DIS/Dreams Unlimited China Adventure Oct 14th - 25th 2017 SOLD OUT!!!

Hi Kevin - somehow I missed this. Can I please be added as well? I'm allergic to shellfish but other than I'm good with whatever. thanks for organizing! Steven

HKDL Dim Sum update:

This is my list so far. If I missed your name or you would like to join, please let me know ASAP.

Kevin & Kate
Chandra
Rob
Brian & Lauri
Chuck, Chris & Amy
Michael & Cynthia
John & Micki
Ian & Diane
Michael


Our reservation is Sept 16th at 1:30pm. This is Day 3: Keys to the Magic. We have a Walk with an Imagineer in the morning followed by lunch, afternoon and dinner on our own.

I'm asking my contact at the restaurant for dim sum recommendations or to help set up a menu for us. I thought it was a pre-set menu, but apparently you specifically order a la carte ahead of time. I'll work on the menu, but here's a copy in case anyone has requests.

View attachment 268000
 
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Menu looks good to us, Kevin. We are fine if seafood items need removed for others. Thanks again for doing all this leg work!
 
Menu looks good to us. Everything sounds
delicious . Thanks Kevin
 
Hello DIS Adventurers!

I have been chatting with our guide, Christian. He is in China for all of September leading two tours. He is happy to answer our questions, and is going to try to join our Skype call on Sunday. This is what he wrote:

I would like to know if there are any specific questions and/ apprehensions from the group. So that at least we can prepare you as much as we can for the trip ahead. The best thing about your itinerary is that you can enjoy more time in the disney parks and will not have to fly every two days. Tell everyone to just prepare for extensive walking on the day we go to Forbidden city and also that we will be hiking up for some part going up the great wall. It is like hiking up on treadmill with incline 10. It is not a long hike but we will for sure conquer it all together. I was kind of reading the thread and you all seemed very prepared so please we would love to answer random questions. I have guided this tour in different weathers and conditions for the past 4 consecutive years. I am excited to guide for the Disboards group again. Your group will always have a special place in my heart because you were the very first group I have guided for in 2011.

As a reminder, our next Skype call is Sunday, September 10, at 12 noon (Pacific Time). This is an opportunity to get to know each other, talk about the trip, make plans, share tips, etc. Future84, you are welcome to join us. My Skype account is mouseketeer.michael (Michael Bowling). Before I can add you into the group call, you must send me a request asking me to accept you on Skype so you are entered in my Contacts list.

I am looking forward to our chat on Sunday!
Michael, could you please ask Christian about the possible necessity to wear a mask while in the city? I would rather look a little silly than end up with headache, chest congestion, etc...but don't want to wear one (or take up room in my luggage lol) if it's not necessary. If it is extra high on a certain day while we are there, will our guides be making that recommendation to us?
 


OK everyone, I decided to look at this packing thing scientifically and wanted to analyze the type of weather we would be having, so I looked at the latitudes of the various locations. Since I am on the east coast I am using those cities as reference. Beijing which is the most northern city we will be visiting sits at a latitude that is comparable to Philadelphia. Tokyo is around the outer banks NC. Tokyo is slightly further north than Los Angeles for the west coast people. Shanghai is around the Georgia/Florida border and Hong Kong is between Cuba and Miami. At 7 AM today which was 7pm in Hong Kong it was 100 degrees. :scared1: Hopefully all of these locations will get a little cooler but probably not by much in one month.

On another note, Michael informed us during the Skype call that we will not be able to use any electronic devices on the Chinese airline portions of the trip. Not even in airplane mode. He suggested bringing a book or something to read but I was wondering if an iPod nano would be allowed.

Chris
 
@christannj I haven't been able to confirm this on official websites (like airline or gov't sites), but other forums mention that phones must be turned off completely (not even airplane mode). However, iPads and laptops are ok. They are very strict. There is a Washington Post news report this year of someone being detained 5 days for using their phone during a flight.

Here's a report from The Points Guy who discusses it as well:

https://thepointsguy.com/2017/01/tip-laptop-on-chinese-carriers/
 
OK everyone, I decided to look at this packing thing scientifically and wanted to analyze the type of weather we would be having, so I looked at the latitudes of the various locations. Since I am on the east coast I am using those cities as reference. Beijing which is the most northern city we will be visiting sits at a latitude that is comparable to Philadelphia. Tokyo is around the outer banks NC. Tokyo is slightly further north than Los Angeles for the west coast people. Shanghai is around the Georgia/Florida border and Hong Kong is between Cuba and Miami. At 7 AM today which was 7pm in Hong Kong it was 100 degrees. :scared1: Hopefully all of these locations will get a little cooler but probably not by much in one month.

