Tokyo Disneyland is a theme park located in the Tokyo Bay area of Tokyo and it’s easily accessible from Maihama station. To find out how to get to Tokyo from the UK visit our How we got to Tokyo page.
We are big Disney Park fans. The fact that Tokyo has two was another reason for our visit. They are both similar and different to the other Disney parks, if that makes sense. To us, similar means familiar which is always nice but also helped in terms of navigation. Different means new experiences. That’s important to us. We think it’s sort of what life is all about. We really enjoyed Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea.
If you are considering a visit to either or both parks we hope the information below will help you.
Where to Stay
There are four Disney Hotels in the Tokyo Disney Resort. Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, Disney Ambassador Hotel, Tokyo Disney Sea Hotel MiraCosta and Tokyo Disney Celebration Hotel. All of these are quite expensive.
Within the Disney Resort there are also 6 Resort Official Hotels and 4 Partner Hotels. All of these offer a complimentary shuttle bus to the monorail loop. Transfer to the parks by shuttle bus takes approximately 15 minutes. The 6 Resort Official Hotels also guarantee park admission.
Finally there are 21 Good Neighbour Hotels which also provide a complimentary shuttle bus. These hotels tend to be further away from the Tokyo Disney area.
We stayed in the Hilton Tokyo Bay which is a Tokyo Disney Resort Official Hotel. You can read what we thought of it in Where we stayed in Tokyo.
How to get to the park
Getting to Tokyo Disneyland was easy and convenient from the Hilton Tokyo Bay Hotel. The hotel provided a free shuttle bus to the Tokyo Disney Resort next to Maihama station.
From there it was about a 5 minute walk to the park entrance.
Park Tickets
We bought our tickets from the Hilton Tokyo Bay. This was partly because we found it difficult to book tickets online before we went, but also because we wanted the flexibility of deciding on which days to go when we got there.
We bought 4-Day Magic Passports. Adult prices were Y22,400 (£155), Junior (12-17) Y19,400 (£135) and Child Y14,400 (£100) and had to be paid for in cash.
Weather
As you can see from the photographs the weather, in April, was very pleasant. Not too hot and no rain. The nights did get noticeably cooler though and required an extra layer or two!
We didn’t get to see many firework displays because of the ‘wind’. At Tokyo Disney we found that the fireworks were often cancelled. Apparently, this was because of “high winds”. To us, it was breezy. Living in the hills of West Wales, we have a different view on what constitutes wind!
The Park
We visited Tokyo Disneyland in April, timed to avoid Golden week. The parks were quite busy then but not elbows out! We aimed to get to the parks about half an hour before opening. Even then the queues were quite long.
Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea do have the FastPass system. But it wasn’t the same as in Walt Disney World in Florida. We couldn’t book them online and there was no app but we believe this is being changed. We were able to get paper FastPasses at the Fastpass machines. These give a return time for Fastpass entry to the ride where you get to skip the queue. Each person must have one in order to use the Fastpass entry. Immediately after that FastPass is used you become eligible for a new FastPass. You can also take advantage of the single-rider lines which tend to be much shorter than the standard lines.
We found the Cast members to be very helpful, friendly and polite. This only added to our enjoyment of the parks. Be sure to tell a Cast Member if it’s your first visit and they will give you a sticker to remind you of your first time.
We saw plenty of characters around the park and found it easy to get a photograph or two with them.
Attractions
The layout of Tokyo Disneyland is very similar to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida. In the centre of it proudly stands Cinderella’s Castle. This is well worth a visit. Outside…….
…..and in.
At the park entrance is the World Bazaar, an undercover street of shops and restaurants. The rest of the Park is split into ‘Lands’
Tomorrowland
To the right of World Bazaar there are two great thrill rides here. Space Mountain and……
….Star Tours. We love both of these. If you find you can’t get to ride Toy Story Mania at Tokyo DisneySea, Tokyo Disneyland has a great alternative in Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters.
Also in Tomorrowland was Monsters Inc. Ride and Go Seek! We’d read before we went that this was probably the most popular ride in Tokyo Disneyland. Perhaps surprisingly, perhaps because of the hype, this was not our favourite ride. Maybe we just didn’t get it. Don’t get us wrong, it’s a nice gentle ride and probably great for younger children but it just wasn’t for us. Finding the monsters in the dark with a torch was a bit of fun but it didn’t provide the thrills we usually prefer. Perhaps that’s the point. We’re still not sure.
Fantasyland
This is behind Cinderella’s Castle and there are lots of nooks and crannies to explore here. It was worth taking the time to notice the sculptures and water features.
We also got to ride It’s a Small World here. This is a must do for us. We really enjoy it in Walt Disney World. It’s just a very relaxing ride. So we did it. But when we came back to do it again we were told that the ride was closed. That it had been closed for refurbishment for some months. And was not due to reopen for another week! And that it was not possible that we had ridden it! It was all a bit surreal. But we had ridden it………..
