Tokyo Disney & Disney Sea Series Part 5
Entrance at Ikspiari
A neat way to view the Tokyo Disney parks is to ride the
Disney Resort Line monorail. You can get on the monorail at either park or at the
Ikspiari, the shopping center. It was really cheap to ride it around the parks it was 250 Yen for adults and 130 Yen for kids ($2.50 & $1.30). We rode it on the day we went to Ikspiari. We were able to get some good pictures even though it was raining. The mickey shaped windows and hand straps only added to the fun.
View of the Disney Castle from the monorail
I love this picture even though it's dark, I think the darkness is what is so appealing...the silhouette of them in the Mickey shaped window
Boo on the monorail
Mickey Shaped hand strap on the monorail
View of the Resort buses
Interesting statue at a nearby park, can be seen from monorail
Statue out front of one of the Disney Resort Hotels
Mr. B and Bea checking out the view
Rainy day view of the entrance to Tokyo Disney
Labels: Disney Resort Line, Ikspiari, Monorail, Tokyo
Tokyo Disney & Disney Sea Series Part 5
Bea outside Disney Store in the Shopping area
You get the shopping area the same way as getting to the parks, it is about a 5 minute walk from the entrance of Disney Sea. If you take the train you get off right next to the shopping area, just exit the train station and take a left.
The shopping is expensive ($100+) for Levi's but it's great for window shopping or looking for bargains. I was so excited to find a Gap in the mall, the moment I stepped inside I felt like I was back in the States! And I even managed to find several great bargains here! I got Bea a dress for $20 and the boys matching cameo Gap hooded sweatshirt jackets for $20 each!
Here is a great resource I found on the internet for the shopping area:
Ikspiari Website done nicely with pictures
Mr. B and I outside Rainforest Cafe, note to self take of loaded down jacket...not flattering!
We were also excited to find a Planet Hollywood and Rainforest Cafe for eating choices! My parents had never been to a Rainforest Cafe so we headed there for lunch. There is also a bakery with yummy treats we snacked on.
Entrance to Rainforest Cafe
Rainforest Cafe Menu
Inside of Rainforest Cafe
It's a jungle theme inside the Rainforest Cafe with animated animals and all!
Labels: Disney Shopping, Ikspiari, Rainforest Cafe
Tokyo Disney & Disney Sea Series Part 4
For getting there information you can see yesterday's post Here
Mr. B with the kids at the Entrance just after you get through the gates
At the Park
Entrance at night
This park is a bit smaller than Tokyo Disney and sometimes less crowded, which is a great thing! We were able to cover the whole park by 4:30 pm due to the very short lines...it was great!! Obviously spring break week (for Americans) is a good week cuz the park was very uncrowded and Japanese students have just returned to school.
View of The Tower of Terror
The Tower of Terror was our first stop to get a FastPass to come back later with minimal wait, it paid off. I had did some research before the trip and knew we needed to head here first. It was a bit scary and Bea was the only one not able to go due to height (April 2007, she was almost 4) but on our 2nd trip (April 2008, almost 5) she could've gone on but did not want to...I don't blame her! So I gladly sat out with her our 2nd trip to the Tower of Terror.
Bubby with his Tower of Terror souvenir
Boo with his Tower of Terror hat
There was only one ride in April 2007 that Bubby (age 6 1/2 years) was unable to go on due to height, it was the Raging Spirits 360 roller coaster, and I don't think he minded not being able to go on! He was scared on the ones he made it on, just a heads up to those with younger kids. Rides with height restrictions are intense ;) Usually having at least one 'scary' moment like a drop or bolder bearing down at you, but after the ride Bubby was happy that he went.
Many of the rides were for 3 years and up but Bea (almost 4) found several of them scary. The first ride we all went on StormRider she was scared. It's one of those rides where you get into like a large airplane and it simulates flying, ect, with a few extra 'surprises.'
She also did not like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. This was actually a mild ride that simulated being under the water in a submarine but she was scared by the large octopus.
Sidewalk on the right is the path down to the 20,000 Leagues under the sea ride, the part in the back is the restaurant for the area.
The kiddie ones in Mermaid Lagoon were right up her alley though. These are rides specifically tailored for younger kids. There is also a great Little Mermaid action show, we didn't go to it in April 2007 so when I read rave reviews of it before our April 2008 trip I made sure we made it to it that time. It is in Japanese with the songs in English, but cast member found us standing in line and brought us handheld devices that translated what the actors were saying when they spoke in Japanese. The show was neat and a must see.
I love this store inside the Mermaid Lagoon...located in the Whale's Mouth!
