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Next up was the "Cedar Point of Japan..." Nagashima Spaland! This morning we are at Nagashima Spaland filming on the new Acrobat flying coaster! It's like alternate universe Manta! Filming is going well at Nagashima Spaland! Next up... Steel Dragon now! The staff at Nagashima Spaland are amazing! One of the reasons why we love this park! The Ultra Twister is one of my favorite classic roller coaster designs! So glad Nagashima Spaland still has one! [twitter] [/twitter] Riding Acrobat at Nagashima Spaland does this to you! Love this view of Steel Dragon from Acrobat! Damn! Steel Dragon looks good all lit up! Yes, it's exactly like Manta is almost every way, but it's GREAT! The park is getting an S&S free spin coaster next year! It's already track complete! Ok guys... assume the position! Let's just make something clear right now... This toilet is WAY smarter than you'll ever be! White Cyclone... still one of the most impressive looking wood coasters ever made! Just look how pretty that is! Dear Jack, I miss you. Wish you were here. Signed, the Nagashima Spaland Ferris Wheel. Any park with Pokémon themed attractions is going to be a win for Kristen! Matt bought the official White Cyclone cookies! And he shared them with everyone! Want one? Nagashima also has a classic Schwarzkopf shuttle loop! Love these coasters!!! I really am a sucker for Shuttle Loop coasters! Nearly 40 years old and still thrilling riders! [twitter] [/twitter] The Bobkart is another fun & fairly unique ride at Nagashima Spaland OMG! OMG! Two roller coasters in one pic!!! And yes, this version of "Cedar Point" still has Demon Drop! So we just survived a first generation Freefall ride! lol [twitter] [/twitter] The Haunted House is sort of uniquely Japanese! It's so odd to me that people get legit freaked out in this! I wish I understood the culture more, but it sure was "interesting..." Here's a video: Here's a few pics from Hanno's camera... Having some fun on Acrobat! Now THAT is a "coaster face!" And that would be "coaster hair!" lol Having a jolly time on the Bobkart! Someone is enjoying this! "Is that creepy Dutch guy taking a picture of me?" "Oh you best not be riding my ass!" How many Americans can we get in one Bobkart? Will we see one of these at Cowabunga Bay? Why so serious??? "Hi, my name is Tom, but you can call me Serial Killer!" Steel Dragon FTW! OMG! OMG! OMG!!! TWO COASTERS!!! Twice in one trip report!!! Steel Dragon at night looks amazing! Had a GREAT visit to Nagashima Spaland in Japan! CLICK HERE FOR KIDZANIA JAPAN PHOTOS!

^ Someone gets it!

Here's another update: http://wildwoodvideoarchive.com/great-noreaster-update/

Don't worry. Someday Dueling Dragons will look just like it does in Japan...

I don't know if it was better or maybe just on par. But they are BOTH the most intense flyers I've ever been on. So that's a good thing!

Well, the park IS sort of a mix between Universal and IOA and with that is the styles of theming you know between those two parks. I will say though that I feel USJ pulls it off much better. While, sure, rides like Flying Dinosaur and Hollywood Dream are not themed that much once you leave the station or really at all in comparison to a "themed attraction" like Mummy or Spider-Man, but Flying Dinosaur does at least fit in with the whole "flying" theme, and the train is very nicely themed. Potterland aside as I'm not a huge fan of the property or the land, I do feel that USJ has a better selection of themed attractions and does a better job with theming the rides they have. For example, I still think Space Fantasy is one of the best themed indoor coasters you'll find. Mummy and Tron I would also put in that category. I have always been impressed with Jaws and am very happy that attraction lives on in that park. And attractions like Spider-Man, Jurassic Park River Adventure, the indoor Snoopy area, and even Backdraft are all very well done and well themed. I would say the only two attractions that fall into your "Six Flags" description at USJ would be Flying Dinosaur and Hollywood Dream. But I personally like both of those rides better than let's say Hulk and Rip Ride Rockit. So maybe it's jut a matter of personal preference.

Sorry about that little mess I had to clean up. Let me just make something clear - This is a report about our trip to Asia, NOT a soapbox for Universal Orlando fanboys to jump on and start making claims about the operations at that park, which has NOTHING to do with our report. If you'd like to discuss operations at Universal Orlando, we have a Universal Orlando Discussion Thread which is a perfect place for that. Thank you!

