Shanghai Disneyland Trip Planning Guide
Shanghai Disneyland is Disney’s newest park, located in China. This travel planning guide covers all facets of a visit to Shanghai Disney Resort, from general: airfare, transportation, currency, etc. to Disney-specifics: food in the parks, where to stay, FastPass strategy, and more.
Let’s start with a threshold question: should you visit? We enjoyed Shanghai Disneyland much more than we expected, and found this to be a fairly common reaction among others we encountered who went for opening day. No, it’s not the best Disney park in the world–or even Asia–but it’s arguably the best opening day park with the most well-rounded attraction attraction roster Disney has built since EuroDisney.
Moreover, Shanghai Disneyland has a lot of potential as it grows. Since it is already proving very popular with guests, we assume that growth will happen sooner rather than later. We’ll have to update our theme park rankings, but we’d put Shanghai Disneyland about middle of the pack. In other words, we do recommend visiting, but it shouldn’t be your top priority for the international parks, nor should it be your first international park.
If you are traveling to China, we recommend this post as a Shanghai Disneyland-specific supplement to other general resources. For general travel advice to China, we reviewed several books at our local library before booking the trip, but ended up buying only Lonely Planet Shanghai because that’s the only city we planned on visiting.
If you’re planning on visiting other spots in China, that one guide will not suffice. Honestly, none of the generalized “China” guides seemed all that good–we’d probably get one of those, but supplement it with another city guide (probably Lonely Planet Beijing).
Now let’s dig into the meat of this Shanghai Disney Resort Trip Planning Guide!
Cultural Etiquette ‘n’ Stuff
If you Google “Shanghai Disneyland etiquette” you will find numerous results painting an unflattering picture of the resort and its guests. Trash all over the central plaza, reports of line-cutting, uncouth behavior, and general anarchy is the scene being presented by the media.
Our experience with Shanghai Disneyland did not align with these media reports whatsoever. Yes, there was trash in the central plaza after guests had been sitting around for 2 hours waiting for the fireworks, but it was cleaned up within 10 minutes after the show. You’ll find the same ‘scene’ at literally every other Disney castle park on the planet post-fireworks. Nowhere in the park was this messy at any other time. In general, we did not witness behavior that is in any way worse than what can be observed of Americans at any day of the year at Walt Disney World.
To be sure, you will possibly witness things you would not see in U.S. parks. The one thing that is potentially very disconcerting for westerners is public defecation. This is a hot-button issue even within China (and particularly controversial between Hong Kongers and the Mainland Chinese), and at least in part is rooted in the divide between urban and agrarian life in China, and the rapid pace of technological advancement in the cities. I’m hardly an expert on the cultural underpinnings of this all, so I’ll leave it at that.
My advice would be to not let it get to you. Just as you probably shouldn’t let it get to you when an adult has a meltdown and throws a temper tantrum at Walt Disney World. Neither are things society necessarily condones, but westerners seem far more fauxtraged by the former.
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of either, but both strike me as “ignore it and move along” scenarios. Hardly significant in the grand scheme of a visit. Particularly when the cleanliness level of the park is exceptionally high. And the cleanliness level of Shanghai Disneyland is exceptionally high.
Other things to expect are less personal space than you might be accustomed to in the U.S. and line-cutting. I didn’t notice the former at all, but don’t be surprised if you do. That comes with the territory of living in any population-dense place (and we’ve experienced the same in Hong Kong and Tokyo).
As for line-cutting, we noticed this a grand total of one time. On that one occasion, someone in front of us stopped the cutters from proceeding further by putting their arms outstretched on the queue stanchions. We experience cutting a good deal in the U.S. as parties try to “join their groups” farther ahead, and my mental reaction is always (“how about they join you farther back?!”) but not wanting to be confrontational about it, we always just let them pass.
I would not let any of these supposed “etiquette” issues deter you from visiting China. From our perspective, they are total non-issues. It does not require some unduly expansive view of cultural relativism, either–just a basic understanding that different cultures have different norms and mores. Any culture (including ours) can be negatively stereotyped. Don’t feed into that.
Language Barrier
If you’ve already read our Tokyo Disney Resort Planning Guide or Hong Kong Disneyland Planning Guide, this will sound familiar. Personally, I see the language barrier as no barrier at all (in any of these destinations). All signs have English on them and there are English park maps.
Just as is the case in Japan and Hong Kong, English is not the first language of Cast Members at Shanghai Disneyland. It’s a second language, at best. With that said, the two things that really work in your favor are pantomime and that Cast Members offer exemplary Disney service in Shanghai Disneyland.
The most common interactions you’ll have with Cast Members are when ordering meals, and menus with photos at every register made this incredibly easy for us. We didn’t once have an issue. If you’re a veteran of Disney parks or are doing research now (by reading guides like this one!), there’s a good chance you aren’t going to need to interact with Cast Members a ton during your visit, as you won’t have as many random questions along the way.
Beyond that, the Cast Members at Shanghai Disneyland are exceptional, trying to go above and beyond (with service that is nearly Japanese-caliber). The only time we encountered any problems were when trying to retrieve stored luggage from Shanghai Disneyland Hotel, and then this was was resolved by one Cast Member finding another who spoke better English and could assist.
When it comes to attractions, many of the shows and rides are entirely in Mandarin. Save for the shows, I don’t think this really matters. Most Disney attractions (everywhere) lean heavily on visual storytelling to engage a variety of audiences (including young children who are still developing their language skills), and the same is true in Shanghai Disneyland.
Think about Peter Pan’s Flight, for example. Do you recall any of its dialogue? If so, was that dialogue actually crucial to your enjoyment and understanding of the ride, or was it more or less superfluous given that flying over London pretty much speaks for itself?
