What would you do - Shanghai Disney?

[MommaBerd]

So, this doesn’t exactly come as a surprise, but it is a (smaller?) Chinese holiday when we are planning to visit SDR, and I just saw that peak pricing is in place. There was no way to avoid going at this time since my DH has business commitments around which we had to plan. Sigh.

So, here is my question, would you do 1-day tickets with Premier Access or go for 2 days (maybe more like 1 2/3 days) without Premier Access? One caveat with the Premier Access is that one of my sons really doesn’t ride anything, so we would not be purchasing a Premier Access for him. I am keeping budget in mind, and obviously 1-day with PA will be less expensive. But, I am really more focused on park touring efficiency - being able to see and do as much as we can. Will I regret going the cheaper route? Thanks for any input!

 

[CaptainCook]

Have you been to other Disney parks and experienced all the attractions there? Or would skipping Soarin for example really be a blow to your trip?

We are visiting SDL later this year for one day and are foregoing premiere access. But we have done WDW multiple times, DL and DLP. For me this visit is more about being in the park than experiencing certain attractions (...POTC and Challenge Trails notwithstanding. )

If you’re keen on doing it all, and visiting an already-busy park on a holiday, I would think PA is the way to go to maximize your time. But I’ve never been before; that’s just based on what I’ve read.

 

[Agent 86]

Hmmmmm. Are you willing to maximise your use of Fast Passes? If so, I'd be inclined to go with two days, no Premier Access, to increase the chances of being able to ride your favourite rides more than once.

But, that would be heavily dependent upon the most efficient use of Fast Passes possible, which would require the Fast Pass runner to cover a LOT of ground as the park is very large. Unless they've introduced an electronic / online Fast Pass system since we visited - I keep forgetting which parks do and don't have that.

If you're only interested in riding everything once, then a single day with Premier Access would be fine. I guess it really just depends upon how much time you want to spend in the park and how many times you want to ride some of the rides. A single day may be best if your son doesn't like rides - it would otherwise be a very dull two days for him.

 

[MommaBerd]

Thanks for your input @CaptainCook and @Agent 86.

We have been to WDW several times and will be hitting DL on our way back home from China. So, given that Soaring is incredibly popular at SDR, we may skip that one. And maybe we skip 7DMT. But, Buzz seems to be a much better version than either of the American parks, so I’d like to do that one. Plus, DS11 and I went to Disney After Hours at the MK a few weeks ago and rode Buzz. So we think it would be fun to ride it at SDR and then at DL. We will have done 3 different versions of Buzz in two months.

@Agent 86 - The good news is that they do now have FPs enabled on the app! Only one of my boys, out of three, doesn’t like to ride, but I think he will enjoy the park itself.

I watched some videos on YouTube yesterday, and I’m leaning towards two days...well 1 full day and then maybe till just before dinner the next day. (We have to move to our hotel in “downtown” Shanghai.) I realize that there are so many Disney details to notice and enjoy, and if we are going commando-style for one day, I think we’ll miss a lot of that. I just wish I knew what to expect in terms of crowd size...

 

[MommaBerd]

So, I just discovered (if the source is accurate) that PA for a peak day is 600 RMB (vs. 480 for regular day) - that’s around $95! I think that pretty much rules out getting the PA and doing two days instead...

 

[Agent 86]

Buzz is awesome. I much prefer the newer technology. Not only did I get the highest ranking possible, but I also blitzed my husband every time we rode (which normally never happens as I always "lose" my red dot).

I normally like Soaring, especially as it's not at Tokyo Disneyland which is my most frequently visited park, but it really depends upon the seating position with the new "around the world" show. It's just not that enjoyable when you're on the far side and the mountains and Eiffel Tower are all crooked. So, if you have other options for seeing it, skipping it would mean that you can grab Fast Passes for something like Tron (via the app) and head straight to Pirates for standby (as Pirates doesn't have Fast Passes available).

I didn't understand the fuss about the Mine Ride, but I've never ridden the one at WDW, so perhaps that's a lot better?

 

[MommaBerd]

Buzz is awesome. I much prefer the newer technology. Not only did I get the highest ranking possible, but I also blitzed my husband every time we rode (which normally never happens as I always "lose" my red dot).

I normally like Soaring, especially as it's not at Tokyo Disneyland which is my most frequently visited park, but it really depends upon the seating position with the new "around the world" show. It's just not that enjoyable when you're on the far side and the mountains and Eiffel Tower are all crooked. So, if you have other options for seeing it, skipping it would mean that you can grab Fast Passes for something like Tron (via the app) and head straight to Pirates for standby (as Pirates doesn't have Fast Passes available).

I didn't understand the fuss about the Mine Ride, but I've never ridden the one at WDW, so perhaps that's a lot better?

The new Soaring *really* depends on seat location. At Epcot, we wait until we can sit in the middle section, but I doubt we could communicate that with the SDL CMs. Apparently, only the very last scene is different at SDL, so I think we’ll skip it.

As for 7DMT, I think it is an exact replica of the one at MK. We think it is a fun ride, but if we need to “cut” another ride, that would be on the list.

I mentioned that we rode Buzz recently, but we also rode PP when we were there. So if we ride in Shanghai and at DL, that will make for another fun comparison!

 

[cschaaf]

Out of the rides that have WDW 'equivalents'

• We liked the Shanghai PP, it was so fresh looking, but if you are looking to save time and have done the MK version, you aren't missing much.
• We skipped Pooh even though we had the Premiere Pass. set
• 7DMT is the same ride as the one in MK except the end scene. The end scene in MK is better, IMO.
• We road Soaring because we hadn't done the updated version in EPCOT. That can be skipped if you've seen, or will see, the EPCOT version.
• The updated Buzz was better than the MK version.

