Thanks for all the replies. Hakone is out this time. Kyoto stays, however short.

The Japan trip was a bolt-on to a 4 night Maui trip (burning Fairmont free night certs at the Kea Lani), so I'm happy to see any of Japan at all.

Wife has never been to Japan before, so trying to provide her with a sampling of what Japan has to offer. It's a bit of an aggressive schedule, so I'm glad I asked about Hakone. Not worth it and I'd rather make virtual mistakes than actual ones. :-)

The 5 nights in Japan are fixed. Flights are booked, etc. Last two nights are for Disney--those at the Hilton Tokyo Bay are non-refundable revenue nights (got on a flash sale). That was a huge compromise, but my wife and I decided we'd see TDR at the expense of not seeing other things.

My only regret so far is buying a JR pass. For the overnight to Kyoto, there are so few Hikari trains.

I'd expected to take the first train of the day from Tokyo to Kyoto (around 5am) 9/27 and a very late train back from Kyoto to Tokyo on 9/28. Turns out the first Hikari to Kyoto leaves much later than I expected, and the latest Hikari back to Tokyo is much earlier than expected. Plan was to have the overnight be two full days in Kyoto.

That's the bigger issue. Perhaps I still have time to get a JR pass refund and purchase Nozomi tickets (plenty of early and late trains).

Some would say don't do the trip at all. Each is entitled to his or her own opinion. And I agree it's not ideal. But I've taken other trips with semi-aggresive schedules that turned out to be wonderful, memorable, and so well worth doing.

Again, thanks for the input. I got the correct answer for the time I have in Japan: save Hakone, if at all, for another trip.

However, I don't agree with the advice to skip Kyoto. It feels like a must do. Not so sure I'm super excited about Tokyo itself. Gathering what info I can based on interest to optimize our time there. Have a good idea of what we'll do thanks to FT.