A Tokyo Disney, HKDL & Shanghai DL PTR-UPDATED 11/23-JUST BACK!

[katt789]

Alright, so let’s talk FLIGHTS!!

It seems like something that it super daunting when you’re traveling a trip as far away as Asia (this being written from someone living in North America).When we first starting talking about going it was when we were still living in Florida, and before Shanghai existed! Knowing that we’d both be making pretty good money, Kara & I were pretty into it at first. Around Christmas I got onto expedia and did it the lazy way “multiple destiations” and went Orlando-LA-Tokyo-Hong Kong. And it came out pretty cheap, well, WAY cheaper than I thought it would, I mean, it was under $2000! Pretty decent if you ask me! As we got closer to we double checked and they’d jumped, but we’re glad because now we get to experience so much more of Asia! And Shanghai’s open!!

So, here are some of my tips for searching for/booking flights, in general and for Asia!


-Use an “incognito” or private window on your computer/phone, and ALWAYS wipe your history, and cookies when doing so. Your computer saves stuff like that and flights will increase as you keep checking them!

-Download the app “Hopper” it tells you the best time to book, and when fares will go up, or if they’ll drop! Always nice to check! I usually end up downloading it, checking stuff, and deleting it, bahha!

- airfarewatchdog .com is another good tool for this kind of stuff

-Always cross check what’s quoted with the actual airline site! You get stuff like actually choosing your seat and such on the actual website whereas if you book through someone else it may not be available til check in!

-Watch out for WHAT currency the prices are in! Especially for us Canadians, we sometimes think we’ve found a steal of a deal only to realize it’s in USD which works out to the same

-Sites like cheapoair have an extra $10 booking fee that they charge, so be careful of stuff like that!

-Consider train travel within the country! We’re doing a lot of it in Japan, and ORIGINALLY, were going to from Beijing to Shanghai because it was saving us so much money, but we’ve since found a cheap flight, AND, with VISA APPLICATION, they need to have your outward travel information to make sure you’re leaving, so we assume any inner country travel needs to be booked & proven before this happens, and you can’t book a train that far in advance!

-For Asia I continually checked the following sites for flights/trains/travel stuff
elong.net
airasia.com
carthaypacific.com
china-airlines.com
garuda-indonesia.com
ctrip.com
kyzz.com.cn
skyscanner.com
travelchinaguide.com

Guys I’m not even kidding AS I’m typing this up, I went to the last site up there to double check some stuff, and there IS a “bullet” style train that travels from Beijing to Shanghai in just under 4 hours, and will save us $100. AND we can book it now, they also have other trains available, so ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK THINGS!

Now, when it comes to travel WITHIN the cities, for us we had a number of barriers to think about, the guide book suggest a JR pass, and that you “couldn’t go wrong” with one, well, when we looked into it, it would be around $400 for the amount of time we needed it for. We hadn’t even had the effort or time to go back and check all of the travel within Tokyo to see how much of it would be covered by the JR pass before we decided it wasn’t a good idea.

-Suica card/Pasmo card, are cards you can load up, and buy at the airport that work on various public transit in Japan
-Oyster cards are the same in Hong Kong
-The JR West pass is still something we’re looking into, I haven’t quite had time to research it, but for our travel in/around Kyoto we might want it to save a little bit of money!

 

[katt789]

Let’s talk HOTELS!​

So obviously it’s pretty easy if you’re just doing Disney parks around the world to stay on site, and we would have LOVED to do that, especially since Tokyo has a ton of different movie themed rooms in their hotel, which are just beautiful, and one of them is Beauty & the Beast. Their other hotel, the Miracosta, overlooks DisneySea, and is just gorgeous. Shanghai’s hotels are super cute/pretty as well, HOWEVER, we’re on a budget, which just got tighter and tighter as time went on and the trip got closer.

-Tokyo Disney has a lot of “good neighbor” we’ll call them, hotels that have things like, ability to purchase tickets, guaranteed admission with said tickets, transportation to the parks, and other such Disney related things

We also had to find places to stay in the cities as well. We trusted our guide books for the most part, I chose at least once place that was recommended in LP, and was cheap, most of them were hostels. Then we each (separately) took to looking online for hotels/hostels and each compiled lists to try and find one that was close enough via public transport and met the other needs we had.

-LOOK AT AIRBNB.COM SERIOUSLY! It’s a site where people put up their extra rooms/houses/rental units kinda thing up for vacation stays. Some of them you get the full private apartment, and amenities of it for cheaper than a hotel!

-While we were checking out each of these options, especially for while we were going to the parks, we used a lot of google mapping things, trying to figure out what kind of transit time we would have from our accommodation to the parks, and over to the main attractions of the City we’d be seeing. Some locations were perfect, some were super far, and some cities were just super spread out so it didn’t really matter.

-When looking for a Tokyo Disney offsite hotel, we tried to find something that was ON the same line as the Disney line, so we wouldn’t need to travel, especially important for getting back at night if we missed that last connecting train it would be an issue.

-Same for Shanghai, we’re offsite but on Line 11. This one was MUCH trickier because google maps hates China and doesn’t show Disneyland on it, OR the Line 11 expansion. I ended up using Google Earth to find the park and then go from there.

-Hong Kong Disneyland is SUPER separated from the main city, it would take AGES to get there in the morning on public transportation if you were to stay in the city. I also checked airport area hotels to try and see if they were cheaper, but it worked out that staying onsite at the Hollywood Hotel was the best deal for us, so always check that kind of stuff out!

NOW, onto the list of all potential hotels we had thought about and details on them! I’m going to include some potential prices in here, but they are for fall, so if you’re going at a peak time, or the dates are a weekday vs weekend they obviously might not be correct.


