Family Mart at Shanghai DL ??

[charmama4]

I know there is a Family Mart at the dock. My question is which side? The hotel dock side or the park dock side? Also, I hear that there is another convenience store inside the Disney Resort train station. Any information would be extremely helpful, thanks very much.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I know there is a Family Mart at the dock. My question is which side? The hotel dock side or the park dock side? Also, I hear that there is another convenience store inside the Disney Resort train station. Any information would be extremely helpful, thanks very much.

The Family Mart is at the hotel dock side. I took this at night but you can make out the building just to the right of the back entrance.







And this was taken on a different day. It's not a big store; but it has the basics at a decent price.

 

[Agent 86]

There is a very small Family Mart at the train station. That's the only one we visited when we arrived by train. It had a very limited selection, but we didn't look too hard as the train ride from the airport took well over two hours and we were just keen to get to the hotel.

 

[charmama4]

The Family Mart is at the hotel dock side. I took this at night but you can make out the building just to the right of the back entrance.







And this was taken on a different day. It's not a big store; but it has the basics at a decent price.

Awesome!! And thanks for the visual aide. Did you happen to notice the hours they are open?

 

[charmama4]

There is a very small Family Mart at the train station. That's the only one we visited when we arrived by train. It had a very limited selection, but we didn't look too hard as the train ride from the airport took well over two hours and we were just keen to get to the hotel.

Thank you for the information. Yes, I was told to be prepared for a long train ride. Was it at least a scenic one?? Also, did you happen to notice a Family Mart or the like at the airport station??

 

[PrincessInOz]

Awesome!! And thanks for the visual aide. Did you happen to notice the hours they are open?

Sorry. I didn't pay any notice to opening hours.

They seemed opened in the morning and I never really walked round that way at night to check it out.

 

[Agent 86]

I'd strongly recommend taking a cab instead of the train from the airport to Shanghai Disneyland.

We grossly underestimated how long it would take to travel by train, including three transfers. Also, it was not scenic at all. It was actually quite ... confronting (?). A lot of house developments right next to rubbish tips right next to small farms right next to bodies of water. It was incredibly cheap, but the taxi we took from Shanghai Disneyland back to the airport was also relatively cheap (120 yuan).

I think there was an option to take the Maglev at least part of the way, but we couldn't get that option to work on Google or Apple Maps and they were separate stations at the airport so we just took the standard train after finding ourselves there first.

There was a Familymart at the airport, but I only recall seeing it when departing not upon arrival. I don't recall seeing one upon arrival and we did traverse a fair bit of the airport looking for an ATM which would accept international credit cards.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'd strongly recommend taking a cab instead of the train from the airport to Shanghai Disneyland.

Unless you're heading to Shanghai first, if you are coming from Pudong Airport and heading straight to Disneyland, I would concur. You might as well maximise the time you spend at the resort rather than spending the time in transit to SDL.

Just keep going until you find a proper taxi and don't get sucked in by anyone else. If "airport security" approaches you, just tell them that you prefer to call the police to have them speak to you; and don't tell them where you are staying.

 

[doombuggy]

Unless you're heading to Shanghai first, if you are coming from Pudong Airport and heading straight to Disneyland, I would concur. You might as well maximise the time you spend at the resort rather than spending the time in transit to SDL.

Just keep going until you find a proper taxi and don't get sucked in by anyone else. If "airport security" approaches you, just tell them that you prefer to call the police to have them speak to you; and don't tell them where you are staying.

It's there a bus that goes from the airport to Disneyland? Quicker to take a taxi?
I was concerned about your comment on airport security....can you elaborate? My sister and I are planning a trip for October and this scared me a little bit....

 

[TDR1]

Thank you for the information. Yes, I was told to be prepared for a long train ride. Was it at least a scenic one?? Also, did you happen to notice a Family Mart or the like at the airport station??

Like others said, if you're going straight there from the airport, a taxi might make more sense - especially if you have more than one person.

