Japan Meets Thread

[sayhello]

Hi. I just got back from an amazing 3 week trip to Japan with 5 days in Tokyo Disney. We went with Globus because at the time Disney didn't have a trip to Japan. We flew business class from LAX to Narita. The flight was wonderful. The seats were comfortable and the food delicious. The entertainment could have been better. We got a good price on tickets. We paid about $6000 for 2 business class tickets to Tokyo. We also had to book tickets from Philadelphia to LAX which was almost as much and the food was terrible. We came into Tokyo 2 days earlier. Narita airport is amazingly efficient. From the time we got off the plant to exiting the airport with our luggage, it was 15 minutes max. We did come in S8unday evening so that could be the reason. We stayed at the Tokyo Hilton hotel which was centrally located and the restaurants were really good. The next day we took the train to the Ghibli Museum which was a lot of fun. We also took the train to the Ginza district and walked around. The tour started on Wednesday. The tour itself was good but not great. I much preferred our alone time. The breakfast at the Hilton Tokyo was delicious but the rest of the meals were just ok. We stayed at the the Hida Plaza Hotel. The food was terrible but it was centrally located so we were able to walk around the town with little difficulty. We saw MT. Fuji and the day started out rainy but by the time we got there, it was bright sunshine and we got great views. We then went to Kanazawa which was really nice and then on to Kyoto. I loved our trip to Nara deer park. That was amazing. It was soo much fun feeding the deer. We also stayed one night at a ryokan with the onsen. We had a traditional dinner and breakfast. I was in the middle of an ulcerative colitis flare so I really couldn't eat much. I didn't try the onsen as Im kinda uncomfortable about public bathing. On the last day we flew back to Tokyo and headed to Tokyo Disneyland. We stayed at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel and bought our park tickets once we checked in. Making the hotel reservation was a little difficult because a lot our CC cards didn't work. We were finally successful with an American Express. We made dinner reservations at Magellans and Cannelletto which were delicious. The only issue is that the online reservation system is entirely in Japanese and I had to get someone I know on Instagram to make the reservations for me. Disney Sea was excellent. I highly recommend it. We didn't do any fast passes but the lines moved quickly and unlike here I think they overestimate the waiting time so we were pleasantly surprised. Disneyland has some similar rides but I swear the rides were longer. The food at Disney was good. Breakfast was a buffet and all the restaurants had prix fixe menus. We did soo much shopping in Tokyo and in Disney that we had to ship stuff home. But our packages were waiting for us when we got home. I loved my time in Japan and had a great time in Tokyo Disney but my first love will always be Disney World in Florida. Hope this helps

Thanks for this report! What airline did you fly to Japan?

Sayhello

 

[abalsara]

Thanks for this report! What airline did you fly to Japan?

Sayhello

I flew ANA.

 

[Mathmagicland]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/japan-earthquake-osaka-today-2018-06-17/

Sharing this, there was a pretty big earthquake in Japan earlier this week, centered in Osaka. Airports and trains impacted for most of the day, some infrastructure damage, also felt in Kyoto. Sad for those in Japan affected by it.

I thought I’d share, because earthquakes do happen in Japan. For anyone who is not familiar with earthquakes and EQ preparedness, it might be good to do some research. Here is a link to the Great American Shakeout site with lots of information. https://www.shakeout.org/centralus/

I have full confidence in AbD that they have contingency plans in place should there be any sort of EQ while on any of the adventures. Knowing what to and not do will be helpful to all.

 

[WeLoveABD]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/japan-earthquake-osaka-today-2018-06-17/

Sharing this, there was a pretty big earthquake in Japan earlier this week, centered in Osaka. Airports and trains impacted for most of the day, some infrastructure damage, also felt in Kyoto. Sad for those in Japan affected by it.

I thought I’d share, because earthquakes do happen in Japan. For anyone who is not familiar with earthquakes and EQ preparedness, it might be good to do some research. Here is a link to the Great American Shakeout site with lots of information. https://www.shakeout.org/centralus/

I have full confidence in AbD that they have contingency plans in place should there be any sort of EQ while on any of the adventures. Knowing what to and not do will be helpful to all.

