Welcome to another trip report! In the past I’ve split our travels in Japan and Tokyo Disney Resort into separate trip reports. Because of how intertwined the two were on our most recent vacation, I’m going to pair them together this time around.

Going back to Tokyo just 6 months after having been there wasn’t always our plan but maybe it should have been! Fantasy Springs, the main purpose of this trip, was initially slated to open earlier than it did but a pandemic happened along with usual construction delays. We weren’t going to turn down a trip to see the country’s autumn colors with our dear friends. And we weren’t going to miss out on the opening fervor of Fantasy Springs! What’s better than one trip to Japan? Two.

Being lucky enough to do the two trips close together gave us a more relaxed approach to planning this time around, specifically in Tokyo. I had squared away most of the details for Tokyo Disney and then Melissa and I took some time to figure out what else we wanted to do in the enormous city. We’d been to Tokyo twice before and liked it but felt as if we never really found our footing. Having a more relaxed approach paid off this time around!

We arrived at Haneda Airport around 8 or 9 PM on a weeknight. The flight from LA was much longer than when we came from Seattle in December. But the process of customs, picking up our bags and pocket wifi was easy. Before long we were catching a myriad of trains with luggage in tow. That’s the downside of arriving at night! There are plenty of limousine busses going to Tokyo Disney Resort but getting in late limits the options. This isn’t enough to dissuade anyone from simply choosing the cheapest nonstop flight but it is something to keep in mind if everything else is equal.

Mostly for the sake of research, we opted to stay the whole time around Tokyo Disney Resort. There were a number of hotels we wanted to review and it’s close enough to the city that it wasn’t a big deterrent. Honestly, I preferred the half hour train rides over lugging our bags through the busy Tokyo Station. After about an hour of trains (I think there were 3 transfers) we arrived at Tokyo Bay Maihama Hotel First Resort. In our sleep deprived state, we admired the hotel’s commitment to the theme, laughed at the petite size of the room, ate our convenience store dinner (egg salad sandwich that night) and promptly fell asleep a little after midnight. At least until jet lag set in at 6:00.

Our first full day of the trip was in Tokyo. We had meant to sleep in but after we both tried to fall back to sleep for an hour, that clearly wasn’t going to happen. If sleep wasn’t going to happen, we might as well get coffee and donuts! That’s just a general life rule. We walked over to Toy Story Hotel to collect what we needed for the vacation package that started the next day. As usual, the Cast Members were very helpful. Then we monorailed over to Maihama Station to catch a train to Tokyo.

I’ve been a proponent of Japan Rail Pass, and still am. This was our first time not using it during a trip though as it’s not at all necessary if you’re sticking around Tokyo. While I missed riding the shinkansens, it was very easy purchasing our fares at each station. Melissa and I combined to average about $25 spent on transportation for days spent in Tokyo. It’s very affordable! We’re often asked about how hard it is to navigate Tokyo and Japan. Google Maps is your friend! That will show all of the train transfers and stations and then you just follow the signage which is in English. As long as you give yourself some grace and patience, it won’t be a big deal.

I’d read about Higuma Doughnuts prior to our trip and we made a point of visiting. We didn’t know it’d be the first thing we enjoyed but it just worked out that way. This was in Meguro City, although there’s another location! The shop was incredibly cute and the doughnuts were fantastic. Our order came out incredibly fresh and there was so little oil or grease on them, I was very impressed. We ordered, ate and were back in line to order some more immediately! It was also nice to explore a quieter area of Tokyo that we hadn’t seen.

We had a couple of hours before lunch (warning: there will be so much eating in this trip report) and chose to walk the 35 minutes toward it, excited to explore! There were bulldog murals, coffee and lots of little cafes we passed by. I’d just read Norwegian Wood, which involves two characters walking through Tokyo’s tight streets. I couldn’t help but think of them as we went. Eventually we happened upon Musashi-Koyama Shopping Street.

This is why we’re big proponents of walking while traveling. I knew nothing about this place! But before we knew it, Melissa had bought a vintage Mickey Mouse sweatshirt and explored a 5 story Daiso in this long mall-like arcade. I didn’t buy anything this time around but was really excited about the dragon overhead! We were just a few hours in but already having a blast.

