ABD China 2017

[Cousin Orville]

So this hotel stay change ,is that your change or part of the new adventure 2017? That is what I would want, to spent as much time as possible at Disney parks

This is just a DIS specific itinerary. The regular 2017 itinerary uses the Peninsula in Shanghai and Hong Kong... which are two of the best hotels in the world IMO. If you want to spend some significant time in the parks I would add some pre and post days. I think ABD probably spends enough time in HKDL for most of it's guests, but not the die hard parks enthusiasts (which I'm one). It's tough because the cities of HK and Shanghai are amazing in their on right and you need some time to visit them as well.

 

[jlbanos17]

planning this next year. Anyone else?

We are going to be on the July 16th trip! Can't wait! We are flying in a few days early to HK for a little taste of the park!

 

[dvcwink]

I missed out on snagging a slot on the DIS trip - so I'll be a single going on the October 22 trip. Looking into perhaps adding some days in Tokyo and/or Aulani.

 

[Trina Enmon]

I missed out on snagging a slot on the DIS trip - so I'll be a single going on the October 22 trip. Looking into perhaps adding some days in Tokyo and/or Aulani.

Wow that sounds great Tokyo and Aulani. Going to Aulani from Tokyo is a great idea. That breaks up a long flight. Either way would work going or coming. My only problem I love Aulani so much if it is a the beginning I may never leave. Well I never want to leave anytime. So that really doesn't matter. Are you a DVC member?

 

[Trina Enmon]

I missed out on snagging a slot on the DIS trip - so I'll be a single going on the October 22 trip. Looking into perhaps adding some days in Tokyo and/or Aulani.

I see you are a DVC member. I have booked Animal Kingdom 25th Anniversary party Sept 13 2016. I also have booked Halloween party Sept 20,
2016. I will be in Florida that week.
First trip to Disneyland 1958 as a child. DVC member 1999

 

[GerriS]

What week are you going? I know some are waitlisted now.

Yes, it filled in about 2 mi

We have modified this trip too that we are staying on Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland property.

While we will be participating in the other things offered as part of the regular Adventure, we will come back to the hotels, allowing our guests access for our entire stay.

I thought the Modified Dis trip was earlier, not the 10/22 departure? We were wait listed on the Dis trip which filled up in less than 10 minutes. Isn't the 10/22 departure the standard tour staying in town (not at parks)?

 

[Trina Enmon]

Yes, it filled in about 2 mi


I thought the Modified Dis trip was earlier, not the 10/22 departure? We were wait listed on the Dis trip which filled up in less than 10 minutes. Isn't the 10/22 departure the standard tour staying in town (not at parks)?

Yes that is correct. 10/22/17 is not staying at the parks. I know a guide told me the hotels we do stay at are amazing. So I may stay before or after days at both parks. There is so much my head spins. I plan a 3 week vacation which is the longest I have ever taken.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Yes that is correct. 10/22/17 is not staying at the parks. I know a guide told me the hotels we do stay at are amazing. So I may stay before or after days at both parks. There is so much my head spins. I plan a 3 week vacation which is the longest I have ever taken.

The hotels are the best I've stayed at on any ABD. It's impressive. As far as HK, you can easily take the train down to HKDL from the hotel, but it does take 45min. So it's a matter of preference if you are choosing to stay at the ABD hotel for your pre-nights or a HKDL Hotel. HK itself is kind of rushed in the ABD, so you may want more time in HK itself as well. We stayed our post nights (at that time) at the ABD hotel in HK, went to HKDL in the morning twice and toured HK in the later afternoon/evening.

 

[Trina Enmon]

The hotels are the best I've stayed at on any ABD. It's impressive. As far as HK, you can easily take the train down to HKDL from the hotel, but it does take 45min. So it's a matter of preference if you are choosing to stay at the ABD hotel for your pre-nights or a HKDL Hotel. HK itself is kind of rushed in the ABD, so you may want more time in HK itself as well. We stayed our post nights (at that time) at the ABD hotel in HK, went to HKDL in the morning twice and toured HK in the later afternoon/evening.

Great information. These are things I need to know.

 

[GerriS]

Thats the trip I am looking at. and yes want to add day before and after to stay longer at each park. Also want to add Tokyo
after. I have been waiting for all 3 to be available for one long great trip. I travel solo which can really add up with single supplements. I f you have a family member or friend that is looking to join you this might be a more affordable way for them to join me.

