vint43
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2019
- Messages
- 50
Hello!
Our family of 5 (us and all adult children) recently returned from our first family trip to Japan. As part of the trip, we spent two nights at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel using our DVC points. I wanted to share our experience for others that might be planning their first trip:
1- It was wonderful. So - first off - it was trip we will remember and one we are truly thankful for taking. So, if you can do it without causing a lot of financial stress (trading financial stress for vacations is not a great trade) - do it.
2- Japan - and Tokyo specifically - is very English friendly. So - put those fears aside. You might be more disappointed with how many “westerners” you see and experience over having language trouble. Virtually all signage is in English. If you happen to find yourself in a conversation where it breaks down - everyone was quick to pull out an app and communicate via the app. We had no issues getting around, ordering food, shopping, etc.
3- the trains are fantastic. You will come home just wishing you had access to them in the states. The bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka was fabulous. I would travel by bullet train everywhere in the states if I had the chance. Figure out a way to take the bullet train somewhere. It was great. You can purchase a Suica card at the train station (it has a penguin on it) and use it for all local trains. Just put some yen on it and scan in and out at every station. Very easy. You need to purchase the bullet train tickets separately but there are terminals to do that as well. Basically, you use terminals (like ATMs) in the train stations and can purchase what you need. Once you start bouncing around on the trains, you get used to it. All the station announcements are in English and Japanese. Tokyo Disneyland had a train stop where you can walk directly from the hotel from the train.
4- I could go over the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel (it was very nice - old school Disney). And I could cover Tokyo Disneyland itself (again, a lot of old school Disney there as well - people still using the lake for canoeing for instance - it is very much a version of Magic Kingdom - well done).
However, the real standout for us, was Disney Seas. I had zero expectations for this second park and it blew me away. What an absolutely fantastic park. It is *the* reason in my opinion to consider going to Tokyo Disneyland if you can make the trip. It would be our favorite park in the USA if it was here. It is like an enormous combination of Epcot and Hollywood studies if Disney decided “screw the budget - make something awesome”. The one thing is it missing is having actual citizens of the counties in each area of the park - something to us that makes Epcot special). However, if we were to go back, we would stay at the hotel connected to Disney seas. It literally is in the park. We would spend at least two days exploring Disney seas and 1 day doing Tokyo Disneyland. It is not that the rides are all crazy awesome (we are not huge ride people) - it is the entire experience of the park. It just goes on and on and every area is fully themed and no obvious corners were cut. You may not know, but Disney does not own the parks in Japan. They decided to just license the IP and a Japanese company actually built and runs the parks. Frankly, they sorta shame current Disney in their approach. Disney is so often seen as a “cost compromise” company when making decisions over the past 20+ years. Disney seas is a park built when the attitude was “build something awesome” and it will work out. This is truly not meant to be a shot at Disney USA - we love it. I just wish they could remember what is was like when building something awesome was the first goal and making something “more profitable” then the last project was not the clear measuring stick of success. I think Walt Disney himself had budget constraint on every turn in the opening decades of Disney but he pushed through it and always wanted to build something great. Disney Seas is a reminder to everyone on what you get when that is the attitude of the company. It is great. It is absolutely worth the trip to Japan if you make it. It should be, to me, the benchmark for every Disney project. Yes - the food could be better and adding international staff would take it to even another level - but the care and attention to detail they did in this park shows through and we loved it.
I hope you get the chance to see it!
Our family of 5 (us and all adult children) recently returned from our first family trip to Japan. As part of the trip, we spent two nights at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel using our DVC points. I wanted to share our experience for others that might be planning their first trip:
1- It was wonderful. So - first off - it was trip we will remember and one we are truly thankful for taking. So, if you can do it without causing a lot of financial stress (trading financial stress for vacations is not a great trade) - do it.
2- Japan - and Tokyo specifically - is very English friendly. So - put those fears aside. You might be more disappointed with how many “westerners” you see and experience over having language trouble. Virtually all signage is in English. If you happen to find yourself in a conversation where it breaks down - everyone was quick to pull out an app and communicate via the app. We had no issues getting around, ordering food, shopping, etc.
3- the trains are fantastic. You will come home just wishing you had access to them in the states. The bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka was fabulous. I would travel by bullet train everywhere in the states if I had the chance. Figure out a way to take the bullet train somewhere. It was great. You can purchase a Suica card at the train station (it has a penguin on it) and use it for all local trains. Just put some yen on it and scan in and out at every station. Very easy. You need to purchase the bullet train tickets separately but there are terminals to do that as well. Basically, you use terminals (like ATMs) in the train stations and can purchase what you need. Once you start bouncing around on the trains, you get used to it. All the station announcements are in English and Japanese. Tokyo Disneyland had a train stop where you can walk directly from the hotel from the train.
4- I could go over the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel (it was very nice - old school Disney). And I could cover Tokyo Disneyland itself (again, a lot of old school Disney there as well - people still using the lake for canoeing for instance - it is very much a version of Magic Kingdom - well done).
However, the real standout for us, was Disney Seas. I had zero expectations for this second park and it blew me away. What an absolutely fantastic park. It is *the* reason in my opinion to consider going to Tokyo Disneyland if you can make the trip. It would be our favorite park in the USA if it was here. It is like an enormous combination of Epcot and Hollywood studies if Disney decided “screw the budget - make something awesome”. The one thing is it missing is having actual citizens of the counties in each area of the park - something to us that makes Epcot special). However, if we were to go back, we would stay at the hotel connected to Disney seas. It literally is in the park. We would spend at least two days exploring Disney seas and 1 day doing Tokyo Disneyland. It is not that the rides are all crazy awesome (we are not huge ride people) - it is the entire experience of the park. It just goes on and on and every area is fully themed and no obvious corners were cut. You may not know, but Disney does not own the parks in Japan. They decided to just license the IP and a Japanese company actually built and runs the parks. Frankly, they sorta shame current Disney in their approach. Disney is so often seen as a “cost compromise” company when making decisions over the past 20+ years. Disney seas is a park built when the attitude was “build something awesome” and it will work out. This is truly not meant to be a shot at Disney USA - we love it. I just wish they could remember what is was like when building something awesome was the first goal and making something “more profitable” then the last project was not the clear measuring stick of success. I think Walt Disney himself had budget constraint on every turn in the opening decades of Disney but he pushed through it and always wanted to build something great. Disney Seas is a reminder to everyone on what you get when that is the attitude of the company. It is great. It is absolutely worth the trip to Japan if you make it. It should be, to me, the benchmark for every Disney project. Yes - the food could be better and adding international staff would take it to even another level - but the care and attention to detail they did in this park shows through and we loved it.
I hope you get the chance to see it!
