Why is Tokyo Disneyland so crowded compared with Disneyland in CA?

[Roger55]

My point was that few, if any, posters bother to warn people about the incredible crowding at that resort, and don't give any guidelines about the best time to go. They just rave about the place, and lead people to spend lots of money and walk right into a hellish crowding situation.

The topic of when are the best times to go to TDR is so rare I can see how you might have missed it. I was only able to come up with this scant number of post regarding this topic.


When is the best time to visit Tokyo Disney Resort?
Best Time to Visit During Fall?
Best Time(s) Of Year To Visit
When To Go? What to see?
Best time to visit?
When is it the best time to visit the TDR
Best Time to Visit?
Best Time to visit TDR

The scarcity of advice and discussion regarding when to visit is appauling and very irresponsible.

[disneyfann121]

The topic of when are the best times to go to TDR is so rare I can see how you might have missed it. I was only able to come up with this scant number of post regarding this topic.


When is the best time to visit Tokyo Disney Resort?
Best Time to Visit During Fall?
Best Time(s) Of Year To Visit
When To Go? What to see?
Best time to visit?
When is it the best time to visit the TDR
Best Time to Visit?
Best Time to visit TDR

The scarcity of advice and discussion regarding when to visit is appauling and very irresponsible.

Those are threads started by people who want the information before they leap into this big, expensive trip. But, all the TDR boosters have to say is "go, go, go, you'll love it", without warning about the crowding. So there must have been a lot of people who didn't ask the question "when is the best time to go?", because they took the boosters at their word.

There are even people in this very thread who say that they visited and got a very bad surprise when it comes to crowding -- and I've read posts in other threads that say the same thing. There must have been lots of people taken in by all the TDR boosterism, and spent a great deal of time and money, only to end up with a trip that wasn't worth all that hassle.

That's what I call irresponsible; if you're going to hype a place to the sky, shouldn't you also mention the very big downsides of going there?

[Rebekkap]

Those are threads started by people who want the information before they leap into this big, expensive trip. But, all the TDR boosters have to say is "go, go, go, you'll love it", without warning about the crowding. So there must have been a lot of people who didn't ask the question "when is the best time to go?", because they took the boosters at their word.

There are even people in this very thread who say that they visited and got a very bad surprise when it comes to crowding -- and I've read posts in other threads that say the same thing. There must have been lots of people taken in by all the TDR boosterism, and spent a great deal of time and money, only to end up with a trip that wasn't worth all that hassle.

That's what I call irresponsible; if you're going to hype a place to the sky, shouldn't you also mention the very big downsides of going there?

Seriously, anyone who goes on vacation without doing their own research is the one acting irresponsibly, not the person who comes back from their own vacation and raves about it instead of whinging about the downsides!

[Fukai]

I think we've emphasized the fact that you need to be on line at least 30 to 45 minutes before park opening many many times. That's the single biggest factor in havng a good or bad experience at either park at the Tokyo Disney Resort.

The second factor is knowing what a FastPass is and how to best utilize them.

The third factor is knowing what rides and attractions most interest you, and the order in which you need to see them in order to get the most out of your day.

[lighttragic]

I flew half way around the world from santa monica to Tokyo to experience tokyo Disney Sea knowing full well that the crowds were very different from what we have in Anaheim but I did my research learned about fastpasses , I think it was called Early Entry or Magic Morning. and learned about crowd patterns such as people lining up over an hour early to get in. While on some days especially disneyland lt did feel crowded never did I feel that OMG this place was to full or overhyped . It was totally worth it.
I will say that if you are lucky enough to stay in the Disney owned resorts take advantage of early/magic morning. For the three mornings I did that . I think rode Poohs Hunny Hunt 8 times, Big Thunder Mountain 3 times Space Mountain 3 times .. Peter Pans flight, Haunted Mansion etc. It also gave me time to line up in a fastpass line for anything I didnt do in early morning.
I knew the rest of the day I was going to take in some of the other attractions and shows and utilize fastpass and slow down a bit.
Tokyo Disney Resort is definitely worth visiting crowds or no crowds. Just think like its xmas crowds everyday and use your disney knowledge to maximize your day.

