Shanghai Disneyland planning help 4/26-4/28

[Nick6300]

UGH! When I made my new hotel reservation (two days ago), it definitely did not mention anything about having to purchase the park tickets to get the FP. That is SO frustrating!!!

sorry Robin! I probably would have done what you did and found a discount on tickets and ran with it.

I just went and opened a Fidelity "cash management account" on Fidelity.com. Fidelity as a broker, not a bank, doesn't have a true checking account but this is essentially the same thing. There is mention of $1 atm fee for ea. debit more than 5 debits per month, but that's for cash accts linked to a brokerage acct, not the cash management account. There are no commonly seen $5+ flat fees for international atm access. You can be charged by the external bank, but Fidelity will reimburse you automatically that day. You don't have to save a receipt and go to a fidelity location. There is a 1% foreign transaction fee that is included in the amount charged to your acct (you won't notice it as a fee per rep) but this is better than the 3% I've seen for chase/boa. I spoke to a few reps - in regards to your concern on how long it would take - they said it would take about 48 hrs for them to process the debit card request and ship - then it could take about a week or however long it takes for the mail service. The rep applied for an acct Sat and it hasn't shipped yet. You don't have to fund the acct to have the atm card shipped. But initiated a $100 transfer just in case.

 

[MommaBerd]

At the risk of sounding crazy, I swear the resort landing page has changed somewhat since yesterday...the benefits were listed as bullet points and there was no way to click through. I don’t know...anyhow, at this point it doesn’t matter. I may try to talk my way into one, especially since we’re staying club level.

Thanks for the additional Fidelity info. DH saw that PNC was in the article, so he was able to upgrade his account to one where we have no ATM or associated fees. Fidelity would have been our back up.

 

[Nomarian]

Visas - So I'm in Shanghai on April 19 just for a connection to Seoul, and back from Seoul to Shanghai on April 26th-29th. I'd think that they would not count the 1st connection and I'm ok not getting a visa (hopefully for either S. Korea or China)?

Translator - which apps do you recommend? will they work in China?

Money - I've beaten this horse to death. You're fortunate to get the reimbursements. Please let us know on the WeChat if you're able to add that without a Chinese bank acct.

Hotels - Can you guesstimate how much time you save at the gate by staying onsite and going through the other entrance? How early do you have to get there if staying offsite? I think that the park is open at 9am, so maybe 7:30? I know that Disney hotels don't offer a Magical Express type service to the resort, but do they offer free shuttle to the airport and airport check in service? Is it a long walk from Toy Story Hotel or better just to wait for a bus (except maybe avoid a bus at night after fireworks?).

Phones - I'm afraid I'm pitifully horrid on tech knowledge, and probably more concerned with this (not having a translator, SDL app, and navi app) than anything else.

So what is the recommended thing to do with your phone? I gather from Mommaberd that having your sim card replaced at idk an airport phone store and VPN access (at the same store? How do you get it ahead of time) gets you access to your apps and browsing in China. I added unlimited data then the $10/day travel notice so that I don't get the foreign per text, call, roaming charges. But I'm worried about paying the $160 extra and still not being able to access apps and such. I know you can also get a prepaid phone too. With going from Shanghai to Seoul and back to Shanghai, I'm not sure that throws a curve on what to do. When calling Verizon, the only options they give me is to do the per day travel notice and a monthly travel notice with only 100mb of data. The right side of my iPhone 6 is just an oval button w/out a hole. I'm out of contract so I've heard you can pay a fee to get unlocked, in order to remove the sim. It sort of sounds like from the other posters, that they didn't do the VPN and had a CM enter a local number on their phones? Sorry for being clueless in this area.

Nick6300

Visa - I am not 100% sure about the 144 hour visa either, but I would probably ask customs to be safe as you will pass through them. I just didn't want to deal with it and got a full visa.

Translator - I am going to be using both Google Translator and my Ili device while in China. I am thinking I should be good with both of them active.

Money - I will definitely let you know if WeChat works. Cash is my fallback.

Hotels - I really can't tell you what the time difference is, but someone else said that the waits at the main gates can take up to an hour. We are on our last two Disney Parks (HDL and SDL) on this trip to complete our set of all the Disney Parks before my kids finish high school and have stayed onsite for the experience. Any extra help in getting into the parks early is just icing on the cake for us.

