My tour was cancelled, so now we're re-planning!

[Ember]

We are heading to Japan for two weeks in May. We are doing a 9 day tour and then have 4 days for Disney, as well as two extra days to move around.

The tour is booked and I'm getting our flights this week. Our tour takes us from Kyoto, to Nara, Hiroshima, Hakone National Park, and Nikko, ending in Tokyo.

For our Disney days, we have decided to stay at both the Mira Costa and the Disneyland Hotel (2 nights at each), because I just can't make up my mind. We talked about saving some money and staying at one of the almost-half-price hotels on property, but this is a celebration trip. We are marking 15 years together and celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary.

I am SO excited and just had to share!!!

*update post #5*

 

[Joceyposse]

that's awesome! i'm going for two weeks in april and visiting a lot of the same places as you.

i'll be spending two days at tokyo disney. wish i could stay at the miracosta, but that will have to wait till next visit!

 

[Travelingdad]

Enjoy. We're doing Disney Paris next year, hoping to convince family to make it to Tokyo a year later and hit up Disney there too.

 

[blueeyes_two]

We are heading to Japan for two weeks in May. We are doing a 9 day tour and then have 4 days for Disney, as well as two extra days to move around.

The tour is booked and I'm getting our flights this week. Our tour takes us from Kyoto, to Nara, Hiroshima, Hakone National Park, and Nikko, ending in Tokyo.

For our Disney days, we have decided to stay at both the Mira Costa and the Disneyland Hotel (2 nights at each), because I just can't make up my mind. We talked about saving some money and staying at one of the almost-half-price hotels on property, but this is a celebration trip. We are marking 15 years together and celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary.

I am SO excited and just had to share!!!

Hi, Congrats on your 5 year weddng celebration. My husband and I will be 5 years in August. We are ages 36 and 41 (no kids yet) and really like Disney, and have been a few times together to Disney Orlando.

SOOO we were so excited to find out that We are going to tokyo for a friends wedding in May 2012 (koyoto shrine May 19th or 20th) (WE just decided that we are going to be able to swing it and do it with a healthy budget.)

SOOO some questions:
I was wondering would you mind sharing what 9 day tour you decided on doing and how/who you booked it through? We want to hit all the locations that you are going to but when i look at tours i get really overwhelmed and i dont know which to pick. thanks in advance.

We had planned 3 days at Tokyo Disney and through my research i think we will reserve Mira Costa. - -do you think we should have done 4? How large is it in relation to Disney in Orlando?

ALSO did you see on the site that the following will be closed?
In Disneyland tokyo:
May 7, 2012 - May 25, 2012 Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek
May 8, 2012 - May 14, 2012 Mickey's House and Meet Mickey
May 15, 2012 - July 13, 2012 Beaver Brothers Explorer Canoes
May 15, 2012 - July 13, 2012 Western River Railroad
May 15, 2012 - July 13, 2012 Tom Sawyer Island Rafts
May 15, 2012 - July 13, 2012 Mark Twain Riverboat

Does anyone know if these mainly kiddie rides? or are they adult rides??
I have not had a chance to really research into the rides yet.
This will decide if we need to get to the parks early in our trip - before the 15th before they close so that we can go on them or if they are kiddie rides then it will not matter for my planning.

and in Disney Sea
May 7, 2012 - May 25, 2012 Journey to the Center of the Earth.
will be closed.

speak to you soon,
--L

 

[Ember]

My plans, they are a changing! At the 60 day mark our tour was cancelled. Ah well. To the PP who asked we were doing a 9 day Cox & Kings tour. Now we're going it alone! I think we may follow the basic itinerary of the tour, and we've travelled enough that neither of us minds navigating ourselves around.

The only big questions I have are should I stick to doing my four Disney days at the end of the trip? And considering this will be my one and likely only shot at Disney Sea, should a shuffle things a little so we can do Journey to the Center of the Earth? (It would be a small shuffle of itinerary, but not a major re-booking or anything.) Thoughts?

 

[BelleBway]

The only big questions I have are should I stick to doing my four Disney days at the end of the trip? And considering this will be my one and likely only shot at Disney Sea, should a shuffle things a little so we can do Journey to the Center of the Earth? (It would be a small shuffle of itinerary, but not a major re-booking or anything.) Thoughts?

