Need Help on a possible trip to Tokyo

[lovintheland]

Hi all,

I need some advice please from my lovely Dis friends. Jetstar has amazing deal at the moment on flights to Japan. DD finishes highschool next month and doesn't want to go to Schoolies Week (smart Girl), I have had a thought that I could take her to Tokyo Disney with these cheap flights. I'm stressing out because this would need to be a cheap trip and I can't seem to find cheapish accomodation near Disney. I also don't know what other touristy things we could do on our quick trip. Is anyone able to help with accomodation ideas, or any ideas really. I need to book by tomorrow night if I'm going to and I'm excited about the prospect of Disney again, but scared about the whole foreign language thing.

 

[queenie82]

I'm not sure you could pay me to go to Tokyo at the moment...
But in case it helps


http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2458888


We didn't do Tokyo on a 'budget' because it was such a short timeframe to contort a 6 stop round the world trip....and we didn't have much time here...
Plus...
The yen was 1:1 at the time of booking
Sadly it went to about 60 I think...

I don't remember what I say but within Tokyo itself the language was FINE. No probs.
It was at Tokyo Disney good luck finding people who speak English

You sure have one smart girl though in not wanting to do schoolies

 

[Sugarglider]

Japan is one of my favourite destinations and TDL is wonderful. However I would not use Cheap and Tokyo in the same sentence!

the Disney hotels are enormously expensively - last time i looked the cheapest room was $400/night. the Good Neighbour hotels start at about $250 + depending on your dates.

another option is to stay in Tokyo and catch the train out. You will easily get a room under $200/night in the city. Stay near the Tokyo JR Station as it is the start of the line that goes out to Maihama and TDL - about 20 minute ride.

Princess is correct about language - I spent $$$s and months on private language tutoring to find that the Japanese took one look at me and only spoke english! everything is dual language labelled. Only going out into the countryside was a problem. ATMs/ trains etc all have an english button.

the Yen is quite strong at the moment which adds to the price. Parity is about 100 to 1 AUD and it is about 80 - 85 at the moment. so food etc will seem more expensive - but there are plenty of cheap noodle places!!

Have a look at tripadvisor to check hotels - have a look for the main JR rail circle line that circles the whole city and look for Tokyo Station on it - east on a compass - you'll see and trip advisor has a map function that can show you the hotels local to that point.

I have seen many say that to stay cheap they try the hotels in Urayasu that is only 1 station away and apparently cheap and basic.

Enjoy - I LOVE tdl and tokyo!

 

[CairnsGirl]

Long time lurker here, but I have been to Japan many years ago.

Don't worry to much about the language. I only new a few Japanese words but traveled through Japan fine.

The railway stations have both Japanese and English signs and the tickets are easy to work out.

We stayed in Shinjuku and it was only about 40 mins to Disneyland on the train. We only spent a day there as this was in 1999 and before fastpass or Disneysea. The crowds were insane!

My daughter went to Disneysea a couple of years back and really loved it. I hope to get back there some day, especially with all the cheap air deals.

 

[lovintheland]

Thanks to both of you for your quick reply. I was beginning to realise that a buget trip is not really possible and will probably make this decision for me. Queenie, are you referring to earthquake in your reason for not going there atm????

 

[queenie82]

The whole Nuclear situation...
With the national obsession with sport it isn't in the news anymore...but this is a very serious situation.
I'm just so glad I've already been to TDL.

The train line is very good in Tokyo but I must say the long days made me ever so glad we were staying on site.
I wonder if they are offering any promotions as the tourist numbers would be much lower? Trouble is they were only just starting to advertise in Oz when this all happened. So it may just be aimed at domestic...

 

[Luisa]

Check out expedia for a hotel. I'm heading over in Nov for my first trip, got a great deal on a JAL flight, and found excellent hotel deals on expedia. I've booked the Tokyo Green Palace $620 for 8 nights and it's minutes walk from 2 stations. Expedia seem to have a lot of 40% off deals and if you google expedia discount codes you can usually find one that will work for another 10% off. For touristy things expedia also has half and full day tours that look good.
Oh, and as for radiation, I've been told there is more in Sydney than Tokyo.

 

[shushh]

The previous posters have given you great info already that I mostly concur with. Japan isn't cheap! However, if there is only the 2 of you, there are always deals that can be found. You don't have to worry about language either, the Japanese will always bend over backywards to help even if they can't communicate with you with spoken language. I LOVE Japan, have been there several times. Love the people, the culture, the food and the shopping!

I am, however, with Queenie, on not going to Japan for the time being. I generally quite a relaxed traveller and would go to most places with few worries. I am not worried about immediate irradiation in the area post earthquake but what I am unsure about is how much radiation has seeped into the environment and hence into the food chain. They have increased the "normal" radiation levels 100-fold compared to the "old" normal. It is also very hard to find information about it. I suppose, the medic in me worries about the possible effects this may have on a growing child, thyroid problems, cancers, effects on the reproductive system. Our trip next year was meant to be to Japan, but after long and in depth discussions with DH, we have decided to give it a miss until more accurate information is available.

 

[lovintheland]

Thanks so much to all of you! We have now decided on Fiji instead. Have never been there either, hope it's ok

 

[queenie82]

Thanks for your rational (as always) explanation Shushh.
It's not irradiation really for me...but potential effects long term on reproductivity and so on through the water and food. The top hotels in Hong Kong immediately stopped importing tuna from Japan because of concerns.