Tokyo or Shanghai for inexperienced American traveler?

[kiramay]

Hi! We live in the US and have been to WDW multiple times. We’re planning a big Europe trip in 2023, and DLP is a definite. However, my husband really wants to see Shanghai Disney too, so I’m doing research. I’m concerned about the 144 visa vs traveler visa, and wondering if Tokyo DL/DisneySea would be a better option? (ETA- we’d be flying to Tokyo or Shanghai from France or Italy and then fly to the US)

We’re not experienced international travelers. I’ve only been to England once (2000) and my husband has been to Paris and Amsterdam once for business.

Thank you!

 

[Marc D]

Japan is, by far, easier to manage for an inexperienced traveller. In both countries, people do not speak a lot of English, but Japan has been opened to the world for far longer. They understand that tourists do not share their culture and make it easier to visit because of that. China is 20-30 years behind in that regard.

Also, Tokyo DisneySea is the best Disney park !

 

[kiramay]

Japan is, by far, easier to manage for an inexperienced traveller. In both countries, people do not speak a lot of English, but Japan has been opened to the world for far longer. They understand that tourists do not share their culture and make it easier to visit because of that. China is 20-30 years behind in that regard.

Also, Tokyo DisneySea is the best Disney park !

Thanks! I looked at the website for Tokyo and I’m a little confused. You can only book 7 months out and June is already sold out?

 

[cedricandsophie]

Not sure what you mean about booking 7 months out, there are lots of hotels in the area. Japan is wonderful. You can easily take the train around the country. But Shanghai’s and China is also incredible. You can do Japan on your own but for China you should do a tour, personally if you are going that far and might never get that far again, I would do both. A few days in Tokyo with the train to Kyoto and then a flight to China to catch a tour. Gate 1 has a number of great china tours at a reasonable price,

 

[indoshakespeare]

you can book 6 months out for package and 5 months out for hotel only. so when it's showing no room available, it's because booking isnt open yet for 7 month in advance

 

[Brett Wyman]

Definitely Japan.

 

[kiramay]

you can book 6 months out for package and 5 months out for hotel only. so when it's showing no room available, it's because booking isnt open yet for 7 month in advance

Ohhhhh!! Thank you! I’m trying to get estimates for June 2023 so I’ll check this June in a few weeks.

 

[kiramay]

Not sure what you mean about booking 7 months out, there are lots of hotels in the area. Japan is wonderful. You can easily take the train around the country. But Shanghai’s and China is also incredible. You can do Japan on your own but for China you should do a tour, personally if you are going that far and might never get that far again, I would do both. A few days in Tokyo with the train to Kyoto and then a flight to China to catch a tour. Gate 1 has a number of great china tours at a reasonable price,

When I clicked on the Hotel reservation area of the website it was showing dates to July, but when I searched June 8 most was “not available”. I’m used to booking a year in advance so I was confused.

 

[Agent 86]

Tokyo.

Shanghai Disney does have some awesome aspects - like Pirates and TRON, but as “experienced” travellers it can be a little challenging. Tokyo is not without its own challenges (like trying to download and use the app), but there are many aspects to Japan which make it ridiculously pleasant and stress free.

 

[Lesley Wake]

I guess I'm going to give a differing opinion - I would go with Shanghai. (To be fair - I only did Disney, not the city itself.)

At Shanghai, I felt welcomed and valued by the CMs. I was obviously a Westerner, so I felt like they were trying to impress me, if that makes sense. They were extremely friendly. Yes, some had language barriers, but most places had at least one CM there who spoke English. The park was also gorgeous and had so many fun rides. They have the option to purchase Fastpasses, which really helped my enjoyment, as I could make up my own schedule. It also is designed to absorb crowds, so even though wait times were high, it didn't feel uncomfortable walking around. The on-site hotels are also reasonably priced and give great benefits, like the extra FP per day, extra morning EMH (which is so valuable as nearly everything is a walk-on, separate entrance in the morning, etc).

In Tokyo, I just felt like an outsider. CMs and guests all knew the rules and how they were enforced, while no one cared to try and explain anything to me. (I'm not trying to act entitled at all; it just was uncomfortable and confusing trying to figure everything out despite my extensive research before the trip.) Crowds were ridiculous and just made wait times skyrocket. Locals show up 2 hrs before the park opens and then grab a parade spot, where they basically wait the whole day. The company running TDR doesn't care about providing basic touring accommodations for foreigners, not letting you download the app or get digital fastpasses without basically jumping through hoops and having to fake addresses. On-site Disney hotels are ridiculously overpriced and don't provide good benefits; there are on-site third party hotels which are more reasonable, but you still have to Monorail over to the parks. You aren't guaranteed to see any of the shows, as the lottery system is a pain to use, and if you don't win, you are out-of-luck (or have to wait for the few back-of-threatre standby spots, which involves waiting 1-hr + in line). And I honestly felt a lot of the rides were pretty meh. I think Honey Hunt was the only one I would rank highly, while at Shanghai, I loved so many of those rides!

Sorry - I'm not trying to be negative about Tokyo. I just had an excellent trip to Shanghai (and can't wait to return), while I had a severely frustrating and disappointing trip to Tokyo (and may return in years to see the new stuff, but don't care besides that).

