Our DIY Japan Vacation (Itinerary and Expenses) ~ TeamPetilla Conquers Tokyo Japan

As promised sharing here our family's 7 days Tokyo Japan itinerary and expenses.  If you are traveling with children, I think you would find this itinerary (hopefully) useful.  Cheers and happy Tokyo Trip planning :

We have always wanted to go to Japan and seeing friends and officemates conquer the big "J", we thought it was time to bring #TeamPetilla there.

Expenses depends on where in Japan you wanted to go, when and what activities you have planned. Here are some of the questions to help you in your planning:

QUESTION 1:  Where in Japan?

We initially planned a 2 cities trip (Osaka and Tokyo).  We thought Japan is just a small country and travel from Tokyo to Osaka and back would be easy. We were down hearted to learn that these 2 cities are 4 hours apart by train.  

I did an easy computation and figured we would be wasting a good 8 hours on board a train just to cover these 2 cities together.   Since we have been to the Universal Studio in Singapore a couple of times before, we thought Harry Potter could wait another year or so... (translated to more reasons to  come back to Japan) - we dropped Osaka and focused our trip on Tokyo.

QUESTION 2: When to go?

Point 1: This question was easy for us, though we wanted to see and feel snow, we were scared that it would be too cold to tour around and could end up stuck in a hotel. 


Point 2: Hubby wanted to see Sakura (Cherry Blossoms), but I have read tourist attractions would be too crowded and accommodation prices double during Sakura season.


Point 3:  School starts in June. 

So we've decided the best time to go was in April right after Sakura season, revelries would have died down by then and if we are lucky there would still be some Sakura trees in bloom.  It would  be spring then so, weather would be perfect (we were expecting 14-18 degrees).

QUESTION 3: What do we want to do?

As we were travelling with children ages 12 and 7, our activities were more of the things our kids would enjoy.  That means, less shopping and sight seeing  and more on theme parks and museums (my boys love museum hopping ~ check here of favorite museums: MUSEUMS WE LOVE). 

Here is a breakdown of our expenses. 

Note: Reflected cost is cost for 4 persons. I used Php0.40 per 1JPY conversion.

ROUNDTRIP AIRFARE: P20K/person depending on your choice of airlines.  We took Philippine Airlines.

POCKET WIFI: P5K for a 7 days rental of a 75Mbps Standard Wifi  (data usage 10Gbytes). A Pocket Wifi is really essential if you have plans of navigating Tokyo's intricate train system. We pre-ordered the unit online and picked it up in the airport.   

ACCOMMODATIONS: P68K 
4nights in an Asakusa condominium booked via AIRBNB - P30K

2 nights in Tokyo Disneyland Hotel: P38K (I know it was really expensive staying inside the Tokyo Disneyland Resort, but the experience was real worth it).

DISNEY THEMEPARK ENTRANCE: P23K

Multi-Pass 3 days Disney Sea and Disney Resort passport (Adult Y16600 / Junior Y14400 / Child Y10700) - I bought this online together with our hotel booking.

Day 1 - Asakusa

What	In Yen	In Php
Transfers (Haneda Airport to Asakusa Station via Keikyu Line)	3120	1248
Senso Ji Temple	Free	Free
Nakamise Dori	Free	Free
Kapabashi Dori	Free	Free
Don Quiote - shopping (Jabra Stealth bluetooth earpiece)	8000	3200
Dinner at home (bought packed meals from 711)	1400	560
Lunch at Okonomiyaki Sometaro	2000	800

Day 2 - Odaiba

What	In Yen	In Php
Transfers (Asakusa Station to Odaiba via Ginza Line, then transfer to Yurikamome Line) - two way	4320	1728
Breakfast at McDonalds	1200	480
Miraikan Entrance (Adult Y620 / Child Y210)	1660	664
Gundam Front	Free	Free
Lunch at Diver's City Foodcourt	2000	800
Hello Kitty Café
- ice cream	1280	512
-"pasalubong backpack"	3400	1360
Daiso - various items (cost per item is Yen100, roughly P40)	600	240
History of Car Garage	Free	Free
Toyota Mega Web	Free	Free
Statue of Liberty, Aqua City	Free	Free
Joypolis Amusement Park, Decks (Night Passport Adult Y 2900 / Child Y1900) - foreign passport holders gets additional Y300 off (applicable for adults admission only).  Hubby does not want to ride and opted for an admission only tickets worth Y800)	7200	2880
Odaiba Chrome Shopping Center (good place for souvenir shopping). I bought rice crackers and a cap.	1200	480
Dinner at Takoyaki Museum	1000	400

