Help for a first trip

[Lottie2004]

Hi,
We are considering a trip to Tokyo for 3 adults and 1 17 year old.
Probably looking at July or August 2022.
Please could anyone give me hints and tips regarding flights, hotels, Disney tickets, travel while in Tokyo and anything else that you would consider helpful.
Ideally staying near Disney and then travelling to Kyoto and then on to Universal !
Thanks in advance !

[AntonyJ]

<links fingers in dramatic way, then bands and clicks them> Welcome!

M first advise is go look at the TDR Explorer web site, he has guides etc. and a great e-book on planning. tdrexplorer/

Flights - where about you flying from, are you normally a Manchester airport, Heathrow or other flyer? Do you need direct or are you Ok with a connecting flight or two?

I personally would fly into Tokyo and do my Disney trip at the start, as Haneda airport (there are 2 that service Tokyo, the other is Narita) is quite close to Tokyo Disney resort, and there are limo buses (they are coaches!) that run from the airport to Tokyo Disney area.

Hotel, I have stayed at Hilton Tokyo Bay and loved it, going back there next May for our Disney days, before moving to another hotel in Tokyo city itself. There is a Sheraton hotel next to the Hilton, people appears to like that hotel a lot also (though there is a newer wing that seems to be best part to stay in) but the only differences that I have found of note are:

Hilton - has a doctor who can write prescriptions on staff. Park tickets can be bought in the hotel, but you have to pay for them in cash.

Sheraton - has a coin operated laundry service. Park tickets can be paid for with cards.

NOTE - no park tickets are currently being sold in hotels. The situation with buying park tickets will change several times before your planned date am sure, so keep an eye on places like here and TDR Explorer web site.

So not planning any time in Tokyo itself?

We did bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto on our trip and it was great, Universal is in Osaka which is only about 30 mins from Kyoto. Also, Kyoto station is one of the modern marvels of the world, IMHO, worth a look on Google.

On my upcoming trip we will move to Osaka (bullet train) for 2 days there (one to do Universal, one day to look round city) before moving back to Tokyo.

What all parties of your trip looking to do / see / try etc?

[AntonyJ]

Another thing to be aware of, is that Tokyo Disney Resort has some good reasons to wait until 2023 to go - the new Fantasy Springs expansion is opening, plus it is a big anniversary for Tokyo Disneyland so will be all sorts of special events on.

TDR Explorer talks it here:


Am NOT delaying a year if I can!

[kk20]

we went in july. it is hot and can rain. take it slow and it will be fine. we did a twin centre of tokyo and kyoto.

flights were our first purchase at a year out. Hotels were about 8 months out, disney tickets direct at 4 months, same wirh railpass (a no brainer with 2x bullet train journeys). we used Airbnb for a house in kyoto. Best decision we made.

tokyo is mad neon fast rush. kyoto is old slower culture.

we are in the process of a 2022 plan, of parts we did last time, these are pur muat dos again:

disney 3 full days. we will be stopping at either okura bay again or hilton.

Nara park day, probably from Kyoto.

Eena tea house and calligraphy. we loved the tea ceremony and dressed in yucata for the day.

on top of this we will be going to osaka and moat likely hiroshima this time.

use the subway to get around. it works, is cheap and safe (for a metropolis!). Hyperdia is a good planning tool for getting around.

7.11 have ATMs that work with halifax clarity cards. we took very little currency and used our clarity card plus atms.

Language barrier isnt too much of an issue. I used lingodeer over a year to learn basics and numbers. I got by just fine. Voicetra was an excellent app for voice translation.

If Disney is a large focus for you (it is for us), then it is perfectly possible to commute to tokyo from disney area, this is a major possibility for us as the hotels in disney area have more room.

Universal is a probability for us too. we will be commutinf from Kyoto. As before, the trains and subway system are good. dont worry about 3 minute connections in a train station that has hundreds of thousands of people per day, a 13 storey department store, 24 tracks and its own light show and skywalk. It just works!

[Lottie2004]

Hi,
Thank you for your replies -
We will probably look at flying from London - we don’t mind indirect flights - so happy to look at all options !
Yes we definitely want to spend some time in Tokyo - so would it be better to move from the Disney area into Tokyo or just stay put and commute ?
I am off to do loads more research - and find out exactly what my two anime mad older children want to do and see !
I’m sure I will have a million questions !
Thanks x

[Gill H]

We have a trip booked for November 2022 (postponed twice!). We are doing 3 nights at Disney (Hilton) then 3 nights in Kyoto, 1 night in Hakone and 3 nights in Tokyo. Cost for 2 adults including direct flights and rail pass is roughly Ł5k.

We hate heat so could never manage summer.

[AntonyJ]

Originally Posted by Lottie2004

Hi,
Thank you for your replies -
We will probably look at flying from London - we don’t mind indirect flights - so happy to look at all options !
Yes we definitely want to spend some time in Tokyo - so would it be better to move from the Disney area into Tokyo or just stay put and commute ?
I am off to do loads more research - and find out exactly what my two anime mad older children want to do and see !
I’m sure I will have a million questions !
Thanks x

See more...

London - well I flew ANA to Tokyo from Heathrow, but using up Virgin airmiles to get reward seats on ANA. One of my fav Disney / Tokyo / Japan YouTube people (called "thisNatasha") goes with Finnair via Helsinki and likes their flights.

You could stay at Hilton Tokyo Bay for all your time in Tokyo, but then the start / end of your days in Tokyo have between 20 and 40 min "commute" each way - some people would not mind it. The added bonus is the room at Tokyo Bay will be MUCH bigger (and probably cheaper) than in the city itself. City hotel rooms tend to be ... tiny

We liked staying in Shibuya - famous from its pedestrian crossing (busiest in world? ) but we loved the location. Pretty much everything we wanted to see was between 20 and 40 mins walk away, and of course the trains / metro cover all places anyway.

Shibuya has had a lot of new buildings in last few years, and renovations to older ones, but a few examples are:

Parco building – large tower block with Tokyo’s only Nintendo store on top floor, also has Pokémon and Capcom and another few anime stores there.

Shibuya Scramble Square – new building with shops etc – but the top floor has an amazing viewing deck with 360 views of the city

Disney Store – after the big one at Tokyo Disney Resort in Ikspiari, this is probably the next biggest.

Miya≈≈≈≈a Park – another new opening that has shopping, food places and a rooftop park with climbing wall – has the only retail store (I think! ) for the more grown up / American type merchandise of anime Studio Ghibli – call “GBL”. It also has a KitKat “chocolatory” there where you can make your own KitKat for a price. They take KitKat very seriously in Japan!

Then about 20 mins walk away is Harajuku and the Meiji Shrine, then about another 15 mins to Shinjuku and all the wonders there.

Tokyo Station has a Character Street underground, with loads of different stores selling merch for anime - also has a Ghibli store there and a Pokémon one and loads of anime characters I had never heard of! Each of the Pokémon stores will sell merch unique / themed to that location.

There are a few Gundam cafes around Tokyo too, and Square / Enix have a themed cafe called Artnia that sells themed food / drinks and of course merch.

Tell me the anime the kids like, and will try and give specific places