Newbie to Tokyo with some questions

kateandy08096

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jan 9, 2014
Hello all. My husband and I are in the beginning stages of planning a trip to toyko. We are DVC and debating on using it while in Toyko. So far the plan is to fly from Philadelphia to LAX and do Disneyland CA for 3 days staying at Grand Cali then from LAX fly to Toyko. Thinking of using 5 or 6 nights worth of DVC points to stay at Disney Celebration Hotel.
Question is how would we fly international with our grand daughter? Do we get a letter from my daughter saying its ok to take her out of the country? We took her on a Disney cruise last Thanksgiving and didn't have any issues BUT we drove to the port.The whole point of Tokyo is to take her to meet Duffy. I know crazy but that's me...Disney obsessed and nuts. Lol
Also my husband is 6"7 ish 300 lbs. Not fat just built stalky. Will he fit on the rides in Toyko? Is there anything we are going to need to know as far as money conversion or credit card use?

Thanks all
 
In regards to size/height, I'm 6"2 and I find it quite difficult fitting into a lot of the rides in the Asian parks. Even rides I would normally fit into with no problems in the States, eg Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, etc., seemed like a tighter fit for my legs.

Be aware that the Raging Spirits rollercoaster at DisneySea is rather unique, in that it has both a minimum and maximum height limit. From memory it's around 6"3 or 6"4 - the CM at the entrance initially turned me away the moment she saw I was tall. I insisted they measure me, knowing I was just clear of the maximum height.
 
Taking a minor that is not "yours" out of the country can be unpredictable in the sense that you really don't know how security will act. Most of the time a letter of consent is not needed, but you never know if you will get that one guard that will ask for it. For this reason it is safest to just get the mom to draft the letter for you, and notarize it.
Using your points for any tokyo disney hotel is not a good "use" of your points. I know it's tempting to stay at the celebration hotel because it's disney, but I would strongly recommend looking into staying at one of the good neighbor hotels on the monorail loop. We like the Sheraton and the Hilton. To me they are more in the "disney bubble", closer than the celebration, and even have views of the theme parks. depending on the time of year you are traveling, these hotels can be booked at great rates.
The amount of love for Duffy and his friends in tokyo is unreal. your granddaughter will be in heaven!
like the pp says, your DH will not be able to go on raging spirits. I imagine he will be cramped on a lot of rides because of lack of leg room.
 
The main advantage the Disney Celebration Hotel have over the Official hotels is the fact you have access to the Magic 15 Entry. As I pointed out to my parents: Magic 15 Entry is an extra hour of sleep every day and one popular ride done without fast pass! It is up to you to figure out if that is worth the 15-20 minute bus ride and the extra cost.

As a reminder: Magic 15 Entry means that Disney hotel residents can enter the parks through a special turnstile 15 minutes before the official opening time. Now, seeing that the guests are very ponctual and will line up in front of the main entrance 60-90 minutes in advance, you can afford to show up a bit later at the parks with Magic 15 Entry. Once inside, at Tokyo Disneyland, part of Tomorrowland and World Bazaar will be open with Buzz Lightyear open early. You will then be in prime position to get a fast pass to Monsters Inc. Ride and Go Seek or Pooh's Hunny Hunt once the park officially open. At Tokyo DisneySea, part of Porto Paradisio and American Waterfront will be open early with Tower of Terror and Toy Story Mania! open early.
 


In regards to size/height, I'm 6"2 and I find it quite difficult fitting into a lot of the rides in the Asian parks. Even rides I would normally fit into with no problems in the States, eg Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, etc., seemed like a tighter fit for my legs.

Be aware that the Raging Spirits rollercoaster at DisneySea is rather unique, in that it has both a minimum and maximum height limit. From memory it's around 6"3 or 6"4 - the CM at the entrance initially turned me away the moment she saw I was tall. I insisted they measure me, knowing I was just clear of the maximum height.