I would say that 75% of the time or more, enjoyment of an attraction in no way depends upon spoken word. This is true on TRON: Lightcycle Power Run, Soaring Over the Horizon, Roaring Rapids, Camp Discovery, Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue, Explorer Canoes, Jet Packs, and literally every ride in Fantasyland.
You may not understand the exact words Jack Sparrow is saying while riding Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure, you can surmise exactly what’s going on based upon the ride’s visuals (hint: there’s a battle, and it’s for the treasure that has sunken).
Even in the dialogue-heavy Eye of the Storm stunt show, visuals were such a dominant element of the experience that we had a great time just watching the show unfold, without a complete understanding of the plot (which seemed more like “guidelines” anyway).
Visas v. Visa-Free Transit Rule
Most visitors to mainland China are going to need/want to apply for a travel visa prior to visiting China. The Chinese Embassy website details how to go about this. There are a number of services that will make the process painless for you if you’re uncomfortable submitting the paperwork yourself. Additionally, TDR Explorer has a full guide explaining this process, to which we will defer since we did not get visas.
Instead, we took advantage of the 144-hour visa exemption. This rule only applies if you’re making a stopover in China and are visiting a third country on your trip. For example, if your route is Los Angeles to Shanghai to Tokyo to Los Angeles, you are eligible for the exemption, so long as you stay in China for less than 144 hours. If you’re taking a roundtrip flight to Shanghai, you are not eligible.
The amount of time spent in that third country is immaterial, so even booking an itinerary with a 2-hour layover in Japan would work (so long as you don’t have a layover in the same country before arriving to Shanghai–your “bookended” countries around the China portion of the trip must be different).
One caveat about this is a seldom-used rule and many airport agents–particularly those in smaller cities–may not be aware of it. They should be able to enter your travel information in their Travel Information Manual Automatic (Timatic) system and be advised that you qualify for visa-free travel, but should is the operative word there.
If you are going to take advantage of the visa-free travel exemption, we would highly recommend printing out paper copies of all travel documents, including your hotel confirmation. You should also try to obtain a Timatic printout confirming that you’re eligible for visa-free transit. This is particularly true if you booked open-jaw flights or legs of the trip through multiple carriers.
This was how we booked our trip (LAX->PVG->HKG->NRT->LAX) and the United agent in Los Angeles at the ticketing counter needed to see our travel documents to enter our information into their Timatic system in order to print our boarding passes (we were unable to do online checkin as a result). We then encountered a second agent at the gate who had to again confirm our documents when they did a visa-check. It was painless for us, but LAX also flies numerous routes to China, so it’s probably not all that uncommon.
By contrast, our friend Mark flew out of Orlando, and despite showing them the necessary information, Air Canada agents ignored documentation concerning the 144-hour rule and flat out denied him a boarding pass, stating that there was “no such rule.” Sadly, the indubitable duo of Florida Man and Dudley Do-Right couldn’t crack this mystery even when handed the policy. (In fairness, words are hard.)
Mark ultimately got the issue straightened out by speaking with a United manager at the airport (it was a codeshare flight), but by that time it was too late and missed his flight. There are other anecdotes like this on the 144-Hour Master Thread on FlyerTalk–but even more success stories, so don’t get too scared. We mention this not to dissuade you from taking advantage of the 144-hour rule, but so you arrive at the airport with ample time to address any issues that might arise.
Once we landed at PVG, we took advantage of the visa-free line at Immigration. If you’re utilizing the exemption, make sure to look for this line, as there was literally no one in it when we arrived, as compared to a lengthy line for regular visa transit.
Transportation
When it comes to airfare, we always recommend using a combination of hacks and patience to save money on flights. We recommend that you start by checking out ITA Software using flexible travel dates to narrow times that might be cheapest. There are a myriad of parameters you can set, and in our experience, ITA is the best way to find the lowest prices on airfare for set dates of travel. (Note: you cannot book via ITA.)
ITA is what we recommend because it’s great with more complex itineraries that include stopovers, open-jaw flights, etc. We figure this will come in handy for those looking to do the “Disney Grand Circle Tour of the Pacific Rim” and knock out all of the Disney parks in Asia on a single trip.
We cover how to do this in our “How to Visit 3 Disney Destinations on 1 Airfare” post, and the airfare savings are considerable leveraging these airfare rules. It might seem complicated at first, but it is well worth reading that post and figuring it out. That post covers how to incorporate Shanghai Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Tokyo Disney Resort into a single trip. As mentioned above, our itinerary included stops in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. The total cost of our itinerary was just over $1,000, and the only reason it was that expensive is because our dates were locked in around Shanghai’s Grand Opening. Had we been more flexible, we could’ve booked the trip for ~$700.
To find great airfare deals like this, you should use fare alerts on Airfarewatchdog.com. You can set some parameters for the alerts here and receive email updates when they deem prices to be low. If your home airport is not a major international hub, we’d recommend adding the nearest major airport to your alert list, as sometimes it can be cheaper to book a flight to that airport, and then book the rest of your itinerary.
Minus the 12+ hour flight, getting from the United States to Shanghai Disneyland is easy–easier than any other international park aside from Hong Kong Disneyland. Once you land in Shanghai (fly into PVG), you can take a taxi to the parks for under $20 US. (The park and airport are both on the outskirts of the city, conveniently near one another.) You’ll likely be met by a bunch of “airport reps” inside PVG trying to book you a charter car–ignore them and go outside to find a taxi. If you book one of the cars inside, you’re going to pay at least $50. (These guys can be very pushy and ignoring them is the best strategy, as once you engage at all, they won’t leave you alone.)
Alternatively, you can take the Shanghai Metro, Line 11 if you’re staying downtown and want to get to Shanghai Disney Resort. We started our trip on The Bund (downtown) and used the Metro to get to Shanghai Disney Resort, which took a little less than an hour with one transfer. Be mindful that the Metro does stop operating shortly after SDL closes.
