Shanghai Disneyland from a first timers view

[Disgruntled Walt]

So if I had to pick between Hong Kong or Shanghai (for Disney purposes), which should I choose?

 

[SplashJacket]

Same. Not American but we found Shanghai and Hong Kong to be both very welcoming in and out of the bubble (in the bubble is amazing in HKDL, even more so in SDL)

And we’re in at least 3 group photos with strangers taken on their cameras

I can just imagine the Mrs. chuckling as they want a photo with her Marni

 

[SplashJacket]

So if I had to pick between Hong Kong or Shanghai (for Disney purposes), which should I choose?

For Disney alone? Shanghai and it’s not close despite what others may say. Hong Kong is a lower barrier of entry (for visa and other reasons) and the city itself has more do to for tourists (IMHO) though Shanghai has no shortage

 

[PiratesMansion]

So if I had to pick between Hong Kong or Shanghai (for Disney purposes), which should I choose?

For me it's a weird situation where Hong Kong is probably the better overall experience (by a hair), but Shanghai, by virtue of being more distinctive, will feel more worth the journey to get there.

That said, there's nothing wrong with doing both, and there's very little duplicated between them! The transit visa even gives you an incentive to, since it allows you to skip the complications of a proper visa, but only if you're flying in from one airport and flying out to a different airport (i.e. one that serves a different Disney resort). It's super easy and might actually make your airfare cheaper in the process.

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

So if I had to pick between Hong Kong or Shanghai (for Disney purposes), which should I choose?

I haven't been to HK in almost ten years, but I would say Shanghai mainly because it's a very unique experience compared to other Disney parks. It feels like a "modern" Disney park in ways that none of the others do. Familiar but not the same.

 

[BrianLo]

So if I had to pick between Hong Kong or Shanghai (for Disney purposes), which should I choose?

Clearly sentiments are changing because I thought the overwhelming response you’d receive is Hong Kong.

Perhaps if the shoes were reversed and Hong Kong had the newest original land. I’m pretty split; attractions being equal it’s if you are more in a Disneyland or flashy Magic Kingdom mood.

 

[marni1971]

Clearly sentiments are changing because I thought the overwhelming response you’d receive is Hong Kong.

Perhaps if the shoes were reversed and Hong Kong had the newest original land. I’m pretty split; attractions being equal it’s if you are more in a Disneyland or flashy Magic Kingdom mood.

Personally we’d rather do Grizzly and Mystic. Zootopia was good to see - and the tech is impressive - but as a western visitor it’s a bit of an overcrowded and confusing mess (ride and land)

However as I and others have said SDL is a unique castle park. If you’re travelling a long distance I’d seriously recommend you look at doing both in the same trip if at all possible. We dipped our toes in the Asian parks with HK 2 years ago since it seemed the easiest but knowing what we now know Shanghai is almost as easy.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Clearly sentiments are changing because I thought the overwhelming response you’d receive is Hong Kong.

Perhaps if the shoes were reversed and Hong Kong had the newest original land. I’m pretty split; attractions being equal it’s if you are more in a Disneyland or flashy Magic Kingdom mood.

I don't actually think this is a change of sentiment, just an acknowledgement that if you're going to fly all the way to Asia and only do one park, Hong Kong has the least to offer as a package deal, especially if you're looking, on paper, at what you have to gain for making the journey as a first-timer.

Tokyo has two parks, one of which is DisneySea, Ikspiari, and hotels. Shanghai offers a much more unique package to most people familiar with the US parks and/or Paris than Hong Kong and also is more complete as a resort complex by virtue of DisneyTown and the Broadway theater (assuming they're still actually using it). Hong Kong, while excellent for what it is, is just one park and a few hotels.

As much as I love Hong Kong Disneyland and it has grown by leaps and bounds since 2005, I could also easily see it being the most disappointing Disney theme park complex if you're really and truly locked into a single destination and you need a long flight journey to get there. But if you're able to pair Hong Kong with Shanghai and/or Tokyo, as many do, it's easier to enjoy and appreciate what Hong Kong does well because if anything is deficient, well, the other park complex can help make up for that.

 

[marni1971]

Another thing HKDL has in its favour is natural location. It’s truly in the most beautiful surroundings. A pool day at Explorers and you could be in Hawaii. Tag in the amazing city too (not to say Shanghai city isn’t amazing) and you’ve a potential multi day multi location trip.

 

[OzAn]

I wouldn't say HK Disneyland is not unique. It's castle is very unique (probably the second most exquisite castle behind Paris now when seen in person), Mystic Manor, and Grizzly Gulch are unique, and it has the better Frozen area than Epcot and DisneySea. Whilst Shanghai has Pirates and Zootopia, just purely IMO, I still think HK has the better unique rides, and better seasonal events like Halloween.

Because if its lower crowds, you get much more done each day in HK than the other Disney parks, even if it may be 'smaller' (although after the expansion, its ride counts have mostly caught up to the other parks now). HK also has the better hotels at a much cheaper price than Shanghai.

I will agree though if you have travelled half way around the world, if not deciding based on Disney, Shanghai is the more 'different' city to visit than HK, as the latter still has a high level of westernization, same for its neighbour Macau. There are more surrounding cities around Shanghai that also offers more culturallly unique experiences.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Shanghai is a great park. I've only been once and that was in 2018 shortly after they added Toy Story Land. So I've not seen Zootopia. Will head back after Spider-Man coaster opens.

