Toronto to Tokyo - A TR!

[Terapin]

Greetings!

We are a blended family of 7 (plus a niece!) heading to Tokyo May 20-31, 2015. Me (C), the Mr (A), my eldest son (K-17), my daughter (T-15), my youngest son (Ad-8) and Mr's twin girls (Al-8 and O-8). My niece is 15, as well (E).

This is the beginning of our trip report!

We are flying direct from YYZ (Toronto) to NRT (Narita/Tokyo) in the late afternoon of the 20th, and arrive 12 hours later in Narita airport, and with the time change we arrive mid-afternoon on the 21st. Because we are evil (and tall), we are booked in Premium Economy (kinda like business class), and the kids are just behind us in Economy. I'd have loved to book First Class with the amazing sleep pods, but alas, too rich for our blood.

We are staying at three different hotels this trip. Because the rooms in Tokyo are so small and sleep so few people, we are across three rooms. Our first hotel is Tokyo Hilton. We have a double room with a trundle bed in each room booked. Our second hotel is Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, where we have 3 triple rooms. We booked these with DVC points (50 points a night per room, and the room rate was about 48000Y a night- so not a bad use of points in my mind). Our third hotel is Tokyo Bay Hilton (but I may switch this). We needed hotels that could sleep enough people, and also didn't require prepayment yet. The flights were a bundle, and I didn't want to pay for everything this month!

Our plan is loosely:

21- Arrive, check-in, dinner, fall down.
22- Private sightseeing tour (using Backstreet Guides)
23- Tokyo - Harijuku area
24- Tokyo - Akakusa area
25- Bullet train to Kyoto for the day, private tour
26- Disneyland
27- DisneySea
28- DisneySea
29- Tokyo - ?Ueno Zoo/Kidzania/Harbour cruise/Joyopolis (still planning)
30- Tokyo - Edo-Tokyo Museum/open
31- Open morning/Depart for home 1700 flight, arrive 'same' day YYZ

We are still in the planning phases, but those are our basic plans. My daughter is crazy for anime, but the Ghibli museum looks like it will be closed for all of our trip! We are looking forward to toy shopping, food, vending machines, electronic stuff, and of course, Disney!

We are Disney freaks.

My Mr and I work with Disney creatively in publishing (we have Disney books in print currently). We travel to DL and WDW multiple times a year. I own DVC. And we can't wait to visit Tokyo DL! We especially like pins, Duffy, and mugs. We have about 20 Disney mugs on rotation right now. We love Pooh, Stitch, Donald Duck, Grumpy, and Alice especially. We can't wait to shop!

This is a surprise for the kids, to be revealed at my daughter's 15th birthday next week. I'm in full plan mode! New backpacks are bought and I am beginning the massive planning. In 2010 my ex-husband and I took the kids to Spain and a 14 day transatlantic Disney cruise. In 2012 we took the kids from Toronto to California on a 26 day road trip - our turn-around point was Disneyland. I adore planning big trips. The kids visit Disney about every 18-24 months. Yep - we visit about 4:1 that they do. Evil parents on evil business trips ;-) They truly *are* business trips, but we sneak in a little fun too!

That's it for now. Please feel free to post your itinerary suggestions! We want to see the traditional, the cultural places, and the fun neon loud places. All!

 

[planningjollyholiday]

Looking forward to reading along. You have picked a great time to go. We have been twice now in May and the crowds during the week have been very manageable. It will also be "spring voyage" so it will be fun finding all the easter egg characters around the park.

 

[absolut_mandy]

We are doing almost the same trip but a week early! I am leaving YYZ on May 9th and meeting my sister in Tokyo (she lives in the UK so is flying the other way around the world )

I can't wait to read about your trip and see if you find any hidden gems along the way!

Mandy

 

[Terapin]

Thanks guys! Can't wait!

Working on an itinerary for our tour on May 22. They suggested going to a few places that I think we can easily cover on our own (such as Odaiba) so we are going to ask for some tweaking.