Just found out there are 21 people signed up for Oct 22, 2017, so it's a guaranteed go! Yeah!

 

[GerriS]

The hotels are the best I've stayed at on any ABD. It's impressive. As far as HK, you can easily take the train down to HKDL from the hotel, but it does take 45min. So it's a matter of preference if you are choosing to stay at the ABD hotel for your pre-nights or a HKDL Hotel. HK itself is kind of rushed in the ABD, so you may want more time in HK itself as well. We stayed our post nights (at that time) at the ABD hotel in HK, went to HKDL in the morning twice and toured HK in the later afternoon/evening.

Right now we are thinking of staying pre night at ABD hotel and going to HKDL, so it's good to know easy to get to by train. Post trip we are planning to transfer to a Shanghai Disneyland hotel to get an extra day in the park. Would love to add on Tokyo too. Still under discussion.

 

[Karen Stevan]

I just booked a single trip for China September 3, 2017, which will be my fourth ABD (not counting Aulani's one and only attempt, I think, at getting an Adventure off the ground). I hadn't even thought of adding on Tokyo, which is a brilliant idea! I am most excited about visiting HKDL and Shanghai Disneyland and would like to know how much time exactly Disney gives us at each park.

 

[sayhello]

I just booked a single trip for China September 3, 2017, which will be my fourth ABD (not counting Aulani's one and only attempt, I think, at getting an Adventure off the ground). I hadn't even thought of adding on Tokyo, which is a brilliant idea! I am most excited about visiting HKDL and Shanghai Disneyland and would like to know how much time exactly Disney gives us at each park.

That's a question for ABD, because they just mixed up the itinerary & added Shanghai Disney, so no-one has done this trip yet. I was thinking of calling ABD, because I'm on the first running of this itinerary in June 2017, so we won't have the benefit of anyone else's experience to go off of... I also want to know if we'll get VIP Fastpasses or not.

Sayhello

 

[Karen Stevan]

I delayed going on this trip because I wanted to include Shanghai, so I will be anxiously awaiting the report! September works best for me and I'm hoping the weather will be all right then. It looks like HKDL is dinner and an evening, which seems very rushed and I'm worried requires a severe attraction edit. I'm assuming "special Fast Passes" at HKDL means better/faster somehow? Shanghai Disney appears to be afternoon/evening. I am wondering if a person needs a full day in each park to experience all the highlights (and majority of lowlights)? If anyone's been yet, I'd be curious to know.

Karen

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

It looks like HKDL is dinner and an evening, which seems very rushed and I'm worried requires a severe attraction edit. I'm assuming "special Fast Passes" at HKDL means better/faster somehow? Shanghai Disney appears to be afternoon/evening. I am wondering if a person needs a full day in each park to experience all the highlights (and majority of lowlights)? If anyone's been yet, I'd be curious to know.

HKDL is a very small park. We had 2.5 hours to tour the park before meeting for dinner. I felt it was more than enough to experience the "major" rides, do some shopping stop along the way to get some great pictures. The park was not busy at all when we were there so we only ended up using one of the fast passes (which are regular fast passes). The teenagers rode Space Mountain a few times and used the FPs for that to save 5 minutes (that was the stand-by wait time). Most of the rides were walk-on as there were no crowds at all. I'm not sure if the very low crowds had anything to do with the fact that it poured rain all morning and people didn't want to go to the park. Fortunately for us the rain stopped shortly before we arrived so we had no lines. There were a few families in our group who wanted to experience more rides so they skipped dinner and continued to enjoy the park.

Shanghai Disney was VERY busy when we were there (the tickets for our day were sold out weeks in advance) and the lines were unbelievable (there is only 1 FP machine in the park and the line for that was huge -- maybe 30 - 40 minutes). These crowds were despite a category 5 typhoon warning and rain in the forecast (it did indeed rain for much of our day in the park). The FP line for Tron was 40 minutes and 35 minutes for Soarin. There isn't a FP line for Pirates of the Caribbean so we got to enter the exit line with our VIP guide. As well the park is HUGE relative to HKDL -- according to my iWatch we walked over 8 miles just in the park that day. In our 6 hours with the private guide we rode almost every single ride (with the obvious exception of the water ride as it was raining) and the zip course. Tron, Pirates and 1 other we rode twice. We did not stop for lunch or anything to eat.