Not that we saw during our visit and we rode it three times that day: morning, noon, and evening.

This is exactly how I feel as well. I mean, the reality is that I'll still take Universal Orlando over like 90% of the rest of the parks in the US, but I miss the higher level of quality the parks used to offer. And you still get that at Universal Japan.

The two Potter rides, Flying Dinosaur, and Backdrop. Everything else we could use when we wanted to. Note that Backdrop and Flying Dinosuar were on two different books that we purchased. As of right now, you cannot purchase one book with both of them.

I'm not even sure what you're saying in your response. If you're saying that Universal Japan looks like Six Flags, you're insane and totally mistaken. If you're saying that Universal Japan doesn't look anywhere near as good as Universal Orlando, you're insane and totally mistaken. Universal Japan is significantly better than Orlando in every way. Operations, clientele, selection of rides, guest service, food and drink options, merchandise, entertainment, and an overall guest experience. Maybe if you were a bit more clear with your words I could understand what your thought was, but really I have no idea and I'm just guessing at this point.

Those are both B-Roll POVs that were supplied to us by the park.

Our next stop was Universal Studios Japan. Quite simply - this is the BEST Universal Studios park in the world... but a HUGE margin! Take everything you know about Universal Orlando and Islands of Adventure, combine them into one amazing park, add even better attractions, a better guest experience, again by a HUGE margin, a better Citywalk, better clientele, really just better everything, and you have Universal Studios Japan! It's one of those parks where after you visit, it makes it very difficult to go back to your home park and not ask questions like "How is it that they get Flying Dinosaur and we get Kong?!??!" Anyway, onto the photos.... We arrived into the Universal Osaka area just in time for Christmas day! We spent Christmas day hanging out in Osaka and spending some time in Citywalk.... Merry Christmas lunch at Universal Citywalk! Delicious Japanese BBQ! They have a ride called "cupcake dream" at USJ! You know, because Japan! Santa Pikachu says Merry Christmas! [twitter] [/twitter] You know you are back in Japan when you find hundreds of capsule machines filled with the most random stuff! Having a traditional Japanese Christmas dinner at Hard Rock Cafe in Citywalk! Merry Christmas from the best Universal park on the planet! Arrived at USJ to get an early ride on Flying Dinosaur! OMG! This ride is GREAT!!! Quite possibly the best Universal coaster! [twitter] [/twitter] Jaws > Harry Potter. Sorry, just not a Potter fan. I'm happy this ride still exists at USJ. Here's a look at what Japanese Jaws is like! Dear Universal Orlando, USJ changed their strict locker policy by increasing staff & adding lockers on platforms. Huge improvement. Take note Basically what you are seeing is that in the queues, Universal staff and the video screens instruct guests of the very strict "no loose items" policies. And in the queue, they hand out baskets to put all your loose items into. So that way when you get to the platform, all you have to do is put the basket into the area on the other side of the platform. NO METAL DETECTORS or lockers are required! This is not hard to do, Universal Orlando, but it will require effort from your operations team and your staff. No more "put everything in lockers before you ride" USJ Staff informs & helps riders use lockers on ride platforms now. GREAT! While it is not a "painless" system, it is by far nowhere near as painful as the horrible system in Orlando. Two of my favorite Universal properties in one shot! Both films represented better here at USJ than they are in the US parks! Why can't we have random awesome stuff like this in America: [twitter] [/twitter] Or this... This is amazing! You buy a Christmas churro and spin the wheel for a chance to win a special Churro Tree!!! You can't even buy the Churro tree, you have to win it! Yes, you are seeing that correctly! That is "Turkey Leg Flavored Popcorn!" Shrek & Sesame Street 4-D play in the "looping theater" but spoiler alert, it doesn't go upside down! Merry Christmas from Universal Studios Japan! Having an amazing day so far! Such a wonderful park! The "greatest hits" of all Universal parks in one place! USJ's layout and look was modeled after Universal Orlando but the park has many improvements making it the best Universal park in the world! Minions themed pork bun! Yesss! We get to bite their horrible faces off!!! I love how Hollywood Dream floats over the entrance to the park! OMG! The onride photo for Flying Dinosaur was great! Had to get ours! OM NOM NOM! Dinosaur wants CocaCola! Now, now, that is not a penis. Get your mind out of the gutter. It's just some yummy Japanese octopus! OMG! The Minions showed up and everyone went berserk! Minus one point for the Japanese! Of all the "new for 2016" Universal attractions, Flying Dinosaur is by far the stand-out clear winner! Because everyone needs Jaws on their butt... Dear Back to the Future fans, I'm sad to report the ride has finally closed at USJ and will become a Minions themed ride... But never fear... Jaws