Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland… You know the drill, right? Until now, there have been five Disneyland-style parks around the globe, based very closely on the original Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Now, more than 60 years later, for the first time in a very long time, a brand new Disneyland is here. And this one might change everything.
In just a few days, Shanghai Disneyland will have its Grand Opening celebration, bringing a Disney Park to the people of Mainland China for the first time ever. Like its home country, the secrets of Shanghai Disneyland were closely guarded. Now we know why. After the disappointing reveal of the miniature, budget-built Hong Kong Disneyland more than a decade ago, Imagineers went big on the Shanghai park, obliterating most of what we know about how “castle” parks are supposed to look and feel and the stories they’re supposed to tell.
Despite some odd news stories as the park struggled to adapt to Chinese customs and customers (and vice versa), one thing is for sure: Shanghai Disneyland could change everything about Disney Parks: New Lands; reimagined, reinvented versions of the rides you know and love that we’ll call New Classics, and completely original, Shanghai-exclusive New Adventures. Today, we’ll explore all three as we dive deep into Shanghai Disneyland and point out the incredible, unimaginable new concepts and stories that await within – some of the best rides Disney has ever designed. You might want to open Shanghai Disneyland’s interactive park map to follow along with us.
New Lands
As with any Disneyland-style park, it all begins in themed lands radiating out from a storybook castle in the park’s center. But before you go assuming you’ve seen this all before, take a look. We’ll begin by looking at the completely new lands that live here, all vastly different from what you’ve seen before.
1. Mickey Avenue
At every Disneyland-style park on Earth, your journey begins on Main Street, U.S.A., a charming turn-of-the-century Midwestern American town loosely based on Walt’s hometown of Marceline, Missouri. It’s a quaint and timeless look at a period of American history forever frozen by nostalgia and simplicity: a time when the electric light and the gas lamp co-existed; horse-drawn streetcars and “horseless carriages,” popcorn lights, markets, and more.
Turns out, though, that the Chinese don’t get the warm-and-fuzzies from vintage Americana. They don’t even have a sort of revered wonderment of it like Europeans or the Japanese. Main Street, U.S.A. would not do here, so instead you’ll find Mickey Avenue. Mickey Avenue fulfills the typical roles of an entry land (no rides; just food, shops, snacks, and meet-and-greets) while also providing a necessarily introduction for the Chinese to Disney characters they may have missed thanks to China’s longstanding icy freeze on anything too American (with Disney being high on the list).
This short streetscape, then, is made up of “cartoon” shops that look like an architectural mix of Main Street and Micky’s Toontown, “operated” by Donald, Chip and Dale, Goofy, Daisy and the crew, plus Remy’s Patisserie, and the Carthay Circle Theater (its third Disney Park iteration after a souvenir shop at Hollywood Studios and its park-icon status at Disney California Adventure). While Shanghai Disneyland does not have a train that circumnavigates the park, entering guests still pass beneath a beautiful, elaborate train station – this one a mix of art nouveau with the DNA of the park’s Enchanted Storybook Castle.
2. Gardens of Imagination
The second original land at Shanghai Disneyland is the Gardens of Imagination. A giant, forested circular hub before the castle, this garden is meant to be an elegant and peaceful area of bubbling pools, glittering trees, and colorful flowerbeds… and fulfill the Chinese government mandate that this park appeal to their elderly citizens.
Interestingly, this winding plaza contains two familiar attractions: Dumbo and the Fantasia Carousel.
(Most of Shanghai Disneyland’s park lands are much more consciencious of story and setting than the hodge-podge of mixed styles and stories at other Disneyland-style parks… think more along the lines of Islands of Adventure, Animal Kingdom, or Disney California Adventure, with each attraction in any given land part of the same time period, style, and overarching story… Since Fantasyland is united under one style and story and looks like a realistic storybook village, a dozen circling Dumbos attached to metallic arms simply wouldn’t do. Instead, these two outliers are at home here in the Gardens of Imagination.)
The Gardens of Imagination are also ‘distinctly Chinese,’ with a gorgeous spot called the Garden of the Twelve Friends. Therein, each animal of the zodiac is represented by a beautiful tile mosaic of a Disney character, set along a pink-tree-lined straightaway leading to the park’s central hub.
