My Tokyo Disney TR... plus Figure Skating, baseball, Hello Kitty, and random fun!

[BelleBway]

Link to blog on my website... If you dare to look at 700+ TDR photos and 400+ Tokyo photos, there is a link at the top of the blog.

 

[KellifromCanada]

Link to blog on my website... If you dare to look at 700+ TDR photos and 400+ Tokyo photos, there is a link at the top of the blog.

Hey! Just a head's up...link did not work for me.

Kelli

 

[BelleBway]

Hey! Just a head's up...link did not work for me.

Thanks SO much for the alert! It should be fixed now...

 

[pacdomer]

What a wonderful TP Belle. I love how some of your experiences match mine (I also took Japanese in college - except it kicked my butt). After reading your TR, I wanted to book a flight to Tokyo right away! I hope to take my third trip to Japan next year and may include a cat cafe and Kawagoe on my to do list!

Thanks again!

 

[Kyjin]

Wonderful report! This is getting me more excited about visiting Disney Sea next month. There's a cat cafe near the guest house I'm currently living at; now tempted to visit sometime.

Also, just wanted to let you know I'm raiding your reading list on your blog. So many interesting books to read!

 

[BelleBway]

What a wonderful TP Belle. I love how some of your experiences match mine (I also took Japanese in college - except it kicked my butt). After reading your TR, I wanted to book a flight to Tokyo right away! I hope to take my third trip to Japan next year and may include a cat cafe and Kawagoe on my to do list!

Thanks again!

3rd year Japanese kicked my butt... I was in with people who'd lived in Japan. But I still loved the language nonetheless.

BTW- from your signature... I also have Shanghai Disneyland on my radar and hope to get there not-too-long after it opens. (pending other plans)

Wonderful report! This is getting me more excited about visiting Disney Sea next month. There's a cat cafe near the guest house I'm currently living at; now tempted to visit sometime.

Also, just wanted to let you know I'm raiding your reading list on your blog. So many interesting books to read!

Which reminds me... I totally need to update my reading list since I haven't done that for awhile. Glad someone is finding it useful! I'm sure you'll have an awesome time at TDS.

 

[BecBennett]

Yay! A new trip report!!

 

[BecBennett]

I've spent the last 2 days reading your TR and I really enjoyed it!

Did you like the Century Southern Tower Hotel? DH and I are booked in there for 10 nights in July. Was it a good location?

How did you organise the Japanese Sim card for your Ipad? Do you think it would work in an Android phone? Not for making phone calls, but for using apps like you did on your ipad?

What was the line up outside the parks for non disney hotel guests? How far in advance would you recommend getting to the gates if you're not staying onsite?

Thanks

 

[BelleBway]

I've spent the last 2 days reading your TR and I really enjoyed it!

Did you like the Century Southern Tower Hotel? DH and I are booked in there for 10 nights in July. Was it a good location?

How did you organise the Japanese Sim card for your Ipad? Do you think it would work in an Android phone? Not for making phone calls, but for using apps like you did on your ipad?

What was the line up outside the parks for non disney hotel guests? How far in advance would you recommend getting to the gates if you're not staying onsite?

Thanks

The Hotel Century Southern Tower was great. It's super convenient to Shinjuku station as long as you take the Southern Terrace entrance which was easy to find from the JR line. Some other subways don't seem to have an option for exiting there, so it can be a little confusing to find through the maze of streets. Shinjuku was very central to where I visited; since it's a major train station, it's easy to get anywhere from there.

I ordered the iPad SIM from http://www.globaladvancedcomm.com/simrent.html They have other options, too, like phones to rent. I don't think iPad SIM would work in an Android phone, but they have other options including renting a phone or a wifi device. There are other companies around that provide similar service (some may be cheaper- but also check on shipping/delivery fees that may not be included in other companies base rates), but I went with this one because they've been around awhile and seemed to have an excellent reputation. I was very pleased with their service and would use them again.