is still here!!! This machine is making Minions themed waffles that you easily can bite off their heads! [twitter] [/twitter] Some things just don't quite translate in Japan! Found this as part of the theming in the USJ Hotel! lol They also still have Backdraft at USJ and it's still as good as you remember it! Both Hollywood Dream & Backdrop are super fun! I actually prefer the backwards version! So much of this park looks just like Universal Orlando, but it is improved in every way! Best Universal park ever! Jaws still draws decent sized crowds here. The Japanese seem to LOVE it! Hope it sticks around a long time! These giant poofy winter hats are all the rage here at USJ! That's the current line for Jaws! Apparently this ride still has lots of fans in Japan! It's 54 degrees out and people are still riding the crap out of Jurassic Park River Adventure! Flying Dinosaur queue may be 180 minutes, but not for us! Express Pass FTW! Seriously Orlando, take a page from USJ's attractions loose items process and improve your guest experience! The park has been filled with Christmas cosplay girls today and we think that's AWESOME!!! Yay! It's the Happiness Wagon! I don't know why this makes me happy, but it does! Snoopy Studios is one of several kids areas they have at USJ! I can't be the only person who prefers Jaws over Harry Potter, right? So much awesome Jaws merchandise! Love the artwork on these Jaws postcards! Here's why Japan is awesome. This is a few thousand people politely & patiently waiting for a show at USJ. Would be a cluster in the US! Is this photo from Universal Orlando or Japan? You almost cannot tell! Poor Hello Kitty... The Sesame Street area is another great place for kids to play. Things that look familiar, but aren't. Jaws Skippers > Harry Potter So if you have noticed, I have not yet mentioned Wizarding World of Harry Potter in this report. I will openly admit, I don't like Harry Potter. While I can appreciate that others do, and I have honestly given it a try, it's just not for me. I'm not a fan of "unicorns & fairies" style fantasy, if anything I prefer a good sci-fi story or movie instead. But that being said, there are plenty of people who are into the property and while I personally think that Harry Potter has helped ruin the parks in the US, the same is fortunately not the case for the Japan park. You see, that put Potterland in it's very own section that is an off-shoot of the main park, almost as though they built a separate "Harry Potter Park" within Universal. You can spend the entire day wandering around USJ and not once have to ever see or step foot into the Harry Potter area. And that is exactly what I did and I had an AWESOME day! I will also say that I did not encounter any annoyance, frustration, or operational issues...UNTIL I went into the Harry Potter area. Ugh, I just do not like it. These areas are small, over-crowded, I'm not a fan of the rides, and I just don't "get" what people see in this property. Hate me if you want for not liking it, but it's just not my thing. And note that I'm not "hating" on it, I just prefer to avoid it most of the time. But enough people had asked me to check it out, especially to see if the locker situation had changed at all from last year, which sadly it had not. I spent as little time as I could in this area as I wanted to get out and enjoy the rest of my evening. Yup, it's Forbidden Journey. Same as all the other versions except in 3-D. Not like that it makes it any better of a ride or anything. It's unfortunate with all the improvements USJ made with lockers on other rides that Potterland lockers are still a mess. This right here makes me not even want to visit the attraction. Sorry, I'm just not a Harry Potter fan and I can't appreciate this as much as other people do, but the area looks nice, I guess... Entrance to Diagon Alley or a toilet? Oh wait, it's the same... Hey look, it's a foreshadowing of things to come... Had a really great day at USJ until I went into Potterland! Reminds of me how Orlando's parks used to be! Now let's get back to enjoying the rest of the park... So familiar yet not at all... Sad about the unscheduled Space Fantasy closure today. Easily a top 5 Universal ride. I've been on it but bummed for others with us who haven't. Next time... The skyline around the lake. Another shot of USJ from the other side of the lake. The skyline of this park is awesome! Now THAT is a Christmas tree!!! [twitter] [/twitter] The Christmas tree at USJ is seriously impressive! USJ puts on a really nice projection & live Christmas carols show to accompany the Christmas tree lighting! Really impressive show! Awesome shot of Hollywood Dream/Backdrop thanks to Hanno! Are you sick of seeing USJ skyline pics? No? Good. Here's one from Hanno! Just a few people hanging out with Christmas Jaws tonight! Photo: Hanno It looks like just like Orlando, but man, do I wish this park was in Orlando! Photo: Hanno Flying Dinosaur was really REALLY good! Universal's US parks need more rides like this and less media-based simulators! Photo: Hanno And this brings an absolutely FANTASTIC to Universal Japan to a close! Easily one of the world's best theme parks! Thank you to USJ for an amazing day! [twitter] [/twitter] Click HERE for the next section of the report from our trip!

