October single day

[Barbanellie]

We're going to Japan for 3 weeks end of October this year, with non-Disney people, and we don't want to plan our days a lot for the trip. We'll be in Tokyo for the final days of our trip, and I was toying with the idea of dropping by Disneyland for a half day (or a short day, not open-to-close), while the non-Disney people do something else. I mostly want to ride the new Beauty and the beast.

We did something like this when we were in Japan just Mr. Barbanellie and me in 2019. The day before we decided to go to Disney Sea, we bought tickets from a machine at Family Mart and just went and spent most of the day there. I think we arrived maybe half an hour after park open and left before dinner. But that was pre COVID, in early June and with paper fastpasses. I feel a lot may have changed in the past few months since the reopening of Japan...

So my questions for the experts are these:
1) Can we still decide fairly short notice to go and buy tickets at a conbini?
2) Is it plausible for late October, i.e. not crazy crowded? We would not try to do everything, and I'd try to get premier access for Beauty and the Beast.

Any tips you have would be appreciated! (You can also tell me I'm crazy, that things have changed too much since 2019 for this to work!)

Thank you lovely Dis!

 

[gelatoni fan]

From what I can see, on the weekdays, you should be fine doing this. If you go on a weekend, there is a chance that premier access will sell out before noon. Even on the weekday, if you don't arrive till the afternoon, there is a chance that the only times available will prevent you from seeing the parade or something.

You can still buy tickets from the conbini but I wouldn't wait till the day before. Some days do sell out although it isn't super common.

 

[Agent 86]

It’s possible, BUT for peace of mind, it could be preferable to plan the visit, buy the tickets in advance and aim to be there as close to opening as possible to ensure you can get Premier Access for Beauty and the Beast.

You can always leave early, especially if you’re not interested in either parade.

 

[dunkindonut]

I would bite the bullet and buy a full day ticket honestly (Klook worked great and you can scan the ticket QR code with another person's phone). There is no guarantee that you can get a half day or full day ticket and messing with those machines won't be easy, I don't think they have an English option. The machines are only in Japanese from what I remember. They might have changed though, it was a while ago when I last used them.

TDR Explorer made a video about the machines, they appear to only be in Japanese still I guess.

The machine basically says that you have to pick the corresponding ticket price to the one you want to buy. The price fluctuates based on the day, and if I were you it would be much easier to use a site like Klook that automatically takes that into consideration. Otherwise you might buy the wrong ticket type and won't be able to enter the park.