Advice on epic trip please!

[Shir Kahn]

My wife and I have decided to go on a bit of a journey either next summer or the one after. Here's the plan:

Fly from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to WDW.
Fly from WDW to Paris.
Paris to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong to Shanghai.
Shanghai to Tokyo.
Tokyo to Hawaii.
Hawaii to Anaheim.
Anaheim to Winnipeg.

We're very familiar with WDW, having made somewhere around 15-20 trips there, and fairly familiar with Disneyland. The rest, we've never been to. We've also never been overseas, so that'll be something new too! Some questions I've got for you all are:

How many days for each location if only doing the parks?
(we wouldn't only be doing the parks, but I'd like to know this number)

Would you book this with a travel agent or try to do it all yourself?
(I've booked several trips to WDW and Disneyland by myself but I have no idea how complicated this trip would be!)

Any general advice? Must see locations in each place? I know we want to spend a bit of extra time in Tokyo for sure, and I think a few of the more popular locations in Paris spring to mind.

Have any of you done a trip like this before? Do you have a trip report that you can link? I'd love to see that!

Any destination that you would add to the trip?

Hotel suggestions for the different locations?

I'll be doing a lot of research myself of course, but I'd like to hear from the great people here on the disboards!

Thank you for any help and suggestions!

 

[zanzibar138]

My wife and I have decided to go on a bit of a journey either next summer or the one after. Here's the plan:

Fly from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to WDW.
Fly from WDW to Paris.
Paris to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong to Shanghai.
Shanghai to Tokyo.
Tokyo to Hawaii.
Hawaii to Anaheim.
Anaheim to Winnipeg.

Wow that is totally epic and I'm seriously jealous

How many days for each location if only doing the parks?
(we wouldn't only be doing the parks, but I'd like to know this number)

Paris: We spent 5 days in the parks, which was probably overkill. I would recommend 3 - one for each park, then one for the bits you didn't get to.

Hong Kong: I have spent between 1 and 4 days at the park. I would recommend 1-2 for most people. You can really tick everything off in 1 day, but 2 will give you plenty of time for characters (if that's your thing) and checking out the hotels, maybe having a special meal etc.

Shanghai: I was there for nearly 3 (had to leave after sunset on my 3rd day). I would recommend 2-3. It's a massive, massive park and takes a long time to get around. Plus lines are super long and FPs run out early. You want at least 2 mornings to work with.

Would you book this with a travel agent or try to do it all yourself?
(I've booked several trips to WDW and Disneyland by myself but I have no idea how complicated this trip would be!)

Definitely DIY. Especially for a Disney-centric trip. It won't be so bad - you might need to do a bit of research on the best flights, but hotels etc won't be any more difficult than a local trip.

Any general advice? Must see locations in each place? I know we want to spend a bit of extra time in Tokyo for sure, and I think a few of the more popular locations in Paris spring to mind.

I can only speak for Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai. I will say that the Disney resorts in each location are far from the city centre. If you plan to do city sight seeing as well, I would do a split stay, staying onsite (or nearby) for Disney, and in the city centre for sight seeing. As far as sight seeing goes, I actually didn't do much in those places, so probably can't give you any advice that you wouldn't get elsewhere

Have any of you done a trip like this before? Do you have a trip report that you can link? I'd love to see that!

There are a couple of PTRs on this 'Other Lands' forum where people are doing all the Asia parks. I would check those out. Personally I haven't done them all in one, but have done most separately. Feel free to check out any of my PTRs in my signature.

Any destination that you would add to the trip?

As far as Disney destination go, I think you've got it covered If I listed all the places that I think are/sound awesome, I would be here all night

Hotel suggestions for the different locations?

As I mentioned before, I would do split stays. It really depends on your budget and requirements in a hotel.

I found the onsite hotels in Paris too expensive, so we stayed nearby at Hotel l'Elysee in Val d'Europe. We had a very enjoyable stay, and would recommend it as a good value alternative.

In HK or Shanghai, I would recommend either of the onsite hotels (or depending on when your trip is you might be able to try out the new hotel at HKDL!). I don't really have any recommendations for the cities.

