Just got back from HKDL and SDL

[Nomarian]

Okay,

We just got back from our trip to both parks over two weeks. I am going to try and a TR written up, but I am afraid that with everything I have to catch up on, it will take a few weeks, so if you have any questions that you have burning on your mind, I will answer them here before I attempt the TR. I just want to make sure to help anyone that is going soon or in the planning stage. Look forward to the questions!

 

[AquaDame]

Whats the number one thing you wish you HAD fretted about and the number one thing you wish you HADN'T fretted about for each park. I have till November so the rest can wait, but the answer to that usually surprises me!

 

[Nomarian]

Whats the number one thing you wish you HAD fretted about and the number one thing you wish you HADN'T fretted about for each park. I have till November so the rest can wait, but the answer to that usually surprises me!

I wish had done more research into planning daily ride/show schedule for the park vs just kind of winging it. Each morning, we had about 30 minutes of Magic time at SDL which we could enter in via Disneytown. They actually start letting you in at 7:15am even though they say 7:30am. From there, you can queue up at rides in the park until they open at 7:30am. We knew we had to hit the big ticket rides like Soaring and Tron first and then Fastpass via the app for the rest. We eventually got into a rhythm, but probably wasted some time trying to figure out if we wanted to see particular shows or not.

As for what we fretted about, it was really going to be lining up and the culture shock if any. We found everyone there to be pretty reasonable when it came to lines. There were a few minor instances when someone would try and cut, but those were very few and far between. Some lines we were squeezed tight, but others had huge gaps in the lines and people just stayed put.

 

[indoshakespeare]

How's the castle renovation going in HKDL? Did it ruin the view from Main Street?

 

[Nomarian]

How's the castle renovation going in HKDL? Did it ruin the view from Main Street?

The renovation is in full swing and you can hear and see heavy equipment working behind the blinds. You only see the top portion of the castle from Main Street, so it does sort of spoil the view. I was also very underwhelmed with the Main Street show that takes place instead of the castle show.

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

What hotel did you stay in?

I am looking forward to hearing all about your trip, when you have time.

 

[Nomarian]

What hotel did you stay in?

I am looking forward to hearing all about your trip, when you have time.

We stayed 3 nights at the Disneyland Hotel in Shanghai. I have to say that the service there was incredible. We booked a Club level room and there were hardly any people up there at all.

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

We stayed 3 nights at the Disneyland Hotel in Shanghai. I have to say that the service there was incredible. We booked a Club level room and there were hardly any people up there at all.

I would love to see any pictures you may have taken. What does the club level include?

 

[Nomarian]

I would love to see any pictures you may have taken. What does the club level include?

I will try and get them into the TR once I figure that out. If you have a club level room, you get access to the Magic Kingdom Club which is on the 7th floor. Once you arrive at the hotel, they will take you up there to check in and there you have a dedicated front desk and concierge. At the same time, you can get a drink from 6:30am to 11pm. 3 times a day, they have food. They do a full breakfast at 6:30am with an egg station, they have a tea/lunch time with tea and desserts, and then a full blown evening meal. You can also see the castle across Wishing lake from the windows and they will play the same music so you can watch the entire castle show from your seat. It is worth it if you take advantage of the food times.

 

[CaptainCook]

Here’s another question for you: what was pin trading like at the parks, if any?

 

[Nomarian]

Here’s another question for you: what was pin trading like at the parks, if any?

Lots of pin trading at the parks. The cast members have pins and we even found that the pin store in Shanghai Disneyland had 3 people parked there with all their pins waiting for people to come in and trade with them. Now keep in mind that these are not cast members, so they are very picky about what they trade for while the cast members will trade anything. My son trades, so he got a lot of good pins from both parks.

 

[Simba001]

Wondered how the Ili Translator worked out for you? Would you recommend it or just use a translator app on your phone?

 

[Nomarian]

Wondered how the Ili Translator worked out for you? Would you recommend it or just use a translator app on your phone?

It was decent when we needed it. Depending on how easy it was to get to, I switched between that and my phone a lot. Pictures helped more than words sometimes. For instance, my son wanted a Sprite and I saw they had them in the fridge, but I could just not convey that the server, so I showed her a picture of a Sprite and she gave me the thumbs up!

 

[Simba001]

It was decent when we needed it. Depending on how easy it was to get to, I switched between that and my phone a lot. Pictures helped more than words sometimes. For instance, my son wanted a Sprite and I saw they had them in the fridge, but I could just not convey that the server, so I showed her a picture of a Sprite and she gave me the thumbs up!

Thank you for this information. I’m leaning more towards just using my phone.

 

[PamelaKay]

Did you purchase a tour at Shanghai? We are considering a premier tour for 3 hours our first full day there to help us get the lay of the land. Was it a short walk from the hotel to the park at both parks? Did you take a taxi from Hong Kong airport to resort?

 

[KingCrusher]

Were you as disappointed with HKDL as I was? I went last year and while I loved the low crowds, there just isn't a whole lot to do there. Rides are fairly limited. Also food options inside the park were pretty bad.

 

[BecBennett]

How long did you spend at each park?

I'm assuming you visited the cities as well as the parks, did you change hotels for this, or stay at the onsite hotels?

 

[Nomarian]

Sorry. Just getting back to this after a lot of work to catch up on. Answers to questions:
1.) We did purchase a tour of the city of Shanghai the first day we were there. I like to do tours the first day in a new country/city to get an idea of where everything is and it helps culturally to know what do to.
2.) We did not stay onsite at Hong Kong DL and just took the train in everyday. It was pretty easy to do that.
3.) We took taxis from the airport to our hotel in Mongkok and back. They were pretty cheap.
4.) We were not disappointed with HKDL as we expected it to be low crowds and not a lot of rides. We kept ourselves pretty busy making sure we hit everything As for the food, we actually enjoyed it. We planned out what restaurants we ate at. You can read about it in my TR.
5.) We spent only one day at HKDL as was able to do everything we wanted and more. No crowds really makes it easy. We spent 3 days at SDL and needed all three days as there is a lot to do, but the crowds are crazy.
6.) For Hong Kong, we stayed in they city at one hotel and just used the metro for all the trips. In Shanghai, we stayed in the city for 4 days and then took a taxi to stay 4 days at the Disneyland hotel.

Sorry for the wait on the answers. Hope they help.