APA Hotel & Resort, Tokyo Bay Makuhari
-$131 per night -1 “semi double bed”
-$153 got you 2 single beds
-Internet, safe, non smoking

Hotel Mystays Maihama
-$157 for a twin room
-Coffee shop, resturaunt, massage, wifi, free shuttle bus to Disney

The next ones are for our stay in the City.

Hako Hostel & Bar
-$42 per night,
-Rated 10/10
-Free wifi, maps, luggage storage, laundry, lockers, onsite food, accepts credit card

Emblem Hostel Nishiari **we booked here**
-$192 each (2 ppl) for 5 nights
-It’s NEW! Lockers, luggage storage, kitchen, food onsite
-Though might be far from some locations in the city

Ace Inn Shinjuku
-$55/night for a female dorm
-lockers, wifi, vending machines, laundry

Aizuyy Inn
-$164 each for 5 nights
-Private room, wifi, laundry, accepts credit card, meals available

Nui **recommended by LP
-$175 each. $35/night
-Cash only, lockers, laundry, wifi, kitchen, near shopping

Kyoto Accommodation​

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Back packers Hostel, K’s House Kyoto
$30/night
-10 mins to JR station, wifi, kitchen, movie nights, laundry, free coffee/tea, tour information, café/bar, buffet breakfast, might not have lockers?

Khaosan Kyoto Theater
-$37/night
-downtown, lockers, clean, female dorms, wifi, coffee/tea, kitchen, laundry, vending, luggage storage, shampoo, cash only

Santiago Guesthouse Kyoto
-$34/night
-wifi, linens, maps, laundry, hot tub, lockers, luggage storage, meals available, accepts credit card

bAkpAk Gion Hostel
$27/night
-maps, towels, wifi, lockers, laundry, steam room, late check out

Shanghai​

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SoHo People’s Square
$158 for 4 nights
-a/c, wifi, kitchen, laundry, lockers, linen, meals, vending, credit card accepted, had iffy reviews though

Mingtown Etour Int Hostel **we booked here**
$155 total
-laundry, food nearby, minimal kitchen, laundry area, linen, travel desk, cash only

-That’s all I have for accommodation, apparently the rest of the trip got thrown away, but it’s a good start for anyone looking for hotels in the areas!

-ALWAYS check reviews, and on multiple sites, and double check how recent they are, a place may have changed hands and be either horrible or fantastic due to it
-Most places in Asia do NOT accept credit card, we paid a deposit on most places and will have to pay cash on check in

-Google map your location to where you want to go to see how far it is from things, we’ll also be printing out these maps/directions to help when we’re there incase we don’t have access to wifi at the time!

-Some hostels do NOT provide LINENS for the beds! You want to make sure yours do, or travel with a super light sleeping bag for the occasion!

-Hostel dorms, you will be rooming with strangers. Some hostels have female only or male only dorms while some are mixed. I noticed a lot of places in China do NOT allow locals to stay there, you must have a foreign passport, so that’s interesting

-MOST hostels have lockers, in Asia I noticed in pictures that they’re not always in the room with you, some of them are in the hallways! BRING YOUR OWN LOCKS for this, and in my opinion, DO NOT STAY SOMEWHERE WITHOUT LOCKERS!! And always lock your valuables up, even if you’re just going to be gone for a minute.

 

[katt789]

Random Tips​

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Okay, so this bit is going to be a bit of a cluster eff of mess, but it’s all the random tidbits of information I’ve accumulated over the past nearly 10 months of planning this trip, some is general, some is city/country specific, and some may only apply for travellers from Canada, so…here goes!


-Passports must be valid 6 MONTHS LONGER than the day you return! Renew it early too since you never know if it’s going to get delayed, and you might need to still apply for visa’s!


-Visa’s! Look into them EARLY! For China, there is a leeway if you’re spending under 80 hours in the country, you might not need one!


-For us, since we’re doing a week or so, we DO need one. For Canada/US it costs around $200, and you have to ship your passport in for them to stamp the visa into it. This cannot be done earlier than 60 days to your arrival into China. There are 1 time entry visa’s, or 5 time I think? Or unlimited entries for 10 years, obviously prices are different but think about your future and if maybe it’s worthwhile to get a pricier one


-When it comes to Visa’s, you must prove all of your accommodation and ongoing plane/train tickets at application time to prove where you’re staying and that you’re leaving, so be prepared for that


-Always make copies of all your ID’s, passport and the page the Visa is stamped and store them separately in a safe place!


-Print off hotel names in the native language to help if you get lost


-Health is something else to think of “before you go”. Vaccinations! The only required one is yellow fever, and that’s if you’ve travelled to somewhere within the yellow fever zone 6 days prior to entering China. That being said, there are some recommended ones, and obviously, talk to your doctor about which ones would be a good idea. This should be done 6-8 weeks before travel time. WHO recommends the following; Adult diphtheria & tetanus, Hepatitis A & B, Measles, mumps & rubella, typhoid, varicella. Obviously a lot of needles, but hey, healthy & safety should come first! And you’d always rather deal with a needle than the actual disease that could come from it


-Other health concerns: medication, even such things as Tylenol & allergy stuff is all over the counter and you have to have a prescription to get in China, so we’re all stocking up our supplies before we leave home. Japan we can buy stuff, but all directions and labels are in Japanese so that would still be tough. Also thanks to the air quality being so bad I’m going to get double checked for the asthma I had as a kid, and potentially getting a new puffer for that. I’ll be making sure to pack some Benadryl, Tylenol, feminine products, Midol, and of course, prescriptions in original packing!


-Many public bathrooms in Asia do NOT have toilet paper, so keep some tissues on hand and all time, along with hand sanitizer, both for after bathrooms and before meals!


