Staying onsite?

[cindernat]

Hi there,
First trip to TDL coming up in April next year. We've been to WDW once and DLR twice and we've always stayed onsite. Travel agent we may be using keeps going on about how it's not worth it to stay at a Disney property, but we've always found it has been.
What are people's experiences and thoughts on this in relation to TDL? Necessary to stay on site, or more like DLP where the good neighbour hotels are also very close to the entrance?
Are there extra magic hours for hotel guests?
Many thanks, we're in a bit of a rush to book so sorry if this has already been answered somewhere else.

 

[gelatoni fan]

It's absolutely not necessary to stay on site. There's so many options for public transit that you can easily get to the parks from many places. It just depends on what your preferences are in terms of hotel quality, price and transport time.

The Disney owned hotels give you 15 minutes early entry. Note that only Miracosta and Ambassador give you early entry to Disneysea while the others only include early entry to Disneyland and Celebration is off-site. If you aren't staying at the Disneyland Hotel or the Miracosta, then the Hilton and Sheraton will be more convenient and far more affordable. These hotels are at Bayside station in between Disneyland and Disneysea so you can actually get to Disneysea faster from them than if you were staying at the Disneyland hotel.

When I had an annual pass, I used to favor the Sheraton when it was less than 20,000 JPY a night but when it was expensive, I'd stay pretty much anywhere between Tokyo and Yokohama and just take a bus or the subway depending on what made more sense.

 

[Haley R]

We stayed at the Hilton Tokyo Bay a few years ago and it was great. It’s right next to a monorail station. We got Hilton credit cards and earned enough points to pay for the room. The on-site hotels there are so expensive

 

[Douglas Dubh]

Our first trip we went in July and stayed at the Sheraton. We really enjoyed being able to take a break in the afternoon and cool off. Second trip we stayed at the DLH and loved getting the early 15. I’d recommend staying onsite for at least three nights and spending four days at the parks.

 

[cindernat]

Thanks so much for the advice. Will let you all know what we decide.

 

[moofern]

Just to add: going to TDR for the first time and booked two nights at the Tokyo Disneyland hotel. With the strong dollar, the cost per night (~$400) is about the same for a character themed room compared what we paid for a night in a standard room at DLH earlier this year in Anaheim.

 

[steve76]

For my upcoming trip I'm staying at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel as a splurge. On my previous trip I stayed at the Hilton Tokyo Bay, which I highly reccommend. It's on-site (actually next to the new Toy Story Hotel) and directly on the monorail line that circles the two parks. They run busses to the monorail station, but don't be put off by that, it's only a couple of minutes' walk away (and it's usually quicker to walk than to get the bus). Although it's not advertised or common, it is also an easy walk from Tokyo Disneyland - I did this a few times at night when it was a nice evening and I didn't want to wait for the monorail. I would equate the location to something like the Grand Floridian or Contemporary at Magic Kingdom.

So basically the non-Disney onsite hotels (Hilton, Sheraton etc.) are a great option and it's not necessary to stay at a Disney hotel.

 

[zanzibar138]

Great to have a little read through this thread as I'm having the exact same dilemma myself. Good to hear that the hotels around Bayside station are only a few minutes walk from the station and actually within walking distance of the parks as well. I far prefer to walk if at all possible. Since our trip will be for a special occasion, I had been thinking of splurging on the Miracosta or TDH, but I'm struggling to justify the cost for 5 nights, even with early entry

 

[Lewdannie]

So basically the non-Disney onsite hotels (Hilton, Sheraton etc.) are a great option and it's not necessary to stay at a Disney hotel.

The only caveat to this is that only Disney Resort Hotel guests are guaranteed entry tickets which have been restricted in number and only available for a day at a time since COVID. A factor if you are visiting during a busy time.

 

[Annabell]

We are planning a trip to TDL too and now considering staying onsite just to be sure we have park access.

 

[zanzibar138]

The only caveat to this is that only Disney Resort Hotel guests are guaranteed entry tickets which have been restricted in number and only available for a day at a time since COVID. A factor if you are visiting during a busy time.

Oh, that is definitely something to consider. I honestly have no idea whether we will be there at a busy time or not - will have to do some more research. Would hate to go to all this trouble and expense and end up actually not being able to get in!

 

[AndyR]

We've done the Disney properties a number of times, but this year we're doing the Hilton. They are now selling rooms with guaranteed park access. When we booked this wasn't an option, but I had no problems getting park tickets for 5 days including Christmas Day from the TDR main website. Just needed to use a MasterCard as AmEx ad Visa were rejected by TDR.

 

[Disnewbies]

I’m planning our trip now for summer of next year. The Sheraton just started taking park tickets reservations with the hotel reservations. We probably will stay there because of bonvoy points and the hotel has coin laundry.

 

[zanzibar138]

We've done the Disney properties a number of times, but this year we're doing the Hilton. They are now selling rooms with guaranteed park access. When we booked this wasn't an option, but I had no problems getting park tickets for 5 days including Christmas Day from the TDR main website. Just needed to use a MasterCard as AmEx ad Visa were rejected by TDR.

I’m planning our trip now for summer of next year. The Sheraton just started taking park tickets reservations with the hotel reservations. We probably will stay there because of bonvoy points and the hotel has coin laundry.

That's good to know, thanks! I have a mastercard so hopefully that will help.

 

[ZSNO]

We've done the Disney properties a number of times, but this year we're doing the Hilton. They are now selling rooms with guaranteed park access. When we booked this wasn't an option, but I had no problems getting park tickets for 5 days including Christmas Day from the TDR main website. Just needed to use a MasterCard as AmEx ad Visa were rejected by TDR.

I used my Amex at TDR (Oct 2022) exclusively. All of Japan started accepting more credit card usage over the past couple years, so it might be much easier to use any card you want.

 

[AndyR]

I used my Amex at TDR (Oct 2022) exclusively. All of Japan started accepting more credit card usage over the past couple years, so it might be much easier to use any card you want.

We had no issues with AmEx once we were in the parks or anywhere else this past trip. It was just the initial park ticket purchase that had issues.

 

[CanucksRock]

We are doing a split stay in April. We did not want to hotel hop too much, so even though people say stay in Tokyo vs TDR to explore Tokyo, we are using TDR as home base. Part of the reason is for you points usage.

We are staying 4 nights at Toy Story Hotel (3 Adults ) …just really wanted to stay there. We are going to the parks on day 3 & 4 of that stay. Then we go to Osaka/Kyoto for a few nights, before returning for 5 nights at the Sheraton Tokyo Bay. Booked with points, so 5th night was free. We are going to the parks again on the last 2 days of that stay prior to going home.

With the stay at TS we can get our tickets on arrival. For the Sheraton stay we are using the pre-booking form.

 

[Haley R]

We are doing a split stay in April. We did not want to hotel hop too much, so even though people say stay in Tokyo vs TDR to explore Tokyo, we are using TDR as home base. Part of the reason is for you points usage.

We are staying 4 nights at Toy Story Hotel (3 Adults ) …just really wanted to stay there. We are going to the parks on day 3 & 4 of that stay. Then we go to Osaka/Kyoto for a few nights, before returning for 5 nights at the Sheraton Tokyo Bay. Booked with points, so 5th night was free. We are going to the parks again on the last 2 days of that stay prior to going home.

With the stay at TS we can get our tickets on arrival. For the Sheraton stay we are using the pre-booking form.

Let us know how you like both the Sheraton and the Toy Story hotel. I read a lot of bad reviews about the Sheraton recently so we took that one off our list. We’ll be there next year. I haven’t seen many reviews for the Toy Story hotel