Tokyo Disney Booking Help

[aleh021]

Hi Disboards fam!

We are going to Tokyo Disney Resort in July (along with a pitstop in Shanghai). I am in the midst of trying to figure out what hotel to book, whether we stay at Hilton Bay, stay at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, split up the stay, stay at Celebration Hotel then move to Tokyo Disneyland Hotel - I really have no idea! I was really hoping someone can help me out.

We are going to be at the Tokyo Disneyland Resort for 7 nights. Monday to Monday.

Right now here are my ideas...

2 nights at Tokyo Disney Celebration Hotel
5 nights at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel

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2 nights at Hilton Bay
5 nights at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel

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5 nights at Hilton Bay
2 nights at either Tokyo Disneyland Hotel OR Hotel Miracosta


If you have any other mixtures or ideas let me know!

Another thing is - I really dont know what the rates will look like for July which makes me nervous. Looking at the June rates now, if they stay that way we can do it, if they go any higher, might have to cut some nights at a Disney hotel.

Let me know your thoughts! Thanks everyone

 

[Agent 86]

If you follow tdrexplorer or sign-up to their newsletter, the Hilton regularly has good specials. So, if you want to save money, it's a good option (when on sale). The Hilton is also in a great location on the monorail loop.

I haven't stayed at any of the "official" Disney hotels as they're a bit too expensive.

 

[wanderlust7]

I was tempted to try out the Celebration Hotel when it first opened, but decided against it due to having to take a shuttle to the parks. Decided it wasn't worth it to do a "Disney" hotel for less convenience. It does come with the Happy 15 though, if that's important to you.

We got a good deal at the Sheraton in an Ocean Dreams room (very nice), would be worth keeping an eye on their rates along with the Hilton. They're both super convenient to the parks on the monorail. More convenient than most onsite WDW hotels.

Friday and Saturday night rates are significantly more. Are you sure you need 7 nights at TDR? Could help with the budget if you do 5 nights avoiding the weekend nights.

We did 3 nights at the Sheraton, one night at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, and one night at the MiraCosta. It was too much moving around, if I could go back in time, I would do 2 nights at the MiraCosta. Personal opinion - TDH was very nice, but I thought the best part was the lobby, which anyone can go into. Whereas the MiraCosta, there's something magical about staying in the park, seeing the lights after closing, and a still empty park when you wake up.

 

[aleh021]

I was tempted to try out the Celebration Hotel when it first opened, but decided against it due to having to take a shuttle to the parks. Decided it wasn't worth it to do a "Disney" hotel for less convenience. It does come with the Happy 15 though, if that's important to you.

We got a good deal at the Sheraton in an Ocean Dreams room (very nice), would be worth keeping an eye on their rates along with the Hilton. They're both super convenient to the parks on the monorail. More convenient than most onsite WDW hotels.

Friday and Saturday night rates are significantly more. Are you sure you need 7 nights at TDR? Could help with the budget if you do 5 nights avoiding the weekend nights.

We did 3 nights at the Sheraton, one night at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, and one night at the MiraCosta. It was too much moving around, if I could go back in time, I would do 2 nights at the MiraCosta. Personal opinion - TDH was very nice, but I thought the best part was the lobby, which anyone can go into. Whereas the MiraCosta, there's something magical about staying in the park, seeing the lights after closing, and a still empty park when you wake up.

I am very tempted to book Celebration Hotel only because the cost. However - traveling all the way to Tokyo, I sort of want more amenities, and the Celebration Hotel looks very nice, but very simple.

I did notice the rates are significantly higher on weekends. Our main focus at TDR is to be there for all the new 35th Anniversary Celebration entertainment, events, shows, etc. Also we will be visiting Tokyo and exploring the city as well. But will do that out of our Tokyo Disney Resort hotel.

Just so flustered with what to do.

 

[Agent 86]

Also we will be visiting Tokyo and exploring the city as well.

I would recommend a split stay. Three (?) nights at or around Disneyland and four (?) nights in Tokyo.

Tokyo's public transportation is great, but it can be complex, crowded and overwhelming for some foreign visitors. Also, it can take quite a while to travel back and forth every day. The first two times we visited Tokyo, we stayed close to Tokyo and travelled to Disney. The travel times were around an hour and still involved a lot of walking - the train stations are HUGE (like underground cities). That can be exhausting after long days in the park. Similarly, if you stayed the entire time at Disneyland, you would have potentially lengthy travel times to and from Tokyo each day, with the possible addition of a monorail ride as well (depending upon where you stay and the proximity to the Disneyland train station).

