Got my China visa today - Yeah!

[salmoneous]

If you folks think planning a WDW trip is taxing, try planning a trip to the Olympics. In China! The last piece of the puzzle just fell in place as I got my visa. I've had flights, plans, tickets, shots, etc. for a while - but it could all have fallen apart had my visa application been rejected or delayed. It finally came through. Yeah.

That's one more World Showcase country to tick off my list, with Japan scheduled for next year (notice how I casually slipped back on topic). Unfortunately, I don't imagine finishing as I have no reason to ever go to Morocco (other than that to tick it off my World Showcase list).

[nono]

What events will you see when you are there?

BTW, what took your visa so long?????? Did you walk it in yourself or use a service? I've always walked mine in and picked up same day. Are they handling things differently because of the Olympics?

[JimP]

If you folks think planning a WDW trip is taxing, try planning a trip to the Olympics. In China! The last piece of the puzzle just fell in place as I got my visa. I've had flights, plans, tickets, shots, etc. for a while - but it could all have fallen apart had my visa application been rejected or delayed. It finally came through. Yeah.

That's one more World Showcase country to tick off my list, with Japan scheduled for next year (notice how I casually slipped back on topic). Unfortunately, I don't imagine finishing as I have no reason to ever go to Morocco (other than that to tick it off my World Showcase list).

That sounds like a fun trip. I assume this is your first trip to China. Are you going to do some local site seeing as well?

I was in Beijing last year... and everyone told me that I had to go see the birdsnest (stadium) for the Olympics. It certainly is a LOT different than most architecture in Beijing. I promised that I would go... no matter how difficult it was to find. I got to my hotel... went to sleep... woke up the next morning... opened my shades... and the birdsnest was right next door to my hotel with a perfect view from my window. LOL

Nono: I always use a passport service to get my passport updated... or get visas. It seems quite quick. We just FedEx the passports down to their SF office... and we get them back in a few days.

/Jim

[MadHatter's House]

There has got to be a reason to go to Morocco. LOL

So cool that you are going to see the Olympics. We have not 1 but 2 Olympic athletes in our little town (of 100,000) going and their families are having all sorts fundraisers to get the money to be able to go over and watch. I really hope they get to go. They were talking on the radio about how expensive it is to even get into the events let alone fly and stay etc.

Once in a lifetime opportunity - you are SO lucky! Have fun! We expect a FULL trip report ;)

[nono]

Nono: I always use a passport service to get my passport updated... or get visas. It seems quite quick. We just FedEx the passports down to their SF office... and we get them back in a few days.

/Jim

yeah...well, when one of the adults in the partnership has no other way to prove his US citizenship...trusting a service just gets to be a bit hairy. :hammer: Luckily, after 7 years of begging and pleading, we are now in posession of his CoC as well. I'd now be willing to use a service. :cheers2:

(Oh and the other reason I do the walk in is it's a day in NYC for me!)

[JimP]

yeah...well, when one of the adults in the partnership has no other way to prove his US citizenship...trusting a service just gets to be a bit hairy. :hammer: Luckily, after 7 years of begging and pleading, we are now in posession of his CoC as well. I'd now be willing to use a service. :cheers2:

(Oh and the other reason I do the walk in is it's a day in NYC for me!)

Ahhh the real reason. :)

Actually, the only reason that I use an agency is because it is all handled by work. Both my girls need new passports and they will go through normal (non agency) proceedures.

/Jim

[robinb]

Congratulations! We went to China last August and my DD's passport got caught up in the big passport rush. We applied for it in March and it didn't arrive until late July! I was able to get my visas (from the Chicago consulate in person) the day before they were jacking up the prices for the Olympics and the a mere two weeks before we were to leave for Hong Kong!

We visited Hong Kong, HK-Disneyland, Beijing, Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Yokohama, Tokyo and TDL and Disney Sea :).

[salmoneous]

Thanks all...

This will be our first trip anywhere in Asia. We've got a motley collection of tickets, everything from baseball to boxing. But most of our time each day is free for sightseeing Beijing.

Costs for the Olympics - like everything else I guess - are variable. If you need to get into a specific event - particularly the finals where you'll hopefully see your kid win a gold medal - the only way to do it is through official packages which are outrageous. If you are willing to take whatever tickets you can scrape together and, especially, if you are willing to forgo a Western hotel and stay off the beaten track, it can be more reasonable. Not cheap by any means, but including the airfare our whole trip is probably going to cost less than a monorail-resort WDW trip.

There were a few special rules for visas during the Olympics. Primarily, they wanted to see a lot of paperwork showing flights, housing, tickets, etc. There have been reports of many denied visas. I suspect journalists are the main target which has lead to overstatement of the problem in the press. But it got me nervous. Especially when I went to the consulate in NYC and was told they weren't doing same-day approval. I got an email a week later saying I could pick them up - but the email didn't specifically say the visas were approved. It took another week before I could make it back down to get them (they will mail them, but I hadn't submitted the form since I was expecting to do same-day.)

Should be a great trip - I'll post some notes and pictures when I get back.

[nono]

Sal,

VERY EXCITING! You'll probably have a lot more fun not being on one of the official packages. If you are a huge Chinese food fan, be ready. It's so much better and not the American-Chinese menu a la 1900 that so many of us here in the States get stuck with...

I haven't ever made it to Beijing yet, so I'll be waiting for your trip report!

HAVE A BLAST! :cool2:

[Colorado Belle]

Please do a trip report of your Olympic trip...how exciting!

I can think of a lot of reasons to go to Maroc....tho it was long ago and far away (in the mid 1970's), I spent 6 weeks 'caravanning' around Morocco. The beaches were beautiful with (if I remem ber correctly) the Atlas mountains as a backdrop, the souks (medinas) were a lot of fun if you like to bargain, the campgrouinds all had swimming pools and discos!, didn't have the money to stay in the hotels BUT I heard from lots of English tourists that money went far and it had become quite a destination resort for many European travelers. Again, this was decades ago and I haven't been back. My sister went to Tunisia (right next door and generally a poorer neighbor) last year and enjoyed her time there, mostly relaxing on its beaches. Maroc is easily reached from Spain by ferry, so it can be combinable with a trip to Spain for not much extra money.