Looking for money-saving tips for visiting Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea? Traveling to Japan is overwhelming for many reasons, with a big one being the perceived cost. This covers visiting TDR on a tighter budget, while saving money on hotel, food, airfare, and other costs. (Updated September 30, 2024.)
We want to note from the outset that tighter budget above is relative. Traveling internationally is not cheap, nor is it possible for everyone. Travel, in any form, costs a lot of money. I’ve wanted to write a post about how a trip to Tokyo Disney Resort can be cheaper (relative term) than people might think for a while, but have hesitated due to the negative response to past remarks I’ve made indicating that it is closer within reach than many people think.
However, a few things have caused us to revisit the topic. The first is the debut of Fantasy Springs, which is the blockbuster port-of-call featuring Peter Pan, Frozen and Tangled at Tokyo DisneySea. This is the best thing Disney has opened anywhere in ages, and is likewise the only major new expansion at any Disney theme park in the world this year. And guess what? No new major additions are coming to Walt Disney World until 2027, so you have a few years to see Fantasy Springs without really missing out on anything at WDW (or Disneyland) for that matter.
The other is the strength of the dollar and weakness of the Japanese yen. In the last few years, the yen has fallen to levels last seen in 1990. Beyond that, the real effective exchange rate of the yen has hit its lowest level in 50 years. This is largely due to the divergent approaches between central banks in the United States and Japan.
As of late 2024, the yen is hovering around the 140 level against the U.S. dollar. To put this into perspective for those are are unfamiliar with traveling to Japan or foreign currency, a good/normal rule of thumb used to be a 100:1 exchange rate. Now, it’s 140:1. I’m no mathematician, but that’s a massive improvement. It’s also on top of the lower baseline prices in Japan. This is great news for Americans traveling to Japan.
Now for the bad news: the window on this probably will close long before 2027. During both of our most recent visits, the yen was above the 150 level against the dollar (it even hit 160!) The trend has reversed, and will likely continue to do so, because the U.S. Federal Reserve has signaled it’s going to start cutting interest rates, whereas the Bank of Japan is finally raising them.
Regardless, the next couple of years should still be a great time to visit Tokyo Disney Resort with the exchange rate good-to-great by historical standards. Just not quite as fantastic as it was earlier this year, when flirting with the 160 mark.
Finally, there are the skyrocketing costs at the U.S. Parks coupled with nickel and diming. While some of this has made its way to TDR, it’s not nearly as extreme because the Japanese consumer is generally more cost-conscious and frugal. (There’s also the practical reality: average wages and disposable income are significantly lower than in the United States.)
It’s gotten to the point that, for our family of 3, it is literally more expensive for us to take a comparable trip from California to Walt Disney World than it is for us to travel to Japan and Tokyo Disney Resort. The flights are more expensive (see below), but that’s literally the only thing. And the gap is more than bridged by everything else.
And honestly, a comparable trip isn’t even possible because (in our opinion) Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea are so far superior to the 4 parks at Walt Disney World. So we will happily spend less to visit Japan while also having (again, in our opinion) a better vacation. Your mileage may vary on that part, though!
Anyway, I’ve been preaching about Tokyo Disney Resort to anyone who will listen and encouraging readers to visit Tokyo DisneySea and Tokyo Disneyland in several posts, and now it’s time to provide a plan for making the trip more financially viable.
Again, this doesn’t mean everyone reading this post will be able to afford to visit Japan, nor will it make sense for everyone. I understand that. I also understand that I am incredibly fortunate to be able to travel. For those with large families (meaning more airfare), locals to a theme park (meaning hotel and airfare costs they otherwise wouldn’t pay), and/or strict vacation schedules (meaning a lack of flexibility in booking during cheaper times), this post may not help. The trip to Tokyo Disney Resort very well might still be out of the question.