-Air quality SUCKS for China, make sure to have masks, and download an air quality app to check the quality daily before you go out. Also in the app, make sure it’s set to the US standards, mine has US or China standards, and obvs the China standards are lower


-In China, DO NOT drink the tap water, and with street food, try to stay away from cold food, make sure things are cooked thoroughly and stored properly. Bottled water is available, but be cautious at some locations that it is properly sealed.


-A money belt MAY be something you want, I don’t think any of us are taking one, it seems to be safe enough for us as long as we keep our valuables in sight.


-You must carry your passport with you at all times, this is the only reason I can think one would want a money belt.


-VPN. You’ll need one in China if you want to access social media, or GOOGLE. This is crucial for google maps. We’re still trying to figure out if we will get one or if we’ll take the chance with paper maps & enjoy the break from social media for a few days. If you want access, you’ll need one, there are numerous options, and some have free 30 day trials you can cancel when you’re done with them and thus don’t have to worry about paying.


-Consider downloading WeChat, a place to use to message/call/text other people instead of using messaging/text.


-Compare flights vs trains, how long they are an prices! It could save youa couple of hundred dollars


-Make sure to pack stuff like an adapter for the plug ins!


-Make all your hotel ressos in advance, as far as you can! THOUGH, some places you cannot book until less than 6 months out. We booked all but one of ours 5-6 months prior to

-Make sure to have enough cash to pay for said hotel reservations, as many hotels in Asia do not accept card


-JR passes MUST be booked BEFORE arriving in Japan. Also double check if you will actually need this, depending on the length of your trip, and routes you’re travelling, it might not be worthwhile. A Suica/Pasmo card will do the trick


-Try and fly direct, as long as it’s not too much more expensive


-Book the day before you leave off, not only to run any last minute errands, but also to reschedule your inner clock. For me, I’m going to try and convert to Japan time as early as possible (ie, whenever I’m done work on the 3rd). Things like Melatonin will help you sleep (naturally) or get some sleeping pills/have an extra few coffees. We’re planning to do this to try and fight the jet leg as much as we can!


-MiFi/WiFi Cube!! GET ONE!! Again, it depends on the length of your trip and the like, but you can either rent one from home, and pick it up at your departure airport, and return it when you land, OR get it dropped off at your hotel/house when you depart/arrive. The Asia parks DO NOT have wifi (Shanghai apparently does but it’s pretty spotty). If you want to post updates/separate from each other/look up things, you’ll want it. Also when touring cities, WiFi may not be readily available, and things like Google maps are pretty needed (in this day and age at least…)


For reference, we rented a portable Wifi cube for our Disneyland trip (since we’re from Canada and our phones are on airplane mode we figured it was a good trial for it). It was cheap when we split it between 3, and WAS SO NICE TO HAVE! I will say though, if you’re going to be out and about all day, it’s going to die on you, guaranteed! I would leave it turned off until we got into the park, and usually until we were in our first line/off our first ride/were at a downtime, aka eating, and it would usually die in the mid afternoon/early evening. I had a portable charger for my phone that I would plug it into to recharge it so we had internet to help kill time waiting for Paint the Night, but then that would drain my portable charger and my phone was usually dead by the end of the night. Lol. SO, always double check the battery life on those things, and keep them turned off as long as you can!


Which brings me to my next point:


-Portable chargers! GET ONE! Lol. I boutht a super cheap one from Walmart, it charges like, half my phone up and then dies. Splurge a little extra and get a better quality one! My friend Steven has one that was around $45 and charges 1 phone from 0 to 100% FOUR times (or charges four phones) WAY better quality


-Other phone tips: turn it onto airplane mode, turn on battery saver mode, make sure all your apps your not using are turned off, turn off Bluetooth, and turn down the brightness!


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[wanderlust7]

Sadly, StormRider permanently closed in May. We just missed it by a few weeks.

There is now a 144 hour visa-free transit for China that just started this year. We plan to do this (in a couple years) and just visit Shanghai since $140 (for U.S. citizens) x family of 4 = $$$!

https://www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/visa/free-transit-144hour.htm

 

[katt789]

Sadly, StormRider permanently closed in May. We just missed it by a few weeks.

There is now a 144 hour visa-free transit for China that just started this year. We plan to do this (in a couple years) and just visit Shanghai since $140 (for U.S. citizens) x family of 4 = $$$!

https://www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/visa/free-transit-144hour.htm

ah boo, well that's fine! lol, one less thing to do, bahahah!!

That's good you can save money! Unfortunately with us heading to Beijing as well, we have to pay the hefty price!

 

[jelloarms]

Wow, looks like I will be in Japan...even Disney ...the same time as you! I am going to Japan with my sister and mom. we are leaving Hawaii on October 3 and arrive in Osaka on the 4th. We are going to take a train down to Tokyo that Friday and we have our Disney days planned from the 10th through the 13th. Maybe I will recognize you from the Disboards!

Did you buy your Tokyo Disneyland tickets yet? My sister wants to wait till we get to Japan and buy them at a Disney store there but I want the peace of mind of getting them before we leave. The only thing I'm worried about is if I buy them online, they will print out on flimsy computer paper and I'm afraid of them getting ruined...especially since we will be pulling them out throughout the day for the Fastpass machines.

I wanted to pick up WiFi at the airport but by the time we arrive, the place will be closed. We are going to use a service that sends the WiFi box to your hotel instead. What I am freaking out about is that short time between getting off the plane and getting to our hotel. There is an airport train that takes us to a stop about 15 minutes walk from our hotel but I am so afraid of getting lost on the walk since we won't have access to GPS! I know Japan does not have street signs so while yes, I can save an offline accessible map on my phone, I will not be able to know for SURE that I am walking in the right direction.

