Our latest trip to Tokyo Disneyland reaffirmed our thoughts that this is one of the best theme parks in the world, but be prepared for crowds.

View other posts in this series:

• Trip Introduction: Springing for Sakura
• Review: oneworld Qantas Business Lounge LAX
• Review: Starlux A350-900 Business Class LAX-TPE
• Review: Starlux Galactic Lounge TPE Terminal 1
• Review: Starlux A330neo Business Class TPE-NRT
• The Airport Limousine Bus is Indeed Friendly
• Quite a Grand Stay: The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel
• Thoughts on Tokyo Disneyland (this post)
• Thoughts on Tokyo DisneySea
• Japan Pro Tip: Luggage Delivery Services
• Review: Park Hyatt Tokyo
• teamLab Planets: I Don’t Understand The Hype
• Cuteness Overload: A Review of the Pokémon Cafe Tokyo
• You Fished Your Wish: Zauo Fishing Restaurant
• Tokyo with Kids: Perhaps The Largest Playground on Earth
• Japan Pro Tip: IKEA Has Cheap Eats
• Review: Starlux A350-900 Premium Economy NRT-TPE
• Review: EVA The Infinity & The Star Lounges
• Review: EVA Air 777-300ER Royal Laurel TPE-LAX

Ranking of Disney Parks

For our complete rankings of each Disney theme park, please refer to our linked post.

Booking

As Tokyo Disneyland Hotel guests, we could have purchased our tickets directly from the hotel as hotel guests are guaranteed entry even if the park is sold out online. However, it wasn’t needed for us as we purchased our tickets directly from the Tokyo Disney website. Ticket prices vary by day, but for the day we chose, prices were ¥10,900 for adults and between ¥5,600 and ¥9,000 for children, depending on their age. In total, we spent ¥43,900 (or about 290 USD) for our party of three adults and two children, just under 60 USD per person. You’re not going to find better pricing for Disney anywhere else in the United States.

We went during high season. If we had gone a few weeks later, adult prices could have been ¥7,900 and child prices between ¥4,700 and ¥6,600, far cheaper than what we paid. If you have flexibility in your dates, consider coming here when cheaper.

Note that unlike our experience with Disneyland Paris, I couldn’t change my location via VPN to change the pricing. But given the low price of entry already, I wasn’t too disappointed.

Starting the Day

On the day we visited the park, it was scheduled to open at 9 AM. We showed up at 7:12 AM to find a decent line to get into the security area.

Once through security, we easily found the section intended for hotel guests that have the Happy Entry ticket. At the time, it was the emptiest section, but we did have to wait out here for around 1.5 hours. Ideally, it wouldn’t be raining for when you’re here but there were some scattered showers for us. At around 8:30 AM, characters are sent out into the park to entertain people standing near the gates. If you’re far back, you’re not going to even know they’re there.

So was it worth it as a hotel guest line to line up so early? Yes, I’d say so. Just before park opening, the Happy Entry line to get in is massive, as seen below.

Using the App

We were at the park for the 40th anniversary. As part of the celebration, Priority Passes for some rides were available for free. While this section may not be relevant for when you visit the park, there may be other events at Tokyo Disney that give free Priority Passes, so I’ll share my thoughts as I admit I messed this up at Tokyo Disneyland but I perfected it a bit the next day at Tokyo DisneySea. Priority Passes are similar to the old Fast Pass system, but there are some quality of life improvements.

When you enter the park, open the app and you can choose a ride to skip its line. You’re given a time to come back and it says you must visit within an hour. I was being dumb and thinking that I needed to ride the ride first before requesting the next ride (what I remember of the old Fast Pass system). Instead, you can select a new ride immediately when the minute strikes the beginning of your time range. So in the example below, I could have selected another ride right at 9:05 AM (instead I waited until 9:35 AM after I scanned to go on the next ride).

At 9:05 AM, it would have been well before most guests have entered the park and we could have been able to choose another ride (Space Mountain) before its virtual line blew up. By 11:30 AM, all free Priority Pass rides were gone aside from Star Tours.

Note that an end time is given for you to use your pass. Naturally I challenged the limits of what was allowed (unintentionally). You can still pull up the QR code containing your Priority Pass after the time ends, so some leeway is given if you are stuck in line. I’ve found that you’re likely OK stretching this about ten minutes. As long as the QR code can still be pulled up in the app, you’ll be fine. I did not try taking a screenshot of the passes to see if they could be used throughout the day.

