Disneyland Tokyo Trip September 2024

Activity Forums Travel Trip Planning & Reports Disneyland Tokyo Trip September 2024

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  • #169256
    tkeon200
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    My family of four (kids ages will be 6 & 8) will be traveling to Japan in September 2024! Of course, a day (or two) in Disneyland Tokyo is a must. Starting this thread to hear any recommendations you all may have on how to plan for this. I have never been anywhere in Asia. I plan on spending five days in Tokyo and four days in Osaka. I am flexible with this.

    Is one day enough to experience both parks? Any tips on hotels, restaurants, things to do with kids outside Disney, etc?

    Thank you all in advance for your help!

    #169257
    warrsm
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    Oh my gosh that’s so exciting!!! Wish I had some suggestions for you but instead I’ll patiently wait to hear about it next year!!

    #169260
    jman410_89
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    You’ll have a nice trip, there’s a lot to do at Tokyo Disneyland. Let us know about the vacation when you come back.

    #172214
    AKVDale
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    49 XP

    We listen to the WDWNT YouTube broadcast. He is a huge Tokyo Disney fan and is in fact moving there for 6 months to report on some of the new lands and attractions that are opening up there. So if you aren’t already, you may want to keep an eye on their channel. They do a real good job of generally being concise and honest in their evaluations.

    Have a great time! :cool:

    #172509
    tkeon200
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    Thank you @AKVDale. I follow them on X and read their daily articles on their website. Not usually much there on Tokyo Disneyland tips for preparing, so I am looking forward to seeing his content from when he is over there.

    #172515
    AKVDale
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    Yeah, now that you mention it, their reporting seems to take the viewpoint that you’ve been many times.

    #176476
    tkeon200
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    I am back from Japan! Tokyo Disneyland and Disney SEA are absolutely awesome. My overall feeling of this park is that it is what Magic Kingdom used to be like in the 80s & 90s when I was growing up. While the park was certainly crowded, the HUB and walkways are wider than MK, so it did not feel congested. There were no bottlenecks with crowds anywhere. They did not have PhotoPass photographers lining Main Street or the HUB which also helped to ease congestion. The park was super clean, paint was touched up everywhere, everything worked, every Cast Member was happy to greet you. I was able to communicate very easily using charades, Google Translate and very little Japanese that I learned.

    I love how everyone stayed in a line. OMG. This was amazing!! At park opening in Orlando, it is a herd of people filling every available space, cutting off families with strollers, jockeying for position to get to the front of the line. There were more than 5000 guests waiting to enter the park at park opening and each family was standing together in a long line in front of each ticket gate. No ropes, no tape on the floor, no Cast Members organizing it. It was nice a sense of respect for each other.

    I absolutely LOVE how this park goes about their parades. EVERYONE in the HUB has to sit for the parade. This is especially convenient for kids that could get stuck behind an adult. I don’t understand why MK makes everyone stand for the fireworks and parades. Unfortunately, I did not get to see the nighttime fireworks or the Electrical Light Parade as they were cancelled due to rain and wind.

    Characters were great. I saw a few characters walking through the park aimlessly waving to guests. They would stop to interact, take a picture, etc. and go on their way. They had characters walking around that you would not normally see outside a parade or dedicated M&G area with a queue like Pinocchio, Geppetto, Mad Hatter, Pooh, Aristocats, etc. It was awesome. For the scheduled M&G opportunities (aside from the Fab 5 who did have a specific spot with a queue), they would be around the main entrance and guests would gather in a circle around them. The character would go around the circle to each one. Aside from one lady I saw who actually shoved a kid aside, the guests waited their turn. Even Anna and Elsa, who had their M&G in the new Fantasy Springs area, didn’t have a queue. There was a larger circle around them, but it was orderly. Anna would randomly pick someone out of the crowd and bring them to the photo area with Elsa, they would engage for a few minutes and then take a picture. I was very lucky because my girls were wearing matching dresses in their colors, so they immediately picked them. However, I could see this as a drawback for a family who had been waiting 30 minutes for a chance to see two girls come up and get their chance right away.

    Popcorn! LMAO. I can’t believe this was such a memorable experience. Do not expect regular popcorn. I did not find one “normal” popcorn. They had all different flavors around the park. I can remember seeing Curry, Roast Beef, Macha, Milk Chocolate, Corn Potage, and Soy Milk. Curry was my favorite and the Roast Beef was surprisingly good. But I really wish I could have found Butter somewhere on Main Street.

    Little things also stood out to me that reminded me of the parks way back when. I would walk in a shop and if the cast member was not checking someone out, they were there smiling and waving at you as you walked in. I see Cast Members waving to everyone at rope drop and park close in Orlando, but in Tokyo there were 10-15 Cast Members on Main Street all day as if their sole job responsibility was to stand and wave with a smile. It is an infectious behavior. I saw guests waving at other guests from the Walt Disney Railroad and other rides. I don’t see kids doing it in MK anymore. Everyone is always rushing to the next ride.

