Ten Top Tips for Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea.

In Golden week

Everyone says not to go to Japan and especially not Disneyland or DisneySea for Golden week. For those of you who don’t know Golden week is in May each year. It is a week with lots of public holidays. The Japanese don’t get much annual leave from work. This is the chance for everyone to take a break and travel around. Meaning that an already busy Japan is even busier when almost the whole population is relaxing and travelling around.

We knew all this. Somehow we managed to time our trip to Disneyland and Disney Sea in the busiest Golden Week we could find. An extra big one when the enthronement ceremony for the new Emperor, Naruhito took place. Here are some tips to survive and even enjoy your time at Disney during Golden week.

Check opening hours and pass types

We bought our passes for our main visit when we originally arrived in Tokyo from the Disney Store in Shibuya. You need to select which park you are visiting on which day. You can’t swap between them on one day like some other parks around the world. There is a sales desk on the top floor where Australian Credit cards are accepted. Disney is one of the few places in Japan where cards are accepted everywhere. Unlike the rest of Japan who mostly uses cash.

As a treat when reached the Hotel from Matsumoto we decided to have an extra evening at Disneyland. Unfortunately, it was a public holiday so the discounted evening price didn’t apply. Instead, there was a discount after 3 pm. Because we forgot to check, we ended up paying more than we expected and had less time in the park.

Be prepared for crowds and to wait

We had heard that Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea were busy, Japan itself was very crowded most of the time. Well except up in the mountains, but this was next level.

The first bus from our hotel arrived about 1 ¼ hours before gates open. This was not the 2 hours we had heard recommended on many blogs. I can see why they recommend this as there was already so many people there.

• 

• 

Luckily the Japanese are very good at waiting in line. There was a very pleasant vibe with everyone excited to get in with no pushing or shoving. We did notice there were not many non-Japanese people around. Obviously, they hadn’t mixed up their dates like us and were avoiding Golden week.

We have been to Disneyland in California. I have been once in December and we went as a family in 2016 for Halloween. It was crowded but not like this.

 Almost everything had a wait. Fast passes for some rides were sold out in the first half-hour the parks were open. You even needed fast passes for It’s a small world ( in California there was no one on this ride) I guess it appeals to the Japanese’s love of Kawaii ( cute)

• 

People watching is a great way to pass the time

Accepting you will wait a lot gives you time to watch the people around you. Japan has a lot of Adults who love Disney. We nicknamed them AFOD’s ( Adult fans of Disney) They were everywhere so many people in character-themed clothes. Old men in Goofy hats and shirts, couples in matching outfits. Even one Japanese lady who had red hair and green contacts in the line to meet Ariel.

 In most of the character meetups, there were far more adults than children. When waiting to meet Donald duck, we were there for 55 minutes. I only counted about 8 kids in the line.

One of our hobbies, while we were waiting again, was to see how many character obsessed people we could find.  There are fewer Characters roaming about Disneyland and especially DisneySea compared to California. It is tricky to spot them unless you are at an allocated meet and greet. But with such a long wait for each one, we had to limit how many we attended.

Make a plan

Making a rough plan when you visit to make sure you definitely get to see your favourites. This will help you avoid missing something you really wanted to see because you were waiting somewhere else.

Before we arrived we downloaded the Japanese Tokyo Disney App (available only on the Japanese App Store) onto our phones. Also, make sure you have data as there is no WIFI at Disneyland. Another tip is to print a copy of the map from the website if you can before you get in.

Pick up the park information when you get inside. Both Disneyland and DisneySea will have 3 brochures available. A Map, Food and Goods and what is happening Today ( matte brochure the rest are glossy) If possible it is recommended to get the Today brochure in Japanese and English as they include slightly different information.

While you are waiting to get in think about the rides you really want to do. Aim to get there first especially if you can’t get fast passes. At DisneySea, the fast passes for the Toy Story ride were completely “sold out” before 8.15 am. ( park opened at 8 am) Later in the day, we thought we would try to ride it. When we got there we found there was no standby line and you could only ride with fast passes.

At Disneyland the Buzz lightyear ride is the popular one that you want to get fast passes for early.

Enjoy some of the less popular attractions

Our girls were still a bit small for some of the really popular rides. So we only had a few rides we really “had to see”. We spent the time at some of the less popular attractions. Even though these were in Japanese some you could work out. Some of it was just so surreal it was entertaining. Like watching the Country Bears show. Bears and Moose singing country songs and chatting in Japanese is one of the strangest things I have done.

• 

• 

There are also lots of activities that didn’t have any wait to get into. It is lots of fun climbing up and over the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse at Disneyland. At DisneySea there is a pirate ship on the Mediterranean Harbour that has cannons you can fire.

• 

• 

 DisneySea has great Gondola rides from “Venice” and then we were able to watch the volcano exploding at sunset.

Go on popular rides when others aren’t

When the parade is on in the evening people flock to the viewing sites. This leaves lots of the rides with minimal lines. The first night we skipped the parade and were able to get 3 rides on the Teacups in a row.