Not smooth.

No. I didn't even ride it, sorry!

Our next stop was Ocean Park. This place is sort of like the "SeaWorld of Hong Kong" as it has a mix of thrill rides and marine animal exhibits. This is the park that also features some of the most amazing views of any theme park in the world as it's built on a mountain that overlooks the water on almost all the sides. They Sky Ride that you take from one side of the mountain to the other (the park is built on both sides) is just breathtaking. Onto some photos! We have arrived early to do some filming at Ocean Park! Going to take the train that goes through the mountain to get to the "thrill" side of the park! This train, we are told, with the screens above you was the inspiration for the Harry Potter train at Universal Orlando. The screens above you tell you the story of the "underwater exploration" that your train is doing. During Christmas, though, Santa makes a cameo! OMG! NO! DON'T EAT US!!! First stop! Hair Raiser! Here's just a few of some of our Hair Raiser pics! We'll have some new footage up soon! Next up... The Dragon! Hold on tight! Are you guys ready for this one? Don't you think every roller coaster needs a view like this? Speaking about great views... Next up is the Mine Train! I still think this ride offers the best views of ANY roller coaster in the world! That's just incredible! Just look at that! Absolutely beautiful! More amazing footage coming soon! They are currently building a new water park at Ocean Park! Up the escalator back to "thrill mountain!" Oooh...thrilling! This is just insane. Hooray for penguins! This enclosure is super cool, although it didn't seem to have as many penguins as the last time we were here. Normally you'd see them swimming all across under the floor, but we didn't see that this time. Hello Mr. Arctic Fox. Woof... Taking a ride on the Observation Tower! Here's some of the sights we have observed... Got that all in? Good! Yes, they gave Kristen a gun! Gotta prepare for the zombie apocalypse! Any park with a McDonald's in it is ok by me! We went to see some sharks... ...and see sharks we did! This is a zebra shark. It was cool. Time for the amazing Sky Ride! Hello girls! How are you guys doing? Here's some of the incredible views you see from the Sky Ride. This was on the wall. Not sure why. But it was. And now I am sharing it with you. "Nobody ever wins the giant ass panda." There it is... a giant ass panda. They had goldish that looked like they had testicles on their face. This human statue was amazing! See! It moved! The newer section of Ocean Park still looking pretty good! Yup, it's a monkey. Yup, it's a sleeping panda. Yup, it's two girls. I wonder how much of an upcharge this attraction is? Thanks again to Ocean Park! We had an awesome day! Click HERE for the next section of the report from our trip!

Yep, I can't believe how much they have done to this park since our first visit opening year. It has to be the largest amount of expansions of any of the Disney parks, and they aren't stopping any time soon!

