Complete: Kawaii - Nov 2014 a 4 night stay at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel

Hi Everyone,

This trip was over 6 months ago however I love reading other peoples trip reports and I found them very useful before I went so I'm hoping my report can help those who want to go to Tokyo Disneyland.

I prefer photo heavy trip reports so expect that from me.

So let's begin.

Post 1 - Introductions, flight and Tokyo

This trip was myself and my mum. Here we are (i'm on the left, mum on the right):



I believe I inherited my love of Disney from my mum who took me to Disneyland Paris for the first time when I was about 7 years old. However, being the person that I am, I took my mums love for Disney and turned it into an obsession. I'm the one that has subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) Disney home ware /clothing /everything. Everything I own tends to have something Disney on it.

An important thing to note about this visit was I was recovering from a very nasty illness. I'd had shingles about 3 weeks before we departed and if anyone's ever had it, you know it takes a long time to fully recover. It took me 12 weeks to get 100% better. Usually I'm a commando when park touring but this time I had to take things super duper easy.

We left London Heathrow on October 29th 2014 and flew to Haneda with British Airways. I can't tell you about airfares because we got a staff deal so what we paid is not comparative. However we were in Business class (score!)


I forgot to mention I've got a Duffy. He was very much looking forward to our Tokyo trip because I'd promised to get him a "friend". You might know who i'm talking about.



It was a later departure (I think about 7pm UK time arriving around 7am Japanese time in Tokyo).

When we had arrived in Haneda and picked up our luggage we went straight to rent a Mifi thingy. Thanks disneytouristblog for this tip. If you're mega prepared you can rent these in advance and pick them up from the airport which is much cheaper. However we rented one from the airport. Its basically a small device about half the size on a iPhone which transmits a WiFi signal which you can connect multiple devices to. Most devices come with unlimited data and it was great!

We stayed 3 nights in a business hotel a stones throw from Hanzomon subway station. It was a great little hotel, quiet on the night but very accessible to all the touristy stuff via the subway station. (please excuse the mess below)



I don't want to go into too much detail about our visit to Tokyo but we did:

• Go up the Sky Tree tower - High
• Fish Market - jaw dropping
• Eat Sushi for breakfast - yummy
• Visit a Buddhist Temple - awe inspiring
• Have tea in a cat cafe - bizarre
• Walk through worlds busiest train station Shinjuku - Busy!
• Shopping - too much choice
• Ordered off a Japanese only menu - score

Here are some photos to finish off the post:









Tip get a passmo card for the subway system. Its a rechargeable card much easier than dealing with paper tickets.

OK next post will be about the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel and our 1st day in Tokyo Disneyland.

Can't wait to read your report. And I love all of the photos.
Please also write about the rest of your trip. I can't get enough! Planning to hopefully go next year, and of course spend 2 or 3 days at the parks.

Contents Post

Use these links below to skip to each of the posts.

Episode 4 - A Disney Hope

• [URL="http://www.disboards.com/threads/kawaii-nov-2014-british-visit-4-night-stay-tokyo-disneyland-hotel.3435224/#post-54171214"]Day 1 - Arriving at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel & Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall[/URL]
• Day 1 - Stitch stresses out some birds and Jazz Pirates?!
• Day 1 - Photos of the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel
• Day 1 - Dinner at the Blue Bayou Restaurant and who doesn't love fireworks?

Episode 5 - DisneySea Strikes Back

• Day 2 - The one, the only, Tokyo DisneySea.
  
• Day 2 - Finishing up our DisneySea morning and taking tea
  
• Day 2 - More Tokyo Disneyland Hotel pictures pt.1
• Day 2 - More Tokyo Disneyland Hotel pictures pt.2
• Day 2 - An evening in Tokyo DisneySea pt. 1
• Day 2 - An evening in Tokyo DisneySea pt. 2

Episode 6 - Return of the Disneyland

• Day 3 - A morning in Tokyo Disneyland.
• Day 3 - Finding boo and eating Mickey’s face.
  
