I slept well on the eleven-hour-long flight from Munich to Shanghai, which was both a blessing and a curse. Just like the plane, time flew, but it also meant that when I arrived in the early evening, I had slept for almost eight hours already.
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I tried to sleep anyway, and it went okay; I woke up at five, feeling energized, so I didn't attempt to sleep further and just waited a bit before getting out of bed and onto the metro. What better way to eliminate the jet lag than strolling around Disneyland?
Entry was easy; you just show your passport, which is tied to your ticket when you bought it online. There is no need to exchange vouchers; great!
The first ride of the day was TRON the ride. This is an amazing rollercoaster where you sit just like on a motorcycle. You get launched onto the track, and it weaves its way around, both outside and inside of the show building.
Next up was a ride I already did in Hong Kong. The queue looked short, so I joined the tail-end. It was not short at all and took almost forty minutes to get on the ride. Not really worth it, but I was committed.
I wanted to do Pirates of the Caribbean next, but it was under maintenance. I don't think I've ever visited a Disney park where all the E-ticket (e.g., must-do) rides were in operation. Universal Studios has a much better track record in that regard.
Anyway, I had to settle with a few other rides, such as Winny the Pooh and a mine train coaster.
An unexpected cool ride was the river rapids that featured a huge drop; I had no idea. I did learn from previous mistakes, though, and bought a poncho when virtually everyone else in the queue did, too.
Pro-tip: if you ever go here, don't buy a poncho, but instead ask one from the people exiting the ride; it saves you a dollar and reduces plastic waste.
In the end, I managed to do virtually all rides and TRON twice (everyone else was waiting for the parade, so the queue time dropped from one hour to ten minutes. I'll take a coaster instead of a parade any day.
Dawn began to set in, and I did a final lap around the park, got some dinner, and called it a night. My feet aren't used to doing 25.000 steps; they need rest.
