We were in Tokyo for 9 days May 2015. We stayed in downtown Tokyo and also at the
Disneyland Hotel. It was great! We used a tour company for a walking tour of Tokyo for two days. We did a walking tour the first full day we were there which worked out really well because the guide helped us acclimatize to the city and subways, and helped us get a subway card loaded, etc. We saw quite a bit and the guide was also helpful in giving us cultural context and history. We used Backstreet Guides.
We also took the bullet train to Kyoto for the day. It was amazing. We used Backstreet Guides again and having tour leader was central to us having a really great day! The guides weren't too expensive, but they were a bit of a splurge. We had 5 kids with us from 17 down to 8 and they kept up just fine.
We stayed at the Tokyo Hilton. Great for kids, and the room sizes were enough for 4 people (rare). The breakfast buffet was 10/10 with sooooo many choices, both western and asian, lattes, smoothies, etc. It was expensive, but once we factored in breakfast and needing more rooms at a cheaper hotel, it wasn't too much more. It was an hour bus ride from Narita, and it was easy to find the bus that serviced the hotels outside of customs.
After our stay at TDL Hotel we stayed at Tokyo Hilton Bay. Again, a fun room. The breakfast wasn't as good, but just fine. On par with most hotel hot breakfasts. Cheaper than the downtown hotel. Again, we booked a bus back to the airport, but be warned, they book up quickly and we needed to book a day and a half prior to our departure to get some of the last spots from our hotel at the time we needed. Huge rooms.
We loved, loved, loved DL Hotel. Sooooo luxurious. Blows any Florida DW hotel completely out of the water. There was a shopping mall a short bus ride away with lots of food choices and shopping. I loved that Japanese fashion magazines often came with samples of things like nail polish, tank tops and makeup! Such a fun souvenir to bring back. We used DVC points, and they were a good value. We had a superior alcove room - tons of room! Two double beds and a single in a nook, plus a split bath.
TDL was really, really good. So much to see and do, and the people watching was awesome. We loved Tokyo DisneySea a lot too. There is far less shopping and merchandise in TDL than the US parks.
We had an AMAZING trip. We combined sightseeing, cultural and historical places of interest, kitschy and modern amusing places to see, and of course, Disney! It was EXPENSIVE but truly one of those trips that was soooo special. We tried to save money on food where we could, and having hotels with full breakfasts really helped that, as we could eat huge at breakfast, lightly at lunch, and normally at dinner. Getting stuff from vending machines was fun, as well as department store food court basements.
Hope this helps!
Day 1 - landed and got dinner and to bed
2- tokyo sightseeing - tour guide
3-tokyo sightseeing
4-TDL
5-TDL
6-TDL
7-TDL in morning, move to new hotel, sightseeing
8-Kyoto - tour guide
9-last day sightseeing Tokyo - tour guide
10- home
