ABD China 2017

sayhello said:
Our day at Shanghai Disney was pretty nearly perfect. I think the only complaint some folks had was that we didn't have enough time there. And the Guides admitted some of this was due to this being the first run of the new itinerary, and us being the very first to visit Shanghai Disneyland, and they apologized and thanked us for being the guinea pigs for this. (They showed their appreciation by buying us all Shanghai Disneyland 1st Anniversary Mickey Mouse Ears, which were very, very cool. They made sure to let us know that this was a special purchase just for us to thank us for putting up with it all, and not a normal thing for the farewell dinner.) The whole day was really special & magical.
Click to expand...

I was really surprised that it wasn't a full day there starting at park open. I would be dying with anticipation and not enjoying any activities before the park on that day.
 
OhanaCuz said:
I was really surprised that it wasn't a full day there starting at park open. I would be dying with anticipation and not enjoying any activities before the park on that day.
Click to expand...
I'm sure they had their reasons -- like the solid hour CaliforniaGirl09's family stood in line to get in at 10:00am the next day. But several of the folks on our trip would agree with you, and were chomping at the bit to get there & get in. I actually really enjoyed our morning activities in Old Shanghai, and would be sad to see them go. But I imagine there will be some re-arranging of the day for subsequent trips.

Sayhello
 
sayhello said:
I'm sure they had their reasons -- like the solid hour CaliforniaGirl09's family stood in line to get in at 10:00am the next day. But several of the folks on our trip would agree with you, and were chomping at the bit to get there & get in. I actually really enjoyed our morning activities in Old Shanghai, and would be sad to see them go. But I imagine there will be some re-arranging of the day for subsequent trips.

Sayhello
Click to expand...
Initially, I wondered why the delay to get in the park, too, but as SayHello mentioned, after standing in line for an hour to get in the next day, it makes a *lot* more sense. It was crazy packed. There would have been no way to get us through the gate even if ABD could arrange a special entrance. I wish I could have taken a picture but it was wall to wall people through both security and the turnstile lines.

Without that morning, you would basically see nothing of Shanghai, and I ended up loving China town and Yu Gardens. I would hate to see them go. Even with our delays arriving and getting in to SD, it was enough time for us at SD thanks to the fast passes, and we are Disney die-hards. I think once they smooth out the process it will allow for even more time. Despite our not so great experience the day after at SD, I would still suggest that die-hard Disney folks add an extra day at the end. It was really easy to do and took away a lot of anxiety.
 
CaliforniaGirl09 said:
Initially, I wondered why the delay to get in the park, too, but as SayHello mentioned, after standing in line for an hour to get in the next day, it makes a *lot* more sense. It was crazy packed. There would have been no way to get us through the gate even if ABD could arrange a special entrance. I wish I could have taken a picture but it was wall to wall people through both security and the turnstile lines.

Without that morning, you would basically see nothing of Shanghai, and I ended up loving China town and Yu Gardens. I would hate to see them go. Even with our delays arriving and getting in to SD, it was enough time for us at SD thanks to the fast passes, and we are Disney die-hards. I think once they smooth out the process it will allow for even more time. Despite our not so great experience the day after at SD, I would still suggest that die-hard Disney folks add an extra day at the end. It was really easy to do and took away a lot of anxiety.
Click to expand...
Did you take a taxi or the subway to get to SHDL on your post-day? We are hoping to get the Premiere Access pass on our post-day but are thinking we are going to have to arrive 1 hour before park opening (7am)!
 


CaliKris said:
Did you take a taxi or the subway to get to SHDL on your post-day? We are hoping to get the Premiere Access pass on our post-day but are thinking we are going to have to arrive 1 hour before park opening (7am)!
Click to expand...

We took a taxi. It was cheap an easy. The forty plus minute drive cost 130-150 yuan. So around $20-25. We had hoped to get a premier access pass as well, but we found out they sell out before 9 am. But as they are sold inside the park, you need to budget adequate time to get through security and the turnstiles. I have no idea what the crowds are like that early. We arrived at 10 am, by which time it was packed and the set of Premier Access tickets were long gone. I would think arriving an hour before opening would be okay, but maybe monitor the parks board to see if others have better experience with this.

BTW, they use your passport to retrieve your tickets, so have whatever passport you used to buy your tickets available. He didn't even look at my print off.
 
CaliKris said:
Did you take a taxi or the subway to get to SHDL on your post-day? We are hoping to get the Premiere Access pass on our post-day but are thinking we are going to have to arrive 1 hour before park opening (7am)!
Click to expand...

CaliforniaGirl09 said:
We took a taxi. It was cheap an easy. The forty plus minute drive cost 130-150 yuan. So around $20-25. We had hoped to get a premier access pass as well, but we found out they sell out before 9 am. But as they are sold inside the park, you need to budget adequate time to get through security and the turnstiles. I have no idea what the crowds are like that early. We arrived at 10 am, by which time it was packed and the set of Premier Access tickets were long gone. I would think arriving an hour before opening would be okay, but maybe monitor the parks board to see if others have better experience with this.

