Travel: Japan - Tokyo & Disneyland

[Piggymum]

tankee:

We brought a small unopened tin.

Thanks. I will do the same.

[sporemum]

With choice of only one park - Tokyo Disneyland vs Tokyo Disney Sea - which one would be better? Our party of four includes 2 teenagers but none of us are thrill ride - seekers, so we dont need roller coasters and such. I heard the queues are also super long at Tokyo Disneyland. R things better at Disney Sea? Oso are the rides/attraction more suitable for the less thrill seekers? THANKS!

[jazz]

Hi,


I've been to both. If yr kids of teenager age then I suggest Disney sea. Disney sea more for adults n disneyland more for kids. Frankly speaking both r fun as there r rides in Disneyland makes u feel young again like pinnochio, Peter pan, snow white rides r fun too. If u hv more choices, suggest u go both places. Each has their fun time to play. Disney sea scenario makes u feel like u r in Europe/middle east as they replica some buildings. Also u can try to search in YouTube video to have a feel? Hope this answer u

[jazz]

Oh…try to avoid going during weekend as usually will hv super long q.

[sporemum]

Thanks…probably disney sea wd be gd since we can get disneyld in other places

[tzen]

Hi,


I personally think DisneySea rides have more thrill rides than Disneyland. Disneyland is more fairytale so if your teenage children are girls, then Disneyland might be a better choice.

[N3SKiasu]

Hi, if you have been to other Disneyland like HK and having time constraints then just visit Disney Sea, my family (with teenages) enjoyed better at Disney Sea. It has Gondola rides, Boat rides, and usual sweet disney slower rides and little mermaid performance, different from the usual DL. We don’t like thrill rides either, but Centre to the Earth and Indiana Jones are just nice, short with a bit of excitement so we can take it. The night parade is on the boat instead of the usual on the road in DL. But the firework is the same firework from disneyland side, just view it from Disney Sea. Not sure if you are going now, take note of short day, sky turn dark at 5 plus.

[GoopPwr]

I’ll go for Disney Sea, not the usual Disney stuff . More importantly more enjoyable

[Vevey]

N3SKiasu:

Hi, if you have been to other Disneyland like HK and having time constraints then just visit Disney Sea, my family (with teenages) enjoyed better at Disney Sea. It has Gondola rides, Boat rides, and usual sweet disney slower rides and little mermaid performance, different from the usual DL. We don't like thrill rides either, but Centre to the Earth and Indiana Jones are just nice, short with a bit of excitement so we can take it. The night parade is on the boat instead of the usual on the road in DL. But the firework is the same firework from disneyland side, just view it from Disney Sea. Not sure if you are going now, take note of short day, sky turn dark at 5 plus.

Still ok to take the Disneyland rides after 5pm?
How much shld we bundle up for the night? We last minute planned to tag along w DH's biz trip to Tokyo next Mon, so i am thinking of bringing the kids (4 & 8yo) to Disneyland myself. I brought DS1 to HK Disneyland myself when he was 5yo so I tot should be do-able in Tokyo too?

[Vevey]

(Post-trip update on 5 Dec 2011 :

Thanks 2 all your help, we made it w <1 wk of planning & had a good trip! :grphug:
Going to update our actual itinerary here while I can still recall it clearly, just in case it will b useful as a reference to any last minute family travellers like us.)

***

Day 1 - Tue, 29 Nov (Clear & Sunny; 12-17 degrees)
7.15am : Arrived Narita airport. Long trek to Immigration & blissfully didn't know then that that's the way things would be.

8.05am : Took limousine bus to Park Royal Hotel. Unexpectedly, able to check in at 9.30am, way b4 the 2pm check-in time.

11am : Since the kids weren't tired despite a 2hr nap on plane, we decided to take a half-day trip to Odaiba to familiarise ourselves (esp. me) with taking the trains & to take a look at the Ferris Wheel that we had seen on the bus earlier on.

Toyota Megaweb
Was not mentioned on website when I checked in S'pore but its test-driving facility was closed for a pri sch excursion.

Ferris Wheel @ Palatte Town
Nice view of the bay on such a clear day!

Venus Fort
Had a late lunch there & browsed the high-end & outlet shops. The shops reminded me of Citigate in HK while the sky ceiling remind me of Venetian Macao.

4pm : Returned to hotel as DH needed to work. Kids & I z as sky turned dark outside.


Day 2 - Wed, 30 Nov (Clear & Sunny; 12-17 degrees)
On my own w 2 kids.

Had our breakfast in hotel & bought some pancake snacks on the way to the train station.
Went to National Museum of Nature & Science thru Ueno Park. Managed to catch the last bit of autumn colours.

The kids enjoyed the museum so much that I had to drag them off for a late lunch. Stopped on the way to watch some baseball practice & juggling acts in the park.

We decided on a sushi bar under the train tracks & I had fun encouraging DS1 to order his egg sushi from the stern-looking chef. :evil:

Ameyayokocho Market
Chanced upon it while looking for lunch near Ueno Station & I, a typical SAHM, was in my elements. :please: Dried (scallops, seaweeds, silverfish etc) & fresh seafood (huge Alaska hair crab!), all sorts of pickles etc.

