I posted our entire trip report but left out the Tokyo Disney Resort part since most travelers don’t need that information. It seemed some wanted it so I am making a separate post! I used the r/TokyoDisneySea subreddit for information and questions. We had the catch 22 that we didn’t want to get spoiled too much but we also wanted to be prepared, not sure if that worked in our favor but I’ll give details here so read at your own risk!
Traveling squad: Me (36F), husband (37M) and 6 year old daughter
Tips:
* Make sure you have your app downloaded, signed in and credit card information inputted. We bought our tickets through our hotel when we checked in, only possible at Disney hotels and we didn’t have to worry on if tickets sold out or not. We attempted to buy park tickets when they went on sale but our American CC’s kept getting denied so we just waited. We couldn’t put the paper tickets in our app until after we went through the main gate. This was the very first thing I did as we walked/jogged to our first ride. If you buy your ticket online I believe you can already have it on your app before you go through.
* Bring a portable charger, you will be using your phone ALOT to check ride times, use the map for food and showtimes, and if you guy Premier Access passes.
* We live in Southern California and are originally from Florida so we have been to Disneyland many times. That helped in regards to not having to ride everything in that park so the advice there may not be as helpful. The cost of a ticket was also significantly cheaper than in the states so we didn’t mind paying for Premier Access for rides to get fast pass.
* Everyone dresses VERY cute in the parks. Lots of groups wearing the exact same thing. Something I noticed was that very short skirts were ok but sleeveless was very rare. I wore a sweater to Disneyland and took it off midday because it was warm. Having my arms exposed felt strange because no one else was dressed like that. My chest was not out at all but I still kept the sweater over my shoulders to not feel inappropriate lol.
* Monorail costs money, which was surprising to us. Florida monorail goes between 4 different parks and is free! We used our Suica cards for it but it was an unexpected expense. I believe they have day passes at the machines you can get. Figure out what works best for you!
* Hotel: We stayed at the Tokyo DisneySea Miracosta. It’s one of the most expensive Disney properties in the world and the only hotel that is inside a Disney park. It was an incredible hotel and a once in a lifetime stay. Of course not all travelers can afford that (we’ll be paying it off for a while lol) but I do recommend staying at any Disney hotel if you can so you can get Happy Entrance! Set your alarm to book a hotel right when they are released, 3 months before your date of stay at 11AM Japan time, and do the research to know what hotel you want to stay in and even what kind of room you want, they went FAST.
Day 1, Tuesday: Disneyland. Happy Entrance ticket gets you in 15 min before opening time that day.
* Arrived at entrance around 7:50am for 8:15 opening with Happy Entrance. The park opened at 8:30 for rest of public. We thought we would get there a little earlier but we didn’t account for time going through security. There was already a huge crowd of people! The Happy Entrance definitely had a smaller crowd in front of the gates. We were prepared for crowds since it was a peak time but it was never as bad as we thought it would be though.
* Rope drop. Straight to Beauty and the Beast, while opening our app to get our first Premier Access pass: Baymax. Line for B&B was probably 35 min even though we were the first ones in the park! The ride was incredible! Belle is my princess so I may be bias but my husband was impressed with the ride mechanics and animatronics. Highly recommend Premier Access for this ride if you do not do it first in the day, the line was very long the rest of the day.
* Breakfast at pizza parlor while waiting for Baymax time. We failed by not eating breakfast before going into the park (we finally “slept in”) or having our trusty conbini snacks with us. This didn’t set us back too much as we had to wait for our Baymax time so we had 20 min to kill.
* Baymax ride with fast pass
* Gaston’s Tavern for beer and hot wine and to walk around Belle’s village and take it in more. We ran to the ride so we didn’t get the chance to actually look around.
* Toon town for Minnie’s fashion studio and to meet her – 25 min line: While in line we attempted to get Entry Requests for all the shows available and character meetings but we were denied all of them. Not really sure how it decides that. Try to do the Entry Request anyways, it is free.
* It’s a Small World – 20 min line: Kid’s pick. Same as in the states but in Japanese and there are way more Disney characters incorporated in the different countries.
* Haunted Mansion – 35 min line: Same as in the states but its my husbands favorite ride.
* I kept checking Premiere Access to see when Splash Mountain would have a good time for us as we wanted to wait for the heat of the day. Still was too early.
