It's A Small World - A Never-ending Pre-trip Report

First things first: We have our passports back and they have a shiny new Chinese visa in them, which is indeed multiple entry for two years with each stay being permitted up to 90 days. So this may have some impact on our holiday plans in the next couple of years. We may as well get our money's worth out of those visas. They were not cheap.

I just spotted that the DIS swallowed quite a bit of my update. So here we go again:

One of the aspects of the trip we have been going back and forth on is how we get from the airport to the hotel and back and also from the hotel to the port and the port to the airport in China. In Tokyo we realised very quickly that public transport seems very straightforward and quick and cheap to use. Everywhere we are likely to need to go is half an hour away. So this does not concern me in the slightest.

I was a bit more nervous about China. Public transport does not cover everywhere we need to go and even if it does, it requires multiple changes. This does not look like a lot of fun with luggage. In Beijing, we have the added complication that we do not arrive until 22:30 in the evening and our flight to Tokyo leaves at 8:25 in the morning. So over the weekend I decided that pre-booking transfers would make the most sense for Beijing. In Shanghai we are most likely going to brave the taxis. The timings involved are a lot more civil. However, there is a good chance that I could change my mind about this between now and when we leave.

With the trip getting closer, I also wanted to get my tickets sorted out. This proved easier said than done. You can order tickets via the Tokyo Disney Resort website, but they can only be shipped to a Japanese address. There is no option to pick them up at the resort or for an eticket. Over the weekend, I found a tour operator that sells etickets for Tokyo Disney Resort and they had good reviews. So I now got my tickets. As part of the ordering process, I had to decide on which day I will visit which park. I am going to visit Tokyo Disney Sea on the first day and Disneyland on the second. Apparently you can go straight to the entrance with the eticket, but then you have to go to guest services and get a Fastpass card. This should hopefully be straightforward enough.

Shanghai Disneyland is altogether easier. You can actually order tickets online. The only issue that I had is that you need your passport number and the passport of course was elsewhere until today. Now that I have this back, I will get the ticket sorted. In the meantime I download the Shanghai Disneyland app and also the Photopass app. Apparently you can now book Fastpasses via the app once you are in the park.

The last pick part of preparation was to decide what we want to do in terms of tours on this trip. This has now been decided and I will get them booked over the course of the week. I will do a separate update on what we are planing in each destination.

Corinna
 
Excellent about the visas! Yes, that makes total sense to do another trip in the next two years now that the visa is still good.

Transportation and tickets sound a bit more complicated.

Your trip is coming up soon!!! :cool1:
 
Excellent about the visas!

This was a massive wait off my shoulders.

Yes, that makes total sense to do another trip in the next two years now that the visa is still good.

We may even squeeze two more in. It all depends on how this trip goes.

Transportation and tickets sound a bit more complicated.

It is a bit more involved than for the US parks, but the main issue was just me making my mind up,

Your trip is coming up soon!!! :cool1:

Yes, one of my coworkers pointed out that I was leaving 4 weeks from today. I had not realised that it was getting quite so close.

Corinna
 


YOu are making lots of progress! you might as well go back to China if its already paid for! :rolleyes1

Jill in CO
 
This trip is getting ever closer and fortunately things have quietened down a bit for me. So I have had time for some preparations and also to post an update.

Beijing

Of all the places that we will be visiting on our upcoming trip, Beijing has got the biggest pull on me. I cannot wait to finally get to see this for myself. We arrive late in the evening on 1st December. Our hotel is only about 20 minutes from the airport and taxis seem to be very cheap in China. However, as Chinese taxi drivers don’t normally speak English and I am not sure how alert we will be after travelling for about 18 hours, we have decided to play it safe and booked transfers. We also have quite an early start on the day we fly to Tokyo so this just made the most sense.

We will have two full days in Beijing. The next morning we will have an early start. I am going to get to tick another thing off my bucket list. We have booked a private tour to the Great Wall of China. We originally looked a group tours, but then I found that one of the suppliers that we use at work was offering a private tour that was not a great deal more expensive. So we went with this. The most popular section of the Great Wall of China is Badaling and this is where most of the tours go. I had originally look at this, but Graham has a Chinese business associate and she advised us to avoid Badaling at all cost. Apparently it is always very crowded and in her words, it is the Chinese version of Disneyland. Apparently it is overly commercialized and not very authentic. She recommended Mutianyu, which tends to be somewhat quieter. From what I read, the surrounding scenery is not quite as stunning, but it is meant to be one of the best preserved stretches of the Great Wall of China and it is famous for the high density of watch towers. As this is more authentic, access is more difficult with 1400 uneven steps leading up to the wall, but we will probably take the easy way and take the cable car in both directions. During the summer months, you can take a toboggan run down, but I suppose this would be too dangerous in winter. It is actually snowing there today. The advance weather forecast looks OK for when we are there. It is meant to be sunny with cloudy intervals with no snow forecast. It is snowing there today though. I have decided to play it safe and ordered some non-slip hiking shoes.

