It's official...ABD is going to Japan!

[calypso726]

Trying to get a room for Miracosta at Tokyo Disney was WAY harder and more nerve wracking than my tickets to Ghibli! I was on the website the exact minute I needed to be and STILL couldn't get the room I wanted! I had to stalk the site and wait for a cancellation.

I didn't realize it was tough to get a rervation at those resorts. How far out is the booking window? If I am on the website on that day will I be able to get a reservation? Any suggestions? How far is the park from the downtown area (emperor's castle or Shinjuku {sp?})?

I concur. Getting a room at Miracosta was way stressful!

My advice would be to follow the advice on thread link below to the letter. That is what we did.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/mira-costa-booking-experience.3574819

We were able to book Harbor View Rooms for 3 out of 4 nights, Friday, Sunday and Monday. I wasn't in the mood to stalk the website for a Saturday night cancellation so we cancelled the Friday night and booked Disneyland Hotel for the first 2 nights.

 

[OhanaCuz]

I was reading about getting tickets to the Ghibli museum on Trip Advisor, and it sounds kind of nightmare-ish!

Sayhello

I went with a tour group that handled everything, which was nice. A friend of mine recently set her alarm clock so she could buy Ghibli tickets when they went on sale. It can be done!

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Reservations opens 5 months before or 6 months for packages. The packages include hotel, some meals, tickets, and extra Fastpasses (for a significant upcharge compared to booking separately).

How tough it is to get reservations depends on the hotel/type of room and if it's a busy time at TDR. The MiraCosta is very popular, the harbor view rooms are especially hard to get. To add to the angst, sometimes there are issues with foreign (non-Japanese) credit cards going through.

If you want to know if the time you're thinking of going is busy, here's the Japanese crowd calendar (use Google translate):
www15.plala.or.jp/gcap/disney

And if you want more details about it, here's a great article:
tdrexplorer.com/tokyo-disneyland-crowd-calendar

The Imperial Palace, you would take the train to Tokyo Station, which is less than 20 min from TDR (Maihama Station) and direct. From there, you could take another direct train (~15 min) to Shinjuku. If you plan to tour Tokyo proper for a few days though, you may want to move to a hotel in Tokyo. The two sites you mentioned are fairly convenient from TDR, but other places may not be. Here's the site I used to check train times/routing:
www.hyperdia.com

Thank you so much for the info! We want to stay at the Miracosta, probably for 3 nights.

Does Disney Tokyo offer VIP tours? I don't care if the guide doesn't speak English -- I just want to bypass the lines (especially if we can only go on a weekend, when the crowds are insane {from what I have read})

 

[wanderlust7]

Does Disney Tokyo offer VIP tours? I don't care if the guide doesn't speak English -- I just want to bypass the lines (especially if we can only go on a weekend, when the crowds are insane {from what I have read})

Interesting question I never thought to look into. Did a bit of poking around and apparently at one time there was and it looked like a great deal (surprisingly).

https://www.ocregister.com/2015/10/...d-resort-is-exotic-but-in-many-ways-familiar/

I'm not sure if they still have it though. On the Japanese site, I would think it would be under "special services", but there is only a guided tour with no special access to attractions (spelled out at the bottom).

https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/tdl/special_srv.html

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Interesting question I never thought to look into. Did a bit of poking around and apparently at one time there was and it looked like a great deal (surprisingly).

https://www.ocregister.com/2015/10/...d-resort-is-exotic-but-in-many-ways-familiar/

I'm not sure if they still have it though. On the Japanese site, I would think it would be under "special services", but there is only a guided tour with no special access to attractions (spelled out at the bottom).

https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/tdl/special_srv.html

Thank you!

The more I read about the Tokyo parks, the more I can't wait to visit them! I REALLY, REALLY hope that ABD includes the parks in their Japan tour, with 2 nights staying at the one of the properties, along with some special perks (i.e. unlimited FPs -- one can dream, right?)! If the parks are included on the tour we will almost certainly make one of trips work with our 2019 summer schedule.

