How to Enter Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea & Get On Rides (2026)
Fantasy Springs, the new $2 billion port-of-call featuring Frozen, Peter Pan, and Tangled at Tokyo DisneySea has the most Byzantine set of policies and protocol for accessing attractions. This guide to entering the land covers the free and paid options, tips & tricks for gaining access, and everything else you need to know.
The goals of this post are two-fold. First, to help those of you who already have plans get on as many rides as possible–hopefully all in a single day. Second, to steer you away from the “ugly” way of accessing Fantasy Springs with cautionary tales about our own days at DisneySea that were “suboptimal” thanks to obsessing over Fantasy Springs.
We’ve been singing the praises of Tokyo DisneySea for over a decade, imploring anyone who will listen to recapture the Disney magic by visiting Japan. And all of that’s still true. Perhaps not as much as it was in 2019, but Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea are still Disney’s two best parks in the world. It’s also true that Tokyo Disney Resort has a learning curve, and one that has nothing to do with the language barrier. While some of the skills Walt Disney World and Disneyland diehards have learned will translate, other issues are unique to TDR.
To that point, it’s also worth noting that there are other moving parts on top of simply getting into Fantasy Springs and on attractions. For example, although Tokyo Disney Resort doesn’t have park reservations, they do currently only sell single day tickets–and those sell out in advance from time to time. As such, we recommend buying at least a few weeks in advance. (See Tokyo Disneyland Discount Ticket Tips.)
Just like Walt Disney World and Disneyland, FastPass is also dead at Tokyo Disney Resort. However, unlike those, there is still a free line-skipping option–along with a paid one like Lightning Lanes. (See our Guide to (Free) Priority Pass & (Paid) Premier Access at Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea.)
Finally, although there are no virtual queues in so many words, Tokyo Disney Resort does use lotteries (officially known as “Entry Request” in the app) for select character meet & greets and stage shows in both parks. You’ll also need to use the app on certain occasions to enter shops (usually on/around release day for seasonal merchandise or Duffy stuff). All of this is nothing new. Fantasy Springs just dials it up to 11, and, in tandem with everything else, there are a lot of moving pieces to plan around.
There are no longer any entry restrictions in place for Fantasy Springs! This is subject to change based on crowd and capacity limitations, but we do not expectation Tokyo Disney Resort to revert to virtual queues for Fantasy Springs at any point in 2026 or beyond.
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.
- Even if there are no area entry restrictions, you will need a Standby Pass (free of charge) or Disney Premier Access (paid) to experience the attractions within Fantasy Springs.
- 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.
Here’s what the TDR app map view will look like if there are no entry restrictions in place:
If there are entry restrictions in place, the pathway leading to Fantasy Springs would have a grey box over it indicating that access is restricted.
Even though this is not a permanent policy change, it’s a huge step forward. Quite frankly, Tokyo Disney Resort has dropped the ball with park operations for the first ~6 months of Fantasy Springs. The port itself routinely has low crowds and attractions have wait times that are all over the place, ranging from 5 minutes to 180 minutes–and that’s just what we’ve seen, firsthand. The degree to which there’s been under or unutilized capacity is shocking, and worse yet, that it’s taken TDR so long to rectify these issues.
Meanwhile, there is routinely a large crowd that’s congregated outside the entrance of guests who were denied access getting photos by the entrance springs. The only “part” of the port they can see due to the entry restrictions. This is a much-needed and overdue change, and our guess is that most days will be open-access going forward. Perhaps this will end up being a de facto policy change, as (hopefully) entrance restrictions will never be necessary again.
Speaking of which, we had an awful experience attempting to enter Fantasy Springs during the holiday season, 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.
It’s likely that Tokyo DisneySea has taken a big hit in terms of guest satisfaction and other key metrics, which is one driver for this policy change. Another major change has also been made…
Tokyo Disney Resort has retired the 1-Day Passport: Fantasy Springs Magic ticket, which was available for purchase by guests staying at Tokyo DisneySea Fantasy Springs Hotel or guests who have booked an eligible Tokyo Disney Resort Vacation Package plan.
The 1-Day Passport: Fantasy Springs Magic” is no longer sold as of 2026. Unfortunately for foreign visitors, as this ‘Golden Ticket’ was the best, easiest, most expensive, and recommended option for access. While pricey, that ‘Golden Ticket’ was an absolute game-changer that made doing Fantasy Springs so much easier.
We’re glad we did the Fantasy Springs Magic Passport when we did–it was worth every penny for us. We wrote about our excellent experience using this ‘Golden Ticket’ in We Did 20+ Rides in One Day at Fantasy Springs via ‘Unlimited FastPass.’ The title pretty much says it all.
Our best guess is that Tokyo Disney Resort has received a lot of negative feedback about the entry process for Fantasy Springs (rightfully so!) and they’re scrambling to fix the problem.
