OskiBear

Agreed - the time I did the direct from Narita to Disneyland trip I used the limo bus and spent the night at the Sheraton. I think did the evening passport at TDL and then the entire next day at DisneySea.

If OP expects to be tired, no real reason to head into central Tokyo just to schlep back out to the parks early the next morning.

OskiBear

Here's the URL to the park tickets page: http://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/ticket/night.html

The After 6 passport price is the same for Adult/Junior/Child. It renders funny on the first page so that it only looks available for Juniors.

If you're fortunate, on your planned visit day, your secondary park will be the one that has the Starlight or After 6 passport available.

MSPeconomist

The airport limo bus has some routes that stop any the Sheraton near Disney but I don't know the frequency.

moretimeoffguy

Thanks for all the help. I've now got to figure out if it's worthwhile to use one of our five days in Japan to see Disney at all. Since we'll be staying near Shinagawa Station, and we'll be getting the JR Pass; with the bullet trains right there, might be a shame not to see Kyoto and other places (I know I can't use all the bullet trains that go to Kyoto, etc). I'd like to see *some* of Tokyo, but am not really a fan of crowds and Times-Square type activity. Hiroshima might be interesting for historical reasons, but not sure it has much to offer other than pondering the weight of what happened there.

Short trip, but it can't be helped. All flights are booked.

Hokkaido would be fascinating, but I think it's a 9 hour ride, even by bullet train.

I'd like to see lots of monasteries, temples, nature etc.

nishimark

Here are some ideas for one-day itineraries in Kyoto.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3950.html

evergrn

I've only been to HK Disney in the last several years, so I don't remember Tokyo Disney too well. But a couple of you have mentioned that Pooh ride is the best attraction at Tokyo Disneyland. That surprises me, because I find nothing special about the Pooh ride at HK Disney. HK Disney is much smaller compared to Tokyo, yet the Pooh ride there is definitely not amongst even their top 5 attractions in my book. Is there something different about the one in Tokyo?

OskiBear

Of all the Disneylands I've been to (all except Shanghai), HK has to be the worst.

I'm not a Pooh fan, but the Tokyo is really fun because the honey pots you ride in are not on a track. When you get to the room where Pooh's dreaming, you cavort around the room in a seemingly random pattern with the other honey pots. It feels like you're going to run into something, but you don't. It's probably the technology and novelty of it that's interesting more than anything else.

evergrn

I see. It doesn't sound like it's all that different from HK's Pooh ride, as I recall that HK's also has a part there where you whirl around in a room randomly along with other cars/pots. But I don't remember if the one in HK is on a track or not.

The good thing about HK Disney is you hardly have to wait for most rides. But it gets old after a couple visits (we're going back yet again this fall... sigh) because it's small.

moretimeoffguy

Re: Kyoto, thanks for the link nishimark.

I was wondering about HK Disneyland so I'm glad this topic came up. Shanghai Disney as well. Don't think I'd visit Shanghai Disney until it's fully built out. And HK Disneyland doesn't even have a HM; just Mystic Manor. Nor does Shangai Disney for the same cultural reasons. No ghosts in attractions due to their specific tradition of ancestor worship.

The new trackless ride systems sound interesting, but not interesting enough to squander one day out of a 5 day trip to Japan. Gotten more votes for Tokyo DisneySea than anything else--also from a great cast member friend of mine.

I'll have to check the ticket site again, but I could have sworn there were certain ticket type "optimizers" that might fit my plans that can only be used on weekend evenings; thought it would be the opposite, actually. Wonder why. The after-work drinking culture in Japan include evening trips to Tokyo Disney on weekdays?

evergrn

What is HM?

HK Disney is definitely limited. And their castle is so small compared to what I remember of Tokyo Disney's. But everything including the shows is in English (jungle river cruise has separate queues for English, Cantonese and Mandarin). And queues are so short. Space Mountain is usually <10min in the morning (longer in the afternoon), Small World <5min sometimes 0 wait. Lines are so short that they only do Fast Pass for Space Mtn and Pooh. The longest I ever had to wait was ~30min for the go-cart and the mine train. I am tired of HK Disney, but apparently kids never get tired and they can't wait to go back.

mnbp

I've been to all Disney theme parks around the world (except Shanghai) and Tokyo DisneySea is my #1 and Tokyo Disneyland is my #2 . Hong Kong has good shows, but I think of it as 3/4 of a day. The Tokyo parks are more immersive experiences than any of the US parks mainly because the owners spend more money on design and technology in pretty much everything they do at their resort.

moretimeoffguy

HM = Haunted Mansion.

Thanks again to all.

downinit

I'll add another vote to Disney Sea. Having also been everywhere but Shanghai, Sea is head and shoulders above any other park. I did not expect much on my first trip, but that park completely blew me away with the scale and detail of everything. Honestly, I did not find Tokyo Disneyland to be anything special. It is on par with Magic Kingdom, but nowhere near as good as the original. And as an annual passholder living 25 minutes from the original Disneyland, I am quite spoiled for traditional Disney attractions.

There are crowd calendars online to show the expected crowd level for each park on each day. If the crowds are in the 90's, expect 3-4 hour waits for even the boring rides. You need to get in line at least an hour before the park opens, but there will already by an enormous crowd. The fastpasses are gone within an hour of opening, so you will be very lucky to get more than one. That said, Sea is much more tolerable with crowds, and you will probably be able to ride a lot more. It is far more interesting to walk around Sea, as well. The rides are much more unique and technologically advanced, while the many of the Disneyland rides are just knock-offs of the originals in Anaheim.

Personally, I love HK Disney precisely because it is not overwhelming. It makes for a nice relaxing day. They have a good mix of traditional Disney classics and unique attractions found no where else. Mystic Manor is infinitely better than Haunted Mansion. The food in HK Disney is also by far the best of any park. HK Disney is my 2nd favorite, after Sea. It beats out the original Disneyland because of just how oppressive the crowds have become in California (not Tokyo bad, but not much better).

mkjr

depending on when you plan to go back, i would just suck it up and do both. arrive for rope drop and then go to the bitter end and see as much of both parks as you can.

Pureboy

A few points:

1) I'd recommend looking at more "doable" day trips from Tokyo- Hakone, Nikko or Kamakura could scratch those temple/nature/culture itches. Temples and nature a-plenty, without the need for a JR pass. If you think you'll never be back to Japan and need to take a shinkansen, that is another story. You can do a day trip to Kyoto but it would be hurried and things are very spread out so you could only focus on maybe two areas of the city. Another thing to consider is fall foliage, if late September is far enough into the season- parts of Kyoto are gorgeous when the leaves change. This may also be true in some of the day-trip areas above, ask others. Another option to consider for a same-day shinkansen turnaround (3.5 hrs each way on a JR-pass train) is Himeji- possibly the best castle in Japan and the facade was just recently restored. You can easily walk from the shinkansen station to the castle and back. Himeji is a much easier destination when based out of Kyoto/Osaka so that may be for another trip.

2) Tokyo is a massive city with lots to do- just because you don't want to spend time in Shinjuku or Shibuya doesn't mean you there is nothing in the city you would like. There are temples/shrines in the city, and some fantastic museums.

3) My opinion of Hiroshima (others may disagree) that it is a two-trick pony, but two very good tricks. A-bomb stuff and Miyajima. If you had the time I'd suggest Nagasaki but maybe next time as it is too far south.