Help Please! TDL questions

[overthemoon4mickey]

My friend is moving to Yokohamma for 2 years and thought a great way to help ease the kids into Japan would be a trip to TDL a few weeks after they arrive. She is not a Disboard member so I am doing all the question asking...Also since my family will most likely visit them, this information will be good for me to know too!

1. Can you buy the no expiration option on your park passes?
2. Can you buy more than the 4 days they have listed on the Disney website?
3. Is there a slow season or slow dates to look for?
4. What is the best time to go AM or PM?
5. Best hotel of a family of 5...Dad, Mom, DD12, DD8, DD4?

Thanks ya'll!

 

[queenie82]

My friend is moving to Yokohamma for 2 years and thought a great way to help ease the kids into Japan would be a trip to TDL a few weeks after they arrive. She is not a Disboard member so I am doing all the question asking...Also since my family will most likely visit them, this information will be good for me to know too!

1. Can you buy the no expiration option on your park passes?
2. Can you buy more than the 4 days they have listed on the Disney website?
3. Is there a slow season or slow dates to look for?
4. What is the best time to go AM or PM?
5. Best hotel of a family of 5...Dad, Mom, DD12, DD8, DD4?

Thanks ya'll!

1 - No
2 - Only if you buy the annual pass (which is expensive)
http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/tdr/english/plan/ticket/index.html
3 - no.
Use this as a guide - http://www.disneyhotels.jp/english/reserve/tdh_price_e.html
We went in early Feb and Wednesday and Thurs were ok...but Saturday was CRAZY even though it was a "quieter" time
4 - Get there an hour before the parks opens and RUN!!!
5 - Tokyo Disneyland hotel. There are a true variety of room types. We stayed in the Superior Alcove room which included 2 (sort of) double beds, a single trundle and an "alcove bed" which is like a divan. It is a proper matress and I (5'9" adult) slept happily on it.
http://www.disneyhotels.jp/tdh/english/room/index.html
It ISN'T cheap but it is the only place you can get ONE room for more than 3 people.

 

[EWR2AUS]

I'm actually at the Tokyo (NRT) airport, finishing up my second trip in TD in two years.

I love Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. I've been a WDW annual passholder for 4 years and have been to all of the parks except Paris. I happen to think that the TD experience is among the best. I also think that DisneySea is the best Disney park of them all.

There are definitely no slow days. I woke up Saturday to what appeared to be snow... parks were still packed. Of course, I hopped on Splash, which had only a 15 minute wait while it was raining/snowing. By noon, it was up to 90 minutes.

The Disney resorts look GREAT - and I'm a person who always stays at deluxe resorts while at WDW. However, I would also suggest looking into the hotels at Bayside Station. They are on the monorail line and I found the Sheraton to be an excellent option. I've been upgraded each time (perhaps they don't see a lot of Starwood elite members there?) and the view of the bay from the balconies (on that side) is breathtaking.

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Use the calendar on the Tokyo Disneyland Resort hotel page to guage crowds:
http://www.disneyhotels.jp/english/reserve/tdh_price_e.html

TDL is a lot like Disneyland in that it caters significantly to the local population. As a result, you can expect parks to be busier on weekends and holidays than during the week. Tokyo Disneyland is identified as the 'kids' park, so that where most families go. Tokyo Disney Sea is identified as a place to take your date -- more in depth theming, better dining, fewer rides. Comparing TDL and TDS is like comparing Magic Kingdom and Epcot or Disneyland and California Adventure.

The best time to go is first thing in the morning. If you're staying in a TDL resort hotel, you can enter Tokyo Disneyland (and sometimes Tokyo Disney Sea) an hour before everyone else. Like all Disney parks, you can accomplish more in the first 2 hours of the morning than you could for 4-5 hours in the afternoon.

As for hotels for a family of 5, there are some Disney options, but they are expensive. Many rooms at the Hotel Miracosta and the Disneyland Hotel have two double beds plus a trundle bed. The real question is can Mom and Dad share a double bed? (My wife and I didn't, but we had the option to put DD1 on the trundle bed - it was her first non-crib experience. She loved it!)

 

[MISSINWDW]

We just got back from TDR. It is awesome.

1. Can you buy the no expiration option on your park passes?
Nope

2. Can you buy more than the 4 days they have listed on the Disney website?
Nope

3. Is there a slow season or slow dates to look for?
January once the New Year is over
Middle of April
May After Golden Week.
One of the best ways to find quieter weeks is to go to the resort hotels booking calendars and view the weeks that they label "Value" weeks. Gives you a good idea of times those hotels will be relatively quiet
4. What is the best time to go AM or PM?
AM and PM. You can accomplish a lot the first and last hours of the day. With the ages of your kids, DO return to the hotel for a rest in the middle of the day. Then from 8:30 to 10pm you will be able to walk onto almost everything.
5. Best hotel of a family of 5...Dad, Mom, DD12, DD8, DD4?
One of the partner hotels on the monorail. If you go for one of the resort hotels you are going to pay an arm and a leg. Example: Miracosta's regular rooms are 2 twins and a twin trundle so unless the 5 of you want to sleep in 3 twin bends, go for one of the partner hotels where you can get queens and or more beds in the room.