We’d made a few reservations in advance including our lunch that day at Sushi Bullpen! This was our first omakase (a personalized multi-course) meal in Japan. We entered the restaurant with 4 other diners (and a baby!) and sat in stools around a sushi bar. The next hour and a half was spent watching these chefs craft different sushi rolls. We enjoyed conversing with the couple sitting next to us, using Google Translate whenever we had a misstep in understanding!

The entire experience was such a joy! I really loved the sushi but that’s not what I’ll keep in my memory. Instead it will be how warm the people were towards us, from that couple to the chefs. This was a very affordable omakase meal, as many of these restaurants have a special lunch price. We paid about $35 each (with the favorable exchange rate in June of 2024) for at least 10 courses. I honestly lost track, being in a gleeful sushi daze. I almost forgot to mention the restaurant was baseball themed! That led us into the night’s activity.

Tokyo Dome City was another area we had never explored. I love baseball and was eager to check out a game in Japan. Being a Seattle Mariners fan (thoughts and prayers are accepted) I’ve watched several season openers in the Tokyo Dome on TV in the wee hours of the morning with my brother. I’m very fond of those memories so stepping inside of a baseball game in the Tokyo Dome made me a bit emotional.

Logistically, going to a baseball game in Tokyo was fairly easy. We had our tickets mailed to our hotel and that was probably the most difficult part of the process. Getting to the Tokyo Dome is easy. The area around it has an amusement park, several shops and restaurants. Honestly, it felt like the most western part of Tokyo with a bunch of chains that are pretty common to the states. I wasn’t crazy about the shops and restaurants but did wish I’d allocated more time to experience the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame inside of the Tokyo Dome. Next time!

Getting into the game was far easier than anything I’ve experience stateside. I came in with a full backpack of camera gear and was barely searched. Food and drinks are allowed in too for those that don’t want to partake in the vast array of options there. In other words, the whole process made me jealous! This was a sold out game with 45,000 people and we were inside the doors within 2 minutes of getting in line.

As for the actual game, what a blast! The environment was similar to a European soccer match where fans in the outfield sections would stand and shout chants while their team was up to bat. But there was also a clear love of baseball, with the fans into every pitch. The Tokyo Dome had some good food too! Experiencing this has me eager to go try out a few other baseball stadiums in Japan!

After a full but glorious day, we rode the train back to our hotel and tried to get some sleep before our first Tokyo Disneyland day! Excitement didn’t help the sleep part of that plan but who needs sleep anyway? We got enough hours, checked out of our hotel, walked the 5 minutes to Toy Story Hotel to drop off our bags for our stay that night and then took a monorail to Tokyo Disneyland to get in line about half an hour before opening.

There’s a pretty big fuss made about the lines to get into Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. This was our first time experiencing them, as we’ve always been at a hotel that offered the early 15 minutes prior to this trip. Yes, they are long but they aren’t nearly as bad as they’re made out to be. Once the lines start moving they move quickly, with an expedited bag check and ticket entry process.

I won’t rehash the Tokyo Disney Vacation Package we purchased much in this trip report. If you’re interested in our review, click here. What I will say is that it came with an unlimited drink ticket (non-alcoholic) when in the parks and, boy, did we try to take advantage. That started right away with a coffee at Sweetheart Café. We booked our first priority pass for Space Mountain while in line and I guzzled my coffee down on the way to Jungle Cruise!

After getting on the boat, we realized we’d never been on TDL’s Jungle Cruise during the day. What a beautiful ride! Starting off with a tunnel of greenery before motoring past some well maintained animatronics, this is the best version of the attraction. I’ve said in the past that having it be in Japanese only adds to the fun and I stand by that.

It was time for another drink! I promise I won’t mention every single one we got but I was pleasantly surprised how the specialty drinks were included with the drink tickets. This one was at Café Orleans and was a mix of coffee and cookies. We were riding high off the sugar and caffeine!

Donald’s Quacky Duck City Festival was ongoing while we were at Tokyo Disneyland. While I have an admiration for our spit-billed fellow, it does not compare to the fanfare I saw during this trip. These wonderfully costumed fans were in line with us waiting for the Western River Railroad and were gracious enough to let me take their photo. We saw so many amazing outfits but these were among my favorites.

The railroad is different at Tokyo Disneyland, only having one stop. But it’s a beautiful ride complete with river views and Primeval World. Keeping it to Westernland adds to the immersive attraction.

