Tokyo Disneyland/Sea: Best of the Best?

[keara507]

Hi Disboards,

I'll be at Tokyo Disney Dec 3-5 with my boyfriendand I am a crazy planner (judging by some of the posts I've read, I'm not alone here ) I am trying to map out the must-dos of TDL. I live near Disneyland, so anything super similar to the rides we have here in CA would be secondary to all things special to Tokyo Disney. Just 2 adults, no kids. My questions:

Tokyo Disneyland:
Best rides:
Best shows/parades:
Best restaurants:
Misc that I should see/do:

Tokyo Disney Sea:
Best rides:
Best shows/parades:
Best restaurants:
Misc that I should see/do:

Any tips on best plans of action for fast pass, reserved dinners, shows, etc would be greatly appreciated. I'm gathering that at Disneyland - run to Pooh and Monsters Inc. At Disney Sea, run to...? Journey? Tower of Terror?

Thank you!!
Keara

 

[ChrisFL]

Ok, here's what i can recommend

Tokyo Disneyland:

Best rides:

Pooh's Hunny Hunt
Monster's Inc Ride and Go Seek
Splash Mountain
Pirates of the Caribbean
Tiki Room w/Stitch is pretty good IMO
...most of the other attractions are pretty similar, yet upgraded from their U.S. versions


Best shows/parades:

I didn't watch many shows/parades

Best restaurants:

Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall is very good

Misc that I should see/do:

World Bazaar (aka Main Street) has some nice shops that you can't find in other parks anymore.



Tokyo Disney Sea:

Best rides:

Journey to the Center of the Earth
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Tower of Terror
Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull
Sinbad (can't remember the exact name)


Best shows/parades:

BraviSeaMo
Fantasmic

Best restaurants:

I don't have a lot of info on the restaurants, but for a nice drink/dessert, I highly recommend the Teddy Roosevelt Lounge inside the SS Columbia ship...the couches and chairs in the back area are sooo comfortable, and its just a relaxing atmosphere.

Misc that I should see/do:

everything, lol, but seriously, all of the interactive things in Fortress Explorations (The place in front of the volcano) are very fun

 

[disneyobsessed808]

Tokyo Disneyland:
Best rides: Poohs Hunny Hunt, Monsters Inc
Best shows/parades: Electrical Parade
Misc that I should see/do: Shopping is an attraction all its own there!

Tokyo Disney Sea:
Best rides: Journey to the Center of the Earth, Indy (essentially the same as Disneyland, but everything is just slightly improved, making for a perfect attraction) and Tower of Terror (TOT has a different backstory)
Misc that I should see/do: There are so many details here, that you can just stroll through anywhere in the park and enjoy them all. The fortress explorations has so many nooks and crannies to discover, that we spent an hour and a half just playing there.

 

[shelemm]

By and large, there is no need to go by other people's judgement. You probably have enough time to see everything you are not already familiar with and judge for yourself. One man's meat is another man's poison, as they say.

I will say this: don't skip over anything. it is ALL worth doing.

I will say that there are elements of DisneySea that are easy to overlook. DON'T!!!!

Make sure you explore Fortress Exploration. You will need a map in English, and you'll have to ask for that. Visit all the rooms.

Also, it is easy to overlook Triton's Kingdom. It is spectacularly beautiful, so really take your time in there.

It is also easy to overlook Mystic Rhythms. Go see it, and make up your own mind.

I ti also easy to overlook One Man's Dream II, the show in Tomorrowland.

Basically, it would be silly for you to go all that way there and miss something unique if you don't have to. You should have enough time to see and do everything. Don't miss something just because somebody didn't care for it - you be the judge!

 

[keara507]

By and large, there is no need to go by other people's judgement. You probably have enough time to see everything you are not already familiar with and judge for yourself. One man's meat is another man's poison, as they say.

I will say this: don't skip over anything. it is ALL worth doing.

I will say that there are elements of DisneySea that are easy to overlook. DON'T!!!!

Make sure you explore Fortress Exploration. You will need a map in English, and you'll have to ask for that. Visit all the rooms.

Also, it is easy to overlook Triton's Kingdom. It is spectacularly beautiful, so really take your time in there.

It is also easy to overlook Mystic Rhythms. Go see it, and make up your own mind.

I ti also easy to overlook One Man's Dream II, the show in Tomorrowland.

Basically, it would be silly for you to go all that way there and miss something unique if you don't have to. You should have enough time to see and do everything. Don't miss something just because somebody didn't care for it - you be the judge!

great post! i will do my best to soak in as much as possible.