 

[rkold]

I am very tempted to book Celebration Hotel only because the cost. However - traveling all the way to Tokyo, I sort of want more amenities, and the Celebration Hotel looks very nice, but very simple.

I did notice the rates are significantly higher on weekends. Our main focus at TDR is to be there for all the new 35th Anniversary Celebration entertainment, events, shows, etc. Also we will be visiting Tokyo and exploring the city as well. But will do that out of our Tokyo Disney Resort hotel.

Just so flustered with what to do.

Depending on where you are trying to get to in Tokyo, you're talking 30-40 minutes or longer from TDR to said attraction. If you're going to be in the Tokyo area for a full week, you are probably better off moving between TDR and Tokyo proper. Honestly, I felt like a lot of hotels in Tokyo proper had better English than the Official Hotels.

I thought about Celebration as well, but if my main goal is TDR I want to be as close as possible. I only did two night at Tokyo Disneyland and I will probably next trip only do 1. We stayed the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel because I figured we'd do less at Sea because of height lines and I was right.

I'm not sure when you are going in July, but I'm pretty sure the first part of July is still rainy season. July is also incredibly hot and humid in Japan and unlike the USA, they don't over air condition everything.

 

[aleh021]

Depending on where you are trying to get to in Tokyo, you're talking 30-40 minutes or longer from TDR to said attraction. If you're going to be in the Tokyo area for a full week, you are probably better off moving between TDR and Tokyo proper. Honestly, I felt like a lot of hotels in Tokyo proper had better English than the Official Hotels.

I thought about Celebration as well, but if my main goal is TDR I want to be as close as possible. I only did two night at Tokyo Disneyland and I will probably next trip only do 1. We stayed the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel because I figured we'd do less at Sea because of height lines and I was right.

I'm not sure when you are going in July, but I'm pretty sure the first part of July is still rainy season. July is also incredibly hot and humid in Japan and unlike the USA, they don't over air condition everything.

We are going from July 16-July 23.
Right now looks like we will be splitting our stay between Hilton Tokyo Bay & Tokyo Disneyland Hotel.

Celebration looks very cute, but again, with it being 20 minutes shuttle ride, barley any amenities, ehhh not really worth it.

Our main focus is TDR. Because TDR is our main focus we will travel out to the city from our hotel and we are comfortable navigating around.

We are okay with humidity! Believe it or not.

 

[aleh021]

Also July 16 and July 23 are our travel days.

Leaving us 6 days of Disney & Tokyo exploration.

 

[rkold]

We are going from July 16-July 23.
Right now looks like we will be splitting our stay between Hilton Tokyo Bay & Tokyo Disneyland Hotel.

Celebration looks very cute, but again, with it being 20 minutes shuttle ride, barley any amenities, ehhh not really worth it.

Our main focus is TDR. Because TDR is our main focus we will travel out to the city from our hotel and we are comfortable navigating around.

We are okay with humidity! Believe it or not.

Great! It's just good to be prepared because a lot of people seem to dislike heat and humidity. I actually like that Japan is so humid, dry heats always hurt my throat. I've come to enjoy visiting Japan in the Summer though I miss some of the Spring flower displays. At some point I would like to visit in the middle of the Summer so I can finally hike Mt. Fuji.

Yeah, I wouldn't want to have a 20 minute shuttle ride. At that point, you might as well stay in Odaiba because trying to get to the park early enough to use the early admission is going to be a pain.

The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is like a bigger Grand Floridian in terms of the building itself. I liked that it was a short walk to Maihama Station as well as super close to DL.

 

[aleh021]

Great! It's just good to be prepared because a lot of people seem to dislike heat and humidity. I actually like that Japan is so humid, dry heats always hurt my throat. I've come to enjoy visiting Japan in the Summer though I miss some of the Spring flower displays. At some point I would like to visit in the middle of the Summer so I can finally hike Mt. Fuji.

Yeah, I wouldn't want to have a 20 minute shuttle ride. At that point, you might as well stay in Odaiba because trying to get to the park early enough to use the early admission is going to be a pain.

The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is like a bigger Grand Floridian in terms of the building itself. I liked that it was a short walk to Maihama Station as well as super close to DL.

I dont know if you know the answer to this question - or anyone on here.

But I am guessing the rates for all the Disney hotels for mid-late July will be Peak rates?

I can't find a room rate sheet for 2017-2018. Just found the one for 2016. :|

 

[rkold]

I dont know if you know the answer to this question - or anyone on here.