If you’re trying to get downtown from the airport, taxis are also available, but the Maglev is the best option. This is exactly what the name sounds like–a magnetic levitation transport. It’s basically like the hoverboard from Back to the Future, but for an entire train full of people.
Asia mass transit (Shanghai included) is very clean, safe, and reliable. That’s a big part of the appeal for us as Americans–seeing space-age stuff like hovertrains and bullet trains. In terms of getting around in general, there are several useful apps are Explore Shanghai, SmartShanghai, and Baidu Maps.
Internet
If you’re traveling to China and intend upon using the internet, you’ll want to either rent a SIM card or a MiFi unit. Unlike Hong Kong where free public WiFi is available across the city, it’s not quite as widespread in Shanghai (and we could rarely get it to work–most times it required receiving a text message to activate; we finally gave up). We used 3GSolutions for MiFi rental and were satisfied with our experience. They also do SIM cards, which are cheaper, but we opted for MiFi since it’s easily shareable.
Our MiFi was delivered to our hotel (there’s free WiFi in PVG) downtown and handed to us at check-in. When we were done with the rental, we gave it to the front desk at Shanghai Disneyland Hotel in a package provided to us. I guess someone from 3GSolutions goes around and picks them up? All I know is that we weren’t charged for the device, so they must’ve received it somehow…
Additionally, mainland China has “The Great Firewall,” which blocks out a number of popular social media sites and portions of the internet that are important for connected Americans. As such, we highly recommend getting a VPN. After doing a bunch of research, we opted for ExpressVPN (that link will get you 30 free days, but it’s after you pay for 30 days, so those free days may be of little use to you).
Price-wise, it’s slightly more expensive than competitors, but our research indicated that it was more reliable and faster. We had absolutely zero issues with it, and would recommend it. (We didn’t try alternatives, so YMMV on those.) You might also consider Opera’s free VPN, which people have reported using with success in China. We opted against this since it would be ineffective for non-browser based internet uses.
Money
China’s currency is the Yuan (you can find a current conversion rate via Google). You might consider ordering some Yuan before your trip from your local bank, as it’s nice to have for the metro, taxis, etc. It is not necessary to order a significant amount, as the vast majority of businesses in Shanghai accept credit card.
We strongly recommend having a credit card with no foreign transaction fees for any international travel. Actually, having 2-3 cards is ideal, in case one is inexplicably denied (it seems to occur for us at a higher rate than normal when traveling) or flagged (even when we notify the bank of travel plans, this has occurred).
When using your credit card, always pay with the local currency (if given the option) to avoid a potential fee and for a more favorable conversion rate. Note that in Shanghai, there’s no contactless pay system that’s nearly as ubiquitous as the Octopus card is in Hong Kong.
How Many Days?
If you’re casual visitor to China and randomly stumbled upon this article, a single day is sufficient to see the highlights of Shanghai Disneyland as part of your China trip.
If you’re a serious Disney fan, we recommend two days. You will likely want to dig deeper in the park, and despite the (deceptively) limited attraction lineup, there’s quite a bit to do that is unique to Shanghai Disneyland. Additionally, many of the attractions have already proven to have long waits, and average wait-times for even less popular attractions tend to exceed 30 minutes.
Beyond that, you’ll want to try the many dining options, shop, see the shows at SDL, and just generally explore the park. All of this takes more time than you expect, making 2 days the perfect amount of time, in our opinion.
We spent 3 days in Shanghai Disneyland on our first visit, and we still left wanting more. Granted, we are probably not the best example, as I spent hours per day just taking photos and the summer humidity left us fatigued during the middle of the day. Still, we think there’s an ample amount to justify 2 days in the park.
If you are crunched for time, visiting multiple Disney parks in Asia, we recommend allocating 66% to 75% of your days at Tokyo Disney Resort. (If we had 6 days total for the parks and were doing just Shanghai and Tokyo, we’d do a 2-4 split. If doing Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, we’d do a 1-1-4 split.)
Additionally, we recommend allocating around half of your time on the entire trip to non-Disney sights. Hong Kong, China, and Japan each have a lot to offer, and it’s really simple to navigate all of them thanks to wonderful public transportation. Because of this, we would not do Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo Disney Resort, and Shanghai Disneyland all on the same trip. Unless you have a month for the trip, you’re going to be bouncing around too much and miss too much. That’s just us, though.
When to Visit
With Shanghai Disneyland only having opened a few months ago, it’s impossible to write a definitive “when to visit” section about the park at present. However, we think a lot can be gleaned from visitation trends at Hong Kong Disneyland, which shares some guest demographics with Shanghai Disneyland, and should be a good baseline. Likewise, weather in Shanghai is important.
First, the time to avoid: summer. Vacation crowds and summer humidity almost caused us to pass on Opening Day, but it was too much to resist. For our next visit, the months of May through August are out of the question due to humidity. We also would not go for Chinese New Year, or any other national holiday, as those tend to be the busiest travel times.
Climate-wise, Shanghai is not as far south as Hong Kong, which can be hot even in October and November. It’s also not as far north as Beijing, where it can snow in the winter. With this in mind, we’d probably view late-October through mid-December and February through April as the best times to visit. This article covers other good/bad times to visit China.
In all likelihood, our travel schedule would be dictated by Japan and seasonal events more than anything else. We anticipate Shanghai Disneyland not offering any Christmas entertainment or decorations its first year, and wouldn’t be surprised if it’s never celebrated there. Along with Christianity, Christmas was banned by the Chinese government until recently, and between the government’s ownership interest in Shanghai Disneyland and the low percentage of the population that celebrate the holiday, we could see it being ignored at Shanghai Disneyland.
However, we love Christmas at Tokyo Disney Resort and weather-wise, this seems like it would be an ideal time to visit, so we could see our “sweet spot” for an Asia trip that includes both Tokyo and Shanghai as being in late November or early December, irrespective of whether Shanghai will get in the festive spirit.