We went to China with ABD right after the large quake there in 2008--they donated to relief efforts etc. They handled it very well-- we had extra days in Bejing and saw pandas at the zoo rather than Chengdu, which had been torn apart. Many of the pandas were brought to that zoo, and we saw them at feeding time. On unrelated note, check out just opened Digital Art Museum in Tokyo-- might be a terrific experience for any free time there at end of trip!

 

[sayhello]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/japan-earthquake-osaka-today-2018-06-17/

Sharing this, there was a pretty big earthquake in Japan earlier this week, centered in Osaka. Airports and trains impacted for most of the day, some infrastructure damage, also felt in Kyoto. Sad for those in Japan affected by it.

I thought I’d share, because earthquakes do happen in Japan. For anyone who is not familiar with earthquakes and EQ preparedness, it might be good to do some research. Here is a link to the Great American Shakeout site with lots of information. https://www.shakeout.org/centralus/

I have full confidence in AbD that they have contingency plans in place should there be any sort of EQ while on any of the adventures. Knowing what to and not do will be helpful to all.

It's always good to know what to do in case of an earthquake. And I'm sure ABD has all sorts of contingency plans. I mean, they already have trips to Southern California, which is earthquake prone, and Iceland, which is earthquake and volcanic eruption prone.

Sayhello

 

[Mathmagicland]

It's always good to know what to do in case of an earthquake. And I'm sure ABD has all sorts of contingency plans. I mean, they already have trips to Southern California, which is earthquake prone, and Iceland, which is earthquake and volcanic eruption prone.

Sayhello

So true, I’ve had two EQs thus far here in SoCalif in 2018 that have rattled the house & windows...

 

[Mathmagicland]

Sharing some info I’ve come across, re tax-free shopping in Japan under some circumstances for certain categories of merchandise. Seems like we’d need our passports while shopping to get the required certificates. Maybe someone who has been to Japan could add some additional insights on this.

http://enjoy.taxfree.jp/

https://tax-freeshop.jnto.go.jp/eng/shopping-guide.php

 

[PrincessDisneyFan]

Happy Monday. Thanks to some vigorous YouTube searching I found something epic. I mean who doesn't wanna Mario Kart/ Go-Kart through Tokyo.

https://www.maricar.com/

It does require that we get a temporary drivers permit before visiting. Looks easy enough to do by contacting the US-Japan Embassy.

Hubby wanted to call being Yoshi... BUT looks like we both may be Yoshi

 

[sayhello]

Happy Monday. Thanks to some vigorous YouTube searching I found something epic. I mean who doesn't wanna Mario Kart/ Go-Kart through Tokyo.

https://www.maricar.com/

It does require that we get a temporary drivers permit before visiting. Looks easy enough to do by contacting the US-Japan Embassy.

Hubby wanted to call being Yoshi... BUT looks like we both may be Yoshi

One of the comments on the website says you can get an international driver's license through AAA. That would be easier!

What does "call being Yoshi" mean?

Sayhello

 

[PrincessDisneyFan]

One of the comments on the website says you can get an international driver's license through AAA. That would be easier!

What does "call being Yoshi" mean?

Sayhello

You can dress in costume as Mario characters and Yoshi is one of the fan faves. So like when we were kids... he wanted to 'call dibs' on dressing up as Yoshi. But, I want to dress as him too. Hence we both may be in the same costume.

 

[sayhello]

You can dress in costume as Mario characters and Yoshi is one of the fan faves. So like when we were kids... he wanted to 'call dibs' on dressing up as Yoshi. But, I want to dress as him too. Hence we both may be in the same costume.

Ah! Obviously Mario is one of the ones I'm not that familiar with.

Sayhello

 

[OhanaCuz]

Happy Monday. Thanks to some vigorous YouTube searching I found something epic. I mean who doesn't wanna Mario Kart/ Go-Kart through Tokyo.

https://www.maricar.com/

It does require that we get a temporary drivers permit before visiting. Looks easy enough to do by contacting the US-Japan Embassy.

Hubby wanted to call being Yoshi... BUT looks like we both may be Yoshi

A friend of mine just did that!! He said it was a blast but that they both wished that they had selected the shorter ride.

