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Greg's Tokyo Disneyland adventure

calisota
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Greg's Tokyo Disneyland adventure

Postby calisota » Fri May 15, 2009 5:56 am

How many days should I put aside to do this place?

Similar to Paris I'm figuring on a hotel in the city centre, somewhere in walking distance to the Ginza, and taking the train to the park. I essentially have 3.5 days in Tokyo and am there over the New Year, 29/12 to 2/1.

Greg
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Re: Greg's Tokyo Disneyland adventure

Postby Mel » Fri May 15, 2009 3:07 pm

I don't think I'd want to battle it out on the subway to get to TDL during peak-hour. We stayed at one of the partner hotels last time and will stay at the Hilton if we go next year.

The subway system is excellent in Tokyo though, so although it might be crazy/busy, it's efficient and easy to use.

Are you planning on spending nearly all your time in TDL while in Tokyo? DisneySea is awesome :)
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Re: Greg's Tokyo Disneyland adventure

Postby calisota » Sat May 16, 2009 7:28 am

I've just been doing a little research and it seems that the New Year period is one of the most expensive times to stay in Japan. Just my luck!

That being said, since the New Year time is the one time of the year when the country actually takes time off it may be less crowded on the subway if I plan to go on the 31st of Dec and the 1st of Jan. I can spend the two days before that just walking around the city if I get a place in the centre.

I assume that Disneyland wouldn't close on those days?

Greg
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Re: Greg's Tokyo Disneyland adventure

Postby mushu mama » Sat May 16, 2009 10:26 am

I doubt they'd be closed but its a good thing you are tall cos its going to be packed to the rafters then so being above the crowd will at least allow you to see stuff. :wink:

I was there at halloween and it was wall to wall humanity.

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Re: Greg's Tokyo Disneyland adventure

Postby KeithS » Sat May 16, 2009 11:49 am

I was there at halloween and it was wall to wall humanity.
Lisa is 100% correct. Tokyo is a busy park at the best of times - yet over New Year, it is at its peak - and people camp out from the afternoon of the 30th to get in on the 31st. And don't even think about riding anything!

Here is a great trip report from 2004 to give you an idea of the experience...
http://www.laughingplace.com/News-ID507890.asp

General admission begins at 2am on the 31st! You have to be there then, or you won't get in at all :)
(Oh yeah - and remember it is mid-winter, good chance of snow!)
Keith

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DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

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Re: Greg's Tokyo Disneyland adventure

Postby ajp » Sat May 16, 2009 5:38 pm

C'mon Keith, what are the negatives? :lol:
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Re: Greg's Tokyo Disneyland adventure

Postby calisota » Sun May 17, 2009 7:54 am

Hmmm, maybe I should just devote one day (the 30th) to going to the park just so I can say that I've been there and to get a fridge magnet to prove it. It may surprise you to know that I'm not too worried if I don't make it onto many of the rides and am quite happy to just wander around and take it all in.

I always planned on Tokyo being the most expensive place to visit which is why I only budgeted for the 4 nights. I hope to hit some of the more unusual food outlets I can find which may be expensive as well.

Thinking about it more...would there be an advantage to staying at a hotel near the airport, for airport access simplicity, and taking the train into the city?

Greg
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Re: Greg's Tokyo Disneyland adventure

Postby KeithS » Sun May 17, 2009 3:43 pm

maybe I should just devote one day (the 30th) to going to the park
Two days - you MUST go to Disneysea too - and there is no park-hopping on a one or two day ticket, so you have to go two days to see both parks.

Do you know what airport you'll be going into? There are two in Tokyo - Narita is the main international one, however as you are coming from another Asian country, you may end up going into Haneda instead. Either way I think I'd rather stay somewhere near the resort area. The Dream Gate at Maihama station, right beside Ikspiari, is recommended for lower cost - it is clean and has a little dining room for breakfast etc. It is actually under the railway but you don't notice it.

See:
http://www.jrhotelgroup.com/eng/code/codeeng151.htm
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

calisota
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Re: Greg's Tokyo Disneyland adventure

Postby calisota » Mon May 18, 2009 9:55 am

maybe I should just devote one day (the 30th) to going to the park
Two days - you MUST go to Disneysea too -
How about one day and it's at Disneysea? If what you say is true then i don't fancy camping out from the day before just to get in on the other two days I'm there. If i was to brave the masses and go one day which park would it be?
Do you know what airport you'll be going into?
Narita, both in and out.

