Shanghai Toy Story Hotel. Question on how far in advance to book

[ryankski]

My brother and I are going to HK and Shanghai Disney lands in October/November. We will be staying in Shanghai for three nights 10/31 arrival and 1/3 departure (Wednesday to Saturday). When I purchased the tickets a couple of months ago we could not yet see prices for October for the Toy Story Hotel. I'm starting to look at booking hotels now and the price for all 3 views/rooms for two people are 1,950 yuan average per night which is about $308 USD per. However, if I look at the same days Wed-Sat in mid-April the price is 750 yuan per night, end of May is 1,116.67 yuan per night and end of July is 1,183.33 yuan per night. Internet research appears to confirm July is during their school break and the price is less then October which is during the school year. Even early October, Wed the 3rd to Sat the 6th is 1,683.33 which is their National Day Golden Week holiday. I would assume the holiday would be more expensive not cheaper.

So I'm wondering if they jack the price up so far in advance and then lower at is gets closer and the rooms don't fill up? Or am I missing something in October and why the Toy Story Hotel is nearly 800 yuan more the end of October then the end of July. I'm ok with waiting a few months and am wondering if historically the prices get lower as the days get closer. Please help me understand this hotel and how it works. Thanks for the help I appreciate it.

 

[Nomarian]

I hope somebody here can help you, but I know I booked our dates to make sure we were not on any school or national holidays as I would not want to be in the parks during those times. The crowds would just be crazy.

 

[MommaBerd]

I also am of no help...we are, unfortunately, going to be there during a national holiday, so I booked way in advance.

I feel like a Western blogger/writer could really find a niche in researching and writing about SDR because there is SO little info out there. Granted, it’s only a year and a half old. But still...

 

[MommaBerd]

I wanted to add that your post prompted me to check room prices again. The cost for my Club Level room at The Disneyland Hotel has decreased SIGNIFICANTLY! So, I am definitely canceling and rebooking. I owe you big time!!!

Lesson learned? Book when you want to go and keep checking prices?

ETA: Our stay is about 2 1/2 weeks from today.

 

[ryankski]

Awesome! If/when I book I will keep checking to see if they go cheaper. I'm hoping I can figure out how their pricing works which at the moment doesn't make sense to me at the moment.

 

[Nomarian]

This is good information. We are still over 2 1/2 months out, so I will be checking the price again every so often.

 

[Simba001]

I wanted to add that your post prompted me to check room prices again. The cost for my Club Level room at The Disneyland Hotel has decreased SIGNIFICANTLY! So, I am definitely canceling and rebooking. I owe you big time!!!

Lesson learned? Book when you want to go and keep checking prices?

ETA: Our stay is about 2 1/2 weeks from today.

Just booked our Club Level for September, though it was much higher than what I had seen earlier...... Now, when we get closer I will for sure check back and see (hope) it goes down. Please post how easy (or not) it was to cancel and re-book.

 

[MommaBerd]

Just booked our Club Level for September, though it was much higher than what I had seen earlier...... Now, when we get closer I will for sure check back and see (hope) it goes down. Please post how easy (or not) it was to cancel and re-book.

I went ahead and just made a new reservation this morning. Tonight I’ll call and cancel my original reservation. I saved a little over $400 for two nights!

 

[Simba001]

I went ahead and just made a new reservation this morning. Tonight I’ll call and cancel my original reservation. I saved a little over $400 for two nights!

Great savings! Hopefully it won’t take months to get the cancellation credited to your account .

 

[MommaBerd]

Great savings! Hopefully it won’t take months to get the cancellation credited to your account .

I am pretty sure that I hadn’t paid for the room on my first reservation...maybe a deposit? I hate how Disney never includes prices/payments in their confirmations.

ETA: I did pay in full and they did say it could take up to a month.

 

[ryankski]

How far out did everyone book hotels for SH Disneyland? I have around 7 months, but was hoping to book sooner. I'll book elsewhere before I pay $300 USD a night especially during what is not peak season, at least for most of the world anyways.

 

[Nomarian]

I booked my June trip back in December. I will cancel and book again if it goes lower.

 

[bkmanhole]

My brother and I are going to HK and Shanghai Disney lands in October/November. We will be staying in Shanghai for three nights 10/31 arrival and 1/3 departure (Wednesday to Saturday). When I purchased the tickets a couple of months ago we could not yet see prices for October for the Toy Story Hotel. I'm starting to look at booking hotels now and the price for all 3 views/rooms for two people are 1,950 yuan average per night which is about $308 USD per. However, if I look at the same days Wed-Sat in mid-April the price is 750 yuan per night, end of May is 1,116.67 yuan per night and end of July is 1,183.33 yuan per night. Internet research appears to confirm July is during their school break and the price is less then October which is during the school year. Even early October, Wed the 3rd to Sat the 6th is 1,683.33 which is their National Day Golden Week holiday. I would assume the holiday would be more expensive not cheaper.

So I'm wondering if they jack the price up so far in advance and then lower at is gets closer and the rooms don't fill up? Or am I missing something in October and why the Toy Story Hotel is nearly 800 yuan more the end of October then the end of July. I'm ok with waiting a few months and am wondering if historically the prices get lower as the days get closer. Please help me understand this hotel and how it works. Thanks for the help I appreciate it.

Thanks for this post! I was wondering the exact same thing as we just started looking into similar dates and asked myself the same question.

Have you looked into any backup hotels yet?

 

[AquaDame]

I am pretty sure that I hadn’t paid for the room on my first reservation...maybe a deposit? I hate how Disney never includes prices/payments in their confirmations.

ETA: I did pay in full and they did say it could take up to a month.

Same here... I booked our room for November but will want to keep checking. Please let us know how long it takes to get your refund if you can! I'm guessing you were able to speak to someone in English...?

 

[Nomarian]

I was able to call the phone number on the website and on the menu, you can choose English. Once there I was connected with a CM that spoke very good English and I did a purchase of the summer pass for my family and then got the 10% off the current booking of my room. I will respond once I get my refund as well. I am also watching prices as we get closer to our June trip to see if we can get a better price.

 

[ryankski]

So figured I'd follow up and just check ed our dates at the Toy Story Hotel for the first time since my original post two months ago. So When I checked two months ago the price of a garden view room was CNY 1,950 per night or approximately US$308 and as off today the price is CNY 850 per night or approximately US$134. So it does appear that when they first listed the rooms they were at standard ridiculous price and they are adjusting downward.

Does anyone know what the taxes and fees are for Shanghai or more specifically the Toy Story hotel are? I know from a recent booking in Hong Kong it is 10%, but curious if here is standard for Shanghai. I'm having issues creating an account with the Shanghai Disney resort as I'm not getting the confirmation PIN text. As soon as I get that straightened out I'm probably going book if I can cancel and adjust if it goes down more.

 

[Nomarian]

It should be pretty easy to cancel and re-book as that is what I did a few weeks ago. I had to call them over the phone to do it, but it was not very hard. They canceled the first reservation and started the refund on that, but said it could take a week or two and then created a new one and charged your credit card again. I got my refund in about a week off the first reservation. They do charge a service charge on the booking and from what I can tell if I break out the charge, it is about 15%. I also checked again and now the rates are higher, but we leave in two weeks.