Japan...Tokyo only?

[aussie shaz]

My son has told me that he really wants to go to Japan. His school offers lots of overseas trips and exchanges, but I don't think Japan is one of them.

So, what to do....maybe make it one of our family holidays.

We are a family of 4 with 2 boys who would be about 13 and 15 when we travel (2016). The eldest is into electronics, computer games, manga, techie stuff.

My question is, do you think it would be worth going just to Tokyo, and not seeing any more of Japan. I know there's so much to see, but I'm just not keen on moving around a lot, especially catching trains etc. To give you an idea, we stayed 15 nights in Anaheim and loved it.

We would obviously do both Disney parks (either 2 or 3 day pass). I've looked at lots of stuff that can be done in Tokyo, so I don't think we'd run out of things to do. Could you visit Japan and not see anything but Tokyo area? Is there any culture that we could visit, such as temples etc, but close to Tokyo.

Also, what area would you stay in in Tokyo. Would you split your stay in central Tokyo and Disneyland area, or just do one or the other and travel to wherever you were going?

We would also need to know if its possible to get a room for the 4 of us, or 2 rooms for around the $300 mark. Any suggestions?

Also, cost of food etc. is is comparable to Australia, cheaper, more expensive.

Would love any input at all to help me make up my mind.

Thanks

 

[Luisa]

I guess it depends on how long you are going for. My own experience was that, yes, I had plenty to fill in my days in Tokyo, but I was only there a week as I only had a shorter time off work. If I'd been able to stay longer I would have split my trip and visited at least Kyoto as well. Disney and Studio Ghibli took up three days alone. Then there was all the temples, markets, the Imperial Palace etc etc, lots to see and do. I didn't worry about splitting where I stayed as the station right by my hotel in the city was on the same train line as the Disney stop and only a 15 minute journey.

 

[aussie shaz]

Thanks for the reply. I guess that's part of my dilema. If we were to go for longer than a week, I think we'd have to go in school holidays. If we kept it to a week, we could probably go outside school holidays. I'm sure the price of flights would be a lot more in school holidays too.
Where did you stay, and was it a reasonable price. We would need a room to fit 4, or 2 rooms, which really brings the cost up.
Did you feel that you missed out by not seeing anywhere else?

 

[FireflyFi]

My son has told me that he really wants to go to Japan. His school offers lots of overseas trips and exchanges, but I don't think Japan is one of them.

So, what to do....maybe make it one of our family holidays.

We are a family of 4 with 2 boys who would be about 13 and 15 when we travel (2016). The eldest is into electronics, computer games, manga, techie stuff.

My question is, do you think it would be worth going just to Tokyo, and not seeing any more of Japan. I know there's so much to see, but I'm just not keen on moving around a lot, especially catching trains etc. To give you an idea, we stayed 15 nights in Anaheim and loved it.

We would obviously do both Disney parks (either 2 or 3 day pass). I've looked at lots of stuff that can be done in Tokyo, so I don't think we'd run out of things to do. Could you visit Japan and not see anything but Tokyo area? Is there any culture that we could visit, such as temples etc, but close to Tokyo.

Also, what area would you stay in in Tokyo. Would you split your stay in central Tokyo and Disneyland area, or just do one or the other and travel to wherever you were going?

We would also need to know if its possible to get a room for the 4 of us, or 2 rooms for around the $300 mark. Any suggestions?

Also, cost of food etc. is is comparable to Australia, cheaper, more expensive.

Would love any input at all to help me make up my mind.

Thanks

I'm sure your boys would have a great time in Japan! I don't think going just for a week would be an issue. I went for just over two, one in Osaka, one in Tokyo and it was fine. Of course, I could have done a lot more, but I also didn't think it was too short. And the flight is pretty quick, depending on where you're coming from.

