Chinese visitors welcome Disneyland to town by defecating in the bushes

As Disneyland Shanghai readies to open next month the infrastructure and smaller aspects of the resort have been coming online over the past few weeks. The brand new metro station opened in late April causing floods of curious locals to fill the station and Disney Town shopping district even though not a single shop was open yet.

The Chinese government, who owns a controlling stake in the Shanghai Disneyland Resort, has placed numerous requirements upon the resort–the new rail station being one of them, and a large, urban style park called Wishing Star Park being another. The 98-acre park is designed as both a place for guests to escape the crowds and a way to help keep the air quality in check. This impressive park has an amphitheater, a state of the art playground, numerous art sculptures and even a glass boardwalk.

Wishing Star Park and Disney Town have seen large crowds over the past few weeks as locals try to get a glimpse at the new resort before it officially opens June 17. The crowds overwhelmed the yet-to-open resort during the recent May Day holiday. Numerous people posted shocking photos on social media of guests climbing through the bushes, leaving piles of trash everywhere, carving their names into lampposts and even allowing their children to defecate in the bushes.

Children relieving themselves in public has long been an issue for the rapidly urbanizing Chinese. Many more rural Chinese still use crotchless pants and no diapers on their children. These tendency, while becoming rarer, still do occur in China, even at Disneyland. 

Disney hasn’t commented on the May Day debacle but these early crowds might be a concerning indication on how locals will treat the newest and most expensive Disneyland park ever built.

The fact that some of the very first photos from the new resort are of trash filled gardens and graffiti on lampposts isn’t a good sign. Let’s at least hope that parents don’t allow their children to poop on the rides. And here we thought chanting Brazilian tour groups was the worst it could get.