Japan Trip Report-May 2024

[TwingleMum]

Love your report. Can't wait for more.

 

[Haley R]

Love your report. Can't wait for more.

Thanks! We are at Disney now so I’ll start typing about these days soon

 

[Keladry84]

I'm very much enjoying reading your report, thank you for sharing! I'll be planning a trip soon for next summer to visit the World's Fair, and I'm getting a lot of ideas for places to visit and how to travel around Japan! I hope your Disney days go smoothly for you!

 

[Disneyhanna]

I just got off a 12 hour flight and am now on the Shinkansen to Kyoto! Looking forward to hear about your Disney days (and maybe learning a thing or two)!

 

[Haley R]

Just checking if anyone knows the answer to this: if Happy Entry says 8:45 am should we show up around 8:15? We’re going to the park tomorrow

 

[Haley R]

Last Day in Tokyo + Travel to Tokyo Disney
This was our last day in Tokyo so we decided to let ds pick something to do. We gave him ideas and reminded him of things we had already done. He talked about going back to Enoshima constantly but then the day before said the fire museum. This morning we asked and he wanted to play at the hotel instead. One of our rooms had a loft space up high and a ladder to get up there. He absolutely loved that. We played up there a lot. Dh took him to the playground just the two of them which hasn’t happened all trip. He’s been very attached to me this trip for some reason. This was awesome because I was able to fold laundry and pack up all of our stuff.

When they got back from the playground ds asked if we could go rent bikes again. We walked to Yoyogi Park and got bikes for an hour. It was a Saturday so there were more people but it was still a lot of fun. Ds got tired on the second lap again but made it farther than the last time. We ride bikes at home daily so I wasn’t surprised he wanted to do it a second time.

We ate a bunch of leftovers for lunch to try and clean the fridge out before leaving and then took a nap. After the nap we played in the loft a little longer and waited for a private car transfer to pick us up at 6 pm. We decided to pay for the car instead of trying to wrangle all of our luggage and ds on the trains. It was 100% worth it. It would’ve cost the same amount to ship our luggage and we couldn’t find a convenient place to drop them off anyway. The driver spoke good English and was super friendly. He didn’t talk during the drive at all which we actually prefer anyway lol. Neither dh nor myself are great with small talk. It was very relaxing and stress free.

We booked the Sheraton Tokyo Bay for two nights but really only stayed the first night. The second night was so we had a place to nap before moving to the Disneyland hotel. I’ll write a separate post about the Sheraton but I was very impressed with the hotel. If it weren’t for happy entry we would consider staying there the entire time.

After checking in and going to our room we decided to walk around the Oasis where all of the kids things are, the pool, and the fitness center. Most things were closed or almost closed at this point but they had a huge arcade that I didn’t know about. We played games there for awhile and ds really liked that.

It was a really long, but fun day. Overall, we had a good time in Tokyo. I do think we stayed too long but we wanted to make sure we were at Tokyo Disney during the week and not on the weekend. I will say that because we stayed so long we were able to have a lot of days where we could just hang out and go to the playground or park. I didn’t feel like we had to rush everywhere and that was nice. It took about 10-11 days for ds to adjust fully to the time change.

I also want to mention that it has not been an easy trip. We’ve had lots of meltdowns and tantrums, more than we expected. Ds has hit a really hard age (4) and my neighbor warned me but I didn’t realize just how bad it would be. He turned 4 right before we came on the trip so it started at home but definitely has gotten worse dealing with the stress of travel. We’ve still been able to make the trip fun but it’s also been very challenging at times.

 

[Haley R]

Neko Neko Inn
This is where we stayed for the Tokyo part of our stay. It was fantastic and I would definitely stay here again. When we came to Japan in 2019 we stayed at an Airbnb called Pippin’s Inn. The lady we rented from (Ushka) has opened a new property called Neko Neko Inn and she is partnered with a YouTuber named Sharla. I booked this almost a year in advance knowing a general idea of the dates we wanted and also knowing it would be difficult to book. They also just recently opened another property. Ushka is such a nice person and extremely helpful and welcoming. She’s actually from New Zealand but her family has lived in Japan for a long time.

