Shanghai DL at capacity (late June '17)

[cschaaf]

Shanghai DL has sold out of park tickets the last 2 days in a row (6/27 & 28) and shows sold out on 6/29 & 30).

I did an online chat with a representative and they said it is school break right now. I asked about July 5th as that's the only day we could go and they said school break would still be on.

Might throw a wrench in our plans as the app has been showing crazy wait times. at 8:30 am this morning (their time), Soaring and RR showed 160 minute waits. 7DMT was 120. Tron was a short 90 minutes :S

I'm still thinking if we get there before open and buy the Premier Access Set, we can do:

Pirates
Challenge Trails (I'll do it, still trying to talk my wife into trying it)
Roaring Rapids (with Premiere Access Set FP)
Tron (with Premier Access Set FP) and pull a FP for later
Buzz (PAS FP) - could do this before or after the first ride on Tron
Peter Pan (PAS FP)
Crystal Grotto
Once Upon a Time

After that, depending on the time and crowds, we'll probably hit the Tarzan show and maybe Jack Sparrow.

If we aren't dead yet, and single-rider line is open, we'll probably try to hit Pirates and/or Tron another time or two.

We'll have PAS FPs for Soaring, 7DMT, and Pooh, but they are low on our priorities due to A. we've already had similar experiences in Disney World and B. Soaring and 7DMT tend to have long lines in SDL. If the FP lines aren't crazy, then we'll probably do them.

 

[zanzibar138]

Yikes! As someone who has been on sold out days, I'll tell you that it can still be enjoyable. I enjoyed my time at a fully sold-out Shanghai much more than I did at a summer crowds busy DLR. The difference is in the park design. The walkways in Shanghai are massive - there's plenty of room for lots of people to walk through and you don't get stuck behind slow groups/strollers etc. There are lots of places you can go to escape the crowds, although if you've only got one day and are hoping to hit all the rides you may not have time for much exploring. If you're doing Challenge Trails though, that area is very pleasant for strolling around (and cool inside the caves too).

I'm not sure how the premier FPs work, but I'm sure it will allow you to get much more out of the day. Be aware that if you're planning to use regular FP, they will likely be all gone for the popular rides within the first couple of hours. I would warn anyone going on peak days to only expect to be able to pull one, maybe two FPs for the popular rides. Peter Pan and Buzz should still be available later in the day. If you're not going to prioritise Soaring, that will save you a lot of time and effort! Single rider for Tron and 7DMT worked well for me when I was there, but I was never able to utilise it for Pirates - not sure if it was a language barrier issue or if there wasn't a SR line in use at the times I went. Lines in the FP entrances moved fairly quickly (I never waited more than about 10 minutes if I had a FP), so if you have a FP, I would use it. SR for 7DMT was usually around 20-30 mins. Since it seems like you would have premier FPs for Roaring Rapids and Tron, I would head straight to Pirates first thing, ride that, and then head straight to the Challenge Trails and do that. The line there does build up fairly quickly. It's fun to do with friends, but it's also worth doing on your own if you can't convince DW. If she does decide not to do it, you can leave your stuff with her and avoid the extra line for the lockers. Maybe Crystal Grotto next, or you could wait until later at night to ride that depending on the opening hours. If the line for Once Upon a Time is long, I honestly wouldn't bother. I lined up for about 20-30 minutes for it and felt like it was the biggest waste of time! Be prepared to push through the crowds if you want to actually see any of the special affects. I'm not the pushy type so I didn't get to see much at all.

Hope that helps!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

On a sold out day the worst part of your day will be getting into the darn park. We stayed at the Toy Story Hotel recently, and left the hotel at 7:00am, were in the outside security line by 7:30 behind a million people and didn't make it into the park until 9:20, when it opened at 9:00. Horrible and VERY HOT in the crowd waiting to get in. By the time we made it to Raging Rapids the line was 90 minutes! And we went straight there. (It was day two, we did everything else the day before).

If you go, plan to arrive a minimum of two hours before park opening. Two and half would be better. Wear sunglasses so you don't get poked with an umbrella, and maybe even bring your own umbrella to stay cool while waiting to get in.

