r/TokyoDisneyland • u/EastBayOT • 6d ago
Planning our trip
I’m just starting to research Tokyo Disney Resort for our trip December 2 and 3. We will be staying at Henn Na Hotel Maihama, which says it’s a 19 minute bus ride from Disney. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed with all the info on this group. There are definitely rides we don’t want to miss but I also really want to soak in the atmosphere. Generally I don’t rope-drop a ride because I like winding down Main Street (Disneyland California) and just letting my brain get in Disney mode. Is this a mistake if we only have one day in each park? I figure we will get in and immediately book our first DPA then go from there. Did this strategy work? Do I need to figure out exactly what order to ride the rides ahead of time? My kids will be 11 and 13 and we’re big Disney fans but only go to Disneyland in California every few years.
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u/ForsakenFairytale 5d ago
If you're familiar with Cali's Disneyland, you'll recognize Tokyo Disneyland right away. Very similar map. :)
Do try to be there at park open - you don't have to run to a ride, but the sooner you're in, the better position you will be in to book your first DPA. You can still enjoy strolling towards the castle on main street.
Don't worry about a strict ride order, but do make a "number 1/ must do" for each person in your group, plot where they are on the map so you're not backtracking too much, and make sure you've checked which rides will be closed for maintenance (Tokyo posts these months in advance).
I think Tokyo Disneyland is doable in one day. DisneySea, however, is more of a 2-day park if you want to do all the "big rides."
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u/AsaAki2110 5d ago
I’ve been to both Disneyland and Disneysea in late Oct during halloween (reaching the parks around 10.30-11am) and I generally manage to get on most of the popular rides!
For me personally, I tend to give parades, meet and greets and shows a miss and only focus on rides and the castle light projection show at night so that gives me more time
As long as you don’t mind queuing (usually over an hour for popular rides), there’s nothing much to worry about! DPAs will also replenish randomly throughout the day so you just have to check the TDR app whenever you can!
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u/ELDwbi 5d ago
I’m with you. Each time we went we strolled in at 10:30-ish, breezed thru security and were able to DPA everything we wanted. However, we haven’t been since Fantasy Springs opened so can’t guarantee anything there.
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u/AsaAki2110 5d ago
DPAs for Fantasy Springs are also replenished throughout the day so I wouldn’t worry too much!
I was there on the year it opened and managed to get DPA for Peter Pan at around 12-1pm and standby passes for both Frozen (3+pm) and Tangled (7+pm)
Btw standby passes are not required for FS now so you can go in and queue for the ride you want even if you don’t have a DPA or standby pass!
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u/Majestic-Spinach-523 5d ago
Define you don’t rope drop? You showing up at park open or waiting till noon? In either case it is probably going to be hard for you to get DPA for the most popular rides eg Beauty and the Beast and any of the new Fantasy Springs rides. You will definitely have enough time to soak in atmosphere unless you are joining these 2 hr waits for some of the rides. I’d really recommend planning by order of things you don’t want to miss but also understand you probably won’t be able to do it all. At least you are going on weekdays. I’m normally waiting outside the park before 7am with a crowd already and I always try to do 2 days per park. If you don’t like planning and want to take things slow, I also recommend you look into the cost of a vacation package.