Leaving for Tokyo on Friday!

[Sk8Leigh]

I posted here several months ago, and now my trip is almost here! Of course I'm fighting a cold. Hopefully it won't be too bad.

I ended up booking 4 nights ocean view at the Hilton Tokyo Bay (4 separate reservations because it was cheaper that way, but they said they could link them) and then 4 nights Venice view at the MiraCosta. I don't have park tickets yet. I'm going to try going to the MiraCosta when I get there to see if I can get a 5 day ticket. If not, maybe they can at least tell me if I can add a day on the end once I'm staying there. I got 35,000 yen. That ought to at least be good for a start. Then I'm doing a 10 day tour after that. I feel like I haven't done all the research I need to yet, but oh well. I just bought a new camera and only know the basics, so same there. lol

One question that I have for people who have been. I've been stressing out about medications. I have 3 prescriptions and also take vitamins. I see where a lot of drugs are restricted, but I don't see mine on the list. Everyone says to bring the original bottles though. I usually just put them in some weekly cases, and the overflow in some saran wrap, and call it a day. Now I've got 6 bottles, plus things like Tylenol and Advil. I'm assuming I can go through the green line in customs though, since none of them are actually restricted. What experience did you guys have at customs, especially if you did have some meds? Did they ask you questions? Did they search your belongings? Did meds come up? I'm not used to other countries caring so much! lol

Also, when you were leaving, did you have to fill out any kind of exit forms? I saw something about that, and that seemed different. Usually it's just customs when you get home.

ETA: I forgot to say that I also booked dinner reservations for the two dinner shows, at the Diamond Horseshoe and the luau one.

 

[gelatoni fan]

There are no 5 day tickets. Just get a one day ticket and a four day ticket.

I usually keep Zyrtec and Tylenol in my backpack and never had any problems but I don't have quite as much medication as you. Just walk through the green line. They seem to randomly search some people's bags but not everyone.

There are no exit forms but there is an entry form and customs form for foreign nationals.

 

[Sk8Leigh]

When I was talking about getting the 1 and 4 day passes in my prior post, @AngelDisney said that she had talked to them and they said you could upgrade to a 5 or 6 day pass if you were staying at a Disney hotel. She said she saw it on a FAQ, but I'm not able to find it. @AngelDisney how did that work out? Were you able to go beyond 4 days? Is it only if you have a package? Can you find where it said that online? I'll do whatever I need to, but a 5 day ticket would be ideal.

Thanks!

 

[AngelDisney]

When I was talking about getting the 1 and 4 day passes in my prior post, @AngelDisney said that she had talked to them and they said you could upgrade to a 5 or 6 day pass if you were staying at a Disney hotel. She said she saw it on a FAQ, but I'm not able to find it. @AngelDisney how did that work out? Were you able to go beyond 4 days? Is it only if you have a package? Can you find where it said that online? I'll do whatever I need to, but a 5 day ticket would be ideal.

Thanks!

Here is the link to the FAQ page:
https://faq.tokyodisneyresort.jp/reserve/en/faq_detail.html?id=17142&category=753&page=2
It’s an upgrade of the vacation package tickets. They are the special magic passports which allow you to park hop everyday including the first 2 days. I believe they are more expensive than the magic passports sold online. These tickets are available to Disney hotel guests. You don’t have to book a vacation package to get these special magic passports. I would suggest to try to buy these tickets at MiraCosta and show them your hotel reservation. Tell them you are visiting the parks before your check in date to see if you can buy these tickets. If you can, then ask about the price of these tickets and whether you can upgrade these to 5 days. Also ask the quote for buying a one day plus a 4 day tickets. See which option is better. We didn’t park hop on the arrival night and the next day, so the park hopping feature is not necessary for the first two days at all.

Hope this helps and sending pixie dust your way!

 

[CupcakeLisa]

It does state that you cannot upgrade to the 6 day if you are staying at a partner hotel before or after your stay

 

[AngelDisney]

It does state that you cannot upgrade to the 6 day if you are staying at a partner hotel before or after your stay

I believe it says that the vacation package bought at partner hotels are not eligible for upgrade. Sk8Leigh doesn’t have a vacation package to start with. From my research, these special magic passports are available to Disney hotel guests with or without vacation package. The question is whether hotel guests can buy these tickets or not before the check in date and if so, can these tickets be upgraded? It’s worth a try to ask at MiraCosta. Worst case scenario is buying a 1-day and a 4-day ticket.

 

[Sk8Leigh]

Thanks @AngelDisney for your help! It seems like I'm squarely in the middle of "I don't know". That's why I think it's best to just go and ask. If I can't buy the ticket then they can help me pick out what's best. (I have to be able to park hop on the last two days because I have the dinner shows at TDR those days but will likely want to be at TDS as well. I'd prefer to only have to have no park-hopping on the standard two other days, but with 1 and 4 I think that would end up being three. So hopefully they can figure that out for me.)

Is there a special counter in MiraCosta for the tickets? (ie, not just the check-in desk) And does anyone know the hours for it?

 

[Sk8Leigh]

I'm thinking that maybe I should have gotten more than 35,000 yen. For some reason I wasn't really thinking about park passes! I'm not sure if I would be able to charge them if I can get them at MiraCosta, but I'm pretty sure it's a No at the Hilton. I have enough yen for that, but if I have to use it for tickets, it looks like I'll be hitting up the ATM pretty soon.

 

[CarolynK]

I posted here several months ago, and now my trip is almost here! Of course I'm fighting a cold. Hopefully it won't be too bad.

