Easter at Tokyo Disneyland
Disney’s Easter is Tokyo Disneyland’s two month celebration of Easter, typically running from early April through June. This guide features photos & info, along with tips for enjoying the special event if you’re visiting Japan during spring-time.
Unlike Walt Disney World and Disneyland that do an Easter Egg Hunt and sell a few items of merchandise, Tokyo Disneyland goes all out. There’s the aforementioned scavenger hunt, plus also a parade, tons of decorations, special menus, tons of themed souvenirs, and more. Why? Well, all in the name of kawaii.
Bunnies, flowers, spring colors, and all that are undeniably cute, and the Japanese audience responds incredibly well to the Easter festivities. Like Christmas, Easter is in no way a religious holiday in Japan–it’s all about the kawaii. This commercial sums up what Easter is all about at Tokyo Disneyland pretty well.
Normally, Disney’s Easter occurs at both Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea, starting just after the post-Christmas winter celebrations and ending just before the Tanabata Days celebration. Rather than covering both parks, this post focuses solely on Easter at Tokyo Disneyland (we’ll do a separate post for DisneySea).
If you’re going and are wondering what to expect, here are some of our photos and commentary from Disney’s Easter last year.
It’s no secret that Easter is in full force when you arrive at Tokyo Disneyland in March, April, May, or June. Here’s the front entrance before you even get to World Bazaar.
These decorations continue inside the park, where the Central Plaza has several displays featuring bunnies, eggs, and Disney characters.
Giant eggs also fill the flower planter in front of Cinderella Castle.
This is roughly where Partners is located at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom, with the Partners statue closer to World Bazaar in Tokyo Disneyland.
Like all things Disney, there’s a “story” component to the bunnies and characters in the hub…
At first, it might just seem like Disney characters having fun and bunnies being cute, but OH NO, THERE’S MORE TO THIS ONE.
From what I could ascertain, this is Mickey and Minnie’s “secret garden” (brilliant work hiding your garden in the middle of the busiest theme park on earth) and the bunnies are digging up the harvest. These little criminals aren’t so kawaii anymore, are they?!
Way to go, Donald, you’re an accomplice!
Bunnies painting Mickey and Minnie eggs. I believe that’s what the kids would call “meta.” (Or not.)
Once the bunnies have snatched enough crops, they carry their ill-gotten gains over to…wait for it…
…Crystal Palace (read our review)! Where it’s served to guests in the Easter buffet. (I think that also might be meta?)
I’m totally not making any of this up–but I’m also relying on Google Translate’s reading of the official Tokyo Disneyland Easter pages, which could be suspect.
Ahhh, a bountiful harvest of desserts!
The Easter buffet at Crystal Palace is solid, but it doesn’t feature anything that Americans would typically associate with Easter dinner. It’s more about cute treats and decorations.
The bulk of the decorations are in the Central Plaza, but cute eggs representing other attractions and lands can be found throughout the park.
Of course, the best of these are the Country Bear eggs in Westernland. That goes without saying. If you go towards the tail end of the Easter season, you’ll also be able to catch Country Bear Vacation Jamboree. There’s nothing like hearing “I wish they all could be California beeeeeeaaaaars” sung by these talented bi-lingual bears!
The Tokyo Disneyland Band also gets in the Easter spirit, with special costumes for the festivities.
Along with the Bicycle Piano Man, the Tokyo Disneyland Band is not to be missed. Not only are they incredible musicians, but they’re skilled entertainers.
Then there’s the Hippity-Hoppity Springtime Parade, which is the main draw. This parade is performed 2-3 times daily, and features long show stops.
Before the parade starts, Cast Members lead guests in the bunny hop to get hyped. Once this gets rolling, literally everyone in the crowd participates, from infants to the elderly. If you don’t want to be the veritable outcast in this cult ritual, I suggest you follow along with what everyone around you does. Although I can’t say with 100% certainty, I don’t think you’re pledging your soul to any dark forces by partaking.
The parade itself is exceptional. Characters are definitely the highlight for most guests, but the costumed performers are great.
There’s a multitude of different costumes here, and they’re all elaborate and most are quite elegant. With one exception…
…Uhhh…I’m going to withhold an otherwise snarky remark here and just say “no comment.”
Actually, I think the performers themselves provided the perfect response. (If I have time later today, I’m memifying this awkward thumbs up with a “COOL STORY BRO” caption.)
Some possibly borderline Lolita-meets-Disney costumes aside, it’s all excellently done.
Since there are show stops, some spots are better for viewing the Hippity-Hoppity Springtime Parade.
The absolute best spot is directly opposite Cinderella Castle, as Mickey’s float will stop in front of you (I was a bit to the right), making for excellent photos. However, Tokyo Disneyland regulars know this, making that prime spot exceptionally popular and scooped up well in advance of the parade.
Fortunately, parade viewing in Tokyo Disneyland is a civilized affair, and guests in the front several rows all sit for parades, meaning you’ll have an unobstructed view no matter where you go.
You read correctly: no one stands in the front rows. It’s not allowed and since people actually adhere to rules, it doesn’t need to be enforced. Also not allowed: shoulder kids.
Yes, there is a Disney utopia, and it’s in Japan. 😉
Some characters that are on the obscure side in the United States have strong followings in Japan. Max is one such character.
Clarice (right) is another.
Brer Rabbit is not another, but he makes the cut because he’s a bunny.
In the past, the parade has been even more bunny-centric, with characters like Oswald the Lucky Rabbit having his own float. Sadly, he’s not in the current version of the Hippity-Hoppity Springtime Parade.
White Rabbit’s there, though, and he appears to be some sort of fitness instructor. Perhaps he’s Goofy’s trainer?
