Help With Our Dream Trip!

[YensidRocks]

Good Morning,

I'm not sure where to post this exactly, so I'm sorry if this is the wrong place.

My family and I are die hard Disney enthusiasts and have decided that we would love nothing more than to visit each of the Disney's parks around the world. You can call it our Disney bucket-list.

We would like to plan a dream vacation within the next two to three years that would involve us visiting Disney Land, Aulani, Tokyo Disney and Shanghai within a two week time period.

We do have some time constraints due to me being a teacher which means we would need to do this visit in August. We will also be flying out of the NYC area airports, preferably Newark. Additionally, we are budget minded and we are DVC members.

We are envisioning maybe 3 days in the California Parks, 4 days in Aulani, 4 days in Tokyo parks, and 3 days in Shanghai.

Has anyone ever attempted this? Where do I even begin? Any tips or tricks for the parks? Please help me plan this trip Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance

 

[holden]

I can’t offer advice on a trip like that except to say be sure to allow a week (or almost a week) after the trip to fully adjust to the time change. I think you’ll be wiped out for a while when you return.

Sounds like a great adventure!

 

[Meglen]

That's alot of travel in 2 weeks. Ever think of doing it over a few years?

 

[HMANSION LOVER]

One thing I have learned is this. Now this is an example not a plan. Let's sa you want to go to DL, then Hawaii and then Tokyo. You can save money by doing this one thing(it is not easy but it can be done) Book a flight from L.A. to Tokyo that has layover in L.A and a Layover in Hawaii. You can then make your layover in L.A. last for a few days and then do the same for your layover in Hawaii. I read an article written by a person who traveled the Pacific Rim extensively and explained that this is possible. You can book it so your layover is as long or short as you want. REMEMBER this is only when you will be required to use a connecting flight not when you will stay on the same plane. So, instead of booking three flights you only book one. Huge savings in air fare. Go to matrixitasoftware.com it is entirely new world of finding all flights for cities all over the world with almost EVERY airline in the skies today. It is a little daunting at first and will take a while to get used to but it is worth it. This is not a site you can book airline tickets on but a way to plan your itinerery so you can the go and book the flights with the airlines themselves or through your travel agent.

 

[Lynne M]

For general questions about the trip, I think you’ll find a broader audience on the Community board, so I’ll move this thread there. Be sure to check out our dedicated boards for Disneyland and the other parks you’ll be visiting, and the Aulani board, for specific questions.

 

[ronandannette]

Good Morning,

I'm not sure where to post this exactly, so I'm sorry if this is the wrong place.

My family and I are die hard Disney enthusiasts and have decided that we would love nothing more than to visit each of the Disney's parks around the world. You can call it our Disney bucket-list.

We would like to plan a dream vacation within the next two to three years that would involve us visiting Disney Land, Aulani, Tokyo Disney and Shanghai within a two week time period.

We do have some time constraints due to me being a teacher which means we would need to do this visit in August. We will also be flying out of the NYC area airports, preferably Newark. Additionally, we are budget minded and we are DVC members.

We are envisioning maybe 3 days in the California Parks, 4 days in Aulani, 4 days in Tokyo parks, and 3 days in Shanghai.

Has anyone ever attempted this? Where do I even begin? Any tips or tricks for the parks? Please help me plan this trip Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance

This sounds like something we would do - we tend to have very "concentrated" vacations packed with activities in multiple locations. Lay on the beach types we're not.

I can't help with logistics but what I can tell you (from our own experience) is that IMO 3 days is the PERFECT amount of time to spend at DLR. For economy I would get a 3-day pass and upgrade to a hopper only on the final day. Spend Day 1 in DL and Day 2 in DCA. Day 3 (with your hopper) can be used to re-do anything you specifically loved or catch things you missed. Also know that for economy, if your DVC points won't cover all your accommodations, DLR is optimum for staying off-site in any number of hotels that are within walking distance. One caution - don't be tempted to plan a lot of other sightseeing or activities in the SoCal area if you're only there 3 days. The traffic is so intense that just travelling from place to place would suck up way too much of a short stay.

