Shanghai - Overwhelmed :)

Figment1983

Mouseketeer
Joined
Apr 16, 2007
Decided to add a 3 nights in Shanghai on to our Japan trip, we will be flying in Friday evening and out Monday. There will be 4 of us...Wife/Myself and our 2 kids (son 6, daughter almost 11)

We will have all day Saturday/Sunday to check out the park.

We will be staying at Park Hyatt in Shanghai.

Trying to figure out how/where to buy tickets, also want to pay for the fast passes so that we can get on all the rides we want.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
You can arrive at the Park by Taxi or my Metro...

Since it's the weekend, arrive early as the bag check security lines will be LONG. They will make you dispose of any outside food. Water bottles are okay if they are not glass.

Once you are through security, you can buy tickets at the ticket booths, or buy them before online and go straight to the turnstiles. Have your passports with you each day.

You can purchase additional fast passes through the app once your in the park.
 
You can arrive at the Park by Taxi or my Metro...

Since it's the weekend, arrive early as the bag check security lines will be LONG. They will make you dispose of any outside food. Water bottles are okay if they are not glass.

Once you are through security, you can buy tickets at the ticket booths, or buy them before online and go straight to the turnstiles. Have your passports with you each day.

You can purchase additional fast passes through the app once your in the park.


2 days in the park should be plenty right?

What's the best way to purchase fast passes? Ahead or at the park?
 
2 full days should be enough - but it really depends as its a weekend and will be busier so you will need to prioritize what you want you want to do.

Free fast passes are available through the app as soon as you are through the turnstiles.
Paid fast passes are paid for via the app as well. I think you will need to get these once you are in the parks as well.

The fast passes that are booked ahead of time are for those staying on at one of the two disney hotels and guests can prebook one extra fastpass per day.
 


I'd recommend actually doing the concierge package on day one. That will get you all the fast passes before even entering the park and will get you in via the hotel entrance which has essentially no lines. You can pre-order the package about 2 weeks in advance online and then just need to stop at the box-office at the theater in Disney Town that morning to link to your tickets. I think it it worth it just for the guaranteed front row for the nightly show. By day 2 you will have an idea of the place, have your Disney app dialed in and be ready to pounce on premier access fast passes.
 
It's been a year since I went (late April 2018), so take that for what it's worth, but for my 2 night stay, I was tempted but glad I didn't buy the Fastpasses. The reason was that I approached the park in parts by riding certain attractions the 1st day and by the 2nd day, I had done everything I wanted. At the time you could buy individual FPs instead of the set, and being the frugal guy (banker) that I am, I would have only bought a select few popular attractions instead and left out attractions lower wait attractions such as Pirates.

A little different for you with kids and on a wknd though. 1st day, because I arrived well after park open, I think in the early afternoon, there were limited free FPs available (something like Buzz only, which is usually one of the last still available). 2nd day, I think I went for Soaring FP, because it was the most popular attraction during my stay. I think going for Soaring FP, being so popular, made it difficult to have any choice on a second FP. In general, I think its unlike MK at WDW in that you can't expect to obtain much more than 2-3 free FPs, depending on your choice. The park is gaining popularity and wait times.

Many, not all, of the native Chinese, will sprint towards the most popular attraction, right by the CMs that barely put up any resistance (Soaring for my stay). It's important to be there early for rope drop, and get to as many attractions early. If I couldn't be anywhere near as fast as the runners, I think I'd try to FP the number 1 attraction as soon as I got in able on my app, whatever it is now, and head to 2nd or 3rd choice first instead or go in the opposite direction and plan on doing a select few missed attractions just before park closes when wait times fall.
 
Just leaving Shanghai right now (sitting at the PuDong Airport) and I snuck in a quick trip while I was here.

It was my second visit and definitely some things different than my first time here.

I got there 30 mins before opening and there was already a long line for security! I recommend downloading the Shanghai Disney park app for sure!

I bought my ticket on there. As someone said - BRING YOUR PASSPORT WITH YOU!

