TDR March 7th, 2011

[michaelaus]

Hi all,

First of all, I just wanted to say cheers for all the useful information I have read on these boards. Your collective knowledge is incredible and a lot of the questions I was going to ask have already been answered, thanks!

I have a trip to Japan for early March. I plan on going to TDR with a one day park hopper pass on March 7th (a Monday) but could go March 8, with my good friend. I would love to spend more than one day at the parks but unfortunately I don't have time.

We are both 21 years old and looking to make the most out of our time at TDR. I want to check out both Disneyland and DisneySea, and go on the major attractions. I have been to Disneyland California before, so the general Disney vibe I have experienced (and am looking forward to experiencing again) but as a younger kid, so I really want a refresher. My friend hasn't been before. I live in Australia, so TDR is probably my closest Disney resort.

So, to make the most of my time, I want to make a pretty precise plan on how we will attack the day. The opening hours are 9 AM - 10 PM and we definitely want to be there the entire time and early on the morning to ensure we are first in.

The things I definitely want to do at Disneyland/Sea are:

• The Electrical Parade
• Big Thunder Mountain
• Winnie the Pooh
• Tea Cups (lol)
• Monsters Inc.
• Buzz Lightyear
• Space Mountain (it was closed for renovations when I was in Cali, so this is a must)
• Haunted Mansion
• Splash Mountain
• Pirates of the Carribean
• Photos and meet Micky
  
• Photos of DisneySea - read the place is just amazing but don't want to spoil it with photos just yet!
• Indiana Jones
• Journey to the Centre of the Earth
• 20 000 Leagues (though not important)
• Tower of Terror

Okay, so I know there's a lot to fit into one day. But I do have 13 Hours, and I think if I utilise the time wisely, I should be able to get the majority of it done and have an awesome day.

That's where you come in! If you could help me with the following -

1. Which day would be better, the Monday (7th) or the Tuesday (8th) - and what crowds could I be expecting (obviously busy, but how busy on TDR standards?)
2. Is there some secret to using FastPass to my advantage and how would I go about this?
3. Where to go first - land or sea, and how to approach the day (ie. parade times, lunch times etc)

Thanks so much and any feedback would be appreciated!

[steve76]

I haven't been yet - I'm going in October - but as I understand it, you cannot buy a 1-day parkhopper. The only parkhopping that can be done is on days 3 and 4 of a multi-day passport. So I guess you'd have to buy two 1-day tickets each. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

There's a crowd calendar at ƒfƒBƒYƒj�[ƒ‰ƒ“ƒh ƒfƒBƒYƒj�[ƒV�[ �¬ŽG—\‘zƒJƒŒƒ“ƒ_�[, which shows that the Tuesday is expected to be slightly less crowded than the Monday.

Have fun!

[poohstraveler]

Yeah, unfortunately no hopping privileges until the 3rd or 4th days. Depending on the day in question, you might be able to get an after 6 pass for one of the two parks and then buy a full day admission to the other.

I have to be honest though - one day is definitely not enough! Both of these parks are big and the attractions are much different than those in the US. You will be shocked at how fast 13 hours goes! Usually we do 3 days when my husband goes with me, otherwise I just go for two (one day each) as I am there for the seasonal events and new merchandise only. Even then, I often run out of time!

Less crowds or not, in general Tokyo Disney is much more crowded than what I was used to growing up going to Disneyland 1-2 per week. On a good day, I've still had lines over an hour plus. Fast Passes go quick so basically you need to pick your number one attraction and go right there. Seriously, people go running as soon as the gates open up and I've had several times where (even during the week) FP were gone 2 hours after park opening. Some weekdays are definitely better, so hopefully you will just luck out and it's a quiet day (never my luck lol).

People line up very early in the morning. When I was there a couple weeks ago, we were taking a super early train headed to southern Japan and there were lines in each parking lane and a hoard of people got off the train and ran for the lines to wait for the next 2 hours.

As far as attraction popularity goes, Monsters Inc and Pooh seem to be the fastest FP distribution from what I've seen. Monsters is good, but honestly if you had to choose, I'd go for Pooh. This one is entirely different from the other parks and one of the coolest rides in my opinion (not because I love Pooh, but the ride design itself).

For DisneySEA FP, I'd recommend probably running in and going straight to ToT since it's close. Depending on the return time, I'd head to Journey and do that - the queue seems to run fairly slow for that one (at least when I've been on it).

I'd recommend going on Tuesday as Mondays do still seem a bit crowded, although it can be hit or miss. I just booked a hotel for a Monday night coming up and two of the hotels I was interested in were sold out and the park is only open until 7pm those days!

[voleball]

As others said, there is no 1 day park hopper ticket, but if you stay at the Disney hotels, you can buy Multi-day Passport Special ticket.

Limited Sale of Multi-Day Passport Special (October 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011)
During the above period, the Disney Hotels will offer Multi-Day Passport Special tickets that allow Guests to visit both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea as they like from their very first day.

[michaelaus]

Okay, so an update. I have worked out we are going to purchase the two day passport which will allow us to go to DisneySea at approx 12 or 1 PM on the first day, and then the following we will get to Disneyland nice and early for the full day.

Plan of attack for DisneySea is more so to take in the scenery and do a couple of rides like TOT, JTTCOE and Indiana, plus see it all lit up at night. Following day I hope to do a few more of the rides with hopefully less of a crowd, including Pooh and Monsters!

Any further recommendations?

Thanks to everyone who replied for your help.

[shelemm]

I'm not sure what you mean by 'all lit up at night.' When I was there, there was nothing special about the lighting nor are the parks 'all it up' IMO, except for a special program. They are usually a bit dark, except for Main Street and the Castle.