• Day 3 - Blasting into Space
  
• Day 3 - What it this Christmas alien?
• Day 3 - Happiness is here pt.1
• Day 3 - Happiness is here pt.2
• Day 3 - Happiness is here pt.3
• Day 3 - Return to DisneySea
• Day 3 - Tokyo Disneyland Electrical parade "Dreamlights" pt. 1
• Day 3 - Tokyo Disneyland Electrical parade "Dreamlights" pt. 2
• Day 3 - Tokyo Disneyland Electrical parade "Dreamlights" pt. 3
• Day 4 - Leaving the resort & the land of the raising sun

Episode 1 - The Tokyo Menace

• Day 1 - Our 1st steps in Japan and Imperial Palace
• Day 1 - Woh! That is high! Tokyo Skytree.

Episode 2 - The Cat Wars

• Day 2 - 5:00am Tokyo Fish Market?
• Day 2 – Here fishie fishie fishie…
• Day 2 – Are the fish inside a Buddhist Temple?
• Day 2 – Is this a shrine to the fish? No wait they’re over here!
  
• Day 2 – I found a lot of fish.
• Day 2 - Its evening and the cats are taking over Shinjuku!
• Day 2 – Here fishie fishie… oh I mean kitty kitty kitty.
• Day 2 – Cats are gods in fur, remember that.

Episode 3 - Revenge of the Culture

• Day 3 - Culture at the Mitsukoshi department store.
• Day 3 - More culture, quick grab the net!

aussie shaz said:

Can't wait to read your report. And I love all of the photos.
Please also write about the rest of your trip. I can't get enough! Planning to hopefully go next year, and of course spend 2 or 3 days at the parks.

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hey thanks for being the first person ever to reply to one of my trip reports (this being my 1st trip report of course )

Good luck with your planning and I hope my trip report will be useful.

Episode one - A Disney Hope

Day 1 - Arriving at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel & Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall

After our adventures in Tokyo it was the day I'd been looking forward to the most. Unfortunately I'd been feeling pretty rotten so had actually been in bed for the past 1 1/2 days trying to build up my strength but I was determined to go to Disney!

I took our Pasmo cards back to the station for a 1,000 yen refund (~£6) which involved a form completely in Japanese and a lot of gesturing and hand waving but I was successful! You'll probably read this a lot going through this report but throughout this whole process the Japanese people in the train station we so kind and helpful. They helped me fill in the form while being patient, kind and I was just blown away by their positive attitude.

Originally we'd planned to get the train to Disney but we decided getting a taxi would be much easier and would allow me to save my strength for the park. I can't remember in yen how much the taxi was but it was about £35. All the advise I'd had about taxi's in Tokyo was they were super expensive and you shouldn't bother with them, but I didn't think the price we paid was too bad.

Also the taxi was covered in doilys. That alone was worth the price, OK maybe not but it was novel. Thank you google for a picture as I didn't take one.


Right onto the hotel! What can I say. It was BEAUTIFUL!

Yes mum we can see you!



We'd decided to stay at the Disneyland hotel because we'd never stayed in a "luxury resort" before and it did not disappoint. There was quite a long queue for the check in and was a bit confusing because I wasn't actually allowed to "check-in" yet, I'd have to come back at 3pm.

However we left our luggage with the bell services and I bought our 3 day park tickets (I paid for both as it was my mums birthday gift). We chose day 1 Disneyland, day 2 DisneySea and third day we were allowed to hop between the two.

Free from the bags we made our way into Tokyo Disney and headed straight to Poohs Honey Hunt to see if there were any FP left. Alas there weren't so we went for the next best option. Food!

I'd wanted to visit the queen of hearts Banquet hall so that's were we headed. Mum was ecstatic!



We must have been "cool" because the guard let us in.



Japanese make plastic look good!



To give you an idea of what they sold. We had the chicken salad and it was yum!



A picture of the ceiling because... why not!



And here's our food. It was really good and the salad was fresh. My mum also purchased a dessert with a really pretty souvenir tea cup/mug. I can't quite remember what the dessert was but we shared it and it involved cream and some slightly fruity jellied stuff. It was hard to describe but I loved it.



Also note in the far left of the picture. That was bubble wrap the CM gave to my mum for her cup. I thought that was really sweet!

Up next, i do the unheard of and do some gentle rides.

