New to Tokyo Parks.

pixieprincessmom

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 6, 2003
We will be at TDR July 2-4. First trip to Tokyo. What are the must do rides? What fast passes should we get first?

Also, we will be staying at the Hilton the night of the 1st so we can be at TDL early on Monday morning. Anything in the area that we can see on Sunday?

Thanks!
 
That is one of my favourite times to go, because it is during Tanabata days! Whenever I go I get too excited to simply stay in my hotel the night before so we usually just get night passes and go into Disneyland and enjoy the ambiance. If you have more restraint than i do, then you could always browse in the mall at Ikspiari and go to bon voyage which is a disney store. We tend to go to Ikspiari before we go to the parks so that we can get a few groceries for our hotel room. Other than that, I don't think there is a whole lot to see in the area. The train to Tokyo station is about 15 minutes away if you want to go into to Tokyo and explore. At Disneysea, most folks will get a fastpass for toy story or the new nemo ride first. Toy story is a time suck, so if you have been to it at other parks and don't mind skipping it, then it might be a good idea. At Disneyland usually winnie the pooh or monsters inc are the go to first fastpasses.
 
They are all must do’s but with limited time I would spend more in DisneySea because there are more unique rides there. As mentioned above Toy Story was the hot fast pass when I went in 2016 but the Nemo ride might be hotter now. I’d try to get one for it first thing then ride either Journey to the Center of the Earth or Tower of Terror. Use your next fast pass for whichever one you didn’t get on through standby. Toy Story is the same as in the US so you can skip it, but Tower is different enough that I’d recommend it. I’d say skip Indiana Jones to start if you’ve done it recently at Disneyland. It’s pretty similar. Definitely go on Sinbad and 20,000 Leagues but you can do those in the afternoon because the lines usually aren’t too bad.
 
Most of the rides at Disneyland are clones of rides at either of the US resorts, but you definitely want to do Pooh’s Hunny Hunt and Monsters Inc. Pooh was my favorite ride at TDL.

I’d hit TDS on your first day, then TDL on the second, then start at TDS on the third and go to TDL once you’ve done everything at TDS you want to do.

I’d also recommend watching TDL’s castle show and Dreamlights parade, as well as Fantasmic at TDS. Tiki room at TDL is different than either US version, and the Aladdin and Mermaid shows at TDS are pretty good. All three of those are good things to do in the afternoon.
 


To anyone that doesn't have the possibility to enter the parks early:
The most important thing to think about when going to the parks in Japan is to be there ATLEAST one hour before they. Have tickets ready and stand (or sit) inline as soon as you can. That close spot to the gate will do alot for the rest of your day. Getting the fastpasses as early as possible gives you the chance to see ity all in one day... or atleast most of it. People will run to get fastpasses, yes even those that have small children.
I use the hour as picknick time...
 
Also, we will be staying at the Hilton the night of the 1st so we can be at TDL early on Monday morning. Anything in the area that we can see on Sunday?

Sorry I forgot to answer this question before. They sell an after 4 pm ticket, so you could go into one of the parks that night. You could also spend a few hours wandering around the shopping area between the parks, Ikspiari. Or you could check out the three Disney hotels and ride the monorail.

If you're coming to the resort by train you can take your luggage to the welcome center at Ikspiari and check in there. They will send your bags to the Hilton.
 
You are going at a time of low attendance, but there will be a couple of ride closures. Unfortunately, Journey to the Center of the Earth will be closed as well as Monsters Inc Ride and Go Seek. Although Monsters Inc is a tremendously popular ride with huge lines, I thought it was very disappointing, so IMHO you won't miss much.

My 'insider' tips for Disney Sea:

Make sure you don't miss anything. Do anythign you can, it's all worth it. Triton's Kingdom, the underground part of Mermaid Lagoon, is spectacular. Truly explore evey nook and cranny of this space including the kids play areas. Go see the show inside. For Fortress Exploration, ask for a map in English, Makes for a great souvenir, and also you really do need a map or you might miss part of it. An English map might not be readily available, so it will take them a moment to locate one. go see all of the rooms. Even if you don't go to Toy Story, make sure you visit Toyland, the themeing is great. Cape Cod Cookout has a small continuously operating stage show, so it is a great place to have lunch plus be entertained. Indiana Jones has a single rider line. Single Rider uses the same entrance as Fast Pass, and FP in Tokyo is truly Front of the Line, so take full advantage of it. (If you ask, they will probably let you ride together anyway.) Even better if you learn to ask in Japanese.

At Disneyland, I would ride Pooh's Hunny Hunt twice. Once at rope drop, and then again with an FP. One of the great rides in all of Disney. ALso, the live show in Tomorrowland ("One Man's Dream") is excellent, so please go if you can. People in Tokyo sit for parades, no standing, so carve out a space for yourself a bit early, especially for the electrical parade which is a super highlight!
 


Thanks so much! I love planning! So exciting.
Another question. We are looking at the Ambassador (not a package) or the Hilton. Is the extra 15 minutes worth it?
 
It can get pretty hot and humid in July. I think getting a 15 minute head start might be worth it. We’ve been twice and our first trip was in July. We stayed at the Sheraton. We would hit the parks in the morning then take an afternoon break.

