Early Evening Passport

[Wendylet]

So I am travelling to Tokyo Disney at the start of October 2024. I have one full day in each park but on our arrival day (Sunday) we will likely be at our hotel (Disney Ambassador Hotel) around 5:00. I am trying to decide if I should purchase the early evening passport for that evening. Can anyone comment on whether I would get many, or any, attractions done. I would want to use it for DisneySea as I think the extra time would be valuable for sure. Would we be able to eat there? I hear a lot of restaurants close at 6. Likely we would want to grab something quick but don’t want to be in a position where nothing is available. Your help is most appreciated!

 

[Disneyhanna]

I did an evening passport for Disneyland which I thought was very worth it! I bought a DPA for the electrical parade, Splash, and did a short standby wait for Pirates, Snow White, and Haunted mansion. Had a couple snacks and did some shopping and got used to the layout which served me well for my full day at DL the next day. Beauty and the Beast was still available to buy a DPA but I didn't since I was doing it the next day.

I think it's a tad harder to get much done at DS because things are so spread out, and with fewer rides the wait times tend to be longer than at DL. But there's certainly enough time to wander around and take it all in, and catch the evening show so you can do rides during it on your full day (or in case of bad weather, it gives you another chance). Some of larger counter service restaurants should still be open even if some of the snacks are closed. I may plan to have something beforehand from Ikspiari just in case. Also note that most things close pretty early at Ikspiari, anything closing at 9 will cut off lines more like 8:30-8:45 and stuff closing at 10 will also cut off early, so getting food after park close can be tough. I think the Ambassador has a decent convenience store though, which is nice.

 

[Wendylet]

I did an evening passport for Disneyland which I thought was very worth it! I bought a DPA for the electrical parade, Splash, and did a short standby wait for Pirates, Snow White, and Haunted mansion. Had a couple snacks and did some shopping and got used to the layout which served me well for my full day at DL the next day. Beauty and the Beast was still available to buy a DPA but I didn't since I was doing it the next day.

I think it's a tad harder to get much done at DS because things are so spread out, and with fewer rides the wait times tend to be longer than at DL. But there's certainly enough time to wander around and take it all in, and catch the evening show so you can do rides during it on your full day (or in case of bad weather, it gives you another chance). Some of larger counter service restaurants should still be open even if some of the snacks are closed. I may plan to have something beforehand from Ikspiari just in case. Also note that most things close pretty early at Ikspiari, anything closing at 9 will cut off lines more like 8:30-8:45 and stuff closing at 10 will also cut off early, so getting food after park close can be tough. I think the Ambassador has a decent convenience store though, which is nice.

Thanks so much for your reply. One thing I am wondering is if you are able to purchase this type of ticket from the hotel on our arrival day. The reason I ask is that our flight lands at Narita at about 3:00 pm and I’m not sure how long it will take for us to get to our hotel using the Airport Limousine bus. So I hesitate to buy the ticket ahead of time in case our flight is delayed or it’s just later than we thought when we get to the hotel. So if we made it by about 5:00 I might consider buying it if that is allowed when we check in. If it’s after we may just do Ikspiari and kill some time there.

 

[Disneyhanna]

Thanks so much for your reply. One thing I am wondering is if you are able to purchase this type of ticket from the hotel on our arrival day. The reason I ask is that our flight lands at Narita at about 3:00 pm and I’m not sure how long it will take for us to get to our hotel using the Airport Limousine bus. So I hesitate to buy the ticket ahead of time in case our flight is delayed or it’s just later than we thought when we get to the hotel. So if we made it by about 5:00 I might consider buying it if that is allowed when we check in. If it’s after we may just do Ikspiari and kill some time there.

I don't think the hotels sell the weeknight/evening passports, I think the main option is online through the official website. I have seen some posts of people being able to purchase them at the information center day of though, in case you can't get the website to work (foreign credit cards are very finicky for their ticketing site).

I don't think you will get to TDR until after 5:00 though. Getting off the plane and through customs etc. can take a while, even with minimal wait I would still add 30-60 minutes for that. Two hours if other planes land at the same time. Then the airport limo is a solid hour, and it only goes 1-2 times per hour so bad timing could mean waiting a while for the next one. Check in alone can easily take half an hour. The airport limo bus runs on a schedule so you can look up your date and route and get the exact times for a better idea. I would probably plan for Ikspiari and consider the evening ticket a bonus if you end up making it to TDR in good time.

