Trip is Soon! Some Questions...

[WDWFan75]

I'm just about a week out from my trip to TDR with my girlfriend. We'll be there September 1-8. We'll be staying at the Ambassador for the first five days and the MiraCosta for the last two.

My plan as of now is to start off with a Starlight Passport to TDL on the evening of the 1st, mostly just to ride Splash Mountain before its rehab. Then we'll begin a 3-Day ticket the following day, with TDS on 9/2 (especially because Raging Spirits goes down the next day), TDL on 9/3, and probably both on 9/4. If we feel the desire to do more after that, we'll upgrade to a 4-Day and spend 9/5 in the parks as well. (We really want to do everything because we don't know when we'll be back.)

After that, the plan is to do a few days of shopping and walking around in Tokyo. If we really feel like we need to, we can always do more of the parks, too. That's my main focus for this trip; Tokyo itself is really just a diversion.

I'm really, really, excited and, accordingly, I did lots of research, but I still have some questions. I'm going to list them below in no particular order. Any help is much appreciated. Frequent visitors to TDR, people who've only been once, those who go as often as they can make it, anyone who can help, please do.

1. What will the crowds be like during my visit? Will they have died down a bit from the summer madness yet? As far as I can tell, they should be more manageable, but give me a better idea of it if you could.

2. To get a Pooh FastPass in a reasonable amount of time after entering the park, how early do we need to be in line for park entry? Will FastPasses run out super-quickly or can we take our time getting there, maybe take some photos on the way? Is it possible to just get in the Standby line instead of getting a FastPass? Which line would be shorter, Standby or the line to get a FastPass?

3. At DisneySea, which attraction should be my first FastPass? Tower of Terror? Journey to the Center of the Earth? Can I get by without rushing to a ride at all? Would we still be able to see everything in the time that we have there (one full day and one or two partial days) if we just take it easy and explore? I'd prefer to do that if possible, especially with a park we've never been to. It would be nice to just walk and take it in for a while when we first get in, especially in this totally unique park. But we'll do what we have to do.

4. Is there a point at night at which the rides pretty much become walk-ons, like at the American parks? Is that true even of the crazy-popular E-Tickets like Pooh, TOT, and JTTCOTE?

5. How should we dress? I've heard that the Japanese tend to dress nicer in the parks. Will I look totally out of place in nice t-shirt and shorts? (I'm thinking trendy, nice-looking things, not like tacky, touristy ones.) I plan on bringing some collared shirts, too, but I definitely want to fit in culturally, so should I even pack t-shirts and/or shorts at all aside from around-the-room things? What about in the city? Is it acceptable to be more casual there or no? I guess I just don't want to be the tacky tourists. Certainly, we'll look like tourists, being gaijin and somewhat confused ones at that, but I just want to be appropriate, I guess.

6. What can I expect, weather-wise, this time of year? How likely is it that it will rain for virtually the entire trip? I'd be pretty sad if it did, but less so if I was prepared for it. I mean, I'll be able to find out with 10-day forecasts very shortly, but I'm looking for a more general idea for now.

7. What are some frequently-missed attractions, areas, restaurants, anything that is worth seeing?

8. What are the best places to meet characters? I'm particularly interested in Donald in anything other than his normal outfit and characters you never or only rarely see at the American parks.

9. How easy is it to change between the Disney hotels? Should it be no big deal?

10. Any other tips? Really, anything is fine by me. What do you always tell first-time visitors or always wish somebody had told them? Any advice on my plans? Better ideas? Anything at all that you can think of, write it. I want to hear it.

Thanks very much for any help you can offer!

[JoeInJpn]

Hi WDWFan1975,

Questions 1-4:
The dates you'll be visiting are pretty ideal in terms of crowds. School is back in session and Halloween won't start for another week. You should have no problems riding anything that's open at either Park. A quick rule of thumb, at TDL, make Pooh the first FP you get as soon as you enter. For TDS, Tower should be the first. You can get a Journey FP later or ride on it standby. It will be easy to get on later in the afternoon, same for all the other major attractions.

#5:
T-shirt and shorts are fine. Bring a backpack too, just make sure it's not one of those giant-sized ones. You'll see that Japanese bring huge Disney bags full of stuff to the Park. No worries there.

