Looking for advice on Tokyo Disney trip planning

[Kickstart]

Hi there,

We're planning a two week trip to Japan for late June / early July, and I was hoping to get some advice on the TDR portion of our trip (probably 3-4 days at TDR). We are a party of 5: my wife and I and three mostly adult children (DD27, DS25, DD17).

I realize our trip is right around the corner, but hopefully a 5 month lead time is enough to book everything we want to do. I know that TDR Vacation Packages for June open up for booking on January 16th (I believe at 3pm JST, so I that would be 1am EST for me). In two days!... so my first big question is:​

• What are your opinions on doing one of the Vacation Packages. Looking at the AOKSoft Tokyo Disneyland Crowd Calendar (https://yosocal.com/#google_vignette), it appears the weekdays during our timeframe will be light-to-normal crowds (sometime between 6/25 and 7/9) - and we will plan on doing three to four weekdays (to avoid the busier weekends.) This is a likely a one-time trip, and we're planning to stay at a Disney luxury resort (probably MiraCosta), so don't mind spending some money on this - but we're also pretty experienced WDW planners, so I'd feel kind of silly paying premium for a package only to realize I could have done the same thing by getting in early and paying for some priority passes. On the other hand, if it's crowded (or overbearingly hot/humid), and we're not able to do some of the "must see" rides, then I'll be a little bummed.

I'm kind of leaning towards a 1 night (2 day) vacation package, and then tacking on an additional hotel stay the night before (and maybe after as well). The 2 night (3 day) package seems like its a little rigid and has a character meet-and-greet that we wouldn't use anyway.​

​

I'd really appreciate thoughts/suggestions here.​

​

• My next big question is how many rooms should I get? We're going to get at least two rooms, but I'm wondering if three "adults" can actually share one the room at the MiraCosta (or Disneyland Hotel).... the bathroom layout looks like it would make it easier at least (with doors separating both the toilet and shower areas).
• Thirdly, thoughts on doing TDR earlier in our trip to Japan, or towards the end. I've seen suggestions for both (do it later in the trip after adjusting to jetlag vs doing it earlier as you'll want more "early vacation" energy for the TDR part).

Thanks for the help!

 

[gmi3804]

I'm not sure how "close" you are, and beds are smaller in Japan than elsewhere. Most rooms have two "twins" (which is a bit bigger than an American "double), and a pull out trundle bed, which is comparable to an American twin. Bathrooms are separated into three sections: a center, open sink area and, on each side, a tub/shower room and a toilet room, both behind doors.

As far as at the beginning or end, which days of the week do those land on? Going to TDL mid-week (Tuesday-Thursday are the best days) is preferable to weekends, which see much larger crowds.

 

[MinnesotaDisneyFan]

I've recently returned from a 5-night, 4-park day trip to Tokyo Disneyland over Christmas. Based on crowd calendars I was there a busier time but think I have some advice I can offer.

-Vacation packages. Knowing we were going for 4 full park days, I knew if we did a vacation package this would likely result in us having to change resorts or at least rooms. Personally I would rather avoid this so we opted to not do any vacation package. We stayed at the Disney Ambassador as it is one of the few hotels currently offering early entry to BOTH parks. In previous Tokyo trips I've never considered staying here and really enjoyed it (previously have stayed at Disneyland Hotel and in metro Tokyo). The theming and amenities surpass most Disney deluxe hotels stateside IMHO. The shuttle was quick and never crowded. We would get to the park about 2 hours before our early entry (This sounds worse than it was, the people watching/camaraderie is great and you can bring a breakfast to enjoy while you wait. The highlight of each day was the parade of turnstile cast members and characters who walk out in unison prior to opening). Once we got in the park we were able to book premium passes, free 40th anniversary passes, at TokyoSea a standby pass for a Fantasy Springs ride, and try our luck at show/character meet lotteries. One day I tallied we rode 5 attractions in our first hour in the park which I was more than satisfied at such a busy time. Using this strategy (during a busy time) we rode 3 Fantasy Springs attractions our first DisneySea day and 2 the second. I think the access to these attractions is the thing I would have enjoyed most about a package, but other than that I have no regrets not doing one. Between the park tickets costing around $70 and not spending money on a vacation package, I felt no guilt ponying up for a few premium passes a day (which also cost a lot less than their American Genie+ counterpart).