 

[wanderlust7]

Wow, epic is right!

4 days at TDR should be good. You may want to spend more time at DisneySea, which is beautiful and totally unique (with the exception of TSM and Indy). The TDR tickets, you have to pick which park you want to go for the first 2 days (no hopping unless you buy the special tickets only available to onsite hotel guests), then days 3-4 you can hop. The days need to be consecutive too - different from the U.S. parks! I don't know your budget, but the Hotel MiraCosta is gorgeous and inside DisneySea. Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is nice too, it's right outside TDL. Or for more budget friendly (though rates vary a lot), the Sheraton Tokyo Bay was very nice too and a short monorail ride away.

Most do's in Tokyo...there is so much to do and it really depends on your interests. But I think most first time visitors usually include Shibuya and Asakusa. If you want to do a day trip from Tokyo, Hakone is very picturesque. Or you can go further to Kyoto (Kinkakuji - the golden temple was the most memorable for me). My personal favorites are Arashiyama (bamboo forest) and Miyajima (the torii gate in Epcot is based on the one there). Look into flying into Kansai airport (there are some flights from Shanghai) and out of Tokyo or vice versa. If you're okay with Japanese food, a ryokan stay (traditional Japanese inn) is a great cultural experience. You sleep on futons on the floor, breakfast and kaiseki dinner included, and some have private outdoor onsen (hot springs) you can reserve.

For Hawaii, for an obvious Disney lover - Aulani of course. For the ultimate Disney trip (even more so that what you already have planned!), how about the transatlantic Disney cruise to get from Port Canaveral to Europe? Just throwing that out there.

Have fun planning!

 

[Shir Kahn]

Great info, thanks both! I was actually thinking about adding in a cruise, but didn't know where to fit it! That one sounds perfect! For our budget, we're not rich, but we're not doing too badly either. My wife and I are a couple of those "Double Income, No Kids" people, so that makes these things a bit easier. I think adding in the cruise will definitely bump it to the summer after next though!

 

[wanderlust7]

I put the cruise in thinking maybe that's a little out there. Glad it might actually work for you! I've read that the transatlantic tends to be a good value per day as Disney cruises go since less families with kids can go on them.

This sounds like the ultimate Disney trip to end all Disney trips. Really - you'll be covering EVERYTHING Disney has to offer. I hope you do a trip report, so I can live vicariously.

 

[katt789]

UUUGGGHHH this is what we originally wanted to do for our trip!! (check out my ptr link in my signature! we're doing all but paris, and flying from Vancouver!!)

I would suggest maybe checking out doing Paris-Shanghai-Hong Kong, just geographically based it's more o a straight line than doubling back? Depends on flights/trains/busses as well!

-To save on budget, and since you've done wdw before, I'd do the following:
-4 full days in WDW
-3-4 full days in Paris (never been, can't really judge it, also haven't done research for it)
-2 to 3 full days in Shanghai (esp depending on when you're going, if crowds will be heavy I'd do 3 days)
-2 full days in Hong Kong
-4 full days in Tokyo
-3 full days in DLR
As for the cities themselves, we've tacked on something like, 2.5 days in Shanghai city/day trip outside to a very nearby river town. 2 full days HK, and 4 full days in Tokyo.

-We're booking ours all by ourselves. There were moments I wish I would cave and pay an agent, but that's mainly dealing with the Chinese visa issue! It's just hard for us to get proper answers and it's kinda stressful, BUT, if you're only going to be in China a very limited time, there's a certain kind of rule that means you don't have to get a visa as long as you're only there for a certain number of hours!

