Suppose Walt Disney World has essentially the most Byzantine set of insurance policies and protocol for accessing points of interest? Suppose once more. That set of park reservations, digital queues, Genie+ and Lightning Lane guidelines don’t have anything on difficulties of entering into Fantasy Springs, the brand new $2 billion port-of-call that includes Frozen, Peter Pan, and Tangled at Tokyo DisneySea.
The objectives of this publish are two-fold. First, to assist these of you who have already got plans get on as many rides as potential–hopefully all in a single day. Second, to steer you away from the “ugly” manner of accessing Fantasy Springs with cautionary tales about our personal days at DisneySea that have been “suboptimal” due to obsessing over Fantasy Springs.
We’ve been singing the praises of Tokyo DisneySea for over a decade, imploring anybody who will take heed to recapture the Disney magic by visiting Japan. And all of that’s nonetheless true. Maybe not as a lot because it was in 2019, however Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea are nonetheless Disney’s two finest parks on the planet. It’s additionally true that Tokyo Disney Resort has a studying curve, and one which has nothing to do with the language barrier. Whereas among the abilities Walt Disney World and Disneyland diehards have realized will translate, different points are distinctive to TDR.
To that time, it’s additionally price noting that there are different transferring components on prime of merely entering into Fantasy Springs and on points of interest. For instance, though Tokyo Disney Resort doesn’t have park reservations, they do at present solely promote single day tickets–and people promote out upfront now and again. As such, we advocate shopping for not less than a number of weeks upfront. (See Tokyo Disneyland Low cost Ticket Ideas.)
Similar to Walt Disney World and Disneyland, FastPass can also be lifeless at Tokyo Disney Resort. Nevertheless, not like these, there’s nonetheless a free line-skipping choice–together with a paid one like Lightning Lanes. (See our Information to (Free) Precedence Go & (Paid) Premier Entry at Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea.)
Lastly, though there aren’t any digital queues in so many phrases, Tokyo Disney Resort does use lotteries (formally referred to as “Entry Request” within the app) for choose character meet & greets and stage reveals in each parks. You’ll additionally want to make use of the app on sure events to enter outlets (often on/round launch day for seasonal merchandise or Duffy stuff).
All of that is nothing new. Fantasy Springs simply dials it as much as 11, and, in tandem with every little thing else, there are a variety of transferring items to plan round. In any case, let’s begin with a easy clarification of accessing the brand new port-of-call through a chart from Tokyo Disney Resort:
To enter Fantasy Springs and luxuriate in the brand new points of interest, a Standby Go (freed from cost entry) or Disney Premier Entry (paid entry) for eligible points of interest in Fantasy Springs might be required, along with a sound Park ticket for Tokyo DisneySea.
Standby Go is accessible on the Tokyo Disney Resort App, and friends can receive a Standby Go freed from cost after coming into Tokyo DisneySea. Visitors are capable of expertise any of the 4 points of interest at Fantasy Springs with a Standby Go. As soon as friends receive a Standby Go, they’ll have the ability to enter Fantasy Springs to discover the brand new space and expertise the chosen attraction at a chosen time.
No matter whether or not you’re making an attempt to attain free Standby Passes or paying for Premier Entry, we’d advocate prioritizing as follows:
- Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey
- Peter Pan’s By no means Land Journey
- Rapunzel’s Lantern Pageant
- Fairy Tinker Bell’s Busy Buggies
Disney Premier Entry is accessible for a charge, and friends should buy Disney Premier Entry utilizing the Tokyo Disney Resort App after coming into Tokyo DisneySea. Visitors are capable of expertise three points of interest at Fantasy Springs with Disney Premier Entry. Costs are as follows:
- Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey: 2,000 yen
- Rapunzel’s Lantern Pageant: 2,000 yen
- Peter Pan’s By no means Land Journey: 2,000 yen
With Disney Premier Entry for an attraction at Fantasy Springs, friends are capable of enter Fantasy Springs at a specified time to discover the brand new space and expertise the chosen attraction with a decreased wait time.