We were able to get such an early time precisely because we were hotel guests, giving us that 15 minute head start. If hotel guests planned this well, they could get access to one ride without Priority Pass (but that allows for early entry as not all rides are open before the park officially opens). Then, once inside before the park opens, choose a ride to skip in the app and that should provide for a return time right around park opening time. And then you can choose yet another ride right after opening. That makes being a hotel guest a real boost, giving you access to a couple of rides without much competition.

If you want to purchase line skips, you can find that under the Premier Access menu in the app. Prices vary by ride (below is a screenshot from DisneySea, but same story). These rides did not have a free Priority Pass equivalent and it’s up to your own tolerance for paying around 10 USD per person to skip the lines. Just know that they only sell a limited number of these per day so expect them to be sold out by midday.

You can also enter the raffle to try to catch some shows or character greetings. Just select the experience from the app (you can find it under the Entry Request menu).

Once there, select an admission time that would work with your schedule and wait to see if you’re lucky. Note you are only allowed to choose one admission time per experience. If you’re turned down (as we were), you’re not able to try for a different time slot. Bummer.

Lastly, you can order food online at quick service restaurants. For those nervous about speaking in foreign countries, this offers you the easiest way to get exactly what you want. The ordering system is fairly straightforward and we did this while waiting in line on a ride. It’s a fairly easy process.

The Rides

One of the Happy Entry early admission rides was the new Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast ride. Lines for the ride approached two hours later in the day, but we were on the ride with only a ten minute wait. The theming here is quite remarkable and we enjoyed going through the different rooms of the castle.

Once through the rooms, you’ll find your trackless giant teacup to take you on a journey. The ride has good music and is sure to entertain the kids. I thought it needed a little more variety as every room felt the same where your teacup dances around the room but it’s just with different scenery. Overall, it’s worth a ride, but it’s not my favorite here at Tokyo Disneyland.

Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek! is a fun ride where you get to shine a flashlight at different spots during the ride to make monsters appear. It’s worth a visit if you’ve never been. The interactivity makes the ride fun (otherwise it would be on the boring side).

Pirates of the Caribbean is partially untouched from the original ride at Disneyland in Anaheim. They have made some updates to include Jack Sparrow but other portions of the ride haven’t seen edits (men are still chasing women). The vocals are all in English.

There are some differences with this version of the Haunted Mansion (less walking underground and a longer ride portion in your doom buggy. Some portions of the ride are in Japanese while other parts are in English. But the ending mechanic works here! Images of ghosts appearing to sit alongside you. It has been broken at Anaheim’s version but I’m happy they still work here.

Toon Town is mostly the same as in other locations. Alex went on Gadget’s Go Coaster while Char went into Chip ‘n Dale’s Tree House. Both kids enjoyed the rides we chose. The area tends to be appealing for its bright colors and lively animation style compared to other areas of the theme park.

For my own enjoyment, I tracked down this little pink elephant in Toon Town, remembering our visit in November 2017 before Char was born and when Alex was only two years old. Young Alex enjoyed this elephant statue quite a bit, though modern-day Char wasn’t as into it.

“it’s a small world” is a fun, casual ride that doesn’t vary too much regardless of where you ride it. Char enjoyed the large, cheerful drawings that can be seen when boarding and disembarking.

Cinderella’s Fairy Tale Hall is an experience that didn’t have a wait for us when we arrived. This one was better than your average walk-through-the-castle “rides” because it has an area where you can try on Cinderella’s glass slipper and sit on the throne.

I have a confession to admit, but The Happy Ride with Baymax ended up being my favorite ride here. And only part of it is for the ride itself, which is a fun ride where you can feel the G’s as you whip around the track. No, what sets this ride apart from everything else is the ultra-catchy J-pop songs you listen to as the ride operates. There are about five different songs, each with their own hand motions that staff make as they attend to guests. And, yes, I routed the family past this ride a few times just for another chance to listen to the beats.

Mickey’s PhilharMagic is a fun ride through classic Disney songs as we watch Donald get into all sorts of problems. The ride also exists in the Magic Kingdom, California Adventure, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris, but unlike all of those other rides that at least incorporate some English into the lyrics, this one is exclusively in Japanese. Char still enjoyed it.

Space Mountain is pretty similar to the other versions of the ride, including how popular the ride is. We missed getting a Priority Pass for this earlier in the day and thus were forced to wait well over two hours for Alex to get his chance to ride it. Jenn went on with Alex while I hung out with the sleeping duo (Char and my dad).

