Will be in Japan for Christmas!!!! HELP please!!!

[isabellea]

Speaking of, there was just a post on Tokyo Disney's Christmas Events on the Disney Parks Blog.

Thank you for the link. One thing on my Disney bucket list was to see WDW during the Holidays. TDR will have to do for now and the descriptions sound great!

 

[Royal Consort]

I'm glad everyone is being sensible and looking to visit mid week before Xmas. I am, however, completely ridiculous and will be spending Xmas eve and day at Tokyo Disney Resort including the following weekend in the full knowledge it's going to be intensive.

 

[CharmedCake]

This website has a lot of useful information about Tokyo Disney, and links to many useful tips (hint they have found some of the best snacks there already, so that you don't have to waste time figuring out which ones you want).
I would heavily endorse while in your Japan, not to just visit one or two temples but a variety, even if it's small local ones, there all have differences and are quite interesting.
http://www.disneytouristblog.com/tokyo-disney-trip-planning-guide/

 

[Happy_Haunt999]

Thank you for your advices. The weather is not something we worry too much. We live in Canada so we're used to the cold and 10-13C during the day is not bad. In fact, I just bought some fleece-lined leggings and nice duvet fall jackets for the girls with our trip in mind. I would have preferred a trip in the Spring but free plane tickets are hard to say no to, even if that means we'll be there in December. Planning on leaving Japan Dec 23 for S. Korea to return home on Dec. 26 so we won't be affected by the New Year celebrations.

I am debating about visiting Osaka and Hiroshima... Any interesting things to see or visit?

I added now follow your page on Facebook! Will have to look at those albums more carefully when I will have more time! My name is Isabelle Angers in case I comment!

I LOVE Osaka! I cannot emphasize that more lol! The castle is beautiful and anyone of any age can appreciate it. I love the Temple as a PP has mentioned and the Tennoji Zoo is also a good place that your kids may enjoy. http://www.tenzoo.jp/english/tennnouji.html
(There is an official website, but it is only available in Japanese).

A wonderful hotel which I've have stayed many times and has beautiful views of the city:
Rihga Royal Hotel Osaka 5-3-68 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-0005 Japan Phone: +81 6-6448-1121 Fax: +81 6-6448-4414 Web: http://www.rihga.com/osaka/

I hope you and your family have a wonderful visit to Japan, it is one of my favorite places in the world!

Have some authentic Ramen, Panda March cookies, and Green Tea Kit Kats for me while you're there! They are the best!

 

[isabellea]

I LOVE Osaka! I cannot emphasize that more lol! The castle is beautiful and anyone of any age can appreciate it. I love the Temple as a PP has mentioned and the Tennoji Zoo is also a good place that your kids may enjoy. http://www.tenzoo.jp/english/tennnouji.html
(There is an official website, but it is only available in Japanese).

A wonderful hotel which I've have stayed many times and has beautiful views of the city:
Rihga Royal Hotel Osaka 5-3-68 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-0005 Japan Phone: +81 6-6448-1121 Fax: +81 6-6448-4414 Web: http://www.rihga.com/osaka/

I hope you and your family have a wonderful visit to Japan, it is one of my favorite places in the world!

Have some authentic Ramen, Panda March cookies, and Green Tea Kit Kats for me while you're there! They are the best!

Growing up my sister was crazy about Ramen but I never tried. Will make sure I do this time. We have Panda March cookies here in Montreal but maybe they will have flavours we don't have... As for green tea kit kat, that sounds interesting. Will look for them!

How far from Kyoto is Osaka by train? Is it better staying in Osaka or Kyoto for that leg of the trip?

 

[Happy_Haunt999]

Growing up my sister was crazy about Ramen but I never tried. Will make sure I do this time. We have Panda March cookies here in Montreal but maybe they will have flavours we don't have... As for green tea kit kat, that sounds interesting. Will look for them!

How far from Kyoto is Osaka by train? Is it better staying in Osaka or Kyoto for that leg of the trip?

This is not the Ramen you are thinking of that widely exists in North America. It is totally different and fantastic, I do suggest trying.

It's about an hour and a half on the train from Kyoto to Osaka.

 

[jsilvers]

It's about an hour and a half on the train from Kyoto to Osaka.

Huh? Even if you took a local train on the JR Kyoto line that made every stop, it would still only take 45 minutes.

 

[Happy_Haunt999]

Huh? Even if you took a local train on the JR Kyoto line that made every stop, it would still only take 45 minutes.

This is the Red Keihan Line I'm talking about and it depends on time of day how long it takes to get from Kyoto to Osaka. Earlier it was 1 and a half hr give or take. Just now it's only about an hour. It depends.

 

[bc7ate9]

Growing up my sister was crazy about Ramen but I never tried. Will make sure I do this time. We have Panda March cookies here in Montreal but maybe they will have flavours we don't have... As for green tea kit kat, that sounds interesting. Will look for them!

How far from Kyoto is Osaka by train? Is it better staying in Osaka or Kyoto for that leg of the trip?

We stay in Shin-Osaka. It's a 30 minute Shinkansen ride to Kyoto and a few minute train ride to Osaka. It's much cheaper than Kyoto. We stayed at the Remm Shin-Osaka - it's INSIDE the train station (not that you can tell - it's EXTREMELY quiet). Very convenient for exploring Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Himeji, and Hiroshima.

 

[isabellea]

We stay in Shin-Osaka. It's a 30 minute Shinkansen ride to Kyoto and a few minute train ride to Osaka. It's much cheaper than Kyoto. We stayed at the Remm Shin-Osaka - it's INSIDE the train station (not that you can tell - it's EXTREMELY quiet). Very convenient for exploring Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Himeji, and Hiroshima.

Thanks. I looked at this hotel but there are no availability for my dates and for a family room. Booking hotels is a lot more difficult than I expected.

 

[bc7ate9]

Thanks. I looked at this hotel but there are no availability for my dates and for a family room. Booking hotels is a lot more difficult than I expected.

We had trouble finding hotel for our dates this past spring too, but we eventually did - we looked almost every single day just to grab anything new that opened up (we use www.booking.com since most hotels have no cancellation fees.) In 2013, we stayed at this hotel in Shin-Osaka - http://www.st-hotel.jp/english/ (Shin-Osaka Station Hotel). It was a short walk to the train station.

 

[isabellea]

I will look it up but I don't remember seeing that one either. My biggest issue is finding rooms for 4. Most are for 2 or 3. And booking a non-smoking room for 4 is almost impossible unless I pay 300-400$/night! Anyone has experience with a smoking room in Japan? Is the smell really bad?

 

[bc7ate9]

I will look it up but I don't remember seeing that one either. My biggest issue is finding rooms for 4. Most are for 2 or 3. And booking a non-smoking room for 4 is almost impossible unless I pay 300-400$/night! Anyone has experience with a smoking room in Japan? Is the smell really bad?

We ended up with smoking rooms a couple times just because we were traveling at a busy season (cherry blossoms!) and they seem to have a lot fewer non-smoking rooms. The smell, in our experience, was not an issue. Many rooms have air purifiers - or you can request them. Every time we expressed concern about being in a smoking room, we were promised new bedding, towels, whatever in addition to the air purifier if the smell bothered us. We never saw the need to worry about it.

Keep in mind that MANY people in Japan smoke - and it's still allowed in restaurant and fast food restaurants and trains have cars where it's allowed (those are very easy to avoid, though. It only grossed us out a few times (smaller fast food restaurants were the worst).