I need help fast for Tokyo Disneyland & Sea

[Hazyworld]

Ok, I am planning a trip to Tokyo Disneyland & Seas this Oct 5-11th or 12th of this year. At least those are the dates I am looking at. I don't even have a passport for myself, my wife and our soon to be 5 year old so that has to be done first. ($500!!!! for us 3, crazyness!). So my questions are really, is this an ok time to go there, weather wise and line wise? Do they have single rider lines at all for the rides my daughter can't go on? She is about 43 inches but I heard in Tokyo the ride restriction is less then in the US, is that true on most rides? Also, any reccomendations for me? I still need to book a hotel there and want to get one on the prop so we don't need a car or anything. We plan on going for 4 days using their 4 day hopper, the other days are just travel days. I hate the travel there though because if I book a flight now that say leaves on Wednesday at 10:30 am it doesn't arrive in Japan until the following day at 5PM! Such a waste of time and days to use it seems but what can ya do...

Ok, I am rambling but so nervous and want to make sure I cover everything and get everything as perfect as I can since so close to now, all in less then a month, heck, 3 weeks really. TDLfan or Joe any ideas?? P.S...any major rides that will be down that are not on their site if anyone knows? It doesn't seem like I will miss much of anything other then Jungle cruise.

I also just noticed it seems that weekend of the 7th-10th is busy in Japan? Is that a Holiday weekend there or something? It shows the hotels are at top $$ on those days almost and it appears online some of those days are even sold out. Now I am worried we don't find a hotel on the prop in that timeframe. Is there any US # to call for reservations.

I may have to change dates since it seems the weekend of 7-10 is very busy and is at higher price for everything plus some hotels sold out. I wonder if I should go on Oct 1st instead of the 5th? Or go there on the 12th? I really want to go sometime in the 1st week though of Oct.

Thanks everyone

 

[disneykw]

Hazyworld, there is a national holiday in Japan on Oct. 10 so it may be quite busy in the parks. If what you say is true and the hotels really are sold out, it may be better to schedule your vacation on the first week of October. Weatherwise, October may be somewhat cool and so you may need light jackets.

At Tokyo Disneyland, Western River Railroad (similar to the Disney World Railroad but only loops around a part of the park and only has one station) is closed until Oct. 5. Pinocchio's Daring Journey is closed from Oct. 1 - Oct. 14. Jungle Cruise is closed beginning Oct. 2. It's a Small World will be close beginning Oct. 16.

The current special event at TDL is the Halloween celebration. The Haunted Mansion is also transformed into "The Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare" featuring Jack Skellington.

At DisneySea, Magic Lamp Theater (a live action show and 3D film featuring the Genie and using technology similar to Philharmagic and it's tough to be a bug) will be closed beginning Oct. 10. Lido Isle Meet & Smile (a character show located next to Mediterranean Harbor) will not be showing until Oct. 24. The Mystic Rhythms show in Lost River Delta (the show is pretty good, but if you have to miss it, it's no big deal) will not be showing from Oct. 1 - Oct. 9.

DisneySea's current special event is "Dramatic DisneySea", a celebration of the park's 4th anniversary.

Fastpass is currently available in TDL for Big Thunder, Splash Mountain, Pooh's Hunny Hunt, MicroAdventure! (aka Honey, I Shrunk the Audience), Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, and the Haunted Mansion.

Fastpass is currently available in TDS for StormRider, Journey to the Center of the Earth, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Mermaid Lagoon Theater (Little Mermaid show), Indiana Jones Adventure, The Magic Lamp Theater, and the new roller coaster Raging Spirits.

Height Requirements for major thrill rides are as follows (I had to convert from centimeters to inches):
At TDL, Big Thunder and Space Mountain are about 40 inches. Splash Mountain is about 35.4 inches. Grand Circuit Raceway is about 52 inches (I think this is the height requirement to drive if I'm not mistaken).