With all of that said, before you close this browser window, consider this: if you can afford to take a yearly on-property vacation to Walt Disney World, it’s possible that you can afford a trip to Tokyo Disney Resort. It will just might require patience, sacrifice, and savvy planning, among (possibly) other things.
It’s worth it. I’ve written that Tokyo DisneySea is the best Disney theme park in the world, and I mean it. I also think Tokyo Disneyland is the best Disney castle park in the world. Yes, the two best Disney theme parks in the world. Even if making this trip means skipping an annual trip to Walt Disney World (or two) or saving for several years, I recommend at least crunching the numbers and seeing if you can make it work. Hopefully, this article can make those numbers a bit easier to crunch.
So, if you want to visit the Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea and are wondering if and how it might be within reach for you financially, continue on…
Airfare
I’m starting here because I suspect this is where I might lose some of you. In terms of cost differential, airfare is undoubtedly the biggest difference between a Walt Disney World vacation and a Tokyo Disney Resort vacation. Credit card churning, hacks, or miles redemptions are absolutely the best ways to save on airfare, but they are beyond the scope of this post and muddy the math too much (see the ‘airfare’ section of this post instead).
If you’re paying for airfare, it might cost you over $1,000 per person (likely less if you live near Los Angeles, Seattle, or San Francisco). Even getting airfare to ~$1,250 per person might require close airfare tracking, depending upon your origin city. Start now by setting fare alerts on Airfarewatchdog.com for your city of origin to Tokyo (NRT and HND).
In the past, when I’ve conversed with people about a trip to Tokyo being closer within reach than they might think, the response almost always is that airfare is too expensive, often with arbitrary dates chosen to illustrate their point. Airfare to Tokyo from the United States is expensive, there’s no question about that.
It’s also incredibly disingenuous to price flights out of Bozeman, Montana for next week. Sure, if you want to prove the point that Japan is too expensive, I guess that works. But if you’re earnestly trying to visit Japan, that’s obviously idiotic. You aren’t going to book last-minute flights to Walt Disney World or throw darts at a board to choose dates. You’re going to try to find ways to minimize costs rather than maximizing them.
With that said, if you have a large party and/or are coming from somewhere in the Midwest or South that offers cheap flights to Florida, the cost of airfare probably makes the trip prohibitively expensive. Likewise, if your travel dates are not at all flexible, the airfare cost can quickly skyrocket, making the trip not viable even for smaller parties. If the idea of spending $1,000 (or more) on airfare per person makes you nauseous, Tokyo might be out of the question. (Although just as I was updating this, I got an airfare alert for $760 RTs from Pittsburgh on Air Canada for the rest of 2024, so there’s that!)
If your dates are somewhat flexible, you shouldn’t just arbitrarily pick dates, look at high prices, and rule this trip out of the question. Presumably, you’re going to be planning a trip to Tokyo Disney Resort well in advance. Be patient, watch airfare, and wait for price alerts. Start looking for airfare by going to ITA Software or Google Flight Search and using the “see calendar of lowest fares” search feature. Do several searches in month increments, and make your trip length variable (e.g., 9-10). Airfare prices fluctuate substantially, so the more flexibility you have, the better.
I would also recommend considering flying out of airports you don’t normally use. Back when we lived in the Midwest, my alerts for Tokyo on Airfarewatchdog were out of Indianapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. Obviously, we didn’t live near all of these cities. More recently, we’ve found flights out of LAX for under $600 round trip. (For whatever it’s worth, when flights are over $1,000 RT, we use miles–less than that, we pay cash. We’ve found that’s the good rule of thumb that works for us.)
However, I’ve found that sometimes the airfare deals out of the west coast are so good that even after separately purchasing airfare to get to those airports, it’s still a better deal. This is what we did for our first trip to Japan: purchasing tickets out of LAX, then flying there via Southwest with our Companion Passes. (We also made it a one-day stopover to drop in on Disneyland.)
With all of this said, the point stands that airfare is going to cost a lot more. Short of using miles, there is no way around this. Prices may not be as bad as you thought (or they might be), but there is no arguing that they are expensive. (One way to get more “mileage” out of this trip is to combine it with a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland and/or Aulani with minimal added airfare cost.)
The good news is that just about everything else will cost less.
Hotels
If you want to stay on-site at a Tokyo Disney Resort hotel, be prepared to spend $500+ per night on your room. You thought I said this was going to get cheaper, right?! Well, it is, and not because you’re going to execute a clandestine plan to sleep in the lobby of Hotel MiraCosta and not pay for a room…
It gets cheaper because Tokyo Disney Resort has several on-site hotels on the monorail loop that are not Disney-branded. The Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay and the Hilton Tokyo Bay are the two that best cater to Westerners (I think the Hilton actually caters to Westerners better than the Disney hotels; you can read our full Hilton Tokyo Bay Review to read/see more about it), and the ones at which I would suggest staying.
We’ve stayed at the Hilton Tokyo Bay more than any hotel in the world (even than the Walt Disney World ones–we mix it up a lot more often there). By the end of 2024, we’ll have logged almost a full month at the Hilton Tokyo Bay in just one year. With that said, see our Hotel Reviews & Rankings at Tokyo Disney Resort for a rundown of the other options and how it all stacks up.
There are also numerous off-site hotels along the JR line or accessible via other means of public transportation, many of which can be booked for <$100/night. After a bad experience staying off-site, I would never do it again. They may not cost as much in dollars, but the off-site hotels have a greater cost: time. Even if you’re not a morning person, you hopefully will get to these parks at or before park opening (if you don’t…good luck).
For even the closest off-site hotel, add in at least 30 minutes of additional commuting. On top of that, you will be using public transportation during the morning rush hour commute. If saving as much money as possible is your greatest concern, check out the off-site hotels, but I do not recommend it. Your mileage may vary on this.
Unlike official Disney hotels that have a published rate chart and stick to those rates, the non-Disney, on-site hotels use dynamic pricing. This means that rates at these hotels fluctuate widely based on inventory, projected (and actual) demand, and supply. I once saw $300+ per night standard rooms for the Hilton, but rooms for ~$150 per night are not at all uncommon. Because of this, it’s imperative that you price out the hotel after you find a deal on a flight, but before you book the flight. We have made this mistake before, and it can be a costly one.
As for the rooms, the Celebrio rooms in the Hilton remind me of what the “contemporary” theme at Disney’s Contemporary Resort should be, and its location on the monorail loop, room quality, views (almost every room either views the ocean (see below) or Cinderella Castle), and amenities make it on par with a Walt Disney World Deluxe hotel. In fact, I think you’ll be hard-pressed to find a Deluxe Walt Disney World hotel that’s as nice as the Hilton.
Again, you need to be flexible with dates here. January 11-16 is currently $234 per night, but February 15-20 is currently only $135 per night. That price difference right there should illustrate why flexibility and advance booking are critical. Due to these huge price swings, it’s imperative that you price out the Sheraton and Hilton (if you plan on staying at one of them) before you book your airfare. Saving $50 on flights isn’t worth it if it means paying significantly more for the hotel!
In addition to watching rates, I highly recommend joining HHonors and signing up for Hilton’s deal emails (make sure you check that you want to receive “Middle East & Asia Pacific News and Offers”). In my experience, Hilton does a 72-hour, 50% off flash sale about 4 times per year for select dates throughout Japan. Thanks to this deal, we were able to score a <$125/night room there for certain nights of our last trip. Because of this potential deal, you shouldn’t book a ‘no cancellation’ room at any of these hotels, unless you’re booking at the last minute. Chances are, you’ll cancel and rebook your room if you book far enough in advance, and you can’t do this for one of the “better” no cancellation rates. If you don’t want to sign up for the email, monitor this site for the flash deals.
You won’t find a Deluxe-caliber hotel at Walt Disney World on the monorail loop for ~$150 per night, so this should be a savings (if you normally stay at Moderate or above Walt Disney World hotel).
Tickets
Tickets to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea are considerably cheaper than Walt Disney World or Disneyland tickets. Full single-day park tickets cost approximately $60 to $75. During our last trip, we also bought a Weeknight Passport at the front gate for ~$30. Tokyo Disney Resort has not yet resumed sales of multi-day tickets or Annual Passes.
Pretty cut and dry, so there’s no point in fixating on this. The one big plus side I’ll mention here is that all of the excellent seasonal entertainment in Tokyo is included in the regular cost of admission, so if you’re normally go to hard ticket events in Walt Disney World, you won’t be paying those extra costs at Tokyo Disneyland or DisneySea.
Unless you already have an Annual Pass to one of the US parks, this cost will be considerably lower. As discussed in our Tokyo Disneyland Discount Ticket Tips for 2024, we highly recommend anyone with U.S. credit cards buy Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea park tickets as far in advance as possible from Klook.
Line-Skipping
Paid FastPass has (sadly) spread to Japan, and is available at popular rides and entertainment at Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. Known as Premier Access, it’s their version of Lightning Lane Single Pass.
We do not buy Premier Access for any attractions, instead using early mornings and late nights to knock everything out (including multiple rides on Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast) without much issue. The only time we’ve ever purchased Premier Access was for “Believe! Sea of Dreams” on its opening night. We regretted doing that and wouldn’t do it again.
The only attractions for which we’d consider purchasing Premier Access are the ones in Fantasy Springs. Specifically, Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey and Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure. Even then, those attractions offer the free Standby Pass and that’s usually easier to obtain than the paid Premier Access.
Oh, and on top of that, Tokyo Disney Resort has no paid counterpart to Lightning Lane Multi-Pass. Instead, TDR uses free Priority Pass, which is basically just FastPass but with a different name. It’s not available at the most popular rides (where Premier Access is sold), but it’s great for skipping the lines at Indiana Jones Adventure, Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and more!
Vacation Packages
This is a post about saving money, and Tokyo Disney Resort Vacation Packages will cost you more. You’re paying premium pricing for the convenience of having an itinerary ahead of time and the peace of mind of knowing you’ll get certain attraction selections. This is especially true now that Fantasy Springs is open.
Prior to Fantasy Springs, we never recommended TDR Vacation Packages. Now, we do for guests who are not on tight budgets because of the ease of access (and unlimited nature) afforded by the special Fantasy Springs (and other) tickets. However, you should still skip the Vacation Packages if you’re trying to do TDR on a dime. Don’t be intimidated about buying the individual components a la carte–this isn’t that difficult.
Souvenirs
Merchandise is generally cheaper at Tokyo Disney Resort, but it can vary. The biggest exception is all things Duffy. We’ve “joked” in the past that the Duffy merchandising machine subsidizes the rest of Tokyo DisneySea and is why the park is done at such a high level. That’s only a half-joke.
Duffy stuff is really expensive. If you’re doing TDR on a budget, just stay away from the Duffy shops in Tokyo DisneySea. Seriously, you don’t want to fall down that rabbit hole (or bear den?). If you just stick to t-shirts, sweatshirts, and other simple stuff, merchandise at TDR can be incredibly affordable.
Another recommendation here is to visit the secondhand stores in Nakano Broadway, which is on the outskirts of Tokyo. See our Shopping Guide to Nakano Broadway. It’s a really fun place–don’t miss the gigantic ice cream in the basement!
Food
Whether you save money on food at Tokyo Disney Resort depends a lot on your dining patterns and your appetite. Japanese portion sizes are unquestionably smaller than US portion sizes. Counter service restaurants are priced about the same at Tokyo Disney Resort as they are in the US parks, with table service restaurants being cheaper than their US counterparts (and there’s no tipping in Japan). Overall, I believe food quality is higher in the Tokyo parks.
