When my parents brought me to Tokyo Disneyland as a teenager, I felt like this happy place actually has a lot of "mysteries" to solve. It is hard to explain what I mean in words but here are some examples of questions running in my head then:
"Where can I buy all the different flavour popcorns?",
"Where can I find a particular mascot?",
"How come everytime I go, they have different event going on?"
"Why always so many people?"
All these questions remained unanswered as a teenager until my trip to Tokyo Disney Resort (TDR) in 2015. Prior to the trip, I did a lot of research and realised that there have been so much information out there. I planned my timetable minutes by minutes and I googled all my questions I had. I felt a sense of enlightenment! Lol!
Hence, by consolidating all my "enlightenment" in a blogpost, I hope it is useful to those seeking for "enlightenment" too. hahaha.
Before we begin, do bear in mind that the TDR parks are always crowded. You cannot associate them with Hong Kong's which can be quite empty at times. When I say crowded, it means a popular ride's queue can go up to more than 2 hours and it is extremely difficult to find a seat at popular dining areas during peak. It is easy to get turned off by the long queues and overcrowding if you are unprepared for it, especially if you are are travelling with not-too-interested accompanies. But you can still enjoy the day to the fullest as long as you do adequate planning! If not you can simply just chill and skip the popular rides. Still gonna be fun!
Also, TDR has their very own park culture. This is what that makes them unique. So it is crucial to throw away your impression of other Disney Parks you've visited if you are visiting TDR for the 1st time.
I've split the tips into 2 portion - Basic and Subjective. Firstly, here are some of the basic tips which you probably have known:
1. VISIT ON WEEKDAYS AND CHECK THE CROWD CALENDAR
This is widely known: NEVER visit the parks on weekends and Japan's
public holidays unless u really really have to. To be safe, pick Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. If we can take off on a Monday or Friday for a long weekend getaway, the Japanese can too!!!
A crowd calendar predicts the crowd of the parks ahead. There's a
Japanese one which is not difficult to understand and an
English one. Sometimes the prediction can be quite different on both sides, so I recommend to be kiasu and check both! Pick dates which both sides show less crowd!
Do note that the parks gets crowded not only on weekends and Japan's public holidays but also when a new event just started and new merchandise start to be in stores.
2. BUY YOUR TICKETS BEFOREHAND
This is because you won't want to waste your time queuing for tickets early in the morning while the rest start entering the park. Time is precious!
You can buy a fixed date ticket on their website
here after signing up for an account or at some Disney Stores listed
here. Since you might not be visiting a Disney Store beforehand, buying the ticket online should be your best bet. You can purchase your tickets maximum 2 months before your visit date. Moreover, the parks do crowd control and may stop selling tickets if the attendance is too high for a particular day.
You can use your printed ticket to enter the park and to get fast passes. We usually top up 200yen to change the A4 ticket to the usual card ticket at customer relations as it is more handy and it comes in the current event's design.
Point to note: The ticket sales website mentioned that they do not accept VISA for a certain period of time. I tried using a Mastercard and failed too. We then booked the tickets with a JCB card. However, it is stated now that it now accept both VISA and Mastercard. However, do note that it do not accept debit cards.
3. VISIT THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE AND PLAN YOUR PRIORITIES
Visit the
official website before the trip! Here are three things to check before your visit:
1. Study the map: Knowing the location of different sections will save you time.
2. Check
opening and closing time: Yes! It varies!
3. Check show times: For planning.
It is also important to prioritise, especially if you are visiting the park for only one day.
If you are a ride/attraction person, pick the 4-5 rides you want to do the most because it is almost impossible to complete all rides especially in just a day. If you are travelling with kids, the priority might be the parades, shows and photo-taking with mascots. So you might want to check out the showtimes and Character Greeting areas.
4. ARRIVE EARLY AT ENTRANCE
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| Long queues formed early in the morning |
Not 15 minutes early but at least an hour early! Japanese are more kiasu than you think and they enjoy queueing just like Singaporeans! So, you really have to go earlier to beat the crowd!
5. STAY AT A DISNEY HOTEL OR NEAR TOKYO STATION
TDR is some distance away from where usual tourists live (ie. Shinjuku, Ikebukuro). If the parks open at 8am, we will have to wake up 5am-5.30am to prepare in order to reach the entrance at 7am! And when we leave the park at 10pm, we will only reach our hotels 11.30pm. OMG!
