Pre-Trip Bee's Big Birthday!

Intro

For those who don't know me, I'm Bee, an opera-singing, Epcot-loving, ex-Floridian now living in New Jersey just outside of New York City. My wife M and I both grew up going to Walt Disney World and carried our love of Disney into adulthood. We buy WDW Annual Passes every other year and take 3-4 trips during the "on" years, and we often meet up with her parents in Florida since they live a couple hours away from Disney.

I am turning 30 this year and I've been trying to figure out the best way to celebrate. 2018-2019 is an "off" year for WDW so that's not an option. My birthday is also very close to Christmas so most destinations are extra expensive and crowded when I want to travel.

Our close friend S is married to a US Naval officer, and they're currently living in Japan where he is stationed for the next few years. She is enjoying it but she's understandably lonely and wants as many American friends to come visit as possible. They also happen to have a three bedroom house for just the two of them where guests can stay for free.

Put all of this together, plus the fact that M has a decent chunk of paid vacation around Christmas, and you get:

A BIRTHDAY TRIP TO JAPAN!!!​

Obviously there will be Disney park visits, but there will be much more! I'll post more specifics later, but the countdown has begun and we're already in double digits! If you have travel tips for visiting Japan in general or the Tokyo parks specifically, please post them! We have both traveled overseas but never to Asia so we'll take any advice we can get!

 

[bee]

Nothing major to report, but we did go shopping today for boots for Japan. Of course living in the northeast we have footwear appropriate for various weather and walking conditions. But S advised us to bring shoes that are easy to take off and put on for places that require removing shoes upon entering; plus, we don't want to pack super large/heavy boots. So I ended up with some Sporto ankle boots that have both laces and a zipper (for easy on/off), and are waterproof and lined with some magical warming technology to keep my feet warm and dry. M didn't find exactly what she wanted today but she got some ideas and will probable order a few pairs online to try at home.

My school is closed all next week for Thanksgiving (woohoo!). We told all our family we wouldn't be able to afford to travel for the holidays this year since we are spending so much on Japan. Luckily M's mom is able to travel to us for Thanksgiving! She is arriving this Saturday and leaving the day after Thanksgiving. I found discount tickets to Once on this Island on Broadway and family circle (aka the very highest level of the house) tickets for The Pearl Fishers at the Met for while she is here. And of course M and I will be making Thanksgiving dinner. The menu so far:

3-4 cheeses and accompaniments
Lentil and kale salad with pumpkin seeds, pomegranate seeds, and red wine vinaigrette
Jalapeno mac and cheese (our secret recipe)
Green bean casserole (inspired by the classic soup-based casserole, but replacing some of the canned stuff with fresh ingredients)
Roasted kabocha squash
Pumpkin pie
Cheesecake
And, of course, WINE!

I also intend to buy our Disneyland tickets this week! We are less than five weeks away!!!

 

[RememberWhen]

Nothing major to report, but we did go shopping today for boots for Japan. Of course living in the northeast we have footwear appropriate for various weather and walking conditions. But S advised us to bring shoes that are easy to take off and put on for places that require removing shoes upon entering; plus, we don't want to pack super large/heavy boots. So I ended up with some Sporto ankle boots that have both laces and a zipper (for easy on/off), and are waterproof and lined with some magical warming technology to keep my feet warm and dry. M didn't find exactly what she wanted today but she got some ideas and will probable order a few pairs online to try at home.

My school is closed all next week for Thanksgiving (woohoo!). We told all our family we wouldn't be able to afford to travel for the holidays this year since we are spending so much on Japan. Luckily M's mom is able to travel to us for Thanksgiving! She is arriving this Saturday and leaving the day after Thanksgiving. I found discount tickets to Once on this Island on Broadway and family circle (aka the very highest level of the house) tickets for The Pearl Fishers at the Met for while she is here. And of course M and I will be making Thanksgiving dinner. The menu so far:

3-4 cheeses and accompaniments
Lentil and kale salad with pumpkin seeds, pomegranate seeds, and red wine vinaigrette
Jalapeno mac and cheese (our secret recipe)
Green bean casserole (inspired by the classic soup-based casserole, but replacing some of the canned stuff with fresh ingredients)
Roasted kabocha squash
Pumpkin pie
Cheesecake
And, of course, WINE!