The climbing mountain is AMAZING!!! Even my husband who is terrified of heights enjoyed it.

 

[zanzibar138]

On a sold out day the worst part of your day will be getting into the darn park.

That is a great point! On one day I had to exchange my voucher at the ticket booth. It was actually fairly civilised and we were waved straight into the park once we had the tickets. The next day I had my ticket already and went straight to the turnstiles. It was an absolute nightmare - people pushing and shoving, it was the one time on the whole trip I just had to close my eyes and go to my 'happy place' (which was ironically just on the other side of the gates lol!). If I was going again at a busy time, I would totally buy my tickets there and go through the ticket booths instead of the turnstiles!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

That is a great point! On one day I had to exchange my voucher at the ticket booth. It was actually fairly civilised and we were waved straight into the park once we had the tickets. The next day I had my ticket already and went straight to the turnstiles. It was an absolute nightmare - people pushing and shoving, it was the one time on the whole trip I just had to close my eyes and go to my 'happy place' (which was ironically just on the other side of the gates lol!). If I was going again at a busy time, I would totally buy my tickets there and go through the ticket booths instead of the turnstiles!

Except don't you risk the tickets being sold out if it's a really busy day? Or does selling out not actually happen that often?

Buying your tickets there if you can be sure there will be some is definitely 100% the way to go.

 

[cschaaf]

Thank you both, very helpful!

Right now, it looks like it would be a big risk to buy them when we got there. I've heard rumors that there are tickets held aside for on-property guests, but we won't be staying on-property, so even if that was an option it wouldn't be for us.

We're shooting for an hour early, I'm not sure we could do much better than that. We land in Shanghai at 7PM the night before and are staying in The Bund area, so we're 45 minutes away if we make all the metro connections perfectly.

The first metro leaves at 6:03 and we plan to be on that one. If all goes well, that should get us to the park around 7 with an 8:00 opening.

 

[kidd_freeper]

Comments on your plan:
I've been to SDL twice. Both times, the Pirates single rider line was only available in the morning. No FPs. I urge you to use the single rider line - the standby line can get stuffy.
The Crystal Grotto ride is not worth it during the day. And there are better things to see at night. Skip it.
Don't fear the rope trails. Each challenge has an easy, a medium and a hard path. It is really a cool attraction.
Tron - bring a glasses strap for everyone who can't see without glasses. Also, the single rider line is not worth it.
If restaurants at SDL are too crowded (and there isn't much indoor seating to begin with) - then go to Disneytown next door.
Only go on Soarin' if you can skip the standby line by using a FP or your special pass.
Tarzan is really good and has a large capacity theater.

 

[zanzibar138]

Except don't you risk the tickets being sold out if it's a really busy day? Or does selling out not actually happen that often?

Doh! Didn't think of that. I was ok on that trip because I already had my voucher that I'd bought online - just needed to exchange it for an actual ticket. It's hard to know yet what the possibility is of tickets actually selling out, because it's only their second peak season (and I would have expected last year to be a bit of an anomaly being a new park). I probably wouldn't risk it if there is even the slightest chance that they would sell out, especially if you can't get there really early. And you don't need to exchange vouchers for tickets anymore so unfortunately it will be hard to avoid the turnstiles.

Thank you both, very helpful!

Right now, it looks like it would be a big risk to buy them when we got there. I've heard rumors that there are tickets held aside for on-property guests, but we won't be staying on-property, so even if that was an option it wouldn't be for us.

We're shooting for an hour early, I'm not sure we could do much better than that. We land in Shanghai at 7PM the night before and are staying in The Bund area, so we're 45 minutes away if we make all the metro connections perfectly.

The first metro leaves at 6:03 and we plan to be on that one. If all goes well, that should get us to the park around 7 with an 8:00 opening.

I would recommend picking up a business card from your hotel with the address/directions in Mandarin, in case you decide to take a taxi back in the evening. The metro in Shanghai does have particularly short operating hours, and you may find that you're not ready to leave the park yet when your last train is leaving. Of course, you might be well and truly to leave by then, but it would be good to give yourself the option. The wait times really dropped off after Ignite the Dream finished - 7DMT went down to 30 minutes, Crystal Grotto and Peter Pan went down to 10. For me it was worth hanging around!

