Tokyo Disneyland Resort

[Imperius]

we've just secured our tokyo disneyland/sea tickets — we're going for 2.5 days in early October. our dining reservation won't open for another month, but curious if anyone has thoughts or opinions on a particular restaurant to aim for? or to avoid? I'm happy to eat my weight in weird popcorn, but my doctor says I need to eat "real food" that "isn't poison for my body."

We just did QS when we were there. For a shrimp scampi pizza in DL. Was pretty good.

 

[Skipper Justin]

I really liked Queen of Hearts Banquet hall for quick service (I love Alice). Magellan’s was amazing! Get some drinks at the Teddy Roosevelt lounge too.

 

[Galactus]

Does anyone have any opinions on the Horizon Bay restaurant? I was lucky enough to get reservations at Magellan's, TR lounge and the Italian place and I'm wondering if I should cancel my reservation at Oceano in Miracosta for Horizon Bay.

Doing 2 days at each park, have my DS days booked solid with reservations but I'm a little empty on my DL days. I got Blue Bayou and I'm thinking about doing one of the shows. Are there any other table service restaurants in DL that are worth doing or is QS the way to go in that park?

Thanks for your help

 

[saint.piss]

 

[AlexanderMBush]

bisy buggy bisy buggy bisy buggy

 

[Skipper Justin]

I can’t believe we never got a Tangled Ride. Guess I’ll just have to try it when I go back to Japan in the next couple years.

 

[belloq87]

I can't wait to see what this looks like when it's completed.

It's amazing to think that a park that's routinely in the conversation for best on the planet is getting this kind of expansion. Four (!) new rides, three of which will be pretty substantial.

Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom need this treatment. Also Universal Studios Florida...

 

[AlexanderMBush]

A few notes: Ride times will be as follows--

• Peter Pan Neverland Adventure = 6 Minutes
• Fairy Tinkerbell's Busy Buggy = 2 Minutes
• Anna & Elsa Frozen Journey = 6.5 Minutes
• Repunzel's Lantern Festival = 5 Minutes

Peter Pan will be a 3D Dark Ride as-well.

 

[Freak]

A few notes: Ride times will be as follows--

• Peter Pan Neverland Adventure = 6 Minutes
• Fairy Tinkerbell's Busy Buggy = 2 Minutes
• Anna & Elsa Frozen Journey = 6.5 Minutes
• Repunzel's Lantern Festival = 5 Minutes

Peter Pan will be a 3D Dark Ride as-well.

Please forgive my ignorant knowledge about this project but is Tinker Bell going to be a FL-style dark ride?

I’m really interested in seeing how Peter Pan will turn out.

 

[belloq87]

Please forgive my ignorant knowledge about this project but is Tinker Bell going to be a FL-style dark ride?

It's unclear exactly what it is, but it appears to be outdoors. You can kind of make out a ride path in this concept art on the right...

And here's the ride vehicle:

We'll see what it ends up actually being, but I'm guessing something more ambitious than a typical flat ride, but stopping short of an actual dark ride.

Which I think could be an interesting sort of hybrid B/C-ticket level attraction that could have future applications in other parks.

 

[TheUniC6]

Please forgive my ignorant knowledge about this project but is Tinker Bell going to be a FL-style dark ride?

I’m really interested in seeing how Peter Pan will turn out.

Of all the rides for Fantasy Springs, the Peter Pan one is the one I am most interested in.

 

[Jerroddragon]

I know Disney can't just take all this and put it in other parks...but I hope they make a new Fantasyland at Disney Forward and use as much of this even if it's just the tech as they can.

By far it's the most exciting project for Disney Parks coming in the next few years

 

[Jake S]

has anyone had luck getting reservations for magellan's before your visit? if not, has anyone had success using priority seating to get reservations day of? we've got a day and a half at Tokyo Disney Sea, so we'll have two bites at the apple if we aren't able to get a reservation in advance.

 

[Galactus]

has anyone had luck getting reservations for magellan's before your visit? if not, has anyone had success using priority seating to get reservations day of? we've got a day and a half at Tokyo Disney Sea, so we'll have two bites at the apple if we aren't able to get a reservation in advance.

