Crazy Pacific Rim Vacation

[HMANSION LOVER]

We were planning a trip to Tokyo Disney in maybe 2017-2018 (lot's of saving to do, LOTS) and it has, with the help of friends and family planning on going with us, morphed into a 3 park trip with stops at Tokyo Disney, Hong Kong Disney and then Shanghai Disney leaving only Paris to do. Have a couple of questions!

1.) Are we crazy?

2.) Has anyone tried to plan a trip like this?

3.) Realistically, can it be done without unlimited time and money?

and

4.) ARE WE CRAZY?

 

[Karin1984]

No, you're not crazy. I am seriously thinking about the same thing, as the Asian parks are my last 3 to visit. Coincidentally I posted a similar question on my Facebook a few hours ago. And yes, I think it can be done. It will take time to plan and put money aside, but it's not impossible.

Step 1: How much time do I need?
I am thinking I will need 2 - 3 weeks. Preferably, go to the parks on week days and use the weekend days to travel and sightseeing Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
TDL: 3-4 days
HDL: 2-3 days
SDL: 2-3 days

Step 2: When to go?
As we have no data yet on how the crowds in Shanghai will look, I have started with checking when the crowds in Tokyo are the lowest as Tokyo is a lot busier than Hong Kong. So either January or the week before Golden Week. Crowds are lower in January, but also winter in Japan and January is not the best time for me to take off time from work.

Step 3: How to get there?
There are many low cost carriers within Asia, so looking into booking long haul flights separately from 'domestic' flights. Try to figure out what to costs are for the 6 different orders of visiting you have (THS, TSH, HTS, HST, STH, SHT).

Step 4: How much money do I need?
Investigate hotel costs, compare on site vs. off site. Investigate food/souvenir costs per park/city. Investigate sightseeing option + costs.
Wherever you go in the world, you can do it super expensive or on a budget.

No, you are still not crazy.

 

[aussie shaz]

I don't think you're crazy, but it will be a huge trip. I think if you're going to go to those countries, you should also build in time to see the actual country, not just the Disney parks there.
I am going to Japan next year and am having 2.5 days at the parks. The remaining 8 days will be seeing Japan itself.
Unless you're planning on going back to those countries again, definately budget for more sightseeing than just a day or 2. Japan and China especially are amazing countries.

 

[HMANSION LOVER]

Karin 1984 and aussie shaz, thank you for your informative replies! We are not world travelers and thought this might be a good way to start traveling outside the U.S.. Having something we are extremely curious to see being held out in front of us, as the proverbial carrot is to the horse, will hopefully overcome our trepidations about international travel.

 

[Feistygirl916]

No, you are not crazy... Because if you were, I would be crazy, too!

We are pre-planning this trip as well, and would only have Paris left after these three. We are thinking either spring break or summer 2017 for our trip. We are thinking 2 full park days for HKDL, 3 for Shanghai, and 4 for TDL. I think with travel to/from SoCal, we will need about 2 weeks.

 

[Karin1984]

International travel isn't that difficult. You just have to do it. What are your trepidations?
Just don't believe everything you see on television or the crazy stories newspapers tell you. If I believed everything the media tells me about the US, I would never go there

 

[podgirl]

If you haven't travelled to Asia before, I'd like to suggest if flights allow it, to go to Hong Kong first. It would be less daunting than Tokyo and Shanghai. Don't forget to plan at least two days when you arrive simply to recover from the jet lag. Expect to feel lousy for a couple of days minimum! This past summer we used Singapore as a hub for Cambodia, Indonesia and Japan as flights are pretty inexpensive in/out of there. It would be an awesome trip and you'd see so many cool things! We love travelling in Asia!

 

[Karin1984]

I having budgetting last night and im in doubt about going to HDL and TDL end May 2016 or save more money and do SDL as well in 2017.

Excl. Long haul flights I would need about 2000 euro (guess thats about 2200 USD) for 1 person and 2 weeks of vacation. Having 3 days in Tokyo and 3 in Hong Kong next to Disney. 3 days in HDL and 5 in TDL.

As I work for an airline my staff tickets should be around 250 euro. But have to build in extra days in case the flight is full and I need to wait for the next flight to try again.

 

[orion2185]

Your not crazy at all

The trip is very doable

As with everything it all comes down to your planning and how crazy you want to be with it.
If budget is something that might make you not do the trip....start planing and making a budget sheet.
If your uber planners like us...we like to factor in every cent spent
And work out our daily cost in our planning stages

Doing our trips this way has really allowed us to travel more frequently
And not stress so much about cost whilst on the trip.
There has not been a trip to date where we went over our budget..whew
We end up coming home with money left over...which rolls over to ou next trip fund.

Though it's certainly not easy to work out the cost for every single thing
We always work out a overall percentage of the trip and save that as ER fund
For all those things you don't think of. Or see something you did not plain for

We don't really buy souviners and we save allot of money this way
But if your work those into your bugdget.. Go for it

You can have the smallest budget in the world...and with proper planing and budgeting you can still do the trip

We are always amazed at my sister and the trips they do
They are a family of 6 with very tight budget
But they still have and go o. The trips they want to
As they work out the budget plain from hell
All the hard work with that...pays off whilst having a great time on the trip

Since travel and money are so personal...it's hard for anyone to advise on the costs

Again what works for us is to plain out the trip on paper
Each step,of the way, each meal, snacks, tourist attractions, hotels, airport/travel money etc
It's a bit overwhelming at first (if your not use to this) but your working it all out before you go
You don't have to be super crazy with a spreadsheet down to the minute
But you can work out your major expenses this way and then save a bit more for unplanned or unexpected things.