Phones - I had a friend who recently came back from Shanghai as her family lived there. She told me that she actually had a hard time getting taxis and other things because she did not have a Chinese phone number. (She has a US phone). She said that everything now seems to be tied to a China phone number. This has be thinking that I will get a SIM while I am there, but still do the MiFi device (https://www.tepwireless.com) for the rest of my devices. I have a Verizon iPhone which is unlocked. I still plan on using my VPN software as well. I know there are other VPN software out there, but I already use one called IPVanish for my computer and since the single payment lets me use it on multiple devices, I just installed it on my phone as well.

 

[MommaBerd]

@Nomarian - I looked up Teppy and I’m wondering if you have had problems with it being spotty coverage. I read a lot of customer feedback regarding that issue.

 

[Nick6300]

Nick6300

Visa - I am not 100% sure about the 144 hour visa either, but I would probably ask customs to be safe as you will pass through them. I just didn't want to deal with it and got a full visa.

Translator - I am going to be using both Google Translator and my Ili device while in China. I am thinking I should be good with both of them active.

Money - I will definitely let you know if WeChat works. Cash is my fallback.

Hotels - I really can't tell you what the time difference is, but someone else said that the waits at the main gates can take up to an hour. We are on our last two Disney Parks (HDL and SDL) on this trip to complete our set of all the Disney Parks before my kids finish high school and have stayed onsite for the experience. Any extra help in getting into the parks early is just icing on the cake for us.

Phones - I had a friend who recently came back from Shanghai as her family lived there. She told me that she actually had a hard time getting taxis and other things because she did not have a Chinese phone number. (She has a US phone). She said that everything now seems to be tied to a China phone number. This has be thinking that I will get a SIM while I am there, but still do the MiFi device (https://www.tepwireless.com) for the rest of my devices. I have a Verizon iPhone which is unlocked. I still plan on using my VPN software as well. I know there are other VPN software out there, but I already use one called IPVanish for my computer and since the single payment lets me use it on multiple devices, I just installed it on my phone as well.

Thank you, I will have to look into the phones. I had found this article this am: http://startuplivingchina.com/whats-best-china-sim-card/
It states to buy a 3G Plan A (66RMB) sim at China Unicom. If you have a WeChat you are able to add 1GB for 21RMB.
You can buy sim card before you leave but data costs more. You can also buy the ExpressVPN ahead of time. Idk how this fits in for me going to China-S. Korea-China.

I read this article today too:
https://www.smartertravel.com/2017/06/19/best-way-carry-money-overseas/

Nothing really new we hadn't discussed but a good overview. I may only take enough cash for the 1st day as a result of the article. I am setting up PINs for my credit cards since apparently many places there won't have the chip reader and you'd have to punch in a pin or ask to swipe the card. Two of my no foreign trans. fee credit cards are from Bank of America, and the super annoying thing with them is that this is the 4th time I've called to put on a travel notice on my debit and credit cards (30+ min hold ea. time I call) and the notices keep disappearing ea. time. I may have to apply for a capital one card soon as backup.

A good thing to maybe consider is taking photos of the front/backs of your cards with the international toll free #s just in case something happens.

Also opened a Charles Schwab High Yield Investor Checking, completely free of int'l atm fees, including the conversion % fee. Link here for info/apply. The catch is that you have to apply in conjunction, a brokerage acct, but there's no fees or min. balance (you'd don't have to ever fund it). The other bank's atms access fees are reimbursed at the end of ea. month. I'll have Fidelity (no access fee, 1% conversion fee) as backup, and China Construction Bank atms as 2nd backup.
https://www.schwab.com/resource-center/insights/content/5-ways-to-save-money-when-traveling-abroad

I thought about those electrical outlet converters last night and my wife had already ordered one for about $20 on Amazon.

I got a response from SDL that they accept visa, mastercard, and china unionpay cards. They think that there will be a lot of anticipation for 4/26 Toy Story Land opening and a lot more crowds. If you're used to DL, WDW letting you bring in a bunch of food and snacks... SDL updated their policies to prohibit food and all drinks exceeding 600ml. Glass and cans are prohibited except baby food/formula.