* Lunch at Hungry Bear, by Thunder Mountain: Curry and rice which was SO good! My kid really enjoyed it as well and the kids plate was shaped like Mickey.
* Thunder Mountain – 65 min line: this was the longest line we stood in all day but it is my daughters favorite ride. Got Premiere Access for Splash Mountain while waiting, it warmed up in that uncovered line!
* Splash Mountain with fast pass
* Pictures in front of the castle! We had been so go go go that we kept joking we hadn’t even seen the castle yet. So beautiful! This would probably be a good time to do any other Fantasyland rides you want to if you don’t need to do a photoshoot like we did lol.
* Popcorn buckets at The Big Pop – 10 min line: When we walked by this place earlier it had probably a 30 min line so I’m glad we waited. Popcorn is no joke at the Disney parks there!
* Shopping on Main Street: Merchandise was cute but not as varied as we thought it might be. I personally thought I would spend much more on merchandise but the clothes wasn’t as cute. I bought some ears that are Tokyo exclusive, the Boo headband from Monsters Inc and almost bought a Baymax head since he is not as popular in the states and everyone was wearing those helmet stuffys, thats what we called them, they were so cute but impractical for the hot weather we get back home. Do people wear them in the summer?? **Tip**: We are VERY glad we did our shopping earlier in the day (5pmish) because when we were leaving the park the lines were crazy long just to get in to the stores.
* Monsters Inc ride – 40 min line
* Walked around Adventureland. Pirates and Swiss Family treehouse were closed and we didn’t need to ride Jungle Cruise or do Tiki Room so it was nice just to look around the land at dusk.
* Dinner at China Voyager in Adventureland – 30 min line: Longest we had to wait for food. Yummy ramen that warmed our souls lol. With Mickey shaped yolk in soft boiled eggs, how do they do that?! Gyoza was good for the kid too, she devoured it.
* At this point (6:30) we thought we should go find a spot for the parade (7pm) because people had been posting up for hours before! We found a spot behind a group of people and then we got some magic from a Cast Member that told us there was a better place to sit! He walked us over to the right of in front of the castle and we got a lovely spot sitting down. I didn’t realize that people stay seated in that area and I LOVED that because we didn’t have to worry about our daughter not being able to see the parade, which is what usually happens in the states. The floats were incredible, 10x better than back home and we miss the Electrical Parade that used to be in CA, so it was awesome. Tokyo really knows how to do theming and design well!
* As soon as the parade ended we ran to the castle to go inside and see Cinderella’s throne room. There was no wait and it was empty inside so easy to get pictures. Definitely pick something you want to do and “run” there right when the parade ends because it will most likely be empty!
* Day over for us! We were exhausted by this point but maybe could have squeezed in another ride?
Premier Access rides in Disneyland:
* Beauty and the Beast
* Baymax
* Splash Mountain
* Electrical Parade
Day 2, Wednesday: DisneySea
* Rope Drop at 8:15. We got there at 7:30am and were first people in line. Spent the wait eating our conbini breakfast snacks that we got in our hotel lobby the night before, we were better prepared today.
* Straight to Journey to the center of the Earth. 2nd people in line. Amazing ride! Got Premier Access for Tower of Terror while walking there.
* It seemed EVERYONE went straight to Soaring at rope drop, I later learned this is the more popular ride, we have it in the states so we weren’t as concerned in riding it until we learned the theming is totally different there. I would probably rec going to Soaring at rope drop cause PA is more expensive for it than Journey.
* Took our time walking over to Tower of Terror since we had time before fast pass, the park was kind of dead still and some rides weren’t even open yet, it was cool to see it like that. Had a churro and sausage on a bonestick? At 9am dining reservations open for the day so I made reservations for Teddy Roosevelt Lounge. If you want to do any restaurants, make sure you are ready at the time to reserve!
* Tower of Terror fast pass: Theming was totally different and very cool. The ride itself was>! not very thrilling. My husband and I looked at each other in shock when it was over, there were 2 very small drops and that was about it. Our kid loved it! It’s one of our favorite rides at Disney parks so it was just kind of disappointing !<Regardless the theme was very cool but there was no merchandise at the store for the ride! We totally would have bought the cursed idol little dude lol
* Character meeting with ShellieMay – 15 min line: We were very excited for Duffy stuff. Soaring Premiere Access while waiting in line here.