 

[missangelalexis]

Yay for Shanghai! Sorry you won't be staying at the Toy Story Hotel but it's good that you found a way to save some money. Your park days sound like they are going to be a blast!

 

[wanderlust7]

I wanted to pick up WiFi at the airport but by the time we arrive, the place will be closed. We are going to use a service that sends the WiFi box to your hotel instead. What I am freaking out about is that short time between getting off the plane and getting to our hotel. There is an airport train that takes us to a stop about 15 minutes walk from our hotel but I am so afraid of getting lost on the walk since we won't have access to GPS! I know Japan does not have street signs so while yes, I can save an offline accessible map on my phone, I will not be able to know for SURE that I am walking in the right direction.

I had our SIM cards sent to the hotel. I saw the airport option but it was slightly more expensive so I thought, oh I don't need that. Ha ha, a little naive, but it worked out fine, our hotel was only 5 minutes walk from the station. Some suggestions:

- Do Google street view and identify some easily recognizable landmarks and figure out where they are on your map. Maybe a printed out map would be good to mark it down.
- Have a map, hotel name and address in Japanese so you can ask for directions. If the hotel is known by an English name, show that to the person since their knowledge of written English may be better than their spoken English.
- If you happen to see a tourist map board, the "You Are Here" dot is very helpful for orienting yourself. We lucked out and came across one in Asakusa. I vaguely remember them in Shinjuku.
- OR if you don't want to try to find your way while wrangling luggage, get a taxi, it'll probably cost around 1000 yen.

 

[katt789]

Wow, looks like I will be in Japan...even Disney ...the same time as you! I am going to Japan with my sister and mom. we are leaving Hawaii on October 3 and arrive in Osaka on the 4th. We are going to take a train down to Tokyo that Friday and we have our Disney days planned from the 10th through the 13th. Maybe I will recognize you from the Disboards!

Did you buy your Tokyo Disneyland tickets yet? My sister wants to wait till we get to Japan and buy them at a Disney store there but I want the peace of mind of getting them before we leave. The only thing I'm worried about is if I buy them online, they will print out on flimsy computer paper and I'm afraid of them getting ruined...especially since we will be pulling them out throughout the day for the Fastpass machines.

I wanted to pick up WiFi at the airport but by the time we arrive, the place will be closed. We are going to use a service that sends the WiFi box to your hotel instead. What I am freaking out about is that short time between getting off the plane and getting to our hotel. There is an airport train that takes us to a stop about 15 minutes walk from our hotel but I am so afraid of getting lost on the walk since we won't have access to GPS! I know Japan does not have street signs so while yes, I can save an offline accessible map on my phone, I will not be able to know for SURE that I am walking in the right direction.

Oh wow!!! That's awesome! Do you have a pre trip report going or anything? Maybe!! Chances are I'll be the only suuuper blonde around, lol. If you see a super blonde girl with a brown girl, wearing those special Tokyo Disney shirts that have a cluster of all the characters from either Tangled, Aladdin, or Little Mermaid on them, it's us!! Say hi!!!

We haven't yet, I'm a little worried about getting them after we're there so we'll buy them online before we leave. I'm hoping they'll stay in good shape! I'll probably bring a sleeve for them or something to help poretect them!

Hahha yeah!! That's a concern!! I'm sure you'll be fine, just make sure you have the address printed off in Japanese so you can ask for help even from someone who might not speak english! I'm not quite sure what we're doing for wifi yet, I've been doing more research and it's sounding like it's pretty easy to find in Shanghai/Hk and those parks have it, so I don't think we'll rent one there, just in Japan, but it's on our to do list!!

 

[katt789]

Yay for Shanghai! Sorry you won't be staying at the Toy Story Hotel but it's good that you found a way to save some money. Your park days sound like they are going to be a blast!

I'm SO glad that we found a way to save a bunch of money, it was just getting SO stressful!! Moving to Vancouver definitely zapped my savings! lol, and we'll still have a chance to explore the hotels so they won't go unnoticed

I had our SIM cards sent to the hotel. I saw the airport option but it was slightly more expensive so I thought, oh I don't need that. Ha ha, a little naive, but it worked out fine, our hotel was only 5 minutes walk from the station. Some suggestions:

- Do Google street view and identify some easily recognizable landmarks and figure out where they are on your map. Maybe a printed out map would be good to mark it down.
- Have a map, hotel name and address in Japanese so you can ask for directions. If the hotel is known by an English name, show that to the person since their knowledge of written English may be better than their spoken English.
- If you happen to see a tourist map board, the "You Are Here" dot is very helpful for orienting yourself. We lucked out and came across one in Asakusa. I vaguely remember them in Shinjuku.
- OR if you don't want to try to find your way while wrangling luggage, get a taxi, it'll probably cost around 1000 yen.

Oooo! SMART with the street views! Esp to print it out!! We might end up taxi-ing, though I'm not 100% sure, probably depends how jetlegged we are lol!!

 

[katt789]

Youtube Videos/Vlogs!​

So over the course of my life, I've ALWAYS loved watching Disney Trip Videos on youtube, and even love creating them. Since the Asia parks are just that much harder to plan and find reviews/info on them, we've spent SO FREAKING MUCH time on Youtube watching vlogs. Some of them are good, some of them are not so great, or like, way too long. Some are awesome trip videos that let you see stuff and get a feel for what it will be like, and some are more like "touring plans/guides" So, I figured for your enjoyment when you're bored at work, done watching Netflix, or to help you plan your trips, here are some of my favorite vlogs that we've watched!