    Aside from Tower of Terror, every ride I went on far exceeded its Orlando equivalent. Tower of Terror wasn’t bad, I just preferred the Orlando version. The elevator does not move through the building, there are not as many cool effects and not as many drops. The rides are truly awesome. Even Jungle Cruise, for which I had absolutely no clue what the skipper was saying at any point during the ride, was fantastic. The skipper was SO energetic and animated. She was engaging everyone on the boat. Pooh’s Honey Hunt was awesome. Journey to the Center of the Earth was great. My girls rode Raging Spirits 5 times. Beauty and the Beast’s Enchanted Tale was fun, even though it was in Japanese. POTC is in its original version with men chasing women and the bride auction scene (“We want the redhead!”). It was also great to ride Splash Mountain one more time. Surprisingly, the most entertaining ride for me was the BayMax spin (basically Alien Swirling Saucers). Guests are SOOOooo into this ride. They play a different song during each ride and each song has a specific dance that the Cast Members perform. The guests in the queue were all doing the dance. It was so fun to watch. Peter Pan’s Neverland ride the new Fantasy Springs was my favorite, though. This was ride was truly amazing in it’s attention to detail and ride mechanics. It is like Ratatouille but through Neverland instead of a kitchen.

    I stayed at Mira Costa which is INSIDE the Disney Sea park. I splurged and chose a room that faces the main bay and volcano. This was great and I would highly recommend getting this room for “first and only time” visitors to Tokyo Disney. The room is not unreasonably expensive and not much more than a standard room, whereas a Contemporary Atrium Park View room (which isn’t even inside the park or close to the castle) will cost you an absurd amount. This room was particularly awesome because you can watch the nighttime float parade from your room, you see the cast members leaving for the night, and then can watch the night crews disperse into the park.

    If you plan on making the trip…I highly recommend booking the 3-Day Vacation Package. The Vacation Package includes 2 hotel nights, 3 days of park tickets to Disneyland (1 day) & Disney Sea (2 days), 3 Premier Access passes each day (Paid Lightening Lane Passes), Happy Entry 15 minutes into the park before actual opening, and a few gifts. On one of the Disney Sea park days, you will also get guaranteed entry into the new Fantasy Springs area WITH UNLIMITED PREMIER ACCESS PASSES TO EVERY RIDE THERE. This made the the 3 Day Vacation Package worth every penny as you can’t get into the new Fantasy Springs area (just to walk around and explore) without buying a Premier Access Pass to one of the rides which may all sell out early. The 2 Day Vacation Package did not come with guaranteed Fantasy Springs access with ride passes.

    Be prepared and check their website regularly for the release dates. The Vacation Package reservations go on sale for an entire month at a time and are available about five months out. They do not have set dates to release their Vacation Packages. They will announce the exact date/time for the release about five days before they go on sale. For example, for my September trip, they announced on March 28th that all September reservations will go on sale starting April 2nd at 10AM (Tokyo time). This is before the general hotel bookings become available, which is only four months out. Therefore, if you try to book a hotel room separately, all rooms at Fantasy Springs Hotel and Mira Costa (the two hotels best hotels and inside Disney Sea) might be sold out from the Vacation Packages. This happened to me…I wanted to stay a third night at Mira Costa because I was flying home the following day, but adding an extra night is not an option with the Vacation Package. When I went to make the one-night room reservation four months out, all rooms were sold at Mira Costa and I ended up having to move for one night the the Disneyland Hotel (which is still fantastic).

    Tokyo Disneyland Resort’s website is challenging, especially when booking windows open. You will be placed in a queue to enter the website when it is busy. On release day, I waited for 20 minutes. As soon as you get on, make sure you are logged into your myDisney account before you start making a reservation. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! You will go through the entire reservation process of selecting your room and when it gets to entering your payment, you will then be asked to log into your myDisney account and it will freeze. You will have to go through the entire process again. Once you complete your booking, you can reserve your 3 Premier Access Pass selections for each park day. I believe restaurant reservations are not available until a few months out.

    When you arrive for check in on your first day, they give you a packet with your park tickets and paper previously selected Premier Access Passes (old school paper fast pass tickets) and your Happy Entry tickets. The Park Tickets have a QR code which you should scan using the Tokyo Disneyland app so that you have them on your phone and you won’t need them again. If you use the Happy Entry, you will scan your ticket on your phone and give them the Happy Entry slip (have it ready). The paper Premier Access passes are given to the Cast Members at the front of each ride and they will put a hole punch in them before returning to you for your scrap book.

    Oh man…I can’t believe this is post is so long. Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend getting over to Tokyo Disneyland. If you make the trip, I hope this helps you.

    #176479
    warrsm
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    854 XP
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    What a great report and an incredible trip!!! Should I ever be able to go there I’ll be consulting you for advice! I would love to see all that, especially Peter Pan. Oh and popcorn is ALWAYS a must do experience LOL :popcorn: I would have to try all of that, but maybe not roast beef :P thanks again for all the info!!

    #176480
    eeyorepoohfan
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    999 XP
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    Wow! That sounds like such an awesome trip and experience! It sounds truly magical! I love reading about the differences in various parks around the world. I likely won’t ever travel to the international parks, so I appreciate people sharing their experiences! I love how courteous everyone behaved. It feels like a free for all madhouse at the U.S. parks anymore. I will need to go on YouTube and watch some of their rides! I haven’t looked at the new ones and it’s been years since I watched ones from Tokyo!

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