We thought we knew Disney.
We had already walked down Main Street in Disneyland Paris, explored the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland, discovered the completely unique world of Tokyo DisneySea and spent days getting lost in the enormous Disney World in Orlando.
So when Shanghai Disneyland appeared on our China itinerary, we wondered whether it would really feel that different.
Spoiler alert…
It absolutely did.
And perhaps that is what we loved most about it.
Shanghai Disneyland isn’t simply another Disney park with the same rides in a different location. It has its own personality, its own atmosphere and, most importantly for us, a few things you simply cannot experience anywhere else.
And yes, there were plenty of moments when the girls looked at us with that familiar Disney expression.
You know the one.
The “Can we please go there RIGHT NOW?” expression.
The moment we realised Shanghai Disney was different
There is something slightly surreal about arriving at Shanghai Disneyland.
You are in one of the biggest and most futuristic cities in the world, surrounded by skyscrapers, high-speed trains and enormous shopping centres.
And then suddenly…
Disney.
The music starts.
Mickey is waiting.
The castle appears in the distance.
And somehow your brain switches from “We’re in China” to “We’re going to Disney!”
Shanghai Disneyland opened in 2016 and is home to some attractions and lands that you simply won’t find in the other Disney parks.
The Enchanted Storybook Castle is enormous, but it isn’t just the size that makes it special. Shanghai has taken the Disney formula and given it its own Chinese twist.
And that became a bit of a theme for our day.
Everything felt familiar.
But not quite the same.
Shanghai Disneyland feels familiar… but not quite
Walking through Shanghai Disneyland gave us a funny feeling.
Everything was familiar enough to feel comforting, but different enough to keep surprising us.
There is a Main Street.
There is Mickey.
There are princesses.
There are parades.
There are Disney snacks that somehow taste even better when you’re walking around a theme park.
But then you turn a corner and suddenly you’re standing in Treasure Cove, a huge pirate-themed land.
Or you’re racing through Tomorrowland on TRON.
Or you’re wandering through Zootopia, something you simply can’t do at the other Disney parks.
And that is where Shanghai really starts to stand out.
Zootopia: the reason we couldn’t wait to visit
If your children love Zootopia, prepare yourself.
This isn’t just a Zootopia ride.
It is an entire Zootopia land.
Shanghai Disneyland is home to the world’s first Zootopia-themed land, and walking through it genuinely feels like stepping into the movie.
The buildings, shops, signs and little details make you want to stop every few metres because there is something else to look at.
Of course, the girls immediately wanted to find Judy and Nick.
Because apparently travelling halfway around the world doesn’t change the rules:
Meet the characters first. Rides later.
The big attraction here is Zootopia: Hot Pursuit, where you join Judy and Nick on a fast-paced police chase through Zootopia.
And yes…
It’s every bit as fun as it sounds.
TRON: hold on tight!
Then there was TRON.
And this was one of those moments where the children were much braver than the adults.
TRON Lightcycle Power Run is one of Shanghai Disneyland’s signature thrill rides. Riders lean forward on futuristic lightcycles and race through the glowing digital world of TRON.
It looks incredible from the outside.
Especially once it gets dark.
The blue lights, the futuristic soundtrack and the bikes flying through the building make it feel like you’ve stepped inside a video game.
And then you realise…
You’re actually going to ride it.
Let’s just say there was a lot of excitement beforehand.
And perhaps slightly less confidence immediately afterwards.
But that’s Disney.
You spend half an hour wondering whether you should go on a ride, scream your way through it and then immediately want to do it again.
Pirates of the Caribbean: the best one we’d ever seen… and the one we couldn’t understand
Then came Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure.
And honestly?
This was probably the best Pirates of the Caribbean ride we had ever seen.
The scale was incredible. The technology was amazing. The whole experience felt completely different from the Pirates rides we’d done in Paris, Hong Kong or Orlando.
We were sitting there thinking:
Wow. Disney has really taken Pirates to another level.
And then we realised something.
We couldn’t understand a word.
The attraction uses Chinese voice-over, and while the visuals were spectacular, we were missing a huge part of the story because we simply couldn’t follow the dialogue.
And this wasn’t just Pirates.
One of the downsides of Shanghai Disneyland for us was that several attractions used Chinese voice-overs rather than English.
Now, of course, we were in China.
We didn’t expect everything to suddenly be in English, and we completely understand why the park is designed primarily for a Chinese audience.
But when you’re used to Disney attractions where you can follow every part of the story, it does make a difference.
Especially with attractions that are so heavily based on dialogue and storytelling.
Pirates was the perfect example.
We could see everything.
We could appreciate the incredible technology.
We could laugh at the characters.
We could admire how enormous and immersive the attraction was.
But we had absolutely no idea what anyone was saying.
So we basically experienced it as one enormous, spectacular visual adventure.
And somehow…
We still loved it.
Actually, we loved it a lot.
It just would have been even better if we could have understood the story.
The castle is huge… but don’t just take a photo
Of course, you can’t visit Shanghai Disneyland without stopping at the Enchanted Storybook Castle.
And believe us, you’ll notice it.
It isn’t something you casually walk past.
It dominates the park.
The castle is the largest and tallest Disney castle and is designed around the Disney princesses rather than just one particular character.
We took the obligatory family photo.
