Tokyo Disney Resort : Japan Travel Diary, Part Three |Love Miss Walker

"I only hope we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse" - Walt Disney

Disney. This to me is a symbol of happiness, joy & magic. I don't love it because it 'takes me back to my childhood' or makes me feel like a kid again. It just makes me happy. Plain and simple. Watching a Disney Film or entering a Disney Park is like swallowing a happy pill. The smile doesn't leave my face & nothing is wrong with the world for those hours spent within Walt's magical creations.
My Bucket list basically consists of visiting every Disney Park in the World (standing at 6/11 currently, hubby at 2/11...guess I'll just have to revisit a few. Shame!), seeing an Orca in the wild and that is about it. Adventurous, I know. This Japan Travel Diary instalment will cover the first initial stages of getting to Tokyo Disney Resort, Ticketing, Hotels and the basics. I will go into the Parks in depth in posts to come.

Hubby enjoying the Mad Hatter's Tea Party

We spent 5 days at Tokyo Disney Resort, which consists of 2 parks (Disneyland & DisneySea), 3 Disney Hotels, a Shopping area 'Ikspiari ', as well as 6 Official Disney Hotels. The Tokyo Disney Resort website is in Japanese, but translates fairly well to English in most sections.

Getting there
Hubby & I travelled from Osaka to TDR on the Shinkasen (Bullet Train). As I assume most people will arrive at Tokyo (Narita) Airpot, I won't go into this too much, except to say that it was a very easy & enjoyable experience. Very little English is spoken in Japan, with many not understanding a single word, so be prepared to become an expert in charades or learn some of the language yourself. We purchased tickets for the Shinkasen at the Shin-Osaka station and found our platform with ease. All train stations and airports have some English signage (numbers and text). If given the chance, a Shinkasen trip is definitely worth experiencing at least once in your life. It is super smooth & much more comfortable than a plane and regular trains.

Typical station signage. I love that the TDR poster is in the foreground. That wasn't even intentional.

We took the Shinkasen to Tokyo Station, which is the heart of the Tokyo train lines. It is big, fast, and if you don't know what to look for, confusing. It really pays to do your research prior to arriving at this station just in case you are unable to locate someone that speaks English. It was a fair hike to the next platform we needed to be at, and I highly suggest investing in good quality baggage with a spinning wheel system, as there are A LOT of escalators/stairs/lifts where you need to think quick and enter & exit swiftly.

JR Keiyo Line is the one you need to look for if traveling to TDR via train. It is red (all lines are coded with a different colour and if you know what colour you need to follow, the whole process is very easy), and is located 4 stories below ground. Tokyo Disney Resort's Station is named Maihama, and is about 15 minutes out of central Tokyo. Once you have spotted that on the overhead screens you know you are on the home stretch!

Gateway to where dreams come true

Bon Voyage Disney Store

All in the details.

Arrival

Possibly one of most exciting parts of a Disney Vacation (or any Vacation for that matter!) is just before you arrive. The anticipation & the excitement is a feeling I wish I could bottle and sell. I'd make millions. You know when you have arrived as the train will completely empty and you would have seen the sights out the window upon approaching. Maihama is a small station and easy to get in and out of. If you are unsure whether you have paid the correct fare to cover the distance travelled, there are fare adjusting counters and machines at exit points.

From this point, it depends what Hotel you are staying at as to what you will need to do next. If staying at the Ambassador or Disneyland Hotel, both are walking distance from Maihama. If you would prefer to catch the Monorail, that is a simple left turn out of the station, towards the Welcome Centre (here you can also get your luggage held & transferred to your hotel if you wish).

There are a variety of different ticketing options (1-time ride to 4-day pass) and the machines are easy to navigate and the tickets do not disappoint! (HINT: do not just walk to the closet ticket machine and purchase your ticket - the picture above the individual machine dictates which Disney character you will receive on your ticket!)

This was my pass for 4 days,. I love it more now that I have a kitten named Belle,
but if I was aware I could choose, I would have gone for a different one I think

There is no mistaking it : we have arrived!