The hotel you mentioned comes in at $300 odd a night. I can get the Hilton or the ANA next to Narita for about $100 a night and they both offer transport to the fast train station (30 minutes to downtown Tokyo). Plus they have easy access to and from the airport and the ANA even has airline check-in in the Hotel lobby.

So...

29th Arrive Narita, suffer major culture shock after 10 weeks in Nepal. Explore Narita and experience Japan and Japanese food.
30th Wake up really early, get train into Disneyland (or Disneysea), spend day there, get train home.
31st Get train into Tokyo, explore and laugh at Japanese culture while being stared at for being so tall.
1st Don't know yet.
2nd Wake up early and fly to Hong Kong

How's that sound?

Greg
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Re: Greg's Tokyo Disneyland adventure

Postby KeithS » Mon May 18, 2009 1:46 pm

Okay - if you only have one day - I would do Disneysea. Disneyland is a very close model of the WDW Magic Kingdom, and you've done that. Disneysea is like nothing else on the planet...

If you go on the 30th, it shouldn't be so bad - at least not as bad as Disneyland.

There are a few ways to get to Disneysea from Narita - there is a direct bus service from the resort throughout the day (but not in the evening) or you get the train. If you get the train - probably the easiest thing to do is go to Tokyo Central station, then get the subway from there back to Maihama on the JR Keiyo line. Tokyo Central is well signposted in English and the ticket machines also have an English button, so you won't have any dramas.

Those Narita hotel prices are very good - anything under $200 a night is a bargain...

The Dream Gate is usually one of the cheapest hotels in the resort area - but because of your date of stay (the popularity of the New Year festival) it is going to be expensive.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

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Re: Greg's Tokyo Disneyland adventure

Postby mushu mama » Mon May 25, 2009 11:56 pm

I hope to hit some of the more unusual food outlets I can find which may be expensive as well.
Just doing a catch up on all the stuff I missed while I was away... and does the rough translation of the above mean that you are going to be sampling Fugu? I seem to remember that is extremely expensive ( presumably because they have to get all your money out of you before you eat something that has a high probablility of killing you prior to the event). Hope you don't get a trainee fugu slicer :wink:

Just curious...

Lisa */
1999- Tokyo DL, 2008- DLR/Cal Adventure, 2012-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2013-Tokyo DLand/Sea, 2014-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2015- Paris DL, 2016 - WDW/Disneycruise , upcoming - May 2018 - HongKong DL

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Re: Greg's Tokyo Disneyland adventure

Postby sandie » Sat May 30, 2009 10:49 am

Isn't that hotel right at the TDR train station cheap? I think Barry and Julie stayed there once. If I was going back and only had one day I would do Disney Sea - other than One Mans Dream 2 it was not that much different than the other Magic Kingdoms/Disneylands.

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Re: Greg's Tokyo Disneyland adventure

Postby KeithS » Sun May 31, 2009 11:29 am

Isn't that hotel right at the TDR train station cheap?
Yep - that's the Dream Gate I mentioned above - but because of the peak days that Greg is attending, he's found that even that hotel is expensive.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

calisota
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Re: Greg's Tokyo Disneyland adventure

Postby calisota » Wed Jun 24, 2009 2:54 pm

I've made my booking for Tokyo.

I'm in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Narita. I decided to go for one close to the Airport for a couple of reasons.

!. The price. I did some serious looking and couldn't find anything in Tokyo proper that even came close to the airport hotels at that time of year. I'm paying $470 for 4 nights.

2. It's really close to the airport. I should be in my room within half an hour to an hour of stepping out of customs and with a minimum of bag carrying involved. The way I figure it is that it will be easier to dump my bags straight away and then figure out how to get to Disneyland etc rather than try to manhandle my luggage to a city hotel. I don't mind getting confused, dazed and lost as long as I'm light and mobile on my feet.

My next question is tickets or ticket, more likely). Do I get it here now or when I get there?

Greg
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Re: Greg's Tokyo Disneyland adventure

Postby Mel » Thu Jun 25, 2009 7:18 pm

I think for that time of year you really need to buy in advance and buy a 'dated' ticket. Have you had a look at their website? They've recently updated it and I think it gives info on how far in advance you can buy the dated tickets. Sorry, I can't look by myself I have limited time right now (my half hour of 'mummy time' is almost up!)
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