JAPAN

Downtown:

• Transport: Easy to access from anywhere in the city by train, Tokyo Disney and Tokyo DisneySea are next to each other, similar to the layout of other Disney properties. It is clearly marked in English and Japanese when you get off the Mickey-themed tram that transports you from the standard public transit to the magic of the mouse.

• Entry: The entry was easily one of the craziest I ever experienced. We arrived 20 minutes before gates and there were thousands of people lined up, on a TUESDAY. Turns out, we went during spring break and holds of tweens flocked to the most magical place, all in groups of 3-8 and in matching outfits-it was wild! I didn’t take photos of that, but suffice it to say, I would NEVER return during spring break week. The entry took nearly 90 minutes. The used very slow, standard mags, checked bags and had far fewer staff than needed. When we left at 2 pm, all but one gate were closed and there was not a single person waiting to get in, it is a very early arriving crowd-apparently they used to sleep overnight to be the first in.

• Rides & Wait Times: Brace yourself, the wait times were INSANE. For marquee rides in DisneySea it averaged 2 hours, but some of the bigger ones were over 4 hours-for a single ride! They have a system where you can get a fast pass every hour, however, to reserve, you have to have scanned your ticket and be inside the park. By the time we got in, gates had been open for an hour and all the rides were gone. We were only able to purchase a couple of rides and the rides in Fantasy Land didn’t even allow walk ups. The DisneySea property was stunning, completely gorgeous, however the crowds were a lot to navigate and the lines were massive. The app shows wait times for food and even the popcorn cart was 30 minutes. We ended up going on Jasmine’s carousel and Simba’s Adventure (which is basically It’s a Small World style boat cruise telling the tale of Simba). The Tower of Terror was one we visited, a different take on what Disney World offers with a very short drop. The Nemo AI experience would have been cool if we spoke Japanese, it’s very interactive and not speaking the language in that situation left us not understanding. It was one of the few parts that did not have English translation or subtitles.

• Food: In addition to the long lines noted above for food, the options were far below what you’d find at other Disney parks and all of the food was pre-packaged. Some of the English translations were a bit off as well. I purchased a tiramisu ice cream bar...it was just a plain ice cream sandwich if you’re going by US standards. There were mostly snacks as well, hard to find a drink stand and there are nearly no places to get drinks or fill your water so come prepared.

• Merchandise: They have penny press machines around for small souvenirs. On these you don’t have to insert a coin, it provides you with it directly, which is nice. They have many stores but they all seemed hyper focused on one product type or theme. Some of their merchandise didn’t resonate with English audiences, other things were very unique an special. They do not have one “main” store I DisneySea to get a variety of items, that is likely in Disneyland Tokyo’s main park.

Closest Airport
Tokyo [HND]