Lots of Questions about CHINA

[engle]

I would love to send you a pm so that I could ask lots of specific questions...help anyone??

 

[2GirlsMama]

I'll be glad to answer any questions I can. We were on the July 4th Enchanted China trip. This was our fourth trip to China. I am not an expert by any means, but I really love China!!

Also, you might find some answers in the China 2010 thread on the ABD section of the Dis. There are also some trip reports.

 

[SteveInCA]

We were on the June 13th Enchanted China trip, and would be happy to answer questions.

 

[disneypins4fun]

I just joined the Disboards.com. Very newby with this forum but long time Disney Fan. I have never taken any trip with ABD but I received e-mail from them today and now I'm really thinking taking the Adult exclusive China Vacation available for 5/2011. I have my relatives pushing me to consider other tour operators, but being a Disney Fan and how great Disney always treat us at WDW and DL I would love to have an input from someone who have taken this trip arranged by ABD. I'm also excited there's others like me and my husband who love everything Disney like us. Thanks for letting me join this Forum

 

[sayhello]

I just joined the Disboards.com. Very newby with this forum but long time Disney Fan. I have never taken any trip with ABD but I received e-mail from them today and now I'm really thinking taking the Adult exclusive China Vacation available for 5/2011. I have my relatives pushing me to consider other tour operators, but being a Disney Fan and how great Disney always treat us at WDW and DL I would love to have an input from someone who have taken this trip arranged by ABD. I'm also excited there's others like me and my husband who love everything Disney like us. Thanks for letting me join this Forum

Welcome, disneypins4fun! You'll find several people on this board who have taken the Enchanted China trip, plus loads of others who really love ABD and how they do tours. Feel free to ask any questions you might have!

Sayhello

 

[Q's My Princess]

I would be happy to answer any questions about the Enchanted China trip. My DH, DD (9) and I took the May 30, 2010 tour...and loved it!!

 

[smep013]

Happy to help! Just returned from the July 3rd tour.

 

[sayhello]

So I'm looking for opinions/information here, also. I also find myself interested in the Adults Only Enchanted China trip (May 5-27). But after this year's ABD/DCL Med cruise, where I felt "off" & ill much of the time, and got seriously sick when I returned home, I'm having a hard time getting my head around the incredibly long flights and the heat while there. I swore I wasn't going to leave the US again for a very long time, but I knew that in actuality, once I felt better, that was unlikely to stick.

The itinerary sounds fabulous. But a long flight, followed by possible feeling sick/drained for so much of the trip, and then flying home has me very intimidated.

So what do you think? What words of encouragement can you give me? How long *is* the flight? How much could I expect it to cost me from the MidWest?

My other thought was to take Knights & Lights, but that's a relatively short trip, and I would definitely need to arrange pre- or post-days to fill out the trip.

Argh! Decisions, decisions!

Sayhello

 

[smep013]

So I'm looking for opinions/information here, also. I also find myself interested in the Adults Only Enchanted China trip (May 5-27). But after this year's ABD/DCL Med cruise, where I felt "off" & ill much of the time, and got seriously sick when I returned home, I'm having a hard time getting my head around the incredibly long flights and the heat while there. I swore I wasn't going to leave the US again for a very long time, but I knew that in actuality, once I felt better, that was unlikely to stick.

The itinerary sounds fabulous. But a long flight, followed by possible feeling sick/drained for so much of the trip, and then flying home has me very intimidated.

So what do you think? What words of encouragement can you give me? How long *is* the flight? How much could I expect it to cost me from the MidWest?

Sayhello

Hello!

We were in China July 3-16. We did a pre-night and got to the hotel around 6PM on July 3. We showered, ate and went to bed as normal. Woke up about 5AM the first morning and a few mornings after that. The ABD started July 4, but not until dinner time, so that first afternoon, we went out and explored on our own. We were beat by dinner, but so was everyone else. And ABD knows that, so all we had that night was a laid back dinner. At the Welcome Dinner that night, most people were excited zombies! But the next morning, we were all ready to go. The "jet lag" tiredness wore off by day 2 of the official ABD for us. Most on our trip did the pre-night, and I really think that contributed to us adjusting so well.