* Duffy shopping: My daughter saw everyone walking around with their Duffy stuffys and ears and couldn’t continue with the day until she had hers lol. It was a shame LinaBelle ears were sold out but we bought Duffy and ShellieMay ears and a LinaBelle stuffy. They’ve got to bring these characters to the states! So cute!
* Gyoza dogs, tiramisu ice cream bar and Mickey ice pop snack time while waiting for Soaring time. The snacks and popcorn are so unique at the parks. We didn’t really have a sitdown meal because we just kept snacking.
* Soaring! fast pass: Again, amazing theming!! Really glad we rode this even though we weren’t going to. I loved the theme and queue aesthetics. Soaring is a fun ride too as usual and>! I liked that it had Tokyo at the end so it was a little different. !<
* Mermaid lagoon! Going “under the sea” to Ariel’s Kingdom was SO COOL! I didn’t even know that they had her grotto and that was just so cool as an 80’s/90’s Disney kid to see in person. My daughter played in the playground there for a while and didn’t really want to ride anything there, we would have had time for 1 ride I imagine.
* Walked through Agrabah Marketplace got a tiger tail snack.
* Sindbad’s Adventure – 5 min line: I love this ride! It’s “small world” style, boat on the water, relaxing ride and I couldn’t get the song out of my head even though I didn’t know the lyrics. I was obnoxiously singing it the rest of the day. Wish I could find this song on Spotify lol
* Big Bad Beat Show – The only thing I got Entry Request for in the park. We were denied everything else. Husband took a nap, kid rested her feet and I got some broadway tunes so it was a win win!
* Lunch at Dockside Diner – I believe it was just some fried chicken, nothing wild.
* Drinks at Teddy Roosevelt Lounge aboard the SS Columbia. Very lovely aesthetics but in the end it was just overpriced drinks that were too sweet. Got a dessert for the kid.
* Jamboree with Mickey Show: I promised kid we would see this show. We couldnt get entry request for it so we just had to stand to the side. It was pretty cute learning a dance with a crowd of people and then doing it with the characters.
* Aquatopia – 25 min line: We thought it was funny since we have AUTOtopia back home. This was way better than that lol
* After the ride we went back to our hotel to get our puffer jackets and put down some merchandise. A theme park on the ocean gets windy and cold! We also had dinner at the hotel since we were there already and didn’t want to waste time in the park.
* Indiana Jones: Husband did single rider line for this at the same time that me and daughter did
* Jasmine’s Carpet Ride – 25 min line
* We met back up at a spot to watch Believe! We didn’t get a Premiere Access for this but found a really good spot at the end of the Ponte Vecchio bridge on the ramps that lead down to the water. [https://www.reddit.com/r/TokyoDisneySea/comments/121kwgy/believe\_sea\_of\_dreams/jf5kqim/?context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/TokyoDisneySea/comments/121kwgy/believe_sea_of_dreams/jf5kqim/?context=3) This comment helped us pick the spot. We were under the 3 on the image posted.
* The show was so good!! Tokyo Disney really knows how to put on a show, we were so impressed. We rarely stick around for shows anymore when we go to parks and I’m so glad we did.
* Nemo and Friends – 15 min line: We “ran” there when the show ended like the day before, and were so glad to not have to wait long because the line for this was kind of long all day but we really wanted to do it. It ended up being my kid’s favorite ride of the day!
* Day over! We were going to shop but the queues just to get into the store were ridiculous. We should have taken our advice from the day before! Shop early!
Premier Access Rides at Tokyo Disney:
* Journey to the center of the Earth
* Toy Story Mania, we skipped this ride as we have it back home.
* Tower of Terror
* Soaring!
DisneySea probably needs 2 days if you really want to experience everything. It’s so beautiful and there is so much to see! Stimulation overload! My husband would have liked to ride Raging Spirits but didnt discover it until too late in the day. We never even walked into the Toy Story area which is a bummer, it just got away from us. We still think we did really good for 1 day during peak season!
The morning that we left we went to Ikspiari, which is Downtown Disney if you are familiar, and did some shopping at the store there but they didn’t have any actual Parks merchandise, just cute Disney stuff. I was hoping to get a Starbucks Tokyo Disney mug but I guess they don’t make those in the Been There series! Another merchandise disappointment but in the end our wallets thanked us lol. Hope this write up helps someone! I’m sure there are things I forgot, feel free to ask!