Mickey Mouse everywhere!

We were at TDR during Halloween, incase you couldn't tell.

A peek at Mt Prometheus through the Mickey Mouse window

The Monorail station for the Official Hotels - not a bad view at all!

Where to stay
Now this is a decision that one will come to based on different factors such as Budget, Family needs, amount of 'Disney' one needs in a hotel etc. We stayed at Hilton Tokyo Bay, and I couldn't recommend it any more. TDR has 6 'Official' Hotels which are onsite and on the monorail line at Bayside Station. Most are in easy walking distance, but all have shuttle buses should the walk seem too daunting after navigating the parks all day.

Approaching the Hilton from the Bayside Station

Hilton Tokyo Bay

Our gorgeous room.

Our GORGEOUS view

We chose to stay in the 'Ocean King Celebrio Select' room. This is a premium room, but was still more affordable (just) than the Disney Hotels. Budget wise - we could have stayed in one of the Disney Hotels, but we decided we would rather have the extra money to go towards our daily expenses & souvenirs. If you decide to stay in one of these rooms as we did, you have a choice of Twin or King as well as Ocean or Park View. Now - the 'Park' view is more of a 'Car park/Monorail station' view with 'glimpses of Castle'. If this is your thing, then go ahead and book this side. However - the Ocean side view is absolutely breathtaking. It almost felt like we were on a Cruise, the water was that close.
The room itself is one the most spacious hotel rooms we have ever stayed in. We choose Hilton hotels quite often when traveling, as we are Hilton Honors members & we know that the service will meet our expectations & that the rooms will be clean & comfortable. Hilton Tokyo Bay has been by far our favourite Hilton Hotel. We were offered complementary breakfast each morning upon arrival, there are a number of eateries to choose from, as well as a Minimart style store to stock up on snacks, a Disney Fantasy Store & a ticket office where you are able to purchase your park tickets to save the hassle of lining up at the parks.
When we return to TDR (which we will at some point in our lives) we would not hesitate to stay here again.

Other Hotels
I can not comment on the other Official Hotels, as we didn't check them out in the slightest. We spent an afternoon exploring Disneyland Hotel, and my was it beautiful!! Everything is done on a grand scale and there are hints of Disney everywhere.

The beautiful Disneyland Hotel

Just Beautiful!

Just one of the gorgeous paintings in the hotel. Note the Halloween themed playing cards...They do not miss a beat here. Incredible.

I didnt notice until after I took the photo that there are Disney Icons embossed into the railing details.

Lady & the Tramp is one of my favourite movies. This would be amazing in a Child's Playroom

This Dollhouse was the absolute sweetest. Each room was themed to meet the requirements of different Princesses.

Snow White's room

Note the carpet: Magic Carpet from Aladdin. But the Darling Children's room

Cinderella

I felt a bit sorry for Ariel...

If you are not staying at Disneyland Hotel, I highly recommend popping in for a high tea or meal in one of the Restaurants. We did both and received amazing service and delicious food and beverages. Hot tip: the Mimosa's are amazing .
The other two option of Disney Resort Hotels are The Hotel MiraCosta which is located inside Tokyo DisneySea as well as the 'Budget' accommodation Disney Ambassador Hotel. We didnt visit either of these, but I have read only amazing things about MiraCosta. Imagine waking each morning and enjoying a coffee on your balcony with a view of Mt Prometheus. Pure Magic!

The Mimosa! (and a 'spoiler' on my finger...)

Ikspiari

We didnt spend as much time at Ikspiari as I thought we would. While at WDW in Florida, we frequented Down Town Disney almost every night and spent a lot of time there exploring. Ikspiari is really just a basic Shopping Centre, with a Disney Store at the end. We ate there on our first night (again, I thought we would frequent there for dinner most nights), but we found we ended up eating in the Parks most nights. They were just too amazing to leave. But it is handy to have makeup & beauty stores, book stores and other miscellaneous things you may need so close by.