advice about Tokyo pretty please

[Sinople]

Hi,
We are going to Tokyo for 8 nights in December.
There will be myself, my husband, DD (will be 4 during the trip), 18 month old.
I have a few questions, if anyone could answer any of them, or give any suggestions i would be very very thankful...

• where would you recommend i stay?? We have a fairly flexible budget, dont mind staying in a hostelly type place if its a good one, but equally dont mind paying for a more luxurious place if its worth it. My DD is a keen swimmer, so maybe a nice pool, although we could live without one.
• How much should we budget for food? id like to live on bento boxes and sushi for the week, as well as try anything else which is new and yummy (and ideally vegan)
• we plan to get a four day pass for disneyland. my DD will be four during this time, will we have to pay for her do you think, are they strick about the 4 yr old buying a ticket?
• how much will it cost to get a train from the city/hotel and Disneyland?
• Where else would you recommend us visiting?

Many thanks (im sure i have more questions but my 12mnth old would like some attention :) h

hi there
I am at work at the mo, and so will try and answer your questions later on.

hopefully, in the meantime someone else will be along

Accommodation is Tokyo is generally not cheap; I would look at Tripadvisor re the hotel accommodation.

You will need a ticket for your 4 year old:-
www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/en/ticket is the website you need to look at.

Train out to Tokyo Disneyland from the city (you need to get off the train at Maihama) is quick and efficient. Cannot give you a price though but our fare was covered by the Pasmo (Tokyo Metro) cards that each of us had.

You can walk miles in Tokyo, distances in stations can be vast particularly if you leave from the wrong underground exit.

many thanks.
Anybody have any specific hotel suggestions or any ideas about what we should do on the days that we are not in disneyworld?

We've been twice with our DC when they were younger (4yo/1yo & then 5yo/2yo).

The first time we stayed in a traditional hotel (think futons on the floor) for the first few days before moving into a serviced apartment. They were both great but the apartment meant we could eat breakfast & dinner in so it was a lot cheaper. Our last couple of nights were spent at the Park Hotel with a birds eye view of the city.

Our DD loved Hello Kitty land. We went up the Tokyo Tower and the Mori Art Gallery which was great for sunset views.

We also took a day trip to Yokahama. There's plenty of parks/temples to visit and my DH also had a look round the fish market. We also went to the Tokyo Motorshow!

On out second trip we flew into Osaka and spent a week there before taking the bullet train to Tokyo.

We didn't find food a problem though my DC are fairly adventerous when it comes to eating. We had friends in Tokyo so they took us to restaurants that normal tourist probably wouldn't go to (had some fantastic fresh sushi). The Japanese give water/green tea with most meals so we didn't spend a fortune on drinks

I'm afraid vegan food isn't a concept the Japanese are familiar with-sorry. Ditto vegetarians although it is possible.

Have a look at some of the museums like Ghibli or perhaps the parks. A river trip is fun, you can pick up a trip on the Sumida from Hamarikyu Gardens-try the green tea in the tea house in the lake, it's a great photo op in the city.

If you have time, take a day trip out to Hakone and see mount fuji.

Have a great time!

Tokyo is lovely, but forget about nice vegan food. My husband and I, both vegetarian, spent a few days there last year and we had to live on plain rice, fruit from the supermarket and seaweed wraps with rice inside. After Tokyo, we went to Osaka and the food was great. 100s of tofu variations everywhere

There is (or was) a nice veggie restaurant in Tokyo cos I went there. Can't remember where it was though, but it was in a shopping centre (as lots of restaurants are).

I ate better when I stayed with friends as they were able to recommend suitable restaurants. When I went on my own, meals were more hit & miss.
So do take note of any recommendations you get & write down EXACTLY where they are.

If you're strict about (eg) pork/fish stock you may struggle.

What's your Japanese like?

I love Tokyo but have never been with kids so can't help on that front.

Being vegetarian/vegan in Tokyo is possible, but difficult if you don't speak the language. I am vegetarian, lived in Tokyo for 11 years, speak & read Japanese, but eventually decided not to worry too much about whether or not there might be bonito flakes in the stock used to make miso soup or dipping sauce for tempura or noodles - it is very hard to avoid completely.

Conveyor-belt sushi places are often a good choice, as it's fun for the children and there are lots of rolls stuffed with cucumber, pickles, natto etc; egg sushi may have been made with stock containing fish-flakes. We often used to eat at soba noodle restaurants - buckwheat noodles and vegetable tempura (but again, dipping sauce may contain traces of fish). Tempura restaurants also good. We often used the Tenya chain of budget tempura places, where you can get a big bowl of rice topped with vegetable tempura for Y590.

In convenience stores, quite a few of the rice balls (o-nigiri) are vegetarian/vegan (eg stuffed with pickled plum or vegetables) but the labels are usually only in Japanese.

A four-day ticket to the Disney resort sounds a bit excessive, in my opinion. I have been to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea many, many times, and always found one day was enough to do most of the park, so two days for both. I think Tokyo Disneyland is smaller than the US versions. If you are only in Japan for eight days, devoting half of that to Disney seems too much - why not try to see some more Japanese sights?

In any case, if you are going in December, and avoid weekends/public holidays, the parks won't be too crowded and you shouldn't have to queue too long for the rides. We have often been on quiet days where you can walk off a ride and straight back on again with no queuing. However, if you are there over Christmas/New Year itself, the parks will be a nightmare.

Oh, and speaking of nightmares, there is virtually nothing that vegetarians can eat in either of the Disney parks, apart from popcorn and doughnuts. I used to smuggle in picnics - luckily they don't check bags too thoroughly.

For budget accommodation, the Toyoko Inn group is worth a look - they do family rooms, are not fancy, but are clean, modern and have everything you need, including a free breakfast buffet, and usually a laundry room on the premises, which is handy if you are travelling with small children.

Exciting! We're off in september/october with DD who will be 9 months. Ask me again then!

Anybody have any specific hotel suggestions or any ideas about what we should do on the days that we are not in disneyworld?

YES. Day trip to Kamakura. Some of the nicest shrines and temples in the greater Tokyo area and one of the two Great Buddhas. It makes a great photo and you can even climb inside it too.

There are plenty of tourists there, and the station staff speak a little English to point you in the right direction. But be warned, it gets crowded at weekends.

Kamakura should NOT be missed.

We went to Kamakura on our way to Hakone - we spent two nights in Gora. The sculpture park in Hakone is fantastic & your four year old will enjoy the giant knitted structure.