You should also consider which days of the week to visit. Before purchasing tickets, we’d highly recommend consulting the Park Hours. In a rare move as compared to other international parks, we are actually going to recommend a weekend visit at this point. Potentially.
That depends upon a comparison of park hours on weekday versus weekend dates for your timeframe. Right now, we are noticing some weekend dates are open up to 3.5 hours more than adjacent weekday dates. We find it highly unlikely that crowds will be sufficiently higher on weekends as compared to weekdays to offset this added time.
As of right now, wait times are slightly higher on weekends, but not that much higher. In fact, even with “only” +2 hours on the weekend, we’d probably still choose that. (If there’s a 1 hour difference, a weekday probably makes more sense.)
The other things to consider here are that all tourist spots in the city are going to be more crowded on weekends, and–if you’re continuing on to Japan–that you should never visit Tokyo Disney Resort on a weekend.
Where to Stay
Shanghai Disneyland has two official hotels: Toy Story Hotel and Shanghai Disneyland Hotel, both of which are within walking distance of the park. Both also offer shuttles, and Shanghai Disneyland Hotel also offers boat service. We highly recommend staying at one of these official Disney hotels–more so than we do in Tokyo or Hong Kong, in fact.
We stayed at Shanghai Disneyland Hotel, and liked it quite a bit. This is the flagship hotel, featuring an Art Nouveau ocean liner-inspired style (particularly in the lobby) and it’s slightly closer to the park. The rooms were passable: somewhere in between a Walt Disney World Moderate and Deluxe. A few more details given the price point would’ve been appreciated.
I’m not sure that you’d call Toy Story Hotel a “Value” Resort given the price point, but that’s how it struck me. I know parents with kids might like the decorations, but it just didn’t do anything for me. It reminds me of Art of Animation, room-wise, but without any of the exterior charm.
These are the obvious picks for a visit to Shanghai Disneyland. While there are no Extra Magic Hours or anything of that sort (yet?), guests tend to line up to enter the park at least 30 minutes before opening, so that long train ride from downtown may not be the best way to start your day. If you’re planning on exploring downtown Shanghai, we’d recommend doing a split stay.
If you’re on a tighter budget, the $200+/night rates at the official Shanghai Disney Resort hotels might be a tough pill to swallow. Unfortunately, given the recency of the park’s construction, there are not yet any Good Neighbor Hotels or other options in the immediate area. Additionally, you might have a tough time determining what, exactly, is convenient to Shanghai Disney Resort.
As for off-site hotels, you options are basically downtown, airport hotels, or spots along the Metro in between. Based on our research (not first-hand stays), here are a few options that should be convenient to Shanghai Disneyland along the Metro:
- Shanghai Pudong Theme Park Wassim Hotel
- Courtyard by Marriott Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone
- Novotel Shanghai Clover
- Holiday Inn Shanghai Pudong Kangqiao
- JI Hotel Shanghai Kangqiao Xiuyan Road
Again, we haven’t stayed at any of these, so we cannot vouch for them. If you’ve visited Shanghai Disneyland and stayed at an off-site hotel, we’d love to hear feedback as to where you stayed and what you thought.
Buying Park Tickets
Park tickets for Shanghai Disneyland are inexpensive as compared to the US parks. Currently, only 1-2 day tickets and Annual Passes are sold at Shanghai Disneyland. Much like Walt Disney World and Disneyland, Shanghai has seasonal pricing, with tickets during peak travel times costing more.
Fortunately, there are now discounted 1-2 day tickets for Shanghai Disneyland available via Klook. Depending upon the ticket season, you’re looking at a savings of around $5-10 per ticket, which is not bad considering that Shanghai Disneyland is already one of the least expensive Disney Parks in the world. To really sweeten the deal, you can take $5 off your first purchase on Klook by entering our exclusive discount code KLKDTB at checkout!
For this reason, we highly recommend buying in advance from Klook. If you purchase tickets from Shanghai Disneyland directly, you’ll pay significantly more. You’ll have a few options once you purchase, including a paper voucher or digital ticket. We went the digital route, taking a screenshot of the ticket (for safety increase our internet was down) as well. We then received a paper ticket after our digital ticket was scanned at the turnstiles.
No matter how you purchase your tickets, make sure to bring your passport in case the Cast Member requests to check your ID (you should always have your passport on your person when traveling internationally).
In addition to tickets, you can purchase “Disney Premier Access,” which is essentially paid FastPass. There are two versions of this–one that can be purchased per attraction ($17-22 per ride) and another version that includes every attraction ($10-13 per ride).
Disney Premier Access offers priority access via the FastPass line at the following attractions: Soaring Over the Horizon, Roaring Rapids, TRON Lightcyle Power Run, Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Peter Pan’s Flight.
Unless you’re visiting on a national holiday or particularly busy weekend, you won’t need Disney Premier access on the vast majority of these attractions. Even though it’s more expensive, to do individual rides, you’re likely only going to need this pass for Roaring Rapids or Soaring Over the Horizon (but not both), unless you don’t arrive at rope drop…in which case you could need it for both. Otherwise, smart use of FastPass and a good park touring strategy (see below) should be good enough.
Park Strategy/Touring Plans
We plan to write a dedicated 1-Day Touring Plan for Shanghai Disneyland, but for now, here’s roughly how we’d start the day, along with FastPass strategy. This requires arriving to the park 30 minutes before opening, perhaps more depending upon the season (in loosely following wait times, crowds have remained high since the park’s Grand Opening)…
- Get FastPass for Roaring Rapids
- Go to Camp Discovery to do the rope course (low capacity, and lockers are in short supply)
- …
- Get FastPass for Peter Pan’s Flight
- …
- Get FastPass for TRON Lightcycle Power Run
- …
- Last FastPass: Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue
- …
- Last ride (<5 minutes until close): Voyage to the Crystal Grotto or TRON Lightcycle Power Run
These tips operate on the assumption that you’re willing to skip clones or near-clones. Meaning no Soaring (if you must do that here, get a FastPass for it first thing and do Roaring Rapids via standby), Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, etc.
