Japan Trip Report-May 2024

[gelatoni fan]

It was a standby pass that turned into a multiple experience pass but we had to enter into fantasy springs for it to change. Dh found that out. We didn’t have to be in the ride queue, just scanned into the land

Oh. I was waiting in line to get into the Fantasy Springs and mine automatically changed before I even got in. It was actually about 5 minutes before my start time when this happened.

 

[Haley R]

Oh. I was waiting in line to get into the Fantasy Springs and mine automatically changed before I even got in. It was actually about 5 minutes before my start time when this happened.

Maybe you have to be close by then? Ds and I were on the magic carpets and it wouldn’t change our pass. So dh walked over to fantasy springs and that’s when it changed for all of us

 

[Agent 86]

Yes you can. We left and went back to the land a couple times each day, usually once in the morning and once at night. Each pass we had booked gave us about 3 hours in the land. We were never able to get more than one PA though

Interesting. I'm guessing that's only during previews, as the official FAQ says that you cannot re-enter Fantasy Springs, even if you have a paid Premier Access ticket for when you return: https://faq.tokyodisneyresort.jp/tdr/en/faq_detail.html?id=24656&category=10691&page=1

 

[Haley R]

Interesting. I'm guessing that's only during previews, as the official FAQ says that you cannot re-enter Fantasy Springs, even if you have a paid Premier Access ticket for when you return: https://faq.tokyodisneyresort.jp/tdr/en/faq_detail.html?id=24656&category=10691&page=1

Oh that’s weird. I didn’t realize that. That would really stink to be stuck in the land all day. We were never able to get a standby pass and PA at the same time

 

[Agent 86]

Oh that’s weird. I didn’t realize that. That would really stink to be stuck in the land all day. We were never able to get a standby pass and PA at the same time

Yes, that's one of my concerns for our upcoming visit. Getting a standby pass for say ... 11am and a paid FP for 6pm. We don't want to spend 7 hours in there?! In that situation, we'd just have to forego the standby pass.

 

[Haley R]

Yes, that's one of my concerns for our upcoming visit. Getting a standby pass for say ... 11am and a paid FP for 6pm. We don't want to spend 7 hours in there?! In that situation, we'd just have to forego the standby pass.

That’s what I would do also. I would end up skipping the standby pass if that happened. I don’t really understand their reasoning behind not letting people return.

 

[Haley R]

Sheraton Tokyo Bay
We booked two nights at the Sheraton last minute before moving to the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel mainly so we would have somewhere to all nap on check in day. We didn’t want to be stranded with nowhere to go the entire day. It was 52k points through chase for the room. The room we booked was called Ocean Dream, 4 twin beds.

The room itself was great! Very large and having 4 beds was nice. There were two normal height beds on the outside and two lower height beds squeezed in the middle. It was a really great setup with ds on the lower beds in the middle by himself. We had a balcony that overlooked the outdoor pool area and the ocean outside. Honestly if it weren’t for the happy entry, I would consider staying at the Sheraton the entire trip.

The hotel has a ton of things for kids to do. There is a separate building called the Oasis that has an indoor pool, fitness center, flight simulator, huge arcade, and a big indoor playground. There is an outdoor mini golf course. We spent the majority of our day over there before switching hotels. The indoor playground is awesome but they need to limit how many people they let in. It got crowded fast. Ds and I swam in the indoor pool. It said heated and I was worried it would be cold because in Germany “heated” was used very loosely. But the pool was very warm! The only thing I’ll mention is they make you wear a swim cap. I’ve never worn a swim cap in my life so it was an interesting experience lol. There’s also a hot tub right there too. Dh worked out in the fitness center while we swam and he could see us swimming from the treadmill. Ds had fun waving to him but didn’t understand that dh couldn’t hear us through the glass

We tried the breakfast buffet and it was okay. It was another area that seemed overcrowded and it was difficult to get food at times. They have a really nice section just for kids though with plates, cups, utensils specifically for kids so that was nice. You have to go early for this because the line gets SUPER long later. We went at around 7 am.

We couldn’t use the outdoor pool because they only open it in the summer but it looked nice. Very small though.