Tokyo Disney
We'll start off with our very own Disboard member Sam's Tokyo Disneyland Video!

These guys are part of Thingamavlogs channel on Youtube, they have MULTIPLE videos on Tokyo, be sure to click through and watch a few of them, I love them!!!

This is another acct that has a bunch of videos on Tokyo, and potentially other parks, take a check through, super cute!

This vlog I like! and they've got more than just Disney, other areas around Japan too!

Shanghai Disney
This one's super high energy & fun, covers the parks & some more, it's split into 3 parts, so you'll have to click through for them as I'm not going to link all of them!

Obvs this one is "part 2" so click through to see the other ones!

Shanghai Disneyland opening daaay!

Hong Kong Disney

General Asia Travel
Shanghai City!

Kyoto!

The Great WAAAALL

Beijing (she's also got a ton of other travel type vlogs, tips on packing, where to go, how to do it, etc)

Hong Kong

I'm just kinda linking the ones I'm skimming through right now, and ones I know we enjoyed, I'm obvs struggling finding some good HKDL ones, but I know there were some great ones!! I'm gonna leave it for now and keep a word document of other ones I discover on the go!

Happy watching!!

 

[mulderxcoltrane]

First of all, the metro is so ridiculously easy, I'm sure you won't have any problems at all! Seriously, you just go to the ticket machine, change it to English, and tap the station that you want to go to. You don't even have to know which station you're at - it figures that out automatically. So cheap too! If you feel like splurging, the Maglev is a great way to get to Longyang. Having said that, if you're pretty keen on getting to the Disneyland area as soon as possible, I'd go with a taxi. While the metro is easy, you'll still have to make your way nearly into the city then out again.

Since you've done it, would you be able to provide a dummy's guide for using rail transportation from Pudong (assumed that's where you arrived) to Disney?

You mentioned picking your destination on a machine; will it have Disney listed?

What about the Maglev option? What would our route be?

 

[zanzibar138]

Since you've done it, would you be able to provide a dummy's guide for using rail transportation from Pudong (assumed that's where you arrived) to Disney?

You mentioned picking your destination on a machine; will it have Disney listed?

What about the Maglev option? What would our route be?

First of all, I would recommend checking out the interactive map here:

http://www.exploreshanghai.com/metro/#

You can easily plan all your travel and it also tells you what time the first/last train is for each line. It's a great resource!

Here's what you would do to get from Pudong airport to Disneyland.
* From Pudong Airport, take either the Maglev or Line 2 to Longyang Road. The Maglev is not a budget option, and with 2 of you, you might find that it would actually work out cheaper to take a taxi. Either way, this is the end of the line, so you know you'll always be going the right way The Maglev is basically a shuttle between the airport and Longyang Road.
* At Longyang Road, follow the signs to Line 16. This is also the end of the line for Line 16, so just get on any train that is there. Get off at Luoshan Road (the second stop).
* At Luoshan Road, follow the signs to Line 11. Get on the train heading to Disney (the other way will take you back into the city). This station is new and nice and easy to get around. Disney Station is the end of the line (3rd stop from Luoshan Road).

Hope that helps!

 

[mulderxcoltrane]

First of all, I would recommend checking out the interactive map here:

http://www.exploreshanghai.com/metro/#

You can easily plan all your travel and it also tells you what time the first/last train is for each line. It's a great resource!

Here's what you would do to get from Pudong airport to Disneyland.
* From Pudong Airport, take either the Maglev or Line 2 to Longyang Road. The Maglev is not a budget option, and with 2 of you, you might find that it would actually work out cheaper to take a taxi. Either way, this is the end of the line, so you know you'll always be going the right way The Maglev is basically a shuttle between the airport and Longyang Road.
* At Longyang Road, follow the signs to Line 16. This is also the end of the line for Line 16, so just get on any train that is there. Get off at Luoshan Road (the second stop).
* At Luoshan Road, follow the signs to Line 11. Get on the train heading to Disney (the other way will take you back into the city). This station is new and nice and easy to get around. Disney Station is the end of the line (3rd stop from Luoshan Road).

Hope that helps!

1) I've read in many spots that you take your life in your hands in a taxi in Shanghai. Is that your experience?

2) If we choose the Maglev option, how long should it take from Pudong to Disney (all transfer included)?

 

[zanzibar138]

1) I've read in many spots that you take your life in your hands in a taxi in Shanghai. Is that your experience?

2) If we choose the Maglev option, how long should it take from Pudong to Disney (all transfer included)?

I read that too, which is why I tried to stick to the train. The only time I got a taxi was from Disney to the airport because I wanted to maximise my time on my last day. I figured I'd be safe enough if I got the concierge to organise a taxi for me, and I didn't have any problems. I'd be pretty hesitant to hail my own taxi though. Not many taxi drivers speak English.

I would allow an hour and a bit using the Maglev. The commute from my hotel was nearly an hour, and that was only one stop away from Longyang on the metro. The Maglev apparently takes about 20 minutes, but it felt a lot shorter than that.

 

[jelloarms]

Nope, no PTR going but I'm thinking of doing a TR when I get back! I've tried to do them in the past for Florida trips but never finished. That was years ago though, maybe this time will be different! I think a good reason why I never finished is because I hated getting to the end of the TR. In some odd way, it almost felt like ending the trip AGAIN and with no future trips in sight, it made me sad. It's crazy because I had the whole report typed out and everything, ready to be copied/pasted into entries but I simply could not bring myself to copy-paste!

I liked the Thingamavlogs video you posted...from there I ended up watching ALL of their Tokyo Disney videos.

