Disney Town is located in Chuansha New Town, Pudong New Area, Shanghai, adjacent to Shanghai Disneyland. It is an important part of the Shanghai Disney Resort. With the core feature of "Authentic Disney, Unique Chinese Style", Disney Town integrates classic Disney elements with Chinese local cultural customs. It is an open international block combining shopping, dining, entertainment, and leisure. The total construction area of the town is about 58,000 square meters, and the overall land area is about 90,000 square meters. The architectural style covers retro charm, modern fashion, and Disney-themed design, creating a multi-level spatial experience. It not only retains the magical atmosphere of Disney but also integrates the urban landscape of Shanghai, becoming an important landmark for cultural tourism and leisure in Shanghai.
History and Culture
The birth of Disney Town relies on the overall planning and construction of the Shanghai Disney Resort. Shanghai Disney Resort is the first Disney Resort in China Mainland, officially opened on June 16, 2016, and Disney Town, as a supporting commercial and leisure area of the resort, opened to the public simultaneously. Its planning and construction fully consider the integration of Chinese and Western cultures. As a world-famous cultural brand, Disney brings its century-old animation IP culture and theme entertainment concepts into China. The town incorporates a large number of traditional Chinese cultural elements in its design and operation, such as architectural details of Jiangnan water towns, landscaping techniques of Chinese gardens, and commercial layout that meets the habits of Chinese consumers, becoming a model of the collision and integration of Disney culture and Chinese local culture.
Since its opening, Disney Town has not only carried the function of displaying and spreading Disney IP but also continued to hold various cultural activities, including Disney classic character meetings, Chinese traditional festival-themed activities, and local cultural and creative exhibitions, gradually becoming an important window for Shanghai's foreign cultural exchanges. Its cultural core retains the core values represented by Disney, such as joy, creativity, and family reunion, and is rooted in the soil of Chinese local culture, forming a unique cultural experience that attracts tourists of different ages and cultural backgrounds.
Main Attractions
Mickey Avenue (Town Extension)
As an important area connecting Disney Town and Shanghai Disneyland, the part extending into the town continues the theme style of the park. With a total length of about 200 meters, the streets are lined with cultural and creative shops and special catering stalls themed on classic Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Donald Duck. The architecture here adopts a retro American town style, matched with bright Disney colors. The cartoon sculptures and decorative details everywhere are full of childlike interest. It is a popular area for tourists to take photos with Disney characters and purchase themed souvenirs. At the same time, it is also the core moving line connecting the park and the town, with a daily passenger flow of tens of thousands of people.
Disney Lakeside
Disney Lakeside is located in the core area of Disney Town, adjacent to the Wish Lake, with a total water area of about 400,000 square meters (the whole Wish Lake) and a lakeside area of about 12,000 square meters. With a wide view, it offers a distant view of the Fantasy Castle of Shanghai Disneyland. The lakeside is equipped with leisure trails, waterfront platforms, and landscape seats, making it an excellent place for tourists to rest, enjoy the lake view and park scenery. In addition, the lakeside regularly holds small-scale performing arts activities such as music fountains and light shows. At night, tourists can also enjoy the beautiful reflection of the park's castle fireworks on the lake, becoming one of the iconic landscapes of the town.
Bai Shi Xiang Street
Bai Shi Xiang Street is the core catering street of Disney Town, about 150 meters long, gathering more than 20 catering brands of different flavors, including Chinese and Western fast food, special snacks, and theme restaurants. The street architecture is mainly in a retro market style, with a compact and hierarchical layout. There are not only local Shanghai time-honored restaurants but also Disney-themed restaurants, such as Marvel hero-themed restaurants and princess series-themed dessert shops. The street receives more than 10,000 diners every day, making it the core area for tourists to taste delicious food and experience Disney-themed catering culture.
Town Market
Town Market is located in the central area of Disney Town, covering an area of about 8,000 square meters. It is an open market area integrating cultural and creative product sales, handcraft experience, and interactive display. It gathers more than 50 cultural and creative merchants, including Disney official authorized peripheral products, as well as Chinese local original cultural and creative products and intangible cultural heritage handcrafts. The market adopts an open stall layout, with Disney-themed decorative scenes. It also regularly holds handcraft workshops, parent-child interactions, cultural and creative exhibitions and other activities, with a daily passenger flow of about 5,000 people, becoming an important space to showcase the integration of Disney culture and local cultural and creative products.
Walt Disney Grand Theatre
Walt Disney Grand Theatre is located in the north of Disney Town, with a construction area of about 11,000 square meters and can accommodate 1,200 audiences at the same time. The theatre is one of the iconic cultural buildings of Shanghai Disney Resort, focusing on Broadway-style Disney classic musicals. It has long been performing the Chinese version of "The Lion King" and is the world's first permanent venue for the Chinese-language performance of "The Lion King" musical. The architectural design of the theatre integrates the functionality of modern theatres with Disney's fantasy style. The interior decoration is exquisite, and the audio and stage equipment all reach international first-class standards. The annual number of performances exceeds 300, making it the core cultural performance landmark of Disney Town.