Eating there on a reservation tomorrow actually! In total honesty, I'm staying at Miracosta and eating at Magellan's at the end of my stay so I was able to take advantage of the fact that resort guests can book restaurants for their entire trip from one month in advance. So I had a total relaxing go getting reservations

But I did get Blue Bayou (and Miracosta) the old fashioned way of refreshing right when they released. Like the second of. When I was doing practice runs, Magellan's was going in (much) less than a minute. I'd recommend having multiple people trying (I used my phone, laptop Chrome, laptop Safari and work PC), be already logged in etc. Seems like my Japan trip is ahead of yours so glad to help out if you have any other questions about TDR.

 

[UNIrd]

Interesting that Magellan's is so popular now. It wasn't busy at all when I went to TDS years ago.

 

[Galactus]

Some of my thoughts from my first TDR visit:

- I wish it weren't so hard to do reservations for the parks, both hotel and restaurants. I scoured forums and ancient blog posts to figure out exactly how to do it and did a couple of dry runs. Thankfully I was able to get all the reservations I wanted but a lot of that was thanks to managing to get my onsite hotel res which let me book restaurants ahead of the general drop. My experience with domestic Disney parks were either during Covid in FL or as a semi-local for DL so that may just be how it is for all Disney parks but I miss the Universal way of just kinda booking what I want with little stress.
- DisneySea lives up to the hype. It's probably the most detailed theme park I've ever seen in my life. All of the areas are gorgeous and immersive and so full of detail. The rock work in Mysterious Island probably cost more than most of the rides! Loved the transportation methods to get through the park. And as someone doing a solo trip, loved that Indy had a single rider line. The line would hover between 60 and 90 minutes but I was able to get on in 5 or 10 consistently. Tower of Terror and JTTCoTE felt a little short but I loved the original takes on some classic Disney ride systems.
- Disneyland wasn't as pretty as DS but had some incredible rides. Beauty and the Beast and Winnie the Pooh really stood out using the trackless system and I really liked their combination of Adventureland with New Orleans Square.
- It was brutally hot outside when I was there. 90*F and sunny with decently high humidity made it feel awful. I found myself starting to feel faint a handful of times and needed to sit down with some water. I saw a couple other people pass out. Unless I was missing something, I was disappointed to not see very many drinks being sold in the park. At Universal or Disney in the States, I know that most of the food stands will have at least bottled drinks, plus lots of the stores do as well. At TDL/DS, there were some water fountains around but other than that, you needed to wait in long lines at the one or two vending machines per land or in the long lines at a stand that does sell drinks.
- Compounding the above issue, get ready to wait in lines or pay. I took copious advantage of the Premier Access system that Disney offers to pay $10-$15 depending on the ride and exchange rate to skip the lines of some of the major rides at each park (BatB, Splash and Baymax at TDL and Soarin, JttCotE, ToT and TS:MM). The free version is like Genie+ with a slimmer selection of rides but its free. Wait times will "sell out" on the free version within hours. But in addition to the rides, the lines for QSRs or snacks blew me away too. I waited 20 or 30 to eat at the Alice in Wonderland QSR and regularly waited 10 to get popcorn. That also goes for vending machines too. If you want a primo spot for a parade or show, you'll likely need to camp out at park open.
- English was good enough throughout the resort. Most CMs were either able to answer the basic questions I needed (which way to the bathroom, where's this ride, what's this menu item) or they handed me off to someone who could.

But overall, despite the heat, I had a fantastic time. I had 4.5 days at the parks and never felt rushed or unable to do what I wanted to, even though I needed to play it a little slow to avoid passing out. TDS truly is one of the greatest theme parks in the world and I look forward to seeing Fantasy Springs when it opens!

 

[Jamesh22]

Some of my thoughts from my first TDR visit:

