How Long For Each Asian Park?

DisneyRegulars

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Oct 20, 2011
My parents live in Shanghai, and at the end of their year in June 2017 we are planning a huge three week trip to China. Of course being Disney fans we have also decided to visit Shanghai Disney, Hong Kong Disney, and Tokyo Disney all in the same trip. I have roughed out two full park days each for Shanghai and Hong Kong and four for the Tokyo Disney parks. My question is, is that too much time? Are the parks significantly different enough to enjoy that much time in them? I can't imagine spending 7 days in the Magic Kingdom alone. Anyone have any thoughts on length of stay if visiting all three within a few days of each other?
 
This is a tough one to answer since SDL hasn't opened yet and no one really knows what will be a good length of time there. I also haven't been to TDL, but I'll give it a shot :thumbsup2

I'll start with HKDL, since I've spent plenty of time there. If you're used to WDW, you will be underwhelmed by HKDL. It is a small park, and it is only one. There is no attached shopping and dining district, but there should be three hotels by mid-2017. Crowds are also not an issue at all, and the combination of short lines and not many attractions means you should be able to get everything done within a day. Having said that, it is a beautiful park with lots of great details and theming, and is such a lovely place to just be. There are also plenty of unique character opportunities with different outfits if you're into that, and plenty of fun photo opportunities. Mystic Point and Grizzly Gulch are amazingly well done and their respective rides are two of the best I've experienced. There are also different dining opportunities like high tea or dim sum. If you'd like to do some table service dining, maybe plan to check out a couple of the hotels (which host their own character appearances throughout the day), and enjoy just taking it all in, I'd recommend 2 days. If you just want to experience the unique attractions within the park, 1 day will be plenty.

I already mentioned I haven't been to TDL yet, but I've heard a lot about it and know people who have been. From what I can gather, the 'castle park' isn't all that different to the Magic Kingdom. TDS is where you want to spend your time. The Tokyo parks get very busy right from opening, with waits for rides and characters getting into 60+ (or even 120+) minute territory. Some shows (and restaurants maybe) are on a lottery system, so you'll want time to try again if you don't get in the first (or second, third etc) time. I would allow at least 2 days for TDS, and maybe 1 or 2 for TDL, depending on how 'Magic Kingdom' like you find it.

At this point, SDL is anyone's guess. China is pretty well-known for its crowds, and I don't think SDL will be any different. At this stage, I would expect big crowds and long waits. The park itself is the most different of all the 'castle parks', and will have a lot of unique attractions. At this stage, I would allow 2 days, but definitely keep an eye on things once its opened for a more accurate idea.
 
I'd recommend:

HKDL - Two days. You could probably do everything in one day, but why not take two days to enjoy everything. Especially if you'll be travelling with your child/ren and older parents.

TDL - Three days as a minimum, unless you're visiting at the absolute quietest time of year. I'd suggest four days to ensure that you'll have an opportunity to enjoy everything.

SDL - No idea. By June 2017, I would expect most of "stage 1" to be open, but I'm not sure when stage 2 (the rumoured, or perhaps it's been confirmed, Toy Story land) is due to open. And I don't think anyone has a true idea of how popular Disneyland will be, especially with the locals. I would plan for at least two days, although consider giving yourself some flexibility. Closer to the date, actual trip reports may indicate that you'll need a day or two longer due to crowds, etc.
 
Thank you guys! These are all very helpful things to think about. I suppose it's also better to plan for more time, we can always leave and do something else if we've gotten our fill.

We are DVC members and all of us are obsessed with Disney, including my parents and seven year old son.
 


It depends if you want to spend vacation time in China on rides you've been on a lot. TDL is a greatest hits of MK and DL. Space, Roger Rabbit, Pirates are all DL. Mansion, Splash, JC, are MK. Unique must do rides are Pooh and Monsters Inc, and if it's busy you will wait hours for them. And perhaps almost an hour to get a FP for them. Big Thunder is a unique layout.

You MUST be at the park an hour before opening so you are at the gate and get in first. The crowds slowly come in, since the park opens empty. That way you can run to get a FP for Monsters, then run to Pooh and ride. And then be WAY ahead of the game. So, to do the UNIQUE stuff, it's not much

TDS has almost all unique rides. Indy dark ride is a slightly updated clone, the coaster is a clone, and Tower is a completely new theme. The preshow is great. And TS is a clone.