At TDS, Indiana Jones Adventure and Journey to the Center of the Earth are about 46 inches. Raging Spirits roller coaster has a height requirement of about 55 inches.

I don't think there is a US # you can call for TDR Hotel Reservations. (Tokyo Disney Resort Reservation Center +81-45-683-3333 (for international calls).)

Also, you can pick up English park maps if you need them at Guest Services located at the main entrance or inside the park.

And finally for some tips and advice. Get Fastpass for Buzz or Hunny Hunt first thing in the morning if you want to ride as they are very popular. In my opinion, the new Enchanted Tiki Room featuring "Get the Fever" is a waste of time compared to the original attraction, but it's up to you. You should try Pooh's Hunny Hunt. The ride system is unique to TDL because the hunny pot vehicles use GPS to maneuver around the ride and therefore doesn't run on any track. It's really cool. Also, Mickey's House in Toontown has a Meet Mickey so you can take pictures with Mickey throughout the day. The daytime and nighttime parades are must-sees. Currently, they are "Disney's Dreams on Parade" and "TDL Electrical Parade Dreamlights", the latter being a revamped version of the original. The "One Man's Dream II" show in the Showbase Theater in Tomorrowland is fantastic and a must-see as well.

At TDS, Indiana Jones and Raging Spirits are the most popular attractions at the moment. Get a Fastpass for those at the beginning of the day as well. You'll also probably need a Fastpass for the other major thrill rides: Journey to the Center of the Earth, 20,000 Leagues, and Stormrider. While 20,000 Leagues is OK, you must ride Journey to the Center of the Earth and Stormrider. They're both unique to DisneySea and both great attractions. JttCotE may be too intense for your five year old, though. Basically, the drop is a little more frightening than Splash Mountain, but you get tons of airtime on the drop. Personally, that's my favorite ride at DisneySea. Stormrider may be a little frightening as it is more of an interactive Star Tours simulator (except the simulator itself is much bigger). I don't want to give any surprises for that ride so I'll leave it at that. The daytime and nighttime shows on the lagoon are also must sees and are very popular. You should arrive at Mediterranean Harbor about an hour or so before the show to get a decent view (earlier if it's a very crowded day). Porto Paradiso (the daytime show) is a show full of Disney characters on ships that circle the lagoon, while Braviseamo is a show featuring beautiful music and is about the interaction between fire and water. When I first saw Braviseamo, I thought the show sucked (compared to its predecessor DisneySea Symphony) but the more I watched the show, I realized that the show is more about emotions (like the way Illuminations evokes emotions in people). After the first few times of rewatching the show, I realized the beauty and art of the fire, water, and music and now as you can see, I'm a big fan. In addition to those two shows, there are also quite a few other smaller stageshows in each of the different themed areas of the park. "Encore!" is one of these and it's a great show. Encore! is located in the American Waterfront section of the park and celebrates the popular songs of Broadway with great choreographed dances.

Well, that's about all I can tell you, I guess. I might have written too much but I don't care. TDL and TDS are the parks I grew up with in my childhood and I love talking about them as you can see. Hopefully, I helped you out. I'm pretty sure they have the single rider lines in the parks but I'm not sure which ones have them. Oh, and have fun on your trip. I read that you're going to visit other parts of Japan on your other days. Hopefully you'll get to see other parts of Tokyo and the country. I hope you enjoy Japan as much as I do. Sayonara!

 

[cherrynegra]

^^Wow!! This guy is informed!! And on a foreign park no less. Welcome to the boards disneykw!! :wave:

 

[Hazyworld]

WOW, thanks for all that info. That really hit the spot in what I needed. I am also thinking about going in the 1st week of Oct due to crowds. It also seems like the hotels are a bit cheaper during that time as well. I am bummed my daughter will not be able to ride Journey and Indy though since she is not yet 46 inches, she is only about 43 at this time. She has seen videos of both the rides and was esxcited to watch them. I am not sure how I will be able to explain to her she won't be able to. I wasn't sure at first so I told her she will because the website didn't list a restriction for either of those like they did on some other rides. All it would say is to check the signs. (I have to be there to check them!! heeh)

Thanks again!

