The Ultimate 1-Day Guide to Tokyo Disneyland
- Katina
- Apr 28, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 29, 2020
The first thing anyone who has ever visited Tokyo Disneyland will ever tell you is that it’s one of the most magical - and crowded - places in the world. There’s an abundance of classic Disney-themed rides, restaurants & shows to keep everyone of all ages entertained throughout the day but, being the third-most visited Disney-theme park in the world, Tokyo Disneyland can get busyyy. In order to get on all of the best rides, eat all the best foods & see all of the best shows Tokyo Disneyland has to offer, you will need to draw up a game plan before arriving at the park.
Below are my tips & tricks for planning the perfect day for your Tokyo Disneyland visit AND the ultimate guide to experiencing, eating & seeing all the best that Tokyo Disneyland has to offer in a single-day.
The (3) Steps to Planning the Perfect Day @ Tokyo Disneyland
Every day can be perfect day to visit Tokyo Disneyland but some days are definitely more perfect than others. The amusement park has high attendance year-round but visitor attendance can fluctuate. On quieter days, Tokyo Disneyland can host anywhere from 32,000 - 36,000 visitors; on busier days, the numbers will skyrocket to 50,000 - 64,000 visitors. The big difference in daily visitor attendance means wait times for the best rides, restaurants & shows can fluctuate from 15-50 mins (on quieter days) all the way to 45-120 mins (on busier days).
The first step to planning the perfect day at Tokyo Disneyland is to plan on visiting the park on a quieter day. This generally means: going to visit the park on an ordinary week day (where all the locals are too busy with school & work to be there with you) rather than a weekend or a holiday; and planning to visit the park on a cooler, cloudier day, rather than a warm, sunny day (because season pass holders are less likely to spontaneously show up at the park on colder days when they can instead choose to visit once the weather is nicer).
For the most accurate forecast of visitor attendance by day for the upcoming year, visit: http://www15.plala.or.jp/gcap/disney/ *
* you will need to “Google Translate” the entire page (from Japanese to your desired language) but then you can scroll around & see the predicted number of visitors, the weather & the opening hours for each day in the next upcoming year.
The second step to planning the perfect day at Tokyo Disneyland is to purchase your admission tickets online at https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/ticket/index.html. This will allow you to skip the ticket line & immediately join the security lines in front of the park gates. Just be sure to have your ticket printed & in your hand, ready to be scanned when you get through security. (Unlike most Disney-theme parks that have gone digital, Tokyo Disneyland still uses paper tickets for everything!)
The third step to planning the perfect day at Tokyo Disneyland is to plan on showing up at the park first thing in the morning - and this doesn’t mean showing up at the gates when the park is supposed to open... this means showing up an hour or so before that. I know, this sounds crazy but trust me on this one: hundreds of eager, dedicated Disney fans line up at the gates that early every single day; once the gates open, everyone darts for the FastPass machines to reserve one of the limited number of seats for their favourite ride. If you’re late showing up at the gate, most of the early reserved times will be gone and the time for your first FastPass could be 3 hours away, rather than 1 hour away (thus making it impossible for you to use all 3 of your allotted FastPasses in a single day).
pro tip to maximizing your Disney morning: eat breakfast before showing up at the park & then have a larger mid-afternoon lunch.
The Ultimate 1-Day Tokyo Disneyland Itinerary
In this sample itinerary, the park’s opening hours are 9:00 to 22:00.
Please download the park map @ https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/tdl/map/ to follow along the planned route.
8:00 - arrive @ Tokyo Disneyland with tickets in hand
9:00 - gates to the park officially open
💃🏻 5 min walk towards Tomorrowland
9:15 - use ticket & grab FastPass for "Monsters, Inc. Ride & Seek" (121)
💃🏻 5 min walk towards Fantasyland
9:25 - "Peter Pan's Flight" (83)
💃🏻 5 min walk towards the next ride
10:00 - "Pooh's Hunny Hunt" (85) *
* if the wait for this ride is more than 30 mins, skip it & come back an hour before closing
💃🏻 5 min walk towards Toontown
10:45 - "Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin" (107)
💃🏻 10 min walk towards Tomorrowland
11:35 - use FastPass for "Monsters, Inc. Ride & Seek" (121)
💃🏻 5 min walk towards Fantasyland
12:10 - use ticket & grab FastPass for "The Haunted Mansion" (86)
💃🏻 5 min walk towards the next ride
12:20 - "It's a Small World" (78) *
* if you’ve already been on this ride before, consider substituting it for "Pinocchio’s Daring Journey" (84) OR "Snow White’s Adventure" (80) - please note: the wait times for these rides may be longer... if you choose to substitute "It's a Small World" for either of these rides, you may have to choose between skipping out on "Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters" or Mickey Waffles @ "The Great American Waffle Company" to get back on schedule later on.
💃🏻 5 min walk towards Critter Country
13:05 - eat lunch @ "Grandma Sara's Kitchen" (75) *
* I highly recommend the special set (that comes with a soup, a seasonal meat dish, a dessert & drink for 1580 JPY).
💃🏻 10 min walk towards Fantasyland
14:00 - use FastPass for "The Haunted Mansion" (86)
💃🏻 5 min walk towards Tomorrowland
14:40 - use ticket & grab FastPass for "Space Mountain" (119)
💃🏻 5 min walk towards the next ride
14:50 - "Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters" (120)
💃🏻 10 min walk towards World Bazaar
16:10 - snack on Mickey Waffles @ "The Great American Waffle Company" (18)
💃🏻 5 min walk towards Adventureland
16:45 - "Pirates of the Caribbean" (24)
💃🏻 10 min walk towards Tomorrowland
18:05 - use FastPass for "Space Mountain" (119)
side note: the wait time for Space Mountain may be longer than estimated if you are or someone that you're travelling with is over 6 feet tall - a Disney cast member will lead you & your group to a maintenance room to perform a height check (apparently the Japanese Space Mountain ride is smaller than the American one - who knew?)
💃🏻 15 min walk towards Westernland
18:50 - eat Japanese Curry @ Hungry Bear Restaurant (65) *
* Try the special curry (that comes with a seasonal meat & rice for 1280 JPY) - it's fantastic!
19:30 - find a cozy spot to sit along the marked parade path in Westernland & enjoy "The Electric Parade"
20:00 - snack on Curry Popcorn from the popcorn stand in front of "The Trading Post" (59)
💃🏻 10 min walk towards Cinderella's castle
20:20 - find a cozy spot to sit in front of Cinderella's Castle & enjoy the "Celebrate! Light Show on Cinderella's Castle"
20:50 to closing - circle back to "Pooh’s Hunny Hunt" (85) (if you missed it in the morning) OR spend the rest of the evening shopping for souvenirs to commemorate your perfect day spent at Tokyo Disneyland!
I hope these tips & tricks help to bring you one step closer to having the most magical day at Tokyo Disneyland!
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