Overall, we had a great stay at the Sheraton and I think it’s a fantastic option for anyone who needs a cheaper hotel or doesn’t care about the happy entry.

 

[Haley R]

Sheraton and Switching to TDL Hotel
We started the morning off by grabbing breakfast at the buffet around 7 am. It was pretty crowded and hard to get food at times but they had a nice area for kids. The food was okay, not horrible but nothing special either. By the time we left the line was really long to get into the restaurant.

After breakfast we went to Bon Voyage in Ikspiari to get some merch. The store opened at 8 am so it gave us something to do while we waited for the kids areas to open at the hotel. We ended up buying a one day pass for the monorail since we would be staying at the Disneyland hotel next. At the Ikspiari station they had a cool monorail exhibit where you could pretend to drive the monorail and it took 3 pictures of you. We bought a bunch of stuff at the store and then headed back to the Sheraton.

We signed up for an hour at the indoor playground. It’s a huge playground with rock walls, a climbing structure, a trampoline, etc. It’s really cool but they let way too many people in. It got crowded fast and it was hard for ds to play. He ended up hurting his foot after falling off a little zipline and couldn’t walk so we had to leave and carried him basically the whole rest of the day. He was limping for a couple days after. It wasn’t bruised or anything but he landed on it funny.

For lunch we bought stuff from the convenience store but it’s pretty small with not a lot to buy. They do have a pretty big Disney store with decent merch though. After lunch we headed to the indoor pool. Ds and I swam while dh ran on the treadmill. I was surprised how warm the pool actually was. We had to wear swim caps which was a first for me lol. The pool had 4 lanes: one for swim lessons, two for laps, and one for playing. There’s also a hot tub and a small kids pool. There weren’t very many people swimming so it was really nice. Then we took a nap.

After our nap we packed up and got on the monorail to check into the Disneyland hotel. We got there around 4:45 pm so there wasn’t much of a line to check in. Ds watched tangled on a little tv while we checked in. They printed out our Happy Entry tickets that listed the times for each park. For us it was 8 am at DisneySea and 8:45 am at Disneyland.

After we got all check in and dropped bags off to the room we went to the big garden to the right of the main entrance. Ds had a blast running around there. It was one of the only places he could actually run around at Disney. I’ll write a separate post about our stay and room but we had an amazing view of the park!

 

[Agent 86]

The hotel has a ton of things for kids to do. There is a separate building called the Oasis that has an indoor pool, fitness center, flight simulator, huge arcade, and a big indoor playground.

Was the indoor playground and monorail simulator included in the regular room rate or an additional cost?

It looks fantastic. Super crowded indoor playgrounds were pretty normal in our limited experience. Asobono quickly became crazy crowded. So did ... a huge one in Osaka ... I can't remember its name.

 

[Agent 86]

At the Ikspiari station they had a cool monorail exhibit where you could pretend to drive the monorail and it took 3 pictures of you.

Oops! I clicked on the photos and thought the monorail was part of the indoor playground.

Where is the monorail exhibit? My daughter would LOVE that, but google didn't come up with anything about a monorail exhibit at Ikspiari.

 

[Haley R]

Was the indoor playground and monorail simulator included in the regular room rate or an additional cost?

It looks fantastic. Super crowded indoor playgrounds were pretty normal in our limited experience. Asobono quickly became crazy crowded. So did ... a huge one in Osaka ... I can't remember its name.

The indoor playground is an additional charge. They charge by the hour. I can’t remember how much we paid but it wasn’t too bad. We went on a Sunday when they opened at 10 am. Maybe a week day wouldn’t be as bad? I’m not surprised indoor playgrounds get busy with the lack of outdoor playgrounds.

 

[Haley R]

Oops! I clicked on the photos and thought the monorail was part of the indoor playground.

Where is the monorail exhibit? My daughter would LOVE that, but google didn't come up with anything about a monorail exhibit at Ikspiari.

Here’s a link showing it:
https://wdwnt.com/2023/12/photos-to...e-type-x-monorail-on-display-for-new-exhibit/

 

[soniam]

Yes, that's one of my concerns for our upcoming visit. Getting a standby pass for say ... 11am and a paid FP for 6pm. We don't want to spend 7 hours in there?! In that situation, we'd just have to forego the standby pass.

