Shanghai - Courtyard Marriott vs. Toy Story Land

[DISnewjersey]

We're debating between COURTYARD SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL TOURISM AND RESORTS ZONE and the Toy Story Hotel. We'll be staying 4 nights with 2 full days in Disney and one day in the city. Originally we were going to stay onsite at Toy Story but the price difference compared with Courtyard is staggering.

4 nights at Toy Story - $992
4 nights at Courtyard - $255

We'll be in Disney on the Thurs/Fri of Easter week which I don't believe would be too busy since many don't celebrate Easter in China. The benefits for Toy Story is the early-entry and guaranteed entry into the park. Our big question is.... how important are those perks? Do we really need early-entry when we'll be spending two full days there? Is there any chance the park would reach capacity and we'd be denied entry?

Edit: I found out that you can purchase an Early Entry Pass. Have any of you ever purchased these? It seems like it's comparable to the hotel early-entry except you need to enter at the Main Entrance.

Hopefully someone has some insight that can point us in the right direction. Thanks!

 

[gelatoni fan]

I've stayed at the Courtyard. If you rely on public transit, it's not the most convenient because if you take the subway, you'll want to take a taxi back to the hotel (they do have buses from the hotel to the subway station but timing the return is harder). It's also a bit of a walk to the bus stop at the park. The breakfast is very good given the low cost of the hotel but if you aren't getting it for free with Marriott status, you may not want to pay for it. There is nothing near the hotel though. This is one of the top hotels I've stayed at in terms of value for money so your main concern should be if you want to pay extra for Disney theming. You can always stay at the Courtyard and buy fastpasses on your second day if you feel like you need them which will likely come out cheaper.

 

[bkmanhole]

Would you consider a split stay as a compromise?

I haven't stayed off property, but when we did our planning, everything pointed towards huge quality of life improvements of staying on site allowing you to start your day off right, regardless of crowd levels, and thus having a more enjoyable time in the parks.

Our first day, we had to use the main gates (as we were purchasing annual passes) vs the hotel guests entrance and it was so much more chaotic with crowds and waiting to get in.

 

[DISnewjersey]

I've stayed at the Courtyard. If you rely on public transit, it's not the most convenient because if you take the subway, you'll want to take a taxi back to the hotel (they do have buses from the hotel to the subway station but timing the return is harder). It's also a bit of a walk to the bus stop at the park. The breakfast is very good given the low cost of the hotel but if you aren't getting it for free with Marriott status, you may not want to pay for it. There is nothing near the hotel though. This is one of the top hotels I've stayed at in terms of value for money so your main concern should be if you want to pay extra for Disney theming. You can always stay at the Courtyard and buy fastpasses on your second day if you feel like you need them which will likely come out cheaper.

Thanks for the info! I completely forgot about paid fastpasses... we could always rely on those if the first day is crazier than expected. The Courtyard just seems like such a nicer hotel compared to Toy Story. TS just reminds me of an All Star WDW equivalent hotel. I could pass on the theming.

Would you consider a split stay as a compromise?

I haven't stayed off property, but when we did our planning, everything pointed towards huge quality of life improvements of staying on site allowing you to start your day off right, regardless of crowd levels, and thus having a more enjoyable time in the parks.

Our first day, we had to use the main gates (as we were purchasing annual passes) vs the hotel guests entrance and it was so much more chaotic with crowds and waiting to get in.

Thanks for the info! I would just pay the cost of an on-site hotel before splitting the hotel stays. The crowds at the gate concern me about staying offsite. But I also read you can buy an early entry pass (roughly $20) which gets you into the park 1 hour before opening? So this pass will get me into the park 30 minutes before hotel guests?

https://www.shanghaidisneyresort.com/en/tours/early-access/

 

[bkmanhole]

But I also read you can buy an early entry pass (roughly $20) which gets you into the park 1 hour before opening? So this pass will get me into the park 30 minutes before hotel guests?

https://www.shanghaidisneyresort.com/en/tours/early-access/

The early entry pass wasn't offered yet when I went in Nov 2018. But perhaps others can comment. The main issue about the main gates is the getting through security. So perhaps those who have used it can comment if the early entry pass helps with this that line up. Does this pass use the hotel guest entrance?

 

[Duck In Blue]

Thanks for the info! I would just pay the cost of an on-site hotel before splitting the hotel stays. The crowds at the gate concern me about staying offsite. But I also read you can buy an early entry pass (roughly $20) which gets you into the park 1 hour before opening? So this pass will get me into the park 30 minutes before hotel guests?

https://www.shanghaidisneyresort.com/en/tours/early-access/

I don't think it gets you in before the hotel guests. We went last February and stayed in the Toy Story Hotel and were let into the park before 0800 everyday when the normal park opening was 0900. There was nobody else in the park when we entered (it was great!). The signs I saw for the pass suggested it used the normal entrance, the hotel entrance clearly said it was only for hotel guests.