It should go without saying that the icon here is the Enchanted Storybook Castle, Disney’s largest castle ever and the first to not be associated with a particular princess.
The 197-foot-tall castle (just two feet shorter than Disney World’s imposing Hollywood Tower Hotel, mind you) is beautiful and unlike any other Disney Parks castle: made of warm brick with towering royal blue sloped turrets like something out of Merlin’s realm. There are also a few hypnotic towers that are an oxidized green-copper, like the rusted domes of California’s Tower of Terror with echoes of the exotic shapes of Hong Kong’s Mystic Manor. The dusky castle is gorgeous, as evidenced by the photos posted here.
3. Adventure Isle
Dateline, 1935. The Leagues of Adventurers’ journey around the globe has been cut short thanks to a wayward wind blowing their ship off course. Deep within a lost tropic archipelago, they’ve discovered a place long believed to be only a myth: Adventure Isle. Home to the harmonious Arbori people, Adventure Isle is a lush island filled with wonder and intrigue, and the League of Adventurers now invites you to join them in exploring the mysterious island.
Certainly an evolution of Disney’s Adventureland, this new incarnation borrows in equal parts from the mythology of Indiana Jones while simultaneously echoing the global expeditions of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers (S.E.A), the cross-continental frame story that unites Disney Parks rides across the globe into one overarching story. It also does away with all the Adventureland go-to attractions: there is no Jungle Cruise, no Indiana Jones Adventure, not even an Enchanted Tiki Room. Instead, it’s an original story and an original place, with all of the land’s attractions united in one time period and one exotic locale.
4. Treasure Cove
Since their debut at Disneyland in 1967, Disney’s cast of rascals, scoundrels, villains, and knaves have been a mainstay of Disney Parks. When Magic Kingdom opened in 1971, visitors were so concerned with finding the “pirate ride,” Disney cancelled plans for a cowboy-themed replacement and fast-tracked a miniature version of Pirates for the Florida park. Their popularity has only grown since the re-introduction of the cast in the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise that debuted in 2003, with no signs of slowing today.
Finally, Shanghai Disneyland gives the Pirates of the Caribbean their own land, based on the settings, stories, and characters from the films. Modeled very picturesquely after an 18th century harbor town located on a Caribbean isle, this land is perhaps the most exploration-worthy of all of Shanghai’s immensely detailed lands. It’s packed with nooks and crannies that beg to be explored, with big payoffs for those willing to take their time. It seems downright certain that any Disney Park built from here out will have its own dedicated Pirate land, and in Shanghai, Disney knocked it out of the park on their first try. Click and expand the image above to see just how detailed this land really is, easily on par with DisneySea’s best.
Even more impressive than the land itself are the attractions within, but we’ll get to those in just a minute.
5. Fantasyland
The fifth of Shanghai’s six themed lands, and we’ve finally arrived at a familiar face. Or so it seems. But Fantasyland here is quite a bit different than the one you know. While all the other Fantasylands at Disneyland-style parks are courtyards beyond the castle, often extending out to the east and west, this is a bit different. Walking through the Enchanted Storybook Castle, you emerge on a stone balcony, overlooking a forested lagoon. The path splits to the left and right. Fantasyland here is a loop that circles around this central forested waterway.
Moving clockwise around the land, you’ll pass through a “Storybook” village that’s a mix of European and fantasy architecture, then by the Tangled Tree Tavern, a Hundred Acre Wood mini-land, and then past the grassy slopes of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Most every attraction here is either original or a stark re-invention of a classic. We’ll get to that in just a few minutes…
6. Tomorrowland
From 1955, Disney Imagineers have been trying to decide what the future will look like – not an easy task (even if they’ve gotten it surprisingly right more often than not)! In the 1990s, spurred by Disneyland Paris’ timeless, retro-futuristic Discoveryland, Disney set out to change Tomorrowland across the globe. No longer would they try to predict actual scientific advancement or real possibilities for the future. Instead, they’d be “timeless” visions of tomorrow rooted in the past. In Magic Kingdom, a sci-fi alien spaceport as envisioned by 20th century pop culture; at Disneyland, a fantasy future as envisioned by 19th century European visionaries. (By the way, even if they’re technically “timeless,” both have, to varying degrees, lost their luster just a few decades later.)