Tour Route
A recommended classic Disney Town tour route of about 4-5 hours: Enter from the north entrance of Disney Town, first arrive at Walt Disney Grand Theatre. If there is a performance plan, you can make a reservation or watch the musical first (the performance duration is about 2 hours); after leaving the theatre, walk about 5 minutes to Mickey Avenue (Town Extension), visit themed cultural and creative shops, take photos with Disney characters, taking about 40 minutes; then walk about 3 minutes south to Bai Shi Xiang Street, taste various special foods, take about 1 hour for dining and rest; after meals, walk about 2 minutes to Disney Lakeside, enjoy the lake view, take photos, and participate in the performance activities if available, taking about 30 minutes; then go to Town Market, experience cultural and creative handcrafts, purchase special souvenirs, taking about 40 minutes; finally, you can walk along the lakeside leisure trail to the south exit of the town. The total walking distance is about 2.5 kilometers. It can comprehensively experience the core attractions of the town, and reasonably allocate the tour time, balancing leisure and experience.
Tour Tips
- Best Tour Time: It is recommended to go on weekdays from 10:00 to 16:00, when there are relatively few tourists, avoiding the peak passenger flow on weekends and holidays; if you want to watch the night view and light show, you can choose to play from 18:00 to 21:00. In summer (June-August), the park's fireworks show is usually held around 20:30, so you can arrive at Disney Lakeside 1 hour in advance to occupy a position.
- Tour Duration: If you only visit the core attractions, it is recommended to reserve 4-5 hours; if you include watching the musical at Walt Disney Grand Theatre, you need to add an additional 2-2.5 hours, and the overall recommendation is to reserve 6-7 hours.
- Dining Selection: Bai Shi Xiang Street has a rich variety of catering, you can choose according to your taste; if you want to experience a themed restaurant, it is recommended to make a reservation 1-2 days in advance, especially during holidays.
- Parent-Child Play: The handcraft workshops in Town Market are suitable for children aged 3-12 to participate. There are three parent-child handcraft activities every day at 10:30, 14:00, and 16:00, each lasting about 45 minutes, which can be registered in advance at the town service center.
- Photography Tips: The best time to take photos at Disney Lakeside is 15:00-17:00 (soft light). It is recommended to avoid the peak passenger flow from 11:00 to 13:00 next to the cartoon sculptures on Mickey Avenue. The facade of Walt Disney Grand Theatre takes better photos after the evening lights are on.
- Shopping Suggestions: The Disney peripheral products in Town Market are the same price as in the park, you can focus on purchasing before the end of the tour.
Notes
- Disney Town is an open block, no ticket is required, but entering Walt Disney Grand Theatre to watch the performance requires a ticket. The ticket must be purchased in advance through official channels, and ticket checking starts 30 minutes before the performance. Latecomers need to enter at the specified time period.
- It is prohibited to bring pets (except guide dogs), skateboards, hoverboards, folding bicycles and other transportation tools in the town, prohibit using drones for aerial photography, and prohibit arbitrary vending and distributing flyers and other commercial activities.
- The waterfront platform of Disney Lakeside is prohibited from climbing and playing in the water. Children must play under the supervision of parents. There are no lifeguards by the lake, please pay attention to safety.
- The consumption of catering, shopping and other in the town supports cash, Alipay, WeChat Pay. Some merchants support Disney Resort co-branded credit card discounts, there is no foreign currency direct settlement service, you need to exchange RMB in advance.
- During holidays, the town has a large passenger flow, and the parking lot has tight parking spaces. It is recommended to choose public transportation; the town is equipped with mother and baby rooms, barrier-free facilities, and medical service points (located in the town center service station) which can be used as needed.
- Smoking is prohibited in the town (only allowed in designated smoking areas, which are located at the north and south entrances of the town and the west side of Bai Shi Xiang Street). Prohibiting littering and damaging public facilities. Violators will be handled according to park regulations.
- The performing arts activities of Disney Town (such as the lakeside light show) may be temporarily canceled due to weather, equipment maintenance and other reasons. You can pay attention to the official WeChat public account of "Shanghai Disney Resort" in advance to get the latest information.
- Child carts can be rented at the town entrance, and the carts are only used in the town, not allowed to be taken into the park.
Transportation
- Subway: Take Shanghai Metro Line 11 to Disney Station (Exit 1), walk about 8 minutes to reach the north entrance of Disney Town. The operation time of Disney Station on Metro Line 11 is 06:00-22:30 (towards downtown) and 06:30-23:00 (towards Disney).
- Bus: Take Pudong 50, Pudong 51, Pudong 52 to Shanghai Disneyland Station, walk about 5 minutes to reach the town entrance; the bus operation time is 06:00-21:00, with a departure interval of about 15-20 minutes.
- Self-driving: Navigate to "Shanghai Disney Town Parking Lot", the parking lot is divided into areas P1-P6; it takes about 5-10 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the town entrance.
- Taxi/Ride-hailing: You can directly locate "Disney Town North Entrance" to get off, and the drop-off point is about 100 meters away from the town core area.
- Resort Shuttle Bus: There is a free shuttle bus in Shanghai Disney Resort connecting the park, hotels and the town. The shuttle bus operation time is 8:00-23:00, with a departure interval of about 10 minutes, and the stop is located at the east and west entrances of the town.
Opening Hours
The daily opening hours are 10:00-22:00, closed all year round (except special cases). On legal holidays (such as Spring Festival, National Day), the town's opening hours will be advanced to 9:00 and the closing time will be delayed to 22:30; during summer vacation (July 1-August 31), the opening hours are 9:00-22:30 to meet the needs of tourists. In case of special circumstances such as large-scale activities, extreme weather (such as typhoon, red rainstorm warning), the town may temporarily adjust the opening hours, which will be announced in advance through official channels.
Tickets
Disney Town is free to enter. Shanghai Disneyland requires a ticket. You can search for the service number "迪士尼小镇" in WeChat to get the latest information.
Online Booking
Click here to jump to the Trip.com ticketing platform for ticket purchase.