Cousin Orville
Inventor of Air Cooling
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2000
{Please note this trip report may contain spoilers, especially towards the end of the trip in Shanghai}
I’m going to try to do an edited down “mini” trip report of our recent DIS exclusive China ABD. This was a very special ABD that was custom designed by Kevin Klose at Dreams Unlimited Travel. The idea was to create a unique ABD that focused on Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland. John Magi of Dreams Unlimited also created an organized add-on to Tokyo (although it was not with ABD). We were unable to go to Tokyo due to time limitations and wanting a few extra days in Hong Kong. So, I can’t comment on that portion. Most of our group did go to Tokyo though.
I’ve been on the original China ABD in 2014, so I think I can compare them pretty well. It was a fabulous ABD. Even though most of the days in Hong Kong and Shanghai were customized for this trip, the guides did a great job executing the adventure. You never would have known it wasn’t a routine Adventure.
It was a 12 day Adventure split up evenly between HK, Beijing, and Shanghai. We stayed at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, the Beijing Rosewood, and the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel. For the days dedicated to the parks, we had VIP guided tours, Imagineer tours, and a number of special experiences. There were 4 days that were somewhat similar to my original China ABD trip. The day trip in Hong Kong up Victoria peak, the day trip in Shanghai to the Yu Gardens, the trip to the Great Wall, and the trip to the Forbidden City were similar. But even amongst those days, there were a lot of differences. There really wasn’t much overlap. The rest of the days were unique to this ABD. There was a concern in developing this ABD that there might not be enough “China” in this ABD. Having done both, I disagree. While it omits sites in Chengdu, Xian and Guilin, the extra time spent around the parks and the city of HK/Shanghai allowed for more personal interaction with the people of China. We certainly got an appreciation of the Chinese people at play. Shanghai Disneyland in particular has a tag line of Authentically Disney, Distinctly Chinese for a reason. We saw their love and enthusiasm for all things Disney. We also saw their uniquely competitive spirit and lack of a concern for personal space.
It was a great trip, a great ABD. I loved China the first time, and when I had the opportunity to return with my wife Kate and see Shanghai DL and show her the Great Wall and HK, I knew I wanted to jump at the opportunity. And I’m glad we did. We had a great time. The parks were fabulous. The weather really couldn’t have been better. HK was still hot, but not as brutal as it was when I first went. Autumn brought the changing colors around the Great Wall. It was just a beautiful trip.
I don’t really think I can create another extensive trip report so soon after Africa, but certainly if anyone has any questions let me know. For now I’ll just break it up into Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai rather than individual days.
I’m going to try to do an edited down “mini” trip report of our recent DIS exclusive China ABD. This was a very special ABD that was custom designed by Kevin Klose at Dreams Unlimited Travel. The idea was to create a unique ABD that focused on Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland. John Magi of Dreams Unlimited also created an organized add-on to Tokyo (although it was not with ABD). We were unable to go to Tokyo due to time limitations and wanting a few extra days in Hong Kong. So, I can’t comment on that portion. Most of our group did go to Tokyo though.
I’ve been on the original China ABD in 2014, so I think I can compare them pretty well. It was a fabulous ABD. Even though most of the days in Hong Kong and Shanghai were customized for this trip, the guides did a great job executing the adventure. You never would have known it wasn’t a routine Adventure.
It was a 12 day Adventure split up evenly between HK, Beijing, and Shanghai. We stayed at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, the Beijing Rosewood, and the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel. For the days dedicated to the parks, we had VIP guided tours, Imagineer tours, and a number of special experiences. There were 4 days that were somewhat similar to my original China ABD trip. The day trip in Hong Kong up Victoria peak, the day trip in Shanghai to the Yu Gardens, the trip to the Great Wall, and the trip to the Forbidden City were similar. But even amongst those days, there were a lot of differences. There really wasn’t much overlap. The rest of the days were unique to this ABD. There was a concern in developing this ABD that there might not be enough “China” in this ABD. Having done both, I disagree. While it omits sites in Chengdu, Xian and Guilin, the extra time spent around the parks and the city of HK/Shanghai allowed for more personal interaction with the people of China. We certainly got an appreciation of the Chinese people at play. Shanghai Disneyland in particular has a tag line of Authentically Disney, Distinctly Chinese for a reason. We saw their love and enthusiasm for all things Disney. We also saw their uniquely competitive spirit and lack of a concern for personal space.
It was a great trip, a great ABD. I loved China the first time, and when I had the opportunity to return with my wife Kate and see Shanghai DL and show her the Great Wall and HK, I knew I wanted to jump at the opportunity. And I’m glad we did. We had a great time. The parks were fabulous. The weather really couldn’t have been better. HK was still hot, but not as brutal as it was when I first went. Autumn brought the changing colors around the Great Wall. It was just a beautiful trip.
I don’t really think I can create another extensive trip report so soon after Africa, but certainly if anyone has any questions let me know. For now I’ll just break it up into Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai rather than individual days.
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