View inside Mermaid Lagoon
Just a heads up almost all the rides at DisneySea had some form of surprise or scare in them, which is probably why my family prefers Disney Sea over Tokyo Disney. The Sinbad one did not, as it's like It's a Small World, but Bea kept waiting for something to pop out or happen after all the other rides of the day, LOL. Overall the kids have fun and enjoyed the rides.
Entrance to Sinbad's Storybook Adventure Ride
Mr. B and the boys posing with Genie who sought them out for the picture! Cast members were so great making sure we 'tourists' got time with them!
As for eating we ate at Cape Cod Cook-Off at close to 11am and it was fairly uncrowded, around 11:30 am it started to get packed. The food was hamburgers or cheeseburgers (not american cheese, probably swiss, and all the burgers had chopped caramelized onions on them) and the Pop N' Chicken was popcorn chicken (10 pcs enough to split between Bubby & Bea). The best part about the place was the free live character show called Donalds' Boat Builders (another reason to eat early to get a seat), it's a live show that runs every 10 minutes and in between cartoons are played on the wall Tv's. Lunch only cost us $28, not to shabby for a family of 5!
Bea with Daisy Duck
We left the park at 5:20 pm and decided to eat dinner at the New Sanno after failing to find another restaurant that had a menu that looked good to us. The snack stands mainly consisted of some type of flavored popcorn and were few and far between considered to the Disney's back in the states.
Another great thing about the Tokyo Disney parks is that there are water fountains spread around the park...wow free water?! It was great!
Mr. B with the kids April 2007, Disney Sea's 5th Anniversary
Another perk to the parks it the Parent Swap they offer. We used it several times at both parks and the cast members were friendly and helpful with it. Basically it's for when one (or more) of the kids can't (or don't want to go on the ride). When Mr. B and I went and Bea was too short for some of the rides, Mr. B would go on the ride with one of the boys and then I would go as soon as he got off with the other boy. The cast members would then take us to the front of the line and we would ride with no wait...it was great!
Poppie & Omah with the kids April 2008
I do have to mention that we visited Disney Sea twice (April 2007 & April 2008) while we chose to skip Tokyo Disney the 2nd time around.
Me with the kiddos outside Mermaid Lagoon April 2007
Labels: Disney Sea, Tokyo, Travel, vacation
Tokyo Disney & Disney Sea Series Part 3
Sunset near the Castle
Let me preface this and say I personally have always found 'Disney' to be overrated but the kids enjoy it so that's why we go :)
Getting to Tokyo Disney:
You can drive with directions provided by New Sanno or ITT, but be forewarned the directions do not include reverse directions. With that being said we were easily able to follow the directions to Disney at 8:30 am and it only took 30 minutes (despite being told it would take an hour) the way back in the evening (around 5 pm) it only took 20 minutes and that was without reverse directions! We drove in April 2007.
Another perk about driving is that you park so close to the park (unlike in CA or FL) that it would've been easy to go to the car to get food/snacks ect. It was nice to be able to have the car there and the kids to have a snack on the way back to the New Sanno...parking was $20/day.
The 2nd time we went, April 2008, we stayed at the Palm & Fountain Terrace Hotel and the provided a free 15 minute shuttle to the park. This was a great option! We literally got on at the lobby of the hotel and got off right at the entrance of the parks. The shuttle ran every 15 minutes and were nice big comfortable buses. It was a nice relaxing ride after a long day at the parks.
You can also take the train/subway, which fortunately we did not have to do. Depending on the time of day it can get crowded. Another thing about the trains that I don't like using with kids is that the Japanese are literally silent on the trains, most of them nap, when the kids were talking and pointing out things, we were getting some stares...I can only imagine if they had been acting up!
At the Park:
Cinderella's Castle
You are not allowed to take food/drinks into the park and they do search your bags before the entrance line.
When we went April 2007 they were doing a Find Stitch theme with hidden Stitches' all over the park, the Japanese sure LOVE Stitch!
Entrance at night with lighted up Stitch
Stitch flower face at entrance
Tokyo Disney was much more packed then DisneySea!! It was amazing at such the huge difference! But it was more younger kid friendly ride wise and Bea (almost 4 at the time) was able to go on every ride including Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain...although those were a bit scary...she just barely made them heightwise but asked to do them again after they were over, so I'm assuming she wasn't scared for life. It was great buying the Splash Mountain pic that had all of us on it.
Bea displaying her wristband allowing her to ride Splash Mountain
We were at this park until 7 pm since it was bigger than Disney Sea with more to see and unfortunately longer lines. The bummer about all the shows, ect is that they are all in Japanese so it takes some of the fun out of it...I guess we know how they feel when they (the Japanese) come to Disney in the states.
