Shanghai Disney Resort Toy Story Hotel Room Tour & Review

Recently, I was able to visit Shanghai Disney Resort FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!

I was so excited to visit, especially because we were also staying on-property at Toy Story Hotel! I’ve also had the privilege of staying at Tokyo Disney Resort’s Toy Story Hotel and can say with 100% confidence that the international Disney Parks do Toy Story in the most incredible way! This Toy Story Hotel is no exception! 

About Toy Story Hotel

Toy Story Hotel is one of the two current on-property hotels as of March 2026, the other hotel being Shanghai Disneyland Hotel. Shanghai Disneyland Hotel has more “fanciful” look to it while Toy Story Hotel is, as its name suggests, Toy Story themed! 

Between the two hotels, they both offer quite similar perks that were important to me, like early park entry, so I opted for Toy story Hotel because the theming was more to my taste (even though I was VERY tempted by the Frozen room!). Toy Story Hotel is also the more affordable hotel between the two. Maybe I’ll check out Shanghai Disneyland hotel the next time I visit, though!

What perks do you receive as a Toy Story Hotel guest?

As with other Disney resorts, staying on-property gets you some nice benefits.

Early entry

Shanghai Disney Resort is actually the only park I’ve visited that does let you purchase early entry even if you’re not staying on-property. This means you could technically have the same perk staying a cheaper lodging if you are willing to add on this extra cost. However, since you do get this “for free” with your on-property stay, it’s a nice perk if you already wanted to stay on-property anyway.

Note: you do not get early entry on your day of check-in. So if you only plan to stay for one night like I did, you should visit the park on your day of check-out if you want to use the included early entry perk.

Hotel guest exclusive entrance

Like I mentioned above, anyone can purchase early entry to the park. However, the advantage hotel guests do have is their own entrance which will have fewer people in line. At least during the early entry period, hotel guests can enter the park through an entrance at the other end of Disneytown.

This entrance opens up for guests who are re-entering the park after 10:00AM, but until then non-hotel staying guests will need to enter the park through the main entrance.

Exclusive merch access

Hotel guests get the opportunity to buy merchandise that’s exclusive to the hotel you’re staying at, in my case some special Toy Story merchandise from Lotso Shop. When you check-in, you receive a QR code which you’ll need to show the cashiers in Lotso Shop at checkout, so you only have one opportunity to do this per day.

I didn’t utilize this perk as I wasn’t a huge fan of the exclusive items that I saw, but it’s nice if you do like it!

Proximity to the park

Of course this is one of the main benefits of staying on-property - you’re right near the park, so getting there in the morning is nice and easy!

The hotel itself offers complimentary shuttles, but if you don’t want to wait in line for it you can walk or, as I saw many other park guests do, take your own taxi or rideshare to the hotel. It requires an additional cost, but you’re so close the price is not super high and it’s a short ride away!

Character meet and greets

Occasionally they’ll have character meet and greets in the hotel lobby! I was lucky enough to catch Bo Peep and Woody randomly! 

Since this is only for hotel guests the line is not long (we didn’t wait at all!) so a fun chance to meet a character or two during your stay!

I’m not sure if they have a schedule available somewhere, but from my exploration of the Shanghai Disney Resort app, I couldn’t find one. So you just have to get lucky with this one.

How much does it cost to stay at Toy Story Hotel?

The cost per night to stay at Toy Story Hotel does vary, as with all hotels, depending on the season. Based on the cost estimator on the Shanghai Disney Resort website the price for a room for 2 for one night can range from 1200-3000 CNY ($174-$434 USD), or 1700-3500 CNY ($246-$506 USD) for the character rooms (as of March 2026). Prices are only available for the next 30 days or so, so it’s hard to tell exactly what average costs are year-round.

I booked my stay for one night in March 2026, and the Buzz Lightyear character room cost 2583 CNY ($374 USD), so I didn’t stay during the cheapest availability, but it also wasn’t the most expensive it could be.