Day 3-  Nikko

What	In Yen	In Php
Nikko Kinugawa Themepark Pass (Adult Y6180 / Child 3250)	18860	7544
Lunch at Edo Wonderland	3900	1560
Dinner at home (bought packed meals from 711)	1400	560

Day 4 - Ueno

What	In Yen	In Php
Transfers (Asakusa Station to Ueno via Ginza Line) - two way	1360	544
Breakfast at HardRock	4000	1600
Ueno Park	Free	Free
National Museum of Nature and Science (Adult Y620 / Child - free)	1240	496
Rental of English Guide (Y310 each we rented two)	620	248
Lunch at the National Museum	2440	976
Ameyoko Market (best to do your pasalubong shopping here - cheaper and with plenty of choices)
- bought "pasalubong"	4000	1600
- bought travel bag (too much pasalubong so little space :P)	6000	2400
Dinner at Fridays	5000	2000

Day 5 and 7 - Tokyo Disney Land / Day 6 - Tokyo Disney Sea
Only noteworthy expenses we had at TKDL and TKDS are out meals :P

What	In Yen	In Php
Transfers (Asakusa Station to Tokyo Disneyland Resort via Ginza Line, then transfer to Keiyo Line) Y420  / Transfer (TDR to Haneda Airport via Keikyu bus)  Adults Y830 / Child 420	1680 / 2500	672 / 1000
Day 1 (breakfast) TKL Plaza Resturant	3000	1200
Day 2 (lunch) Sailing Day Buffet	10000	4000
Day 2 (dinner) Teddy Roosevelt Lounge	3500	1400
Day 3 (breakfast) Sherwood Forest	10000	4000
Day 3 (late lunch) - Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall	6000	2400
Popcorn Bucket	1600	640
Popcorn Refill (lost track of how many times we had a refill, but it was a lot and enough to keep my youngest busy queing in line)	510	204

*Excluded from above are our many mini-snacks here and there :P 

For more tips, check out my Tokyo Day 1 blog post.

See also helpful FREE mobile applications we used in our Tokyo trip: FREE MOBILE APPLICATIONS TO HELP YOUR PLAN YOUR PERFECT TOKYO VACATION 

DAY 6 - TOKYO DISNEY SEA

Today is a special day. It is my son's 12th birthday and one of the reasons why we pushed for a Tokyo Japan vacation.

Our itinerary for today is Tokyo Disney Sea (TDS),  

From Tokyo Disney Land Hotel, where we are staying we took a short train ride via the Tokyo Disneyland Station (We finally got to use our complimentary 3 days train pass, issued to TDL hotel guests) to TDS.

The train station is right in front of our hotel.

 TDS is the second door of Tokyo Disney Resort (TDR).  It was said, it was the costliest theme park ever built at $4B (about P188B).

 

It is huge and grand and huge (oh I already said that) ~ it is magnificently built, no wonder it cost so much.  

It has 7 uniquely themed areas called "ports of call":

Mediterranean Harbor

American Waterfront

Lost River Delta

Port Discovery

Mermaid Lagoon

Arabian Coast and

Mysterious Island.

TIP: If you are planning a visit, pre-download a map and plan an itinerary TOKYO DISNEY SEA MAP.

TIP: Wear really-really comfortable shoes (I cannot stress that enough).  

TIP: The Fast Pass System also works here at TDS.  So keep that in mind in your planning.

Here we are at TDS, the costliest theme park on earth (lol!)

The Disney Aqua Sphere behind us is one of TDS' famous iconic structures.

The park's entrance is the Mediterranean Harbor. 

Mt. Prometheus is TDS' icon. similar to Cinderella's Castle as TDLs.

  

Our first stop is the Mysterious Island.

 Journey to the Center of the Earth by boarding a subterranean vehicle.  This is a thrill ride by the way, so be careful of unexpected sudden drop deep into the dark caverns. 

Did I mention, my boys hate thrill rides... well I did not know this was one of them and sent my youngest to a verge of almost crying. 

Below is a before riding photo, you would not want to see an after....

  

After my youngest has rested and calmed down (I was really sorry), we headed to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  We get to tour the underwater world on board a submarine. Fortunately they liked this ride.

