We visited Tokyo and Tokyo Disney Resort in summer of 2017 with our family of six - including four teenagers. We spent 9 days - 4 in the city, one day transferring to TDR, and four more days at TDR. We had done quite a bit of traveling around North America, but this was our first trip across the Pacific. My wife and I were very concerned about being able to get around Tokyo, the language barrier, and a Disney park that was different than what we were used to. We were quite relieved that all of these concerns were unfounded.
We chose to visit the Disney parks at the end of our stay. At the time, all international flights were out of Narita, and TDR is closer to Narita than downtown Tokyo is.
When we were looking for a place to stay in the city, Hilton properties were first choice, as we had a bunch of Hilton points to use. One thing we discovered - most hotel rooms in Tokyo are set up for two people. Based on your party size, be prepared to get two rooms. There are bigger rooms available at some hotels that might sleep 4, but they are crazy expensive. We ended up choosing the Tokyo Hilton in Shinjuku. It had easy access to the subway, and was relatively close to two places that we wanted to visit - the Shibuya Scramble and Meiji temple. The Tokyo Hilton also offered a breakfast buffet that included western favorites - a must for two of my picky teenage eaters.
For navigation we used Google maps to get around on the subway. It worked fantastic. Just be careful around rush hour. We traveled right around 9am once, and the subway became very packed at one point. No personal space available. If there are any tall members in your party, they need to be careful in the subway. I'm 6'4" and there were some spots in stations where if I wasn't careful I could bump my head. And on the subway cars, some signs hang low enough to bump into if you are not paying attention. Everything (including the ticket machines) was available in English - even the voice on the subway cars was repeated in English. In touring around Tokyo, it seemed like just about everyone spoke English - and if they didn't, it was pretty easy to communicate what you needed. One caution - get some cash at the airport ATM. There were quite a few places that didn't take credit cards (including a quick stop at McDonalds) so having cash is important. When you do use a credit card, don't select the option to bill in your currency - that invokes a third party exchange, and the rates are terrible vs what your credit card will give you.
We used a pocket wifi - in fact we rented two of them. Paying for international plans for six phone for nine days was a non-starter. The pocket wifi was about $70 each for the time, and we could use unlimited data, and have all six connected to one device if we wanted to. It came in handy to have two when we were at TDR and people wanted to do different things. If we only had one, then it would have been tough to communicate.
You definitely want to avoid TDR on weekends. We visited Monday through Thursday, just to avoid the crowds, and it was still crazy busy. If you stay on the TDR property, the 15 minutes early entry doesn't sound like a big deal, but it was a huge advantage to get out in front of most of the crowd. The crowd waiting for rope drop over an hour ahead of opening was huge - the parks are popular! If you do stay on property, just be aware of one weird quirk that I didn't see mentioned anywhere. Check in time was 3pm. That doesn't mean you can check in and your room will be ready after 3pm, that means that the desk to check in doesn't open until 3pm. Even then, once you check in you can't go to your room until you are 'called' and escorted by their staff.
The Tokyo Disney parks are amazing, and that isn't just the park, its the park goers too. Everyone is super polite - nobody even thinks of jumping into a line. The staff is amazing, and in every interaction, was so excited to see Americans visiting their parks. At one point, we had won the ticket lottery to see Big Band Beat, and the attendant was so excited that we would have a chance to see it - knowing that we weren't likely to visit again soon. We ran into that attitude in the city as well. Such a change from other destinations where tourists are almost looked down upon.
My wife and I left Japan feeling that all of our apprehension about a visit was unneeded - it was much easier to get around and interact than we expected. Tokyo is an amazing city, and we are looking forward to when we can go back again.
