Shanghai and Tokyo doable in the same trip?

[Enchanted]

We're looking a good few years into the future but wondering whether it would be easy enough to do 2-3 days in Shanghai and then 5-6 days in Tokyo.
Was planning on going in May. Anything I should be aware of for weather/crowds?
Would I be doing Shanghai an injustice only visiting for Disney then leaving? We'll have two young children with us so main focus will be a theme park holiday. Although I'd also like to see a bit of Tokyo.

Are there are any other must sees/do in either place? Will I need to remortgage to go

[Bondy007]

I’ve looked at the idea of this too. Not put a massive amount of research in yet but easily looks doable.

[Enchanted]

Originally Posted by Bondy007

I’ve looked at the idea of this too. Not put a massive amount of research in yet but easily looks doable.

See more...

Thank you for the initial thoughts
It's on my bucket list to visit all the Disney Parks in the world so just trying to figure out the best way to do it as it's so far to go for individual trips.

We're thinking of doing Hong Kong on our way to Australia 18mths after.

[Bondy007]

I’m genuinely tempted to research a triple threat trip - Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Could be an option…….. I’d looked a flights to Tokyo as a first stop and was pleasantly surprised! I could do a few nights there in a decent hotel for similar price to 4 nights at DLP.

[sky13]

I've read in several places about the 144 (I think?) hour visa for China if you stopover there en route to somewhere else (so this would work for flying UK-Shanghai-Tokyo-UK but not UK-Shanghai-UK), but I'm not very familiar with it. Might be worth checking this out if you are only planning to stopover in Shanghai for a couple of days on the way to Tokyo!

Went to Shanghai Disneyland a few years ago in May. Weather was fairly decent, very warm but not too insanely hot. We spent about half the (short) trip in Disneyland and the other half in the city proper. If you just want a really short trip, you could perhaps consider a day or so in the city itself just to see the main sights (like the Bund, Yu Gardens, the Oriental Pearl tower, etc).

[AntonyJ]

End of April / first week of May is Golden Week in Japan - a series of back to back public holidays in Japan and possibly the busiest time to do or go anywhere in Japan. Google the dates as they tend to move slightly, but next year it runs Friday 29th April to Thursday May 5th. Many people will take the Friday 6th off also I have read. So the week or two just AFTER it tend to be quieter as folks have gone back to work

IMHO May is a great time to go - often nice and warm without the oppressive heat and rain of only a month or so later.

[Gill H]

Read some trip reports - there are several Dibbers who have done this.

[AntonyJ]

One of the great surprises we had on our Tokyo trip of May 2019 was the teamLab digital art installation in Odaiba. They have 2 in the area and we went Boarderless.

Now normally the phases "digital art" means I have to be dragged kicking and screaming, but I took a chance and was amazed by the place - and think young kids would love it too. Get on YouTube to get an idea.

The other one is called Planets and it is having an upgrade / new installation put in at the moment, and both are on our list to go to next year.

EDIT - they are revealing tomorrow what new stuff is going into Boardless, and it also won a Guinness world record:

timeout/tokyo/news/t...qzgggj-tdTADOM

Also the area it is in has some huge shopping malls, a huge Toyota car showroom / exhibition space with interactive exhibits kids would love, ferris wheel for great views of Tokyo Bay and the city, a giant "life sized" Gundam robot.

There is also a small water science museum there that gets great reviews as having interactive fun for kids, a Trick Art museum (hard o explain but uses force perspective to make things look bigger / smaller - looks quite fun!

There is also a man made beach there that looks quite nice if you fancy a walk on the sand.

It also has a Hilton hotel there, which appears to be far enough from the city to not have tiny rooms, but their prices are cheaper than the Hilton in the city, and a 20 min or so train ride gets you to Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace area.

Time from there to Tokyo Disney (Miahama station) is about 16 mins.

[kk20]

we did look into a shanghai/tokyo/hk trip but the flight costs were prohibitive. I would say it is completely feasible if you can afford it.

[Silvercat]

We are looking to do a big trip in 2023 to include both Shanghai and Tokyo, as well as other destinations, so I would definitely say this is feasible. We've previously done Tokyo and Hong Kong together.