We also spent 4 days on Oahu and found it to be a very good amount of time to take in all the major attractions and be able to say you "did Hawaii". We didn't stay at Aulani but visited that side of the island. Not sure what all there is to enjoy on the resort itself or how much time you'd want to remain there on the grounds but with a car, you can easily drive the island and do a lot in 4 days.

Overall it sounds like an amazing trip and I'm jealous! I hope it all comes together for you!

 

[TipsyTraveler]

To piggyback off of @ronandannette ’s post... There’s not much to do at Aulani. If your plan is to spend the four days at the resort it might get a little boring. (If you intend to spend the four days touring the island, then disregard that.) However, four days of lying-on-the-beach downtime might be exactly what’s needed for some mid-trip recovery from all the travel. Personally, I would consider doing the trip in the other direction, putting the stresses of foreign travel at the beginning when I’m raring to go, have a relaxing break at Aulani right around the time I’m starting to fatigue, then finish up the last few days at DLR.

Four days at TDR is the perfect amount of time, two days per park. I can’t help you with Shanghai.

 

[ronandannette]

To piggyback off of @ronandannette ’s post... There’s not much to do at Aulani. If your plan is to spend the four days at the resort it might get a little boring. (If you intend to spend the four days touring the island, then disregard that.) However, four days of lying-on-the-beach downtime might be exactly what’s needed for some mid-trip recovery from all the travel. Personally, I would consider doing the trip in the other direction, putting the stresses of foreign travel at the beginning when I’m raring to go, have a relaxing break at Aulani right around the time I’m starting to fatigue, then finish up the last few days at DLR.

Four days at TDR is the perfect amount of time, two days per park. I can’t help you with Shanghai.

Love this advice - good thinkin' Tipsy!

 

[Wild4Walt]

One thing I can add, is it would be good to research Around the World Fares. I know a few years ago, United offered these. It has to do with routing and how many days in each location. The airlines do not advertise these. I would recommend finding a travel agent that has a strong international background and they can do the leg work for you for the airfare as it can get very complicated.

 

[low-key]

lol, if you got the money, enjoy it

 

[Colleen27]

Have you found your way over to the global boards yet? There are quite a few posts on the Tokyo/Hong Kong/Shanghai forums that talk about doing all of the Asian parks in a single trip, and I've found them pretty helpful as we weigh the possibility of doing that ourselves when we go to Japan next year.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Your trip is something I think would be neat. But I'd add on WDW, Hong Kong and Paris, hit every park in one trip (and strike Aulani and just do theme parks).

My recommendation though, from already visiting all the locations you want to put onto your whirlwind trip, is unless your family has already traveled to these places, or you routinely will take these sorts of trip, don't do it unless you've already the actual areas outside of Disney.

I think you would be better suited taking a trip to Japan and spending a few days at Disney then exploring Tokyo and the surrounding areas or taking a trip to China and spending a few days at SH Disney and also see Beijing. Shanghai will be miserably hot/humid in August.

But as for your timing if you do this trip.... Yes 3 days at DL will be good. 4 days at Aulani will allow you to see a lot of stuff on Oahu. 4 days at Tokyo will be good. Was just there last month and it was crazy! But it wasn't a few years back when we went. We have always went just for 2 days and the longer time would sure be nice. 45 mins just to stand in line for a fast pass (they do old WDW style where FP is at the ride). Was in line 1 hr 20 mins before park opening and it took (park opened at 8am) until 8:15am to just get into the park and they don't fingerprint scan you, just barcode scan a ticket as we were that far back. 3 days at Shanghai Disney will be good. The only ride we didn't bother with was Soarin as the lines were crazy, but it's also the same on as in America so we didn't feel like we lost out on anything. We did Tron and Pirates as many times as we wanted (pirates is totally different then WDW/DL and probably my favorite disney ride). They also have a really neat ropes course. I'd try to hit up HDKL too, maybe from Oahu to Hong Kong? Do a really long layover if timing works right and just head there with your carry on. From what other friends have told me they have done this park in a day (or less) as it is relatively small compared to the other parks.

The main key to this trip will also be to get hotels onsite at Shanghai and Tokyo, DL a "good neighbor" hotel isn't bad as they are within walking distance.

Good Luck!