#camp discovery

[shojogoestochina]

[laffiteslanding]

Here’s close ups on some of the board details.

First pic - features Atlantis reference with Milo missing and Whitmore’s financing of the LoA. Also introduces us to a major recurring League character, the engineer Cooter Carter.

Second pic - Encapsulates the sheer ridiculousness of the League with one of their dog explorers testing out a submersible. I love it! Note also the submersible is of Cooter Carter’s design.

Third - Great vintage style magazine depicting a LoA submersible - there’s also one featuring an airship.

Fourth - Assorted Expedition Everest ties. Note the yeti photo. There’s also a news clipping mentioning the time frame and that the project on Everest was not related to what we actually do on the ride.

Fifth - The best shot I have of the newspaper page (The cage makes it hard to get a closer shot head on). Left side is the headline about the Hollywood Tower Hotel incident, pretty much describing the backstory we get from the TV. The right side article gives a humorous anecdote about the League helping discover the temple and Indy basically shutting them down and chasing them out after they prove unprepared for the dangers. Also talks about them driving through the temple, obviously referring to the ride. Photo is of the League team in the Indy queue.

Please note there are other boards as well, with many more details not pictured here, as the boards are in the queue for the ropes course which does not allow cameras or phones. There is a profile of all League members there as well as another newspaper referring to the Anaheim Haunted Mansion, so that’s oddly a thing.

[laffiteslanding]

A few more details from various boards, including Arbori photos, references to Up, LoA expeditions around the world (including the aforementioned Everest clipping), and notes on magical crystal formations that may or may not be tied to an alternate dimension. Also, more Arbori backstory was posted in some areas as well. They believe they came to this world through a portal, as did many of the creatures in their land (and I think Q'arac as well). This portal is behind the waterfall, and you can actually go see it, though only someone deeply spiritual can go through. The crystals surround the portal area, and there's also magic crystal shenanigans under the castle. We can't just chalk that up to coincidence right?

[laffiteslanding]

Remember when I posted about the mysterious empty posting boards scattered all around Adventure Isle and Camp Discovery? Well, a year later they are complete and looking beautiful. Some focus on the various features of the campsite, some on the excavations, and others on the ongoing efforts of the League of Adventurers (LoA) here and around the world. In that same post I noted that these boards would be a likely spot for references to other works, and this ended up being pretty accurate. In the third photo, the board refers to LoA involvement in Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull in Tokyo, an early encounter with the Yeti from Expedition Everest, and (disneyuniverses will be happy to note) an LoA Atlantis Expedition that directly references the events of Atlantis: The Lost Empire! Curiously, there is no mention of the (no doubt rival organization) the Society of Explorers and Adventurers There's a lot to unpack on these boards - many of these references are made in a way that builds on existing lore, and help expand the world rather than making it feel smaller. Additionally, there is tons of lore and characterization outside references to other works that introduces some new parks characters, and I'll unpack that soon!

[laffiteslanding]

Some highlights of the high ropes course at Camp Discovery in Adventure Isle. Please note the red and green bars, as the show where your harness attaches to and indicate where the obstacles are. Sorry for some odd lighting and angles - cameras and phones are not allowed on the course itself. Top two photos: A collapsed bridge by a waterfall that is navigable from above. Second row: A hidden temple in the rock work can also be seen from above by crossing different log bridges. Third row: Two different paths around a waterfall that require careful footwork along narrow paths. No handholds here! Fourth row: Exploring this cave gives you the option of a rope bridge between stone pillars or working your way along the cave wall using stalagmites and stalactites for handholds. Bottom row: Note the green bar that shows this obstacle is navigating the second story outside ledge of a temple under excavation. Scary? A bit. Adventurous? You bet! This course is awesome.

[laffiteslanding]

Shanghai Land-By-Land Breakdown Part 6: Adventure Isle

Sorry for the delay! Life happens, but now, the final entry you’ve been dying to read, without further ado: Adventure Isle!

This is the sixth entry in my series of land-by-land breakdowns of Shanghai Disneyland. To read the previous entries, MICKEY AVENUE, GARDENS OF IMAGINATION, TOMORROWLAND, FANTASYLAND, and TREASURE COVE, please search for the land names or “Land-by-land Breakdown” in the tags.

