Shanghai Disney

[Sandeep1]

Guys, planning to visit in early March. I have a few questions:

1) Planning on booking the Toy Story Hotel. Is the park walkable from the hotel?
2) Is 3 nights at Disney Shanghai too much? Or do you feel like 2 nights/3 full days would be better?
3) I have a flexible schedule. Is it necessary to go during the week as opposed to the weekends to avoid crowds?

Thanks.

 

[Agent 86]

1. Yes, but it's quite a walk. And, from fuzzy memory, the road crossings aren't very pedestrian friendly. It's easier and quicker to take the complimentary bus which ran pretty frequently when we were there.

2. Possibly. I think 2 nights / 3 days would be heaps of time, unless you're going at a peak time or you have mobility issues which may make moving around the HUGE park difficult.

3. I haven't been keeping up with the reviews, but I think going on weekdays instead of weekends is pretty much recommended for any theme park. If you did go on a weekend, you may want to consider purchasing their Fast Pass package, depending upon the crowd levels.

 

[indoshakespeare]

Do you plan to visit the city as well? you can spend 3 nights in Shanghai Disney and use 1 day to see the city.

 

[Sandeep1]

Do you plan to visit the city as well? you can spend 3 nights in Shanghai Disney and use 1 day to see the city.

Oh yea definitely. Currently planning roughly 4 nights for the city (including some day trips) and then 2 or 3 nights at Disney. Was curious if it's a big enough park that 3 nights make sense? I know I was a bit bored at Disney HK on the 2nd day.

I was planning a Saturday, Sunday, Monday night in Disney. I'll look into the Fast Pass package that Agent mentioned.

 

[Sandeep1]

I'm actually wondering if I should stay the Disneyland Hotel now, instead of Toy Story. The cost differential isn't that much and I've been told the Disneyland Hotel is a bit quieter.

 

[indoshakespeare]

If you get the Fast Pass Premier Access, 2 nights should be enough. if you can switch Disney and City so you go to Disneyland on a weekday, it may even be better

 

[Sandeep1]

If you get the Fast Pass Premier Access, 2 nights should be enough. if you can switch Disney and City so you go to Disneyland on a weekday, it may even be better

Yea I think I'm going to switch it so I do DL during the week. Too far of a destination not to try and give myself the best chances of having a good time.

I've looked at the Premier Access and I gotta say, seems terribly overpriced. And I'm someone who has no problem paying extra for goodies. Man, roughly $17 to go on a single ride? That's pretty nuts to me. I guess if a ride like Soarin' is so backed up and the only way to do it is to pay, I'd do it. But dang.

Am I correct that 7DMT, TRON, and Pirates all offer single rider access? I'm going solo so that would obviously be a big help.

 

[SWofDisorder]

We are also planning a trip and reading the information here. We are doing a China tour and also Tibet. Last minute I am working on going to Disney to add it to the bucket list.

 

[Sandeep1]

We are also planning a trip and reading the information here. We are doing a China tour and also Tibet. Last minute I am working on going to Disney to add it to the bucket list.

Tibet will be awesome. I thought about that for a while but I think I'll do a Tibet/Nepal/Bhutan trip in the future. I really want to see all 3 of those countries.

 

[bkmanhole]

Guys, planning to visit in early March. I have a few questions:

3) I have a flexible schedule. Is it necessary to go during the week as opposed to the weekends to avoid crowds?

Thanks.

Only thing I would add with regards to "days of the week", if you are a foodie, if it's a slower season (I'm not sure about crowd levels in March), you may find that many of the snack kiosks closed on the weekdays. When we went (1st week of Nov), they were only open on Friday & Saturday.

If you plan around going at park open using the hotel guest entrance, early entry & extra hotel fast passes, you shouldn't need Premiere Access.

 

[Sandeep1]

Only thing I would add with regards to "days of the week", if you are a foodie, if it's a slower season (I'm not sure about crowd levels in March), you may find that many of the snack kiosks closed on the weekdays. When we went (1st week of Nov), they were only open on Friday & Saturday.

If you plan around going at park open using the hotel guest entrance, early entry & extra hotel fast passes, you shouldn't need Premiere Access.

That's good advice, thanks. I guess I'll have to weigh the importance of snacks vs. low crowds.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I was going to say the same thing about food. There may also be smaller seasonal shows that aren't on every day of the week. Unfortunately these schedules are not available months in advance.

If you got bored of HKDL on the second day, I don't think you'll need 4 days in Shanghai and you probably won't care that much about the above issues. Just do weekdays for lower crowds. You probably won't need Premier Access if you are staying in the hotels and know how to use fast passes intelligently.

 

[Sandeep1]

I was going to say the same thing about food. There may also be smaller seasonal shows that aren't on every day of the week. Unfortunately these schedules are not available months in advance.

If you got bored of HKDL on the second day, I don't think you'll need 4 days in Shanghai and you probably won't care that much about the above issues. Just do weekdays for lower crowds. You probably won't need Premier Access if you are staying in the hotels and know how to use fast passes intelligently.

I suspect I will be pretty obsessed with the Tron ride. I'll probably want to do that a bunch. I never felt like that with any rides at HKDL. I liked Mystic Manor a lot but once I did it 3-4x, I was good.

 

[MommaBerd]

@Sandeep1 - I *highly* recommend the Disneyland Hotel! It is so, so beautiful! But, in full disclosure, it is still a good walk to get to the park - probably comparable to walking from Boardwalk to Epcot, but not nearly as far as walking Beach Club to DHS. However, they do have busses.