I believe each pass gives you entry in the land. So you would be able to enter for the first pass around 11am and again for the 2nd pass around 6pm. I don’t think Mobile Order gives you re-entry, so you would have to hang around for that.

 

[Haley R]

I believe each pass gives you entry in the land. So you would be able to enter for the first pass around 11am and again for the 2nd pass around 6pm. I don’t think Mobile Order gives you re-entry, so you would have to hang around for that.

That’s how it worked for us

 

[Agent 86]

I believe each pass gives you entry in the land. So you would be able to enter for the first pass around 11am and again for the 2nd pass around 6pm. I don’t think Mobile Order gives you re-entry, so you would have to hang around for that.

Unfortunately, the official FAQ says otherwise:

Once you leave Fantasy Springs, you will not be allowed to re-enter Fantasy Springs even during "the valid time of entry to Fantasy Springs".

Guests who have an unused Standby Pass or Disney Premier Access for an eligible attraction at Fantasy Springs:

You will not be able to experience the attraction because you are not allowed to re-enter Fantasy Springs even if you have the unused Standby Pass or Disney Premier Access. Please note that refund requests will not be accepted for Disney Premier Access.

Guests who have already ordered menu items of the restaurant at Fantasy Springs by using Disney Mobile Order:

You will not be able to pick up your order at the restaurant because you are not allowed to re-enter Fantasy Springs even if you have already ordered menu items of the restaurant.

If you do not tap "I'm Here", your order will be automatically canceled and payment will not be completed.

If you tap "I'm Here", however, payment will be completed. Please note that you will not be able to pick up your order at the restaurant or request a refund.

https://faq.tokyodisneyresort.jp/tdr/en/faq_detail.html?id=24656&category=10691&page=1

 

[Agent 86]

Here’s a link showing it:
https://wdwnt.com/2023/12/photos-to...e-type-x-monorail-on-display-for-new-exhibit/

Thank you! Unfortunately, it looks like it will close before we arrive. Hopefully the exhibit is extended.

 

[djmeredith]

Oh no! We didn't have too much trouble with the lines in July 2023, although our daughter only liked the plain popcorn, so that may have been a factor? We did regularly see long lines for the other ... "fun" / themed snacks and didn't bother with those.

Popcorn is such an easy snack to satisfy our daughter, so hopefully the long lines are a temporary issue.

It’s been raining all day today too so I thought it would be less busy but on the app all of the popcorn carts say 30-45 min wait which is just insane. Even the plain salted popcorn is that long. I thought the park seemed packed this morning for a rainy Monday

We were there that day too and I can confirm the crazy food lines. All the restaurant and snack lines were insanely crowded at both parks all 3 days we were there. If you don't mobile order your lunch right after you enter, you will be waiting in an hour+ line for lunch. My nephew noticed that the fact several restaurants are "closed for refurbishment" doesn't help matters.

We went to Disney sea. The happy entry line this morning took forever. We showed up an hour early and still didn’t get into the park until after the happy entry time started. We got a standby pass for Peter Pan but it’s been broken all day. We ate at the Snuggly Duckling this morning and have a premier access for Rapunzel tonight. I’m hoping Peter Pan opens so we can use our pass for that. I tried getting a standby pass for the Emporio for merch but they were all gone. We did ride Toy Story and Tower of Terror twice each.

I’m really confused by the huge groups of school kids. We saw them yesterday and today

Yes! We saw tons of school groups all 3 days as well and were also surprised by it.

How exciting! Enjoy Rapunzel. And good luck with getting onto the Peter Pan ride.

I have read that Peter Pan and Frozen are breaking down a lot.

I also read that all the Premier Access and standby passes for Fantasy Springs were sold out by 9:30am today. If so, you did well to get two (even if Peter Pan is proving difficult to ride).

