moretimeoffguy

My wife and I love Disney theme parks. We know nearly every means of optimizing stays at WDW specifically. In late Sept, we'll have a 5 night stay in Japan on our way to Hawaii. Currently booked at the IC Strings in Tokyo with points / free night certs. Wife's never been to Japan, and this is a bit of a dilemma for both of us--wanting to see Tokyo Disneyland, but not wanting to waste too much time in the process.

Thinking we could skip DisneySea--a unique park, but would rather see Japanese translations of classic / iconic Disney rides (Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc).

Anyway, what are some tips for optimizing a visit to Tokyo Disneyland?

1) At WDW, staying On Property provides great benefits--extra fast passes, extra magic hours, etc. With extra magic hours alone, depending on the season, you could potentially see more in the first hour (morning) than you could see in a day if arriving at the gate 30 mins before opening time staying off property--and that's real value.

Are there any compelling benefits to staying at a Tokyo Disney resort? Prices are exorbitant. And I see there's a highly rated, reasonably priced Sheraton on the Tokyo Disney monorail. Should we keep all our nights at the IC Strings or book, say, one night at the Sheraton?

2) How does the FastPass system work at Tokyo Disneyland? Is it digital or paper? Hate the new system at WDW. We used to be able to work all sorts of magic when the FastPass system was paper. Including the privilege of being able to hand over any FastPasses we weren't able to use to some deserving family.

3) For a visit to Tokyo Disneyland in late Sept, what should we expect as far as crowds? We could potentially go on a Tue, Wed, Thu, or Fri. Is any non-weekend day any better than any other?

4) Is leaving the IC Strings (Shinagawa Station) early in the AM and arriving at the gates 30 mins before opening a viable option vs. booking a hotel on the Disney monorail?

Any other tips on seeing Tokyo Disneyland in an efficient way so we don't consume too much time? After all, one typically doesn't come to Japan to go to Disney; even as enthusiastic as my wife and I are about WDW theme parks.

My one gripe is with Tokyo Disney's Haunted Mansion--the HM is my favorite Disney attraction. I know how all the illusions are done, have a set of HM collectibles, etc. However, it seems like the HM there has the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay with Jack Skellington. Ugh. WDW doesn't have the overlay, and I have no interest in the Nightmare Before Christmas. Would have preferred to see the unenhanced version.