I notice that there is very little coverage on MouPlanet about Tokyo Disneyland. Are there any plans to cover this more?

We are trying to work out trips to TDL. Of course, it would be ideal to have someone local who could provide us with updates and a more experienced viewpoint of the park.

Well Rob I do hope MP can develope a trip planner (or is there one already?) I plan to visit TDL next year as it is actually closer than going to WDW, we need to hunt down somebody that has an AP there so we are not so much in the dark and can furnish some info for us American travelers.

LOL, you do have one, I just never noticed it! Kudos to the staff of MP!!! I hear its actually cheaper than DL with the dollar-yen conversion.

Originally posted by Mr D
I hear its actually cheaper than DL with the dollar-yen conversion. Depends on what costs you're talking about, Mr D. Admission prices may be lower (I don't know), but most of us can't just get in ours cars and drive to the park. Also, keep in mind even with the recession in Tokyo that things in general are very expensive there, and en par with New York City for many things.

Price Check Tokyo (http://www.pricechecktokyo.com/) is a great resource to get an idea of how much things cost. It's easiest just to convert 100 yen to $1.00 US, in which case six slices of white bread will set you back $2.00 at the grocery store, and 10 pieces of chewing gum in a pack is about $1.00 (Wrigley's five-piece packs are 25 cents in the US, so this is roughly twice as expensive).

A Big Mac is $2.80, a large fries $2.90.

Wait, we haven't gotten to the good stuff. A medium 12-inch Domino's pizza costs $30.00, and a ticket for a first-run movie (say, "Shrek") costs $18.00 per person. You heard me -- EIGHTEEN DOLLARS per person.

Any time you travel overseas, don't forget to take various costs into account. And don't be surprised if you're charged $10.00 for a single cup of coffee in a coffee shop (unlike American diners, coffee shops are big hang-outs so they charge a lot assuming you'll sit there with your friends for three hours).

When I was there (last December), a single apple, albeit quite large, was 400-600 yen. I got a bag of a dozen mandarin oranges for 300, though. Man, those were good. Lasted me the whole trip, too.

I should look in my trip notes and see what else we spent on food and other basic supplies. I remember that an 8-12 oz. can of soda will run 100-200 yen, depending on what kind of vending machine you get it from and where the machine is located.

Let me say this from experience....

Although yes, japan is very expensive to travel to, you have to also realize that most places that hotels are near and stuff are very touristy areas and are of course going to be very expensive.... It's like when you're in vegas, when you're staying the the Bellagio a coke from the machine costs $2.50!

But what alot of people don't realize it that BECAUSE Japan's economy is not doing so well right now, they have alot of very cheap things around! Burger King recenly went out of business in japan because McDonalds was getting WAY too cheap - regular hamburgers were going for about 80yen (half of the normal price) or so which is less than a dollar here.... and the only places that you'd get charged $10 for a cup of coffee is if you have it in some really expensive hotel lobby cafe or a coffee place in a really ritzy area... people in Japan don't tend to spend $10 on coffee anymore... they like Starbucks where coffee is like $2-3...also alot of cheap eating places are sprouting up around the Tokyo area which are a big hit because you can get a really good really big sized Japanese meal for about 600-700 yen (about $5-6). You just have to know where to find them.. And yes it might be about 1600yen for a movie, but alot of places have good deals.. if you go watch the movie on a certain day or a certain time, it's usually only about 1000yen... which I suppose is still expensive.. (but you know, why would you want to go watch a movie in japan when you're traveling if you can watch it here cheaper.. well Edwards now charges $9 for a movie so.. it's not THAT cheap anymore)


In my mind it's kinda the same wherever you go... you go to Disneyland and eat at DL where it costs at least $7 a person for lunch... and then for dinner if you're staying at the Grand or something, you might eat their dinner buffet for $25...you go shopping at Downtown Disney and it'll cost you tons of money... that doesn't necessarily mean that everything in Anaheim is expensive.. if you go right down the street you can go to Denny's and get yourself stuffed for like $10+ a person for dinner. And just cuz you're traveling, you tend to shop and eat at the places right around the touristy places cuz that's whats closest... and especially when you're traveling to a foreign country you're paying for convenience, knowing that it's safe, and knowing that those places usually have ENglish speaking employees.

SOOO lots of people go to Japan and come back and tell me that everything was expensive.. but really.. you just need to do a little research before you go. =)

Sorry for all the rambling... I just want as many people to see Japan as possible and I'd hate for this "everything is expensive" barrier to stand in the way.... besides, right now you can get a plane ticket to Tokyo for like $400, sometimes even $350... so it's the same price as going to hawaii or Florida!

No matter what the cost, I want to see Tokyo DisneySeas.

Hopefully it will be worth the trip...

-JRob

LuvTDL shared: "I just want as many people to see Japan as possible and I'd hate for this "everything is expensive" barrier to stand in the way."

Quite true -- and the "100 yen stores" (the equivalent of our $1 stores) are very popular there now.

I think folks who have traveled overseas before (whether to Japan or not), who live in metropolitan communities with large Asian populations (I thought there were a lot of Asian Americans in Hawaii, until I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area! ;) ), or who are accustomed to doing some off-the-beaten-track travel (that is, think Lonely Planet or Moon Publishing types of travel), are definitely going to be hip to finding bargains.

Galapagos Jim mentioned the cheap mikan (mandarin oranges) -- they have always been considered "plain common fruit" so you can get some of the juiciest, sweetest ones during their season (I believe it's winter and spring). On the other hand, a bag of Sunkist oranges would have cost a lot more. That having been said, you need to be willing to eat slightly different oranges than what you might be used to back in the U.S.. Same thing with other foods. If you are willing to venture away from Western foods and go with your typical kiosk fare like fresh ramen or bowls of curry rice (which when I lived in Japan, I thought was a Western dish), I am sure you will find some really good bargains.

