hasabigrock
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2012
We've been going to the Disney parks in the US for decades now and we feel that we can successfully navigate the parks and avoid long lines, and enjoy the best experiences...and in short beat the crowds.
The "Lord of the Flies" aspect to our Disney vacations always appealed to me the most while the rest of the family enjoyed the theming, I enjoyed pitting myself against the hoard, competing for a finite amount of fun.
When we were planning our trip to Tokyo I thought we would probably be bested since many of the Tokyo attendees are fanatical, local, annual pass-holders and know their parks inside and out. While all this is true we found that by tweaking our Disney park style just a bit that we had a very successful trip.
First thing, we defined our goal. Normally we want to hit our favorite rides over and over, but given we won't be going to Tokyo often we wanted to hit everything.
As expected the Japanese wake up early and are not afraid to queue up for what they want. The best flavored popcorn had lines of 60+ people. The sausage buns at DisneySea had 150 people in line at opening. And of course there were people lined up at the turnstiles an hour before the park opened.
We went to Disneyland Tokyo (the Magic Kingdom part) 2 mornings. As hotel guests they let you into a roped off section of the turnstiles. To get in your need to present a slip of paper given to you buy your hotel (1 paper, per person, per day). Then you wait and wait. The Japanaese are very orderly and lay out their tarps and sit nicely until the characters show up. About 10-15 minutes before the park opens the characters come out and dance around and people go nuts for this. They all stand up and thrust their children forward. In most cases the kids retreat back before the turnstiles open.
Cast members are very well trained and handle the crowds well.
At Disneyland we found that the turnstiles to the right of the little wall (you'll see it) are best. First they have shade in the morning, plus they have a straight shot into the park vs. the big round flower bed that is in the middle. Also we saw several times the line grow long in the middle and no one went to the right. On our last day I was disappointed that we got to the park only 20 minutes before early entry, but we found that no one was lined up on the right turnstiles.
Lesson here is that the Japanese are really good at their park, but many of the hotel guests are not.
When Disneyland does open only one ride is open, Buzz lightyear. Once in the park, EVERYONE, is going to buzz so you do want to be first through the turnstyle.
The cast members arrange themselves in a pattern that makes it hard to run in a straight line and they all hold signs saying walk. We power walked our way through the World Bazzar and then hung a right past Monsters and Space Mountain. Here we could run. People said stop, but were not convincing. We hugged the left side for the shortest route (and shade). Each day we were first to ride. On our last day we were fast enough that we rode twice before the rest of the park opens.
Now, once you are done with Buzz walk in the direction of Space Mountain and line up for the run to Pooh. Everyone goes to Pooh. It is crazy popular with the Japanese. If you go to ANY other ride, you will go unchallenged. On our first day, after the park officially opened we ran to the Pooh Fast pass, which will be on your left and easy to spot. We got our fastpasses, then hopped in line to ride Pooh.
Note, fast passes in Japan are the old school versions like what they had in Disenyworld, except cast members are more strict about the return window.
At DisneySea it is much of the same concept. Both DisneySea and Disenyland let hotel guests in 15 minutes early, each day. At DisneySea Midway Mania and Tower of Terror are open early. Everyone, EVERYONE goes to Midway Mania. Many, MANY get in line for a fastpass even though they have to wait for the park to open. On our 2nd day to DisneySea we went to Tower of Terror first instead of Midway Mania and we had to wait for 5 minutes, then rode a partially full car. Seems everyone goes to Midway Mania and then to Tower of Terror. Likewise about an hour after park opening people flood the fastpass line for Journey. If you skip Midway Mania on your 2nd day you'll be ahead of the crowd surge for a good 2 hours.
Most people seem to do:
Swipe Midway Mania and/or Ride Midway Mania,
then ride Tower of Terror,
then swipe and ride Journey to Imagination
then the crowd seems to breakup but head over towards the Indiana Jones themed rides.
Good luck and stay ahead of the crowd.
The "Lord of the Flies" aspect to our Disney vacations always appealed to me the most while the rest of the family enjoyed the theming, I enjoyed pitting myself against the hoard, competing for a finite amount of fun.
When we were planning our trip to Tokyo I thought we would probably be bested since many of the Tokyo attendees are fanatical, local, annual pass-holders and know their parks inside and out. While all this is true we found that by tweaking our Disney park style just a bit that we had a very successful trip.
First thing, we defined our goal. Normally we want to hit our favorite rides over and over, but given we won't be going to Tokyo often we wanted to hit everything.
As expected the Japanese wake up early and are not afraid to queue up for what they want. The best flavored popcorn had lines of 60+ people. The sausage buns at DisneySea had 150 people in line at opening. And of course there were people lined up at the turnstiles an hour before the park opened.
We went to Disneyland Tokyo (the Magic Kingdom part) 2 mornings. As hotel guests they let you into a roped off section of the turnstiles. To get in your need to present a slip of paper given to you buy your hotel (1 paper, per person, per day). Then you wait and wait. The Japanaese are very orderly and lay out their tarps and sit nicely until the characters show up. About 10-15 minutes before the park opens the characters come out and dance around and people go nuts for this. They all stand up and thrust their children forward. In most cases the kids retreat back before the turnstiles open.
Cast members are very well trained and handle the crowds well.
At Disneyland we found that the turnstiles to the right of the little wall (you'll see it) are best. First they have shade in the morning, plus they have a straight shot into the park vs. the big round flower bed that is in the middle. Also we saw several times the line grow long in the middle and no one went to the right. On our last day I was disappointed that we got to the park only 20 minutes before early entry, but we found that no one was lined up on the right turnstiles.
Lesson here is that the Japanese are really good at their park, but many of the hotel guests are not.
When Disneyland does open only one ride is open, Buzz lightyear. Once in the park, EVERYONE, is going to buzz so you do want to be first through the turnstyle.
The cast members arrange themselves in a pattern that makes it hard to run in a straight line and they all hold signs saying walk. We power walked our way through the World Bazzar and then hung a right past Monsters and Space Mountain. Here we could run. People said stop, but were not convincing. We hugged the left side for the shortest route (and shade). Each day we were first to ride. On our last day we were fast enough that we rode twice before the rest of the park opens.
Now, once you are done with Buzz walk in the direction of Space Mountain and line up for the run to Pooh. Everyone goes to Pooh. It is crazy popular with the Japanese. If you go to ANY other ride, you will go unchallenged. On our first day, after the park officially opened we ran to the Pooh Fast pass, which will be on your left and easy to spot. We got our fastpasses, then hopped in line to ride Pooh.
Note, fast passes in Japan are the old school versions like what they had in Disenyworld, except cast members are more strict about the return window.
At DisneySea it is much of the same concept. Both DisneySea and Disenyland let hotel guests in 15 minutes early, each day. At DisneySea Midway Mania and Tower of Terror are open early. Everyone, EVERYONE goes to Midway Mania. Many, MANY get in line for a fastpass even though they have to wait for the park to open. On our 2nd day to DisneySea we went to Tower of Terror first instead of Midway Mania and we had to wait for 5 minutes, then rode a partially full car. Seems everyone goes to Midway Mania and then to Tower of Terror. Likewise about an hour after park opening people flood the fastpass line for Journey. If you skip Midway Mania on your 2nd day you'll be ahead of the crowd surge for a good 2 hours.
Most people seem to do:
Swipe Midway Mania and/or Ride Midway Mania,
then ride Tower of Terror,
then swipe and ride Journey to Imagination
then the crowd seems to breakup but head over towards the Indiana Jones themed rides.
Good luck and stay ahead of the crowd.