Lots of street food & snacks. In fact, a tv crew was just wrapping up when we followed our noses to a stall manned by a v friendly ang mo selling yummy, sizzling kebab.

Many shops selling relatively inexpensive (when compared to Akasuka days later :slapshead: ) clothes, shoes, bags & watches etc.

4.30pm : Reached hotel & had a \"light\" dinner w all the goodies.


Day 3 - Thurs, 1 Dec (Light shower & cloudy; 2-6 degrees)

7.30am : Move to Chisun Grand Akasaka w luggage by taxi. V expensive CBD city tour.

9am : Braved the rush-hour train crowd to Disneyland. Walked 490m (30min at DS2 speed, including flights of stairs up, down, up ,down...) to transfer from 1 train to another at e \"same\" station.

Spent 12hr at Disney. Managed to enjoy ourselves in spite of the wind & chill. Luckily, the drizzle stopped after our 1st hour there & only started again just b4 the fireworks.

10.30pm : Finally saw our \"Double Deluxe\" hotel room. The luggage was already in the squeezy main room as per our request & the spare sofa-bed had already been prepared. It was in a small, separate (maid) room w a small tv & a framed picture mounted on the wall. Really a world of difference from Park Royal w its large writing desk & roomy semi-circular sofa booth in an alcove. Wonder how a std room would b like?


Day 4 - Fri, 2 Dec (Showers; 2-6 degrees)

9.30am : Decided to go ahead w Hakone even tho it was drizzling & it might be colder than ytd's Disney, as it was in the mountains.
Luckily, we did, as it didn't drizzle in Hakone until 3pm.

By then, we were veterans in taking the trains. Even DS1 was able to buy tickets from vending machines & tell us when to transfer trains. But I think it would b safer to buy the bullet train tickets from ticketing counters, as the sum involved was more substantial.

We took the bullet trains both ways to save time. It was so clean, quiet & efficient :love: that I started to day-dream/plan for future cross-country trips. It's really addictive!

Noon: Hakone.
Autumn colours at mid level & unexpectedly, frost on vegetation as the bus went higher up the mountain.
The scenery ard the lake was serene & breath-taking (the kids happened to b in the cabin ) when we were on the pirate cruise ship.
We love the Ropeway best. V lovely view even w/o Mt Fuji (as expected on such a cloudy day).
The cable car (mountain tram) & (very) antique train paled by comparison.

We didn't bother to boil the eggs in hot spring (having done that in NZ & somewhere else), as it was v chilly & windy w the light drizzle. Instead, we looked & touched the beautiful, fragile frost on the leaves & berries. An experience that I'm sure the kids will remember for a long while to come.

5.30pm: DS1 was given a set of Doraemon plastic folders after collecting 4 stamps at sites along the way. Instead of walking out of the station into the cold, dark night, we had dinner at 1 of the numerous cafes at the train station b4 taking the bullet train back to hotel. I realised it was easier 4 me to read/guess the words on the meal tickets vending machine than to order directly from a Japanese-speaking counter staff.


Day 5 - Sat, 3 Dec ( a.m. showers, p.m sunny; 8-16 degrees)

5.30am - Woke up early so decided to wash up & start packing for the flight home. As I was walking out of the toilet, I noticed the 2 empty hangers in the tiny wardrobe knocking loudly against each other. My 1st thought was \"GHOST!\" :yikes: :oops: . Just then, DH also woken up by the noise & he felt the swaying while on the bed. That's when we realised we were experiencing some tremors.

No wonder the Japanese r drilled from young on this bcos we were at a total loss of what to do. I went ard the room looking for hiding space but there were only a tiny dressing table & the bath tub to hide ourselves. :nailbite:
Luckily, it stopped after awhile so we didn't hv to wake the sleeping kids up.

10.30am Even tho it was still raining, we decided to leave our luggage at hotel's front desk & go to Akasuka to see the Senjo Shrine & soak in the old-town feel of Nakimise. It was so commercialised! Like our Chinatown! What a let-down...so different from my expectation.

After a good lunch at a restaurant that specialised in unagi, we went to the nearby Matsuya dept store to buy some goodies home. It has a bigger Uniqlo store w kids' dept & there is a sale now. I bot a fleece jacket for DS1 at 30% off.

3pm: Returned to hotel to pack some of the shopping into luggage & took a cab to the nearby Asakasa Excel Hotel Tokyu to wait for the limousine bus to Narita.

Was v puzzled when the hotel staff there quizzed us abt a bag upon arrival & then we realised that we left our hand-carry goodie bag at Grand Chisun in our hurry!

Grand Chisun actually called ahead to alert Excel Hotel & would bring us the bag within 15 minutes. We were really impressed & grateful! :salute:

4pm : Took the limousine bus to Narita. There r dressing room(s) in its toilet to shred off our winter clothing b4 checking in the luggage.

9pm: Unlike the flight there, the kids managed to z from 9.30pm till 2a.m. b4 the desceding.

*****
Travelling is more than just the sights, the food but the experiences savoured & lessons that we take home. There is that much that we can read up & plan b4hand but weather & situations might dictate otherwise. So just relax, go w the flow & enjoy ourselves.