-Hotel rooms. I saw the previous response about bed size and will add there are so many different room configurations at Tokyo Disney hotels. There are rooms that sleep 5+ that have trundle beds and "alcove" beds. Many more room and bed configurations than you may be used to stateside. So depending on your comfort with each other, there are rooms where you might only need one room.

-Hotel choice. I would temper your expectations about what you may be able to book (hotel choice and room categories), even at a less high-demand time. I consider myself an expert Disney planner and am adept at making my dining reservations the second they go live for Walt Disney World and have sweat my way through many a nerve-racking runDisney virtual queue. But Tokyo Disney Resort hotel booking is a different beast. For this most recent trip I was prepared and logged on in advance of the JST 11 AM window for our trip. I was open and willing to book almost any hotel with a pretty flexible, generous budget. And at 11:00:01 JST there was nothing left for a 5-night stay that wasn't a suite or a stay that would be split across multiple room categories/hotels. This is typical of all the times I've gone to Tokyo Disney. The hotels are in high demand year-round and you're competing with people whose stays begin before your check-in date but overlap you. For this past trip I initially gave up the prospect of staying at a Disney hotel and booked the Hilton Tokyo Bay. Being the obsessive Disney planner, I continued to stalk and search hotel reservations on Disney's site. Around the month mark, availability kept popping up at different hotels and seemed like there was a lot of movement (I've heard people may have multiple reservations they're deciding between and ultimately make the final decision, canceling the others). At that time I was able to find uninterrupted 5-night stays at both Disneyland Hotel and Ambassador. I do realize vacation packages and shorter stays (both which may apply to your trip) are easier to come by so you may have better luck doing a split stay.

-Trip itinerary. We did Tokyo Disney at the beginning of the trip. I concur with others that using the jet lag to your advantage for early morning rope drop is a big advantage. And because of the excitement, I never felt like I was falling asleep at the end of a day. Also at the end of our 2 week trip in Japan I was pretty worn out and can't image having been as chipper doing 4 early morning rope drop days in a row.

Let me know if you have other questions.

 

[diana13]

I am also interested in this thread. I will be staying a short time during my time in Tokyo, May 13-15th. I have lots to research and read up. I just quickly today booked 2 nights at Toy Story. I don't think the vacation package will work for me traveling solo. It seems to be double the cost of hotel only. Am I missing something, as I was just a few minutes ago, able to go online, no problem and book Toy Story? I still need see how all the rides work, similar to Genie + etc.
Appreciate reading all the posts!
Diana

 

[Kickstart]

I am also interested in this thread. I will be staying a short time during my time in Tokyo, May 13-15th. I have lots to research and read up. I just quickly today booked 2 nights at Toy Story. I don't think the vacation package will work for me traveling solo. It seems to be double the cost of hotel only. Am I missing something, as I was just a few minutes ago, able to go online, no problem and book Toy Story? I still need see how all the rides work, similar to Genie + etc.
Appreciate reading all the posts!
Diana

HI Diana... the vacation packages (depending on the package) include park tickets and pre-paid dining reservations so that's likely why it's so much more expensive. Plus they charge you a premium for the package.

This site was pretty informative for TDR Vacation Packages: https://howtododisney.net/2025/01/1...f-tokyo-disney-vacation-packages-2025-edition

 

[Kickstart]

Thanks @gmi3804 and @MinnesotaDisneyFan !!!

Some great info...

I haven't booked our flight yet, so I have some flexibility with arrival and departure dates, but the plan is to definitely do the Disney part of the trip on weekdays. I have heard (from disneytouristblog) Sunday night's and Monday's aren't as bad anymore (something about not having annual passes? IDK)... but definitely going to try to stick to middle of the week.

For some reason I thought the Disneyland hotel and the MiraCosta had happy entry to both parks (but maybe that was only for their closest park.... hmm).

I saw another thread here (or maybe on redit) that if you purchase a hotel room in the same class as the one on your package they will very likely keep you in the same room (as it's pretty common), but maybe not? Good point on availability though. Since I only need one day before, and maybe one day after, hopefully that will be doable. The booking window on hotel rooms is 4 month's out from the day, correct?