We also are trying to get you onto the TRON coaster at night, which is why we wait so long to get a FastPass for that. You should be mindful of FastPass return times when adapting these tips to your plans. If TRON already has a late afternoon return time when you’re eligible for your second FastPass, don’t get the Peter Pan’s Flight FastPass.
Lines for Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure and all Fantasyland attractions will be shorter at night. Tomorrowland lines seem to get longer at night, which is probably indicative of most guests starting their days in Adventure Isle and progressing around until arriving in Tomorrowland last.
Single Rider is available at Pirates, Roaring Rapids, Mine Train, and TRON. However, the line is not always open, and when it is, you might have a difficult time using it if you show up as a group. (We did.) During our visit, the Single Rider line was only ever open for Pirates.
If an attraction breaks down (and we mention this because it has been occurring quite a bit with Roaring Rapids and TRON) while you are in line, we strongly recommend going to Guest Services at the front of the park (past the “Train” Station) and requesting to speak to someone. We experienced a breakdown after waiting in line 2+ hours for Roaring Rapids, and Cast Members were not giving out re-admissions when clearing the line. However, Guest Services assisted us.
If you intend upon watching the parade, you can safely grab a spot for it 20 minutes before start time. The parade route is insanely long, and front row spots tended to be available until the last minute.
Ignite the Dream (the nighttime spectacular) is a totally different story. If you want a good view of this show, including the projections, fountains, and fireworks, you need to select a (centered) spot in Gardens of Imagination at least 90 minutes before the show, potentially earlier. This is why having 2 days in Shanghai Disneyland can be a good thing–you can skip Ignite the Dream your second time and maximize ride time when attractions tend to have shorter waits.
Dining
Restaurants in Shanghai Disneyland serve a wide range of cuisine, ranging from burgers, pizza, and fried chicken to traditional Chinese dishes. Most restaurants are counter service, but there are also buffets and table service restaurants around the resort.
Unlike Tokyo Disney Resort, Shanghai’s snacking game isn’t nearly as strong. Nor is its table service scene. We strongly suggest sticking to counter service restaurants for most of your dining needs. You’ll find a few viable snack spots on Mickey Avenue (including Il Paperino, the bomb ice cream shop) and there are also the insanely popular turkey legs in Adventure Isle, but other than that…not much.
Many of you will probably be alarmed/elated that Shanghai Disney Resort serves Pepsi instead of Coke. So, you either have a reason to go or a reason to skip the park now, depending upon your alliances in the soda wars. Pepsi aside, we recommend bringing a filtered water bottle with you to Shanghai Disneyland. There are far fewer drinking fountains than in the U.S. parks, and this is probably a cultural thing, as most guests carry water bottles with them. (Each drinking fountain also has a faucet for filling bottles.)
We intend upon doing a range of restaurant reviews in the near future, and we will update this post with links to those, but for now, here are some of the restaurants we recommend, which should get you through a couple of days in the park:
- Tangled Tree Tavern
- Mickey & Pal’s Market Cafe
- Wandering Moon Teahouse (must-do)
- Barbossa’s Bounty (must-do)
If you must do table service, do it in Disneytown or one of the hotels. We can’t speak to any of these restaurants, but we did dine at Royal Banquet Hall in Enchanted Storybook Castle, and it was a bit disappointing. (The characters were awesome, though!)
Disney boozehounds will also be happy that there are a few bars located around Disneytown and the resort hotels (but not in Shanghai Disneyland). Of these, our recommendation is Bacchus Lounge, which was open ~2-3 hours after the park closed on our visit and offered views overlooking Wishing Star Lake and towards the castle.
What to Pack
The items on our Unique Disney Packing List will be helpful in any of the Disney theme parks. If you’re visiting Shanghai in the late spring, summer, or early fall, plan for hot weather. Things like Frogg Togg Chilly Pads and USB-Powered Fan will come in handy to keep you cool, as will moisture wicking clothing.
You’ll also need a power adapter when traveling in China, because plugs are three-prong “type I” as opposed to “type A” that we use in the US (and Japan at Tokyo Disney Resort). If you intend upon doing international travel to other destinations in the future, we recommend something robust, like this Universal Travel Adapter. It includes the added utility of having 2 USB plugins in additions to a standard plug. Rather than buying/packing multiple adapters, we pack this along with a Travel Power Strip. Some–particularly western chains–hotels in China will have US plugs, but it’s better to just play it safe.
In general, we would caution against overpacking and recommend only taking a single carry-on bag, especially if you’ll be moving around. Mass transit in Asia can be crowded, and dragging around multiple suitcases is a serious hassle. You can read more of our “carry-on philosophy” and which types of bags we use here.
Additionally, Shanghai is a world city, and you can purchase just about anything there that you’d be able to purchase at a convenience store anywhere else. In other words, don’t pack for every possible contingency. If you are going to be staying in multiple hotels in Asia, we highly recommend packing cubes or compression bags for organization.
Okay–that should be a good jumping off point. Hopefully others who have been will weigh in with additional tips in the comments, and we can refine this guide based on questions you might have. Want to see more photos or read about Shanghai Disneyland in agonizing detail? Check out our Shanghai Disneyland Grand Opening Trip Report from our very first visit to China.
Your Thoughts
Do you agree or disagree with our advice for visiting Shanghai Disneyland? Any additional tips to add? Any thoughts about Disney’s newest park of your own? Any questions? Please feel free to ask or assist in the comments. With so little Shanghai Disneyland trip planning materials out there, your feedback (both questions and answers) can be useful in helping others plan their trips!
