Tokyo Disney Itineraries

I'm trying to put Hong Kong in as a layover and not getting the best results. I originally thought we should hit all 3
parks in 2021. Now I have scrapped that and decided to put TDL back to back with our Hawaii trip next year and just
leave from the islands. I'm hoping that it is not too overwhelming. I'm still trying to squeeze HK in ...even for just a day.
That honestly sounds too stressful to me all for one day at HK. Maybe just wait and make it its own trip. The trip should be fun not stressful
 
Yeah i know that is why I'm seriously debating it. I have a friend that moved there and she is begging me to come even just
for the day. However tooooo many plane trips make me nervous. I didn't realize it was so far from Tokyo.
 
That honestly sounds too stressful to me all for one day at HK. Maybe just wait and make it its own trip. The trip should be fun not stressful

By the way how did you decide to do Disney first then your other places? Im thinking of Osaka first. Not sure why but my flight
has an option to stop there. Even when we get to Tokyo I was not sure the order to do Disney and may save it last.
 
That honestly sounds too stressful to me all for one day at HK. Maybe just wait and make it its own trip. The trip should be fun not stressful

Just wanted to say this: HKDL is really tiny and if you go on the weekdays, there won't be a line more than 30 min (and you'll be hard pressed to find that). It is totally doable in a day.

If you're planning a return trip to Asia someday, you can skip it, but for someone doing a bigger, longer Asia trip and planning to hit Shanghai, HK and Tokyo, it can be done.

I have a job where I really can't take more than a week off at a time, so I'm used to shoehorning side trips in here and there. Or skipping them entirely, which is why we've had 2 trips to Japan and never gotten outside of Tokyo yet.
 


Just wanted to say this: HKDL is really tiny and if you go on the weekdays, there won't be a line more than 30 min (and you'll be hard pressed to find that). It is totally doable in a day.

If you're planning a return trip to Asia someday, you can skip it, but for someone doing a bigger, longer Asia trip and planning to hit Shanghai, HK and Tokyo, it can be done.

I have a job where I really can't take more than a week off at a time, so I'm used to shoehorning side trips in here and there. Or skipping them entirely, which is why we've had 2 trips to Japan and never gotten outside of Tokyo yet.

Yes i have heard so many people say it is doable because it is so small. For someone that hates long plane trips (myself). The thought
of flying back is not appealing. I work with someone who had a 10 hour layover there. She didn't know what to do so her
and her BF went to HKD. She said the park was a piece of cake compared to the ones in the States. lol
 
Just wanted to say this: HKDL is really tiny and if you go on the weekdays, there won't be a line more than 30 min (and you'll be hard pressed to find that). It is totally doable in a day.

If you're planning a return trip to Asia someday, you can skip it, but for someone doing a bigger, longer Asia trip and planning to hit Shanghai, HK and Tokyo, it can be done.

I have a job where I really can't take more than a week off at a time, so I'm used to shoehorning side trips in here and there. Or skipping them entirely, which is why we've had 2 trips to Japan and never gotten outside of Tokyo yet.

Do you regret not going outside Tokyo yet? I actually would rather stay put also but hear from others about exploring other
areas. My kids have actually told me they want to do Disney and will pay to explore on their own when they are older. lol
 
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Do you regret not going outside Tokyo yet? I actually would rather stay put also but hear from other about exploring other
areas. My kids have actually told me they want to do Disney and will pay to explore on their own when they are older. lol

Not really. I mean, I'd like to, but then again Tokyo is so amazing and there's so many things I want to do there, that we just haven't pushed to get out of the city on those particular trips.
 


By the way how did you decide to do Disney first then your other places? Im thinking of Osaka first. Not sure why but my flight
has an option to stop there. Even when we get to Tokyo I was not sure the order to do Disney and may save it last.
We aren’t going to Disney first. We’re actually doing it last on our trip. We are doing Tokyo, then Kyoto and surrounding areas, and finishing with Disney
 
Not really. I mean, I'd like to, but then again Tokyo is so amazing and there's so many things I want to do there, that we just haven't pushed to get out of the city on those particular trips.

Honestly if it was up to my husband (and he is not even going) we should stay put at Disney and maybe venture some into the city.
Same with my kids and Mother n law who is going. He said there should be plenty to do in Tokyo. This is a gift trip from my dad to the kids so I
won't push going place to place if i hear whining.lol I do want to see SOME other things though.

**By the way love your screen name..its the scent of my favorite candle!:-)
 
We aren’t going to Disney first. We’re actually doing it last on our trip. We are doing Tokyo, then Kyoto and surrounding areas, and finishing with Disney

Yes i like that idea better. We may do that also. Trying to study the logistics of everywhere is a bit overwhelming. Sounds like you
got great advice here and can't wait to read your Trip Report!
 
