Which Parks?

Snickals

Australian Princess...in Training
Joined
Oct 21, 2010
Looking at visiting Disneyland Hong Kong, Shanghai or Tokyo.

Over a 2 week space in mid-December (when school is out) this year, 6 year old in tow (well seasoned traveller) think it will be realistic to only visit two.

But which two would you recommend?
 
Oooooh. Tricky question.

What are you most interested in? Doing lots of rides, shows, parades, theming, meeting characters, eating yummy meals or something else?
 
Meeting characters, theming, seeing different things to WDW

Little Miss 6 is not a thrill seeker on rides...neither is her mother lol
 
Oh this is hard. Shanghai had lots for us non thrill seekers and has great theming but is a tiring park to get to from one side of to the other due to its size (but if you are sensible and tour sequentially over a few days less of an issue). Tokyo also has several rides with versions unique to them and Disney Sea is amazingly beautiful and totally different. Hong Kong is small so nicely manageable and again has different elements. I think I will let someone else weigh on which combo is the best. I am tempted to say Hong Kong plus one of either so you have a big park and a smaller one rather than two big parks (if you combine TDL and DisneySea). I love the theming which has the usual Disney attention to detail in all 3 and all 3 had good character M&Gs and a couple of options for character meals.
 


If you want to meet characters, see great theming and see different things to WDW, then I would say Tokyo and Shanghai. But, visit Shanghai first and then visit Tokyo.

Hong Kong is a lovely park, which is normally pretty quiet and it does have some unique attractions, including Mystic Manor and the new Iron Man ride. But, it's pretty similar to Magic Kingdom and the surrounding mountains look cool, but they're not purpose built "theming".

The theming at Shanghai is great (although it will improve once the greenery has grown a bit more) and the theming at DisneySea is astounding.

There were a lot of character meet opportunities in Shanghai and some of them were really quick (e.g. Mickey Mouse, Captain America, Spider-Man and the Star Wars characters). The other character meets can be tricky, because they don't abide by the signposted meet times.

Character meets at Tokyo are okay, but popular. They do seem to have quite a few "walking around" characters if the weather is good and that can be a good opportunity for a character meet, depending upon the crowd levels (e.g. trying to get to Duffy or Marie would probably be impossible).

I think Shanghai and Tokyo are also both the most different to WDW.

BUT, both Shanghai and Tokyo will present their own challenges. Even with full knowledge (and prior visits to China), I found the cultural differences at Shanghai to be confronting and aggravating. I was also really disappointed in the poor attitude of the cast members and the incredibly poor communication, even with their published and signposted information (e.g. incorrect park opening times, incorrect ride opening / closing times and incorrect character meet times). It can also be quite crowded, which is the main downside about Tokyo (although I'm not sure of crowd levels in mid-December as the colder weather may keep the big crowds away).
 
In regards to the cultural aspect...both my daughter and I are blue eyed, blonde haired, fair females...are we going to stand out like a sore thumb!?
 
Yes. But, at worst, that simply means that locals may want to take a photo with you (especially in Shanghai Disneyland).

My blue / green eyed, blonde / light brown haired husband had people asking to take photos while riding on Roaring Rapids!
 


In regards to the cultural aspect...both my daughter and I are blue eyed, blonde haired, fair females...are we going to stand out like a sore thumb!?

DH, DS and I visited Tokyo Disney for four days in October 2015. To our great surprise we only saw about 4 other westerners the entire time we were there.

We probably won't return to Tokyo Disney (or at least not make a special trip to Japan just to visit DL) as it was just so crowded, with huge wait times, and frankly wasn't enjoyable. :worried: It's a shame, as the people we met/spoke to were absolutely lovely, the park was super clean, and it looked to have some different things to the other Disney parks. But it honestly felt like a colossal waste of time and money considering that after the first hour it was too packed to see or do anything.

We're gearing up for our second visit to Hong Kong Disney in January (just booked the Disney Hollywood Hotel last night:yay: ). I loved this park last time (Christmas 2013), and am looking forward to returning.

The only Disney park I haven't yet visited is the Shanghai one, so in your shoes I'd definitely jump at the chance to visit a new one, combined with Hong Kong.
 
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In regards to the cultural aspect...both my daughter and I are blue eyed, blonde haired, fair females...are we going to stand out like a sore thumb!?

I am the same, with curly hair to boot! There were a few blondes in the group on my most recent trip to Shanghai and Hong Kong too. When I was on my own I had a couple of requests for photos and a few stares (I was also Disneybounding as Minnie Mouse at the time), but I didn't find it intimidating at all. On the last trip it didn't seem to draw any attention at all! Others have had different experiences though. In Shanghai I think it depends on what sort of crowds are at the park. People who live in Shanghai are fairly accustomed to seeing westerners now, but if there are a lot of domestic travellers from more rural areas you may get more attention.
 

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