First let me say sorry you had shingles i had it first time when i was 17 then 2 yrs ago i got it again my doctor told me stress brings it out and my sister was visiting which made it re appear .It can come back any time he said when under stress so working on being stress free when possible.Thank you for report .I took my 3 kids to Japan in June i had wanted to return as i lived there before them a lot of years ago .Was wonderful to go back i didnt go to Alice restraunt but hope to on next trip now ive seen your beautiful photos.

Tanzanite said:

First let me say sorry you had shingles i had it first time when i was 17 then 2 yrs ago i got it again my doctor told me stress brings it out and my sister was visiting which made it re appear .It can come back any time he said when under stress so working on being stress free when possible.Thank you for report .I took my 3 kids to Japan in June i had wanted to return as i lived there before them a lot of years ago .Was wonderful to go back i didnt go to Alice restraunt but hope to on next trip now ive seen your beautiful photos.

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Thank you for your compliments. The restaurant is fantastic and I thought it was very reasonably priced too.

I'm glad someone reading this understands just how much shingles takes it out of you. I think it was stress that brought it out in me too. I remember being really run down and then suddenly I've got a random rash and was feeling quite rough.

I hope you get your next trip sorted

Day 1 - Stitch stresses out some birds and Jazz Pirates?!

Ok, I left off as my mum and I were leaving the Queen of Hearts banquet hall. For the rest of the evening I did something I very rarely do at a theme park. I took it easy. There was no spinning, no whirling and certainly no upside down stuff.

Nope we wandered in the direction of Adventure land and I spotted the Tiki Room... but wait, the Tiki Room with STITCH! OK deal.

My mum had never been in a Tiki Room attraction before as Paris does not have one. On a side note I wondered if this was the same model of AA Stitch that they used in Stitch's great escape. He moves the same, is the same size and is capable of "walking" so I think it is.


What ever your thoughts are on this little blue alien (who is fluffy) I love him. And I loved this little detail in the bushes outside the attraction. The book on the seat was the ugly ducking. Kawaii!



So the attraction was great. I've only see the Disneyworld version to compare and I preferred this one even though it was only in Japanese. All of the animatronics where functioning fully whereas in the show at WDW, a lot of the tikis around the room weren't working.

Next we had a walk through Adventure Land and came across some really funny pirates who were playing brass instruments.


We watched them for a little while. We had no idea what was going on but... pirates playing brass instruments, come on that's fun!



After watching pirates we decided to follow it up with more pirates! Pirates of the Caribbean to be precise. There was a 20 min queue so we jumped in.

Hello blurry photo of the Blue Bayou restaurant, we'll be seeing you soon.


Again the ride was fantastic. All the AA's were fluid and functional and my mum loved playing spot Jack. I think I still like the Paris version the most because of the pacing of that ride even though they haven't got Jack (Yet).



After Pirates it was check in time at the hotel, so we walked back out of the park under the monorail and into the Tokyo Disneyland hotel. (how awesome it was to be staying a literal stones throw from the park)

A lovely bellhop helped us with our bags and showed us to our room. He was really sweet and was telling us he loved when English speaking visitors came to the hotel as he'd spent a year living in London. He dropped our bags off and bid us a lovely evening.

One of the best things about Japan is they don't tip so there wasn't any fumbling in our purses for yen.

Onto the room! It was BEAUTIFUL! (I seem to be using that word a lot) but it was.


The sink area was great and had the toilet to the right and a bath with separate shower to the left. (so the toilet and bath were in separate rooms) The room with the bath was basically a wet room as the shower didn't have a surround but it did have both a rain style shower head and separate flexible standard shower head.


The Japanese know how to do toiletries right. You always get a huge selection, and it was all branded. The lids of the gels were actually were mini replicas of the golden structure on top of the hotel. Amazing.


Also, typically in Japan you get given pajamas and slippers. Lovely.



Next post - more room pictures & details

Which hotel is this? The photos are so lovely, can't wait to see more

Day 1 - Photos of the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel

This is going to be a photo heavy post. I wanted to show all of the little details that had gone into the hotel room which made it really special. To see more pictures of the room scroll up to my previous post.

First a picture with us in, so we can prove we were actually there!


There was a sofa next to the table (excuse the mess this photo was actually taken a few days later)


On the door to the shower room was a fantasia fish.


Behind the Kettle (yes that is a kettle) was artwork for Cogsworth and Lumiere's costumes for the broadway production of Beauty and the Beast.