Bea & I hanging out in Toontown
The Japanese were cracking us up with the Characters (people dressed up as characters) because they were jumping up and down, yelling & screaming, and waving madly just to get a character to LOOK at them! It was like they thought they were famous or something...very interesting to observe! We also noticed a lot of 'man purses' going on at Disney. And lots of character ear wearing in the hair with clips or headbands, even on the guys! One great thing about the Characters was that when they seen American kids they made sure we got a picture with them and that we didn't have to wait long. They would come through the masses of Japanese surrounding them to make sure our kids got a turn, talk about Customer Service in action! We never even had to wait in line to see a character here!
Bea with Belle
The Winnie the Pooh ride is not worth it if you have to wait. We used a FastPass and still had to wait 1 hour in line! The stand-by line was a 4 hour wait...I kid you not! The ride was slow, boring and lasted a whole 1 1/2 minutes! So if you miss this ride your not missing anything!
Or should I say Winnie "ther" Pooh?!
We ate at Tommorrowland Terrace which is the only restaurant in Disney that serves hamburgers. Most of the restaurants serve Japanese cuisine which was not so appealing to us or the kids. We also had soft serve ice cream after the Star Wars ride at the Soft Landing, it was yummy!
Hidden Mickey Lock
Great website for Hidden Mickey's and Info on Tokyo Disney:
Boo in Toontown
Labels: Hidden Mickey, Tokyo, Tokyo Disney
Tokyo Disney & Disney Sea Series Part 2
Where to stay in Tokyo?
We have stayed at the New Sanno as well as the Palm & Fountain Terrace hotel, which is a Japanese hotel.
Sign on outside entrance of New Sanno
It's a great hotel for military families, the cost is based on rank and for us was approx. $35/night which is super cheap for Tokyo. The hotel itself is really nice. It has several resturants, a tiny NEX/BX, small commissary, beauty salon, and swimming pool in the hotel. This hotel fills up fast, especially during peak seasons such as Spring Break, ect so be sure to book as far as you can in advance, they take reservations up to a year in advance.
It is about a 5 minute walk to the nearest subway station and has easy driving access to the on/off ramp. There is a parking garage located under the hotel.
A note about the swimming pool, it is a great way to wear out the kids BUT make sure you remember everything you need like swimsuits, googles, ect as the NEX/BX does not carry any of these items, which I found odd consisdering there is a pool in the hotel.
One of the resturants is a formal dining resturant. Another on the main floor has buffet style eating. There is also a Japanese resturant where you can make reservations to have your meal cooked in front of you. Our favorite restaurant is located on the BX floor, Hero's, it serves kid friendly foods such as grilled cheese, french fries, and soft serve ice cream as a decent price.
The commissary (and I use this word loosely) was great for purchasing cereal (in individual bowls) and milk for breakfast in the room.
You can even rent strollers from the New Sanno as well! Internet is available in the rooms as well. Check out the website for more information.
Picture is looking out the Palm Terrace Hotel towards the Fountain Terrace Hotel
The 2 best things about this hotel is 1) it's cheap for a Tokyo hotel room and 2) it's a Disney Partner hotel so it provides a free 15-minute shuttle to Disney and you can buy Disney Tickets at the hotel to avoid the wait at the parks. It's actually 2 hotels side by side one is the Palm and one is the Fountain hotel. One is pink the other is yellow. We stayed in the pink Palm Hotel.
When we started planning our 2nd trip to Tokyo in Jan 2008 to meet my parents in Tokyo we found that the New Sanno was already booked for Spring Break week. That left me scrambling to find a decent priced hotel in Tokyo. Most hotels in Tokyo charge at least $100 per PERSON per night, and with 5 of us plus my parents I wasn't too happy about that. I was pleased to find a good review on a website about the Palm & Fountain Terrace hotel so I went to the website to check out prices. I was so happy when I found we could get a room for $162 per NIGHT, not person! Yes, it's more expensive than the New Sanno, but New Sanno wasn't an option and we figured this would give us (and my parents) a chance to experience a Japanese hotel. Plus they had openings for Spring Break week!
We were really impressed with the hotel, it was big, nice and the customer service was great! Plus all of the staff spoke English. The rooms were a good size, but we did have to get 2 rooms with 7 people, most Japanese hotels only allow 4 people per room due to fire hazards.
They had prepaid cards you could buy for internet access and you could access it down in a back lobby room with tables.