TDR has historically taken guest satisfaction very seriously, and access to Fantasy Springs has been guest unfriendly to an almost hostile degree, unlike anything we’ve seen from the Tokyo parks in the past. Regardless, I wouldn’t recommend learning about how to access Fantasy Springs if you’re planning a trip. Some or all of what follows is likely to change.
In the meantime, let’s start with a simple explanation of accessing the new port-of-call via a chart from Tokyo Disney Resort:
To enjoy the new attractions in Fantasy Springs, a Standby Pass (free of charge entry) or Disney Premier Access (paid entry) for eligible attractions in Fantasy Springs will be required, in addition to a valid Park ticket for Tokyo DisneySea. You cannot simply line up for attractions.
Standby Pass is available on the Tokyo Disney Resort App, and guests can obtain a Standby Pass free of charge after entering Tokyo DisneySea. Guests are able to experience any of the four attractions at Fantasy Springs with a Standby Pass. Once guests obtain a Standby Pass, they will be able experience the selected attraction at a designated time.
Regardless of whether you’re trying to score free Standby Passes or paying for Premier Access, 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
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
With Disney Premier Access for an attraction at Fantasy Springs, guests are able to enter Fantasy Springs at a specified time to explore the new area and experience the selected attraction with a reduced wait time.
In other words, Disney Premier Access is Tokyo Disney Resort’s version of a Lightning Lane and Standby Pass is their version of a virtual queue. There are unique wrinkles to it, but this isn’t all that much different from riding TRON Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom. The biggest difference is that you need one of the two things just to access Fantasy Springs at all. It’d be like not being able to enter Tomorrowland without showing a virtual queue boarding group or individual Lightning Lane.
As noted, Standby Pass or Disney Premier Access are available after entering Tokyo DisneySea. This means a couple of things.
First, the already early-arriving crowd now arrives even earlier and camps out waiting to enter Tokyo DisneySea. If you’re wondering what time guests start to arrive, sorry, we cannot answer that. We have never–not once–in our decade-plus history of visiting Tokyo Disney Resort been among the first guests at the turnstiles. And in all likelihood, neither will you.
We’ve rope dropped Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea over 100 times at this point, and never have we been at the front of the pack. Nearish it, sure, but never at it. Based on Japanese social media posts, the line starts forming around 5 a.m. on normal days and even earlier on special ones (merchandise releases, start of seasonal events, etc.), but that’s secondhand. I’ll never find out firsthand.
The good (goodish?) news is that you don’t need to totally forgo sleep on your vacation to Japan and can instead arrive around 6:30 a.m. Probably even 7 a.m., or maybe 7:30 a.m. if you’re a gambler. However, if it were me and I only had 1-2 days at Tokyo DisneySea and planned on buying Premier Access or scoring a Standby Pass for Anna & Elsa’s Frozen Journey, I’d line up to enter the park no later than 7 a.m. Sorry, but that’s simply the best option.
The other good news is that Tokyo DisneySea typically opens earlier than the published opening time of 9 a.m. The time varies from day to day and is driven by demand. This is actually the case at all Disney and Universal theme parks, and is a matter of crowd control and safety. They don’t want congestion outside the gates to get too bad, so early openings happen as a ‘release valve’ on crowds. That’s also why the time is seemingly random. It could be 8:09 a.m. one day and 8:27 a.m. the next.
Before regular park opening, there’s also Happy 15 Entry for guests of Hotel MiraCosta and Fantasy Springs Hotel, which provides guests of these two on-site hotels (and now only these two on-site hotels) 15 minutes of early access to Tokyo DisneySea. It may seem like a minor thing, but it’s a huge advantage–especially given lines to enter the park.
All of this is why we borrow a phrase from my military-man father when it comes to rope dropping TDR: “If you’re technically early to park opening at Tokyo Disney Resort, you’re late.” Very much applies here.
The end result of Tokyo DisneySea opening before its officially published time and the early-arriving crowd of TDR fans and locals is that both free Standby Passes and paid Premier Access is sold out before 9 a.m.
Accordingly, you need to arrive early and make your ride reservations the second you scan into the park. There’s a reason everyone stops in their tracks in Aquasphere Plaza to book the free Standby Pass or buy Premier Access–it is imperative that you do this before heading to your first attraction of the day. Don’t make the mistake of trying to ‘kill two birds with one stone’ by racing to a ride and booking while in line. That’s an okay approach for Tokyo Disneyland, but not Fantasy Springs.
Here’s a look at when each Fantasy Springs attraction sold out from one of the Tokyo Disney Resort data-tracking accounts:
꧁ 本日の #ファンタジースプリングス ꧂
１月８日（水）スタンバイパス発行終了時間 pic.twitter.com/VWsMHVhg8N
— ْ (@_fantasysprings) January 8, 2025
For those of you who are planning a visit to Tokyo Disney Resort several months to a year down the road, I’d highly recommend following the Fantasy Springs account to see how these times change. While it’s true that Fantasy Springs still has the ‘new port-of-call smell’ right now and that this will die down, don’t overestimate the extent to which that’ll happen.