- I wish it weren't so hard to do reservations for the parks, both hotel and restaurants. I scoured forums and ancient blog posts to figure out exactly how to do it and did a couple of dry runs. Thankfully I was able to get all the reservations I wanted but a lot of that was thanks to managing to get my onsite hotel res which let me book restaurants ahead of the general drop. My experience with domestic Disney parks were either during Covid in FL or as a semi-local for DL so that may just be how it is for all Disney parks but I miss the Universal way of just kinda booking what I want with little stress.
- DisneySea lives up to the hype. It's probably the most detailed theme park I've ever seen in my life. All of the areas are gorgeous and immersive and so full of detail. The rock work in Mysterious Island probably cost more than most of the rides! Loved the transportation methods to get through the park. And as someone doing a solo trip, loved that Indy had a single rider line. The line would hover between 60 and 90 minutes but I was able to get on in 5 or 10 consistently. Tower of Terror and JTTCoTE felt a little short but I loved the original takes on some classic Disney ride systems.
- Disneyland wasn't as pretty as DS but had some incredible rides. Beauty and the Beast and Winnie the Pooh really stood out using the trackless system and I really liked their combination of Adventureland with New Orleans Square.
- It was brutally hot outside when I was there. 90*F and sunny with decently high humidity made it feel awful. I found myself starting to feel faint a handful of times and needed to sit down with some water. I saw a couple other people pass out. Unless I was missing something, I was disappointed to not see very many drinks being sold in the park. At Universal or Disney in the States, I know that most of the food stands will have at least bottled drinks, plus lots of the stores do as well. At TDL/DS, there were some water fountains around but other than that, you needed to wait in long lines at the one or two vending machines per land or in the long lines at a stand that does sell drinks.
- Compounding the above issue, get ready to wait in lines or pay. I took copious advantage of the Premier Access system that Disney offers to pay $10-$15 depending on the ride and exchange rate to skip the lines of some of the major rides at each park (BatB, Splash and Baymax at TDL and Soarin, JttCotE, ToT and TS:MM). The free version is like Genie+ with a slimmer selection of rides but its free. Wait times will "sell out" on the free version within hours. But in addition to the rides, the lines for QSRs or snacks blew me away too. I waited 20 or 30 to eat at the Alice in Wonderland QSR and regularly waited 10 to get popcorn. That also goes for vending machines too. If you want a primo spot for a parade or show, you'll likely need to camp out at park open.
- English was good enough throughout the resort. Most CMs were either able to answer the basic questions I needed (which way to the bathroom, where's this ride, what's this menu item) or they handed me off to someone who could.

But overall, despite the heat, I had a fantastic time. I had 4.5 days at the parks and never felt rushed or unable to do what I wanted to, even though I needed to play it a little slow to avoid passing out. TDS truly is one of the greatest theme parks in the world and I look forward to seeing Fantasy Springs when it opens!

Sounds like a great trip & thanks for sharing!

It's crazy to me that they don't have a huge number of DLR style food karts for drinks/popcorn etc. Feels like leaving money on the table.

A few questions:
How many rides had single rider?
How many rides did you manage to get on each day?
Did you stay in a Disney hotel?

I want to get there one day but the lines for everything give me some hesitation. DLR can be crazy busy but I always find it manageable.

 

[Galactus]

It's crazy to me that they don't have a huge number of DLR style food karts for drinks/popcorn etc. Feels like leaving money on the table.

So they had tons of snack and popcorn carts (I tried a handful of the sweet flavors) but as far as I can tell they didn't sell any drinks? But maybe I'm just a foreigner that can't read Japanese and was missing something obvious

How many rides had single rider?

Right now, only Indy and Raging Spirits. However, BatB had a single rider line and signage up in its queue so depending on when you go, that might be operational!!

How many rides did you manage to get on each day?

So like I mentioned, my pace was a little slower since I knew I had the time and was really getting affected by the heat. I probably averaged 8 or so rides a day? But I also wasn't very diligent about being at the gate early to take advantage of the 15 minute head start that resort guests get. If you can handle the weather and you're willing to stay from open to close and especially if you're there early and are willing to pay for a skip the line or two as necessary, I think you can do all the important rides in one park in one day. But trying to park hop and do both in one day, you'll likely have to skip some rides.

Did you stay in a Disney hotel?

Yep! 1 night at the Tokyo Bay Hilton on property, 3 nights in a Harbor View room in Miracosta (my wallet is sad but my eyes are happy) and 1 night in Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. Would definitely recommend Miracosta. It's so great being able to come and go being that close to the park and being able to watch the nighttime show from your room window is amazing.

 

[Jamesh22]

So they had tons of snack and popcorn carts (I tried a handful of the sweet flavors) but as far as I can tell they didn't sell any drinks? But maybe I'm just a foreigner that can't read Japanese and was missing something obvious



Right now, only Indy and Raging Spirits. However, BatB had a single rider line and signage up in its queue so depending on when you go, that might be operational!!



