Cuts
- One less dinner (no dinner on the initial night) You don't really have one less dinner. This was technically a change this year. They moved the "At your leisure" dinner from Day 1 to Day 7, which was supposed to be an OYO dinner. Day 7 is now the "Dinner at your Leisure" night instead. So you didn't lose a dinner, really, they just moved it. We got a voucher for the initial night because it had been advertised that way, but I was told it would be gone going forward. [Yes, this is the same for us--we were told about the change and received a voucher for the first night]
- Day 2: No samurai performance and costume photo op. Only the maiko is listed. That's kind of sad, because the samurai performance & costume photo op, although nothing fancy, were fun. [Totally agree. We loved the performance and photo op. Not a deal breaker but disappointing]
- Day 5: No mochi making The mochi making demonstration was not very good. We stood on the sidewalk outside a shop, and watched through the window. There were a ton of people already there, lined up to watch, and we were squeezed up in front of them because ABD had made arrangements with the shop. But the folks who were now behind us were pretty pissed off about it, since they'd been waiting quite a while. It was rather and uncomfortable situation. It was pretty interesting to watch, but a bit of a pain. The mochi *WAS* delicious! [I'm not surprised by this change at all. It was a zoo--it's basically trying to shove our huge group onto a sidewalk in front of a shop and trying to block out other people who are trying to push their way in. It was very quick and basically consisted of a guy hitting a batch of dough with a hammer I would have loved to see more about it, but not in the place we were standing. I was the only person in my family who liked it.]
- Day 8: They don't mention seeing the Great Buddha and Kotoku-in in Kamakura Now this is a shame, because I thought the Great Buddha in Kamakura was really cool. [This has already been eliminated. Our group did not see it yesterday.]
- Day 9: No Sumida river boat cruise I also enjoyed the Sumida river boat cruise. I know they had to do a lot of re-arranging of this day to get lunch at a good time, but I had plenty of time to do the activity I had planned that evening, and you have so much OYO time on Day 10. [We had this today and it was nice to see Tokyo from a different angle. I hope they replace it with something though because there aren't a ton of activities in Tokyo as it is. Today we walked around the garden, did sushi making, and then had free time at a market before getting on the boat. We were back at the hotel by 4:30 and have the rest of the night on our own]
- Day 10: No Meiji Jingu shrine and Kagura ceremony This one kind of doesn't surprise me. We had at least 1/3 of our group skip this activity. I do think a lot of folks thought it was one shrine too many. I enjoyed it, and thought the Kagura ceremony was extremely interesting, but some people didn't attend the ceremony, and maybe others didn't think it was as interesting. I don't know. But Takeshita Street being the only activitiy for the last day (besides the Farewell dinner) is pretty lame. It makes almost the entire day OYO. [Too funny about the timing of this. We were debating whether to skip tomorrow--I think we might. We're templed/shrined out and want to have a leisurely morning at this amazing hotel and walk around Tokyo Fish Market and explore the city a little more. I think they will have to find something else on Day 10 because otherwise it's just another shopping trip?]
Differences
- They no longer mention onsen, but I assume one can do that during "on your own" time The onsen was always an OYO activity, only if you cared to do it.
- On Day 4 they no longer explicitly describe an optional tour of Dotonbori and Hozenji temple but they mention an optical excursion to Osaka so maybe that is the same thing My Adventure Handbook does not mention Hozenji temple, just the optional walking tour of the Dotonbori food district in Osaka (I didn't do this activity). But from what I understood, it was not really a tour, they took folks there, pointed out some places to eat, and set them loose to get dinner. I'm assuming that's the same optional excursion to Osaka. But I'm just assuming here. [I don't recall a temple either, and the night to Osaka is optional. Three of my family of four went and had a blast--Dotonbori is a super cool street with amazing street food. One of my favorite things we did.]
- The junior adventurer dinner is shifted and the activity is bowling instead of a movie Not sure about this, because we arrived so late that day, we all ate at the buffet. Our one junior adventurer asked for a special activity instead of whatever it would have been. [This has already been implemented and is a great change. We only have one junior adventurer on our trip as well, but we have quite a few older teens and college students (my kids included). They opened the bowling up to include them and every eligible kid went, From what I saw and heard, they had a blast. My husband and I tried to say we were taking college classes so we could go, but it didn't work ]
- 2019: Meiji Jingu shrine under renovation Did you mean 2020 here? Because it wasn't under renovation while we were there. Maybe that's why it's gone from Day 10?
- 2019 to March 2020: Kiyomizudera under scaffolding Yes, this was true for our trip. Didn't spoil the day.
- Miyajima floating shrine under scaffolding for much of 2019 and 2020 This is also sad. But nothing that ABD can do anything about. [We were so lucky. They took the scaffolding off for our tour as we were there during festival period.]
Maybe the samurai performance and costume photo op isn't a huge deal but it sounds like something fun. Missing Kamakura is disappointing, but perhaps people saw enough temples and buddhas in Kyoto and Nara? The day with the Sumida river cruise is busy so maybe they decided to cut that.
The samurai & photo op *were* fun. And while I thought we maybe saw too many temples/shrines, we really only saw 2 Buddhas, and I liked them both. They were *very* different settings.
But I don't understand cutting Meiji Jingu shrine. That day looks like mostly "on your own" time so it's not as if they didn't have time for it. Yes, it's not difficult to visit on your own, but that wouldn't include the ceremony, and we pay ABD for guided touring.
I'm a little confused here, because you say the shrine is under renovation. It wasn't when I was there in May, are you saying it is now? See my comments above.
For those of you who went in 2019: Do these changes sound significant, or no big deal?
While I wouldn't classify most of these changes as "no big deal", I don't think any of them are a deal breaker. I'm a bit sad about the Great Buddha of Kamakura and the cutting of the samurai performance/costume photo op, but again, I don't consider them a major change. I *am* glad I took it the first year, but I think if I had waited, none of these, except for the lack of activities on Day 10) would make me question taking the trip. [Ditto from me]
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