The other thing we do is prepay for any and everything that we can.
Since our trips take some time to plain me we have set dates we can only travel during.
It helps spread the cost out over time. Instead of having to pay for everything right then and there.

It's amazing what you can do with the right plain
Without working out your goals or must do its a crazy maze to navigate

Even more amazing when you start to budget how much your mind starts to work out what you need and what you can go with out.

Does not have to be complex
Even something like putting $20 a day into a jar adds up quickly

There are allot of great people here and amazing resources
Which will allow you to research and work out of trip budget
As you can easily find the info and pricing and starts your trip goals

 

[njpyro]

We are currently in the very early planning stages for a trip like this. This past summer we did a Mediterranean cruise hitting 5 countries with my parents, and it was my Dad's first time out of the USA. He now has the travel bug (at 60 years old), but isn't comfortable going somewhere he hasn't been without us. We talked him into Italy since my husband speaks Italian, then we added the idea of a cruise, and somehow got him to turkey, greece, france and spain. He was worried about the money (not cost-just using different money and the exchange rate and thinking he is being scammed) and the language barrier). He realized it was not a problem and now wants to go to more countries. We think Asia is the best option for us, and we have always wanted to go.
Hubby and I also like to do our own thing and travel just us, so we are currently planning August 2017 for Asia for the 4 of us. Either a land/sea thing, where we do a cruise to see a few countries, then spend time before and after in the country, or a Disney centered trip, where we do Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai (we also want to work in time in each country to non-disney sight-see). I realize August is usually the more crowded times, but due to being teachers and working at a summer camp, the only time of year we can travel is the month of August.
I'm starting to read everything I can about the Asia parks now, but am always looking for advice and suggestions.

 

[HMANSION LOVER]

That is truly awesome. As you can see from our picture I am not to far behind your dad in terms of "length of tooth' and have also had my trepidations about traveling outside the U.S.. But mine is food. Not a real adventurous with my menu, but then wife reminded me that Japan as well Hong Kong is very western food oriented especially at Disney. We'll see what happens in China, I may wind up losing all the weight I gain eating in Tokyo and Hong Kong (I can only wish LOL). So I am going to give it a try. One thing to remind your dad about is that right now the yen to dollar exchange rate is very much in our favor so he'll be getting a great deal, even if someone tries to hoodwink him . We just recently spoke to friends of ours who are husband and wife, one is Japanese and the other is Chinese (grandparents escaped) and are really excited about joining us on the trip as the are real Disney fans as well. They have traveled to Asia extensively and will be a wealth of knowledge about travel to those countries. So any special travel info they impart on us I will make sure I post here for all my fellow Dis board friends.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

In 2014, my wife used a company called tripmasters to book a trip to London, Paris, and Rome as a surprise for my 50th birthday. We stayed five nights in each city. I just end used them again to book a trip to Hong Kong and Japan for this May. I figured out how to exclude hotels on some nights so we could stay at the Hong Kong and Tokyo Disney resorts. For the same price or less than what I would have spent on airfare, I also got hotels for 10 nights.

It wouldn't be hard to use their site to book a trip to Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo, and spend about half of the days at the Disney parks near each city. I recommend at least 5 nights at Hong Kong so you have a four full days to see the area - I am figuring one day to ride the hop on hop off bus and see the city, another to mostly spend at Ocean Park, one full day at Disney, and the last to catch whatever we didn't do on the first day at Disney and also see the big Buhda on Lantau Island.

I think you'd need at least six nights for Tokyo. You want a minimum of three full days at Disney, and four would be better. You could probably get away with four nights in Shanghai.

I am hoping to combine a trip to Shanghai Disney with a two week tour of China in 2017 or 2018. I'm leaning toward a Trafalgar tour of Beijing, Xiam, Guilam, and Shanghai.

 

[katt789]

We're planning the same trip!! With a good chunk of time spent travelling Japan as well!

It can be done!! (i think lol). There are plenty of hotels around the area of Tokyo Disney that are much cheaper than regular hotels, we're staying at Hostels during all the time we're not in a Disney park, and possibly some of the time with HK, have yet to figure that out.

4 days in TDL
2 days in HKDL
3-4 days in Shanghai!

We originally planned less in Shanghai but after seeing all the amazing details that came out a few weeks ago we knew we'd want more time.

Our plan (currently) holds a total of 25 days throughout Japan,(it'll get cut down) and another say, 15 (rough estimate) throughout China/HK but we're doing a lot more than just Disney parks!

We're also travelling on a budget, so the biggest things for us were airline carries, and JR pass! If you'll be travelling through Japan, the rail system is the best & getting a JR pass saves money.
-Flights, check into the following for cheaper flights than just using Expedia: -elong.net airasia.com carthaypacific.com china-airlines.com garuda-indonesia.com ctrip.com (that last one searches multiple airlines like Expedia does).