I was also thinking it may be fun to book Disneyland Hotel the night before doing a 1 night package at MiraCosta - it sounds like luggage transfers are pretty easy at TDR and this way we get to experience both hotels. Also, the 1st day ticket on the package we'd do is for DisneyLand (the second day is DisneySea) - so maybe that would be more convenient. I'd just need to make sure we can pick up the vacation package there (or will I have to go over to MiraCosta to get the package with the tickets and them come back?). All that said, I need to run some numbers on cost.

Thanks for the tip on the hotel rooms - It's a little hard trying to find out what all the options are at the hotels. I did see some rooms have three "twin" beds.

 

[MinnesotaDisneyFan]

Here’s a good recent trip report about doing split stays with a vacation package including info about picking up the package and luggage transfers. This is the one area I have no first hand experience on (https://www.disboards.com/threads/m...prings-opening-day-trip-report.3948296/unread).

I’ve also heard you can stay in the same room as your package if you book the same room category. The only challenge would be the aforementioned confusing abundance of room categories at each hotel.

Disneyland Hotel currently has a temporary pause on early entry to TokyoSea which I think is a crowd control measure that started with Fantasy Springs. But there is no end date announced for this for now.

Room only reservations can be made 4 months in advance at 11 AM JST.

 

[gmi3804]

TDR tends to change rules, if only slightly, monthly, so things could very well change by the time of your trip, but unfortunately you need to book something as soon as possible so you don't get shut out. As of now, only MiraCosta, Fantasy Springs Hotel, and Ambassador has HE privileges at DS. No DS HE for DLH or TSH.

 

[Agent 86]

We went to Japan in July 2023. Based on our experience, it will be unbearably hot and humid in June / July. You will need to plan for that, as best you can.

One option, which we ended up doing, is taking an afternoon break in your hotel. We stayed at the Hilton Tokyo Bay, so it was just a short monorail trip away for our breaks. On that basis, staying at a hotel in the area could be a good idea. But, it depends how long your overall stay is and what else you want to do. I wouldn't stay at Tokyo Bay for ... say two weeks if only 3/4 days of that time will be spent at Disney.

You could consider a split stay - doing the 3/4 days all in a row (say Monday to Thursday) and then changing hotels to a more central location.

We have never done a Vacation Package on any of our trips and never had any major issues doing what we wanted, taking into account some of the ... peculiarities of Tokyo Disney Resort (e.g. lotteries for shows, except for the first show of each day).

In October 2024 we managed to do all four rides in Fantasy Springs at DisneySea over two days. We didn't arrive super early either as we have a pre-schooler. But, we did need to spend a fair amount of time and energy checking the app for available paid Fast Passes, particularly for Frozen. One of those days was somewhat wet and miserable (although we had planned for wet weather, so were okay), which did appear to impact the overall crowd levels.

 

[Kickstart]

Here’s a good recent trip report about doing split stays with a vacation package including info about picking up the package and luggage transfers. This is the one area I have no first hand experience on (https://www.disboards.com/threads/m...prings-opening-day-trip-report.3948296/unread).

I’ve also heard you can stay in the same room as your package if you book the same room category. The only challenge would be the aforementioned confusing abundance of room categories at each hotel.

Disneyland Hotel currently has a temporary pause on early entry to TokyoSea which I think is a crowd control measure that started with Fantasy Springs. But there is no end date announced for this for now.

Room only reservations can be made 4 months in advance at 11 AM JST.

Oh... I will definitely be reading through that thread tonight... thanks!

 

[Kickstart]

TDR tends to change rules, if only slightly, monthly, so things could very well change by the time of your trip, but unfortunately you need to book something as soon as possible so you don't get shut out. As of now, only MiraCosta, Fantasy Springs Hotel, and Ambassador has HE privileges at DS. No DS HE for DLH or TSH.

Thanks.

I see that on https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/hotel/topics/info/happy_entry.html - ok. But I believe Disneyland Hotel still has Happy Entry for Disneyland. So if we did that hotel the night before the Vacation Package, we should be good (since the first day of the VP is ad Disneyland) - that's my guess anyway

It looks like I have 2 days before the June Vacation Packages are available, and will have to wait until late February before I can book the Disney hotels.

