Trip to Japan

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coldspice
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by coldspice » Fri Dec 13, 2019 8:30 pm

I actually went in March and would say we were just about able to get everything done in a day. I haven't been to Disney Land, only Sea, but I assume they are roughly the same size.

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Lagamorph
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Lagamorph » Fri Dec 13, 2019 8:33 pm

Nice one, so 2 days total probably seems about right.

Then I'll just need a second trip to Osaka to check out Universal Studios.
For some reason I'd always been under the impression it was in/around Tokyo until recently.

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Parksey
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Parksey » Sat Dec 14, 2019 9:19 am

I mean, it *is* basically in/around Tokyo. Technically in name, it's in China Prefecture, but it's still only a 15 min train from Tokyo Station. My girlfriend loves near Shinagawa Station and it takes us about 30 mins to get there - we've done it a few times now.

I reckon I've been to Land three times and Sea once. A day each should be enough, unless you absolutely want to ride everything. Even at off-peak times, I have a feeling it will be absolutely rammed, as it's a popular park and the Japanese love it.

Have you been to a Disney Park before? Do you know about the Fast Pass system? If you don't, probably best to look it up as it'll let you jump the queue for certain rides. However some of the more popular attractions quickly run out of Fast Pass tickets, sometimes running out in the morning. You want to try and plan your day around these. Some attractions are really popular and have the longest lines, if you have questions about which I can try and help you. My girlfriend is the expert, having been about 15 times (not uncommon for Japanese girls).

I hadn't been to any Disney park before going. I like Land as it's typical Disney, the atmosphere is pretty good and it's what I expected from a Disneyland. Apparently online experts/bloggers who have been to all of the parks rate the two Tokyo ones as the best, though it's obviously not the size of the Florida one and doesn't have Magic Kingdom, the water parks etc. The rides at Land are enjoyable, but definitely ones that are suitable for all ages. It's not got "thrills", though the rides are still enjoyable. Be aware that the "story" rides will be in Japanese. Doesn't really take away much from them though, as I couldn't understand much the first time I went.

Sea is more for "adults". It's the only Disney park in the world where you can drink alcohol, incidentally. The rides are more for teenagers and upwards. Nothing too scary if you've been to Alton Towers or Thorpe Park, but exciting enough. The park is themed a bit more "maturely" too, with Arabian, Waterfront, Mediterranean themes. Most people rated Sea as the "better" of the two and as it's unique to Tokyo, you definitely want to check it out.

The only way you'll need more than two days is if you're desperate to see everything, see a few shows, parades etc. Restaurants also fill up pretty fast so you might need to queue for those too. The shows are based on a lottery system so you might not get the chance to see the more popular ones.

There's a Disney app you should download prior to visiting as well. It's pretty useful.

If you're going to stay somewhere, we stayed the nice twice nearby, before my girlfriend moved to Tokyo. I'll ask her for the place we stayed at - was fairly cheap and was just a train stop away from the park. The ones in the park are expensive and reserve fast. There's one right outside the gates and one actually in Sea as part of the park itself. We just started jn a standard Japanese hotel one stop away.

Also March off-peak may not necessarily be quiet. I went on March 22nd and it was packed, as that's the end of the school year and loads of students hovas part of their graduation trip. Early March probably isn't as bad. I have a feeling it's just generally busy all year round.

If you want actual scary rides, Fuji-Q is the one to go for. Someone them almost literally made me gooseberry fool myself.

If you need any more advice in general, I'd be happy to help.

I always recommend staying near Shinagawa as prices are a touch cheaper. Shinjuku is definitely one of the more popular shouts though.

For a day trip from Tokyo, maybe look at doing Nikko up to the north in Tochigi? You can get there on the bullet train, think it's about 50 mins away.

You know about the rail pass too?

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Lagamorph
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Lagamorph » Sat Dec 14, 2019 9:58 am

I've been to Disney Paris and Florida before, so know a bit about the Fastpass systems, though the ones at Florida and Paris are totally different to each other. Florida is an app based pre-book whilst Paris is a walk up and get a ticket system.

I'm actually looking at a trip to both Tokyo and then Los Angeles, probably Tokyo first around 9th March then going to LA on around the 15th or so, again to hit up Disney and Universal.

I've heard about a rail pass though not looked too much into it. I think you can get a 7 day pass that gets you travel on most routes except some of the more regional ones isn't it?

A trip on the Bullet train is definitely something I'd be interested in.


Glad I saw your post as I'm sat in a travel agent now to get a quote, so was able to mention Shinagawa as well as Shinjuku for possible accommodation options!



Edit - Ok so might be LA first. This travel agent has just said that if I did Tokyo first then the flight from Tokyo to LA would be back via the UK :lol:

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Bunni
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Bunni » Sat Dec 14, 2019 10:43 pm

If you like theme parks try Fuji-Q. It's a nice train ride up and has the more intense roller coasters. Cheaper and less busy than Disney.

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Lagamorph
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Lagamorph » Sat Dec 14, 2019 11:07 pm

Bunni wrote:If you like theme parks try Fuji-Q. It's a nice train ride up and has the more intense roller coasters. Cheaper and less busy than Disney.

Cheers, will take a look at that. After some quotes today I was looking at maybe extending the Tokyo portion of the trip by one more night.

I'd hoped to do Tokyo first, then LA, since going from LA to Tokyo you cross the date line going forward and basically lose an entire extra day, but absolutely everywhere said you had to do it the other way around for some reason.

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