Originally Posted by
OliverB
Would that be the "Komagatake Rōpuwē" from Lake Ashi to Mount Komagatake?
No the Hakone Robeway from Owakudani down to Lake Ashi. From there you can take the tour boats (the Pirate Ship like boats) which are included in the free pass to Machi-Ko. If you are lucky you might have nice views of the lake with Mt. Fuji in the background.
The base station of the Komagatake Ropeway can only be reached by bus or boat, but above tour boats are not stopping there. The bus ride would be included in the freepass. The boat not.
Originally Posted by
OliverB
When you suggest we cross the lake to Machi-Ko, would that be by ferry or one of the tour ships? I'd also really love to do the old checkpoint early in the morning so does it matter if we attempt to do this in reverse or does that not work out so well?
It mainly depending on the weather. On cloudy days it might be better to rush to Owakudani in the morning to get a view of Mt. Fuji before he hides behind the clouds.
Apart from that there is no reason to not start reverse direction, might be less crowded and with a bit of zig-zag you could visit the teahouse for lunch.