 

[katt789]

OMG SO as we're talking aboubt HK Abby pointed out that I never posted this portion of the TR, so EFF MY LIFE HERE IS WHAT HAPPENS


November 7/2016

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have finally reached out THIRD and FINAL country on this GIANT adventure of epic proportions! Today, we check out of our Shanghai hostel and head on over to Hong Kong!


It’s currently undecided on fly vs train, but I’m 90% sure it’ll be a flight since the trains seemed to be VERY inconvenient!


When we arrive inHong Kong it’s straight off to Dragon Hostel Hong Kong

Here we’ve got a 3 bed private ensuite room, so that’s awesome, I am happy that we’ve got a couple places we don’t’ need to share rooms with a large amount of strangers or anything. It cost us a total of $219 CAD for three nights!


November 8/2016

Today we start our adventures on my own kind of route of what was on the LP’s walking tour/1 day guide, we kinda condensed everything we wanted to do into 2 parts and it worked. Our first stop is the HSBC Building


Hong Kong: HSBC building by Charles, on Flickr


When it was completed construction it was the WORLDS most expensive building! They say it’s stunning, and it’s on our way to the next destination, so it’ll be a nice quick stop on the way to the Bank of China Tower


Bank of China Hong Kong. by Bernard Spragg. NZ, on Flickr


You can go up to the 43rd floor for some panoramic views of Hong Kong


View from 43rd floor of Bank of China tower by Ed Loveridge, on Flickr


So far these things seem to be something not super exciting, especially during the day, so if it’s a not so sunny day, there’s a chance we’ll end up skipping them and heading straight to the Hong Kong Park. According to LP, it’s considered to be one of the most unusual parks in the world!

IMG_0861 by LW Lau, on Flickr


Conservatory by Roy Ng, on Flickr


Hong Kong by Kenny Sharpe, on Flickr


I know for sure the first one is the right park, I honestly have no idea about the second two, but they seem kinda right so we’re gonna pretend! Lol.


The park is conveniently located at the bottom of the Peak Tram which is our next adventure! It’s a cable hauled railway that climbs 396meters to the highest point in HK! There is a “short day” itinierary on their website, so my guess is we’ll follow that. Arriving at the Peak Tram Lower Terminus to purchase our tickets


Lower Peak Tram Terminus, Garden Road by chopsticks7, on Flickr


There is a history gallery, but depending how we’re feeling and doing for time, we may or may not skip it! Then we’ll board the Tram itself and ascend the hill!


Peak Tram by Andy1878, on Flickr


Knowing us, we’ll end up singing some Trolley Show songs from Wdw along the way, bahha! And then we reach the top, where there is the Peak Tower. I can’t find any pictures right now, but there’s a bunch of stuff to do, restaurants, gift shops, a market, and then a Sky Terrace at the highest point in Hong Kong!


Hongkong The Peak by A B, on Flickr


Next on our list, we’ll head on over to the Hong Kong Zoological Gardensthere’s lots of sculptures and fountains and the like, though we’ll skip on the actual zoo part. I’ve been reading up on some places in Japan (specifically Fuji Safari park since friends posted pics and it looked awesome) but apparently Japan has like no rights when it comes to animals so they treat them HORRIBLY, so I’d prefer to skip it!


Hong Kong Zoological Park by Ruth Johnston, on Flickr


Beautiful scene at dusk by d-k-t, on Flickr


Well end the day off exploring the Tsum Sha Tsui East Promenade.


Tsim Sha Tsui east by aaron4ls, on Flickr


It’s an area to see the cities finest skylines, and a lovely stroll during the day, and truly comes alive at night! There’s even a nightly LIGHT SHOW, WHOOT WHOOT, hopefully weather will be nice and we’ll be able to see that tonight. A bar called “Deck ‘n Beer’ provides lovely views of this too, so maybe some drinks/dinner there!


Deck n' Beer by Slightly Jo, on Flickr


Hong Kong Symphony of Lights by Pablo Fernández, on Flickr


November 9/2016

Today is our last day of city travelling along our adventure, which is both exciting and sad at the same time, we’re back to somewhere somewhat comfortable for the last few days, BUT, it’s gonna be sad to say good bye to everything we’ve seen so far. Today the three of us head off to Kowloon Park


Kowloon Park, Hong Kong by Cycling Man, on Flickr


九龍公園 Kowloon Park by Jansen Lam, on Flickr


It’s the area where we ended off the night before, and we’re somewhat just cutting through it as a side tracked adventure on the way to the ferry! (*** although while I’m trying to find the information on it right now, I honestly think we’ll be checking it out the day prior to while we’re on the promenade, I honestly don’t know why I wrote it down as a separate day).


Our main destination is the suggested “detour” from Lonely Planet that suggests taking the ferry over to YungShue Wan on Lamma Island and then walking the 90 minute trail over to Sok Kwu Wan to have a seaside lunch over there!


Yung Shue Wan by Tom Baylis, on Flickr


Lamma Island/Yung Shue Wan by Lynn Sell, on Flickr


This was also a nice little reminder that I have to find that info in the guide book/look up more on it before we go so we know where we’re going! Bahaha!

Sok Kwu Wan by Richard Lander, on Flickr


Sok Kwu Wan, Lamma Island by JOY, on Flickr


After our seaside lunch we’ll ferry back to the main area and head back to the hotel to freshen up and potentially get super classy to celebrate our last night in the city! There’s 2 bar’s, Ozone the highest bar in Asia on the 118th floor of the Ritz Carlton


Ozone Bar (The Ritz Carlton Hong Kong) by Gay Travel Advice, on Flickr


Hong Kong by anna Matsiras, on Flickr

I just checked and the dress code isn’t super strict AT ALL, so we don’t have to be worried there, though there are no prices on anything on the menu, but they’ve got sushi, so we’ll probably split some of that!