 

[Nomarian]

@MommaBerd - I have never used Teppy, so I can attest to whether they are good or not. I am still researching to see if there are better MiFi devices out there for China.

 

[MommaBerd]

@MommaBerd - I have never used Teppy, so I can attest to whether they are good or not. I am still researching to see if there are better MiFi devices out there for China.

Sorry - I thought you already owned it...just misunderstood.

 

[Nomarian]

Sorry - I thought you already owned it...just misunderstood.

No worries. I actually did decide to go with this instead of the Teppy. The price might look expensive in the cart, but you get the $100 refund, so it is actually not bad at all.

https://www.3gsolutions.com.cn/mifi-hotspot-rental.html

 

[MommaBerd]

No worries. I actually did decide to go with this instead of the Teppy. The price might look expensive in the cart, but you get the $100 refund, so it is actually not bad at all.

https://www.3gsolutions.com.cn/mifi-hotspot-rental.html

I’ll check them out! I’m not sure we’ll need it or not...I’m on the fence.

 

[NeverlandKat]

Hey everyone, just want to hand over some advice to people coming to China for the first time!

Translators: I recommend Microsoft Translator. It's free and you can use it without a VPN. I deleted Google Translate from my phone because I was tired of having to turn my VPN on each time I wanted to quickly translate something as Google is completely blocked by the Great Firewall. You can also take a picture of something and it translates it. It's not always the best translation, but you get the gist of what it might be.

Language Barrier: I've been living in China for almost a year now and I only use very simple words and phrases. If you can learn the words for "hello" (ni hao), "thank you" (xie xie), "this one" (zhe ge), "I want" (wo yao), "I don't want" (bu yao), "I don't have" (mei you), you're golden.

Transportation: Someone in this thread or maybe another thread, I can't remember mentioned something about how they wished there was Uber or something. Well, there is! It's called DiDi! And it's in English! A nice alternative to taxi's and usually a little bit cheaper. I use it everyday. I recommend.

Phones: It's true, everything is tied to the Chinese phone number here. I mentioned DiDi, but I think you have to register with a Chinese phone number (but not 100% sure on that). If you're going to be here for awhile and want to have complete access, I'd opt for the SIM.

Been lurking for a long time on these boards, but as I'm finally planning my SDL trip in June (been living here a year and haven't made it there yet is unbelievable) I'm loving all the advice I'm finding on this board so I thought I would also give some advice back!

 

[cschaaf]

Money - I will definitely let you know if WeChat works. Cash is my fallback.

I tried WeChat for money transfers and couldn't get it to work. It kept asking me to have another WeChat user connect to my account to prove it was me. Between cash and a no foreign transaction fee credit card (Chase Sapphire), we didn't have any issues. Hopefully you have better luck than I did.

Language Barrier: I've been living in China for almost a year now and I only use very simple words and phrases. If you can learn the words for "hello" (ni hao), "thank you" (xie xie), "this one" (zhe ge), "I want" (wo yao), "I don't want" (bu yao), "I don't have" (mei you), you're golden.

I bolded the three phrases we used. The locals seemed very appreciative when we attempted, a very poor version I am sure, of ni hao and xie xie. And "bu" was like magic when we were in tourist areas with people trying to sell you stuff. A simple "bu" and they moved on to the next person.

 

[MommaBerd]

Awesome info @NeverlandKat! Thanks so much!

 

[Impromark]

Watching and reading with a keen eye here too - we're off to Shanghai & Hangzhou in early-mid April and our SDL day is a Wednesday before the opening of Toy Story Land - hoping this means we won't be in the middle of either heat, monsoon weather, or throngs of fellow tourists. Here's hoping - the current forecast is for 20-40mm (uh, 0.8 - 1.6 inches) of rain the day we arrive, which thankfully ISN'T the SDL day!

I'll be travelling with the DW and 8yo DD on this one, first time in China for all of us, though we've done TDS in Tokyo before (and LOVED it). I'm a bilingual Vietnamese-Canadian ( and my wife is from Quebec), but neither English nor French will be terribly useful here, so I'm in the same boat as a lot of you too.

