Just Back from 8 Days at TDR

[Shock13]

Hello everyone! I had a great (and sometimes not so great) time at TDR. Here are a few random notes and thoughts.

-I stayed at both Hilton Tokyo Bay and Disneyland Hotel. I preferred HTB more. Although the convenience of the Early 15 and the proximity to the parks was great for DLH, the Hilton had larger rooms, better food options and an amazing view of the Bay and the city skyline.

-Disneysea is HUGE! I was overwhelmed of this park. I can't see how anyone can experience everything and take in all the theming in just 2 days. You would need at least 3 days for this park alone.

-The food was excellent! I had all kinds from french fries to the curry buns. I also did a buffet at the DLH and most of it was seafood with incredible quality and taste. Even the food at the convenience stores was excellent.

-No issues with communicating with employees in English both at Disney and at the hotels. CM's at the parks were also incredibly patient when it came to me figuring out the money and often helped with the coins.

-The musical entertainment at the parks were amazing. Jazz ensemble in World Bazaar area was probably my favorite as they played 'Walking Down Main Street USA'.

-I did the 'lottery' for a certain show every day and never won.

-I saw lots of Westerners. Australians and Americans mostly.

Highlights:
-Dreaming Up Parade, Dreamlights Electrical Parade, Hello New York show at Disneysea, Pooh's Hunny Hunt, BTMRR, Small World, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Arabian Coast port at Disneysea.

Disappointments:
-Character Greetings. Seriously ridiculous.
-Pushy, shoving guests. I felt like everyone has this 'every man for himself' mentality there. Shopping was a bit of a nightmare. I ended up doing most of my shopping at the hotel Disney stores since those were well stocked AND no crowds.

I'm happy to answer any questions.

 

[JKalai]

Awesome TR!

Where did you exchange your currency at?

 

[Naughty Nurse]

Thanks for your review. We are heading for our first trip in Sept and staying at Hilton Tokyo Bay so very glad to hear you enjoyed your stay there. We are planning total 5 days at the parks, so hopefully we will get a chance to really capture all the amazing lands/ports during that time.

 

[LovesTimone]

Did your trip just include Disneyland? If you visited other cities or sites, please share as well...

Transportation from the airport? and back again?

Did you use the trains? and how did it work out for you?

Monorail to and from HTB to TDR what was the cost?... and you buy several days worth of tickets, or must you buy them daily? We are more than likely staying at the HTB as well, and I am curious about the cost and travel time of the monorail to the parks...

Thanks for the great review.. so glad you enjoyed your stay there...

 

[Haley R]

Did your trip just include Disneyland? If you visited other cities or sites, please share as well...

Transportation from the airport? and back again?

Did you use the trains? and how did it work out for you?

Monorail to and from HTB to TDR what was the cost?... and you buy several days worth of tickets, or must you buy them daily? We are more than likely staying at the HTB as well, and I am curious about the cost and travel time of the monorail to the parks...

Thanks for the great review.. so glad you enjoyed your stay there...

I’ll let @Shock13 answer your other questions but I’ll answer about the monorail. You can get up to a 4-day pass which costs roughly $14 per adult. It’s very reasonably priced.

 

[sippican]

Thanks for the review. Glad you had a good time. I agree about DisneySea - it's great!
When we visited in April, our experience was a bit different.
We saw virtually no westerners at all I was the only "light-haired" lady for miles, lol!
We found the guests to be very polite - no pushing or shoving. (Could it be the different demograohics?) Shopping was not a challenge - certainly not much different from the Emporium on Main st. at WDW. I was disappointed with the selection of merchandise,

How was yoiur experience with FPs?

 

[LovesTimone]

I’ll let @Shock13 answer your other questions but I’ll answer about the monorail. You can get up to a 4-day pass which costs roughly $14 per adult. It’s very reasonably priced.

Thanks so much... jotting that down in the book... I agree very reasonably priced...

 

[Shock13]

Awesome TR!

Where did you exchange your currency at?

I exchanged currency at my local bank before I left. I had some yen leftover so I bought a few things at the airport before I left.

 

[Shock13]

Did your trip just include Disneyland? If you visited other cities or sites, please share as well...

Transportation from the airport? and back again?

Did you use the trains? and how did it work out for you?

Monorail to and from HTB to TDR what was the cost?... and you buy several days worth of tickets, or must you buy them daily? We are more than likely staying at the HTB as well, and I am curious about the cost and travel time of the monorail to the parks...

Thanks for the great review.. so glad you enjoyed your stay there...

I just did Disneyland.

