New get in early ticket at Shanghai?

[bfaber]

i made sure to book a Shanghai disney hotel because I wanted to be able to get in 30 min early. Now I hear you can buy an early pass and get in an hour early. Is this true? If so do they still offer the 30 min early option for hotel guests and how well does it now work with others getting in before hotel guests as far as getting on rides and beating the crowds?

 

[supedewoop]

Early Access is a perk for the most expensive AP, and I think you can also "buy" into it, but this was a little unclear to me. I can answer most of your other questions, though!

There is a special line at the front for "early access" ticket holders, whereas the hotel guests are dropped off at the Disneytown Entrance.

I actually waited with the hotel guests, (I had stayed at Disneyland Hotel) initially, but had to go to the front of the park to use my AP. Once I got in, lines were still very low, along with crowds. It still seems very beneficial, to get in early. I *think* the hotel guests got in at the same time as the Early Access tickets, but I'm not certain. I was a little early, and waited in the Disneytown line first. At 8, they started letting people in, and I think park open was 9. I had to walk over to the Front Entrance and "join" the Early Access line instead, though. By the time I got there, there wasn't much of a line for security or to get in, but that might have been because there weren't many people in line and they're very efficient, rather than because they got in before the other people did.

I imagine they still limit the number of Early Access tickets to keep lines short and low crowds. Right now, there's no way the hotel guests alone could "fill" the park, so the EA is a way to maximize the cost and benefit while still providing a benefit to hotel guests. It was a Sunday, but I went on Soarin', 7DMT, Tron, Buzz, Peter Pan, MAWP, and Pirates in the first two hours, mostly due to that hour head start on the "big rides". Once you're in the park, you can also get fastpasses on the app, which also helps "maximize" the usefulness. Soarin' was a fastpass for 9:30, and then I was able to get another one for the River Rapids for 11:30, and then, another for Tron in the afternoon. Later in the Day, Soarin' and 7dmt hit 100+ minutes, though Tron stayed low(Which is a good gauge of how big the crowd gets).

It's still pretty new, though, so it will be interesting to see if it becomes more popular, and just what the limits are. With the AP, I have to "reserve" my early entry, so there's definitely some limit in place.

 

[bkmanhole]

To me is seems very odd that they'd make you move lines. When we visited in Nov, we had the 1/2 year pass and stayed at the Toy Story Hotel and used the hotel entrance for early access.
Granted, the early access tickets did not exist yet. But seems odd for a hotel guest to have to move as the turnstile scanners are the same.

 

[bfaber]

Early Access is a perk for the most expensive AP, and I think you can also "buy" into it, but this was a little unclear to me. I can answer most of your other questions, though!

There is a special line at the front for "early access" ticket holders, whereas the hotel guests are dropped off at the Disneytown Entrance.

I actually waited with the hotel guests, (I had stayed at Disneyland Hotel) initially, but had to go to the front of the park to use my AP. Once I got in, lines were still very low, along with crowds. It still seems very beneficial, to get in early. I *think* the hotel guests got in at the same time as the Early Access tickets, but I'm not certain. I was a little early, and waited in the Disneytown line first. At 8, they started letting people in, and I think park open was 9. I had to walk over to the Front Entrance and "join" the Early Access line instead, though. By the time I got there, there wasn't much of a line for security or to get in, but that might have been because there weren't many people in line and they're very efficient, rather than because they got in before the other people did.

I imagine they still limit the number of Early Access tickets to keep lines short and low crowds. Right now, there's no way the hotel guests alone could "fill" the park, so the EA is a way to maximize the cost and benefit while still providing a benefit to hotel guests. It was a Sunday, but I went on Soarin', 7DMT, Tron, Buzz, Peter Pan, MAWP, and Pirates in the first two hours, mostly due to that hour head start on the "big rides". Once you're in the park, you can also get fastpasses on the app, which also helps "maximize" the usefulness. Soarin' was a fastpass for 9:30, and then I was able to get another one for the River Rapids for 11:30, and then, another for Tron in the afternoon. Later in the Day, Soarin' and 7dmt hit 100+ minutes, though Tron stayed low(Which is a good gauge of how big the crowd gets).

It's still pretty new, though, so it will be interesting to see if it becomes more popular, and just what the limits are. With the AP, I have to "reserve" my early entry, so there's definitely some limit in place.

