Shanghai questions

[Fsudisney]

Hello- we are going to Shanghai for a work conference in May. Planning on spending the first 2 days at Disney there.
We have a reservation at the Toy Story Hotel but need a hotel confirmation with the hotel address, dates, and my full name listed in order to get our visa. What I could pull off the website was apparently not good enough for the company we are getting the visa expedited through. Ive emailed Disney twice with no response. Tried chat and no one is online, and tried to call and cannot get through "at this time" I am assuming because of the time difference?
Can anyone tell me if there is an easier way to get what I need online? Or anyone had luck getting through to the resort for this kind of thing?

Also in my research, everyone has gotten a VPN or sim card for their phones to get access to websites and app while there. My husband is being extremely cautious and thinks they are illegal and we will get in trouble, etc etc. from his small amount of googling on the subject. I think he is overreacting. Anyone have any advice for the phones while there? I think he wants to just take our super old phones and just not get on anything while there.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Can't speak for the Visa issue but I advise getting a SIM card abroad that allows you to use services you're used to without extra hoops to jump through (google maps, facebook, etc). You'd only need to use an old phone if your current ones are locked to carrier. Just make sure you can load the Shanghai Disney Resort app on whatever phone you bring so you can pull fastpasses. You won't be getting in trouble for using a SIM card unless you're plotting a revolution on Chinese blogs or something outrageous. If you're concerned about privacy, don't use any public wifi or visit shady Chinese websites.

 

[gt5889a]

You might need a better visa courier. The Houston consulate accepted via the courier company I used a "print screen" of the "My Reservations" page and then a print out of the details when you click "View Confirmation" when I was getting visas for the family. My name was the only name on the reservation. Took 2 days total plus the 2 days to fedex to/return from the courier.

On the Shanghai Disney site the first screen shows your full name and the confirmation number. The details page will show the number of members of your party which will allow the consulate to match up to the various visas requested.

However, you did say he's going for work so I assume he's on a M visa and you're on a tourist visa - correct? If you end up with problems sharing a hotel reservation I'd just go book a fully refundable hilton/marriott reservation in Shanghai under your name and send that in. You can cancel it once you get your visa.

RE VPN - he is over reacting for sure. Install it before you leave for China on your devices and you will be fine. I've had mainland hotels email me before my arrival date to remind me to have a VPN pre-installed. It can still be hit or miss based on if there are any big political events happening or if your travel falls on sensitive anniversaries, but for my last few trips ExpressVPN has worked - though you sometimes just need to pick different end points to connect to (it's easy - e.g. US, Japan, Hong Kong). You can also rent a local portable wifi (I've used 3Gsolutions every time, delivered to hotel) and have your phones connect to that. I roam on my main phone which has Verizon service using their $10/day international service. Note that this does NOT need a VPN as VZ back hauls it out of China for you. I have an extra iphone 7 that I pop a local China Unicom sim into on arrival - usually about $30 for like 10Gb of data and a Chinese local number which comes in handy. There are cheaper locations, but I always just get the card at the airport before leaving - you can't miss their kiosks at PVG & PEK.

You really need the app in the parks. It worked perfect on both roaming and via the portable wifi hotspot. I did not try to connect to the park wifi. I couldn't imagine a trip in China without proper smart phone access.

 

[taylor3297]

You might need a better visa courier. The Houston consulate accepted via the courier company I used a "print screen" of the "My Reservations" page and then a print out of the details when you click "View Confirmation" when I was getting visas for the family. My name was the only name on the reservation. Took 2 days total plus the 2 days to fedex to/return from the courier.

On the Shanghai Disney site the first screen shows your full name and the confirmation number. The details page will show the number of members of your party which will allow the consulate to match up to the various visas requested.

However, you did say he's going for work so I assume he's on a M visa and you're on a tourist visa - correct? If you end up with problems sharing a hotel reservation I'd just go book a fully refundable hilton/marriott reservation in Shanghai under your name and send that in. You can cancel it once you get your visa.

RE VPN - he is over reacting for sure. Install it before you leave for China on your devices and you will be fine. I've had mainland hotels email me before my arrival date to remind me to have a VPN pre-installed. It can still be hit or miss based on if there are any big political events happening or if your travel falls on sensitive anniversaries, but for my last few trips ExpressVPN has worked - though you sometimes just need to pick different end points to connect to (it's easy - e.g. US, Japan, Hong Kong). You can also rent a local portable wifi (I've used 3Gsolutions every time, delivered to hotel) and have your phones connect to that. I roam on my main phone which has Verizon service using their $10/day international service. Note that this does NOT need a VPN as VZ back hauls it out of China for you. I have an extra iphone 7 that I pop a local China Unicom sim into on arrival - usually about $30 for like 10Gb of data and a Chinese local number which comes in handy. There are cheaper locations, but I always just get the card at the airport before leaving - you can't miss their kiosks at PVG & PEK.

You really need the app in the parks. It worked perfect on both roaming and via the portable wifi hotspot. I did not try to connect to the park wifi. I couldn't imagine a trip in China without proper smart phone access.

So each person doesn’t have to be listed on the reservation? My family of 4 will be applying for a visa in February for our trip in April. Delta sent paperwork for each of us to help get visas. Our reservation for Toy Story hotel just has my name and says party of 4.

 

[bkmanhole]

Regarding a sim card - I used this one ordered through Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/China-Unicom-..._4?keywords=ChinaUnicom&qid=1571155864&sr=8-4

There is also a smaller data option if you are not there as long.
https://www.amazon.ca/China-Hong-Ko..._1?keywords=ChinaUnicom&qid=1571155792&sr=8-1
They mail the sim card to your home before your trip so you have it with you. I was able to access blocked sites while in Shanghai, and use google maps to help with navigating when we went into the city.

Regarding the reservation, I would try emailing again. Be sure to include your reservation and the information they need as I found they are not great with replies if you ask follow up things. But when I emailed and included everything (reservation number, and all the names I needed) they got back to me with what I needed in their response. Bare in mind, this was over a year ago now... it took a 2-3 days for a response.

 

[Sandeep1]

Easier option for the hotel is just to book a throwaway hotel reservation in Shanghai, a Marriott or whatever you want (make sure it is fully refundable). Book it, print off the reservation, and use it for your visa application.

 

[gt5889a]

So each person doesn’t have to be listed on the reservation? My family of 4 will be applying for a visa in February for our trip in April. Delta sent paperwork for each of us to help get visas. Our reservation for Toy Story hotel just has my name and says party of 4.

Well, I wouldn't say anything with a Chinese visa is a hard and fast rule. On the Visa application there is a section on who will pay for your trip. The visa for each of my family members was filled in as <relationship> <Name> e.g Parent "My Name", Spouse "My Name" and all the reservations for hotels were only in "My Name." That is all the company I used said I should do and it seemed to work. Took maybe 3 days total from when I FedEx'd them my paper work/passports. They are the ones who caught my Disneyland Hotel reservation did not have my full name. A quick print screen emailed to them was all it took.

 

[Lesley Wake]

I visited Shanghai Disney in late October and did the 144-hour visa. I realized after going thru immigration I never even was asked to show my hotel reservation info. Just my airline ticket/booking. I wouldn't say it was particularly busy or not-busy. There was still a line and wait at the 144-hour visa desks, but not like the regular visa desks.