Tron, Pirates, Peter Pan, Roaring Rapids, Challenge Trails, and Buzz are all absolutely worth it. And the castle is fantastic - we spent several hours exploring and admiring.

Never had any issues with cast members (above and beyond), park cleanliness (immaculate), or safety. A bit of line-pushing/jumping, which is a cultural norm there, and if you stand your ground, you are generally fine. Nothing I don't see regularly in the US parks ("excuse me, I'm catching up with my group...." *eye roll*). A couple of guests smoking and spitting...again, cultural norms that Westerners might find off-putting. We saw one family let their kid pee in the bushes...honestly, have seen this at WDW once before so can't really get too worked up about a one-off like this.

Language barriers are a near non-issue at Shanghai (and in any of the Disney resorts around the world for that matter). You can always find someone that speaks "enough" English to help you with whatever you need.

The food at Shanghai is the weak spot...at least for someone not used to authentic Chinese cuisine. TBH, wasn't too crazy about HKDL cuisine either. Tokyo, on the other hand.....fantastic....

Hey Martin - just wanted to say hi. Been a long time. . I direct people to your videos on Reddit all the time.

Headed back to Tokyo in May. Right when Frozen is down. Grumblegrumble…. Hope you’re good.

 

[marni1971]

Hey Martin - just wanted to say hi. Been a long time. . I direct people to your videos on Reddit all the time.

Headed back to Tokyo in May. Right when Frozen is down. Grumblegrumble…. Hope you’re good.

Hello. And thank you! A few videos to come from Asia

 

[Citiboss]

We have our second visit booked for HK Disneyland (1st visit was pre-castle update) and will also do our first visit to Shanghai Disneyland this upcoming May 2026. Glad your trip went well.

 

[marni1971]

We have our second visit booked for HK Disneyland (1st visit was pre-castle update) and will also do our first visit to Shanghai Disneyland this upcoming May 2026. Glad your trip went well.

Oh you’ll have a blast. It was also our 1st Shanghai, 2nd HKDL. Do ask if I can help with anything.

 

[Pizza Moon]

Well. A few people have asked what did we think after 5 nights at Toy Story Hotel and 3 park days.

In short I’m impressed.

I imagined it to be of the Iger era. Big. Flashy. Shiny. State of the art. And it was. But in a good way.

What hit me the most from a design view was the size. Everything is huge and built for slick operation. The massive tree lined plaza with proper metal railing switchbacks that go forever for security. The distance from security to the turnstiles. The distance from turnstiles to the false train station entrance. The walkways wider than Epcots. The size of the gardens and lakes that replaced the hub. The long walking along tree and bush lined paths between lands and sometimes between attractions. The size of the lake in Treasure Cove. Everything is on a massive scale. Including the castle. I’m still undecided on the design, and think it looks better from behind, but the detail on it is astounding. Then inside there’s the windowed spiral internal staircase for a walkthrough. And another staircase up to a massive, lavish restaurant. And shops on the ground floor. And a boat ride that skirts the basement.

Ops wise it was impressive. Very. The sheer people moving skills of the cast and park design was amazing, and we went during a “quieter” period. I’ve never seen so many cast in a theme park. Emporium has 2 separate rooms each with 10 cash register desks. No in store queuing that gets in the way. Guest flow design is amazing. A note about cleanliness; cultural differences have been documented and we saw a handful of things a westerner would go huh? about, but the park, restaurants, attractions, everywhere was absolutely spotless. Spotless. The whole resort looked like it only opened last week. Everything was freshly painted. Ride vehicles weren’t scuffed. Queues were pristine. The sweepers were even picking up leaves when there was no litter. A real eye opener.

The attractions… whilst there’s not a huge amount given the size of the park they ranged from cute (Pooh’s building was elaborate but housed a clone of Hong Kong that’s a clone of Florida) to astounding. Pirates lived up to the hype and then some. Zootopia was surprisingly long. Peter Pan is the classic ride we all know on steroids. It was fun to ride the original Tron. Tomorrowland is a genius multi level design that the more you walk around the more you appreciate it. Adventure Isle is begging to be explored (with its impressive towering mountain range with waterfalls). Restaurants are abundant and amazingly themed. And for a European everything was so cheap.

Toy Story Hotel… fantastic. Chosen for its cost we found it’s hardly a “value” resort. Very modern, well themed but not tacky. A bigger room than expected and again the cast, from drop off to reception, concierge to housekeeping and restaurant were amazing. Friendly. Couldn’t help enough. We had a few language hiccups but definitely no language barriers.

All in all we came away very impressed. Budget decisions can be found if you look, but the overall design is mind blowing. Cast and ops are ironically how Disney should be. It’s a familiar but unfamiliar castle park. I recommend anyone wanting an adventure and to push their comfort zone seriously considers it.

Easily the highlight of anything Iger was heavily involved in!

I’ve always loved it ever since I first went.

It has such an appeal to themed design in a way message boards just don’t talk about, similar to Epic Universe.

The park and complex are just so thought-out. The high-tech nature of it all is wonderful, and the service is unreal.

 

[Pizza Moon]

On paper it’s cheap; a big box show building and a very long, 2 floor curved second box for everything else. Add in the theming, the multi level walkways and ramps and stairs, fountains, theming and lighting and it works very well. Even more so at night. It only works from one side and acts like a berm design mind but it’s a bit of a genius of design the more you look.

My issue with TRON in Orlando is it’s like building Radiator Springs Racers without Cars Land.