Pirates is not on this list - the Shanghai version is a must do. I'd recommend hitting that first thing in the morning, that queue looked like it would get mighty uncomfortable as the day went on.

We went on a sold out day and it rarely 'felt' super crowded. Getting through security was crowded and some of the queues were crowded. The Tron locker area, in particular, was crazy and an disorganized mess. But the park is so big, and the walkways so wide, that you never felt crowded walking through the park.

 

[MommaBerd]

@cschaaf - Thanks for that break down AND for the report regarding a sold out day. I’m glad to know it didn’t feel crowded, though I’m sure the stand-by lines were crazy long...

I am SO excited to ride Pirates!!!

 

[cschaaf]

@cschaaf - Thanks for that break down AND for the report regarding a sold out day. I’m glad to know it didn’t feel crowded, though I’m sure the stand-by lines were crazy long...

I am SO excited to ride Pirates!!!

Yeah, the only standby line we did was Pirates because it doesn't have a FP line.

It's a huge park with lots of walking. If you also have to wait in long lines, 1 day probably isn't enough during a busy time unless you are willing to skip a lot of the bigger waits. With 2 days, you can split the park in half and cut down on the amount of walking - saving you both steps and time.

We only had one day that we could go to the park - it was the only full day we had in Shanghai - so we sprung for the pack of FPs. We felt it was an expensive day, but worth every penny. We only missed out on a few things that we wanted to do, but that was because the park pretty much shut down after a crazy wind and rain storm. Most of the rides were closed and all of the shows shut down. Fortunately, Tron re-opened and we used a second FP, one we pulled from the FP machines, for another ride.

 

[Alexsandra]

I would do two days for sure. I found the Fastpasses were easy to get and was able to fit in everything i wanted in one day. I would do Pirate of the Caribbean first thing in the morning. SDMT was the same as the florida one and it does have a single rider line if you don't mind splitting up. Soaring is easily accessible with a FP. You can read my trip report here if you want to see how I managed my day there: http://disneymommytips.blogspot.ca/2018/03/shanghai-disneyland-trip-report.html

 

[MommaBerd]

I would do two days for sure. I found the Fastpasses were easy to get and was able to fit in everything i wanted in one day. I would do Pirate of the Caribbean first thing in the morning. SDMT was the same as the florida one and it does have a single rider line if you don't mind splitting up. Soaring is easily accessible with a FP. You can read my trip report here if you want to see how I managed my day there: http://disneymommytips.blogspot.ca/2018/03/shanghai-disneyland-trip-report.html

Thanks! I saw your post earlier and I look forward to reading it! I have decided we’ll do two days. I’ve watched some videos of park touring and read reports, and I’d much rather spend the extra money (which is becoming a theme on our trip ) and enjoy our time in the park than feel rushed to see everything in one day, particularly given that it will be holidays/peak days...

 

[swooshbear]

We did two days during Thanksgiving and it was just enough time, but we didn't get to do everything. But did ride TRON six time and Pirates three times. The mobile app/FP system really helped with this if you time everything right. We didn't have time to do the Challenge Trails, the queue was over an hour by late morning and never really died down.

 

[MommaBerd]

WOW! Tron x 6 and Pirates x 3 - that’s awesome! I did decide to go for two days because I don’t want to “rush” and miss the details and beauty of the park itself.

 

[zavandor]

I went to Shanghai Disneyland on the 22nd and 23rd of March (a Thursday and Friday), when it was supposed to be off season and it was packed. Those were the first two days of good weather after a few rainy days and many people probably waited and choose to go those two days. We were able to do everything we wanted, but Soaring hit 3,5 hours, Tron was consistently over 1 hour and so on. If I had one day only I would have purchased the Premier Access for sure.
If you're going during a Chinese holiday prepare for the worst, if peak pricing is in place it's going to be massively packed.

BTW, I have yet to go to Hong Kong, but out of all the other parks, Pirates is the best Disney attraction in the world. By a huge margin. I didn't spoil it watching video on youtube, so I've been completely blown away. My second favorite thing is Tomorrowland: love the background music and the whole area really transports you into the future. Least favorite parts: the hub and Fantasyland.

 

[MommaBerd]

@zavandor - We went to the parks last Thursday and Friday (I did a “quick” review/update in a separate thread. We ended up going for two days AND paying surge pricing for Premier Access...if we hadn’t paid for PA, we might as well not have gone to the park that day. They stopped selling park tickets for the day around 11:30 or 12:00, I believe!

 

[zavandor]

Eh, I thought so. During holidays tourist attractions are completely packed. My guide in Beijing has shown me a picture of the Great Wall during Chinese new Year holiday and it was unbelievable!

 

[Pugsly]

I’m really behind the curve in planning for our upcoming SDL trip. We’ll only be there one day, and just bought standard tickets as I didn’t really understand Premier Access (still don’t). Can someone please tell me whether we can upgrade our tickets and explain what exactly Premier Access gets you?

 

[Agent 86]

https://tdrexplorer.com/disney-premier-access-now-available-at-shanghai-disneyland/

https://www.shanghaidisneyresort.com/en/guest-services/disney-premier-access/

 

[Impromark]

The short answer is yes you can, and there will be signage upon entry where you can go and get it (they push this upsell quite a bit). Effectively it’s a set of fastpasses for one or more rides; worth it if you don’t want to wrestle with the regular lines at all and don’t mind paying extra for it.

On my one-day visit, we easily got to all the unique-to-Shanghai stuff we wanted to see with the app and one fastpass for the day; but we were on a low-traffic day, so you may want to consider otherwise if you’re in the busy season or on the weekend.

Mark