My advice for Shanghai Disney is to book a private guide if at all possible for an extra day in the park. Otherwise I'd give myself at least 1 extra day to enjoy it in its entirety and get to the park at least a half hour before opening (this is assuming you only have an afternoon there with ABD, which isn't near enough time IMHO). If you can avoid going on a weekend I think the lines would be shorter but I can't say for sure (we were there on a Sunday). The park is AMAZING and I hope to go back in the next 3 - 5 years on a *sunny* day!

Three families in our group skipped the day in Shanghai and went to the park instead; they couldn't get a private guide (they are very popular at this park and sell out 4 months in advance) but said the lines weren't too bad (they went on a weekday). They took the subway back to Shanghai and met us for the dumpling dinner and the acrobat show.

I'm happy to answer any other questions you have about either park.

 

[Cousin Orville]

I delayed going on this trip because I wanted to include Shanghai, so I will be anxiously awaiting the report! September works best for me and I'm hoping the weather will be all right then. It looks like HKDL is dinner and an evening, which seems very rushed and I'm worried requires a severe attraction edit. I'm assuming "special Fast Passes" at HKDL means better/faster somehow? Shanghai Disney appears to be afternoon/evening. I am wondering if a person needs a full day in each park to experience all the highlights (and majority of lowlights)? If anyone's been yet, I'd be curious to know.

Karen

I felt the time ABD spent in HKDL was not enough for us. There were very few rides that accepted FP, but lines generally weren't bad. We spent most of our time around Grizzly Gulch, Mystic Manor, and a little bit of Fantasyland before dinner. Many of the teens on our trip skipped dinner to have more park time. We went back two consecutive mornings, post ABD. So in total we spent probably a full day there. It is a very small park. I think it just depends how crowded rides like Mystic Manor are and how big a Disney Parks enthusiast you are. Another family stayed a few post nights with us as well, and they didn't go back to HKDL. So, I think everyone will feel a little bit differently. I'd recommend more time, and if you decide not to go back into HKDL you'll have more time in HK. Both HK and HKDL were very brief visits.

 

[Karen Stevan]

Thank you for your helpful responses. I have the "Unauthorized Guide to Hong Kong Disneyland 2016", but couldn't find a resource for the Shanghai park. The VIP guide at Shanghai Disneyland sounds like the way to go and I will definitely be exploring that option. This would allow me to see parades and shows when with ABD the afternoon/evening, and to delay my departure by a day so I can cover the attractions with a private guide. It would be fun to stay the extra night at the park and fly home from there.

 

[Karen Stevan]

Is it important to spend time at Wishing Star Park? And is the Toy Story Hotel inconveniently located? With my time so compressed, it sounds best to bee-line it to the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel after my last breakfast with ABD and meet up with the private guide...any other suggestions as to how to cover the most ground within tour constraints and lack of guide books greatly appreciated!

 

[Karen Stevan]

planning this next year. Anyone else?

Hi Trina;
Have you decided to go? I agree the single supplement is atrocious but my husband is not able to join me.
I am a huge fan with many Disney experiences under my belt from 1972 and would love to share information about the upcoming adventure. Three weeks off sounds great to add on that Tokyo component, but I have limited time so will enjoy the tour and add on a Shanghai day as suggested. I was at Aulani when it opened New Years and it would be the most magical of endings for you. Four full days there should round out your trip. That will have to wait for me until I have time for Tokyo! Thanks for starting this thread!!
Karen

 

[sayhello]

Thank you for your helpful responses. I have the "Unauthorized Guide to Hong Kong Disneyland 2016", but couldn't find a resource for the Shanghai park. The VIP guide at Shanghai Disneyland sounds like the way to go and I will definitely be exploring that option. This would allow me to see parades and shows when with ABD the afternoon/evening, and to delay my departure by a day so I can cover the attractions with a private guide. It would be fun to stay the extra night at the park and fly home from there.

Just thought I'd mention, because I'm in the same boat doing this ABD as a solo, the VIP guide at Shanghai is $2000, irregardless of how many people are in your group. I'm hoping to find out if I can join in on someone else's group, but I don't know if that's even possible. So if you don't know anyone else going, the VIP guide might not be a viable solution. I'll definitely let you know if I find out anything different.

Sayhello