Tokyo Disneyland: HELP!

[luvdisney81]

So I have searched this site and the web but without any luck, so I come to the experts as I have time and time again. I now live in Japan and will be visiting Tokyo Disney this Thanksgiving holiday. This is my first time to this park although I am a veteran of WDW. I have little information on TD and need any tips, discounts, advice to make this trip out of this world! How are the crowds? Which way should I go first to minimize crowds? Is there a show not worth it if time is precious? Do you know little known facts about TD? Please help me!!!! Thanks!

 

[Longsx3]

Just wanted to say hi, I too live in Japan although not on mainland but on Okinawa. Good luck with your trip to TD we plan on going Nov 2007. I plan to spend the money to stay on property so that I am guaranteed entrance into the parks although I don't think it is super busy in November. Please do a trip report when you come back!

 

[luvdisney81]

I sure will do a Trip Report since not much information is available about the park. I am going to be buying my tickets in advance for guaranteed admittance. I'm sure it will be crowded but I don't care. Again if anyone has any info PLEASE PLEASE let me know!

 

[MissMinnie]

Hi! I am interested in finding out more too, as I hope to one day visit Tokyo and Disneyland there. I just did a quick search on Yahoo, typing in Tokyo Disneyland and came up with a lot of info. I found 3 sites you may want to check out: www.mouseplanet.com/tokyo/
www.themeparkreview.com/japan2004/tdl1.htm
www.jtcent.com

I hope this helps. Please give a trip report when you get back. Tokyo's DL seems like such a great park to visit, especially the Disney Sea park. Have fun!!

 

[got2travel]

I went to Tokyo DL last November. I got quite a lot of information from this site
http://www.tdrfan.com/

Not sure how many days you'll have for the parks. I did 2 days. First day at Disneyland, 2nd day at DisneySea, but then bought a special evening pass so we could go back into Disneyland in the evening. There is no park hopping. We bought out tickets at the Disney Store somewhere in Tokyo, I can't remember. When you buy multi-day tickets, you have to tell them exactly what day you will go to each park. There was no discount for buying at the Disney Store, but it allowed us to bypass the ticket lines once we got there. We bought the evening pass after we decided that we were done with DisneySea.

I LOVED these parks. One thing you will notice as soon as you get there is the service. Yes our American parks are big on service, but we could still learn from the Japan parks. Their parks are even cleaner than ours and the cast members go out of their way to help, even if they don't understand what your are saying.

Whatever you do, do not miss Pooh's Hunny Hunt. We failed to get fastpasses so we actually waited 90 minutes in line and were glad we did. This ride is amazing. I could have gone without riding the Jungle Cruise. It's pretty much the same but it's all in Japanese. I guess since you live there, you probably know more of the language than we did, so maybe you would enjoy this.

If you do have more than 1 day, DisneySea is really spectacular. Must do rides are Journey to the Center of the Earth, Indiana Jones, Storm Rider and Tower of Terror (which wasn't open when we were there, but it looks great). The Raging Spirits didn't really impress me and I love roller coasters. It was just too jerky for my tastes. Its very compact like a mouse coaster, but didn't have quite as many turns, and even had a loop in the middle. We had done everything we wanted to in this park by 4pm which is why we decided to get the evening pass to go back to DL. We did miss the night show at DisneySea which I'm sure would have been great, but it wasn't worth waiting around for.

As for when to go, we went on a Monday and Tuesday and each day was full. I don't think it really matters. I'm not sure there is ever a real slow day. I was amazed at how much people were buying in the stores. Many people brought empty carry on sized suitcases just for their souveniors (sp).

Check out some of the sites and let me know if you have any questions on anything.

Oh, I was surprised that the face characters were American. I guess I expected to see a Japanese Cinderella or Belle, but they were American. I think they were encouraged by taking some time with English speaking visitors. There is no line for characters like at home. You pretty much push in when you can and ofter are taking your pics along with another family. The autographs are not the big thing like at home, just pictures.

 

[scrump]

I have been several times to Tokyo Disneyland, back when I lived in Japan. I moved back to the states before DisneySea opened, unfortunately. I love those parks as well, they are definitely cleaner and better maintained than the U.S. ones, but I have always had better experiences with the U.S. CMs, rather than the Japanese ones. Not as textbook, IMO. Definitely go on the Pooh ride, and I've heard their Mermaid show blows Orlando's away. If you have time for a table service meal, please check out the Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall and have an unbirthday cake! I'm so jealous!!

 

[luvdisney81]

Oh thank you sooooo much this is exactly the info i was needing. One thing. What is the difference between a buffet meal and buffeteria like Queen of Hearts? Where would you suggest eating at Disney Sea? I will post a great TR when I get back. One month to go!!!

 

[got2travel]

We only did buffets. My friend was afraid to eat anything she didn't recognize so buffets were the safest. We actually wanted to try the Queen of Hearts but the wait was too long. I can't remember where we ate in Disneyland, but at DisneySea we ate at the Sailing Day Buffet. There was plenty to choose from both American and Japanese dishes. Oh now I remember, on our Disneyland day we wanted to eat at a character meal at the Disneyland Hotel but we didn't make reservations and it was full. We ended up eating at Rain Forrest Cafe in Ikspiari (their Downtown Disney).

 

[0bli0]

i've been a several times in the last two years. it's always fairly crowded - especially around the holidays. since there is no park hopping, i'd plan at least 2 days to take both parks in properly.

travel to the parks by train can be a bit time consuming, so if you're planning to be there for an early start - plan accordingly.
there are a lot of enjoyable subtleties about the park - like the games of skill, the many popcorn flavours, suprise fast passes, and quite a bit more.
ah... they queue up *early* for the parades and fireworks (in some cases many hours before) so if you see people with sleepingbags and blankets on the footpaths, don't think you're going to need to do the same. take in the park and you can still see the parades.

for those of you who aren't able to go to the parks, you can see some of my Disney photos to get an idea of what they're like.

 

[scrump]

Oh thank you sooooo much this is exactly the info i was needing. One thing. What is the difference between a buffet meal and buffeteria like Queen of Hearts? Where would you suggest eating at Disney Sea? I will post a great TR when I get back. One month to go!!!

I believe buffeteria is actually more like "cafeteria style." At least, that's what I remember from my last trip to Tokyo (2001), so things could have changed. When I was there, you got in line and loaded up your tray with food, checked out and found a table.

I am currently planning a possible trip now, and we are trying to make PS's (they still call them that over there, apparently) at Magellan's and SS Columbia for our Disneysea restaurants. Also, I am very much looking forward to Mermaid Lagoon, and checking out Sebastian's Calypso kitchen!