I'm not sure if I'm running out of time for hotels in Tokyo and other cities we want to visit. Hopefully I still have some time.

 

[Kickstart]

We went to Japan in July 2023. Based on our experience, it will be unbearably hot and humid in June / July. You will need to plan for that, as best you can.

One option, which we ended up doing, is taking an afternoon break in your hotel. We stayed at the Hilton Tokyo Bay, so it was just a short monorail trip away for our breaks. On that basis, staying at a hotel in the area could be a good idea. But, it depends how long your overall stay is and what else you want to do. I wouldn't stay at Tokyo Bay for ... say two weeks if only 3/4 days of that time will be spent at Disney.

You could consider a split stay - doing the 3/4 days all in a row (say Monday to Thursday) and then changing hotels to a more central location.

We have never done a Vacation Package on any of our trips and never had any major issues doing what we wanted, taking into account some of the ... peculiarities of Tokyo Disney Resort (e.g. lotteries for shows, except for the first show of each day).

In October 2024 we managed to do all four rides in Fantasy Springs at DisneySea over two days. We didn't arrive super early either as we have a pre-schooler. But, we did need to spend a fair amount of time and energy checking the app for available paid Fast Passes, particularly for Frozen. One of those days was somewhat wet and miserable (although we had planned for wet weather, so were okay), which did appear to impact the overall crowd levels.

Oh, wow... You guys are Disney Tokyo pro's. Thanks for the advice!

We're stuck with this timeframe due to school schedules (or oldest is a teacher, and our youngest is in her Junior year in high school).

Yeah, we're only going to stay in the Disney area for 3-ish nights. I'm leaning towards the following:

• Spend 1-3 nights in Tokyo after arriving
• Spend 3 nights at a Disney Hotel and do 3 1/2 days at the parks
• Maybe spend another night near Tokyo - or depart the Tokyo bay area directly for our next destination in Japan.
• ???? TBD ???? Other great cities in Japan - Obviously Kyoto in on our list, probably Osaka 4-5 nights total between two cities?
• We also want to spend a night in a more traditional Ryokan with an Onsen in a more natural setting. I see pictures of Onsens on rivers, and I'm like... that looks amazing! But so much to research, not sure what the best areas are for this in June/July.
• I final night or two in Tokyo before departing.

 

[Kickstart]

@Agent 86 - follow-up question for you:

When you say "it will be unbearably hot and humid in June / July" - do you mean like Florida hot and humid in June / July - or is it worse than that?

 

[Agent 86]

When you say "it will be unbearably hot and humid in June / July" - do you mean like Florida hot and humid in June / July - or is it worse than that?

We're from Queensland, Australia, not the US. So, I couldn't say. But, where we live is very hot and humid. And Japan was next level! We thought we'd be fine, but it was very challenging. The heat was often over 30 degrees celsius from 8am to 8pm with humidity at 80+% which made it feel like we were walking around in warm soup. It was so much more brutal and draining than what we were expecting and it made us change a lot of our plans.

We've only visited Florida in April / May and didn't find it hot at all compared to our local weather. I'm not sure how different the weather is in Florida between May and June?

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

@Agent 86 - follow-up question for you:

When you say "it will be unbearably hot and humid in June / July" - do you mean like Florida hot and humid in June / July - or is it worse than that?

I lived in S. Florida for 10 years and the humidity in the parks is around the same as S. Florida (we went to TDR in early June, 2019). However since you will be walking around the parks all day you may feel it more (I left Florida for Canada in late May and didn't return until school started in early August). TDR is my favorite out of all the Disney parks!

 

[Kickstart]

...

-Hotel rooms. I saw the previous response about bed size and will add there are so many different room configurations at Tokyo Disney hotels. There are rooms that sleep 5+ that have trundle beds and "alcove" beds. Many more room and bed configurations than you may be used to stateside. So depending on your comfort with each other, there are rooms where you might only need one room.
...