You can see a good example of the "Hey, this food is strange" outlook from our own Brian Bennett, in his Epcot Japan photo tour (http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/wdwguide/6_Parks/Epcot/japan_photo_tour.htm) where he says, "The food here is a bit more unusual to my Midwestern American palate compared to the Chinese fast food fare at Lotus Blossom Cafe, but it's tasty and fun to try nonetheless."

LuvTDL -- you mentioned that you can get some good bargains in the Anaheim neighborhood. Even then, I think a lot of out-of-town visitors don't venture much out of Disney proper (esp. now with Downtown Disney). Now imagine a relatively unsophisticated traveler who has never traveled overseas (much less to a country that requires a passport, and which speaks a language not even remotely close to English), whose desire to visit Tokyo Disneyland takes him to Japan. Unlike the traveler who has taken Japanese language classes and who can't wait to try a hand at a Japanese green tea ceremony or visiting a Shinto shrine, this Disney fan has a different agenda altogether; one that doesn't preclude he know a lot about Japanese culture or society.

As long as the person keeps an open mind, is willing to try new dishes, to learn a few phrases (although there's always that point-and-order method!), and is willing to step out of the Disney parks in Tokyo, I agree with you completely.

LuvTDL -- ima Tokyo ni sunderundesuka? Soretomo America? Just curious. :)

Lani - ima wa Irvine ni sundemasu =)

I just hope that lots and lots of people will go to Japan to go see Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea! I mean, yes if you are planning to stay at the Mira Costa or at any of the official DIsneyland hotels around Maihama, it will get very expensive.... BUT I think it will be worth every yen =)

Personally I believe that Tokyo DIsneyland exemplifies what Walt Disney wanted his parks to be like and what all Disney parks around the world should be like in terms of things like the care and pride that the cast members take in their roles, the care they take in the park (both guests and cast members) and coming up with new and exciting things every season/year so that every experience to the park is different from the one before. And sure at TDL, the cast members may seem a little too inflexible at times... and the tomorrowland is still old... and Japanese people are kinda quiet... and there are more couples there than families sometimes.... and it's always really crowded.... and the food's kinda expensive (although they have like three different flavors of popcorn all for the same price!)... but I still love it and I really wish that every single person who is disgruntled with the way Disney is handling their American parks right now could go to Japan to see what their parks are like cuz they are doing a fabulous job over there =)

LuvTDL -- when you say "expensive," what are we looking at for places like Mira Costa or the DL hotels?

I did some research last night and my airfare (from Alaska) is around $815, the lodging surprised me though, most near park hotels are from $250-$325 range and the value season is basically only jan-feb. I did find a good rate at the Clarion for $119 per night. The new hotel at DisneySea is my pick and I was even tempted to cancel our WDW trip this upcoming Dec 2-12 and get passports for the family. I think it may be better to wait till the next vacation time (2002) to book this, hopefully the MP staff can get some better travel plans and tips made up as its hard to find any good information as of yet, even Expedia has very little. Truly I believe the Oriental Land Co. has the absolute best intention of a REAL Disney experiance and I for one will look forward to this adventure overseas. Again I reiterate that there should be more interest about TDS and TDL and that travelers will forsake going to the crippled US Disney parks and instead visit a REAL Disney adventure, I guess "Made in Japan" has a new meaning.....:D

Depending on how well the US media covers Tokyo DisneySea, you all may (or may not) be able to see a sample of what OLC and Disney have cooked up: simply the greatest new theme park in the world.

Having been to Tokyo Disneyland frequently, I can tell you that Tokyo DisneySea exceeds it's 'next-door-neighbor' in every conceivable way by a factor of...well let's see...oh, around 10!

The views alone within Tokyo DisneySea are simply breathtaking- never before have I seen height used so dramatically in a Disney Park. Whereas Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland are largely flat, Tokyo DisneySea is built up, down and all around- and detailed so exquisitely, you can't help but say, "People who haven't seen this for themselves, or have seen only pictures have NO CONCEPT of how amazing this place is!"

Sure, OLC isn't perfect, but it will become plainly obvious to anyone taking a stroll through Tokyo DisneySea that they had tremendous guts. They took a ton of cash and bought this mind-blowing, stunning, Walt Disney Imagineering masterpiece.

Also- someone asked about Tokyo DisneySea Hotel Mira Costa rates. For those of you who might not be familiar with Tokyo DisneySea, the Mira Costa is the first (and only) in-park hotel in Japan. Here is the info:

There are 3 types of rooms, each located in different wings in the hotel: Tuscany, Venice and Porto Paradiso.

Porto Paradiso rooms have the best view into the Park.

Tuscany- Approx $290 USD a night
Venice - Approx $322 USD a night
Porto Paradiso - Approx. $354 a night.

There are also 'value season' prices, effective for only certain days mostly in January and February:

Tuscany- Approx $225 USD a night
Venice- Approx $258 USD a night
Porto Paradiso- Approx. $290 USD a night

Steep? Yes, but you would not believe the view out of the Porto Paradiso windows! Well, heck- you will not even believe the view out of the Hotel lobby! There is a rumor that Mira Costa is gunning for the title of the highest rated hotel in Japan. If you could see the interior and exterior, you have to believe they are over half way there!

Before Tokyo DisneySea, I might recommend a trip to Japan, as long as Tokyo Disneyland isn't your only reason to come here.

But now with Tokyo DisneySea, I would recommend making a trip JUST for Tokyo DisneySea, especially for those who want to see the genius of Imagineering in all of it's glory.