Well, we’ve made it to the sixth and final land making up Shanghai Disneyland at last - Adventure Isle! This land isn’t technically much of an isle so much as it is a sprawling adventure park, but we’ll let that slide. So how does it fare against the other lands? Can it possibly unseat Treasure Cove as the land with the best report card score? Let’s take a look!

The first thing you might notice about Adventure Isle (AI) is the massive lagoon along its shore that it shares with Treasure Cove. I’m guessing there’s gotta be something in the water here since both lands are stellar in terms of theming. (Maybe water is just Disney’s secret weapon in general given the quality of DisneySea, but I digress!) Though the lagoon is immediately more visible, the next thing you’ll notice is undoubtedly the rocky cliff face of Roaring Mountain, which comes complete with several gorgeous waterfalls. The falls and cliff face are immediately effective in creating a sense of adventure, especially when you have to traverse winding jungle paths to reach them. Though other Adventureland areas don’t necessarily suffer for lack of mountains, adding a viewpoint and goal destination definitely gives AI a boost here, and also helps to differentiate it from previous incarnations. Apart from the mountain focal point, which only looms larger as you approach it, and the waterfront, which showcases a tropical island across the way, the rest of the land looks relatively young in terms of foliage, which only makes since. It really reminded me of pictures of Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise in its first few years, where the trees were small and foliage thin. This approach adds a somewhat different aesthetic to the area, and I’m honestly not sure if these trees are all full grown yet, as they complement the land’s architecture now, but may cover up a lot of good theming if they continue to grow. I guess we’ll have to wait a few years and see how the imagineers envisioned the finalized area. Either way, the area feels unique in terms of its “natural” formations, and has a sense of mystery about it.

Apart from the natural features, there are two types of architecture present as well - the tribal structures belonging to the Arbori, and the more recent structures belonging to the League of Adventurers, who are not to be confused with the Society of Explorers and Adventurers (SEA), which seems to have no ties whatsoever to this new organization.

The vast majority of the architecture here is Arbori style, with the story of the land being that the tribe is both very much alive and friendly to outsiders. The major restaurant, shops, and even Soarin’ Over the Horizon are all themed to their architectural style, which overall is fairly basic with buildings seemingly built out of mud and mudbrick. There’s thatched roofs and wood elements, but the goal here seems to be a long lost, quite rural civilization. Here is our first clue to Chinese architectural influence, as out west many rural villages still have similar looking exteriors, particularly with houses, to some of the buildings present in AI; other elements of Chinese villages are now quite modern in architectural design. Since many Chinese visitors have family somewhere in the countryside, this style may evoke some familiarity. However, a distinction is made when it comes to Arbori art, which decorates both their structures and the landscape. The art here has quite a range, from animals made from stone piles, to carved masks and idols to painted designs and scenes. Yet amazingly, despite the wide range of designs there’s an internal consistency to all of the art, which is wonderful and adds to the idea of a living, breathing tribe. In terms of these details Adventure Isle seems to take direction from Animal Kingdom, and even the name of the tribe points to something that might have once been planned for Discovery Island (Arbor-i? Tree of Life?). However, the Arbori art style is definitely Chinese influenced, as I’ve discussed in a previous post, and it is wonderful to have some Chinese history represented alongside mainstream Chinese culture and Chinese modernity.

This land would be wonderfully themed if the Arbori tribe was the only aesthetic presence, but the League of Adventurers(LOA) adds an additional level of detail to explore here, giving a dialogue to the land that other areas lack. The LOA backstory goes that the League first arrived in Adventure Isle in the 1930s by mistake, but established friendly relations with the Arbori and have ongoing research in the area. The League’s story is also important because the visitors here mostly assume the role of the LOA’s newest recruits! A lot of their structures here have a adventure outpost-type design, similar in some ways to the Jungle Cruise queue in Disney World. In particular, Roaring Rapids has a Jungle Cruise-like queue, though sadly with less gags. There’s several offices and staging areas you go by that all feature vintage exploration equipment and various research and artifacts. It’s well detailed and entertaining, but the main structures, and indeed, a major place where the LOA and the Arbori overlap is Camp Discovery.

