Itinerary for Tokyo

[kevin_cambs_uk]

2016 Trip

Flight to Narita
Arrive - Train Journey/Suica Card/Tokyo Station on Yamanote Line
Tokyo Station - Activate pass. Meiji shrine/Yoyogi Park/Harajuku/Shibuya eve
Tamiya Factory/Shizuoka Hobby Square/
Asakusa Shrine/Boat to Odiaba/Yurikamome line
Kyoto - Railway Museum/Kyoto station
Imperial Gardens/Maranuchio roof top terrace food place and train spotting
Hiroshima - Peace Memorial
Akihabara/Train Café/Shimbashi Tamiya
Kyoto - Bamboo Forest/Fushini Iniari Shrine
Honda Headquarters - Asimo/Sony Head Quarters/Yuracho Train Spotting/IFB
Disney Land Tokyo
Disney Sea Tokyo
Flight to Heathrow

2017

Flight to Narita
Hotel, evening meal, tea and coffee and milk, Kitte Building
Hotel breakfast, Rail Pass, Tamiya shop, Shinagawa cycle parking, Odiaba
Osaka, Umeda Sky Building, Osaka castle, Dotonbori for lunch, Takoyami
Nippori station and Yanaka, Ueno Park, Ameyocho Market, Nakano Broadway, Shinjuku
Kanazawa and the Japanese Garden and Kanazawa Castle
Hamarikyu Gaedens, Fish Market, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Starbucks,
Shizuoka and Tamiya, Hobby Square
Yokohama for the morning then Roppongi for Fish and Chips and Mallins
Hakadate - Mountain car and burger restaurant
Enoshin and Beach, that railway through the town, Kamakura Buddha
Kobe and the beef
Akihabara, Asakusa again, Skytree, Akihabara again!
Shinozaki Bonsai Museum, Tamiya shop and packing
Flight to Heathrow


Each line is one day.

Hope that helps, any questions please ask,

[Rac20]

Originally Posted by kevin_cambs_uk

2016 Trip

Flight to Narita
Arrive - Train Journey/Suica Card/Tokyo Station on Yamanote Line
Tokyo Station - Activate pass. Meiji shrine/Yoyogi Park/Harajuku/Shibuya eve
Tamiya Factory/Shizuoka Hobby Square/
Asakusa Shrine/Boat to Odiaba/Yurikamome line
Kyoto - Railway Museum/Kyoto station
Imperial Gardens/Maranuchio roof top terrace food place and train spotting
Hiroshima - Peace Memorial
Akihabara/Train Café/Shimbashi Tamiya
Kyoto - Bamboo Forest/Fushini Iniari Shrine
Honda Headquarters - Asimo/Sony Head Quarters/Yuracho Train Spotting/IFB
Disney Land Tokyo
Disney Sea Tokyo
Flight to Heathrow

2017

Flight to Narita
Hotel, evening meal, tea and coffee and milk, Kitte Building
Hotel breakfast, Rail Pass, Tamiya shop, Shinagawa cycle parking, Odiaba
Osaka, Umeda Sky Building, Osaka castle, Dotonbori for lunch, Takoyami
Nippori station and Yanaka, Ueno Park, Ameyocho Market, Nakano Broadway, Shinjuku
Kanazawa and the Japanese Garden and Kanazawa Castle
Hamarikyu Gaedens, Fish Market, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Starbucks,
Shizuoka and Tamiya, Hobby Square
Yokohama for the morning then Roppongi for Fish and Chips and Mallins
Hakadate - Mountain car and burger restaurant
Enoshin and Beach, that railway through the town, Kamakura Buddha
Kobe and the beef
Akihabara, Asakusa again, Skytree, Akihabara again!
Shinozaki Bonsai Museum, Tamiya shop and packing
Flight to Heathrow


Each line is one day.

Hope that helps, any questions please ask,

See more...

Thank you. That’s really helpful. I’m sure I will have lots of questions!

[kevin_cambs_uk]

Originally Posted by Rac20

Thank you. That’s really helpful. I’m sure I will have lots of questions!

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There is no shortage of things to do in Japan!

[SuzyM]

We went in August this year and did the following:

Flew Man-Tokyo via Hong Kong
5 nights in a Disney partner hotel to do 2 full days in each park
4 nights in Shinjuku to explore Tokyo and went to Hakone for a full day
Bullet train to Hiroshima to explore Hiroshima and Miyajima island - 1 night in Hiroshima
Bullet train to Osaka - 5 nights there to explore Osaka, Kyoto and Universal Studios Japan
Flew from Osaka to Hong Kong - 4 nights there - 2 days exploring HK and 2 days Disney
Flew HK to Manchester.

I was happy with that plan - you could always explore more in all areas but I was happy with what we did and felt we had enough time in each place.

[Rac20]

Originally Posted by SuzyM

We went in August this year and did the following:

Flew Man-Tokyo via Hong Kong
5 nights in a Disney partner hotel to do 2 full days in each park
4 nights in Shinjuku to explore Tokyo and went to Hakone for a full day
Bullet train to Hiroshima to explore Hiroshima and Miyajima island - 1 night in Hiroshima
Bullet train to Osaka - 5 nights there to explore Osaka, Kyoto and Universal Studios Japan
Flew from Osaka to Hong Kong - 4 nights there - 2 days exploring HK and 2 days Disney
Flew HK to Manchester.

I was happy with that plan - you could always explore more in all areas but I was happy with what we did and felt we had enough time in each place.

See more...

Can I ask how busy the parks are?