I have tried more than a dozen times, from different places, on different computers, on different browsers, and I CANNOT book Disneyland Shanghai Hotel. It seems to use a 3rd party payment system, you choose international card, it never completes the payment. I’m at a total loss, I have no idea what to do? Anyone else have this issue, or problems making direct reservations online, or am I the lone ranger here? Suggestions? I can’t believe there isn’t a US phone number, or someone at Disney USA that can help make and complete these reservations.
“If you are crunched for time, visiting multiple Disney parks in Asia, we recommend allocating 66% to 75% of your days at Tokyo Disney Resort. (If we had 6 days total for the parks and were doing just Shanghai and Tokyo, we’d do a 2-4 split. If doing Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, we’d do a 1-1-4 split.”
Best advice, thank you!
We are planning a japan trip next december 2018- january 2019, of course we absolutely want to visit Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea, but I am really struggling with the possibility of visiting Shanghai Disneyland before heading to Tokyo. We are Disney fans, there is no question about that, but I am really not sure if I want to take 1 or 2 days from japan just to visit shanghai Disney, in the other hand, I am absolutely sure if I don’t visit shanghai disneyland on this trip, maybe I will never do. Also is kind of sad going to a country and just visiting one spot, but I understand I would not be able to do everything. What would you recommend? is it really worthy? Also, what about crowds for disney Shanghai 2 days after christmas?
thanks!
This is an incredibly useful resource. I know I’m very late to comment on this thread, but hopefully someone will read it…
1. Do you know if the park opens earlier than the official opening time, like most of the other parks? If so, how much earlier?
2. If I’m visiting for the day, is it worth taking an hour or two to check out the hotels? They look interesting, but are they worthy of my time? Do they have any hotel-specific merchandise?
Thanks!
1. When I was researching my trip (went 2 days in February), I found conflicting information. It seems like during the first few months they were trying different things. On the 2 days we were there, it opened earlier than the official opening, at least 15 minutes one day (already open when we got there) and about 30 minutes the next day. That was a Saturday and Sunday.
2. If just visiting for the day, I wouldn’t go to the hotels. Shanghai Disneyland Hotel is beautiful and peaceful, though, so it would be a nice place to rest if you get tired of heat and crowds. The merch there was pretty weak, mostly princess stuff. I was looking for a simple hat or T-shirt and didn’t see anything.
Hey George thanks for the great info it’s greatly appreciated
Our family visited on Saturday and Sunday, February 18 and 19. I found this guide to be very helpful, Tom; thanks! A few notes:
1. The tip about going outside for a taxi saved us about $57; quoted 450 RMB inside and our actual cost taking a taxi from the stand outside was 83 RMB. It is fun to see Mickey ears on the signs as you get closer.
2. We stayed at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel. Overall it was excellent. My general impression was that the park was crowded and the hotel was not. I had been planning on the Toy Story Hotel, but at least when we were there, the weekend markup for Toy Story was big enough (and Shanghai Disneyland Hotel small enough) that the prices were fairly close. If we were staying on a weeknight, we probably would’ve stayed at Toy Story.
I also sprung for Club Level, since we were there just 2 nights and they would be our first nights ever in Asia. We appreciated the extra help with checking in, and the CM who helped us had worked at the Contemporary in Orlando last year was very pleasant and helpful. Club level comes with a pretty good buffet breakfast and snacks and drinks throughout the day, and it is cheaper to do club level for a family of 4 than to do a standard room plus the character buffet breakfast. Mickey appears in the club room in the evening for a bedtime story also. They pipe in music for the nighttime spectacular, which was nice, but the view is too far away to appreciate much of the projection effects. (For comparison’s sake, it looks on google maps that the Club Room is about 220 yards farther away from the castle than California Grill is from Cinderella Castle)
The quick-service meal option was nothing like you’d find in a WDW resort; it was not very big and not very quick. Closer to a coffee shop or deli that makes a few hot dishes as well.
Bus service to the park from the hotel was very convenient. It ran about every 10 minutes and was never close to being full. Still a bit of a walk from the dropoff spot, but closer than you can get from anywhere else other than the ferry from the hotel. If you were leaving at the same time, the ferry would be a bit quicker, but it comes only about every 30 minutes.
3. We ignored Tom’s advice about a SIM card and MiFi, thinking that Disney’s wifi would probably be enough. Big mistake. WiFi was OK in the room and terrible in the park. I gave up checking the app in the park after about a half-day.
4. I have only been to WDW in September and October, so I don’t have a feel for what a really crowded park feels like. But Shanghai Disneyland felt very crowded to us. It was the first weekend after the last weekend of the Chinese New Year holiday. First morning, still suffering from jetlag, we arrived at 8:45 for a 9:00 opening, and it was 9:15 before we were in the park. The next morning we arrived at 8:15 and were through the gates at 8:40 (they opened the gates 25-30 min early). It was kind of fun to watch people running right past the CMs holding “Please walk” signs.
5. As far as attractions, I suggest linking the ride guide from this planning guide. That was helpful, too. Spot on that the Camp Discovery Challenge Trails is the biggest gem outside of Pirates. Our biggest disappointment of the trip was that we only got to do this once. Tron was also a big hit–ask for the front row. (I am curious to see how much the Banshee ride vehicle looks like Tron.) And we also loved the “high-flying” effect at the end of Captain Jack’s Stunt Spectacular. That single stunt was better than anything in the Tarzan show, but overall I enjoyed the Tarzan show a bit more as it was much easier for an English speaker to follow and had a bit more variety. My wife and 6-year-old also found the Alice in Wonderland maze to be surprisingly enjoyable. We also really enjoyed the Golden Fairytale castle stage show; it was more of a selection of greatest hits from the movies than anything with a plot, but the costumes, performances, and puppets were very well done.
6. The highs were in the 50s both days we were there. It was pretty comfortable while the sun was up, but at night we headed back to the hotel instead of seeing the nighttime spectacular because we were cold. Just a reminder to check the weather and pack accordingly.