With Shanghai Disneyland, Imagineers really set out to make Tomorrowland timeless by abandoning place and time altogether. More akin to something you’d see in the Tomorrowland film, this Tomorrowland doesn’t try to be a “real” sci-fi city or to base itself from some concrete past viewpoint. It’s simply a modern marvel of glass canopies, curves, elevated pathways, manicured gardens, geometric water fountains, and silver supports. Whether or not this abstract version of tomorrow can last, we just don’t know. But at least it can’t be damaged by its own ambition (Florida), lose its concept thanks to intellectual property (France), or depressingly void of life and story (California).
But what about the rides?
So all six of Shanghai Disneyland’s themed lands are, to varying degrees, entirely original concepts, designs, and styles absolutely unlike anything else you can find in the US, Europe, Japan, or Hong Kong; new stories custom-built to provide new adventures. And as you might expect from such a brave change in layout and lands, Shanghai Disneyland follows through with entirely new versions of your favorites and brand new, never-before-seen rides. Read on…
New Classics
Shanghai Disneyland takes the DNA of a Disney park – adventure, romance, fantasy, futurism, and beauty – and turns that DNA into entirely new lands. As you can imagine, the same is true for the rides. This unusual, new age park borrows from the classics that came before and crafts them into entirely new, next generation versions of the rides you know and love. What kinds of New Classics await?
1. Soaring Over the Horizon
Evolution Of: Soarin’ Over California
Location: Adventure Isle
When Soarin’ Over California opened alongside Disney’s California Adventure in 2001, it was a rare homerun at the otherwise bleak and forgettable park. The clever and innovative ride system seats guests on sleek, suspended gliders, which are hoisted sky-high and parked vertically in front of a hemispherical dome screen. Set to a sincerely moving musical score by the late composer and conductor Jerry Goldsmith, Soarin’ Over California sent guests gliding over the wonders of the Golden State: skimming across the ocean, scaling snow-covered peaks, floating over vast deserts, and zooming through downtown Los Angeles for a finale flight over Disneyland Park.
Soarin’ Over California was such a hit, it was duplicated at Epcot’s The Land pavilion under the name Soarin’. Even though allusions to California were dropped from the name, the same ride film was used. It turns out that California’s landscapes are so varied, it can reasonably stand in for the whole United States and most Disney World visitors wouldn’t even notice!
The opening of Shanghai Disneyland was also the debut a completely new evolution of the classic: Soaring Over the Horizon. The brand new version features a flight plan that spans all seven continents, gliding along the frozen waters of Antarctica, the iconic Sydney Harbor in Australia, Mount Kilimanjaro, Bora Bora, the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, Monument Valley in Arizona, and Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany (the original inspiration for Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle) to name a few. While the new version does feature a re-orchestrated score to match the new film, rest assured that it’s based very closely on Goldsmith’s original.
Because Soaring Over the Horizon is located in Adventure Isle, it takes on a unique, mystic backstory, leaving behind the “flight concourse” terminals and aviation hangar settings of its American cousins. Instead, you enter beneath a jagged stone arch carved away from Roaring Mountain and hike up a trail to the ancient Observatory of the native Arbori people. There, before a mystic black stone, you’ll be granted the spirit of the condor and the vision to see the world. The queue winds through the Observatory’s perfect view of an endless nighttime sky overhead, creating a mystical and magical version of a favorite attraction.
At least in this case, U.S. Disney Parks fans didn’t have to be green with envy for very long. The day after it debuted in China, the global tour (with a swapped-out ending for each resort) replaced the original ride films in California and Florida. In the US, it’s now called Soarin’ Around the World. The choice is an obvious and overdue one for Epcot, but an odd choice for Disney California Adventure, where the Californian version is one of the few remnants of park’s Californian identity and, you know, name. Still, the upgrade is fresh, beautiful, and as stunning as ever.
2. Shipwreck Shore & the Siren’s Revenge
Evolution Of: Tom Sawyer’s Island
Location: Treasure Cove
Tom Sawyer’s Island opened June 1956 at Disneyland – just about one year after the park itself. Said to be the only area of Disneyland whose design was sculpted by Walt Disney himself, the island is a veritable playground for adventurers and explorers of all ages. Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, and Tokyo Disneyland each offer Tom Sawyer’s Islands with tree houses, forts, hiking trails, boat docks, caverns, and more. In 2007, Disneyland’s version underwent a unique transformation and re-opened as Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island.