This was my favorite detail. On top of the TV cabinet was Madame Grande Bouche also from Beauty and the Beast.

Between the beds was these oval Minnie and Mickey silhouettes.



The view from our room. In the distance you can see the tip of the castle and mount Prometheus. I was so happy!



Finally you see that gold dome in the centre of the hotel? That's what the caps of the shower gel and shampoo are modeled on. Go on scroll back up and have a look. I'll wait.

See it, Cute no? OK lets continue.



Next up dinner at the Blue Bayou restaurant and who doesn't love fireworks?

After an hour nap in the room for me we got read for our priority seating at the Blue Bayou restaurant. I chose this restaurant as my mum and I love to eat in the Disneyland Paris version.

The food was fabulous and we got a seat against the water so we could watch the boats go past.

Mum had prawns



I had fish! They were both very good!


What do you do to follow up dinner at the Blue Bayou? Ride Pirates of the Caribbean of course!



After this we decided to walk over to Fantasyland and it was here I realized my mum's also never seen Philharmagic (again there isn't one in Paris) so we stopped in here.

It was completely in Japanese but who cares? There's singing and the 3D is fun. Some pictures from the queue.



We ended up in Tomorrowland after this, I can't remember why. But we found a nice bench to sit on located on the bridge between the hub and Tomorrowland to watch the fireworks.

My mum got some of this:



It smelled and tasted really good and was nice and warming because the evening was a little bit chilly.

The fireworks were OK but nothing to write home about.



After the fireworks we popped into the world bazaar (Main street) and mum found this...



No mum, really you don't want to buy that!

Our visit was 3 days before the start of the official Disney Christmas festivities and every time we visited the parks new decorations had magically appeared. This night the tree was already up.



All in all it was a good day but tomorrow would be even more exiting because it was Tokyo Disney Sea!

OldSchoolReasons said:

Which hotel is this? The photos are so lovely, can't wait to see more

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The photos are of the Tokyo Disneyland hotel. It was beautiful. If you're going to fly all the way to Tokyo you might as well live it up while you're there.

Episode Two - DisneySea Strikes Back

Day 2 - The one, the only, Tokyo DisneySea

We awoke after our first night in the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. I must say it was bliss. We had our tickets for 15 minutes early entry to DisneySea so we got up and headed to the monorail.

The station is just steps from the hotel.



The weather was really beautiful on this day and once we were stood up on the monorail platform we could see mt. Fuji in the distance which is pretty awesome.



As the monorail pulled into the DisneySea station we could see the queues by the ticket station. They were huge! Imagine how smug I felt walking past all of them to the front with our special tickets.

We stepped into the Mediterranean Harbor and my jaw hit the floor. Everything everyone had ever said about DisneySea was true and so much more. The detail was mind blowing.



We weren't that bothered about Toy Story Midway Mania so we headed to the right of the lagoon on a bee line for Journey to the Centre of the Earth FP tickets.

I'm afraid I wasn't a very good trip reporter and for the next couple of hours I didn't get very many pictures at all because i was experiencing all the amazing things DisneySea had to offer.

We walked over to Journey to the Center of the earth and grabbed our FP tickets. Once we'd got these we scooted across to Indiana Jones and joined the standby line which was non-existent. That ride blew my mind. I've been on Dinosaur at WDW and I know the track is (apparently) identical but as I'd never been on Indiana Jones at California DL this was my 1st experience. I really enjoyed the whole experience however after getting off I started to feel a bit run down.

So we walked slowly back to Journey looking at all the amazing details in the park, I cannot describe to you how much detail there is.

We then rode (with our FP) Journey to the Center of the earth. Even with a FP you still experience the "elevator" ride which is good and the standby queue had ballooned to 1hr by this point only 30 minutes after official opening.

The ride was terrific and as usual all the animatronics were amazing, fluid and functional. The lava monster was a real highlight. After that ride I took some time taking pictures in Mysterious Island.

The ferry boats pass right through this area. Also I read that the water in the lagoon is actually about 3 feet deep throughout. You would never know!


Hello Disney mum! Is it a bit bright?


Hey Pluto is keeper of the crystals.