Just arrive the earliest you can and be prepared for the crowds at the turnstiles. Based on my experience, you can expect just a mass of people, not necessarily in any order. Where the lines are physically separated it is slightly more civilised, but people will shift from one line to another at any time if they think another line is moving faster than theirs, just ducking under the rope and pushing into a space that aligns with where they were in the other line so they don't lose any ground. Make sure your party takes up the whole width of the queue to make it difficult for people to squeeze around you (because you can be sure that they will try). At the front of the line, be prepared for a surge to the turnstiles. This is where I just closed my eyes, took a few deep breaths, and let myself be carried along by the crowd. People seemed to think that it didn't matter which line they were in at this point - any turnstile was fair game for anyone. I was in line at the turnstiles for about an hour all up. I don't mean to alarm anyone (and it may not be that bad for you - I was on my own so didn't have anyone to team up with!), but I think that if I had been more prepared for what was going to happen I may have coped a bit better. The good news is that once inside the park, I didn't experience anything close to this extent again.

 

[MouseLover]

Hello! I just wanted to share my friend's experience.

She went on 6/28 and arrived shortly after opening. She waited approx 2 hours to get through turnstiles. Once in, nearly everything had 2-3 hour waits, and no FP available.

She rode Pirates, Alice in Wonderland maze, Tarzan show, Captain Jack acrobat show, did some shopping, and strolled around the park.

She was disappointed not to be able to do more, but said Pirates alone was worth it. She did not stay for the night show.

 

[cschaaf]

We decided to go for it. We bought our tickets for July 5th. The app and site have both had sold out warnings for about a week. They would typically show one or two days out. There was no warning today, so maybe the crazy rush is over. I'm sure it will still be busy, but maybe a bit less.

Comments on your plan:
I've been to SDL twice. Both times, the Pirates single rider line was only available in the morning. No FPs. I urge you to use the single rider line - the standby line can get stuffy.
The Crystal Grotto ride is not worth it during the day. And there are better things to see at night. Skip it.
Don't fear the rope trails. Each challenge has an easy, a medium and a hard path. It is really a cool attraction.
Tron - bring a glasses strap for everyone who can't see without glasses. Also, the single rider line is not worth it.
If restaurants at SDL are too crowded (and there isn't much indoor seating to begin with) - then go to Disneytown next door.
Only go on Soarin' if you can skip the standby line by using a FP or your special pass.
Tarzan is really good and has a large capacity theater.

Thank you! Great advice!

Doh! Didn't think of that. I was ok on that trip because I already had my voucher that I'd bought online - just needed to exchange it for an actual ticket. It's hard to know yet what the possibility is of tickets actually selling out, because it's only their second peak season (and I would have expected last year to be a bit of an anomaly being a new park). I probably wouldn't risk it if there is even the slightest chance that they would sell out, especially if you can't get there really early. And you don't need to exchange vouchers for tickets anymore so unfortunately it will be hard to avoid the turnstiles.

Yeah, we didn't want to chance it. It would really have sucked to get up early, take the metro there, and it be sold out.

I would recommend picking up a business card from your hotel with the address/directions in Mandarin, in case you decide to take a taxi back in the evening. The metro in Shanghai does have particularly short operating hours, and you may find that you're not ready to leave the park yet when your last train is leaving. Of course, you might be well and truly to leave by then, but it would be good to give yourself the option. The wait times really dropped off after Ignite the Dream finished - 7DMT went down to 30 minutes, Crystal Grotto and Peter Pan went down to 10. For me it was worth hanging around!

Yes, thank you! We planned on grabbing a business card in case we needed to take a taxi. Good reminder!

The metro schedule shows the last train leaves Disney at 10:30. I'm thinking we will be too tired to stay that long, but we'll see.

Hello! I just wanted to share my friend's experience.

She went on 6/28 and arrived shortly after opening. She waited approx 2 hours to get through turnstiles. Once in, nearly everything had 2-3 hour waits, and no FP available.

