Fantasy Springs Switching to Standby Lines!
Haters of virtual queues, rejoice! Fantasy Springs, the new $2 billion land featuring Frozen, Peter Pan, and Tangled that opened last summer at Tokyo DisneySea and has had the most complicated policies for accessing attractions is finally ditching them. This covers the big changes, why we’re on board with eliminating the guest unfriendly protocol, plus our expectations for what this means going forward.
For starters, I want to underscore just how miserable of an experience the rope drop process has been at Tokyo DisneySea since last fall. If you visited during the opening few months of Fantasy Springs, you likely missed this. Suffice to say, it got much worse over the holiday season as people waited until “after” the initial rush…and then all descended upon TDS at the same time.
We had an awful experience attempting to enter Fantasy Springs at Christmas-time, which almost soured the day in Tokyo DisneySea for us. You can read Why Disney’s #1 Park is Getting 1-Star Reviews for a full recap, but suffice to say, we are far from alone in having these issues. This came after pretty smooth and seamless experiences with Fantasy Springs during the (slower) summer season.
As perhaps the most long-time and passionate American “cheerleaders” for Tokyo Disney Resort, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention this. For all of the complaints about how Walt Disney World is complicated and has policies that are seemingly hostile towards guests, nothing the domestic parks have done surpasses TDR’s original approach to Fantasy Springs in terms of awfulness. Their slow pivot from that has been frustrating (albeit typical of change in Japan), but thankfully, that’s about to change in a big way!
Starting April 1, 2025 you can experience the attractions at Fantasy Springs in Tokyo DisneySea by waiting in line or by using Disney Premier Access (fee required). This means that Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey, Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure, Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival, and Fairy Tinker Bell’s Busy Buggies will all drop their virtual queues (called Standby Pass) and switch to regular ole standby lines.
For longtime Walt Disney World fans who bemoaned similar recent changes to Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and are disappointed by this, operating under the assumption their “skills” would transfer to Tokyo: don’t. We have an over 99% success rate (only one fail ever, due to a glitch) at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Despite our best efforts and showing up over 90 minutes early, we still got shut out of Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey.
This follows a change earlier this year removing the blanket entry restrictions for Fantasy Springs as a whole. It’s important to emphasize that this is at present, and is not necessarily a permanent policy change. Tokyo Disney Resort has basically reserved the right to reintroduce a virtual queue for accessing the land.
Here’s how you’ll be able to tell whether there are entry restrictions in place for Fantasy Springs:
- If there are no area entry restrictions, after you enter Tokyo DisneySea, the Park Ticket screen on the Tokyo Disney Resort app will display “You can enter at any time.” When this message is displayed, you are free to enter Fantasy Springs as you wish.
- If there are entry restrictions in place, the TDR app will have a grey box for a “valid time of entry to Fantasy Springs” (that will be populated with times if/when you secure Standby Pass or Disney Premier Access)
- If you would like to check before entering Tokyo DisneySea, please look for the Fantasy Springs Entryway signs on the Tokyo Disney Resort app on the morning of the day you wish to visit.
Since making this change, Tokyo Disney Resort has not brought back the entry restrictions for Fantasy Springs. Accordingly, the logical conclusion is that they are probably gone for good.
At the same time, this switch to standby lines for the attractions as of April 2025 could change the equation. Standby lines might draw more people back to Fantasy Springs, resulting in the land as a whole hitting capacity. I’m skeptical that this will happen, but we really won’t know until the first stress test, which will come up during Golden Week at the end of the month. If there are ever going to be entry restrictions, they’ll happen then. If not, we’re probably safe.
The big question now is what wait times will be for these attractions. Over the course of the last month, the average wait times for Soaring, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, and Indiana Jones Adventure have all been above 2 hours. Soaring: Fantastic Flight is the busiest of the bunch, and routinely hits 240 minute peaks.
It’s safe to say the Fantasy Springs attractions will surpass these highs. Based on current demand, Anna & Elsa’s Frozen Journey will become the new #1 wait times at Tokyo DisneySea starting this April. It’s hard to say how high it’ll go for the all-time Golden Week peak, but 300 minutes on a regular basis would not be the least bit surprising.