I did prefer Osaka - Tokyo is very busy and a little claustrophobic. I also got out of the city a lot more in Osaka, but it's easy to do the same in Tokyo. There are plenty of gardens and parks and shrines to see in the city, and also places like Fuji Five Lakes out a bit, which I didn't get to but is on my list for next time!

As for accommodation, I can't comment on room size, but I'd definitely recommend you stay on site while at Disney as the monorail will get you from hotel to park within minutes and runs every 3-6 minutes. Up to you whether you want to pay reasonable partner hotel or extortionate Disney hotel prices and when it comes to switching hotels, I did that three times while in Tokyo as Disney was in the middle of my stay (make sure you plan your Disney days for a weekday!) and I took advantage of staying in different areas (Ikebukuro for a couple of nights and then Ueno for the last few).

And food can be had very, very cheap or very expensive depending on what and where. I had $40 fajitas at Hard Rock Cafe at Universal (that were pretty damn good) one night for dinner, and then $4 sandwiches (that were amazing) from the convenience stores other nights. Food at Disney was pretty reasonable compared to what we'd get charged here in a captured market (sport events, etc).

Happy to answer any other questions you may have if you want to research, the best website is Japan Guide (you should be able to find it easily on google).

 

[Luisa]

Thanks for the reply. I guess that's part of my dilema. If we were to go for longer than a week, I think we'd have to go in school holidays. If we kept it to a week, we could probably go outside school holidays. I'm sure the price of flights would be a lot more in school holidays too. Where did you stay, and was it a reasonable price. We would need a room to fit 4, or 2 rooms, which really brings the cost up. Did you feel that you missed out by not seeing anywhere else?

I guess that yes, I did feel I missed out not seeing anything else but that shouldn't take away from the fact I had a total blast just seeing Tokyo! Plus I'm planning to go back at some point in the next year or two.
I've gone completely blank on the name of the hotel I stayed at but it was what they call a business hotel- more suited to singles or couples as the rooms are quite compact. I'm sure the station it was near was Kojimachi. I travel solo so tend to choose better value hotels so it wouldn't have been more than about $130 a night and you could pay about $15 extra a day for a breakfast buffet, there was also free wifi. For its location I thought it was good value and it was a clean, quiet hotel and the staff were lovely and most spoke fair English which made it easier with my poor Japanese!
My highest recommendation (aside from Disney) is to visit Studio Ghibli, you can buy tickets at Lawson but it's easier to buy them before you leave as the ticket machines are all in Japanese. Even if you don't know the films well it's a fascinating place.

 

[BecBennett]

There is definitely enough to keep you occupied in Tokyo. Especially if 3 of your days will be at Disney. However we went during the July school holidays and got a sale fare with Qantas for $1000 each return. If you sign up to the Jetstar emails i can guarantee you'll find flights much cheaper than that for the same time.

With meals, if you like Japanese food you can get amazing meals for very little money. Our favourite meal in Tokyo was in this tiny little place in an alley. We each had a bowl of noodles and a side of something (I had Teriyaki chicken, can't remember what DH had) and it cost us about $20 for the lot. If you don't like Japanese food and go to steak houses or places like TGIF at Disney then it can be very expensive.

I don't think it's necessary to stay at Maihama for your Disney part of the trip. Yes you'll be close, but i it really doesn't take that long to get there from anywhere. Plus it's considered really rude to take your luggage with you on public transport so if you change your hotel you should look into how you would get your luggage to the next hotel - there are services that do this. Actually thinking about this now, I can't remember how we did it...

We stayed at Shinjuku, which was awesome, and we'd probably stay there again. It's very central to everything and as it's a main train station pretty much everywhere is a direct train ride away. Let me check the name of our hotel. Highly recommended.

 

[BecBennett]

It was the Century Southern Tower in Shinjuku - like I said, highly recommended.

Having said everything above - if you can do more time definitely see more of Japan. We spent a total of 2 weeks over there, and while we spent most of our time in Tokyo, we also spent a few days at Kyoto, and from there we were able to do day trips to Osaka and Nara.