Frozen was down when we arrived for our Standby Pass. We walked around and explored the area by the hotels and then walked back to Frozen. I decided to wait around the entrance area for a little while just in case. We waited about 20 minutes and they started letting Premier Access holders in but not standby. At that point, a few people lined up at the SB entrance, so we jumped in that line. We were about 10 people back. We waited there another 15-20 minutes and they finally opened it up to SB. They led us through (queue area was so cute) and then we waited inside at the merge point for about another 15-20 minutes before we were allowed in. We probably ended up waiting about 45 mins-1 hour in total, but it went by fast since we weren't techinically stuck in line that entire time. We both loved the ride and thought it was so much better ours.

I chose Peter Pan for standby because the Frozen one seems to always have a long wait but I had a feeling Peter Pan would close down. I just didn’t expect it to last all day. We did the Snuggly Duckling mobile order early this morning because I figured those times would be gone fast too. We ate there around 10:40. It was really cute inside.

The weather was awful this morning. Very windy and raining pretty hard for a while. It wasn’t fun waiting for the park to open.

They only had one security line for all of the happy entry people and it moved very slowly. Close to the time the park opened they finally opened another security but it still took a really long time.

We’ve been eating a lot of food from the convenience store at the Disneyland hotel. The food lines at the parks are extremely long and mobile order times run out early. I also have a hard time finding things to eat

Haley, we must have been almost right next to each other because they opened that second security line right when we got to the front of the line, and we were some of the first people through that second line. That line was so terrible and I was so mad they let the regular guests in even though they had that huge back up for HE security. Luckily, we were still able to get the SB for Frozen and Premier for Rapunzel.

I probably won’t type up full day reports for Disney until we get back because it’s been a little hectic. We’ve been waking early and staying until close most days with a nap in the afternoon.

Tonight we were able to ride Rapunzel and Peter Pan. Rapunzel is short but very cute and has great animatronics. I was pleasantly surprised by Peter Pan. I was worried about the amount of screens on the ride but it’s really well done and lots of fun. I’m glad we picked to ride that over Frozen since it’s so different than Peter Pan at WDW.

The weather was insane tonight. Wind gusts of 54 mph and raining hard. It was hard leaving the park. The next two days show no rain and sunny so I’m excited for that

So glad you got to do PP! Had I known how short Rapunel was, I would've chosen PP instead. Rapunzel was beautiful, but SO short.

The winds were really bad. We were pushing ds in the stroller and he cried on the way out because of the wind and rain. We don’t have a plastic cover for our stroller.

We do DisneySea again on Thursday but I’m not sure we’ll even try to visit fantasy springs. It’s so hectic and far away from everything else in the park. Ds hasn’t talked about it at all. He LOVED tower of terror and aquatopia and really wants to do those again.

Oh. My. Gosh. Those winds were absolutely crazy! We called it a night around 8:00 and returned back to our room in MC and watched all the people battling it as they left the park. I literally think those might be the strongest winds I have ever experienced. I can only imagine how miserable your little one felt because it was bad enough experiencing it as an adult. I wanted to cry too, lol!

Ours was pink and we had to go in the standby line also. However, one day we decided not to wait the 45 minutes for Peter Pan so instead used the multiuse pass at tower of terror and there they let us go in the fast pass line. So my guess is if it’s a standby pass for a FS ride you have to still go through standby but if you use it outside the land you can go through the fast pass line

We got one of those ME passes because of the Frozen shut down and didn't realize what it was at first. I didn't see the fine print, so we thought it could be used for any ride in FS. We tried to use it for PP standby, but they showed us the fine print that said it could only be used for Frozen in FS. I guess maybe you can only use it on the FS ride for which you missed your time. It did offer several other rides outside FS, so we used it for Tower of Terror instead.

Glad you all made it home safely. I am enjoying all your trip updates!

 

[Haley R]

We were there that day too and I can confirm the crazy food lines. All the restaurant and snack lines were insanely crowded at both parks all 3 days we were there. If you don't mobile order your lunch right after you enter, you will be waiting in an hour+ line for lunch. My nephew noticed that the fact several restaurants are "closed for refurbishment" doesn't help matters.


Yes! We saw tons of school groups all 3 days as well and were also surprised by it.