Camp Discovery is base camp for the League of Adventurers here. Camp is in a lot of ways the heart of Adventure Isle as a whole, and thematically it shows this by being the intersection of nature, Arbori, and LOA influences. The whole mix of things here is very well done, with League of Adventurers structures providing a true “camp” area as well as being queues, and with Arbori and natural elements being the focus of the exploration. There’s again influence of Animal Kingdom here where self-guided exploration is a major theme of the land, and is overall incorporated so naturally that it really gives the land a great theme that differs from the underlying themes of the different Adventurelands - the theme here is that the world is fascinating and that we can and should all be explorers in some way, shape, or form. It’s a very optimistic change from previous incarnations of the land where there’s themes of futility of man vs. nature. But I also think that the new theme is more modern, in a sense. It’s less about trying to override nature and create civilization and more about living with nature and studying it. I really admire the decision to move to new ground thematically here, and it’s great because it leads to bold new frontiers.

I could talk all day about the theme here, so let’s move on to the attractions. There are some heavy hitters here, with Roaring Rapids and Soarin’ both present in this land. But the other attractions are quite noteworthy as well - Camp Discovery and the Tarzan: Call of the Wild stage show. I did not get to see the Tarzan show while I was there, so I won’t talk about it much other than to say I’ve heard good things, it involves Chinese acrobatics, and I will try to go next time. I am not totally sure how it falls into the story of the land yet, but everything else is extremely cohesive, so I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. Even Soarin’, which seems like it would stick out like a sore thumb, fits very well thanks to its new context. The queue consists of passages inside an Arbori temple complex that emptied out onto a roofless temple plateau, with incredible stargazing views overhead. The new safety video here showcases an Arbori shaman, who says something along the lines of this: “During certain times of year, you can use magic to travel from here to special places around the globe!” She also uses magic to transform herself into various animals, and really that’s all it takes to establish magic here. It’s great, and makes the transitions between the different locations much easier to understand compared to the US storyline of simply flying on an airline/hang glider. While the new video to me seems to be less dynamic than the old video, it was clearly a hit with the Chinese audience, who all had an audibly joyful reaction to the ride. Soarin’ here also fits thematically with the idea of exploration, and there are even cool stylized travel posters along the exit passage. A good job all around here!

While Soarin’ is Arbori-centric, the other two main attractions are more LOA-centric, though Roaring Rapids is again a mix of the two. The premise of Roaring Rapids is that, as the newest members of the League of Adventurers, you’ve naturally been chosen to seek out the terrifying source of roaring coming from the mountain. Seems logical, right? It’s a very Jungle Cruise sense of humor, and the ride itself doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it is a blast, and I would say in some ways very similar to Everest. Q'araq (pronounced “Croc” - puns galore) is glorious and scary and definitely adds a sense of tension that other Disney raft rides lack. The environment is beautifully realized as well. While there could be more show scenes or a longer Rapids section, after riding it multiple times it feels like it strikes the right balance between anticipation and release.

As a side not on merchandise - Q'araq is getting a hard push, with a lot of merchandise with the real, scary version, along with a cute cartoon version. All of it’s pretty great, and there’s even a random callback to the small world crocodile.

And finally, we’ve once again reached Camp Discovery. This “attraction” is more like three or four built into one, with walking trails, a kids play area, a hidden excavation, and a high ropes course. Camp Discovery occupies space somewhere between Tom Sawyer’s Island, Adventure Isle in Disneyland Paris, and Animal Kingdom’s adventure trails - it feels very fresh and new, and it’s layout is very inviting to exploration. The whole while, Camp Discovery seems so obvious for an adventure themed land that you’re surprised Disney hasn’t done it before. The walking trails are full of fun little surprises, and they intermingle with the other attractions - mainly the high ropes course, which sometimes runs parallel to and sometimes above the walking trails. The ropes course is an excellent addition to the area that really encapsulates exploration, and in hindsight it again seems so obvious to include. It provides an added sense of adventure as well as some cool extra movement to the land. The way the course is designed also plays into creating a very dynamic area, with river crossings, collapsed bridges, caves, and rock ledges going around a waterfall all being obstacles that can be attempted. There’s also a trail that explores Arbori ruins rather than the mountain base, with one obstacle that works around the outside of a tower. The three ropes courses are all fantastic and somewhat challenging, while still being friendly to most guests, and all obstacles can be skipped if something seems too scary. Additionally, the courses have lots of little details that add to the story of the land and make you feel like you really are exploring somewhere, despite constantly being tethered to a metal rope guide. I knew very little about this attraction coming in, but it ends up tied with Roaring Rapids as the best thing in the land for me, and very high within the park as a whole. It’s immersive, self-guided, and super fun - just like the rest of Camp Discovery, which may be one of the best exploratory Disney attractions in a long time.