This house had an up and down stairs with two bedrooms, a kitchen, washer/dryer, living room, and bathroom. There was also a very cool loft area above one of the beds. It was so great to be able to do laundry and cook our own meals. We like to travel this way and always try booking houses or apartments. It had everything we could need already in the house and even some basic food items already bought for us like milk and bread.

Neko Neko Inn is next to Sangubashi Station and Yoyogi park. It was a great location for us because we went to the park multiple times. We also loved having Sangubashi Station because it’s the Odakyu line so when we transferred to Shinjuku Station (2 stops away) we were always close to the romance cars and we got to see them go by the house a lot. Ds loved watching the different trains. We stopped at the crossing many times to watch trains go by and it was really easy to transfer once we got to Shinjuku. That station is huge!

The area has two grocery stores, a family mart, and a 7-11 all right there. It was very easy to find things to buy and eat. If you want lots of extra space and are interested in this area at all, I highly recommend staying here!

 

[wanderlust7]

I've enjoyed your living like a local TR.

 

[Haley R]

The lines at Tokyo Disney for snacks are unreal. We didn’t get any popcorn this morning because the lines were so bad. When we were here in 2019 we never had to wait for snack carts. It stinks that it’s gotten so bad.

 

[Agent 86]

The lines at Tokyo Disney for snacks are unreal. We didn’t get any popcorn this morning because the lines were so bad

Oh no! We didn't have too much trouble with the lines in July 2023, although our daughter only liked the plain popcorn, so that may have been a factor? We did regularly see long lines for the other ... "fun" / themed snacks and didn't bother with those.

Popcorn is such an easy snack to satisfy our daughter, so hopefully the long lines are a temporary issue.

 

[Disneyhanna]

The lines at Tokyo Disney for snacks are unreal. We didn’t get any popcorn this morning because the lines were so bad. When we were here in 2019 we never had to wait for snack carts. It stinks that it’s gotten so bad.

That’s good to know. I should start watching ride wait times too. I’m starting in Kyoto and it’s been so quiet here today. I know the rain has probably kept things quieter (though it was only light rain today, nothing drenching) and I had Arashiyama to myself at 7AM which I didn’t expect in a million years.

 

[Haley R]

Oh no! We didn't have too much trouble with the lines in July 2023, although our daughter only liked the plain popcorn, so that may have been a factor? We did regularly see long lines for the other ... "fun" / themed snacks and didn't bother with those.

Popcorn is such an easy snack to satisfy our daughter, so hopefully the long lines are a temporary issue.

It’s been raining all day today too so I thought it would be less busy but on the app all of the popcorn carts say 30-45 min wait which is just insane. Even the plain salted popcorn is that long. I thought the park seemed packed this morning for a rainy Monday

 

[gelatoni fan]

It’s been raining all day today too so I thought it would be less busy but on the app all of the popcorn carts say 30-45 min wait which is just insane. Even the plain salted popcorn is that long. I thought the park seemed packed this morning for a rainy Monday

Ticket prices are higher for the month of June so people are getting their visits in now. It looks like an above average number of families so the night wait times and thrill ride wait times actually aren't too bad. 30-45 minutes for popcorn isn't super crazy but is definitely elevated.

DisneySea tickets actually momentarily sold out for today and tomorrow but a new block of tickets was released.

Since tomorrow is merchandise release day, expect long lines to get into the stores but from my experience with merchandise release days, that usually also just affects food wait times and shouldn't cause ride wait times to be too much above normal.

 

[Haley R]

Ticket prices are higher for the month of June so people are getting their visits in now. It looks like an above average number of families so the night wait times and thrill ride wait times actually aren't too bad. 30-45 minutes for popcorn isn't super crazy but is definitely elevated.

DisneySea tickets actually momentarily sold out for today and tomorrow but a new block of tickets was released.

Since tomorrow is merchandise release day, expect long lines to get into the stores but from my experience with merchandise release days, that usually also just affects food wait times and shouldn't cause ride wait times to be too much above normal.

Thanks for the info. I forgot tomorrow is a merchandise release day. Is it the Fantasy Springs stuff? We mainly just want to find some Duffy things. Where are they selling the new merch at?

