Japan questions

[lizikitti]

Hey,

Ginzo's wife here. My family and I are planning a trip to Tokyo in April. We were wanting to hit up Disneyland Tokyo/Tokyo DisneySea as well as Tobu Zoo (so we could ride Kawasemi, since it was ranked highly). Do you know how much it costs for Tobu Zoo and how big the seats are on Kawasemi? I have a family member who's concerned about whether or not he's too big to fit in it. I told him I thought he would fit because he fits on Millennium Force, but I wasn't sure. Any tips you could give me for Tokyo Disney and/or Japanese travel in general would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Liz

[SharkTums]

Hey Liz!

 

That's awesome that you're going to Japan, it's the coolest place!

 

First off, some of the parks in Japan are closed certain days of the week, I checked Tobu Zoo for you in April and they are open every day at 9:30am - 5:30pm. I can tell you from our past visits though that some rides have staggered opening and closing times so just be careful.

 

Also, like most Japanese parks you have a choice for admission. You can pay a base admission fee, then just buy tickets for the rides you want (most big rides are between 700 and 1000 yen) or you can buy a "Free Pass". This will cover your admission and unlimited rides.

 

According to Tobu's Website here are the current prices:

 

Admission - 1500 Yen

Free Pass (including admission) - 4100 - 4800 Yen Depending on Season (looks like April may be 4800)

 

So it's really up to your group and riding habits. Maybe people that don't like the coasters can just buy admission, and the people that need all of their credits can get the Free Pass.

 

Hope this helps!

[robbalvey]

If he fits on Millennium Force he should have no problem with Kawasemi.

 

--Robb

[lizikitti]

Cool. Thanks! What are the must-sees at Disney Tokyo/Disney Sea and the stuff we can skip (like the replicas)? We're only going to have like 2, maybe 3 days at Disney.

[cfc]

^DO NOT miss Pooh's Hunny Hunt at TDL--even if you hate Pooh. It is the best Fantasyland dark ride ever. POTC is pretty much identical to the California version, as is Space Mountain (only without music).

 

Journey to the Center of the Earth at TDS is great, and I like Sindbad's Storybook Adventures quite a bit, too.

[ginzo]

Liz,

 

I think you should skip Tobu Zoo. Your brother would be really disappointed if he didn't get to ride Kawasemi when everyone else got to. Also, then you won't have to worry about having a top 10 coaster credit that I don't have.

 

Also, you should skip Tokyo Disneyland. It's obviously no good. There's a MUCH better park in Japan:

 

http://www.fuji-q.com/index.html

[lizikitti]

cfc,

Thanks for your input.

 

Ginzo,

That's nice, dear.

[ebl]

^^ Scary thing is that I took a look at that website for Fuji-Q and noticed that some of the coasters don't let you ride if you're over 54 years old!

 

That's only five years away for me...I'd better get there FAST!

 

Eric

[ginzo]

^^ Scary thing is that I took a look at that website for Fuji-Q and noticed that some of the coasters don't let you ride if you're over 54 years old!

 

That's only five years away for me...I'd better get there FAST!

 

I think it's already too late for you. You don't have enough time left to make it through Fuji-Q's infamous lines before you turn 54.

[gisco]

^^ Scary thing is that I took a look at that website for Fuji-Q and noticed that some of the coasters don't let you ride if you're over 54 years old!

 

That's only five years away for me...I'd better get there FAST!

 

Eric

 

Don't worry, Jeff Johnson got on and he is waaaaay older then that!

 

I have been there twice and both times there were people in my group that were older then 54. Both times they were permitted to ride. When they ask you how old you are, look them straight in the face and tell them 53! The Japanese are too honorable to question a guest.

[CreativeForce]

Hi all!

I didn't want to start a whole new thread so I'm just going to tack onto this one.

Rebecca and I are going to go to Japan in June! Yeah!!

We're going to do the Disney Parks again when we're in Tokyo, but we're going to be going all the way to Osaka and I get to pick one park in the area. I don't want to do Universal since it looks too similar to it's US counterparts. I was thinking of Park Espana since it looks like it has a nice collection of rides and some really funky Japanese WTF stuff. What do you think? We're going to have JR passes so getting out to the park shouldn't be a problem.

 

Or is there another park that I should check out instead?

[robbalvey]

Parque Espana isn't as close to Osaka as you think. It's a good 2-3 hours by train depending on where you start out from:

http://maps.google.com/maps?daddr=%E3%80%92517-0292&geocode=&dirflg=&saddr=Osaka&f=d&sll=34.495239,136.746826&sspn=1.53021,2.460938&ie=UTF8&ll=34.526924,136.170044&spn=1.529628,2.460938&z=9&start=0

 

And since it's not a JR rail line that goes out there, the pass won't be good.

 

They do have sometimes transportation/ticket deals though. Have a look at their English website:

http://www.parque-net.com/foreign/english/access.html

 

As for other parks in the Osaka area, Universal is pretty awesome even though it's similar to the US counter parts. There's also Hirakata if you want a bizarre little park with a woodie credit.

 

Central Park is about 90 minutes by train:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Osaka&daddr=Himeji&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&date=1%2F20%2F09&time=3:44pm&ttype=dep&noexp=0&noal=0&sort=time&sll=35.030889,136.189638&sspn=1.520331,2.460938&ie=UTF8&ll=34.740484,135.440826&spn=0.762857,1.230469&z=10&start=0

[CreativeForce]

Thanks Robb!

 

I knew that Park Espana was a good ways away but I didn't realize that the JR Line doesn't go there. Bummer. But it seems like the additional train fare isn't that expensive. Something to bring up with everyone else.

 

We are already planning on going to Himeji Castle so Central Park is certainly a good possibility.

 

So, one more question. If we ditch Park Espana for another park, would you recommend Universal, Hirakata or Central Park? Or is it even possible to do a couple of these parks in one day?

 

I'm traveling with Rebecca, my brother-in-law, his wife and my mother-in-law. Everyone in the group enjoys coasters to some extent, but I think a park with plenty to do besides coasters would be more acceptable.

 

Thanks!

[packfanlv]

^DO NOT miss Pooh's Hunny Hunt at TDL--even if you hate Pooh. It is the best Fantasyland dark ride ever. POTC is pretty much identical to the California version, as is Space Mountain (only without music).

 

Journey to the Center of the Earth at TDS is great, and I like Sindbad's Storybook Adventures quite a bit, too.

 

Its good to know that someone else loves Sinbad's Storybook Adventure. We rode it several times and I couldn't get the song (or at least the small english portion of it out of my head!) We walked around DisneySea all day singing "The compass of your heart!"

 

Is it me or do some of the dancers in Sinbad look like Cher?