ABD Short Escapes....wish they would do HKDL, SDL, and Tokyo DL

starry_solo

DIS Veteran
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
Maybe its wishful thinking but it would really be great if ABD did short escapes for their Chinese and Japanese parks like they do for So Cal!
 
Disney doesn't own those parks outright like they do Disneyland, so it would be very difficult for them to get that kind of access. (They don't own a majority percentage of SHDL or HKDL, and own none of TDLR). Our Adventure Guide had to have a very long discussion with the folks at Shanghai Disneyland for them to even allow him to bring the paddle of power into the park with him when we went as a part of the China ABD!

Sayhello
 
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Disney doesn't own those parks outright like they do Disneyland, so it would be very difficult for them to get that kind of access. (They don't own a majority percentage of SHDL or HKDL, and own none of TDLR). Our Adventure Guide had to have a very long discussion with the folks at Shanghai Disneyland for them to even allow him to bring the paddle of power into the park with him when we went as a part of the China ABD!

Sayhello

Ah, I figured since they were all part of the itineraries for the ABD China and Japan, they might be able to do it. I'm interested in the ABD China, but they don't stay very long at HKDL or SDL.
 
Ah, I figured since they were all part of the itineraries for the ABD China and Japan, they might be able to do it. I'm interested in the ABD China, but they don't stay very long at HKDL or SDL.
No, they don't stay very long in either park. But since the Adventure starts in Hong Kong and ends in Shanghai, you can very easily add an extra day or two before or after the trip at the parks. We added a day at each park at each end.

Sayhello
 


No, they don't stay very long in either park. But since the Adventure starts in Hong Kong and ends in Shanghai, you can very easily add an extra day or two before or after the trip at the parks. We added a day at each park at each end.

Sayhello

Good idea. Does ABD have pre and post-trip hotel bookings or did you do that all on your own? Did you find that an extra day was sufficient to see what you wanted to? I'm also thinking about combining it with Tokyo DL, but not the ABD Japan since I don't know how long I can get for a vacation :)
 
Good idea. Does ABD have pre and post-trip hotel bookings or did you do that all on your own? Did you find that an extra day was sufficient to see what you wanted to? I'm also thinking about combining it with Tokyo DL, but not the ABD Japan since I don't know how long I can get for a vacation :)
ABD has pre- and post-trip hotel nights on the China ABD, but not at the Disney Parks. We stayed an additional night at the Hong Kong Peninsula and the Shanghai Peninsula, and just traveled to the parks. Wasn't really worth moving for one night each. If you want to stay at the Parks, you'd have to arrange that yourself. And they don't offer park tickets or any sort of package for the pre/post days, either. Hong Kong Disneyland is *really* small, and was incredibly not busy. Especially in the morning on our pre-day, most everything was a walk-on or a 5 minute wait. I felt the extra day was more than enough, combined with the half-day of the ABD, to see everything I wanted to.

Shanghai Disneyland was, on the other hand, supremely packed. But it turned out we were there the day before the one-year Anniversary celebration, so that could have had a lot to do with it. Lines were very long, and moved very slowly. They don't have enough rides yet for the number of people that are there. We gave up half way through our second day. But I do feel like I still did manage to see all of the highlights I wanted to.

The China trip is different because the Parks are actually included as a part of the ABD. So ABD doesn't offer any sort of an add-on for either of the Parks. For the London/Paris ABD or the Japan ABD, neither one of those ABDs actually include the Parks. So they offer post-trip addons (NOT Short Escapes) to Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disney Resort. Those 2 add-ons are hotel/breakfast/tickets/fastpasses packages.

Sayhello
 
Good idea. Does ABD have pre and post-trip hotel bookings or did you do that all on your own? Did you find that an extra day was sufficient to see what you wanted to? I'm also thinking about combining it with Tokyo DL, but not the ABD Japan since I don't know how long I can get for a vacation :)

We are going in May, and added two pre-nights at Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and two post-nights at Shanghai Disneyland Hotel. We had to book these independently from ABD, but was told by vacationista they will take care of our transportation to and from.
 


We are going in May, and added two pre-nights at Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and two post-nights at Shanghai Disneyland Hotel. We had to book these independently from ABD, but was told by vacationista they will take care of our transportation to and from.

Ooh, that sounds nice!
 
ABD has pre- and post-trip hotel nights on the China ABD, but not at the Disney Parks. We stayed an additional night at the Hong Kong Peninsula and the Shanghai Peninsula, and just traveled to the parks. Wasn't really worth moving for one night each. If you want to stay at the Parks, you'd have to arrange that yourself. And they don't offer park tickets or any sort of package for the pre/post days, either. Hong Kong Disneyland is *really* small, and was incredibly not busy. Especially in the morning on our pre-day, most everything was a walk-on or a 5 minute wait. I felt the extra day was more than enough, combined with the half-day of the ABD, to see everything I wanted to.

Shanghai Disneyland was, on the other hand, supremely packed. But it turned out we were there the day before the one-year Anniversary celebration, so that could have had a lot to do with it. Lines were very long, and moved very slowly. They don't have enough rides yet for the number of people that are there. We gave up half way through our second day. But I do feel like I still did manage to see all of the highlights I wanted to.

The China trip is different because the Parks are actually included as a part of the ABD. So ABD doesn't offer any sort of an add-on for either of the Parks. For the London/Paris ABD or the Japan ABD, neither one of those ABDs actually include the Parks. So they offer post-trip addons (NOT Short Escapes) to Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disney Resort. Those 2 add-ons are hotel/breakfast/tickets/fastpasses packages.

Sayhello

If you hadn't had the extra day for HKDL or SDL, would you have felt that the time you had as part of ABD was sufficient?
 
