dark54555
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2006
I wanted to post this for two reasons:
1. It's a bit of an unusual trip for me (but something that might be useful for others who find themselves in Tokyo with part of a day to visit the park).
2. It was one of the most successful trips I've ever had at a theme park, as far as maximizing time.
So last October, I found myself in Tokyo for a conference with essentially one free partial day; I had to leave the park about 3:00 pm in order to make it to activities that evening back in Tokyo proper. This was not my first trip to Tokyo Disney, having been before in 2003, so my goals were simple: make sure to get to the two totally unique attractions in TDL (Monsters Inc and Pooh), see the Halloween decor, buy some Halloween stuff, and ride as much as possible. Normally, I do the parks as full day deals, so this was not only my first partial day run, but also my first solo Disney anything.
My plan was to be at the park well before opening. Due to some rain, I caught a cab from the Imperial Hotel to Tokyo Station (this was before I figured out you can walk underground all the way between the two by cutting through the Tokyo International Forum). I already had a SUICA card, so easy to hop on the train out there. Made it to the gate about 20 minutes before opening, where a pretty good crowd had already massed (especially for a Tuesday). I had bought my ticket online and printed at home (Protip: A4 paper is hard to find, and US letter would probably work. I still have an entire ream of A4 paper at home.)
I had studied the map beforehand, and went straight to the Monsters Inc. Fastpass line. Got my Fastpass, went straight to Pooh. This is, by far, the best strategy to get to both of these attractions in one day as the waits for both can become extremely long. After getting off Pooh, I headed to the Haunted Mansion. HMH is just as good in Japan as it is in California. With more time to kill before the Fastpass, I doubled back to Tomorrowland and hit Space Mountain. Then back to Monsters, followed by grabbing a Buzz Lightyear fastpass (whose line was well over an hour at this point). From here, I kind of zigzagged across the park to hit as many things as I could, like Pirates, Tiki Room, etc. while waiting on the Fastpass. I enjoyed the alternate Tiki Room show with Stitch; definitely better than "Under New Management" with Iago. I still prefer the original, but that may be in large part be due to it being in English.
I had lunch while on the Frontier/Adventure side of the park at the Hungry Bear and was pleased with the quality of the katsu. If katsu isn't your thing, you might be better off eating in Tomorrowland for quickservice (plenty of options over there). But I can never have enough katsu, so this was a good choice.
I decided to skip the +hour wait at the Jungle Cruise as I couldn't see the "after dark" effects. So I went back across to Tomorrowland to use my fastpass and hit Star Tours. Decided to hit Haunted Mansion one more time, grab a snack (pumpkin cookie), and shop for Halloween stuff. And then it was time to head back.
So what was the point of this? I had barely half a day, but was able to pop in and hit the high points without a problem. Yes, I skipped Toon Town entirely, and yes, I didn't get to everything in the park or see all the parades, but it was still totally worthwhile. As I imagine many people may find themselves in Tokyo (either as a layover or on business) without a ton of free time, you can still get to a lot in a half day at TDL (OR TDS). If you haven't been before at all, the call between the parks is a little harder for a half day excursion; nothing had really been added at TDS since my 2003 visit I was dying to see, and we didn't get on Pooh in 2003 (3+ hour wait), so between Pooh, Monsters, and HMH, the choice to me was a no-brainer. And with a bit of research/planning (particularly on the Monsters Fastpass/Pooh strategy), anybody can have a pretty productive half day at TDL.
Pictures are a couple posts down.
1. It's a bit of an unusual trip for me (but something that might be useful for others who find themselves in Tokyo with part of a day to visit the park).
2. It was one of the most successful trips I've ever had at a theme park, as far as maximizing time.
So last October, I found myself in Tokyo for a conference with essentially one free partial day; I had to leave the park about 3:00 pm in order to make it to activities that evening back in Tokyo proper. This was not my first trip to Tokyo Disney, having been before in 2003, so my goals were simple: make sure to get to the two totally unique attractions in TDL (Monsters Inc and Pooh), see the Halloween decor, buy some Halloween stuff, and ride as much as possible. Normally, I do the parks as full day deals, so this was not only my first partial day run, but also my first solo Disney anything.
My plan was to be at the park well before opening. Due to some rain, I caught a cab from the Imperial Hotel to Tokyo Station (this was before I figured out you can walk underground all the way between the two by cutting through the Tokyo International Forum). I already had a SUICA card, so easy to hop on the train out there. Made it to the gate about 20 minutes before opening, where a pretty good crowd had already massed (especially for a Tuesday). I had bought my ticket online and printed at home (Protip: A4 paper is hard to find, and US letter would probably work. I still have an entire ream of A4 paper at home.)
I had studied the map beforehand, and went straight to the Monsters Inc. Fastpass line. Got my Fastpass, went straight to Pooh. This is, by far, the best strategy to get to both of these attractions in one day as the waits for both can become extremely long. After getting off Pooh, I headed to the Haunted Mansion. HMH is just as good in Japan as it is in California. With more time to kill before the Fastpass, I doubled back to Tomorrowland and hit Space Mountain. Then back to Monsters, followed by grabbing a Buzz Lightyear fastpass (whose line was well over an hour at this point). From here, I kind of zigzagged across the park to hit as many things as I could, like Pirates, Tiki Room, etc. while waiting on the Fastpass. I enjoyed the alternate Tiki Room show with Stitch; definitely better than "Under New Management" with Iago. I still prefer the original, but that may be in large part be due to it being in English.
I had lunch while on the Frontier/Adventure side of the park at the Hungry Bear and was pleased with the quality of the katsu. If katsu isn't your thing, you might be better off eating in Tomorrowland for quickservice (plenty of options over there). But I can never have enough katsu, so this was a good choice.
I decided to skip the +hour wait at the Jungle Cruise as I couldn't see the "after dark" effects. So I went back across to Tomorrowland to use my fastpass and hit Star Tours. Decided to hit Haunted Mansion one more time, grab a snack (pumpkin cookie), and shop for Halloween stuff. And then it was time to head back.
So what was the point of this? I had barely half a day, but was able to pop in and hit the high points without a problem. Yes, I skipped Toon Town entirely, and yes, I didn't get to everything in the park or see all the parades, but it was still totally worthwhile. As I imagine many people may find themselves in Tokyo (either as a layover or on business) without a ton of free time, you can still get to a lot in a half day at TDL (OR TDS). If you haven't been before at all, the call between the parks is a little harder for a half day excursion; nothing had really been added at TDS since my 2003 visit I was dying to see, and we didn't get on Pooh in 2003 (3+ hour wait), so between Pooh, Monsters, and HMH, the choice to me was a no-brainer. And with a bit of research/planning (particularly on the Monsters Fastpass/Pooh strategy), anybody can have a pretty productive half day at TDL.
Pictures are a couple posts down.
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