We're staying offsite at the Novotel Atlantis, but the subway seems to be analogous to the system in Tokyo so we aren't expecting problems - their public transportation card seems to be able to handle subway, maglev, and even taxis equally. For connectivity, we have a couple unlocked phones (and battery packs! Always bring at least one!) and are arranging to have Chinese SIM cards (data only) to be there when we arrive. They're supposed to have a VPN included, but we're getting another one anyway as a backup.

So far I haven't found much info on getting connected to the SDL wifi so we can take care of our FPs that way... Also hoping to figure out reservations for one of their better restaurants, as I've only just discovered that a lot of them are in Disneytown adjacent to the park (but we're allowed re-entry with the tickets, so this shouldn't be a problem).

As for money, we're Canadian and the banks here are a little less forgiving. We've gotten some Mastercard ATM cards which SHOULD work over there, but for our ten days we've exchanged a bunch of cash and will be using it locally as possible. Hoping to avoid too many credit card fees.

Hoping to find more gems of information and more strategies in the days to come!

Mark

 

[MommaBerd]

For connectivity, we have a couple unlocked phones (and battery packs! Always bring at least one!)

Welcome aboard the planning train! Just as info/caution, people from the DIS/Dreams Unlimited China ABD trip reported that some back-up battery packs were confiscated at airport security (along with some umbrellas!?!). I’m thinking of taking mine anyway and hoping for the best. If they take it, it’s nbd as I need a more powerful one for my new phone anyway.

 

[Impromark]

Heh, I just GOT a more powerful one as one of the phones we're using is the older one with a battery that won't hack most of the day anymore.

Looking it up, after several cases of shoddy batteries exploding at airports, the authorities will be on the lookout for batteries without a proper sticker or marking (we should be good if we bought them in North America - it's because China is the land of the knockoff), or if the maximum battery power exceeds 160mH, which few will. You can only carry a maximum of two, and they have to be with you and not in the checked luggage. This ought to cover it:

http://www.goforeign.net/home/chinese-aviation-law-restricted-power-banks

I have a pair of 10,000 mAh batteries whose label states they are 36wAh, so we should be good. If yours DOES get confiscated y0ou can alwasy buy one while in China, but you may have difficulty bringing it back with you if it's the knockoff variety.

But thanks for the heads up, I hadn't researched that end of things just yet!

Mark

 

[MommaBerd]

Thanks for all that great info, @Impromark! I had not researched it - just a low priority. So, I appreciate what you shared.

 

[cschaaf]

We carried 2 battery packs through 3 Chinese airports without issue. Both are Anker brand. One shows 15000mAh, the other is 13000mAh.

When going through security, have all batteries separated out. They looked, very closely, at the number on each of the battery packs, then let them through.

Don't leave any batteries, this includes AA-type batteries, in your checked bags.

So far I haven't found much info on getting connected to the SDL wifi so we can take care of our FPs that way... Also hoping to figure out reservations for one of their better restaurants, as I've only just discovered that a lot of them are in Disneytown adjacent to the park (but we're allowed re-entry with the tickets, so this shouldn't be a problem).

Mark

A CM used his mainland phone number to get PINs for us to use the in-park WiFi. It was easy for us, we didn't even ask him to do it, but I've seen others that have asked several CMs and couldn't find someone to help.

We went to Disneytown for lunch and it was empty - and we were there on a sold out day. I don't know for sure what time we went to lunch, but I would guess it was around 12:30 (the parade was going on when we left the park) and there was no one walking around Disneytown. We walked to the front of each restaurant and checked the menus. Some of the places looked like they were closed until we got to the front door and could see a few people inside.

I don't remember the name of the place that we went to, but we walked right in and got a seat and there were empty tables all through the place.

I've seen others say Disneytown was packed when they went, so maybe we just got lucky.

It was simple to exit and reenter through Disneytown.

 

[Impromark]

Fascinating. How did you approach the CM and did you have to do the I'm-a-foreigner-need-help-please dance with the eyes and hands? And where were you?