Checking in

Getting there

We stayed at a nearby hotel the night prior to our Toy Story Hotel stay, the Shanghai Garden Rezen Hotel (Shanghai Licheng Garden Hotel on AMap), and they offered free Shanghai Disneyland shuttles. We were able to take advantage of this free shuttle to get to Disneytown, then we walked to Toy Story Hotel from there, which wasn’t too far away.

If you’re just flying in to Shanghai and traveling directly to Toy Story Hotel, I would recommend getting a taxi or a Didi. Since I came a different way, I don’t have personal experience with this, but as a foreigner, I think a direct car ride would be the least complicated. If you’re non-confrontational like me or are worried about potentially getting scammed by a taxi or Didi driver, Didi does offer an option to pay your ride upfront. This costs a little more than the estimated fee you’ll get with a standard Didi, but every time I rode a Didi in Shanghai I opted for the upfront cost so that there would be no question about how much the ride was.

Hotel entrance

As soon as we arrived, we were greeted with the familiar and adorable Toy Story story clouds that are plastered all over the hotel building. The front drop-off area is already designed to make you feel like a toy as soon as you enter, which always fills me with so much joy!

The in-hotel gift shop, Lotso Shop also has an exterior entrance, so you can see that as well when you enter the drop-off area.

Early check-in

Standard check-in for rooms start at 3:00PM, but early check-in starts at 8:00AM, so you can arrive ahead of check-in time to get everything settled.

We arrived around 10:00AM and were very quickly helped by one of the many cast members who are available. Online check-in is also possible, but since I was in unfamiliar territory I decided to just check-in in person to get their assistance and make sure everything was smooth.

Since neither me nor my partner speak Mandarin, we did have to wait for an English-speaking cast member, but there were quite a few so we didn’t need to wait for very long. The cast member was super helpful in checking us in, giving us all the info we needed regarding the grounds, the amenities, the shuttle schedule and pick-up/drop-off areas, etc.

Rooms are not available until 3:00PM, so we were given one hotel room key but were not assigned a room number yet. In order to receive our room number, we needed to return to the check-in counter after 3:00PM. This was when we also received our second room key.

Bag storage

Toy Story Hotel offers convenient bag storage service. After we completed our early check-in we dropped our bags off with them and were able to explore the grounds and visit Disneytown.

After we received our room number, we also received a receipt that we could hand off to the cast members at bag storage so they could deliver our bags to our room. This was very nice and convenient, and they were very efficient as well!

Using the Shanghai Disney Resort app

The Shanghai Disney Resort app is essential to visiting Shanghai Disney Resort.

When it comes to staying at an on-property hotel, all the QR codes you need to access your early entry perk or the hotel merchandise are all on the app. You’ll need to have access to these in order to use these perks, so make sure your app is downloaded and you’re all logged in with you reservations linked to your account. This will make things so much smoother!

Hotel Grounds

Woody Courtyard & The Launchpad

There’s a large outdoor space with a giant Woody statue and some other statues like the Pizza Planet rocket that you can take a look at. There’s not too much going on outside, but it’s a nice wide open space to check out.

Buzz Lightyear Courtyard

This courtyard is very similar to the Woody Courtyard but with a large Buzz statue instead! 

Sunnyside Cafe

Sunnyside Cafe is the in-hotel restaurant. Guests can add on the breakfast buffet when they make their hotel booking. The restaurant is also open for a la carte and buffet dining for dinner.

We didn’t eat here, so I can’t speak to what the experience was like or how the food was, but I’ve heard pretty decent things about it, and you know the decor always delivers!

Sunnyside Market

Sunnyside Market is a quick-service grab-and-go type dining spot in Toy Story Hotel, a more takeaway-friendly alternative to Sunnyside Cafe. Here you can order pastries, cakes, desserts, coffee, and grab other quick bites. 