And on busy days, you will be lucky to get 2 FPs total, and they will be gone by noon.

So, to do everything unique, one day each. To do EVERYTHING, 2 days each. And you can't park hop until day 3 of your tickets.

HKDL has a few unique rides, some awesome like Mystic Manor and grizzly Gulch. Some not, like JC. I think everything else is a clone. But it's setting and look are clearly unique. But it's clearly a one day park.

SDL looks to have 2 incredible unique rides in Tron and Pirates. One unique, maybe sorta lame ride with the boat ride, likely an updated JC really, all in Chinese. Then some slight updates of Pan and Buzz. Everything else looks to be clones. Yeah, their Grizzly Run has at least one animatronic. It may be a big difference, maybe not, but at most just a few small scenes. I wouldn't wait hours for it, or Soarin (I just don't get that ride's popularity). It has massive amounts of unique gardens and such, but those shouldn't have lines. I haven't heard anything about their FP system. It could be like Tokyo's and they disappear in a few hours.

I expect SDL being 2 days simply because it's going to be insanely crowded. I'd like to see a list of what phase 2 will be before deciding about going. If they are all clones, then no reason to wait.

I really want a complete set of castle pictures

-J
 
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My parents live in Shanghai, and at the end of their year in June 2017 we are planning a huge three week trip to China. Of course being Disney fans we have also decided to visit Shanghai Disney, Hong Kong Disney, and Tokyo Disney all in the same trip. I have roughed out two full park days each for Shanghai and Hong Kong and four for the Tokyo Disney parks. My question is, is that too much time? Are the parks significantly different enough to enjoy that much time in them? I can't imagine spending 7 days in the Magic Kingdom alone. Anyone have any thoughts on length of stay if visiting all three within a few days of each other?


It's funny, we are planning the same time frame (June 2017) and the same amount of park days for each of the parks as well. I'm hoping to start a pre trip report here in the next few months, and hope to see yours as well! I know we are ending with Tokyo, as those parks seem the absolute best :)
 


It's funny, we are planning the same time frame (June 2017) and the same amount of park days for each of the parks as well. I'm hoping to start a pre trip report here in the next few months, and hope to see yours as well! I know we are ending with Tokyo, as those parks seem the absolute best :)

Neat! How bizarre we are planning the same trip. We are ending in Tokyo too, my only concern is that will be week three of our trip, and I'm worried by the time we get there, after traveling all over China for two and a half weeks we will be totally exhausted and ready to go home.

Are you starting from the US? How are you flying there? Flights seem to be released about a year in advance, and since we live close to Toronto I've found some crazy deals. I can fly from Toronto to Shanghai, Shanghai to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Tokyo, Tokyo to Toronto for well under $1000. I was budgeting $2000 apiece for tickets so I've been pleasantly surprised as I scope out prices.
 
Yes, starting from the US, specifically SoCal (right next to Disneyland!) We are buying our air as soon as it comes out, so probably August. I've been looking too, but will probably be booking ours with the long haul international flight separate from the shorter distance ones (HK to PVG, PVG to Tokyo) as we want one of the top airlines for the long haul flight. We are looking at Cathay Pacific, ANA, or Singapore Air. It's looking about $2k per person, which I am okay with (although I would love it to be less!)
 
Cathay are great! We've flown a few long haul flights on them and always have good experiences. You should be able to get well under $2k per person, unless you're getting business (Cathay have an awesome business class product!). You could also do your HKG-PVG leg on DragonAir, which is Cathay's budget airline. JAL are another one worth looking at if Tokyo will be a transit point for you anyway. Singapore have a great product, but then you'd have to deal with connecting flights.
 
Zanzibar, I haven't found air for all the flights for under $2k, unless I am looking at it incorrectly? Our flights from LAX on any of those airlines are at least $1k (Singapore Air is $1450 per person) and that's not including the small flights of Tokyo-Shanghai-Hong Kong. If you have suggestions on how to get them lower, please let me know :) We are going in summer, which makes our flights much higher.
 