Wow. They turned you away that's sad news :( He is super tall and I don't like to hear that he will be stuffed into the rides :(
 
Taking a minor that is not "yours" out of the country can be unpredictable in the sense that you really don't know how security will act. Most of the time a letter of consent is not needed, but you never know if you will get that one guard that will ask for it. For this reason it is safest to just get the mom to draft the letter for you, and notarize it.
Using your points for any tokyo disney hotel is not a good "use" of your points. I know it's tempting to stay at the celebration hotel because it's disney, but I would strongly recommend looking into staying at one of the good neighbor hotels on the monorail loop. We like the Sheraton and the Hilton. To me they are more in the "disney bubble", closer than the celebration, and even have views of the theme parks. depending on the time of year you are traveling, these hotels can be booked at great rates.
The amount of love for Duffy and his friends in tokyo is unreal. your granddaughter will be in heaven!
like the pp says, your DH will not be able to go on raging spirits. I imagine he will be cramped on a lot of rides because of lack of leg room.
I'm thinking Feb or March should be a good time. I want to stay far away from the Olympics. We have ALOT of DVC points yearly. I figured 5 nights wouldn't be so bad but I will definitely look into seeing how much the other resorts are for cash.
 
The main advantage the Disney Celebration Hotel have over the Official hotels is the fact you have access to the Magic 15 Entry. As I pointed out to my parents: Magic 15 Entry is an extra hour of sleep every day and one popular ride done without fast pass! It is up to you to figure out if that is worth the 15-20 minute bus ride and the extra cost.

As a reminder: Magic 15 Entry means that Disney hotel residents can enter the parks through a special turnstile 15 minutes before the official opening time. Now, seeing that the guests are very ponctual and will line up in front of the main entrance 60-90 minutes in advance, you can afford to show up a bit later at the parks with Magic 15 Entry. Once inside, at Tokyo Disneyland, part of Tomorrowland and World Bazaar will be open with Buzz Lightyear open early. You will then be in prime position to get a fast pass to Monsters Inc. Ride and Go Seek or Pooh's Hunny Hunt once the park officially open. At Tokyo DisneySea, part of Porto Paradisio and American Waterfront will be open early with Tower of Terror and Toy Story Mania! open early.
Wow. Is it really that crazy packed there? When I seen the magic 15 minutes I didn't think much of it but I guess it's important now
 


Wow. Is it really that crazy packed there? When I seen the magic 15 minutes I didn't think much of it but I guess it's important now

To put it simply: in the middle of January, during the week and with a fresh coat of snow on the ground... there were still thousands of people waiting to enter Tokyo DisneySea in the morning. Since they still use the old Fast Pass system with paper tickets, getting those coveted Toy Story Mania!, Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc. Ride and Go Seek! fast passes requires to arrive early in the morning.

A crowd calendar exists online and using google translate feature, you can figure out what it means. http://www15.plala.or.jp/gcap/disney/ . The red tab is for Tokyo Disneyland and blue is Tokyo DisneySea. For example, when I go in September, Tokyo DisneySea is listed as an estimate of 24000 guests and this translates to Toy Story Mania running out of fast pass in the first hour and Tower of Terror only having them until Noon. I once cancelled a trip there when I looked at the crowd calendar and realized how crowded the park would be.
 
To put it simply: in the middle of January, during the week and with a fresh coat of snow on the ground... there were still thousands of people waiting to enter Tokyo DisneySea in the morning. Since they still use the old Fast Pass system with paper tickets, getting those coveted Toy Story Mania!, Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc. Ride and Go Seek! fast passes requires to arrive early in the morning.

A crowd calendar exists online and using google translate feature, you can figure out what it means. http://www15.plala.or.jp/gcap/disney/ . The red tab is for Tokyo Disneyland and blue is Tokyo DisneySea. For example, when I go in September, Tokyo DisneySea is listed as an estimate of 24000 guests and this translates to Toy Story Mania running out of fast pass in the first hour and Tower of Terror only having them until Noon. I once cancelled a trip there when I looked at the crowd calendar and realized how crowded the park would be.
Wow!! Thank you for this information! I guess staying at a Disney hotel is important to be guaranteed in the park.
 
I will give you my 2 cents as we stayed onsite last October using my DVC points. I booked just shy - maybe 2 days? past the 6 month booking window. All that was left was Disney's Ambassador Hotel Donald Duck room. It was 288 points for the Monday night check in Friday night check out. While someone else stated it isn't the greatest use of points, you use your points as you see fit. We were gone 2 weeks and went to Shanghai, Beijing and then Tokyo (and Kyoto) and in my mind, using the DVC points was cost effective. I used all my vacation for that trip, so I planned the points. Note I am local to WDW so it wasn't a big deal. I have a small contract, so I have no points for another year, lol.

I also used points to stay at the DL hotel in DLP. Something I would never do on cash, but it was cheaper for me to do that then pay cash. Because it is so difficult getting rooms at TDR, I will probably stay at the Sheraton or Hilton next time around.
 