[disneyfann121]

I'm sure Disney Sea is great...but what is management doing to mitigate the crowd situation? Anything at all? At least at DLR, there are block out dates.

[Fukai]

Management is building new rides or refreshing old ones on a regular basis.

Management is holding seasonal events multiple times every year (none of which are hard ticket like in the US--you get all the stuff for nothing extta in Tokyo).

Management just built three hotels, a monorail, and a 3-billion dollar second gate 11 years ago.

I think they're doing plenty, and it doesn't show any signs of slowing down.

What is unknown at this point is whether OLC will take direct action to counter the opening of the Wizardling World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Osaka in 2016.

Unlike in the USA, where each Universal Theme Park is in the same city as a Disney Resort, the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu is far away from Universal in Osaka--three hours on the Bullet Train from Tokyo (and it's an expensive ticket, too).

OLC is probably wondering how many people from Tokyo are going to go to Osaka to see the Harry Potter land at Universal instead of coming to the Tokyo Disney resort for the first few years.

I'm wondering, too.

[Rave]

I'm sure Disney Sea is great...but what is management doing to mitigate the crowd situation? Anything at all? At least at DLR, there are block out dates.

But DLR created their own problem. At TDR, the single park AP's are more expensive than premium AP's for DL. Basically, there aren't nearly as many AP's at TDR as there are at DLR

[Roger55]

I'm sure Disney Sea is great...but what is management doing to mitigate the crowd situation? Anything at all? At least at DLR, there are block out dates.

TDR does not use block out dates that are scheduled. There are however, many days when APs get blocked/shut out because the park fills up to capacity. And on some of those days even the day Guests get shut out because they shut down ticket sales for the day due to the parks being at capacity.

I'm curious to know the real reason for your apparent distaste for TDR and/or those of us who do go there.

[lighttragic]

TDR does not use block out dates that are scheduled. There are however, many days when APs get blocked/shut out because the park fills up to capacity. And on some of those days even the day Guests get shut out because they shut down ticket sales for the day due to the parks being at capacity.

I'm curious to know the real reason for your apparent distaste for TDR and/or those of us who do go there.

I think everyone in this forum has gone above and beyond by being helpful to this poster yet they seem to have some dislike for the tokyo disney resort which is an opinion they hold. No matter how much we talk about the cultural difference and people lining up early and not being issue and people being civil when its very crowded. The poster seems to continue to dislike TDR despite being considered among the premier resorts in the disney Universe and beyond. If the poster who calls us irresponsible for talking up a beautiful resort ever decides to go to Tokyo then perhaps they will see what we see. Crowds do not matter to have a wonderful time in Tokyo.

[shelemm]

Ok, just to add my two cents:

I have been to TDL twice now, both times midweek midsummer. With smart use of FP, we didn't have to wait on any lines, and we saw everything we wanted to see. The only exception to this was when Monsters Inc first opened. We had no intention of seeing it, believing it to be no better than at DL. That night, the electrical parade was canceled and it was either wait on line or leave the park (and Tokyo) for good. So we waited 2 hours for a ride that wasn't worth it. But we had nothing better to do, so we didn't regret it.

Anyone can go on Wikipedia for park attendance records if they want more details that compare the parks.

[pinksand]

There are even people in this very thread who say that they visited and got a very bad surprise when it comes to crowding -- and I've read posts in other threads that say the same thing. There must have been lots of people taken in by all the TDR boosterism, and spent a great deal of time and money, only to end up with a trip that wasn't worth all that hassle.

I was one of the people upthread who talked about how crowded it was, but this isn't how I'd characterize my experience. I found very little planning information on Tokyo Disneyland, far less than on Disneyland Paris, for example - but our dates happened to be during a busy time. We decided to make the best of it, and we did just that. We managed our expectations, got there early, used Fastpass, and as a result, afterwards, we spoke not about the massive crowding, but about fond memories of a good time had by all.