But I am guessing the rates for all the Disney hotels for mid-late July will be Peak rates?

I can't find a room rate sheet for 2017-2018. Just found the one for 2016. :|

I'm not sure of the exact rates yet, but if you go to the website, you can book a package for 7/11 already and if you start the process, you can see which hotels are sold out for such and what the going rate for a room is. It's definitely higher than when I am going the week before, but I also imagine during other times of year the price is even higher.

BTW just because a room is booked for the package does not mean the hotel is completely booked, TDR limits the number of rooms for a package. For me personally, the packages offered are ridiculously expensive. I think for my dates it was like 80,000 yen for a room. It did include breakfast, park tickets, entry to a show and 3 additional fast passes, but the room without the package would be 40,000, breakfast would be more like 4500 (assuming same buffet), tickets would be 23,000 so I would be paying: 12,500 for extra fast passes and the seats for the show. I'm not sure I want to pay for the buffet, I wasn't terribly impressed last trip.

I hope this makes sense.

 

[aleh021]

I'm not sure of the exact rates yet, but if you go to the website, you can book a package for 7/11 already and if you start the process, you can see which hotels are sold out for such and what the going rate for a room is. It's definitely higher than when I am going the week before, but I also imagine during other times of year the price is even higher.

BTW just because a room is booked for the package does not mean the hotel is completely booked, TDR limits the number of rooms for a package. For me personally, the packages offered are ridiculously expensive. I think for my dates it was like 80,000 yen for a room. It did include breakfast, park tickets, entry to a show and 3 additional fast passes, but the room without the package would be 40,000, breakfast would be more like 4500 (assuming same buffet), tickets would be 23,000 so I would be paying: 12,500 for extra fast passes and the seats for the show. I'm not sure I want to pay for the buffet, I wasn't terribly impressed last trip.

I hope this makes sense.

That helps a lot! Looking now actually...

Im going to compare packages and room costs. Were going in July and I know with the 35th celebration and it being high peak time, might be beneficial (maybe) for some of the benefits from the package. But we will see!

Thank you so much for responding !!!!

 

[rkold]

That helps a lot! Looking now actually...

Im going to compare packages and room costs. Were going in July and I know with the 35th celebration and it being high peak time, might be beneficial (maybe) for some of the benefits from the package. But we will see!

Thank you so much for responding !!!!

No problem, and yeah when you are going is relatively peak because school lets out on the 20th for Summer break. (I'm planing to go July3+4 so it's still school time for most people. I'm also hoping for rain.) As 1 adult or even 2 adults and if you're not picky eaters the packages aren't as bad. Part of the issue is, my travel party is 1 adult and 1 child, so we get dinged by higher rates than otherwise. If you expect the park to be super crowded having the extra 3 FPs (or there is a more expensive package with 6 extra FPs) might be worth it. For us, it's a hard sell because we are picky eaters and the breakfast available with the package has nothing we can eat. So we're out an additional 4500 for that. But if you think of the package as similar to the express passes as USJ, it makes more sense. (Though to be fair the hotels near USJ cost considerably less, I got $130 for the Keihan with breakfast for late June because we're starting our trip in Kansai. I have to go on the Final Fantasy ride!) They just started for July 12. I don't know your time zone, but in the US the 23rd will become available on January 22.

I hope this helps and for things to do in Tokyo proper I would look through Japan Guide to see what might interest you. If you have other questions I'm happy to help. I admit, I've been to Tokyo itself many times now, so I mostly go to see friends and shop. Our next trip we plan to see the Ghibli Museum as well.

 

[aleh021]

No problem, and yeah when you are going is relatively peak because school lets out on the 20th for Summer break. (I'm planing to go July3+4 so it's still school time for most people. I'm also hoping for rain.) As 1 adult or even 2 adults and if you're not picky eaters the packages aren't as bad. Part of the issue is, my travel party is 1 adult and 1 child, so we get dinged by higher rates than otherwise. If you expect the park to be super crowded having the extra 3 FPs (or there is a more expensive package with 6 extra FPs) might be worth it. For us, it's a hard sell because we are picky eaters and the breakfast available with the package has nothing we can eat. So we're out an additional 4500 for that. But if you think of the package as similar to the express passes as USJ, it makes more sense. (Though to be fair the hotels near USJ cost considerably less, I got $130 for the Keihan with breakfast for late June because we're starting our trip in Kansai. I have to go on the Final Fantasy ride!) They just started for July 12. I don't know your time zone, but in the US the 23rd will become available on January 22.

