We continue our countdown to Celebration Japan with our weekly series focusing on the different planning aspects of such a big trip.
Today, we look at the Disney Parks in Tokyo, likely to be high on many people’s list.
First thing to note is that there are TWO parks in Tokyo. There’s Tokyo Disneyland and then Tokyo Disneysea. Unlike other Disney parks across the world, you cannot buy one ticket that covers both parks and hop between them in one day. If you want to visit both parks in one day then you will need two separate tickets.
Ticket sales for these parks go on sale two months ahead of the date, so for example, if you wanted to go to Disneyland on 16th April, then you can purchase the ticket on February 16th and so on. Tickets go on sale on the date at 2.00pm local time to Tokyo, so factor that into your time zone.
Prices
Prices vary per day at Disneyland. Quiet days seem to be 8900 yen whilst peak days are priced at 10,900 yen. This seems to be between £45.00 and £55.00 for a ticket, depending on the daily rate of conversion. Prices for Disneysea seem to be around the same, however, on some occasions slightly cheaper with some midweek tickets costing around 7900 yen.
Disneyland
It’s worth nothing that Star Tours: The Adventure Continues will be holding a special season from April 8th – June 30th, which includes new characters and planets. This park features all greatest hits of rides that you’d expect from Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain and It’s a Small World – also starring Groot. It also features exclusive rides only found at Tokyo Disney such as Monsters Inc and The Stitch Tiki Room.
There will also be the usual exclusives available from the stores around the parks, so be sure to factor that into your planning.
The park also features the usual parades, shows and light displays with an exclusive being the Disney Harmony of Colour.
Tokyosea
Whilst there’s no Star Wars at the Dinseysea resort there is the Indiana Jones Adventure! – Temple of the Crystal Skull. In this park you’ll find such rides as Toy Story Mania, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Centre of the Earth and my favourite – Tower of Terror.
This park, as is obvious by the name, is built around attractions that are in the realm of water. There’s a specific show at this park, only playing at night, called Sea of Dreams that stars Peter Pan himself.
Passes
Like all Disney theme parks, there’s a variety of different passes than can be obtained to gain priority access. With these theme parks, you need a specific one-time pass per ride and there’s two options.
There’s the 40th Anniversary Pass which can be used for several rides, including Star Tours, and you can only have one pass per ticket holder at any one time.
There’s also the Disney Premier Access Pass which can be used for different rides and attractions, and these range from 1500 to 2000 yen which is about £7.00 – £10.00.
The main thing to remember with Disney is that booking opens two months ahead of your start date, and bear in mind that many Star Wars fans will be wanting to descend onto the parks at the same time, so plan accordingly. Disneysea itself has a lot of rides aimed at younger children so be sure to do your research.
My girlfriend and I are saving the trip to the parks until after Celebration. I’m happy to do this so there’s no come-down after the big event, but it also fits into my schedule. In fact, my girlfriend (who is incredibly patient with my love for Star Wars) will be skipping out on the last day of Celebration and heading to Disneysea herself for a fun-filled day and I’ll join her later as Celebration will close at 4.00pm on the Sunday. We’ll both be heading to Disneyland on the Monday.
Join us next week as we look at Food & Drink recommendations in Japan.
