Japan Winter 2022/23 Trip Report (TDR, Kamakura, Tokyo, Universal, Osaka, Nara) Complete!

[wanderlust7]

Back from a trip to Japan. It’s one that I’ve replanned 3 times, each time thinking surely, they’ll be open by then lol. Third time’s the charm! Traveled with my DH and 2 kids (ages 10 and 14). We were happy to be back after 6 years. In between, I picked up the credit card points hobby, so that really helped with airfare and hotels this time. Having free hotel breakfast is both a blessing and a curse though as I want to eat so many different foods in Japan and yet I can’t turn down free food.

Itinerary was:
TDR (Hilton Tokyo Bay 3 nights)
Kamakura and Enoshima Island (vacation rental 2 nights)
Tokyo (Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills 4 nights)
Universal Studios (Hotel Universal Port 2 nights)
Osaka and Nara (Conrad Osaka 3 nights)

We went to Tokyo Disneyland the first day. Got there maybe 9:30ish. First thing I did after getting into the park was to scan our tickets into the app and get the Premier Pass for Beauty and the Beast. Had our choice of times. Then I did Entry Request for the shows. This confused me at first, but this is equivalent to the lottery they used to have. If you don’t win, then you’ll get a pop-up that says something to the effect that sorry they couldn’t make the arrangements. We got lucky and got in for Mickey's Magical Music World. It’s nice that it came with assigned seating. Show was okay, kind of a parade of Disney IP lol. DS said there was a plot, but I totally missed it.

We enjoyed Beauty and the Beast, it’s a very immersive trackless ride. I was happy to go on Pooh again, which is so much better than the US versions. We got to do Haunted Mansion with the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay, very fun.

Having a lot of different popcorn was a goal of mine lol. Curry was my favorite last time. This time we also tried:
black pepper – tasted umami (MSG?) but not so peppery
soy sauce and butter – just tastes like butter popcorn
garlic shrimp – taste like shrimp chips, a little too salty
matcha white chocolate – you do taste/smell the matcha

Curry is still my favorite.

Popcorn is 400 yen or 600 yen for refills if you buy one of the buckets. DD bought the Beauty and the Beast bucket, but we didn’t want to get it oily, so would ask for the refill separate. They would give us 2 containers, so we were getting 800-yen worth for 600. This worked at all the popcorn stands except the garlic shrimp one for some reason, where the guy told me he couldn’t do that.

The quick service tables have plexiglass dividers, which confused us to no end. Why do we need to socially distance from our own group? Do strangers really share tables (I don’t think so)? They were bothersome to us, so hope they’re gone by the time everyone else goes!

If anyone is interested in a review of the Hilton Tokyo Bay from the POV of the points/status game, I have that up here.

 

[wanderlust7]

The next day we went to DisneySea. I got the Premier Pass for Journey to the Center of the Earth. I was unlucky with the lottery here again, same as last trip. I really wanted the Believe! free reserved area, but no luck. There is also Premier Access in a separate reserved area for 2500 yen/person. I wasn’t going to do it since you still need to go early to stake out your spot, but in the afternoon, I got FOMO and checked the app. I then saw that it was still available for 4 pm, but not for 5 and 6 pm. I’m guessing how it works is that there are 3 separate Premier Access areas. The 6 pm one would be most desirable since you wouldn’t need to go stakeout until then. The show started at 7:40 pm when we were there. The 4 pm one would mean staking out for almost 4 hours and pay 2500 yen/person for the pleasure. Umm…no thanks.

The kids played the game at Abu’a Bazaar (700 yen each). DD got a ball in and won a Minnie figure. They used to give out big plushies, so this is a step down. The game seems easier to win now though. Consolation prize is an exclusive pin.

Game:

 

[wanderlust7]

From TDR, we went to Kamakura and stayed at a vacation rental (booked via booking.com). The unit was once featured in a K-pop video (though I think the singer isn’t that famous). The kids got a kick out of that after I showed them the video. DS would joke that BTS stayed there (definitely NOT BTS lol), sat on this couch, used this cup, etc.