Day two of Hong Kong Disneyland!!! We were aware that the new Iron Man ride would be opening close to the end of 2016, and we did not plan our trip around the opening of that attraction, and was slightly bummed to hear that the ride would not be opening until January 11th. We would miss it by a couple of weeks. Not a huge deal as we still love the park and there were many other "new" things to us, like Mystic Manor. A few weeks before our trip, we heard from the park that it would be soft opening the day we were there, and the park invited us to come in early and be the very first public guests on the ride! What an amazing experience! We were the first public guests on the new Iron Man Experience soft opener today at Hong Kong Disneyland! Great update to Star Tours tech! Everything received an upgrade! The cabins, the visual effects, the queue, etc. Everything you know about Star Tours has been plussed for this attraction and we think that's GREAT! Got in 5 rides on Iron Man before the park opened today! Great ride! First ever Marvel ride at a Disney park! Remember also that the people of Hong Kong have never seen Star Tours and there isn't a ride like it at any of the parks around. So this is really new technology and experience for them! Here's a video of the ride: Some of the entertainment out and around Hong Kong Disneyland today! Chip N Dale hanging out on Main Street getting in the Christmas spirit! Western Mickey & Minnie out greeting guests in Grizzly Gulch! Christmas decorations on Main Street! Yesterday Iron Man was closed, today it soft-opened to the public! Official opening in early January! Some of the props found in the Iron Man Experience queue! Here a look at the shop just outside the Iron Man Experience! Some happy riders on Big Grizzly Mountain! Awesome Big Thunder Mountain easter egg on Big Grizzly Mountain! When traveling to Hong Kong Disneyland by train, it's pretty difficult to tell which train to take. So make sure you get on the right one! Love these glow in the dark Mystic Manor T-Shirts! Albert didn't mean to do it, really! But you'll have to ride Mystic Manor at Hong Kong Disneyland to see what he did! You can play "spot the Disney Character" on Hong Kong Disneyland's It's A Small World. Hong Kong Disneyland has an awesome version of Jungle Cruise! Because fire makes everything better! Taking a break from the park to go check out Hong Kong! Currently doing something that would make @scottspizzatour proud! We found a "NYC style" pizzeria in Hong Kong! Pizza was giant! Wasn't the best we've had but it was passable. Good pizza in Hong Kong? Who would have thought? We stopped by a shopping mall with giant escalators! There were several shops dedicated to collecting mini busses. Is this a thing??? Rules and signs I wish they had on mainland China. When you know you are on the correct train bound for Hong Kong Disneyland! Back at Hong Kong Disneyland for some night rides and shows! Took another night ride on Big Grizzly! Love this ride! Like it more than Everest at DAK! While Mystic Manor is no different at night it's still one of Disney's best attractions ever made! Mystic Manor really is one of Disney's best attractions! Hope this ride finds its way to other parks someday! The castle projection/fireworks show at Hong Kong Disneyland is INCREDIBLE! Entrance to the new Iron Man ride at night! Loved everything about the castle show! And that wraps up our visit to Hong Kong Disneyland! And a GREAT visit it was! Click HERE for the next section of the report from our trip!

Soon...

MOre soon...

Our next stop was Hong Kong Disneyland! This is a park I have visited several times since it opened in 2005 and it has been impressive to see the insane amount of expansion that has been done in that time. The park has added some major new "original" attractions like Mystic Manor and Big Grizzly Mountain along with other major to minor expansions like Toy Story Land, a new Castle projection show, Paint The Night Parade, Hyperspace Mountain, Storybook walk-through area, a new show to replace the Golden Mickey's, etc. And at the moment they have a new ride opening, Iron Man Experience, as well as some more major additions announced: Frozen area with a new major ride and a Marvel area with another new major ride. They are also well into construction of a new Explorers themed hotel and will be upgrading their castle. IMO, this is the Disney park that has the most potential in the upcoming years! Anyway, onto some photos! What better way to start our visit to Hong Kong Disneyland than with some Mickey Mouse waffles? We have only been at Hong Kong Disneyland like 20 minutes and we've already met Mickey! Can you spot the hidden Mickey? We have arrived at Hong Kong Disneyland! Our morning at Hong Kong Disneyland has started out with some exclusive ride time on Big Grizzly and Mystic Manor before the park opened! Mystic Manor is one of the most amazing dark rides I've ever been on! Disney tech & storytelling at its best! Big Grizzly is yet another star attraction of Hong Kong Disneyland! One of the best coasters Disney has built! [twitter] [/twitter] Soon the Hong Kong Disneyland castle will be transformed into a larger majestic icon! Wish they'd do the same in California! OMG! Love these TsumTsum Stitch headbands! Which Gelatoni dress do you think Kristen should get? So much awesome Duffy, Shellie May & Gelatoni merchandise! We want it all! Who wishes they had a FastPass for Hyperspace Mountain right now? You can either meet "Santa Goofy" or write him a letter and mail it! Are you the kind of girl who would rather have a bouquet of TsumTsum over flowers? Absolutely love all this black light glowy merchandise! Hyperspace Mountain was GREAT! Wish we would see this overlay at a few more Disney parks! The amount of Duffy merchandise at Hong Kong Disneyland is really approaching Tokyo levels now! Did we mention there is a butt load of Duffy merchandise? Here we are having a blast on RC Racer! This is the best "don't take photos of your onride pic" deterrent I've ever seen! Very clever! [twitter] [/twitter] Coming soon! The Iron Man Experience attraction opens in January! This interactive walk-through fairy tale attraction was super cute! The Christmas tree in the hub of Hong Kong Disneyland! I love that Baymax is included on it! This Christmas show with all the Duffy characters was awesome! I wish these guys took off more in the US! Night time here at Hong Kong Disneyland! Main Street Christmas decorations look amazing! Really looking forward to the castle re-do! It's snowing on Main Street! Hong Kong Disneyland's fireworks absolutely proves you can do amazing projections on a small castle. Why isn't SoCal Disneyland doing this??? [twitter] [/twitter] Giant letter U or RC Racer? You decide... Yes, they do the Jedi Academy show at Hong Kong Disneyland as well and yes a lot of new Jedi's are created from it! Tomorrowland is very glowy and pretty and makes me smile! Here's a look at Mystic Manor at night! And here's Big Grizzly Mountain at night! Paint The Night! The most visually impressive parade I've ever seen! Wow! It was busy today at Hong Kong Disneyland but it didn't feel like it! Operations were smooth and fantastic! Clientele was wonderful and well behaved, especially compared to Shanghai. Great first day at Hong Kong Disneyland! We will be back again tomorrow! Click HERE for the next section of the report from our trip!