On another note, Michael informed us during the Skype call that we will not be able to use any electronic devices on the Chinese airline portions of the trip. Not even in airplane mode. He suggested bringing a book or something to read but I was wondering if an iPod nano would be allowed.

Chris

Those are helpful reference points, Chris! On weather.com, it looks like the average highs drop about 10 degrees over the next month, so hopefully Hong Kong will be more like Florida hot than surface of the sun hot.

Michael - could you ask Christian whether there is pin trading in any of the Asian parks? I saw that they do sell pins, at least in Tokyo, but was wondering if I should bring any traders, since my kids - I mean I - collect them and enjoy trading with cast members in the parks.

It sounds like in the Tokyo parks, people wear Halloween costumes during the time period we are there. I wonder if that is true in the other parks as well. I mentioned this to Brian. Based on the look of horror that resulted, I think it's safe to say that the Mannions will not be packing Halloween attire. It's all good. More room for pearls.

Laurie
 


Thank you so much! If there are any general tips you have I would love to hear them! (What to pack for this time of year, park tips, basic things we should be aware of, etc.)

General Tips:

China, Japan, HK are very safe countries. But we wary of tourist scams (in one day all three of the popular Beijing ones happened to me: in a taxi they drive you to a location and ask for money; an artist asks you to come see their work, and you get pressured into spending a lot on cheap art; a student will say they want to chat with you over coffee to practice their english, and then leave you with a large check). I didn't get scammed, but they tried.

Eating Local: I'm going to focus on China as that's where I am. Here in Beijing, local food is REALLY cheap. You can eat like a king for around $15 USD. While the food and flavors will be very different than American (and nothing like Chinese food in America) many local places use picture menus and might even have translations (but don't read them too closely... such as mushrooms are always translated as fungus). You really should look for cheap noodles! I love noodles from a street vendor. "Beijing Belly..." bring some chewable pepto as sometimes the food doesn't agree with western tummies. Don't expect local places to be able to handle Allergies and food restrictions or menu alterations.

There are many Western restaurants but they are hard to find outside of the tourist areas. Don't rely on yelp or trip advisor here, as they aren't used a lot.

Waiters: Unlike American waiters, Chinese waiters will need to be called to your table. Simply raise your hand and say "foo-you-wan" (waiter) and they will come over. They will not serve water unless you ask, and then it is always hot. Also, do not tip.

Money/Shopping: Things are really cheap here in China. But being a foreigner, you will need to make sure to watch prices. Bargaining is very much part of the culture here. If you are in a market, expect to do some haggling. In shops with displayed prices, ask kindly if there is a discount, but do not expect any. Haggling is really fun. Store clerks will follow you around the shop, looking to make sure to meet your needs as you need them.

Sizing in Asia is VERY different. In America (Old Navy/Gap), I'm XL. In China, I'm 4XL

Some phrases to know when shopping: "Doe-shoa-chen" how much is it. "Kah-ni-kahn" Just looking. "Tai-gway-lah" It's too expensive.

Money is is Yuan (you-ahn), but is also called rem-in-bee (RMB) or sometimes "kwai"

Taxis: The city is huge and taxi drivers don't know every place and don't speak much English (if any). Flag them down on any road, have your address written in Chinese, make sure they turn on the meter. (I just point and say "meter"). If the taxis are just hanging around outside of tourist spots, they are probably going to insist on a flat rate, usually much higher than meter fare. Taxis are really cheap, I've taken a 20 mile taxi ride in heavy traffic for around $20-$30 dollars.

Most people don't flag drivers in China. We have a special app: Didi which has just launched its English App. Check it out.

Uber America doesn't work in China (but should in Hong Kong and Japan). You'll need to download Uber China (I haven't used it).

Pollution: The pollution shouldn't be that bad when you arrive, but keep track of it while you are here. I use Air Matters. I wear a mask when the number is above 180. Locals will rarely be seen wearing masks. You can pick up masks at any grocery store.

VPN: If you want to access sites like Google. Facebook, Titter, and Youtube (or any of their affiliates, - google maps) you will need to have a VPN. I use a paid one and a free one. VPN Proxy Master is the free one I use. Download it before landing.

Cell Phones: If you have an unlocked phone, you can pick up a SIM card in a vending machine at the airport. (I believe that is the case in China. but totally true in Japan, and easy in HK).

Subway: It's really cheap and very vast (and fast). Expect a lot of people pushing you, but if you avoid morning and afternoon rush its not as bad as the American media makes it. Expect to walk for 5-10 minutes between transferring from one train to the next.

