Clearly I needed to cool down after experiencing the incredible Pirates of the Caribbean Battle for the Sunken Treasure attraction, so I decided to wander around Mickey Avenue, the definitely-Chinese-and-not-Main-Street-USA entrance area of the park. This is one of the few areas where China’s influence on the park’s design is blatantly obvious. I did some shopping, bought some snacks (stay tuned for a full recap of all the amazing food!), and picked up the softest Duffy stuffed animal ever for my girlfriend’s daughter.

After that, it was back to Tron, because, well, why not? Then it was off to the hub to take in a show at the Enchanted Storybook Castle, a fun, kid-focused princess review. While it wasn’t the most exciting part of the day, it gave me a chance to take in the details of the castle close-up. This thing is incredible, and it’s almost impossible to describe the sheer size of it. The Shanghai government definitely wanted to make a statement with this one, and boy did they.

After a stop for dinner, a phone recharge, and just some plain ‘ol sitting, night had fallen, and it was time to ride Tron in the dark. The neon lights are incredible, and the experience is completely different. I think I rode it 4 times that day, and I probably should have ridden a few more!

The final stop of the day was back at the castle for Ignite the Dream, Shanghai Disneyland’s evening show. What I found interesting is the show began at the park’s closing time each night. There’s no riding the E-ticket rides when crowds are busy at the castle show around here! Now, earlier in the day I discovered an amazing viewing area directly in front of the castle. Neatly configured rows allowed for perfect viewing of all the shows in front of the castle. So, I was quite excited to take in the evening show from such an amazing view point. Unfortunately, they completely closed this area. Now, at Disneyland, cast members close off a bit of space directly in front of the castle for reasons that, I imagine, include the proximity of the firework firing platforms, and the ability to clearly see the projections made on the castle itself. However, Ignite the Dream doesn’t include a single mortar (traditional “firework”), and barely includes pyrotechnics at all. Heck, the viewing area was built to be, well, a viewing area. So, I was a bit frustrated. The next surprise, about 10 minutes out from show time, was when cast members began forcing the crowds to sit. Yes, sit. Thousands and thousands of people, crammed into a relatively small space (as only those who have visited Asia can understand), completely unable to move in the event of an emergency, let alone evacuate. Clearly fire codes are quite different in China.

As the show began, more and more people began to stand up, creating the slowest “wave” action I’ve ever seen. Eventually, I had to stand up in order to see the castle (again, there aren’t any actual fireworks in this show, so if you can’t see the castle, you can’t see anything). Now, I’m 6’1”, and it’s safe to say I stood out a bit at this park. So, even though I was the 4,272nd person to stand up, I was immediately yelled at for doing so. Ah well. As I used to tell my students when I led trips around the world, “It’s all part of the experience.” Once the show ended, I made my way to Disneytown, looked around a bit, then hopped a bus back to the (highly air conditioned) hotel to crash.