So who here has been to Tokyo
Disneyland ? How does it compare ? What is there to know , what else to do ? Places to stay etc?
Ta
We went to Tokyo in February 2009. Disneysea is amazing, beautiful, stunning, spectacular. It is indescribable as to just how amazing it is.
It is very Disney in that every detail has been tended to. The place is spotless. The rides run smoothly and efficiently. There were no limits on the Imagineers so they could really do EVERYTHING.
We went all out and stayed at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel
and it would be hard to stay anywhere else again. This is the only hotel with proper FAMILY accommodation. They have rooms that take 4 ADULTS with 4 beds!
- I wrote up a trip report before so here is some of it...I think I will put the complete thing in
Here in a separate trip report
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When we arrived in Tokyo in the morning the next step was to find where you buy the tickets for the Limo Bus. The Limo Bus by far is the best and cheapest method of getting to Tokyo Disney. It is essentially a bus service that you buy a ticket for and it takes you to the resort area stops. It isn’t a public bus but a coach style bus with luggage storage underneath. You get the ticket and go to the bus and the efficient little men with gloves take your bag, tag the bag, and give you a claim ticket. I guess sort of like Magical Express except that it isn’t free and it doesn’t run as frequently.
I think the funniest part of the bus is that the stops at the airport are used for various destinations and because it was such an unknown process we arrived early…much to the dismay of the highly efficient Japanese who KNOW it will arrive on time and don’t understand why you are early! So we finally got our bus right on time. The driver wore a hat and gloves and when we got to the Disneyland Hotel he got off, opened underneath and took off the bags and checked the claim tickets off. [DO NOT TIP!!]
It was I think about 12:30 or so when we arrived in this stunning hotel.
Now while I was in awe when I arrived this soon waned due to tiredness and a very very poor checkin system. It was mostly a cultural clash I
think….and they just didn’t understand why someone wouldn’t go along with their system. (they kept eyeing me with my suitcase and handluggage bag trying to work out why I had it….
) Check in was a long process. We were staying in a Standard alcove room in the lowest rank (level 1-3room….35000yen per night) and when we arrived they said they were fully booked and our room was not yet ready.
They said we can leave all our bags with them and that we could go on and come back later. Now this wasn’t happening. And it was lucky we kept insisting because the first room they gave us was at the VERY far end of the hall which was simply unacceptable to us. So after discussing it at a slightly higher volume than normal
this a man in a suit came up and after hearing of the situation went off in a huddle and said another room would be ready soon. When it was ready it turned out to be half the distance and you could see the castle from the false balcony/window (although slightly obstructed.)
NEXT STEP - TICKETS!
Tickets at Tokyo Disney are a very tight structure. There is no length of stay ticket and the longest ticket is a 4 consecutive day pass. (more information can be found here:
http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/tdr/english/plan/ticket/index.html). When you buy this ticket you must select the park you want to visit on the first and second day. Although we were only going to get a part day we started on the day we arrived at Disneyland and then selected DisneySea for the second day. The third and fourth day you can park hop between parks. If you want any time longer you have to get annual pass however it is considerably more expensive than a 4day so you need to be sure you want to more days. (75000yen for 2 park annual. 4 day pass 15000yen)
So we got our tickets and we entered the park and went on various rides and then got a spot for the parade. Now the first thing you are likely to notice is the
HUGE 
number of Cast Members. (and I have a spectacular tale of dedication to tell later.) There are sweepers, many sweepers and many liquids clean up crews who carry soapy spray to spray on and mop off immediately after a spill.
The parks were far quieter on this first day (and second day) than the following two days as the parks get busier as the days move to the weekend. Saturday was packed.
The parade is very good but one thing I will say is there are far too many guiding staff and crossings.
Generally speaking at WDW and DL the staff will try and avoid standing in front of people but it was not something they even thought about here…they happily walked slowly past blocking views as floats went past even in areas where there was plenty of space. There are many face characters, which means many westerners. The songs flip from Japanese to English and many such as Little Mermaid songs are kept entirely in English. It is spoken words that are most often in Japanese.
Where I sat myself for the parade (and I mean sat…most areas are seating ONLY. I emphasis ONLY!!! Even if you back onto a fence filled with plants you MUST sit and not stand.
So anyway this spot was right near the Haunted Mansion, which is where the parade starts. I think the best float in the parade was the one where Tigger bounced down and up from a tree branch.
Snow White is scarier than the ones at the other parks (with the exception of Paris) with a longer and more intense wooded forest area. Like most of the fantasyland rides it also runs smoother with gentler breaking and turning. However, it doesn’t END. You come to the scene with the boulder being turned at the top and then you come out and get off……I don’t get it…I really don’t.
Peter Pan is better. When you fly over London it is like completely large buildings growing out of the ground.…in 3D…coming out from underneath you. Very cool.
THEN came Jungle Cruise….oh the Jungle Cruise. This is typically a fun filled ride full of corny jokes. This experience was completely in Japanese as expected, however, it was also torture.
Being screamed (and I mean SCREAM!!) at by a Japanese woman at a VERY high pitch is not my idea of fun.
And the fact that all the people on the boat didn’t acknowledge anything she said in any way said that it wasn’t funny and not even corny.
Next stop was the Amazing Electrical Parade Dreamlights which is amazing.
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This is the room part...so I will put it in here
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We were in an Alcove room and I can hear you asking what is that. Well…it is a room with 2 beds…which were sort of like a double but seemed a bit smaller? I’m not sure. But then there was a single trundle bed and an alcove. This room is one of the few in the whole of TOKYO let alone Japan that actually caters for FOUR. In any other hotel on or around Disney property we needed 2 rooms no matter what. The alcove was literally an alcove in the wall that was a single bed. The way I believe it worked was that there would be two alcove rooms side by side and the alcoves would be ½ for one room and ½ for the other. It was a normal single mattress and very comfortable! The Bathroom was wonderful and clean and came with lots of goodies that were all wrapped or boxed with hotel logos!!
Then in the wardrobe was a really nice paper TDLR bag with 25th Anniversary on it. On the floor was 4 sets of adults slippers with the name of the hotel on them and 2 childrens. And finally in the drawer were 6 sets of Pyjamas in various sizes. The large just fit me but they were sort of wintery and it was a bit warm in the hotel. One night I saw a Japanese girl flying down the hallway in her Pjs. Apart from the PJ’s we collected and hid each of these items and they were ALL replace every day. Even the bag and the slippers. So we have a nice collection. Oh and there was even a mini fridge in the hotel…a nice touch!
Although the checkin was a trying process this is a WONDERFUL hotel I would highly recommend you stay at for going to the parks. You are exhausted at the end of the day (as you would all know) and it is just perfect. The only one that in a way would be better is the Miracosta which is right at DisneySea but they only have basic hotel rooms so we would have needed 2. It is beautiful and comfortable and although the staff can be very trying at times we eventually found a girl with reasonable English and she really did her best to help us. We needed on the Sunday to get to a hotel in Tokyo city to get a tour and we were a bit unsure of the timetable for the subway and she got us a timetable and told us where to change and which exit and was very helpful. She also booked out Limo bus back to the airport. The guy we got our tickets from was also very helpful and happily changed out AMEX travellers cheques (in YEN) for cash without commission. Another place you found very good staff was in the little market downstairs. This is the only hotel on or around Disney that has a little market, which was SOO handy. We could get drinks and food and the staff were exceptional and very efficient. We were a tourist attraction for them and they smiled (and laughed a little as we always got the same chocolate milk, coffee milk and Danish Bread) on our regular visits. You need to get used to being bowed at CONSTANTLY.