I’ve passed on itinerary suggestions to my brother as it was his suggestion to go (he’s chief planner) and he’s only allowing 2 days for Disney and 1 for Universal. I’ve told him it will be busy and we’ll need longer and he’s still insisting on that time frame. The problem has arisen I think because Disney is just an added bonus for him. Whereas for me it’s the only reason I (not actually the only reason- I want to see my beautiful niece and nephew- that’s the main reason) I agreed to go to Japan. I was trying to convince them to go back to Orlando!

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll enjoy the cultural side of things too, I’m sure. But I don’t want to feel like I’ve not seen everything in the park as it’s unlkeky I’ll be heading back.

[SuzyM]

Originally Posted by Rac20

Can I ask how busy the parks are?

I’ve passed on itinerary suggestions to my brother as it was his suggestion to go (he’s chief planner) and he’s only allowing 2 days for Disney and 1 for Universal. I’ve told him it will be busy and we’ll need longer and he’s still insisting on that time frame. The problem has arisen I think because Disney is just an added bonus for him. Whereas for me it’s the only reason I (not actually the only reason- I want to see my beautiful niece and nephew- that’s the main reason) I agreed to go to Japan. I was trying to convince them to go back to Orlando!

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll enjoy the cultural side of things too, I’m sure. But I don’t want to feel like I’ve not seen everything in the park as it’s unlkeky I’ll be heading back.

See more...

They are really busy in the summer holidays. Unlike the US, everyone in Japan arrives early - like an hour or more before park opens and the queues to get into the parks are huge. In TDL we went to get a fastpass for Monsters Inc (and you have to queue for fastpasses) then went to Honey Hunt and the queue there was already 45 mins - and this is at rope drop! We did manage to do quite a bit using fastpasses and single rider where it was available as hardly anyone does single rider in Japan. The theming and the way the Japanese do Disney is worth going for alone though. But do expect to queue for everything including fastpasses, snacks, meals, drinks, even drinks vending machines. We liked having two days in each park - we stayed at a partner hotel on the monorail loop and did rope drop until about 2pm, then went back to the hotel for a break/nap/showers etc then went out again about 5pm until about 9.30/10pm.

Universal was worse for queues and heat. We did one ride at rope drop pretty quickly (about a 15 min wait) then headed to our second and the wait time was 110 minutes already! (So we didn't bother) It was very hot and they don't have fastpass. You can buy express passes but they are really expensive, but the only way you can guarantee getting on rides. We had a very hot day for Universal and we struggled to find places to even just sit in the shade or to get drinks. I'm glad we went but it was a bit brutal the heat etc.

Happy to answer any other questiosn if you have them.

[Rac20]

Originally Posted by SuzyM

They are really busy in the summer holidays. Unlike the US, everyone in Japan arrives early - like an hour or more before park opens and the queues to get into the parks are huge. In TDL we went to get a fastpass for Monsters Inc (and you have to queue for fastpasses) then went to Honey Hunt and the queue there was already 45 mins - and this is at rope drop! We did manage to do quite a bit using fastpasses and single rider where it was available as hardly anyone does single rider in Japan. The theming and the way the Japanese do Disney is worth going for alone though. But do expect to queue for everything including fastpasses, snacks, meals, drinks, even drinks vending machines. We liked having two days in each park - we stayed at a partner hotel on the monorail loop and did rope drop until about 2pm, then went back to the hotel for a break/nap/showers etc then went out again about 5pm until about 9.30/10pm.

Universal was worse for queues and heat. We did one ride at rope drop pretty quickly (about a 15 min wait) then headed to our second and the wait time was 110 minutes already! (So we didn't bother) It was very hot and they don't have fastpass. You can buy express passes but they are really expensive, but the only way you can guarantee getting on rides. We had a very hot day for Universal and we struggled to find places to even just sit in the shade or to get drinks. I'm glad we went but it was a bit brutal the heat etc.

Happy to answer any other questiosn if you have them.

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I’ve done universal Orlando in the summer without fast passes before and that was brutal. Barely rode anything. Think I’ll have to encourage my brother to add more time in.
Thanks that was really useful.👍

[happytraveller]

We definitely won't be doing universal then! I must admit, I'm a bit like your brother regarding Disney. But I am thinking, since we're out there anyway, we should go as it will be different in every way. At present the beach is out and it's looking like our time will be spent between Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. The ninja village , the street food of Osaka and a picture with the running man in Osaka are all musts, lol! I became so taken over with planning for Japan, Abu Dhabi was on the back burner and I'm now frantically planning for that,lol!

[kevin_cambs_uk]

Originally Posted by happytraveller

We definitely won't be doing universal then! I must admit, I'm a bit like your brother regarding Disney. But I am thinking, since we're out there anyway, we should go as it will be different in every way. At present the beach is out and it's looking like our time will be spent between Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. The ninja village , the street food of Osaka and a picture with the running man in Osaka are all musts, lol! I became so taken over with planning for Japan, Abu Dhabi was on the back burner and I'm now frantically planning for that,lol!

See more...

There is a guy on YouTube

Only in Japan

If you not seen his channel take a look he is excellent

He goes to dontonbori in Osaka for the street food!

[SuzyM]

I would say if you visit the Japan Disney and Universal parks for the experience, theming and unique rides and you will be fine. There are lots of people and queues but if you go for the atmosphere and theming and use fastpass (in Disney) and single rider for some of the different rides, and don't expect too much in terms of quantity of rides, you will enjoy it. If you are going for the rides only and want repeat rides of things, I think you will be disappointed. DisneySea is an amazing park though and just walking round enjoying the theming is brilliant.