I also intend to buy our Disneyland tickets this week! We are less than five weeks away!!!

Dinner sounds great!!

 

[bee]

*obligatory first snow post*

My school just announced we are closing today. No complaints here haha! We have kids (not to mention teachers!) coming from all over northern NJ and some as far as NYC or Rockland County so we are more cautious than most about weather closures. So even though our immediate vicinity might not be too affected, we close for the safety of those traveling from more perilous conditions.

Here are the boots I mentioned yesterday:

 

[bee]

We just purchased our Disneyland tickets! We will just do one day in Disneyland Park instead of trying to park-hop. I imagine crowds will be enough that we won't have a ton of extra time for going back and forth.

Any insights into purchasing tickets for the Tokyo parks? @amjt660 and others? Is it best to purchase online in advance? If I do that do I need to exchange something for a real ticket at the ticket booths? Thanks in advance!

 

[amjt660]

View attachment 328211

We just purchased our Disneyland tickets! We will just do one day in Disneyland Park instead of trying to park-hop. I imagine crowds will be enough that we won't have a ton of extra time for going back and forth.

Any insights into purchasing tickets for the Tokyo parks? @amjt660 and others? Is it best to purchase online in advance? If I do that do I need to exchange something for a real ticket at the ticket booths? Thanks in advance!

The last time I went in 2016 I had our business travel agent buy them for me
You have to pick exactly what days you are going and to which park
In 2006 I purchased at the gate but it was not as busy in late September
I remember having concerns with foreign credit cards not working in Japan - I think it was my Amex that was a no go

Max

 

[MinnieM123]

The last time I went in 2016 I had our business travel agent buy them for me
You have to pick exactly what days you are going and to which park
In 2006 I purchased at the gate but it was not as busy in late September
I remember having concerns with foreign credit cards not working in Japan - I think it was my Amex that was a no go

Max

From what I've heard, it's always good to let your credit card company know that you will be traveling abroad, so that your card won't be flagged. In your case, however, I don't know if the issue was with the merchant(s) in Japan, or the card issuer.

 

[bee]

We are less than two weeks away from departure!!! We've been working to get everything ready but there is still much to do!

My mom (who lives in Texas) asked what I wanted for Christmas and my birthday so I sent her my Amazon wish list of lots of travel supplies. She said something like, "I can't figure this out. Here's my credit card number. Delete this after you buy it." When I told her I had ordered everything she said, "When you turn 30, all gifts are self-ordered and unwrapped."

Our dining table has been overtaken by the pre-packing process. In the top left you can (sort of) see one of the new suitcases we ordered.

Funny story: we ordered two identical black rolling suitcases. They were shipped separately so the first one arrived a day before the second one. M opened the first box and inside was an ORANGE suitcase. She thought about just keeping it but then imagined herself pulling around an orange suitcase in public and didn't like the mental picture, haha. Since we ordered everything on our Amazon account with my mom's card we were able to request an exchange quickly, and now we have two BLACK suitcases.

If anyone is wondering, it was a pain to try to buy Tokyo Disney tickets! The official website only accepts certain credit cards with a security feature called 3D Security. I spent half an hour on the phone with my credit card company (and talked to three different people) trying to figure out if it's something I can add to my card and finally someone told me that 3D Security doesn't exist???

SO, we ended up getting one day tickets from a 3rd party seller that didn't require impossible credit card verification, and M and I will upgrade ours to three day tickets once we get there. One cool feature of the 3-Day Magic Passport is that, while you have to choose a specific park to visit on each of the first two days, you can visit both parks on the third day. It's like you buy a three day non-hopper ticket but get to hop on the last day.