#6:
It's warm and wet here. We just went through two weeks of humid heat followed by some sudden rains. Unpredictable, but it will be warm.

#7:
Some of the walk-in restaurants are nice "Queen of Hearts", "Grandma Saras", "Magellan's" and "Casbah Food Court". For attractions, don't miss Mickey Mouse Revue and Sindbad.

#8:
For characters, TDS: DisneySea Aquasphere, Med Harbor, Am Waterfront. At TDL, Main Gateway, Fantasyland.

#9:
Quite easy. Just tell the clerks when of your plans when you do the pre-check.

#10:
If you like cute Disney stickers, ask CM's if you can have a free sticker. There are at least 15 different types. Most first-time visitors don't know that.

JoeInJpn
http://www.jtcent.com

[Moving Sidewalk]

I've only been to TDL and TDS a few times (so everyone, correct me if I'm wrong), but here's my advice:

2- A Pooh fastpass is a must. The standby line will be far longer, even as it gets late at night. The fastpasses don't run out right away, so if you get there at opening, you can walk leisurely over. The main thing is that the line for fastpasses just gets longer. Personally, I don't like Winnie the Pooh, but I love the TDL attraction.

3- Tower of Terror should be your first fastpass. I remember getting there just a little bit after opening, and the line for fastpasses stretched across the bridge to Cape Cod? The line for Tower of Terror will always be at least double Journey to the Center of the Earth. Disney Sea is a very fun park to explore. I would highly recommend that approach.

4- I don't think Pooh ever becomes a walk-on. Probably same with Tower of Terror. Journey to the Center may become a walk on later in the night during the off season.

5- Dress comfortable. Shorts are ok. Make sure you have very comfortable walking shoes, as you will be standing a lot.

7- For me, I think the Little Mermaid Theater Show "Under the Sea" was one of the best "hidden secrets". I didn't expect much from a show held in the "Little Kiddie Rides" area, but this show is a must see. Songs in English, with dialogue in Japanese.

Also, the cannons in the fortress are really neat. Take aim at the Mira Costa! The Fortress is really fun to explore at night.

Tokyo Disney Sea in general is really fun to explore at night. Everything is just so beautifully lit.

10- Remember that attractions may close earlier than park closing time. Sometimes near the end of the night, they will close the stand-by line and only allow fastpasses.

Stores near the entrance do not remain open an extra hour "for your shopping convenience" like in the US parks. And not all merchandise is available at every store. So don't expect to find everything at the stores near the entrances.

In Disney Sea, if the lines aren't bad, integrate the steamboats and the electric trolley in to your travels to give your feet a rest.

The Venetian Gondolas close during the harborside shows (Mythica, Braviseamo), so don't leave those to the last minute or they may have shut down for the day.

Buy a popcorn bucket and try the various flavors. (But I'd skip the chocolate flavor-- it wasn't very good.)

If you go on the teacups and want to spin really fast, keep in mind that there is a brake that engages if you spin too fast. (They're really easy to turn.) So just keep it spinning fast but below the speed that triggers the brake. You'll figure it out right away.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

I'm just about a week out from my trip to TDR with my girlfriend. We'll be there September 1-8. We'll be staying at the Ambassador for the first five days and the MiraCosta for the last two.

My plan as of now is to start off with a Starlight Passport to TDL on the evening of the 1st, mostly just to ride Splash Mountain before its rehab. Then we'll begin a 3-Day ticket the following day, with TDS on 9/2 (especially because Raging Spirits goes down the next day), TDL on 9/3, and probably both on 9/4. If we feel the desire to do more after that, we'll upgrade to a 4-Day and spend 9/5 in the parks as well. (We really want to do everything because we don't know when we'll be back.)

After that, the plan is to do a few days of shopping and walking around in Tokyo. If we really feel like we need to, we can always do more of the parks, too. That's my main focus for this trip; Tokyo itself is really just a diversion.

Thanks very much for any help you can offer!

Wow your plan sounds very much like mine did. In that case, I should warn you that once we'd been there for a while - we didn't wanna leave TDR at all! We never even left the Resort the first time, and the second time we didn't want to leave but we had to because we had to change hotels to one out in Odaiba. So just be prepared to not want to leave - it'll happen, I promise!

