Seven years ago I traveled to China for the first time. The sights and smells are etched into my memory, and I think of that summer often. I’d always dreamed of going back, fantasizing about finding the back-alley jiaozi shop, exploring the jungle, or making new friends.

Why am I talking about China? Well, this year I went back to spend a week at the Shanghai Disney and Hong Kong Disneyland Resorts!

Over the next few weeks I’ll recap my trip, focusing on three topics: the hotels, the parks, and the food (oh, the food!).

So, let’s kick things off with my stay at the Toy Story Hotel at the Shanghai Disney Resort! I arrived at the hotel on a Sunday afternoon after a hair-raising two-hour drive during which I actually, legitimately, wondered if I’d survive. But seeing the amazing Enchanted Storybook Castle rise on the horizon shut the door on my concern, replacing anxiety with pure excitement!

Shanghai Disney Resort isn’t built like the other Disney resorts I’ve visited. The street signs don’t change to the iconic forest green like they do when crossing into the city of Anaheim, and there is no majestic entrance plaza like there is in Orlando. We simply went around a roundabout, turned left, and there was the hotel. The odd thing is the front of the hotel faces away from the road. If you miss the cute sign on the road, you’d just think someone decided to slap some clouds on a blue glass building.

But, once you’re at the front of it, there’s no question where you are! We’re greeted by an orange entrance covering reminiscent of the Hot Wheels tracks I built as a kid (right over my grandma at one point, and I have pictures to prove it!) and images of all our favorite Toy Story characters. Of course, there’s a gift shop, but who has time for that when you’re eager to explore a hotel themed to one of your favorite movies!

The check-in queue is chaotic. But, as those who have visited China know, queuing is not exactly a common thing (more on that in the park blog later). But, the cast members are very accommodating, and the majority of them spoke English, which was a welcome surprise. (I’ve traveled quite a bit, and I never expect anyone to magically harmonize with my ignorance while visiting their home!) We went through the typical hotel check-in process, providing maps of the parks, operations times, shuttles, etc. I then went to the concierge desk to purchase my park tickets. While in line I was handed a somewhat beaten-up print out of attractions with FastPass queues and instructed to pick one for each day I would be at the parks. Of course, day one was Tron Lightcycle Power Run, and, since I’d ridden the rest of the options at other parks, I went with the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, as they told me that was the top attraction in the park. I could have chosen The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, but, honestly, I’ve never understood the fascination with that one… But hey, I ended up riding it twice anyway!

The interesting thing about buying your park ticket(s) at the hotel is that it’s simply another hotel key, printed with your park entrance dates. I thought that was a bit odd, but it was another souvenir to bring home, so I wasn’t going to complain! Now it was time to head to my room! As I walked into my wing of the hotel, the floors and walls transitioned into a Woody’s Roundup theme. The signage was adorable, and Jessie herself announced my arrival to my floor in the elevator.

The theme of the room was amazing! Little green aliens lined the covering above the window, the bedside table was a Rubik’s Cube, and everything screamed “this is Toy Story, baby!” My favorite details were the Slinky Dog lamp shade and unmistakable Toy Story cloud wallpaper above the bed. While the room was pretty small, all the essentials were there.

Now, I haven’t stayed at a Disney hotel in the States in quite a while, so I’m not sure if this is typical across all Disney resorts, but, the hotels in Asia included great little tins with bathroom amenities. You better believe I took them home! (I may have packed one away my first night so they’d leave another the following day…)

My room faced the park, which meant I could see the most anticipated ride from my window – Tron Lightcycle Power Run! I couldn’t hold in my excitement, so I posted multiple videos to various social media accounts. I was like a kid at… Disneyland!

After exploring Disneytown – Shanghai’s version of Downtown Disney and Disney Springs – I decided to check out the hotel’s restaurant, Sunnyside Café. It’s a typical counter-service restaurant, including both Chinese and American options. Now, food in China is pretty cheap, and one can get uncomfortably full for just a few dollars. But, this is a Disney resort, and we can always count on spending a ton of money. A cold bottle of anything will set you back $4 or $5, and the food definitely wasn’t worth the $15-25 there were charging. And, while their operating hours last well into the evening (11:00pm this particular evening), the only items available were cold drinks, cookies, and a few pretzels that had clearly been sitting there all day. I opted against an evening snack, instead heading to my room to see if I could catch a glimpse of the fireworks in the park (I did!).

While the theming is fantastic, this is a pretty standard value-level Disney hotel, providing the right amount of service in an affordable, smaller package. My stay was great, the water pressure was high, and everything I experienced lived up to the Disney standard, with one exception – the cast members never told me about early entrance privileges.

But now, let’s get to the amazing Shanghai Disneyland Park by clicking the links below!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3