Crowds and capacity at SDL are currently a toxic mix and one that won't significantly improve for years to come.
But if you want to pay (more than the price of a one day ticket) you can purchase a set of seven FPs -- one for every attraction that uses the service (Tron, Buzz, Soaring, RR, SDMT, Pan and Pooh), you can get out of waits or have a great head start. You can also purchase just one FP (in the land your attraction resides for about $17) if it is available. Each day, all the FPs allotments available for sale were in fact ... sold.
***Please recall the above when we start talking D23 and SW and WDW plans!
Lines were very, very long. Our longest wait was 70 minutes the first time we rode Pirates (most of the queue is inside in lightly themed rooms BUT with open air on the sides and only ceiling fans to circulate very hot humid air). Next longest was 50 minutes the only time we rode Voyage to the Crystal Grotto. We also did 45 minutes the first time we rode Buzz. Those might sound like your typical WDW or DL waits, but they aren't for me. I don't do those. By comparison we never waited more than 20 minutes for anything in three full days at TDL and two full days at TDS.
There are strange things about SDL that hit you. Most of the resort signage is for the Pudong International Tourism Zone, not SDL. You realize very quickly where you are located. The two hotels are not located conveniently to each other. Indeed, we never set foot in the SDLH, one of my disappointments. The toilets are almost all of the squat variety with 1-2 western stalls in most men's facilities. An odd choice for a modern build in Shanghai and one which tells you who this park was built for (not American or British bloggers). The BGM in the Gardens of Imagination is not Disney music or even film music. It sounded to me like American pop hits of the 70s, 80s and 90s turned into orchestral versions. There is a giant tent sale (for seasonal passholders only) set up on one of the expansion pads of Fantasyland. Really. Like if they moved the old EPCOT parking lot CM sales into the park and stationed security out front to make sure only certain people got in. I would have liked the chance to buy Grand Opening merchandise (and they have plenty left as seen by the recent dropping of a load at EPCOT) at up to 70% off too!
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