Where do we even begin...?!

[Aussie Mousketeer]

Hi there, everyone -

Hardcore South Australian Disney fan here... I used to frequent the Disboards about five years ago while studying for our first trip to WDW (back before my husband and I were married) We then flew back for our Honeymoon a couple of years later - I consider myself to be an expert in WDW and getting the best out of all the parks WDW has to offer...

...This year, however - My husband and our now nearly three year old have decided to tackle Japan and (more importantly) Tokyo Disney and Disney Sea. I've gone from feeling completely confident in my Disney abilities to feeling like a complete beginner again. The park/resort systems are soooo different - So here I am, back on Disboards to start my learning process again, feeling like a newbie all over again.

I've trawled through the threads, and Im learning lots... but I have some questions Im hoping someone might be able to help clarify for me...

1. On the TDR Website, it seems to only allow us to book a maximum of 5 days/nights - Is that correct? We were planning an 8 day stay, but how on earth do you book that through the TDR system?
2. Packages offered through the TDR Website only allow 1 or 2 day packages... I understand I can by up to 4 day tickets... but can only buy packages for 2 days max? So... if I wanted 5 days worth of tickets, I can by a 4 day pass, and a 1 day pass... but can't do a 4 day package?

It actually seems simpler to book your hotel separate to everything, and literally just buy tickets there in the lobby once you're there, rather than try to package under the japanese system...

I know this is will only be the start of my questions, and I apologise if these questions have been asked in the past (I couldn't seem to find them in previous threads)

Also, currently trying to weigh up the difference/benefit between Tokyo Disney Hotels, versus Tokyo Disney Resort Hotels, versus Partner Resorts - The price differences between the three categories is literally thousands of australian dollars - Accommodation in WDW seemed so much easier to organise and understand... don't get me started on if we wanted to include breakfast in our booking (one hotel literally added $1000 Aud to our booking, purely for adding breakfast to our mornings...) Crunching yen in to australian dollars isn't difficult, but wow, Im trying to really understand the benefit of staying in a Disney hotel, because suddenly a half hour shuttle ride from somewhere a couple of blocks away doesn't seem too bad when we're literally saving $2000 AUD....

Would love to hear people's thoughts on this.

Cheers guys, looking forward to learning more!

 

[MKTokyo]

Hello

Are you thinking of staying the whole 8 days just at TDR? You really do not need 8 days, even with a toddler. This is not WDW where people go to stay for two weeks. Most people stay 3 nights or fewer. Think Magic Kingdom + a park that is about 10% smaller than Hollywood Studios, with your child only able to do about 50% of the attractions at DisneySea. (Unless your child is Shaq Jr.)

1. You don't. You would have to book 5 + 3.
2. Yes. I promise they're not hiding booking options... What you see is what you get.

The main benefits of using the official hotels are Happy 15, being able to park hop from the first day (which you can't do with a regular ticket), and being closer to the parks. MiraCosta & Tokyo Disneyland Hotel are beautiful. Depends on your budget & what you're looking to get out of your stay, I suppose.

If you can do WDW, you can do TDR. It's no harder. It's just different. You'll have a great time.

 

[kbmartin]

You could always do a split stay. My DH and I could never justify the kind of money it takes to stay at the official TDR hotels, and we are more than happy with our choice of Hilton Tokyo Bay (seems like the equivalent of a moderate to deluxe resort at WDW). It ended up being way cheaper than we ever expected, as we rebooked when there was a flash sale (50% off!). These flash sales happen about 3-4 times a year - just watch Twitter. I found out from Chris at TDR Explorer that one had started, and I JUMPED on it. But, if you were really hoping to stay at an official hotel, why not do that for a night or two, then switch? You could save SO much money and still get the experience you crave.

 

[Agent 86]

Eight days at Tokyo Bay / Tokyo Disney Resort is a lot.

Are you planning on spending time exploring Tokyo and surrounds? If so, you may want to consider splitting your time between Tokyo Bay and a more central location in Tokyo. The commute from Tokyo Bay to Tokyo is ... maybe 40 minutes or so. But, doing that twice a day with a three year old won't be pleasant. You may want to think about doing three nights at Tokyo Bay and five nights somewhere more central to Tokyo.

The main benefit of the official hotels is the 15 minutes early entry, but TDR Explorer recently had an article about those benefits changing. So, I'm not sure it will be as beneficial as it currently is in the future. They're all lovely hotels, but you're free to wander around, check out the lobbies and stores, eat at the restaurants, etc even if you're not a guest. We even did a mini official hotel-hopping adventure on our most recent trip - lunch at Disney Hotel, cocktail at Miracosta and snack at Ambassador.

We've always been very happy with the Hilton at Tokyo Bay. If you sign up for alerts, including from TDR Explorer, you can usually get 40-50% off. It has a convenience store in the lobby to grab something for breakfast if you don't pay for the hotel breakfast. They also have themed rooms for families.

The Hilton is located near a monorail station, so it's very easy to get to both of the parks (and Ikispiari (?), their equivalent of Disney Town / Downtown Disney) by monorail.

There are excellent planning resources:

https://tdrexplorer.com/
https://www.disneytouristblog.com/tokyo-disney-trip-planning-guide/

 

[Aussie Mousketeer]

Thanks for your input guys - It's been great. You're absolutely right, on reflection 8 days seems a lot now that Im learning more... we could do it in three, or four if we wanted to really drag it out. Makes far more sense too with the ticket system and the hotel booking system, rather than trying to cobble together more days than it lets you...

 

[LovesTimone]

We were looking at 4 nights and 3 days and we would have had to have 3 reservations.. for just 3 or 4 nights... Seems like such a hassle, just more to keep up with..

We are looking at the Hilton or Sheraton for 3 nights, and a 3 day park tickets...

Then spending the rest of the time in Tokyo sightseeing...

 

[Ceilidhscot]

I’m in the process of booking an extension to the end of a Japanese tour (that takes in Osaka, Kyoto and Hiroshima as well as Tokyo). We’re staying 4 nights at the Hilton Tokyo Bay hotel (with a 3 day ticket). I’ll also get an after 6pm ticket for the first night so you could do a split stay - some nights in central area then transfer to Disney for the rest of your holiday as others have suggested?

You could use a luggage transfer service to move cases for you on the last day of central part then get an after 6pm ticket for say Disneyland. That way you can see fireworks / night parade but it’s not a full day at the parks (which would be tiring for a 3 yr old) the first day you arrive at Disney area.

Next day can start a 3 (or 4 day) day ticket and visit Disneyland, next day Disneysea etc. Would give you time to go back to your hotel after lunch for a break before heading back to the park later.

Good luck.