Christmas at Shanghai Disneyland
Shanghai Disneyland is celebrating its first Christmas event this year from November 27, 2017, until January 1, 2018. The park offers entertainment, character greetings, merchandise and most importantly, food. We were able to experience Christmas firsthand this year, so here’s everything you need to know!
Table of Contents
Entertainment
Shanghai Disneyland has a few options for Christmas-themed entertainment. In the morning you can catch the Happy Holidays, Mickey show, which happens once daily. Then if you didn’t get enough of Mickey and Friends in their Christmas outfits, you’re able to see them again in the “Christmas Swing” show (multiple times daily). These two shows are on Mickey Avenue.
From the morning into the late afternoon are character greetings on Mickey Avenue. You’ll get photo ops with your favourite characters, including Duffy and ShellieMay, all of which are in their Christmas attire. I recommend making these a priority if you’re a character fan. The lines do get cut off.
In the early evening is the “When We’re Together” Castle Tree Lighting Ceremony. It’s a cute and short show on the Enchanted Storybook Castle where Olaf, Anna, and Elsa come out and help light up the gigantic Christmas tree for the evening. You can show up 5 minutes before the show and still have a decent view.
For all of these shows, you don’t need to show up early unless you want that perfect unobstructed photo. If that’s the case, then I recommend 15-20 minutes beforehand. For the “When We’re Together” Castle Tree Lighting Ceremony, I prefer to stand near the back of the Gardens of Imagination (end of Mickey Avenue) to see the castle and tree together.
Check the Times Guide for the latest show times as they do change.
Decorations
In the Gardens of Imagination is a gigantic Christmas Tree, which is part of the tree lighting ceremony every evening.
Throughout the park you’ll find garland with golden Mickey ears, which are simple, but I think they work. Outside the park in Disneytown are a few photo-op areas. You won’t miss them if you are going to get your daily Starbucks.
Food
There are a few places to enjoy a “Christmas Feast” at the park. The Royal Banquet Hall offers a special Christmas meal, and the Wandering Moon Restaurant has a turkey leg feast. Yes, you read that correctly, a turkey leg feast. It’s one of the most popular snacks at Shanghai Disneyland and it’s so popular that they had to limit how many guests could buy.
Rémy’s Patisserie is where you’ll find all the Christmas-inspired snacks, such as cupcakes, hot chocolate (with a copious amount of whipped cream), fruitcakes, and yule logs. You’ll need the carb loading for the amount of walking you do in this park, trust me.
Merchandise
While the merchandise is not as vast compared to Tokyo Disney Resort, there are still a few cute items! I’m told that most of the items are the same as Anaheim. However, the plush Duffy and ShellieMay in their Santa outfits are unique to Shanghai Disneyland. Also, there’s a small and cute Duffy popcorn bucket!
Weather
Shanghai gets cold in the winter months, which means you’ll need to layer and bundle up. Here’s how to stay warm when you’re in Shanghai for the winter months (the weather is similar in Tokyo).
Here are the average temperatures in Shanghai when the Christmas event is on:
- November: 13°C (55°F)
- December: 7°C (45°F)
- January: 4°C (39°F)
Tips
A few tips to make things easier for yourself when you’re at the park:
- Grab a Times Guide to see the times for the entertainment and character greetings
- Get to the character greetings early to avoid line cutoff
- The best spot for the tree lighting ceremony is further back to see the tree and Enchanted Storybook Castle at the same time (move closer if you want to see Olaf, Anna, and Elsa)
- Remy’s Patisserie has the largest selection of Christmas snacks and pastries
- Try the Banana Milk Hot Chocolate
- Similar to Tokyo Disney Resort there are cute fleece hood/blankets to buy, which keep you toasty
Since this is the first time Christmas is offered as an event at the park, there’s not too much, which is expected. Hopefully, if this catches on, we’ll see more and more in the coming years. I wouldn’t make a special trip just for this event yet, but if you are visiting during the Christmas season, then it’s a nice added bonus to an already fantastic park.
Plan your trip to Shanghai Disneyland with our planning guide where you’ll learn everything about this wonderful park, including when to visit, where to eat, how to connect to the internet, and how to get a visa for Mainland China. If you found this article useful, please share it with at least one other person!