I looked for both Donald Quack City and the Space Mountain merch today and it was basically all gone. I was a little sad they didn’t have more since the events are still going on.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Thanks for the info. I forgot tomorrow is a merchandise release day. Is it the Fantasy Springs stuff? We mainly just want to find some Duffy things. Where are they selling the new merch at?

I looked for both Donald Quack City and the Space Mountain merch today and it was basically all gone. I was a little sad they didn’t have more since the events are still going on.

The Fantasy Springs stuff should release in the Emporio I think. I don't know how the lines will be or if they'll use standby pass to control crowds. The souvenirs that come with certain food items in the restaurants should be easiest to get if you plan to eat those food items.

Merchandise sells out fast and I've definitely failed to buy things I wanted. Tokyo's strategy seems to be to make sure they sell out of pretty much everything by the end of the event. The Disney owned parks generally have excess inventory and then find a place to dump it at a huge discount. Hong Kong Disneyland often gets old US merchandise but I've also seen old WDW merchandise appear at the Disney Stores in Japan for 70% off.

 

[Haley R]

The Fantasy Springs stuff should release in the Emporio I think. I don't know how the lines will be or if they'll use standby pass to control crowds. The souvenirs that come with certain food items in the restaurants should be easiest to get if you plan to eat those food items.

Merchandise sells out fast and I've definitely failed to buy things I wanted. Tokyo's strategy seems to be to make sure they sell out of pretty much everything by the end of the event. The Disney owned parks generally have excess inventory and then find a place to dump it at a huge discount. Hong Kong Disneyland often gets old US merchandise but I've also seen old WDW merchandise appear at the Disney Stores in Japan for 70% off.

We’ve still found fun stuff to buy. I really wanted to get ds the duck wand that quacked but they were all gone. We probably will avoid the new merch tomorrow. I don’t see anything I feel like I have to have.

I was hoping this would be a quiet week before Fantasy Springs opened but I guess I was wrong. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy again too

 

[Agent 86]

Are you at DisneySea today? It looks like Fantasy Springs is maybe open?

 

[Haley R]

Are you at DisneySea today? It looks like Fantasy Springs is maybe open?

We went to Disney sea. The happy entry line this morning took forever. We showed up an hour early and still didn’t get into the park until after the happy entry time started. We got a standby pass for Peter Pan but it’s been broken all day. We ate at the Snuggly Duckling this morning and have a premier access for Rapunzel tonight. I’m hoping Peter Pan opens so we can use our pass for that. I tried getting a standby pass for the Emporio for merch but they were all gone. We did ride Toy Story and Tower of Terror twice each.

I’m really confused by the huge groups of school kids. We saw them yesterday and today

 

[Agent 86]

We went to Disney sea. The happy entry line this morning took forever. We showed up an hour early and still didn’t get into the park until after the happy entry time started. We got a standby pass for Peter Pan but it’s been broken all day. We ate at the Snuggly Duckling this morning and have a premier access for Rapunzel tonight.

How exciting! Enjoy Rapunzel. And good luck with getting onto the Peter Pan ride.

I have read that Peter Pan and Frozen are breaking down a lot.

I also read that all the Premier Access and standby passes for Fantasy Springs were sold out by 9:30am today. If so, you did well to get two (even if Peter Pan is proving difficult to ride).

 

[Haley R]

How exciting! Enjoy Rapunzel. And good luck with getting onto the Peter Pan ride.

I have read that Peter Pan and Frozen are breaking down a lot.

I also read that all the Premier Access and standby passes for Fantasy Springs were sold out by 9:30am today. If so, you did well to get two (even if Peter Pan is proving difficult to ride).

I chose Peter Pan for standby because the Frozen one seems to always have a long wait but I had a feeling Peter Pan would close down. I just didn’t expect it to last all day. We did the Snuggly Duckling mobile order early this morning because I figured those times would be gone fast too. We ate there around 10:40. It was really cute inside.

The weather was awful this morning. Very windy and raining pretty hard for a while. It wasn’t fun waiting for the park to open.