BTW, they use your passport to retrieve your tickets, so have whatever passport you used to buy your tickets available. He didn't even look at my print off.
Click to expand...

We took the subway from a station about a 10-minute walk from our hotel in the French Concession when we visited SHDL last summer. Also very cheap and very easy. Our Thomson guide helped with walking directions to the subway. While the park was crowded the two days we were there (July 16 and 17) because it was only a month or so after opening, we did not experience the long wait through security and ticket line that CaliforniaGirl09 and her family did. I don't think it took us longer than 15 or 20 minutes either day to gain park entry. I agree that you should try to monitor crowds before you go, but the long waits CaliforniaGirl experienced could have been tied to the one-year anniversary of the park opening and not be typical. I can't speak to Premier Access tickets since we did a VIP private tour our first day and relied on fast passes and hitting rides with shorter standby waits on our second day on our own.
 
Thanks for the info @CaliforniaGirl09 and @Calfan! We will probably just take a taxi to avoid getting lost since we will want to get there as early as possible. I have been monitoring the "Other Lands" boards and they recommend getting there 1 hour before park opening. I did read that June 15th and 16th the crowds were extra bad. We will do our best to try to get a Premiere Pass. If not, we will just do standby and call it a day when the lines get too long. It sounds like the lines to get a FP get very long as well.
 


Calfan said:
We took the subway from a station about a 10-minute walk from our hotel in the French Concession when we visited SHDL last summer. Also very cheap and very easy. Our Thomson guide helped with walking directions to the subway. While the park was crowded the two days we were there (July 16 and 17) because it was only a month or so after opening, we did not experience the long wait through security and ticket line that CaliforniaGirl09 and her family did. I don't think it took us longer than 15 or 20 minutes either day to gain park entry. I agree that you should try to monitor crowds before you go, but the long waits CaliforniaGirl experienced could have been tied to the one-year anniversary of the park opening and not be typical. I can't speak to Premier Access tickets since we did a VIP private tour our first day and relied on fast passes and hitting rides with shorter standby waits on our second day on our own.
Click to expand...

From our hotel on the bund, I think the concierge said there were three metro changes. We asked, but he recommended the cab for four people going at the commuter times of day. But definitely ask, CaliKris! I'm assuming you are on ABD, but maybe you aren't...
 
CaliforniaGirl09 said:
We all received ponchos but they remained unopened in our bags.

I did not bring a cooling towel, but was wishing I had on the one day in Hong Kong and the other afternoon in Guilin.
Click to expand...

We brought cooling towels and relied on them during the trip at HK Disneyland, Yangshao market after Li River cruise and in Shanghai Disneyland. I used the Frogg Togg Chili Pads, soaked them in the morning and carried them with me, just in case. Aired them out at night.

My son and I did venture out to the market in Beijing; the guides were very helpful getting us there by subway, which was an adventure within an adventure; we were the tallest people around. At the market, two young ladies tried to drag Michael off to an art exhibit, but we stayed focused on our mission. There were lots of tourists at the market, which featured shocking foods to eat (I tried a scorpion...eek!), and then Michael and I tried to find a restaurant I had researched Najia Xiaoguan, 10 Yong’an Xili, off Jianguomenwali Dajie, Chunxiu Lu which we finally did after relying completely on the kindness of strangers, who shyly could not speak English. The restaurant was packed and had local specialties such as "We hand torn bacterium" and "The shoe is frozen". We stuck to things on the menu (great pictures!) that we recognized from Country Kitchen.

If you wanted to eat indoors at Country Kitchen, you needed a reservation the first night or could sit at a sidebar. We couldn't go outside after a day in Beijing because the air, although seemingly pleasant and clear, was starting to affect us - headache, spacey, congestion. Fantastic noodles at CK. A do not miss for sure!
 
Just FYI for folks, I just realized, and had it confirmed, they have "retired" the general "Adventures by Disney" pins as of this year. ie, you don't get a pin the first day that just says "Adventures by Disney". I'm kinda sad about that. I thought it was cool how they evolved over the years...

Sayhello
 
I am really enjoying reading the 2017 trip reports and everyone's posts. We are going to the Oct 22 trip. Anyone else on that trip? We are arriving a day early and planning to take the Star Ferry to HKDL. Has anyone done that? Also planing a follow-up day in SHDL and then the weekend at TKDLR. Looking forward to connecting with fellow travelers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page


GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!


New DISboards Threads

C
Mickey Mouse Club Mystery Pin Set
Replies
0
Views
16
cleamon24
C
AgentMama
The Tortured Poet's Department- anyone else listening?
Replies
1
Views
26
Sweettears
Sweettears
momz
Mother’s Day project at church
Replies
0
Views
47
momz
momz
momz
Relocating to New Orleans
Replies
1
Views
66
flyingdumbo127
flyingdumbo127
LuvOrlando
Women who reported having been pregnant looked biologically older than women who had never, and women who had been pregnant more often looked ...older
Replies
2
Views
104
georgina
georgina
Pluto468
Cute headbands coming to Disneyland
Replies
1
Views
87
DizMe
DizMe
NEWS & UPDATES



Latest posts







facebook twitter
Top