It's like Disney World... on Steroids! A Tokyo Disney TR (UPDATE PG.5!)

Vallie

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 22, 2006
Welcome to my Tokyo Trip Report!

A little background information before we get started, my name is Val and my partner in crime on this trip is my wonderful boyfriend. We're 20'somethings from a little place called Toronto, Ontario (Canada). But we are currently living on a beach resort on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland Australia. Why in the world are we here? Well because I needed to complete my Graduate Teaching Degree and decided that the beaches of Australia would be the perfect place to do that! and why is my boyfriend with me? Well I couldn't just leave him behind! So about six months ago we took off to the Sunny coast, and from that moment I started planning a trip to Tokyo.

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I've wanted to go to Tokyo Disney from the moment I heard about the Disney Sea park. It just looked so crazy I knew one day I would have to visit! Now if you told me a year ago that I would be moving to Australia and from there be able to take a trip to Tokyo, I would have thought you were crazy. The decision to move to Australia was pretty last minute but so far it's been a great one.

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Tokyo has been our first trip (outside of Aussie) since moving down here, but we are planning on traveling to some other countries as well while we're on this side of the planet. Along with traveling within Australia we are also going on a cruise to New Zealand at the end of January and on the way back to Canada in July we'll be stopping in Fiji and LA (and going to DisneyLand)!

Visiting Tokyo Disney was really a dream come true, and I know its not somewhere everyone is able to visit (although I would HIGHLY reccomend trying to make the trip!) So hopefully this TR will give a good idea of what Tokyo and the Disney parks are like and provide some helpful info for anyone trying to plan a trip themselves!

Some Trip Details:

Dates: November 27 - December 5

Hotel: Grand Arc Hanzomon in Akasaka (across from the Imperial Palace)

Breakdown: 8 days - 2 Days Touring the City - 3 Days Disney - 1 Day Ghibli Museum - 2 Days Touring with Friends

Stay tuned for more!
 
I have never read a trip report on Tokyo, I'm looking forward to this.
 


I'm in! :goodvibes Loved Lurkeyloo's and I'm sure I'll love this one too! Plus, we lived in Melbourne for 4 years and did a lot of traveling on that side of the planet when we were there too, but not to Japan! Can't wait to hear more!
 


I have never read a trip report on Tokyo, I'm looking forward to this.

Glad to have you along! :goodvibes


here and subbed! You have 3 months off, I best be reading every day now :)

Haha welll... I still have things to do you know... like go to the beach! But I'll update as much as possible!

Subscribing. I read Lurkyloos and I love hearing about Japan!

Welcome! Hopefully you enjoy mine as well! I loved her Japan TR!

Subbing in!

Welcomee! :)

cannot wait to see your TR!!!! Tokyo DisneySea is my #1 park i want to visit!

It was mine too! Its a pretty crazy park!!

I'm in! :goodvibes Loved Lurkeyloo's and I'm sure I'll love this one too! Plus, we lived in Melbourne for 4 years and did a lot of traveling on that side of the planet when we were there too, but not to Japan! Can't wait to hear more!

Welcome! I haven't been to Melbourne yet, but its on the list of places to visit for sure! Everyone tells me Melbourne is fantastic! Where did you travel when you lived here?

Welcome back, Val! Looking forward to reading about your adventures at TDL!!!:woohoo:

Thank you!!! Hopefully you enjoy the read!
 
I have never read a trip report on Tokyo, I'm looking forward to this.

Not to take away from this report which I'm sure will be great, you really should check out lurkyloo's report also!
 
Part One: The Back Story

I have been planning my trip to Tokyo from the moment I decided to move to Australia for school, which was about 10 months ago. So why was I so underplanned and unprepared?

The last six months in living in the Sunshine Coast have been the craziest/busiest six months of my life. I landed here back in July and right away went to Orientation week at the Uni. After O-Week it was right into classes... and I was warned teacher's college would be intense... but I couldn't imagine how much work it would be! I'm talking at least 2 big assignments due a week (almost every week!) and of course there were all the social aspects of life, traveling and exploring Queensland and most importantly... going to the beach!

Here's some pics of my life in Australia (so far!)...

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View from our apartment balcony

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Inside our very strange apartment (yes thats a shower lol)

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pool/spa/bbq area

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Where I spend alot of my time

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Beautiful Australia

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Hanging out with a kangaroo!

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Holding a Koala at Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo

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Snorkling in the Great Barrier Reef

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Whale Watching in Hervey Bay

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Brisbane City!

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Just being a big geek!

Sometime during the semester of classes I stumbled across a big sale on the JetStar website. They were having a half price sale and tickets to Japan were on sale for $500!! So of course I scooped them right up. The only drawback was the fact that we had to fly out of the Gold Coast... which is about a 5 hour bus/train ride away. With no car, it was going to be a huge pain in the butt, but for that price we knew it would be worth it!

So we booked the tickets and we got a guide book and started planning the areas in Tokyo we would like to go to. At the same time I started reading trip reports and researching the internet about what to expect at Disney Tokyo. So in between finishing my classes and completing my practicum in a prep class (aka kindergarden class) we attempted to plan. We figured out a decent plan of action, but I didn't do nearly as much planning as I usually do, so in all honesty I was a little terrified, just because of the language barrier and the insane subway system mostly. The one thing that made me feel better was the fact that Craig was with me and he has traveled a lot so it made me feel a bit better.

We had booked a hostel for the night in the Gold Coast right beside the airport so we could fly out in the morning. Now I hate hostels, but we had gone to the Gold Coast for my birthday weekend 2 weeks before and hotels in the Gold Coast run for about $200/night. So a hostel it was!