We visited the Great Buddha statue there. The shopping street leading up to it is cute. We had delicious soba before taking the train and walking across the bridge to Enoshima Island. The shopping street there was really fun too. We poked in the various stores and ate lots of street snacks. We bought a combo ticket for the series of outdoor escalators to get to the various shrines and lighthouse on top, plus access to the garden and the observation deck on the lighthouse to view the Winter Illumination.

Kamakura:


Enoshima Island:

 

[Nala83]

The next day we went to DisneySea. I got the Premier Pass for Journey to the Center of the Earth. I was unlucky with the lottery here again, same as last trip. I really wanted the Believe! free reserved area, but no luck. There is also Premier Access in a separate reserved area for 2500 yen/person. I wasn’t going to do it since you still need to go early to stake out your spot, but in the afternoon, I got FOMO and checked the app. I then saw that it was still available for 4 pm, but not for 5 and 6 pm. I’m guessing how it works is that there are 3 separate Premier Access areas. The 6 pm one would be most desirable since you wouldn’t need to go stakeout until then. The show started at 7:40 pm when we were there. The 4 pm one would mean staking out for almost 4 hours and pay 2500 yen/person for the pleasure. Umm…no thanks.

The kids played the game at Abu’a Bazaar (700 yen each). DD got a ball in and won a Minnie figure. They used to give out big plushies, so this is a step down. The game seems easier to win now though. Consolation prize is an exclusive pin.

Game:
View attachment 732388

View attachment 732389View attachment 732390View attachment 732391

Is it possible to watch Believe! without the Premiere access or winning the Entry to the reserved area? Any unreserved options?

 

[wanderlust7]

Is it possible to watch Believe! without the Premiere access or winning the Entry to the reserved area? Any unreserved options?

From what I read online, there seems to be no good unreserved options. I didn't want to prioritize it, so we just watched from far away. Could see the floats and fireworks.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

From what I read online, there seems to be no good unreserved options. I didn't want to prioritize it, so we just watched from far away. Could see the floats and fireworks.

This is what we're planning to do. Did you just find/claim a spot close to showtime?

 

[AndyR]

From what I read online, there seems to be no good unreserved options. I didn't want to prioritize it, so we just watched from far away. Could see the floats and fireworks.

That's what we observed too There are some good spots but people started staking them out 3 hours before the show. We finally paid for a reserved spot on Dec 26th and entered the area 1hr before showtime to get a decent view.

 

[AndyR]

This is what we're planning to do. Did you just find/claim a spot close to showtime?

We did exactly this on Christmas Eve. We'd landed in Haneda a few hours before and had bought Early Evening Passports for TDS. We walked around to the bridge and had the following view as the show began.


It didn't deem too bad once the show started though Final 2mins of Believe! from iPhone.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

We did exactly this on Christmas Eve. We'd landed in Haneda a few hours before and had bought Early Evening Passports for TDS. We walked around to the bridge and had the following view as the show began.
View attachment 732600

It didn't deem too bad once the show started though Final 2mins of Believe! from iPhone.

Thanks, awesome info! We'll be trying this in May!

 

[jlhinvegas]

I loved your report! DH and I are going in May and I appreciate all the tips we are getting from others reports. We have been going back and forth on doing a day trip to Kamakura/Enoshima. Your pictures are beautiful and make me think we should go.

 

[wanderlust7]

This is what we're planning to do. Did you just find/claim a spot close to showtime?

We were on a side street that was sloped. We rested on a bench thinking when the show started, we'd just stand up. But that didn't work because there were CMs keeping the walkway clear on that side. We could sit there but couldn't stand up. Can't really see it sitting, so I went to stand on the other side of the walkway. I think @AndyR 's spot looks better. We couldn't see the projections on the buildings at all.

 

[AndyR]

There’s a ramp leading from the right hand opening into Mysterious Island, headed towards Soarin that was popular.

 

[gelatoni fan]

There’s a ramp leading from the right hand opening into Mysterious Island, headed towards Soarin that was popular.

