Tokyo Disney

[wesleycrusher]

We leave next week for Japan and the week after we are going to Tokyo Disney. We are staying at the Disneyland Hotel and will have 3 park days.  Plan is to do one day at Disneyland, one day at DisneySea and then park hop between the two our final day (it's the first day of Christmas theming at the parks so we'd like to see both).  

I got a guide and have read about it, but would welcome any advice, recommendations, and must-dos! If it is raining one day, which park would you prioritize for the rainy day? 

[mrsslocombe]

Both Tokyo Parks are amazing. DisneySea is the most beautiful park of any Disney park. DL has a bit more cover/indoor lines vs DisneySea. But the rain might keep the crowds away. DL attractions are mostly perfect copy cats of Florida or California (except of course, in Japanese!). DisneySea however has mostly unique to Japan attractions. You will need far more time at DisneySea probably.

The crowds/lines are VERY long, DisneySea is more crowded than DL. Staying on property you get a 15 minute headstart-be on line an least an hour before the hotel guest entry and have a plan for which top attraction you are go to first. Also, plan out which fast passes you will buy (I think you can get 2 or 3 per day). Otherwise it's a 3+ hour wait for the big attractions.

Do NOT miss the parades, they are incredible. And everyone sits down to watch them so it's much easier to see.

Other tips:
-Unlike the US parks, ride lines CLOSE EARLY if they are long-you CANNOT just plan on jumping on line at 8:59 before park closing. If park closes at 9pm and the line is 3 hours long, they cut it off at 6pm.
-I found wait times on the app to be accurate or the lines are actually longer than listed. Unlike the US parks where wait times are usually inflated.
-The fireworks are very short and meh compared to US parks
-Their popcorn buckets are the best and there are at least 10 flavors in the parks-try them all! There's easily 15+ designs at different stands so scope them out before buying one
-They don't restock merchandise throughout the day so a lot of stuff sells out, if you see something you like buy it right away.
-They have some FL-style character meet and greets where you wait on line, but mostly the characters are just out and you have to basically grab their attention and jump in there to get photos.
-Food lines can be absolutely insane. A two hour wait for churros? Absolutely not.
-Even though the parks are way more crowded than the US ones, it's not nearly as stressful. There's a lot of respect for personal space, people aren't screaming at each other, just the overall energy level is more mellow. Also I swear to god, it was 6pm before I heard a single child meltdown.

[expatjen]

Oct 24, 2023 16:12:29 GMT -5 mrsslocombe said:

Both Tokyo Parks are amazing. DisneySea is the most beautiful park of any Disney park. DL has a bit more cover/indoor lines vs DisneySea. But the rain might keep the crowds away. DL attractions are mostly perfect copy cats of Florida or California (except of course, in Japanese!). DisneySea however has mostly unique to Japan attractions. You will need far more time at DisneySea probably.

The crowds/lines are VERY long, DisneySea is more crowded than DL. Staying on property you get a 15 minute headstart-be on line a least an hour before the hotel guest entry and have a plan for which top attraction you are go to first. Also, plan out which fast passes you will buy (I think you can get 2 or 3 per day). Otherwise it's a 3+ hour wait for the big attractions.

Do NOT miss the parades, they are incredible. And everyone sits down to watch them so it's much easier to see.

Other tips:
-Unlike the US parks, ride lines CLOSE EARLY if they are long-you CANNOT just plan on jumping on line at 8:59 before park closing. If park closes at 9pm and the line is 3 hours long, they cut it off at 6pm.
-I found wait times on the app to be accurate or the lines are actually longer than listed. Unlike the US parks where wait times are usually inflated.
-The fireworks are very short and meh compared to US parks
-Their popcorn buckets are the best and there are at least 10 flavors in the parks-try them all! There's easily 15+ designs at different stands so scope them out before buying one
-They don't restock merchandise throughout the day so a lot of stuff sells out, if you see something you like buy it right away.
-They have some FL-style character meet and greets where you wait on line, but mostly the characters are just out and you have to basically grab their attention and jump in there to get photos.
-Food lines can be absolutely insane. A two hour wait for churros? Absolutely not.
-Even though the parks are way more crowded than the US ones, it's not nearly as stressful. There's a lot of respect for personal space, people aren't screaming at each other, just the overall energy level is more mellow. Also I swear to god, it was 6pm before I heard a single child meltdown.