She rode Pirates, Alice in Wonderland maze, Tarzan show, Captain Jack acrobat show, did some shopping, and strolled around the park.

She was disappointed not to be able to do more, but said Pirates alone was worth it. She did not stay for the night show.

Wow, that's a rough day.

 

[zanzibar138]

The metro schedule shows the last train leaves Disney at 10:30. I'm thinking we will be too tired to stay that long, but we'll see.

If you need to change trains to get back to your hotel, remember to check when the last connection is. You may have to leave Disney before the last train in order to catch it.

 

[cschaaf]

If you need to change trains to get back to your hotel, remember to check when the last connection is. You may have to leave Disney before the last train in order to catch it.

Yes, every transfer station has trains for an hour or so after that. Once again, thank you for the advice!

We leave in the morning for our 24+ hours of travelling to get to Shanghai

 

[zanzibar138]

Yes, every transfer station has trains for an hour or so after that. Once again, thank you for the advice!

We leave in the morning for our 24+ hours of travelling to get to Shanghai

Sounds like you're all set Have a wonderful time and I'll be looking forward to reading your thoughts on the park!

 

[cschaaf]

Just got back to our hotel. SDL was ah-may-zing!

We had an awesome time. A nasty storm tried to ruin it for us late in the afternoon, but we got in everything we wanted plus a few things - thanks in no small part to the helpful folks on the boards... and the Premiere Access Set!

The metro was easy, the locals and CMs were super helpful when we had questions, the park was so nice, and the rides were fantastic - favorites were Tron, Pirates, and Challenge Trails.

Park security, getting the ticket, and park entry were a bit confusing. Tron was probably the most confusing part of the day - we had trouble finding the entrance and the lockers weren't the easiest to navigate. Not due to a language barrier, but some poor design choices.

I'll be back when we get back home to post a more detailed trip report. It'll be a while, we have 13 more days here in China.

 

[zanzibar138]

I saw a video of that storm - it looked pretty fierce!

Glad to hear that you had a great time anyway

 

[cschaaf]

I saw a video of that storm - it looked pretty fierce!

Glad to hear that you had a great time anyway

We were in the Tarzan show and didn't know it was raining. When people started to leave, they all came running back in. We'll usually just put on ponchos and continue on with out day, but we took about 8 steps outside and I said we had to go back in. It was raining so hard, it was like walking through a small stream.

Wind was roaring through the doors into the theater. When it ended, there were a lot of leaves, twigs, and branches everywhere. We saw a few patio umbrellas with poles that had twisted and bent and the umbrellas had been snapped off the top.

 

[zanzibar138]

We were in the Tarzan show and didn't know it was raining. When people started to leave, they all came running back in. We'll usually just put on ponchos and continue on with out day, but we took about 8 steps outside and I said we had to go back in. It was raining so hard, it was like walking through a small stream.

Wind was roaring through the doors into the theater. When it ended, there were a lot of leaves, twigs, and branches everywhere. We saw a few patio umbrellas with poles that had twisted and bent and the umbrellas had been snapped off the top.

 

[KashasMom]

Absolutely HATED Shanghai Disney. Ridiculously long lines everywhere. Such inefficiency as well - took over an hour just to get through the security line! I'll take Orlando any day over that hot mess.

 

[ejdmomma]

Absolutely HATED Shanghai Disney. Ridiculously long lines everywhere. Such inefficiency as well - took over an hour just to get through the security line! I'll take Orlando any day over that hot mess.

The security line/mob was almost enough to make me want to leave! It was TERRIBLE! Once we got into the park, we had a good time but it definitely got off to a rocky start.

 

[KashasMom]

The security line/mob was almost enough to make me want to leave! It was TERRIBLE! Once we got into the park, we had a good time but it definitely got off to a rocky start.

By the time we got in, all of the fast passes were gone and rides already had waits up to 2 hours! It's a shame that the hotels didn't have any early entry like they do in Orlando. The hotel was pretty empty. Loved the hidden bed, pool was really nice, food was so-so. Couldn't believe that they had just about nothing in the shops for Shanghai Disney (not even anything for the inaugural year)...not even postcards!