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| Left: Disneyland Hotel, Right: Interior of Miracosta Hotel |
I had my first stay at both Disneyland Hotel and Hotel Miracosta of Disneysea this year and I'm already spoilt. Not just because the hotels are really beautiful but also because of their locations. Disneyland Hotel is directly opposite Disneyland while Hotel Miracosta is inside of Disneysea! We can sleep till later in the morning (unless u are only visiting the park on the check-in day) and rest earlier at night! Another great perk of staying at Disney Hotels is that you can get your shopping in the park delivered to the hotel and collect them at the bell desk when you reach the hotel. AWESOME!
However, Disneyland Hotel and Miracosta may be a little costly. You may want to opt for the Ambassador Hotel (slightly cheaper but further from Parks) or the new Celebration Hotel (alot cheaper but furthur and less atas). Staying at one of the four disney hotels also includes a Happy-15 entry ticket which allows you to go into parks via special North Entrance 15 mins earlier than the rest. Even though you will realise there's actually a lot of people holding the same Happy-15 tickets as you, I think it does help to buy sometime to beat the crowd for some popular attractions.
Terms and Condition of Happy-15 (must read!) There are many other perks of staying at the Disney Hotels like complimentary monorail pass!
Another option is to stay at TDR Official Hotels and TDR Partner Hotels listed
here. They are located near to the TDR. However, if you prefer to stay near the Tokyo city during the visit to TDR (eg: airbnb), you may want to stay somewhere near Tokyo Station. That is because it only takes one train ride (Keiyo Line) from Tokyo Station to Maihama (where TDR is). If you stay in Shinjuku, it will take one transit at Tokyo.
6. REGARDING POPCORN AND THE BUCKETS
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| Left: Stitch's Popcorn Bucket, Right: Strawberry Popcorn |
The popcorn and buckets are just so iconic of TDR, they even come out with keychains that look them! There are a lot of information online about Popcorn flavors and buckets. But I'll just summarise what I know in a few pointers:
- Each cart sells only one flavour.
Location of each flavours can be found on the map. Grab the English version on the entry bar when you enter because not all crew member carry an English map.
- You can bring back your old bucket and pay for refill.
Yes, even buckets from XX years ago.
- Each popcorn cart sells different buckets.
You can check designs per cart here:
Disneyland and
Disneysea
If you want a particular bucket but a different flavour popcorn, there's a ticket you can get from them which you can use to fill it with the popcorn of your choice at another cart.
- The popcorn's taste is overrated.
That's just my opinion. Haha. But munching on them helps to kill time while queuing for rides. I think the nicest are curry and soy sauce flavour.
That is all for the basic tips. Let's move on to the more personal and subjective tips based on my own experience during the past trips:
1. VISIT EACH PARK FOR MORE THAN A DAY
Disneyland or Disneysea? Ask me and I will say both! If you have time and money, get the 3-day pass tickets. Visit each of the parks for the first two days and park hop for the 3rd! There are simply so many things to play, see, shop at the parks. By visiting each park for one and a half day, you get to do more rides, watch more shows and have more time for shopping. Do note that you can only park hop on the third day onwards for multi-day passes.
2. TIPS ON PHOTOTAKING WITH MASCOTS
If you are travelling with kids, you'll probably BE keen to bring them to take photos with the mascots. Unlike in Hong Kong where photo taking queues are mostly families with young children, Tokyo's queues actually have a lot of grown adults. Most of these adults are Disney fanatic who hold annual pass and enjoys taking photo of just the mascot alone. It's weird, I know.
Let's divide these mascots into two groups:
- Mascots with organized queue
Popular characters like: Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Winnie The Pooh, Duffy Bear, Shellie May and Stitch, etc have an organised queue at various locations and timings The queues are usually super long due to the above mentioned reasons. Only one camera, one shot is allowed for every group of people.