I stayed at the Sheraton. Rooms were spacious and it was really convenient for getting to the parks (it’s a short walk to the monorail stop).

I went in February when the crowd calendar was on the low side, which doesn’t mean it’s empty. The park was still crowded and we got to the parks 60-90 mins before it opened. We got everything done that we wanted to, without waiting on too many super long lines, but I can see the appeal to getting the 15 minutes and sleeping in a bit more :-)
 
I'm thinking Feb or March should be a good time. I want to stay far away from the Olympics. We have ALOT of DVC points yearly. I figured 5 nights wouldn't be so bad but I will definitely look into seeing how much the other resorts are for cash.
I would avoid March if possible. That is when the school year ends, so kids are off on break, waiting for school to start in April. I understand not wanting to go close to the Olympics, I'm sure that it will be busy. I think it really depends on when you go if you need the early 15. If you can manage to go during "offseason" it really isn't bad, and you will be able to accomplish what you want.
 
I stayed at the Sheraton. Rooms were spacious and it was really convenient for getting to the parks (it’s a short walk to the monorail stop).

I went in February when the crowd calendar was on the low side, which doesn’t mean it’s empty. The park was still crowded and we got to the parks 60-90 mins before it opened. We got everything done that we wanted to, without waiting on too many super long lines, but I can see the appeal to getting the 15 minutes and sleeping in a bit more :-)
Was it cold in February?
 
It was as fairly cold, but not as cold as what I’m used to with NY winters. We did wear ski jackets (we came from snowboarding in Hokkaido).
We live in the Midwest so we know all about harsh winters. We are hoping to go in late May but plane tickets are going fast and we can’t buy them yet.
 
You may run into troubles using your credit card to buy Tokyo Disneyland tickets online but shouldn't have issues at the main entrance assuming you use Visa/Mastercard and your bank is aware you are traveling. Some of the more local places in Tokyo area and food stalls in Disneyland don't accept credit cards so bring cash.

For the time being, Magic 15 means you get in to DisneySea 15 minutes before scheduled opening and Disneyland 30 minutes before scheduled opening. On busy days, regular guests may be allowed in to Disneyland 10 to 15 minutes before opening. Snow in February could mean lower crowds and could be quite magical if you've never been to a Disney park in the snow before. But the snow could also mean cancellations of outdoor shows. I've never gone in March but it's likely to be crazy from the students being out of school.

Lines to meet Duffy are typically 60-90 minutes so make sure your granddaughter is prepared for that. In Tokyo, they give you a character greeting ticket which entitles you to ONE photo with the character per party unlike other parks where they spam the photo button on your camera (you can split up if you want individual photos rather than a group photo).
 
We went in mid-January (Mon-Thurs) when the parks were not terribly busy, but the lines to meet Duffy and Shellie May were always long - definitely up to 90 minutes, if not longer. We used our Magic 15 to get to Cape Cod early b/c we didn't want to waste that much time waiting in line when park hours were already short (parks closed at 7pm when we were there). We had to wait until official park opening before they let us through to the meet and greet areas, but as soon as that time came, people were literally running to get in line. I'd recommend doing this if meeting Duffy is a priority for your granddaughter. :)
 
Has anyone gone in June? We were supposed to go next May but it looks like it might be June now. I just don’t want it to be ridiculously hot and rainy.
 
Has anyone gone in June? We were supposed to go next May but it looks like it might be June now. I just don’t want it to be ridiculously hot and rainy.

I've gone in June and it wasn't too hot but is far more likely to be rainy than May. This can mean show cancellations but an advantage of going in June is that if you plan things right, you can see both Easter and Tanabata in one trip. Tanabata is uniquely Japanese experience and something you won't get to experience in any other Disney park. If you go in May, watch out for Golden Week when Japan has a bunch of public holidays causing the crowds to go up.
 
I've gone in June and it wasn't too hot but is far more likely to be rainy than May. This can mean show cancellations but an advantage of going in June is that if you plan things right, you can see both Easter and Tanabata in one trip. Tanabata is uniquely Japanese experience and something you won't get to experience in any other Disney park. If you go in May, watch out for Golden Week when Japan has a bunch of public holidays causing the crowds to go up.
We were hoping to go may 12 for two weeks but are still waiting on credit card points. Looks like it might be last week of May or sometime early June that we arrive.
 

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