Some questions - "to do" in Tokyo and local theme parks
 

So, I've been checking this site out and came across a lot of great info and want to say thanks. Also want to apologize if I ask anything that has been asked before.

To start, let me tell you about myself. I'm very adventurous and love to try just about anything once. Love to try new foods(want to try blowfish) and check out new things. I'm not a shopper (but would check out shibuya) I'm not into temples, so I don't need to travel to see one, anything in the Tokyo area would be fine. I'm not much on relaxing on vacation, I like to be out and about as much as I can and be active.

Taking a look around, the things that I really want to do are; Disney(both), Do you think 3 days or 4 for Disney? Edo wonderland(is it still open and/or worth it?), Fugi-Q Highland(worth it?) any other amusment park worth a visit? How about an aquarium? How abundant are Packinko palors? I saw on a map about Packinko tower, but can't find any info on it. Any other suggestions on must do's?

I've already booked my hotel and air. I'm staying in Shinjuku at Sunroute Plaza. I'm planning to be there for 13 nights and going around late Aug, early Sep. Please feel free to ask me anything that you would need to and thanks in advance for you help.

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

Pachinko parlors are ubiquitous, and I doubt you'll have much of a problem finding one.

I'll retitle the thread so members can see what it is about and may be more likely to respond- our TOS suggest:

Also be sure to check the japan-guide.com website out - this link takes you to the Kanto regionsection, which includes Tokyo and environs, and this link to Tokyo itself.

One day at each of the parks is more than enough unless you are totally crazy. Shinjuku is a pretty inconvenient place to stay if you are going to spend two days at Disney; I'd consider relocating to one of the hotels right by the Disney property (there is another Sunroute there, for instance, as well as Hilton, Sheraton, etc.)

If you like amusement parks you should check out Hanayashiki in Asakusa. It is the oldest amusement park in Japan and very interesting for its retro factor.

There are several around Tokyo: Sunshine City in Ikebukuro, Shinagawa Aquarium (the biggest IIRC), Tokyo Sea Life Park (Kasai Rinkai Koen, near Disney), Epson Aqua Stadium in Shinagawa, etc.

There are several by any major or not-incredibly-minor train station.

The "season" for fugu is late fall and winter. I don't know if you can get it in the summer. But - even if you can - why would you want to eat something that's out of season (when taste/texture may not be that good)?

Unagi (freshwater eel) is in season in the summer. Perhaps you should try that instead. Robyn

Besides theme parks and the like, another unique thing about Tokyo is the amount of matsuri during the summer.

There's the Asakusa Samba Carnival in Asakusa which has an international flavor and the Koenji Awaodori in the nearby town of Koenji (4 stops west of Shinjuku on the Chuo local service) which is held on the last weekend of August and is very Japanese. Both are a lot of fun and worth checking out.

In terms of things to do - perhaps you could tell us a little more about yourself. Are you a younger person - or an older person who loves theme parks? I'm in Florida - and we have tons of older people who are great Disney fans (although I'm not one of them :)).

I wouldn't rule out temples/shrines. Some - like Senso-ji - can be quite festive (and the day we were there - which was some kind of festival day - it was about as crowded as Disney on a busy day!). To make a long story short (and oversimplifying things a lot) - although people in Japan aren't for the most part "religious" as we would use that word in the United States - they belong to organized religions (more people in Japan are members of religions than there are people in Japan). Usually they're Shinto and Buddhists - and quite a few are Christians as well. Shinto is - for lack of a better word - the "fun" religion. Buddhism is more serious. Christianity best I can tell is for weddings and Christmas presents (but I'm sure I'm missing something here). Anyway - the major shrines I went to - even some more serious Buddhist ones - had a fun "theme park" feel to me (they seemed to be popular tourist destinations for Japanese people who were on vacation). And I think you'd enjoy visiting a few.

Although you said you don't like shopping - "window shopping" can be combined with great people watching. For example on Ginza on a weekend when the main street is closed to traffic and tons of people come out to walk around. It's kind of a "street festival".

Perhaps you like electronics - or anime? Lots of things to see in those categories.