Loosely tied to a cockamamie story of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn playing “pirates” as we might play “cops and robbers,” the real inspiration is obvious: the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise, based on the Disneyland ride just across the river in New Orleans Square. Most references to Mark Twain’s great American novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer were tossed in favor of pirate maps, treasure chests, skeletons, Jack Sparrow, and Davy Jones.
At Shanghai Disneyland, the Pirates characters not only received their own full land, but a purpose-built adventure zone just for them – Shipwreck Shore. There’s a toddler area of water bells, stone sea creatures, and a “mist garden,” plus the beautiful Tide Pools full of glass shellfish and starfish that squirt when touched, a stone “harp” that plays when you break the streams of water that fall from it, “cannons” to launch (emitting a blast of fog, with a resounding “splash” in the bay to match), and two full-sized wrecked ships to explore, both visited by “real” pirates throughout the day as they wage war on one another.
3. Peter Pan’s Flight
Evolution Of: Peter Pan’s Flight
Location: Fantasyland
Peter Pan’s Flight is an opening-day classic at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris. In the style of timeless, Walt-era dark rides it resides near in other parks (Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Snow White’s Scary Adventures, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, Alice in Wonderland, etc.), Peter Pan’s Flight is a musical blacklight journey past glowing scaled sets and animatronics. What has always set Peter Pan apart is the ride system: guests are seated in enchanted pirate galleons suspended from the ceiling as they soar out of the Darlings’ bedroom and (most memorably) over a moon-lit London and through the stars to Neverland.
Truthfully, it’s a winning formula that earns Peter Pan’s Flight some of the longest lines and most die-hard following of any Disney dark ride at each park. The formula didn’t need a reinvention. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” So instead, Imagineers only tweaked with the formula for Shanghai, designing what’s likely to be the most envied and sought-after version of the already must-see ride.
Shanghai Disneyland always had the benefit of 2016 technology and the ability to build it into rides rather than trying to retcon it later (which has been done to various degrees of success in many rides, including Peter Pan’s Flight, in the U.S. and elsewhere). Perfectly placed projections are integrated seamlessly into a built-out ride that maintains all the charm of the “classic” style while looking fresh. Of the new additions, we love the floating Nana, the “splashdown” in Skull Rock, and how this version simply feels more complete than any other. And that’s saying something.
4. Pooh’s Hunny Pot Spin
Evolution Of: Mad Tea Party
Location: Fantasyland
Simple but effective, the classic “spinning teacup” ride so commonly associated with Alice, the Mad Hatter, and Wonderland was instead transposed here in Shanghai as sticky “hunny” pots collecting Pooh’s favorite food. Riders in the pots spin and swirl beneath a canopy dripping with honey around a central “chandelier” – a giant bees nest with the insects buzzing around. At least so far, it doesn’t seem like the Chinese have caught on to the “spinning” aspect, but the unique translation of a classic into a Pooh ride is so obvious, we can’t believe Disney didn’t try it earlier!
5. Alice in Wonderland Maze
Evolution of: Alice’s Curious Labyrinth
Disney Parks around the world have celebrated Disney’s 1951 film Alice in Wonderland to various degrees over the decades, starting with the Mad Tea Party spinning cups ride right from the get-go at Disneyland’s opening. An Alice in Wonderland dark ride joined it in 1958, and ever since, bringing to life the whimsical, nonsensical, downright trippy world of Wonderland has been a Disney Parks standard.
Alice’s Curious Labyrinth opened with Disneyland Paris in 1992 as a winding, disorienting hedge maze populated by leaping fountains, doors of various sizes, confounding directional signs, giant playing cards, animatronic characters, and (at its center) the Queen of Hearts’ castle, offering outlook views over Fantasyland.
Curiously, Shanghai Disneyland offers an Alice maze, too, but given China’s long-standing censorship of American properties, Disney seemed to cut their losses and abandon the 1950s animated version in favor of the 2010 live-action version spearheaded by Tim Burton. Presented in Burton’s darkly twisted style, the maze at Shanghai Disneyland begins with three doors to choose from, each opening and shutting quite randomly. Guests pass through extensive caverns, ornate gardens overseen by imposing playing cards, fun house mirrors, a zany, interactive tea party table, and, of course, the giant head of Helena Bonham Carter’s Red Queen herself.