Does anyone think ABD will give us a spoiler of the trip before the full itinerary is revealed? I can't recall if they've done this in the past with new adventures.

 

[WeLoveABD]

Thank you!

The more I read about the Tokyo parks, the more I can't wait to visit them! I REALLY, REALLY hope that ABD includes the parks in their Japan tour, with 2 nights staying at the one of the properties, along with some special perks (i.e. unlimited FPs -- one can dream, right?)! If the parks are included on the tour we will almost certainly make one of trips work with our 2019 summer schedule.

Does anyone think ABD will give us a spoiler of the trip before the full itinerary is revealed? I can't recall if they've done this in the past with new adventures.

Seems like they would--any Japan-based movies in the works? My own feeling is that this ABD trip will allow Disney to test out ports/excursions before one of their ships heads to the Far East. As for new ABD 2019 release dates, we were told "May-ish". So possible late April, but likely mid-May...and I hope they can at least offer a pre or post trip Park package, but I doubt a Park visit will be included in the tour itself. The price will be high as it is without the complications of park lodging, crowds and tickets. The fans will pony up!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Seems like they would--any Japan-based movies in the works? My own feeling is that this ABD trip will allow Disney to test out ports/excursions before one of their ships heads to the Far East. As for new ABD 2019 release dates, we were told "May-ish". So possible late April, but likely mid-May...and I hope they can at least offer a pre or post trip Park package, but I doubt a Park visit will be included in the tour itself. The price will be high as it is without the complications of park lodging, crowds and tickets. The fans will pony up!

I hope you are wrong about park time. I’ve been holding out for ABD for Japan specifically for park time and presumably park extras. I’d be much less likely to sign up if it’s not part of itinerary. I’m also hoping for Park Hyatt. We’ll find out soon I guess! Crossing fingers!

 

[WeLoveABD]

I hope you are wrong about park time. I’ve been holding out for ABD for Japan specifically for park time and presumably park extras. I’d be much less likely to sign up if it’s not part of itinerary. I’m also hoping for Park Hyatt. We’ll find out soon I guess! Crossing fingers!

I hope I am wrong too--!!

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I hope you are wrong about park time. I’ve been holding out for ABD for Japan specifically for park time and presumably park extras. I’d be much less likely to sign up if it’s not part of itinerary. I’m also hoping for Park Hyatt. We’ll find out soon I guess! Crossing fingers!

Me too on the parks. I'd love the Park Hyatt but there are so many luxury hotels in Tokyo I'm sure whatever they choose will be very nice (maybe the Peninsula?).

ABD China visits the parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong while ABD London & Paris does not visit Disney Paris.

Does that make the odds 50/50?

 

[AquaDame]

Me too on the parks. I'd love the Park Hyatt but there are so many luxury hotels in Tokyo I'm sure whatever they choose will be very nice (maybe the Peninsula?).

ABD China visits the parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong while ABD London & Paris does not visit Disney Paris.

Does that make the odds 50/50?

Lots of ways to think about it... I honestly think there are a lot of people in the states that need that draw to go on a trip to China in a way that we don't need the extra push to go to London/Paris. Its more similar to our own culture so it isn't as daunting, maybe? I want to believe one of the reasons it took them so long to go to Japan wasn't just how expensive it can be (again, Ive done Japan "on the cheap" and it felt anything but) but what it took to reach an agreement with the Oriental Land Company...

 

[sayhello]

I want to believe one of the reasons it took them so long to go to Japan wasn't just how expensive it can be (again, Ive done Japan "on the cheap" and it felt anything but) but what it took to reach an agreement with the Oriental Land Company...

I think that's a possibility. I went on the DIS Exclusive London/Paris ABD, and they actually included DL Paris as a part of the ABD. (We kept our Guides and had them with us in the Parks, had VIP access and fastpasses, and rooms at the Disneyland Paris Hotel). It took ABD and DU *ages* to get that part worked out, because back then (2011) Disney owned a minority portion of Disneyland Paris and they had to do a lot of negotiating with the folks who run DLP to get everything agreed to and in place for us. In this case, Disney doesn't own any of Tokyo Disneyland Resort, so I can imagine that might be part of it...