Thanks for all your info! Since you seem quite knowledgeable on recent changes, do you have experience on the best way to get to the park form the airport? Sounds like the shuttle that used to drop people of from airport to resort no longer has a stop at the resort, so just wondering if you have any recommendations? Cab, public transportation (not a big fan of having to switch trains, etc when arriving about 9 pm), hiring a private tour/transfer company?? I've heard some horror stories about cabs there, but that is what I was leaning towards as I think maybe that is around $20? Though I would probably need two since there are 6 in my family. Thanks for any help you can give me on that!!

 

[Duck In Blue]

Thanks for all your info! Since you seem quite knowledgeable on recent changes, do you have experience on the best way to get to the park form the airport? Sounds like the shuttle that used to drop people of from airport to resort no longer has a stop at the resort, so just wondering if you have any recommendations? Cab, public transportation (not a big fan of having to switch trains, etc when arriving about 9 pm), hiring a private tour/transfer company?? I've heard some horror stories about cabs there, but that is what I was leaning towards as I think maybe that is around $20? Though I would probably need two since there are 6 in my family. Thanks for any help you can give me on that!!

They were selling this ticket when we were there last month, I'd seen it advertised on the website, it flashed up on the app and their were ads at the main entrance for it. We stayed at the Toy Story Hotel and went into the park via the Disney Town entrance. They opened the security about 75 minutes before published opening and we were allowed past rope drop an hour before official opening. That hour is great, we got so much done! We hardly saw anyone else as we walking around so selling the early entry didn't cause a problem.

We used Mr Orange transfers to get and to and from the airport after reading other reviews on here. They were fine and I'd use them again. The airport was pretty chaotic so I'm really pleased we had them for that leg at least. After Disney we stayed in the city for a few nights and got the hotel concierge to arrange that for us. They are very good, they call the cab, write the address down in Chinese and give you an approximate price. We were chatting to a manager while we were waiting and he said they use the most reliable taxi company in Shanghai. Mr Orange then picked us up from the city hotel and took us back to the airport. The taxi was a lot cheaper than Mr Orange (although the journey clearly wasn't the same), but like I said the airport was like a zoo so it spared us that!

 

[brenda1966]

So, do you walk from the Toy Story Hotel to the Disney Town early entrance? How early should one plan to leave the hotel for this? I thought it was just 30 minutes early entry, but you are saying you were in an hour early?

I was planning to take a taxi from the airport. I've read that as long as you use one from the taxi line, and not some random screaming "taxi" person you should be fine -- with hotel written in Chinese. You can have them do this for you at the tourism desk in the airport if you need to.

Any other tips from your recent Toy Story stay?
We are planning to go to the Wild Animal Park one day and into the city one day. I figure I will have Disney arrange for my taxi and write down where I'm going. To get back to Disney is the question. LOL. I've thought about using the Didi app, which is like uber.

 

[supedewoop]

I used Didi, but that's probably not the best option for an international traveller. The drivers don't speak Any English most of the time and often want to call to find you. The best way to use didi is to "find" a place where they can pick you up (generally arrivals or a parking lot area) and use the built-in messaging to send them where you, and your translator app (google won't work without a VPN, I like Baidu) to translate any important words into Chinese (like parking area). But that can still cause some issues. I misunderstood his asking which terminal for which floor, for example, so we had a bit of a re-route. There is a GPS that's pretty accurate, but gives no allowance for levels, and at an airport, that can be a big deal. Still, my didi was 60.43, so if you're looking to save, that's the way to go.

I think using a car service might be the best bet if you're not worried about money. Taxis, even in the official line, won't be thrilled to be going so "close" but, even if they overcharge, it's not terrible expensive for a person used to the US. It should be about 70 (about the same as a didi), I think, but most people report getting charged 120 or so (Which is only around 20 USD). Although "larger" taxis are higher rates, so that could be a variable in the cost.

THe best way to get to and from the city is absolutely the subway especially if you're interested in the main touristy spots that have stations. A Disney hotel can, and will happily call you a taxi and can make it a bigger one, for 6 people. (Didi is still probably cheaper, though. I had them call me a taxi to go back to the airport and it was about 120, but it was a "big" fancy taxi.). But, once you're in the city, it's unlikely you'll be able to find a taxi if you're going to many different places. Have all of your addresses written in Chinese though. Going into the city on the subway in the morning and coming back at night shouldn't even be too busy until you need to transfer.

