8 Aussie DISers take on China!

[PrincessInOz]

Some incredibly clever person (it may have been me)

It WAS you!

FairyFloss even had a shirt made for PIO's DM that says 'Yes, I know it's a rollercoaster'

And she loves it.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

How was the smog?

 

[zanzibar138]

How was the smog?

I personally haven't had any issue with smog on either of my two visits. On this trip, I couldn't even tell what the smog level was like through the rain and the cloud cover.

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Ahh, I belong in this group of Aussie Disney lovers Would have loved to join you all - looks like you had a wonderful trip!

 

[Nomarian]

So it does not look like there were a lot of crowds this day. Did you go on a weekday or weekend? Was this trip done in June? Trying to do a little pre-planning for next year.

 

[zanzibar138]

Ahh, I belong in this group of Aussie Disney lovers Would have loved to join you all - looks like you had a wonderful trip!

Whereabouts are you? Most of us are in Melbourne.

So it does not look like there were a lot of crowds this day. Did you go on a weekday or weekend? Was this trip done in June? Trying to do a little pre-planning for next year.

We were there in March. We had a Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in the park, but it was raining constantly for the first 2 days. Most locals wouldn't have bothered in that weather.

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Whereabouts are you? Most of us are in Melbourne.

I'm in Perth sadly I hope you had a fabulous trip.

 

[zanzibar138]

I'm in Perth sadly I hope you had a fabulous trip.

Well you can be part of our group in spirit then

 

[Karin1984]

Hi Zanzibar,

As you are with 2 trips to SDL probably the most experienced on this board What would you recommend for tickets? Get them in advance, or at the hotel? We are there end of August Saturday - Monday, and I am wondering what would be best. Do you know if we can buy them online and then exchange them at the Toy Story Hotel?

Thanks!

 

[zanzibar138]

Hi Zanzibar,

As you are with 2 trips to SDL probably the most experienced on this board What would you recommend for tickets? Get them in advance, or at the hotel? We are there end of August Saturday - Monday, and I am wondering what would be best. Do you know if we can buy them online and then exchange them at the Toy Story Hotel?

Thanks!

Haha! That doesn't mean that I know best Happy to give you my thoughts on tickets though.

Both times I purchased my tickets in advance online. The first time I needed to exchange the voucher for a ticket at the ticket booths, but by my second trip, they had abolished this and you just show up to the turnstiles with the voucher. It was all very easy. Other people in our party got their tickets at the hotel, which was just another step in the checking in process. Personally I found it easier to just get them online and not have to worry about that step.

If you are going at a busy time, be aware that the turnstiles will be a chaotic nightmare that may take you an uncomfortable hour or so to get through. In order to avoid this, you can purchase your tickets at the ticket booth. The line for the ticket booth is much more civilised, and you will be waved straight through to the park without having to go through the turnstiles. Of course, if you buy a multi-day ticket, you'll still have to deal with the turnstiles eventually. I also wouldn't recommend this strategy if there is even the slightest chance that it'll be a sell-out on the days you're there. If it's quiet, the turnstiles won't be such a big problem - the lines there were fine on my latest trip.

Hope that helps!

 

[zanzibar138]

In other news, yes I do intend to finish this TR - sorry to leave you all hanging! Sadly life has gotten in the way quite a lot this year, but I'll get back onto it as soon as I can.

 

[cschaaf]

Haha! That doesn't mean that I know best Happy to give you my thoughts on tickets though.

Both times I purchased my tickets in advance online. The first time I needed to exchange the voucher for a ticket at the ticket booths, but by my second trip, they had abolished this and you just show up to the turnstiles with the voucher. It was all very easy. Other people in our party got their tickets at the hotel, which was just another step in the checking in process. Personally I found it easier to just get them online and not have to worry about that step.

If you are going at a busy time, be aware that the turnstiles will be a chaotic nightmare that may take you an uncomfortable hour or so to get through. In order to avoid this, you can purchase your tickets at the ticket booth. The line for the ticket booth is much more civilised, and you will be waved straight through to the park without having to go through the turnstiles. Of course, if you buy a multi-day ticket, you'll still have to deal with the turnstiles eventually. I also wouldn't recommend this strategy if there is even the slightest chance that it'll be a sell-out on the days you're there. If it's quiet, the turnstiles won't be such a big problem - the lines there were fine on my latest trip.

Hope that helps!

We were just there - July 5th - and pre-purchased our tickets. The park had been selling out leading up to our trip, so we didn't want to risk it. Later that day, we did get the message that the park had sold out. I think we would have got there early enough that we would have made it in, but I'm glad we didn't wait. I've also heard that the hotels hold aside some tickets for guests, but I don't know if that's true or not. It would be a huge risk and extra disappointing to be staying on-property and not get into the park!

We got the e-recepit and had to go to the ticket booth to exchange it - at least that's what the security people told us. The ticket booth line wasn't too bad - and it was mostly covered, if I recall correctly.

When you get to the window, we handed over the passport that we used to reserve the tickets (you only need one per party) and I tried showing the e-receipt and the lady waived me off. I guess they just use the passport number to find the resi.

She gave us our tickets and we thought we'd then have to go to the long turnstile lines. There were barriers that funneled you around the ticket booth to a single turnstile. I expected there to be a slowdown as all of the people in the ticket line were going through that same turnstile, but we walked through without slowing down - or even seeing anyone in front of us. To the point that we looked at each other and said, "Did we do that right? Are we in the park? What just happened?"