Frozen was down when we arrived for our Standby Pass. We walked around and explored the area by the hotels and then walked back to Frozen. I decided to wait around the entrance area for a little while just in case. We waited about 20 minutes and they started letting Premier Access holders in but not standby. At that point, a few people lined up at the SB entrance, so we jumped in that line. We were about 10 people back. We waited there another 15-20 minutes and they finally opened it up to SB. They led us through (queue area was so cute) and then we waited inside at the merge point for about another 15-20 minutes before we were allowed in. We probably ended up waiting about 45 mins-1 hour in total, but it went by fast since we weren't techinically stuck in line that entire time. We both loved the ride and thought it was so much better ours.




Haley, we must have been almost right next to each other because they opened that second security line right when we got to the front of the line, and we were some of the first people through that second line. That line was so terrible and I was so mad they let the regular guests in even though they had that huge back up for HE security. Luckily, we were still able to get the SB for Frozen and Premier for Rapunzel.


So glad you got to do PP! Had I known how short Rapunel was, I would've chosen PP instead. Rapunzel was beautiful, but SO short.


Oh. My. Gosh. Those winds were absolutely crazy! We called it a night around 8:00 and returned back to our room in MC and watched all the people battling it as they left the park. I literally think those might be the strongest winds I have ever experienced. I can only imagine how miserable your little one felt because it was bad enough experiencing it as an adult. I wanted to cry too, lol!


We got one of those ME passes because of the Frozen shut down and didn't realize what it was at first. I didn't see the fine print, so we thought it could be used for any ride in FS. We tried to use it for PP standby, but they showed us the fine print that said it could only be used for Frozen in FS. I guess maybe you can only use it on the FS ride for which you missed your time. It did offer several other rides outside FS, so we used it for Tower of Terror instead.

Glad you all made it home safely. I am enjoying all your trip updates!

You probably saw us leaving the park that day lol. I was running and pushing ds in the stroller to get him out of the rain. It was so bad. I almost bought a rain cover for the stroller but didn’t since it was the only predicted bad weather day.

I’m hoping to start typing out our Disney days maybe tomorrow. We all got sick and are fighting that right now while also adjusting back to eastern time.

 

[Flossbolna]

Unfortunately, the official FAQ says otherwise:

Once you leave Fantasy Springs, you will not be allowed to re-enter Fantasy Springs even during "the valid time of entry to Fantasy Springs".

Guests who have an unused Standby Pass or Disney Premier Access for an eligible attraction at Fantasy Springs:

You will not be able to experience the attraction because you are not allowed to re-enter Fantasy Springs even if you have the unused Standby Pass or Disney Premier Access. Please note that refund requests will not be accepted for Disney Premier Access.

Guests who have already ordered menu items of the restaurant at Fantasy Springs by using Disney Mobile Order:

You will not be able to pick up your order at the restaurant because you are not allowed to re-enter Fantasy Springs even if you have already ordered menu items of the restaurant.

If you do not tap "I'm Here", your order will be automatically canceled and payment will not be completed.

If you tap "I'm Here", however, payment will be completed. Please note that you will not be able to pick up your order at the restaurant or request a refund.

https://faq.tokyodisneyresort.jp/tdr/en/faq_detail.html?id=24656&category=10691&page=1

I have been thinking about this and think it means just the one time that you got. So, if you have one window from 10-12 and one from 5-7, you enter at 10, but don’t use the Standby Pass that got you the window and instead exit then they will not allow you to reenter. I think it can read that way. I hope so as otherwise it would be a logistical nightmare with people camping out everywhere.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I have been thinking about this and think it means just the one time that you got. So, if you have one window from 10-12 and one from 5-7, you enter at 10, but don’t use the Standby Pass that got you the window and instead exit then they will not allow you to reenter. I think it can read that way. I hope so as otherwise it would be a logistical nightmare with people camping out everywhere.

Yup. It can actually be pretty crazy when a ride breaks down because a lot of people who had standby passes will wait in front of the ride for it to re-open. They can't leave or else they won't be able to ride. On the 28th, I think part of the reason the line into Fantasy Springs got backed up was because the crowd waiting for Peter Pan to reopen kept blocking the walkway.