Before I begin with my rankings, let me acknowledge that this post is purely subjective. Each of us have unique tastes and different experiences. The following ranking is based on my own personal experiences and preferences after having visited all six Disney Resorts around the world.
I am a notorious over-packer... for everything. I never know what I'll need and I hate being too hot or too cold. When it comes to Disneyland I've been known to operate the same way. If I know I'm going to be in the park all day I'm usually lugging along a backpack stuffed to the brim. Sometimes this works, sometimes it's just downright annoying. So I've made it a goal over the past couple months to see how light I can go and it's become a pretty fun challenge.
I thought it would be a really fun exercise to put together a 1-day itinerary for how I would do each of the Disney parks if I only had 1 day. Following is how I would do the Shanghai Disney Resort.
As I hinted at in my Asia Trip Recap blog post, I definitely ran into some hiccups during my recent trip to all of the Disney theme parks in Asia. What I didn’t say is that the biggest hiccups came from my day at Shanghai Disney Resort. Just writing this down is making me wish I could go back in time and literally do this ENTIRE day differently. The only reason I’m sharing my experience at all is so other people can avoid the same pitfalls I encountered. And I’d also like to say that I had a completely different experience my first time visiting back in 2016, which you can read about here. But first let me start back at the beginning…
The wait is over! It’s been a little over a month and I’ve finally had the time to gather my thoughts and organize my photos so that I can give everyone a proper update on my recent travels. (I bet you thought this day would never come… LOL). In late November I spent two weeks park-hopping and city-exploring across Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Japan and wanted to provide a few general thoughts as well as an overview of my itinerary to catch everyone up-to-speed. This will be a no-holds-back blog entry full of my honest thoughts and suggestions (no matter how unpopular they may be). My goal is to provide another point of view along with some helpful hints as you plan your own upcoming vacations!
I absolutely LOVED my stay at the Toy Story Hotel in Shanghai Disneyland. I was only here for 2 nights but they were 2 fantastic nights! The hotel is pretty large which is great because it means you can usually get a room and it's a value hotel so it's pretty inexpensive (compared to other Disney resorts around the world, not for general hotel pricing in Shanghai).
I had the distinct honor and privilege of visiting Shanghai Disneyland in its very first year of opening. I was sent to Asia on a work related trip and it just so happened that my layover on the way home was through Shanghai. I was only there for a day and a half but it was one of the most magical day and a halves of my life.