iheartglaciers
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 1, 2014
I just got back from a two day trip to Tokyo Disney and had an amazing time! Besides the excitement of exploring a brand new park, it was so much fun people watching, seeing the Japanese visitors in coordinated or matching outfits with their millions of plush toys in their favorite character. Warning: it is probably impossible to not come home with some sort of Duffy! Also they have so much more themed Mickey food.
One day per park was enough for me since I wanted to focus on unique rides and I don't like thrill rides (so pretty much no roller coaster or scary rides), although 3 days would've been a nicer pace. Also, it was a slower time of year on the crowd calendar--well according to one of the two TDR crowd calendars, they seemed to conflict for the two days I was there (however a slow day for TDR looks nothing like a slow day at WDW or Disneyland) and I didn't win any of the show lotteries :-(
Ideally I would've liked to spend half a day in Disneyland and 1.5 days in DisneySea if I had to do it again in two days, although you can't do that unless you stay at an official Disney hotel. The way the TDR park tickets work, if you buy a 2-day ticket you have to spend each day in a different park (and specify ahead of time which day you'll be spending in each park). If you buy a 3-day ticket, the 3rd day can be a park hopper. The only exception to this rule is if you stay at an official Disney hotel where they have a limited number of 1- and 2-day park hoppers for sale.
HOTEL
I stayed at the Sheraton and was happy with the service and the location. It was right across from the street from the monorail station (they also run an adorable Mickey themed shuttle--that even has Mickey shaped rear lights!!--if you can't or don't want to walk) and you can be at Disney in minutes. The price was reasonable if you book in advance. There was free wifi in the lobby and a store with selected park merchandise. They also have shipping services (and a box printed to be a Mickey shuttle!) to send home your purchases. There's also a desk to buy park tickets.
DISNEYLAND
The first day we did Disneyland (since we read it could be a let down to do Disneyland after DisneySea). We arrived 90 minutes before park opening and lined up to get in. There were already a lot of people ahead of us, so they must have gotten there over 2 hours before park opening! However, I don't think that's necessary (at least not on a weekday in February). When the gate opened I rushed to Monsters Inc to get FPs (and got them for ~11am), my friend waited in line for a Frozen popcorn bucket (waited maybe 20-25 mins, although the line got a lot shorter later in the day), and we met at Pooh's Hunny Hunt where we waited about 20-25 mins to get on the ride. Pooh's Hunny Hunt and Monsters Inc were both fun, but I thought they would be even better with all the hype I had heard. The opening gate "running of the bulls" is hilarious and though I read it was going to happen, nothing can beat being there and experiencing it first hand!
Unfortunately it rained on and off all day, so they cancelled the daytime parade and replaced the nighttime parade with a smaller one. We did get to see the nighttime castle projection show, Once Upon a Time. which I thought was amazing and much better than the projection shows I've seen in US parks. People have said that you don't get a good viewing spot unless you win the lottery, which we didn't But if you're willing to camp out at least an hour (probably longer during a busier time of year) and stake out a spot where you can stand on one of the short stone walls, you can have a good vantage point. And it makes a good seat while you're waiting for the show to start. I wasn't sure if the CMs would ask us to step down from the wall, but none did. While OUAT was amazing, their fireworks show was pretty lame.
When we were there, it was during the Frozen Fantasy event. The Frozen parade was cancelled because of the train, but we did do the themed buffet at Crystal Palace which was fun.
DISNEYSEA
DisneySea is obviously amazing. It was so much fun exploring the different lands, and if you're a Little Mermaid fan, Triton's Kingdom is just perfect. Again we didn't win show tickets, but you don't need them for A Table is Waiting in the American Waterfront and that was amusing and hilarious (don't miss it!). We watched the Aladdin themed show (which you can get English subtitles for), but didn't think it was that great. Around dinner time we decided we wanted to ride Toy Story Midway Mania, despite the fact it's pretty much identical to the one in other parks, and got on the line which said 140 minutes, but we only ended up waiting 90 minutes. I thought Fantasmic at night was much better than versions I've seen in the US. Unfortunately Journey to the Center of the Earth was down when we were there.
