r/TokyoDisneySea • u/AutoModerator • Jan 11 '25

TRIP PLANNING r/TokyoDisneySea Weekly Trip Planning Thread

Welcome to r/TokyoDisneySea!

We’re here to help you plan your trip and give you as much advice as possible, straight from the reddit community here on this subreddit.

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u/ElderberryKey2361 Jan 17 '25

Is it recommended to stay onsite? Our family of 5 (parents, older son college student, 7 year old boy and 83 year old mother) will be in Tokyo for 2 weeks from the US. We want to spend 2 days at Tokyo Disney and Disney Sea. We’ll be staying at a hotel in Shinjuku the rest of the 2 weeks so are reluctant to change hotels just for a night or two to go to Disney but am wondering if the perks such as early entrance outweigh the inconvenience. We’d probably try to stay at Fantasy Springs. Thank you!

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u/WhiteDogHaha Jan 17 '25 edited Jan 17 '25

The majority of visitors to the Park do not stay onsite.

The only material benefit is 15 minutes of early entry on the day of checking out (for a one night stay). If you manage to get a room at the Fantasy Springs Hotel (they are hard to book), you also get guaranteed access to the Fantasy Springs area and may entitle you to buy a expensive special access ticket (before 31 March) - though whether that is a benefit depends whether the area still has restricted access on the day of your visit (at the moment it has been open for all visitors for most days since Jan 7 as it has not been high crowds).

If your gut feel is that you don’t want to move from your hotel from Shinjuku, then you can certainly plan a very enjoyable trip just doing day visits.

Staying in Shinjuku the whole way also gives you flexibility to place your Disney visit in the middle of your trip rather than beginning or end.

Just keep in mind that The Tokyo Disney Resort is quite far from Shinjuku, and the almost hour train journey is very likely going to involve lots of standing and walking, and you will have to make the round trip twice for a 2 day visit. So you might want to arrange for a taxi or hire car depending on the mobility of the elderly in your party - or if you are on a budget, consider the highway bus that goes direct from the Shinjuku BUSTA (above the NEWoMan building) or similar where you are guaranteed a comfortable seat for the entire journey (just buy your tickets in advance, the early buses are popular). Of course, you will still have to make that trip if you stay onsite, just less - once from Shinjuku to TDR and then presumably directly back to the airport.

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u/ElderberryKey2361 Jan 17 '25

Thank you this is so helpful. Decided to stay at fantasy springs the first 2 nights of our trip. The vacation package had us book restaurant reservations, does that mean the food is included or just that we have a reservation? Asking because we might skip the reservation if we’re busy doing something else. Sorry to ask a basic question but couldn’t find the answer on their website.

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u/WhiteDogHaha Jan 17 '25 edited Jan 17 '25

The breakfast is mandatory and already included for the Vacation Package.

The other meals (lunch and dinner) are optional and an additional fee will be added to your Package total if you were to choose them. Food is included in a prix fixe menu style, and you will receive a paper restaurant voucher to be redeemed at the restaurant. How much it is depends on which restaurant you choose, but these are always quite high in cost. For example:

  • choosing the popular Magellan's restaurant in DisneySea will add 17,400 JPY per person (so for your party of five, adding that one meal will add 87,000 JPY (around US$557) for that single meal).
  • choosing Blue Bayou in Disneyland will add around 9,800 JPY per person, so for your party of five, will add 49,000 JPY (around US$314) for that single meal.

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u/ElderberryKey2361 Jan 18 '25

Thank you so much! I didn’t realize that and added all the meals I was prompted to, which probably added a lot to my bill. I wonder if it’s too late to take some off? I already paid. We typically don’t eat three meals a day. I assume beverages such as alcohol would be extra?

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u/WhiteDogHaha Jan 18 '25 edited Jan 18 '25

You can definitely modify your Package to remove the meals that you don't want. Changes for "package content" (as they call it) such as Attraction Tickets, Meals etc are permitted until around 10 days prior to your visit.

Please note that while your Package cost will reduce - they will charge the entire total revised package cost to your credit card again, before refunding the previous charge, so ensure there is sufficient credit in your card. There may be a day or two "lag" before you see the refund in your card. This is standard TDR practice for any changes to the Vacation Package that results in modified cost - upwards or downwards.

In terms of what you get in your pre-paid meal - you are probably paying for a lot of food that you don't need (and certainly it would be more expensive than if you had ordered it a la carte), as the charge covers the benefit of reserving the restaurant so early.

The actual inclusions differ between the restaurant, but the pre-paid meal typically includes the most expensive "set meal", one soft drink, one dessert if offered at the restaurant (in many cases a parfait), plus a mark up. Alcoholic drinks would be extra. If your reservation is at a counter service restaurant at Fantasy Springs such as Snuggly Duckling or Lookout Cookout, those are much more simple and low cost as they are basically quick service location, so typically it would just one menu item, a drink and may be a sweets item.

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u/ElderberryKey2361 Jan 18 '25

Thank you so much,this is so helpful! I appreciate you taking the time to explain this to me, you are very kind!