Here's the list of mascots you will need to queue for phototaking:
Disneyland &
Disneysea
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| Miss Bunny and Dale roaming near the entrance |
Most free roaming mascots can be found near the entrance and also some other random areas across the parks. Some characters include: Chip and Dale, Donald and Daisy Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, Marie Cat, Miss Bunny, etc etc. When these mascot appears, people will surround it. There's no queue for photo-taking. If you want to take a photo with one of them, you have to grab their attention and talk to them, just be like those Japanese fanatics. It can be very annoying because it is extremely difficult to "win" the Japanese. But having kids with you may be an advantage as the mascots like to interact with the mascots.
However, we have a useful tip for all if you (or your kid) really wanna take photos with the roaming mascots:
ALWAYS VOLUNTEER TO TAKE PHOTOS FOR OTHERS.
Every time u take a photo for others with the mascots, the mascot will notice you and ask you to be next. It is a 好心有好報 theory. Yup, it works but the Japanese fanatics know this trick too. So they will keep volunteering too. HAHAHAHA.
Lastly, if your kids are into princesses... Sorry, photo-taking with princesses are kinda rare in TDR. There is an queue attraction to take photo with Ariel in Disneysea. But the rest are pretty uncommon. I've seen Belle and Snow White roaming around but not as frequent as the other characters.
3. GO FOR LILO'S LUAU AND FUN
If you have extra budget to spend and if you want an efficient way to take photos with the mascots, go for Lilo's Luau and Fun!
Lilo's Luau & Fun is a "Meet-the-Characers" dining show that takes place at Tokyo Disneyland's Polynesian Terrace Restaurant. Initially, I thought it is merely a performance show. I signed it up because it features my favourite Stitch. However, it seems like the focus was more on Meet and Greet! You get to take photos and interact with all 6 characters featured: Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale, Lilo and STITCH! Without having to endure the long queue and compete with the Japanese fanatics, I really thought it was a good deal at a price of ¥4,110 per pax.
You get to enjoy a not-too-bad 3 course meal with
refillable drinks too! There's
3 different prices for lunch and dinner respectively, it is based on the position of your seats. But I really think it doesn't matter because the stage show was super short and the characters come around to take photos with everyone!
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| You get to bring home a card and floral wristlet too. |
However, reservations is required. If you've made an online booking of the Disney Hotel, you can simply reserve it through the
same website by clicking "Travel Case". It's simple as everything can be in English. Here's an official
guide for it. However, if you are not staying at the Disney Hotels, you will have to book it at
a page entirely in Japanese. Lucky for you and lucky for me, TDR explorer (one of my favourite website) has a
guide for you!
There're other similar shows that requires reservations too. But I think Lilo's Luau and Fun features more characters, so more value!!! Haha. Highly recommend for families with kids.
4. REPLACE MEALS WITH SNACKS
I love how every snack cart in TDR sells a different unique snack! TDR is famous for their super cute snacks. The most famous one being the Alien mochi and Mickey shaped churros. But you have to know that each of these snacks is mostly available at just one specific place in either parks.
There bound to be some hits and misses with so many options available. But some are really good! Hopefully I can do a post on the recommended snacks in the future. Actual meals in restaurants pale in comparison to all these yummy snacks. You can buy these snacks and eat during waiting time for shows or rides and save the time you take for a proper lunch! (unless u are going for Lilo's Luau and Fun of course!) They are conveniently packaged for you to eat on the go.
Here's where you can check the the menu of each snack shop:
Disneyland and
Disneysea
There are special snacks or flavours available during special events, so make sure you look our for them!
5. MONTH OF VISIT MATTERS
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| Easter Parade, 2016 |
If you have extremely flexible travel dates, you may want to check and consider the event calendar of TDR before deciding your travel dates. Every year, each event gets its own special shows, merchandise, decor and food, etc. Mascots gets different costumes every year too!
The year schedule for Disneyland:
Jan-Mar: New Year's Program + Frozen Fantasy
Apr-Mid June: Easter
June: Tanabata
July-Aug: Disney Natsu Matsuri
Sept-Oct: Halloween
Nov-Dec: Christmas Fantasy
Disneysea's calendar has more changes every year, so check it our
here.
However, do avoid visiting near the start of an event as many Japanese fanatics usually visit early to grab the merchandise!
I've been to Frozen Fantasy and Easter recently. Frozen Fantasy is definitely more suitable for families with young girls. But the night Frozen castle show was really awesome, even my husband thought it was lovely.