26 comments
If you stay at a Disneyland hotel, they give you passes for the monorail or resort line for the length of your stay.
Thank you for this great in-depth review!
Thank you for your review! Which park do you reccomend for 2 adults with no kids?
Journey to the center of the earth ride was the craziest ride ive been on !
Thank you for the review! What do you think – if you have been to the US parks (many times), do you think Disneyland is worth it? I’m wondering if we should skip it and do two days at DisneySea instead.
The Guardians of the Galaxy ride had my throat sore from screaming and my entire body shaking with adrenaline – how does the Tower of Terror compare? I like the idea of its theming, but I almost puked after the GotG ride so I don’t want to risk it if it’s similar.
Thank you so much for so many great details, doing both the parks are on my list so you really helped me see how many days I need etc…
>Took our time walking over to Tower of Terror since we had time before fast pass, the park was kind of dead still and some rides weren’t even open yet, it was cool to see it like that. Had a churro and sausage on a bonestick? At 9am dining reservations open for the day so I made reservations for Teddy Roosevelt Lounge. If you want to do any restaurants, make sure you are ready at the time to reserve!
So reservations can be made in the park rather than in the US where we would have to reserve MONTHS in advance?
Thanks for write up… how much time does premier access save? Sorry not much experience with going to Disney parks being an Australian!
Awesome! Thank you so much for this write up!
Just a quick question for you regarding loading the tickets onto the app, since we’re staying at MiraCosta as well and will be purchasing tickets when we check in…
You mentioned that you had to wait until you got past the main gate to load your ticket onto the app. So you were already inside the park, walking/jogging to your first ride while trying to load the tickets onto the app? Or were you able to load the ticket onto the app when you were waiting in the Happy 15 line?
I was under the impression that you couldn’t get into the park using paper tickets and that all tickets had to be on your phone/app. Thanks so much!
Thank you for the tip about shopping! I would have waited until the end of the day so since I don’t want to carry everything around with me I will probably need to plan to store my purchases in a locker.
Saving this! Is it true that it’s super crowded? How would you compare it to Disneyland crowds?
So helpful! Thank you!
Literally had the same reaction to tower of terror! Such a shame. They cancelled Believe and the fireworks too as it was a bit windy. Other than that though, loved the overall experience of Disney Sea!
thanks a million for this information. In your opinion was it less busy at night time after 5pm or just as crowded in both parks?
Thanks for taking the time to help us 🙂
Really helpful thanks for this breakdown!
>I couldn’t get the song out of my head even though I didn’t know the lyrics.
There’s a version with English lyrics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmK2VlFHyWQ
Where did you meet ShellieMay at? She’s my actual favorite, and a HUGE priority for me to do when I go!!! Thank you so much 🫶🫶🫶
I was lucky and went in early march and Tower of Terror was in “Unlimited” mode, I guess they run a different drop pattern and its double the drops, I think US towers do a random mode or special like this too. But Honestly Tower was the best, it was the only ride that the crowd was loud and excited like in the states. I had a blast on that ride and the dude next to me was worried I wasn’t prepared he kept pointing to the rail so I would hold on.
We are Disneyworld locals but we don’t have premier access here. Is this just basically to go in the shorter line, and you pay per ride to do the premier access?? And do you still get the free fast passes or do you pay for those too?
(Eta- is fast pass different than premier access? I’m assuming it’s like the old system in Florida where you get a fast pass with your ticket?)
Also, what do I need to do in advance. Sounds like you got your tickets and then would be good to get dinner reservations, but all the fast passes and premier access stuff, that is all same day??
Sorry for the stupid questions!!
What’s premier access rides? Is that like fast pass?
Is Disneyland Sea it’s own thing? First I’m hearing about it
I’m thinking about skipping Takayama so I can spend the extra days at DisneySea. I know I know, giving up a beautiful mountain resort for a theme park, but I do love Disney theme parks.
Thank you so much for this write up! Going to Japan next year purely so I can experience Disney for the first time! (Also a HUGE Belle fan) Being in NZ, we don’t have a lot of experience with any parks so this was extremely helpful in planning out our Disney days
Yay thanks for the review!! I always love reading about people’s experiences at Tokyo Disney. 🥰
Did you go consecutive days? I was thinking of doing disneyland and sea 2 days in a row and staying at one of their hotels but worry about how exhausted we would be.