Next on my list was something that had been on my "to do" list almost since the beginning.... can you guess what it is??? Ok I'll give you a clue its in the Arabian Coast section... Have you guess it yet?

Sinbad's storybook voyage of course! Wait that's not what you guessed? What the heck were you thinking about then?

This ride was fantastic for me. It was cool, gentle and had so much to look at and see. We actually rode it 3 times throughout the trip.

The animatronics where, well you know the drill by now... fluid, fully functional and amazing!


Just the range of movements programmed into their small bodies was extraordinary!


This bird is so big your boat actually goes underneath it.


This little ball of cuteness is Chandu. Hes a big part of the ride and is Sinbad's sidekick. Chandu kicks some serious butt. Here he is capturing a villain!



I loved this ride so much I purchased a little Chandu charm which lived on my bag for the rest of my trip.

Next up finishing up the morning at DisneySea and more Tokyo Disneyland Hotel pictures.

I've been reading though this post nodding in agreement. My partner has only been to DLP and I've been to DLP and WDW so I feel like he's going to have the exact same experiences your mum has had! Hotel and park look so beautiful, the details are breathtaking - definitely doing a Disneyland Hotel /Miracosta split stay. Following so I don't miss an update.

OldSchoolReasons said:

I've been reading though this post nodding in agreement. My partner has only been to DLP and I've been to DLP and WDW so I feel like he's going to have the exact same experiences your mum has had! Hotel and park look so beautiful, the details are breathtaking - definitely doing a Disneyland Hotel /Miracosta split stay. Following so I don't miss an update.

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Welcome and thanks for checking out my trip report. After only visiting DLP you're BF will have an amazing time no doubt, in fact you both will!

Just remember to take pictures in the Miracosta and post them here so I can have a look!

Day 2 - finishing up the morning at DisneySea and taking tea.

The plan was to hop back to the hotel so I could have a rest and then return to DisneySea in the afternoon. But first my mum found a camel.

Also I'd forgotten to mention she'd also purchased a mickey hoody with mickey mouse ears, it was super kawaii!



As we were walking through Mediterranean Harbour we stopped from some photos and I also grabbed two FP for the Tower of Terror.

The theming in this area is so immersive. I've been to actual Italy and it felt so much like the real thing.


Ah look, I am still there!





We popped into a shop and saw this.



We actually saw a lot of stuff like this during our time in Disney and it was so cool! I can't believe someone would actually walk round a theme park like this all day!

At the entrance to DisneySea there is this amazing fountain.



The pool around the base has waves that roll back & forth and occasional explosions of water. Its a really nice feature.

In the monorail back we saw these... kawaii!



I had a sleep in bed while my mum decided to take tea in the hotel. She took some photos like a good trip reporter to share.



You may notice the hour glass in the photo, which confused my British tea drinking mum. The waitress explained that when the hourglass emptied this was the perfect brewing time for the tea. Kawaii!



She also got a fruit tart that she said was excellent!



Up next: Day 2 - More Tokyo Disneyland Hotel pictures

For this next post, while I'm having a nap, I'm going to bombard you with photos of the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel.

Ready? Here we go...





Coming up: More hotel pictures

Day 2 - More Tokyo Disneyland Hotel pictures pt2

I'm still sleeping so go ahead and look at some hotel pictures.





*yawn* OK, i'm awake now so next post

Day 2 - Evening in Tokyo DisneySea

I am loving your trip report Disneyland Hotel is beautiful .I hope you are feeling better i remember the awful itching.The first time i had Shingles it was around my stomach .Last time on my back .I would love to stay Disney land hotel but we always have 2 rooms so it may be to expensive.We hope to go back in April for a short visit.

Tanzanite said:

I am loving your trip report Disneyland Hotel is beautiful .I hope you are feeling better i remember the awful itching.The first time i had Shingles it was around my stomach .Last time on my back .I would love to stay Disney land hotel but we always have 2 rooms so it may be to expensive.We hope to go back in April for a short visit.

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Yes, this trip was in November of last year but I wasn't fully recovered until just after christmas. It took so long.

The hotel certainly wasn't cheap but both mum and I saved money on the flight and we'd saved and saved and saved so we could stay in this hotel.

April looks like a lovely time to go. I've hears spring in Japan is lovely.