The side trip to Tokyo Disneyland is no longer being offered with the Japan Tour. Advice needed.

[MouseyMin]

Helen, I stayed for 4 nights and had 3 park days. It wasn't enough! DisneySea is absolutely amazing and it takes quite a long time to see everything.

 

[helenk]

I know we won't be able to see and do everything but hopefully with 3 nights and 4 days we can see a lot. Since this will be after a 10 day tour of Japan we have to set a time limit on our Disneyland portion

 

[WorldOfPooh]

I know we won't be able to see and do everything but hopefully with 3 nights and 4 days we can see a lot. Since this will be after a 10 day tour of Japan we have to set a time limit on our Disneyland portion

Have you set the Disneyland portion for a weekday (and not during Golden Week).
That should help.

 

[sayhello]

Have you set the Disneyland portion for a weekday (and not during Golden Week).
That should help.

Her trip is in July, so no worries about Golden Week. But I agree with trying to schedule it NOT on the weekend!

Sayhello

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

The extra hour seems like it could be a good enough perk to consider the upcharge of staying onsite, but I agree that it should be free like the happy 15 or whatever they call it. To charge more for the room plus more for the extra hour is a lot.

 

[helenk]

The ABD tour ends 7/13 which is a Tuesday. So my plan is to stay Tuesday , Wednesday and Thursday night.

 

[sayhello]

The ABD tour ends 7/13 which is a Tuesday. So my plan is to stay Tuesday , Wednesday and Thursday night.

Perfect!

Sayhello

 

[DJJimmy9]

I’ve been playing around with the Tokyo Disney website over the past couple weeks. I’m hoping that it is only COVID related or something to do with the Olympics, but it seems darn near impossible to book anything on your own.

I just booked an ABD to Japan for Summer, 2022. I hoping ABD brings back the Tokyo Disney extension / add-on at some point. But if not, I will be determined to become to Tokyo Disney expert over the next year.

 

[sayhello]

I’ve been playing around with the Tokyo Disney website over the past couple weeks. I’m hoping that it is only COVID related or something to do with the Olympics, but it seems darn near impossible to book anything on your own.

I just booked an ABD to Japan for Summer, 2022. I hoping ABD brings back the Tokyo Disney extension / add-on at some point. But if not, I will be determined to become to Tokyo Disney expert over the next year.

I believe you can only book Tokyo Disney Resort at 6 months out. So if you're looking for Summer of 2022, you're not going to find anything.

I believe most people book exactly at 6 months out, as a lot of the hotels, especially the MiraCosta, sell out very quickly.

I'm not sure if any of this is changed for COVID-19 or the Olympics.

Sayhello

 

[DJJimmy9]

Thanks, I know that I cannot book for 2022 yet. But I tried to book at any Tokyo Disney hotel for almost every night over the next few months and nothing was open. Right now the website only goes out until September for hotel only and to October for packages. I was just trying to get a sense of the prices. But no availability every comes back.

 

[Poohlie]

It looks like it is still a 2 month booking window for room only and no packages yet. Hopefully that changes well in advance of your trip. Maybe book a refundable room at the Sheraton (booking about 12 months out) so you have something until availability opens at the TDR hotels?

From the Tokyo Disney Resort Website:


Disney Hotels Reservations (Updated 11:20 a.m. April 13, 2021)
Jan/14/2021 (Thu)
The applicable Disney hotels and the period for booking a stay at a Disney Hotel is as are as follows:

■ Applicable Disney Hotels
• Disney Ambassador Hotel
• Tokyo DisneySea Hotel MiraCosta
• Tokyo Disneyland Hotel
• Tokyo Disney Celebration Hotel

■ Reservation Period
· Reservations are accepted from 11:00 a.m. of the same day two months prior to your stay.(If the same day of the month does not exist that month, bookings can be made from 11:00 a.m. on the first day of the next month.)

- The above conditions are subject to change. Any changes to the above will be posted on this website.
- Reservations for up to five consecutive nights are being accepted for the dates that are currently available.
- Up to three rooms can be booked at the same time.