Omah and the boys checking emails
There was a breakfast buffet that you can purchase for 800 yen ($8) for adults and 500 yen ($5) for kids. We ate there one morning and it was OK but not great enough for a trip back. There is a Lawson's (connivence store) open 24 hours and you can buy food like fruit, fruit bowls, ect so we bought breakfast items from there a few mornings.
There is also a Disney store located in the hotel. It was a great place to purchase ponchos for my parents and the kids to look at Disney keepsakes.
The hotel was located within walking distance (5 minutes) to a nice restaurant where we cooked dinner on a grill at the table. It was a great experience for my parents for their first dinner in Japan.
Warning to parents with kids are are lots of vending machines with toys and games where you try to grab toys, the Japanese seem to love these things! Poppie & Omah ended up shelling out a few dollars to the kids to they could play some of them.
The boys playing a game
Once again if you have any questions feel free to post a comment :)
Labels: hotels, New Sanno, Palm and Fountain Terrace, Tokyo, Travel
Tokyo Disney & Disney Sea Series Part 1
Labels: Disney Sea, Tokyo, Tokyo Disney
Tokyo Disney & Disney Sea Series Part 1
We have been fortunate enough to have visited Tokyo twice during the 3 years we've lived here in Japan. We have drove down one time and taken the train down once,
driving was by far the preferred method. Our first visit we stayed at the military hotel
New Sanno and our 2nd visit we stayed at a Japanese hotel,
Palm & Fountain Terrace Hotel, near Disney. The first trip we went to both Tokyo Disney & Disney Sea and the 2nd trip we opted for just Disney Sea. I plan on using this series to elaborate on the trips and provide helpful information to those who plan on going down there from Misawa. Our first trip was taken in April 2007 and our 2nd trip was taken in April 2008.
How to get to Tokyo?
Well you have the 3 basic options: Planes, Trains or Automobiles!
We have used both Trains and Automobiles so I'll start there.
Automobiles - We rented an van from Outdoor Recreation for our April 2007 visit. It costs $70/day but includes the tolls so it was certainly worth it. For the 5 days we had the van it was around $350, if we had used our own van we risked it breaking down and paying the $300 tolls out of pocket anyways. We left Misawa with a full tank and only had to put in a little gas before we got to Tokyo (5000 yen/$50 for approx. 27 liters) since we knew we would be able to fill up more cheaply at a military base in Tokyo. Here is something most people don't realize,
Hardy Barracks, is just down the block from The New Sanno and there is a gas station there! Or
Yokota AB is only a 45 minute drive from New Sanno.
The drive only took us 8 hours and it was a scenic drive. The best part about having our own car in Tokyo was our ability to be able to drive around to places we wanted to, like Disney. We packed the car with snacks and after a long day at the park the kids were able to relax and eat a snack on the 20 min drive back to the New Sanno. Plus the van was close enough we could've left the park (and gotten a hand stamp to return) and got in the cooler for drinks/food, but we didn't need to do that. Plus we were easily able to cart around the stroller.
Trains - We used this for the trip in April 2008. It was more expensive for our family of 5 (2 adluts and 3 kids) it cost us $1150 for round trip train tickets. While it was only a 3 hour bullet train ride you have to factor in the train ride from Misawa to Hachinohe and from the bullet train (
Shinkansen) to the Narita Airport making it a close to a 5 hour trip. It's an hour train ride just from the bullet train to the Narita Airport. We only went there because we were meeting my parents. For the higher cost it really wasn't worth it for us.
The biggest pitfall to traveling via train is it is HARD to travel the trains/subways with luggage, on the subway from Tokyo station to the bullet trains station we were literally crammed in like sardines! And I mean crammed where I felt like I couldn't fully expand my rib cage to breath and several Japanese women had thier noses pressed against the windows! It was insane and I do NOT recommend traveling the trains with big suitcases.
Since we didn't drive we were then forced to use the subway system in Tokyo which 1) cost more $ for the week and 2) wasn't as convient as having the van the previous visit.
Planes - We haven't taken this option yet, but will on the military's dime in Oct. as we'll be staying a night at the New Sanno enroute to the States. I do know it's $150 each way ($300 round trip) per person with no discount for the kids. And that's only if you buy at least 10 days in advance, if not the price goes to $170 each way ($340 round trip). So for our family of 5 it would cost $1750 to fly to Tokyo and back from Misawa.
So as you can see there are several options for how to get down to Tokyo, it all depends on what is best for you...
If there is something that you want to know that I didn't include post a comment and I'll try my best to help out :)
Labels: Disney Sea, Japan, Tokyo, Tokyo Disney, Travel
Wordless Wednesday with a Twist
Outside the Gate at Night
Lighted sign
One of our favorite Chinese Restaurants New Miyaki
Labels: Japan