6. Once Upon a Time Adventure
Evolution Of: Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough
Location: Fantasyland
The diminutive Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland was tiny, and certainly never meant to house an attraction. As such, the small space inside was used as storage and closet space, until Walt challenged his Imagineers to design something worthwhile to fill such a grand location. In 1957, a walkthrough inside the castle’s tight corridors opened, allowing guests to view dioramas depicting the story of Aurora and the evil Maleficent. The walkthrough closed in October 2001 (allegedly as a safety precaution after the September 11 terrorist attacks, with the iconic castle understood as a potential target for further violence). A brand new, technological, charming version returned in November 2008, and has been delighting guests ever since.
The idea of a storybook walkthrough was borrowed in Tokyo Disneyland’s much larger Cinderella Castle (a near carbon-copy of the one in Orlando) where the Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour operated from 1986 to 2006, taking guests through the castle’s darkest corridors, encountering sinister villains like the Magic Mirror before a finale showdown with the Horned King from The Black Cauldron. The space in Tokyo is now home to Cinderella’s Fairytale Hall, and lighter walkthrough of mosaics and dioramas depicting Cinderella’s story, not unlike California’s walkthrough for Aurora.
The enormous Enchanted Storybook Castle in Shanghai is home to its own walkthrough, but Once Upon A Time Adventure is a guided attraction where a tour guide leads a group of guests up through the Castle’s grand hall and to a one-on-one encounter with the Magic Mirror, who opens a portal into Snow White’s story. With unique sets capturing the look of the 1930s film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and interaction from animated characters, the unique walkthrough might have guests convinced they’re truly transported to an enchanted forest, not just inside a cleverly disguised, palatial show building.
7. Buzz Lightyear: Planet Rescue
Evolution Of: Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Location: Tomorrowland
Ever since Buzz Lightyear debuted in his own dark rides at Disney Parks, fans’ feelings toward the laser-blasting attractions has been… well… mixed. The gun-toting, animated dark ride is located in Tomorrowland each Disneyland-style park on Earth despite the fact that Toy Story 2 (the rides’ source material) makes about as much sense in Tomorrowland as Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, or Lilo and Stitch (which, granted, are all also in Tomorrowland), and blasting through a 2-D cutout action figure version of outer space to steal batteries back from a Darth Vader spoof-character is out of step with anything Tomorrowland would claim to stand for.
Still, the point-and-shoot fun of the ride has led to its expansion through the chain where guests become new recruits of Star Command and fight the evil emperor Zurg for control of the (toy-sized) galaxy.
If Shanghai’s Tomorrowland had to have a Disney / Pixar resident, we would’ve preferred Wall-e (just about the only Pixar story omitted from Tomorrowland, despite it being the only one that makes sense there), but it seems that the eco-friendly message was a poor fit for Shanghai and Buzz is back. While Buzz Lightyear: Planet Rescue is still a point-and-shoot blacklight dark ride, we can at least say to its credit that it is not simply a rehash of what we’ve seen at the other half-dozen Buzz rides. Instead, this one takes itself a little more seriously (which is a good thing) and loses some of its oversaturated flat, blacklight look in favor of more texture and realism. It even de-emphasizes the “toy” aspect in favor of making this a real outerspace adventure. Like the rest of the “reinvented” dark rides, it’s also got just the right infusion of technology to feel fresh and new. As ever, it’s a pleasant aside, even if it’s not up to the creative caliber of most everything else at the park.
8. Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Sunken Treasure
Evolution Of: Pirates of the Caribbean
Location: Treasure Cove
It seems like almost time a new Disney Park opens, it offers at least one shimmering gem that’s the envy of the theme park world; the “must-ride” that turns the park into a “must-visit.” Animal Kingdom’s Kilimanjaro Safaris; California Adventure’s Soarin’ Over California; DisneySea’s Journey to the Center of the Earth; Disneyland Paris’ Space Mountain… These “thesis” attractions represent everything that their home parks did right. For Shanghai Disneyland, that ride is Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Sunken Treasure.