 

[westgrove]

Sounds great - I look forward to reading updates and hopefully some trip reports!
Compared with the mass overload of reports to gorge on for WDW and DL I'm itching for each new thread!

 

[Terapin]

Good morning! An interesting development - my sister S may be joining us! She's had a hard couple of years and my mom and I hatched a plan to sponsor her trip because this is a trip she'd never be able to take on her own as a single mom. And being able to go with her daughter is just too cool! I'm just waiting for final word to include her on everything.

My sister is fun-loving and adventurous, and let's be honest, another adult in the trip can only make things a little easier.

I have booked our tour - yay!!!

Here is the itinerary they sent. I think it looks amazing and they captured perfectly what I wanted. The first itinerary was kinda 'meh' and included things we could easily do on our own. I wanted a busy introduction to Tokyo, with some traditional tastes, as well as some more modern places to see. This is what they proposed:

Approximately 1,200 yen/person in train/metro costs. (under 12 years half price)
1) Meet your guide in the lobby of The Hilton Tokyo in Shinjuku at 9am.

2) Welcome to Tokyo! First up today we will visit the peaceful surroundings of the Shinto Meiji Jingu shrine, dedicated to the emperor Meiji, one of the most important characters in Japanese modern history and the emperor from “The Last Samurai” movie! Your guide will walk you up the tree-lined avenue and through the giant torii gates on the approach to the main shrine complex where we will spend some time exploring.

3) Our next destination of the day is the icon of the city, the Tokyo Tower! This is a communications tower which was modelled on the Eiffel tower in Paris and we will take the elevator to the first observatory for amazing views over this famous city skyline. If you are lucky the Noppon brothers may also be there, the fun and friendly tower mascots!
(adults 900 yen, children 500 yen entrance)

4) Moving on your guide will take you to quirky Akihabara – often referred to as ‘electric city’ for the numerous discount electrical stores this district is famous for. Also the centre of the Japanese Anime and Manga culture, your guide will take you to the famous Yodobashi department store for all of your anime and gadget needs!

5) It's time for lunch. There are a number of choices such as shabu-shabu, a bowl of ramen or an Izakaya-style place where you can pick from a number of typical Japanese workers lunches!
(approximately 1,500yen/person)

6) After lunch your guide will take you to Asakusa to have a look at the Buddhist Sensoji temple and then enjoy the fun Nakamise Dori, a great place to buy those quirky souvenirs and try the local senbei, (rice crackers) and ningyoyaki, (sweet bean cakes), that are so famous here. It’s also worth a quick look at the new Kengo Kuma designed building which houses the information office. You will also get a great view across the river to the strangely shaped Asahi HQ building and the Sky Tree rising high above it.

7) Last up today we will go to explore Ginza! This exclusive area of Tokyo has some of the highest land prices in Japan. We can show you around an interesting depachika, (basement food floor) of one of the famous department stores where you can check out the Japanese people's fascination with food and packaging! You then might want to visit the Sony HQ store for the very latest high-tech gadgets, or maybe take a look at the famous Kabuki-za theatre where you can find some really nice hand-made Japanese souvenirs.

8) Guide services end at 5pm in Ginza.

We hope you have enjoyed your day exploring Tokyo with us!

Awesome, right?!? Busy day. This is our first full day in Tokyo, the day after we land. I figure this will give us some orientation to the city, as well as a clue how the subways work, and some historical and cultural context for the remaining days.

We got our rooms booked at Tokyo Disneyland. We received our confirmations in the mail and I was told to bring the paper reservations because under no circumstances would we be allowed to check-in without that paper!

We are in three rooms at Disneyland Hotel, in a Superior Alcove Room. With two beds and an alcove bed, this best suited our needs. We booked the rooms through DVC. It cost us about 45 pts per night per room I think? The cash rate was $500ish so I thought that was pretty ok, and it was nice to have this cost covered by DVC points, and not another outlay for this wickedly expensive trip. I don't even care if it is the "best" use of DVC points, it saved us about $3000, so yay!