On the first day we have a three hour layover in the Phoenix airport. It looks like there are lots of food and shopping choices throughout our terminal. There is even a museum apparently! So we will have plenty to do during our layover.

 

[Swissmiss]

3D security is usually something offered by your credit card company (mine did until recently when they phased it out to put in a different additional security system) which brings you out of your transaction onto your bank’s page where you must type an addition password. At the time my bank had it, I would occasionally see sites that said you could only purchase if your card was set up for 3D security.

 

[amjt660]

I remember ticket purchase being difficult....

Max

 

[bee]

3D security is usually something offered by your credit card company (mine did until recently when they phased it out to put in a different additional security system) which brings you out of your transaction onto your bank’s page where you must type an addition password. At the time my bank had it, I would occasionally see sites that said you could only purchase if your card was set up for 3D security.

Thank you. I can't believe the security person from my credit card bank said 3D "doesn't exist!" Obviously it EXISTS even if my particular bank/card doesn't offer it. It seems to be used more in Europe and Asia than in North America (or at least the US).

I remember ticket purchase being difficult....

Max

Yes, it was a pain, but in the end I have my tickets so I can't complain too much.

 

[Swissmiss]

Thank you. I can't believe the security person from my credit card bank said 3D "doesn't exist!" Obviously it EXISTS even if my particular bank/card doesn't offer it. It seems to be used more in Europe and Asia than in North America (or at least the US).


Yes, it was a pain, but in the end I have my tickets so I can't complain too much.

Maybe it’s related to the fact that European credit cards also chips (so we use a pin code instead of signing?)

 

[amjt660]

Maybe it’s related to the fact that European credit cards also chips (so we use a pin code instead of signing?)

We only have chip cards in the Great White North!!!

Max

 

[bee]

We have been watching the weather in our destination cities and it looks like Japan will have milder (warmer) weather than we are having here in NJ. I also realized I have three winter coats but nothing appropriate for the weather we're going to have, so last night I ordered a few medium weight hooded jackets to try that I can return if necessary.

Question for people who will read my TR eventually: Will you want to read about the non-Disney parts too? I posted about our entire California trip last year, but the ratio of Disney days to non-Disney days was higher.

 

[LittleTuna12]

I vote for yes! Report everything or at least what you want to report

 

[Swissmiss]

I vote for yes! Report everything or at least what you want to report

I agree!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Definitely want to hear about the whole trip!!

 

[MinnieM123]

Question for people who will read my TR eventually: Will you want to read about the non-Disney parts too? I posted about our entire California trip last year, but the ratio of Disney days to non-Disney days was higher.

I read everything! I've enjoyed your non-Disney sections of your TRs before, and I'd look forward to reading more of those!

 

[amjt660]

We have been watching the weather in our destination cities and it looks like Japan will have milder (warmer) weather than we are having here in NJ. I also realized I have three winter coats but nothing appropriate for the weather we're going to have, so last night I ordered a few medium weight hooded jackets to try that I can return if necessary.

Question for people who will read my TR eventually: Will you want to read about the non-Disney parts too? I posted about our entire California trip last year, but the ratio of Disney days to non-Disney days was higher.

Do I really need to answer this one?

Max

 

[bee]

I vote for yes! Report everything or at least what you want to report

I agree!

Definitely want to hear about the whole trip!!

I read everything! I've enjoyed your non-Disney sections of your TRs before, and I'd look forward to reading more of those!

Do I really need to answer this one?

Max

 

[bee]

It's the Single Digit Dance!!!​

We've been practicing our key phrases, including "I am a vegetarian." Today we reserved vegetarian meals on both flights, and purchased pocket wifi for the entire Japan portion of the trip so we can use our phones for internet without using international data.

9 days to departure, 10 days to Disneyland, 12 days to Japan, 14 days to my 30th, 25 days to Tokyo Disney Resort!