7. In the park, we ate at Barbarossa’s Bounty, where I had the squid. I probably would not order it again, but I’m glad I did it, and I absolutely would recommend that restaurant. Stargazer Grill in Tomorrowland was perfectly fine for quick-service. Fast, efficient, and CMs offered to help me find my wife and kid and carry our food to the table.
8. Language was not much of an issue, and we didn’t see anyone going to the bathroom in public. Just a little line-cutting, but they sure like to pack those lines in. The only time it was really bothersome was at Pooh when the queue was just wide enough that my wife and I couldn’t quite block everyone behind us when we stood shoulder-to-shoulder
9. Overall, I think 2 days is about right for this park. We had a day-and-a-half, missed 3 headliners (7DMT and Soaring due to being clones and Roaring Rapids due to weather), and did everything we wanted. I would not go to China just to visit Shanghai Disneyland, but it turns out that China has a lot of other stuff, too.
Thanks again for your guides, Tom.
I bought an Air Canada ticket to fly Boston to Beijing then a separate ticket to fly to Auckland under China’s 24-hour visa-free rule. I was stopped at the gate and denied boarding. When I got home, I made a complaint through Air Canada’s website. They didn’t help and acted like they never heard of any such rules. Gate staff and supervisors said I could not board. Only one person looked at my onward flight ticket that complied with the rule.
Every review of Air Canada on flights to China were the same. If you don’t have a visa, you did not get on the flight.
I took them to court and I lost. They sent a lawyer who did a good job but I also did a good job. Everything you read about China’s requirements for special TWOV rules didn’t help me get to my destination.
I spent $2000 more for a last minute flight.
We made it to Shanghai Disneyland! Had 18-hour layover from 6am to midnight with China Eastern Airlines LAX to Manila flight. Wife has Philippine passport and we couldn’t find out if she could do the transit no-visa so she visited Chinese consulate and paid $30 to get a regular visa. My daughter and I with USA passport needed no visa, and wife’s line was really fast but our no visa one took about 45 minutes.
Weather report said rain all day so we brought rain suits and changed into them inside the airport terminal, our checked bag did not need to be retrieved, and our carry on suitcase we stored in an airport locker. Then we took a taxi to SDL, and even though I had a print out of the park name in Chinese and picture of Princess castle driver had a little hard time finding where to drop us off.
Upon arrival walked to security and got through no problem, then waited for park opening. Even with the rain a lot of persons waiting to get in most with no rain gear or just an umbrella. Lady in line started screaming at her baby in a stroller. Presented passport at entrance turnstile to retrieve tickets purchased online. Persons entering ahead of us sprinted full speed off into the park.
In the park went to Pirates and rode twice within 15 minutes, they use lots of big IMAX type screens which are not as impressive as real animatronics. Next Seven Dwarves single rider wife and I both in around 15 minutes, it is outdoors and rain hits the face, in single line they pair up with another rider I had a stylish Chinese young lady close next to me.
With daughter went on Winnie Pooh and Peter Pan, Pan was better the ride is up in the air. Got Mickey Pizza for lunch, cold and rain and wind started getting to wife also jet lag catching up to us so decided to let go of your plan to reach downtown Shanghai and instead just finish SDL and go back to airport.
Went to Stars Wars Launch Bay, that was warm and out of rain, Darth Vader was mean to kids including my baby daughter, he put his fist in her face and then the next group of kids he just stormed out of the room and they stood there bewildered and disappointed.
Rode Tron it may be the best roller coaster in the world and best ride at any theme park. Sit on it like a motorcycle and it accelerates really fast. No wait and there is a single-use two hour locker for no charge to keep your stuff in while on the ride. Jet lag really kicking in got disoriented during ride so couldn’t do it a second time.
On way out of park walked through Princess Castle noticed persons climbing stairs that wind upwards from the inside, wind blowing through castle too tired and cold to attempt climb. Took taxi back to airport and retrieved luggage from locker. On way to airport noticed lots of very tall apartment buildings looked like stereotype communist terrible place to live.
We weren’t interested in Soaring, and wished we could have seen some shows and viewed the outdoor sights, but on the plus side we did most of the best rides in a short period of time.
Other info I forgot; we were there on a weekday, the taxidriver turned his meter around so we could not see it and demanded a higher payment than we owed, the app which shows wait times was inop most of the day on wife’s Samsung phone with USA simcard and ATT International data plan, many websites such as Facebook we never could access while in China, we went counter-clockwise around the large park and didn’t waste time and energy trying to walk across the lands to get fast passes, there is free wifi at the Shanghai airport and had a hard time getting the access code finally found it taped to the front of a machine that you are supposed to scan your passport on to get the code electronically.
Hi. I have a couple questions. I am going with my family this next week to Shanghai and and Hong Kong Disney this coming week for spring break. I was wondering, first, how accurate would you say the apps for both parks are? Second, did you guys use the no visa situation while going? We are planning to, but we were wondering if there are any suggestions you have for it. Thanks!
Sorry. Other question- do the characters sign autographs? We had been told that they don’t by an employee, but your response to the comment below made it sound like maybe they do. Also, sorry about repeating myself about when we are going- I obviously didn’t proofread first.
Can you bring your camera inside the park? I have a Sony A7r ii
Yes, you can bring your camera.
Hi, we’re off to Disney Shanghai this weekend and I’m slightly stressing about whether Disney downtown food places accept Mastercard? Does anyone know?
Thanks in advance!
I want to go from Las vegas to tokyo to shanghai to hong kong….. do i need to get a visa or will a passport be okay?
Thank you so much for all the tips and information in your blog. So helpful in planning our trip. I would like ask if there’s a nearby supermarket to Toy Story Hotel. From what I’ve been reading, the food inside Disney is expensive. I just want to have an alternative because I’m traveling with young kids who are sometimes picky eaters. Thank you.