Overall, I vastly prefer Didi to taxis. The drivers are usually much friendlier and there's less opportunity to be screwed over because the pay and meter are built into the app. I don't know if I'd recommend it to people who don't live in China though, as there's a lot of problem-solving skills needed sometimes, which is a thing I tend to avoid on vacation. I also don't know what the payment options are for international. I use Chinese payment methods. But, if you're patient and it takes US credit cards, it might be the way to go.


I think I had to move lines because there's a special, seperate ticket for "early access" whereas for the hotel guests, it's "built-in" to their room key. So, they didn't have the correct scanner with the hotel guests any more. With the new AP, the early access perk is basically just 12 free early access tickets, so it's set up with the regular system.

 

[Duck In Blue]

So, do you walk from the Toy Story Hotel to the Disney Town early entrance? How early should one plan to leave the hotel for this? I thought it was just 30 minutes early entry, but you are saying you were in an hour early?

I was planning to take a taxi from the airport. I've read that as long as you use one from the taxi line, and not some random screaming "taxi" person you should be fine -- with hotel written in Chinese. You can have them do this for you at the tourism desk in the airport if you need to.

Any other tips from your recent Toy Story stay?
We are planning to go to the Wild Animal Park one day and into the city one day. I figure I will have Disney arrange for my taxi and write down where I'm going. To get back to Disney is the question. LOL. I've thought about using the Didi app, which is like uber.

We took the bus, although it is walkable. They told us what time the first bus left (it was around 7.15 a.m.) and as the bus station is right by Disney Town it was really easy. We then had about 20-30 minutes to wait before they opened security. We are rope drop people anyway so this worked well for us and yes they were letting us in an hour before. I was surprised the first time as I was expecting 30 minutes too, but it does explain why the bus leaves so early.

I wanted to use Didi but just couldn't find the English version in the App store. If you do use a taxi make sure you have the address in Chinese as you have said and be determined as you find the official taxi queue!

The hotel itself is great. Nothing special to look at from the outside, but the Toy Story theme inside is great. The cast members are probably the best I have encountered in any Disney hotel in the world, so friendly and helpful and they really try with the English.

 

[gt5889a]

I think using a car service might be the best bet if you're not worried about money.

Definitely - if I have my family in tow (4 of us) I always just use a private service at PVG. Seems like they always get a good parking spot too just across from baggage claim (at least for all my T1 arrivals). If you don't know PVG and or Chinese well I'd avoid DiDi and don't want to spend the money for a private service I'd use the taxi line.

best way to get to and from the city is absolutely the subway

Agree - I find navigating the Shanghai metro a lot less nerve racking than dealing with taxis with my very limited Mandarin. Apple maps works fine and all the signage is very clearly in English.

 

[khsu]

We were there in December. We had 6 people and took 2 taxis from PVG. Both cabbies were very rude (and I can speak Mandarin). One had no idea where Disneyland was and followed the other cab. We negotiated the price upfront (they didn't want to use the meter, which I would have preferred). But then when we got there, they seemed to want more money (which I did not give). I had the tourism office at PVG write out the hotel name in Chinese (we stayed at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel). Like other posters have said, Disney helps call a taxi when you leave from the hotel and it was great.

I asked about the airport shuttle. When it first opened, there was a shuttle service, but basically there is very low ridership. The CM said that most of the people coming to Disneyland are not coming via plane.

Subway is easy to use.

I was told that unless you had a Chinese bank account, you could not sign up for DiDi (don't know if that is correct information).

 

[supedewoop]

I was told that unless you had a Chinese bank account, you could not sign up for DiDi (don't know if that is correct information).

I thought so, but I've been told by travelers that it's not. There is an option in payment to select credit/debit card and asks for the same things a Western app would but I don't have the means to test it out. WAIT, okay, if I hit the "about Payment Methods", it does claim to take "International credit cards". But, I still can't test it to confirm.
English and Chinese Didi is the same app, I think. You can change the language in the settings.
I still don't think I'd recommend it for casual travelers though, unless you are very patient and can read a map. I'd recommend it over trying to hail a taxi, but not the subway(if the location is convenient), arranged taxi or a private car unless you were VERY tightly budgeting.