Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay or Disney Celebration Hotel

tonga

This is my walk on the moon
Joined
Sep 12, 2004
Which would you choose for a two night stay in July? We are first timers, and it will be me, DH and DS age 10.
 
If you have any concerns about language or service, don't worry at all. We were just at Hotel Okura, which is supposed to be one of the more "Japanese" of the partner hotels, and we had no communication issues whatsoever. We got monorail passes and zipped around with no problem. So I'd decide based on what you like; if you'd stay at an on site hotel in the states vs a nice Sheraton that's just as close.
 


There is no free luggage delivery service for Celebration Hotel if that’s important to you. Hotel shuttle bus is the only mode of transportation to the parks.
 
Which would you choose for a two night stay in July? We are first timers, and it will be me, DH and DS age 10.

Here is my pros/cons list for these two hotels! And maybe this may help you choose.

Tokyo Disney Celebration Hotel
Pros

  • Disney Hotel
  • Happy 15 Entry
  • Guaranteed Entrance to Parks
  • Purchase Park Tickets at Hotel with a Credit Card (this is important)
  • Free Shuttles to Park
  • Airport Limo Bus has late arrivals to this hotel from airport
  • 24 Hour Convenience Store

Cons
  • Its about a 15 minute shuttle to the Parks (similar to WDW bus travel times)
  • Only serve a simple breakfast (no lunch or dinner)
  • Can be pricey depending on what season you go. Can go as low as $157/night though!

Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay
Pros
  • Official Tokyo Disney Hotel
  • On monorail line
  • Guaranteed Admission
  • Luggage transfers are usually free
  • More amenities such as pool, more room types, more dining options

Cons
  • No Happy 15 entry
  • You do have to pay for the monorail (not that expensive)
  • Park tickets bought at hotel are cash only (no credit cards)
  • Airport Limo Bus arrivals from airport end sort of early, typically last bus is at 6pm from airport
  • Not Disney themed if that's important to you

That's all I can think of right now! If I think of more I will add or ask any questions :)

I am going in July myself and booked 3 nights at Celebration Hotel. Main reasons were the ability to buy tickets with our card, Happy 15, and I was able to get the room for less then Hilton Tokyo Bay & Sheraton as well.

We are doing another couple nights at Disney Ambassador Hotel but that's a whole other animal.
 
I've actually heard mixed reports about whether or not the ticket counter at the Sheraton accepts credit cards. Haven't tried it myself though. While a slight inconvenience, if they actually don't accept credit cards, you could also purchase tickets at the Ticket Center in Iskipiari or the Annual Passholder Center outside Disneyland (I've successfully used credit cards at both). Or if you aren't coming directly from the airport, you could buy at a number of Disney Stores.

As a note, it is faster to get to/from the parks from the Sheraton than the Celebration hotel.
 


I've actually heard mixed reports about whether or not the ticket counter at the Sheraton accepts credit cards. Haven't tried it myself though. While a slight inconvenience, if they actually don't accept credit cards, you could also purchase tickets at the Ticket Center in Iskipiari or the Annual Passholder Center outside Disneyland (I've successfully used credit cards at both). Or if you aren't coming directly from the airport, you could buy at a number of Disney Stores.

As a note, it is faster to get to/from the parks from the Sheraton than the Celebration hotel.

Actually, Tokyo Disneyland's new entrance will be half completed and the new portion should be opened sometime in May.

If I remember correctly the new entrance will kiosk machines for guests to be able to purchase tickets and etc.

That might also be helpful if you can't buy tickets with cards at Sheraton? Depends!
 
I would pick the Sheraton. It's right at the parks so I think it's more convenient. Because you can see the parks from the hotel I find it very much in the disney bubble.I

I really thought last time we paid credit card for our tickets here. At the hilton they only accept cash though.
 
I would pick the Sheraton. It's right at the parks so I think it's more convenient. Because you can see the parks from the hotel I find it very much in the disney bubble.I

I really thought last time we paid credit card for our tickets here. At the hilton they only accept cash though.

I could be totally wrong! I know Hilton Tokyo Bay is cash only.
 
Here's another couple of things:

If you're a rope dropper you may not want to eat breakfast at the Sheraton. Breakfast starts at 7 (6:30 if you have club access) which means you'll be back of the pack on days the park opens a 8AM. Breakfast at Celebration starts at 6 but I believe shuttle busses don't start till 7. You'll get to TDL barely in time for Happy 15 if you take the first bus. None of this is a concern if the park is opening at 9.

Celebration has Japanese style showers while Sheraton has Western style. Sheraton also has better soap/shampoo/lotion that are in disposable containers so you can take them home if you're that type of hotel guest.
 
