Shanghai: We are just here for the Mouse

by Jose · Published May 25, 2026 · Updated May 25, 2026

I know Shanghai is an important cultural city….blah blah blah. We traded cultural enrichment for a visit to our last Disney Park in the world (until they complete Abu Dhabi). Since we took advantage of the 240 hour visa-free transit policy, our time was limited to 11 days total in China so we chose Disney over Shanghai and kept our marriage on solid ground.

The night castle show was the perfect end to our last day at our last Disney park

Shanghai Disneyland had really good rides, was well run, and was beautiful. Its only issue was overcrowding which was a constant issue throughout most of our China trip. Nonetheless we were greatful to complete our quest to visit all the parks. !!!—Spoiler Alert—!!! pictures and descriptions of Shanghai Disneyland rides below. You were warned.

Zootopia is a unique land in Shanghai Disneyland. It is well themed, fun, and crazy popular. I had just seen the second Zootopia movie on the plane to Japan or I would have been totally lost

The big ride in Zootopia is Hot Pursuit which is a cute chase ride. Like other Shanghai rides it mixes screens with real props

There is a boat ride around and under the castle which was pretty cute

There was also a short and sweet Snow White walkthough in the castle which was very cute

The new Pirates ride, Battle for the Sunken Treasure, was great, combining props, screens, and animatronics effectively

Our favorite five minutes of the whole park was in the otherwise lame Jack Sparrow Stunt Spectacular

There is a tornado scene which is truly spectacular

I also spent 80 minutes in line to ride Soarin’ just to see 20 seconds of footage of the Shanghai skyline in this version. There is a hidden mickey and extra credit to whoever tells me what it is in a comment.

Our last thing before heading to Japan was Magic Together! 10th Anniversary Night Show. It was so good with amazing projection effects, fireworks, and fountains. We were lucky to hit both anniversaries at Hong Kong and Shanghai

Here is Miss Karen outshining the flowers at Shanghai aiport before we head to Japan. A big thanks to her for reluctantly leaving her beloved kitty Hazel for over a month to make my travel dreams come true. I love you babe!