ionz13
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2010
We just got back from a two week stay in Japan. We did a variety of hotels, but the two that we used for Disneyland were the Hilton Tokyo bay and The Urayasu Brighton hotel.
Hilton Tokyo Bay
Pros:
Pros:
My wife and I thought the Urayasu Hotel was a nicer choice if you are willing to stay "offsite". The Hilton tokyo bay hotel was considered on site to Disney, but it was sooo far off that it was not convenient to do anything but what the hotel offered food wise and if you were to go to Disneyland/Disneysea.
Disneyland:
We purchased a suica card the station to use and kept loading it with money so we would not have to deal with too much change. Extremely convenient for the trains and at convenience stores. It can only be loaded with cash at train stations, but there are plenty of machines and they have English. Also a plus is they will take most change, I think down to 10yen. So this is an easy way to get rid of some loose change. When we finished our trip, we only had about 600 yen leftover in coins. Only problem is that we forgot to exchange the Suica card to get back our 500 Yen.
We used Japan wireless for the pocket Wifi and it was GREAT! Just landed at Narita airport, found the PO box at the 4th floor. The wifi lasted about 8-10 hrs, so not a whole day of exploring, but they provided a small external battery with it so it could last the day. Easy to return too, just package it up with the stuff they provide and toss it in the mail (we used the 4th floor again at the airport). Plus it was cheap, about $100 for the two weeks. No signs of slowing or throttling and we used it ALL the time. We streamed Netflix in our hotel (instead of TV in Japanese).
Hilton Tokyo Bay
Pros:
- Close to Disneyland, take a less than five min walk to the Monorail and ride it for your destination. Disneysea is the next stop.
- Disney partner hotel: so you can purchase tickets to the park here and have no problem getting in if the park is crowded (see Brighton hotel later)
- Shuttle from Narita airport to the hotel, although you are dropped off last of all the hotels that you have to pass first.
- Gym
- Mini Fridge for the Celebrio room we were in
- Bus to Ikspiari
- No food other than the hotel food and the convenience store in the lobby (not too great of a selection when compared to 7-11 and Lawson).
- The hotel felt like your disney value hotels at disneyworld. Just a room with a shower.
- Not convenient to get to anything other than disneyland. To get to tokyo you'd have to use the Monorail to Maiahama station, then Keiyo line to Tokyo.
Pros:
- Lawson on the 2nd level outside, great for getting snacks and breakfast food.
- Nicer hotel rooms. We were on the 21st fl which had snacks, water, soda, and beer/sake/wine coolers for free!
- Also a disney "partner" hotel (it's named something else that I cannot recall). You can purchase tickets in the lobby, but if the parks are at capacity the tickets cannot be used. We had no problem b/c we arrived 30-60 min before opening with no problems.
- There is a shuttle bus that will take you to the front of Disneyland (takes ~20 min)
- easier to get to Tokyo than Hilton bay, Just catch the Keiyo line. Urayasu station is right out of the hotel.
- More food around this hotel
- Further from Disney and not a guaranteed entry
- Not really themed for Disney.
- One stop away from Maihama station.
My wife and I thought the Urayasu Hotel was a nicer choice if you are willing to stay "offsite". The Hilton tokyo bay hotel was considered on site to Disney, but it was sooo far off that it was not convenient to do anything but what the hotel offered food wise and if you were to go to Disneyland/Disneysea.
Disneyland:
- We arrived early, about 40 min prior to opening at 9. We were able to get fast passes for Monsters inc twice and Pooh once. Then that was it. Our strategy was to go straight to Monsters inc, FP it, and then ride it. Definitely cut through world bazaar and go left to hit monsters inc quickly. We thought this ride was the most fun, but it needs a score like buzz lightyear or Toy story
- When we got to Pooh the line was already 45 min and growing. There was also a HUGE line for the FP for Pooh and could not get another one till 10:30 (it was like 9:30 at this time) . So we went to Toontown and killed some time till our next FP.
- Roger rabbit is the same as Disneyland.
- We finally were able to get a 7:40p FP for pooh at 11 ish.
- Queen of hearts banquet hall was nice for decor, but food was Ok. We had the chicken and steak. Chicken was dry, steak was good. FYI, you cannot just sit down and relax here, CMs will shoo you away until you have food.
- We had Hungry bear cafe for dinner and it was pretty good. Curry restaurant. We shared a large curry pork katsu.
- Its a small world was a bit crowded. Not like America where you can just walk through the queue and get on. We waited about 15 min. The lands are not organized like DL or MK, seems to be a mish mash of whatever with Disney characters throughout.
- It rained on us so we spent a lot of time at the world bazaar and indoor rides like Country bears and Haunted mansion.
We purchased a suica card the station to use and kept loading it with money so we would not have to deal with too much change. Extremely convenient for the trains and at convenience stores. It can only be loaded with cash at train stations, but there are plenty of machines and they have English. Also a plus is they will take most change, I think down to 10yen. So this is an easy way to get rid of some loose change. When we finished our trip, we only had about 600 yen leftover in coins. Only problem is that we forgot to exchange the Suica card to get back our 500 Yen.
We used Japan wireless for the pocket Wifi and it was GREAT! Just landed at Narita airport, found the PO box at the 4th floor. The wifi lasted about 8-10 hrs, so not a whole day of exploring, but they provided a small external battery with it so it could last the day. Easy to return too, just package it up with the stuff they provide and toss it in the mail (we used the 4th floor again at the airport). Plus it was cheap, about $100 for the two weeks. No signs of slowing or throttling and we used it ALL the time. We streamed Netflix in our hotel (instead of TV in Japanese).