My passport expires in June. Japan doesn't require a passport with days beyond the proposed trip but I am going to renew it anyways. I think my littlest also needs a new passport, with the same expiry date issue. I travel for business a fair amount (in Disneyland right now after some meetings yesterday in another part of California), so I need to pick a time when I can be without it for a couple of weeks.

I got the kids all new backpacks. Their school ones are a few years old and are stained and likely smelly. I wash them at Christmas break and summer break, but I wanted something a little nicer, and they can use them as their new school backpacks next year. I figure each kid will carry the following:

-hand sanitizer
-quick change of clothes, just shorts and a tshirt compressed in a ziplock
-hoodie
-kleenex
-whatever souvenirs they buy
-travel pack of wet wipes
-water bottle
-snacks

I've traveled with kids enough to know that these things can make or break an afternoon. Imagine a drink spilled down the shirt, or very sticky hands from an ice cream cone melting. Voila! The bag has the solution! It sounds like a lot but with small sizes of things should be good and reasonable for them to carry.
Well, that is all I have to report for now. And I don't want to have to carry the crap they buy :-D

I also started to get amusing things for the plane ride: Lego mini figures, art pads, coloured pens, scratch art things - really just anything to keep them quiet and occupied for the 12 hour flight. I'll include snacks so we don't end up with a $100 tab of granola bars and Swedish Berries on the flight. I also got them a travel pillow and blanket from the local discount store.

Can you tell I am excited?!? And that I can't wait?!?

 

[Terapin]

Just heard from my sister, SHE'S A GO! Yay!

So that makes us a group of 9. She is blond and 6'0 - she's going to make quite the impression. We are all tall and big-statured people, and with all the kids I imagine will make quite the sight. I'm only 5'10", but not a small woman.

By the way, I have another journal here on the Dis about my running journey. Here is the link: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2761938

Have a great day! Headed off to the parks and breakfast shortly.

 

[JoeFromSeoul]

I see you are DVC members, so no doubt you are familiar with flying. I thought I was as well, then we flew Incheon to Orlando with a couple of stops along the way. That was when I learned my 12 year old was prone to air sickness! It was not even a bumpy flight. She was fine on the shorter legs, but the Narita-Newark leg was a mess. I made my rounds through the cabin apologizing to the poor souls seated outside the latrine she almost made it to as well as the very understanding crew members cleaning up after her. ("No problem, it happens all the time.") On the flight home, I had her wear Sea Bands and take a bonine before we boarded. Thankfully, there was no problem.

 

[Terapin]

We got confirmation on our private tour in Kyoto. Here is the itinerary:


Private Kyoto Tour

Approximately 600 yen/person in train/metro costs.

1) Your guide will meet you at 9.30am outside the tourist info office on the second floor of Kyoto station.

2) Welcome to Kyoto! First up this morning we will take the short train ride and go to explore the

beautiful Fushimi Inari Taisha and its 1000's of tori gates. This is a spectacle that you would not

see in Tokyo and offers a great start to your day in Kyoto!

3) Moving on your guide will next take you to one of Kyoto's most famous and impressive temples, the

UNESCO World Heritage of Kiyomizu-dera. The bonus of having our local guide with you is

immediately apparent as she picks out some of the most important features of the large complex as

well as many of the finer details in what you are seeing.

(entrance 400 yen/person)

4) After a walk down Kiyomizu-zaka we will next visit one of our guides favourite Buddhist temples in

Kyoto called Kennin-ji. This is a beautiful and quiet place which has one best examples of Zen

gardens in the area.

(entrance 500 yen/person)

5) It's time for lunch so we will head to the city and take you to atmospheric Pontocho street where we

can enjoy a traditional Kyoto-style lunch.

(approximately 2,000 yen/person)

6) Finally today we will visit the much loved Nishiki food market. One long street lined with all sorts of

traditional food stores and kitchen supply shops. There is a great buzz here and it's really useful to

go along with your guide who can explain some of their favourite shops and recommend the best

things to purchase or food to try. YUM!

