Kevin, I would like to join the group at TRB if it' still possible. Thank you for arranging this!
For the folks who couldn't join us on our last Skype call, these are the highlights of our discussion:
Still waiting for Christian to respond to our questions. He was leading a tour group that just ended and is taking a few days off for R&R.
Listen to Episode 99 of the TDR Explorer Podcast for an illuminating trip report on Shanghai
Disneyland.
Check with your credit card company to determine if they charge a fee for international transactions. For example, Disney Chase charges a 3% fee. Christian did tell me that American Express and Discover cards may not be accepted. MasterCard and Visa will be.
If you're looking for travel guides, Chandra recommends the Inside Guides and Frommer's Easy Guide to Tokyo.
If you want to read about the history of Disney's overseas parks, I'm reading Building Magic: Disney's Overseas Theme Parks by William Sylvester.
Several folks have registered their trip with their state department through Smart Traveller Enrollment Program (STEP). This enables the local Embassies to send travel advisories and contact you in case of emergency. You can register at
https://step.state.gov/ You need the addresses and phone numbers of the hotels we'll be staying at. Can someone who registered please provide that contact information in this thread?
Regarding currency, those who have already ordered local currency said they ordered $200 - $300 of each currency type (yen, HK dollars, yuan).
Those are the items in my notes. We spent the rest of the time mostly talking about the trip, weather, sites, etc.
We will have one last Skype call on
Sunday, October 8 at 12 noon (PDT). Some of our travelers will already be in Japan. I hope the rest of you can join us!