So after two full days of Shanghai Disneyland, we took a break, went back into the city and explored a bit more... When traveling to Shanghai Disneyland by train, there is an easy access Metro station right at the park! This also allows you to get into the city easily as well! Ahh, yes.... this is what I'm used to China looking like! Anal bead tower... (official name, not making it up!) I'll take "phrases I never thought I'd hear for $100, Alex" The real reason for our trip into Shanghai this morning! The World's Largest Disney Store! WARNING!!! Lots of Shanghai "World's Largest Disney Store" pics coming up next! Ok, I *NEED* all this Baymax Christmas stuff in my life right now! There are a ridiculous amount of TsumTsum here! Never seen this many in one place! More TsumTsum ... and wait there is even MORE... INSANE!!! Why don't we have any of this cool Baymax stuff back home??? I also need all this awesome Zootopia stuff in my life! Some of the interior of the world's largest Disney Store Shanghai! It's amazing! Plenty of stuff for your little princess! Star Wars section and yes, more TsumTsum! If you are into the Asian Disney Store UniBEARsity character there is plenty here! Here's a quick look around the World's largest Disney Store! [twitter] [/twitter] A new Taco Bell just opened in #Shanghai and after our awesome Tokyo Taco Bell visit last year we had to check this out! Because when in China... You get tacos! Of course! Duh!!! International Taco Bell is VERY different than in the US! Familiar yes, but not as "fast food" as you're used to. I love the "Taco characters" you see at Asian Taco Bell! I need these in my life! lol Having a wonderful #TacoFriendsChristmasParty! lol Yay! We found our favorite Chinese local! Brent and his family came and met up with us in Shanghai! To complete our "ugly American fast food" tour of China, we went to the new Pizza Hut where you are seated by this cute robot! Much like Taco Bell, Asian Pizza Hut is VERY different from what we are used to in the US! It's less like "crappy, greasy pizza" and more like "somewhat decent restaurant." I mean, they have steak and escargot on the menu!!! Back at Disneytown at Shanghai Disneyland, We've seen Disney park service cast members do "water art", "chalk art", but this the first "leaf art" we've seen! We found something cool in our hotel room! [twitter] [/twitter] And that wraps up Shanghai! Next stop... Hong Kong Disneyland! Click HERE for the next section of the report from our trip!

Yes the ride is closed during the winter months. From what I've been told and have seen, the animatronic turned out to be not quite as impressive as people had hoped. Nice, yes, but it was no lava monster.