PORT DISCOVERY
While my youngest was resting, I went to the Port Delta to get an FP at StormRider. Riders here are enlisted to help destroy a deadly and powerful storm ~ so cool!. 

(I was unable to get good photos, so I got these from the TDL website)

Aquatopia is one of my youngest son's favorite rides.  It made me dizzy though.

From here, we boarded the Disney Sea Electric Railway (an elevated electric trolley) to American Waterfront.  I have pre-booked our lunch using Priority Pass (see tip below) at the Sailing Day Buffet.

TIP: Getting into one of TDR full service restaurants is quite difficult, especially during lunch and dinner time. Reservations is highly recommended.  If you are booked in one TDR hotels, make use of the Priority Pass privileges via the Travel Case system.

AMERICAN WATERFRONT

We had lunch at Sailing Say Buffet. I forgot the cost per person, but we paid Y10,100 for the 4 of us. Spread was not extra-ordinary but good.  It includes desserts, unlimited drinks, coffee and ice cream (the ice cream was one of the creamiest I have tasted, but not too sweet).     

After a heavy lunch we toured the American Waterfront a bit.  We rode the Big City Vehicle and gave Turtle Talk a try.

The Big City Vehicle was fine, but the Turtle Talk ~a chat with Crush, the turtle from Finding Nemo was purely Japanese (unless you understand Japanese, you can give this attraction a miss).

One of the Big City Vehicles, waiting for passengers.

At the back is S.S. Columbia a cruise themed fine dining restaurant.

 

From American Waterfront, we went back to Port Discovery via the Disney Electric Railway. The boys wanted to go back to the StormRider, but the queue was a bit long so we used the FP system.  Return time was in 3 hours, so we decided to explore the other ports.

LOST DELTA RIVER

This port features rides and attractions from the remote Central American jungle and ancient civilization.  We saw Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull and the Raging Spirit, both high speed thrill rides - hence, these were obvious pass.

MERMAID LAGOON
A.k.a. the World of Ariel and her aquatic friends.  This port has an indoor theme rides which caters to mostly younger visitors.

My 7 year old totally enjoyed the Mermaid Lagoon he rode ~ Flounder's Flying Fish Coaster, Jumpin' Jelly Fish Blowfish Balloon Race and the Whirlpool. He would have stayed there forever if he can :P

While there, we got a chance to watch King Triton's Under the Sea musical show at the Mermaid Lagoon's Theatre.

(I got these pictures from the TDR website, for your reference since cameras are not allowed inside the theater)

The port next to the Mermaid Lagoon is the Arabian Coast.


ARABIAN COAST

The Arabian Coast features rides from the Arabian Nights and Aladdin.

As we were already running a bit late for our FP at the StormRider, we were only able to squeeze in a few  rides and attractions from the Arabian Coast.

The Magic Lamp Theater, a magic show with Genie and my son's all time favorite ride Caravan Carousel.

 

    

We walked back to Port Discovery and chanced upon Mr. and Mrs. Incredible (Nice pair these two). 

We did the StormRider and the Aquatopia one more time and then headed back to American Waterfront to try our luck at the Big Band Beat ~ TRL fans rave much of BBB (however the boys were not keen on falling in line and waiting for the show)

See those people to the right camping? They are actually in line for the next show.

(If I have taken heed from online reviews ~ re: long line and waiting time, I would taken my chances in the Big Band Beat lottery held earlier in the morning).

I so wanted to ride the Tower of Terror, but my boys had other plans.  For now I had to content myself to a photo in front of the Tower of Terror Hotel :P 

My youngest took this photo (and instructed me to look scared) after taking my photo, he exclaimed "Ma, you can never be an actress, you don't look scared at all!"

 

My boys did not mind waiting in line for Toy Story Mania, though.  This is the longest we've waited in line at 80 minutes for a 5 minute attraction ~ I really felt I should have just insisted on Big Band Beat.  

Some sweets while we wait... to keep our energy up.

Toy Soldiers making our waiting bearable :P

Finally... inside

The highlight of our Tokyo Disney Sea is the Fantasmic parade on the waters of the Mediterranean Harbor.  However, I don't have a photo as I was concentrating on taking a video. 

(I will also link the YouTube post here once uploaded.) 