I hope this helps and for things to do in Tokyo proper I would look through Japan Guide to see what might interest you. If you have other questions I'm happy to help. I admit, I've been to Tokyo itself many times now, so I mostly go to see friends and shop. Our next trip we plan to see the Ghibli Museum as well.

Thankfully everyone in our party is open to eat anything (maybe 1 picky eater but they'll live haha).

I know for sure we will take 1 full day exploring the city of Tokyo. And also Ghibli Museum is a definite spot on our list.

But this is also why were looking at using the Tokyo Disney Resort area as our main point for hotel. I know a lot of people I see suggest splitting the stay. But I just rather not go through the hassle of hotel transfers. I think it will just work out best for our family doing it this way and since were comfortable using public transportation I think we will be okay. As long as we have fun !

Plus were also doing a 3 night stay in Shanghai before flying over to Tokyo.

BUT - Do you have any recommendations for sight seeing in Tokyo for 1 full day (where to visit, what I should visit and can not miss). We would most likely do it on a Sunday, and avoid the crowds at the parks.

 

[rkold]

Thankfully everyone in our party is open to eat anything (maybe 1 picky eater but they'll live haha).

I know for sure we will take 1 full day exploring the city of Tokyo. And also Ghibli Museum is a definite spot on our list.

But this is also why were looking at using the Tokyo Disney Resort area as our main point for hotel. I know a lot of people I see suggest splitting the stay. But I just rather not go through the hassle of hotel transfers. I think it will just work out best for our family doing it this way and since were comfortable using public transportation I think we will be okay. As long as we have fun !

Plus were also doing a 3 night stay in Shanghai before flying over to Tokyo.

BUT - Do you have any recommendations for sight seeing in Tokyo for 1 full day (where to visit, what I should visit and can not miss). We would most likely do it on a Sunday, and avoid the crowds at the parks.

I've been all over Japan now, so for me the big temples/shrines in Tokyo are now sort of underwhelming. The two most popular are Asakusa Kanon not far from Ueno and Meiji jingu near Harajuku. Harajuku is a mob scene on Sundays because of all the people out shopping. I made the mistake of going there on a Sunday last trip, as we were desperately trying to track down a particular doll play set to no avail (there is a famous toy store there.) If you're willing to travel further, I prefer Kamakura for temples and shrines to anything in Central Tokyo It will take you about 1.5 hours to get there from Maihama Station not including transfer times. It will cost you about 2200 yen round trip. In Kamakura, my favorite temples are: Kenchoji (make sure you go to the highest platform vs. the tengu statues), Zeniarai Benten, Hasedera, and Hachiman-gu. Since it's Summer the beach should be open. I've never been. If the hydrangea are still blooming Meigetsuin is probably lovely but crowded. There are museums and gardens in Tokyo as well. The Edo Museum is supposed to be quite good. The gardens are OK, (except Shinjuku Gyoen in season, I don't know what is in bloom in mid-July, I went for momo and sakura.) I've been to the big 3 gardens+Ritsuin so... the ones in Tokyo are generally less interesting.

Again, at this point I mostly shop in Tokyo. Tokyo has some great stores. >>;

See for me, I'm going to do 3 days in Tokyo and then switch for either 1 night in Tokyo Disney and then go back to Tokyo for my final night in Japan. I want my 15 minute early entry for TDR, which is the main reason I plan to stay there, that and the 2 day parkhopper. Outside the early entry/location, as a luxury hotel I was unimpressed with Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. I've read TDR Explorer and DisneyTourist blog, and when they rate it and MiraCosta as the best luxury hotel ever, I wonder where else they have stayed. I found the beds uncomfortably hard and the bathrooms were a little outdated. I prefer the new updated rooms at the Grand in WDW. Though the DVC bathrooms are my favorite on any Disney property. My favorite hotel is the Tokyo Station Hotel. The breakfast is for guests only and to die for. If I could afford it, I would only stay there. We're going to hopefully stay there 1 night and spend the other nights at the Royal Park Shiodome.

There are several ways to get Studio Ghibli tickets. The cheapest is via Lawsons, but it will be for a specific time. I think those go on sale 1 or two months out. The most frequent method by foreigners is through JTB. There is a markup, especially for kids tickets, but they can be used whenever you want on a particular day rather than a specific time on said day. When you're desperate, you can pay a premium for a "tour" through Japanican (a subsidiary of JTB.) They have the greatest availability but you are paying a lot more. It's more for those desperate.

