One day Tokyo Disneyland Guide

Last year I went to Tokyo Disneyland. It was one of the things I was probably the most thrilled about; I mean, I LOVE Disneyland. I had the chance to live in Paris near Disneyland Paris, so I visited the Park a fair amount of time. And I couldn’t wait to see Disneyland Tokyo, and I am even more excited to write my guide about my one-day Disneyland Tokyo to share my tips and experience!

That’s why I wrote this travel guide on how to spend one day at Disneyland Tokyo, including my impressions of the Park.

There’s also Disney Sea I would like to visit, but we didn’t have enough time to do both Park, so I figured out starting by the “main” one would be better, even though it would have been nice to see Disney Sea as this is something we don’t have in Paris.

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First, before we get into the details of this one-day visit to Disneyland, you must get a ticket!

You can easily buy your ticket at the Disney Store in Shibuya. Or on the Internet to avoid the queue at the entrance. The Disney Store in Shibuya is also probably one of the cutest Disney stores I have ever seen, compared to the one in Paris.

It’s super easy to get your ticket there, so I’d recommend buying it to central Disneyland Park or Disney Sea. This way you don’t have to queue to buy your ticket at the Park. A one-day ticket to Disneyland Park costs ¥7,400.

As of 2023, Disney Stores in Japan no longer sell tickets for either Park at their counters without a reservation. You must make a reservation through the Shop Disney Japan app (in Japanese) or their official website (English option available) here.

You can also buy the ticket on GetYourGuide or Klook.

Plan Your One Day Tokyo Disneyland Day Trip.

Journey-wise, public transport in Tokyo is incredible. It was easy to get from our hotel in Meguro to Maihama. You can see several itineraries on the official website.

Disney is a popular destination, but it might be a little crowded on the train if you’re going during the summer. It might be a little easier to ride the train to Disney during the “off-peak” season (Does Disneyland have an off-peak season, though?)

The outside of the Park is as impressive as the one in Paris, if not more; in some ways, as they say, the devil is in the details.
There’s a little walk from Maihama Station to the park entrance; you can find it along the road near a store (kind of like the Disneyland village in Paris) with many decorations, which are pretty awesome and put you right in the mood for the day!

I wish I could have had a Disneyland stamp on my passport!

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At Tokyo Disneyland, I found the variety of characters much more INTERESTING and varied. Most of the main characters in Paris, such as Mickey, Minie, and some princesses, walk around the Park. I never saw Bernard from Bernard and Bianca in Paris or Pinocchio and side characters like the fox.

This was a huge plus. I’d say that Tokyo Disneyland is mainly about visuals. So, the props, the animation and the decors are the main focus. Obviously, that’s the case in every Disney around the world, BUT you also wait to have some thrill on the rollercoaster. Well, that wasn’t the case here. Space Mountain was fair…dull to me.

Also, the queues are massive inside Disneyland Tokyo. The number of people flooding through the Park is scary. Sure, it was summer; however, everything was so crowded. Most of the queues topped to nearly two h wait or more, even for the most simple attraction. This is crazy. One day at Tokyo Disneyland can quickly turn into a day of waiting.

We only managed to do four attractions in a 7h/8h span, which isn’t much. Although, we were pretty lucky because we just did 30 minutes of queueing for one of them.

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HOW TO PREPARE FOR YOUR DAY TRIP TO TOKYO DISNEYLAND :

• Schedule your day –  The earlier it starts, the better. This way, you can avoid the mass as much as possible. Disneyland isn’t something you can do in one day, so if you want to see and do EVERYTHING. And as I write above, buying your tickets before already saves you a lot of time.
• Check what ride you want to do. Do the most famous ride early in the morning and take advantage of Fastpass. That you get a Fastpass for any ride you want to do later on, and in the meantime, you can do another ride or anything else you’d like to do.
• Pack your lunch beforehand. You can also eat at the restaurants in the Park, but then again be ready to queue a lot. Plus, bringing your food is always better if you’re on a budget! Same for the drinks, the vending machines are much more expensive than the ones in the city. But I must say that Disney-designed bottles are really cute! I still have my Pocari Sweat Goofy bottle on my shelf; it’s cute! Of course, you can get some properly steel-designed bottles which are better!
• Don’t stress out. It’s crowded, stressful, and tiring (especially in the summer with the heat and heavy humidity). But you don’t have to rush all day between attractions; organise yourself well and take time to enjoy, and there are plenty of awesome decors to look at in the Park. Enjoy; the last thing you want is to be stressed out and miss the opportunity to enjoy your day trip to Disneyland!

MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DISNEYLAND TOKYO AND DISNEYLAND PARIS :

• Castles aren’t the same; in Disneyland Paris, we have Sleeping Beauty Castle, while in Tokyo Disneyland, it’s Cinderella’s castle.
• Rollercoasters don’t give you as much adrenaline in Tokyo, which makes them seem a little dull to me; for example, Space Mountain in Paris does include a looping, in Tokyo, the ride is much more chill.
• The stores in Tokyo are AWESOME. The choices are vast, and the designs of the shirts feel much more unique. And you can pretty much find anything Disney-like for your home as well. This is a massive thumbs-up.
• Toon town! I particularly enjoyed this, and I wish we had it in Paris as well now. Unlike other Disney parks, Tokyo Disneyland doesn’t have the same kind of contract as Walt Disney, so they get somewhat more ‘freedom’ when it comes to the areas of their parks. Which makes Tokyo Disney an exciting place to visit.

   

If you visit during the summer, make sure to bring a water bottle and wear some sunscreen! And even an umbrella as we got badly rained on all that while queuing, oh the fun! Also, a backpack, a hat, and a camera might be handy if you enjoy taking pictures!

Hopefully, I will visit the Tokyo Disney Sea and the parks in the USA and China in the future.

Overall, it was a good experience. It was nice to see new aesthetics, and I am happy about it, but I still felt a little underwhelmed by it because we got drenched by the humidity and the crowd at some point. Avoid going to the Park in the middle of summer if you can!

Of course, it has nothing to do with the actual Park, but those things can sometimes entirely change your experience of something.

Have you ever visited Disneyland, Tokyo/ Paris, the US, or maybe even China? Let me know! If so, what did you think about it?

Related Post :

• Tokyo Ultimate Travel Guide
• 10 Things To Love About Tokyo
• Themed Restaurant In Japan 
• Day Trip from Tokyo: Hiking Mt Takao
• Things to Know Before Visiting Japan

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One Day Tokyo Disneyland Guide

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✈ Best Travel Ressources To Plan Your Next Trip

✈ How To Find Flights?

– Skyscanner; it is a good comparator for finding the cheapest flights.
– Google Flights is also a good help when comparing flights.

✈ Where To Book Accommodations?

– Booking.com: plenty of options and ways to get discounts the more you book.

✈ Best Sites To Book Activities

– GetYourGuide when I can’t get a ticket directly on the website or if it’s easier to go through them.
– Klook if you need to book more than just activities and would like to get everything from the same website or different day trips—(i.e. transport cards, car rental, hotel…).

✈ Other helpful travel resources

– Radical Storage: If you need a place to keep your luggage for an extended period when you travel, I recommend using them.
– TheTrainline: If you love to travel by train like me, then TheTrainline needs to be your go-to website for train travel in Europe.

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