In different phrases, Disney Premier Entry is Tokyo Disney Resort’s model of a Lightning Lane and Standby Go is their model of a digital queue. There are distinctive wrinkles to it, however this isn’t all that a lot totally different from using TRON Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom. The most important distinction is that you simply want one of many two issues simply to entry Fantasy Springs in any respect. It’d be like not with the ability to enter Tomorrowland with out exhibiting a digital queue boarding group or particular person Lightning Lane.
As famous, Standby Go or Disney Premier Entry can be found after coming into Tokyo DisneySea. This implies a few issues. First, the already early-arriving crowd now arrives even earlier and camps out ready to enter Tokyo DisneySea. For those who’re questioning what time friends begin to arrive, sorry, we can’t reply that. We’ve got by no means–not as soon as–in our decade-plus historical past of visiting Tokyo Disney Resort been among the many first friends on the turnstiles. And in all probability, neither will you.
We’ve rope dropped Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea over 100 occasions at this level, and by no means have we been on the entrance of the pack. Nearish it, certain, however by no means at it. Primarily based on Japanese social media posts, I’m guessing that the road begins forming round 5 a.m., however that’s only a guess. I’ll by no means discover out firsthand.
The great (goodish?) information is that you simply don’t must completely forgo sleep in your trip to Japan and might as a substitute arrive round 6:30 a.m. In all probability even 7 a.m., or possibly 7:30 a.m. when you’re a gambler. Nevertheless, if it have been me and I solely had 1-2 days at Tokyo DisneySea and deliberate on shopping for Premier Entry or scoring a Standby Go, I’d line as much as enter the park no later than 6:30 a.m. Sorry, however that’s merely the most suitable choice.
The opposite excellent news is that Tokyo DisneySea sometimes opens sooner than the revealed opening time of 9 a.m. The time varies from day after day and is pushed by demand. That is really the case at all Disney and Common theme parks, and is a matter of crowd management and security. They don’t need congestion outdoors the gates to get too unhealthy, so early openings occur as a ‘launch valve’ on crowds. That’s additionally why the time is seemingly random. It may very well be 8:09 a.m. at some point and eight:27 a.m. the subsequent.
Earlier than common park opening, there’s additionally Completely happy 15 Entry for friends of Lodge MiraCosta and Fantasy Springs Lodge, which gives friends of those two on-site lodges (and now solely these two on-site lodges) quarter-hour of early entry to Tokyo DisneySea. It might seem to be a minor factor, nevertheless it’s an enormous benefit–particularly given strains to enter the park.
All of for this reason we borrow a phrase from my military-man father in the case of rope dropping TDR: “For those who’re technically early to park opening at Tokyo Disney Resort, you’re late.” Very a lot applies right here.
The top results of Tokyo DisneySea opening earlier than its formally revealed time and the early-arriving crowd of TDR followers and locals is that each free Standby Passes and paid Premier Entry is offered out earlier than 9 a.m.
Accordingly, it’s good to arrive early and make your trip reservations the second you scan into the park. There’s a cause everybody stops of their tracks in Aquasphere Plaza to ebook the free Standby Go or purchase Premier Entry–it’s crucial that you simply do that earlier than heading to your first attraction of the day. Don’t make the error of making an attempt to ‘kill two birds with one stone’ by racing to a trip and reserving whereas in line. That’s an okay method for Tokyo Disneyland, however not Fantasy Springs.