The Tangled ride will likely be #2 in Fantasy Springs and probably the park due to newness factor. Never Land Adventure will be #3 in Fantasy Springs, but maybe not the park due to it being a screen-centric simulator that’s not as appealing to all guests.
These are obviously very high wait times, and you could conceivably spend the better part of a day waiting in line for just the 4 Fantasy Springs attractions on that basis. That is, assuming you did all standby and lined up when wait times are at their peaks. We wouldn’t recommend that.
Against this backdrop, we’d recommend prioritizing as follows:
- Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey
- Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure
- Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival
- Fairy Tinker Bell’s Busy Buggies
Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure is higher on the list than Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival not due to demand, but because it’s better.
Disney Premier Access is available for a fee, and guests can purchase Disney Premier Access using the Tokyo Disney Resort App after entering Tokyo DisneySea. Guests are able to experience three attractions at Fantasy Springs with Disney Premier Access. Prices are as follows:
- Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey: 2,000 yen
- Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival: 2,000 yen
- Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure: 2,000 yen
For Walt Disney World and Disneyland fans, Premier Access is Tokyo Disney Resort’s version of a Lightning Lane Single Pass, minus the pre-booking part (in Florida–making it almost identical to its California counterpart, but with a different name). Just like Walt Disney World and Disneyland, FastPass is also dead at Tokyo Disney Resort. (See our Guide to (Free) Priority Pass & (Paid) Premier Access at Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea.)
Domestic Disney Parks fans know that we’re averse to Lightning Lane Single Pass for personal use. While we recommend it (begrudgingly) to infrequent tourists and (especially) first-timers, we have never purchased it ourselves at Walt Disney World or Disneyland. Not once.
We have bought Premier Access several times at Tokyo Disney Resort and enthusiastically recommend it to international tourists. We’re still against it on principle, but your time has value on vacation. Not only that, but the reduction in waiting is much more considerable at Tokyo Disney Resort.
If used on the highest priority attractions at busier times, a single Premier Access pass could save you 2-3 hours in line. There’s also the reality of the favorable exchange rate, which makes those 2,000 yen Premier Access passes cost approximately $13.
Doing the math, you’re conservatively spending around $6 per hour saved on Premier Access at Tokyo Disney Resort. The hourly cost basis at Walt Disney World or Disneyland is closer to $15 to $20. That’s still within the realm of “worth it” for many tourists, but it’s more borderline for others.
By contrast, it’s an absolute no-brainer at Tokyo Disney Resort, especially if you only have a single day for each park. Honestly, even with 2 days at Tokyo DisneySea, you’re going to be hard-pressed to see and do it all while also soaking up the incredible atmosphere and attention to detail without buying Premier Access. I cannot fathom flying halfway around the world but then deeming my waking theme park hours worth less than $6 per hour, and I’m fairly frugal!
The problem is that most other guests have this same calculus, making Premier Access a hot ticket at Tokyo Disney Resort. It regularly sells out for the Fantasy Springs attractions instantly, and for other rides throughout the park early on in the morning. For this reason, we’re not really expecting much change to the rope drop madness at Tokyo DisneySea. It should let up a little with the rush for Standby Pass going away, but it’s not going to go from completely chaotic to calm. If it’s 100 on the intensity scale now, expect it to drop to maybe 75.
The bigger consequence for Tokyo DisneySea will be lower wait times everywhere else as the elimination of the virtual queue will mean guests are actually standing in the standby line. This will also be an incremental improvement, though, so don’t expect Soaring to drop from 240 minutes to 40 minutes. It’ll be more like a drop to 210 minutes or so.
Another potentially overlooked improvement will be greater operational efficiency. There have been times when standby lines in Fantasy Springs are on the emptier side, and ride vehicles dispatch partially-empty. This issue isn’t as pronounced as it was last summer, but should still bring efficiency closer to 100%, which means more guests get to experience these attractions each day.
