After our 15 day Best of Japan tour, my then three-year-old had experienced more culture than she ever had before in her life. Temples, shrines, castles, trying new foods, riding on bullet trains and hearing everyone around her speak a foreign language. We decided to end our trip in Japan with something familiar and kid-oriented. What we didn’t know was that the familiar mouse ears would be the perfect cultural conclusion to our Japan adventure!
Tokyo Disney has two parks, Disneyland and Disney Sea. Each park has it’s own unique features and a lot of similarities to Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida.
Getting to Disney from Tokyo is easy. From the Tokyo Station the Keiyo Line will take you to the Maihama Station in a short 16 minutes, which is the best stop to get off to access both parks and nearby hotels. From the Maihama Station, you can access the Disney Resort Line, a monorail that circles Tokyo Disney Resort and stops at major destinations within the Resort.
We chose to stay at a nearby, non-Disney hotel that had a free shuttle to both of the parks. There are many hotels the area, and staying in Tokyo is not unreasonable either. Because we went to both parks during the week, we did not pre-purchase tickets, but rather purchased a 2-day ticket at Tokyo Disney Resort Ticket Center at Maihama Station.
We spent one day at each park, and I would not recommend anything less. To say that our visit was magical is an understatement. We opened and closed the parks, rode every ride and met every character that we could. Disney parks are always amazing, in my opinion. But Tokyo Disney seemed a step above. The colors seemed more vibrant, the shows perfected and mixing Disney service with Japanese customs provides for the most amazing service you will encounter.
While Samurai Tours does not purchase Disney tickets as a part of our packages, we are more than happy to assist in setting up accommodations and transportation for a pre-tour or post-tour visit to Disney. I didn’t regret it, and I don’t think you will either! When you go, make sure to purchase the refillable popcorn bowl. Each area of both parks has a different flavor popcorn to try.