Thanks for this. We are going to Tokyo in Feb 2024 and I was thinking about a day at DisneySea. But I may pass now after all this info. We’re doing 4 days at Disneyland (in California) in November, so I might have met my standing in insane lines quota for a few years 😁

[mrsslocombe]

expatjen, I think it depends on how big a Disney fan you are. The park itself is stunning, and the shows are great (though you have to enter a lottery for a chance to see them, you can't just wait. Or you pay for premiere access). There's rides few for little kids, and those lines aren't bad. But unfortunately lines for Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, Journey to the Center of the Earth, etc are at least two hours (and they don't really get shorter as the day goes on). I think crowd habits are sort of like CA-it's a local park so lots of Tokyo residents go in the afternoons/evenings, stay all day, etc. It's not like in FL where people tend to leave after dinner.

Also the new section of DisneySea is set to open sometime in early 2024. If it opens before your date, it will be PACKED.

I think the park is worth it but I'm a huge Disney fan. My sister and I are planning 4 days between the two Tokyo parks in 2025 just so we can see and do everything.

[wesleycrusher]

mrsslocombe did you find the lines for the popcorn to be very long?

We are total Disney people- original plan was to do one day Disneyland, two days DisneySea, but the Christmas decorations changed that plan somewhat.

Did you see any shows? I see people talk about trying to get the lottery to see the shows, but my kids aren't big show people. Is it worth it to spend the time on that instead of rides?

[mrsslocombe]

Oct 25, 2023 12:18:15 GMT -5 wesleycrusher said:

mrsslocombe did you find the lines for the popcorn to be very long?

We are total Disney people- original plan was to do one day Disneyland, one day DisneySea, but the Christmas decorations changed that plan somewhat.

Did you see any shows? I see people talk about trying to get the lottery to see the shows, but my kids aren't big show people. Is it worth it to spend the time on that instead of rides?

We never waited for than 5-10 minutes for popcorn, I think the strawberry line was longer so we skipped and I'm not a huge strawberry person. But overall they weren't bad. The churros were the longest lines I've ever seen for food. 

The shows are good for theme park shows but not the highest priority for me. The parades, for instance, are way better and assuming the weather is cooperative, I'd do that over shows. I'd rather do rides as well. 

[expatjen]

Oct 25, 2023 9:40:58 GMT -5 mrsslocombe said:

expatjen, I think it depends on how big a Disney fan you are. The park itself is stunning, and the shows are great (though you have to enter a lottery for a chance to see them, you can't just wait. Or you pay for premiere access). There's rides few for little kids, and those lines aren't bad. But unfortunately lines for Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, Journey to the Center of the Earth, etc are at least two hours (and they don't really get shorter as the day goes on). I think crowd habits are sort of like CA-it's a local park so lots of Tokyo residents go in the afternoons/evenings, stay all day, etc. It's not like in FL where people tend to leave after dinner.

Also the new section of DisneySea is set to open sometime in early 2024. If it opens before your date, it will be PACKED.

I think the park is worth it but I'm a huge Disney fan. My sister and I are planning 4 days between the two Tokyo parks in 2025 just so we can see and do everything.

I’m a big Disney fan, but my partner is not. We are traveling without kids and we have a week in Tokyo (going to see Queen + Adam Lambert), so although I desperately want to go, I’m not sure my partner would love the hours-long wait for rides and whatnot. If I can convince him to just go for the experience and the food, then I’ll do the rides when I take the kids in 2025.