There are a few issues with the land overall, though they are quite minor and easily rectified. Camp Discovery has multiple camp job posting boards that feel like they’re supposed to feature clever and funny ads, but they are completely bare. I’m not sure if these were not ready for opening day or if they had to be recalled, but if added back in they would add another level of liveliness to an already very lively land. The other issue is a minor thematic quibble, and that’s the exact era that Adventure Isle occupies. While the LOA landed here in the 1930s, and there’s a lot of equipment and music that seems to indicate this is the current era, there’s also items such as a modern raft within the Roaring Rapids queue, the modern landscapes seen in Soarin’, and the instructional pictures for the ropes course, all of which suggest a more modern time period. In addition, the land has a thoroughly modern sense of adventure overall, seen through its types of attractions. It either feels like you’re in the 1930s with some anachronisms (perhaps explained by Arbori magic), or it feels like the expedition has been going on from the 1930s to today and the current team has kept all that stuff around because they’re huge adventure nerds. I like the second explanation because it’s actually totally what’s going on with the imagineers here (meta!) but also because it suggests a goofy sense of humor for the LOA, which totally seems to be the case. All we know for sure is that there was first contact in the 1930s, and from there you’re able to build your own idea of events. This really doesn’t affect enjoyment of the land, and you don’t really realize that this disparity exists until you think about it, but it’s fairly easy to explain away, and it leads to pulp adventure trappings on a modern adventure land. I can’t argue with that outcome!

While Treasure Cove may feel like the most classic land to come out of Shanghai Disneyland, I feel that Adventure Isle is perhaps the most ambitious. I guess this isn’t surprising given that it has minimal IP usage, with only Tarzan and character meet and greets which are hidden away in a themed building; both areas seem intentionally placed on the periphery of the area. Not only is the fabric of the land quite original, but the land also has the most moving parts to juggle. Adventure Isle has diverse thematic statements that all work together to create a unified theme of adventure. While others lands bring together disparate elements, they usually are bringing together various IPs that ultimately fail to make major thematic statements. AI does all of this while still managing to be an incredibly fun land that has some killer attractions. It’s really a triumph in just about every way, and it’s the land that has me dying to go back soon.

ADVENTURE ISLE REPORT CARD

THEMING: A Deals with themes of nature, cultural interaction, and adventure all in a modern and mature manner, while also adding a light-hearted touch.

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: A This land feels the most alive and exploratory compared to the other lands, like there’s an adventure around every corner.

ATTRACTIONS: A The multiple E-Tickets, the immersive queues, and the wow factor of Camp Discovery’s trails and ropes courses lead to perhaps the most solid attraction line up in the park.

FOOD AND SHOPPING OPTIONS: A The food is solid, as always, with stir-fry options being both Chinese staples and fairly appropriate to the land. Shopping-wise, there’s a lot of signature Adventure Isle, Roaring Rapids, and Camp Discovery stuff available, which is a huge plus.

OVERALL: A While very different from its neighbor Treasure Cove, Adventure Isle is an incredible land that offers something for everyone. I could spend all day in this part of the park and leave happy.

And that’s a wrap on the land-by-land breakdowns! Thanks for reading the series, and if it entertained you or if there was something about Shanghai Disneyland you really want to know that I missed, please let me know!

Until next time!

[laffiteslanding]

Arbori Tribal Art and Artifacts Adventure Isle, Shanghai Disneyland

[iunderstandyourpointe]

Today was the best day at work... because it was my last day! But really...

I got so many hugs from campers, ate brownies and popsicles, and I had a one on one water balloon fight with one of my favorite campers. Pretty awesome.

I’ve learned so much about my profession, about children and childcare, and about myself working at this summer camp. Though I am unsure that I will work there again next summer, I know that the memories I made will never be forgotten. 

My coworkers (one in particular) were kind (for the most part) and helpful. I was so afraid that I would struggle all this summer, but I learned that it’s okay not to know everything and that it’s okay to ask questions. The children taught me to always wonder about the world around me and to always be adventurous and carefree. I will miss them all so much.