 

[NorCalDVC]

By and large, there is no need to go by other people's judgement. You probably have enough time to see everything you are not already familiar with and judge for yourself. One man's meat is another man's poison, as they say.

Great advice, but in the meantime . . . keep the recommendations coming! This is a great thread. We are headed to Japan ourselves next year. I take everything with a grain of salt, but I remember my first visit to WDW and Disneyland Paris (before I discovered the disboards) and I can't believe how disorganized I was. My trips since have been so much more enjoyable with a plan in place.

 

[shelemm]

Great advice, but in the meantime . . . keep the recommendations coming! This is a great thread. We are headed to Japan ourselves next year. I take everything with a grain of salt, but I remember my first visit to WDW and Disneyland Paris (before I discovered the disboards) and I can't believe how disorganized I was. My trips since have been so much more enjoyable with a plan in place.

Ah, well if you want a plan..... that's a different story. What time of year?

 

[greenkai3000]

Ah, well if you want a plan..... that's a different story. What time of year?

How about early to mid May. What would be the most effective plan of attack to tackle as many rides (using fast passes) as possible. American Waterfront, Mysterious Island and Lost River Delta are my top 3 priority lands.

 

[shelemm]

TDR has not announced the refurbishment schedule yet for May, so I can't take that into account. Here is what we did at TDS in August to give you an idea. Our plan was to do EVERYTHING because everything is fun and enjoyable and we had only one day devoted to each park. Aways, always make up your own mind about an attraction, show, or parade AFTER you have seen it.

The only unique thing thing we skipped was Legend of Mythica show as I had already seen it and didn't appreciate it that much. For some fans, it's a don't-miss highlight of the park.

Cast of Characters from Washington, DC: Me (male, 54) DS 17, DD 13. First time for DD, but DS and I visited TDS 3 years ago, August 6, 2009. We made up our minds beforehand not to do Toy Story Mania. Have done it many times in Florida and twice in California. Had no plans on doing Turtle Talk in Japanese.

Monday, August 20, 2012
Arrived at TDS at 7:20am
Park opens at 8:30am
Journey (we did not run, most people running to Toy Story Mania)
Aquatopia
DS Got FPs for TOT while we waited for Storm Rider (9:30am FP for 2:20pm entry)
Storm Rider
Indiana Jones (Single Rider Line)@
Got FPs for 20,000 (11:30am for 1:35pm entry)
Lunch Vulcania
Mermaid Show in Triton's Kingdom
Got FP for Magic Lamp (1:30pm for 1:55pm entry)
Sindbad
20,000 Leagues with FP
Magic Lamp Theatre with FP
Won Lottery for BBB (applied at 3pm)#
Tower of Terror with FP
Big Band Beat (3:30pm show)
Duffy Show at Cape Cod Cookout
Got FP for Raging Spirit (4:50pm for 9pm entry)
Mystic Rythyms (5:20pm show)$
Made Reservation at Magellan (6pm)
Fortress Exploration%
Dinner at Magellan (6:30pm)^
Fantasmic (8:10pm)
Raging Spirit with FP
Leave Park 9:30pm (Park closes at 10pm)


Notes: The TDR Crowd Calendar anticipated a '40' day. The same as 3 years ago for us, but the park seemed much more crowded. 3 years ago we arrived 45 minutes before park opening, and there were fewer people waiting than today, a full 70 minutes before park opening. The summer sun can be brutal. Bringing and using a parasol can save you a lot of misery. Why is it so important to get their early? In my mind, it means you get to wait in the shade. 45 minutes before the park opens, and you have to wait in the sun.


They were not doing single rider for Raging Spirit today.


@Single Rider for Indiana Jones is one of the best tips you can use. They will start you in the FP line, but just before the platform they will peel you off to wait in a special place. This could be a shorter wait than FP, PLUS THEY MAY SEAT YOU TOGETHER ANYWAY. If they see you are grouped together (in our case it was obvious) they probably will. We all rode together, so this was walk-on for us despite a 60+ minute standby line.