I’ve heard so many awesome things about Disney Sea, so I’m very keen to experience it 😊

[mrsslocombe]

Oct 26, 2023 0:59:19 GMT -5 expatjen said:

Oct 25, 2023 9:40:58 GMT -5 mrsslocombe said:

expatjen, I think it depends on how big a Disney fan you are. The park itself is stunning, and the shows are great (though you have to enter a lottery for a chance to see them, you can't just wait. Or you pay for premiere access). There's rides few for little kids, and those lines aren't bad. But unfortunately lines for Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, Journey to the Center of the Earth, etc are at least two hours (and they don't really get shorter as the day goes on). I think crowd habits are sort of like CA-it's a local park so lots of Tokyo residents go in the afternoons/evenings, stay all day, etc. It's not like in FL where people tend to leave after dinner.

Also the new section of DisneySea is set to open sometime in early 2024. If it opens before your date, it will be PACKED.

I think the park is worth it but I'm a huge Disney fan. My sister and I are planning 4 days between the two Tokyo parks in 2025 just so we can see and do everything.

I’m a big Disney fan, but my partner is not. We are traveling without kids and we have a week in Tokyo (going to see Queen + Adam Lambert), so although I desperately want to go, I’m not sure my partner would love the hours-long wait for rides and whatnot. If I can convince him to just go for the experience and the food, then I’ll do the rides when I take the kids in 2025.

I’ve heard so many awesome things about Disney Sea, so I’m very keen to experience it 😊

They do offer evening tickets only. My husband is not a Disney person so I actually bought a day ticket and he just joined me at 5pm for the evening on the cheaper ticket. We each had an amazing time on our own that day 😂

[expatjen]

Oct 26, 2023 9:12:27 GMT -5 mrsslocombe said:

They do offer evening tickets only. My husband is not a Disney person so I actually bought a day ticket and he just joined me at 5pm for the evening on the cheaper ticket. We each had an amazing time on our own that day 😂

Oh! That’s great to know thanks

[wesleycrusher]

mrsslocombe, expatjen,

we just got back from our trip! Tokyo Disney was awesome- 2 days at DisneySea and one at Disneyland. DisneySea is just so immersive- the scale of it is truly impressive. But we really loved Disneyland- it was so fun to see the differences and similarities and as DH says we liked it more because it's familiar and therefore comfortable. Would have loved to be able to go another day to the that park.

While it was crowded we didn't notice it being more crowded than the Disney Parks in the US, and we didn't wait in any longer lines (max was 25 minutes) and got done all we wanted to do. We used the free 40th anniversary fast passes, one paid premiere pass (Tower of Terror at DisneySea and Splash Mountain at Disneyland) and did the entry access (lottery) for an afternoon show at DisneySea. I didn't find it so different from the US parks- we roped dropped the biggest ride and then used the app. It is also so much cheaper- the tickets, the merchandise, the food.

[expatjen]

Nov 13, 2023 13:10:08 GMT -5 wesleycrusher said:

mrsslocombe, expatjen,

we just got back from our trip! Tokyo Disney was awesome- 2 days at DisneySea and one at Disneyland. DisneySea is just so immersive- the scale of it is truly impressive. But we really loved Disneyland- it was so fun to see the differences and similarities and as DH says we liked it more because it's familiar and therefore comfortable. Would have loved to be able to go another day to the that park.

While it was crowded we didn't notice it being more crowded than the Disney Parks in the US, and we didn't wait in any longer lines (max was 25 minutes) and got done all we wanted to do. We used the free 40th anniversary fast passes, one paid premiere pass (Tower of Terror at DisneySea and Splash Mountain at Disneyland) and did the entry access (lottery) for an afternoon show at DisneySea. I didn't find it so different from the US parks- we roped dropped the biggest ride and then used the app. It is also so much cheaper- the tickets, the merchandise, the food.

Thanks for this! I’m definitely going to squeeze in a day at DisneySea! So glad you had a good experience.

[dcrunnergirl52]

Thanks for posting. Was the Disneyland Hotel worth it? We're probably doing an Asia trip next summer, including Tokyo and will definitely do Disney. We were supposed to go in 2020 but well....

