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Shanghai Disneyland September 2019 Trip Report & Photos
- Thread starter Clyde Birdbrain
- Start date
Stevie Amsterdam
Well-Known Member
Have you been to China much?
Ismael Flores
Well-Known Member
Negative points
- Most CMs did not speak English, or only very little. This was typical during our 3 weeks in China and we were used to using our translation apps. I had also learned some basic Chinese, so we could get by. We actually saw very few foreign tourists at SDL.
I am so glad that you took the time to learn some basic Chinese before your trip and also that you mentioned it in your post. I do quite a bit of traveling and have had encounter with people that i call Ugly Americans because they think that the world should cater to them.
I had an encounter in Vietnam with a Lady on vacation from the states that was yelling at a young vietnamese women in a food stall. this tourist was upset because the young girl knew little English and couldn't understand every demand that she wanted. The American tourist was upset because she couldn't find a pizza hut, Mcdonalds or other "REAL FOOD" as she called it. She insisted that people in Vietnam needed to get educated and learn English because it was the correct language and because Americans visited Vietnam.
I was so ed that i had to aproach the lady and give her a word or two including questioning her if she herself had the decency to learn some Vietnamese before visiting this girls country and if she also took the time to learn every other language of every other tourist that visits her city. After a few back and forth words i turned to the young girl and apologized and told her that we are not all as inept and rude as this lady. Then told the lady that she shouldn't travel if she can't learn to respect other culture.
Ugh, that sounds awful. Good for you to approach that American tourist.
We were surprised at the lack of English while in China, but it was understandable. The vast majority of tourists in the country are Chinese. We saw so few foreign tourists ... I guess that there is little need for people to know English.
Learning Chinese was extremely fun and I loved it. I mostly used the excellent apps ChineseSkill and HelloChinese, as well as some YouTube channels. And it was surprisingly easy. After a couple of hours with ChineseSkill you can already say quite a few things.
Ismael Flores
Well-Known Member
what a fun fountain, I still keep hoping that Anaheim would get rid of the poppy fountain or the ugly compass and build a proper Disney themed fountain.
They missed the opportunity do have one in the new western parking and arrival plaza. The perfect place to welcome guests and give them a memorable picture spot
Ismael Flores
Well-Known Member
Its weird that it doesnt matter which disney resort is involved except for Tokyo they just can not seem to get away from making those ugly barrier queues.
In Anaheim after so many years of using a tram load area near Downtown Disney someone decided to create this awful temporary metal queue system.
they block off all the nicely built pathways that lead up to the tram areas then added a long metal barrier that runs the the waiting area. this barrier is to create a long corridor used only occasionally by Ada guests. this creates a small wait area in the tram section so queue now spills into the plaza where they added a maze of metal barrier queues.
can't figure out who came up with such an idiotic idea. seems like the same people came up with that awful security line in Shanghai.
In Anaheim after so many years of using a tram load area near Downtown Disney someone decided to create this awful temporary metal queue system.
they block off all the nicely built pathways that lead up to the tram areas then added a long metal barrier that runs the the waiting area. this barrier is to create a long corridor used only occasionally by Ada guests. this creates a small wait area in the tram section so queue now spills into the plaza where they added a maze of metal barrier queues.
can't figure out who came up with such an idiotic idea. seems like the same people came up with that awful security line in Shanghai.
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HongKongFu
Well-Known Member
Understandable and/or expected at a back alley eatery or stall selling grasshoppers and scorpions on a stick but absolutely unacceptable at Disney.
Disney personnel interacting with guests best have some working command of English.
BrianLo
Well-Known Member
I don't know. It was the same at airports, museums and anywhere else we went.
99.9% of the guests they deal with at Shanghai Disneyland are Chinese. I think it's unreasonable to expect everyone to know English. There are way more Brazilians at WDW, but does every CM have basic knowledge of Portuguese? I don't think so.
PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
You'll never get to Shanghai or Tokyo if 100% English fluency is a requirement for a park in a foreign country where only a tiny, tiny fraction of their visitors speak English.
There are park maps and menus in English (you point to what you want on the menu). The signage is in English. Other than Tokyo, the apps are in English.
They'll have an English speaking cast member for the hotels and at Guest Relations, but do you really need more than that?
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HongKongFu
Well-Known Member
david10225
Active Member
A very sincere thank you for your report. I am sure that was not an easy effort to compile all of the notes and photos for our benefit. Much appreciated.
Shanghai is the last check on my list but frankly I have not been brave enough to tackle. Now that I am retired and.my income is reduced, I dont think I will make it but I can.still "visit" through such wonderful reports as the one you have written.
David
Shanghai is the last check on my list but frankly I have not been brave enough to tackle. Now that I am retired and.my income is reduced, I dont think I will make it but I can.still "visit" through such wonderful reports as the one you have written.
David
PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
While everyone's circumstances are different, I think that if you've already done the other parks Shanghai isn't that much more difficult. Logistically it's comparable to planning for Tokyo IMO (with the disclaimer that the only thing I did in Shanghai was the parks, but I had already spent a month in China in other cities before I came back for SDL and I wasn't terribly interested in seeing Shanghai.) I wouldn't walk into Mainland China blind, but once you know what to expect it's not that bad. Plus, you can get the five day visa exemption and visit Hong Kong or Tokyo again (or go elsewhere in Asia).
Monetary restrictions are understandable, but should you ever be in a position to go and find yourself curious, I would recommend it.
jaxonp
Well-Known Member
I’ve been to China 3 times in the past 5 years and I’ve found many younger people (under 30) speak enough English to get by In Shanghai or Beijing. Disney wasn’t much of a problem. It’s not fluent English but it’s enough to get by if you use hand gestures and some common sense. I Don’t want that to detour anyone from going. But remember to thank them in Mandarin. Xie xie!
jaxonp
Well-Known Member
Shanghai is very doable. It’s not near as daunting as it seems.
DISR
Well-Known Member
Curious about the face characters. Were the princesses/etc traditional characters played by Chinese people with obviously Asian features or do they try to give them a more Western look with makeup/masks etc. Just wondering how Disney handles the integration of a Western story/character with an Asian cast.
PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
The face characters were played by Americans, Canadians, or Europeans and taken from the same exact pool of talent that portrayed characters in the US (and presumably Parisian too) parks. To my understanding, those performers would have periodic opportunities to audition for the other resorts and, if selected, would portray the characters for whatever length of time was specified in their contract.
The only exceptions to that were Asian characters (such as Silvermist from the Tinkerbell series).
Shanghai has been a little more open-ended about that, with Asian actors portraying Tarzan, Jane, and Jack Sparrow in stunt shows, but still had Americans playing characters like Flynn Rider and Elsa in parades.