That was my favorite area to look for a last minute spot for harbor shows in the pre-COVID days. I assume the area in front of that closer to the water is behind either lottery or paywall when you went?

The main viewing area that you see when you walk into the park will certainly be either lottery or paywall but do you know if the sides flanking that along the harbor are restricted in any way and how long people waited for a spot there?

Was it easy to buy a spot after losing the lottery or was it something you did in advance?

I'm also curious about the standby situation for Jamboree Mickey in both parks, Magical Musical World and Club Mouse Beat. Were there any showings that were open seating (usually the first or last show of the day pre-pandemic) or were all of them requiring entry request lottery?

 

[AndyR]

We bought reserved the afternoon of the show, we only did the lottery for shows. Kinda last minute. I don’t know of all the areas that are reserved, TDRexplorer had a map that we used.

All the shows were lottery, we struck out every day.

 

[afan]

You're hotel reviews are helpilful. You guys stayed at 3 of the 5 places I'm staying in sept think I'm glad the andaz is the last 2 nights given the lack of storage you had. Though that'll also be when I have to pack everything. Taking an extra bag so I can send stuff I'm done with/bought from tdlr to the andaz so I don't have to send it to Osaka and back. Also trying to figure out clothes I'm good with leaving behind, old pjs, a hoody I'm done with etc to help with space.

 

[wanderlust7]

You're hotel reviews are helpilful. You guys stayed at 3 of the 5 places I'm staying in sept think I'm glad the andaz is the last 2 nights given the lack of storage you had. Though that'll also be when I have to pack everything. Taking an extra bag so I can send stuff I'm done with/bought from tdlr to the andaz so I don't have to send it to Osaka and back. Also trying to figure out clothes I'm good with leaving behind, old pjs, a hoody I'm done with etc to help with space.

Which one is the third one we have the same? I hope it's not the Conrad Osaka because that one is almost as bad with the storage.

 

[afan]

Which one is the third one we have the same? I hope it's not the Conrad Osaka because that one is almost as bad with the storage.

It is. My other two are Tokyo station and then a hyatt on Okinawa. It's just me at least. Guess I may just be stuck living out of the suitcase more than I want.

 

[reliev]

@wanderlust7 how were the other hotels? or did you have more to write that you held back?
also, I saw on a youtube video from only in japan that people in a rush share tables which is why there are dividers, I'm not too fond of sharing unless I have to myself lol

 

[wanderlust7]

@wanderlust7 how were the other hotels? or did you have more to write that you held back?
also, I saw on a youtube video from only in japan that people in a rush share tables which is why there are dividers, I'm not too fond of sharing unless I have to myself lol

I have the Hilton Tokyo Bay and Andaz Tokyo reviews up on the Dischurners Hotel thread (here).

 

[wanderlust7]

From Kamakura, we moved on to the Andaz Tokyo (review).

We had New Year’s Eve dinner at Nobu. Maybe a weird pick for Tokyo, but we’d never been, and I saw that it was close to the Andaz. Food and service were good, but very pricey especially compared to all the other good food we ate in Japan. Was worried that we’d be underdressed, but there were lots of other tourists in jeans lol.

January 1, I was worried about finding things that were open, but it turned out well. We visited Roppongi, went to teamLab Planets (prebooked tickets), and then went shopping at the mall LaLaport nearby. Roppongi was mostly high-end stores that didn’t interest us, but then we saw the TV Asahi building. There was a store with some cute Doraemon stuff, plus Doraemon and Crayon Shin-chan photo ops.



teamLab Planets was awesome! I had seen pictures, but it's so different experiencing it. Not what I expected at all. You have to take off your shoes right at the entrance (there are free lockers). I knew that parts were in water but thought barefoot was just in sections. Did not expect the entire thing to be barefoot! I won’t spoil it with any details. It’s better experienced that way.



The LaLaport mall had a food court where we had some delicious ramen and tempura (different stalls). Also got some donuts at Krispy Kreme because DD was insistent. But there were cute snowman and rabbit (Year of the Rabbit) ones, so then I didn’t mind lol. There’s a Tokyu Hands store there, where the kids went crazy.