I love the Easter event! Everything is in my favourite pastel colours! It has been years since I've visited during Christmas. It is definitely next on my list!
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Frozen Fantasy Parade, 2017
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6. MAKE FULL USE OF THE FAST PASSES
You've probably heard about this but I thought I'll just add this in with some of my insights too. Everything about fast pass can be learnt from
this official link.
The most important thing you need to know is that you can't take as many fast passes as you wish at a time. You can only take the next fast pass at a stated time on the fast pass you've taken.
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| It is crucial to take note of the time you can get another fast pass! |
But here's a little tip:
If the time to take another fast pass reached while you are stucked in a queue with your friends, you may want to split from your friends to take a fast pass and rejoin your friend later on. This helps to increase the number of fast pass you can take in a day! It might sound troublesome and bad but some Japanese do it too and the crew members seem to be used to it.
During our recent trip, while queuing for Toy Story Mania, we decided that I leave the queue to get another fast pass for it. After I've taken the fast passes, my husband was already in the building. So I had to point to inside and tell the crew member
"toire e ikimashita, tomodachi wa nakade." (I went to toilet, my friend is inside.) She asked me to spot him and she opened up the stanchions and let me join him! Ok, I should feel bad that I lied and brought trouble. But I think it is fine as long as you are taking a fast pass for the same attraction or some nearby attractions (don't go too far!) There're many stanchions in the queue, so it is not exactly a hassle for the crew member to let u in as long as u can spot your group fast. But of course, please make sure that your accompanies are visible and not too in front in the queue.
Likewise, send someone to get fast pass during lunch and during wait time for parades once you can get the next one! Let your friends and family know the importance of teamwork in Disney Parks. Hahaha.
7. BRING A MAT FOR PARADES, WHERE YOU SIT DO MATTERS
One hour or more before any parades in Disneyland, you will see Japanese sitting by the aisle, reserving their ideal seat. We do the same, bringing along mats for us to sit on the ground! If you are into photography and want to take some nice photos of the parade, here's my recommended area with a great view:
Yup, see the 4 red dots? It gives a view like this:
I'm pretty sure there are many other places with great view but this is my favourite-to-go area. It gives a great castle background and yet somehow you don't have to hog the space very early. I'm guessing that the reason because this area is near the pathway that leads to the front of the castle. So most Japanese who don't like to incur trouble for theres avoid sitting too near there and block people's way. So there's still some empty spaces around there even its less than an hour before the parade. It is perfectly fine to sit there as assured by some crew members when we asked, just don't deliberately block the way lah. Hahaha... I'm somehow impressed by my own observation. LOL.
Happiness Parade is regular parade of Disneyland, it doesn't stop halfway during the show. However, some special parade like Frozen Fantasy and Easter Parade, they will stop at a particular point of time to do some dancing and singing. We were finding a space for Frozen Fantasy and settled for an area which was quite empty as compared to others. When the floats stopped halfway, I then realised why my area is empty: because that's where Prince Hans stop! Hahaha and the place where Elsa stops was super crowded. So yup, where you sit does matter especially if u have a favourite character. But you might wonder, how do you know who stops at where? Just try to spot the Japanese with a lot of accessories of your favourite character and sit near her. HAHAHAHAHA. See the pictures below and you get what I mean!
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| Minnie and Mickey fans! |
8. MERCHANDISE ARE EXCLUSIVE
Lastly, let's talk about my favourite merchandise! Do bear in mind that Disney Stores in Japan sell a totally different array of merchandise from Tokyo Disney Parks. What you see selling in the park remains there! The only exception being Bon Voyage, the gift shop outside Disneyland which sells some of the merchandise found in the park. It is under the TDR and hence, not a Disney Store.
Both parks have a vast difference in merchandise with only a few overlapping ones. Most famous example being the Duffy and Shellie May products, which can only be found in Disneysea.
When at a shop, I recommend shoppers to buy the merchandise you eyed immediately as you may not be able to find it at other shops of the same park!
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| Aunt Peg's Village Store has the most Duffy products in Disneysea |
Yup, I guess that's it. There's still many many things to write about the TDR. Even though some of the tips I've given are quite trivial I hope they can be useful to some of you guys who will be visiting!