-Check out my TR for our plans, we're spending a bit more time in the cities, and taking the time to hit Beijing and other parts of Japan as well. The biggest things would be:
-The towers in Shanghai (pearl tower, where the Disney store is, etc) Yuyuan gardens and the Bund
-Tsim Sha Tsu promenade in HK, great skylines and views, esp if you take a trip up to some of the observation decks or hotel bars on higher floors. Also the Peak Tram in HK, on the same island as HKDL is the big buddha, which we're probably adding into our plans becuase it seems SUPER cool!
-Tokyo has a LOT, the biggest things and most touristy things that I would say I would "must do" would be the Tsukiji Fish Market, the imperial palace per chance, a few of the temples/shrines (Meiji Jingu, Senso-ji temple) Shibuya Crossing, Ueno park. Also Mt Fuji is just so close that it would be worthwhile to take a quick day trip out there to see it! I mean, you're so close anyways.
-Depending on time and budget, and whether this is more Disney centralized or not, I'd also HIGHLY consider adding in a quick bullet train down to Kyoto for a couple of days! They've got the Arashima bamboo grove which is beautiful, and the Fushimia Inari Taisha shinto shrine, which is the long staircase/mountain of hundreds of red shrines that maybe you've seen pictures of.
-We added in Beijing as a quick 2 full day side trip on the way to Shanghai, I mean, we're probably only going to China once, so we may as well see the Great Wall while we can. This does however mean you MUST get a visa for China so there is that downside.
-Japan is a country we really wanted to explore as well, we're doing Kanazawa, Matsumoto, after Tokyo and Hiroshina, Nara & Miyajima out of Kyoto as well and are SUPER excited about it, I'd read up on and it see if you want to do those. It obviously adds time and cost to the trip, but it all depends on if you think you'll ever be back to that side of the world again or not!

-When it comes to Hotels, the Disney ones are going to be CRAZY expensive, even the Toy Story one in Shanghai ended up being out of our budget when it came down to it. I'm slowly compiling a list of hotels and details on them in my PTR, they'll be posted pretty quick! BUT, for the main cities, I'd suggest:
-Check out airbnb.com you stay at a REAL house/apartment, and it's way cheaper than even a hostel sometimes. They saved us over $200 EACH in Shanghai, and ours is only 2 stops away from Disney. Same in Tokyo!
-For Tokyo we're staying at 2 different places, one for Disney, and one in the city, same thing with HK
-HK is SUPER far from the parks vs city, so stay on site here! The hollywood hotel seems to be the best
-Think about hostels as well, you can do some private rooms at most of them so that would keep you two together, or a mixed dorm, but I can understand wanting your own room!
Here's all the places we're staying:
-Emblem Hostel Nishiarai-> Tokyo city
-Family Resort Fifty's for Maihama-> Tokyo Disney (private room, just over $100 a night)
-Air bnb for Kyoto, WAY cheaper, and the same for the Shanghai Disneyland area
-Mingtown Etour International Hostel-> Shanghai city
-Dragon Hostel-> Hong Kong city (private room, $218 total for 3 nights)

I'm going to type up and post our other hotel/hostel options into my PTR right after this, so check there for more options and details on other hotels. There are quite a few near Tokyo Disneyland that have transport to & from the parks and guaranteed admission if you have tickets but they were jsut that little bit out of our price range since our trip is so long!

I've got a lot more info as well but it's still early here and I can't quite think of what else to write! We're pretty well through and finished the planning stages of our trip (Vancouver-Tokyo-TDL-Matsumoto-Kanazawa-Kyoto-Hiroshima-Beijing-Shanghai Disney-Shanghai-Hong Kong-HKDL-home) as we leave in October to kick it off, so feel free to ask ALL of the questions!!

Also SUPER jealous that you're fitting in Hawaii and Paris and the stateside parks! THAT WAS THE DREAM! We've talked about in a few years, after we've seen the countries already to take a round the world Disney trip, start in Florida, then take a cruise (maybe even the trans atlantic one) hop over to Paris, to Shanghai, HK, Tokyo, Aulani, then DLR. Originally we were going to Paris with this trip, but then Shanghai opened, and then the flight itself was just WAY too much to add in at the end so we bailed on it. Oh well, in a few years maybe!!