It seems like they are still changing policies, so the experience may be different depending on when you go.

Personally, I can't see any advantage to waiting.

 

[Karin1984]

@zanzibar138 @cschaaf You are right, there is no use in waiting. The only advantage is, you cannot lose the tickets. I will have a massive amount of travel papers for all the hotels, flights, and other reservations, I see it happening that I lose the one I need most ;-)

 

[cschaaf]

@zanzibar138 @cschaaf You are right, there is no use in waiting. The only advantage is, you cannot lose the tickets. I will have a massive amount of travel papers for all the hotels, flights, and other reservations, I see it happening that I lose the one I need most ;-)

HA! Fair enough!

If it helps, we didn't get any paper tickets until we went through the ticket booth when we got there. The only paperwork we needed was the passport we used to buy the tickets. I'd still recommend taking a screenshot of the ticket reservation just in case. Use a screenshot in case you can't get online to pull up your emails.

We didn't need that screenshot, but you never know...

 

[zanzibar138]

Personally, I can't see any advantage to waiting.

My experience waiting an hour + on my own in the awful unsheltered chaotic mess that is the turnstiles lines on a busy day is enough to make me go to somewhat extreme lengths to avoid having to go through that ever again The lines for the ticket booths were much more civilised, with less pushing and shoving, undercover out of the hot sun/rain, AND somehow moved faster than the turnstile lines!

If you can pre-purchase your tickets online and still go through the ticket booths instead of the turnstiles, that would be the ideal solution

 

[Flossbolna]

We got the e-recepit and had to go to the ticket booth to exchange it - at least that's what the security people told us. The ticket booth line wasn't too bad - and it was mostly covered, if I recall correctly.

If you can pre-purchase your tickets online and still go through the ticket booths instead of the turnstiles, that would be the ideal solution

I agree with @zanzibar138 that the tunrstile lines are just horrid on busy days. My tip is to pick one of the lines that are on the end (i.e. the one all the way to the right or the left) as you will be able to get some fresh air from the side.

However, we pre-purchased the tickets on the website for our June visit and were specifically told to wait in the turnstile lines. Also, the wording on the receipt was quite definite that one should proceed directly to the turnstile. They exchange the receipt there at the turnstile for a ticket. @cschaaf you might have gotten incorrect information from someone who did not understand the English language receipt? I can't imagine that they changed the process in the one week that was between your and our visits. Also, most of the other people around us in line at the turnstiles had the same receipts as we had (print outs from a website at least as far as I could see with a similar layout, but Chinese characters). I think the majority of people getting into the park do have those receipts for tickets purchased through the website.

But it sounds as if one were to just go to the ticket window this would work, too. So, it might be a good tip in order to avoid the turnstile lines.

 

[cschaaf]

I agree with @zanzibar138 that the tunrstile lines are just horrid on busy days. My tip is to pick one of the lines that are on the end (i.e. the one all the way to the right or the left) as you will be able to get some fresh air from the side.

However, we pre-purchased the tickets on the website for our June visit and were specifically told to wait in the turnstile lines. Also, the wording on the receipt was quite definite that one should proceed directly to the turnstile. They exchange the receipt there at the turnstile for a ticket. @cschaaf you might have gotten incorrect information from someone who did not understand the English language receipt? I can't imagine that they changed the process in the one week that was between your and our visits. Also, most of the other people around us in line at the turnstiles had the same receipts as we had (print outs from a website at least as far as I could see with a similar layout, but Chinese characters). I think the majority of people getting into the park do have those receipts for tickets purchased through the website.

But it sounds as if one were to just go to the ticket window this would work, too. So, it might be a good tip in order to avoid the turnstile lines.

We had nothing to print. Maybe it was based on when you ordered the tickets?? We got ours on July 2nd or 3rd. Maybe July, being in the higher priced range, has a different process? Who knows.

When I ordered, it showed a confirmation number and that was it.

When we got to the park, I couldn't remember where we were supposed to go, so I asked a group of security guards. I showed them my phone with the confirmation number and they pointed us to the ticket line.

The ticket line CM didn't blink when we went up. We handed over the passport and she got us our tickets.

It seemed like most around us were doing the same thing. I saw a few phones out with the confirmation email loaded up.

Who knows - maybe we did it all wrong, but it worked out for the best anyway!

 

[Flossbolna]

We had nothing to print. Maybe it was based on when you ordered the tickets?? We got ours on July 2nd or 3rd. Maybe July, being in the higher priced range, has a different process? Who knows.

When I ordered, it showed a confirmation number and that was it.

When we got to the park, I couldn't remember where we were supposed to go, so I asked a group of security guards. I showed them my phone with the confirmation number and they pointed us to the ticket line.

The ticket line CM didn't blink when we went up. We handed over the passport and she got us our tickets.

It seemed like most around us were doing the same thing. I saw a few phones out with the confirmation email loaded up.

Who knows - maybe we did it all wrong, but it worked out for the best anyway!

Interesting!! It really could be that with the price hike they changed the system on how to process online orders as well. Or it is indeed different when you order just a couple of days before. We got an email with instructions to print this. I hope @Karin1984 will report back on how it worked for her if she ends up buying tickets before arrival!

 

[Texans_loyal]

Looking forward to the rest