Food

We opted to not to any table service meals for this visit and instead decided to go with quick service restaurants. One thing you should know about all quick service restaurants is that the menu tends to be pretty limited. That can be a challenge if not everyone in your party has the same tastes, so you might want to order at different restaurants (easy to do if you use mobile ordering on the app).

For lunch, we dined at Grandma Sara’s Kitchen, which is a quick service restaurant built in the side of Splash Mountain. The theming was on point, making you believe the kitchen was built with stone and wood logs.

We ordered a couple of special sets, a chicken assortment set, and a kids set. The special set is supposed to be Donald Duck’s rear end and his feet on top of the dish, though I think I was the only one who noticed it. Overall, I thought the food was fine, with perhaps a bit too much sauce on it. In retrospect, I think we would have fared a little better at the nearby Hungry Bear Restaurant (which serves curry).

As alluded to earlier in this post, Huey, Dewey, & Louie’s Good Time Cafe was a mobile order that we did for dinner. It’s found in Toon Town and it can get crowded here, so app ordering is probably necessary to avoid a potential headache. Here you’ll find what I can only imagine is the Japanese take on American food: sandwiches, pizza, and french fries. My favorite dish ended up being the ebi (shrimp) burger. It’s not going to hit the spot if you’re looking for a beef hamburger, but I wasn’t looking for one here anyways.

Snacks

The most popular snack here is the many unique flavors of popcorn available at reasonable prices (¥400, or about 2.60 USD). Each popcorn stand sells one flavor, unless you go to The Big Pop (a store selling three special blends). You can probably tell which flavors are the better ones based on how long the line is. We tried four different flavors on this trip (Matcha-White Chocolate, Soy Sauce & Butter, Corn Potage, and Milk Tea). If I had to rank them, I would say Matcha-White Chocolate is the best, Soy Sauce was the worst (it lacked a little balance in the flavor), and the other two were tied. Some people really wanted to buy their souvenir popcorn buckets and then purchase discounted bucket refills, but I don’t personally understand it. To me, the point is to try many different flavors without getting too full doing so. Loading up on bigger refills for each flavor doesn’t help my goal there.

We only had room for one other snack on this visit: creme brulee churros (¥600). You can think of these as your typical churro exterior with a creamy center. It will mostly satisfy your churro needs, but for the price, I’d personally stick to the popcorn.

We debated eating other snacks, but found ourselves too full to attempt it.

Fireworks

At the end of the day, since we were a Disneyland Hotel guest, we thought it was easiest just heading back to the hotel to watch the fireworks. We don’t need the accompanying music (especially with Char already passed out). If your room faces the park, you can watch the fireworks nightly from the comfort of your room. If your room faces elsewhere, like ours did, then you can watch them from the courtyard facing the monorail. The fireworks are all visible just above the monorail station. You could also hang out in the monorail station at the top of the stairs to see the fireworks if you wanted.

Service

Service here is polished, with cast members always showing a smile. English-speaking abilities vary depending on who you chat with, but those who are weaker with the language will pull out their phones to help translate. There were no service issues of note. I’d still rate the service at both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea as the best Disney theme park service in the world.

Miscellaneous Items

A note to everyone intending to go to either Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo DisneySea, if you’re looking to buy some high-quality Disney goods, such as ramen bowls, utensils, and other home goods, purchase them at the theme parks. You will not find similar items at the various Disney Stores found around the country.

Aside from the entrance to the theme park, Tokyo Disneyland has no Wi-Fi available to guests. If you intend on using the mobile app, you will need to provide your own means of internet access. You could go the e-SIM approach, or you could do what we did and get a portable Wi-Fi device. Either way, if you have no internet here, you will be at a disadvantage. Some experiences (such as the raffles for events) are only accessible via the app.

For those coming during sakura season, know that we did not see any cherry blossoms inside this theme park. It didn’t matter to us, but you’re not going to be able to kill two birds with one stone here.

Recommendation: It’s Still Among the Best

The crowds here felt heavier than we recalled in the past, but that’s likely just because we came here during high season. What sets this Disneyland experience apart from all the others is the best service among Disney parks paired with the best snacks. The rides are also fun, but be prepared for long lines at the popular rides (Sleeping Beauty, Space Mountain, and Splash Mountain). To top it all off, the admission price is also among the cheapest.

You can’t exactly make a valid argument by saying it’s cheaper to go to Tokyo for your Disney experience given the price of airfare these days, but I won’t blame you if you attempt it when vacation planning.

Have you been to Tokyo Disneyland? How was your experience?