If you do want to take the train, though, you could shorten the transit time a bunch by taking the Maglev train instead of the metro from the airport (world's fastest train - costs about $6 USD, leaves every 15 minutes). It's so fast that it only takes about 7 minutes to get to Longyang Rd Station (it would take 45+ minutes to get to the same station taking the metro). From there, it's less than a half hour by metro to the Disney Resort station with one transfer. Not scenic.

There was definitely a Family Mart in the airside departure area of the airport. I don't remember if there was one by arrivals. If you just want a drink or snack, I remember the vending machines in the airport were among the cheapest I've seen (something like 75 cents USD for a bottle of soda).

 

[zanzibar138]

I'm going to agree and disagree with the other posters.

If you're going straight from the airport to Disneyland, the train is definitely not the quickest option, and will take you halfway into Shanghai before going all the way out again. Having said that, I found the train easy and safe to use, and definitely cheap. It's not a scenic ride, but I liked that it gave me a little more insight into Shanghai since I didn't get much of a chance to see anything other than Disney. If you do decide to take the train, I would definitely concur with the posters who have recommended taking the Maglev from the airport. You will need to change trains at Longyang, and then once more after that. It is fairly easy to find your way between platforms, but be aware that you may not get working elevators/escalators at all stations and you may have to drag your luggage up/down a flight of stairs or two. On my first trip, I transferred to Disney from a hotel right near Longyang, and I could have sworn it took me closer to an hour than half an hour. However, I didn't actually time it, so it could have just been my imagination lol!

A taxi is definitely the quickest and 'easiest' option. Having said that, I'd read a lot about getting ripped off/scammed and/or lost, that I was terrified about taking one on my own, and thought the train would be the more reliable option. I felt much safer getting a taxi on my last trip when I was with a group of friends, and would probably even go for it as long as I had one other trusted person with me. If you do take a taxi, make sure you print off the hotel address in Mandarin, and it would probably be helpful to have some directions too. Have the hotel's phone number handy and a way to contact them (international roaming/local SIM etc) in case the driver gets completely lost and needs to be directed. Don't get lulled into a false sense of security thinking that everyone will know where Disneyland is. Pronunciation is different in Chinese, and the driver won't necessarily understand what you mean by Disney. And even if they do, they won't necessarily know where it is. Lots of people have taken a taxi with no issues, so I don't want to put you off, just want you to be prepared.

For the record, if I was doing another solo trip, I would take the train again. If I was with friends, I'd go for a taxi.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

I second Zanzibar's advice having taken the train from our Shanghai Hotel there and a taxi around 10pm back. If it was one of me I probably wouldn't bother with the taxi unless it was an early morning/late evening run but 2 or more then I would grab a cab. Coming from the airport it is on the "right" side of the city for a taxi.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I was concerned about your comment on airport security....can you elaborate? My sister and I are planning a trip for October and this scared me a little bit....

It's a scam.

When we came out of the Arrivals Hall, we made a beeline for the Maglev train and didn't make eye contact with anyone. However, when we turned around the corner, I had to look up to see where the arrows were pointing for the Maglev train.

We were approached by a smartly dressed young man, with blazer, lanyard and a badge that said Airport Security. He asked if we were catching the Maglev and when I said yes, he told us that there was a disturbance at Longyang Road Station and that it wasn't safe to catch the Maglev.
I was a little taken-back but suspicion immediately set in.
There were no announcements being made at the airport nor were there police about and even more....there were heaps of Chinese people heading in the Maglev direction and no one streaming back into the airport.

I then thanked him and said we would get off at an earlier stop.

His next question sealed it for me as a scam. He wanted to know what hotel we were staying at. There was no way I was going to disclose that to anyone and no real "airport security" person would ask that or need to know.

We kept going and sure enough.....we could get tickets and no one there said anything. There was nothing going on at Longyang Road Station. It was quiet except for people disembarking from the Maglev.


I gather that @jesterrific also encountered the same "airport security" spiel...only with a woman. She said that she ended up being put into a 'taxi'; an unmarked one, and paid 500 Yuan. It should only cost about 100 - 120 Yuan from the airport to Disneyland.