[wesleycrusher]

Nov 15, 2023 13:32:43 GMT -5 dcrunnergirl52 said:

Thanks for posting. Was the Disneyland Hotel worth it? We're probably doing an Asia trip next summer, including Tokyo and will definitely do Disney. We were supposed to go in 2020 but well....

I thought it was worth it, but I am a big fan of Disney Parks. A lot of people talk about the difficulty in getting rooms but I had no trouble booking online.  We just went for basic- there are 4 of us so we got an alcove room and no theme park view, although there was a balcony off the room.  The room had 2 double-size beds, then a trundle bed and a twin sized alcove bed. It ended up being a little more than $400 a night, which while not cheap, is a lot cheaper than the deluxe in the US. If you go during the summer, you'll have the pool.  We liked being on site because you get the 15 minute early happy entry which I do think made a difference in getting in an extra headliner without as much of a wait. You are also guaranteed admission to the parks (even if it's sold out) so we didn't have to worry about buying our tickets until we were there. 

And apart from Disney- my kids also really loved staying in a ryokan during the trip. 

[quesyrah]

Nov 15, 2023 15:20:56 GMT -5 wesleycrusher said:

Nov 15, 2023 13:32:43 GMT -5 dcrunnergirl52 said:

Thanks for posting. Was the Disneyland Hotel worth it? We're probably doing an Asia trip next summer, including Tokyo and will definitely do Disney. We were supposed to go in 2020 but well....

I thought it was worth it, but I am a big fan of Disney Parks. A lot of people talk about the difficulty in getting rooms but I had no trouble booking online.  We just went for basic- there are 4 of us so we got an alcove room and no theme park view, although there was a balcony off the room.  The room had 2 double-size beds, then a trundle bed and a twin sized alcove bed. It ended up being a little more than $400 a night, which while not cheap, is a lot cheaper than the deluxe in the US. If you go during the summer, you'll have the pool.  We liked being on site because you get the 15 minute early happy entry which I do think made a difference in getting in an extra headliner without as much of a wait. You are also guaranteed admission to the parks (even if it's sold out) so we didn't have to worry about buying our tickets until we were there. 

And apart from Disney- my kids also really loved staying in a ryokan during the trip. 

Do you mind sharing what you spent for the hotel and theme park tickets? Did you buy the express passes?

We are a family of 4 and planning a 2026 trip to Japan.

[wesleycrusher]

quesyrah ,

I can give you the costs, with the knowledge that
1. our kids are 11, so they still count as children (age cutoff is 11 for child prices)
2. Right now the yen is vey weak against the dollar

I don't have full break down of park ticket costs- DH bought them without me, but for the 4 of us (2 adults, 2 kids) they were $179 dollars per day (right now Tokyo Disney only is selling one day tickets). We had 3 park days.

Also now it's the 40th anniversary of the resort, so they had many rides where you could get free fasts passes on the app as an anniversary perk, especially at Disneyland. Not sure what that will look like in the future. It is the same as Disney World where you can get another one after you use the previous, or every 2 hours. We took full advantage of that. For the rides with paid fast passes, the cost was 1500 or 2000 yen per person ($10-$13 per person).

The hotel was 246,500 yen for 4 nights. We paid a deposit of 30,000 yen in August (booking for hotels opens 90 days before) which was 212.00, and the remaining 216,500 yen we paid at check in which was $1450.78.

The merchandise was much cheaper- headbands were between 1500-2000 yen (10-13 dollars). I got a hoodie for 3900 yen ($26), DD's was 4900 yen ($33). Food was also cheaper. We didn't do any sit down meals though as those seemed hard to book and not worth the price compared to just getting counter service, which we preferred because we could hop from place to place eating meals/snacks to see the theming (for example at Disneyland there is a Queen of Hearts counter service and a counter service in Splash Mountain). Also there are not a lot of repeats- mostly they serve one item per snack cart or the certain meals at the restaurant and that is the only place you can get that meal/snack.

ETA: Our one day at Universal Studios Japan cost more for their tickets/express pass than the tickets/fast passes for 3 days at Disney!