And our second option is Sevva which LP says has pricier drinks & shotty service, but I mean, it also says IT is the “million dollar view” in HK…


Sevva - Hong Kong by alie rose, on Flickr


View from Sevva by ngcynthia, on Flickr


Obviously if both are going to be super pricey and it’s super smoggy or rainy, we’ll skip this and just celebrate on our own but very possibly still class up just to feel good lol! I skipped through some reviews and pictures and Ozone HONESTLY looks better IMHO, but we’ll see what happens!!

 

[disney144]

Do not miss the light show! It is amazing. I believe it has music too, so find a place that pipes in the music.

 

[katt789]

November 10/2016

Todays the day, our last EXCITING move of our 6 week trip! We check out of our hostel in Hong Kong today, and head on over to


HONG KONG DISNEYLAND!!!


Themed subway train to Hong Kong Disneyland by Misha Davids, on Flickr


I’m super excited about the super adorable trains here too!! We’ll actually be staying onsite here since it seems pretty impossible to stay OFF site and actually maximize time. When we FIRST started planning (though after Bali got the cut) we wanted to splurge with staying at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel!


Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, Lantau Island by Jaws300, on Flickr


I mean…just LOOK AT IT! Though, as we actually started being realistic with budgeting, we double checked the price for the Hollywood Hotel, and realized we’d be saving $160 each to stay there instead..though looking at it right now, that doesn’t seem like that much…but give it a day or two when bills are due and I’m sure we’ll all think otherwise, bahaha!


Disney Hollywood Hotel, Hong Kong by FW@CA, on Flickr


Disney's Hollywood Hotel Hong Kong by YY Ma, on Flickr


It’ll definitely be nice to have that bit of Disney magic for the last 3 days! Our plans today will probably include some napping, resting, and DISNEY DIM SUM!


GUYS! I don’t know if you’re SEEN some of the pictures of not but THE FOOD IS SO FREAKING CUTE!


"雞丁"蓮蓉包 @ Crystal Lotus 晶荷軒 by 雨笙, on Flickr


Duffy 迪斯尼小熊紅豆蓉包 @ Crystal Lotus 晶荷軒 by 雨笙, on Flickr


You do have to book in advance for this stuff, and order in advance I belive, but it kinda depends on our flight time leaving if we do this today or on the day we leave, we also have another potential big plan since we’re on the island.


We’ll spend the rest of the evening just relaxing,we’ll have laundry access these last few days, so maybe that’ll happen but it seems kinda ridiculous that it might happen when we have such little time left! Lol.


November 11[/b

Obvs first: moment of silence…



But then it’s off to the PAAARRRRRK!!!


20110731_Hong Kong Disneyland by kuma, on Flickr


And this is where Kara, the LUCKY DUCK, will be BAWLING HER FACE OFF, because this will check of the LAST of the Disney parks, once she steps foot onto Main Street she will have been to ALL Disney parks around the world, and 10 of which WERE IN THE SAME YEAR!!! (WDW’s 4 parks, DLR’s 2, Tokyo’s 2, Shanghai and Hong Kong, which is ALSO TRUE FOR ALL OF US) Seriously…why did the flight for Paris have to be so pricey!! But like, if we went, there was no way I could go and NOT see THE CITY, like, that would be a waste NO MATTER HOW BROKE I WAS.


Okay...back on track..


Chances are, right at rope drop, minus grabbing a few photos since I honestly LOVE the castle with the mountain back drop! We’ll be heading STRAIGHT for Mystic Manor! SERIOUSLY SO EXCITED for it!


Mystic Manor at Night by Tom Bricker, on Flickr

[HKDL] Mystic Manor - Mystic Point by Disneyland Dream World, on Flickr

The lil monkey’s SO CUTE, and I can’t wait to buy ALL THE MERCH.


It’s their version of Haunted Mansion, but apparently their culture is SUPER against ghosts/bad spirits (makes sense) so they went with a bit of a different version here!


We’ll have to back track a little bit to hit up our next NEW adventure, Grizzly Gulch!



big grizzly mountain entrance by Rafa Torcida, on Flickr


Kinda like Big Thunder! (potentially we’ll pick up fast passes for this on our way to Mystic Manor so we can kinda just continue on our circle afterwards?)


Continuing the circle after the Manor is Toy Story Land, which has a couple cute rides that I honestly am excited for, it seems super kid like, but still cute, and probably a good idea to hit in the morning as Fantasyland is in WDW.

Thoughts?


[HKDL] Toy Story Land by Disneyland Dream World, on Flickr


RC’s racer ride in the back there!


[HKDL] Toy Story Land by Disneyland Dream World, on Flickr


Depending on the time, I’m pretty sure HKDL opens later, we’ll potentially book it over to Mickey’s Wonderous Book! I’ve seen it on youtube and I BAWL EVERY FREAKING TIME, the other 2 haven’t seen it, so I’m super excited to see their reactions. I’ve also got a couple of friends who hang out around that area, considering they renew their contacts!


Mickey and the Wondrous Book | Hong Kong Disneyland by nagi usano, on Flickr


mickeys and wondrous book- ariel by alienalice, on Flickr


mickeys and wondrous book-tiana by alienalice, on Flickr


IF that’s not where we go, or if we pulled FP for grizzly earlier, we’ll head over to the show in Adventureland, one I’m excited about but also SUPER APREHENSIVE ABOUT.


…if you know me or have read ANY previous WDW trip reports, you might know that that’s Festival of the Lion King.