It's hard to recommend a time to arrive because crowds can differ at different times of years. That said, when I got to the parks 1/2 hr before opening, the lines for non hotel guests at TDL were pretty long. (but I recall from other visits that they move pretty quickly) It depends on what value you place on being the first through the gates- I've read reports by some people who have arrived a half hour or so after opening because the crowds at the gate would be lighter by then. Other people like to arrive an hour before opening to be first in line. If it was me, I'd probably try to arrive 30-45 minutes before opening the first day and then base my following days' arrival times according to how it looks (as well as how hard it is for me to get up on any particular day)

 

[EvilinaDM101]

Your trip report and photos are an INSPIRATION!! First, THANK YOU for posting, reading trip reports and seeing photos is always an awesome piece of mind and gives me the ability to paint a picture of my trip without so many surprises. Second, the walls and walls of Stitch merchandise, were the keychains, plushes, do-dads expensive? Would you say they are comparable to US Disney parks prices? You stated in your trip report that you have a "thing" for Stitch. I too have the "thing" but in a bad way. I'm already contemplating an empty suitcase stictly for Stitch merchandise.

Once again thank you and I hope to come back with awesome memories and a trip report as great as yours!!

 

[BelleBway]

Your trip report and photos are an INSPIRATION!! First, THANK YOU for posting, reading trip reports and seeing photos is always an awesome piece of mind and gives me the ability to paint a picture of my trip without so many surprises. Second, the walls and walls of Stitch merchandise, were the keychains, plushes, do-dads expensive? Would you say they are comparable to US Disney parks prices? You stated in your trip report that you have a "thing" for Stitch. I too have the "thing" but in a bad way. I'm already contemplating an empty suitcase stictly for Stitch merchandise.

Honestly, the exchange rate with the US dollar SUCKS right now. For a comparision- my last trip, I got about 115 yen to a dollar; now it was less than 80. So pretty much everything seems a little more expensive than here.

The Stitch thing with me started when I took my nieces to Disney World 3 years ago and continued (and intensified) when I took them on a cruise last summer. Lots of good memories.

 

[minnie mum]

I just spent a most enjoyable afternoon reading your trip report and looking through all of your great photos. Thank you so much for posting your report! DH and I will be going on our dream trip of 2 weeks in Japan in early Oct. It is an organized tour, then we're capping it all off with 3 days at TDL and TDS before flying home. Thanks to the trip reports on this forum I already feel like I'll be able to navigate both parks with ease.

I also wanted to say how great I think your photos were. May I ask what kind of camera you use? Your night shots in particular were really, really good.

 

[BelleBway]

I just spent a most enjoyable afternoon reading your trip report and looking through all of your great photos. Thank you so much for posting your report! DH and I will be going on our dream trip of 2 weeks in Japan in early Oct. It is an organized tour, then we're capping it all off with 3 days at TDL and TDS before flying home. Thanks to the trip reports on this forum I already feel like I'll be able to navigate both parks with ease.

I also wanted to say how great I think your photos were. May I ask what kind of camera you use? Your night shots in particular were really, really good.

Oh thanks! I love taking pictures (as should be obvious by having 1200+ in a week... and those were only the ones that made the cut!) but I never think my photos turn out well enough. I alternate between a Canon XSI (DSLR) and a Canon S90 (pocket sized). I take a lot of my night photos by resting the DSLR on a ledge or windowsill and setting it for a long exposure.

 

[tfc3rid]

Excellent trip report. My wife and I are plotting a trip to Tokyo next year in this exact time period between Cherry Blossom Festival and Golden Week... Did you feel that TDL and TDS were pretty decent crowd-wise?

Thanks!

 

[BelleBway]

Excellent trip report. My wife and I are plotting a trip to Tokyo next year in this exact time period between Cherry Blossom Festival and Golden Week... Did you feel that TDL and TDS were pretty decent crowd-wise?

Thanks!

I through the crowds were quite manageable, not bad at all. Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Very belatedly caught up on your trip report...great reading and pics. Glad you had a good time despite money glitches. I just got the photobook I did back from Albumworks-1st time I have tried doing one of these and our computer crashed near completion - DH got it working again temporarily for me to rescue saved docs and I got it finished and uploaded but didn't do a last check as thoroughly as I might have. Very impressed with the quality though and how thin it is compared to scrapbook and other photo albums (=much easier for storage). Brought our trip memories back doing it though-can't wait to return.

 

[xiphoid76]

Thanks so much for posting the blog, loved reading all about your trip!! We are going there in November and switched our hotel in Tokyo to the one you blogged about in Shinjuku.