Every time I post about staying at the Disneyland Hotel, I encourage people to consider Club Level if their budget can afford it. If in-park dining (like at the castle) isn’t a high priority for you, the food in the Club Level Lounge is some of the best I’ve had in a Disney Park. They have Western dishes/foods, and they have very interesting Asian dishes. The fruit was outstanding (as I found it was pretty much everywhere in Shanghai). So, if you want to try some new foods, it is a great opportunity. Plus, the service is top-notch! And for us, traveling with three boys, the cost worked in our favor. I think we only ate one meal - lunch - in the park! We tried some of the snacks, of course. My husband, who is a low-maintenance, no-frills kind of guy, LOVED it and would go back just to stay CL! Whether or not you decide to stay CL, make sure you keep checking hotel prices as they do tend to go down the closer your stay.

I think in a low crowd season, two days will be sufficient. If on your first day you aren’t able to ride as much as you wanted or the crowds are heavier than expected, you can add the Premier Pass on just your second day. I know that $17 a ride seems expensive (and the PA Set averages lower cost per ride). I felt the same way before we went. But when lines get up to 2 or 3 hours long (and in our case 5-6 hours long because we were there on a holiday! ), then you have to consider the value of your (limited) time in the park. Also, it is demand-based pricing. You won’t really know how much it costs until the day-of. I believe I found that if you wanted to ride more than three of the Premier Access rides, you might as well buy the PA set. Also, I’m sure you know they dohave FastPass kiosks, and if it’s a slow day you may be able to just FP some of the rides.

Finally, you said you would be visiting Shanghai proper as well. I highly recommend checking into UnTours. We did the dumpling tour and it was FANTASTIC!!! The price was very reasonable. Yummy food as well as learning about the “history” of the foods. We had a wonderful, knowledgeable tour guide. And, we got to walk around the city and see some of the different areas.

We also did a private one-day tour to a water town that was recommended by another DIS-er. It was fabulous! Again, it was a little pricey, but in the end, we absolutely got our money’s worth out of it! If you want more info on that or UnTours, PM me.

I hope this helps and that you have a wonderful trip!

 

[WeLoveABD]

@Sandeep1 - I *highly* recommend the Disneyland Hotel! It is so, so beautiful! But, in full disclosure, it is still a good walk to get to the park - probably comparable to walking from Boardwalk to Epcot, but not nearly as far as walking Beach Club to DHS. However, they do have busses.

Every time I post about staying at the Disneyland Hotel, I encourage people to consider Club Level if their budget can afford it. If in-park dining (like at the castle) isn’t a high priority for you, the food in the Club Level Lounge is some of the best I’ve had in a Disney Park. They have Western dishes/foods, and they have very interesting Asian dishes. The fruit was outstanding (as I found it was pretty much everywhere in Shanghai). So, if you want to try some new foods, it is a great opportunity. Plus, the service is top-notch! And for us, traveling with three boys, the cost worked in our favor. I think we only ate one meal - lunch - in the park! We tried some of the snacks, of course. My husband, who is a low-maintenance, no-frills kind of guy, LOVED it and would go back just to stay CL! Whether or not you decide to stay CL, make sure you keep checking hotel prices as they do tend to go down the closer your stay.

I think in a low crowd season, two days will be sufficient. If on your first day you aren’t able to ride as much as you wanted or the crowds are heavier than expected, you can add the Premier Pass on just your second day. I know that $17 a ride seems expensive (and the PA Set averages lower cost per ride). I felt the same way before we went. But when lines get up to 2 or 3 hours long (and in our case 5-6 hours long because we were there on a holiday! ), then you have to consider the value of your (limited) time in the park. Also, it is demand-based pricing. You won’t really know how much it costs until the day-of. I believe I found that if you wanted to ride more than three of the Premier Access rides, you might as well buy the PA set. Also, I’m sure you know they dohave FastPass kiosks, and if it’s a slow day you may be able to just FP some of the rides.

Finally, you said you would be visiting Shanghai proper as well. I highly recommend checking into UnTours. We did the dumpling tour and it was FANTASTIC!!! The price was very reasonable. Yummy food as well as learning about the “history” of the foods. We had a wonderful, knowledgeable tour guide. And, we got to walk around the city and see some of the different areas.

We also did a private one-day tour to a water town that was recommended by another DIS-er. It was fabulous! Again, it was a little pricey, but in the end, we absolutely got our money’s worth out of it! If you want more info on that or UnTours, PM me.

I hope this helps and that you have a wonderful trip!

We are ending a tour in Shanghai at the end of September, and would like to add on two nights at the park. Are there airport transfers that are part of a park tickets/hotel package (like at WDW)? Thanks---his has been a very helpful thread!

 

[MommaBerd]

We are ending a tour in Shanghai at the end of September, and would like to add on two nights at the park. Are there airport transfers that are part of a park tickets/hotel package (like at WDW)? Thanks---his has been a very helpful thread!

To my knowledge, SDL does not have a relationship with any particular company for this purpose. I would offer a suggestion, but we never transferred, either to or from, PVG - always somewhere else because we visited mid-trip. I will say that the metro is *very* easy to navigate, but with luggage maybe not as easy. I suggest researching car services on TripAdvisor. Sorry I can’t be of more help.