During the 2025 Spring Festival, our family took a trip to Japan. Here’s an update on our Japan guide and our experience.

Preparation

To keep it simple, this is what we prepared. Apart from the required visa, we basically checked the places we were likely to visit, added a Suica card for transit, bought a Japan SIM card (data-only), booked flights and hotels, and figured out roughly how to get to the hotel. It was fairly easy. Don’t worry too much—once your mobile data is set up, most things can be handled on the spot.

  • Purchase link (We are departing from mainland China, and we bought this one—we tested it and it worked well.)

Here’s a quick note on visa and immigration. We processed our Japan visa from mainland China. You can find a visa agent online; they will provide a checklist based on your situation, then you just need to mail all required documents to the agent. They submit everything to the embassy and send the visa back after it is completed. One thing to note: for a three-year multiple-entry visa filed for multiple people together, all those people need to enter Japan together on the first trip. After that, it’s more flexible.

Immigration is also simple. Just follow the lane for foreigner entry. Most tourists are Chinese, so this is usually easy to tell. If you don’t want to fill out forms and submit declarations on site, it’s best to prepare everything before you go to Japan. For groups, one person can register first, fill in their own information, and then add travel companions. After each person fills in travel details and declarations, a QR code is generated, which you can scan directly at immigration.

Lastly, we strongly suggest that iPhone users add a Suica card in advance. Using your phone for transit is simply too convenient.

Narita Airport

Narita Airport is quite far from central Tokyo; whether by public transport or by taxi/charter, it takes about an hour or more. If you arrive late and are traveling with family and lots of luggage, you can stay at a hotel at the airport for the night, get enough rest, and head to the city the next day. Of course, you can also choose Haneda Airport, which is much closer to central Tokyo.

  • You can take the subway from the airport to downtown.
  • If you have a lot of luggage and travel in a large group, you can take a bus. If the schedule is set, we recommend booking seats online in advance. (Booking link)
  • There are also plenty of car-booking options on Xiaohongshu, Fliggy, and similar platforms. Choose what works best for your situation.

Our choice was to stay at an IHG hotel near the airport, then take a private car to Disneyland the next day, which saved a lot of energy. You can read the full stay review below.

Tokyo Disneyland

Tokyo Disneyland is split into two parks: Disney Land and Disney Sea. Disneyland is relatively gentle and more suitable for younger children. Disney Sea is a bit more intense and suits older kids. This time, we spent the whole day at Disneyland and played most of the popular attractions, and it wasn’t too tiring. The plan worked pretty well, so we’re sharing it with everyone.

Plan

If you want to complete the hottest attractions in the shortest possible time, you must prepare thoroughly in advance.

  • Disneyland official app: First, download the official Disneyland app. The day before entry, create a party in the app and add all companions into one party, so on the day you can have one person handle all pass reservations.
  • Disneyland map: Next, download and print a map from Disneyland’s official site, then get familiar with attractions, show schedules, and rough locations in the park to plan your route.

Then learn the rules for receiving/purchasing each type of pass to minimize waiting time and hit more attractions. There are four pass types, and we’ll use their abbreviations below for convenience.

  • DPA – Disney Premier Access (paid fast pass),
  • PP – 40th Anniversary Priority Pass (free fast pass),
  • SP – Standby Pass (we didn’t use this. We heard some shops may require it for entry, but we had no shopping plans, so we didn’t investigate further.)
  • ER – Entry Request (show admission).

Among them, DPA can be purchased again every hour, or after completing a paid attraction, and only three attractions are available for DPA: Splash Mountain (very thrilling), Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast (Beauty and the Beast: a flagship Disneyland attraction, extremely popular, with stunning scenery and high production value), and The Happy Ride with Baymax (Baymax: a lively open-air attraction. Most people online say it feels like a dance party; we skipped it, and after a quick look on route it didn’t seem very appealing, plus it was very crowded).

PP can be booked again every two hours, or after completing an already reserved attraction, and it includes five attractions. In descending order of crowd level: Pooh's Hunny Hunt, Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek, Big Thunder Mountain (high-ride, thrilling coaster), Haunted Mansion (closed for maintenance on our visit day), and Star Tours – The Adventures Continue (a very good 4D ride-film).

ER is the pass for shows, and it works on a lottery basis. After you submit a booking, it immediately tells you whether it’s successful. If it fails, you cannot rebook that same show for that day. Disneyland has three shows: Mickey's Magical Music World (must-see, very impressive, with very comfortable seating—perfect for us to rest after spending most of the morning touring), Club Mouse Beat (we didn’t get a spot), and Jamboree Mickey (an outdoor open-air show, suitable for preschool children, and includes dancing along with the performers).

These passes can only be claimed after you’ve scanned your ticket and entered the park, so we strongly recommend entering early and then going straight to booking. For larger groups, two people can split DPA and PP claims; if you’re grouped, select everyone when booking so everyone can be covered together. The English app version is fine. It’s best to get familiar with the UI in advance and add your payment card first. The app map shows estimated wait times for each attraction, so you can use the gaps between pre-booked rides for other activities.

Our experience

That day we took a charter car from the hotel to Disneyland. At 8:00 AM, when we arrived at the Disneyland entrance, there was already a long line. We really had to say that getting into Disneyland in Japan is very competitive.