Oh, I thought you meant you couldn't get your long haul flights for under $2k each. If you're including the shorter flights then that makes more sense. Not knowing your actual dates, it's a little tricky for me to do much research for you, but for some random dates in June, I'm getting around LAX-HKG-LAX at around $1300 with Cathay. I know they weren't one of your shortlisted airlines, but Air Canada have some great prices - round trip for less than $1k per person on the dates I've searched. Singapore Airlines was through the roof. If you fly with someone who has a major hub where you're actually flying to, you'll be far more likely to get better prices. JAL and Delta are both well under $1k per person if you use Tokyo as your transit point. I'm not that familiar with the US version of the website and can't seem to search for a multi city fare from LAX to Hong Kong, and then back to LAX from Tokyo. Personally I would book LAX-Tokyo return, then book my other flights from there.
 
Feistygirl, I too wanted to keep transportation to around $2k

When starting to plan flights for my June 2016 3-week trip I used http://matrix.itasoftware.com. You can't purchase tickets through there and its a little complicated to use, but it gave me a good snapshot of the cost of different airlines and dates. I then take this info and plug it in to the Airlines site, Expedia, Kayak, or which ever site to do the actual purchasing. Like zanzibar says it all depends on the dates and times you want to fly out. I opted to book

(Multi-city) LAX->HKG;HND->LAX for about 1,250
(Multi-city) HKG->PVG;PVG->HND for about 250

Which will take me from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, China, Japan and back to Los Angeles with most of that time in China. Never been to Hong Kong or China, excited for 1st visit. :D

Don't know if your doing a group tour once in china, but for transportation in China I'm doing a mixture of planes and trains, which still kept it around $2k per person

This should probably go in the planning thread, so sorry if its in the wrong place, but HTH.
 
Clown of the Jungle, which carrier are you using? I use Google flights for searching, which has been pretty great, but will definitely check out the matrix one as well :) The way you booked looks awesome, I will have to check the "multi city" thing!

Did you buy your flights when they first came out, or did you wait for a sale? I think we are buying them when they come out in August, so we can have the best choices for seats haha I am not sure that's the best strategy, but I thought I read somewhere to book it asap when it comes out.
 
For the transpacific flight, its Cathay Pacific, which are codesharing with American Airlines. Getting in and out of China it will be China Eastern, so might get to fly in one of the new Disney themed planes?

I think the matrix and google flights might use the same technology as there is also a link on that page to use google flights. What I like about matrix is that I can also search for specific layovers in certain cities. I was first looking at doing a 36 hour layover in Tokyo before heading to Hong Kong, but chose instead to stay a few days at the end of the trip.

This trip was dependent on being able to get tickets for the grand opening, which I was not able to do until a week after they went on sale. After a little :stitch:and some quick planning I bought them around mid-April. I had already done some research last year to visit China, unrelated to Disney. so I knew what cities I wanted to visit. Just modified it a little to fit in a few days at SDR.

Yeah, I agree you'll get better seat selection and the cost should be lower. Which means more money for that mouse we all know and love. ::MickeyMo :)
 
Hmmm. I am beginning to plan a Japan trip for April 2017 and am not finding alot of info online yet. Nothing near the planning info available for WDW and DL. I'm tempted to add on a day or two for Hong Kong on the way home since that seems to be the popular thing to do.

I'm glad I found this thread, maybe we can all help each other plan since we're going around the same time. Though we're not doing China. Right now the plan is for two weeks in Japan with 4 days for tdl. I have to admit that hong Kong dl sounds tempting, since Hong Kong isn't high on our travel list (and that's a long list).
 
There's a whole board on TDR that you will probably find quite helpful. I think it's definitely worth adding a couple of days in HK while you're in the vicinity :thumbsup2
 
Funny, we are planning a potential of visiting all 3 in May/June 2017 as well. Does anyone know if the Explorers Hotel will be open by then? Also, any idea on if the SDL resorts wil have DVC point charts?
 
I am backing up the minimum 3 days for Tokyo disneyland, theres alot to see and the lines are incredibly long
 
As a current HKDL AP holder and a past TKY DL AP holder. My suggestion is HKDL 1 full day is totally enough. Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea 3 days (as their ticketing is different) 2days ticket can only get you into 1 park each day no park hopper option. 3rd day you could go to both park on the same day. And be aware that they need to be use consecutively (not within 14days). And normally the crowd are high in Tokyo no matter what day you go especially on Disney Sea their Toy Story FP were all gone by 09:45 usually.
 

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