PTR: Bill's Epic 3 Weeks in China w/TPR!

[Nrthwnd]

So, before and after this lovely lovely meal at the Main Street Corner Cafe, there was re-visiting the park for a few hours, before heading back to the hotel, grabbing my luggage, and getting a taxi to the airport, for my flight home.

 

I went through the Main Street shops more, looking at what was offered, what I could afford, and what souvenirs I still needed to bring back with me, lol. Like all other Main Streets at Disney parks, you can usually walk continuously through one side of the shops, or the other. This Main Street had much less to browse through, but it was still a nice layout to enjoy.

 

So, back and forth I went between (mainly) Grizzly Gulch and Tomorrow Land riding both "mountains," and throwing in a Buzz Lightyear from time to time, heh heh.

 

Then, back to the hotel, a final cocktail at the Disney Hollywood Hotel's lovely lounge/bar, grab my bags and head to the airport. Flight home went fine, no surprises at 30,000 feet, lol.

 

And then - big laundry and time to sort out all the SOUVENIRS I brought back with me! Coming up soon...

I started taking this day's pix with the Main Street Candy Shoppe. Great displays in the middle of the shops, in general.

Then there was this elaborate dollhouse on display in the Main Street Emporium.

Back view of the dollhouse.

The music room, I believe. So much detail!

The kitchen eating area. And you can barely make out the food bowls for well known Disney pets.

Back to Grizzly Gulch, to re-visit where The Accident happened, the night before. This is where I tripped and went down down down. Not a fun way to end the evening there. But now I know better.

Uh huh. Yes indeed, definitely need to revisit in a year or three.

Me and my "Opera Glasses" for Philharmagic! I love this attraction - and it was all in English, too!

I tried taking a couple of non-flash screen shots of the film. Obviously those glasses were needed on the camera's lens too, lol.

Donald finally gets the hat back - for a few seconds.

And where Donald ends up at the end of the concert. In the back wall, behind us. Great ending.

Took a re-ride on Pooh. Not as OMG great as Tokyo, but I did enjoy it more than I thought I would.

And of course, a couple more rides of this.

A final look at The Future in the park.

Everybody hugs and says goodbye now.

And ~ special request ~ this one's for you, Elissa!

And this is my "sad face" leaving the park. Not a great self-photo, but leaving wasn't so great, either.

So here's my final Disney cocktail - strawberry daiquiri - nice and tasty.

My taxi driver to the airport, who was constantly talking, but never to me, heh heh. And a 'busy' looking taxi it was, too.

And - for now - the last Chinese Starbucks Frappuccino I'll have before the flight. To home. And alllll those souvenirs to sort out!

Edited March 4, 2013 by Nrthwnd

[cfc]

My group rushed to get in a night ride on Grizzly Mountain before the group dinner that night, and it was quite a challenge--parts of the park were closed off for the fireworks. It was well worth the trouble, though, as the night ride was the best one.

 

Disney has a real winner in that ride. I don't blame you for hitting it a few more times.

Edited March 3, 2013 by cfc

[David H]

^ Agreed. Maybe that's why I was so much less impressed with Expedition Everest a few weeks ago when I rode it. Grizzly Gulch is so much better!

 

I was wondering why they made us walk the long way around at one point in the night. I thought it was because of the park buyout that night, but the fireworks makes sense.

 

I LOVE Philharmagic! Probably because it focuses on my favorite run of Disney movies of all time: Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beat, Aladdin, and Lion King. I thought it was interesting that they have it in English in Hong Kong, while Japan's is all in Japanese, even the songs. But that was true of the whole park, where they tried to have English translations or versions of shows and rides. I remember seeing an English showing of Stitch (using the Crush technology). They even had a completely separate queue for Jungle Cruise in English. (There was also a third queue, I think for Japanese?) I guess it makes sense for a city that only 13 years ago was run by Britain, although very few people left in the city seem to speak English as a primary language. I wonder if Shanghai's Disney will have much English.

 

Lugging around all of the souvenirs certainly became a chore, especially with the airlines' baggage weight requirements. With all the stuff I bought at HK Disneyland, I'd definitely go over the weight limits for my remaining flights to Taiwan, Osaka and home. Luckily, our Disney hotels' staff was very helpful, and boxed up and bunch of stuff and shipped it home for me, basically at the post office shipping cost. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't outrageous, either.

[Nrthwnd]

Hey everybody! I didn't really know how to download any short videos I took with my new camera, but I appear to have finally succeeded ....

 

[coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=MVI_1013_g7vq[/coastertube]

 

Enjoy. This was taken on Tues.Sept.18, I believe.

The same day we went up the Pearl Tower in Shanghai.

From a starting station, to the airport, and back.

 

(My big regret, is that I didn't keep filming a bit more.

Somebody lost their balance at this point, I believe, LOL!)