One of our favourite memories of our time at DisneySea was going on Aquatopia in the rain. Earlier in the day, we had to wait 30minutes for a turn. Around 8 pm it was raining and because it was an outdoor ride there was no-one there. We had rain jackets that blocked a bit of rain. But ride after ride with no wait at all was so much fun. We didn’t mind that by the end we were soaked to the skin. We rode it 6 times in a row and only left because it was way past bedtime.

• 

• 

• 

Watching the Parades

When you do want to want to watch the Parade people in Japan sit down to watch. Standing behind all those seated gave us a great view of the fantastic Disney lights parade, at Disneyland. The best place is on the side before they go into Toontown. There is no one on the other side of the parade so all the characters are looking towards you.

• 

• 

• 

People were sitting down to watch the daytime parade not long after opening. We only had limited time so didn’t want to spend it sitting around. We could see some of the parades away from the crowds when we were in the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse.

You will do lots of walking

Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea are much smaller than the parks in California. However, we still ended up doing about 20,000 steps per day. To save time it is helpful to have a designated runner who can head off to get fast passes. This means you don’t have to drag the kids with you.

It can also be good to send the runner ahead to save space in some of the lines. It can be fun to sneak an extra ride leaving one family member waiting at the character meet up.

Plan meals and snacks early

Stopping regularly for Disney themed snacks are a highlight of a trip to any Disney park. It can also help to keep attitudes good. ( keep away the Hangries) Mickey Shaped Churros and Mickey and Minnie shaped Iceblocks are always fun. Our goal was to try as many Disney Themed snacks and meals as possible. This included Mickey Mouse shaped Nuggets, Noodles with a mickey shaped yolk in the egg, Mickey mouse Churros and Mickey Mouse shaped Pizza.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

 One of the fun things at Disneyland and DisneySea is the themed popcorn tubs. Each popcorn location sells a different container and flavour of popcorn. Decide early which ones you like. Try to keep it stocked up as popcorn is always great when you are waiting in line. If you see a popcorn holder you like try to work out where it is early. Miss 8 wanted to get the Cinderella coach. We only found it mid-morning and so had to wait 45min in the line.

 We mainly ate at “counter style” restaurants. These are self-service restaurants where you can sit down without a reservation because people in Japan don’t eat and walk.

Leave when you have to (and know how you are getting home)

When the sensory overload and the crowd’s become too much, make your way back to your hotel bus. (making sure you have the right time) Most hotels in the surrounding areas will have a bus that runs between the parks and the hotel. These usually have the times on a sign at the hotel.

The one day we tried to leave early we forgot to check the times. We missed the bus by 10 minutes. We had remembered the time for Disneyland instead of DisneySea. This meant that we had to wait an hour for the last bus back to the Hotel.

We thought we might catch the train home. We walked back to the train station but found that our Pasmo cards didn’t have enough credit. At the station, there was no ATM’s that accepted our cards. We had to walk back to the bus stop. So most important tip is to have the Bus times correct! ( take a photo of the sign) Or enough credit on your IC card.

 Where to stay

We stayed at Holiday Inn Express in Maihama ( the next suburb). It was about a 15minute walk from Maihama station.  A basic but fairly modern hotel with a good breakfast buffet included. Although it said it slept 4 there was not actually beds made up for 4 people when we got there. Hotels prices during Golden week are very high and we knew we weren’t going to be spending much time here. It also had a bus to take us to and from Disneyland and Disney Sea. I imagine it is a very different experience outside of peak times of Golden Week.

What we weren’t prepared for was we had to get up at 5.30 am to be at breakfast. It opened at 6 am so we had to be in the line beforehand. This was to ensure we would be able to catch the first bus at 7 am. The day we weren’t going to Disney and could sleep in. We had breakfast at 9 am but still had to wait in a queue. The breakfast was a nice mix of Japanese and Western food and certainly filling enough to start our day.

Where to eat at Disneyland and DisneySea

We tried quite a few restaurants at Disneyland and DisneySea. For each park, the maps include a quick guide to dining. This has the name, type of food, budget, service style and the number of seats. This includes a picture of one of the dishes to help you decide where to eat.

At some of the restaurants at Disneyland and DisneySea, you will need to make reservations for ( Priority Seating). On the day of the visit, you need to book at tdrfood.jp/ps_en. Then go to the restaurant at the time of your booking.

At Disneyland, we had a space-themed noodle dish at Plasma Ray’s Diner. Huey, Dewey and Louie’s Goodtime Café had Mickey-shaped pizza. We also found a hamburger the shape of Mickey’s glove. Otherwise, we snacked on Mickey-shaped treats and popcorn.

At DisneySea, I wanted to eat at Restaurant Sakura but I didn’t work out how to use the Priority Seating booking system in time. We enjoyed Mexican themed lunch at Miguel’s Eldorado Cantina and American style dinner at the Cape Cod Cook-off.

When we were cold and wet from the rain we warmed up with delicious Hot chocolates at Refrescos. ( Near the Mediterranean harbour)

 I hope this has inspired you to visit Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea. If you do, end up in Tokyo during Golden week these tips should help you to have as much fun as we did.