HELP planning!!! I'm starting to get put off by TD and my head is exploding!

[Dcislander]

Hi All!! First, I'm an old guy so please take pity on me

For weeks now I've been trying to plan a trip for April 2025 to Tokyo Disney--family of 4 (2 adults two older teens) Originally the plan was to stay at the Sheraton but then started looking at Disney hotels when it was recommended for better access and to "make life simpler." UGGHH!!! I've gone down a rabbit hole now and not sure if I can make it out alive.

We're traveling April 2025, after school starts and before the holiday and planning on being in the parks on weekdays only. The original plan was: Arrive night 1 (Sheraton night 1). Park Day 1 (Sheraton night 2). Park Day 2 (Sheraton night 3). Then on day 3 off to central Tokyo. For context, we aren't super interested in shows or parades--Our family really wants to go for the rides and to experience the unique park.

Recently, it was recommended that we only stay at the Sheraton on nights 1 and 3 and at a Disney resort hotel on night 2. That seems easy enough but my old man brain is being taken over by the complex ins and outs of booking Tokyo Disney.

When I look at booking the Disney hotel, one night for four people with one breakfast comes with:
1 Day Disneyland pass (day 1)
Ability to reserve time on Beauty and the Beast, Baymax, and "Eligible attraction ticket" (Thunder Mnt., Pooh, Haunted Man, Star tour, Monsters Inc)
1 Day Fantasy Springs Magic pass (day 2)
Ability to reserve Tower of Terror and "eligible attractions" at Disney Sea: Nemo, Indiana Jones, 20,000 leagues etc.

This package comes out to around $2500 plus we'd have to pay for nights 1 and 3 at the Sheraton ($600).

From everyone's great experience, is this the right way to go here? 2 nights at the resort pushes 3k and breaks the bank for us. 3 nights at the Sheraton would be $1000 with breakfasts included so the official package is about $2100 more than staying off site and getting our tickets a la carte. The package with tickets would be about $250/day for each of of the 4 of us. (it also incudes a bunch of add ons that we don't really care about like totes and popcorn).

So... to wrap it up, I'm not sure I have the brain power to calculate all of the different add ons and extras to get us on the rides if we stay off site. It seems like a giant charlie foxtrot with thousands of others in the same boat. Do we bite the bullet and do the packages? Will we be slammed with even more add ons that we're not seeing yet. Nothing like booking Disney to make you feel poor

Thanks for the advice and support from all!

 

[October82]

Others may have more recent experience with regard to FantasySprings, but I would stick with the Sheraton.

If you're worried about getting on some of those unique attractions, do Premier Access if you need. The BayMax attraction, for example, is better to watch than to experience, so I wouldn't book a much more expensive room for that perk. DPA will be useful for Tower of Terror and Beauty and the Beast and costs $13/person. So for your group it would be $52 to 'reserve a time' for each ride.

I think you'll more than likely come out ahead that way and there are much better ways to spend $2500 (in Tokyo or elsewhere).

 

[marni1971]

Or put the trip back a year with the thought Fantasy Springs will be a busy but normal area by then. We’ve deffered our plans twice now and are currently thinking of 2028 so Springs will be normal and Space Mountain will have had a year.

 

[Dcislander]

I wish. The trip has been a long time in the planning—and likely last time we can go anywhere as a family for a few year. 2 weeks through Japan and Disney is the final stop.

 

[Dcislander]

I’m hoping (praying) that the start of school (after spring vacation), before Golden Week and attending on weekdays will help keep the crowds down a touch.

Wishful thinking?

 

[IMDREW]

I can only talk about what we did on our trip and maybe it’ll help you make some decisions for yourself.

Firstly, we arrived late at night and stayed at the Hilton for one night. Our final nights were at Sheraton, where I’ve stayed before and had a great time last time. However, on this trip our experience at Sheraton wasn’t as great as I thought it would be. The hotel is starting to show its age. My dad has platinum status and we were put on an old floor. The room and carpets were dirty. We talked with the manager and got located to a nicer floor later. I visited all floors, because this was not how I remembered this hotel and noticed that all foreigners were leaving the elevator at unrefurbished floors. I would highly recommend Hilton over Sheraton after this. I do understand you could get a completely different experience of course. Using the Monorail is great from any of these hotels. But maybe something to think about.

In between we stayed at the MiraCosta for a few nights including having the Fantasy Springs package. I have to say, if thats what youre coming for, and youve got the money to splurge on it, Id highly recommend getting the package! We had the best time! Doing the rides over and over again. Exploring the land. But, if youre at DisneySea for only one day and want to explore the rest of the park as well, Im afraid you wouldnt get your values worth. We stayed the first full day in the land and still wanted to stay longer. We quickly stepped out to use our Journey and Soaring passes included in the package, but wanted to get back asap to do more Fantasy Springs. Few days later we did the rest of the park without getting into Fantasy Springs.

You’d have to be really handy with the app to get on all four rides in one day I think. Getting into the land and on 1 ride is very possible though. The package was great for us, even just to remove the stress and certainty to ride all rides. Not once, but many times.

Let me know if you’ve got any other questions!

 

[Dcislander]

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your help. And YES I will def have more questions as the planning goes on. Sadly, I think I just read that the unlimited rides at Fantasy Springs is coming to an end before we go. That was a bummer and what pushed me to look at the Sheraton (or Hilton ) for the stay.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Or put the trip back a year with the thought Fantasy Springs will be a busy but normal area by then. We’ve deffered our plans twice now and are currently thinking of 2028 so Springs will be normal and Space Mountain will have had a year.

The crowds at Springs mean less crowds elsewhere. It is a large resort to explore for first timers, three days barely suffice to see non-Springs TDR. So it could be argued now is a great time, a DL GE effect.

 

[BrianLo]

I would definitely, definitely not go for the package in your case. The package is meant to optimize fantasy springs and really it’s a waste of your money if you are spending time in the rest of the park for a significant portion of your day… which you absolutely should. You only have one day and it sounds like you’ve never been. Fantasy springs is new but the rest of the park is equally amazing.

Instead set aside a few hundred dollars and rock the DPA’s (equivalent to LLSP). You can book a new one each hour, without having to go to ring into the attraction.

Order of operations is a standby for ideally Frozen or Rapunzel if it’s sold out. A DPA for whichever one you couldn’t get. A 40th anniversary pass (which is like a separate free fast pass of yore stream) for Indy.

A DPA for Pan one hour later. Then a standby if one is after two hours (it’s a different stream), but likely not. Then do DPAs for Soaring, TSMM, Journey, ToT as the day progresses. This will be the bulk of your spending, but it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than the fantasy springs pass and lets you access most of the park. Sindbad is a reliable walk on.

And the last thing is one person needs to be in line 90+ minutes before opening. Joining a party in line seemed mildly socially acceptable if it was about 45 minutes before hand, chaotic to join your party otherwise, but the locals still did it.



Don’t worry about Disneyland at all. Use fast passes and buy a DPA for beauty and the beast and just do mostly whatever you want. Arrive before opening but don’t stress the aggressive before opening.

 

[cjkeating]

A related question... does anyone know if you do the Vacation Package and in effect pre-booked some Premier Access are you still able to buy more Premier Access or use the 40th Anniversary Pass?