This will also improve the guest distribution on those attractions. Between the current unlimited Magic Passport and quirks with the Standby Pass distribution, many of the same guests are getting to experience the attractions in Fantasy Springs again and again. Now, instead of paying the price in only dollars or knowledge, people will be able to “pay” the “market rate” wait time.
As someone who just waited ~120 minutes at the crack of dawn in the sun outside the park for absolutely nothing, I would much rather have had the option to wait ~3 hours instead in the actual line for Anna & Elsa’s Frozen Journey at a time of my choosing.
It’ll be interesting to see how strategy for Tokyo DisneySea changes along with the introduction of standby lines. Touring TDS has been “broken” over the last several months, and this should be a step in the right direction at fixing that.
One wildcard that’s worth keeping in mind is that Fantasy Springs is far from the front entrance. It’s actually closer to the front of Tokyo Disneyland than it is DisneySea! The trek from Aquasphere Plaza to the Fantasy Springs attractions is well over 1 mile, and will easily take most guests 15 minutes at a normal pace.
It’ll still be the rope drop priority for many guests (TDR fans are dedicated), but plenty will stop at Soaring or Journey to the Center of the Earth on the way, or pivot to the easier American Waterfront attractions. This could be a win for dedicated walkers. It’ll also absolutely benefit guests of Fantasy Springs Hotel, who should have ~20 minutes of the land essentially to themselves since only they can use that entrance.
The same dynamic could play out in reverse at the end of the night. Again, only Fantasy Springs Hotel guests can exit here, and others aren’t going to want to get themselves stuck in the back of the park when they’re already tired. We already see this play out to some degree with Indiana Jones Adventure’s wait time falling faster than Soaring–it’ll be interesting to see whether this holds true with the newer and more popular Fantasy Springs attractions. There are no guarantees, and I’ll underscore again that TDR fans are a dedicated bunch. (And queues get cut earlier now, so there’s no jumping into line at 20:59!)
Ultimately, switching to standby in Fantasy Springs is a huge step forward. It’s not a perfect solution and I’m sure many people are going to balk at the notion of waiting in line 3+ hours for these rides. As someone who has been on the other side of this, I’m dead certain that beats the unpleasant and unpredictable alternative.
Quite frankly, Tokyo Disney Resort dropped the ball with park operations for the first ~6 months of Fantasy Springs. This is a much-needed and overdue change, but it’s just one of several that’s needed. In addition to this, Tokyo DisneySea needs to restore park closing to its 2019 norms (extending them further is tricky with trains) and move forward park opening by at least 1 hour. That’s just a start. They also need a full entertainment slate, and atmospheric offerings to help absorb crowds, among other things.
Our best guess is that Tokyo Disney Resort has received a lot of negative feedback about accessing Fantasy Springs (rightfully so!) and they’re scrambling to fix the problem. TDR has historically taken guest satisfaction very seriously, and Fantasy Springs has been guest unfriendly to an almost hostile degree, unlike anything we’ve seen from the Tokyo parks in the past. Here’s hoping April 2025 marks the park turning a corner and getting back closer to its old self.
Planning a trip to Tokyo Disney Resort? For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea Trip Planning Guide! For more specifics, our TDR Hotel Rankings & Reviews page covers accommodations. Our Restaurant Reviews detail where to dine & snack. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money post. Our What to Pack for Disney post takes a unique look at clever items to take. Venturing elsewhere in Japan? Consult our Ultimate Guide to Kyoto, Japan and City Guide to Tokyo, Japan.
YOUR THOUGHTS
How will you attempt to access Fantasy Springs and ride the rides? Will you stick with free standby lines or attempt to purchase Premier Access? Thoughts on rope dropping Tokyo DisneySea, end of night lines, or anything else covered here? Curious about crowds or anything else? What do you think of the Peter Pan’s Never Land, Rapunzel’s Forest, and Frozen Kingdom? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Hi Tom! We were at Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea March 17, 18, and 19th. The new Fantasy Springs rules were not in place yet, and we had a Vacation Package that included Fantasy Springs Rides. We spent two days at DisneySea, and rode everything we wanted to ride, some things twice, without waiting in long lines. BUT, much of that was thanks to the Premier Access tickets and Priority Pass tickets that came with our Vacation Package. I went in thinking that we could book those two passes like we book lightning lanes here in the US, but the sad fact was – by the time we used our first “FastPass” (at our return time of 10:30 AM), the only FastPass left was Magic Lamp Theatre. So if we hadn’t had the Vacation Package advance “Fastpasses”, we would have stood in line for 2 hours minimum at each ride. The Vacation packages are more expensive, but we got to skip the long waits.