The people like me suggesting a hotel transfer are not trying to say navigation is an issue, I know for me, I just don't want to spend the additional 30-40 minutes after spending a day in Tokyo to get back to my hotel. I also am an adult traveling alone with a 7 year old. The Keiyo line in Tokyo Station comes out in a weird location and you just have to do a lot of walking in the station to transfer to most lines. You might want to change at Shin-Kiba for the subway instead depending on where you going. I actually think Japanese trains/subways are quite easy to navigate and a complete pleasure. I don't feel the same way about local buses, though highway buses are great. I'm sad I will need to rent a car my next trip because I want to get to less accessible locations.

 

[menotyou21]

Interesting points here. Thx to everyone who's put info here.

My family of 6 (Me, DW, 11,11,10,7) will be at Tokyo Disney in June 2018. Most likely 5-7th. We are debating between staying at Tokyo Disneyland vs MiraCosta.

I originally thought we'd do 2 days at TDL & 1 day at Disney Sea. Thoughts??

Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

[aleh021]

I'm not sure of the exact rates yet, but if you go to the website, you can book a package for 7/11 already and if you start the process, you can see which hotels are sold out for such and what the going rate for a room is. It's definitely higher than when I am going the week before, but I also imagine during other times of year the price is even higher.

BTW just because a room is booked for the package does not mean the hotel is completely booked, TDR limits the number of rooms for a package. For me personally, the packages offered are ridiculously expensive. I think for my dates it was like 80,000 yen for a room. It did include breakfast, park tickets, entry to a show and 3 additional fast passes, but the room without the package would be 40,000, breakfast would be more like 4500 (assuming same buffet), tickets would be 23,000 so I would be paying: 12,500 for extra fast passes and the seats for the show. I'm not sure I want to pay for the buffet, I wasn't terribly impressed last trip.

I hope this makes sense.

Question about this. Where can I see the going rate for the room? I just want to make sure I am looking at it correctly.

I am looking at July 15th check in for packages.

 

[aleh021]

Question about this. Where can I see the going rate for the room? I just want to make sure I am looking at it correctly.

I am looking at July 15th check in for packages.

I did some math, compared other dates vs packages. If I did my math right, it looks like with a package it adds on an additional 130,000-140,000 JPY?

Were a party a 4 and what I did is make random packages across different months and compared it to a normal night stay. So thats how I got that number lol.

 

[rkold]

I did some math, compared other dates vs packages. If I did my math right, it looks like with a package it adds on an additional 130,000-140,000 JPY?

Were a party a 4 and what I did is make random packages across different months and compared it to a normal night stay. So thats how I got that number lol.

Yeah, that's what I was doing. Oddly enough, unlike the US, I think if you are a group of 4 adults, you don't save any money having 4 adults in one room vs having 2 adults in 2 rooms. (It's like in many hotels in Japan I save a lot of money being able to book rooms as 1 adult.) Or if you do the savings are minimal and beds in rooms with two beds tend to be small.

But yes, the package is about 2x whatever the room rate is, if it's the 30,000 yen room at the Ambassador, it's not so bad, and you get the ~80,000 yen I was using. But it's why I didn't do it last year. For less than the package I could get 2 nights at the Disneyland Hotel, so I was only paying more for food and tickets. The packages do not discount for child meals and child tickets vs. buying a la carte and I do get significant savings on those a la carte.

It's fascinating because in FL, hotels at WDW and Universal are similar price points, but hotels at USJ are MUCH cheaper than in TDR.

@menotyou21 , I don't mean to be rude, so please don't take it that way. But it might be best if you created your own thread with questions about TDR vs. asking questions in this one. I think you will get a lot more responses that way. In your particular case, I think the hardest thing will be finding a room large enough for your group. If you want everyone to have their own beds, you are going to have very limited room options. If some of the kids are willing to share beds, you have more options, but the bed the two adults will be sharing is more like a US double than a US Queen or US King. I am not in any way trying to say you or your partner are large, but I know very few adult Americans who enjoy sharing double beds. I mean you can also have each adult sleep in a bed with 1 kid if you are comfortable with that.

 

[Agent 86]

But I just rather not go through the hassle of hotel transfers. I think it will just work out best for our family doing it this way and since were comfortable using public transportation I think we will be okay.

Obviously it's your choice, but IMHO, the "hassle" of changing hotels is well and truly worth avoiding the hassle of commuting from and back to Tokyo Disneyland on three (or more days) when sightseeing in Tokyo.