I ended up booking 4 nights ocean view at the Hilton Tokyo Bay (4 separate reservations because it was cheaper that way, but they said they could link them) and then 4 nights Venice view at the MiraCosta. I don't have park tickets yet. I'm going to try going to the MiraCosta when I get there to see if I can get a 5 day ticket. If not, maybe they can at least tell me if I can add a day on the end once I'm staying there. I got 35,000 yen. That ought to at least be good for a start. Then I'm doing a 10 day tour after that. I feel like I haven't done all the research I need to yet, but oh well. I just bought a new camera and only know the basics, so same there. lol

One question that I have for people who have been. I've been stressing out about medications. I have 3 prescriptions and also take vitamins. I see where a lot of drugs are restricted, but I don't see mine on the list. Everyone says to bring the original bottles though. I usually just put them in some weekly cases, and the overflow in some saran wrap, and call it a day. Now I've got 6 bottles, plus things like Tylenol and Advil. I'm assuming I can go through the green line in customs though, since none of them are actually restricted. What experience did you guys have at customs, especially if you did have some meds? Did they ask you questions? Did they search your belongings? Did meds come up? I'm not used to other countries caring so much! lol

Also, when you were leaving, did you have to fill out any kind of exit forms? I saw something about that, and that seemed different. Usually it's just customs when you get home.

ETA: I forgot to say that I also booked dinner reservations for the two dinner shows, at the Diamond Horseshoe and the luau one.

We had no issues bringing in medication. We brought DH's pill box (the weekly type) filled with his 3 daily pills as well as a separate box filled with OTC pills. In my research for our trip, I read that Japan has a problem with pseudoephedrine being brought in, so even though I always travel with it for headaches, I did not bring them for our trip. Of course, NO ONE looked twice at any of our bags, but I didn't want to worry about it.
We also stayed at Hilton Tokyo Bay. We bought our 4-day park tickets at their ticket window, and yes, they only take cash. We got cash at Haneda to cover this cost (and there's 4 of us - I'm not used to carrying that much money!).

 

[MKTokyo]

I'm thinking that maybe I should have gotten more than 35,000 yen. For some reason I wasn't really thinking about park passes! I'm not sure if I would be able to charge them if I can get them at MiraCosta, but I'm pretty sure it's a No at the Hilton. I have enough yen for that, but if I have to use it for tickets, it looks like I'll be hitting up the ATM pretty soon.

The rate you will get at the ATM will be better than the rate you would get from your home bank or, worse, a currency exchange.

Obviously it's nullified if your home institution charges ATM fees, but hopefully yours does not.

 

[Sk8Leigh]

We had no issues bringing in medication. We brought DH's pill box (the weekly type) filled with his 3 daily pills as well as a separate box filled with OTC pills. In my research for our trip, I read that Japan has a problem with pseudoephedrine being brought in, so even though I always travel with it for headaches, I did not bring them for our trip. Of course, NO ONE looked twice at any of our bags, but I didn't want to worry about it.

I'm rethinking it. Maybe I'll just put them in a pill box like I normally would. It seems like that would be less conspicuous than 6 bottles of pills. As for the pseudoephedrine, I would bring Mucinex-D for my cold, and it might even be ok because I think it's less than the 10% ingredient that's prohibited, but I don't want to take a chance.

The rate you will get at the ATM will be better than the rate you would get from your home bank or, worse, a currency exchange.

Obviously it's nullified if your home institution charges ATM fees, but hopefully yours does not.

My bank does charge a fee when I use an international ATM. I'm going to get dinged wherever I go. Oh well.

 

[Foxen08]

The rate you will get at the ATM will be better than the rate you would get from your home bank or, worse, a currency exchange.

Obviously it's nullified if your home institution charges ATM fees, but hopefully yours does not.

This was exactly why we opened up a Schwab checking account and got an ATM/debit card before we left the US. Schwab refunds any ATM fees worldwide and no foreign transaction fees if you use it as a debit card which makes it great for travel. In the cash vs card issue, I was actually surprised at how many places would accept a card (credit/debit or suica/pasmo/ic). We absolutely rationed our yen early on thinking that it would be our only option a lot of the time but it wasn't nearly as bad as we had built it up in our imagination. Between our debit/credit cards and our Suica/Pasmo/IC cards, we used far less cash than we expected.

 

[MKTokyo]

This was exactly why we opened up a Schwab checking account and got an ATM/debit card before we left the US. Schwab refunds any ATM fees worldwide and no foreign transaction fees if you use it as a debit card which makes it great for travel. In the cash vs card issue, I was actually surprised at how many places would accept a card (credit/debit or suica/pasmo/ic). We absolutely rationed our yen early on thinking that it would be our only option a lot of the time but it wasn't nearly as bad as we had built it up in our imagination. Between our debit/credit cards and our Suica/Pasmo/IC cards, we used far less cash than we expected.

We use Fidelity Cash Management. It’s a nice account with the same fee-free worldwide ATM privileges as your Schwab. I like it because you can keep your money safe in a linked savings account (or brokerage account, I suppose, but we have never used our brokerage for that purpose, for obvious reasons) & just transfer over what you need before going to the ATM. Hard for a crook to withdraw what isn’t there!

As an aside, you really shouldn’t be using that debit card (or any debit card) anywhere other than at an ATM. The consumer protections on debit cards are minuscule. It’s much better to use a CC & put the bank’s money upfront rather than your own.