I love the Gold Coast... it's amazing... the main area of the Gold Coast is a place called Surfer's Paradise. It is actually the birthplace of the surfboard and the beach there is amazing!

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On the beach in Surfer's Paradise

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Night View of the Surfer's Paradise

So as much as I love the Gold Coast, like I said I hate hostels and our hostel was a pretty far trip from Surfers (and had nothing else around it), so we decided to leave later in the day from the Sunshine Coast so that we spent as little time as possible in the hostel.

So we started out on the bus, then transfered to the subway in Brisbane, and then onto another subway to the Gold Coast and then onto another 2 buses to the hostel. It was a long annoying ride hauling around our two big luggages and carry ons! We decided to stop and grab a pizza while waiting for the last bus and ended up arriving at the airport at about 10pm.

We had to walk over to the hostel, which was about 10 minutes away from the airport on a scary dark path. Walking that path was probably the scariest experiance of my life. What you have to understand about Australia is that they have some pretty funky creepy crawlies down here. I've seen huge spiders the size of my hand, gigantic cockroaches (in my shoe!) and grasshoppers, snakes a meter long just chilling on a path, 5 foot lizards and then there are the bush turkeys!

Now I'm not trying to promote the stereotype that Australia is full of these creatures everywhere you look, because it isn't. Australia does have some crazy wildlife, but I've also seen baby kangaroos, koala's and dolphins in the wild here as well.

[WARNING! BUG PHOTOS AHEAD!]

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These turkey's crack me up everytime I see them because they are always in the most random places!


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For the most part you never ever see the creepy crawlies, but they are there and as I was walking down that dark path thats all I could think of!


So we finially get the the hostel (which looked more like a homeless shelter) only to find the doors locked and a sign on the door stating that they were full. Now I had already paid for the room and I was FURIOUS! I was banging on the door and no one would answer. We didn't know what to do, we didn't have any phone credit left, I was tired and sleepy and annoying with carrying these bags on a 5 hour journey, we were in the middle of nowhere and apparently had no where to sleep.

And so I started to cry... while Craig kept banging on the door...
 
Not to take away from this report which I'm sure will be great, you really should check out lurkyloo's report also!

I completely agree. Her report is really awesome and it helped me out SO much when planning my trip!
 
If you ever get down to Melbourne, let me know. We can try for a DisMeet. :thumbsup2

And that shower??? That's the craziest thing I saw in your photos (NOT the animals nor bugs!!) :)
 
What a horrible start to your trip! No wonder you don't like hostels!:scared1:

We lived with big bugs and crawlies for 3 yrs in Okinawa, too. You do get used to knowing they're there - but not comfortable for sure.

Waiting to see where you'll sleeppopcorn::
 
What an awesome opportunity you have! I find the shower weird. In fact I heard about those this morning because I am listening to the old DIS Unplugged podcasts. Pete talked about how he didn't understand why everyone needs to watch you shower :rotfl2: Those bugs are really creepy!
 
Not to take away from this report which I'm sure will be great, you really should check out lurkyloo's report also!

Someone else just pointed me there and I'm in the minority, I found it too long and boring, too many of the same picture over and over.
 
I am going on a trip to Asia for 6 weeks by myself in 9 months. I will be spending 2 1/2 days at Tokyo Disney Resort so I can't wait to here how your trip goes. I hope you stick with it too, sadly I am one of those people who didn't follow through, don't make my mistake :rolleyes1
 

Welcome!

If you ever get down to Melbourne, let me know. We can try for a DisMeet. :thumbsup2

And that shower??? That's the craziest thing I saw in your photos (NOT the animals nor bugs!!) :)

I will be heading down to Melbourne before July at some point for sure! It's my top place to see here in Australia! So if I do I would be down for a Dismeet :)

Haha ya the shower is pretty crazy, I live in a resort and I think the whole thing is they have these showers so you can shower/bathe and look out onto the ocean or whatever lol it has a shower curtain so it's not too bad just funny!

And I'm sure your used to all the creatures of Oz :P


What a horrible start to your trip! No wonder you don't like hostels!:scared1:

We lived with big bugs and crawlies for 3 yrs in Okinawa, too. You do get used to knowing they're there - but not comfortable for sure.

Waiting to see where you'll sleeppopcorn::

Ugh Yes it was AWFUL! You'll see soon that it doesn't get much better that first night!

I hate big bugsss ugh... but luckily besides cockroaches, I haven't seen any in my place and the roaches are few and far between (and mostly in the hall outside the door) it's just a fact of life, living in the heat!

I'll update tonight or tomorrow for sure

What an awesome opportunity you have! I find the shower weird. In fact I heard about those this morning because I am listening to the old DIS Unplugged podcasts. Pete talked about how he didn't understand why everyone needs to watch you shower :rotfl2: Those bugs are really creepy!

Thank you! It has been an amazing experiance and I'm so glad I took the oppertunity! The shower is so weird, but I guess it's to overlook the ocean (I live at a resort so I think thats part of it, I dont think the apartments here have something so silly!) and there is a curtain you can close, but still so silly!

And the bugs are super creeepy ugh! :scared1:


I am going on a trip to Asia for 6 weeks by myself in 9 months. I will be spending 2 1/2 days at Tokyo Disney Resort so I can't wait to here how your trip goes. I hope you stick with it too, sadly I am one of those people who didn't follow through, don't make my mistake :rolleyes1


Welcome!! Thats awesome! Where else are you planning on going? I'm dyinggg to go to Thailand! You will love Tokyo Disney it's amazing! I will stick with this report because there's not much out there on TD and I know it was annoyign when I was trying to plan, so hopefully my TR will provide some good info! And also I'm on winter break right now for another 2 1/2 months so I have no excuse not to finish it! :thumbsup2
 

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