The experience of being in China and seeing all you will see makes any tiredness worth it. Times 100. I promise!

 

[disneypins4fun]

I know there's lot of Free time to explore Beijing and Shanghai, but how did everyone get around for lucky people that took this China Vacation this year? I love the idea of so much free time since I'm used to traveling everywhere on our own. Any problems finding your way around China? Did anyone take Metros to get around to different parts of city?

Changing the subject, how did everyone enjoy Hong Kong Disneyland? Is it worth spending the day? Do you think I should plan using that day to discover more Hong Kong? I'm not much into shopping but if its too much like DL or WDW I would prefer to see things I can't see in US. And yet, I'm excited about being able to stay at Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel. Do they put you in the concierge level?

I haven't got permission from my husband to book this trip in 5/2011, but I'm getting quite excited about it already!

 

[sayhello]

Hello!

We were in China July 3-16. We did a pre-night and got to the hotel around 6PM on July 3. We showered, ate and went to bed as normal. Woke up about 5AM the first morning and a few mornings after that. The ABD started July 4, but not until dinner time, so that first afternoon, we went out and explored on our own. We were beat by dinner, but so was everyone else. And ABD knows that, so all we had that night was a laid back dinner. At the Welcome Dinner that night, most people were excited zombies! But the next morning, we were all ready to go. The "jet lag" tiredness wore off by day 2 of the official ABD for us. Most on our trip did the pre-night, and I really think that contributed to us adjusting so well.

The experience of being in China and seeing all you will see makes any tiredness worth it. Times 100. I promise!

I'm so torn! The Med cruise really wiped me out. Thanks for your input, smep013. I've got a lot of thinking to do!

Sayhello

 

[smep013]

I know there's lot of Free time to explore Beijing and Shanghai, but how did everyone get around for lucky people that took this China Vacation this year? I love the idea of so much free time since I'm used to traveling everywhere on our own. Any problems finding your way around China? Did anyone take Metros to get around to different parts of city?

Changing the subject, how did everyone enjoy Hong Kong Disneyland? Is it worth spending the day? Do you think I should plan using that day to discover more Hong Kong? I'm not much into shopping but if its too much like DL or WDW I would prefer to see things I can't see in US. And yet, I'm excited about being able to stay at Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel. Do they put you in the concierge level?

I haven't got permission from my husband to book this trip in 5/2011, but I'm getting quite excited about it already!

Hi disneypins4fun,

We did not have any issues finding our way around those 2 cities. The guides will help you map things out if you'd like them to. We cabbed to some locations in Beijing (with only minor issues getting back to the hotel, but it was fun) and others in our group took the subway there without any issues at all. All of the signs are also in English. We took the subway in Shanghai and it was so clean and very easy to navigate.

Regarding HK Disneyland, we were only there for about 5 hours or so on the second to last day of the trip, which was plenty of time. We arrived in HK in the afternoon from Shanghai and hit the park asap. It is a smaller park than you might be used to for Disneyland and Disney World in the US. So we saw and did all we wanted to in that 5 hours.

That night, you can go explore Hong Kong. Really, at any time you could leave the park and taxi to Hong Kong. It would cost about $50 US each way, I think they told us.

Also, that next day there is a group excursion to see some of the sites. On that day, you could also chose to do part or all on your own if there is something you really want to see/do. As long as you are back for the Farewell Dinner that night. I think more on our own time in HK would have been great, but by then, we were pretty wiped out.

The HK Disneyland Hotel is nice... not sure if there even IS a concierge level, but they did upgrade our view to "preferred" I suppose you can call it.

Hope that is helpful!

 

[sayhello]

Regarding HK Disneyland, we were only there for about 5 hours or so on the second to last day of the trip, which was plenty of time. We arrived in HK in the afternoon from Shanghai and hit the park asap. It is a smaller park than you might be used to for Disneyland and Disney World in the US. So we saw and did all we wanted to in that 5 hours.

That night, you can go explore Hong Kong. Really, at any time you could leave the park and taxi to Hong Kong. It would cost about $50 US each way, I think they told us.