So like I mentioned, my pace was a little slower since I knew I had the time and was really getting affected by the heat. I probably averaged 8 or so rides a day? But I also wasn't very diligent about being at the gate early to take advantage of the 15 minute head start that resort guests get. If you can handle the weather and you're willing to stay from open to close and especially if you're there early and are willing to pay for a skip the line or two as necessary, I think you can do all the important rides in one park in one day. But trying to park hop and do both in one day, you'll likely have to skip some rides.



Yep! 1 night at the Tokyo Bay Hilton on property, 3 nights in a Harbor View room in Miracosta (my wallet is sad but my eyes are happy) and 1 night in Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. Would definitely recommend Miracosta. It's so great being able to come and go being that close to the park and being able to watch the nighttime show from your room window is amazing.

Thanks for answering

Sucks that they don't have more single rider lines but I say the same about DLR.

 

[belloq87]

Some of my thoughts from my first TDR visit:

- I wish it weren't so hard to do reservations for the parks, both hotel and restaurants. I scoured forums and ancient blog posts to figure out exactly how to do it and did a couple of dry runs. Thankfully I was able to get all the reservations I wanted but a lot of that was thanks to managing to get my onsite hotel res which let me book restaurants ahead of the general drop. My experience with domestic Disney parks were either during Covid in FL or as a semi-local for DL so that may just be how it is for all Disney parks but I miss the Universal way of just kinda booking what I want with little stress.
- DisneySea lives up to the hype. It's probably the most detailed theme park I've ever seen in my life. All of the areas are gorgeous and immersive and so full of detail. The rock work in Mysterious Island probably cost more than most of the rides! Loved the transportation methods to get through the park. And as someone doing a solo trip, loved that Indy had a single rider line. The line would hover between 60 and 90 minutes but I was able to get on in 5 or 10 consistently. Tower of Terror and JTTCoTE felt a little short but I loved the original takes on some classic Disney ride systems.
- Disneyland wasn't as pretty as DS but had some incredible rides. Beauty and the Beast and Winnie the Pooh really stood out using the trackless system and I really liked their combination of Adventureland with New Orleans Square.
- It was brutally hot outside when I was there. 90*F and sunny with decently high humidity made it feel awful. I found myself starting to feel faint a handful of times and needed to sit down with some water. I saw a couple other people pass out. Unless I was missing something, I was disappointed to not see very many drinks being sold in the park. At Universal or Disney in the States, I know that most of the food stands will have at least bottled drinks, plus lots of the stores do as well. At TDL/DS, there were some water fountains around but other than that, you needed to wait in long lines at the one or two vending machines per land or in the long lines at a stand that does sell drinks.
- Compounding the above issue, get ready to wait in lines or pay. I took copious advantage of the Premier Access system that Disney offers to pay $10-$15 depending on the ride and exchange rate to skip the lines of some of the major rides at each park (BatB, Splash and Baymax at TDL and Soarin, JttCotE, ToT and TS:MM). The free version is like Genie+ with a slimmer selection of rides but its free. Wait times will "sell out" on the free version within hours. But in addition to the rides, the lines for QSRs or snacks blew me away too. I waited 20 or 30 to eat at the Alice in Wonderland QSR and regularly waited 10 to get popcorn. That also goes for vending machines too. If you want a primo spot for a parade or show, you'll likely need to camp out at park open.
- English was good enough throughout the resort. Most CMs were either able to answer the basic questions I needed (which way to the bathroom, where's this ride, what's this menu item) or they handed me off to someone who could.

But overall, despite the heat, I had a fantastic time. I had 4.5 days at the parks and never felt rushed or unable to do what I wanted to, even though I needed to play it a little slow to avoid passing out. TDS truly is one of the greatest theme parks in the world and I look forward to seeing Fantasy Springs when it opens!

Sounds like a great trip, overall! Though the lack of readily-available, easily-accessible beverages (in a hot and humid climate, for at least some of the year) is a curious oversight.

DisneySea continues to sound like a real jewel in the Disney crown, and will be even more when Fantasy Springs opens.

I'm very (very) tentatively penciling in a Tokyo Disney trip for 2026:

2024 -- Las Vegas (and possibly Disneyland again...)
2025 -- WDW and UOR (in the fall after Epic Universe's opening)
2026 -- Tokyo Disneyland