But whether it’s worth it really depends on how much more the Ambassador is.
 
We just went on 2/19 and 20. You would think that a winter weekday would be low volume...all I know is all the FP rides were 2 hours long by the afternoon.
I agree with others...do the rides that are not at any other disney parks you have already visited.
 
We will be at TDR July 2-4. First trip to Tokyo. What are the must do rides? What fast passes should we get first?

Also, we will be staying at the Hilton the night of the 1st so we can be at TDL early on Monday morning. Anything in the area that we can see on Sunday?

Thanks!


I just stayed at the Hilton last week ... take the Monorail instead of the shuttles. The shuttles take you to the train station, from there you have a pretty decent walk to either park. The monorail was something like $7 USD for a 2 day all you can ride pass and it drops you off right at the parks as well as the train station. The Bayside station is virtually right across the street from the Hilton. It goes Bayside ---> Disney Seas ---> train station ----> DisneyLand

The train station itself has a lot of shops and places to eat (including a large Disney store). For snacks, drinks, etc .. the store in the Hilton is really better IMO than those at the train station, similar prices and a lot less crowded.

I would agree Disney Seas has the most unique attractions and the park itself is most unique to Japan.
 
Thanks so much! I love planning! So exciting.
Another question. We are looking at the Ambassador (not a package) or the Hilton. Is the extra 15 minutes worth it?

Yes, imo, even during the slow times. 15 minutes at WDW or DLR may not be that big of a deal, but lines at TDR build faster and earlier.

On Sunday night, you can visit the Disneyland Hotel, Ikspiari, and shop at Bon Voyage. The Mira Costa is nice, but I don't think the lobby is nice enough to warrant a special trip. Ikspiari has an Ippudo, my favorite ramen joint. (It's an international chain, but don't let that put you off). There are also a couple of 100 yen stores that put Dollar Tree to shame.
 
Whether the 15 minutes is worth it to you will depend but you can decide based on my experience below:

On my trip to TDR in February, I arrived at the gates before 9AM for 10AM park opening on both days. It was sprinkling in DisneySea and I was well behind bag check. Once I finally got into the park, my first FastPass for Tower of Terror was 11:25 and all major attractions were already over 30 minutes of wait. The next day, it was snowing at Disneyland so with fewer people, I was close enough to the gate to kind of see the characters come out for gate opening. My first Fastpass for Space Mountain was 10:50 and I managed to hit Winnie the Pooh at 5 minutes of wait time. When I exited the ride, it was at 50 minutes and in the afternoon the ride reached 150 minutes.

People with the 15 minutes privilege who arrived 30 minutes later than me could have:
1. gotten 2 more rides than me at DisneySea due to the first walk on and another Fastpass due to the earlier next Fastpass time
2. gotten a better spot than me for the gate opening show at Disneyland (and stayed out of the snow for longer)

I'll disagree with some of the people here for Fastpass strategy. Nemo SeaRider was the second to last FP to disappear when I went to DisneySea and became a walk on at the end of the day. However, you may want to ride it multiple times though because like Star Tours, there are multiple sequences but I still don't think it's a good first FP. If you want to do Midway Mania that should be your first FP. Otherwise, get Tower of Terror (you don't want to miss that). Your Disneyland strategy can vary but if you can get in fast enough, I think Monsters Inc FP then riding Winnie the Pooh is the way to go. Alternatively, get Winnie the Pooh FP and then ride Peter Pan (which isn't too different from other parks though).

Single rider is more powerful in Japan than in the US so you may want to use this to cut out some FP. It's hard to recommend rides because people have different preferences but I think someone with access to other Disney parks would find the following unique enough:
1. Winnie the Pooh
2. Nemo SeaRider
3. Aquatopia
4. Space Mountain
5. Sinbad
6. Monster's Inc
7. Jungle Cruise
8. Tower of Terror

The Electrical parade, Fantasmic and One Man's Dream are excellent shows. I also highly recommend eating lunch at Cape Cod Cookout which which has two short shows: one about ShellieMay and one about Gelatoni. But I'm a bit biased given that Gelatoni is one of my favorite Disney characters. :P
 
We just finished a 5 night stay split between TDH and Miracosta, did Happy 15 four mornings. It was nice getting into the park ahead of everyone else but I’m not sure it was a MAJOR advantage. At TDL we got a Monsters Inc fast pass and then rode Space Mountain (Pooh is closed currently). At DisneySea one morning we got a Fastpass for ToT then rode JTTCOTE, the other morning got a TSMM fastpass and then rode ToT. So, it was nice, but not sure it was that helpful during a very slow weekday crowd-wise. On the weekends and during the summer I’m sure Happy 15 is a much bigger advantage.
 
We have decided to stay at the Ambassador. Journey to the Center of the Earth closes on Monday so looks like we will be getting 4 day tickets so we can ride it in Sunday.
 
We just got back and stayed at the Ambassador for the first time. It's similar to staying at the Disneyland Hotel (Anaheim), walk through Iksipiari to get to the Maihama train station and through to Disneyland. Even shorter walk to Disney Sea, we even beat the bus back to the hotel once.
 
Journey. Pooh. And don’t forget Sinbad! It’s underrated. One of the nest dark rides ever!
 

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