One day plans for Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea

[technodisney]

Googling I can't find any day plans for the 2 parks. Any suggestions?

 

[Agent 86]

http://www.disneytouristblog.com/1-day-tokyo-disneysea-plan/

http://www.disneytouristblog.com/1-day-tokyo-disneyland-plan/

I don't think these are up to date in terms of attractions (e.g. Finding Nemo / Dory at DisneySea) or parades / seasonal events.

Also, what can be achieved in a single day at each park will vary wildly depending upon when you're visiting, particularly whether or not you attend on a weekday or weekend.

 

[Karin1984]

May I ask, what did you Google? When I use Disney tokyo day plan as my search words, then I get like Agent 86 the Disney Tourist Blog, but also TDR Explorer, and some other blogs and websites.

 

[Agent 86]

Here are the TDR Explorer ones:

http://tdrexplorer.com/1-day-tour-plan-for-tokyo-disneyland/

http://tdrexplorer.com/one-day-tour-plan-for-tokyo-disneysea/

For some reason, I couldn't find them earlier.

 

[addiemon]

I don't have anything formal, but I JUST did both parks in one day myself. Here are a few notes on what I did / some thoughts and advice:

Listing of exactly what I did:

• 8am arrived at park entry, ticket in hand
• 9am entered the park, took a couple of photos of the entry area and then the view of the waterfront / castle / volcano, then headed around to the right
• First ride I stumbled onto was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, with no line, so I ran with it. Loved it <3
• Wandered to Raging Spirits next, short line, fun coaster though short!
• Did Indiana Jones next. A friend of mine who went later says he couldn't find the ride photo booth. It's to the right on your way out, you'll see the screens if you're looking around. If you want your photo, get the photo # and give it to the lady at the stand, she'll give you a ticket to take outside of the ride, and to the right after the exit is the place where you pay and collect the photo.
• Next up was Sinbad, which I L * O * V * E * D. If you come out wanting Chandu merch, as I did, make sure you buy it at the Agrabah Bazaar or whatever it's called, 'cause there aren't a lot of other places in the park to get his merch (and none outside the park, I learned to my chagrin!)
• Then I wandered through the Mermaid Grotto, which was more of a visual feast than anything. I skipped out on Triton's Concert and the little kid rides, but the exterior AND interior are sumptuous to look at. If you like Ariel, there's tons of her merch in the store inside too, which is shaped like a whale (whose eyes open and shut, even).
• At this point I was getting a little hungry so I headed back towards 20,000 Leagues, which was next to the restaurant I'd heard was good (Vulcania). It wasn't open yet, and there was almost no line for 20k Leagues still, so I hit it up again, as well as the merch store (which had almost nothing 20k League themed-- just generic stuff).
• Ate at Vulcania when it opened which was I think at 11:30? Food was okay, but not amazing.
• Wandered around towards Port Discovery, where I determined that I didn't want to bother with Nemo. Took the train to the little "America" area and meandered around a bit.
• Since I was solo they let me into the Big Band Beat show despite not having a ticket-- it was just about to start. Cute show, all in English, great performers. I see why the show's popular.
• By then it was about 12:30. I checked on the Tower of Terror and its line was 50 minutes, Fast Pass time was something like 6-7pm. I decided since it was so early and I didn't have a lot of other "must do" stuff that I'd go ahead and hit Land next, but I did go back through to Fortress Explorations (the castle on the Mediterranean Harbor)-- I wanted to see the Magellan Lounge but it wasn't going to open until 2, so I poked around the Explorations for a bit and then left. Explorations was really attractive but not so much fun solo so I didn't spend too much time on it.
• Took the monorail two stops to Disneyland, threw all the stuff I'd bought at Sea in a coin locker, and started out wandering the shopping area up front a little. Then I headed back towards Big Thunder...
• On the way I saw that Pirates only had a 5 minute wait, and I'd just heard about how US Pirates was going to be changing up the redhead's role before the next time I visit either US parks, so I decided to go through it out of a weird misogynistic nostalgia. Turns out Japan actually still has the original wench-chasing scenes, too.
• Chanced onto the Tiki Room just a few minutes from the show, so I went ahead and caught that, since it's exclusively Stitch-themed in Tokyo. Very cute! In Japanese, but not exactly hard to follow.
• THEN made it to Big Thunder. There was a 40 minute wait but I'd heard that it was different from the US parks...it's not a ride I have a TON of memories of so maybe I'm wrong, but this didn't seem to be the case. It was very familiar.
• Checked on Splash Mountain, the only ride in Tokyo Disneyland with a single rider line, but there were no coin lockers nearby. Didn't think it was worth going all the way back to my locker (and paying for it again) to ride it, so skipped it.
• Instead I went around to the Haunted Mansion and did that. It broke down (briefly) four times while I was on it ~_~
• It was around 4pm, about 15 minutes away from a parade, but ultimately I decided to use that to my advantage for rides rather than watching the parade. I skipped Toon Town and went to Space Mountain, which turned out to be closed, but I did Star Tours twice with no line instead. <3
• By then it was about 5pm and I was hungry again so I ate at Restaurant Hokusai in the World Bazaar-- now THAT I recommend. I've never had katsu that was so tender I thought it was gonna melt in my mouth before, but I did here, and it was kind of amazing.
• After that I shopped for a bit and then headed back to Disney Sea, because I wanted to see their Fantasmic at 8pm and wanted to have plenty of time to get a decent viewing spot. I got back to Sea at probably 7pm, decided to grab some gelato at the little shop right next to the water front, and then narrowly managed a more-or-less front row seat for the show.
• Fantasmic was super fun, and a bit different from the US parks' versions, so that was cool.
• At this point I was flippin' exhausted (I'd had a really long work week the three days prior, not to mention the travel time) and I wanted to try to get to bed a bit early so I could be awake longer the next day before my flight, so I skipped fireworks and went back to my hotel and crashed. HARD.
• The next day I had time before my ride to the airport, so I ventured to Ikspiari for shopping. I strongly recommend hitting up the big Disney store here-- there's tons of merch with art and stuff you can't get in the US Disney Store and some of it is ~adorable~. This goes double if you like Tsums or teddy bears (they have a line called UniBEARsity where you get teddy bears and costumes for them and stuff, kinda like build-a-bear but without the 'building' element).
• Also at Ikspiari is a ramen shop that was pretty good. I'd been craving a real bowl of ramen the whole time I was in town and this was my last chance to get some, so I did, at Ippudo-- super good.
• There's a second Disney store at Ikspiari (outside the main shopping area, right next to the JR Maihama station) that sells park merch specifically. I didn't get a chance to explore it much though, I ran in, asked if they had Chandu merch, and they didn't so I left.

