W9London

I'm looking for some info from people who had ACTUALLY been to Tokyo Disney Land/Disney Sea.

1. Are there such things as discount entry tickets? A family of 4 with 2 adults and 2 kids would really need to spend JPY30k for 2 days of tickets? That looks like an awful lot of money.

2. Info garnered through the web indicates you can't bring in foods/drinks. How strictly are they enforced? Can you re-enter the park if you exit (and is it practical logistically?) We have special dietary restriction so won't be able to eat anything from the park, so need to bring our own lunches/snacks.

3. Our kids probably won't enjoy roller-coaster style thrill rides. Is Disney Sea better than Disney Land, or vice versa? Do we need to decide which park to visit per day, or can we move between two parks? Does Disney Sea have swimming pools or water areas kids can splash around?

4. When do the parks close in early Sep? Do they have fireworks? I also got an impression that the parade gets really crowded--is it worth it?

We've never been to any other disney themeparks so have little clues as what to expect. Any other tips welcome. TIA!

LapLap

That's me

Perhaps someone who hasn't ACTUALLY been can help with this question. I've no idea.

Again, my having ACTUALLY been doesn't mean I know the answer.
This page http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/t.../faq/park.html
says you can go in and out of the park if you get your hand stamped
further down it says there are picnic areas just outside the main entrances. As it's Japan there will be coin lockers nearby (confirmation here: http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/t...o_lockers.html) so you can stash your food in these, leave the park for a picnic and re-enter.

You'll need to decide which park to visit, you won't be able to switch.
If the kiddies aren't into thrill rides then I'd suggest Disney Sea. Do remember that it isn't a bi-lingual park, lots of the attractions aimed at children will have Japanese narration only.
There are no water areas at Disney Sea - you need to go somewhere else for that, there are options for this around Tokyo.

If they're not into thrill rides, have you considered Sanrio Puroland? Or the Ghibli Museum?

Don't know, I'd never go early September, too hot, muggy and tiring.
Yes, there are fireworks every night.
Seems pointless not to see a parade when you're there. You'll queue for everything else, why not stake a place?

My tip is only spend one day there. Choose Disney Sea as it's the 'unique' option for Tokyo. Disney Parks are prized because they are so clean and all the employees smile at you there, I found it wasn't that different to being anywhere else in Japan.
When your kids are a bit older get cheap tickets to Salou, Spain and let them splash around the water areas at PortAventura instead. http://www.portaventura.co.uk/ Much more fun!

El Cochinito

We've been to the Tokyo Disney resort twice; on our first visit we visited both parks and on the most recent visit (2 years ago) we visited just Tokyo Disney. About a month from now I'm taking our 14yo son and a friend to Tokyo and we'll probably go back to Disney Sea for a day.

The previous poster was right on target and I can confirm his suggestions and comments.

Niomi

I've been to Disney Sea 4 times and Tokyo Disneyland 3 times..... maybe too much but it's always a fun getaway from Tokyo

Personally I like Sea better, it's gorgeous with its European-style feel and you can spend a long time wandering around there. I hate thrill rides and there is plenty for me to do as well as some lovely performances - go see "Big Band Beat," and "Mystic Rhythms" for sure, ride Indiana Jones & Journey to the Center of the Earth. Mystic Rhythms in particular is wonderful.

About bringing food into the park - I've never tried to do it but I can tell you they look through your things shortly when you enter.

Disney Sea does not have any water play areas that I know of.

Generally the parks close at 10 PM. Around Sept 10 the Halloween events should be starting, which are cute.

Make sure you go on a weekday. In general these parks tend to ALWAYS be crowded - Land in particular I always thought had much longer lines than the one in California. Be strategic with use of the Fast Passes.

If you are really serious about experiencing it, I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with spending enough time to see both Sea & Land, but honestly Sea is a lot prettier and unique as well.

Braindrain

Just to add, the only discount tix I know of are: 1) You arrive after 6 pm (IIRC), or 2) You have someone affiliated with the park get the tix for you.

It's been a few years since I did #2, so I'm not sure anymore.

If it's your kids' 1st time to any Disney, then take them to the Disneyland part. If it's your XXth time, go to Disneysea.

As for parades, it used to be insane. People would start "picking" out their spots as soon as the park opened. However, there's a rule now that people can't start doing that until a few hours before.

