Tokyo Disney Itineraries

They never have any wait so you can visit them anytime (maybe on day 3/4). Goofy's house is quite interesting although the experience is too short for the wait (20-30 mins usually at peak time)
Okay thanks we will save both for day 4. What about minnie’s house? Is hers worth it?
 
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The line for Big Thunder Mountain does not get short at the end of the night (a lot of people rush the line right after fireworks). It's currently half and hour before closing and the line is still 40 minutes.

As far as 10,000 leagues under the sea, you're planning to eat at Vulcania so you'll be back in that area. I think it's a good idea to just look at the time when you're out of Journey and see from there. If you're at the front of the rope drop pack, there's a chance you walk right on to Journey but if you're closer to the middle of the pack, there's a chance you've already spent 30+ minutes in line.
 
The line for Big Thunder Mountain does not get short at the end of the night (a lot of people rush the line right after fireworks). It's currently half and hour before closing and the line is still 40 minutes.

As far as 10,000 leagues under the sea, you're planning to eat at Vulcania so you'll be back in that area. I think it's a good idea to just look at the time when you're out of Journey and see from there. If you're at the front of the rope drop pack, there's a chance you walk right on to Journey but if you're closer to the middle of the pack, there's a chance you've already spent 30+ minutes in line.
I think what we'll do is go to BTMR and get a FP after doing Haunted Mansion. We'll already be going that direction anyway to get to Adventureland. If there aren't any FPs left we will try after fireworks and last resort will be to do it on our second Disneyland day.

We normally are at the very front of the rope drop pack, but I know TDR is different than WDW and people line up earlier. We plan to get there for sure an hour before park opening so hopefully we'll be close to the front. So you think we should go straight to Journey, ride 20,000 Leagues, then go to ToT for a FP?
 
Yeah I can try to do that. I've been working somewhat off of Tom Bricker's plan, but I'm making changes based on tips from people on here and looking at ride closures online. I plan to do a trip report (maybe on a separate website) for anyone interested. I'm not sure if I'll do it during my trip or after we get back.


Thank you so much for doing a trip report when you come back! We are two YEARS from our trip and im already overwhelmed.
I like that you go into a lot of detail so i will be watching closely for your tips lol.

Also I'm curious what your final costs (aside from flights/accomodations) came out to when you get back.

I'm trying to get rough estimate on what to budget for.
 


Thank you so much for doing a trip report when you come back! We are two YEARS from our trip and im already overwhelmed.
I like that you go into a lot of detail so i will be watching closely for your tips lol.

Also I'm curious what your final costs (aside from flights/accomodations) came out to when you get back.

I'm trying to get rough estimate on what to budget for.
You have so much time to plan and things will change so much before you go! Are you going to be there when the new Beauty and the Beast area opens?

I go into detail because I'm super OCD and love having a plan anywhere we go. When we go to WDW we do the same thing even though we've been there so many times. I think researching and planning makes everything go so much easier and less stressful. I think I might make notes each night on our itinerary so I can make a detailed trip report.

So our final cost situation is hard because we've paid for A LOT of our trip with credit card points. So far here's a list of things that have been free because of the points we've earned:
Business class plane tickets
Southwest plane tickets for positioning flight
Hilton Tokyo Stay (5/6 nights paid with points)
Kyoto apartment hotel
Airbnb (mostly paid for with discounted gift cards)
JR Rail Pass/Ghibli tickets ($500 travel credit from a credit card)

I'll try to make a final total of dining, merch, and things.
 
You know the more i think about it Im wondering if we should try to go go Shanghai Disney also. Im also booking
flights /hotel with points but i noticed i can get a free stop over. Not sure how that works. Also the 144 hour visa
thing is confusing. Hitting Paris later in the year and after that I really think i can only stand ONE more long flight so
the thought of coming back to try Shanghai is not appealing. My kids have only mentioned wanting to see Tokyo Sea
Ghibli and Mt Fuji pokemon cafe and of all things Universal. That is it lol

Did you ever think of visitng Shanghai also?
 


You know the more i think about it Im wondering if we should try to go go Shanghai Disney also. Im also booking
flights /hotel with points but i noticed i can get a free stop over. Not sure how that works. Also the 144 hour visa
thing is confusing. Hitting Paris later in the year and after that I really think i can only stand ONE more long flight so
the thought of coming back to try Shanghai is not appealing. My kids have only mentioned wanting to see Tokyo Sea
Ghibli and Mt Fuji pokemon cafe and of all things Universal. That is it lol

Did you ever think of visitng Shanghai also?

