Easter and The Year of Wishes… food allergy princess goes to Tokyo Disney! -June 2016 TR

[MomoMama]

Some animals you are not allowed to touch. But you can get really close to them.

This guy decided to join us, when we humans were listening to the keeper talk for red panda, his neighbor…

It’s binturong, I don’t think I had ever seen him at any other zoos before.

They also had those fish, a type of tilapia, that eat dead skin. I did not want to try it, but DD wanted to, so I let her put her feet in the water. The fish did not want her feet though… I guess there is no dead skin to feed on. All the fish gathered to adults’ feet.

 

[MomoMama]

Pumbaa???

Smiley alpaca…

And smiley camel.

Waiting for the rain to stop…

We saw a bird show that was held indoors. We sat on the front seats and it was fun to see them flying by so close.

This place used to be “Flowers and Birds Park.” They still had some flowers and birds, but a lot less now that they have so many animals. The place is not huge, so I was surprised to see so many animals in there. People working there were all friendly and nice, and the animals seem to be well taken care of. But I do hope those animals’ living spaces are bigger than the exhibit areas. I kind of miss the old Flowers and Birds Park, as it was beautiful and quiet. But I can see they had to change if they wanted to stay in the business. DD sure enjoyed it more, and wants to go back.

 

[MomoMama]

EXPOCITY

Expocity in Osaka has multiple attractions and a shopping mall in one place, built on a former world expo site. We had to go there on a weekend, and the place was pretty busy. They have many restaurants, but it was hard to find a place to eat at lunch time, with more than 1 hour wait everywhere! We ended up eating at a first food restaurant (Mos burger), and even that was packed and hard to find a table.

We checked out Nifrel, aquarium/zoo-like facility. The aquarium was very nice, and we saw fish in colors and shapes we had never seen before.
The very first fish tank we saw had vibrant red colored shrimps and small white colored fish, and they were perfectly beautiful…we debated if they were real!

Every time when we go to an aquarium...must see Nemo!

Also they had some interactive stations, which DD wanted to touch them all…

And they had those small fish you are allowed to touch, or let them touch you. When you put your finger in the water, they would just gather on you. They don’t seem to be feeding on the dead skin like other fish we tried at Kobe Animal Kingdom, they were like kissing, and it tickled. They would gather on kids’ fingers too.

 

[MomoMama]

They have this art exhibit called Wonder Moments. The floating Earth changes the views in such a beautiful way. I loved the visual art and the music combination, while all DD cared was dancing under the changing lights.

The animal zone had animals walking around freely. We could not feed or touch them like we did at the Animal Kingdom, but still we got to see them very close.

Overall I liked this pale, but wish the place was bigger or less crowded! It’s just so hard to see the fish in small fish tank when there are so many people around. I would love to come back when DD is little older, as this is a good educational place.

 

[MomoMama]

There was Pokemon Expo Gym next to Nifrel. It had a small restaurant, gift shop, and games that required you to buy a special card to get into. DD wanted to play the games, but no one in our party wanted to go with her, not even another kid we had with us. Honestly I don’t really know what Pokemon is, and I had no interest playing the games. DD was little disappointed, but she understood. She gave a hug to the big Pikachu at the entrance, and we left.

There is a Gundam café in this mall too. This Gundam was not as big as the one we saw in Odaiba Tokyo, but this one was fighting!

They had Shaun the Sheep Park inside the shopping mall, and we meant to go there. But when we got there, we realized this place was meant for toddlers. We decided not to go in, and instead let the kids play at a game arcade across a little.

We also checked out a store, Kiddy Land there. Kiddy Land sells various character merchandise, including Disney characters! They had Totoro, Snoopy, and other Japanese character items.

Expocity has more attractions, including the newest addition, Japan’s tallest Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel was not open yet when we visited there. The gondola has clear floor and looks interesting. Expocity is a great place to visit with kids, but one down side of going there is the location…it is kind of far from the central area. The “rapid” train was so full that we took “regular” speed train, and it took a lot longer than I expected to get there.

 

[Jade-Elise]

There was Pokemon Expo Gym next to Nifrel. It had a small restaurant, gift shop, and games that required you to buy a special card to get into. DD wanted to play the games, but no one in our party wanted to go with her, not even another kid we had with us. Honestly I don’t really know what Pokemon is, and I had no interest playing the games. DD was little disappointed, but she understood. She gave a hug to the big Pikachu at the entrance, and we left.

There is a Gundam café in this mall too. This Gundam was not as big as the one we saw in Odaiba Tokyo, but this one was fighting!

They had Shaun the Sheep Park inside the shopping mall, and we meant to go there. But when we got there, we realized this place was meant for toddlers. We decided not to go in, and instead let the kids play at a game arcade across a little.

We also checked out a store, Kiddy Land there. Kiddy Land sells various character merchandise, including Disney characters! They had Totoro, Snoopy, and other Japanese character items.

Expocity has more attractions, including the newest addition, Japan’s tallest Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel was not open yet when we visited there. The gondola has clear floor and looks interesting. Expocity is a great place to visit with kids, but one down side of going there is the location…it is kind of far from the central area. The “rapid” train was so full that we took “regular” speed train, and it took a lot longer than I expected to get there.

You are an absolute wealth of knowledge!!! So many awesome places I have added for our trip thanks to you. Our itinerary is so full, our bank will be so empty!

 

[Jade-Elise]

We only have 4 days and 4 nights in Kyoto, we wanted to do Nara and Himeji as side trips as well as spending time in Kyoto. Now I want to see Osaka! EEEEK! How do I fit everything in?