I liked seeing the large train stations and riding on trains. Because - unlike theme park rides - they're very exotic to me.

If you want to be active - there are things like bicycle tours. Perhaps climbing Mt. Fuji (late August is still "high season" for climbing Mt. Fuji).

Give us some additional information - and we'll try to come up with more ideas. Robyn

If you love Disney and want to try everything, you'll probably need four days there. The newest Toy Story ride alone will likely be at least a three hour wait (unless you make a made dash for a Fast Pass first thing in the morning...but there's plenty of other things to wait for as well) If you just want to soak up the ambiance, then one day at each park will suffice.

Note: You cannot, in general, hop between Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea in the same day. The best you can do is buy a three or four day pass...on the third and fourth days, you will be allowed to visit both parks with the same pass, but on the first and second days you will only be allowed into one, which you must choose in advance.

Thanks all
 

First off thank you all for the replies.

JDiver; Thanks I will check that out

Joejones; Disney isn't the only thing I want to check out :-) I will look into the parks and aquariums that you have mentioned and thanks.

robyng; I just noticed that fugu is out of season :-( and Unagi is my favorite and can not wait to try sushi in Japan. I'm not totally ruling out temples, I just don't want to spend a lot of time to get to any, I'll hit the local ones. I do like people watching and will be checking out the anime, electronics and other areas. Thank you.

abraxis; I think I'll be there to late for any festivals :-( (see below) Thanks

hailstorm; Great band btw :-) I've been to both Disney's in the US and looks like Tokyo Disney is pretty much the same, so I figure I can do that in one day. I just don't know about Disney Sea, as to how big and how much there is actually to do there. I probablly will want to see and do at least 90% of the things there. So should that be 2 or 3 days(3 or 4 day pass)?

More about me; like I said before, I'm adventurous and will try anything at least once and love to try new things when I can. I like to walk around and see/ explore things. I will check out Shibuya, but I doubt I'll be doing any shopping. I'm more comfortable in a thrift store or flea market than a high end store at a mall or something like that. Like, I'd rather shop at Walmart than Nordstroms.
Some of the things that I like to do(but not limited to) I know a few of these things don't fit well in Japan but here they are anyway, paintball, arcades, amusement parks, fairs, carnivals, travel, anime, target shooting, blading, exploring new things, bungee jumping and a lot more.
When I'm on vacation, I'm on the go, more than not. up and out early and back late. I feel that I'm paying so much for a vacation, I need to take full advantage and do what I can.
I've done a lot of reseach and have a list of things that I want to do and see, I am just looking for your opinions and info to fill in a couple more days. I'll be in Tokyo for 12 days and so far I have Edo(1d), Disney(3-4d) Fugi Q(or other more recomended) (1d), an aquarium(1d) so that leaves roughly 5 days to explore Tokyo and add anything that is a must do while I'm there.
So what do you think? Any recomendations? FYI, I'll be there from Aug 30 and leaving Sep 12th. Thanks again :-)
One more thing, I asked before. I saw something on a map of Tokyo about Pachinko Tower, but can't find any info on it. Anyone know what that is? Just curious.

I think the first time I went to Disney in Tokyo, I spent very little time at Disneyland with most of the days at Disney Sea. I've since gone back several times and that's still how the visits are allocated. Disneyland is a bit of a novelty because it's Japanese but, otherwise, I find it a bit dated (particularly in Tomorrowland). Disney Sea, on the other hand, is amazing and over-the-top.

If you're going to visit a shrine or temple, I'd suggest going to the Meiji Shrine in Shibuya, right by Harajuku. You can visit the Shrine (which is pretty cool) and then spend some time wandering Takeshita Street, which is not to be missed, if you enjoy people watching.

Another thing to consider is heading over to Odaiba and going to Sega's Joypolis, an indoor amusement park/center. I haven't been in a few years but some of the stuff is pretty wild. Odaiba is all-new, kinda fabricated, manufactured, but that's part of the fun of it. You can take the monorail over the rainbow bridge which gives great views or you can take a boat ride across the bay.