■ Disney Hotels Guest Benefits
Disney Hotels Guest Benefits can be used only at restaurants inside the hotel.
Some changes have been made to the benefits and contents of the service. For details, read more here .

 

[TXTransplant]

So glad to see this thread bumped! We just got our Japan 2022 adventure booked on Monday, and we will be doing pre-trip days at Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea.

It's only been about a week since I even got the idea to book this trip, so I've barely scratched the surface, but I figured I'd ask a couple of introductory questions here.

For context, our ABD starts on Sunday June 5, 2022. I am thinking we can fly to Tokyo on Sunday, May 29 or Monday, May 30.

I'd love to have four full days at the parks. Am I correct in understanding that a three-night stay at one of the resort hotels will qualify me for a 4-day ticket?

I'm reading it's best to visit on a weekday, so Tues-Fri would give us one extra day (Saturday) to either go ahead and travel to Kyoto or spend an extra day in Tokyo. For those who have taken the trip, which would you recommend?

I would like to minimize how many times I have to change hotels in Tokyo, so if we fly in on a Sunday, we would not need any hotel accommodations until Monday night. I am a little worried about jet lag and our ability to hit the ground running at a park on Tuesday morning, but that may be what we need to do to have four days in the parks.

If that's the option we choose, I'd be looking at two nights (Mon-Tues) at a non-Disney hotel and three nights (Wed-Fri) at a resort hotel, correct? Is there a better option than this? Should I consider booking Mon-Wed at the resort and Thurs-Fri at a different hotel? Are the park tickets dated? Because we will not be able to visit a park on Monday if we fly in on a Sunday. If I did a Tues-Thurs stay at the resort, that would leave me having to stay at a different hotel on Monday night and Friday night, which is not really ideal.

Also, MiraCosta is our preferred hotel. It will just be two of us (myself and my son), but we do need two actual beds (no trundles). What would be the cheapest room configuration/view for our needs? I just did a quick search on the website for room reservations, but it doesn't show the price difference. I know we don't need a triple room, but I don't want to pay extra for a special view, either.

I'm thinking we'd take the bullet train to Kyoto to meet up with the ABD group. We could do this either on Saturday or Sunday, and I'm open to suggestions as to where/how to best spend that day. I'm leaning towards Kyoto, just because I think the scenery is beautiful.

Thanks in advance for any feedback. I am so stinking excited about this trip, but the pre-planning makes me nervous!

 

[Mathmagicland]

So glad to see this thread bumped! We just got our Japan 2022 adventure booked on Monday, and we will be doing pre-trip days at Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea.

It's only been about a week since I even got the idea to book this trip, so I've barely scratched the surface, but I figured I'd ask a couple of introductory questions here.

For context, our ABD starts on Sunday June 5, 2022. I am thinking we can fly to Tokyo on Sunday, May 29 or Monday, May 30.

I'd love to have four full days at the parks. Am I correct in understanding that a three-night stay at one of the resort hotels will qualify me for a 4-day ticket?

I'm reading it's best to visit on a weekday, so Tues-Fri would give us one extra day (Saturday) to either go ahead and travel to Kyoto or spend an extra day in Tokyo. For those who have taken the trip, which would you recommend?

I would like to minimize how many times I have to change hotels in Tokyo, so if we fly in on a Sunday, we would not need any hotel accommodations until Monday night. I am a little worried about jet lag and our ability to hit the ground running at a park on Tuesday morning, but that may be what we need to do to have four days in the parks.

If that's the option we choose, I'd be looking at two nights (Mon-Tues) at a non-Disney hotel and three nights (Wed-Fri) at a resort hotel, correct? Is there a better option than this? Should I consider booking Mon-Wed at the resort and Thurs-Fri at a different hotel? Are the park tickets dated? Because we will not be able to visit a park on Monday if we fly in on a Sunday. If I did a Tues-Thurs stay at the resort, that would leave me having to stay at a different hotel on Monday night and Friday night, which is not really ideal.

Also, MiraCosta is our preferred hotel. It will just be two of us (myself and my son), but we do need two actual beds (no trundles). What would be the cheapest room configuration/view for our needs? I just did a quick search on the website for room reservations, but it doesn't show the price difference. I know we don't need a triple room, but I don't want to pay extra for a special view, either.