As a late night snack we got some Lotso meat puffs and fried chicken with fries. These were decent and satisfying enough. Personally, I enjoyed the meat puffs more than the fried chicken as the fried chicken was a little under-seasoned and dry. 

We also tried the apple pie pastry here for breakfast on our check-out day which was also okay, but since we didn’t plan out breakfast options, this was sufficient.

Lotso Shop

At the hotel gift shop, you can find a decent amount of park merchandise. Most items are Toy Story - focused, but they have a mix of all different franchises here as well. The second most-available items were lots of Duffy & Friends merchandise. Here is also where you can purchase the hotel guest exclusive items.

Many of the items here were similar to items that we could find in the park, so I preferred to purchase them here since I wouldn’t have to carry them around with me all day at the park and could bring them straight to my room.

Games and activities

True to Toy Story fashion, the hotel lobby even had games and activities that were available for people to play! Lots of them were children-focused so it could be a great way for kids to stay entertained, but some of them were also fit for adults! 

We played our own round of table shuffleboard, and it was fun!

(I didn’t grab a photo of the main activities area because there were many children and families there each time I went by it.)

Toy Story Hotel Buzz Lightyear character room tour

Now onto my absolute favorite part: the room!

I booked the Buzz Lightyear character room here. This is slightly more expensive compared to the standard guest room, but the theming is character-focused, and you get some extra goodies with your room too! Toy Story Hotel offers both a Woody and Buzz character room, so the Woody room is very similar in offerings to the Buzz room except the decorations are completely different!

As soon as we entered the Buzz Lightyear part of the hotel, everything was Buzz Lightyear themed from the carpet to the wall signage! I loved it from the start!

Room decorations

All the decorations were perfection. When we walked in, the room was floor to ceiling decorated in space and Star Command themed decor!

The closet / luggage area was cute and had a little Buzz Lightyear suit hanging wall decal. Such a fun touch! Along the wall of the closet area are also house slippers that you can use during your stay (and/or take with you) and a reusable Toy Story Hotel themed tote bag, which you can also take!

Inside the wardrobe are Toy Story themed mugs for guests to use. These are also very cute!

One of the coolest wall decorations in this room by far is the Alien-themed wall puzzle! I love that it’s actually interactive and you can play with it!

The bathroom has a cute Pizza Planet theme to it. The shower curtains have the Aliens on them and the shower tiles are alternating red and white tile in line with the Pizza Planet colors. The trim around the mirror in the bathroom is also cute!

On the beds, they have three Alien pillows that are SO cute! It’s honestly a missed opportunity that they don’t sell these because I would be BEYOND tempted to get a set for myself after seeing them!

Another very cool touch that I wasn’t expecting: the stars! When you turn off the lights of your room, there are actually subtle star decals. So cute!!

Freebies

The character rooms here come with some cute things that you get to take away with you! (The front desk cast member specifically pointed out these items that we should take home with us)

On one of the beds they lay out a towel, luggage tag, and pillow cover that are all Buzz Lightyear and Aliens themed. They’re so cute and such a fun thing to takeaway with you from your stay! At the foot of the bed they also have special Buzz themed slippers in 3 different sizes that you are also encouraged to take home with you!

Honestly the Buzz slippers looked so cute, I was doubting I heard her correctly since they also had tags on them, but we could indeed take them! 

Other freebies you can take with you that are also given in the standard rooms are the “regular” Toy Story Hotel slippers (still cute!) as well as the reusable tote bag I mentioned above!

On the table we also received a box of complimentary stickers! These are large stickers of individual Toy Story characters.

Inside the binder on the wardrobe, they also have some cute Toy Story Hotel themed post cards, and on the nightstand they have some letter paper, envelopes, and a notepad. You’re free to use these or take them with you!

Finally, I also took home with me the trio of paper cups that were provided to us in the bathroom. Since they were paper and disposable, instead of using them, I took them home with me.

