There are a lot of tips, tricks & hacks articles out there for Disney’s Disneysea. Sure we read them while planning our trip to Japan, but getting up at 4am to beat everyone else whilst executing a military style raid on the best rides and fastpass tickets just didn’t sound like a lot of fun to us. We’re a normal family, the kids need a sleep in, they need food and going from park open to park close running the whole time just isn’t practical. It also just doesn’t sound like a great time.
So we decided to do Disneysea Tokyo all wrong to see what would happen. Simply put, we had the best time ever! Here’s how to avoid the hacks, tips and tricks at Disneysea whilst ensuring you actually get to have a good time whilst doing it all.
Common tip #1: Buy your tickets online in advance
What we did: We bought them on the day and headed straight there.
A lot of the sites recommend buying your tickets online in advance to ensure a) you can attend and b) you can arrive on the day without the stress of purchasing tickets. We arrived after open and one ticket line had no one, the other had 4 people. We actually decided the night before to attend Disneysea, and were able to secure tickets via our Hotel which was one of the Disney Resort approved hotels that following morning. The added benefit of guaranteed tickets and early entry can’t be denied. As a Disneyland Resorts guest you get premium access 30 minutes before regular park goers. A good perk if you like to get in early, but that wasn’t really for us. We just wanted tickets. Read on.
Common tip #2: Arrive early, at least 1 hour before open
What we did: We had breakfast at 10am, got ready and meandered in at around 11:30am.
All tips, tricks & hacks site reccomend you get to the park at least 1 hour prior to open, allowing you to be at the front to run once the gate opens. Doesn’t sound that great does it? We attended on a day projected to be normally crowded. How did we know? We used this calendar to see what the crowd was going to be like well in advance. If the day is going to be orange or red, otherwise known as extremely crowded, avoid that day. By turning up at 11:30am we didn’t queue on arrival, walking straight through to find our first ride. It literally took 5 minutes to enter the park. The added benefit? We loaded up on breakfast and the kids didn’t think about food until after 4pm that afternoon.
Common tip #3: Have a Fastpass plan and get the fittest/fastest person to execute it.
What we did: We lined up for our first ride which was the most popular, but then found an app!
Ok, this is where we thought we had come unstuck. We entered and headed straight to the Toy Story ride, otherwise known as the number 1 ride in the park. We thought we would get our fastpass ticket and then go to somewhere with no line. Here’s the thing, they closed literally as we walked up to the fastpass ticketing area. Had we been half an hour earlier, we would have had our fastpass tickets. So we joined the queue. It was advised to be 45 minutes, but actually turned into just over an hour. Now don’t be perturbed. Whilst lining up we thought there had to be a better way, then we found in the app stores apps with real time wait times for all of the rides at both Disneysea and Disneyland. Not only that, they show you projected lines over time, so you can pick the best times to visit. After that first line up, we then let the app guide us with a maximum wait from that point of just 20 minutes. Here’s a tip, if the wait is 20 minutes or less, it will be shaded, longer you will be in the sun most likely for some of your wait. Good to know for hot days like the one we had.
Common Tip #4: Print a map and draw out your plan ride to ride.
What we did: We used the app to identify the closest shortest line. Worked amazing.
As per the previous tip, the longest wait we had was 20 minutes. We were able to go from ride to ride having fun all day, simply by using our app. Not only did it have ride times and ride time projections, but it also included a map (along with our GPS location). After each ride we would just bring it up, look for the closest shortest line and headed there. We also got a map on entry which we used to ensure we went to all of the different Disneysea lands throughout the day. We did miss one ride that we would’ve liked to have done. It dropped to a wait time of 60 minutes late afternoon, but we just didn’t think a wait was worth it, especially with other rides being just 5 to 10 minute lines.
Common Tip #5: Secure your show seats early, 45 minutes or more.
What we did: We used the lottery and for others arrived for the parades at the last minute allowing us to get prime locations as walkways were closed.
Disneysea and Disneyland Tokyo are recognised as having some of the best parades in the world. They really are something else. It is widely suggested you go and sit in the open 45 minutes or more prior to the parade to ensure a great view of the parade. You can go in the lottery for great seats and locations for parades and shows, but not everyone gets one. We were lucky (hmmm….maybe – see the video!) to get prime spots for the Pirate Summer Show but missed all of the others. We wandered up at the last minute to the afternoon and night parades, and both times we did so just as the walkways were closed to allow the floats to pass. Once closed guests can fill up those areas. Time your run right like we did and you can get a comfy prime spot without the waiting.
Common Tip #6: Bring a bento, store food in lockers, sneak in snacks.
What we did: We wandered in to a restaurant at 4:30pm for lunch and found the meals, drinks and snacks throughout Disneysea incredibly reasonable.
There are picnic tables and lockers outside of Disneysea, and you can of course leave food and snacks and pop out at any time. But the park is incredibly big, and heading back and forth would be incredibly annoying. What we fond though was the meals inside the park were incredibly reasonable, no different to Bentos you could purchase from Convenience Stores prior to attending. Most meals were around the 800 yen to 1000 yen mark, which compared to many other places were incredibly reasonable. Drinks were just 200 yen for a full bottle of soft drink or water from vendors throughout the park. Popcorn and other snacks were around 500 yen for family sized boxes. Enjoy your visit, purchase as you go, and you’re not going to be done over once inside. By the way,the meals were fast and great!
There’s so many articles out there on what you should do when you go to Disneysea or Disneyland. Yeah, you could do all that and yeah you probably would get to do all of the rides, perhaps multiple times. But how much fun would that be for a family? Fight the tips, tricks and hacks and be yourself. It’s still great, you get to do a heap, and we loved it.