 

[MomoMama]

We only have 4 days and 4 nights in Kyoto, we wanted to do Nara and Himeji as side trips as well as spending time in Kyoto. Now I want to see Osaka! EEEEK! How do I fit everything in?

The only way to fit everything...stay longer or take another trip.

But really...you just have to make the list of interests that suits your family. Check the attractions' home pages, consider things like weather, cost, ease of access, and special events that may affect the crowds level, then narrow it down.

There are nice aquariums in Tokyo, and Pokemon and the other character shops are in Tokyo too. So if you are going to those in Tokyo, you don't have to go again in Osaka. Unless of course, those are the things your family love.
Dotonbori food street with crazy signs is in Osaka only, but there are many other streets you can walk and eat food in other areas too.
Osaka does have USJ and a large aquarium called Kaiyukan.

November would be fall foliage season, so I would personally want to spend as much time as possible in Kyoto, but I would expect huge crowds too. And my kid won't last 4 days just visiting temples and shrines, I would have to throw in some kid-friendly things to do here and there.

Try not to over-stress, and enjoy your trip!

 

[aussie shaz]

We went to Osaka specifically for USJ and loved it (USJ) We spent a day in Osaka and it was OK, but I wouldn't do it again. Just another city to us. We also did one day in Kyoto, but should have stayed there and done a couple more days.
We did go to Osaka Castle and it was beautiful. Cherry blossom season also, so it was pretty spectacular.

 

[MomoMama]

We went to Osaka specifically for USJ and loved it (USJ) We spent a day in Osaka and it was OK, but I wouldn't do it again. Just another city to us. We also did one day in Kyoto, but should have stayed there and done a couple more days.
We did go to Osaka Castle and it was beautiful. Cherry blossom season also, so it was pretty spectacular.

Too bad the city of Osaka did not "click" with you! If you loved Kyoto, shrines and temples and traditional Japanese scenery, I understand Osaka was not your city. There are few famous shrines in Osaka too. Sumiyoshi shrine is on our list for the next time. And the history museum near the castle looks interesting too.
It is not my #1 favorite city either, but Osaka offers great food and shopping, and places for kids to have fun. We visited Kaiyukan last trip, and Expocity this trip, as we needed a place the kids(not just our DD) would enjoy, and place we could go even if it rained.

But if you loved USJ and the spectacular view of the castle and cherry blossom, sounds like it was well worth it going to Osaka!

 

[MomoMama]

Some tips from our trip…

Money –I do not like to carry cash, but I must do when I go to Japan. I have exchanged some money at the airport for the past trips, but this time I needed more than I would usually spend, so I had the exchange done at my local bank before we traveled. These days credit card is widely accepted at many places in Japan too, but I knew at least I needed the cash to buy the park tickets (buying at Oriental hotel) and for the trains/buses fares. Also I applied for a credit card that charges no foreign transaction fees like 2 weeks before the trip, and I was glad to receive it just in time. There were 2 occasions I could not use my credit card, once at a discount store where they were not accepting the credit card that was issued overseas, and another time was somehow the card was declined on our last day at the airport gift shop. It was good have extra cash with me, just in case.

Hotel –I checked several booking sites including a Japanese booking site (Japanican), and also the hotel’s home pages. Often I found the lowest price at the hotel’s home pages, also I could select various different types of the rooms at the hotel’s own home pages that were not available from other booking sites. But surprisingly I found the lowest fare for Oriental Hotel from Expedia, and I cancelled the bookings I had from other sites.
When searching for a room that accommodate 3 adults + 1 child (initially my parents were going to join the trip), I found less hotel options, and found the rooms cost a lot more money. But the hotels around Disney cater to families, so at least they had the rooms, and those rooms were available to select from the hotel’s home pages.

Food –Our food options were limited due to DD’ allergies. The family restaurants I mentioned earlier are not bad, but certainly not the best. If you don’t have any limitations, do try the specialty restaurants! Food is in general pretty good in Japan, and often they are not expensive. Drinks at the restaurants may seem expensive, as they come in small cups. And you do not get free refiles, except for tea and coffee at some restaurants.

…So this is the end to this trip report. Thank you for all those read along. And thank you, DIS, for letting me have this space to write the report.

Writing TR is one thing I like to do after the trip…it lets me re-live the experiences. With busy everyday lives and crazy things going on around the world, I sometimes really need to have the happy thoughts, and Disney let me have it! I am not sure when and where our next Disney trip will be… I will be just thinking about this wonderful TDR trip we had for a while. But more I think about it, more I want to go back!

 

[jelloarms]

I really enjoyed your report and picked up some good tips! My sister and I are headed to Japan in October.

 

[MomoMama]

I really enjoyed your report and picked up some good tips! My sister and I are headed to Japan in October.

I'm happy to hear you found my TR useful!

Enjoy your Japan trip!

 

[Tanzanite]

We only have 4 days and 4 nights in Kyoto, we wanted to do Nara and Himeji as side trips as well as spending time in Kyoto. Now I want to see Osaka! EEEEK! How do I fit everything in?

2015 we went to Kyoto for a week but we went to Nara and Kobe for the beef but missed that as we got there late lunch specials done and was expensive for dinner. day trips and Universal Osaka we never saw one temple that year i was dissapointed felt weird going home not having visited them but my kids wanted to do other things as we went to other places so we returned for a week in Kyoto last year and had Kobe beef and saw several temples You wont be able to see everything as distances are spread out and takes a lot of time travelling between places.

 

[Luv2Diz]

Thank you for writing your report and all of the beautiful photos. We are just starting to plan a trip to Japan and Disney. This will be our first trip here, so this was helpful.