Tokyo Disneyland and Disneysea

[theocanada]

Hi,

I'm heading to Tokyo for the first time in a couple weeks; stoked beyond belief to see the Disney parks there.

Does anyone have any general tips? Thus far I was going to buy a 2 day pass online and book one of the disney hotels online. The passes are so much cheaper than stateside parks! Hoory! The hotels are freakishly expensive! Not hooray.

I noticed on the ticket site there is the regular ticket and a "birthday passport." Absolutely cannot figure out what a birthday passport is. Does anyone know?

Any other tips?

Thank you!

 

[purple figment]

There is a Tokyo Disneyland board where you might get more responses. Here's the link:
http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=178

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the Tokyo Disneyland board.

 

[Mrsjvb]

Hi,

I'm heading to Tokyo for the first time in a couple weeks; stoked beyond belief to see the Disney parks there.

Does anyone have any general tips? Thus far I was going to buy a 2 day pass online and book one of the disney hotels online. The passes are so much cheaper than stateside parks! Hoory! The hotels are freakishly expensive! Not hooray.

I noticed on the ticket site there is the regular ticket and a "birthday passport." Absolutely cannot figure out what a birthday passport is. Does anyone know?

Any other tips?

Thank you!

the tickets are so much less because there are only 2 (much smaller in size) parks as opposed to 4 and their version of DTD is laughable. we always bought ours on base so have no clue what birthday passport is.

you will take the Train and it stops right there.

Disney Sea is less about rides and attractions and more about shopping and heavy duty photo ops. It also has a live volcano which is wicked cool.

be adventurous with the food, TDS esp is beyond amazing in that regard.

its much more 'formal' than stateside.. we are talking business suits, high heels and full on formal kimono will be prevalent, possibly more so than casual jeans and tee shirts. shopping is more important than rides or shows overall. seriously the end of the day train rides there are as many shopping bags as there are passengers....

you'll love it. take the castle 'ride' . we don't speak a word beyond being able to order biru and were able to follow the story.

 

[minnie mum]

I'm sure you'll get some fantastic advice on this forum, but just want to throw out a couple of bits of advice. I don't know anything about the birthday passport, but try to get a 3 day passport if you can. You just won't be able to see and do everything at either park in one day.

The Disney hotels are ridiculously expensive. You might want to take a look at some of the partner hotels that are there instead. We stayed at the Sheraton and enjoyed our stay very much. The Hilton is there as well, and has received good review. They are less expensive and you can frequently find discounts on the rooms.

You will have to take a monorail to reach the parks. Unlike WDW, there is a fee for riding. Buy a pass that is good for the number of days of your visit to the parks (if they will be consecutive).

While many of the rides have the same name as the rides in the American parks, there are significant differences to the way the attractions look (and sometimes to the ride itself). For the better, I might add. The appearance of the parks will just blow your mind. It's incredible- you just ain't seen nuthin' like DisneySea.

Be prepared for crowds. And long lines. Everywhere. Use FP whenever possible, but be prepared for them to be gone early. And be prepared for guests to stake out spots for parades and shows HOURS in advance.

If you can, try to read through a few of the trip reports from previous visitors. They can be a gold mine of information- they really helped me plan for our visit last year. I hope your trip will be as wonderful as ours was .

 

[Mrsjvb]

You will have to take a monorail to reach the parks. Unlike WDW, there is a fee for riding. Buy a pass that is good for the number of days of your visit to the parks (if they will be consecutive).

point of clarification: it is NOT a Disney monorail. It is part of the public transportations system of the Kanto Plain.. like the NYC or DC subway system. the train hits many stops and Tokyo Disney is but one( if you have any fear of heights.. try NOT to sit or stand near a window.. a large portion of the trip is VERY high up on trestles.)

 

[minnie mum]

point of clarification: it is NOT a Disney monorail. It is part of the public transportations system of the Kanto Plain.. like the NYC or DC subway system. the train hits many stops and Tokyo Disney is but one( if you have any fear of heights.. try NOT to sit or stand near a window.. a large portion of the trip is VERY high up on trestles.)