Right here’s a take a look at when every Fantasy Springs attraction offered out from one among our favourite Tokyo Disney Resort data-tracking accounts:
#ディズニーシー今日の待ち時間
【6/17 曇り時々晴れ】先週よりスタンバイパスの発行終了が早まると同時に、待ち時間が激減しました
昨日のシス調(4時間超え休止)も影響してるのか、明らかに発行数を減らしたかんじです！パーク自体は昨日よりやや混雑し、他のアトラク待ち時間は長めでした pic.twitter.com/AZowPwP5Ai
— Disney Colours – クロロ (@DisneyColorsJp) June 17, 2024
For these of you who’re planning a go to to Tokyo Disney Resort a number of months to a 12 months down the highway, I’d extremely advocate following the Disney Colours account and seeing how these occasions change. Whereas it’s true that Fantasy Springs nonetheless has the ‘new port-of-call odor’ proper now and that this can die down, don’t overestimate the extent to which that’ll occur.
TDR followers are essentially the most zealous Disney followers on the planet, and the Japanese seemingly have a far larger tolerance for ready in strains than Individuals. Different compounding elements are that pent-up demand remains to be a factor in Japan, Fantasy Springs is improbable, proper now isn’t even the busy season at TDR, and Annual Passes/multi-day tickets are each nonetheless suspended.
Suffice to say, we absolutely count on Fantasy Springs to be a difficult land to expertise 5 years from now. (Sure, actually.) The perfect comparability I can provide is to Common Studios Japan, the place timed entry remains to be in use for Tremendous Nintendo World and doubtless might be for some time. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter nonetheless used timed entry for over 5 years after it opened. It wasn’t a day by day incidence, nevertheless it did occur. The identical will most likely be true to some extent for Fantasy Springs in 2027 and possibly past.
In its official supplies, OLC already notes that “relying on the gang, you could possibly enter [Fantasy Springs] with out utilizing the standby or Disney Premier Entry.” This might imply that, going ahead, Standby Go for coming into the land received’t be turned on till Fantasy Springs hits capability. That is additionally how USJ makes use of timed entry for Tremendous Nintendo World. For those who arrive early sufficient, you’ll be able to head proper into the land.
For those who’re not an early chicken, all hope is just not misplaced! Similar to Lightning Lanes, there are trip reservation refills all through the day for the Fantasy Springs points of interest. In our expertise, this happens on among the half-hours. We’ve discovered that it’s very hit and miss. For instance, at some point, each single attraction had an enormous refill at 11:30 a.m. with near-immediate returns. On one other, a number of half-hours have been (seemingly) skipped totally. I assume there’s a components used that takes under consideration trip breakdowns, effectivity, and so on.
Nevertheless, like every little thing else, that is very a lot topic to vary. One large cause for these unannounced drops is to not utterly drawback friends who don’t arrive early–and never additional encourage that conduct resulting in a ‘spiral’ wherein followers present up earlier and earlier with a purpose to not miss out. As such, it behooves Tokyo Disney Resort to modify up the drop occasions in order that the facility customers don’t scoop up all of them.
I’d implore you to not rely too closely on these trip reservation refills, particularly in case your time at Tokyo DisneySea is proscribed. Whereas we’ve got a number of success tales with this, I wish to as a substitute share a cautionary story. One of many days we did Tokyo DisneySea, we arrived too late for the morning distribution of Standby Passes and Premier Entry. So as a substitute, we performed the refresh recreation, having success with the 11:30 a.m. drop for a midday return.
We entered Fantasy Springs instantly, having solely achieved 4 points of interest in Tokyo DisneySea previous to then, partly as a result of we’d been enjoying the refresh recreation even earlier than 11:30 am. After we did the trip we had booked, we wandered round Fantasy Springs, having fun with the land in between further cracks on the refresh recreation for added trip reservation refills.
On not less than 5 totally different events, I noticed one thing however was unable to seize it earlier than another person. On the time, a part of me blamed T-Cellular (a pure inclination when something unhealthy occurs) for our web connection being too sluggish. Then I began trying round on the half-hour, and observed that we very a lot weren’t alone.
Loads of presumably high-knowledge Japanese friends with (additionally presumably) succesful web connections have been additionally failing. (On a special day, we observed that the outside seating space for Snuggly Duckling was filled with friends doing precisely this. We made two separate visits to the restaurant for drinks that have been nearly two hours aside, and among the identical friends have been nonetheless sitting there, fixated on their telephones.)
