Tokyo Disneyland Advice?

[SpaceMounatin]

Wow, it's been over a year since I've posted here. Anyway, my sister got a wish from Make A Wish Foundation and we are going to Tokyo Disneyland (We leave for Japan on Nov. 17). I'm really excited . Does anyone have any tips for the park we should now? Like any hidden things that are worth experiencing?

-Dainan"I can't wait!" Rafferty

 

[yalidae]

Sure, sure!!! I'm a WDW and TDR lover! Some of these are tips, others are interesting facts, advice, etc. Believe it or not, Tokyo Disney Resort is about the size of Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA. It has a complete monorail system that links Welcome Center/Ikspiari, Tokyo Disneyland, Bay Station, and Tokyo DisneySea.

I believe that TDR is the cleanest Disney resorts. If memory serves me, toilets are very spacious and are usually air-conditioned. In front of the toilets, there are usually some drinking fountains.

Note that the tips that I'm going to share with you is based on my experience in 2004. Some of them might change, others stay the same. These tips work well if you are touring by yourself or with your family. If you've a guide, I don't think that these advices will work very well, but you may read it just for your reference.

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MONORAIL
The best way to travel between the official hotel (Hilton, Tokyo Bay Tokyu, Sheraton, etc.) Tokyo Disneyland, DisneySea, and Welcome Center/Ikspiari is to catch the monorail. The monorail size is 1 1/4 longer than the monorails in WDW (a monorail driver in WDW told me so) and it is operated automatically. It is a little bit different with the one in WDW. If you board the monorail in the front, you can walk to the back of the monorail. This is different with the monorail in WDW because you are "locked" in a monorail car once you are seated. There are "real" handrails in case you are standing. The windows are somewhat extraordinary, 'cause they are Mickey-shaped.

There are four stations, as I have mentioned before.
STATION 1: Welcome Center (I forgot the real name, but it is definitely the place to welcome you)/Ikspiari
STATION 2: Tokyo Disneyland
STATION 3: Bay Station (the place where 5 official hotels are located)
STATION 4: Tokyo DisneySea

As of 2004, you ought to pay a certain amount of money in Japanese Yen if you'd like to catch the monorail. And I think you ought to ride the monorail, since there are no other way to travel between the resort unless you take the highly expensive taxi.

Be honest... is the best tips that I have, and it's interesting as well. When you buy a ticket at a vending machine, you may choose to buy an adult, child, or ... (I forget) ticket. This is somewhat interesting. If you're an adult and trying to buy a child ticket... The vending machine will not know, the ticket tag machine won't also recognize, but the guards in every station will. Whenever you buy a child ticket, it will make a short sound if you insert your ticket into the ticket tag machine. If it make sounds, then the one who enter should be a child, not an adult! But if an adult enter with a child ticket, it will still make a sound, and the guards will know!

BUSES
Buses operate between the 5 official hotels (see HOTELS section) and Bay Station. The other buses operate between JR Maihama Station (see JAPAN RAIL section) and Welcome Center. All of them are FREE of charge.

If you want to transfer between Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea ,you have to use the monorail.

HOTELS
This section is only just in case you're staying inside TDR or interested in TDR hotels.
TDR has 2 true-official hotels and 5 official hotels.
The 2 "true-official" hotels are MiraCosta and Ambassador, all operated by TDR.
The other 5 are operated by Hilton, Sheraton, etc.

PARKS
TDR has two parks, one is Tokyo Disneyland and the other one is Tokyo DisneySea. Tokyo Disneyland is almost the same with Magic Kingdom, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Disneyland Park. But the entrance is completely different and it doesn't have Main Street. Instead, it has World Bazaar.

Most of the attractions are copied from Disneyland or Hong Kong Disneyland and sponsored by local companies.

Some of them are completely different, like Pooh Honey Hunt. The name may suggest you like riding The Many Adventure of Winnie the Pooh, but it is totally different!

Tokyo DisneySea is a very unique park, and most of the attractions are truly made by TDR. Many of the attractions you found here will not be able to be found in other Disney theme parks.

FASTPASSes are free as well and can be operated like the ones in WDW or Disneyland Resort.

SOUVENIRS
Are you looking for pins? There are only a limited selection of pins I believe (as of 2004). TDR is famous for its creative souvenirs. Most of them are "edible souvenirs", such as cookies, chocolates, etc. And they are packed in a very creative boxes, such as pirate ship, canon, rocket, etc. They might be expensive but if you buy some, I'm sure that you'll not find anything like those outside Japan.

If you don't have time to buy souvenirs inside the park, buy at Bon Voyage! located inside the TDR. Ask cast member for directions. Many of CMs DO speak English in case you are worried.

IKSPIARI
If you are wondering what Ikspiari is... It is the downtown of TDR. It is indoor, different with the ones at Disneyland Resort, WDW, and Disney Paris. It has many, many shops. Most of them are NOT Disney related.

Ikspiari also has some selection of good food. There is a very good Chinese restaurant (I forget the name) and a burger specialized restaurant. If you like burgers very much, you may try the Hawaiian burger at ... (I forgot, but it's definitely a Hawaiian burger). It's the best burger I've ever eaten.