7) Guide services end at 4pm in the market.

(after the tour why not try a green tea ceremony before returning to Tokyo!)

We hope you have enjoyed your day exploring Kyoto with us!

 

[Terapin]

My little one (will be 8) does get motion sickness. We have flown from Toronto to Orlando a few times, and also to California and Spain. He does pretty well with it though - usually able to just use an air sickness bag. We don't have Bonine in Canada, but I will give him Gravol when he's ready to settle down after eating and such. He's a trooper with it.

I need to buy the kids shoes. After wearing winter boots since November I'm not even sure what fits, and their older shoes look pretty beat up. I decided to get Converse, as both the boys and girls can wear them, and they go with dresses, shorts and pants for the kids. I think they are comfortable enough for walking tours and such. Also, they need flip flops for the pool. I've bought a few new outfits for the kids, but they needed them anyways. They just can't wear them until the trip! That way they will have nice clothes for the trip, and I did some summer clothes shopping already! Win!

Other than that, things are going well. Waiting for the Disneyland Tokyo ticket purchasing window to open up. I'm going to check Monday again. We are not going at a crowded time, so hopefully there is no issue getting tickets.

We may also book the bullet train tourist vouchers shortly - saves quite a bit of money on each one, and has discounts for some places in Kyoto and some Kyoto transportation included as a package, so that's a benefit, too. This is who offers them: http://www.japanican.com/en/tour/list/?destcd=M19 I hear picking them up can be tricky, but saving Y500 x 9 people is worth it.

A friend of my partner's has a friend who owns a restaurant in Kyoto so we are likely going to plan to eat there after our tour ends. I don't know the name of it yet (doesn't he know I am a planner?!?)

The count down is on: just about 60 days until our departure.

 

[tiffjoy]

We are headed to Japan next Thursday! Sounds like your plans are coming together. I still feel a little all over the place as there are so many things we want to fit in! We are only spending one day at Disneysea, though, since there is so much else to see for us.

Question for you- you mentioned purchasing your tickets for DLR. The site is in all Japanese and won't translate for me, so I haven't been able to purchase tickets. Do you know of any other way? A travel agency could, but it was for a pretty high fee that just wasn't worth it to me.

 

[Terapin]

Awesome! You must be so excited!

This is the site I am using for tickets: http://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/ticket/
Hope that helps!

 

[Terapin]

I just ordered 3A/3J/3K tickets. Ouch. But cool that it's done! Woot!!! Thanks for reminding me. My window just opened yesterday, so glad to get it done. Wouldn't want to be shut out as we are staying onsite.

Down to just needing some earbuds for the plane (dollar store?), and new shoes for everyone for the trip.

 

[tiffjoy]

Thank you!!! I'm going to order on Monday when I can print out at work. I'm happy we won't have to wait in line now!

 

[tiffjoy]

My little one (will be 8) does get motion sickness. We have flown from Toronto to Orlando a few times, and also to California and Spain. He does pretty well with it though - usually able to just use an air sickness bag. We don't have Bonine in Canada, but I will give him Gravol when he's ready to settle down after eating and such. He's a trooper with it.

I need to buy the kids shoes. After wearing winter boots since November I'm not even sure what fits, and their older shoes look pretty beat up. I decided to get Converse, as both the boys and girls can wear them, and they go with dresses, shorts and pants for the kids. I think they are comfortable enough for walking tours and such. Also, they need flip flops for the pool. I've bought a few new outfits for the kids, but they needed them anyways. They just can't wear them until the trip! That way they will have nice clothes for the trip, and I did some summer clothes shopping already! Win!

Other than that, things are going well. Waiting for the Disneyland Tokyo ticket purchasing window to open up. I'm going to check Monday again. We are not going at a crowded time, so hopefully there is no issue getting tickets.