My advice:

• Staying close to the parks was reeeeally convenient - I stayed at the Sheraton, so it was cheaper than the official hotels but had a ticket counter and was right on the monorail line, so just bought a two-day monorail pass and kept going around to Land/Sea/Ikspiari shopping area (also JR Maihama station)/hotel
• Since I was staying at the Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay I was able to buy tickets at a counter at my hotel in advance. You can also buy them online and have them delivered to an address in Tokyo, if you do it far enough in advance.
• I don't know how soon you're going, but I went on Friday, 6/30...so it was a weekday, and in the rainy season to boot (and it did rain lightly most of the morning). So the crowd was pretty light almost the whole day.
• I started at Disney Sea since they have a lot more stuff you can't see at other parks. I showed up about an hour before the door opened and was probably among the first 50 people (excluding Magic Morning early access folks) to get in.
• Since the lines were short I got through everything I wanted to do at Sea by about 1pm, so I decided to go ahead and go to Land as well. If you decide to do this,
• While I didn't map out as much of a schedule as I did for my last WDW trip, I did make a list of everything I particularly wanted to do and see so I could be sure to hit it all at Sea. Don't forget to check the ride closures list! Journey to the Center of the Earth was closed while I was there but I knew in advance so I didn't waste any time on it.
• If I had to do it all again...I would probably have either done more at Disneyland, or waited longer at Sea (maybe done Tower of Terror and Nemo) and waited to go to Land a 4pm, when they start offering half-price evening-only tickets. There was some good shopping and eats and stuff there, but the rides and things I did were pretty much the same as other Disney parks (other than Tiki Room), so I dunno if it was suuuuuper worth my $70.
• Most of the people in the parks don't speak much English, though they know enough to answer the most basic questions. A little Japanese will go a long way, though, like most of Tokyo.
• Seriously, if you see merch in the parks, grab it, because I dunno if that Disney Parks store at Ikspiari will have it!
• Make sure you take time to just ~look~ around Disney Sea because the theming and visuals are lush and frankly amazing.
• The TDR guides have good info that helped me make some decisions, but ultimately my priorities were a bit different, as you can see above. I'm also planning to be back in the next couple of years with my husband, which made things like skipping Nemo or AquaCity a little easier.