I'm thinking we'd take the bullet train to Kyoto to meet up with the ABD group. We could do this either on Saturday or Sunday, and I'm open to suggestions as to where/how to best spend that day. I'm leaning towards Kyoto, just because I think the scenery is beautiful.

Thanks in advance for any feedback. I am so stinking excited about this trip, but the pre-planning makes me nervous!

Hi - I’ll share on a couple of your questions, from our 2019 Japan AbD experience -

Flights - Narita airport has restricted hours, something like 5am - 11pm. Haneda airport operates 24x7. We are in Calif. We found more flight flexibility flying into Haneda vs Narita. We flew overnight, landed at Haneda at 5am, 30 minutes thru customs & immigration, had a 7am flight to Osaka, and were at the Kyoto AbD hotel by 10am. Dropped luggage & had rest of the day to explore Kyoto. It seemed the best use of our time with flying and sleeping, and we felt adjusted to Japan time upon arrival. You could do similar with landing in Tokyo, get to your Tokyo Disney hotel, and hit the parks that first day. This could also eliminate an additional hotel in Tokyo pre-trip.

There is very little free time in Kyoto, so I’d suggest getting there a day early so you have some time to explore on your own. We had our arrival day to explore Kyoto, and spent the next day on the bullet train to Himeji to visit their UNESCO site Himeji Castle & that city.

Re time in Tokyo - the itinerary has changed a bit from the inaugural year, but we did have two free afternoons in Tokyo. There is so much to see & do there, so if you wanted extra days you could add them on at the end. You also will want to research options for your free time in Tokyo, to maximize it. Ie is your son into anime, does he want to visit Akihabara or the Ghibli, or both? Need to plan for the Ghibli as it is closed on Tuesday’s and requires timed tickets that go very quickly (same day as released) in summer months when they go on sale 60 days in advance. Akihabara has so many shops that my son did his research on which he wanted to visit for which types of items, again to maximize time.

Haneda also offered much later departure flight options - we did the Tokyo Disney add-on, and our return flight left at 1am the next day again saving an extra hotel night. So we had the entire third day at Tokyo Disney as our transfer pickup was 9pm. The flights out of Narita were much earlier in the evening due to their airport hours, so we would have lost late afternoon & all evening at Tokyo Disney to make Narita flights. Haneda is also closer to Tokyo and Tokyo Disney, minimizing transfer times.

Have fun planning - it is a wonderful trip!!

 

[TXTransplant]

Hi - I’ll share on a couple of your questions, from our 2019 Japan AbD experience -

Flights - Narita airport has restricted hours, something like 5am - 11pm. Haneda airport operates 24x7. We are in Calif. We found more flight flexibility flying into Haneda vs Narita. We flew overnight, landed at Haneda at 5am, 30 minutes thru customs & immigration, had a 7am flight to Osaka, and were at the Kyoto AbD hotel by 10am. Dropped luggage & had rest of the day to explore Kyoto. It seemed the best use of our time with flying and sleeping, and we felt adjusted to Japan time upon arrival. You could do similar with landing in Tokyo, get to your Tokyo Disney hotel, and hit the parks that first day. This could also eliminate an additional hotel in Tokyo pre-trip.

There is very little free time in Kyoto, so I’d suggest getting there a day early so you have some time to explore on your own. We had our arrival day to explore Kyoto, and spent the next day on the bullet train to Himeji to visit their UNESCO site Himeji Castle & that city.

Re time in Tokyo - the itinerary has changed a bit from the inaugural year, but we did have two free afternoons in Tokyo. There is so much to see & do there, so if you wanted extra days you could add them on at the end. You also will want to research options for your free time in Tokyo, to maximize it. Ie is your son into anime, does he want to visit Akihabara or the Ghibli, or both? Need to plan for the Ghibli as it is closed on Tuesday’s and requires timed tickets that go very quickly (same day as released) in summer months when they go on sale 60 days in advance. Akihabara has so many shops that my son did his research on which he wanted to visit for which types of items, again to maximize time.

