'll see if I can remember what I ate from when I arrived at Disney property (apart from the club lounge at the hotel).

* Mickey shaped chocolate muffin from Ballet Cafe - just like you'd get at home
* Prawn and egg with rice from Wandering Moon Teahouse - it was actually a kids meal, but was the most appealing thing on the menu, I probably wouldn't recommend eating there if you're picky
* BBQ pork ribs from Barbossa's Bounty - I enjoyed this a lot, but the corn on the cob that came with it was awful
* 'Treasure' ice-cream sandwich from Sunnyside Marketplace - yum!
* Mickey shaped apricot Danish from Remy's Patisserie - pretty much like what you'd get at home
* Donald waffles with chocolate ice-cream and sprinkles from Il Paperino - yum!
* Lunch at Royal Banquet Hall - will get into more details later, but it's a bit on the fancy side for a picky eater
* Kids dim sum at Mickey & Friends Marketplace - I didn't quite know what to order here, so I ordered the kids meal which came with a variety of things

There is plenty of western style food around if you look hard enough, but a lot of the Asian style food is also plain-ish and suitable for picky eaters. If you like dumplings, definitely give them a try. I actually forgot to eat a lot of the time, which is why there isn't a huge amount of stuff on my list considering I was there for 3 days. I wanted to get some popcorn to eat during Ignite the Dream on my second night, but the popcorn stands were all shut! So do keep that in mind.

This has been great to read- thanks! September last year was my second time to Anaheim, and we had just booked a second tour to China (last one, Sept 2014) and then found out about Shanghai Disney, which made me twice as excited to be going back to China. Hubby isn't so keen on going, only coz I insist. (He stayed home last year, and I went with my sister- her first time, both in our 50's.) Anything I can find out before we go makes it easier to keep him amicable! I'll keep reading your reports if you keep writing them. Thanks again!

Glad you're enjoying it! Sounds like a great trip you've got planned. Where are you off to on your tour?

I will definitely be continuing with my TR, albeit at a fairly slow pace.

 

[disney144]

What were food prices like? Drink prices (of the adult sort?)

How was the walk from the hotel? How long did it take? Was the boat running?

 

[heaven2dc]

Interesting walk from the hotel to the park! The hotel is absolutely beautiful