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The advantage of the early start and the fact that we are heading straight there is that we should hopefully beat the tour buses to it. A lot of them are going elsewhere first so hopefully by the time they get there, we will be nearly ready to leave. As part of the tour, we will get lunch and we will also visit a cloisonné factory. We should be back at the hotel by mid afternoon and we may or may not go out again exploring depending on how tired we are.

The next day, we are going to take to the subway. We had originally contemplated a tour for that day, too, but have decided that we would prefer the freedom to linger as long as we want. The first stop will be Tiananmen Square. From everything I read about this, it sounds really impressive. I expect we will just pass through taking photos on the way.

Tiananmen Square.jpg

The highlight that day will definitely be the Forbidden City. I have heard that you can spend all day there and still not see everything. This is the main reason why we have decided to do this by ourselves as this gives us the freedom to spend as much time there as we want.

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I hope we will have time to visit the Temple of Heaven complex. I really want to see the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, which was recreated at the Chinese pavilion at Epcot and the Imperial Vault of Heaven. The complex is meant to have stunning gardens, but we are there at the wrong time of year so hopefully this will only take about an hour. Depending on how early we get back the previous day, we may try to fit it in then.

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You plans are really coming together. Beijing is high on my list as well.

Jill in CO
 
How exciting!

I am getting to this stage now where I cannot wait.

You plans are really coming together.

I am kind of 90% there. I am still waiting for a few odds and ends to be delivered. I still have my magnets to make, print off the documents and pack then I am ready to go.

Beijing is high on my list as well.

Beijing looks like a fascinating city and I can't wait to see this for myself.

Corinna
 
Tokyo

Most of my time in Tokyo will be taken up by the Disney parks and I have already shared my plans for those. However, a trip to Tokyo has been on my bucket list for a long time and it would be a shame to go all this way and not see any of it. We arrive at 12:40 and I am hoping that we will be at the hotel by about 14:00. There are numerous ways for getting from the airport to the hotel and they all take around 30 minutes door to door, but I am hoping that we will end up using the monorail. After checking in and dropping our luggage off, I am hoping to be on my way again by about 15:00 the latest. If that works out, I would really like to visit the Imperial Palace Gardens.

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It won't look as pretty as in the photo, but I am mainly interested in the architecture.

We have an evening tour booked at 18:00 and the meeting point is about 30 minutes by subway away from the Imperial Palace. As they close at 17:00, this seems to be entirely doable.

The tour includes a drive around Tokyo taking in famous landmarks like the Rainbow Bridge, Obaida with the replica of the Statue of Liberty and the Tokyo Gate or Dinosaur bridge.

Rainbow_Bridge_at_night.jpg
Obaida.jpg

Tokyo_Gate_Bridge.jpg

Then it is time for dinner. I think this may be the only chance I get to have authentic Japanese food as I will eat in the Disney parks the remaining two days. After dinner, we will head to the Roppongi Hills Observation Deck where we will get a good look over the Tokyo skyline at night.

Roppongi.jpg

I think by the time we get back to the hotel, we will definitely be ready for bed.
 
Your Beijing and Tokyo plans sound fabulous. To see the Great Wall of China is on my bucket list as well. The private tour sounds perfect. The airport transfers sound like a good way to go.
 
Quite a busy itinerary! I hope you will get to relax on the ship a bit!

And I have not left your trip report, I am just far too busy right now to read any trip reports... Unfortunately.
 
For some reason I never saw those replies until now.

To see the Great Wall of China is on my bucket list as well. The private tour sounds perfect.

If you do get the chance, grab it with both hands. It was truly magical. The tour worked out amazingly well.

I hope you will get to relax on the ship a bit!

We did.

And I have not left your trip report, I am just far too busy right now to read any trip reports... Unfortunately.

I understand that predicament only too well and I don't see this changing anytime soon. If all goes well, I will do some studying starting mid January. I am just waiting for confirmation of enrollment. I am hugely exited about this, but that is something else that will take up some of my time.

Corinna
 
I wish all of you and your loved ones a magical Christmas. I have just over half an hour left to work and then I am off until the afternoon of the 27th. This is only the second Christmas I have off in 12 years and I am not quite sure what to do with myself.

Corinna
 
I wish all of you and your loved ones a magical Christmas. I have just over half an hour left to work and then I am off until the afternoon of the 27th. This is only the second Christmas I have off in 12 years and I am not quite sure what to do with myself.

Corinna

I hope you had a fabulous Christmas! I’m so glad you didn’t have to work this year :)
 
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