 

[kidd_freeper]

SDL - 2 days for the park, maybe half a day for the shopping area. Throw away what you think you know about FPs...the FP machines are all located in one spot for each land and there are huge lines to get FPs. The FP strategy is different. SDL is hotter than Florida in August, so if you can go in April/May or November/December.
Shanghai - you could plan it on your own, but since you have a multi-location trip a travel agent who SPECIALIZES in China might not be a bad idea.

 

[Shir Kahn]

Fantastic info, thank you so much!

 

[Shir Kahn]

I put the cruise in thinking maybe that's a little out there. Glad it might actually work for you! I've read that the transatlantic tends to be a good value per day as Disney cruises go since less families with kids can go on them.

This sounds like the ultimate Disney trip to end all Disney trips. Really - you'll be covering EVERYTHING Disney has to offer. I hope you do a trip report, so I can live vicariously.

I love doing trip reports, so I'll definitely be doing one for this trip!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

I don't have any tips for you, but just wanted to chime in that I just bought airline tickets yesterday for our own epic trip. We'll be flying Toronto-->Shanghai, Guilin to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Tokyo, Tokyo to Toronto. All direct flights. $1237 apiece which I thought was a great deal for all those flights.

We'll be spending 15 days in China including Shanghai Disney for two days, followed by two full days for Hong Kong Disney, and 3-4 days for Tokyo Disney. If we get sick of Disney I'm sure we'll find plenty to do in Hong Kong and Tokyo to keep us busy.

I did look into adding Anaheim and Paris, but it more than tripled the flight costs, so we're saving those for different trips.

I hope your epic trip goes well.

 

[katt789]

I don't have any tips for you, but just wanted to chime in that I just bought airline tickets yesterday for our own epic trip. We'll be flying Toronto-->Shanghai, Guilin to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Tokyo, Tokyo to Toronto. All direct flights. $1237 apiece which I thought was a great deal for all those flights.

We'll be spending 15 days in China including Shanghai Disney for two days, followed by two full days for Hong Kong Disney, and 3-4 days for Tokyo Disney. If we get sick of Disney I'm sure we'll find plenty to do in Hong Kong and Tokyo to keep us busy.

I did look into adding Anaheim and Paris, but it more than tripled the flight costs, so we're saving those for different trips.

I hope your epic trip goes well.

When are you going?

also LOVING all the Canadians doing epic trips like this!!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

When are you going?

also LOVING all the Canadians doing epic trips like this!!

We are going next June (2017). I'm actually not Canadian though, I live in upstate NY, and it was actually about $1000 less to fly from Toronto than Buffalo or Rochester. I'll take a three hour drive to save $3000 any day!

 

[disney144]

Look into round the world flights. One way flights can add up, so that number may get very high.

Paris- Paris is a beautiful city. I would recommend spending 4-5 days in Paris (separate from the park days). European hotels are very expensive and small. We stayed in an Airbnb that was much more comfortable. Try to stay near the river.

Visas- be sure to check your visa requirements for your country. I believe you should be ok in Shanghai to do the 144 hour visa free transit. If you are visiting other locations in China (Beijing, etc), you will need to sort out a visa.

Weather- keep in mind the summer can be very very warm in Paris and Shanghai. It may be worth moving your trip to a cooler time. Spring in Paris is beautiful.

 

[Feistygirl916]

We are allocating 2 days in HK, 2 days in SHDL, and 4 days in TDL. These are all FULL park days.

I am jealous of your trip, it sounds wonderful!

 

[Karin1984]

I would go to a TA /airline for your plane tickets and ask for an around the world ticket. Although a transatlantic cruise would be great, it can drive up the price of your plane tickets, as there is a step from continent to continent 'missing'.

I would start with Anaheim and WDW as you are familiair with these parks. After all the new stuff would be afraid Anaheim might be a let down.

 

[Shir Kahn]

Heat won't be an issue, we have no problems in the Florida summer heat with the humidity. This around the world ticket is intriguing, I'll have to look into that! Karin, I think we might have the same issue starting with Disneyland, in that we might be so excited to get to the other parks that we won't be as thrilled to be there! That's ok though, even a "letdown" park is still a fantastic time and we'll love every second of being there.