Shanghai Disneyland Grand Opening Trip Planning Thread

[rastuso]

Paris was better than Japan for sure. But still some places with bad issues. Mostly the restaurants. Walt's was particularly bad. There was one person there that spoke some English, and that was about it. C'mon, it's WALT'S for crying out loud!

J

 

[zanzibar138]

Paris was better than Japan for sure. But still some places with bad issues. Mostly the restaurants. Walt's was particularly bad. There was one person there that spoke some English, and that was about it. C'mon, it's WALT'S for crying out loud!

J

Lol! Funny you say that actually. Mum and I ordered glowing cocktails at Walt's as a special treat. The waitress brought them out with the glowing ice cubes on the side and turned off - didn't quite get the point! Mum and I laughed and immediately turned them on and put them in our drinks. It wasn't really a communication issue, but one of the many cultural differences that one experiences in another country.

 

[Wuzefelix]

Just letting you know that the Shanghai Disney hotels I managed to book on April 1st actually did get charged from my card. But the tickets I booked in the night of the 28th still didn't. Everything still shows as confirmed on the website. I am not too bothered since it says confirmed and even if there is a problem with the tickets, as on-site hotel guests we should have the guarantee to be able to buy new tickets.

The ice cube story from Walt's at Disneyland Paris is probably just a cultural difference. I'm European and I appreciate that they give you the fake ice cubes on the side because you are allowed to take them home. If they put them in the cocktail they would be wet and messy.

We should brace ourselves for culture shock and language barriers at Shanghai Disneyland. That's part of the experience though .

Felix

 

[zanzibar138]

Just letting you know that the Shanghai Disney hotels I managed to book on April 1st actually did get charged from my card. But the tickets I booked in the night of the 28th still didn't. Everything still shows as confirmed on the website. I am not too bothered since it says confirmed and even if there is a problem with the tickets, as on-site hotel guests we should have the guarantee to be able to buy new tickets.

I am still concerned as my hotels weren't charged either. If those are cancelled and there's a problem with my tickets, my trip won't be much fun! Having said that, everything still says confirmed for me too. But I will definitely call over the weekend.

We should brace ourselves for culture shock and language barriers at Shanghai Disneyland. That's part of the experience though .

Exactly my point

 

[Wuzefelix]

There are new rooms available for the night of the 17th now. For example there are Club Level Rooms that previously weren't available for that date. I called and tried to upgrade our Deluxe Lake View Room (their cheapest standard room) to club level but the agent on the phone said there was no availability. Yet online I could totally make a new reservation for club level... So frustrating. The chat agents only say to call. I might try my luck again tomorrow with the hotline...

 

[xmansmom]

I hit a LOT if parks in Japan, and Disneyland truly was one of the worst, as far as talking to someone in English. I lucked out and noticed one girl by mansion switched to English as I walked by, and I picked her brain for 5 minutes. Even guest services spoke little English. I was pretty shocked

Similar at Paris, and even more shocking with a Eurostar from London going right to the park daily.

We had a hard time in Tokyo too. Everyone is really nice there though and tried to help as much as they could. Even though it was difficult, we'd go back again in a heartbeat.

 

[xmansmom]

Our charges went through but I don't see anything when I long into the SDL website. Are any of you seeing your reservations when you log in?

 

[xmansmom]

We should brace ourselves for culture shock and language barriers at Shanghai Disneyland. That's part of the experience though .

I agree. I just hope there are no problems. If we have any issues it will be really hard to resolve them if we can't communicate.

 

[Wuzefelix]

Our charges went through but I don't see anything when I long into the SDL website. Are any of you seeing your reservations when you log in?

Yes I can still see my tickets and hotel reservations when I log in on the official website.

 

[Emma1987]

Is the park actually open yet? I've heard people are able to buy their tickets and go already? Is it a soft opening or something?

 

[Dentam]

Is the park actually open yet? I've heard people are able to buy their tickets and go already? Is it a soft opening or something?

It won't open for about two months. June 16th I believe.

 

[zanzibar138]

It won't open for about two months. June 16th I believe.

I believe they have opened the 'precinct'. People seem to be able to access the entrance areas to the park and Disney Town, the hotels and Wishing Star Park. I haven't heard of anyone other than CMs actually getting into the park yet though.

 

[steamboat will]

We're famous,

This thread made it onto the top 5 threads on this weeks DIS-unplugged podcast. Though maybe there would be a rush of new people coming to post here....

But no, still just us...

SW

 

[Bone Daddy]

Less than 2 months away from DisneyAsia1.0, and wondering if any DISers will be in either TokyoDl (Monday June21st-Wednesday June22nd) or ShDLR (Sunday June26th-Tuesday June28th). Super excited, but will feel much better with the comforts of knowing I'd be sharing the experience with similarly-cultured Americans.

 

[Royal Consort]

Super excited, but will feel much better with the comforts of knowing I'd be sharing the experience with similarly-cultured Americans.

Remember there are other nationalities posting here such as the high number of Australians/New Zealanders who are a lot closer to China. They travel lots too.

 

[Bone Daddy]

Good point. If anyone on the boards will be at the parks on these dates, please let me know!

 

[wtdanceisthrough]

I can't believe how quickly tickets for Opening Day sold out, yet there are still tickets left for the 17th, 18th and 19th. I would have expected most people who were attending Opening Day to spend more than one day at the park! I'm expecting the 18th to sell out next, being the first weekend day that the park will be open.

Couple of thoughts: (1) There will be loads of extra Disney staff on the opening day who will use up the park capacity (even though not members of the ticketed public), who will just be there for that one day (e.g. Bob Iger and his entourage). (2) Maybe some people who actually live in Shanghai will have booked just for the opening day itself, for the experience, and will book more days some other time, when all the (inevitable) initial teething problems have been resolved!

PS: Well done on getting your opening day tickets...I didn't realise you hadn't got them already! Sorry to hear about your continuing credit card saga. My purchases were charged about 10 days after I made the reservations, but the actual length of time seems quite random. Really hope you get it resolved soon, as it must be a bit stressful!!

 

[zanzibar138]

Couple of thoughts: (1) There will be loads of extra Disney staff on the opening day who will use up the park capacity (even though not members of the ticketed public), who will just be there for that one day (e.g. Bob Iger and his entourage). (2) Maybe some people who actually live in Shanghai will have booked just for the opening day itself, for the experience, and will book more days some other time, when all the (inevitable) initial teething problems have been resolved!

Oh, both great points! That would definitely help explain it.

So far I haven't had much luck finding out what's going on with my credit card charges, but my tickets and bookings are all still in my account, so I'm trying not to let it stress me out too much.

 

[xmansmom]

Less than 2 months away from DisneyAsia1.0, and wondering if any DISers will be in either TokyoDl (Monday June21st-Wednesday June22nd) or ShDLR (Sunday June26th-Tuesday June28th). Super excited, but will feel much better with the comforts of knowing I'd be sharing the experience with similarly-cultured Americans.

We leave the 25th so we'll miss. Will anyone be there the 22nd-25th?

 

[xmansmom]

At this point I have planned 2 park days at SDL - June 23 & 24. I'm trying to decide what I should do on the 25th. I can fly back to Hong Kong and where we'll be until the 28th or stick around Shanghai. Do you think we'll need another park day? We arrive on the 22nd so I think we can visit Disneytown and Wishing Star Park then. We'll be on a tour prior to returning to Shanghai so I will have already visited the highlights in the area. What would you do?