If you are axious about going to Japan ... join my club

[Yanevernoinoz]

I gave my boyfriend the choice of where we went for our 2019 holiday and he chose Japan.

This is my story about how I went from a normally savvy, organized but fairly relaxed traveler to a bundle of anxiety and fear.

Going to Japan terrified me mostly because you couldn't get a place in the world any more different to Australia. From the language, to the crowds, to the train systems, it just screamed chaos at me! Everything set my 'organized' and 'in control' brain into overdrive. For the first time in 20 years, I experienced real anxiety

I'm not the type of traveler who arrives and flies by the seat of their pants. I am spending an awful lot of money to go on my holiday (when I could be paying off my house) so I don't want to waste my precious time sitting around the pool or wandering aimlessly around streets. I want to see things and I want to do things. This doesn't mean I go at break-neck speed though or that I don't have a couple of hours off every few days or so to recharge my batteries. I just like to know that my days are fruitful and I know what I am doing in advance.

So, I set myself the challenge to conquer as much of my anxiety as I could by being as prepared as I could and easing back on the throttle a little and maybe not doing as much as I would normally do in a day. To know more about this foreign country, I went to YouTube and searched for vloggers who shared their experiences, advice, tips and hints. I am so grateful to Attache, Cakes with Faces, The Tim Tracker, Krispy Smores, Disney in Detail, Justin Scarred, Mikey Chen, Suitcase Monkey and Yellow Productions to name but a few who had lots of the detail my brain needs so that I am prepared as possible and know what to expect when I get there. While it felt like information overload at first, things started to become clear as I watched a different vlogger share their experience on the same thing another vlogger shared. Getting those different perspectives allowed me to think about which was more suited to me and my style of traveling.

In the end, I put together an itinerary I am happy with doing things that are relaxing yet informative and beautiful at the same time plus I slotted in fun things too. I think the best thing I did for the trip is to put Universal Studios at day 2 of the itinerary while we are in Osaka and left Disney for the last 4 days. My theory is to start the trip off with some Harry Potter and roller coaster fun and then end on a real high with the mouse.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, says that it will be fine and it will be great and I don't disbelieve anyone but, until I get there and experience it for myself, I will have this funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. Thankfully due to all the research I've been doing it's changed from an anxious, I-want-to-throw-up feeling to a nervous, I'm-smiling-on-the-inside feeling with a little bit of excitement around the edges.

65 days to go

 

[Maderita]

Japan will be fine - been there several times. Everything is in english, and restaurants always have plastic displays of the meals you can point to. And there is also a 7/11 type store every 50meters if you want to grab sandwiches, sushi etc instead!

Both universal and Disney are great. Get ready for Duffy!

 

[Yanevernoinoz]

Japan will be fine - been there several times. Everything is in english, and restaurants always have plastic displays of the meals you can point to. And there is also a 7/11 type store every 50meters if you want to grab sandwiches, sushi etc instead!

Both universal and Disney are great. Get ready for Duffy!

Thanks Maderita

 

[jessiegirl84]

Check out TDR Explorer. The website is fabulous plus he does a weekly Podcast.
Also, he has released an Ebook for Tokyo disneyland and it’s brilliant! Well worth the $10!!
Tokyo Disneyland is my fav Disney park, you are going to love it! It’s incredible!!

 

[Naughty Nurse]

Like you I have been watching You tube after You tube trying to get as well prepared as possible for our upcoming trip in September. I also have watched many of the people you have watched and have started to become a little more comfortable with feeling more prepared and organised for the trip. I plan on buying the above mentioned e-book soon as his site has lots of information/as does his You tube posts. I still have lots to work out though. Like:

I am currently trying to work out best options for money. Definitely need to take some Yen with us, but still working out what cash card is best to use where we transfer money to Yen and we then know what we are spending/left with each day.

We booked a shuttle for $230 for 3 of us to take us to hotel on day we get there. But need to work out how we go about booking the buses (they call them limo buses I think) from the hotel which I have seen costs way less at approx 20ish per person for the return trip back to airpot.

Need to see if possible to book any resturants or whether just have to try and go to them to see if any reservations left when they open.

Have to work out which park to visit the first 2 days of park ticket as only the last days are park hoppers. We also plan to either buy a single day (or maybe 2 day) extra ticket so that should prob be used before the 4 day ticket so we can end on park hopping days.

There is so much to plan. I definitely am looking forward to, and extremely hesitant also, about trying some of the snacks. I wish there were more food focused you tube posts. Many show them throughout their daily Vlog, but wish there was more solely focused on food Vlogs.

Definitely getting less anxious now that I am learning more. I hope you also are feeling more prepared for your trip.

 

[Yanevernoinoz]

Just back from Japan and for the first couple of days it was all very confusing. Thankfully, my plan to stay in one spot and venture out from there made getting the hang of the trains easier. For example, when returning back to our hotel, the green train took us back to JR Namba ☺ We liked Disneyland and DisneySea but my heart still belongs to WDW

 

[Jocelynaus]

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[Version 6]

This thread really speaks to me I must say.

We are off to DL again in January (second time in 18 months) and are already planning the Disney trip after that. We would love to visit Japan, but it just seems so overwhelming with a 5 and 7 year old. We are leaning towards Hong Kong for that reason, as it just seems "easier"...

 

[indoshakespeare]

Traveling to foreign countries is the most rewarding thing you can do in life

 

[Yanevernoinoz]

This thread really speaks to me I must say.

We are off to DL again in January (second time in 18 months) and are already planning the Disney trip after that. We would love to visit Japan, but it just seems so overwhelming with a 5 and 7 year old. We are leaning towards Hong Kong for that reason, as it just seems "easier"...

We have returned from our trip and honestly, the first couple of days were a little bit stressful for me. Getting used to the place took me some time but once we got the hang of Google Maps (which gave the 3 of us three different ways to get to our destination including the total opposite direction!) things did get easier.

Our first day at Disney it rained all day which was awesome because it meant the crowds were low and we got to go on every ride with little to no wait. Pooh's Hunny Hunt was only 15 minutes!!!!!

I liked Disneyland and DisneySea equally. They were too different from each other to compare them fairly as each had it's own feel and vibe. I was a bit disappointed with the lack of merchandise both in quantity and variety across the parks (I have been spoiled by WDW). But the most disappointing thing of all was the character meets. The Japanese line up everywhere for everything EXCEPT for character meets. The characters tend to 'wander' around and the crowd goes crazy for them. To the point where adults were pushing little kids out of the way for a photo with a character. They don't care who came before them. There are absolutely no manners when it comes to character meets.

Would I go back to Japan? Never say never but my heart does lie with WDW and Florida. I'm always truly happiest when I am there