I arrived at Narita and when I exited the customs/immigration area, the Airport Limousine Bus desk was directly in front of me. I just told the clerk I wanted the shuttle for Hilton Tokyo Bay. It was a very easy transaction and she made it clear what 'gate' to go to outside. It was literally just outside the doors and the employees helped me figure out when to line up. They have several buses that come so they don't want people lining up until their bus arrives. While I was at the Disneyland Hotel, Bell Services took care of my reservation for the shuttle return. Again, very easy but make sure you reserve a few days before your return as the shuttle picks up from several hotels in the TDR area.

I didn't use any of the trains.

There is a shuttle that will take you from the hotel to the monorail station (Bayside Station) but it literally only took 5 minutes to walk from the hotel. On busy mornings and evenings, the monorail would come every 4 minutes but during slower times of day, it came every 6 minutes. Disneysea is the first stop once leaving Bayside Station and then Disneyland.

 

[Shock13]

Thanks for the review. Glad you had a good time. I agree about DisneySea - it's great!
When we visited in April, our experience was a bit different.
We saw virtually no westerners at all I was the only "light-haired" lady for miles, lol!
We found the guests to be very polite - no pushing or shoving. (Could it be the different demograohics?) Shopping was not a challenge - certainly not much different from the Emporium on Main st. at WDW. I was disappointed with the selection of merchandise,

How was yoiur experience with FPs?

I thought a lot about my past solo trips at WDW, DLR and USR and never once felt like guests were being rude or pushy like the ones at TDR. Because I'm a solo traveler I'm wondering if I noticed these things more because I don't have the distraction of a companion or family member? I'm not discrediting what you are saying, just wondering if that had anything to do with it.
Also there were TONS of school groups while I was there.

I had absolutely no issue with FP's. But early on my trip I quickly realized that going on rides was secondary to just enjoying the atmosphere and taking in the theming. Most of the rides, I only rode once during my lengthy time there.
Also I read that you can ask to keep the FP and they just punch a hole at the bottom so you can't reuse it. I did this for Pooh, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Monster's Inc. Great souvenirs!

 

[ChrisFL]

I really, REALLY hate to say this, but more often than not, it is the case in my experience (and many others I've talked to)....if you run into rude, pushy and shovy people in the parks, or other tourist areas in Japan...odds are they're Chinese tourists.

 

[Shock13]

I really, REALLY hate to say this, but more often than not, it is the case in my experience (and many others I've talked to)....if you run into rude, pushy and shovy people in the parks, or other tourist areas in Japan...odds are they're Chinese tourists.

Ahhh...I didn't even think about that.

 

[Haley R]

I thought a lot about my past solo trips at WDW, DLR and USR and never once felt like guests were being rude or pushy like the ones at TDR. Because I'm a solo traveler I'm wondering if I noticed these things more because I don't have the distraction of a companion or family member? I'm not discrediting what you are saying, just wondering if that had anything to do with it.
Also there were TONS of school groups while I was there.

I had absolutely no issue with FP's. But early on my trip I quickly realized that going on rides was secondary to just enjoying the atmosphere and taking in the theming. Most of the rides, I only rode once during my lengthy time there.
Also I read that you can ask to keep the FP and they just punch a hole at the bottom so you can't reuse it. I did this for Pooh, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Monster's Inc. Great souvenirs!

I didn’t think about asking to keep FPS. I think we’re gonna do that! They’re themed to the ride aren’t they?

 

[Agent 86]

As others have mentioned, the pushy / shoving guests appear to be foreigners (at least that was the case in my experience a couple of weeks ago).

The only extremely limited exception would be the roaming character greetings which seem to have become a free for all with people almost assaulting the character to gain their attention for a signature or photo. It was quite shocking. The “handlers” didn’t seem to do anything to keep or create order. One of them suggested to me that I needed to keep shouting the character’s name and waving wildly if I wanted a photo, but as a grown man, I didn’t really want to behave that way. On previous visits, the handler did a pretty good job of ensuring that everyone patiently waiting in the periphery got a chance to have a photo taken, but that was not the case on my most recent visit.

 

[gelatoni fan]

As others have mentioned, the pushy / shoving guests appear to be foreigners (at least that was the case in my experience a couple of weeks ago).

The only extremely limited exception would be the roaming character greetings which seem to have become a free for all with people almost assaulting the character to gain their attention for a signature or photo. It was quite shocking. The “handlers” didn’t seem to do anything to keep or create order. One of them suggested to me that I needed to keep shouting the character’s name and waving wildly if I wanted a photo, but as a grown man, I didn’t really want to behave that way. On previous visits, the handler did a pretty good job of ensuring that everyone patiently waiting in the periphery got a chance to have a photo taken, but that was not the case on my most recent visit.