 

[China Expat]

I just finished five years living in China. Loved Shanghai Disney, Tokyo, and Hong Kong Disney. Let me know if you have any questions. China is not that hard to navigate.

 

[WardFam]

I just finished five years living in China. Loved Shanghai Disney, Tokyo, and Hong Kong Disney. Let me know if you have any questions. China is not that hard to navigate.

i would love some recommendations! DH and I fly into Shanghai March 2 and I am planning to use the 144 hour travel visa to spend one day at Shanghai Disney then we will be flying to Thailand and coming back to Shanghai on March 16, getting another 144 hour visa and spending 2 days in the city. If you have any suggestions on what to do or where to eat I would love them! Thanks!

 

[China Expat]

I always use the website to plan tours in China. This one is geared for Shanghai.
https://www.chinahighlights.com/shanghai/top-things-to-do.htm

 

[indoshakespeare]

In Tokyo, I just felt like an outsider. CMs and guests all knew the rules and how they were enforced, while no one cared to try and explain anything to me. (I'm not trying to act entitled at all; it just was uncomfortable and confusing trying to figure everything out despite my extensive research before the trip.) Crowds were ridiculous and just made wait times skyrocket. Locals show up 2 hrs before the park opens and then grab a parade spot, where they basically wait the whole day. The company running TDR doesn't care about providing basic touring accommodations for foreigners, not letting you download the app or get digital fastpasses without basically jumping through hoops and having to fake addresses. On-site Disney hotels are ridiculously overpriced and don't provide good benefits; there are on-site third party hotels which are more reasonable, but you still have to Monorail over to the parks. You aren't guaranteed to see any of the shows, as the lottery system is a pain to use, and if you don't win, you are out-of-luck (or have to wait for the few back-of-threatre standby spots, which involves waiting 1-hr + in line). And I honestly felt a lot of the rides were pretty meh. I think Honey Hunt was the only one I would rank highly, while at Shanghai, I loved so many of those rides!

Sorry - I'm not trying to be negative about Tokyo. I just had an excellent trip to Shanghai (and can't wait to return), while I had a severely frustrating and disappointing trip to Tokyo (and may return in years to see the new stuff, but don't care besides that).

Tokyo Disney during high season is frustrating. I went on January 2nd. Arrived at Tokyo Disneyland gate at 6.40 for 8.00 opening and I was already behind several hundreds people. The locals knew what they're doing. The best way for first time foreigners is to get the package with FPs or just go during low season

 

[GEK209]

I apologize if this information is already on here somewhere. My hubby and I are traveling to Asia in March and will be visiting Disney Tokyo and Disney Sea. We've already booked our hotel room but understand that buying tickets to the park is a different story and not as easy as buying tickets to WDW or Disneyland. Can someone please provide advise or a step by step process in which we go about buying tickets to both parks? We will be there April 3rd and April 4th. Thanks all!

 

[Agent 86]

You can either buy tickets at the gate (don't confuse the extra long line of people WITH tickets waiting to enter the park with what will probably be a very short or non-existent line to buy your tickets) or at any Disney Store in Tokyo. You can also pre-purchase them online.

Unless you visit on an exceptionally busy day, you should just be able to buy tickets at the gate upon arrival.

 

[indoshakespeare]

You can try buying from the official site but sometimes they don't take foreign credit cards. I tried both a Visa and a Mastercard (Indonesian) and it rejected both. I ended up buying from a third party travel agent.

 

[ryankski]

I think the TDR parks are the best and my favorite parks in the world (except Paris as that's coming this year) but some of that involves the culture of Japan and would choose that over the other Asian parks. I do think the Shanghai castle is my favorite though.

However, the easiest depends on what you are all going to do. If you are going to be spending time in either of the cities then I feel like Shanghai is easier to get around given the subway is easy to figure out and is pretty straight forward. Tokyo's subway system can get crazy with multiple companies along with other things. If your going to land, take a taxi to the park and then never leave Disney until you take a taxi back to the airport then sure Tokyo is pretty simple. However, don't do this!! They are both great cities and need to be explored.

For Shanghai make sure you understand the 144 visa (if that's what you are doing for a visa) and follow the rules to the "T", but it's easy and how we did it. An immigration worker did take our passports and paperwork and disappear for about 15 minutes, but it all went smoothly and worked great.

We had instances in both parks were the language barrier was a struggle, but if I recall correctly we had more instances in Japan.

 

[Lesley Wake]

I apologize if this information is already on here somewhere. My hubby and I are traveling to Asia in March and will be visiting Disney Tokyo and Disney Sea. We've already booked our hotel room but understand that buying tickets to the park is a different story and not as easy as buying tickets to WDW or Disneyland. Can someone please provide advise or a step by step process in which we go about buying tickets to both parks? We will be there April 3rd and April 4th. Thanks all!

Which hotel are you staying at? The ones on the monorail line have ticket booths inside where you can buy them. I would not take the advice of waiting until you get to the park because then you have to wait in the ticket line and then go back to wait in the security line, which can just be crazy!

 

[BritneyBelle]

Tokyo Disneyland was my favorite Disney park I’ve ever been too, so I vote that easily. Make sure to get a fast pass for Pooh very early. It’s a way more sophisticated ride than what we have here in the states, well worth the wait or use of FP