I LOVED Nara! If/when we go again in going to schedule a few days in Nara at the end of the trip as a wind down destination.

Here's my TR - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2938962 if you want to read what we did.

Oh and by the way, if you haven't looked into it yet, TDR's ticketing system is stupid. For the first 2 days of the ticket it can not be used as a park hopper and you must indicate when buying the tickets which Park you'll be going into on which days. Day 3 and 4 can be Park hoppers. After that if you want more days you either buy an annual pass or stay back at day one.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

If you want temples and an alternative to the craziness of Tokyo but want to stay in Tokyo for the week a day trip to Kamakura - less than one hour away is also a nice day trip with lots of temples, woods and smaller town feel. The train system really is easy to use. (Note I haven't been there - our 2 week trip was split between 3 locations - Kyoto, Kanazawa and Tokyo but have friends who have and its on my must-see next visit list). Inokashira park which Studio Ghibli is in is said to be very pretty and nice to spend time in and we found the woods and Yoyogi Park around the Meiji Shrine also very peaceful and a contrast to the craziness of places like Shinjuku. Loved Japan by the way and agree- eat local noodles, rice, etc-not western pizza (very dear) or burgers and the food is cheap. WAMUMOF4 has a trip report you might find useful too-posted in Other Lands- Tokyo Disneyland called something like 3 Teens in Tokyo-we survived.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Oh and I second Nara was our favourite spot (outside of Kyoto), other than Kanazawa but that is off the beaten track and no-one would normally go there.

 

[battymum]

Maybe that was my TR you were thinking of Wendy !

links is in my signature !


But for the OP we are a family of five and stayed at the Sheraton Tokyo bay - we had one room for five of us - it was huge and it's a great location for Disney - check the website regularly prices fluctuate wildly - I think we ended up paying about $200 per night - but I would consider split stay - there is nothing else in the area - we never saw Tokyo at night - which would be pretty impressive.

 

[aussie shaz]

Thanks everyone. My mind keeps flitting from, Yep we'll definately do it, to Nope, won't work! There's just so much information, and I'm not sure if its just too difficult.
I'll keep it in mind, and think about it. We've got heaps of time to decide.

 

[battymum]

Just another note - we went in the April school holidays and airfare was reasonable - we flew qantas for $998 return per person - I don't think it's a destination that is in high demand over school holiday periods such as LA or Hawaii.

Everything I read put the last two weeks of April as the best time to travel.

And it was , weather was gorgeous early spring - chilly in the morning but lovely through the day, crowds were low in the Disney parks - make sure to go through the week, most rides were pretty much walk on.

I would love to go back - Jetstar had some great prices recently - and I priced it for school hols -

I think it would be a shame not to go all that way and not spend a bit longer and see a little bit more.

 

[Fairy Floss]

I picked up jetstar on sale during next school holidays around $600 return
Keep your eyes open for sales
We'll be staying @ Sheraton

 

[aussie shaz]

Swaying back towards 'What the heck, let's go'!

I was thinking April school holidays. We'll be in Bali January 2015, and didnt want to wait 20 months until September 2016 holidays. 15 months will be hard enough.

If I could get airfares for $600 return, I'd be more than happy. I was looking at Jetstar, as they're the only ones who fly direct from Melbourne I think. Not keen on Jetstar, but don't like doing stopovers. Looked at some fares for $1100 each. It's just so hard when we paid that to LA. but then again, we did pay that for our trip to Bali in July, so I guess I could do Japan, especially if their airfares aren't horrendous during school holidays.

I also looked at the Sheraton Tokyo Bay, but looked like $500+ per night. $200 for 5 sounds amazing. I'm just getting so many conflicting prices, it's hard to know if it would be within budget when comparing it to say Disneyland again.