At 9:15 AM, after scanning in to enter, while jogging over to Monsters, Inc., we also secured the earliest Beauty and the Beast DPA and Pooh's Hunny Hunt PP, and booked the Mickey's Magical Music World and Jamboree Mickey shows for later in the day. We also set reminders for one hour and two hours later to queue for the next rounds of DPA and PP.
Because Monsters, Inc. is so close to the entrance, we skipped getting a PP there. We went in through the front entrance, and there were hardly any people, so we were on the ride in just a few minutes. Right after that, we went to the neighboring space ride and saved another PP; waiting took only about ten to twenty minutes. The queue wasn’t boring at all because there was plenty to look at along the way. Then we queued for It's a Small World. After getting off, it lined up exactly with our Winnie the Pooh PP reservation window, and right after we checked in for that PP, we immediately booked the Big Thunder Mountain PP. At that time, Big Thunder Mountain was only available at 5:00 p.m. We also took time to buy an afternoon Splash Mountain DPA.

Then we went to Beauty and the Beast. Not surprisingly, it’s the park’s flagship ride—the DPA wait there was also about 30 minutes, and I can’t imagine how long the regular line would have been. After that we rode Pirates of the Caribbean, then came back to watch Mickey's Magical Music World, which was a nice break for our legs. In the afternoon, after Splash Mountain, we also did the Mark Twain Riverboat and Jungle Cruise, then saw the Jamboree Mickey show. By the time we finished Big Thunder Mountain and left the park, there were far fewer visitors, so we also took the non-queue spinning teacups and Peter Pan.

By then we were very tired, and I was glad we had a pre-booked private transfer back to the hotel and didn’t schedule Sanrio Puroland for the following day.

Sanrio Puroland

Sanrio Puroland is a four-story indoor park. You enter at the third floor, which is mainly a large, full-scale store. The fourth floor is a themed restaurant, while shows and rides are on the first and second floors.

After entering the park, first get the show schedule and map on this floor, then confirm the times and locations of the shows you want to see. Next, go to Strawberry Hall on the first floor to pick up a photo pass, which is the entry ticket for character photos. Queue, scan and book the character and time slot you want, then come back at the scheduled time to this same spot to show the pass and enter the room for the photo.

The reservation system will remind you that each phone can only make one booking, but you can use private browsing mode to make multiple reservations. Just save the page URL; opening it later will automatically show a dynamic QR code.

After booking is done, you can either go to your preferred show or wait for a ride. The park has only two rides, Melody Drive and Boat Ride. Both have very long lines, and you can buy Puropass fast-track access at each ride entrance. We took Boat Ride, which is a boat ride through scenes with various Sanrio characters, similar to Disneyland's It's a Small World. While waiting, a staff member with a sign asked whether we were willing to split up and sit in the last row of the boat, which is suitable for 1–2 people. We immediately raised our hand and skipped about an hour of waiting.

There are many shows in this park. At the end, we bought a paid Puropass for the Kawaii Kabuki show, which let us enter as the first batch and sit front-and-center. Even though I couldn’t understand the language, the atmosphere was great, the performers were very engaged, and the overall experience was excellent and worth seeing. The parade was the most popular, but we didn’t reserve seats, and we also couldn’t get a Puropass, so we barely caught it. There is also a Cinnamoroll Adventure theater ride where you sit in moving chairs and go on a flight adventure with Cinnamoroll. Each person gets a magic wand to shoot at the screen, and photos of the top scores are shown at the end.

There are restaurants on both the first and fourth floors. We had curry rice on the first floor, and it wasn’t expensive. My online expectations were probably too low, and it ended up tasting quite good. I’d heard the atmosphere on the fourth floor is even better. Before going, be sure to check the official website for whether it’s open that day and the exact opening hours. And interestingly, tickets on Fliggy are much cheaper than on the official site.

Senso-ji Temple

Senso-ji Temple is also a must-visit spot in Tokyo. As soon as you exit the subway, there is a huge crowd; just keep walking straight. On the way into the temple, both sides of the road are packed with souvenir shops. The items look quite well made, but when you remember you can buy almost everything on Taobao, your interest drops quickly.

The draw-lottery setup at the entrance is actually interesting. After drawing, you can check your fortune yourself, and if you get a bad one, you tie the strip to the side. Worship activity inside is fairly lively, though I still can’t understand why travelers come so far to pray to Japanese deities—it’s a personal choice, of course.

The only thing I really liked was the meat pie in a nearby alley—it had a crispy outside and a juicy center. People say the line is usually long, but that day we were lucky and got in within a few minutes.

Shopping, Dining, and Hotel

Because we were rushing to do two parks, we basically didn’t have time for proper meals in Tokyo. We did a hotel breakfast buffet and then ran to the parks. When we got back, we were exhausted, so we headed straight to the hotel lounge and wrapped up dinner there, which also saved a lot of money. Likewise, we had almost no time for shopping, so we took a quick walk around Ginza and didn’t buy much.

For hotels, except for the first night near the airport, we stayed at Hilton Conrad Tokyo for the rest of the trip. The rooms were a bit small, but transport was relatively convenient. Although Japan has a lot of good food, the hotel breakfast was truly just average.

Summary

My biggest impression of Tokyo was how clean it was—even the construction vehicles were kept spotless. It might have been affected by where we stayed, but apart from a few parks and attractions, most streets and side streets seemed to have far fewer people, and even the subway wasn’t very crowded. I can’t figure out where all 13,990,000 people were.