Doing some research on hotel rooms last night - it looks like only three of the official Disney hotels can sleep 5:
- Fantasy Springs
- Disneyland Hotel
- Ambassador Hotel
(not counting the crazy expensive suites)

And it looks like only the Disneyland Hotel has two bathrooms in their Family Room - which is a requirement for us considering we're basically all adults. The Ambassador Hotel does seem like the better price-point option, especially with Happy Entry to both parks... but we need those two bathrooms

I'm leaning towards the following:

• Do a 1 night stay in a Family Room at the Disneyland Hotel, the night before the vacation package - This should also give us Happy Entry into Disneyland.
• Do a 1 night / 2 day vacation package at the MicroCosta hotel (in two rooms) - Probably do the "Enjoy Lots of Attractions" package (I'm hoping they'll let me pick up the vacation package packet at the Disneyland hotel the day before, otherwise I'll have to go over to the MicroCosta at 6am and then back to the Disneyland Hotel before going the Disneyland park the first day.
• Do one more night at the MicroCosta hotel (ideally, try to get the same room types as the package so they combine the reservation).

I'm thinking this will allow us to take full advantage of the "package" days at the parks (so two full park days). We can also do an evening at one of the parks on the first night, and then a half-day/morning at one of the parks before travelling to our next destination in Japan (so in total, a little over 3 days at the parks).

Depending on my dates, I'd either book the vacation package late tonight (1am EST tomorrow), or whenever they open up vacation package reservations for July. And then attempt to book the 1 night bookend stays at 4 months prior to the day.

 

[MinnesotaDisneyFan]

Doing some research on hotel rooms last night - it looks like only three of the official Disney hotels can sleep 5:
- Fantasy Springs
- Disneyland Hotel
- Ambassador Hotel
(not counting the crazy expensive suites)

And it looks like only the Disneyland Hotel has two bathrooms in their Family Room - which is a requirement for us considering we're basically all adults. The Ambassador Hotel does seem like the better price-point option, especially with Happy Entry to both parks... but we need those two bathrooms

I'm leaning towards the following:

• Do a 1 night stay in a Family Room at the Disneyland Hotel, the night before the vacation package - This should also give us Happy Entry into Disneyland.
• Do a 1 night / 2 day vacation package at the MicroCosta hotel (in two rooms) - Probably do the "Enjoy Lots of Attractions" package (I'm hoping they'll let me pick up the vacation package packet at the Disneyland hotel the day before, otherwise I'll have to go over to the MicroCosta at 6am and then back to the Disneyland Hotel before going the Disneyland park the first day.
• Do one more night at the MicroCosta hotel (ideally, try to get the same room types as the package so they combine the reservation).

I'm thinking this will allow us to take full advantage of the "package" days at the parks (so two full park days). We can also do an evening at one of the parks on the first night, and then a half-day/morning at one of the parks before travelling to our next destination in Japan (so in total, a little over 3 days at the parks).

Depending on my dates, I'd either book the vacation package late tonight (1am EST tomorrow), or whenever they open up vacation package reservations for July. And then attempt to book the 1 night bookend stays at 4 months prior to the day.

Sounds like a great plan. Love hearing updates about how the planning is going.

You get Happy Entry for your check-out day (but not check-in day) which will work nicely if you want to go to a park in the morning that final day.

 

[diana13]

HI Diana... the vacation packages (depending on the package) include park tickets and pre-paid dining reservations so that's likely why it's so much more expensive. Plus they charge you a premium for the package.

This site was pretty informative for TDR Vacation Packages: https://howtododisney.net/2025/01/1...f-tokyo-disney-vacation-packages-2025-edition

That website has been so helpful, thank you!
I do see both the hotel only and packages available for when I want to go, May13-15. I've not had any problem logging into the Disney website, even on multiple times. I did read (and now understand) how important it is to become familiar with how they book their packages and choosing attractions/content. The more I do it, the easier it is. I will review all this weekend and see which way is best to go:
2 night hotel only or
1 night package and 1 night hotel

I am really excited to go to Tokyo and now glad I will be using some days at Disney.

 

[planningjollyholiday]

@Agent 86 - follow-up question for you:

When you say "it will be unbearably hot and humid in June / July" - do you mean like Florida hot and humid in June / July - or is it worse than that?

I've had great experiences end of June/begging of July. It has been hot but certainly not unbearable and definitely not the crazy rain storms that i hear about in Florida. By the end of July it gets too hot and humid.