It was a super fun, super exhausting, jam packed ~28 hours and I would do it again in a heartbeat. <3

 

[Westcoastwild]

I don't have anything formal, but I JUST did both parks in one day myself. Here are a few notes on what I did / some thoughts and advice:

Listing of exactly what I did:

• 8am arrived at park entry, ticket in hand
• 9am entered the park, took a couple of photos of the entry area and then the view of the waterfront / castle / volcano, then headed around to the right
• First ride I stumbled onto was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, with no line, so I ran with it. Loved it <3
• Wandered to Raging Spirits next, short line, fun coaster though short!
• Did Indiana Jones next. A friend of mine who went later says he couldn't find the ride photo booth. It's to the right on your way out, you'll see the screens if you're looking around. If you want your photo, get the photo # and give it to the lady at the stand, she'll give you a ticket to take outside of the ride, and to the right after the exit is the place where you pay and collect the photo.
• Next up was Sinbad, which I L * O * V * E * D. If you come out wanting Chandu merch, as I did, make sure you buy it at the Agrabah Bazaar or whatever it's called, 'cause there aren't a lot of other places in the park to get his merch (and none outside the park, I learned to my chagrin!)
• Then I wandered through the Mermaid Grotto, which was more of a visual feast than anything. I skipped out on Triton's Concert and the little kid rides, but the exterior AND interior are sumptuous to look at. If you like Ariel, there's tons of her merch in the store inside too, which is shaped like a whale (whose eyes open and shut, even).
• At this point I was getting a little hungry so I headed back towards 20,000 Leagues, which was next to the restaurant I'd heard was good (Vulcania). It wasn't open yet, and there was almost no line for 20k Leagues still, so I hit it up again, as well as the merch store (which had almost nothing 20k League themed-- just generic stuff).
• Ate at Vulcania when it opened which was I think at 11:30? Food was okay, but not amazing.
• Wandered around towards Port Discovery, where I determined that I didn't want to bother with Nemo. Took the train to the little "America" area and meandered around a bit.
• Since I was solo they let me into the Big Band Beat show despite not having a ticket-- it was just about to start. Cute show, all in English, great performers. I see why the show's popular.
• By then it was about 12:30. I checked on the Tower of Terror and its line was 50 minutes, Fast Pass time was something like 6-7pm. I decided since it was so early and I didn't have a lot of other "must do" stuff that I'd go ahead and hit Land next, but I did go back through to Fortress Explorations (the castle on the Mediterranean Harbor)-- I wanted to see the Magellan Lounge but it wasn't going to open until 2, so I poked around the Explorations for a bit and then left. Explorations was really attractive but not so much fun solo so I didn't spend too much time on it.
• Took the monorail two stops to Disneyland, threw all the stuff I'd bought at Sea in a coin locker, and started out wandering the shopping area up front a little. Then I headed back towards Big Thunder...
• On the way I saw that Pirates only had a 5 minute wait, and I'd just heard about how US Pirates was going to be changing up the redhead's role before the next time I visit either US parks, so I decided to go through it out of a weird misogynistic nostalgia. Turns out Japan actually still has the original wench-chasing scenes, too.
• Chanced onto the Tiki Room just a few minutes from the show, so I went ahead and caught that, since it's exclusively Stitch-themed in Tokyo. Very cute! In Japanese, but not exactly hard to follow.
• THEN made it to Big Thunder. There was a 40 minute wait but I'd heard that it was different from the US parks...it's not a ride I have a TON of memories of so maybe I'm wrong, but this didn't seem to be the case. It was very familiar.
• Checked on Splash Mountain, the only ride in Tokyo Disneyland with a single rider line, but there were no coin lockers nearby. Didn't think it was worth going all the way back to my locker (and paying for it again) to ride it, so skipped it.
• Instead I went around to the Haunted Mansion and did that. It broke down (briefly) four times while I was on it ~_~
• It was around 4pm, about 15 minutes away from a parade, but ultimately I decided to use that to my advantage for rides rather than watching the parade. I skipped Toon Town and went to Space Mountain, which turned out to be closed, but I did Star Tours twice with no line instead. <3
• By then it was about 5pm and I was hungry again so I ate at Restaurant Hokusai in the World Bazaar-- now THAT I recommend. I've never had katsu that was so tender I thought it was gonna melt in my mouth before, but I did here, and it was kind of amazing.
• After that I shopped for a bit and then headed back to Disney Sea, because I wanted to see their Fantasmic at 8pm and wanted to have plenty of time to get a decent viewing spot. I got back to Sea at probably 7pm, decided to grab some gelato at the little shop right next to the water front, and then narrowly managed a more-or-less front row seat for the show.
• Fantasmic was super fun, and a bit different from the US parks' versions, so that was cool.
• At this point I was flippin' exhausted (I'd had a really long work week the three days prior, not to mention the travel time) and I wanted to try to get to bed a bit early so I could be awake longer the next day before my flight, so I skipped fireworks and went back to my hotel and crashed. HARD.
• The next day I had time before my ride to the airport, so I ventured to Ikspiari for shopping. I strongly recommend hitting up the big Disney store here-- there's tons of merch with art and stuff you can't get in the US Disney Store and some of it is ~adorable~. This goes double if you like Tsums or teddy bears (they have a line called UniBEARsity where you get teddy bears and costumes for them and stuff, kinda like build-a-bear but without the 'building' element).
• Also at Ikspiari is a ramen shop that was pretty good. I'd been craving a real bowl of ramen the whole time I was in town and this was my last chance to get some, so I did, at Ippudo-- super good.
• There's a second Disney store at Ikspiari (outside the main shopping area, right next to the JR Maihama station) that sells park merch specifically. I didn't get a chance to explore it much though, I ran in, asked if they had Chandu merch, and they didn't so I left.