If it was me, I'd shuffle things around to see JTTCOTE if it's practical. (in fact, it sorta is me since I planned my trip around ride closures- particularly rides not available at other Disney parks, among other things...)

Also, TDL's Monsters Inc Ride and Go Seek is under Rehab the same time as JTTCOTE- that's another ride they don't have in any other parks. So you may want to think about that as well. I haven't been on it so I don't have an opinion on it specifically.

You should be fine doing things on your own. When I was in Kyoto, I took some tours from places that had brochures at my hotel, so you could probably mix that in. I think I took one to a few temples that were spread out, and then an evening tour that included some kind of entertainment and dinner. That was ages ago, so I don't have any specific recommendations.

 

[dee slack]

I decided to put our Disney trip at the end of our tour as I knew I'd buy lots of things there, (especially popcorn buckets ) and I didn't want to have to drag them around Japan with us. We're going for 17 nights and starting in Toyko then heading to Hakkone then to Kyoto, Hiroshima area and Back to Tokyo as a base. We had Audley travel work out the logistics and book all our travel and accomodation but we'll be pretty much going it alone when we get there.

 

[teslascar]

The only big questions I have are should I stick to doing my four Disney days at the end of the trip? And considering this will be my one and likely only shot at Disney Sea, should a shuffle things a little so we can do Journey to the Center of the Earth? (It would be a small shuffle of itinerary, but not a major re-booking or anything.) Thoughts?

If this is your first time and you have no idea if you are coming back to Tokyo Disney Resort or not, I would say shuffle it around. JTTCOTE is a unique experience only available in Tokyo Disneysea. It is what I would consider the big 3 in Disneysea which are JTTCOTE, Indy Jones and the Tower of Terror.

Monsters Inc in Disneyland is a must see attraction too IMO, if once again, this is your first time and you have no idea if you will visit Tokyo again. It is unique to this park as well. I personally feel that Winnie The Pooh is way superior to Monsters Inc, but Monsters Inc, has it's charms too. For, me, having gone to Tokyo Disney Resort loads of times, I wouldn't mind missing Monsters Inc, but if this is your one and only time, I would suggest taking it.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your trip to Tokyo.

 

[teslascar]

We had planned 3 days at Tokyo Disney and through my research i think we will reserve Mira Costa. - -do you think we should have done 4? How large is it in relation to Disney in Orlando?

ALSO did you see on the site that the following will be closed?
In Disneyland tokyo:
May 7, 2012 - May 25, 2012 Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek
May 8, 2012 - May 14, 2012 Mickey's House and Meet Mickey
May 15, 2012 - July 13, 2012 Beaver Brothers Explorer Canoes
May 15, 2012 - July 13, 2012 Western River Railroad
May 15, 2012 - July 13, 2012 Tom Sawyer Island Rafts
May 15, 2012 - July 13, 2012 Mark Twain Riverboat

Does anyone know if these mainly kiddie rides? or are they adult rides??
I have not had a chance to really research into the rides yet.
This will decide if we need to get to the parks early in our trip - before the 15th before they close so that we can go on them or if they are kiddie rides then it will not matter for my planning.

and in Disney Sea
May 7, 2012 - May 25, 2012 Journey to the Center of the Earth.
will be closed.

speak to you soon,
--L

In relation to Orlando, Tokyo Disney Resort is smaller. My favorite Disney resort as a whole is Walt Disney World in Orlando, but fav theme park is Tokyo Disneysea. I don't know if this makes any sense. : /

Well, TDR has 3 resort hotels, 2 full day theme parks and a shopping area called Ikspiari. Oh yeah and the monorail if that counts.

I, personally, normally do a 4 day thing at TDR so that I can fully soak up the atmosphere and take my time. 2 days in each park. YOU ARE GONNA LOVE THE MIRACOSTA!!!

As for the rides, JTTCOTE in Disneysea s a must see. I have no idea how to classify a ride as kiddie or adult, but JTTCOTE has a height restriction and it is a thrill ride. It is unique to the park and an amazing experience.

Monsters Inc is both an adult and kiddie ride in my opinion. As I said in the post above, it is a must see if it will be your first and only time in TDR as it is unique to only this park. For the rest of the ride closures listed for Disneyland, I am not a big fan of any of them except for the Western River Railroad and the Mark Twain Riverboat whereby my wife and I can just take a leisurely ride, enjoy the sights and relax with one another.

Enjoy Tokyo and hope this helps.