I was at DisneySea last weekend. After reading all the horror stories of people not being able to access attractions, I got in line with the first monorail just after 6, gates opened about 8:30. Even with some trouble getting credit cards to work with the app, I got PA for Frozen, a standby pass for Peter Pan, and rope dropped Journey which had about a 30 minute queue. I was pleasantly surprised with the crowds at the park. There was much more room to walk around than during my last trip to Disneyland. And single rider on the two attractions that permitted it was almost no line.
It’s awesome to hear a positive report! Do you happen to recall if ticket prices were significantly higher that weekend than the surrounding weekdays? In our recent and highly anecdotal experience, the best predictor of lower crowds has been higher prices.
Yes, tickets were priced at the highest (10900 yen) rate that day, last Saturday, which was less than some of the surrounding weekdays. The park was still notably less crowded along the walkways than when we were at Disneyland over Thanksgiving. It was more comparable to the crowds we saw at California Adventure.
With a few PA (which still left the tickets less expensive than at US parks), we were able to ride everything we set out to wanted (the three FS rides, Journey, Indiana twice, Tower, 20000 twice, Sindbad, Raging Spirits, and a few smaller rides). We didn’t get to Toy Story or Soaring, which we were okay with having been on their US counterparts, or get to see Big Band Beat. We would have liked to see the show but it wasn’t as high a priority as other items. We probably could have booked a reservation had I been more on top of the app. We did get to eat at three counter-order restaurants; the Frozen one was my favorite.
We will be at TDR April 1-3 and doing DisneySEA April 2-3 (decided I didn’t want to be there the first day of whatever the new policy ended up being in case it implodes). Will try to provide some on the ground observations!
My current plan is to still get there super early to be able to buy Premier Access for the Fantasy Springs rides (hoping between the two mornings we can get PA on all 3 at least once). I couldn’t quite bring myself to buy the VP, especially since there’s no way to book it with a hotel stay the night before your first park day. And I will have no problem skipping Soarin’ and Midway Mania if they stay at 200 min standby waits, I’ve done them plenty in the states.
Wish me luck!
Good luck–looking forward to hearing your report, and really hoping you have a fantastic time. I know this trip has been a while in the making, so hopefully TDR lives up to the hype for you.
You probably already know this, but Toy Story Mania is totally skippable, whereas Soaring is a ride you should *try* to do if the opportunity presents itself. I’d still probably do Frozen Journey twice as opposed to Soaring once, but it’s hard to say given that I’m not coming at this from a blank slate. Oh, and be sure to do Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage…always a great fallback option when crowds get heavy!
Writing this from the hotel after my first ever day at Tokyo DisneySea! Tom, TDR totally lived up to the hype for me; I’ve had a blast, and I actually got choked up when I entered Mediterranean Harbor because it is so stunningly beautiful.
Here’s my experience today, with the caveat that the weather has been cold and rainy so that may have affected how many people showed up early:
-Arrived at 7:30 am. Security check started at 8:30 and we were through the turnstiles at 8:58 (we did not have Happy Entry)
-Booked Frozen via Premiere Access for 11:50
-Did Journey to the Center of the Earth via standby (70 min wait, I got distracted taking pictures in the plaza first so we were not ahead of the crowd)
-Booked Rapunzel via Premiere Access for 11:35
-Did 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea via 40th Anniversary Pass; loved it
-Took Transit Steamer back to Lost River Delta
-Did Sinbad as a walk on via standby; fantastic, one of my favorites of the day!