I'm debating the same thing. I'm actually thinking of doing all three - Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo - while we're in that part of the world, but that's going to depend on some professional decisions I make in the next few months and whether or not I can take as much time off as a trip like that would require because I don't want to cut into our time in Japan to do it. Hitting all of the global Disney parks is something of a bucket list item for me and my youngest (if a 10yo can be said to have a bucket list :D), so it is really tempting to try to fit one or both in while we're in that part of the world rather than waiting for a separate trip to Asia. But then I second guess myself and get to thinking this probably won't be our only visit to Japan so maybe it would be better to focus on just a single country for the first trip.
 
You know the more i think about it Im wondering if we should try to go go Shanghai Disney also. Im also booking
flights /hotel with points but i noticed i can get a free stop over. Not sure how that works. Also the 144 hour visa
thing is confusing. Hitting Paris later in the year and after that I really think i can only stand ONE more long flight so
the thought of coming back to try Shanghai is not appealing. My kids have only mentioned wanting to see Tokyo Sea
Ghibli and Mt Fuji pokemon cafe and of all things Universal. That is it lol

Did you ever think of visitng Shanghai also?
We did originally look at Shanghai and Hong Kong, but we wanted to experience more than just Tokyo and Disney so we are doing a 3 week trip seeing a lot of areas of Japan. After researching, we think Japan looks like a safer and cleaner country and three weeks still won't probably be enough to see everything we'd like to see. We're doing the Ghibli Museum, TDR, the Hakone Circle Route, and the pokemon cafe so I'll make sure I write about those in my report since you are interested in all of those.
 
I'm debating the same thing. I'm actually thinking of doing all three - Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo - while we're in that part of the world, but that's going to depend on some professional decisions I make in the next few months and whether or not I can take as much time off as a trip like that would require because I don't want to cut into our time in Japan to do it. Hitting all of the global Disney parks is something of a bucket list item for me and my youngest (if a 10yo can be said to have a bucket list :D), so it is really tempting to try to fit one or both in while we're in that part of the world rather than waiting for a separate trip to Asia. But then I second guess myself and get to thinking this probably won't be our only visit to Japan so maybe it would be better to focus on just a single country for the first trip.
We decided if we do decide to do Shanghai and Hong Kong we will put those together, but we wanted to spend more time in Japan and didn't want those to take up part of that time.
 
Japan is one of the best countries to visit. I wouldn't shortchange it for Disney Parks. And with the expansion/refurbs going on in HK maybe you'll come back to a better park next time.
 
Japan is one of the best countries to visit. I wouldn't shortchange it for Disney Parks. And with the expansion/refurbs going on in HK maybe you'll come back to a better park next time.
I actually could see us going to Japan again before visiting HK or Shanghai, especially after the expansions to the parks.
 
We decided if we do decide to do Shanghai and Hong Kong we will put those together, but we wanted to spend more time in Japan and didn't want those to take up part of that time.

Yeah, the only way I'll even try it is if we can take more than the four weeks I currently have penciled in for the trip. If I could extend that to five or six, it might work out. If not, well, seeing more of Japan is a higher priority than the other Asian parks.
 
I posted my Days 3 and 4 if anyone would like to take a look and give me some comments. They're kind of bare because I want them to be mostly about shopping, snacking, and taking in the atmosphere of the parks.
 
Yeah I can try to do that. I've been working somewhat off of Tom Bricker's plan, but I'm making changes based on tips from people on here and looking at ride closures online. I plan to do a trip report (maybe on a separate website) for anyone interested. I'm not sure if I'll do it during my trip or after we get back.

I would love to see a TR and observations from your trip! :wave:
 
Yes I plan to book Magellan's online on the Japanese website. We are just going to use google translate. That's true about the gondolas. I'll make a note that we check what time they close so we don't miss them.

I think we're gonna eat at the Queen of Hearts close to 2 or 3 pm. Do you think that'll work? I don't think we'll get stuck at Grandma Sara's because we plan to watch the fireworks. How early do people start sitting for the parade? I'm thinking we might want to do that instead of standing, but not if we have to get there really early.

Good luck with the booking! We’re going to try and do the same for our upcoming trip - I hope it works. Standing in line for Magellan’s in the morning is a terrible waste of time as the ride wait times quickly escalate.

I think you should be okay around 2pm. We normally eat early, but eating late should also work well.

I’m not sure what time people start sitting for the parade - we’re always running around trying to squeeze in as many rides as possible. I’d say up to an hour, maybe more, before it starts. They just park themselves politely on special sitting mats.