The show over at DAK is SERIOSULY my one true love, I bawl like a baby every single time. The first time I saw the show, I knew I NEEDED to work for Disney, and wanted to be the blue bird, I got extra pixie dust from friends when I worked down there and got to meet the entire cast and literally froze because it was a surprise. Basically, the show means the WORLD to me, and I’ve had some people be all “YOU’LL ABSOLUTELY LVOE HKDL’S VERSION” yet I’ve seen reviews saying that it’s not too great when you compare it. SO, I’m going in with lower expectations, and will obviously be comparing it to FOLK DAK style the entire time..... #whoops


HKDL July 2011 - Festival of the Lion King by PeterPanFan, on Flickr


HKDL July 2011 - Festival of the Lion King by PeterPanFan, on Flickr


Since we’re only there for 2 days, I DO want to make sure that we see both the shows the first day so that we can see them again (if we want, I KNOW I’ll want to see the book again, we’ll see what happens) the other thing we NEED to make sure we do the first day is the parade!


HKDL July 2011 - Flights of Fantasy Parade by PeterPanFan, on Flickr


HKDL July 2011 - Flights of Fantasy Parade by PeterPanFan, on Flickr


I don’t know if you’ve listened to the music or not, but it IS LEGITIMATELY THE EXACT SAME AS SOUNDSATIONAL IN DLR…not sure who came out first, but yolo right?


We’ll spend most of the rest of the day just hanging out, hitting up rides in Fantasyland and the like, HKDL I feel like has most of the attractions that we’ll be used to/copycats of other parks, so as long as we hit up those that are unique, we’ll be okay.


As for food, I really want to eat at Clopin’s Festival of Fools! I’ve ALWAYS loved Esmerelda, and everything Hunchback, so it’s just gonna tie it all together lol! The Royal Banquet Hall does seem like the other place we’ll eat, at least just to get some sushi, dim sum, and explore the rooms decorated after our princesses!

There isn’t much for Table Service, but River View Café does offer a tea break that I feel like is a thing we’d be into, but I doubt we’ll try to make ressos over the phone, we’ll just see what happens when we check in!


As night rolls around, WE OBVIOUSLY NEED TO SEE PAINT THE NIGHT!


disney paint the night parade- donald by alienalice, on Flickr


disney paint the nighte parade- belle by alienalice, on Flickr


WE. LIVE. FOR. THIS. PARADE!


I’m super sad to see it’s not going to be running daily at DLR anymore (and honestly, we all DO NOT want it to move to Florida, despite all of us frequenting that park more, it just means more at dlr) so we’ll be watching it both nights! Finally, we’ll have to wrap up with some fireworks!


Disney in the Stars Fireworks by Tom Bricker, on Flickr


November 12

Guys… today’s gonna SUCK...it’s gonna be REAL bad & emotional….it is officially our last day of vacation…our last day in Hong Kong, so thank goodness it’s going to be spent at DISNEY!


We’ll go right first and probably fast pass Space Mountain, or ride it standby (depending how busy it is)



Hyperspace Mountain by Joseph Calev, on Flickr


If we fast pass it, it’ll be because it’s busy and we must get back to mystic manor, OR, because we just want to ride everything else in Tomorrowland first. Then hop back to ride it.


WHOOOAAA I JUST CLICKED THE INTERACTIVE MAP AND WE CAN MEET R2 HERE SO THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN!



Fantasyland will be next as we circle the park and hit up the attractions we’ve either missed or want to do again! It also looks like a TON of characters are out and about in Fantasyland so we obviously have to meet some of them!


[HKDL] Fantasyland by Disneyland Dream World, on Flickr


HKDL July 2011 - Meeting Tinker Bell by PeterPanFan, on Flickr


And then we circle through doing all the things we missed or wanted to do again, and obviously taking ALL THE PICTURES


[HKDL] Fantasyland by Disneyland Dream World, on Flickr


HKDL July 2011 - Meeting Duffy by PeterPanFan, on Flickr


And we’ll end up watching both the daytime parade and Paint the Night again tonight!



[HKDL] Flights of Fantasy Parade by Disneyland Dream World, on Flickr


HKDL July 2011 - Flights of Fantasy Parade by PeterPanFan, on Flickr


IMG_5669 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


IMG_6202 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


IMG_6246 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


PTN photos courtesy of ME from DLR.


Depending on time/weather I’m sure we’ll watch the fireworks again and then just photograph our last moments in the park, letting it all sink in as this amazing journey comes to a close.


20110731_Hong Kong Disneyland by kuma, on Flickr


HKDL Oct 2012 - Tomorrowland at Night by PeterPanFan, on Flickr


HKDL Oct 2012 - Halloween at Main Street Station by PeterPanFan, on Flickr


And then it’s back to the hotel try not to cry, and head to bed after packing our bags! It’ll have been a WHIRLWHIND of a vacation/adventure, Like, seriously, even typing it up feels wrong, feels sad, like, how can an adventure so epic, so culturally rich, so many new countries and firsts for us, be over so quick?!?!

 

[katt789]

November 13th

So today can go 1 of 3 ways.

-Sleep in, check out, head to airport

-Check out, do Disney Dim Sum, head to airport

-Check out, head to the Big Buddha on Lantau Island (same as Disney and the airport)


Tian Tan Giant Buddha by Carlos Sanchez, on Flickr


Day 2 - Tian Tin Buddha closer by David Robertson, on Flickr


It’s something and Abby and I talked about really wanting to see, but not really having the time to add it into the trip. SO, we may do it either before or after check IN to the Disney Hotel, or before we head to the airport!


So, some options here that really only depend on what times our flights are all at.


Abby flies straight back to Vancouver, whereas Kara found it was cheaper to book a round trip Vancouver to Tokyo than one ways, so we fly back to Tokyo, crash the night on the airport floor, or splurge for a hotel at the airport, and then fly direct back to Canada!!