Questions about ABD China

[meryll83]

I've just become aware of this itinerary and it looks perfect for all the things I'd want to see in China.

Because of other commitments, the earliest we could do this trip would be 2020.

What is the likelihood this trip will still be running in 2 years time? Is it an itinerary that has been offered for a number of years already?

If so, when might I expect it to go on sale? Next summer?

Any thoughts on this much appreciated, thanks in advance!

 

[Cousin Orville]

Highly likely. China has been running for years, and they just refreshed it a couple of years ago. It should go on sale late spring (probably May) of 2019.

 

[sayhello]

ABD's China itinerary is spectacular! I did this trip last summer, and it was amazing and incredible. I can *highly* recommend it! They've been doing this trip, I believe, around a decade. They just rearranged the trip a bit (order, not content) to accommodate ending at Shanghai Disneyland. I think it is virtually certain that this itinerary will still be going in 2020.

You can expect the 2020 dates to go on sale some time around May of 2019.

Feel free to ask me any questions you may have about this trip!

Sayhello

 

[WeLoveABD]

I've just become aware of this itinerary and it looks perfect for all the things I'd want to see in China.

Because of other commitments, the earliest we could do this trip would be 2020.

What is the likelihood this trip will still be running in 2 years time? Is it an itinerary that has been offered for a number of years already?

If so, when might I expect it to go on sale? Next summer?

Any thoughts on this much appreciated, thanks in advance!

We went in 2008-- of our ABD trips it remains our favorite by far. Disney is deep into the Asian market, so unless we get into a huge rift with China this trip is here to stay!

 

[meryll83]

Sounds very promising - that's good news, thanks everyone!

My wish list was the 2 Disney China parks, to see the Great Wall, and to see pandas, but when I did a vague bit of research I realised how far apart all of those things were and decided it'd be a lot of work to pull together.
Well the other day I went for a nosey at the Joe Rohde South Africa adventure after I saw it'd sold out and happened to see China listed, looked at the itinerary, and lo and behold, my wish list right there!!

Feel free to ask me any questions you may have about this trip!

Sayhello

You'll regret offering this (I've even changed the post title now!), but thank you so much, I'll have tonnes of questions - although it might be another year before I really get into planning this now! We're heading to Tokyo Disney in 3 weeks time, so that's what's really on my mind right now

One immediate thing on my mind for China though, did you find you wanted more time pre or post tour in Hong Kong and/or Shanghai?

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

You'll regret offering this (I've even changed the post title now!), but thank you so much, I'll have tonnes of questions - although it might be another year before I really get into planning this now! We're heading to Tokyo Disney in 3 weeks time, so that's what's really on my mind right now

One immediate thing on my mind for China though, did you find you wanted more time pre or post tour in Hong Kong and/or Shanghai?

Hong Kong Disney is quite small, so we found that 1 day that we had on the ABD was enough. Others have added an extra day and loved it. It was raining when we were there and the park was empty (all rides were walk-on {no lines at all}).

Shanghai Disney is where I'd add another day or two. The crowds when we went were intense (think 90+ minutes wait in the stand-by line for Tron and Soarin' -- we waited 45 minutes in the FP line and we had a private guide). Others had a different experience so it just depends on your timing. I'd definitely leave at least 2 days for Shanghai Disney if you want to enjoy it (we really rushed our way through).

With respect to pre and post days, I always try to add at least a day or two at each end of the trip if possible. Shanghai and Hong Kong are both spectacular so I'd add at least another day. You will love this trip. It really is special!

Please report back on your Tokyo Disney trip. We are headed to Japan next year and we will definitely be visiting the parks (we are allowing 3 days for both).

 

[Cousin Orville]

If time allows, add 1 to 1 1/2 days extra for HKDL to enjoy the park. Add 2 or more days for Shanghai DL. In our experience the parks were dramatically more crowded on Fri/Sat.

 

[sayhello]

You'll regret offering this (I've even changed the post title now!), but thank you so much, I'll have tonnes of questions - although it might be another year before I really get into planning this now! We're heading to Tokyo Disney in 3 weeks time, so that's what's really on my mind right now

One immediate thing on my mind for China though, did you find you wanted more time pre or post tour in Hong Kong and/or Shanghai?

I think it sounds perfect for you. One of the areas where this trip excels is logistics. It's a lot of air travel (five internal flights) with so much handled by ABD. Being able to walk off your flight and onto your transportation with no trip to Baggage Claim alone is worth it!!

Ask all the questions you like. Bring it on!

You've already got some great answers about the Parks. I feel 1 extra pre-day at HKDL would be more than enough. At least 1 extra day at SHDL post-trip. There's not really 3 days' worth of stuff there yet, but you will spend most of your time in the horrendous lines (and fastpass only helps so much). Single rider lines are worse than useless. But it's a cool park, with the amazingest Pirates of the Caribbean ever, and the fabulous Tron.

Sayhello

 

[AquaDame]

They've also added a Toy Story area to Shanghai now, so its already a little bit bigger!

 

[meryll83]

Ask all the questions you like. Bring it on!

Sayhello

Thank you!

What time of year would you recommend visiting China? I was thinking April/May or September/October as options, purely based on what I've read about weather...

