TDL, TDS and Beyond Trip Planning Advice

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Still catching up on normal life from the long trip, but I believe Sat-Sun-Mon are supposed to be the worst days on the parks in Tokyo— if it works with your time zone, I’d fire up the TDR app around 10AM, 1pm, and 6pm Tokyo time and compare waits on various days for a week or two…It’s possible our week was impacted by some kind of fluke, but I don’t feel the crowd calendars served us well.

I do continue to think that the Tokyo Disney Explorer guy’s guide book is a fantastic resource and well worth the $20 or so fee, and I also think Tom Bricker’s blog (on Disney and Japan overview generally) is a good complimentary resource.

 

[clappyclaps]

Has anyone stayed in the Hotel Okura and got any feedback/concerns? Having looked at hotels on the monorail loop, this is by far the cheapest with the Hilton and Grand Nikko coming out around £200+ more expensive.

Also, slight aside to Disney but has anyone been to the Ghibli Park? I can see it's not particularly near to either of the cities I'm planning on staying in but I can't go to Japan and not visit it, so any tips on how to include this would be appreciated!

 

[gelatoni fan]

Has anyone stayed in the Hotel Okura and got any feedback/concerns? Having looked at hotels on the monorail loop, this is by far the cheapest with the Hilton and Grand Nikko coming out around £200+ more expensive.

Also, slight aside to Disney but has anyone been to the Ghibli Park? I can see it's not particularly near to either of the cities I'm planning on staying in but I can't go to Japan and not visit it, so any tips on how to include this would be appreciated!

While I haven't stayed at this particular Okura yet, I find Okura hotels to be decent. Grand Nikko is the slightly more luxurious brand under the same hotel group.

Ghibli Park is near Nagoya and it's pretty straightforward to take the shinkansen from Tokyo station to Nagoya station. Plan to stay at least 2 nights in Nagoya.

Be aware that tickets sell out fast. If you're unable to buy the premium ticket and end up with standard ticket, then make sure to get to the valley of witches at opening or else the tickets to enter the houses will sell out. If this is a "must do" for you and you can't snag a premium ticket, then you can even consider booking one of the overpriced tours that include it.

 

[clappyclaps]

While I haven't stayed at this particular Okura yet, I find Okura hotels to be decent. Grand Nikko is the slightly more luxurious brand under the same hotel group.

Ghibli Park is near Nagoya and it's pretty straightforward to take the shinkansen from Tokyo station to Nagoya station. Plan to stay at least 2 nights in Nagoya.

Be aware that tickets sell out fast. If you're unable to buy the premium ticket and end up with standard ticket, then make sure to get to the valley of witches at opening or else the tickets to enter the houses will sell out. If this is a "must do" for you and you can't snag a premium ticket, then you can even consider booking one of the overpriced tours that include it.

Wonderful thank you!

 

[Keladry84]

I won't be booking this yet as need to get my WDW trip out of the way, but if anyone has any recommendations for reasonably priced (and decent) hotels in the Tokyo Bay area that aren't a bad walking distance from TDR I'd be really interested. While I'd love to stay at Disney, its extremely pricey and a little too prohibitive. I am considering the on-site official hotels on the monorail loop but as of when I checked, most had no availability or hadn't released rooms.

I'd highly recommend Tokyo Bay Maihama First Resort: https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/hotel/oh/firstresort.html

It's a partner hotel, "on" the Monorail loop albeit with no close-by monorail stop, but has great shuttles (I never had more than a 5 minute wait). Convenient, clean, quiet, and cheap. I stayed for $99 per night, and I absolutely loved the theming in my room. Rooms are small but well-designed and functional.

Getting to/from the parks was actually easier/quicker than when I stayed on-site at WDW, and I was able to go back/forth for afternoon breaks with no problem. It's one that tends to get overlooked by international/English speakers in favor of the more recognized brands with direct monorail stops (and more cost).