This continued till round sundown after we lastly determined to chop our losses and do different issues in Tokyo DisneySea. (Be aware that you may re-enter Fantasy Springs when you rating one other Standby Go or Premier Entry. The explanations we didn’t depart have been eager to {photograph} the sundown and never eager to stroll all the best way out and again in.)
Level being, we spent about half the day in Fantasy Springs and solely had one trip to point out for it. I don’t wish to say that point was all wasted–as we did stroll across the land and had enjoyable, however we undoubtedly spent manner an excessive amount of time fixated on the app after we might’ve simply been having fun with the park.
For us, this wasn’t the top of the world. We’ve spent a ton of time in Tokyo DisneySea–together with 9 days within the final two months–and “researching” Fantasy Springs was our main focus at this level. For you, the chance value is doubtlessly far larger. I can say with full certainty that, irrespective of how a lot you’re keen on Fantasy Springs, doing one thing within the different ports-of-call beats refreshing the app in Fantasy Springs. Simply one thing to think about earlier than you spend your restricted time glued to your telephone.
For these with extra money than time, far and away the most suitable choice for accessing the land and its points of interest is the 1-Day Passport: Fantasy Springs Magic. This particular Tokyo DisneySea ticket permits unfettered entry to Fantasy Springs with out getting a Standby Go or buying Disney Premier Entry.
The brand new 1-Day Passport: Fantasy Springs Magic may be bought ONLY by Fantasy Springs Lodge friends or these utilizing eligible plans for the Tokyo Disney Resort Trip Package deal. This implies when you ebook a resort-only reservation for Toy Story Lodge or the MiraCosta, you can’t buy the 1-Day Passport: Fantasy Springs Magic. It’s just for Fantasy Springs Lodge or trip package deal friends of the opposite lodges.
The massive promoting level of the Fantasy Springs Magic Ticket is that it gives open entry to Fantasy Springs and is mainly an limitless FastPass for the points of interest. We wrote about our glorious expertise utilizing this ‘Golden Ticket’ in We Did 20+ Rides in One Day at Fantasy Springs through ‘Limitless FastPass.’ The title just about says all of it, however that’s price studying when you’re on the fence about this ticket.
The Fantasy Springs Magic Ticket is greater than double the price of a traditional Tokyo DisneySea ticket, nevertheless it gives super peace of thoughts. It allowed us to enter the brand new port-of-call within the first place with out fear. It enabled us to sleep in, as a substitute of getting up on the morning time and being zombies all day. It allowed us to have a carefree day, slightly than being glued to our telephones.
I’m unsure what the worth of the Fantasy Springs Magic Passport is to us, however undoubtedly far more than we paid for the Trip Package deal. We went from by no means doing the package deal to, at this level, by no means not doing it (not less than till the preliminary pleasure of Fantasy Springs dies down…so like for the subsequent decade?).
One other benefit of the Trip Package deal is that it means that you can enter the eating places (without spending a dime drinks) with out making a Cellular Order. That is vastly advantageous–and a perk that’s flying underneath the radar. In our estimation, the meals at Fantasy Springs is barely okay…however the themed design is beautiful. So exploring the eating places with out committing to a full meal, and as a substitute consuming elsewhere, is the best way to go. And you’ll solely try this with a Trip Package deal.
For those who’re touring internationally to expertise Tokyo DisneySea (presumably anybody studying this), making the splurge for the Trip Package deal with a Fantasy Springs Magic Ticket is very really helpful. Actually, I don’t understand how you even learn so far of the publish and conclude in any other case.
All the strategies earlier than this could sound annoying…as a result of they’re. They completely may be achieved–we did them, a number of occasions! However once more, when you solely have a day or two at Tokyo DisneySea and also you’re flying from the US or wherever…do you actually wish to threat it?