When it was clear that Shanghai Disneyland would have an entire land dedicated to the Pirates film franchise, the wind was no doubt taken from the sails of many Parks fans who would prefer to leave the film characters on the screen. But Disney promised that this Pirates would be one-of-a-kind, and rumors ran rampant as fans determined what kinds of new technologies could come to life, and to what degree the “same old” story would unfold.
Put simply: Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Sunken Treasure is a masterpiece. The unimaginable ride must be seen to be believed. It has practically nothing in common with the originals (aside from a few clever nods), and the fact that it can be so astounding without becoming a giant allusion is high praise. After a few familiar opening scenes, your journey soon takes you to the literal depths, into massive physical sets, and through worlds that seem to expand well past the horizon. When you disembark, you’re likely to be speechless and wonder what in the world happened. This Pirates takes everything you love about the original, mixes in The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, and maybe a hint of Indiana Jones Adventure with what must be the best standing example of projection integration. Before you go thinking it’s an all-digital cop-out, know that one of its animatronics even makes our countdown of the most incredible animatronics on Earth.
Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean – one of the last attractions Walt personally oversaw – is remembered as a crowning achievement and, far and away, one of the greatest classic dark rides ever built. Given wider exposure, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Shanghai’s Pirates given the same accolades as ranked among the best modern dark rides on Earth. It now stands among Mystic Manor and Journey to the Center of the Earth as must-rides for a generation of park fans. That’s saying something.
Reinvention
While these “reimagined” versions of beloved attractions are sure to be the envy of Disney Parks fans the world over, they’re not even the most exciting part of Shanghai Disneyland’s line-up. There is also a set of attractions so unique to this park that they’re unlike anything Disney’s tried before. Read on…
New Adventures
Sure, Disney was able to take the DNA of its familiar favorites and rearrange it to create the next generation of classic rides. But they didn’t just play it safe. Shanghai Disneyland also hosts a number of completely original attractions that simply can’t be found anywhere else. Here are the New Adventures we can’t wait for people to see for themselves.
1. Roaring Rapids
Location: Adventure Isle
The ancient Arbori people call it Roaring Mountain for the deep, guttural growling that emanates from within, shaking all of Adventure Isle. As the queue winds through Field Camp Beta, you’ll find relics and warnings left by the Arbori and what they believe is responsible for the continuous, rumbling roar: their legends tell of Q’aráq, a crocodile-like river beast that dwells within, guarding the island’s water. But it couldn’t be true, could it? The League of Adventurers (and you!) set off on this incredible expedition to find out – no matter the peril!
Boarding expedition rafts, you’ll head into the unknown to discover the truth of the lost Mountain. And be warned: a fallen tree diverts the river into an old lava tube through the Mountain’s core where the mysterious creature lies in wait… Then, you’ll splash through volcanic vents, around whirlpools, and through the mystic jungles of Adventure Isle.
Roaring Rapids is poised to be Shanghai Disneyland’s equivalent to Animal Kingdom’s “Expedition Everest” (with its infamous Yeti encounter) or Tokyo DisneySea’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth” (wherein riders face the gnashing fangs of a Lava Monster). The Q’aráq animatronic riders encounter in the mountain will ambush riders, lunging toward them before breathing mist and snapping razor-sharp jaws mere inches from their heads.
Does Q’aráq knock out the current number one on our countdown of the most incredible animatronics on Earth? You’ll have to read to find out… Either way, Disney fans will be pleading to bring a version of this adventure stateside. Of course, we can’t help feeling that a flume ride / dark ride adaptation could’ve been a stunning, starring addition to Beastly Kingdom.
2. Camp Discovery
Camp Discovery is something entirely unique for Shanghai Disneyland, and perfect for Adventure Isle. After all, new recruits to the League of Adventurers have to put their skills to the test. Consider Camp Discovery a perfect melding of California Adventure’s Redwood Creek Challenge Trail and DisneySea’s Fortress Explorations, all set in one of the most jaw-dropping locales in any Disney Park. There are hiking trails around the mountain range to sacred “humming stones” that emit a continuous vibration, mysterious excavation pits, and a playground in Arbori ruins.