Giselle
There’s a mini-mart at Shanghai Disneyland Hotel. That’s about as close as you’re going to get to a supermarket.
Thanks Tom. One last question to you and to anyone who might know. I’ve read Frommers and even researched online but couldn’t find the answer. Where is the nearest mall or grocery store by Metro?
Hi we have a 15hr layover in shanghai in April and really just want the Disney experience there. Any suggesting on a must do since we will only be in park for say less then half a day?
I am an American living in China and visited Shanghai Disney September 2016 on a national holiday (Mid-Autumn Day). Seeing as how my friend and I live in China and are all-too-familiar with Chinese holiday crowds, we were expecting mayhem and massive lines, in spite of the fact this was a peak-pricing day. We were VERY pleasantly surprised, though, as the park was not crowded at all! In fact, the longest line we waited in was about 20 min! Another contributing factor to the low crowds was probably the fact that there was a typhoon nearby…we had light rain in the afternoon and heavy rain at night, but seeing as how it wasn’t cold, it didn’t deter us from enjoying the park at all! We walked onto Tron (our favorite) 5 times!! I recognize that our experience on a holiday may have been somewhat of a fluke, and I’m curious to hear what holiday crowd levels are like in the future.
For a cool souvenir, you can get mouse ears with a Chinese name embroidered on them! They only do it at one place: the Whistle Stop Shop on Mickey Ave. Be forewarned, though, that they make you show an ID with your Chinese name on it, presumably to cut down on people reselling online?? I fortunately had an old student ID that worked, but if you don’t have something like this, you may be disappointed. There are also lots of other unique Chinese souvenirs, like Minnie dolls wearing traditional Chinese clothes.
As has been mentioned, the staff was excellent! I haven’t been to Tokyo Disney, but the Shanghai staff was definitely better than that at Disneyland in CA. My friend and I checked a package at package check, and when we came back to pick it up at the end of the day, the staff presented us with a homemade Mid-Autumn Day Disney card! So sweet!
We ended up purchasing the all-inclusive photo package for around 400 RMB, and the Disney photographers got a lot of great shots which they also added special “frames” to, many of which were related to the Grand Opening. Felt like this was a worthwhile souvenir since we don’t have a nice camera ourselves! Not sure how long the “Grand Opening” celebrations will continue…maybe the whole first year?
We didn’t eat in the park at all, but the Cheesecake Factory in Disneytown was every bit as great as its American counterpart…great food and service!
I highly recommend visiting Shanghai Disneyland! I hope I can make a return trip!!
Thanks for sharing your experience and adding some tips of your own–good to hear that your visit went well!
Hi,
I’d like to know where is the nearest supermarket to toy story hotel that’s accessible by the Metro?
Thanks,
Giselle
Defecation in public? I assume you meant to say urinate. Please don’t tell me people shit in public in the park?
Wondering if there are character meets and if so, is it common to ask for autographs? Thanks for all the great info!
Yes to both questions! 🙂
Shanghai has a ton of character meet and greet opportunities! I just published an article with a list of all the characters that have appeared at Shanghai Disney to date:
http://www.millennialmatter.com/2017/01/characters-of-shanghai-disneyland.html
Most have meet at greets, but some are parade-only.
Hi! Thanks for the guide! Do you happen to know if entering with your own food is allowed? Thanks again
Yes it is! Food and water not a problem 🙂
Hi Tom and Sarah!
I have just returned from a trip to Shanghai yesterday and spent Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday in the Disney bubble! You’ll be happy to know this is the time of year to go. The park was quiet allowing us to practically walk onto Pirates, Tron and Roaring Rapids for the three days. Tron always had fast passes available and we were also able to utilise this. The longest wait times we witnessed were 70 mins on mine train and soaring but general wait times floated between the 15-20 minute mark. On day two we rope dropped soaring and got a fast pass for it, then headed straight to mine train, Peter Pan also had a 5 minute wait for the first 2 hours of park open on all 3 days. This park was phenomial and we thoroughly enjoyed our time here! We also stayed at the Toy Story hotel and found ourselves in the ‘woody’ section. The theming was excellent and the cast members went above and beyond every minute of our stay. Just want to say love your blog and recommend it to anyone planning a trip to any Disney park! Keep up the great work guys!
My friend and I are planning a trip to shanghai Disneyland and we were wondering if we need to bring our passports when buying tickets. And is it really busy on a December Monday or a Tuesday because we have read a lot of comments saying how busy the park was on a Monday.
Just got back from Shanghai and spent two wonderful days at SDL! Your blog was super helpful and we gleaned a lot on the way! After spending the first day getting the lay of the land, we were able to have an amazingly productive trip, getting multiple rides on our MUST DO list both days.
One piece of advice that we observed – if you want to ride Soarin’, you need to be AT Rope Drop and head straight for the queue. Both days, 75% of the crowd bee-lined for the Soarin’ Fastpass kiosks and they were gone in the first hour. After that, the line never dropped below 100 minutes. Whereas most other rides had Fastpasses past lunch time and Tron until early evening (we kept hopping back to try to grab a FP for after dark). One benefit from this is that means everyone is locked out of FPs for the first 2-3 hours of the day and we gabbed multiple FPs for Mine Train, Tron, and could’ve gotten it for Roarin’ Rapids (too cold for me!) ((all this is based on going during the week… I was told weekends are totally zany))
Also, while we did notice some cultural differences, we found that the park was clean, easy to navigate (lots of English!), and the Cast Members really went out of their way to keep order and smooth transitions. While people may harp on the negatives, I can say we only had one awkward interaction and we had some of the most amazing customer service we have seen at a Disney Park – and I am a frequent flier at Tokyo Disney Resort.
Thanks again, Tom, for great information, and I hope others take the chance to see the newest jewel in the Disney crown!!!