When you buy your ticket on the app, you simply show your passport at the entrance turnstile and they lookup your purchase and hand you a physical ticket.

Once you have the ticket and are in the park, you can buy fast passes.

Last time i had come it was PACKED and lines were nuts. So, I bought the 8 pack of fast passes - which came in handy mostly for Soaring and Tron. But honestly the lines when I was there this time were short!

I rode Pirates 3 times - and even though I used a fast pass once, I totally didn’t need it since the lone was so short.

Enjoy the park and also CARRY CASH. It’ll help out buying snacks.

Have fun!
 


Just leaving Shanghai right now (sitting at the PuDong Airport) and I snuck in a quick trip while I was here.

It was my second visit and definitely some things different than my first time here.

I got there 30 mins before opening and there was already a long line for security! I recommend downloading the Shanghai Disney park app for sure!

I bought my ticket on there. As someone said - BRING YOUR PASSPORT WITH YOU!

When you buy your ticket on the app, you simply show your passport at the entrance turnstile and they lookup your purchase and hand you a physical ticket.

Once you have the ticket and are in the park, you can buy fast passes.

Last time i had come it was PACKED and lines were nuts. So, I bought the 8 pack of fast passes - which came in handy mostly for Soaring and Tron. But honestly the lines when I was there this time were short!

I rode Pirates 3 times - and even though I used a fast pass once, I totally didn’t need it since the lone was so short.

Enjoy the park and also CARRY CASH. It’ll help out buying snacks.

Have fun!
Still amazing how American preferences are different from the Chinese. Can’t believe that Pirates is not very popular, compared to Soaring, and to everything else, given I was able to ride single rider 5x in a row with very low waiting at the attraction boarding area only. To me Sunkin Treasure is the best attraction there and one of the best Disney attractions I’ve been on, including Mystic Manor at HKDL, Hunny Hunt at TDL, Flight of Passage at WDW. The Shanghai pirates must have cost a fortune to build too - thinking of the ships scene.
 
OP, it sounds like the sole purpose of your trip to Shanghai is to check out Disney. So I don't think it makes much sense to stay at the Park Hyatt, beautiful a hotel as it is. I would suggest the Toy Story hotel which actually is a really nice hotel and very convenient to the park + early morning hours which are just FANTASTIC!!

And I agree with Nick's observation. Soarin' can pretty much be done anywhere. Sunken Treasure was fantastic, and along with Tron, were my 2 favorites rides in Disney Shanghai.
 
We only had one day on our visit, so we purchased the Fastpasses. With the cheap ticket prices, it ended up being about the same price as a one-day ticket in the States! I saved a few bucks on each ticket by purchasing from Klook. Worked beautifully, and I was able to add them to my account and add on Fastpasses with no problem at all. Very safe and reputable.

I agree that if Disney is your only Shanghai destination, it makes sense to stay closer, or at least somewhere on the Metro line. The Metro is so easy to use and I highly recommend it. We used Didi (the Chinese Uber) to get there in the morning, and we would actually have been dropped off closer if we'd used the Metro!

The one thing that really stuck out to me is that the park is SO. DAMN. BIG. compared to the parks here in the States. It really has been designed to be able to absorb Chinese-sized crowds. So it made it feel like each Land was ... not really a land? Kind of more just individual rides in some ways. But it was still very cool. Pirates is INCREDIBLE. We rode multiple times and it was definitely our favorite. TRON was also awesome. Many of the rides are exactly the same as they are at home, so I would make the unique rides your priority.

We also really enjoyed some of the shows. The Captain Jack Sparrow one was so much fun, even though we didn't understand anything that was being said.

Overall, I think you have a decent plan! We really were able to cover everything in one day and even reached a point where we were kind of like "Well, that's everything. What should we do now?" so I think you will be fine. Even though the park is huge, it doesn't have nearly the number of attractions of DLR or MK. You guys will have a great time!
 
The Fantasyland is so big that it feels like Epcot's World Showcase. The donut shape doesnt help.
 

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!






Top