#Big Band Beat had empty seats. Everybody got in. A word about the lottery. Tickets for BBB are distributed by a lottery system. You go to a location in Mediterranean Harbor near the theatre, and insert your park ticket into a machine. The machine either tells you you haven't won the lottery or spits out reserved seat tickets. There will be cast members to help you. The line for the lottery can be horribly long. The lottery was probably not essential in our case, but my guess is you have a better chance by simply waiting to apply 30 minutes before the show. No one else was applying for the lottery at this time, so no need to stand on line. None of the shows we saw were 100% full despite the parks being very crowded. In TDL, the line for the lottery was huge (to see the nighttime summer splash show in the Castle Courtyard). No way were we going to wait in the summer sun just to sign up for a lottery which we might not win. Again, we waited until 30 minutes before showtime, no line whatsoever, and we won the lottery. Maybe we got lucky, but I think waiting in the lottery line is a waste of time and a lot of energy.


$Special props go out to Mystic Rhythyms which is a thoroughly unique, spectacular, and very Japanese (in tone) show. This could and would not exist in the US, as where Big Band Beat is more commonplace though highly entertaining. We got to Mystic Rythyms at 4:55pm, and we were among the first on line. This enabled us to get nice seats in the waiting area.

%Make sure you ask for a map of Fortress Exploration in English. Makes a great souvenir, and is essential so you don't miss anything. There are about 7 rooms to visit, and they are easy to miss without a map. Do not miss this! In the list above, we devoted only 30 minutes to Fortress Exploration since two of us had been there before, but for a first timer it should take longer. Same thing for Triton's Kingdom. We went through this quicker the second time around, but it really is worth exploring the play area. There is a presentation - in Japanese only- for Fortress Exploration, but we did not do this.

^So how good is Magellan? Not considering price but only food, this is not a restaurant that could survive in the real world. Where I come from (Washington, DC) it would be considered mediocre. Choice is very limited and service is super slow. It took us 35 minutes to receive our bread, and the entire meal would have taken us much longer if we didn't mention that we needed to see Fantasmic. We enjoyed the experience of sitting down for a long, air-conditioned meal in elegant surroundings after a tiring day of summer sun. But we barely got out of there in time to get a good view for Fantasmic. This is not nearly as good a restaurant as you would find at WDW.


We enjoyed all the attractions, all of them very well worth doing except, as 3 years before, Raging Spirits is missable. The best thing about it is the spectacular architecture which you see from the walkway. Even the queue is disappointing.

Ask for front row for JTTCOTE. There are three rows to each car, and front is best. THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT TIP. Also not a bad idea to try to ride this a second time at night. Even though it is a dark ride, there is a moment when you come out, and the darkness makes it more mysterious.

So there you have it. A great day in the park despite large crowds and sweltering heat. No waiting on line, just having a lot of fun and enjoying the magic of Disney.

 

[NorCalDVC]

Ah, well if you want a plan..... that's a different story. What time of year?

WOW! Thanks so much for the detailed plan!!! It looks like you really were able to fit a lot into a single day. We are headed there in mid/late May so maybe we'll run into greenkai3000.

 

[greenkai3000]

WOW! Thanks so much for the detailed plan!!! It looks like you really were able to fit a lot into a single day. We are headed there in mid/late May so maybe we'll run into greenkai3000.

NorCalDVC What dates will you be going ? We're thinking Sometime between 5/11 and 5/14

 

[greenkai3000]

Monday, August 20, 2012
Arrived at TDS at 7:20am
Park opens at 8:30am
Journey (we did not run, most people running to Toy Story Mania)
Aquatopia
DS Got FPs for TOT while we waited for Storm Rider (9:30am FP for 2:20pm entry)
Storm Rider
Indiana Jones (Single Rider Line)@
Got FPs for 20,000 (11:30am for 1:35pm entry)
Lunch Vulcania
Mermaid Show in Triton's Kingdom
Got FP for Magic Lamp (1:30pm for 1:55pm entry)
Sindbad
20,000 Leagues with FP
Magic Lamp Theatre with FP
Won Lottery for BBB (applied at 3pm)#
Tower of Terror with FP
Big Band Beat (3:30pm show)
Duffy Show at Cape Cod Cookout
Got FP for Raging Spirit (4:50pm for 9pm entry)
Mystic Rythyms (5:20pm show)$
Made Reservation at Magellan (6pm)
Fortress Exploration%
Dinner at Magellan (6:30pm)^
Fantasmic (8:10pm)
Raging Spirit with FP
Leave Park 9:30pm (Park closes at 10pm)

.

Just curious about the order in which you rode the attractions. Was that based on the FP return time, the proximity between each attraction, or just your order of preference?

 

[keara507]

that is a great itinerary - and great to know about magellans. will skip and go to Ristorante di Canaletto instead!

