How to Maximize Your Time at Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea
Tokyo Disney Resort is a magical place with so many fun things to do whether you enjoy rides, shows, meet and greets or more! But similar to all Disney parks, there’s simply so much to do you might not be able to get to everything you want to do in a single day!
Having been to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea my fair share of times at this point, here are my best tips for making the most out of your trip to the Tokyo Disney parks!
These tips are focused on ways to maximize your time without spending additional money, but I’ll include a couple more at the end for if your budget allows for some additional spending!
General Tokyo Disney Resort Tips
Tip #1: Get to the park entrance as early as possible
If there’s any park where it’s important to arrive as early as possible to get the most out of the day, it’s a Tokyo Disney Resort park!
Lots of people arrive to the park entrances as soon as the subways are running, AND both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea will sometimes open before the posted park opening times (usually 9:00AM). So the earlier you arrive the more likely you’ll be able to get into the park as soon as it opens.
This is crucial for a couple reasons:
If you are in the park early, you can get to your first ride or attraction right away, and this is the best chance you’ll have at having the shortest wait time during the day, especially for popular rides like The Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast and Tokyo Disneyland.
You can make entry requests for shows, reserve Disney Premier Access passes, or book standby passes through the Tokyo Disney Resort app only after you’ve been scanned into the park. If it’s particularly busy or if there’s something that’s in high demand (like entrance to Fantasy Springs prior to January 2025), those passes can quickly run out. Even getting into the park 15 minutes after the park opening could mean that you missed some standby pass request opportunity :(
This happened to me on my trip to Tokyo DisneySea during Christmas 2024. I had a breakfast reservation that had me arriving to the Tokyo DisneySea entrance around 7:15AM. The Lil Ring Ring capsule toys were only available through standby pass and due to the crowds, I didn’t get into the park until 9:15AM. By the time I scanned in, all the standby passes were gone and I wasn’t able to get any capsule toys.
If you’re staying in the more metropolitan areas of Tokyo (like Shinjuku, Chiyoda, etc.) you’ll have to wake up quite early, as the first train out of Tokyo Station leaves around 5:00AM. That’ll get you to Tokyo Disney Resort around 6:00AM which is a pretty good time to arrive. I’ve done this every time I visit Tokyo Disneyland and have always been close to one of the first people at an entrance gate.
Tip #2: Scan your park tickets into the Tokyo Disney Resort App before entering the park
If you’re following Tip #1, you’ll have plenty of time to scan your tickets into your Tokyo Disney Resort app (if they’re not already there). Make sure that all your party’s tickets are scanned into your app to make it super easy to make entry requests, get your standby passes, or get your DPA passes.
Particularly if you’re going for something in high demand, you’ll want to get on your app as soon as everyone’s scanned in to grab your passes.
As an additional tip here - try to get everyone in your party to get the app and join your group so that they all also have access to the passes on the app. This will allow everyone to attempt to get passes because you never know when your phone reception might fail you.
Tip #3: Decide your first attraction/restaurant/activity before entering the park and plan your route
Here’s another thing you can do while you’re waiting to enter the parks at 6 in the morning!
Take a quick peek at the park map in the app so you know where your first attraction is and the best way to get there!
Both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea have a few windy paths to different parts of the park, so you’ll want to know ahead of time where they might be if you’re trying to beeline toward an attraction. This is especially helpful if you’re heading somewhere further from the entrance like The Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast in Tokyo Disneyland or Fantasy Springs in Tokyo DisneySea.
Lots of people at opening will run or rush toward their first attraction (cast members are literally placed along the routes to ask guests to slow down!), so it can be pretty intense!
Here’s an example of how I would route from the Tokyo Disneyland entrance to The Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast!
Tip #4: Offset your meal times by around 1 hour
Guests at Tokyo Disney parks are more than willing to wait in long lines, whether it’s for rides or for food. It should come as no surprise that peak mealtimes (like 12-1pm at lunch or 6-7pm at dinner) get particularly busy.
Eating your meals around 1 hour before or after peak mealtimes could help significantly with wait times! You could be waiting around 15-20 minutes instead of 50-60 minutes just by offsetting by 30 minutes to 1 hour. Plus, seating won’t be too difficult to find either!
The experience may vary here depending on the season - lines could very well be busy no matter what time of day you’re eating, but chances are if you’re staying out of the peak mealtimes you’ll still be dealing with fewer people!
Tip #5: Mobile order for any food place that supports it
If the timing doesn’t work out and you end up needing to eat around peak mealtimes, I would recommend going the mobile order route for any restaurant that allows it. You can order ahead of time, choose the pickup time that best fits your schedule (as long as it’s available), and easily pick up your order when the time comes!
It’s super easy to place your order in the app, and very easy to make changes as well as long as you do so before your pickup time. You can adjust your order as well as the pickup time if plans change!
For someone who struggles with ordering in Japanese, I also like using the mobile order option so that I can choose my items with less pressure of in-person ordering.
Tip #6: Avoid the gift shops during the first and last hours of the day
If the shops are your first stop and you’re there right at opening, you might not have an issue with crowds. Otherwise, I would recommend avoiding the large gift shops during the first hour of the day. It’s typically packed with people trying to get cute merch to wear during the day so it’s hard to get through to even find the items you want.
The same can be said during the last hour of the day as well - usually full of people looking for goodies to take home!
But if you swing into the shops around mid-day you’ll find that it’s usually almost nearly empty, or as empty as it’s gonna get! You’ll have your pick of items and the cash registers are wide open so purchasing is quick and easy!
Tips that require additional spending
Tip #7: Book Disney Premier Access passes on the app
If you’re budget allows you to spend more money on your Disney parks trip, you could consider getting Disney Premier Access to rides and shows that you really want to experience without having to wait too long! This could be an option that allows you to do more without necessarily having to rush.
The prices for Premier Access varies by day, but during my visits, the passes were 2,000 yen per person.
For popular attractions, Premier Access passes and time slots do run out, so you’ll still need to get to the park early enough in the day to reserve your times.
Tip #8: Book a Tokyo Disney Vacation Package
As a foreigner who visits Tokyo Disney parks on occasion, I’m a newfound fan of the Tokyo Disney Vacation Package! I wrote a whole blog post about my recent experience here, so check it out if you want the details!
As someone who loves rides, the special attractions tickets offered by the vacation package I chose was a huge benefit to me and I loved all the perks of it! I like the attractions tickets offered by the package and that you get to reserve your time slot at the time of booking so that you don’t have to worry about it on the day(s) of your vacation.
For larger groups, this could be a decent deal since you’ll be able to split the cost of the room(s) across more people and planning for large groups is made easier by booking everything for everyone at once. For smaller parties (like groups of 2) it’s a bit more of a splurge, but if you get a lot of benefit out of it, I think it’s a nice little treat!
And there we have it! These are some of the tips that I think will help you manage the crowds and wait times at Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea! The crowds can sometimes be a challenge and can be a bit overwhelming, especially if it’s your first time visiting, but try applying these tips during your visit!
Hope you have the best time!
