The Mighty Mountain with the Waterfall

Disney parks have always been built on iconic, towering monuments recognizable from a distance. Called "weenies," they serve as magnificent photo ops, navigation markers, and landmarks for Disney parks.  The very first "weenie" was Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle, but since then, plenty of imposing features have become an indelible part of the Disney theme park fabric, from EPCOT's Spaceship Earth to the Space Mountains around the world to the Tower of Terrors and Guardians of the Galaxy rides to the Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom to all the other Disney castles and more.

In Shanghai Disneyland, the Enchanted Storybook Castle might be the main "weenie," but to the right side of the park, out in Adventure Isle, the towering Roaring Mountain--home to the Roaring Rapids water ride--is quite a mammoth sight too. And its scale--truly feeling like a towering mountain akin to the Matterhorn at Disneyland or Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom--really lends an epic feel to the environment.  I feel like I'm due a trip back, especially since Adventure Isle was one of my least photographed parts of Shanghai Disneyland when I visited nearly a decade ago.  It would be fun to see how the park's changed too!

The towering Roaring Mountain and its mighty waterfall are a monumental sight in Shanghai Disneyland's Adventure Isle.