 

[Hazyworld]

DisneyKW,

I tried to make reservations online at the TokyoDisneyland site (in english) and it keeps loading a blank page. Any advise? I don't want to have to call Japan, I can just picture me being on hold forever at $3 a minute or something Anyways, any way you suggest to make Hotel reservations and order tickets without having to call Japan?

 

[disneykw]

Hazyworld, what hotel are you looking to stay at? If you wanted to stay at an official Disney Resort (Ambassador or Miracosta), I did some searching and I unfortunately found the following on their reservation website:

"Online Reservations can be made in Japanese only, and you must have an address in Japan in order to make them. We apologize for any inconvenience."

If you were planning to stay at any of the other hotels, just let me know and I'll try to help.

Sorry to hear about your daughter not being able to ride JttCotE and Indy. Still I'm sure you and your family will have a great time riding some of the other rides and seeing the shows.

Planning wise, comparing TDS to TDL, there really aren't that many attractions at TDS, although the theming of the park is excellent. You'll probably need more than a day at TDL but a day may be enough for DisneySea.

And now for a few more advice. First of all, at TDS, there is a place in the park called Fortress Explorations. There's some cool stuff to check out in there and it's just a fun little place to go to when you have some free time on your hands. There's a swinging pendulum, a astronomy room, a ship, and an interactive playground with jumping fountains among other things there. It's located at the base of the volcano and you can find it across the harbor when you're walking into the park. Secondly, I have to admit Mermaid Lagoon is a pretty fun place to go. I don't know if your daughter is into the Little Mermaid or anything, but the show there is really worth checking out. The show's quite unique because all the performers are performing in the air connected to these harness things to make it look like they're swimming around in the ocean. There's also a playground and some carnival rides there as well. If it starts raining while you're in the park, that's a good place to go to cause it's all inside. And remember to go on Stormrider in Port Discovery. That ride rocks! If that ride is a little to crowded or something, you can go on Aquatopia located right next to Stormrider. You ride these little vehicles that move on top of the water and spin around (they also run on GPS). (I think they opened up a different track of that ride recently where you can actually get wet or something. I can't tell you about that version as I haven't been on that yet.) That's a very entertaining ride that usually has a 15 to 30 min. wait or so. The big ocean liner ship located in American Waterfront also has a deck that you can access to get a great view of the park. While you're at DisneySea, you may hear some loud rumbling or explosion sounds during the day. If you do, look at the volcano and you can see fire coming out of it.

Well, that's about it I guess. If you have any more questions about the resort or reservations or something, just post another message and I'll try to answer.

 

[Hazyworld]

I have booked the flight now. I am leaving on Oct 1st (Sat) and arriving on Sunday evening. The plan is to go to TDS on Monday, then TDL, then alt between the both on Wed & Thurs. We fly back on Friday afternoon.

As for hotel, I was looking at the MiraCosta hotel since was right on the prop and I heard was very nice. I really want to get as close as possible to the resort where we will not need to take a train or Taxi. Do you have any other recomendations besides Miracosta that we will not need to take a train to get there? I figure since my daughter will be 1 month away from 5, the least amount of traveling to and from the parks the better. I just wish I could reserve online instead of having to call hehe.

I really can't tell you how thankful I am for your information! It really is going to help my family out tons! I heard they run out of fast passes to the main TDS rides and TDL rides within an hour or so, is that true? Do I need to run to all the E-tickets rides firstto grab fast passes? Also, do the fast passes run like those at US parks where you have to wait to use the first one before you can get another?