We stayed at the Sheraton and really enjoyed our stay -- had club level access and never made it to the parks early because we enjoyed the breakfast so much! IIRC we had to pay cash for our Disney tickets at the Sheraton, but there was an ATM machine in the first floor of the Sheraton, so it was easy to withdraw cash at a good exchange rate.

I wanted to add that like the Hilton, the Sheraton's location across the street from the monorail station made accessing the parks super-easy. I think you could take an airport limo bus to the parks if arriving late and then easily take the monorail to the Sheraton if needed. Also, the Sheraton pool (like other hotel pools in Japan) is an additional cost.
 
Silly question about the guaranteed admission from Sheraton and the other official hotels: Do you have to buy the tickets from the hotel in order to get the guaranteed admission, or can you still get it as a guest if you buy your tickets elsewhere?
 
Silly question about the guaranteed admission from Sheraton and the other official hotels: Do you have to buy the tickets from the hotel in order to get the guaranteed admission, or can you still get it as a guest if you buy your tickets elsewhere?

From what I've read/heard from other passholders, you get guaranteed admission if you buy your ticket at the hotel or welcome center (to the left outside Maihama station. NOT the ticket center downstairs). If you buy your tickets elsewhere, you must wait for a park to reach capacity and then go to the hotel and have them issue a certificate. They can only issue a certificate for one park so you will not be able to park hop if both parks reach capacity.

I think most foreigners worry about this too much. In an average year, about 6 days will see one park get entrance restricted and 3 days will see both parks restricted. Even if you didn't know to avoid weekends and holidays, you'd probably be in the parks early in the morning and not leave.

For reference, this site has a table showing the 7 days the parks had restrictions through the first 9 months of last year:

https://www.disneycolors.net/blog/disney-halloween-2018-03.html

Two days it was because a new event started at DisneySea. The other days were long weekends. One collided with D23 Japan and two of the days had bad weather the day before. September and October are the months most likely to see capacity restrictions. Other than one day that TDL got restricted at 9:20, the parks weren't restricted till at least 10:45.
 
From what I've read/heard from other passholders, you get guaranteed admission if you buy your ticket at the hotel or welcome center (to the left outside Maihama station. NOT the ticket center downstairs). If you buy your tickets elsewhere, you must wait for a park to reach capacity and then go to the hotel and have them issue a certificate. They can only issue a certificate for one park so you will not be able to park hop if both parks reach capacity.

I think most foreigners worry about this too much. In an average year, about 6 days will see one park get entrance restricted and 3 days will see both parks restricted. Even if you didn't know to avoid weekends and holidays, you'd probably be in the parks early in the morning and not leave.

For reference, this site has a table showing the 7 days the parks had restrictions through the first 9 months of last year:

https://www.disneycolors.net/blog/disney-halloween-2018-03.html

Two days it was because a new event started at DisneySea. The other days were long weekends. One collided with D23 Japan and two of the days had bad weather the day before. September and October are the months most likely to see capacity restrictions. Other than one day that TDL got restricted at 9:20, the parks weren't restricted till at least 10:45.
I’m not worried about this happening on our trip but I didn’t know you had to get your tickets at a certain place for it to apply. Interesting
 
Here is my pros/cons list for these two hotels! And maybe this may help you choose.

Tokyo Disney Celebration Hotel
Pros

  • Disney Hotel
  • Happy 15 Entry
  • Guaranteed Entrance to Parks
  • Purchase Park Tickets at Hotel with a Credit Card (this is important)
  • Free Shuttles to Park
  • Airport Limo Bus has late arrivals to this hotel from airport
  • 24 Hour Convenience Store

Cons
  • Its about a 15 minute shuttle to the Parks (similar to WDW bus travel times)
  • Only serve a simple breakfast (no lunch or dinner)
  • Can be pricey depending on what season you go. Can go as low as $157/night though!

Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay
Pros
  • Official Tokyo Disney Hotel
  • On monorail line
  • Guaranteed Admission
  • Luggage transfers are usually free
  • More amenities such as pool, more room types, more dining options

Cons
  • No Happy 15 entry
  • You do have to pay for the monorail (not that expensive)
  • Park tickets bought at hotel are cash only (no credit cards)
  • Airport Limo Bus arrivals from airport end sort of early, typically last bus is at 6pm from airport
  • Not Disney themed if that's important to you

That's all I can think of right now! If I think of more I will add or ask any questions :)

I am going in July myself and booked 3 nights at Celebration Hotel. Main reasons were the ability to buy tickets with our card, Happy 15, and I was able to get the room for less then Hilton Tokyo Bay & Sheraton as well.

We are doing another couple nights at Disney Ambassador Hotel but that's a whole other animal.

Not sure when in July you are good but please report back and let us (mainly me) :) know how dealing with the shuttles were I’m looking at booking Celebration but can’t decide.
 

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