Obviously.
But don’t just stand outside and take your picture before moving on.
Go inside.
Explore it.
Take your time.
This is one of those Disney details that makes the park feel much more than a collection of rides.
And then there is the parade…
There is something about a Disney parade that makes even the most sensible adult suddenly start waving at characters.
You know you’re going to do it.
You tell yourself you won’t.
Then Mickey comes past.
And you’re waving.
Again.
For us, this was one of those moments where the rides almost became secondary.
The girls were completely absorbed.
And honestly, that’s one of the things we love about Disney.
You don’t need to be on a roller coaster every five minutes.
Sometimes the best moments happen when you simply stop.
Watch.
And see the children’s faces.
How Shanghai compares with the other Disney parks
After visiting several Disney parks around the world, we couldn’t help comparing them.
Disneyland Paris still has that classic European Disney feeling and is incredibly easy to combine with a city break in Paris.
Hong Kong Disneyland is smaller and much more manageable, which makes it lovely for families who don’t want to spend days walking enormous distances.
Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea are in a league of their own when it comes to atmosphere, attention to detail and Japanese Disney culture.
And then there’s Disney World Orlando.
That’s not really a Disney park.
It’s a Disney universe.
Four theme parks, water parks, Disney hotels and enough attractions to keep you busy for days.
Shanghai sits somewhere completely different.
It feels modern.
It feels Chinese.
It feels futuristic.
And it has attractions and lands that make it genuinely unique.
That’s why, for us, it isn’t a case of choosing the “best” Disney park.
They’re different experiences.
And that’s exactly why we want to visit them all.
How long do you need at Shanghai Disneyland?
For most families, one full day is enough to get a fantastic taste of Shanghai Disneyland.
But if your children are big Disney fans, you could easily spend two days.
Especially if you want to take things slowly, meet characters, watch shows and repeat your favourite rides.
We always prefer having a little breathing room rather than turning Disney into an Olympic sport.
Because yes, you can spend the entire day running from ride to ride.
But do you really want to?
Our favourite Disney memories are usually the moments in between.
The snacks.
The silly photos.
The kids arguing over which ride to do next.
The completely unnecessary souvenir that somehow becomes essential.
And the moment when everyone is exhausted but nobody wants to leave.
That’s the Disney day we remember.
A little planning goes a long way
One thing we would definitely recommend is booking your tickets and experiences ahead of time.
Disney days are not the kind of days where you want to arrive at the gate and start figuring everything out while the children are already asking:
“What are we doing first?”
If you’re looking at combining Shanghai Disneyland with other attractions in Shanghai, we recommend planning those tickets and experiences before you leave home. We often use https://getyourguide.tpk.lu/OrKGbkZY for family-friendly activities and tickets because it keeps everything together and means less organising once we’re actually travelling.
And if you’re planning a bigger China adventure, don’t forget that Disney is only one part of the story.
Shanghai itself deserves time.
The Bund.
The skyline.
The food.
The futuristic side of the city.
And all those little moments where you realise just how different travelling through China feels compared with Europe.
Disney is simply the part that makes the children very, very happy.
Our Disney rule: don’t try to do everything
If there is one thing we’ve learned after visiting Disney parks around the world, it’s this:
You cannot do everything.
And you shouldn’t try.
Pick the attractions that really matter to your family.
For us, that meant making sure we experienced the big Shanghai exclusives, particularly Zootopia, TRON and Pirates.
Then we slowed down.
We ate.
We watched the entertainment.
We took photos.
We let the girls choose what they wanted to do.
And somehow, those slower moments became just as memorable as the rides.
Is Shanghai Disneyland worth visiting?
Absolutely.
Especially if you’re already travelling through China.
But even if you’re a serious Disney fan who has visited Paris, Orlando, Tokyo or Hong Kong, we would still put Shanghai on the list.
Because it doesn’t feel like a copy.
It feels like Shanghai.
And perhaps that’s the biggest compliment we can give it.
Disney has managed to take something incredibly familiar and give it a completely different personality.
Yes, the language barrier was a downside for us.
There were moments when we wished we could understand the dialogue, particularly on attractions where the story is such an important part of the experience.
But would that stop us from going?
Not at all.
Because the visual spectacle, the unique attractions and the feeling of being somewhere completely different more than made up for it.
Our favourite thing about Shanghai Disneyland
It wasn’t one particular ride.
It wasn’t the castle.
It wasn’t even Zootopia.
It was watching the girls experience a Disney park that was completely new to them.
They didn’t compare it with Paris.
They didn’t care which park had the biggest castle or the fastest ride.
They were simply excited.
They ran.
They laughed.
They ate far too many snacks.
They argued about which ride to do next.
And at the end of the day, when we were all completely exhausted, they still didn’t want to leave.
We stood there looking back at the park one last time.
And we knew exactly what would happen.
A few years from now, someone would say:
“Remember Shanghai Disneyland?”
And suddenly we’d all be talking about that ride.
That character.
That parade.
That ridiculous souvenir.
That one moment none of us had planned.
And that, really, is why we keep going back to Disney.
Not because every park is the same.
But because every Disney adventure gives us a completely different set of memories.
And Shanghai?
Shanghai gave us one of our most spectacular Disney days yet — even if we didn’t understand half of what was being said. 😉