 

[clappyclaps]

I'd highly recommend Tokyo Bay Maihama First Resort: https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/hotel/oh/firstresort.html

It's a partner hotel, "on" the Monorail loop albeit with no close-by monorail stop, but has great shuttles (I never had more than a 5 minute wait). Convenient, clean, quiet, and cheap. I stayed for $99 per night, and I absolutely loved the theming in my room. Rooms are small but well-designed and functional.

Getting to/from the parks was actually easier/quicker than when I stayed on-site at WDW, and I was able to go back/forth for afternoon breaks with no problem. It's one that tends to get overlooked by international/English speakers in favor of the more recognized brands with direct monorail stops (and more cost).

Thank you. This hotel was actually one I was looking for but weirdly isn't showing any availability on the dates I want to go, when everywhere else is. But I will keep an eye on it.

Over the past week or so, I've been looking into what I actually want to see and do in the three cities (and beyond), being mindful of the fact I can't necessarily do everything in one trip - I have a long list! I can then use this to determine how long I need to stay in each area and the exact cost of the full itinerary.

Does anyone have any recommendations of things to see/do? Just interested to see if there are any suggestions I haven't already considered. Also has anyone done a day trip to Mount Fuji from Tokyo?

 

[Keladry84]

Thank you. This hotel was actually one I was looking for but weirdly isn't showing any availability on the dates I want to go, when everywhere else is. But I will keep an eye on it.

Over the past week or so, I've been looking into what I actually want to see and do in the three cities (and beyond), being mindful of the fact I can't necessarily do everything in one trip - I have a long list! I can then use this to determine how long I need to stay in each area and the exact cost of the full itinerary.

Does anyone have any recommendations of things to see/do? Just interested to see if there are any suggestions I haven't already considered. Also has anyone done a day trip to Mount Fuji from Tokyo?

Deciding what to do within the time available is really hard! I wish you luck in the process! For ideas, what types of things are you wanting to do/see? That will greatly influence what we could recommend.

For Fuji - are you wanting to SEE Fuji, or climb/be on Fuji? The answer to that will determine how to build it into the trip. If it's to see Fuji, then a large day trip all the way to the mountain is not needed. I would also recommend building in multiple ways to see it throughout the trip, as Fuji is notorious for hiding behind clouds/haze - I had 6 or 7 different opportunities to view the mountain, and only the last 1 panned out (ironically it was from the window of my hotel room in Tokyo at the end of the trip!)

 

[Kwami]

I would also recommend building in multiple ways to see it throughout the trip, as Fuji is notorious for hiding behind clouds/haze - I had 6 or 7 different opportunities to view the mountain, and only the last 1 panned out (ironically it was from the window of my hotel room in Tokyo at the end of the trip!)

This is very true. On our last trip, we spent three nights in Fujiyoshida, right at the base of the mountain, and we never saw the mountain even once!

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

This is very true. On our last trip, we spent three nights in Fujiyoshida, right at the base of the mountain, and we never saw the mountain even once!

We have taken the train from Tokyo to Osaka 4x and only managed a good viewing once (despite paying attention each time passing by), but the best view I’ve ever had of Mt. Fuji was actually from the air— we flew somewhat close and had an incredible view on a Korean Air flight from NRT to Seoul last month.

 

[wanderlust7]

For Fuji - are you wanting to SEE Fuji, or climb/be on Fuji? The answer to that will determine how to build it into the trip. If it's to see Fuji, then a large day trip all the way to the mountain is not needed. I would also recommend building in multiple ways to see it throughout the trip, as Fuji is notorious for hiding behind clouds/haze - I had 6 or 7 different opportunities to view the mountain, and only the last 1 panned out (ironically it was from the window of my hotel room in Tokyo at the end of the trip!)

We were at the Fuji Speedway Hotel for 4 nights and didn't see the mountain until our last day as we were leaving FujiQ.



Have also had good luck at hotels. Though this was in winter, which I think is easier. FujiQ was in summer.

From Andaz Tokyo:



From Hilton Tokyo Bay: