Tokyo Disney Resort Tips & Tricks 🇯🇵🎢 | What Surprised Us as USA Disney Fans

Tokyo Disney Resort Tips & Tricks 🇯🇵🎢 | What Surprised Us as USA Disney Fans

Hey everyone I’m Rachel. And I’m David we just got back from Tokyo Disney Resort. And we want to share some of the tips and tricks. We found with you as well as. Let. What’s different between the Japan and the US parks. Let’s go. Alright. So we have a lot of information to give you guys. But the most important thing is that. You do need to prepare. I know that a lot of people to go into vacations. And kind of. Go with the flow and that sort of thing. There’s nobody saying that you can’t. Have some spontaneity. And do some things that you don’t plan on doing. But if you’re gonna have the best time at Tokyo Disney. You really need to know. A little bit about what you’re doing. Before you go into it. Yeah I think it’s really important too. Is don’t get too overwhelmed by all the information. You’re trying to take in. And the way you plan for this. Is significantly different than the way you would. A US park. When we first started. I was taking in too much information all at once. And this was several months out. Before we could even start doing anything about it. And it was overwhelming. But it’s not that bad. So kind of take a breath and don’t let it bother you. Too much yeah. And then that’s a great point. Even doing some of the research ahead of time. You will actually find out that. Some of the things you found out are wrong. Or outdated. Because they are changing things a lot at this resort. So just between the time we went a couple of weeks ago. And two days from now they’re actually changing. A huge thing about how you access one of the parks. So don’t get too overwhelmed with planning. But do do some research ahead of time. So that you’re at least. A little bit prepared for what you’re going to. It is worth the effort. Don’t feel you’re wasting your time or anything. But just keep that in mind. That preparation is important. But don’t let it overwhelm you. We have. A few different categories that we’re gonna go through. So the first category I wanna talk about are hotels. And vacation packages now obviously. We’re talking about Tokyo Disney Resort and the parks. But I felt this is really important. Because our first really big tip for me at least. Is that I highly recommend doing a vacation package. You don’t have to you can buy a one day ticket. Or multiple day tickets to these parks. But we did the vacation package. And I feel that put us on the right path. Because we were able to 1. Know exactly what hotel we’re gonna be at. Know that it was gonna. Be easy to get to the parks from the hotel. And that. We were probably going to have some cast members. That spoke English. As well as you get some things pre booked. So for sure. You’re gonna get to get on certain attractions. Or for sure you’re gonna get breakfast. Certain mornings or meet certain characters. Depending on which vacation package you buy. Now. Something to keep in mind with the vacation packages. Though is that they are looking at changing them. So the ones we did. Aren’t necessarily available anymore. And I think that the vacation package is 100% worth it. Not just because the the price is a little bit higher. But at the end of the day. It saves you so many different headaches along the way. If you want to take advantage of the food. That’s involved okay. You’re gonna have a reservation. You pick your time slot. You’re gonna know when you’re gonna be there. When you’re selecting ride times. Exactly when you need to be somewhere. And having that that layout set up for you. Really sets you up for success. In my opinion. So knowing I have to be at this location at this time. And these are the gaps I’m trying to fill. Really narrows down what you can do. Just because of the wait times and stuff in the park. And knowing that kind of information. I think is is super important. I love the vacation package. I don’t regret it one bit. I I don’t think the price was unreasonable. Agreed 100% I think it was worth the cost. And since they are continuously changing. Obviously look at the Tokyo. Disney website for more detail about what’s current. When you’re going to go. But you can book them six months in advance. And I would highly recommend you be online. At whatever time it is in the US. That is the time that they go on sale there. For us it was midnight because things do sell out. Rooms do sell out six months in advance yeah. I mean. Just to emphasize on that. It opened at midnight. And we were still working on it at 2:00am. Now don’t panic. Don’t think oh my god. If I’m not the first three people in. I’m not going to get the vacation package. My trips ruined no. It doesn’t necessarily work that way. You might have errors pop up on the screen. Everybody deals with that kind of stuff. It’s not the best website unfortunately. So don’t panic if you don’t get it right away. Just try a couple times and. And be flexible in my opinion in this. Not in the sense of your dates or anything. Just understand you might not get the exact. Hotel room that you’re looking for. At the exact hotel you’re looking for. I still think regardless it’s worth going. I feel all the hotels. That are on the vacation package. Within the same vicinity they’re all gonna be awesome. You’re gonna have an amazing time. If you have to settle for one. That wasn’t your first priority. Don’t let it ruin your trip. And these are these are highly competitive. But. I’ve gone on several days after they’ve gone on sale. And seen vacation packages still available. So don’t freak out too much. If your internet’s crapping out. Or the website is not loading. Or your credit card is not taking. There’s a bunch of things that’s gonna happen. Be prepared. You’re going to run into some headaches that. Don’t freak out just stay focused. And you’re gonna be able to get it. And you’re gonna have a good time. So if you choose not to do a vacation package. If you just wanna. Maybe stay a night or two at a regular Disney hotel. Those. You cannot start booking until four months in advance. So that kind of gives you some information. A lot of the room types the. The more in demand room types. Probably will be sold out for the time you want to go. Because people with vacation packages. Book six months in advance. But a light at the end of the tunnel there is. We actually decided very last minute. I think two weeks before our trip. To book an extra night at the Toy Story Hotel. Before our vacation package started. And it was available so. Just know. Even if you don’t wanna go in six months in advance. And know that you’re gonna do this trip. You will still have options. Yeah I think it’s important to know. So we made that decision on a whim because again. The information out there changes so much. And in our heads. We’re gonna pick up our vacation package. Really early in the morning. And we would have early entry into the park. But that wasn’t the case. We found that out shortly before our trip. And so we had the idea okay. Well we know early entry comes with the Toy Story Hotel. And so we booked the night at Toy Story Hotel. When we checked into the Toy Story Hotel. The day before our vacation package officially started. We went and picked up our vacation package. That gave us early entry into Disneyland Park. But now. There are some vacation packages that. Include a night before your vacation package starts. So essentially what we did. But built into the vacation package. It’s constantly changing unfortunately. So I think this is really important. To take the time and read the site. The site does have pretty good documentation. It does I think so unfortunately. It’s a long read. But it’s going to have all the information. You’re actually looking for. So just keep that in mind. So from here on out. We’re actually not gonna talk about vacation packages. We’re gonna talk about just normal things. That should not change that much. Between now and whenever you end up going. So everything else should be. Pretty similar to what you’ll experience. So if you do stay at a Disney hotel. Without a vacation package. Just should be aware. This is a big difference from the US. You can’t actually go in some of the hotels. Unless you’re staying at a hotel right. Or you. You might be able to have a dining reservation at a. Restaurant in that hotel. And that’s the only way you can enter. You have to show proof that you are staying at. Or have a reservation at a certain hotel to go in it. This applies to things food orders too. So even guests won’t be able to visit essentially yeah. It has to be the person on the reservation or you. Then you have to show a room key. Yeah room keys. There is a cast member at every walking path. Up to these hotels to verify that. People are supposed to be there. Walking and driving pads yeah. And it can be an inconvenience. But it’s also really a perk in some ways. Because these hotels are not crowded at all. Yeah that was totally empty. It was awesome. And it’s very peaceful and relaxing. But just be aware of that. And then some hotels. You can’t even make a dining reservation for their. Restaurant unless you were staying there. The Fantasy Springs Hotel. Which is that was shocking yeah. I was shocked by that yeah. You can only make a restaurant reservation. If you’re actively staying there. So just be aware. That you may not get to visit all of these hotels. I know a lot of people in. Disney World do resort hopping yeah. That’s not that’s not really a thing here yeah. Also about hotels. You’ll likely only have twin beds in your rooms. So don’t count on sleeping. In the same bed as your partner. Most of them have either three or four twin beds. In the rooms and they’re actually pretty large twin. I felt they were a decent size yeah. They were good size but it it was weird. Families are coming to Tokyo Disney. And then the parents sleep in different beds. And then also. If you see anything in wrapped plastic in your room. So slippers or cups or toiletry items. Take them they are free. They expect you to take them yeah. They expect you to take them. Now if you see pajamas in there. You don’t want to take those. You are welcome to wear them. But they are not wrapped in plastic. They are not brand new they’ve been washed. But do not take those they will charge you for those. Just anything that’s in the wrap plastic. You’re welcome to take and they are really cute. They are themed to the hotel that you’re in yeah. And that’s kind of a really. Cheap way to get souvenirs. Yeah and the last thing I want to bring up about hotels. Every hotel has its own convenience store. Or コンビ that is really useful. Because they’re usually open. From a couple hours before the park opens. Till a couple hours after the park closes. So you can pop in there and get some food. Before or after a park day. And it’s cheap yeah. This food is a lot cheaper. It wasn’t marked up or at all really. So it was really nice to be able to just kind of. Go in there and grab a snack. After we came back from the parks exhausted. And just kind of go crashing around. Well I think it’s really important too. Because their. Parks close significantly earlier than ours. Here in the States so you. Maybe you do normally eat. A late dinner at Disneyland or Disney World. And this gives you an opportunity to have. Late night snacks and stuff. And I think it is important to mention that. When you go to these hotels. They’re themed so well that. You’re going to want to spend a little bit of time. There yeah. I know it’s hard to. Want to do stuff after you’ve traveled so far. But I think when you check in. Maybe you just traveled that day and you’re checking in. I still think it’s worth. Powering through and trying to get some cute pictures. Or footage of. These hotels because they genuinely are really gorgeous. And they’re kept up so well. The paint jobs all super fresh. It just feels so special that I think it’s worth it. Even if you’re really tired to kind of. Take the extra step and get a couple pictures. Alright so the next category of. Information is for pre park entrance. So this is anything you need to know. Before you’re actually in the gates. There is a monorail that is one really key thing. Obviously. The parks in the US have modes of transportation. To the different parks around them. But there’s only one here and it is the monorail. And it is not free yeah. That’s the big key point. It costs about 2 to 3 US dollars per ride. Or you can get a day. Or two or three day passes for cheaper. But it is a really good method of transportation. It’s really cheap still and it’s really cute. Yeah and so I want to mention. We whipped on this the first time. So. We didn’t realize the kios you select. Determines what the art is gonna be on your ticket. So take a look at that we we bought tickets realize oh. They had minion they were very cute. Yeah we bought the the first the first one. The row was Minnie Mouse and I’m awesome cool. We got a Minnie Mouse. I thought it was randomized then I realized oh Rachel. That one has Rapunzel on it. Now another thing I want to mention about the monorail. In particular is. When you’re going to Tokyo. You have this image in your head of how insane. The subway system and train systems get there. But here it didn’t feel that ridiculous. We were going early enough and late enough. That it didn’t really. Get really super crowded or anything. So there weren’t long lines at the kios. I know they can get really long. And I just I can’t emphasize enough. Just put your patient pants on. The monorail runs pretty quick. So it’s okay if you need to stand for a few minutes. While on the trains. Don’t let the. The Tokyo subway system or train system impact. What your. Monorail. Expectations are it’s a little bit different. Yeah but to go along with that. You should still. Obey the same social and cultural norms. That you would on the Tokyo subway. So a lot of people are not talking. Not taking video of each other. Not eating and drinking. These are all things that are pretty common on. The US subs and metros. But really in Japan. Transportation is the time to be quiet. And to be respectful of others yeah. So just make sure that you’re kind of paying. Attention to those social cues. And not disturbing those around you right. So rope dropping. Obviously we love to rope drop. We do it pretty much every time. We go to any park. But if you are in a road drop these parks. It is not enough to be there. A half hour before they open. If you are not staying at a Disney hotel. You need to probably get there about two hours. Before the park opens. Even if you are staying at a Disney hotel. And get an early entry. Which we’ll talk about in a little while. You need to get there probably even an hour plus. Still ahead of time yeah. And I can’t emphasize enough. The Japanese people’s willingness to wait in lines. Is no joke it’s true. They are willing to get to rope drop. And they’re gonna do it hours ahead of time. This is what they’ve come to do. And they’ve brought blankets to sit on. Or things to sit on. Or seat cushions and umbrellas and maybe even seats. They are and they have their breakfast. They bought and they’re brought with them. They know they’re gonna be there for a while. And they are prepared yeah. 100% and I just to keep in mind also. They don’t really have an issue. With someone leaving the line. And then coming back. If you have a party member saying they’re. If you if you’re in line early. And someone really needs to go to the bathroom. Or you have an emergency or whatever. Just leave somebody in line. Leave and come back and no. One’s gonna have an issue with that. We saw multiple people doing that. No one’s frustrated with each other. Everybody seems really happy at these rope drops. I can’t emphasize enough. The lines are no joke at these parks. It is a legitimate thing. You got to kind of keep in mind. Throughout the entire day. And it starts with rope drop for sure yeah. So I mentioned that some people bring seats. That’s another thing in the US parks. You cannot bring even. Collapsible seats or anything that. You can bring them here yeah. And I would highly suggest it. If you have one and can travel with it. Or if you want to buy one while you’re in Japan. Just for when you’re in Japan. And then recycle it or whatever. If you are planning on waiting in standby lines. Or trying to camp out for a spot in a parade or a show. I would highly recommend bringing a seat. I think that’s yeah. I think that’s really smart. Because especially if you’re doing a longer trip. The three days is a lot by itself. Just because the scale of these parts. And the amount of walking you’re gonna be doing. I’ve seen. The collapsible stools that are built into canes. Be taken away at Disneyland California. Here I saw multiple people walking around with them. It doesn’t seem it was an issue. If you always wanted to have some kind of seat in lines. Which I’ve actually thought about multiple times. With my guy friends. And we all have foot issues and we’re. Oh man this is brutal. Especially the lines that don’t seem to move too much. If you’re just standing still. Got having a stool would have been pretty awesome. And these are very very small. They’re they’re very compact stool. So it’s not they’re carrying around. A kitchen stool with a rocking chair. A camping chair yeah. It’s not a camping chair. Don’t bring those yeah. It’s it’s very. Very small. I mostly saw it at Rope Drop. But people were using them in some cues. Because you gotta keep in mind the 300 minute cues. It’s it’s legitimately 300. There are 300 minutes and these people. They’re just sitting on their stools and it’s okay. That’s that’s smart. I think it’s worth considering. Especially if if you you have. Issues with your legs or your feet. Or anything that. Yeah and the last thing I wanna mention about free park. Entrance is the security scanner. So in Disneyland California. We are still having people go through our bag. Pocket by pocket and it takes forever. Yeah. And then you go through a metal detector. In Disney World. Some of the parks have these faster security scanners. That you just walk through. That is more akin to what they do at Tokyo Disney so. They do have the faster security scanners where you go. Walk through one person at a time. If something gets flagged or if you have a stroller. They do send you over to an actual metal detector. Otherwise they’ll send you right through. So that was really nice and expedites the process. But that does mean when the monorail gets off. And there’s hundreds of people getting off. At the same time. There’s gonna be lots of people funneling through. Pretty quickly into the rope drop area. Yeah and one. One more thing about the. The rope drop area and the lines in general is. I would scope out which lines look the smallest. If you get there. And it looks there’s an insane number of people. Don’t panic don’t don’t don’t freak out right away. Just kind of evaluate your situation. Yeah and that kind of. Leads into something called happy entry. So happy entry is their version of an early entry. And it is only for people staying at Disney hotels. So you don’t have to have a vacation package. You just have to be staying at the hotel. Right. And you can get it for different park. Depending on which hotel you’re staying at. That is continuously changing. That is changing so make sure you look. You look up. Which hotels get early entry to which parks. And the timing of it is always changing. That was one thing I tried to find online. Before we went. Exactly when will we be let into the park. When should we show up for a rope drop. These things. You will not know until you check into your hotel. At that point. They will give you a paper voucher that will say. Happy entry for this date. And they will give you. However many people are booked in your party. So if you don’t put if you have 4 people with you. And you only put 3 people in your reservation. That is a problem. And you need to fix that before you go. And so they’ll give you the paper pass. It says the date it says what time and what part. It’s an exact time and what part yeah. The parks say online they open at 9 a. M they’ve said that for years. But I can tell you for Disney. Tokyo Disneyland we did get let in. It’s it’s only a 15 minute happy entry. And that’s pretty much standard across the board. Which is significantly different from the US parks. I wanna mention yes. So so different. So it’s 15 minutes early. And we did get let in it about 8:45 at Tokyo Disneyland. So that was right on time. But when we stayed at Fantasy Springs Hotel. We actually got in at about 8:30. So that was a half hour early. But I believe the general population also got let in at. 8:45. Right so you’re still only getting 15. Minute head start but don’t go by exactly what time. The app or online says the park is gonna open. You’ll get your happy entry ticket. When you get to your hotel. And you can go then you have a little more information. So once you do enter the parks early. You have your 15 minute advantage. So you’re probably wondering. What is the best way to use those 15 minutes. Now. This for me kind of depends on where you’re coming in. If you’re coming in from the main entrance. I would kind of prioritize. Journey to the center of the earth. That’s kind of the middle of the park. There’s gonna be people from Fantasy Springs. Also headed that direction. And I think that ride gets an insane weight. Yeah so it’s usually over 200 minutes. Yeah and if you’re coming from the United States. That’s a ride we don’t have. It’s a thrill ride also. So if this gets an insane weight. It’s a unique experience only to this park. I think that’s worth doing. The rope drop from the main entrance. Now if you really really. Really want to maybe you consider doing Soren. But honestly the ride experience is the exact same. The only thing that’s different is the queue and well. It’s not the exact same. Cause you do finish in Tokyo Disney. Which is cool. But I don’t think that’s worth using your 15. Minutes for I would go and do Knockout. Journey and hopefully. You get some fast passes throughout the day. For our journey. Cause I think it’s worth riding multiple times. Otherwise I would head. Even if you’re coming from the front entrance. I would consider heading to Fantasy Springs. Now that they’re opening those cues to everybody. But keep in mind. You’re going to lose to the Fantasy Springs. People that are entering the park early also. So now from the Fantasy Springs perspective. If you’re entering the park 15 minutes early. I would just go ahead and get in line for. Just do all those Fantasy Springs yeah. And start with Anna and Elsa’s. Cause that’s gonna have the most ridiculous way. And it’s totally worth waiting for. It’s even if everybody. Then. Don’t be discouraged by the number of people going to. The same thing you’re going to keep in mind these. These cues are made to hold 300+ minutes of people. So even though you see a ton of people going. The operations. Are fast enough that you’re going to get on that ride. Before the park officially opens. So these vehicles are large. They they built them with good capacity. Oh yeah. And the cast members are are running through it. So I would just do Anna and Elsa’s first thing. And then do Rapunzel’s. And as you’re going to these things sorry. I forgot to mention. Even if you’re coming in from the front entrance. Or Fantasy Springs you’re gonna want to start. Booking your fast passes right away. Cause that’s the advantage you really get. Is these fast passes can and do. And will probably sell out while you’re there. Even the paid ones eventually sell out. So get your standby passes. Get your. Your show attractions. And we’re gonna get into more into fast passes later. Yeah I think that’s the key difference. 15 minutes. As compared to either a half hour or an hour. At US parks is not much time. It’s really not and so. And you notice it too when you’re. When you’re actively there. It does not feel you had an advantage. But honestly you didn’t you do. And I think that the biggest advantage comes from. You’ll probably get one in. One queue before everybody else gets in the park. And then you’ll get to. At least book some of your fast passes. And then those are the two. The two perks that you really do get agreed yeah. The next thing we want to talk about is the actual park. Atmosphere and experience. So the overall vibes of these two parks. The first thing is the same. Kind of with Japan as a hole. It’s super super clean. Yeah. The cast members in US parks do a great job. Trying to keep everything clean. They really do I see people sweeping all the time. But everybody’s always dropping popcorn it seems. Yeah. And there are leaves and things that. These parks are pristine yeah. It’s insane I think. We didn’t see any popcorn on the ground until maybe. The last day. And then the only reason I saw on the ground. Was because somebody was actively. Sitting there eating it and drop some. And they still. Look they felt bad that it had happened. Yeah. So these parks are so clean and that that goes for one. The cast members just being amazing. And doing a really good job cleaning things up. But I also think it is a cultural thing. That’s what I was gonna say. The Japanese. People take a lot of pride in their country. And in taking care of things. And making sure that they’re not littering. The only thing we can really compare to is the US parks. And the US parks. Take on a lot more people than the Japanese parks do. So that’s something to keep in mind. But you do notice. Some things. Maybe there’s some wear and tear on a lamp. A lamp fixture something at Disneyland California. Don’t get me wrong. But the California people work insanely hard. And it’s really really hard at the Japan parks. The cast members do such a good job. The paint everywhere is beautiful. It’s perfect it’s. Everything’s exactly how it’s supposed to be. It smells fresh. We smelled the most flowers. I think I’ve ever smelled when I was. Walking through a garden yeah. It was walking through a garden. It was it was. It was so interesting. Yeah just so many fresh smells. Fresh flowers. And if you are a stickler for the upkeep of a park. There is no better this is. These are the two parks that have mastered this craft. And there it shows it’s gorgeous. They take pride in it. One of a key difference between the US parks. And these parks in Japan are that. We did not see very many strollers or wheelchairs. We saw more strollers than we saw wheelchairs. I saw one wheelchair yeah. I there’s not a lot of electric scooters. And things that I know. Especially in California right now. I feel every time we go to Disneyland. There’s a lot of those rentable electric scooters. Yep. But I didn’t see any of those. Yeah I saw one manual wheelchair. You said. And we want the parks to be accessible for everybody. Right and I think these parks are actually. Do a really good job of that. Yeah they do a really good job of it. The hotels on the Disney property. Do a really good job of that. But there just seems to not be as many people. Needing those devices and in these parks. So just kind of be aware. If you do need to take one with you. Or use one while you’re at these parks. They may be a little harder. To get a hold of or yeah. You may have some trouble navigating certain areas. Just because. They’re not used to having a lot of people. With those devices. And another point I wanna make. Which is kind of a funny point. But I know in the US parks and I’m very guilty of this. I do it every time we go. A lot of people wear athleisure to these parks. Or you don’t. Wear a T-shirt and jeans or a T-shirt and leggings. These parts the girls specifically dress to the nines. Yeah they do they are wearing mini skirts. They are wearing full faces of makeup. They have their hair perfectly done. They have combs. They’re checking their hair and their makeup constantly. Cause they’re taking a lot of photos. And there’s no judgment here. That’s just how they wanna enjoy the parks. That that’s great yeah. But if you do wear athleisure. You might feel you’re sticking out a little bit. Yeah because I felt I’ll say multiple times. I felt a slob. Even though I wasn’t horribly dressed. You were wearing a T-shirt and jeans. I was wearing a T-shirt and jeans and I was whoa. I’m I’m really underdressed here. Something keep in mind is the. The locals are looking to go and take. Really nice pictures and have really nice days out. A lot of the visitors are looking to get. Really nice pictures with. Their boyfriends and girlfriends. Or their moms and dads and families and stuff. Or characters or characters yeah. The character lines are really really long. The character lines are no joke. But if we get hurt you’ll take care of us. They’re all trying on different ears and you. You’ll have people swapping ears and stuff. Because they don’t know which ones they better. And there’s their whole groups of friends match. Yeah they all may you’ll see groups of friends matching. It’s really cute. So one of the big things with these parks too. That we really can’t emphasize enough. On the YouTube videos is just how big everything is. I look at the map for these two parks and I was. Okay okay okay. This makes sense this makes sense. This makes sense. It’s not gonna be anything I haven’t done before. But when you’re physically there. It feels everything is so much bigger. And so much further from each other. And it’s crazy. The amount of walking you’re going to do on. On this trip but. Just experiencing the castle for the first time. It’s. I don’t know what the heights or scales of anything are. But it felt so much bigger. It felt so so I don’t know. I don’t know how to describe it. But it’s. Disneyland was built in a time where roads. Were smaller and they didn’t have as much land. So they kind of did what they could with what they had. This is if Walt got to build Disneyland. But in today’s proportions. Everything is spread out and it’s beautiful. And there’s greenery and. And gardens everywhere. But that means more steps for you. Walking around those things right. Everything is. The sight lines are so well thought out. No matter where you’re standing in the park. You can’t see outside of the park. In the sense that you’re gonna be. Disassociated from the Disney universe. The only thing that really kind of does that is. The airplanes coming in and out. Which was weird but other than that. It feels you’re in a bubble. And it’s the Disney bubble. And the other big thing I wanted to mention was. If you see something. You can go up to those items in Tokyo. Disney Sea specifically. The first time I saw the the ship I was okay. That’s cool. There’s a there’s a pirate ship in the harbor. That’s a nice little touch and then I realized oh. There’s people on that ship. And they’re playing with the cannons oh. The cannons shoot that’s cool so everything is. And there’s a different pirate ship. And then. There’s a different pirate ship in Fantasy Springs yeah. And then there’s a lighthouse that you can go and walk. Yeah to. And then there’s a cruise ship in dock. And I’m oh that’s. Cool people are on that thing. And there’s a restaurant in there. And. But knowing that you can go into these locations. And touch things and do things and see things. And it’s just. I can’t emphasize enough just how interesting that is. And how everything has perpetual motion to it. Inside the volcano. There’s a vehicle sticking out of it. And it has motion to it it built into it. You have the Nautilus that kind of goes. That’s sitting in the water in there. And there’s just so much going on. And I just think it’s so cool. Everything was made to be accessible to the visitor. Which I just don’t think you can do that. Their their budget had to have been. Why this is physically possible. And I think that’s just really really cool. When people say that this is. These are the parks that Imagineers would build. If they had an unlimited budget. I kind of agree with that. It really feels the quality and the. Imagination is really there. And it’s it’s really cool. I 100% agree with that. And the last thing. Just about the overall park experience. And David kind of already alluded to it. But the cast members. You will hear us say this so many times yeah. I’m sorry I can’t repeat it enough though. But these are the best cast members. We have ever experienced yeah. And I’m getting emotional. I’m just saying that sentence. That’s I I don’t know why. They are just the nicest people. I think I’ve ever met in my life. And they all are. Seem so happy to be there and to be helping you. Even when there’s a language barrier. They are so sweet and so kind. And the. The smiles and the joy that exudes from all of them. It made me feel my first time at Disneyland. Yeah. Because my first time at Disneyland was our honeymoon. I actually had just gone through chemotherapy. So we were treated very special that trip. I felt and I don’t need. I’m not the kind of person. That needs a lot of attention. At the parks or needs to be treated special. But this just gave me that same warm fuzzy. But they were treating everyone that yeah. Yeah it’s not I was special. They were treating every person with love and care. And kindness and and happiness. And yeah. It was just a joy to be around these cast members. Yeah I agree. And again we can’t. We can’t emphasize it enough. And we can’t really relay it properly yeah. Honestly there’s so much love. When you’re talking to these people. They’re so interested in you. There’s a genuine interest in you. Which is is so interesting. Is so different. And and I think I mentioned it to you. I wish that Walt. Disney could see these cast members in action because. Yeah this. Is what I envisioned his vision probably was yeah. They’re. They’re so bright and beautiful and and sweet and kind. And I don’t know it’s just it. It legitimately felt different. And walking down Main Street with all of them. Not just waving at us but having the biggest. Authentic smile on their faces. Really felt special. I can understand why it’s emotional. Because thinking about it again. It. It it it’s one of the reasons we really wanna go back. Alright. So the next area we’re gonna talk about are rides. So the overall experience and atmosphere. One thing that really kind of. Surprised me on the first day. Is that the entrance to most rides are not just. Single file lines or even 2 by 2 lines. They’re giant funnels. Everybody just kind of scoots in and scoots in. And scoots in and you’re in this big clump of people. And then slowly. It whittles you down till you’re in a single file line. That’s very different from how the US parks operate. I feel if some. If you did that and some of the cues in the US parks. People would start a fight. Yeah or something that. But I think it’s a cultural norm. Even on the trains and things we’ve noticed. People are very used to being close together. And the cast members are all telling you move up. Move up move up and that’s how they get through people. So fast in these lines. But yeah that was a little disorienting at first. I felt rude moving past people. I know we’re physically in the line before me. But the cast members are saying no. You gotta move up you gotta move up. And it’s not because they’re trying to cram. People into certain areas. It’s just dude. There’s a bunch of space over here. Get over there yeah. And they’re not rude about it obviously. But it’s just it’s just it’s totally different. And another thing is that. We found the posted wait times to be pretty accurate. Whereas in the US parks I do feel they over. Inflate the wait times a little bit. But this was pretty darn accurate. And what was interesting about it to me was. I never saw them giving out. The little lanyards that help them got. Determine the wait time. So they must have some kind of digital system. Or they know people are at this point. Within the switchback so. We know by historical data. That the line is technically this way time. So one of my favorite things in this category. Is that they actually ask you. The cast members do. To take your ears and hats off for rides and shows yeah. This is a huge pet peeve of both of ours. If you’re in the parks PSA moment. If you’re in the parks and you’re going on a ride. And you’re not in the back row or you’re seeing a show. You need to take your ears or your hat off. There could be a child behind you. That won’t be able to see. Or even an adult that won’t be able to see. Because you’re wearing your ears on it’s a small world. Please just be nice and take your ears or hat off. And and I thought that was really cool. The I think one of the first times we saw them do that. I’m okay. That’s cool that’s cool. Maybe it was just this guy yeah. We didn’t think it was gonna be every time but yeah. It was every time yeah. And they’re super nice about they go yeah. They touch the touch their head. But even in the shows we went to. People were actively taking them off. And leaving them off the entire show. And I really really appreciated that. I think that makes the experience better for everybody. Yeah and going along with. The team members asking you to take things off. And this is something we actually notice. If you ride the subway or anything in Tokyo as well. They will ask you in the queues. To put your backpack on the front. Oh yeah. Also in any crowded area you might go into. You’ll see people with it on the front. Instead of the back and that’s just I mean. It’s common sense that you’ll be able. To keep better track of it. You won’t be hitting people on accident with it. If it’s on the front of you. And also. You won’t be scratching up any items in the queue that. The Imaginers worked really hard to make. So just be aware that if you have a backpack. They’ll probably ask you to put it on the front. And the last thing I want to bring up in this category. Is something that’s also kind of a cultural norm. When you are getting into a ride vehicle. That you’re stepping down into. Maybe a boat Pirates of the Caribbean. Think something that. Do not step on the seat. Step directly down into the floor if you are able. Obviously. If you’re not obviously physically to to do that. You have to do what you have to do. But we noticed where as in the US parts. Everybody steps on the seat. Nobody was stepping on the seat. Everybody steps. Uses the handrail. And then steps and does the big step down into it. Which may sound really weird in a in a way cause the. The seats kind of look steps honestly. On some of these rides but yes. They will even even the shorter people. Step all the way down to the floor of the ride vehicle. But that’s what everybody does. They don’t step on and getting out either. It’s just kind of a respect thing they. Don’t want you to have to sit where. People have been stepping with their groceries. All day. And I actually think that’s pretty nice. After realizing that’s what they were doing. The seats look pristine yeah. I hadn’t realized it before that point. I I so I do wanna mention and we’ve mentioned it before. But the lines are no joke. But no they. They will wait in those lines and we mentioned. The lines are accurate the wait times are accurate. And so don’t kind of think. Oh I’m looking at the queue and yeah. It looks long but it doesn’t look 300 minutes long. I’m just gonna get in it. A lot of it might be hidden from from the viewer. So. They will cut these lines off. Towards the end of the day. If they know that there’s not going to be enough time. Until the park closes. That they’re gonna get through all the people. They’re gonna turn people away. So it’s not the US parks. Where if you’re in line at the end of the day. And the park closes. You’re going to get the ride. The ride that doesn’t exist here. I would rather just straight up walk around the volcano. Or the harbor for the same amount of time. Than I would waiting 300 minutes to ride Toy Story. Mania or sorarin or any any rides we have at home. When you’re in these parts with so many. Special things that you don’t have. Exactly it does. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to us to do that. Well and the lines for the rides. Actually leads me into our next category. Which is merchandise and food. Oh yeah. So on the subject of lines. People will wait in ridiculously long lines for. Specifically popcorn and churros. They do have a lot of different popcorn varieties. Very special ones curry and roast beef. But they also have a lot of different varieties of. Churros and these lines are no joke. I mean they’re not. I don’t think they’re 300 minute long. No not quite. But there 30 minutes an hour. Hour and a half depending on which item you want. And people are just happy to do that. And that’s how they want to spend their day. They want to go and. They want to try all the different kinds of popcorn. They want to try all the different kinds of churros. Well no joke. To emphasize that is. We talked about our early entry already. We saw people use their early entry go and get churros. Yeah. Because I knew the line for that was gonna be nuts. Later and they were on their way to something else. But they got in line for churros. There’s four people in line. They got their churros. Their 15 minutes are up essentially. I don’t think I’ve. Especially in recent years at the US. Parks I’ve I I don’t wait. I just mobile order everything. And they do have mobile order yeah. That’s the saving Grace that’s what’s crazy to me yeah. Obviously popcorn carts and don’t have that. If it’s still important to you. To try some of these different varieties of things. That we don’t necessarily have in the US parks. Just know that you could probably time them. And not just force yourself to get in line at. At lunchtime. Which is when everybody is gonna be in line yeah. And and to add on to the food bit a little bit. I think that it’s worth noting that. When I was doing all my research. Everyone. Kept talking about just how incredible the food was. At these parks and in my opinion. I didn’t really get that. I thought it was just kind of okay or mediocre. There were a couple stand out items. Oh for sure for sure yeah. Well. And I think there’s some really unique things for sure. And things you’re not gonna find it. Literally any other theme park in the entire world. And I think that’s really really cool. But that doesn’t necessarily. Mean that it was delicious. In any sense so don’t feel you’re really. Really missing out by not trying certain things. I do think. It’s important to kind of. Step out of your comfort zone. And try some new things. But if you’re just really really. Adverse to that. You’re going to find things that you’re willing to eat. But don’t feel it’s going to be oh. This is some of the best food I’ve ever had. It’s just not the case and. And maybe that. That’s my Americanized taste buds or whatever. It’s just okay I’m not offended enough or I’m. I couldn’t find anything to eat. I’m never going back there. No obviously. I wanna go back and I wanna try new things. And I wanna try even more stuff. And their taste buds are different there. What they use in their food is different there. What seasonings they use is totally different. So you’re gonna find things you’re okay with. But it’s just gonna be whatever in my opinion yeah. No I. I agree. And know that customization is not really a thing. Oh good point. Yeah as well. Especially. Mobile order is the same in the US for most places. Some places you can customize a burger or. Or something that. But a lot of places you can’t that’s the same. But yeah even if you order a person. The customization is not really gonna be a thing. Or there might be a language barrier trying to do that. So just keep in mind for me being a pickier eater. It was somewhat hard to find things that I really. Enjoyed. And could get without having to try to make any. Modifications to I I think. Kind of getting familiar with the mobile order system. Is super important at this park. In my opinion because again. We’re looking to optimize our time at these parks. Multiple times throughout this trip. We got hungry. And we just checked the mobile order times. And they were five to 10 minutes out. And we just booked it right there. And as we were walking up to it. By the time we got there. It was time to pick it up I and when we got there. There’s people standing in line I’m. You guys have the mobile app. I know you do just mobile order this. It doesn’t cost anything extra. So familiarizing yourself with that process. If you’ve ever done it at the United States parks. It’s literally it’s basically the same thing. The ordering process is the same. The check in process is the same. But it actually shows you how many parties. Are in front of you yeah. That was really cool. So you kind of know how long you have until there. Your food’s gonna be ready. And then. It gives you a little map of what the check in. Or the mobile pickup counter looks. Inside the restaurant. It tells you to go to counter 2. Exactly where counter 2 is. It’s really yeah yeah. So just get get familiar with that. And kind of keep an eye on times for orders. And especially. If you’re looking for a particular restaurant. That has a theme that you care about. For us going to the snuggly duckling was very. Very important so throughout the day. We were watching the pickup times. You can. You can select a pickup time way later in the day. So we knew that. The last thing we wanted to do on one of our days. Was to get at the snuggly duckling. Just get some cupcakes and to go back to the room. And so that was what we did. We booked up here’s three in the morning. We booked it in the morning for 8. 8:45 p m. And it’s really important to note too. I found this out the hard way. I I didn’t see this in any other blog. If you order way ahead of time. You cannot edit your order. Until about an hour before the order. Pickup window so just know that you okay. I place an order oh. I forgot to get an extra cupcake. Yeah cause somebody said they wanted an extra cupcake. You can’t do it until about an hour before. But it will then let you go in. And either edit the order. Cancel the order. Or even change the time of the order about an hour away. Well and one other thing about Mobile Order. Is that some restaurants within Disney C specifically. You have to show proof of purchase. To be able to go inside you physically. Can’t even go into it or you have to be ordering. But then you have to wait in that line. We talked about so for instance. A snuggly duckling they won’t even let you inside. Unless you have proof of a mobile order. And that your mobile order is ready to pick up. They won’t even let you go in and order. So if you love Rapunzel I do. And you really wanna go in and see the the restaurant. You need to make sure that you do that mobile order. Or if you will have a vacation package. And you have a drink ticket. They will let you show your drink ticket to go yeah. We did that a couple times too. If you do the vacation package. And you have the drink ticket. You can just say. I’m gonna go have a drink and they’re okay come on. Alongside that because some restaurants. You do have to show proof of purchase in. And that we never had an issue finding a seat. When you have to show proof of purchase. Cause they’re only letting as many people in as they’re. Selling but. For those restaurants. Where you do not have to show proof of purchase. Finding a seat to eat at was pretty hard. And that’s because everyone reserves tables. And when I say they reserve tables. They put one water bottle on a table. And that’s their table or they put a. Hair clip on the table and that is their table. And they are gone. There were instances where we had a tray full of food. We were walking around trying to find a table. We finally found one. And a table beside us had had no one at it. Just reserved but we were done eating and gone. Before we even saw anybody come to get the table yeah. I couldn’t believe it. When this park is so thought out to. I haven’t really mentioned it. But there’s so. There’s so many benches everywhere. There’s so many different places to sit. But then you get into the restaurants. And it’s kind of limited seating. It’s not yeah. They put more. I feel they have more bench seating than they do. Restaurant seating honestly honestly. Yeah and usually in the US parks. When I see people reserving tables. They leave one party member there. Yeah or they put actual stuff there. And so yeah it’s just something to keep in mind. If you do have a mobile order. And you can go in the restaurant early. I would go in the restaurant early yeah. I would take advantage of the system. I would just play the play the game. And hopefully you have somebody with you. And you leave one person. Yeah and the restaurants being crowded. Kind of leads into the next point. Which is about the merchandise stores being. Also super crowded. We were there on it was a fairly crowded time. I think but some stores were really empty. And other stores were insane. To the point where I didn’t even want to be in them. Which is saying a lot. Because the merchandise at these parks is. The cutest so incredible. I bought so much more at these parks. Than I’ve ever bought at a Disney park in my life. And I honestly could have bought more. But these stores get so crowded and people. Along with their days where they’re taking pictures. They’re meeting characters. They wanna get these souvenirs. Because they honestly are cheaper than at the US parks. Yeah that’s a lot cheaper. And I think part of that is. Certain stores will have exclusive merchandise. At that location. Some. Some of these places get ridiculously busy. Just for that reason alone. And sometimes they’re busy because they have. A gotcha machine at the front of the store. And those have exclusive items in them too. And so people line up to use the. The capsule machines. So shops get and. And I feel these shops do have. A lot of shelves and stuff in them too. Yeah well. And they have a lot of small items. Yeah I think that’s. That’s the difference. What a really big trend in Japan is to have keychains. As you can see we actually have David’s wearing. Wearing one here that we got. On our trip. But there’s a lot of little small items. Small keychains hundreds and hundreds. And you can I mean. It takes a lot of time to look through each of those. And then you have. 50 people all wanting to look at them. At the same time it gets really crowded. And you’re. Trying to Bob and weave in between people. And people have bags and people have. Friends are trying to talk to you. It gets really hectic just in the shops in general. So yeah. I think if you’re one of those people that gets. Social anxiety for having too many people around you. It might be worth just doing online orders. Don’t or don’t don’t spend time in the shops. Yeah or go right before park close cause I do. Oh yeah yeah. That was I know the Fantasy Springs shop. We went during the day. In the middle of the day one day. And it was absolutely insane. The same Grace was there was not a line to check out. Which I was flabbergasted by. Because the store was so busy. But then we went back at the end of the night one night. And it was really calm. Yeah. I wanted to mention when we checked out that one time I. I I was looking around. I was did we cut people in line. Yeah. Cause but they just blast through people in general. The operations. At the Parker are actually really really good. Alright so the last category. I think we have some really. Important information to give you on. Is the Fast Pass system. We all know Fast Pass is a really old name for it. There’s Lightning Lane now in the US parks. And this has even different names. And when I say names that’s because there are multiple. Different kinds of fast passes people. So this was one of the key. Things that we did a lot of research on before we went. And it’s really key for you to understand. Because some of them are paid and some of them aren’t. So you don’t have to shell out extra money. To do some of these things. And we’re gonna kind of tell you what that means. Well just to go a little bit into that. I grew up calling them fast passes. I will always call them fast passes. It is essentially that’s what they are. But that’s what they are you’re you. It’s a pass to be get through the line faster. So if I refer to something as a fast pass. It’s the same as any other system. It involves skipping the line in some capacity. And we’re gonna get into a little more detail here. There are four different passes. You can have one of each of them at the same time. When you get you into the park. First thing you can reserve each. Of these four kinds right off the road. Right off of the bat. The first one is the 40th Anniversary Pass. And this is a funny name yeah. Because the 40th anniversary was in 2023. And it is now 2025 and it’s still called this. So we don’t know if. I’ll change the name at some point. To something different. But it’s still called the 40th Anniversary Pass. And this one is free to everyone. So this is not something you have to pay for. But you do have to book it via the app. And there are only certain rides that are. Included in this one. So these are not gonna be your main e. Ticket attractions. Journey to the center of the earth. Or even the Fantasy Springs rides. At this time. I would argue that there are some e. Ticket attractions on it but it’s not the the big boys. The time slots for these do sell out. Quicker than any of the others very. Very quick because there it’s free to everyone. This 40th anniversary pass is a good use of one of. Your early entry time. So the next one is the Premier Pass. This is the paid Lightning Lane for lack of better word. And the price does vary by ride. These do sell out a little bit slower. For the majority of the rides. But some of them they do sell out fairly early. And then also this frozen adventure pretty. Much all the fantasy springs. Yeah ones will sell out pretty. Pretty fast. The prices were pretty comparable to what the US. Paid Fast Passes are per person as well. You can book one of those at a time. So that is a little bit different than. The US parks the US parks. If you want to book multiple paid lightning lanes. First thing in the morning. You can do that and select your time slot. But this you can only book one at a time. What is different about it also. Is that you can do the same ride multiple times. So you could pay for frozen. Do it if it’s still available after you do it. You could buy it again yeah. Or as in the US park if you buy rise the resistance. You’re riding it one time and that’s it for the day. Yeah well. I mean you can go away and standby. But in terms of the fast pass. So going forward. I’ll refer to this as the paid fast pass. The next one is the standby pass. So this one is also free to everyone. But it’s kind of going away a little bit. With the changes that are happening. For Fantasy Springs basically. This was a way to regulate. People being able to go into the Fantasy Springs ride. Since they were so new this land only came out in 2024. And so this was just basically a lottery system to. Guarantee you were able to go wait in a standby line to. To get on these rides. So the the reason we bring this one up. It’s not really a fast pass in the traditional sense. What. What it’s used for is to control the flow of traffic. Not just two rides. But they’ll use it for merchandise shops. So when new merchandise drops. They reopen this for. It’s just to get into those stores. It’s not really a way to skip the line. But when you’re in the mobile app. It’s it’s listed in the same area. Yeah so that’s why we’re mentioning it. And then the last one is called an entry request. And this is also free. But it’s used for shows so. There are certain shows at these parks that are super. Super high demand. And even some that you can’t even get into. Just by showing up and waiting in a standby line. Even if you wanted to wait hours for it yeah. Some of these. You literally have to get one of these entry requests. In order to be admitted yeah. And these are legitimate lottery. There is it’s not first come first serve. You make an entry request. And you’ll find out if you got it or not. Right there on the spot. But it is a legitimate dice roll. It’s not because you were late or slow. Or any of that stuff. Yeah so to recap just. Before we go into even more detail. You have the 40th Anniversary Pass that is free. And for certain rides. You have the Premier paid pass that is pay per ride. Depends on the cost depends on that ride. And it’s only for certain ones. You have the standby pass. Which will be used to basically. Grant you access to wait in a line for something. Whether it be a shop or a ride. And then you have the entry request. Which is a lottery request. That is free for certain shows. So again you can book one of. Each of these kinds of passes when you enter the park. I mean you don’t have to. But to optimize your time. I would definitely recommend doing that. And then. Something that’s very different from the US parks. In the US parks. If you’re using the Lightning Lane system. You have to wait two hours. Before you can book a new Lightning Lane. Or use your Lightning Lane. In this system yes. You could use your Lightning Lane. And then I get a new one you could also wait an hour. So it’s a half the amount of time that. You have to wait in the US to book a new one. When you have one booked but the very key difference is. You can also book a new one when your window starts. So if you get into the park at 8:45 a. M and you book a fast pass. For frozen at 9:30 that’s less than an hour after. But at 9:30 if you haven’t used that fast pass yet. You can go in and book another one. Because your window has started. You are technically able to use that fast pass. Understanding that gives you such a huge advantage. Right. The. The important keyword there is when the Windows starts. Yeah you do not have to check in. You don’t have to scan your your code. It’s just when that time ticks and flips over. You’re immediately eligible for a new fast pass. I I find it super helpful. Being able to fill your gaps in your time. With the paid fast passes. So when we’re. The 40th anniversary passes are going to run out. Cause they’re free they’re free. So everyone will use them. What we ended up doing was we. We booked our 40th immediately. Each park has a ride on the 40th. That’s worth booking right away with that. And hitting those open windows. If you’re torn between writing two rides. Take the one with the earlier time frame. Because when that time rolls around. If it’s less than an hour away. You’re gonna be able to book another one even sooner. So. Most people are waiting their hour. Or waiting till they’re scanning in. Take advantage of the open time slot window. I did want to just put in a point about. The multiple times that you can ride. Ride to this and that. Is because at Disneyland and Disney World. You can only ride that ride via that fast pass system. Once per day yeah. When you go on rope drop. Not very many people are around. So you can usually get through. Four or five rides. In the first couple hours of the park. And then get breakfast. And then you wanna start using your fast passes. And so if at in the US parks. We wouldn’t book a fast pass until maybe 11. 12 o’clock yeah. But at this park I’m doing. I’m booking the soonest one possible. Because you can use them as many times. And that’s kind of the key thing too. Is if you have certain rides that you’re super. Super excited about. And they’re either on the 40th pass. Or on the paid pass. You could book Indiana Jones. And then ride Indiana Jones. And then do it again and again until they sell out. Yeah I find that so refreshing. And that’s one of the really big differences. Yeah. And I think that’s one of the things me and my fellow. Old Disneyland heads would. Really miss about the Fast Pass. And Max Pass if you guys remember Max Pass. If you were savvy with a cell phone man. You could blast through. You could ride the Haunted Mansion. Six times in a row and skip the line because. You were able to actually do that. There’s a lot of issues there’s. A lot of controversy about fast passes in general. Because of the way they clog up the standby lines. And all that stuff and those are all valid too. I’m just saying. If the fast pass system is going to exist. I wish you would just let me ride the rides. I wanna ride as many times as I wanna ride them. And their system lets you do that well. And it’s not forcing you. With the Lightning Lane system in the US parks. It’s basically saying you have one slot per ride. Per day so you feel. Even if you don’t particularly enjoy a certain ride. As much as a different ride. You feel you need to ride it. Because you want to get your money’s. Worth out of your Lightning Lane. Whereas with this system. It’s a choose your own adventure. And so you can say. I wanna ride Indiana Jones three times or I wanna ride. Journey three times. I wanna pay to ride journey three times. And you don’t have to necessarily. Then go ride Midway Mania. Because you’re yeah. I don’t really care about that yeah. That’s true. And one of the other things to know about the 40th pass. In particular that’s the one that is going to. Interest the most people right. Because it doesn’t cost anything. Now knowing that it does run out. You’re only gonna get to utilize the 40th pass. Two or three times in a day. So understand which rides are available on that and. Prioritize them because. What ended up happening for us was. We did our three rides. But then I started tinkering with it. And we were able to squeeze out a fourth ride. And we had reservations for a fourth ride. And now if we had we had other stuff pop up. So we ended up not using it. But if we had done that. There was still enough time in the day. Where I could have tinkered again. And maybe gotten a fifth ride out of it. So it’s worth if you have downtime. Or you’re standing in the line or whatever. It’s worth refreshing that even if you. You don’t have one now. My biggest pet peeve with all their fast pass. The paid fast pass and the 40th pass. Was that you can’t change your time slot. So I did this with the 20 20,000 Leagues under the sea. I’m spam refreshing I saw 20,000 pop up. We hadn’t done it yet. So I booked it as fast as I could. It ended up at a time slot during I believe. Sea of dreams. And so obviously we weren’t gonna do that. We paid for the past. So we weren’t physically going to be able to go and do. That 20,000 leagues under the sea. What bothered me about it was. Normally at the Disneyland. California one I would just hit modify and. Spam. Refresh there and change my time slot to another one. You can’t do that here. You have to straight up cancel the one you have. And then you can go back to spam refreshing. It straight up won’t let you even see. You can’t even see what is available. You physically can’t see what’s available. That really bothered me because I. I didn’t wanna throw away the 20,000 leagues in case. See if dreams didn’t happen or something. We had something we could do. But now you gotta throw it back. And then start spam refreshing again. See something else pop up boom. Lock it in as fast as humanly possible. Then evaluate the time. See where it fits in your schedule. And then we had to do that a few times. And I think you can tinker and get maybe if you’re. If you’re really good at it. I’ve had a lot of experience tinkering in the apps. To get fast passes I do it constantly at Disneyland. I think you at most. You’re probably gonna get four or five in a day. So that and to me that feels really lucky. Most people I think get one or two yeah. He was I mean legitimately I. I have a lot of experience doing this as well. And I he was seeing. Things pop up that I couldn’t even get to pop up. On my phone too. They were just going so. Fast because so many people were trying to get them. It’s super. It was way harder than tinkering at Disneyland. Or Disney World by far. I felt I was in. A pro competition for locking these in unfortunately. I locked in quite a few of them but. Don’t count on it. Don’t bank on it because it’s ridiculously competitive. And your internet connection. Is probably not going to be as good as the locals to. There’s no Wi-Fi in the parks. There’s Wi-Fi at the front gates. But not throughout the entire park. There is a Disneyland and Disney World. So that’s something else to keep in mind. You’re also at a disadvantage in that sense. So oh yeah. If you have a cell phone provider that does not. And you do not have international plan. You need to get an esim for Japan. Because using Google Maps to get around. Even if you’re gonna use the subway. Is extremely helpful so just keep that in mind. There’s a lot of nuances in what’s under the 40th. And what’s in the paid fast. Well and it changes too. So even though we say something in this video right. Make sure you double check before you go. So that. Kind of which rides you want to prioritize. With each pass yeah. As far as paid passes though. It operates the same way really that it does in the US. Other than you can book as many times as you want. But they also have paid ones for shows. Which is a a big difference so for shows again. You can do an entry request for certain indoor. Theater type shows and that’s a lottery system. And then you actually get an assigned seat. Which is really cool yeah. But for parades and shows. They also have a purchasable fast pass. And that also assigns you a seat. Which in the theater shows yes. You do have assigned seats and they were great seats. But for parade. They get you a spot on the ground that’s numbered. Lettered and numbered. And depending on the show and and how big the venue is. You will have different sections you can choose from. One day I actually didn’t get to choose my section. But I got the perfect spot the other day. I got to choose a section. And then I ended up a little further back. So just keep that in mind as you’re purchasing these. If if the show is. Your No. 1 priority to book when you get in. And you want to make sure you get. A front row at a parade or something. Book that first before a paid fast pass. Or have one person in your party do for a ride. And then have one person do it for the show. But yeah just keep in mind that. They do give you an actual assigned spot so. It was really nice to not have to roll up till about. 5 minutes before the thing. And the cast. Member shows you exactly where you’re supposed to be. Sitting it is sitting on the ground for the most part. If you’re in a parade or a. An outdoor show so just make sure that you bring. A little blanket or whatever. One really great thing about that is. Everybody is very respectful. Nobody was. Up on their heels. Or sitting in a seat that they may have brought. Or it was raining at one point. Everybody had their umbrellas down. Even though we were all getting soaking wet. The shows are really great. And are available on the Fast Pass system. So just make sure. If that’s something that you want to prioritize as well. And you may have to have multiple people. When you can enter the park. Going for different things. Both parks do now have the. The marked locations on the ground. And I think it is actually worth. If you have time. Kind of scope out where your spot’s going to be. If you can before the showtime does happen. At some point throughout the day before. We just walked past ours on accident. I was oh. That’s where we’re gonna sit yeah. And I think I think it’s interesting to do that. Only because. If you don’t where you’re going to be. You can kind of bail on that plan. And maybe consider standing off the side. Somewhere else would the. The regular crowd or something that. Cause I could see if. There were several rows back on the believe. Sea of dreams behind us. Where if I had been sitting in one of those. I wouldn’t have liked the show as much. So I think if if you’re. If you’re stickler for the shows I am. And having a good spot is really important. I think it’s worth scoping out where you would be. I don’t really want to stand around. So having a spot to sit was kind of cool to me. And I think it was actually pretty much worth the. Whatever the cost was so. And when you also take into account. What we said earlier about the people waiting in lines. People do legitimately go and put their blanket and. And sit in a spot all day for a show or a parade. And it happened not just one person. Two people no. No no. There’s a lot of people. And they wrote they wrote drop seats. Yeah. For the parade that wasn’t happening for 6 hours. Yeah and it’s. It is behind the area. That will be for the paid fast pass people. Yeah if you’re just planning on bail or not doing that. And the show is very important to you. You may be very very far back or you. May have to get an extreme side view. Which may be okay with you. Yeah you just have to kind of take that into account. You’re going to have an amazing time right. It’s gonna be as good as you’re willing to make it. If you’re willing to be flexible. Or you’re cool with just absorbing park atmosphere. You love some of the. There’s a lot of rides with no wait times at all. Shandu. You can ride this five times and have an amazing day. There’s a million different ways. To have an incredible day. At Tokyo Disney Sea. Building with the planning of this. The itinerary. It’s a great time. It feels overwhelming. Because all this information is coming to you. All at once but just break it down individually. Yeah and so we’ve given you a lot of information. But there’s actually gonna be even more information. Coming to you guys. We have a recap video for each of the parks. So we’ll have a one for Tokyo Disneyland. And one for Tokyo Disney Sea. That kind of gives you. Some of our first impressions of what we were most. Excited for before we went. Some of them as we were going throughout our day. Kind of vlog type format and then. Some recaps of how we think our experiences went. With even more detail about exactly what we did. In a breakdown. So you can kind of get even more detail about. How our experience went. But we also have one other really. Important announcement. And that is that we are going to be doing a giveaway. As part of this trip. We find a lot of really unique merchandise items. As well as some things included with vacation package. Or some things from hotels that are really. Niche and unique. And we wanted to put just a little thank you together. For anybody who’s stuck with this video. This long. Or and just us in general. We really appreciate all the subscribers that have come. And and that you value our content. We hope that we’re making good content for you. So to thank you for that. We’re gonna be doing a little gift basket giveaway. All you have to do is. You have to be subscribed to our channel. And then you need to comment on any of our videos in. The next month. And we will then. Do a drawing and announce a winner at that time and. And reach out and get the address. So again we won’t give you exact details. Of what’s in that giveaway. Because we want to keep it a little bit of a fun. Surprise for the person that gets it. But they are very much Tokyo Disney themed. So if that’s your kind of thing. Make sure you enter the giveaway. I was pretty excited about it. I think it’s fun. It’s not anything too too crazy but. I I think it’s a pretty cool basket and. We really can’t do what we do without. The help from you guys. Obviously. We gave you a lot of information in this video. But if you do have any other questions. Specific about Tokyo Disney Resort hotels. Anything that we. Will have a lot of videos coming out about this topic. But feel free to ask us questions in the comments. I’ll reach out to us on Instagram. We are happy to give you any more information. I also love vacation planning. So if you want my opinion and want my help. Trying to figure out the best things to do. I’m more than happy to jump in. Just reach out and let us know. I know that this topic. In particular is extremely stressful. And so overwhelming and changing so fast. And. We’re staying up with that kind of stuff. Because we wanna do we wanna do this again. So we’re constantly watching on what’s changing. About Tokyo Disney and the Disney company as a whole. So we we really wanna help you guys out. If you have any questions seriously. We’re not just looking for engagement. We’re willing to help you guys out. And if you enjoyed this video. And want to see more content from us. Please the video. And subscribe to our channel on YouTube. If you’re not already and again. That’s one way that you get entered into that giveaway. But for now. I’m Rachel and I’m David. And we hope. This video helped you find the right direction. For your next adventure bye bye.

Headed to Tokyo Disney Resort or just curious how it compares to the US parks? 🎢🇯🇵 You’re in the right place!

In this video, we’re breaking down all the tips, tricks, and surprising differences between Tokyo Disney and the Disney Parks in the US—from hotels and vacation packages to ride culture, park vibes, and the very different FastPass system.

We’ll cover everything we wish we’d known before visiting, including:
🏨 Tokyo Disney Hotels & Vacation Packages
🎠 Ride experience & guest behavior (it’s different… in a good way!)
🎡 Park layout, ambiance & theming
🎫 Understanding Disney Premier Access & Priority Pass (yes, it’s confusing!)
🌟 What totally surprised us as seasoned US Disney Park fans

PLUS… we’re doing a giveaway* at the end of the video! 🎁 Don’t miss it!

GIVEAWAY CLOSED AS OF JUNE 10, 2025 *📝 Giveaway Terms:
Open to U.S. residents, 18+ only. No purchase necessary. Giveaway closes June 9, 2025. One random commenter will be selected and contacted via YouTube comment reply on June 10, 2025.

This giveaway is not affiliated with or sponsored by YouTube.

🎤 Have you been to Tokyo Disney? Or is it on your bucket list?
Drop your thoughts, questions, or tips in the comments—we’d love to chat with you! 💬⬇️

Stay connected with us:
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• David’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rightdirectiondavid/

Let’s explore the world together—one adventure at a time! 🚗✈️🛳️

Chapters:
0:00 – Introduction
0:18 – Preparation
1:58 – Vacation Packages
5:00 – Disney Hotel Booking without a package
6:45 – Hotel Info
10:10 – Pre-Park Entrance Details
12:13 – Rope Drop Timing
13:38 – Bring a Seat
15:10 – Security Scanners
16:10 – Happy Entry (Early Entry)
17:52 – Our Suggestion For Rope Drop Rides
20:34 – Park Atmosphere and Experience
22:27 – Stroller and Wheelchair Accessibility
23:19 – Clothing
24:32 – Scale of the Parks
25:49 – Everything Has a Functional Purpose
27:13 – Amazing Cast Members
29:09 – Ride Queues
30:12 – Posted Wait Times
30:42 – Ear/Hat Etiquette
31:39 – Backpack Etiquette
32:15 – Boat Ride Etiquette
33:16 – Lines and Wait Times
34:22 – Food lines
35:44 – Food Review
37:24 – Mobile Order
39:24 – Restaurant Entry Restrictions
40:07 – Finding a Table
41:30 – Shopping Experience
43:57 – Fast Pass Overview
48:53 – Fast Pass Rules
56:00 – Show Fast Passes
59:22 – Recap
01:00:26 – Giveaway!
01:01:35 – Outro

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#TokyoDisneyland #TokyoDisneySea #DisneyParks #JapanTravelTips
#DisneyGiveaway