Thom, thank you so much for volunteering to educate us in the ways of the orient. (...ooops, is referring to it as the Orient no longer PC?)

  1. I understand that China is a very large country and weather conditions will probably vary widely among the three cities we are visiting. Which do you think will be the coolest (Beijing?) while we are there and which will be the warmest?
  2. Question about getting around those cities when we are on our own time, how is the taxi service and will we be able to find a driver that speaks english? I'm guessing that Hong Kong will be easy because of the years it spent as a British Colony. What about the others?
  3. Obviously you're able to post here on the DIS Boards so the Great Firewall must be allowing it through. Or do you have a way around it?
Thanks again.

More PC term is East Asia.

1. I haven't traveled to Shanghai in October. Early October is mid-autumn here in Beijing, so expect it to be getting much cooler. I can't recall when it starts getting really cold, but it will be cool. Hong Kong is hot. I've been there in October and wore shorts and needed a hat!
2. Above I talk about taxi's in China. Really try to Didi if you can. In HK, my experience has been that the drivers don't speak a lot of English, but know the tourist spots. (Side note, they speak Cantonese in HK and Mandarin in China, but both are written the same.) I love the Tokyo and HK metros: clean, fast, reliable. I don't remember much about the Shanghai one, but I'm sure my comment above for the Beijing metro holds true. All subways have signs written in English or at least using English letters.
3. Look up my VPN above. Although I think DIS boards might work without it. Google and Facebook are the most challenging to live without for me.

What do you think the best way to get from Shanghai Disneyland to and from the Bund is? Taxi or subway? We made dinner reservations one night on the Bund, but will be staying at SDL Hotel. Thanks!

Check out the taxi app above. I'm not too familiar with Shanghai, but I'll say this about cities in China: they are HUGE and crowded, so expect that it will take a longer time to get someplace. However, I find google map subway transit times to err on the side of adding more time. I would ask the hotel what they recommend.

Hi future84 and thanks for the offer of help.

Similar to earlier postings, what would be the best method of getting to the Capital M restaurant from the Rosewood hotel in Beijing?
In the Disney parks in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai do they ship to the UK/US like they do in WDW?

Thanks again

Ian&Diane

Ok..."best" and "fastest" and "most comfortable" are all very different. I looked at your hotel and restaurant. Depends on the time of day, if it's rush hours, then expect a lot of traffic down there OR a crazy jam packed subway (you might have to wait in line for 30 minutes just to get onto the train platform as you are in the city center). As Kathy says, "pack your patience."

I don't know about shipping from the parks. I've found that the merch in the Asian parks don't really call out to me.

My best travel tip: pack light. I pack a carry on bag INSIDE my checked bag. And make everything fit inside the checked bag.
 
OK everyone, I decided to look at this packing thing scientifically and wanted to analyze the type of weather we would be having, so I looked at the latitudes of the various locations. Since I am on the east coast I am using those cities as reference. Beijing which is the most northern city we will be visiting sits at a latitude that is comparable to Philadelphia. Tokyo is around the outer banks NC. Tokyo is slightly further north than Los Angeles for the west coast people. Shanghai is around the Georgia/Florida border and Hong Kong is between Cuba and Miami. At 7 AM today which was 7pm in Hong Kong it was 100 degrees. :scared1: Hopefully all of these locations will get a little cooler but probably not by much in one month.

On another note, Michael informed us during the Skype call that we will not be able to use any electronic devices on the Chinese airline portions of the trip. Not even in airplane mode. He suggested bringing a book or something to read but I was wondering if an iPod nano would be allowed.

Chris
Tokyo is MUCH cooler in the Winter than NC, but I'm not sure about fall. And Tokyo Disney Sea is on the bay and catches breezes and is typically cooler than Tokyo Disneyland.
 
Michael - could you ask Christian whether there is pin trading in any of the Asian parks? I saw that they do sell pins, at least in Tokyo, but was wondering if I should bring any traders, since my kids - I mean I - collect them and enjoy trading with cast members in the parks.

It sounds like in the Tokyo parks, people wear Halloween costumes during the time period we are there. I wonder if that is true in the other parks as well. I mentioned this to Brian. Based on the look of horror that resulted, I think it's safe to say that the Mannions will not be packing Halloween attire. It's all good. More room for pearls.

Laurie


Pin trading is not very big here. While HKDL has many pins, it is really only the CMs that trade. I've never seen a guest to guest trade. Tokyo has pins, but not to the same extent as HK. And when I was in Shanghai, there weren't any yet, but that was a year ago.

In Tokyo, if I recall correctly, this is the first time adults can wear costumes during the whole celebration. I've been to HK during Halloween time, and don't recall seeing guests dress up. And in China, Halloween is not really a holiday, so don't expect costumes in SHDL.
 