 

[DISnewjersey]

I don't think it gets you in before the hotel guests. We went last February and stayed in the Toy Story Hotel and were let into the park before 0800 everyday when the normal park opening was 0900. There was nobody else in the park when we entered (it was great!). The signs I saw for the pass suggested it used the normal entrance, the hotel entrance clearly said it was only for hotel guests.

Yes. I read that Early Entry Pass is at the Main Entrance and NOT at the hotel entrance in Disneytown. But I also read it was a completely different line than the crazy long line for regular opening time. I just can’t find many posts online of people actually using it so I’m unsure if it’s worthwhile or not.

The one or two posts I saw said that there were zero lines with the early entry pass.

 

[indoshakespeare]

The main entrance is separated into Early Entry Line and Regular Line. The Hotel early entry is entirely separate. They check early entry purchase before security so I assume both lines will have their own security check point.

 

[Lesley Wake]

I’m just going to advocate for staying at an official Disney hotel! The hotel guest entrance is so calm and controlled, plus the EMH is the most useful one at any of the parks worldwide! It really set up my day to be a positive visit and helped cement my love for Shanghai Disney! Many negative reviews of the park started with using the main entrance which was just chaotic. I walked by there the day before and it was just a sea of fences and barriers-not magical at all!

I will definitely visit again but would always go with an on-site hotel!

 

[DISnewjersey]

The main entrance is separated into Early Entry Line and Regular Line. The Hotel early entry is entirely separate. They check early entry purchase before security so I assume both lines will have their own security check point.

That would be positive news. I understand how awesome the early entry (and separate entrance) is for onsite guests. But if this paid early entry is a separate security line from the ugly long line, then I'm not seeing much of a difference between paid early entry and onsite early entry. Both will get me into the park roughly 60 minutes early.

 

[China Expat]

Because of potential language barriers with taxi drivers and such, I would stay at Toy Story. It is much more upscale then POP or All Stars. The early entry and private entrance is worth it.

 

[DISnewjersey]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Unfortunately it looks like we'll be canceling our trip due to the current situation. ☹ It'll be a few years until we get to reschedule for Hong Kong and Shanghai. For now our Disney park count will remain at 10/12. Hope everyone stays safe.

 

[bearette]

Anyone stay at the courtyard and use it to also go into the city as well? Because of our dates I was looking at arriving on a weekend and wanted to go into the city those days, then go into Disney later during the weekdays. Would it be better to change hotels or would the Countyard make a good base for city and Disney touring, so I wouldn't have to move with two kids? (Planning for summer 2021 when hopefully quarantine is a distant memory)

 

[gelatoni fan]

Anyone stay at the courtyard and use it to also go into the city as well? Because of our dates I was looking at arriving on a weekend and wanted to go into the city those days, then go into Disney later during the weekdays. Would it be better to change hotels or would the Countyard make a good base for city and Disney touring, so I wouldn't have to move with two kids? (Planning for summer 2021 when hopefully quarantine is a distant memory)

Changing hotels is better, especially if you plan to spend more than one day in the city. The Courtyard is in the middle of nowhere. You could theoretically take the bus to the metro station and take a taxi back (IMO waiting for the bus back is not really worth it). For a Western tourist, Nanjing Road is probably the best area for easy access to common tourist attractions. Taxis in China are inexpensive compared to other countries so you could just take one between the two hotels instead of make that trip multiple times a day to get into the main part of the city.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Way back in 2017 we stayed in the city on our arrival day (by train from Beijing) so had that afternoon and evening and much of the next day sightseeing Shanghai (which satisfied us but you could do 2 nights if there was a lot more you wanted to see), then later afternoon on our 2nd day we caught the metro out to Disneyland metro station (which I seem to recall was easy; our friends took a taxi) and a very short shuttle bus ride from the metro to Toy Story Hotel where we stayed.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sorry you had to reschedule.

our friends took a taxi

I'm the "friends" that took a taxi. I was travelling with my 78 year old mother and I didn't want to worry about lugging bags in train stations. The taxi was easy, more expensive than the train, but not exorbitant.

I agree with Wendy. We stayed in Shanghai proper to sightsee Shanghai. We found a hotel a block away from Nanjing Road, which made it very easy to get around to the main spots. We were there a day before Wendy got there. That gave us 3 days in Shanghai and we managed to take a trip out to Suzhou; plus see most of what we wanted to see in Shanghai as well.
Personally, I think it is better to stay in Shanghai, especially with two kids, and then move to SDL