Hello! Today I will be talking about my experience in being in Japan before school started! I arrived in Japan around mid-March, so I had around three weeks to explore Japan with some of my friends (also studying abroad from UH). To prepare for this, my friends and I actively searched through Instagram for fun activities and new restaurants to add to our list months before our study abroad. We also added these locations to Google My Maps (a website through Google where you can pin places in categories and then have them show up on one map to have a visual of the distance between the places you want to go).
During the week before my friends and I could move into our dorms/apartments, we stayed in an Airbnb. I have never stayed at any Airbnbs before, however, every Airbnb I stayed at in Japan has been amazing. The responses from the hosts and the quality of the rooms were so good! I really suggest staying at Airbnbs if you are going on a weekend trip or doing a break (like Golden Week), especially if you are going to be with friends since you can share the costs. I always watch for the places with good reviews, and it is also good if you can find a Superhost (which is a bit more credible).
During these first three weeks in Japan, my friends and I were pretty on-the-go the whole time! We explored the sights, restaurants, and shops in all the main cities of Tokyo, including Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, Ikebukuro, Asakusa, Ueno, Ginza, Shin-Okubo, Meguro, and more! It was a crazy schedule that I planned, but we had a lot of fun and ate great food! Of all these places, one of my favorites was Harajuku! It was busy, but I loved shopping at all the cute stores and eating the many desserts they serve (especially crepes!). It also had a Gyukatsu, which is a grill-your-own beef katsu restaurant, and it was so good that I went 11 times so far! My friends definitely know I am obsessed with this restaurant.
Another fun experience that I had was going to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea (Disney Sea is exclusive to Tokyo). My friends have come to realize this, but I LOVE DISNEY. I am absolutely obsessed with Disney, but I have come to be even more obsessed with Disneyland (especially since I haven’t been there in years!)! I had a great time with all my friends, and we went on a lot of rides and ate a lot of churros! Here are a few tips that I have gained from the (as of now) 3 times I went to Tokyo Disneyland/Disney Sea so far:
- Get your tickets from Klook, as the Tokyo Disney app often denies US credit cards
- Since the park opens at 9:00am, I would start to line up at 7:45am since the train and entrance line gets VERY busy (I would go even earlier for Disney Sea)
- Go on a weekday, not a weekend if you want less of a crowd (you can also search the Tokyo Disney Crowd Calendar for the crowd estimation)
- Buy fast passes if you can (for high-priority rides), as it can cut down a 100-minute wait to 10-minutes
-You need to buy these fast passes on the app after you scan your ticket QR code to the app, but to buy these you need a credit card that the Tokyo Disney app allows
-This is very tricky, but my suggestion is that you just try out everyone’s credit card until one works! So far, only my Chase Sapphire and Chase Amazon cards have worked!
-You only can buy these passes 1 hour after purchase of the last one, or after you use the fast pass for one ride. So, I suggest you buy fast passes as soon as you enter the park (since you can upload your ticket QR code once you use it at the entrance to enter), so you can buy more passes sooner!
- If you want a good view of the parade, I suggest buying food/snacks/drinks an hour and a half early and then eating while you’re waiting for the parade to start
- Check the weather ahead of time, since if it is too windy, the Disney Sea water show and both park’s fireworks shows will be canceled :(
- Know what you want to do before you go to avoid wasting time and missing things (there are a lot of exclusive Tokyo Disneyland/Disney Sea merchandise and food so I would look up where things are ahead of time)
These are all my tips, so I hope these were helpful for your potential visit to Tokyo Disneyland/Sea!!!