Our second day was much much better at the park. First of all it was less crowded which meant far less annoyances and frustrations. Interesting when there are 20,000 less Chinese in the park how much better of a time you can have! And look, I agree with the guy who said that I'm sure that international visitors come to America and see things like people on ECV's everywhere running rampant without a care in the world like they own the place, trust me, I hate them too and one of the positives about the Asian parks is that we didn't see one single frivolous ECV in the two days we were at the park! But that being said as a traveler I pick and choose places I like to go based on how much enjoyment I get out of the location, and China is just one of those places where I don't mesh as well with the culture and the people, so I choose to visit the country less frequently than someplace like Japan or Europe. I'm not going to be one of those people who will complain about something and then expect somewhere to cater to my own personal preferences, instead I'll take the mature avenue and just not go. We all have choices... ANYWAY... enough about my rant on cultural stuff, let's talk about the park! After our full second day we came away from the park once agian feeling like Pirates and Tron were the two absolutely stand-out attractions, and everything else was just a nice bonus. We got to do so much more today due to the lower crowds and we had a great time. On a slower day, I would put this park on par with Hong Kong, Paris, or Disneyland in California, but I'm not sure it ranks up there with Walt Disney World or Tokyo Disney. That's not a bad thing, keep in mind, because it's still going to end up being one of my favorite parks in the world, and I've been to a *LOT* of parks! Let's go to some photos... Yes, this is in a theme park! Photos & video do not do this ride justice. All I know is I have zero interest in riding "old Pirates" now! See that scene in the poster? That ACTUALLY HAPPENS in the ride and it's just as "big" in real life as it is in the poster! Just rode Tron again. It's growing on me. Liked it as a "coaster" much better the second time! Some of the awesome Tron merchandise! This is in the Tron queue! It's AMAZING! They do this "reveal" of the launch track: [twitter] [/twitter] Yes! Even MORE Tron merchandise! How much of this do you want? Waffle break!!! These are *almost* as good as the ones at Tokyo Disney! Here is one major drawback to Shanghai Disneyland... disgusting Pepsi products. Such a shame, really. This little show where Mickey Mouse conducts the Main Street marching band was super cute & fun! Someone really loves the Tron ride! This show where #Baymax teaches kids to exercise might be one of the cutest coolest theme park shows I've ever seen! Yep, there is a Walt Disney "Partners" statue here, too! The ropes course at Shanghai Disneyland is legit hardcore. Narrow ledge, waterfall, slippery rocks, 30' drop off! How many 9 year olds can say they've been to ever Disney park on the planet? We have taken a break from the park for a light lunch at Cheesecake Factory! The castle walk-through attraction was an interesting display of projection effects and storytelling! The Christmas tree out in front of the Shanghai Disneyland castle! The handicap seat on Tron was awesome! Like a normal coaster car. What a great idea! It's a lot quieter tonight than it was last night. 5 minute wait for Tron? SURE! I'll take that!!! Another great ride on Tron! I simply cannot say enough good things about Pirates. Photos don't come close to selling it! The queue for Pirates was also insanely detailed and elaborate. It was nice to have Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at this park. I really do like this ride a lot and feel it's the PERFECT "family" coaster especially if you have younger kids. This version is very similar to the one at Magic Kingdom although the MK one was slightly better as it had a more elaborate queue and a bit more landscaping and scenery that was missing from the Shanghai version. Inside of the Shanghai Disneyland castle! Who can tell us which Princesses all these flags represent? Buzz Lightyear is a familiar yet totally different experience. The best version of this ride, easily! You asked for some more castle detail photos... here ya go! The park doesn't have a "rocket jets" ride but instead they have this "jet packs" ride. Can someone tell me where I can get a Tron attraction poster??? Seriously, this #Baymax exercise shown was amazing and cute! Loved this!!! [twitter] [/twitter] Who would like to get their picture with Santa Duffy? We did find a good amount of Elissa approved merchandise at Shanghai Disneyland! Crystal Grotto is Shanghai Disneyland's answer to "Storybook Boats" and spoiler alert, there IS an actual crystal grotto! The lighting on the castle at night was just amazing! Ignite The Magic is a castle projection/fireworks show worthy of the "nighttime spectacular" moniker. Between this Tokyo's version of Once Upon A Time and Paris' Disney Dreams these castle shows are some of my favorite night time Disney entertainment. I only wish that Magic Kingdom had a more elaborate castle show, but then again, MK has a really good fireworks show where this park only has the castle show in the evening. And that wraps up our coverage from Shanghai Disneyland! My overal verdict? Now that I had a more "hassle-free" day at the park (which wasn't totally without cultural frustrations, keep in mind) I think it's a park I absolutely would recommend Disney fans check out, and it's a park I will be making a return visit to. Maybe not as frequently as some of the other Disney parks in the world, but it's "bucket list" material for sure! Next park stop on this trip... Hong Kong Disneyland! Click HERE for the next section of the report from our trip!

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