A Saturday in October - how bad will it be?

[confectioneer]

I'm arriving into Narita Friday night October 11, and flying out late afternoon on Sunday. It's my first time to Tokyo, I love Disney parks (favorites: Epcot and AK), and I'm debating spending my full day at Disney Sea.

My previous park trips involved taking advantage of touring plans and single rider lines, so I'm used to getting an early start and moving about quickly after arriving.

What I'd love to get advice on is:
- How truly soul-crushing will the lines be on a Saturday? Spending most the day in lines, when I could've been exploring the city, will be very disappointing.


The main things I'd be interested in experiencing are:
- Journey to the Center of the Earth
- 20,000 Leagues under the Sea
- Indiana Jones
- All the fantastic theming
- Uh, popcorn

Thank you very much for the tips!

 

[jsilvers]

Because Monday, October 14 is a public holiday, it looks like that whole weekend will be exceptionally busy. A Japanese-language crowd predictor for Tokyo Disney (http://www15.plala.or.jp/gcap/disney/) anticipates 55,000 guests at TDS on Saturday, October 12 - a "violently congested" (roughly translated) day, and one of the ten busiest days of the year.

 

[tinibee]

We went to Tokyo DisneySea on that holiday last year (I believe its health and sports day) and were only able to get on one ride the whole day via fast pass (ToT). We also had to park in a lot out in the boonies and they gave us a card that said we would be guaranteed entrance into the park because we parked in the garage. That tells me they were expecting it to be pretty darn crowded! The park is still beautiful even if you can't get on more than one ride.

And I love the popcorn too! Be warned though- I've seen caramel popcorn lines as long as ride lines!

 

[confectioneer]

Thanks for the quick replies -- that sounds really brutal.

I may be able to arrive a day early, so I'd visit on Friday October 11.

That looks better per the crowd predictor (thanks for the link!), but I don't have a good concept of how it'd actually be.

Does that seems like the sort of day I could easily do the things outlined?

 

[MukilteoSailor]

You should be able to do all that in one day (even a busy day) using Single rider lines and fastpasses. I would recommend getting a fastpass for Journey to Center of the Earth first thing and then doing single rider for 20,000 Leagues and Indiana Jones. Usually 20,000 Leagues would be the shortest of all the lines but can get long on those busy days. I would also highly recommend Sinbad's Storybook Adventures (no fastpass or single rider but usually pretty managable line) and if in season the apple cinnamon popcorn!

Also if you are buying a ticket when you arrive at the park make sure you get there early to get in line to buy your ticket. The first time I went I really hadn't thought about waiting in line about 30 -45 minuter just to buy the ticket and that put me behind on a pretty busy day.

 

[confectioneer]

Thanks MukilteoSailor, I appreciate the info.

 

[DreamSweetsLove]

Hi Confectioneer, it's going to be really really crowded at that time. You can do what you wrote on your list however. Really the best thing to do is arrive early and have a plan of action. Try to arrive at least an hour early or more if possible and buy your tickets ahead of time and have them in hand. The online e-tickets are finally available to order in English online. Here is the link: TDR E-tickets

You should be able to do all that in one day (even a busy day) using Single rider lines and fastpasses. I would recommend getting a fastpass for Journey to Center of the Earth first thing and then doing single rider for 20,000 Leagues and Indiana Jones. Usually 20,000 Leagues would be the shortest of all the lines but can get long on those busy days. I would also highly recommend Sinbad's Storybook Adventures (no fastpass or single rider but usually pretty managable line) and if in season the apple cinnamon popcorn!

Agree the 20,000 leagues can get quite long on holidays and weekends, sometimes mysteriously longer than Journey! Are you sure about single rider for this attraction though? I wasn't aware of it. Agree that you should get a FP for Journey and after grabbing FP you can jump in the queue for Journey and the wait should be quite short before FP kicks in. After journey depending on the wait for 20,000 leagues, you can probably do that too. Then it should be time to get another FP and you can get the FP for Indy. This is only going by your list though if you want to do other things you can fit it in for sure just be organized. If you want to catch Big Band Beat which i really recommend the first show has no lottery but the queue may have line cut. It's Halloween so if you get in line before the show is over though it should be ok. This years TDL event should be more popular since it's new but on the weekend that time of year but parks should be at capacity.

 

[MukilteoSailor]

Agree the 20,000 leagues can get quite long on holidays and weekends, sometimes mysteriously longer than Journey! Are you sure about single rider for this attraction though? I wasn't aware of it.

You are correct DreamSweetsLove, it doesn't look like there is a single rider line for 20,000 leagues. I did a search for single rider attractions and a site listed it. I just dug out my latest TDS map guide and it lists Indiana Jones and Raging Spirits as the single rider attractions at TDS. Sorry for the bad info.

 

[jsilvers]

You are correct DreamSweetsLove, it doesn't look like there is a single rider line for 20,000 leagues. I did a search for single rider attractions and a site listed it. I just dug out my latest TDS map guide and it lists Indiana Jones and Raging Spirits as the single rider attractions at TDS. Sorry for the bad info.

FYI, it appears that 20,000 Leagues previously had a single rider line; see a 2007-vintage TDS map.

 

[confectioneer]

I really appreciate all the tips people have shared.

I was able to adjust my plans, and will have Friday the 11th free to visit DisneySea now -- can barely wait!