Haneda also offered much later departure flight options - we did the Tokyo Disney add-on, and our return flight left at 1am the next day again saving an extra hotel night. So we had the entire third day at Tokyo Disney as our transfer pickup was 9pm. The flights out of Narita were much earlier in the evening due to their airport hours, so we would have lost late afternoon & all evening at Tokyo Disney to make Narita flights. Haneda is also closer to Tokyo and Tokyo Disney, minimizing transfer times.

Have fun planning - it is a wonderful trip!!

It didn't occur to me that both airports would be an option, so I'll make sure to look closely at the flight choices.

As it stands now, the one nonstop flight from our airport actually does go to HND. I'm in Houston, though, so the flight is substantially longer than from the West Coast. This summer's schedule has a flight leaving here at 1:15 pm and arriving in Tokyo at 5 pm. Even the flights with layovers on the West Coast tend to arrive at 2 pm or later. Looks like, if I want to arrive at HND early morning, I would have to specifically fly through LAX.

Part of me thinks arriving early evening on Monday would be preferred, just so we could shower and get some sleep before heading to the park. But, that does make hotel logistics a little more complicated.

 

[Mathmagicland]

It didn't occur to me that both airports would be an option, so I'll make sure to look closely at the flight choices.

As it stands now, the one nonstop flight from our airport actually does go to HND. I'm in Houston, though, so the flight is substantially longer than from the West Coast. This summer's schedule has a flight leaving here at 1:15 pm and arriving in Tokyo at 5 pm. Even the flights with layovers on the West Coast tend to arrive at 2 pm or later. Looks like, if I want to arrive at HND early morning, I would have to specifically fly through LAX.

Part of me thinks arriving early evening on Monday would be preferred, just so we could shower and get some sleep before heading to the park. But, that does make hotel logistics a little more complicated.

Don’t know what airlines you are researching...be sure to also look at JAL and ANA. ANA has more flights to HND & that is where we found our late night departures. JAL flight times were much earlier in evening & also had more to NAR vs HND.

 

[808blessing]

We stayed at Tokyo Bay Hilton twice and it was very nice. Just a 2 min shuttle on Magical Express bus and then the monorail. There is a cartoon themed room and waiting area so it still felt very festive and playful. Sundries store was Disneyfied. The view of the bay was gorgeous. Now being DVC I can’t wait to do Mira Costa one day!
Once we stayed off site and taxi/rail in. Not as good but it did the trick. If you go in the summer it is HOT! April is nice.

 

[TXTransplant]

Don’t know what airlines you are researching...be sure to also look at JAL and ANA. ANA has more flights to HND & that is where we found our late night departures. JAL flight times were much earlier in evening & also had more to NAR vs HND.

Out of Bush, it's going to be Air Nippon/United, if we fly direct or through LAX. With one stop, I could also do American through Dallas to NRT, which is a code share with JAL. For being such a big city, our international airport has pretty limited international flight choices. United just dominates. But a nonstop flight on a Dreamliner is going to be hard to pass up.

On a trip like this, I might consider a multi-day layover on the West Coast, but since we are doing Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea, spending a few days in San Fran or LA just isn't an option.

 

[Poohlie]

Just looking at my flights from Tokyo in 2019, saver business for the United nonstop Narita to Newark opened up 335 days prior for those of you with miles to burn.

 

[DJJimmy9]

Glad this thread is bumped too.

My current plan is to book time on both ends of the ABD itinerary. ABD starts on a Sunday, so we are going to fly out of Philly or NYC the Wednesday before and arrive in Japan on Thursday. We will likely fly to Tokyo (way more flight options) and then connect to Osaka. Our plan is to totally chill on Friday and maybe explore Osaka a little if we are up to it. Then on Saturday we will hit up Universal Studios Japan for 1-day. Sunday we will head to Kyoto early and have a day to explore there on our own.

At the end of the ABD trip, we will transfer from the Peninsula to Tokyo Disney on Tuesday. Our plan is stay 3-nights at a Disney hotel and head home from Tokyo on Friday. That will give us 2 full park days (WED & THU) and 2 half days (TUE & FRI).

Just typing this out is getting me giddy! Let’s keep this thread going to talk about plans!