The primary goal of roaming characters is NOT to have guests take pictures with them but rather to have guests interact with them. That's why the character captains encourage guests to shout the names of characters. In my opinion, Tokyo actually does far better than Disneyland USA in enabling guests to take pictures with roaming characters but Tokyo just gets a lot more people.

The amount of people can also depend on the character. Daisy Duck is far more likely to get mobbed by a group of people than Gepetto from Pinocchio for example. Japanese people actually enjoy a bit of chance so they're far less upset by not being able to take a photo despite waiting around for one.

Not commonly known vocab: These cast members with the characters are called "character captains" in Tokyo, "greeters" in Hong Kong, "character hosts" in Disneyland USA and "character attendants" at WDW.

 

[Shock13]

As others have mentioned, the pushy / shoving guests appear to be foreigners (at least that was the case in my experience a couple of weeks ago).

The only extremely limited exception would be the roaming character greetings which seem to have become a free for all with people almost assaulting the character to gain their attention for a signature or photo. It was quite shocking. The “handlers” didn’t seem to do anything to keep or create order. One of them suggested to me that I needed to keep shouting the character’s name and waving wildly if I wanted a photo, but as a grown man, I didn’t really want to behave that way. On previous visits, the handler did a pretty good job of ensuring that everyone patiently waiting in the periphery got a chance to have a photo taken, but that was not the case on my most recent visit.

I returned to DL one afternoon around 4pm and I saw a mob over at the side of World Bazaar. I went to investigate and poor Cinderella was literally backed up into a corner with a huge crowd surrounding her. Everyone was shouting and pushing. It was about 5 people deep. I seriously could not believe the scene. Then across the way Flynn was getting mobbed as well. I wondered to myself if Disney paid these CM's a lot of money to deal with that.

 

[Shock13]

The primary goal of roaming characters is NOT to have guests take pictures with them but rather to have guests interact with them. That's why the character captains encourage guests to shout the names of characters. In my opinion, Tokyo actually does far better than Disneyland USA in enabling guests to take pictures with roaming characters but Tokyo just gets a lot more people.

The amount of people can also depend on the character. Daisy Duck is far more likely to get mobbed by a group of people than Gepetto from Pinocchio for example. Japanese people actually enjoy a bit of chance so they're far less upset by not being able to take a photo despite waiting around for one.

Not commonly known vocab: These cast members with the characters are called "character captains" in Tokyo, "greeters" in Hong Kong, "character hosts" in Disneyland USA and "character attendants" at WDW.

What I also noticed is that the characters after announcing they are done taking pictures with people, they will pose for a minute or so for people to take pictures of just them. It was kind of strange to see them pose and smile, turn slightly and then pose and smile and then turn some more and pose and smile.

Also, guests were taking pictures of the characters regardless if they were posing with other people. It's not like here where if you take a picture of a character while they are with someone else, it's considered disrespectful.

 

[smeecanada]

What I also noticed is that the characters after announcing they are done taking pictures with people, they will pose for a minute or so for people to take pictures of just them. It was kind of strange to see them pose and smile, turn slightly and then pose and smile and then turn some more and pose and smile.

I like that - all I want is a photo of the character. I don't need to be in the photo or get an autograph. Wish they did that in DL and WDW.

 

[Agent 86]

The primary goal of roaming characters is NOT to have guests take pictures with them but rather to have guests interact with them. That's why the character captains encourage guests to shout the names of characters. In my opinion, Tokyo actually does far better than Disneyland USA in enabling guests to take pictures with roaming characters but Tokyo just gets a lot more people.

The amount of people can also depend on the character. Daisy Duck is far more likely to get mobbed by a group of people than Gepetto from Pinocchio for example. Japanese people actually enjoy a bit of chance so they're far less upset by not being able to take a photo despite waiting around for one.

Not commonly known vocab: These cast members with the characters are called "character captains" in Tokyo, "greeters" in Hong Kong, "character hosts" in Disneyland USA and "character attendants" at WDW.

Interesting - thanks for the insight.

I find it surprising that the roaming characters aren't meant for photos given that the locals line up for many hours for photos with or of characters like Mickey and Donald in the "structured" meet and greet locations. Just one of those unique quirks with TDR.

On our previous visits, I never encountered any real issues getting a photo with a character as long as I was patient. The "character captains" seemed to keep an eye out on who was waiting and pointed the character in their direction to keep it mostly "fair".

I'm just bummed about missing out on a photo with Scrooge McDuck. I patiently waited a long time on the edge of the group encircling Scrooge, but I wasn't willing to essentially force myself upon the poor person in the suit (as others were) or photo bomb / ruin other people's photos (as others were).

It's odd that for certain things, like the parades, everything is so structured and organised to allow everyone to get the best view. But, for other things like the roaming characters, it's more of a "free for all" and the loudest / rudest wins.