Tokyo Jan 2013

[alice in wonderland]

We are just pricing both tokyo and Hk and the moemnt for Jan 2013....Has anyone been to Tokyo in January?? What is it like weather wise etc?? also any recommendations with hotels??

[KeithS]

Tokyo can be cold in January and has snowed on occassion at Disneyland (I'd love to see that though!)

As for hotels, you can get good deals by booking in advance at either the Tokyo Bay Hilton, or the Tokyo Bay Sheraton (Gerard is staying there soon) - both are wonderful hotels with English speaking staff.

[Mel]

The Tokyo Bay Hilton is where we stayed with the boys (apart from our one glorious night at the Mira Costa) and it was great. Close to the monorail, a little pastry shop in the lobby for breakfast and the rooms were big enough for the four of us without feeling too crowded - a big plus in Tokyo!

Don't forget that Tokyo's equivalent to Main Street, World Bazaar, is undercover. As I understand it, it's because of the risk of snow

[Gerard]

I spoke to someone who just got back from Tokyo, it was -2 most days and he experienced three sizable tremors.

I like late April as it is a bit warmer and it's a bit quieter between spring break and golden week.

I priced both the Hilton and the Sheraton, the Sheraton was a bit cheaper and I have stayed there before and liked it.
Both are close to the monorail station.

[churros]

Yes it is ski season and there are plenty of Aussies there this time of year with that purpose in mind

[alice in wonderland]

WOOOOOO HOOOOO!!!!! ALl booked!
Jan 15 to Jan 23...it will be cold but who CARES!!! it is disney!!!!!!!

Anyone have any advice of a hotel to stay in tokyo? We are going to stay 5 nights at disney and then a few in tokyo? any suggestions????? -/ -/ -/ -/ -/ -/ -/ -/ -/ -/ -/

[churros]

Fantastic news Jess!

[mushu mama]

Great News Jess

-/ -/

[BrizMarc]

where did you end up staying and what price did you get? A trip to Tokoyo DL is the next trip for late this year/early next year.

As for being cold. I did Paris Disneyland in freezing weather. Even the rivers of america was frozen, It took nothing away from the visit at all. The crowds were reall small too. I hope this happens for you.

[KeithS]

Fantastic news Jess - I'm really happy for you.

Can't wait to hear all about the planning for this!

[Mel]

Awesome Jess!!! -/ -/ -/

[KeithS]

Jess - check out the Hilton at Tokyo Bay:
http://www.hilton.co.uk/tokyobay

They have rooms available for your dates from 18,000 yen a night. It is a top hotel right across the road from the Disney monorail.

Lots of us from the club have stayed there and recommend it. It is also easy to get to Tokyo from there.

[alice in wonderland]

Hey Keith!
thanks fro the link...we are probably going to stay at the hilton! But the UK site and Japan site are the same rate 22000 when we are there. I havbe a few questions....

1. there is an offer that includes breakfast, do you know what the breakfast is? is this hot breakfast, pasteries???

2. How does the park tickets work? is the 4 day pass the maximum you can get? Do you have to use the pass as 4 consecutive days?

3. We also want to do a few things in tokyo, did you stay at disney the whole time and then just catch the train out each day? I think it is only about 30 mins? is this correct??

4. any info on food allergies? Matilda and Murray are both Gluten free
thanks for your help

[KeithS]

Hi Jess!

1. The breaksfast is a hot breakfast and is located in the main restaurant downstairs. We always take it when we stay there as it is a good spread. There is your usual western breakfast items like scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage etc and french fries(!) - I guess these are in lieu of hash browns (although I think they had hash browns last time too). They also have cereals, fresh fruit, coffee, tea, juices etc. On top of all that, they also have a heap of Japanese breakfast items! We really enjoy the Hilton's breakfast. We spoke to the chef there on our first trip and he was from California.

2. If you buy a four day ticket, you have to use it on consecutive days. For the first two days, you have to select which park you are going to visit, then the last two days you can park hop. Note there is no park hopping on the first two days, so you have to be sure which park you want to visit! There are also one, two and three day tickets if you don't want to go on four consecutive days. We sometimes just buy two day tickets so we have more flexibility to go into Tokyo.

3. Yes, we stayed at Disney the entire time and caught the subway into the City. Public transport is very good and it is only 20-30 minutes on the train to Tokyo Central Station, from there, you can basically go anywhere in Tokyo (and indeed, Japan!) from that railway station.

4. Sorry - I don't have any info on food allergies.

Catch you later!

[Mel]

Just a bit more info on the tickets - yes, the four day passes are the longest you can get, short of an annual pass - which are VERY expensive compared the the US APs. The monorail is operated by a non-Disney company so you will need to buy a monorail pass seperately for your trips to and from the parks. They have (or at least did have two years ago) passes that are valid for a certain amount of trips as well as passes that are valid for days. We went with the days-long passes since we were park and hotel hopping a fair bit.

Catching the train into the city is really easy. Just be warned though, if you are taking a stroller/pram, a lot of the stations in the city do not have elevators or even escalators so you might have to fold up your pram and use the stairs.