Yes i like that idea better. We may do that also. Trying to study the logistics of everywhere is a bit overwhelming. Sounds like you
got great advice here and can't wait to read your Trip Report!
I got a lot of advice from here and I did a ton of research on my own. We used Japan guide, tdr explorer, and travel caffeine mostly to help us find places to go. We just picked interesting places or things to do and grouped them by area
 
Just wanted to say this: HKDL is really tiny and if you go on the weekdays, there won't be a line more than 30 min (and you'll be hard pressed to find that). It is totally doable in a day.

If you're planning a return trip to Asia someday, you can skip it, but for someone doing a bigger, longer Asia trip and planning to hit Shanghai, HK and Tokyo, it can be done.

So if HKDL can be done in a day, would 2 nights/3 days be long enough to see a bit of the city as well? And how long would you suggest adding on for Shanghai, just to see DL and maybe a few local highlights? I'm really trying to work out hitting all three Asian parks. I keep waffling about it, but while I plan to get back to Asia eventually, this will probably be the only time I'm there with both of my daughters so I think it would be really fun to hit all of the Asian parks.

We aren’t going to Disney first. We’re actually doing it last on our trip. We are doing Tokyo, then Kyoto and surrounding areas, and finishing with Disney

We're doing the same. Or the opposite. Tokyo itself will be on one end of the trip and Disney on the other. Which end the Disney part falls on will depend on our exact dates and whether we decide we'd rather see the Easter or Tanabata celebrations.
 
So if HKDL can be done in a day, would 2 nights/3 days be long enough to see a bit of the city as well? And how long would you suggest adding on for Shanghai, just to see DL and maybe a few local highlights? I'm really trying to work out hitting all three Asian parks. I keep waffling about it, but while I plan to get back to Asia eventually, this will probably be the only time I'm there with both of my daughters so I think it would be really fun to hit all of the Asian parks.



We're doing the same. Or the opposite. Tokyo itself will be on one end of the trip and Disney on the other. Which end the Disney part falls on will depend on our exact dates and whether we decide we'd rather see the Easter or Tanabata celebrations.
We did Disney last because we land on a Tuesday. We also put it last because I know for a fact I’ll be getting lots of merch there
 
So if HKDL can be done in a day, would 2 nights/3 days be long enough to see a bit of the city as well? And how long would you suggest adding on for Shanghai, just to see DL and maybe a few local highlights? I'm really trying to work out hitting all three Asian parks. I keep waffling about it, but while I plan to get back to Asia eventually, this will probably be the only time I'm there with both of my daughters so I think it would be really fun to hit all of the Asian parks.

We had almost 2 full days in HK and easily could have done another. We didn't get into the city of Shanghai, but I would guess a couple days to hit the highlights would be sufficient. Depends, of course, on how much time you're taking off.
If you're asking which city would you be better off shifting the bulk of city exploring time in, I'd definitely say HK. HK is just so much easier as well from an internet and drinking water perspective.
 
We had almost 2 full days in HK and easily could have done another. We didn't get into the city of Shanghai, but I would guess a couple days to hit the highlights would be sufficient. Depends, of course, on how much time you're taking off.
If you're asking which city would you be better off shifting the bulk of city exploring time in, I'd definitely say HK. HK is just so much easier as well from an internet and drinking water perspective.

Thanks. Just from the little bit of research I've done so far, HK does seem like the more tourist-friendly city. Whether or not I can take enough time off will ultimately decide if we can fit in all three, or HK and Japan, or just Japan. But I won't know that for a while yet, so I'm kind of researching all the options now and will narrow it down later. Obviously Shanghai will be a relatively quick stop because of the 144 hour visa exception, but I was thinking maybe two days for DL and two days for real-world sightseeing. Ideally, we'll have the same for Hong Kong.
 
Our flight in arrived fairly late, and our flight out left pretty early, so we had five nights and four days in Hong Kong. We spent two days seeing Hong Kong and two at Disney and could have used a few more. I would recommend at least four days in the Hong Kong area. You can probably see all of Hong Kong Disneyland in a day if everything goes well, but if you run into unexpected crowds or bad weather you might miss a lot. We didn't get much done our first day at the park because of prolonged downpours.

I haven't been to Shanghai but I think you'd also need at least four days there. And I wouldn't want to spend less than 6 days in Tokyo, four at Disney and two seeing highlights in the city. So at least 14 days, plus two travel days, to do the three Asian Disney parks plus some of the nearby cities.
 
@Haley R when are you going to Japan? We are going on May 29th or May 30th (have 2 flights booked until we know when dd will be done with school)! We're only spending 2.5 days in the parks -- that's why the FPs (3A and 12D for each of us) from ABD are so important to us! Like you I know I'll be buying a lot of merchandise in the parks (several pins to enhance the collection).
 
@Haley R when are you going to Japan? We are going on May 29th or May 30th (have 2 flights booked until we know when dd will be done with school)! We're only spending 2.5 days in the parks -- that's why the FPs (3A and 12D for each of us) from ABD are so important to us! Like you I know I'll be buying a lot of merchandise in the parks (several pins to enhance the collection).
We’re going may 26-June 15.
 

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