As for your days 3 and 4, my main suggestion would be to skip the sleep in. The parks get crazy busy quite quickly and being there first thing in the morning gives you a good opportunity to do anything you missed previously or to squeeze in something new with shorter wait times. Maybe have a leisurely lunch on those days to recharge your batteries?
 
When do people start sitting for the parade? As soon as the hotel guests get let in to the park for Happy 15.

When does the first row of all the good parade spots fill is the better question. It'll depend on the day and the parade but usually at least an hour before the parade.

I have trouble waking up 4 days in a row for TDR so I think it's OK that you planned to sleep in. The only problem is you're hitting Fantasyland when the lines are going to be 1/2 an hour each. I usually recommend doing Fantasyland in the first hour of park opening or after fireworks when lines are 5-10 minutes. Also make sure to check that the carnival games have pins before you get in line. I think June is a time when the Easter game pins are gone but the Summer game pins haven't arrived so they do keychain charms instead of pins for losing.

Mermaid Lagoon is also a land which can get long lines during the day but can become walk on after fireworks. Remember to watch King Triton's show earlier in the day because it doesn't run all the way till closing.

But honestly, your itineraries aren't that aggressive so if you're comfortable standing in line during the day, there's no need to change. I'm just making these points in case you want to add in more rides or some shows.
 
Good luck with the booking! We’re going to try and do the same for our upcoming trip - I hope it works. Standing in line for Magellan’s in the morning is a terrible waste of time as the ride wait times quickly escalate.

I think you should be okay around 2pm. We normally eat early, but eating late should also work well.

I’m not sure what time people start sitting for the parade - we’re always running around trying to squeeze in as many rides as possible. I’d say up to an hour, maybe more, before it starts. They just park themselves politely on special sitting mats.

As for your days 3 and 4, my main suggestion would be to skip the sleep in. The parks get crazy busy quite quickly and being there first thing in the morning gives you a good opportunity to do anything you missed previously or to squeeze in something new with shorter wait times. Maybe have a leisurely lunch on those days to recharge your batteries?
Yeah I really hope the Magellan reservation goes smoothly. I don't want to go stand there in the morning to make a reservation.

We'll probably just stand for the parade then. It's very possible it'll be raining while we're there and we aren't planning on bringing mats with us. I'm sure we'll be able to find a spot standing.

I think we're going to plan to sleep in just in case. I don't want to run us ragged and us have a terrible time. We've done that at WDW and it wasn't fun. We'd much rather skip a few things or stand in line for a bit than be all grouchy.
 
When do people start sitting for the parade? As soon as the hotel guests get let in to the park for Happy 15.

When does the first row of all the good parade spots fill is the better question. It'll depend on the day and the parade but usually at least an hour before the parade.

I have trouble waking up 4 days in a row for TDR so I think it's OK that you planned to sleep in. The only problem is you're hitting Fantasyland when the lines are going to be 1/2 an hour each. I usually recommend doing Fantasyland in the first hour of park opening or after fireworks when lines are 5-10 minutes. Also make sure to check that the carnival games have pins before you get in line. I think June is a time when the Easter game pins are gone but the Summer game pins haven't arrived so they do keychain charms instead of pins for losing.

Mermaid Lagoon is also a land which can get long lines during the day but can become walk on after fireworks. Remember to watch King Triton's show earlier in the day because it doesn't run all the way till closing.

But honestly, your itineraries aren't that aggressive so if you're comfortable standing in line during the day, there's no need to change. I'm just making these points in case you want to add in more rides or some shows.
I think we'll just stand for the parade and get there 15-20 minutes before it starts.

I think what we'll do with the Fantasyland rides is see how bad the waits are when we get there and decide what we want to do. I just don't want us to be tired the entire time we're there. Thanks for the tip about the pins! I had no idea that they switch to other things sometimes. I'm hoping Tanabata stuff is in full swing. I would hate to miss both Easter and Tanabata.

I'm not sure we really plan to ride anything in Mermaid Lagoon. It's more just to see the inside and eat lunch. I'm pretty sure King Triton's show is closed while we are at TDR.

I think we would be okay waiting in a 20-30 minute line. We've waited that long before at WDW with a FP.
 
Day 1-DisneySea

Tower of Terror

Just adding this is done differently and in Japanese however, they do have an american pamphlet available upon request. I highly recommend you get one or two as a keepsake. I'll try to find mine and post a photo. It's a really neat double sided pamphlet with great color and detail. - Free

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

This place is so amazing so take your time getting photos of all the details, you won't find them anywhere but here! Even the rope dividers are specific to Japan and full of amazing details.

Fortress Explorations

Offers a unique map, it's beautiful! Be sure to get this too! - Free!

EDIT: Apparently these are no longer available.
 
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