Interesting that Disneytown was deserted at lunch… From my research I’m starting to think that a lot of the domestic Chinese like to picnic or bring their own stuff into the park, perhaps in front of the castle. We’re hoping to do lunch somewhere in the park and then dinner in Disneytown - but we're worried about how busy it'll be and if we should figure out how to make reservations. At least getting out and in is easy. What day of the week did you go?

Mark

 

[MommaBerd]

We carried 2 battery packs through 3 Chinese airports without issue. Both are Anker brand. One shows 15000mAh, the other is 13000mAh.

When going through security, have all batteries separated out. They looked, very closely, at the number on each of the battery packs, then let them through.

Don't leave any batteries, this includes AA-type batteries, in your checked bags.

Oh my goodness - such great info!!!

 

[Nick6300]

I tried WeChat for money transfers and couldn't get it to work. It kept asking me to have another WeChat user connect to my account to prove it was me. Between cash and a no foreign transaction fee credit card (Chase Sapphire), we didn't have any issues. Hopefully you have better luck than I did.



I bolded the three phrases we used. The locals seemed very appreciative when we attempted, a very poor version I am sure, of ni hao and xie xie. And "bu" was like magic when we were in tourist areas with people trying to sell you stuff. A simple "bu" and they moved on to the next person.

We also tried to add WeChat unsuccessfully. We downloaded the app for my wife and I to talk to ea. other while she's here in the U.S. and I'm in China/S. Korea. But a Disney CM said that we need local credentials (ID or Chinese phone#?) in order to use WeChat for payments and such.

But I want to update you guys on a few things:
ATM Visa cards
It took a little less than a week to get my debit cards from Fidelity and Charles Schwab - They both arrived last night and I think I applied last Wed. When I called to set up pin and set travel notice, they said that if the foreign atm gives you a choice between U.S. debit and Visa transaction, to choose U.S. Debit for less chance of some sort of fee that you'd later have to get waived. It does take a while for external transfer deposits to fund - at least 5 bus. days because of the hold they place, just in case you cancel the transfer. I need to do my last transfer deposit for these at least a week out. I applied for an HSBC mastercard as another backup no foreign fee credit card since my Bank of America cards' travel notice keeps purging by itself. Wanted the CapOne venture and there was another that had 3% on restaurants (no capone cards have foreign fees) but apparently I've had too many apps lately.

Verizon
We decided to not go through the trouble of a sim, mainly because of the hassle of finding a China Unicom, the language barrier, then adding data without WeChat. We're going to buy the VPN Express. It technically has a 30 day refund guarantee, so you could wait until close to the trip and get that if you so choose. I upped my data plan from 4gb to 8gb for next month (for approx. $16 more). Between carryover and a promo bonus, I should have over 10gb for the 10-11 days and wifi at airport/hotel/park. I set the text reminders on data usage, so if I get close to running out, I can call and change my plan before I go over. VZW said that before I go, I should turn off International CDMA, background refresh, wifi assist, and turn on wifi calling and imessages. Another tip before putting on airplane mode is to turn off cellular data so that when you accidently hit or turn off airplane mode, you don't automatically get charged with the travel plan I set up ($10/day). I'm deleting all of those photos, trying to make space for new apps on my phone. I did figure out that my iPhone 6 from VZW was unlocked. The only times I may run into trouble without the sim is when I'm not in wifi - which shouldn't be terribly often. But notably when walking to the Bund on my 1st Shanghai layover (on way to Korea). We bought a Mandarin and Korean pocket phrase book and we'll print a walking map in case I want to leave my phone on airplane mode when outside of wifi.

I'm going to take advantage of the new battery from Apple offer for $29/30. I think Apple normally charges something like $79 except the new operating system drains our batteries quicker and they rolled out this special when everyone put up a big stink. I don't have a nearby Apple store, but there's an auth. mac repair store that can honor the price (your carrier won't do this). The battery on my 1.5 yr old iPhone 6 is supposed to be rated for 500 full charges. I've heard that my battery will drain quicker overseas because of the roaming. Not really planning on buying a new phone soon, so this is just in case it helps a little.

With carrying around a battery charger, charging cord, my passport, phone, wallet... wife asked if I'll be sporting a fanny pack. Let's hope not.