We may also book the bullet train tourist vouchers shortly - saves quite a bit of money on each one, and has discounts for some places in Kyoto and some Kyoto transportation included as a package, so that's a benefit, too. This is who offers them: http://www.japanican.com/en/tour/list/?destcd=M19 I hear picking them up can be tricky, but saving Y500 x 9 people is worth it.

A friend of my partner's has a friend who owns a restaurant in Kyoto so we are likely going to plan to eat there after our tour ends. I don't know the name of it yet (doesn't he know I am a planner?!?)

The count down is on: just about 60 days until our departure.

Have you looked into the JR rail pass? We are going more places than you, but it usually ends up being a really good value. You have to purchase before you leave for Japan.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361.html

 

[Terapin]

Yes - thank you! Just trying to decide if we will get enough use from it if we decide to use the faster bullet train. I know it covers the slower trains, and lots of other trains, too. Still deciding on that one.

 

[Terapin]

Well today was the grand packing day! I managed to pack all 5 kids today which was a feat, considering we needed enough outfits for all 11 days as I am not sure what the laundry facilities will be like, if there are any, in the hotels we are staying at.

I packed the three eight-year olds' stuff into large ziplock bags, with one bag per outfit. This should make mornings easier, and keep the shared suitcases neat. We surprised the kids with new iPods, and so spent this morning getting them set up. My older kids have iPhones, but I don't want them to bring them in the case that they accidentally start roaming. My daughter is not tech savvy and racked up a $1000 bill a few months back going over her data, and my son did the same when he forgot to switch back on his wifi, so i am not leaving that to their responsibility.

Tonight is packing the carry-ons and toiletry bags. Tomorrow is my clothes. I have my purse packed and ready to go, and got out our yen. I've also been printing out everything, more than I would usually do, because of my language barrier. I've printed out a map that shows where to pick up the Airport Limousine Bus in our arrival terminal - it will feel like 3am to my body when we land and I thought, "better safe than sorry!" We decided not to risk the subway as it involves a lot of walking and transferring platforms and I thought that was a recipe for disaster just upon arrival. The bus is slower but much less complicated, and drops us at our hotel door.

One thing I found interesting booking hotels is that children over 6 are considered adults for hotels. Some hotels would let the child stay in the room for free if they needed no bedding, but otherwise there was a charge. And the inclusive breakfast is only included for adults. So we had to change our reservations to 3 adults in all 3 rooms. When we used the hotel chain's website it asked for the ages of the children, but it didn't alert me to children over 6 being considered adults, and kept them at the free kids' rates, which was an error.

Our first 5 nights are being spent at the Tokyo Hilton. We have 3 King rooms with a request for trundle beds. I sure hope those requests get given! It was our only option for a room with 3 people in it. Much of the city didn't have rooms that accommodated three persons, unless we wanted more traditional rooms with tatami mats. I would normally go for that, but at 5 months pregnant I think I will not regret a regular mattress and not getting off the floor for thrice-nightly bathroom trips. Our second hotel is the Disneyland Hotel where we have three superior alcove rooms, which have enough beds for everyone. And our last few nights are at Hilton Tokyo Bay in a Super Fun Happy room with three beds. Yay! I didn't want to prepay our rooms, and the Hilton allowed payment at check-in in addition to having rooms large enough for us (kind of).

So we are four sleeps away! Have our house sitter booked, have arrangements for our three dogs to be cared for in-house (they are excellent watch dogs!), and are well on track for things being just a few days away!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

You know, you can remove the SIM card from the iPhones. No chance of roaming charges and you can still use wifi. That would have been a lot cheaper than buying iPods.

Have fun.

 

[Terapin]

Thanks! Yep- I knew that. But only 2 of the 5 kids had iPhones. We got the kids iPods to function as cameras, to be able to text their other parent (we are a blended family) and to store music and apps for the plane. The older kids could have done without them, but it was fun to buy for everyone

 

[jessiegirl84]

Hope you have an amazing trip! My husband and I just got back from a 3 week trip around Japan, if there are any last minute questions let me know! Your plan looks really great, you are going to love Tokyo Disney! I think it's now my fav park of all