I wasn't referring to the train that goes to Maihama Station. I was referring to the monorail (called the Disney Resort Line) that connects the parks, Bayside station (the stop for the Disney official partner hotels) and the Resort Gateway Station (that connects with Maihama rail station, Ikspiari, and the Ambassador Hotel).

 

[Mousequake]

the tickets are so much less because there are only 2 (much smaller in size) parks as opposed to 4 and their version of DTD is laughable.

I'd have to disagree with the size of the parks-- TDL is the largest of all the Disneylands worldwide. And DisneySea is larger than TDL by about 50%.

 

[Mousequake]

take the castle 'ride' . we don't speak a word beyond being able to order biru and were able to follow the story.

Forgot this in the previous post-- they don't offer the castle tour anymore. That unfortunately went away about six years ago.

 

[mytripsandraces]

Disney Sea is less about rides and attractions and more about shopping and heavy duty photo ops. It also has a live volcano which is wicked cool.

be adventurous with the food, TDS esp is beyond amazing in that regard.

its much more 'formal' than stateside.. we are talking business suits, high heels and full on formal kimono will be prevalent, possibly more so than casual jeans and tee shirts. shopping is more important than rides or shows overall. seriously the end of the day train rides there are as many shopping bags as there are passengers....

you'll love it. take the castle 'ride' . we don't speak a word beyond being able to order biru and were able to follow the story.

TDS has some great rides now. Toy Story Mania is a huge hit, so you need to get there at rope drop to get a good fast pass. I got on the fast pass line at 8:45 am, finally got to the machine at 9:30, received a fast pass for 7:15 pm and the stand-by line was up to 150 minutes.

I love Sindbad's Storybook Voyage and Raging Spirits and, of course, Tower of Terror! This is my favorite Tower of Terror ride, mostly because of the storyline and the theming.

I didn't notice too much formal wear when I was there, but people were impeccably dressed - neat, clean and pressed, for the most part.

Forgot this in the previous post-- they don't offer the castle tour anymore. That unfortunately went away about six years ago.

The castle walk-through attraction was still there in November. It had a 30-minute wait, so it's pretty easy to get into.

 

[ChrisFL]

The castle walk-through attraction was still there in November. It had a 30-minute wait, so it's pretty easy to get into.

I think they changed the tour. There was a sort of mystery tour they had several years ago, but they closed it, and now it's something more traditional I believe?

 

[Mousequake]

I think they changed the tour. There was a sort of mystery tour they had several years ago, but they closed it, and now it's something more traditional I believe?

Right-- the walk-through where you view the different scenes from Cinderella and go through the throne room is still there, but the tour from years past where you get to see the dragon in the dungeon is long-gone.

 

[Mrsjvb]

Right-- the walk-through where you view the different scenes from Cinderella and go through the throne room is still there, but the tour from years past where you get to see the dragon in the dungeon is long-gone.

well that is a major bummer. the Dragon was cool.

 

[mytripsandraces]

well that is a major bummer. the Dragon was cool.

Was it like the dragon in Paris' castle? That is very cool!

 

[theocanada]

You all are awesome! Thank you so much for the tips and advice. Lots of Disney love!

 

[Ebiten]

Not sure if you have already gone yet but here's some general tips.

Go during the weekday to avoid the super heavy weekend crowds, for TDS, as a previous poster mentioned, I would go at rope drop for each side and go for Toy Story for TDS and Pooh/Space Mountain for TDR, though for Pooh/Space you can go to either one first thing in the morning after you get you and don't have to wait too long in the regular line. Don't be afraid to run to get your FP of the day, everyone does it .

For food, don't be afraid to try new things as I have never encountered anything disgusting but maybe just a bit dry/over salted. Pretty much everything has a English translation and not one from Google Translate that comes up with "literal" translations.

Save shopping for the end of the night but be aware that is what everyone does so some stores might be crowded. If anything, there is always Bon Voyage for early/late shopping which is much more roomier.

Lots of characters around, especially at rope drop to help with the initial crowd I guess, so lots of picture opportunities with some of the rarer characters you don't see in the US, my favorite being the three pigs, especially the angry looking one .

Lots of places indoors to rest your feet and plan out where you want to go next.

Buy a cute character hat with the little dangling body in the back that you can't find in the US, I always get compliments/questions about it when I go to the parks in the US.