Going to Guam!!! Side trip to Tokyo

[charmama4]

My AF hubby is being reassigned to Guam and the kids and I are along for the ride! He put a bug in my ear about the possibility of while we have a layover in Tokyo why don't we see Tokyo Disneyland, YIPEEE!!!! So, needless to say I have TONS of questions.

1. Could you reccommend some "good neighbor" hotels real close that accomodates 6 people?
2. Could we do 1 day or do you think a 2 day would be better?
3. Is the public transportation reliable?
4. How is the crowd level, weather, prices in March or April?
5. What are your tips for best money savings?

I guess that's a start for now. Thanks so much for helping us plan our trip!

 

[chris31997]

Wow, how long is your layover?

Anyway congrats on the move to Guam. You can fly between there and Okinawa and the Mainland quite a bit. Even Hawaii. You may want to check into friending Kadena Terminal on Facebook.

Back to your questions: Hold 6 people??? Not sure but when we go in Nov we will be staying at the Hilton. The beds here are smaller Been told the trains run beautifully, but during rush hour be prepared to be crushed. Hold on to little ones. According to a crowd weather site I was emailed by a friend, you are looking at 50's maybe rain or sun and low crowds. Now that would all change depending on holidays and I am not up on the Japanese holidays. Pretty sure that you do not want to go on the weekend either. 1/2 day ticket is up to you. There is Tokyo Disney and then there is DisneySea, totally differant park. To save some money, you can look into staying at the New Sanyo, MWR hotel but it will take you anywhere from 45min to an hour to get to the parks. It will be considerable cheaper

Your biggest budget buster will be the exchange rate Dollar into Yen. Last I saw, we were getting about 76 Yen to the dollar. That fluctuates daily. I believe the park prices do not change with the season.


There are people who live there that come on sometimes and can give better/more accurate info.

 

[charmama4]

Chrissy,
Thanks for your quick response. We would take advantage of the commercial flight into Japan and take "leave" (vacation), while there. Still need to figure out our "fur person" Oso, he will also be joining us to Guam, but don't know quite sure how that will all work out. Yes, I'm sure we will get some looks with the size of our family and it does make it interesting for travel expenses but, the military life has made me creative and resourceful!

When it rains, is it a light tropical kind or terrential type?
Yikes!! The exchange rate is insane, but was expected I guess.
From New Sanyo to TDL do you take a train?

I guess my next question(s) would be; what about the food? Will we be able to find a corn dog there like at Corndog Castle in DCA? Or a Dole Whip? What special treats do you and your family particulary love TDL?

Thanks all!!

 

[battymum]

Try looking at the Sheraton grande, they have rooms with two doubles and two singles if your kids don't mind sharing . Our family of five is staying there in April. You will have to email the hotel directly, the search engines don't seem to take more than four.

 

[chris31997]

Chrissy,
Thanks for your quick response. We would take advantage of the commercial flight into Japan and take "leave" (vacation), while there. Still need to figure out our "fur person" Oso, he will also be joining us to Guam, but don't know quite sure how that will all work out. Yes, I'm sure we will get some looks with the size of our family and it does make it interesting for travel expenses but, the military life has made me creative and resourceful!

When it rains, is it a light tropical kind or terrential type?
Yikes!! The exchange rate is insane, but was expected I guess.
From New Sanyo to TDL do you take a train?

I guess my next question(s) would be; what about the food? Will we be able to find a corn dog there like at Corndog Castle in DCA? Or a Dole Whip? What special treats do you and your family particulary love TDL?

Thanks all!!

Good luck with the fur baby. Depending on when you travel, it may be an issue. Japan has a 120 day quarintine, I think. But you can quarintine in base housing. But that would be an issue with a stop in Tokyo.

We are in Okinawa. As for rain, we have light tropical rain and we have terrential rain. It all depends. It can rain for a few minutes or all day. It can rain down the street and miss our house or cover the island It just all depends.

As for the New Sanyo, you would take the train there. I think that would be your best option money and space wise. They can also hook you up with other tours.

As for food, in our expierances, just forget what you know as Dole Whip and Corn Dog When we have gotten food, it has never been what we have expected. It has been good, with the excpetion of a few things. Portions are a little smaller, and there is a Japanese twist to what they are serving. Don't get me wrong we have loved our food adventures here. We have been told to get the pop corn buckets at Disney, strawberry popcorn.....etc and try those. We love steam buns, white dough with a filling sometimes with pizza or curry We have seen stuff that might be what they call a Dole Whip but we are not sure because there is the lost in translation and coming from Hawaii not what we are expecting to see


We will be going in Nov and I will do a Trip Report and you can see.

 

[DinaBina]

The New Sanno is a nice hotel to stay at and you are not close, close to the parks but close enough. The hotel has directions to the parks from the train and the station is right next to the hotel like a block or two if I remember. You will take the train from Hirou Station which is where the New Sanno is at to Maihama station which is where the parks are. I think it was a 30 minute ride?....I don't remember for sure, but the New Sanno is better since it will be base on your husband's rank rather than the economy.

 

[tinibee]

For restaurants, we have gone to Ikspiari a couple of times and eaten at Kua Aina (in between the Disney store and Rainforest Cafe). Its not the cheapest food, but its cheaper than a lot of restaurants in the parks. They have burgers with a Hawaiian theme and some great shoestring fries. Last time at we went to TDL we ate at the Plaza Restaurant in Tomorrowland which was cheaper than many of the other in-park restaurants. I had the chicken sandwich on a chinese bun that was delicious! All of the restaurants in TDL/TDS have free water stations that are self serve which we generally use to help us save money on dining costs.

There are no dole whips, but I've had Hokkaido soft serve ice cream that is really good at TDS. And definately try the different popcorns. The honey popcorn is highly addictive! You can find it near Pooh's Hunny Hunt.

My next visit to the parks is in October incase you need me to do any recon for you

 

[Jitzy]

You could try the Sunroute Hotel. I'm not sure how many people each room holds, though. Japanese hotels rates are based on how many people are in the party, so the more in the room the more it is. The Sunroute has a breakfast buffet, and you can choose American or Japanese. Have fun! I just visited Guam! It was fun. How long will you be there?