As for bringing in your own food/drinks, I have no idea there. But, yes, you can exit/re-enter.

Malcolm12

We have just come back from Japan and purchased a 3 day passport, you have to choose which park for 1 and 2 day and you can choose both parks on the 3rd day,Personally we were very disapointed as we had to wait 150min at one ride 130min at another tom sawyer closed at 4pm so did the indian boats,the park had to many people in it and i mean to many peak hour sidewalk stuff , I think the greed of money has got to them as we had to wait 15mins just to get pop corn, out of both parks Disneysea was the best and the shows were annouced on the sound system so you could get to them and they were spectacular to say the least ,Disneyland Tokyo we would not return to the staff don't speak english and the waits at rides are to long we work out that 3 rides would take 6hrs 35mins . even though the park closes at 10pm ,Wait to you go to the US there waits are less. also we went when it wasn't peak time I would hate to go then!!!!

jib71

I'll make a note to stop recommending that people spend three days of their Japan trip there.

Malcolm12

Just a further to my comment we did enjoy it but the waits were proberly the biggest downer, most rides were 60 to 80 mins and then the real popular ones are 110mins up to 150 mins we were there 30th 31st Oct and the 1st and 2nd Nov 2010, they say summer is worst I find that very hard to believe, The people try to help but not speaking english is a major problem.
You would think that the employment of staff for Disney should have english as a 2nd languge.
The best time to go if it is raining as we went the 30th October which was the night the Typhoon was passing Tokyo and there were no waits to rides but because of the weather there were no shows,the other days it was like being in the middle of a rock concert croud. And yes they do check your bags when entering the park.
Even though we wouldn't go back to Disneyland we would go back to Japan tommorrow if we could, a very enjoyable place but would spend more time in the villages etc and stay at ryochans and visit the outer country side.

Braindrain

Hmm... complaining because a theme park is doing well. You'd prefer there be no people, be on the brink of bankruptcy, just to cater to you ?

Steve M

The Halloween special events have become extremely popular at Tokyo Disney Resort, now in both parks as of this year. So, Oct 30 and 31 are going to be among the busiest days of the year, being that they are the last two days of the special event. Tokyo Disney Resort is affected not only by season and day of week, but rather heavily by the special seasonal events - much more so than their US counterparts. So, attending on the first or last day or so of a special event is going to equate to enormous crowds.

Having said that, the secret to a good park experience is the same as it is in the US Disney parks, only more so: get there early in the morning (preferably 45-60 minutes prior to opening on an anticipated busy day) - you can get more done in that first hour or two than an entire afternoon. Understand how FastPass works and take full advantage of it. Stay until park closing, as many things clear out toward the end of the night.

There's not much that a fluent English-speaking cast member can do to help out if the problem is large crowds. I'd be interested to hear what situations you needed assistance with that were made difficult because of the language barrier.

Malcolm12

There is a big difference between doing well and over crowded but maybe I should say to you go, then don't compain when I say told you so.
Did you actually understand what I said Braind**** peak hour side walk you can't move you would have been angry also if you saw it .

Malcolm12

Thanks for that makes me feel better maybe, We stayed at a official Hotel Hilton so we were there before park opened and we stayed until close didn't really make a diff but as you say halloween is busy you are not wrong there, I would love to hear what the max capacity is for the park?

When you need to ask questions or they have closed a ride for maintance etc.We asked when will ride open again ( no english) we walked away and came back 1 hr later ride open and full 90min wait . If they could speak english even a little we would have stayed close to ride. I just think that being an Internationally known park originating from the US that english should be a 2nd language.

Malcolm12

No you can't bring you own food or drink into the parks and they do bag checks at the gate's , But food isn't to pricey in the park

joejones

I agree that 10/30 - 11/2 was bad timing. Not only was it Halloween, but 11/3 (Wednesday) was a Japanese holiday, so many people probably took a couple of days off to get a five-day weekend. My last visit to DisneySea was on a weekday in April 2007, and the lines were not bad at all. That said, Tokyo Disney Resort traffic apparently picked up significantly during the economic downturn because many families accepted it as a cheaper alternative to vacationing in Hawaii, Thailand or wherever.

Braindrain

I've been there more times than you could care to count. I've seen the mommies and grandmas camp out at the sidewalks as soon as the park opens to grab a space for the parade - up until they banned that practice years ago.

And how many times have you been there for comparative analysis?