If you hadn't had the extra day for HKDL or SDL, would you have felt that the time you had as part of ABD was sufficient?
Boy, that's hard to say. I had a really upset stomach during my pre-day at HKDL, so I didn't get that much done, and it was so freakishly hot & humid the second day that I pooped out and did things like sit through Philharmagic 3 times because it was air conditioned. But I don't feel like there was much that I didn't get to do or see. It's really small and not crowded. And with Shanghai Disneyland, by the time we met for the Farewell Dinner after our ABD time there, I felt I'd done everything I wanted to. I think the biggest advantage to having the extra days was not feeling like we had to rush & squeeze everything in on just the ABD day. Especially for Shanghai Disneyland. The folks who only had the ABD time in SHDL didn't seem to enjoy the morning in Chinatown as much, because they were antsy to get to the Park. I loved the time in Chinatown & at the Yu Gardens, because I knew if I didn't get to something at SHDL that day, I still had the next day to get to it. Although in actuality, we mostly spent the second day re-visiting rides and walking through some of the themed areas. It was so hot & crowded that we left much earlier than we'd intended.

Sayhello
 
Ah, I figured since they were all part of the itineraries for the ABD China and Japan, they might be able to do it. I'm interested in the ABD China, but they don't stay very long at HKDL or SDL.

Good idea. Does ABD have pre and post-trip hotel bookings or did you do that all on your own? Did you find that an extra day was sufficient to see what you wanted to? I'm also thinking about combining it with Tokyo DL, but not the ABD Japan since I don't know how long I can get for a vacation :)

If you hadn't had the extra day for HKDL or SDL, would you have felt that the time you had as part of ABD was sufficient?

Chiming in too since I just did the China ABD last summer. We came in early and added an extra day and 1/2 for HKDL. An extra day for HKDL and an extra day at SDL was sufficient. I don;t think I would have felt the time with ABD alone would have been sufficient. We booked the pre and post Disney hotels on our own but ABD did provide the transport. After the China ABD we flew to Tokyo to visit Tokyo DL and Tokyo Disney Sea. We stayed an extra 4 nights to do the TDL/TDS parks.

We are booked for the Japan ABD this fall with the 2 night park add on. We are also going to stay an additional 2 nights at the parks after that.
 
Chiming in too since I just did the China ABD last summer. We came in early and added an extra day and 1/2 for HKDL. An extra day for HKDL and an extra day at SDL was sufficient. I don;t think I would have felt the time with ABD alone would have been sufficient. We booked the pre and post Disney hotels on our own but ABD did provide the transport. After the China ABD we flew to Tokyo to visit Tokyo DL and Tokyo Disney Sea. We stayed an extra 4 nights to do the TDL/TDS parks.

We are booked for the Japan ABD this fall with the 2 night park add on. We are also going to stay an additional 2 nights at the parks after that.

Ooh, thanks for chiming in! So, with ABD providing the transport, does that mean they transported you from the airport in HK, then from HKDL to the ABD hotel and from ABD hotel to SDL then to airport? Mainly because I thought I read in their brochure (online) that they said they only provide transport on the regular start/end days.

Also, did you like the pins they gave you to commemorate the trip (I collect pins so am curious). I read about it in a travel blog talking specifically about the ABD China trip, but oddly, I could only find it talking about day 1. I'll ask @sayhello too :)
 
Also, did you like the pins they gave you to commemorate the trip (I collect pins so am curious). I read about it in a travel blog talking specifically about the ABD China trip, but oddly, I could only find it talking about day 1. I'll ask @sayhello too :)
You get pins on every ABD. It's generally the only "Disneyfied" thing on the trips. On the first day, you will get a lanyard. Each day of the ABD has a theme, and each day you will get a pin specific to the theme for that day. Everyone gets their own set of pins. They are only available on that specific ABD. They are a *wonderful* reminder of the trips. We've had a couple of people come on this forum asking people to sell their pins, and they either got shut down or ignored. In my experience, people *LOVE* the ABD pins.

Sayhello
 
Chiming in too since I just did the China ABD last summer. We came in early and added an extra day and 1/2 for HKDL. An extra day for HKDL and an extra day at SDL was sufficient. I don;t think I would have felt the time with ABD alone would have been sufficient. We booked the pre and post Disney hotels on our own but ABD did provide the transport. After the China ABD we flew to Tokyo to visit Tokyo DL and Tokyo Disney Sea. We stayed an extra 4 nights to do the TDL/TDS parks.

We are booked for the Japan ABD this fall with the 2 night park add on. We are also going to stay an additional 2 nights at the parks after that.

Do they still help you with transfer to getting to the airport to go back after your post stay if you stayed on a disney hotel property on your own?
 
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Do they still help you with transfer to getting to the airport to go back after your post stay if you stayed on a disney hotel property on your own?

I think that varies from adventure to adventure. If I recall, we did pre nights at HKDL on our own and ABD arranged for transfer from the hotel to the starting hotel of the trip and we stayed an extra day on our own at SDL and they arranged transfer to the park from the ABD hotel in Shanghai. Not sure if they will offer transfers on our post-post-stay but when the time draws closer I will be asking. If they do, that will be awesome. If not, we will arrange transportation through the hotel which is what we did last year when visiting the Tokyo parks.
 
Having done the DIS Exclusive China ABD two years ago and having added on a stop in Tokyo for 3 nights on our own, I'd say there is no way this could be a Short Escape. You'd need at least 2 days at TDL/TDS, and 3 would be better. Its a fairly long flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong (4 hours IIRC) so that eats up most of a day. In Hong Kong you can certainly do that park in just one day. Its very nice, but fairly small. Oh, don't miss Mystic Mannor there!. Shanghai is a huge park so I'd suggest 2 days there.
 

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