Anyway, I found Disney Tourist Blog and TDR Explorer very helpful in planning this trip. Please ask away if you have any questions!
One day per park was enough for me since I wanted to focus on unique rides and I don't like thrill rides (so pretty much no roller coaster or scary rides), although 3 days would've been a nicer pace. Also, it was a slower time of year on the crowd calendar--well according to one of the two TDR crowd calendars, they seemed to conflict for the two days I was there (however a slow day for TDR looks nothing like a slow day at WDW or Disneyland) and I didn't win any of the show lotteries :-(
Ideally I would've liked to spend half a day in Disneyland and 1.5 days in DisneySea if I had to do it again in two days, although you can't do that unless you stay at an official Disney hotel. The way the TDR park tickets work, if you buy a 2-day ticket you have to spend each day in a different park (and specify ahead of time which day you'll be spending in each park). If you buy a 3-day ticket, the 3rd day can be a park hopper. The only exception to this rule is if you stay at an official Disney hotel where they have a limited number of 1- and 2-day park hoppers for sale.
HOTEL
I stayed at the Sheraton and was happy with the service and the location. It was right across from the street from the monorail station (they also run an adorable Mickey themed shuttle--that even has Mickey shaped rear lights!!--if you can't or don't want to walk) and you can be at Disney in minutes. The price was reasonable if you book in advance. There was free wifi in the lobby and a store with selected park merchandise. They also have shipping services (and a box printed to be a Mickey shuttle!) to send home your purchases. There's also a desk to buy park tickets.
DISNEYLAND
The first day we did Disneyland (since we read it could be a let down to do Disneyland after DisneySea). We arrived 90 minutes before park opening and lined up to get in. There were already a lot of people ahead of us, so they must have gotten there over 2 hours before park opening! However, I don't think that's necessary (at least not on a weekday in February). When the gate opened I rushed to Monsters Inc to get FPs (and got them for ~11am), my friend waited in line for a Frozen popcorn bucket (waited maybe 20-25 mins, although the line got a lot shorter later in the day), and we met at Pooh's Hunny Hunt where we waited about 20-25 mins to get on the ride. Pooh's Hunny Hunt and Monsters Inc were both fun, but I thought they would be even better with all the hype I had heard. The opening gate "running of the bulls" is hilarious and though I read it was going to happen, nothing can beat being there and experiencing it first hand!
Unfortunately it rained on and off all day, so they cancelled the daytime parade and replaced the nighttime parade with a smaller one. We did get to see the nighttime castle projection show, Once Upon a Time. which I thought was amazing and much better than the projection shows I've seen in US parks. People have said that you don't get a good viewing spot unless you win the lottery, which we didn't But if you're willing to camp out at least an hour (probably longer during a busier time of year) and stake out a spot where you can stand on one of the short stone walls, you can have a good vantage point. And it makes a good seat while you're waiting for the show to start. I wasn't sure if the CMs would ask us to step down from the wall, but none did. While OUAT was amazing, their fireworks show was pretty lame.
When we were there, it was during the Frozen Fantasy event. The Frozen parade was cancelled because of the train, but we did do the themed buffet at Crystal Palace which was fun.
DISNEYSEA
DisneySea is obviously amazing. It was so much fun exploring the different lands, and if you're a Little Mermaid fan, Triton's Kingdom is just perfect. Again we didn't win show tickets, but you don't need them for A Table is Waiting in the American Waterfront and that was amusing and hilarious (don't miss it!). We watched the Aladdin themed show (which you can get English subtitles for), but didn't think it was that great. Around dinner time we decided we wanted to ride Toy Story Midway Mania, despite the fact it's pretty much identical to the one in other parks, and got on the line which said 140 minutes, but we only ended up waiting 90 minutes. I thought Fantasmic at night was much better than versions I've seen in the US. Unfortunately Journey to the Center of the Earth was down when we were there.
Anyway, I found Disney Tourist Blog and TDR Explorer very helpful in planning this trip. Please ask away if you have any questions!
