China

June 24, 2024June 18, 2024 Kirsten

Worlds first ZOOTOPIA LAND at Shanghai Disneyland, May 2024

Welcome to the first and, so far, only Zootopia Land – located at Shanghai Disneyland! I watched as this was still being built in November 2019 and then still in September 2023 (when I’d hoped that maybe there would be a soft opening but was disappointed), and didn’t really think I’d see this land anytime soon. But things all aligned and I’m lucky enough to have worked out a schedule that I meant I could see it not that long after opening. The land opened on December 20th 2023 and I visited on the 10th and 11th of May 2024. Let’s take a look inside:

June 17, 2024June 16, 2024 Kirsten

China Diaries: May 2024 #1 ~ arriving in Shanghai, let’s check out the Toy Story Hotel + Disney Town

Welcome to my China travels of May 2024! I’d been thinking about this trip since November 2023, to cut a long story short, myself and some colleagues thought there may have been a conference going to happen in May, so I planned a bit of a crazy trip to see pandas. By the start of April we determined the conference wasn’t going ahead and I’d really worked out the plan in my head, so decided to go ahead and book the trip anyway. This was my first time in China for only a holiday – the other 5 trips have all been for conferences and I’ve added on extra days for seeing other things, so this did feel like quite a different experience. So despite only booking 5-weeks out, and probably not getting the best price for the flights, I pretty much knew my complete plan, where I wanted to stay and what to do already. Nevertheless, I made a fully packed itinerary and it was exhausting but so exciting and completely worth it!

So lets get into Diary 1, my travel day(s) and sharing about the Toy Story Hotel and Disneytown at the Shanghai Disney Resort:

June 3, 2024April 21, 2024 Kirsten

P A N D A S @ Beijing Zoo (2017,2018,2023)

Finally posting about the pandas at Beijing Zoo! I have visited three times and of course always have spent plenty of time panda-viewng^ My first visit was on my first trip to Beijing in November 2017, we went on a 3-day organised tour, then had a final day for anything else before travelling home – of course I spent that at the zoo seeing the pandas. Then I was back in Beijing for a few days in my November 2018 trip and Beijing Zoo was the first thing I did. Then in September 2023 I was travelling with a friend who had somehow never seen pandas before, of course, we also went straight to the zoo on our first day.

May 27, 2024April 28, 2024 Kirsten

A return to Shanghai Disneyland, September 2023

I was so so excited to be back in Disney magic, even if it was only just for a day! When we had confirmation that we were going to China for a conference, I knew I had to get back to Shanghai Disneyland and this time taking my friend for her first visit (to China). It was a whirlwind trip and there was really only time for one day – for a first visit I don’t really think this is enough, but as I saw almost everything last time, and not a huge amount had changed (Zootopia land wasn’t yet open), it was ok to tide me over until the next trip XD This time the front entrance floral display was Duffy themed and I was super happy to get a Minnie ticket to complement Mickey from last time.