I guess we don't know enough about the typical annual operations at Shanghai Disney yet to known when refurbs on things like Pirates and Tron might be happening? I'd be gutted to find that closed. When we visit Tokyo, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Tower of Terror are going to be closed - I took some consoling when I found that out!
But having to book so far in advance means it's always going to be outside our control...

 

[sayhello]

Thank you!

What time of year would you recommend visiting China? I was thinking April/May or September/October as options, purely based on what I've read about weather...

I guess we don't know enough about the typical annual operations at Shanghai Disney yet to known when refurbs on things like Pirates and Tron might be happening? I'd be gutted to find that closed. When we visit Tokyo, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Tower of Terror are going to be closed - I took some consoling when I found that out!
But having to book so far in advance means it's always going to be outside our control...

we went in early June, and it was HOT and HUMID in Hong Kong, and pretty hot in Shanghai. April/May or Sep/Oct *should, in general, be cooler. Are you traveling solo? Shoulder season dates like those *tend* to be Adults Only departures.

Sayhello

 

[meryll83]

we went in early June, and it was HOT and HUMID in Hong Kong, and pretty hot in Shanghai. April/May or Sep/Oct *should, in general, be cooler. Are you traveling solo? Shoulder season dates like those *tend* to be Adults Only departures.

Sayhello

Yes, just me and hubby.
So they’d be good times of year you think?

 

[Cousin Orville]

Just so you aren’t surprised when you get there, Sep/Oct is still quite hot in HK. Better than the summer though.

 

[sayhello]

The only problem with October is that most Chinese seem to vacation in October. But I've heard the weather (except in Hong Kong as Cousin Orville said) is much nicer then. I would recommend those times of year.

Sayhello

 

[meryll83]

Just so you aren’t surprised when you get there, Sep/Oct is still quite hot in HK. Better than the summer though.

The only problem with October is that most Chinese seem to vacation in October. But I've heard the weather (except in Hong Kong as Cousin Orville said) is much nicer then. I would recommend those times of year.

Ah, that’s interesting to know - I’m tempted to avoid October then!
Any thoughts on September vs April/May?

I notice 2019 goes on presale on the 7th May, so I’ve put a reminder in my calendar to check around this time next year for 2020 bookings

 

[meryll83]

I'm also pondering whether the construction at HKDL should put us off going in 2020 or not...

 

[meryll83]

Just a little nudge on the above 2 questions - any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

 

[DollyM]

Just a little nudge on the above 2 questions - any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

I don’t think there’s any reason to avoid October. The Chinese holiday when everyone vacations is the first week of the month and I doubt ABD would want to compete with that. We arrived in Hong Kong on October 18th and while it was quite humid, the temperature was only in the low 80s. I found it very comfortable. We were at HKDL on a Friday (pre-day) and a Monday (ABD) both times arriving in the afternoon, and there were no problems with crowds. The longest waits were for a Halloween attraction that was lost on me. The weather for the rest of the trip was pleasant though in Beijing we had a cloudy and damp day that was chilly.

In Shanghai we were at SDL on Wednesday (ABD) and Thursday (post-day). Neither day was crowded. We’d been told about the security madness at opening and decided to arrive later. We took the subway as an adventure and found it easy to navigate. We got to the SDL entrance at about 10:15 (it had opened at 9:00) and even then it took 30 minutes to get through security. But there was no madness in terms of line cutting or pushing. In fact we never encountered that anywhere at SDL. Both days line for Pirates was only 10-15 minutes while we were there. I don’t recall Tron’s line because we had a FP. Soarin’ had a long line but I wasn’t planning to ride it. We waited 40-45 minutes twice to do two different Challenge Trails. Those waits were worth it for me.

 

[meryll83]

I don’t think there’s any reason to avoid October. The Chinese holiday when everyone vacations is the first week of the month and I doubt ABD would want to compete with that. We arrived in Hong Kong on October 18th and while it was quite humid, the temperature was only in the low 80s. I found it very comfortable. We were at HKDL on a Friday (pre-day) and a Monday (ABD) both times arriving in the afternoon, and there were no problems with crowds. The longest waits were for a Halloween attraction that was lost on me. The weather for the rest of the trip was pleasant though in Beijing we had a cloudy and damp day that was chilly.

In Shanghai we were at SDL on Wednesday (ABD) and Thursday (post-day). Neither day was crowded. We’d been told about the security madness at opening and decided to arrive later. We took the subway as an adventure and found it easy to navigate. We got to the SDL entrance at about 10:15 (it had opened at 9:00) and even then it took 30 minutes to get through security. But there was no madness in terms of line cutting or pushing. In fact we never encountered that anywhere at SDL. Both days line for Pirates was only 10-15 minutes while we were there. I don’t recall Tron’s line because we had a FP. Soarin’ had a long line but I wasn’t planning to ride it. We waited 40-45 minutes twice to do two different Challenge Trails. Those waits were worth it for me.

This is all really useful detail, thank you!

 

[meryll83]

Can anyone help me understand what the visa situation is if we want to spend some more time in Shanghai?
I’ve read something about a 72-hour thing, so how long are you already there with ABD?
(We’re UK citizens if this makes a difference)