Speak Chinese at Shanghai Disneyland

Surely everyone who likes Disney dreams of taking a stroll around Disneyland. But for Chinese people it is not that easy, because there is no Disney resort in mainland China. The closest ones are in Japan and Hong Kong, but Chinese netizens need a permit to go to either of these places. For Japan you need a visa, and for Hong Kong you need a Hong Kong and Macau entry permit. It’s very troublesome.

Soon, however, the Chinese will not need a permit to go to Disneyland, because the Shanghai Disney Resort is about to open! This is the first Disney park on the mainland, and it will open in June 2016. Altogether the Shanghai Disney Resort will have 6 big theme lands, one of them being the popular “Pirates of the Caribbean” theme. The ticket price for an ordinary day will be 370 yuan, and 499 yuan for peak days.

Would you like to visit Shanghai Disneyland? If you do, it would of course be helpful to know some relevant Chinese phrases. In this post we learn some useful sentences that you can use when you visit Disneyland.

First of all, how do you say Shanghai Disneyland in Chinese? It’s 上shàng海hǎi迪dí士shì尼ní乐lè园yuán. Now let’s express that we want to visit Disneyland.

“我想去 + Place ” means “I want to go to…”. After you’ve bought your 门mén票piào (ticket), and received a 地dì图tú (map), you are ready to explore Disneyland. Even with a map it can be difficult to find your way around, so let’s see how we can ask the staff for directions.

You can use the phrase we just learned, “我想去 + Place ”, and then add “ 请qǐng问wèn怎zěn么me走zǒu”. For example:

Treasure Cove

bǎo zàng wān 宝藏湾
Treasure Cove will be the first pirate-themed land in a Disney park, and is modeled after a 18th-century harbor town located on a Caribbean island.

Mickey Avenue

mǐ qí dà jiē 米奇大街
Mickey Avenue is the first main entry at a Disney park inspired by the personalities of Mickey Mouse and his friends.

Fantasyland

mèng huàn shì jiè 梦幻世界
Fantasyland is the largest land in the park.

Gardens of Imagination

qí xiǎng huā yuán 奇想花园
The “hub” of the park, this land will feature seven Chinese-themed gardens as well as rides and attractions.

Tomorrowland

míng rì shì jiè 明日世界
Instead of a traditional Space Mountain

Adventure Isle

tàn xiǎn dǎo 探险岛
Adventure Isle is a themed area at Shanghai Disneyland. It is the park’s counterpart to Adventureland. It is focused around the mysterious lost world of Roaring Mountain.

Too difficult? You can also grab a 地dì图tú (map), point to the place you want to go to, and ask:

If you want to see one of the shows or fireworks, you can add “ 看kàn (watch)” after “去qù”, like this:

Mickey Mouse

mǐ qí 米奇

Minnie Mouse

mǐ ní 米妮

Donald Duck

táng lǎo yā 唐老鸭

Daisy Duck

dài sī yā 戴丝鸭

Goofy

gāo fēi gǒu 高飞狗

Pluto

bù lǔ tuō 布鲁托

Chip & Dale

qí qí & dì dì 奇奇&帝帝

Cinderella

huī gū niang 灰姑娘

Snow White

bái xuě gōng zhǔ 白雪公主

You can learn more about asking for directions in our previous blog post, learn how to order food in our “Ordering Food In Chinese” post. And if you want to ask someone to take a picture for you at Disneyland, you can learn about it in our blog post “Taking Photos”.

Ok, now I’m sure you will have no problem visiting Shanghai Disneyland! Have fun!

This is the accompanying blog post for our advanced lesson “Troubles at the Shanghai Disney Resort“.