Overall, I could say Tokyo Disney Sea (TDS) is one of best theme parks I have been to.  I personally think it is more grand than Tokyo Disney Land (TDL), however, compared to it's sister TDL, TDS caters to a more adult clientele. 

My children prefers TDL over TDS. Hence, the choice Themepark for Day 3 of our 3-Day Magic Passport Pass at TDR is TOKYO DISNEY LAND.

Check here for the rest our Tokyo Japan adventure:

DAY 1 - ASAKUSA

DAY 2 - ODAIBA

DAY 3 - NIKKO

DAY 4 - UENO

DAY 5 - TOKYO DISNEY LAND

See also our DIY Tokyo Japan budget and expenses:
TOKYO JAPAN BUDGET  

DAY 5 - TOKYO DISNEYLAND RESORT (Part II -TeamPetilla conquers Tokyo Disney Land)

Tokyo Disney Land (TDL) is huge.  And you need at least two (2)  days to fully enjoy it.  Since we only have 3 days at TDR, we researched and planned (or least tried to) our itinerary.

TIP: Check out the Park Operation Schedule before heading to TDL. Opening time varies from 8-930 am and closes at 10pm.

I have pre-downloaded Tokyo Disney Land map from the Tokyo Disney Land website to familiarize ourselves with the attractions and identify the rides we were interested in.

TIP:  Learn to use the Fast Pass (FP). Disneyland Resort's Fast Pass system is the best invention ever. 

Upon entering the park, I went to (well it was more of ran to)Monster Inc. Hide and Go Seek (an FP attraction) had our tickets scanned and received FP tickets for return after an hour. 

We used our free time lining up for Star Tours.  When we finished  Star Tours, our Monster Inc. Hide and Go Seek was just about ready.


TDL is divided into six (6) lands.  We worked our way counter clockwise from WORLD BAZAAR (a line up of Victorian styled shops and restaurants) starting off with Tomorrow Land.

TOMORROW LAND

Star Tours

This is our family's favorite ride.  I think we lined up for this attraction 5 times.

We are boarding one of these aircrafts.

C3PO was our pilot. My 7 year old was amazed having him fly the aircraft.

Monster Inc., Ride and Go Seek  

Caught on camera :P

 

Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters

Grand Circuit Raceway

We never minded the Stitch Encounter as it was only in Japanese.  We also skipped most of the thrill rides since my boys hate them.

TOON TOWN
The Toon Town caters to mostly younger park guests.   I accompanied my 7 year old to the Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin (a cab that spins as you help Roger Rabbit run after the bad guys).  

There were so many kids at Toon Town, we decided to leave this land early and moved back to Tomorrow Land to watch One Man's Dream II - The Magic Lives On at Show Base. The show is a mix-match of Disney's All Star Characters.

FANTASY LAND

Next to Toon Town is Fantasy Land.

My boys accompanied me see Cinderella's Castle.

My youngest loves horses, so the Castle Carousel Ride was an obvious must in our checklist.

Its A Small World

Haunted Mansion
Also one of my family's favorites,  is a ride inside a haunted Gothic Mansion. 

The garden leading to the mansion is creepy ~ with tomb stones of dead relatives and animals.

The point of no return.

 
The spooky mansion left us hungry and famished.  So lunch was at the nearest restaurant we can find - Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall.

  

CRITTER COUNTRY

Next to Fantasy Land is Critter Country. It is fairly small park (I would not have known we were already there if not for the map I was holding).


WESTERN LAND
From Critter Country we went to Western Land, where we watched the Country Bear Musical Theater. I would be honest in saying the show is just good for resting your tired feet. I almost fell asleep watching this one.

ADVENTURE LAND
Following Western Land is Adventure Land.

From here we took the Western River Rail Road. It is a real steam train that takes guests on a trip around the wilderness.

After the train ride, we went to the Enchanted Tiki Room to watch Stitch Presents "Aloha E Komo Mai!". 

One of the highlights of our TDL trip is the Easter Parade.  Which was such a big thing for the Japanese TDL fans.  They would literally reserve their places hours before the parade starts.  It was honestly one of the most colorful parades we have seen.

With extra hours left, we were able to go back to  our favorite rides at Fantasy Land and Tomorrow Land.  Unfortunately we were too tired to wait for the Grand Fireworks display.  

Our TDL Hotel room awaits our tired - tired-tired bodies.... TOKYO DISNEYLAND HOTEL