[thrillerman1]

WOAH! That's awesome video, Bill. Love the reaction and thanks for sharing!

[Nrthwnd]

^ Thanks Mark!

 

And for my own qwerkish behavior - this is look-see # 6001 - right before I turn 60 - and ride my 600th coaster in Mexico!

 

(to me at least, lol)

 

And....

EDIT TO Add - Am working on sorting all these *(^$!@&* souvenirs out, for pix and show & tell! I buy too much. Always.

[cfc]

Just got around to watching the Maglev video--forgot how violent that little moment really was.

[RoCo]

Holy crap, that video is incredible! And thanks for all these great reports! I'm totally sold on Big Grizzly Mountain...

[rctneil]

It was a shock when the other train sped past. You knew it was coming but the sheer speed it happen really took us all by surprise.

 

Thanks for posting it!

[Nrthwnd]

Thought I would try out, how my next video ....went, heh heh.

 

This was taken outside one of our Beijing hotel rooms' window.

This city didn't (IMhO) do as much Flash! and WOW as Shanghai

did with their buildings and iconic structures. Beijing was spread

out differently. Shanghai had a great harbour area to "show off".

 

But hey - it made for a fairly decent first-try in using my camera for movies...

 

[coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=MVI_0917Flipped_i9r2[/coastertube]

 

And there's a much better one than this I hope to show...

Eventually.

[gisco]

I liked Shanghai a lot more then I did Beijing. I just like looking at the buildings and the lights. Not into those light shows on the buildings.

[larrygator]

They even had a completely separate queue for Jungle Cruise in English. (There was also a third queue, I think for Japanese?) I guess it makes sense for a city that only 13 years ago was run by Britain, although very few people left in the city seem to speak English as a primary language.

 

The three languages were English, Cantonese and Mandarin (Chinese is not actually a language).

[Nrthwnd]

Hotel Correction - I was asked if the hotel I took that building

video from, was from our Chengdu hotel. Not the Beijing one...

 

 

It was Chengdu. I was keeping track of my hotels only so much, and now

posting these vids out of order (and context) later on, I do tend to forget

or confuse things/information.

 

It's an "age" thing.

 

(EDIT to add: I checked our old schedules and yes, indeed we were at the

Chengdu Sofitel Hotel that evening the vid was taken. Good to know - again.)

Edited March 9, 2013 by Nrthwnd

[David H]

I was actually going to say that I thought it was from Chengdu. Chengdu definitely had more lights all over the city.

 

The maglev video was awesome! It really was impressive and shocking. But I wish you'd managed to capture Scottish Steve jumping for dear life when it happened!

 

Imagine how amazing the trains crossing would be if they were both at full speed. During rush hour, the trains hit 431 km/h (268 mph), instead of the "mere" 301 km/h (187 mph) we were riding at.

[Nrthwnd]

^ You and others were right about the Chengdu hotel, David. I seem to just lump everything together into either the 'Beijing' or 'Shanghai' part of the tour. Thankfully there is still the old schedules to look back to, for reminding.

 

So, onto the multitude of SOUVENIRS I brought back with me, as usual. I never seem to think I am going to make it back home with "just a few trinkets" ha ha. Never gonna happen. Although I am hoping my upcoming TPR Mexico Tour becomes a (ahem) "small haul" to bring back with me.

 

So I got everything sorted into various 'themed piles' took photos, and here are a few of them! Enjoy.

Finally. Got everything "sort of" sorted out, lol. And here we go...

Quick! Find the One Fridge Magnet! I did like the personalized HKDL name tag to get. And a few stickers and FastPasses, collected.

And the all-important various hotel "ammenities" I found. Nice soaps and stuff.

[Nrthwnd]

I like outdoor lighting, too. Very cool, on so many buildings.

Especially stuff that 'moves' with things and lettering etc.

 

So this is what I called Chinese Pole(s) Dancing. Caught on film through our (apparently uncleaned) bus windows, on our way back to our hotel, the Shezhen Shangrilla Hotel. They were fun to see, along the way.

 

[coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=MVI_1132Flipped_guqf[/coastertube]

 

 

(Sept.25/12)

[Nrthwnd]

And continuing on with some more SOUVENIRS, these being more of the "Eat, Drink & Drink From"...kind.

 

I like to collect coffee cups/mugs here and there, and I found a few that caught my eye.

Mostly at Ocean Park and HKDL. BIG mugs at Disney, heh heh. They must really like their coffee...

 

The candy and such was more hit and miss. The package of "nougat" I picked up at The Pearl Tower in Shanghai was terrible! Very dry, no moisture in it at all, and the "flavours" were pretty much all bland to the taste. Couldn't wait to finish it up, lol!

 

And I definitely regret buying so - much - sh - stuff at the various "factory tours" we went through. Things that are more likely to gather dust, than be actually useful.