 

[sayhello]

So if anyone is leaving on the Japan ABD soon (like the next 2 departures) you may have Dusty as one of your Adventure Guides. His post was a little vague (I'm sure it had to be) but he is jumping in to help with the Japan ABD "in a few days". No clue what happened, but I do hope all the Adventure Guides are OK.

Sayhello

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

So if anyone is leaving on the Japan ABD soon (like the next 2 departures) you may have Dusty as one of your Adventure Guides. His post was a little vague (I'm sure it had to be) but he is jumping in to help with the Japan ABD "in a few days". No clue what happened, but I do hope all the Adventure Guides are OK.

Sayhello

No way!! I hope that would be the July 14th trip. We had the "dream team" of Dusty and James in the Baltics. We would love to have them again when there aren't 51 people! I'll have to try to post on his FB page.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

So if anyone is leaving on the Japan ABD soon (like the next 2 departures) you may have Dusty as one of your Adventure Guides. His post was a little vague (I'm sure it had to be) but he is jumping in to help with the Japan ABD "in a few days". No clue what happened, but I do hope all the Adventure Guides are OK.

Sayhello

I really hope everything is okay with the guides in Japan.

 

[sayhello]

No way!! I hope that would be the July 14th trip. We had the "dream team" of Dusty and James in the Baltics. We would love to have them again when there aren't 51 people! I'll have to try to post on his FB page.

Dusty really wasn't specific on the dates. He just said "The next 2 departures" but I don't know if there are still overlapping trips or not. He did say he was *not* going to be teaming with James. So either James is the Guide he's replacing, or he's doing the other "rotation".

I really hope everything is okay with the guides in Japan.

Me, too! When I said that, Dusty replied "They will be".

Sayhello

 

[sayhello]

So Dusty mentioned to *someone* (OK, @CaliforniaGirl09) he thinks his dates are July 7 and 20th.

I feel a bit like I'm gossiping, but I know there are several folks on here who know & care about our Adventure Guides.

I just hope whatever/whoever it is, everything is OK soon.

Sayhello

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

So Dusty mentioned to *someone* (OK, @CaliforniaGirl09) he thinks his dates are July 7 and 20th.

I feel a bit like I'm gossiping, but I know there are several folks on here who know & care about our Adventure Guides.

I just hope whatever/whoever it is, everything is OK soon.

Sayhello

Yes, I was so so bummed that he won't be on ours. Sounds like we won't get James either Oh well, I will expand the adventure guide pool. I hope everything is okay, too!

 

[Cousin Orville]

Yes, I was so so bummed that he won't be on ours. Sounds like we won't get James either Oh well, I will expand the adventure guide pool. I hope everything is okay, too!

I'm guessing you will have Ken, the other American ABD Guide. He was our shadow guide and I know he was starting right after James. I actually thought he was fantastic. I'd love to have him on another ABD. He's done Wyoming and Peru and some others for a while now. Lived in Osaka. Speaks Japanese (maybe not fluently like James, but I'm not positive). Has a strong love of travel. He seems to like adventuring off the beaten path maybe more than the average ABD guide. Likes hiking. He was extremely good with young children. My 6yo daughter thought he was hilarious as did all the kids and the teens. He was a cool guy. I wouldn't be concerned at all. Between James, Dusty (who I only know of his reputation and "toner time"), and Ken, ABD seems to have their top guns running Japan.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I'm guessing you will have Ken, the other American ABD Guide. He was our shadow guide and I know he was starting right after James. I actually thought he was fantastic. I'd love to have him on another ABD. He's done Wyoming and Peru and some others for a while now. Lived in Osaka. Speaks Japanese (maybe not fluently like James, but I'm not positive). Has a strong love of travel. He seems to like adventuring off the beaten path maybe more than the average ABD guide. Likes hiking. He was extremely good with young children. My 6yo daughter thought he was hilarious as did all the kids and the teens. He was a cool guy. I wouldn't be concerned at all. Between James, Dusty (who I only know of his reputation and "toner time"), and Ken, ABD seems to have their top guns running Japan.

Awesome, thanks! Great to know. There definitely never seems to be a shortage of awesome ABD guides, that's for sure. In all our trips, I think we've only had one that we were a bit meh about. He was fine, just not super amazing like the rest, LOL