-Redeemed our Rapunzel PA, skipping a 90 min wait
-Frozen was down, so grabbed lunch and did Neverland Adventure via standby. Posted wait was 50 min, we waited 35
-Frozen was back up so redeemed our PA, skipped a 120 min line
-Wandered Fantasy Springs (loved the rock sculptures by the hotel) and then headed to the front of the park. Did Aquatopia along the way
-Tower of Terror via standby; the posted 80 min wait was spot on
-Watched Believe: Sea of Dreams
-Grabbed dinner on the way out the park
I could have easily booked Premiere Access for Peter Pan if I had wanted to. I didn’t see exactly when Frozen sold out but I’m pretty sure it lasted at least an hour after park open; Rapunzel and Peter Pan were available until after. The standby waits for all 3 were between 1-2 hours throughout the day, which was actually in line with most of the headliners. I’m pretty sure Soaring was as long or longer than Frozen at any given time. I hope this helps give people some peace of mind about accessing the new attractions.
Tom, I want to personally thank you for this blog and all of your info about the Tokyo parks in particular. You made something that seemed like a pipe dream feel approachable/achievable (this goes for TDR and visiting Japan in general). I truly don’t know if I would be on this trip without you; THANK YOU!
This is so great to hear! I know you’ve been planning this trip for a while and were anxious about it, and I’ll admit to being a bit anxious about whether it’d go well or if you and others traveling around this time would be in for disaster.
Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip! Thanks for sharing this in-progress report, hope you’re able to share more details once you’re home!
I would be thrilled to walk 15 minutes to see those four new rides if Fantasy Springs was built at Walt Disney World!! Early is the key to less frustration.
This is great news. I’m glad the process is getting easier! I had started to read about the previous method and was daunted, but then decided to stop reading and wait since you said change was likely in April. you were right1
We’ll be visting in late May for our first time with an Unlimited Vacation Package and an extra non unlimited day at Disney Sea. The Magic Passport is gone and the Unlimited Rides apply to all others with 40th or DPA but not Fantasy Springs. We are allowed to pre-purchase DPA for 3 Fantasy Springs rides, which we did. Sadly Frozen will be closed so we booked Rapunzel in the morning and evening so we could get both experiences.
We start at Miracosta the night before VP and the night of the VP. We then have two more nights after and are booked at both Ambassador and Hilton Tokyo Bay. Price difference is minimal. I was leaning Hilton until this news, but it feels like having Happy Entry again that second DisneySea day will be worth it to re-ride our fav Fantasy Springs rides again. Plus they’ll move our bags for us.
Do you think the Hilton is that much better to stay at than Ambassador that I’m thinking of this wrong? We won’t be spending much time in the room, park open to close.
You should absolutely stay at the Ambassador.
Our effusive praise of Hilton Tokyo Bay assumes a fairly significant price difference between it and the Disney ones. If there isn’t, Ambassador all the way. The rooms are dated, but it’s still an excellent hotel. (We have a review coming soon, if it doesn’t get bumped by other news.)
If you’re rope drop people, Ambassador is worth it for the extra 15 minutes alone (which is really a lot more than that given how glacially slow the entrance process is for everyone else).
Awesome, thanks Tom. Glad I’m thinking about this right. We got one of the few Standard double rooms at the lowest price point. Just the two of us so it’s all we need.
You’re a big part of the reason I’ve wanted to go to Tokyo Disney for so long. I know it’s been sort of a mess the last number of months which is why we said screw it and splurged for the unlimited vacation package. Crowds be damned!
Would you reco knocking out the DL Fantasyland dark rides without DPA and 40th passes at rope drop then? Small World with Groot, Snow White, Pinocchio and Rodger Rabbit. Seems the best use of time first thing since we can get in DPA line for the other big rides. Or is Jungle Cruise or something else a better choice?
Thanks for all your great advice!
I’d probably do headliners during Happy Entry, assuming you’re interested in re-rides. Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast is probably an attraction you’ll want to ride more than once (ditto Pooh’s Hunny Hunt), and you can still do the Fantasyland classics with minimal waits after that.
Cool thanks! With the Unlimited we can get in the DPA line for Pooh and Beauty and the Beast as many times as we want. Was thinking it would be worth doing other rides without DPA during HE.