1. What will the crowds be like during my visit? Will they have died down a bit from the summer madness yet? As far as I can tell, they should be more manageable, but give me a better idea of it if you could.

Can't help ya there. I've only been during late May/early June. Best advice I can give is try to be in the parks during Tues-Thurs as much as possible. Generally any theme park's attendance peaks during the weekends and valley's during the midweek.

2. To get a Pooh FastPass in a reasonable amount of time after entering the park, how early do we need to be in line for park entry? Will FastPasses run out super-quickly or can we take our time getting there, maybe take some photos on the way? Is it possible to just get in the Standby line instead of getting a FastPass? Which line would be shorter, Standby or the line to get a FastPass?

Yeah in '06 I was there on a VERY busy day. The stand-by line for Pooh was 180 minutes *groan from anti-FP'ers*. There was a quite sizeable queue for the FP tickets, that was bumping into a HUGE line for the adjacent popcorn carts and it was just a sea of humanity. But getting the FP ticket only took 25 minutes, so that was better than waiting 180 mins for Stand-By. Having that ticket was sure better than being stuck in that 180min line, that's for sure. The FP's won't all run out inside of an hour, or even in 3-4, so I'd say don't worry about it.

3. At DisneySea, which attraction should be my first FastPass? Tower of Terror? Journey to the Center of the Earth? Can I get by without rushing to a ride at all? Would we still be able to see everything in the time that we have there (one full day and one or two partial days) if we just take it easy and explore? I'd prefer to do that if possible, especially with a park we've never been to. It would be nice to just walk and take it in for a while when we first get in, especially in this totally unique park. But we'll do what we have to do.

That's a tough one but I'd probably go with Tower first, then Journey.

One full day and two partials is more than enough time to see everything. There aren't that many attractions in DisneySea, but the shows are on par if not more spectacular than the attractions, so between those two you're going to have a busy schedule at TDS. One of the great things about FastPass is that it gives you that time to explore and take it easy because you're utilizing that time you would have spent being stuck in line. TDS' attractions were all built with FP in mind so you're not missing anything in any queue by using FP.

4. Is there a point at night at which the rides pretty much become walk-ons, like at the American parks? Is that true even of the crazy-popular E-Tickets like Pooh, TOT, and JTTCOTE?

Well, like the American parks, its more of a function of time of night. The later it gets the emptier it gets. So if TDS closes at 10pm, it'd be a lot emptier at closing than it would be at say 8pm.

5. How should we dress? I've heard that the Japanese tend to dress nicer in the parks. Will I look totally out of place in nice t-shirt and shorts? (I'm thinking trendy, nice-looking things, not like tacky, touristy ones.) I plan on bringing some collared shirts, too, but I definitely want to fit in culturally, so should I even pack t-shirts and/or shorts at all aside from around-the-room things? What about in the city? Is it acceptable to be more casual there or no? I guess I just don't want to be the tacky tourists. Certainly, we'll look like tourists, being gaijin and somewhat confused ones at that, but I just want to be appropriate, I guess.

*rubs eyes* Someone actually cares about dress at a theme park? Someone pinch me...

Nah, don't worry about it. I wore the same things to a TDR park that I would any other park and had no problem. T-shirt & shorts all the way, even to the 'nicer' restaurants like Magellan's or Blue Bayou. Wore the same thing in the city...no one seemed to mind...or care.

6. What can I expect, weather-wise, this time of year? How likely is it that it will rain for virtually the entire trip? I'd be pretty sad if it did, but less so if I was prepared for it. I mean, I'll be able to find out with 10-day forecasts very shortly, but I'm looking for a more general idea for now.

I would say a 10 day rain in unlikely. Having said that, I went to both TDS and TDL in the rain and still had a good time. You can see pictures of a rainy day in my pics & vids from Tokyo thread. Days 3 & 4 were pretty rainy...

7. What are some frequently-missed attractions, areas, restaurants, anything that is worth seeing?

In TDL it's easy to miss things like the Western River Railroad, or the working Jolly Trolley, or even the Rocket Jets. Disneyland nostalgists will love these attractions for obvious reasons.