Tokyo DisneySea is an outstanding park on every level, the best Disney park in the world in my opinion. I absolutely think Disney fans who want to see it should go, but I do think they should just be aware that the crowds are something that we really aren't used to here at the home parks.

[disneyfann121]

I think everyone in this forum has gone above and beyond by being helpful to this poster yet they seem to have some dislike for the tokyo disney resort which is an opinion they hold. No matter how much we talk about the cultural difference and people lining up early and not being issue and people being civil when its very crowded. The poster seems to continue to dislike TDR despite being considered among the premier resorts in the disney Universe and beyond. If the poster who calls us irresponsible for talking up a beautiful resort ever decides to go to Tokyo then perhaps they will see what we see. Crowds do not matter to have a wonderful time in Tokyo.

Crowds don't matter? Really? Is that why all the threads in post # 16 above refer to the best time to visit, i.e., when the crowd situation is not horrific? Not to mention the zillions of threads on these forums devoted to crowding at other resorts.

Of course I don't dislike the place, I've never been there. What I hate is insane crowding, no matter how good the parks happen to be. You can deny it until you're blue in the face, but crowd conditions, at least for most people, is one of the key factors when you are talking about the quality of the theme park experience. Good rides, parades, customer service, etc. are not the only factors.

Many people, like me, have limited financial resources. Flying to Tokyo is a big expense of time and money, and many could only afford to go once in a lifetime. I can spend a week in Orlando or Anaheim for the price of the plane ticket alone. So if someone chooses to go to Tokyo instead, they are entitled to a high quality experience, not "Christmas crowds all year long."

They only have this one visit to try to enjoy all the attractions, and people on a tight budget probably only have a few days. There is almost no way they will be able to see and do everything they want, with two hour wait times and rapidly disappearing fast passes. Not to mention the many times when rides are down for refurb.

Post #22 above claims that management has done a lot to mitigate crowding. Obviously, it's not enough. Take a look at the title of the thread again.

So, for those people for whom Tokyo is prohibitively expensive, my conclusion is that TDR is probably worth the extra expense only at certain times of the year -- i.e., those select and dwindling few days when the place isn't overwhelmed with people.

The same is true of WDW and DLR; I try hard to cherry pick those times of year when the crowds won't be oppressive -- and that's getting more challenging all the time. I think I speak for a lot of tourists when I say that I'm getting fed up with Disney's sardine can policies, in which the off-season is becoming a thing of the past. That goes for Tokyo and all other resorts.

[MANEATINGWREATH]

1,000th Post!

Anyways, *clears throat* I'd really like to travel to Tokyo one day. As silly as it sounds, I'm only interested in going for TDR. From what I've seen, both parks are near perfect, reason enough alone to spend thousands of dollars to go. But, would anyone be able to clarify if the hefty travel price is worth it? I don't want to spend that much money on the trip and not be able to ride anything. As a Southern Californian, I've been able to get on just about anything at Disneyland on its most crowded days regardless of the wait times, but would it be possible to do this when some rides have a mere 400 minute wait?

[bigglesworth003]

Rides when they first open for a week to a month have crazy 400min waits. For instance i was there in November Start of the Christmas Season, and Toy Story, at most had a 150 minute wait. Everything else was 0-60 minutes tops.

And trust me, once you visit tokyo, you will fall in love with the city, I admit, I first went with the main objective of going to TDR and have been back 5 times in the last 5 years, and the majority of my time is spent in Japan, Its the most amazing country i've been to and you MUST give yoursefl a few days to soak up Tokyo the lights, food, and people.

I don't understand why some other memebrs are getting so worked up on people being "unhelpful" and not caring about the crowds, Everyone is different, i'd still go to TDR on the busiest of days and have an amazing time.