Saturday, 7 March 2026

SH-Hangzhou Day 3: Train to Shangri-La Hangzhou Horizon Club & West Lake

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I had a much better sleep last night than the one before and woke up at 7.30am instead of my usual 5am! 😅 When we were ready, we took the complimentary shuttle for hotel guests to Disney Town for breakfast.

Most of the restaurants only open at 10am so we had to settle for Paper Stone Bakery for breakfast.

Paper Stone Bakery
(Where's the scissors? As in scissors, paper, stone? Geddit?!? Hahaha 🤣)
Ordered a simple bread and my favourite Hong Kong milk tea!
Can't live without my Asian milk tea! 😄
The Twin needs her coffee and got a cup from both Manner Coffee and % Arabica!

By chance, we discovered the Chua Lam's Dim Sum outlet at Disney Town! Having tried the franchise in Guangzhou and loving the food, we decided to order BBQ pork buns for takeaway as we didn't have enough time to dine in.

The BBQ pork buns were soooo good!

We returned to our hotel just in time to check out at 11am.

Photos at the hotel before we left

We hailed a DiDi (CN¥122) to Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station to catch our train to Hangzhou.

Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station

We had pre-booked our Shanghai to Hangzhou High Speed Rail tickets via Klook about 2.5 months in advance, with actual tickets confirmed only 15 days prior to travel (this was the standard for all high speed rail bookings). There were many routes to choose from but we chose the 12.56pm train as the joinery was only 52 minutes and cost S$16.14 per adult.

Boarding our train early;
Trains leave on time so don't be late!
View of another similar train from inside our train

The train was so fast that 50 minutes flew by and in a blink of eye, we had arrived at Hangzhou East Station!

Arrival at Hangzhou East Station after a comfortable ride

We walked to the ride-hailing area to hail a DiDi and discovered that we had to follow a set of instructions to facilitate pick up. The system was easy to use once we got the hang of it. 

Instructions on how to insert the driver's car plate number into a separate website to track their arrival 
This screen informed us that our driver has entered the carpark and the lot that he was parked at. We would then exit the waiting area to board the car.

Our DiDi (CN¥40) to Shangri-La Hangzhou took 45 minutes, longer than usual due to the multiple congestions on the road! Despite not being a peak period for travel, West Lake was still super crowded!

Arrival at Shangri-La Hangzhou

I found a good members' deal via the Shangri-la Circle app and booked a Horizon Hillview Room at just CN¥1138 (S$210) per room per night, inclusive of breakfast (more details in the next post), evening canapés, all-day lounge access and other Horizon Club benefits! It was the cheapest Horizon Club room I have ever booked! 🤭

Of course the downside was the dated rooms and the lack of a view from our room. Other than that, the room had all the amenities of a typical Shangri-La hotel.

Our Horizon Hillview room
Amenities in our room, especially the contour pillow for side sleepers that I requested via the app! 😀
Complimentary tea, coffee and fruits
View of the forest from our window
(Almost regretted not choosing a room with the view of West Lake until I remembered how much it cost!)
Bathroom with bathtub
Usual Shangri-La amenities

The hotel had a simple gym and indoor pool but the latter was closed for renovation.

We were super hungry and headed to the Horizon Club at Level 1 for afternoon tea.

Horizon Club with very old school decor!
Simple spread of snacks and drinks
More snacks in the fridge (left);
Tried the famous West Lake Lotus Root Starch dessert and wasn't a fan (right).
Food was good! 😋

Once we were full, we headed out to explore West Lake. Shangri-La Hangzhou was located right beside the Xiling Bridge (see map below).

Photo credit: travelchinaguide.com

We crossed Xiling Bridge to explore the closest island to us on West Lake.

Xiling Bridge is 1 of 3 lovers' bridges in West Lake
Xiling Bridge
View of Shangri-La Hangzhou from Xiling Bridge
View of the Crossing Rainbow Bridge from Xiling Bridge
The best time to see West Lake is just before sunset!
We took so many beautiful photos!
Statue of heroine Qiu Jin, a renowned revolutionary and feminist who advocated for women's independence (left);
China Seal Museum near Xiling Bridge (top right).
Stone Archway at the Back Hill, bearing the words "Xiling Seal Engravers' Society"
Strolling along the shores of the North Inner Lake and enjoying the view of many Weeping Willows; they remind me of the period C-dramas that I love! 😍
Red Plum Blossom Trees in the park were adopted by different individuals/groups
One of the smaller islands in West Lake
You can also pay to ride one of these tour cars that will introduce you to all of the sights of West Lake

The best time to visit West Lake is close to sunset but be warned that it's also when it is the most crowded! 