Thanks so much! I will write a trip report when I get back. I can't believe it is 2 weeks away! :sohappy: :sohappy:

 

[Mouse's Magic]

I was thinking about taking a rtrip over to Tokyo Disney as well, however I have a few questions. Regarding the rides, at both parks, are any at all in English or with English Subtitles? Thrill rides arent that huge on dialouge except the pre-shows, are they with englsih subtext? Any info would be great!

 

[disneykw]

If you want the hotel that is closest to the parks, Miracosta is the way to go (even though it's quite pricey). It has a separate entrance into DisneySea so hotel guests can bypass the crowded opening lines. (The other hotels aren't that far from the parks either, though, since you just ride the monorail for a few minutes. There's also the Ambassador Hotel and the other hotels on property that aren't owned by Disney. If you're unfamiliar with the layout of the Tokyo Disney Resort you can download a map of it in pdf format here: http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/tdr/english/plan/mapdownload/index.html. You can also learn more about the two different kinds of transportation (bus and monorail) offered at the resort here: http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/tdr/english/plan/transfer/index.html. If you already knew about all this, hopefully it might help someone else on the boards who didn't. The price of a ride on the monorail is currently 200 yen for an adult and 100 for a child. They offer 1,2,3,4 day passes as well. Departures are usually every few minutes.)

While you're staying on property, you might want to visit the Ikspiari shopping area if you have time. You can find it on the map. There are many nice shops and restaurants there, including a 16 screen movie theater, a Disney Store, and a food court featuring many international dishes.

And to answer your question. I don't think the fastpass runs out within an hour, although it does run out quite fast on popular attractions. I'm guessing you might have atleast 3 hours to get a fastpass for those. But getting fastpasses for the recently opened popular attractions (like the Winnie the Pooh ride, Buzz Lightyear ride, and Raging Spirits roller coaster (if you're planning on going on that one)) would be a very good idea. I'm sure you'll have a chance of getting a fastpass for the classic attractions (like Splash, Big Thunder, Space) later in the day. If you plan on going on some of the more crowded rides at DisneySea like Journey, 20,000 Leagues, or even Stormrider or Indy, I noticed that the wait on those rides usually dies down right near the very end of the day, so if you didn't have a chance to do those during the day, you should be able to get a ride in before the park closes. I've ridden Journey PLENTY of times right near the end of the day as everyone starts to leave the park so I can tell you for a fact that its true. And yes, the fastpass is just like it is in the US parks. You will have to wait to use the first before you can use the second. Usually if you try to get a fastpass for another ride before you use up your first one, a ticket or stub (or whatever it's called) should pop out saying something like you cannot get another fastpass until the specified time. I don't know if this message is written bilingually on there but there should still be a time (usually in military time) printed right on there.

I'll be looking forward to your trip report. Have a nice trip!

 

[disneykw]

Mouse's Magic - Most of the rides there are in Japanese. All the major rides like Country Bear, Tiki Room, Haunted Mansion, Splash, Western River, Jungle Cruise, Mickey Mouse Revue, StormRider, and 20,000 Leagues are all in Japanese only. Of course the other rides, like Space, Big Thunder, Pirates, and other rides like Indy and Journey have little or no dialogue so there's no problem there. (it's a small world is an exception of course because there's languages from all over the world there . There are very few rides like MicroAdventure (TDL's Honey I Shrunk the Audience) that offers an English track. If a ride has it, a cast member will announce it before a show.

EDIT - Oh, I forgot to add that basically any ride that has a pre-show shown by televisions like the Honey I Shrunk the Audience ride and StormRider does have televisions that have English subtitles.

On the other hand, you will not have any problem walking around in the park yourself since the park is filled with English signs all over the place. Mostly Tokyo but other parts of Japan in general have gotten used to English so many signs and advertisements and everything else are in English nowadays. There's also a rapidly growing number of people in Japan that can understand basic English as well. (Even my Japanese grandmother knows quite a few words in English.) Anyways, I think I've answered your question so I'll stop rambling.

 

[bgraham34]

Makes sure you have a trip report. I want DETAILS.