Tokyo Disneyland strategy

AZMama2016

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 16, 2016
Hi, all - I will be visiting TDR next year, arriving on a Sunday and leaving on a Friday, so only 5 days in the area.

The original plan was to head to TDR right away and stay Sunday and Monday night, with Sunday afternoon, all day Monday, and most of Tuesday in the parks. We would then transfer to the Ginza for a three-night stay before flying out of HND on Friday afternoon, giving us a little over 2 days to enjoy the city.

After checking a crowd calendar, it appears Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday could be significantly less crowded than Sunday and Monday. So now I'm rethinking the plan. However, I can't just swap the stays because I'm considering booking a package which only allows an initial two-night reservation.

So my thought is to do the following:

Sunday and Monday night in the Ginza - roughly 1.5 days of sightseeing
Transfer Tuesday morning to TDR
Tuesday and Wednesday night at Miracosta - roughly 2.5 days of parks (Tues/Wed/Thurs), book on a vacation package 6 months out

My questions are as follows:

1. I believe I can book a third night once the five-month window opens. My choices: (a) Book a third night at Miracosta, knowing we might need to change rooms, but it would be the least troublesome. (b) Book a third night at the Disneyland Hotel, which was our other choice of lodging while at the parks - this would give us the chance to see one of the character rooms. (c) Head to the airport and book a much cheaper hotel near HND and take our time the next day (flight goes out around 3 pm). What would you do?

2. If we have Tuesday afternoon and all day Wed and Thurs for the parks, would you recommend DisneySea on Tues/Thur and Disneyland on Wed? We've been to DL and WDW many times, so I'm wondering if it would be better to do DL on Tues and get two full days (especially mornings) at DisneySea.

3. If the crowd calendar is to be believed (Disney Tourist Blog estimates 75% accuracy), does the package even make sense for the extra FPs? It's a huge premium to pay, but I like the convenience of having everything booked at once, plus we have a better chance at the hotels we want. We will also have a 6 year old who won't be tall enough for some of the rides; hubby and I will still want to do them as single riders because of the low likelihood of returning to this park. If I don't book the package, I would be stalking the website to book a full three-night stay at the same location once the five-month window opens. I guess this decision all comes down to whether I want to pay the exorbitant price for the package vs a la carte pricing.

Thanks for any insights - this is obviously our first time here and all of the planning is making me nervous!
 
1. I would either do (a) or (b). Since your flight doesn't leave until 3, there's no rush to get to the airport so it would be nice to go back to a Disney Hotel at the end of the day.

2. Your vacation ticket is a park-hopper so you can be flexible on Thursday. If you feel you have done enough in DisneySea and you want to repeat some rides in Disneyland, you can hop over. You may also consider DisneySea - Disneyland - DisneySea so you can rope drop both park and see the welcome entertainment in both park.

3. Since it will be your first time, the package is good to give you a peace of mind (with the FP+) and also you don't have to run around the park getting Fastpasses since they still use the traditional paper FP.
 
Thanks, Indoshakespeare. If i book DLH for the third night, that would give us a chance to try the character room. I've been having a hard time trying to decide whether to book the package for Miracosta or DLH, so this would solve the issue. Also we can store our bags in the morning, then come back mid-afternoon to do the hotel switch, so we can stay until close at the park.

Maybe we do DL - DS - DL to get the two rope drops, then switch to DS on the third day after opening (and making sure we can do the most popular rides). That sounds like the best plan to get the most out of the experience.

I assume we can still get all of the regular in-park FPs on top of the ones with the package, correct? I'm figuring this is just like DL, where I've gotten free anytime FPs for various reasons, and those have no correlation to the FPs I get in the park with my tickets.

I'm using a Visa to book the stay, so hoping I don't have an issue with the "verified" status. Is there anything I should do ahead of time to make sure it's not an issue? Call my CC company?
 
Also we can store our bags in the morning, then come back mid-afternoon to do the hotel switch, so we can stay until close at the park.

MiraCosta will transfer your bags for you and it will just be in your room when you get to DLH. No electronics though for liability reasons.
 


MiraCosta will transfer your bags for you and it will just be in your room when you get to DLH. No electronics though for liability reasons.

Thank you! Yes, I forgot about that. We won't even have to take a break in the day then and can just go to the DLH at the end of the night and check in.
 
Thanks, Indoshakespeare. If i book DLH for the third night, that would give us a chance to try the character room. I've been having a hard time trying to decide whether to book the package for Miracosta or DLH, so this would solve the issue. Also we can store our bags in the morning, then come back mid-afternoon to do the hotel switch, so we can stay until close at the park.

Maybe we do DL - DS - DL to get the two rope drops, then switch to DS on the third day after opening (and making sure we can do the most popular rides). That sounds like the best plan to get the most out of the experience.

I assume we can still get all of the regular in-park FPs on top of the ones with the package, correct? I'm figuring this is just like DL, where I've gotten free anytime FPs for various reasons, and those have no correlation to the FPs I get in the park with my tickets.

I'm using a Visa to book the stay, so hoping I don't have an issue with the "verified" status. Is there anything I should do ahead of time to make sure it's not an issue? Call my CC company?
::yes::
 

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