Though I can understand why West Lake is so famous (and crowded); it's really so beautiful!!! 😍🤩

More photos of the lake as the sun was setting
Yuehu Lake
McDonald's and other restaurants at a little town
Of course we had to load up on essentials at Lawson!
Bought souvenir snacks from Hangzhou Gift shop 讧南四雅

We returned to the Horizon Club for evening canapes.

Evening canapes included alcohol 😊
They had my favourite cheese!
Couldn't wait to dig in!
Greater selection of food! Super yummy!

We took a walk along the neighbouring areas of our hotel after our meal to aid with digestion (we were so full!). Compared to the evening, it was much more deserted at night, perfect for those who hate crowds.

The neighbourhood looks very different at night!
Captured this beautiful photo with my Honor Magic V5
Yuehu Lake at night
Yu Dai Bridge

It's a good totally different experience exploring West Lake at night. I'd definitely recommend staying close to the lake for the convenience! 😀

It was a great way to end our day!


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P.S: We're proud Shangri-la Circle members; read about our Shangri-La experiences around the world:


Continue to >> Shanghai-Hangzhou Day 4: Hangzhou Museum, Taiziwan & Su Causeway
<< Back to Shanghai-Hangzhou Day 2: Shanghai Disneyland


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Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for the rest of my posts on Shanghai & Hangzhou, China 
as well as other travel itineraries!


Please also follow my travel adventures on Instagram via the hashtag #madpsychmumtravels!
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Friday, 6 March 2026

SH-Hangzhou Day 2: Shanghai Disneyland

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I kept waking up in the middle of the night because of a churning stomach (not sure the cause). I ended up waking up before my alarm rang at 5.50am! 😞 Decided to make tea and packed the breakfast we had bought the day before into my bag.

We left our room at 6.45am with the intention to board the first complimentary shuttle bus to Shanghai Disneyland. Just like in Walt Disney World, we wanted to fully utilise the 1-hour priority entry for hotel guests.

We joined the long queue while enduring 7°C winds as we waited! 🥶 Thankfully, we didn't have to wait long as the intervals between buses were short. Although we couldn't board the first bus at 7am, we managed to board the 3rd bus and arrived at the park at 7.20am!

The bus dropped us at a special exit for easy access to the Designated Access for hotel guests

We scanned our hotel guest QR code at the entrance, cleared security and scanned our passports before entering the park. Our park tickets were bought via the official Shanghai Disney Resort app at CN¥462 (S$85) per adult.

Entry to the park
With the Disney Clock Tower

As planned, we headed straight for Tron Lightcycle Power Run as it typically does not have a queue early in the day. Although both of us missed out on this ride in Magic Kingdom, I rode it on my previous trip.

We didn't have to wait at all!

This very thrilling dark ride was one of my top 3 rides in Shanghai Disneyland! Though the Disney Twin felt it might be a bit too thrilling for the first ride of the day! *laughs*

After Tron, we prioritised the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train next as both of us missed out on it in Magic Kingdom. The wait time for this ride was at least 45 minutes in both Shanghai and Magic Kingdom (it can be up to 120 minutes!) but thanks to early entry, we only waited for 15 minutes! 🥳

We passed the Enchanted Storybook Castle on our way to the mine train
Finally queuing for this ride!
It's interesting that Grumpy likes to hang out with Happy...
If you can't already tell, the Hubby's Grumpy while I'm Happy hehe 🤭
Boarding the mine train!
The individual cars can sway left and right for a more exciting ride!
Love the theming! 

Despite looking like a scary roller coaster, it was not at all and very suitable for little kids! Incredibly mild if you ask me 😅

We rode Zootopia Hot Pursuit next even though the display indicated a 40-minute wait time. Thankfully, we only waited for 15 minutes!

Zootopia
My 3rd time riding this and picking up on details I had missed the 1st two times

The Disney Twin wanted to ride the mine train again so we did! Despite a longer wait time than our 1st, we finished the ride after 30 minutes! 😄

We sat in car #1 right at the front of the train!
More thrilling to ride at the back though 😄

We headed to Treasure Trove to ride Pirates of the Caribbean Battle for the Sunken Treasure and managed to ride it twice in a row since the wait time was only 15 minutes.

Pirates of the Caribbean boat ride
Still the best Pirates of the Caribbean ride in the world!

It was only 10.30am and we've already gone on rides 6 times! 😄 We were super hungry by then and decided to have an early lunch at Duffy and Friends Celebration Hall.

We passed Roaring Rapids along the way and skipped it as we didn't want to get wet!
Duffy and Friends Celebration Hall
We chose the restaurant for the food but the interior design was very pretty!
My set meal that was cutely decorated with Duffy and friends

My meal costs CN¥149 (about S$28), which was very value-for-money given the portion and quality ingredients. It was definitely better than my previous lunch at Barbosa's Bounty!

