NRT -> Disneyland Question
 

Hi -

I'll be arriving in a couple of weeks and took a quick look at the airport limousine page. It appears that there is an odd gap in times they operate from NRT to the Disneyland area.

My flight arrives from ICN around 2:30pm

The bus departs from NRT at 2:05pm, 3:05pm and 5:05pm

I'm guessing that unless i'm really lucky, it's doubtful i'll get on the 3:05pm bus.

Therefore, instead of waiting for 2 hours, i was wondering if anyone has a suggestion for the best alternative.

Would it be best to take the N'EX to Tokyo station and then the JR to Maihama?

Or is there is a stop closer to Maihama where I can make an easy transition from the Bus to JR?

Thanks!

Well, that could well be the fastest way depending on the time of day, even though it involves backtracking. The walk from where the Narita express comes in to where the JR Keiyo or Musashino line, which goes to Maihama, departs is very long. It is unclear if the bargain N'Ex/Suica card deal will take you all the way to Maihama but I think that's more likely than not.

The most exotic way is to take the JR rapid "Airport Narita" to Chiba, then the Chiba monorail for two stops to Chiba Minato, and then the inbound JR Keiyo line to Maihama. This will likely take longer because the JR rapid has a tendency to stop to let the N'Ex pass by in Sakura or Narita town or both.

There are also some more complex ways starting with the Keisei limited express to the Funabashi area, but these typically require three or four changes.

Railroad Tycoon went to the trouble of creating a web page devoted to this question. Check out his thread with the title "My Tokyo Train Information Blog" or some such... It's currently about five lines below this thread on the Japan forum page.

Thanks, I knew this would be useful one day, here it is http://www.tokyosubway.info/tokyo_dinsey.html

Taking the NEX to Tokyo then the Keiyo Line is not the best idea so I put it near the bottom. Mainly because the transfer at Tokyo Station from NEX to Keiyo Platform is quite, quite a distance. I recommend you take the bus to the Shin Uraysu area then make a quick transfer there to the Keiyo Line, comes out cheaper then Suica & Nex, you still have to wait an hour and a half for that bus...

The train options are inconvenient if you have luggage and involve transers, but they are available there for you if you wanted try it. Bus is easiest in my opinion.

Cool, didn't know about your page or that bus service (mainly because I cannot imagine coming to Japan to go to Disneyland, but that's me!) which is excellent.

That transfer from the Narita express at Tokyo station requires taking three escalators, walking the width of Tokyo station, another escalator or two, then two or three long moving beltways, followed by two or three more escalators. That is why we all say it is very long, you are essentially walking to another station.

Yes, it's an astonishing distance.

Since I like walking around in Tokyo, I once decided, after completing business in the Marunouchi area, that I would take the Keiyo Line to a station just south of the Tokyu Stay in Monzen Nakacho where I was staying and walk the approximately 1 km distance north to explore the neighborhood. (As usual, I had my trusty Tokyo City Atlas at hand.)

By the time I reached the Keiyo Line tracks, I felt as if I had already walked halfway back to my lodgings. :D

Thanks everyone for the pointers. I'm not sure I want to navigate Tokyo station with luggage mid-day, approaching rush hour. I remember getting dizzy just standing off to the side and watching the rush of people throughout the station...probably not a good idea to get caught in the fray with my gear!

Maybe I'll just suck it up and wait for the later bus. It turns out the evening pass at Disneyland isn't even effective until 6pm. Therefore, I won't miss too much :-)

Google Maps suggests a routing on bus from Narita Airport to Kaihin Makuhari station and change to Keiyo line to Maihama.

The bus is operated by Keisei. It takes about 42 minutes and costs 1100 yen to Kaihin Makuhari station. Info including timetable in English and Japanese. For OP's purpose, the bus departs at 15:30 and 16:30 should you miss the 15:05 Limosine bus.

The train portion of the trip takes about 16 minutes and 290 yen.

I also noted that route on my site as an option.
If you did make it by 15:30 it is an option, otherwise, the 16:35 bus to Shin Uraysu is the better bet, as its only 3 minutes from Maihama.

As for the transfer at Tokyo Station, my unscientific study was roughly 20 or so minutes between the two. However, this was with no luggage, and not traveling in group, walking on the escalators vs standing, and I knew where I was going.

Although if you get off at Keihin Makuhari, it's only about a 15 minute walk to Costco, which is open until 8pm.
:) :)

I used the cheapest option last month and it worked just fine for my wife and I plus luggage:

• NRT->Funabashi via Keisei
• Funabashi -> Nishi Funabashi via JR Sobu
• Nishi Funabashi -> Maihama via JR Keiyo

Total cost is only 930 yen. The walk to the JR station was very quick even with a construction detour.

Sorry to dig this up again, but unfortunately http://www.tokyosubway.info isn't working anymore (again?).

As OZ have changed my flight times, I'll be arriving into NRT at 16:50, which makes it too late to catch the bus to Tokyo Disneyland. I've been evaluating my options, but I can't make up my mind:
- Train, various options, but all involve transfers and we'll have luggage. Want a Suica card, so would need to go to JR to buy, and might then take the Keisei train to change at Funabashi - lots of faffing about and will get quite late
- Other bus, to somewhere close to Disneyland. I can't for the life of me work out what my other options are on http://www.limousinebus.co.jp/en - there's buses to Shin Urayasu that run later, but they all seem to drop off at hotels. What's the easiest bus to take to a JR station that goes to Maihama?
- Taxi - seems to be anywhere between 15000 and 30000 yen. The latter is unacceptable, the former I might actually go for, for convenience. Isn't there anything like a bargain, pre-booked taxi company?

Many thanks!

I suggest taking the Narita Express (N'EX) to Tokyo Station, then stay at a hotel near the station. Next day, take the Keiyo line from Tokyo Station to Maihama.

One word of warning: The Keiyo line platforms are a bit of a hike from the other areas of Tokyo Station. (Think long passages with moving walkways).

Moving walkways carrying a Disney-bound rugby scrum. And their offspring.

Interesting thought - it would mean losing out on an evening at Tokyo Disneyland, but maybe it's too much of a hassle anyway to get anything out of that day.