The entire cause we booked the Trip Package deal within the first place was as a result of we feared it could take 2-3 days to completely expertise Fantasy Springs with out it. Whereas we ended up not needing the security web, we didn’t know that moving into. If we needed to do it once more, we’d once more overpay for the Trip Package deal. With none hesitation by any means. It’s not even a remotely shut name for worldwide vacationers.
One closing advice I’d make, and that is certain to be a controversial one, is reserving Lodge MiraCosta over Fantasy Springs Lodge. Partially, it is a subjective one. We expect Lodge MiraCosta is far nicer and higher themed than Fantasy Springs Lodge. However this isn’t merely primarily based on our preferences.
It’s additionally price noting that the Fantasy Springs Lodge entrance closes promptly at 9 pm. That is one other factor that’s topic to vary–and we hope/assume it’ll change very quickly with destructive visitor suggestions. If not, meaning friends of the resort who plan on staying till the top of the night time might want to exit out the entrance and take the monorail all the best way round to get again to their resort.
Strategically, it additionally makes extra sense to ebook Lodge MiraCosta. Since you have already got limitless entry to Fantasy Springs and its points of interest, you don’t want proximity to the land. Having the in-hotel entrance to Fantasy Springs gives completely no benefit. Furthermore, that limitless entry additionally means it is best to resist the temptation of doing Fantasy Springs first.
Lodge MiraCosta is nearer to all the different high-demand points of interest in Tokyo DisneySea. Which means that when you’re going to reap the benefits of Completely happy 15, you’re popping out forward with the proximity supplied through Lodge MiraCosta. Your finest bets are going to be specializing in Hovering Implausible Flight, Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror, or Journey to the Middle of the Earth (in that order). Each single a type of rides is nearer to Lodge MiraCosta.
Lastly, and I can’t stress this sufficient, however Lodge MiraCosta is nicer. Possibly you’ve seen some fairly pictures or effusive reward for Fantasy Springs Lodge–which can also be harder to ebook proper now, however that’s on account of FOMO and the ‘new resort odor.’ (Additionally, there’s a superb probability the reward you’ve seen is from Westerners who’ve by no means stayed at Lodge MiraCosta–they don’t know what they’re lacking.)
Finally, there are a number of choices for accessing Fantasy Springs and getting on the points of interest, all of which have their very own upsides and drawbacks. Ultimately, I wouldn’t think about any of those good, unhealthy or ugly–they’re all a mixture of all three, relying upon your perspective and the way issues play out throughout your journey.
As might be clear from our enthusiasm, we expect the Trip Package deal is the most suitable choice…however even that has the ugliness of making an inequitable system that considerably benefits these spending the large bucks and disadvantaging common park friends. We used it with a “don’t hate the participant, hate the sport” mentality, however nonetheless hope Tokyo Disney Resort makes efforts to shut the hole on these choices and make entry simpler and with out such a steep studying curve.
Planning a visit to Tokyo Disney Resort? For complete recommendation, the very best place to begin is our Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea Journey Planning Information! For extra specifics, our TDR Lodge Rankings & Critiques web page covers lodging. Our Restaurant Critiques element the place to dine & snack. To economize on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Ideas for Saving Cash publish. Our What to Pack for Disney publish takes a novel take a look at intelligent objects to take. Venturing elsewhere in Japan? Seek the advice of our Final Information to Kyoto, Japan and Metropolis Information to Tokyo, Japan.
YOUR THOUGHTS
How will you try to entry Fantasy Springs and trip the rides? Will you be doing the Tokyo Disney Resort Trip Package deal to effectively expertise the brand new port-of-call? Or will you follow free Standby Go or paid Premier Entry? Ideas on rope dropping Tokyo DisneySea, Fantasy Springs Lodge vs. Lodge MiraCosta, or anything coated right here? Questioning how any points of visiting work? Interested in crowds or anything? What do you consider the Peter Pan’s By no means Land, Rapunzel’s Forest, and Frozen Kingdom? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation? Any questions? Listening to your suggestions—even whenever you disagree with us—is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