After a good break, we walked over to Avenue M Arcade to shop for a Minnie hairband since I had forgotten to bring mine! I had resisted buying hairbands from the Disney stores since my first Disney park visit in 2015 as I found them to be too expensive but I finally relented! After browsing through the countless hairbands in the store, I finally chose a Cinderella-themed one for CN¥179 (S$33)! 😅

Avenue M Arcade, the main Disney store in Shanghai Disneyland
My super pretty Cinderella hairband! Love it!
View of the Enchanted Storybook Castle from Main Street

It started to feel like 4°C due to the strong winds so I had to put on my outer jacket, which I had brought in case of rain. I didn't remove it for the rest of the day as it got colder and colder!🥶

We stayed on in Main Street for the Mickey Storybook Express parade, which surprisingly was better than my previous visit.

There were so many people that we could hardly see the floats!
Good luck to those who are short! 😅
Waving to Elsa and Anna!
Toy Store and the first time I've seen a Mulan float!

After the parade, we walked to Marvel Universe as I had missed out on it during our previous trip. Unlike the Marvel attractions in Hong Kong Disneyland, this was only a small tent with not many people or things happening when we were there.

Marvel Universe

We headed back to Tomorrowland to ride Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue as there was no queue! The ride was similar to the Buzz Lightyear shooting rides we've taken in Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland.

We rode this ride twice since there was no queue and it was quite fun!

We visited Toy Story Land as I didn't have time to do so during my last trip.

Toy Story Land!

It was very similar to the one at Hong Kong Disneyland, including the rides except for Woody's Roundup. We waited for about 30 minutes to ride it!

Super cute Woody's Roundup ride
The ride vehicle moved faster than expected! It was quite fun!

We were tired from covering the whole park twice that we stopped by Frozen Sing-along to rest our feet. Although it was a musical that encouraged the audience to sing along to the Chinese version of the classic Frozen songs, no one actually did. Other than some kids during their favourite "Let it go" of course! It was very weird hearing Anna and Elsa speaking Chinese with a Western accent. The effects were nice though! 

Frozen Sing-along
Anna had the most screen time during the musical
Elsa only appeared briefly at the end 
It's snowing!

It was only 2.30pm and we had already done all our must-do rides! So we headed back to Zootopia to ride Hot Pursuit again because, why not? 😁

More photos with the castle and my Minnie ears

After we rode the Voyage to the Crystal Grotto, a boat ride featuring Disney Princesses (wait time was only 10 minutes), we had an early dinner at Mickey & Pals Market Cafe. My malatang noodles and a drink cost me CN¥99 (S$18.45).

Food was really good! Comfort food on a cold day!

After a satisfying dinner, we headed to Jetpacks and waited for 40 minutes to ride it!

Tomorrowland looks better lighted up in the night! 
Flying through cold winds on the Jetpack at high altitude was more fun than expected! We loved it!

I was sure that Voyage to the Crystal Grotto would be way nicer at night due to the lights so we returned to ride it again!

I was right! It was beautiful!

We were finally tired from walking/queuing all day and decided to join the people camping in front of the castle at 7pm, 2 hours before the start of the finale show!

We ate popcorn as we admired the beautiful castle while we waited

The 2-hour wait was grueling not because of the duration, but because the freezing cold winds kept blowing onto us! With nothing to block us from the wind, it felt like we were sitting in a fridge for 2 hours! I'd probably never do it again! 😅 

However, the Illuminate! A Nighttime Celebration! was so worth the wait! 😍

Best view of the finale show that I've had so far!
Was so close that I could see the water fountains!
Brilliantly coordinated lights, sound, water, fireworks and other effects! 

It was a fantastic end to our magical day at Shanghai Disneyland! 💗

See you real soon!

Although everyone left the park at around the same time, there wasn't a long queue for the complimentary shuttle bus. We managed to return back to our hotel by 10pm. After clocking more than 30k steps, we were more than ready to defrost in a warm bath before going straight to bed! 😀

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P.S: Want more Disney? Here's the full list of my experiences at Disney parks around the world:


Continue to >> Shanghai-Hangzhou Day 3: Train to Shangri-La Hangzhou Horizon Club & West Lake
<< Back to Shanghai-Hangzhou Day 1: Toy Story Hotel & Disney Town


~~~~~~

Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for the rest of my posts on Shanghai & Hangzhou, China
as well as other travel itineraries!


Please also follow my travel adventures on Instagram via the hashtag #madpsychmumtravels!
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