Our tour guide, Christian, responded to our questions from our Skype calls. Lots of good information.
How much cash should we bring?
When do you have to use cash vs using a credit card?
Can we use VISA, MasterCard, and American Express in China?
With cash, I always think that bringing more is better than not having one. If you have us dollars, you can exchange them at the hotels we stay in. If you have excess hongkong dollars, you can exchange them at rosewood in Beijing. Cash will be needed when we shop at Stanley market, great wall market and some are needed for shanghai yu garden shopping area. At the parks, most accept credit card. The only places you need cash are outdoor vending. You can use Visa and Mastercard. American express is not widely used around here. So I would say no on that.
Are we really restricted to only one suitcase or can we bring two? What are the weight restrictions?
Suitcase is only one checked in luggage per person. 44lbs limit. Based on my experience they never weigh carry on and personal item as long as physical sizes adhere the requirements.
Electric Converters - do Japan and China use the same ones?
I honestly dont know about Japan converters. In this trip, the converters you will need is for the one in Hongkong. Beijing and Shanghai hotel has the same ones as ours. No converters needed for mainland china.
UPDATE: Christian said the hotel in Hong Kong will provide converters.
Do the hotels we'll be staying in have irons?
Irons is not in your rooms but you can always request for them to bring one to your room.
We'll have the opportunity to visit Club 33. What is the dress code? Can men wear polo shirts or is it more dressy?
For club 33, as long as men wear long pants, not have go be dressy. Jeans okay as long as it is nice jeans, closed toed shoes even sneakers are okay. No flipflops for both men and women. And no beach wear or sportswear. Polo shirts are okay.
How convenient is it to ship items home (souvenirs, etc.)? Is it expensive?
Shipping is a little complicated because the hotels dont ship themselves. But they can call on a "fedex" type service to come to the hotel to weigh and box your things and you would know from there how much the shipping cost would be. They are particular that no electronics can be shipped or anything with batteries.
Do we need to make dining reservations at park restaurants before our arrival?
We have reservations for the Disney Dim Sum lunch at the HKDL Hotel. Do you recommend any particular favourites we should try?
For dining reservations, i suggest it for the big ones. Sit down restaurants at hotels would be a good idea. Crystal lotus specifically. If you do want to reserve and order the cute dimsum, they need at least 48hours in advance by rule. They dont make them as you come in. It is prepared ahead. For Hk
disneyland, corner cafe reservation is a good idea. For the rest, mostly quick service. For shanghai disneyland, if you want to dine at Aurora at the hotel would be a good place to make reservations. Also the one at the castle as well. For dimsum, the green alien pork dimsum and the jack skelington halloween special shrimp dimsum are my favorites.
Can you recommend any books that would be helpful for us to read before our trip?
For books, I normally like reading travel guide or if you have netflix watch documentaries on the wall. Also try to see the last emperor movie.
On Day 10, we go to the gardens in the morning, then have free-time until dinner and the acrobats. Will there be a meeting time/place/transport arranged to get us to the dining location?
On day 10, timing is still up in the air depending on time changes of activities we are doing. But to answer your question, there is transportation. Are you guys planning something specific for that free time?
What are the washroom facilities like in China? Do we need to bring any personal items?
The most challenging part on washroom will be beijing because there will be more "squatty potties" but we will always make sure we do a stop on the ones that has at least a western option. We always suggest bringing toilet papers from hotels. Maybe always bring wipes and hand sanitizer specially when your on your own. Seat covers are rarely an option for most restroom stops.
Are we restricted from bring any prescription meds like inhalers or epipens?
No restrictions on meds. Bigger liquids has to go to check in luggage.
If we have International Plans with our phone service carriers, can we use our phones within China?
Based on my experience if you have international plans, you can get through the social media part. But I had guests who said it is slower or sometimes not all social media works. Vpn sometimes is iffy because the government will restrict it or make it slow sometimes. So purchase vpns closer to travel time. Hongkong you will be fine its the mainland part that has the restrictions.
There is a concern about the air quality. How bad is it. Should people bring masks to wear?
Air quality varies in all honesty. It could be blue today and totally smoggy the next day. In my 4 years of guiding here i never had to whip out masks for that purpose. Some guests who has asthma or maybe a bit more sensitive to air quality can bring a mask.
Is pin trading popular in the parks? Should the pin traders in our group bring some to trade?
Pin trading is soso in the parks but there are pin trading. I would say more in Hk disneyland. So tell them to bring some. I have guests on my last tour excited coz they found opening day pins on cast members lanyards.
Christian added some information about what to expect about the weather and battery chargers.
Based on my most recent tour, the weather is a bit extreme so please tell our friends to prepare. Humid and hot in Hongkong like florida. Drier in beijing and for some reason it rained for like 80 percent of the time in Shanghai. Small umbrellas and maybe cooldanas would be beneficial or fans as well. A good rain gear is recommended.
Also please tell everyone to make sure their powerbanks are labeled properly because that is the one thing that airports here can be strict with. If its not properly labeled, they will confiscate it and we cant do anything.