 

[gfsrunxc23]

We just returned from a trip to Japan and used an evening passport for DisneySea on our first day. Going in, we were not sure how much we would get done, but were prepared to be happy with going on 1 attraction, getting food and getting familiar with the park.
Our flight arrived at Narita at 2:45 PM on a Monday, we arrived at the resort (Miracosta) via a car hire (so not sure how much longer the limousine bus would take) around 430 pm, checked in and were able to go up to our room, quickly reset and be waiting at the Miracosta entrance for the park by 4:50 pm or so. I recall that there were no longer any DPA or free priority pass remaining (or at least not for anything we wanted to do that evening). Over the course of the 4 hours in the park, we went on Journey to the Center of the Earth, Indiana Jones, and 20,000 leagues under the sea, walk around the entire park a few times and get some food and explored some shops. We definitely were not prepared to have many dining locations close at varied times, but were able to get a couple snacks early then got a meal right around park closing at Mamma Biscotti's near the exit of the park that is open until 9 PM.

 

[mlaw]

Had you purchased the evening passport prior to your trip or were you able to purchase it somewhere at the resort?

 

[Wendylet]

We just returned from a trip to Japan and used an evening passport for DisneySea on our first day. Going in, we were not sure how much we would get done, but were prepared to be happy with going on 1 attraction, getting food and getting familiar with the park.
Our flight arrived at Narita at 2:45 PM on a Monday, we arrived at the resort (Miracosta) via a car hire (so not sure how much longer the limousine bus would take) around 430 pm, checked in and were able to go up to our room, quickly reset and be waiting at the Miracosta entrance for the park by 4:50 pm or so. I recall that there were no longer any DPA or free priority pass remaining (or at least not for anything we wanted to do that evening). Over the course of the 4 hours in the park, we went on Journey to the Center of the Earth, Indiana Jones, and 20,000 leagues under the sea, walk around the entire park a few times and get some food and explored some shops. We definitely were not prepared to have many dining locations close at varied times, but were able to get a couple snacks early then got a meal right around park closing at Mamma Biscotti's near the exit of the park that is open until 9 PM.

Yes did you prepurchase the pass or were you able to get it at the hotel? I think our time from the airport might be a bit longer with using the bus and sounds like you were cutting it pretty close with the timing so I doubt we would make it before 6:00. Sounds like you got a lot done in that time though. I was mostly hoping to get a feel for the park to help make the 1 day we have there perhaps a bit more effective. We do arrive on a Sunday though so the pass, which would start at 3:00, is even a bit more costly. I am thinking we might just enjoy Ikspiari and our hotel while we try to adjust to the new timezone!

 

[gfsrunxc23]

We did pre-purchase the tickets when we bought our other park tickets about a month prior to the trip and looking at the Tokyo Disney page about purchasing tickets at the hotel, it does not appear you are able to buy the evening pass, only day tickets (but maybe its just not listed there?). We definitely did cut it close on time and for sure since the cost on a weeknight (as opposed to a weekend) was pretty low we had no concerns if we only ended up getting a couple things done. Doing Ikspiari and maybe taking the resort liner/monorail around to the resorts would still be an enjoyable time for a first evening.

 

[travelgirl06]

We were able to but the weekday evening passes online day-of in April. We decided to go for the evening during lunch one day - I’m not sure if they ever sell out though?

We did DL and were pleased with what we were able to do: pirates, small world, tiki room, beauty and the beast (paid access pass), parade, haunted mansion and castle walk through.

 

[mousefan73]

I did an evening passport for Disneyland which I thought was very worth it! I bought a DPA for the electrical parade, Splash, and did a short standby wait for Pirates, Snow White, and Haunted mansion. Had a couple snacks and did some shopping and got used to the layout which served me well for my full day at DL the next day. Beauty and the Beast was still available to buy a DPA but I didn't since I was doing it the next day.

I think it's a tad harder to get much done at DS because things are so spread out, and with fewer rides the wait times tend to be longer than at DL. But there's certainly enough time to wander around and take it all in, and catch the evening show so you can do rides during it on your full day (or in case of bad weather, it gives you another chance). Some of larger counter service restaurants should still be open even if some of the snacks are closed. I may plan to have something beforehand from Ikspiari just in case. Also note that most things close pretty early at Ikspiari, anything closing at 9 will cut off lines more like 8:30-8:45 and stuff closing at 10 will also cut off early, so getting food after park close can be tough. I think the Ambassador has a decent convenience store though, which is nice.

I’m curious, did they let you in before five? And how are the lines? I’m just wondering since they let people in earlier in the morning then official times how they are with the evening passes doesn’t make sense to maybe get there at 4:30 thx

 

[Disneyhanna]

I’m curious, did they let you in before five? And how are the lines? I’m just wondering since they let people in earlier in the morning then official times how they are with the evening passes doesn’t make sense to maybe get there at 4:30 thx

https://www.disboards.com/threads/m...opening-day-trip-report.3948296/post-65667953
Based on my TR, no, they started scanning us in exactly at 5. They're very efficient so you can roll up a few minutes before and just be at the back of the line. You'd have a slight edge on making DPA/priority passes being at the front, if there are any remaining.