Hotel Pondering

[Kyjin]

I am currently living in Japan again (hooray!) which means lots of Disney trips in the near future. While I've been to the parks several times for the day, I have never stayed on property. (Never saw much of a point when it's just me and the commute is about an hour.)

I have a lot of visitors coming over the next year, and while several are planning Disney day trips with me, my dad has another idea: he'd like to turn our trip into a mini-vacation. We're both huge Disney nuts, and since he doesn't know when he'll have a chance to come to Japan again, he wants to go all-out. The plan is to arrive at Maihama station, drop off our bags at our hotel, spend two days at the parks, then go back to my home on the third day. The real challenge thus is figuring out a hotel.

TL;DR I need suggestions for what makes sense for my dad and I for a two-night getaway to the TDL Resort. We're planning on going on a couple weekdays in early August 2017 (unfortunate dates I know, but he's coming to Japan then so we can also climb Mt. Fuji.) While I'd love to stay in one of the deluxe resorts, the prices are a little terrifying. How do the Official Hotels compare? (Obviously cheaper, but is the cheaper price worth not staying in a full-out Disney hotel?) How is the Celebration Hotel? Or should we just go for it and go for one of the top-hotels to get the full experience?

Thanks for reading, and any help you can give!

 

[BelleBway]

I haven't stayed at Celebration yet although I am trying it for my next trip because I am curious about it. However it is in a much less convenient location and it's not cheaper than the partner hotels so I'm hesitant to recommend it to others.

I have stayed at the Hilton, Sheraton, Miracosta and TDLH and found them all to be excellent. It's really up to your budget and priorities. The official hotels are only marginally more convenient but my favorite thing about them is that you can purchase tickets that allow you to park hop from your first day. The 15 minute early entry is nice too, and obviously they are more Disney themed.

If it's not going to be a strain on the budget at all, I'd recommend trying the official hotels if you want to stay there. But if budget is more of a concern, you'll have an awesome experience at any of the partner hotels and it will be a great value especially if you can snag a good rate. You are the only one who can answer for yourself as to what will work best.

 

[Kyjin]

Can you hop from your first day if you stay in the official hotels? I had thought that only worked for three or four day passes and you were locked into the first two days at specific parks. If that's the case it's worth considering since I'd love to do park hopping...

 

[BelleBway]

They sell special tickets only at the official hotels where you can hop from day 1. They are slightly more expensive than the regular tickets. It's mentioned on the tdr website somewhere; I've done this twice and it's been very easy to buy tickets from the front desk. I'm just not sure offhand what's the smallest number of days they sell for these.

 

[BelleBway]

I'm home now so I found the link with the prices for the special hopper tickets- they are valid for 2, 3, or 4 days and can be purchased only if you stay at an official hotel: http://www.disneyhotels.jp/english/guest_benefits/index.html#bf8

 

[Kyjin]

I'm home now so I found the link with the prices for the special hopper tickets- they are valid for 2, 3, or 4 days and can be purchased only if you stay at an official hotel: http://www.disneyhotels.jp/english/guest_benefits/index.html#bf8

Fantastic! Thank you so much for checking We'd want to do a two-day hopper, so it's great to know that's an option.