We’re planning on going in early December. My strategy is to *try* staying at FS hotel so it’s easier to get to FS rides at rope drop, but worried others will do the same. It’s already so hard to get a FS room (unless you’re willing to stay at the Grand Chateau – I’m not rich enough to stay there!), I can’t imagine what the demand will be like now. Maybe instead of having a chance to reserve the room if you’re logged in the first minute, it’ll be down to the first 10 seconds!
Really wondering if i should suck up the cost for the 4 of us to to the VP instead now…
Have you considered Hotel MiraCosta? I know it’s also incredibly difficult to book, but it’s not quite as bad.
It’s the better hotel, and having Happy Entry should be sufficient for buying DPA into the Fantasy Springs attractions–and then you can do standby for whichever front-of-park attractions matter most to you.
Does this change your rope drop strategy? Assuming you have Happy Entry, are you rushing to the back of the park to get in line for Frozen? Or sticking with Soaring or Journey first thing and doing DPA for the Fantasy Springs rides?
Probably depends on which hotel. If Fantasy Springs Hotel, without a doubt just starting there and buying DPA for the front of park attractions.
If I have Happy Entry coming from the front, I’m probably sticking with Soaring and JTTCOTE and buying DPA for the others. Or maybe trying to knock out Soaring en route to Fantasy Springs, and being ahead of the pack.
It’s really difficult to say without testing and also seeing how crowd dynamics adjust. TDS has become a touring nightmare over the last several months.
I’m so glad we went last October – we did VPs at FS and MC hotels and it was perfect (no rope drop, no lines, leisurely mid morning breakfast). These are splurges we won’t make at WDW unless we have first timers or folks who don’t visit often joining us. But for (probably) our only visit to TDR, it was absolutely worth it and made for a stress free, spectacular visit,
Agreed. The Magic Passport made doing Fantasy Springs a breeze, but I’m also glad it’s going away. The other Vacation Packages are still excellent options that we’d recommend to first-timers. I hate to be endorsing them, and never would’ve pre-FS, but the stress they eliminate is well worth the premium pricing at this point.
I am glad at this change for whenever I get back to Disney Springs as getting there atb645 and seeing the line then thinking I might not get on anything reservations wise is the mother of all anxiety causers (I got on all the big 3 but paid for some plus all the e tickets but I did have to pay).
Tokyo Disney Sea is a beautiful park but I don’t think I can but it at my number 1 anymore I’ve seen Disneyland less crowded between Christmas and New Year compared to there and you can’t ropedrop and be OK for 2 hours like at Disneyland.
I had a never perfect run with luck and spending for fast passes and but it just felt like the ultimate challenge for a theme park commando not the general public!
I’m interested to see your updated strategy and how to zig instead of zag for this one at DisneySea with the new standby lines and paid pages though.
To your point, we did Disneyland (CA) on New Year’s Eve this year, and it was far less busy than Tokyo DisneySea on random days during the same holiday season.
I still love TDS and it’s my #1 park, but I’m also okay with not getting to do every headliner (or even half of them) on any given day because we’ve done them all many times before and will again. We’re mostly just there for atmosphere and transportation attractions at this point.
what would you say is a good length of time to stay at Tokyo Disney , usually go to Florida but thinking might give it a miss this year .
Any input would be gratefully received, thanks
DisneySea is two days easy. I had only one day at DisneySea first time, and it wasn’t enough to see everything much less let it soak. Fantasy Springs just makes it more so. Disneyland is just a very well maintained version of MK/DL in the US. If it’s one day for you in the US, one day there is probably fine. So I’d suggest 3-4 days.
The “How Many Days?” section of our TDR planning guide provides conditional answers and lengthy explanations: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/tokyo-disney-trip-planning-guide/
It really depends on how many days/weeks you have in Japan and how much you prioritize Disney stuff vs. everything else.
My take:
3-4 days at Tokyo Disney Resort for the die hard Disney fan, spending 2 days at each park.
A casual fan would probably only really need 1 day and would spend it best at DisneySea, as they might find Tokyo Disneyland too similar to the US castle parks (which it isn’t).