Shanghai Disneyland & $1000 Suite Life above the Clouds

Shanghai is a fascinating city, where the postmodern Pudong district blends with colonial styled buildings on the Bund. Ever since watching the movie Skyfall, I’ve always been curious to visit China’s financial nerve center.

Opportunity came knocking when I heard the $5.5 billion dollar Shanghai Disneyland was set to open in June, and decided to book a bargain flight from the Philippines and visit the newest happiest place on Earth.

Hotels in Shanghai aren’t cheap, with rates at western styled hotels among the highest in all of China. Coupled with high demand due to the huge influx of Disneyland tourists, using my hotel points seemed like a no brainer. 

Fortunately, Hyatt has a large presence in Shanghai, with its flagship hotel being the Park Hyatt Shanghai.  The world’s second highest hotel is located so high in the sky that low level clouds fly underneath. I ended up paying $375 + 30,000 Hyatt points for three nights in a 1400 square foot suite that would normally cost over $4000.

To learn how you can book your own $1000+ a night suite using points, click here.

At over 80 floors above the ground, skyscrapers look like miniature toy buildings, and the views from my bedroom seemed like a scene straight out of Lost in Translation.

Occasionally at night small clouds will drift by, creating the illusion that you are floating above the clouds.

Of course no thousand dollar suite would be complete with a hidden TV within the bathroom mirror.

Even relatively simple tasks such as eating breakfast turn into something enchanting.

After my stay at the Park Hyatt, I spent two nights at the Grand Hyatt Shanghai, which coincidentally the world’s third highest hotel.

Located right next door the Park Hyatt

The hotel atrium looked like it belonged on the set of Inception and I especially enjoyed the views from the one of the world’s highest hotel lounges.

My final nights were spent at the Hyatt on the Bund in the Bund View suite, which has probably the most picture perfect view of any hotel in the city.

All Bund View suites have a small balcony, which allowed me to see the striking difference between the old and new Shanghai.

I paid $470 + 30,000 Hyatt points for four nights in two suites that retailed over $2200.

In total, through a combination of cash, points, and Hyatt diamond suite upgrades, my out of pocket costs was $845 + 60,000 Hyatt points for a weeklong stay that would normally cost $6200. It certainly wasn’t the cheapest of trips, but quite a bargain for staying in some of Shanghai’s finest hotels.

Swimming on the 85^th Floor, Park Hyatt Shanghai

Even with amazing hotels, the main highlight of the trip was visiting Shanghai Disneyland and trying out first hand Disney’s newest attractions.

I was particularly interested in riding two particular rides, TRON LightCycle and the newly updated Pirates of Caribbean: Battle for Sunken Treasure.

I knew going in that wait times and crowd control was an issue, especially with the lack of local etiquette making the news.

During my visit, I rarely saw anything extremely egregious and for the most part most park goers did adhere to the rules. However, the lack of line discipline made waiting outside during the summer heat dreadful, and many visitors treated covered pathways as a place to picnic, rather than walk.

Not very magical

However, I thanks to a relatively hidden loophole, I was able to ride Tron LightCycle 8 times over the span of 90 minutes and kept the waiting times at Pirates of the Caribbean to a minimum.

How to Skip the Line at Shanghai Disneyland like a VIP

No line at TRON LightCycle

Let me say that without a doubt that those two rides are among the best amusement park rides I’ve ever ridden, and are unlike anything that currently exists.

For the first time, I felt truly immersed in a fictional world and couldn’t believe how far Disney has come from its rather ancient Tomorrowland at the original DisneyWorld.