Most fascinating, Camp Discovery offers three legitimate ropes courses: the House of the Ancients Trail leads to an in-progress excavation of an Arbori trading market; the Echo Cavern Trail winds along a river gorge past recently-discovered rock carvings and paintings up to Echo Canyon, where you can test out why it got its name; and the third trail (the most picturesque), the Hidden Falls Trail, which sees guests climb a ropes course literally in the mist of the peak’s pounding waterfall, leading deep into the jungle and into a cavern behind the falls, to the glittering, hypnotic, gem-encrusted Temple of the Milky Way.
3. Voyage to the Crystal Grotto
Imagine if Jungle Cruise were relocated to Fantasyland, and then if instead of animals, it featured encounters with stylized vignettes of Disney stories, like a life-sized Storybookland Canal Boats – with World of Color tossed in. The concept might seem wild, but that’s what awaits on Voyage to the Crystal Grotto, the sort of anchor attraction of this Fantasyland.
The ride is set on the winding waterways and forests that make up the center of Fantasyland. Its story is loose, but creative: somewhere beneath the Enchanted Storybook Castle is a sealed cavern guarded by the spirit of a firefly. Inside this cavern is a crystal spring where legends and stories are born. Apparently, the people of this storybook village have created sculpture gardens to honor the stories of the springs (you may have heard of them: Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Mulan, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, etc.) that the magical waters bring to life.
Riders board boats very similar to the Jungle Cruise steamers, driven by a live skipper (who more or less stays quiet throughout) as they glide through the waterways encountering these living story sets. Voyage to the Crystal Grotto is a brave concept and a unique ride with some shining moments, like the Aladdin scene, concealed entirely by fountains until Aladdin’s lamp steams, waking the Genie.
The Grotto itself is brought to life by projection mapping as the firefly of legend harnesses the power of the crystal’s light. While it’s unlikely to ever make it to a US park and its execution might leave a little to be desired, Voyage to the Crystal Grotto is a great introduction to Eastern audiences and a very unique concept that makes the park stronger.
4. TRON: Lightcycle Power Run
If there’s one original ride from Shanghai Disneyland you’re likely to hear Disney fans clamoring for, it’s going to be TRON: Lightcycle Power Run. Filling the role normally taken by Space Mountain, Power Run is far and away the park’s headlining thrill ride, set beneath a frosted glass canopy at the far end of Tomorrowland.
Disney’s first standalone ride based on TRON (after years of begging and countless rumors, especially given the recent TRON: Legacy sequel), the ride is a Motocoaster, where riders board Lightcycles from the films and lean forward against their own individual cycle with a restraint resting against their back. The launched roller coaster gathers speed in an undulating, pulsing digital chamber before rocketing to 60 miles per hour and blasting out into the glass canopy Upload Circuit, chased by neon hexagons lighting up overhead.
That’s only the start, as the Lightcycles then re-enter the showbuilding for a twisting, turning, in-the-dark roller coaster set inside the digital world of TRON. The coaster pits riders (on blue cycles) against competitors (on red cycles) via projection. Especially clever, at one point during the ride, the train you’re riding on actually switches from blue to red as it passes a mirror, giving the impression that the competitors are racing right alongside you when you’re really just looking at their own reflection!
Would TRON: Lightcycle Power Run be superfluous at a park that already has a Space Mountain? Not entirely. Perhaps there’s hope for this sleek, 21st century launch coaster to make it to the US eventually. But for now, this TRON E-Ticket is a Shanghai exclusive that’s grippingly fun, totally impressive, and everything you’d expect from a TRON ride (and that’s a compliment).
Innovation
By our count, Shanghai Disneyland has six completely original, unique themed lands, no less than 8 completely reinvented takes on beloved classics, and at least 4 entirely new, never-before-seen rides you can’t get anywhere else. Moreso than any other Disney park, Shanghai Disneyland is controversial… Even now as the park opens and adjusts to its daily life, questions arise about whether or not the uphill battle for a Chinese park is worth it.
But we’ll say this: Shanghai Disneyland looks like a truly impressive, elaborate, wonderful addition to Disney Parks. We only wish it were built near Chicago. (And since it has practically nothing in common with any US Disney Parks, why shouldn’t it have been?) We wish nothing but the best for this park (sure to become a must-see for fans, like the original Disneyland or Tokyo DisneySea) and we’re hopeful that the innovations it’s sparked will benefit us all in the near future!