I've only mapped out my first plan of attack for each park really.

DisneySea:
Skipping Toy Story since we live 30 min from Disneyland, unless we find a short wait later in the day.
I run/briskly walk to Journey to get in line, boyfriend runs to ToT for FPs
Ride Indiana and 20,000 as single riders
Lunch at Vulcania?
Hopefully Big Band Beat
Mystic Rythms
SS Columbia for dinner?
Ristorante di Canaletto better for lunch or dinner?
is there a good parade at disneysea?

Disneyland:
I run to get FPs for Pooh, boyfriend runs to get in line for Monster Inc.
Catch One Man's Dream II at some point
Lunch at Boiler Room Bites if we want to be quick, otherwise Queen of Hearts?
Dinner at Restaurant Hokusai - thoughts?
I forget the name - but the lights parade at night

 

[keara507]

that is a great itinerary - and great to know about magellans. will skip and go to Ristorante di Canaletto instead!

I've only mapped out my first plan of attack for each park really.

DisneySea:
Skipping Toy Story since we live 30 min from Disneyland, unless we find a short wait later in the day.
I run/briskly walk to Journey to get in line, boyfriend runs to ToT for FPs
Ride Indiana and 20,000 as single riders
Lunch at Vulcania?
Hopefully Big Band Beat
Mystic Rythms
SS Columbia for dinner?
Ristorante di Canaletto better for lunch or dinner?
is there a good parade at disneysea?

Disneyland:
I run to get FPs for Pooh, boyfriend runs to get in line for Monster Inc.
Catch One Man's Dream II at some point
Lunch at Boiler Room Bites if we want to be quick, otherwise Queen of Hearts?
Dinner at Restaurant Hokusai - thoughts?
I forget the name - but the lights parade at night

Right after I wrote this, I went and looked at a map and tried to make a better plan

Day 1: DisneySea (Tues Dec 3)
I run to get ToT FP, bf runs to get in line at Journey
Ride 20k, single rider if the line is long
Head to Mediterranean Harbor and get reservation for lunch
Fortress Exploration (note to get English map)
Ride Gondolas and get lunch at Ristorante di Canaletto
Hopefully our ToT FP is ready
then get Toy Story FP if any are available (likely not..)
try to get tickets for Big Band Beat
check out Duffy show at Cape Cod
maybe get a drink at the Teddy Roosevelt Lounge just to go in the SS Columbia
Take electric railway to Port Discovery
Figure out when Mystic Rythms is on
Get FP for StormRider
Ride Aquatopia then hopefully StormRider..
Head to Lost River Delta
get FP for either Raging Spirits or Indiana - whichever has a longer wait and then ride the other via single rider while we wait.
take the steamer line somewhere..
Check out Mermaid Lagoon
Ride Journey again?
Dinner at Vulcania or?

Day 2: Disneyland (Weds. Dec 4)
Boyfriend runs to get FP for Pooh and I run to get in line at Monsters Inc
Ride Space Mountain and Star Tours
Get Priority seating for dinner
Head to Toontown, stop at Minnie's house
Meet Mickey if the line isn't ridiculous
Head to Fantasyland, hoping our FP for Pooh is ready
Get in line for Haunted Mansion while 1 runs to get FPs for Big Thunder
Lunch at Queen of Hearts if we want to sit down, Racket's Racoon if we want quick
Maybe catch the "Happiness is Here" parade -or some of it
Peter Pan if the line is okay
visit Cinerella's Hall & Castle
One Mans Dream II show
Ride Big Thunder if FP is ready, or go to Pirates
Jungle Cruise at night
Western Railroad
Dinner at Restaurant Hokusai
Lights Parade and Fireworks!

 

[NorCalDVC]

NorCalDVC What dates will you be going ? We're thinking Sometime between 5/11 and 5/14

We are looking at a 2+ week trip combing China with Japan departing either May 11th or May 18th. The more we talk to people the more we're inclined to do China first. Everyone says that it's much better to end with Japan because it's so clean and efficient. China's reputation with regard to poor air quality has really affected the tourism industry.

 

[shelemm]

DS and I did a 3 week trip to Japan and China. 1 week in Japan and 2 weeks in China. For reasons too complicated to go into, we wound up splitting our time in Japan. We started off with 4 nights in Tokyo, two weeks in China, and the last 3 nights in Yokohama.

There is no right or wrong order to do the countries. Do whatever works for you - you'll have a blast either way.