We’d waited long enough. It was time for Country Bear Vacation Jamboree! Frankly, I’m embarrassed that it wasn’t my first attraction of the day. Sorry to let you down, bears. This was my first time ever watching the vacation version of the Jamboree and it did not disappoint! My life felt complete when Big Al stumbled his way through a Japanese rendition of I’ve Been Working on the Railroad followed by a full bear rendition of Vacation. Instead of collapsing in my fulfilled destiny, we carried on.

Planning out the rest of the day started to come into focus as we were planning to use our Priority Passes and Vacation Package FastPasses (I don’t think that’s what they’re called but you get the picture) in the afternoon and evening. With that and a parade in mind, we opted for a light early lunch at Camp Woodchuck! We’ve got a full review but, in short, we liked the counter-service spot for a lighter meal. That’s especially true of the Onigiri Sandwich!

Daytime parade time was nearing so we found a good spot then took turns cooling off in the shade. I walked over to Splash Mountain and took a few photos of the area before Harmony in Color began.

We’ll have a review of the parade coming in the next few weeks. It debuted last year and doesn’t reach the highs of the previous daytime parades. That said, it’s still well worth seeing and I like it as much (if not more) than any daytime parade we have at Disneyland or Walt Disney World. Until we have a review, here’s a few of my favorite photos from the viewing!

I might have played it cool, but the real reason for a lighter lunch was just so I could get a slice of Seafood Pizza an hour later. My favorite snack at Tokyo Disneyland isn’t quite as amazing as the first time I had it but I do make it a priority each trip!

For those that didn’t want to look at that pizza, here’s some plant photos to cleanse the palate.

These were seen on our way over to Pooh’s Hunny Hunt where we skipped the line with one of our passes and got right on the attraction! Our first time experiencing this ride was in December, we immediately loved it. This time around though we were able to catch more of the details that make this one of the best attractions in the world. It’s a brilliant, trackless dark ride and my favorite in Tokyo Disneyland!

Before there was Miley Cyrus coming in like a wrecking ball or Sia swinging from a chandelier, there was this Heffalump disco balling his way to stardom. Inspired by his dedication to adventure, we went and rode Star Tours via a Priority Pass we grabbed on the app. Following that, it was time for our pre-reserved Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast access!

Like Hunny Hunt, this was only our second ride through on the attraction and it solidified my thoughts on the ride. In this case, that included a few negatives but mostly positives. In my review, I touched on the sometimes awkward pacing of Enchanted Tale. That persists but isn’t the main story. What is more prevalent is the incredible ride vehicles, amazing trick and elaborate set pieces. Between Hunny Hunt and this attraction mixed in with classics like Peter Pan’s Flight and Small World, it’s hard not to give Tokyo Disneyland the Fantasyland Championship Belt. Fortunately, that doesn’t exist so we don’t have to give it out. Here’s a few more photos of Enchanted Tale, both inside and out!

Our run on attractions continued with Space Mountain! Is there a bigger Disney Parks high then stacking skip the line passes for the span of two hours? Riding Hunny Hunt, Enchanted Tale and Space Mountain (conveniently forgetting Star Tours here) in succession without waiting more than 15 minutes in line for each of them was as fun as it gets! At least it was until we hit unlimited line skips in Fantasy Springs the next day!

Next time we’re in Tokyo Disneyland, this version of Space will be closed. The progress of the new Space Mountain behind it is already impressive. I look forward to more space in Tomorrowland and a new ride. The current, and soon to be former, version is fun. Void of a soundtrack and a track that’s still in pretty good shape, I enjoyed the ominous vibes. That Tokyo Disneyland is looking to improve on this shows how committed Oriental Land Company is to investing in these parks.

Our run on attractions ended and so too will this edition of the trip report. Seeing how we’re over 2,700 words I’ll take mercy on you all! In this next installment we’ll cover the rest of our Tokyo Disneyland day as well as our first look inside of Fantasy Springs! Plus, I’ll talk about whatever is happening here.

Have you been to Tokyo Disneyland? Let us know, along with any questions you might have, in the comments below! If you’re planning a trip there then check out our guide! If you enjoy what you’re reading please subscribe to the blog and like our social media pages which you can find on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!