A Japan Disney Trip at Hilton Tokyo Bay

Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast

Tokyo Disneyland

I loved this park! It was absolutely worth it and so magical to experience Disneyland abroad. We started with this one, and I would say it was the easier, more manageable park of the two. Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast was the coolest ride ever, so I would encourage you to prioritize this one if you can, since you won't find anything like this in the USA. They say Snow White is scary, but my three little kids and I all thought it was fine and loved it. This park was easy to navigate with little ones, offering lots of food options.

It’s a Small World

Tokyo DisneySea

This park is massive! While truly unique, it was much larger and more spread out and uphill than I anticipated, and a bit more challenging if your kids are young. I also found it challenging to find food as there are limited options in certain areas, ones that only allow mobile ordering, and also limited options for kid-friendly food (example: curry popcorn). I felt this park is designed more for older kids or adults. It's absolutely a bucket list kind of day for older children or adults! While still a fun day, it's a bit more exhausting if your kids are on the younger side. They have rides such as Frozen, Rapunzel, etc, but these are in the Fantasy Springs area, which is on the opposite side from the main entrance. I also felt like a majority of the dining options were located toward the front of the park.

Mermaid Lagoon (DisneySea)

Arrival time

If you're staying in the Disney Resort Line loop (I recommend Hilton Tokyo Bay), then I would plan to leave your hotel around 8 a.m., which gives you about 15 minutes to walk, take the monorail (bring Japanese Yen, it's cash only), and arrive about 45 minutes prior to park opening. I personally didn't notice much of a difference between lines at Tokyo Disneyland vs. DisneySea. We were inside both parks within 20-25 minutes after the official opening at 9 a.m. Our trip was in June, which is also low season.

Mad Tea Party

Tickets

The most wonderful thing about Disney in Japan is that the price is significantly cheaper. For a family of four with one child under age three, I paid a total of $129 for three tickets per day at each park. The date of your ticket is modifiable, but the park is not. You can't hop between parks in Japan, but you can absolutely modify the date if needed. I ended up changing one day to accommodate the weather.

Disney Premier Access (aka Lightning Lane)

Essentially a skip-the-line service that you can purchase for individual rides. I would suggest Beauty and the Beast or Frozen. Depending on the attraction, prices range between $10-17. You cannot purchase DPA until you are physically inside the park.

Disneyland App

Other than to purchase tickets, I didn't use the app all that much due to my phone being on airplane mode. The Wi-Fi in the park was horrible and was not working during our visit, so if you want to utilize features like Disney Premier Access or mobile ordering, you would need to switch to cellular data or turn off your VPN and then utilize these features in the app.

Lunch

During our Tokyo Disneyland day, we ate at Huey Dewey and Louie's Good Time Cafe located in the Toontown section. I was able to get a Mickey-shaped cheese pizza, french fries basket, and a spring roll with three soft drinks for about $16. Super reasonable and good food throughout this park. During our DisneySea day, we ate at The Snuggly Duckling near the Frozen ride in Fantasy Springs. This is a fast-service burger restaurant that primarily uses mobile ordering, but they did allow us to order with the cashier due to poor Wi-Fi. I was able to feed myself and three small kids for a total of $18.65.

Tokyo Disneyland offers daytime and nighttime parades. The daytime parade was spectacular! We caught this without planning to and it was so fun.

Hilton Tokyo Bay (Twin Oceanview)

Hilton Tokyo Bay

This hotel was phenomenal! It's easily walkable to the Bayside station, which has the monorail to both parks. They also provide a complimentary shuttle if you don't want to walk, as well as a shuttle to Maihama Station, which gets you out of the Disney Resort Loop.

The hotel has a luggage forwarding desk on site. Absolutely use this service! It was a lifesaver. They also have a 24/7 Lawson convenience store with an ATM inside, as well as a Disney store. The prepared meals are good, kid-friendly, and they have microwaves to heat up anything you buy.

Lawson convenience store inside hotel

The rooms were comfortable. Our room had four twin beds with a beautiful ocean view. You do have to pay to use the outdoor and indoor swimming pools, which we didn't do due to having other activities planned. The breakfast buffet was good, with a kid’s station which my kids loved!

Kid’s station at breakfast buffet

Hilton Tokyo Bay outdoor pool

• I would not recommend doing the parks back-to-back if your schedule allows. Take a rest day or plan another activity. It’s a lot, and Japan is a very high-energy trip most of the time. To do the parks back-to-back will be more tiring and maybe less enjoyable.

• You can bring food and beverages into the park. Storage lockers are a thing. I saw many people with miniature chairs and umbrellas while waiting in line to enter the park.

• If you have a larger trip to Japan planned, then I would recommend installing the Suica Mobile App on arrival so you can use a tap purchase Suica card for metro travel.

• I would also recommend getting the QR code for entry to Japan on the web prior to arrival as a way to save time.

For more inspiration and insider recommendations, visit our Tokyo page.