2009 Tokyo Trip

[sandie]

Ok - I am seriously thinking of taking my daughter to Tokyo for a Mum and daughter trip for her 13th birthday in April 2009. Give me some tips.

If we stay at one of the onsite hotels do they have two beds or at least one bed big enough to share?

Would 5 days onsite be enough?

Will we find language a problem?

And remember this will be a surprise for her so if any of you blurt you will find out what a thug I can be!

[sandie]

Anyone???????

Remember I am a good guy now - its ok to help me!

[mushu mama]

If we stay at one of the onsite hotels do they have two beds or at least one bed big enough to share?

I can only comment on what we encountered , and there were no Disney properties there at the time, but where we stayed ( The Hilton) we had 2 beds the size of a king single that was supposed to be for 4 people.

Would 5 days onsite be enough?

We spent 5 days in Disneyland alone - and didn't see it all. Disney Sea was still under construction then so I can't comment on that one.

Will we find language a problem?

again, this is just what we encountered...
While a lot of Japanese understand written English reasonably well, having a conversation was another matter. Having said that, if the people that we were asking questions of couldn't understand us, they were super speedy and very gracious in trying to find someone that could. They really didn't have to - we were in their country after all. And a smile and hand signals works remarkably well. We didn't find this a hardship at all. The public transport (trains) have english buttons to push to translate so that isn't a problem and quite easy to navigate.

Happy planning... your secrets safe with me.

~ Lisa ~

[KeithS]

Anyone???????

Remember I am a good guy now - its ok to help me!

Ask me on April 23 when I return I'll bring you back plenty of brochures, I promise!!

(Good guy...for now...)

[Minnies Yoo Hoo]

Hi Sandie, You will both love Japan! Don't be worried at all about the language barrier, because it really isn't there. We found that the majority of people inside the park understood us, and if they didn't they would run around and find somebody to help you (and I do mean run) On your first day (in either park) Just to orientate yourself, we suggest you go directly to city hall and book a English speaking tour guide for a tour. The one we did went for 5-6 hours, it took us all around the park, gave us priority boarding (right to the front of the line) at 5 attractions and preferential seating at 3 shows (your group also gets to pick which rides and shows that you visit) In our opinion 5 days would not be enough for you to see, relax, and enjoy everything both parks have to offer. Even a experienced Disney traveller such as yourself, will find Disney seas as a mind blowing experience with brilliant rides and attractions that have to be done more than once or even twice (you need to allow time just to stand and gawp at what you see around you in Disney seas and I'm not joking) As we didn't stay in a Disney hotel (huge mistake) we can't help you there. The hotel we stayed in was very clean, but was not geared towards attracting English tourists (bath the size of a sink and beds hard as steel)
Definitely go for one of the hotels in the "belt" directly opposite Tokyo Disneyland itself. You can easily walk (a few minutes) or catch one of the regular shuttles to the gate.
The food selections inside the Parks is fantastic, everything from a New York Deli that makes the yummiest 3 layer sandwiches, to sushi and everything else you can imagine in between (fries, burgers, muffin tops, seafood, salads) the only thing we had trouble finding was steak! (too expensive in Japan to sell in the parks) Popcorn is a huge thing and every cart that you come across is constantly popping a different flavour to entice you. Coffee, Curry, Lemonade, Strawberry, Coke, you image it they make it. We couldn't go past the caramel...We can almost smell it popping now..
As you can tell we are huge fans of the Japanese parks and are sure that you will be too, once you see what they have on offer!

[ajp]

In addition to this information, what is the cost of food like both in the parks and generally across Tokyo?

[sandie]

In addition to this information, what is the cost of food like both in the parks and generally across Tokyo?

Are you guys coming with us??????

Sandie

[ajp]

No. We've been tossing this up (ie Tokyo) along with honkers now for a while for next year. We started out with honkers only, then we moved on to both now we're just thinking Tokyo - but nothing is guaranteed at this stage.

[mushu mama]

In addition to this information, what is the cost of food like both in the parks and generally across Tokyo?

I remember it was more expensive to eat outside the parks than in - which surprised us. We stayed at the Hilton across from the park and so the prices in their restaurants were pretty pricey (2700 yen for a bowl of 2 minute noodle type stuff and AU$50 for a plate sized pizza) but in the shopping centres the bakeries and deli type of places were more reasonable ( but still higher than we were used to) and dare I say it.... Macca's was really cheap in comparison to everywhere else. Supermarkets were a godsend for us traveling with two kids and we called in there every second day to stock up on breakfast stuff, softdrinks and snacks - and Sake....
(stay tuned - having posting issues)

[mushu mama]

The food in TDL was wonderful but budget for a little more than you'd normally expect. Japan is quite an expensive place to visit but well worth the expense is probably the way I see it.
I'd go back tomorrow if I could - I loved it.

The most fun thing about Japanese food is that they have plastic models of everything on the menu in the windows and you can see what they will actually look like and just point if you need to

~ Lisa ~

[Mel]

We didn't really find that Japan was that expensive. Granted, I didn't eat a whole lot while I was there (morning sickness), but what we did buy seemed reasonably price. Mind you, I did eat a lot of Italian - it's all I wanted

In the parks we didn't find it too pricey, we ate at a few sit-down places including the Blue Bayou in TDL and a character meal at TDS, I can't remember the name of that place though. We actually came home with a fair bit of money. Crazy isn't it? I was too sick to shop