Also, that next day there is a group excursion to see some of the sites. On that day, you could also chose to do part or all on your own if there is something you really want to see/do. As long as you are back for the Farewell Dinner that night. I think more on our own time in HK would have been great, but by then, we were pretty wiped out.

The HK Disneyland Hotel is nice... not sure if there even IS a concierge level, but they did upgrade our view to "preferred" I suppose you can call it.

Hope that is helpful!

Actually, it looks like they've slightly changed the itinerary for 2011, and you spend 3 nights in Hong Kong, not 2. So there's the day you arrive to see the park, the next day a choice of the park or the group tour, and the next day a choice of the park or exploring Kowloon (or Hong Kong, I suppose) on your own. People must have asked for more time at the parks and/or Hong Kong. Looks like they cut the time in Shanghai down a bit.

Sayhello

 

[smep013]

Actually, it looks like they've slightly changed the itinerary for 2011, and you spend 3 nights in Hong Kong, not 2. So there's the day you arrive to see the park, the next day a choice of the park or the group tour, and the next day a choice of the park or exploring Kowloon (or Hong Kong, I suppose) on your own. People must have asked for more time at the parks and/or Hong Kong. Looks like they cut the time in Shanghai down a bit.

Sayhello

I hope it's because more people asked for time in Hong Kong, because really, you will not need more than one day in HK Disneyland. Looks like the new itinerary took away a night in Shanghai, which I think is fine.

 

[JLoane]

I was also on the July 4th trip, and while the plane rides were LONG, it was a fabulous trip. We flew direct from Newark, NJ to Beijing--13 hrs and 40 min. From Hong Kong home to Newark, it's approx 16 hours. In all honesty, the plane rides were hard, but the trip was worth it!

We did not arrive a day early and while we were tired that first afternoon/evening, we were fine the next day. Yes, we woke up a bit early that first morning in China, but we really felt fine. The jetlag when we returned home was much worse than what we experienced in China.

And yes, it was very hot. The day we toured the Forbidden City set a record high temp for Beijing. If you really can't take the heat, that would be a consideration, but Disney does a great job of making sure you get some breaks and have plenty of water to drink.

 

[figmentfan2009]

you can PM me... I am a font of useless and useful knowledge... we did everything and then some last year.

 

[DVCGirl49]

Starting to think about packing for our trip. How easy is it to get to laundry facilities along the trip? How expensive? We are looking to pack as lightly as possible and would rather bring the minimum necessary. Also raincoat, umbrella, or both?

 

[lbsl18]

We are looking forward to Enchanted China. Would someone please e-mail me with info regarding their trip to Enchanted China. Would love to know the scoop and your suggestions. Thanks Lauren

 

[disneyphx]

We did not use laundry at hotels, but did lots in hotel bathrooms.....I am not very good at travelling light, but even with that and the laundry everything was super stinky by the end.
We had umbrellas and needed them in Xian, Shanghai and Hong Kong - but in Xian the guide bought a bunch of umbrellas as many people, including us, had theirs packed in the luggage. Some people had rain jackets, but even when raining it was still pretty warm.
Happy to answer questions - gives me an excuse to talk about the trip!

 

[wem3212]

We arrived home 7/30 from the 7/18 trip. Had a great time. Our guides Jason and Leo were superb but both are done there for the season. We did not go early due to work. We were tired first day and got up early next morning but were ready to go. The hotels were great throughout. It was very hot and we did have rain. The day we arrived to Hong Kong Disneyland there was a major thunderstorm which kept most of us out of the park. We live in FL and go to Disney World often, so we were not overly upset. The park is small and we went for a few hours the next day. We did not do laundry on the trip but some other people did-very expensive through the hotels. We used our umbrellas more than once. Guides had extras on the bus and from the hotels. More than half the group ended up using diarrhea or nausea medicine at some point. Make sure you have some with you. Our trip home was long and we just made connection in Tokyo ( from Hong Kong to Tokyo then to Washington,DC). It was much harder readjusting at this end coming home. Spent first day laying around with multiple naps! This year the Expo is in Shanghai and we did go- a grueling experience. There are usually close to 500,000 visitors a day. Lines are long and it was hot and muggy. This was my first trip to China and we had a real adventure. Third ABD trip and have enjoyed all of them.