My advice:

• Staying close to the parks was reeeeally convenient - I stayed at the Sheraton, so it was cheaper than the official hotels but had a ticket counter and was right on the monorail line, so just bought a two-day monorail pass and kept going around to Land/Sea/Ikspiari shopping area (also JR Maihama station)/hotel
• Since I was staying at the Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay I was able to buy tickets at a counter at my hotel in advance. You can also buy them online and have them delivered to an address in Tokyo, if you do it far enough in advance.
• I don't know how soon you're going, but I went on Friday, 6/30...so it was a weekday, and in the rainy season to boot (and it did rain lightly most of the morning). So the crowd was pretty light almost the whole day.
• I started at Disney Sea since they have a lot more stuff you can't see at other parks. I showed up about an hour before the door opened and was probably among the first 50 people (excluding Magic Morning early access folks) to get in.
• Since the lines were short I got through everything I wanted to do at Sea by about 1pm, so I decided to go ahead and go to Land as well. If you decide to do this,
• While I didn't map out as much of a schedule as I did for my last WDW trip, I did make a list of everything I particularly wanted to do and see so I could be sure to hit it all at Sea. Don't forget to check the ride closures list! Journey to the Center of the Earth was closed while I was there but I knew in advance so I didn't waste any time on it.
• If I had to do it all again...I would probably have either done more at Disneyland, or waited longer at Sea (maybe done Tower of Terror and Nemo) and waited to go to Land a 4pm, when they start offering half-price evening-only tickets. There was some good shopping and eats and stuff there, but the rides and things I did were pretty much the same as other Disney parks (other than Tiki Room), so I dunno if it was suuuuuper worth my $70.
• Most of the people in the parks don't speak much English, though they know enough to answer the most basic questions. A little Japanese will go a long way, though, like most of Tokyo.
• Seriously, if you see merch in the parks, grab it, because I dunno if that Disney Parks store at Ikspiari will have it!
• Make sure you take time to just ~look~ around Disney Sea because the theming and visuals are lush and frankly amazing.
• The TDR guides have good info that helped me make some decisions, but ultimately my priorities were a bit different, as you can see above. I'm also planning to be back in the next couple of years with my husband, which made things like skipping Nemo or AquaCity a little easier.

It was a super fun, super exhausting, jam packed ~28 hours and I would do it again in a heartbeat. <3

Hey Addiesmom- where is ikspiari? I'm at TDR, about ready to head to Tokyo. It looks like we had the same two days, except I ate more junk food!

 

[addiemon]

On the monorail, the "Resort Gateway Station" exits into Ikspiari, and if you go straight through it you get to JR Maihama Station. If you're driving or taking a cab then I don't think I can help you much XD On the map of the resort area, you can see it at the bottom of the map, between the Disney Ambassador Hotel and JR Maihama Station. <3

 

[Westcoastwild]

On the monorail, the "Resort Gateway Station" exits into Ikspiari, and if you go straight through it you get to JR Maihama Station. If you're driving or taking a cab then I don't think I can help you much XD On the map of the resort area, you can see it at the bottom of the map, between the Disney Ambassador Hotel and JR Maihama Station. <3

Thanks!