In TDS it's really easy to miss the indoor part of Mermaid Lagoon since it's virtually hidden. There's a curry buffet in Arabian Coast that people have talked well about. I never ate at it so I can't give a first-hand account but I remember being really cheap for a buffet. There's also a boat that goes all through TDS that is definitely worth riding, and is easily overlooked.

8. What are the best places to meet characters? I'm particularly interested in Donald in anything other than his normal outfit and characters you never or only rarely see at the American parks.

In TDL the best place for characters seemed to be out in front, between the entrance to World Bazaar and the entrance turnstiles. That's a big wide open area and there are usually lots of characters running around out there.

In TDS, didn't seem like there were hardly any characters doing meet n' greets during a sunny day. During a rainy day though, a bunch came out in the tunnel under the MiraCosta hotel since it was protected from the wet weather. Also saw Donald and the rest of the 3 Amigos in Lost River Delta once. Port Discovery had Chip n' Dale running around from time to time w/ Goofy. Horizon Bay character dining is also really fun, especially during the early afternoon when its largely devoid of guests.

9. How easy is it to change between the Disney hotels? Should it be no big deal?

It didn't seem like that big a deal to change between any hotels, Disney or otherwise. In my last trip, I was in Tokyo for 13 days and stayed at 4 different hotels - Hilton Tokyo Bay -> Ambassador -> Nikko Tokyo -> Palm & Fountain Terrace Hotel. All fairly easy checking in & out as all hotels had english-speaking front desk staff. Japanese people bend over backwards to help each other in just about every facet of life, and the Disney CMs & hotel staff were certainly no exception to that. Any problems I ever had, they did everything they could to work them out.

10. Any other tips? Really, anything is fine by me. What do you always tell first-time visitors or always wish somebody had told them? Any advice on my plans? Better ideas? Anything at all that you can think of, write it. I want to hear it.

Just have fun, expect the unexpected, have at least a basic plan as to what you want to do and go with it. If you're using the trains, it helps to be able to compare routes and www.hyperdia.com is great with that. Just be sure to click 'english'

One thing that I did on my most recent trip that I think worked very well was splitting my budget between a Visa attached to a checking account I had and Japanese cash I had pre-ordered from a bank here in the USA before I left. Then I would only use the Visa for the huge purchases - hotel bills and theme park tickets. Otherwise I'd use the cash. With the cash, I kept every receipt I got and then wrote down the expenses I didn't get a receipt for (like vending machines).

I created and used an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of every Yen I had at all times. If I was ever curious how much US$, it was a simple matter of division. That allowed me to give myself a daily budget and I thus never spent beyond my means, or at least, never unknowingly spent beyond my means. There were some days I spent more knowing other days I spent less, which is fine. Knowing what was going and being on top of things was what I was going after with that. Call it the accountant in me. Anyway, I suggest anyone who goes really keep track of your expenses. It is seriously easy to spend A LOT in Japan. Gotta keep your wits about you.

Feel free to ask any questions...I'm sure all of us will do what we can to help you.

-- PMM

[Mr.Abominable]

Just a couple of quick notes because everyone else has just about covered everything! Add the Mystic Rythms show at DisneySea to your itinerary, no Disney Characters but I though it was very well done, in fact every bit of entertainment in Tokyo was extremely well done.

When you check in to the Ambassador Hotel, let them know that when you check out, you are moving to the Miracosta. They will move your bags free of charge and they will totally be expecting you when you check in. We did the same thing except from Miracosta to the Ambassador and our bags were waiting in our room already. The CM just escorted us up and made sure that we were happy with everything.

I hope you have a great time, it is truly the most amazing Disney place on Earth. I miss it so much!

[kustomboy]

Don't miss the two shows at Donald's Boat Builders. They are a hidden treasure.

[hawachan]

If you didn`t know, due to the hot weather Goofy's Cool Panic and Chip 'n Dale's Cool Servicehave been extendted until the 11th of September. So prepare to get WET!!

[JoeInJpn]

Don't miss the two shows at Donald's Boat Builders. They are a hidden treasure.

Just to clear it up, "Donald's Boat Builders" is one show with two parts. Part one has Donald, Mickey and Goofy trying to fix up a fishing boat. Part two has Chip 'n Dale actually restoring the boat while Donald is away. Cute program and a favorite of the Park's original music director.