Why would Goofy need a trainer? Did you not know that spring is bulking season for the Goofster?!?!
He wants everyone to see how jacked and tan he is. Yes, that includes you.
Even if you’re not a parade person, I highly recommend watching the Hippity-Hoppity Springtime Parade. It’s one of Disney’s best parades anywhere, it’s incredibly photogenic, and the soundtrack is a ridiculous ear worm (you’ll sound like a lunatic when you sing it at the office–it’ll be great!).
That about covers it for Disney’s Easter at Tokyo Disney Resort. The one thing I didn’t mention was merchandise (check out TDR Explorer for that), and there are some cute options for that, too. While the Hippity-Hoppity Springtime Parade is without a doubt the main draw for Easter in Tokyo Disneyland, there are some other nice additions, and really pretty decor, as well.
If you’re thinking of visiting Japan for the first time and are overwhelmed with planning, definitely check out our Tokyo Disney Resort Planning Guide. It covers what you’ll want to know, from when to visit to the best (and worst) hotels to where to dine, and much more! For more photos and an idea of what we did day-by-day during our first visit, read our Tokyo Disney Resort Trip Report.
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Your Thoughts
Does Disney’s Easter look fun to you? Have you visited Tokyo Disneyland during the Easter festivities? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Share any questions, tips, or additional thoughts you have in the comments!
Are there ecvs at Tokyo Disneyland and Disney sea? I’m handicapped.
Hi Tom, I know you will be getting to this eventually but you said you wanted us to let you know when info on a page was outdated and the dates for Easter are from 2016. Thanks!
WOW, all I can say is WOW. This is incredible. Next Easter for their celebration might just be the right time for a Tokyo Disney visit. But, the main question is did Tom do the bunny hop?
Can you also do Easter at Hong Kong Disneyland? Because Hong Kong also has an Easter parade, alongside with tons of easter eggs and meet n greets!
We visited TOKYO DISNEY LAND last April 2016 and we are still in awe. The Hippity Hoppity Springtime sound tract is still playing in our car as my baby girl would always ask for Minnie Mouse. It was a great experience for my family!
Looking at some of the videos 2015-2016 score of the Springtime parade is the best so far. It’s really catchy, the lines are easy to memorize. You can also checkout my blog: https://bestlifeqatar.com/2016/05/16/tokyo-tour-part-3-10-things-we-loved-about-disneyland/
We will definitely come back!
We did Tokyo Disney Easter last year, and it was so much fun. We were not expecting it in early June, so it was a little strange at first, but the parade was FAN TAS TIC! The kids really enjoyed it too, especially following along with the bunny hop at the beginning. Agree with earlier comments – the egg hunt was so fun! We are going back this year, but just missing Disney Easter for Disney Tanabata this time around, which we are looking forward to as well.
We visited last year and while it was two months removed from Easter, the parks were still decorated in full force! My wife insisted we watch the bunny parade multiple time – and that song is still in our heads!
If you go, take time to do the Easter Egg hunt! You’re given a map and you have to find various decorated eggs throughout the park. Look high and low for the eggs! Some were real easy to find while some posed a bit of a challenge. They offer two “hunts”, one is easier than the other – we did the easy one! Be aware, there is a charge (small) for the map, but you are rewarded for your efforts!
I was there last year for Easter and I STILL have that song in my head. “… and we’ll HOP HOP HOP ALL DAY! In a funny bunny laaaaand!” uuuuuuuugh.
Also, I also have a picture of the lady bug guy (?) making that pained expression, haha!
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the update! Me and my wife will be at the resort in May for the third time. We are looking forward to see all these offerings. When we went in 2009 for the first time it was also in the spring and only DisneySea had Easter offerings, it was called Fairies primavera or something…it was rather enjoyable. Disneyland had nothing to offer, besides the opening of Monters Inc ride and go seek , which was a highlight all on it’s own! Guess now it has shifted and it look awesome!!! Would love to meet you and Sarah someday in one of the resorts around the world to share experiences and finally meet some fellow Disneyphiles, and to finally talk to someone with a similar Country bear and Sindbad obsession….. 😉
Your photos are always beautiful, but these are just making me so happy. It looks absolutely gorgeous there. We were talking last night about visiting another Disney park and we all think Tokyo would be a wonderful destination.
Thanks for a great post. I’ll be there next month and am very excited to be able to see the Easter celebrations. The parade looks brilliant!
I’ll be there in a month, so excited to visit the resort (and Japan) for the first time!
Tom, thanks for your planning blogs and reviews of the resort, invaluable!
Great post! We made it there for last Easter, and will be there this year!
Beautiful photos! We just booked a trip to TDR for July, so unfortunately will miss the Easter celebration by a few weeks, but hopefully will catch some of the summer fun!
3/25 – 6/15 Great window to join this celebration. Japan’s culture lends itself well to Disney. Maybe Walt was Japanese is a past life, there are many parallels 😀
Thanks for keeping us informed, & inspired to visit sooner than later.
Easter is a fantastic time to go, and I’m going again this Easter. I’m a huge fan of Fashionable Easter too.
Fans of Hippity Hoppity Springtime (totally bought the CDs…) will be pleased to know that Disneyland Paris (another park that does Easter very well, though not quite as well!) runs the same soundtrack.
Come on in, join the fun – there’s a place for everyone!
Tokyo Disneyland has an almost supernatural ability to keep our catchy parade music (Easter Wonderland is equally earworm-y along with Hippity-Hoppity Springtime). I have always wondered, who produces the music for the Tokyo parks? They kick out an impressive amount of music year after year.
Does Tokyo have to do just about everything better? Looks like a really great experience!