What I liked about staying at Toy Story Hotel

Theming

When it comes to Toy Story, Disney knows how to fully embrace the fun and whimsy in its theming. Even as someone who doesn’t consider Toy Story a favorite franchise, I can never get enough of it when it comes to the parks! Even now, I still find myself so impressed by their imagination and creativity!

Staying in the Buzz Lightyear room was so adorable and so fun, even if we only had it for one night. It is a bit more expensive, but if you have the ability to stay in a character room, I think it’s totally worth it!

I like that the Toy Story Hotel in Shanghai is different enough from the Tokyo Disney Resort version, so it doesn’t feel like a repeat experience if you wanted to visit both of them. This one felt new to me and that was great! In fact, I actually wish Tokyo Disney’s Toy Story Hotel offered character themed rooms like this one.

Access to the parks

Shanghai Disney Resort doesn’t actually have a hotel that has direct access to Shanghai Disneyland. This is a little different from other resorts I’ve visited where there’s always at least one hotel (usually the most premium/expensive one) that has direct access to the park without the need for additional modes of transportation. Shanghai is different here. Both Shanghai Disneyland Hotel and Toy Story Hotel currently require at least a bus/water taxi ride or a long walk to the park. I think this puts the two hotels on more even ground access-wise which makes paying the additional premium for Shanghai Disneyland Hotel a little less enticing. 

Toy Story Hotel is notably more affordable than Shanghai Disneyland Hotel (prices vary by day, but it can be almost half as expensive) with very similar perks so it makes Toy Story Hotel the easier choice if you’re looking to save on cost.

English-speaking staff

In other parts of Shanghai I found it sometimes difficult to find a hotel staff member who spoke English, but as expected with Disney there were plenty of English-speaking staff who were available to assist! So I didn’t have trouble communicating at all while we stayed here.

Things to be aware of

Shuttle service

Shuttle service from the hotel to the park begins around 7:05AM. People start lining up for the shuttle early in the morning, and while I’m not sure exactly what time the earliest people arrived, there was already a decent line by the time we queued up at 6:30AM, and the first shuttle ended up being too full for us.

Additionally, by the time we got to Disneytown where the shuttle dropped us off, there was also already a decent line at the early entry hotel guest entrance. This is probably why people choose to take their own ride to the park so they can avoid the crowd and get in line earlier.

Hotel shuttle pick-up and drop-off locations also change during the day. The cast member explains this during check-in and the locations are close to each other, but it’s good to be aware of it.

No convenience store

Maybe I’m just spoiled by the Tokyo Disney Resort hotels that have nice convenience stores inside the hotel. It’s nice to have a go-to spot to grab something quick if you just need a snack or you’re looking for something at night after the park is closed.

Toy Story Hotel does have the Sunnyside Market which is the closest thing to a convenience store. They do have waters and other drinks, desserts, etc., so you still do have some options - it’s where we ended up getting food from on our first night - but there aren’t quite as many options as a decent convenience store.

Drinking water

While I can’t be certain about the current state of the water faucets, I had heard from multiple reviews and other travelers that the tap water in Shanghai is not potable. They also recommended not to use the tap water for things like brushing your teeth or washing your face. I’ve been told this is the reason why hotels in Shanghai provide water bottles both in the room for drinking and in the bathroom for using. I’m not 100% if that’s the reason, but to stay on the safe side, I used the bottled water for brushing my teeth and washing my face.

Overall impressions

Overall, our whole stay was phenomenal! Check in was easy, the cast members were all kind and helpful, we had access to everything we needed, and the theming was top notch!

I continue to be strong advocate for staying on-property when visiting the Disney parks for vacation if you’re able to, and after my stay here, that belief still stands.

I’ll be getting into my whole Shanghai Disneyland experience in my next blog post, so stay tuned for that if you want to know more about visiting Shanghai Disney Resort!