Travel agent needed for Tokyo/Hong Kong trip? Help me plan this trip!

[Feistygirl916]

I am wondering if anyone had any recommendations for how they planned their Tokyo Disney and HK Disney trips?

We would like to go next May (2013) and I am starting to plan on how to do this... Help!

Did you have a TA help you? We would be flying from LAX so maybe a TA in California?



Any advice is appreciated!

 

[DahliaRW]

We're only going to Japan, but we planned our trip ourselves, and bought trip insurance for the non-refundable things through Allianz Travel Insurance. You can add things to your insurance as you go (so we won't have our accomidations on there until they become non-refundable 30 days out, as of now we're only out like $20 if we cancel). This way we don't have to pay an agent, and with the internet it's easy enough to find airfare and lodging.

It depends on how long you're staying and if you're doing other touristy stuff in your locations, but we found a vacation rental to be less expensive and a lot more room (plus washer and kitchen) than a hotel. We are a group of 7, though. Also if you're traveling around Japan beyond Tokyo, you might want to look into whether the JR Rail Pass makes sense for you. You can only buy it before you go.

 

[pacdomer]

I took a two week trip to Japan and Hong Kong back in 2010. I used Trip Advisor and forums to plan the whole thing. I read a few trip reports to get ideas of places to see and places to avoid. The forums were also great for asking planning questions and researching hotels. It is doable, but you have to be the type of person who prefers to plan most aspects of your trip. Otherwise plan with a travel agent or book tours through JTB and other tour companies.

 

[ang2383]

i'm planning this same trip, but for this may!

i have hong kong roundtrip tix from nyc may 10 to may 24. i will be staying with relatives in hong kong and flying to tokyo for maybe 5-6 days.

the hard part is researching and figuring out what i want to do in tokyo and where to stay. three days are devoted to theme parks - the two disneys and sanrio land.

my relatives are looking into packages from a travel agent in HK for me next week from HK <-> Tokyo.

 

[Feistygirl916]

Sanrio Land? Ohmygoodness, like a themed park with Hello Kitty? I am definitely going to have to research that one!


Are you writing a trip report? I would LOVE to read it and see all your adventures!

 

[vettegirl]

I did all my own planning. We took the train in for the day from Yokohama to TDL, TokyoSea was closed due to the earthquake. We arrived when the opened and were done with park by 2. Next time we are going to visit Tokyosea, as I felt the DL there was not worth it, just my thoughts.

 

[PearlElpis]

I've never done the trips together, but we've been to both cities in the past. Always plan my trip without a TA though...
There are a few things you have to consider:
- Are you planning to visit the city too or just the parks?
- How many days are you planning to stay at each city?

- For plane ticket, you can buy Multi-City ticket as it might be cheaper than having to buy two roundtrip tickets. Eg. From LAX - NRT (Narita), then from NRT - HKG (Hong Kong), then from HKG - LAX.

- For info: here's some useful info about Tokyo Disneyland (to get start)...
http://wikitravel.org/en/Tokyo_Disney_Resort#b

 

[zanzibar138]

I don't think you need a TA. Use the forums and trip advisor to do your research, then check everywhere for the best price. I've usually found expedia to be the best.

We actually did use a TA for our trip (we also went to Vietnam and Africa), but wish we hadn't. Most of the HK part I did myself anyway (decided on the hotel we wanted, found the special that the TA missed - saved us $400, and bought what I thought were the appropriate theme park tickets). DH did the research on the airfares so she just had to book what he told her to. The only thing she booked for us was the airport transfer which we didn't really want in HK anyway.

I haven't been to Tokyo, but I'm starting to do my research and I'm pretty confident that it will be much the same.

 

[Twinkle Lights]

Have confidence in your travel planning ability girl, you can do it! If we went to Japan, we would HAVE to go to Ninja. A themed restaurant where you get served by ninjas? aw yeah!

 

[Feistygirl916]

Alright Miss Twinkle Lights, Ninja it is! That would be super fun!


I need to start planning this trip, it's only a year away!