My other concern is food. I'm a really plain eater and so are the kids. I like meat and veg etc. The only seafood Ill eat is calamari or flake from the fish and chip shop! I know....so boring. So, that being said, we will be eating western all the way. We are not big restaurant eaters and a night out for us would be taking the kids to the pub, or TGIF etc. Are western meals a lot more expensive, and are they readily available? Our biggest problems on holidays are finding somewhere we all agree to eat. (That's why we've booked Club Med Bali!) Reading Becs TR, I could just imagine us walking for hours trying to find somewhere to eat. I do like the idea of planning a meal and eating before we become famished.

Anyway, there's just so much to consider. I'll keep reading everyone's TR's and see where I end up. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to write their trip reports and answer my questions

 

[FireflyFi]

Are western meals a lot more expensive, and are they readily available?

Yes and no. Another example of mine was a lunch at the hotel I was staying at in Osaka where a bowl of freshly made carbonara cost about $8. It wasn't a huge bowl, but big enough to be satisfying. I also bought a hot chocolate, which came in a teacup and cost the same amount!

To avoid wasting time looking for food, head to the major train stations or department stores. The train stations all have food and shopping surrounding it, and the department stores will have dedicated floors of food courts (so I'd recommend the department stores more as you could get lost in the maze of train stations and subways). And there will be western food of some variety in there.

And don't be afraid of all Japanese food - something like Pepper Lunch would be fine if you like meat and veg. Or teppanyaki in general. And the best part is, almost every cafe or restaurant will have at least pictures of the food they serve, and most will have plastic food displays. And don't forget the convenience stores in a pinch. They're not like the 7/11s here, they're really much more diverse.

 

[battymum]

I think we ate more burgers and fries in Japan than we ever have. We have the same problem of finding something that suits everyone . Admittedly it was stressful only because I like to eat a little more adventurously and get frustrated with them.

We found our best option was the food court at the Ikspieri - I would give everyone 1000¥ and they would get what they want. There was some great options there --although it was crowded during peak meal times so hard to find a table for a family.
There are plenty of burgers and fries joints throughout the city

 

[battymum]

Oh and just looking at my notes - we paid $1233 - that's in $A - for 8nights at the sheraton in a four bed room - 2 doubles - 2singles. Room was amazing - top floor with a view over Tokyo bay. Exchange was roughly 95¥ per $. But i know I had to keep checking and it fluctuated - a lot. At one point I priced each day individually and found that one of the days in the middle had spiked but either side had gone down - I was able to keep that day at the price I had booked but change the others to a lower rate - which meant I had three separate bookings - i confirmed with them and made sure they weren't going to make us move rooms .

As for the cost of airfare - it's still a ten hour flight without the competition of the SYD -LAX route .

Going to Tokyo only - would be ok - the Disney parks are beautiful!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

We grabbed a Jetstar Friday frenzy airfare in 2012 but it was only from select ports hence from the Gold Coast for us. Ended up buying Business Class over for $579 which gave us free luggage, meals etc (day time flight) and back via Cairns (overnight flight) for $450 plus we paid extra for a bag $33 pp. We could have done it for around $850 return at the time I think if we hadn't upgraded plus whatever we'd needed for bags.

 

[aussie shaz]

Ohhh. Thank you everyone. You're kind of making me excited that it might be a possibility.
Thanks BattyMum about the hotels changing in price. As its so far away, I just picked random dates, maybe even just one day, so I might have a bit more of a look. That room would be perfect for us.
I'm a bit excited now!

 

[BecBennett]

We found our best option was the food court at the Ikspieri - I would give everyone 1000¥ and they would get what they want. There was some great options there --although it was crowded during peak meal times so hard to find a table for a family.

I loved Ikspiari! However I definitely didn't see any tables or chairs what so ever!

ETA - No wait, I'm getting Ikspiari misxed up with Isetan - Plenty of tables and chairs and everything at Ikspiari - it was a beautiful place, could have probably spent a whole day there if I had more money for shopping.

Isetan definitely had less western options for meals, and no seating... It was sort of just like a huge deli, but with every imaginable Japanese food.