As another poster suggested, staying in Shinjuku for your Disney days can be a bit of a hassle. Some of the hotels in Odaiba offer a shuttle bus or, alternatively, there's decent public transportation access to Disney. My recollection is that coming from anywhere else, if you're making the train/subway transfer at Tokyo station, there's a ridiculously long walk in the station to connect.

Took a quick look at the website. We've been on the Tower of Terror before (about 10 years ago at Disney-MGM Orlando). I give it ^^^ (although I'm not sure my husband's back could handle it today).

What do you like at Disney Sea? Robyn

Some "top" Tokyo To-Dos I can think..

Tsukiji Fish Market - Tuna Auction

http://piggeeks.net/feng/wp-content/...auction_01.jpg

Tokyo Tower / Tokyo Skytree (opens 22-May-2013)

http://piggeeks.net/feng/wp-content/...o_tower_01.jpg

And perhaps a day-trip to Mt. Fuji?

You can check out the main temples (e.g. Sensoji) and shrines (Meiji) - they are not the same thing though - in Tokyo, we only went to two of them.

http://piggeeks.net/feng/wp-content/...thumbnail2.jpg

http://piggeeks.net/feng/wp-content/.../thumbnail.jpg

We did one-day each during my trip, and splurged on a 1-nite stay at Disney Hotel. The queues were horrible back then (it was in Nov/Dec I think) and 1 day was definitely not enough. Just watching all the scheduled shows and walking throughout the park took up the entire day.

I actually stayed at the same hotel previously, it's a decent and clean hotel (although a little small-ish rooms), pretty OK location with convenience stores just outside. You can walk to Takashimaya too!

http://piggeeks.net/feng/wp-content/...thumbnail1.jpg

I have quite a number of blog posts detailing my Japan trip, check it out if you're interested :)

I see no one has posted about Fuji-Q Highland, so I will. It's a coaster-type park with the kind of rides that take up too much real estate to be in Tokyo. If it's a clear day (not so common) there are decent views of Mt. Fuji. It makes a decent day trip from Tokyo.

There are SEGA Joyopolis and other types of arcades all over Japan. Particularly amazing are the huge multiplayer games, some clearly with tens of thousands of moving parts. These machines are generally found on the upper floors, so don't let yourself be limited when you just see the "New UFO Catchers" on the ground floor.

You will want to spend time wandering the back streets of Akihabara. Maybe even try a maid cafe, some of them want foreign visitors. Possibly take in an AKB48 show, although that has to be booked in advance online (there is an English website).

And of course, not too far from your hotel on the other side of the station, there is always the "Robot Restaurant."

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ferrerid=14479

Enjoy!

For me, Disney Sea's appeal lies in its design and theming (sp?). It's more tightly designed and immersive than any other Disney park (and I've been to all of them - multiple times). It simply looks like there was absolutely no expense spared in the design of the park.

As for rides, there are very few that are imported from other parks. Many of the attractions at Disney Sea are not found in other Disney parks. This is another part of the appeal.

I've never been to Fuji-Q, but the haunted hospital looks really cool. Definitely on my list for next trip.

As for Joypolis, I went to both Tokyo branches back in 2000 (I think one has since closed), and the absolute highlight was the Blair Witch Project haunted house. Of course it is no longer there, but there is a people-watching analogue to the haunted hospital above. My friend and I were required to hold a rope along with two reluctant Japanese teen-aged girls. Each time something jumped out, they were genuinely terrified. At one point I noticed one of the girls passed a scary dude creeping up behind us so I motioned for him to wait and tapped her on the shoulder so she'd turn around and see him... they were freaked out, in tears, and at one point one was cowering in the corner. I guess looking back it might have been a bit traumatic for them, but I've never seen anyone react that way to something so obviously fake. Oh, and I also picked up two cool Joypolis ceramic cups, one with Sonic on it, that I still use today.

If the OP enjoys people watching, he might like to take a trip out to the beach scene on the Shonan Shore. Take the train into Kamakura, transfer to Enoshima on the wacky Enoden Line, then head directly to the ocean for lots of sights and sounds and bikinis.