I really *do* hope they include at least *some* Park time on the Japan itinerary!

Sayhello

 

[WeLoveABD]

I think that's a possibility. I went on the DIS Exclusive London/Paris ABD, and they actually included DL Paris as a part of the ABD. (We kept our Guides and had them with us in the Parks, had VIP access and fastpasses, and rooms at the Disneyland Paris Hotel). It took ABD and DU *ages* to get that part worked out, because back then (2011) Disney owned a minority portion of Disneyland Paris and they had to do a lot of negotiating with the folks who run DLP to get everything agreed to and in place for us. In this case, Disney doesn't own any of Tokyo Disneyland Resort, so I can imagine that might be part of it...

I really *do* hope they include at least *some* Park time on the Japan itinerary!

Sayhello

We did London/Paris with ABD at Xmas and it included a VIP tour of and dinner at the Paris park (as everything else was closed Xmas day), and in 2008 our China trip included HK Disneyland, which we loved! So, I am all for seeing the park in Japan (and some day in Shanghai)!

 

[abalsara]

My mom and I are going to Japan with Globus in May. We added 5 days at Tokyo Disney and Disney Sea and one day before the tour starts to see the Ghibli museum. We were able to get a room at the Disneyland Hotel. It was nerve wracking booking the reservation and after a number of tries, only our American Express went through. Now I'm just planning on booking my restaurant reservations. Can't wait to go. Next year, we're hoping to to do the China trip with Disney

 

[sayhello]

My mom and I are going to Japan with Globus in May. We added 5 days at Tokyo Disney and Disney Sea and one day before the tour starts to see the Ghibli museum. We were able to get a room at the Disneyland Hotel. It was nerve wracking booking the reservation and after a number of tries, only our American Express went through. Now I'm just planning on booking my restaurant reservations. Can't wait to go. Next year, we're hoping to to do the China trip with Disney

Please come back and let us know about your Japan trip! And the ABD China trip is *fabulous*!!

Sayhello

 

[dtrain]

So what is the right website for the Ghibli museum?

Sayhello

We got ours here: https://l-tike.com/st1/ghibli-en/sitetop They go on sale the 10th of each month for admission through the following month...but they sell out very quickly. We'll also be at TDL/TDS in 2 weeks for the 35th Anniversary celebration!

 

[sayhello]

We got ours here: https://l-tike.com/st1/ghibli-en/sitetop They go on sale the 10th of each month for admission through the following month...but they sell out very quickly. We'll also be at TDL/TDS in 2 weeks for the 35th Anniversary celebration!

Thanks! And enjoy!

Sayhello

 

[Mathmagicland]

First teaser of trip details from the Disney Parks Blog today...nothing on AbD site yet.

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...will-offer-enrichment-and-cultural-immersion/

 

[danv3]

11 days/10 nights...not gonna be cheap!

No mention yet of the parks, but hopefully more news over the next two weeks.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

11 days/10 nights...not gonna be cheap!

No mention yet of the parks, but hopefully more news over the next two weeks.

You know what is funny the Four Seasons in Paris is 1335USD and Four Seasons is 443USD. I am still clueless why the Four Seasons in Paris is more expensive then the Tokyo one. The most expensive the Aman Hotel 1,418. But I think that is a massive outlier and even those rooms can be got at 825 USD most days. Very confused. The standard rooms are 71 square feet! Kyoto's Four Seasons is even more expensive than Kyoto . All very confusing.

I just wonder if the route will be 5 star hotels , more budget but hip hotels, luxury but hip, traditional ryokans. Capsule Hotels, temple stays I am really wondering?

 

[AdamEfimoff]

and yes I was joking about the Capsule Hotels. They do exist. But I very much doubt any tour company will use them