 

But that's the joy of traveling, right? Picking up stuff you wonder why (later) you ever bought it, LOL! I did find uses for a fair amount of stuff that I got. But still. When will I ever learn....

 

Here's some more....

Cups and mugs; shot glass; peeing/spitting figures(!); blooming tea buds (in a row in the box); and a tiny paper cup for a Coke sample in one of the parks!

Eat & Drink - the awful nougat in the middle there; weak tea in green tin; cookies and mints in the tins; Chinese knockoff OREOS in "Birthday" and "Peach/Mango" flavours upper right; chocolate in the GG bag...

Here's what there was in the Winnie The Pooh candy holder. Don't look like Winnie. or his pals, I'd say. Of course, this was bought at the park in Chengdu - home of the Panda Universe, lol.

"A Christmas Story" gummies! They were great, although several boxes more of them, would have been awesome! And I am pretty sure the middle one is of _________, "stuck" to the pole. (o:

[Nrthwnd]

Woo hoo! Another video from the tour!

And this one gave me a few... um..."title options".

 

But it is what it is. A Building BURSTING INTO COLOURS!

 

[coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=MVI_1042Flipped_xj8r[/coastertube]

This was taken on Sept.19, in Shanghai from a

pedestrian mall with tons of shops open, most very, very late.

[gisco]

^ One of the better looking buildings doing lights.

 

Where do you put all the stuff you bring home from all the trips you take? You must have some stash!

[Nrthwnd]

^ I annually rotate my stock.

 

I always try to keep in mind three things: what can I use, what do I need,

and what strikes my fancy, heh heh. (hi Piers!)

 

We are blessed with having a large house, including space for storage, so it's

not too hard to keep collecting stuff and not find some place for "it" to go.

 

And besides the theme park stuff, I had been collecting other things for years

and years, including Broadway cast LPs/CDs, action figures, pins, theatre books...

 

And somehow, it all fits in the house, without being in the way.

[Nrthwnd]

More "groups of" souvenirs that somehow fit somewhat okay in my home, lol!

 

I think I am more towards being a kind of mug-eatables-useables kind-of souvenir hunter.

With the occasional t-shirt thrown in for good measure, heh.

 

So a few more souvenvir groups I call "Disney, Buddies & Omg-Wtf?"...

The Disney Haul. Everything from ticket/FP stubs, the maps, a TON of souvenirs... and Major Grizzly Gulch stuff

More little friends picked up along the way, including (my fave) Devil Child! Guess which one, or ask Elissa. Also magnets (Ocean park; Chengdu Panda Sanctuary) other pins (Happy Valley, Pearl Tower) and... a FastPass!

Park Puzzles from Happy Valley; caps (Beijing, Panda park, HKDL); and yes Ben I STILL have that (shudders) 'preserved duck tongue' you handed me (centre of red cap) at an airport during the tour. Yep, still won't open it...

[Nrthwnd]

Another video to share!

 

This one was taken on Sat.Sept 29/12 as I was leaving Hong Kong Disneyland.

The fountain is in a small 'plaza' in front of the actual ticket booths and entrance of the park.

 

[coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=MVI_1237_xt80[/coastertube]

Again, I am still new at using my digital camera for short movies, so pardon the sudden

movement, fuzzy focus, etc. Learning as you go, right?

[Nrthwnd]

So this is about all, for the souvenirs. But there are still a few here to show - I ended up with 6 t-shirts, mostly from Hong Kong Disney, but I actually found a Happy Valley one! And of course the always awesome TPR Tour shirts.

 

The park maps were somewhat hard to come by at times, even with the bigger parks. The little parks we hit every other day, naturally had no map, except one at the park's entrance. But then, that's how I kept forgetting all the names of them, LOL!

 

And then - there's Best Souvenir of All Souvenirs....

The HKDL shirt at left bottom corner was a "limited edition" with only 1000 printed, per shirt! I thought that was cool. And affordable too. And then I got me my Grizzly Gulch shirts too, Woo Hoo!

All the maps, sort of in order of visiting.

And then ~ the Best Souvenir of All ~ TPR Tour Bags with helpful goodies inside! Great new design, too.

And here's where the rest of my TPR Goodies Candy went after I got back home. As well, there's (still) a mini bottle of "something" there, from the 2006 UK Tour. Anybody remember the bottle? From the 'Add-on'?

[Nrthwnd]

Hmmm.

 

Actually, there was one surprising "souvenir" I came upon, and thought

I had never really seen one of these before... in any park, till the tour.

I had grouped together one more assortment of souvenir 'stuff', and then I realized...

omg It's a Theme Park Sickie Bag! From Chimelong Paradise. Huh. Do any other parks (in the world) provide something like this for their visitors?

[RoCo]

^Hah, that's the first time I've ever seen something like that! Here's a free marketing idea for SFMM: "YOLO bags."

 

You've got a hell of a souvenir collection. Those Christmas Story gummies are epic.