If you like to snack or you have a large appetite, it’s possible that you could spend more on food at Tokyo Disney Resort than you would in the US parks. That is, unless you eat at the buffets at Tokyo Disney Resort, which are incredibly high quality and are all you can eat. Each hotel has one buffet, as does Tokyo Disneyland.
I highly recommend both Crystal Palace in Tokyo Disneyland. Not only does it have great food, but there are often some of the snacks that cost ~$4-5 each in the park. As for the best counter service values, restaurants that serve personal pizzas (not pizza by the slice) are your best options. This means Pan Galactic Pizza Port in Tokyo Disneyland and Zambini Brothers’ Ristorante in Tokyo DisneySea, with these pizzas running about $7-8.
If you’re really looking to save money on food, check out the Ikspiari shopping district. In the basement, you’ll find a supermarket that has all sorts of groceries. We go here frequently to grab rice balls, desserts, and all sorts of other things (such as diapers!). Similarly, most of the hotels–both Disney-branded and third parties–have convenience stores in their lobbies. This can be a fun and cost-effective way to do breakfast or late-night meals.
These are the four basics, and I think when you do the math after being patient and looking for deals, you might find that a trip to Tokyo Disney Resort is within reach. It may require a good amount of research and pre-planning to find that sweet spot of hotel and airfare prices, as well as saving a bit longer or forgoing a trip to Walt Disney World (I would absolutely forgo a year or two of trips to Walt Disney World if that’s what it took to get to Tokyo), but it is potentially do-able.
Reducing the expenses of a trip to Japan to four components of a theme park visit isn’t going to cover everything. Presumably, you are not just going to visit Japan for Tokyo Disney Resort. From the city of Tokyo to the shrines of Kyoto, Japan is an incredibly beautiful country with many things to see, do, eat, and experience.
It would be a shame to go and only visit two theme parks, even if you are a huge Disney fan and they are the two best Disney parks. So, naturally, you are going to have more expenses than what I’m listing here, but it’s impossible for me to know what else you’re going to do since there are so many other things to do (and since this is a Disney blog, covering the Disney component of the trip plus airfare is what makes the most sense).
There are two other things I will mention. One is an important one, and (in keeping with the general tone of this blog that has otherwise been absent from this “serious” post) one is a ridiculous one. The important one is the Japan Rail Pass, which allows unlimited travel on the various JR lines for 7, 14, or 21 days. This means unlimited Shinkansen (bullet train) transportation. If you’re only visiting Tokyo, it’s not worth buying this pass. But if you’re heading to Kyoto and beyond and will take the Shinkansen 3 or more times, the JR Pass can be worth it.
The other tip is to look for the “100 Yen Special” vending machines. It is always a huge moral victory for me when I find one of these little beauties, which probably seems silly because saving 20 cents on a beverage in the grand scheme of an Asian vacation isn’t much…but it’s a victory nonetheless. Plus, I think these have better and more interesting drinks than the “fancy” vending machines.
Again, I understand that the tips in this post are still is not realistic for everyone. I also understand that I am very fortunate to have the advance-planning flexibility, party size, etc., to make visiting Japan within reach. I just hope this article comes across as a sincere attempt to help others crunch the numbers and potentially save money in the booking process, rather than coming across as a cold and unrealistic statement that “Tokyo Disney Resort is cheap!” (It’s not.)
Planning a trip to Tokyo Disney Resort? For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea Trip Planning Guide! For more specifics, our TDR Hotel Rankings & Reviews page covers accommodations. Our Restaurant Reviews detail where to dine & snack. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money post. Our What to Pack for Disney post takes a unique look at clever items to take. Venturing elsewhere in Japan? Consult our Ultimate Guide to Kyoto, Japan and City Guide to Tokyo, Japan.
Your Thoughts
Does this help make a trip to Tokyo Disney Resort more realistic for you in the long term? Does visiting Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea interest you? If you have any other comments or questions about the expense of visiting Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, post them below and I’ll try to answer!
AloJapan.com