JoeInJpn
http://www.jtcent.com

[WDWFan75]

Thanks, everyone, for all the help! You've been wonderful! One more question I came up with:

Do the Disney hotels have WiFi and/or or wired high-speed Internet access in the rooms?

[TDR_Fan]

Thanks, everyone, for all the help! You've been wonderful! One more question I came up with:

Do the Disney hotels have WiFi and/or or wired high-speed Internet access in the rooms?

Unfortunately, not that I know of. This may change in the future though. I would try phoning just to be sure; please inform us if they do offer it now.

[WDWFan75]

All righty, thanks. I'll let you know if it's changed when I come back.

[Malin]

Have a good trip WDWFan75

[Kuhio]

I went last October, and got some stellar advice from the folks on this board. I ended up doing everything I wanted to do, despite ridiculous crowds -- I was at TDS on a national holiday, and TDL on a Saturday. At TDS, I managed to do every attraction except the child-oriented Mermaid Lagoon rides, including ToT twice, Raging Spirits twice, Indy twice, and 20,000 Leagues twice. At TDL, I was able to do every attraction except one or two of the Fantasyland dark rides, including Pooh three times, HM Holiday Nightmare twice, and Splash Mountain twice. Mind you, this was when crowds at TDL were so severe that I literally couldn't walk in Fantasyland at one point in the afternoon, because it was shoulder to shoulder. If I can do it, so can you. If the Halloween events haven't started when you're there, I'm assuming the crowds will be lighter.

I will just second the advice given above about making ToT your priority at TDS, and Pooh your priority at TDL. I arrived at both parks about an hour before opening, and when I got through the gates, I ran in the direction of ToT at TDS, and Pooh at TDL. Line for ToT was about 45 minutes -- it was quite long, but moved briskly because it didn't have to stop to accommodate FPers. The standby line for Pooh wasn't bad either. Immediately after I finished each attraction, I went and got a FP for later in the day. By this point, about an hour after park opening, the FP return window for ToT was for the hour before park closing. The Pooh FP was for early evening. (You'll still be able to get other FPs during the day -- I did StormRider, JTTCOTE, Space Mountain, and maybe one other attraction with FPs as well.)

Some other things to keep in mind:

If you don't mind possibly splitting your party up, consider doing the single rider lines if they are operational -- it will literally save you hours. I used it for Raging Spirits (reducing the wait to about 10 minutes), Indy (reducing the wait to about 15 minutes -- although the first CM I encountered told me that there was no single rider line, another CM who overheard our conversation assured me there was and directed me to it), and 20,000 Leagues (which will still be at least 30 minutes or so, because you'll have to stand in the regular line all the way down the spiral before you break off into the single-rider portion of the queue).

Lines do seem to be shorter in the hour or so before the park closes. ToT was still ridiculously long; JTTCOTE was less so (about an hour wait in standby one hour prior to park closing). Pooh's line was actually relatively short half an hour before park closing -- it was only 40 minutes, and even though the park was officially closed before I actually got on, they let everyone in line go through. That's how I got in my third ride of the day.

Try the sea salt ice cream -- it's unique, and not as unpalatable as it might sound. Try some of the different flavored popcorns, and get a souvenir bucket if you want (I'd "shop around" a bit to see which flavors/buckets you like, but if you wait until later in the day, the popcorn lines can get ridiculously long as well).

Gyoza dogs -- I like gyoza and gyoza-type foods, but really wasn't blown away by the gyoza dogs. Unfortunately, I ended up getting (and eating) two because I'd waited for half an hour, and didn't want to have to wait again if I ended up loving it. I didn't love it -- it wasn't bad, but it wasn't mind-blowingly delicious either.

Restaurants I liked -- Queen of Hearts and Grandma Sara's, as mentioned above, are favorites of mine. I've been to both on both of my trips. I also liked Vulcania in TDS and China Voyager in TDL -- both have pretty good food, and cool theming.

Hope you have a great trip.

[travelmom]

Wow, have a super time!
Don't forget to remember everything to tell us!

[TDLFAN]

It's so nice for me to sit back and let others do the talking, etc....

Aaagh.