JAPAN RAIL (JR)
Maybe you won't utilize JR, but I give you some advices. The nearest station to reach TDR is MAIHAMA station. From there, you can catch a free bus to transport you to Welcome Center. If you are staying at the 2 true-official hotels or the 5 official hotels, you ought to use the monorail. Otherwise, you will have to catch an expensive cab.

If you need more advices, post a reply, and I'll give you advices based on my experience there.

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My daughter and wife always say that Tokyo Disney Resort is the best Disney resort in the world, while I and my son think that TDR is equal with WDW, though they have different atmosphere.

Have a safe, magical, and wonderful trip!

 

[SpaceMounatin]

Wow. Thank you so much. I'm really lookignf oward tot his trip. But like I said it's from the Make A Wish foundation is funding everythign so my mom doesn't have to really pay for anything. I did hear a rumor saying Space Mountain will be closed for a refurb within the next week. Is this true?

-Dainan " " Rafferty

 

[yalidae]

Because Make a Wish Foundation pay everything for you, then you can just keep my advices for future reference.

Yes, I've checked the official website and they're currently doing so many refurbishments.

Attractions those are closed during your visit:
Space Mountain
Jungle Cruise
Tom Sawyer Island Rafts

In case you're staying until November 24... The Mickey Mouse Revue will also close.

Disney's Dreams on Parade 'Movin' On will not be shown during your visit as well.

You are not so lucky that you can't experience Space Mountain. But if you have experienced the Space Mountain in Anaheim (before the refurbishment), it is the same.

The Jungle Cruise is also the same...

When I visited Tokyo Disneyland, I was so unlucky that I couldn't ride Splash Mountain. Tokyo Disney Resort is doing many, many refurbishment years by years because some of its attractions need update (Space Mountain is one of them!).

Some interesting facts in case you're interested:
- Tokyo Disney Resort is the first Disney resort to be built outside the U.S.
- Tokyo Disney Resort is the only Disney resort that is not operated by The Walt Disney Company (it is operated by local company with a license from The Walt Disney Company).
- As I mentioned above, the monorail system at Tokyo Disney Resort is operated automatically, not like the monorail system at DLR and WDW. And how TDR manage to reduce the crowd in the monorail station is a different story. When the first door opens, it means that the passengers on board may exit. When the second door opens, it means that the passenger on the platform may board the monorail. It has "security" gates to prevent passengers from falling down to the track, and it's automatically operated as well (not like in WDW where most "security" gates are operated manually).
- The Haunted Mansion is located in Fantasyland. (So funny... Haunted Mansion is a scary ride for many children but they placed it in Fantasyland, the paradise for children.)

Since you don't need to pay anything, you should consider these things:
1) Buy some creative souvenirs (see my first post).
2) Ride the monorail.
3) Visit IKSPIARI and Bon Voyage!
4) Buy the popcorn!!! You ought to do this. The flavors are different throughout the park. For example, if you buy in Tomorrowland (near Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters), it has soda flavor. But if you buy in Fantasyland (near Pooh Honey/Hunny Hunt), it has honey flavor. And one more thing... it is packed in a special box. I bought some popcorn in Tomorrowland (the soda flavor one) and it is packed in a rocket box with a picture of Buzz Lightyear if I wasn't wrong. And you can keep the box afterwards. Use it as a souvenir! The souvenirs those are sold in TDR are highly creative! I think that Japanese are so creative so that every souvenir are so that fancy.
5) If you have enough time, tour Disney Ambassador Hotel although you don't stay there. It is the "true-official" hotel in TDR and is very interesting at night. Tokyo DisneySea Hotel MiraCosta is also interesting just like Disney Ambassador Hotel.

By the way, there are 6 official hotels now, not 5... Sorry for the wrong info... And one more thing... now the bus service is available to transport you between the official hotels to the parks. So, you may opt to choose the monorail or the bus.

I don't know if the monorail/bus fee has changed (bus was free), but I still think that TDR will still charge you to ride the monorail. For the bus, I don't have enough clues to tell you. But because you don't pay, I think this won't affect your trip.

If you like magic show, you may buy some magic tools in the magic shop located in World Bazaar, Disneyland.

Don't forget to ride Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues ... (I forget!) at DisneySea along with Raging Spirits (newly built). For Disneyland, ride some classics such as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (my fav attraction there and it's the most exciting Thunder Mountain of all Disney theme parks) and Splash Mountain.

Also ride Western River Railroad (only available at Tokyo Disneyland). You may catch some great view of Adventureland and Westernland (Frontierland) in this slow-moving train.

Inside the castle in Disneyland, there is a walk-in attraction. I forget the name of the attraction, but though it is held in Japanese, you can still visit the castle (now inside, not outside like in WDW) without having to eat at Cinderella Royal Table at WDW. It's air-conditioned, too. I don't know if the walk-in attraction is still there, because when I checked the website, I couldn't find the attraction anymore.

 

[juju]

TDL is very special and of all of the other parks, it is my favorite after WDW. Very clean and very orderly and everybody is very polite. just fyi, Pooh (which you have to try and is quite different from the one here) is very popular in Japan and if you wait too long, you might miss it due to the lines. They have very few clothing items to purchase as we do here, however as the other poster mentioned the cookies and rice cracker items are so adorable and plentiful. Skip the gyoza sausage buns, the lines have been known to be outrageous and I don't think they are worth it. There is a nice Disney store in Ikspari that sells items not available at the park and there is also a big store closer to the train entrance. Have fun!