…..and here’s the proof! Apparently the first riders since the refurbishment. The day after there were loads of press gathered around the ride for the official relaunch. It was on the TV news. We weren’t. We not sure whether we were disappointed about that! But we enjoyed the ride anyway.
Critter County
Home to Splash Mountain. Some of us loved this so much that we rode it on a loop taking advantage of the Single Rider lines. We also got to ride this late into the night until the Cast Members were riding with us to make sure the ride could be closed! At that time there was almost no wait in the standard entry line. This was one of our favourite rides.
Westernland
Home to our Number 1 favourite ride – Big Thunder Mountain. The lines were long but getting in early and with careful use of FastPasses we were able to do it 3 or 4 times in a row.
Adventureland
Linked to Westernland by the Western River Railroad, Adventureland is home to Pirates of the Caribbean, The Jungle cruise and Swiss Family Treehouse among other attractions. The Western River Railroad is an attraction in itself. The train is beautiful and the journey provides great views of the park.
As day begins to turn to night the park starts to take on another dimension.
Everything starts to light up. And things start to look and feel different. In a really good way.
An attraction in itself, be sure to stay in the park late into the evening. If you can, after everyone else has left. We were in the park so late one night that we were a bit concerned we really were there on our own. We sort of had to be asked to leave!
Food and Drink
We found absolutely no problem at all finding things to eat and drink in Tokyo Disneyland. In fact, this was such an attraction that we’ve covered it separately in our Tokyo Disneyland Food post! We enjoyed everything we tried and found pretty much all of it good value for money. Actually, we found it cheaper compared to Florida. We enjoy snacking but did have some sit down meals too.
To those massive popcorn fans amongst us the parks in Tokyo are like a kind of heaven. So many different varieties to try in Disneyland including Barbecue, Caramel, Curry, Black Pepper, Milk Chocolate, Honey, Soy Sauce and Butter and Salt. We made it a mission to sample them all. A portion of popcorn cost Y350 (£2.50)
Grandma Sara's Kitchen
In Critter Country we had cheesecake and the critter cake. Both were really good and cost Y910 (£6.30). They also serve hot and cold drinks here.
We found this a great spot to change pace and chill out. It was so quiet and peaceful we found ourselves away from almost everyone. One of us actually fell asleep in here one afternoon!
Camp Woodchuck Kitchen
In Westernland, we found this to be a good choice for lunch. A turkey leg meal (with fries and a drink) cost Y1080 (£7.50). It was reasonably quiet in here and we had no problem getting a table. This Hot Ginger Lemonade tasted far better than it looked.
The Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall
Situated in Fantasyland, this is one of the most popular themed restaurants in Tokyo Disneyland. It was quite busy but the queues weren’t huge and we had no problem getting a table. We’re not huge fans of themed restaurants but even we enjoyed this one!
The food itself was really good here. Two steak meals, two chocolate cakes, one cheese cake and two drinks came to Y4770 (£35). We thought this was extremely reasonable. Especially for a themed restaurant.
We sort of expected the food not to be the main attraction here. But we were very pleasantly surprised. We’re guessing most people come here for the ambience, the décor and the experience. But the food here was on a par with anything we ate in the Tokyo parks.
Snacks
We also tried as many snacks as we could!. Rice Rolls from Peco Bills were Y500 (£3.50) and Chilli Chowder (Bread and chilli) and Seafood chowder at The Gazebo Y490 (£3.30) were good. The photos of the chowder do not do them justice. They were much better than they look!
One of our favourite places to pick up a snack was the Sweetheart Cafe.
Full of cakes and deserts. Most in the shape of Disney Characters. You get the idea
We stopped by here most evenings before leaving the park just because we could. Cakes were around Y270 (less than £2 each). Again, we found this incredible value. You know, themed cakes. In Disney. For £2! It was no easy task choosing though. And we were all a bit heavier coming home!
More Info
We hope this helps you decide whether a visit to Tokyo Disneyland is for you. There are lots more things we could say about the park but we were concerned that the page was getting a bit on the lengthy side. We have created a separate post on Tokyo Disneyland Rides & Attractions.
If you would like more information please feel free to leave a comment and we’ll do our best to reply. Or you can contact us on social media using the icons at the top of the page.
In the meantime check out the posts below
2 thoughts on “Tokyo Disneyland”
With tips on how to skip the long queues at the theme parks, the best time to visit, what to eat, which attractions to go for first and more, this is truly your ULTIMATE Tokyo Disneyland DisneySea guide. Should I go to Tokyo Disneyland or DisneySea? is a question we get a lot from first-time travellers to Tokyo.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.