On another note, Michael informed us during the Skype call that we will not be able to use any electronic devices on the Chinese airline portions of the trip. Not even in airplane mode. He suggested bringing a book or something to read but I was wondering if an iPod nano would be allowed.

Chris

China aviation constantly changes the rules, the last time I flew (August), the rules were: Taxi, take off and landing NO devices at all! All must be turned off, then I've used iphone (in airplane mode) and ipad (also in airplane mode), though no one has checked.

On that, expect that some passengers will turn on their phones as soon as touch down and then make phone calls. They also might start standing up before the seatbelt sign is off.
 
Daily Dim Sum Update :)

We're up to 19 people. 2 Tables. Please let me know if there's anyone else who wants to join.

Below is our menu except I forgot to double the Duffy & ShellieMay's. The total as of right now is HK$5949 (including 10% service charge) or HK$313pp (~US$40). Not including drinks.
Screen Shot 2017-09-12 at 10.34.22 AM.png

My contact felt the total pieces might be too much for 19 people. However, she also asked if we would be ordering any other food "a la carte on spot". I think I can confidently tell her no, this is all we are ordering. For reference the set menu is a little more expensive, and appears to have more food (beyond the dim sum characters).

A couple of questions that we can put up for a vote:

1) Would everyone like me to double the Duffy & ShellieMay so they can try each? That would make it approximately $45pp. If some of us just want one or the other, I could order a few extra for those who want to try both. They are 2 different flavors.

2) Do we want to eliminate anything? Right now we have 2 each of Three Little Pigs and Little Green Men because those are the favorites from youtube reviews. But we could cut those down to 1 each. Seafood Glutinous Pancakes was one I was iffy on, but it got some good reviews.

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks!
 
My votes are yes on the Duffy and ShellieMay and no on the Seafood pancake (I'm specifically allergic to shellfish but I don't really eat seafood in general)


Daily Dim Sum Update :)

We're up to 19 people. 2 Tables. Please let me know if there's anyone else who wants to join.

Below is our menu except I forgot to double the Duffy & ShellieMay's. The total as of right now is HK$5949 (including 10% service charge) or HK$313pp (~US$40). Not including drinks.
View attachment 269017

My contact felt the total pieces might be too much for 19 people. However, she also asked if we would be ordering any other food "a la carte on spot". I think I can confidently tell her no, this is all we are ordering. For reference the set menu is a little more expensive, and appears to have more food (beyond the dim sum characters).

A couple of questions that we can put up for a vote:

1) Would everyone like me to double the Duffy & ShellieMay so they can try each? That would make it approximately $45pp. If some of us just want one or the other, I could order a few extra for those who want to try both. They are 2 different flavors.

2) Do we want to eliminate anything? Right now we have 2 each of Three Little Pigs and Little Green Men because those are the favorites from youtube reviews. But we could cut those down to 1 each. Seafood Glutinous Pancakes was one I was iffy on, but it got some good reviews.

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks!
 
Hi Kevin

We're happy to drop the seafood glutinous pancakes if others are of the same mind - but really don't mind either way. Also, we're happy to have one Duffy and one ShellyMay between the two of us and share them - but again don't mind either way.

Not really thought about the quantity ordered - just been concentration on how they'd look in photos..!

Ian & Diane
 
Kevin,

We have no preference on either question. If there are seafood glutinous (!) pancakes, we will try them. If not, that's fine too. Brian and I will probably share Duffy/Shellie May but would be fine with each getting one. We'll go along with whatever the majority wants.:mickeybar:mickeybar:mickeybar

Laurie
 
TDR explorer has uploaded new youtube videos showing the Halloween merchandise and some of the unique snacks. I will be doing a lot of shopping at Disneysea. The villains are showcased there.

I am ok with either sweet. Honestly I usually don't like most desserts so someone can have mine.

Less then a month away! I am super excited. I hope I can participate in the last Skype session. I have not had good luck so far. (I hear I missed essential toilet talk!)

Chandra
 
Less then a month away! I am super excited. I hope I can participate in the last Skype session. I have not had good luck so far. (I hear I missed essential toilet talk!)

Chandra[/QUOTE]

Yes you did miss an interesting conversation....I am still creeped out by what we may be facing in the bathrooms.

Kevin, we are flexible and will eat/try whatever you decide. If there are seafood allergies we may want to stay away from those items as a group to be safe.

This is now becoming real, I guess that I had better start making lists....actually I already did last week....I have a feeling that we all will need additional luggage to bring back the park goodies.

Chris
 

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