TDR fans are the most zealous Disney fans on the planet, and the Japanese seemingly have a far greater tolerance for waiting in lines than Americans. Other compounding factors are that pent-up demand is still a thing in Japan, Fantasy Springs is fantastic, right now isn’t even the busy season at TDR, and Annual Passes/multi-day tickets are both still suspended.
Suffice to say, we fully expect Fantasy Springs to be a challenging land to experience 5 years from now. (Yes, really.) The best comparison I can offer is to Universal Studios Japan, where timed entry is still in use for Super Nintendo World and probably will be for a while. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter still used timed entry for over 5 years after it opened. It wasn’t a daily occurrence, but it did happen.
The same will probably be true to some extent for Fantasy Springs in 2027 and maybe beyond. To be sure, it won’t be as bad as it is this year or on peak travel dates, but demand will still be high for the new port and its attractions for years to come. They’re very good and feature fan-favorite character, and that’s what happens with very good attractions with fan-favorite characters at TDR.
In its official materials, OLC already notes that “depending on the crowd, you may be able to enter [Fantasy Springs] without using the standby or Disney Premier Access.” This could mean that, going forward, Standby Pass for entering the land won’t be turned on until Fantasy Springs hits capacity. This is also how USJ uses timed entry for Super Nintendo World. If you arrive early enough, you can head right into the land.
If you’re not an early bird, all hope is not lost! Just like Lightning Lanes, there are ride reservation refills throughout the day for the Fantasy Springs attractions. In our experience, this occurs on some of the half-hours. We’ve found that it’s very hit or miss. For example, one day, every single attraction had a huge refill at 11:30 a.m. with near-immediate returns. On another, several half-hours were (seemingly) skipped entirely. I assume there’s a formula used that takes into account ride breakdowns, efficiency, etc.
However, like everything else, this is very much subject to change. One big reason for these unannounced drops is to not completely disadvantage guests who don’t arrive early–and not further encourage that behavior leading to a ‘spiral’ in which fans show up earlier and earlier in order to not miss out. As such, it behooves Tokyo Disney Resort to switch up the drop times so that the power users don’t scoop up all of them.
I would implore you not to rely too heavily on these ride reservation refills, especially if your time at Tokyo DisneySea is limited. While we have several success stories with this, I want to instead share a cautionary tale. One of the days we did Tokyo DisneySea, we arrived too late for the morning distribution of Standby Passes and Premier Access. So instead, we played the refresh game, having success with the 11:30 a.m. drop for a noon return.
We entered Fantasy Springs immediately, having only done 4 attractions in Tokyo DisneySea prior to then, in part because we’d been playing the refresh game even before 11:30 am. After we did the ride we had booked, we wandered around Fantasy Springs, enjoying the land in between additional cracks at the refresh game for additional ride reservation refills.
On at least 5 different occasions, I saw something but was unable to grab it before someone else. At the time, part of me blamed T-Mobile (a natural inclination when anything bad happens) for our internet connection being too slow. Then I started looking around on the half-hour, and noticed that we very much were not alone.
Plenty of presumably high-knowledge Japanese guests with (also presumably) capable internet connections were also failing. (On a different day, we noticed that the outdoor seating area for Snuggly Duckling was full of guests doing exactly this. We made two separate visits to the restaurant for drinks that were almost two hours apart, and some of the same guests were still sitting there, fixated on their phones.)
This continued until around sunset when we finally decided to cut our losses and do other things in Tokyo DisneySea. (Note that you can re-enter Fantasy Springs if you score another Standby Pass or Premier Access. The reasons we didn’t leave were wanting to photograph the sunset and not wanting to walk all the way out and back in.)
Point being, we spent about half the day in Fantasy Springs and only had one ride to show for it. I don’t want to say that time was all wasted–as we did walk around the land and had fun, but we definitely spent way too much time fixated on the app when we could’ve just been enjoying the park.
For us, this wasn’t the end of the world. We’ve spent a ton of time in Tokyo DisneySea–including 9 days in the last two months–and “researching” Fantasy Springs was our primary focus at this point. For you, the opportunity cost is potentially far higher. I can say with complete certainty that, no matter how much you love Fantasy Springs, doing something in the other ports-of-call beats refreshing the app in Fantasy Springs. Just something to consider before you spend your limited time glued to your phone.
For those with more money than time, far and away the best option for accessing the land and its attractions is the 1-Day Passport: Fantasy Springs Magic. This special Tokyo DisneySea ticket allows unfettered access to Fantasy Springs without getting a Standby Pass or purchasing Disney Premier Access.
The new 1-Day Passport: Fantasy Springs Magic can be purchased ONLY by Fantasy Springs Hotel guests or those using eligible plans for the Tokyo Disney Resort Vacation Package. This means if you book a resort-only reservation for Toy Story Hotel or the MiraCosta, you cannot purchase the 1-Day Passport: Fantasy Springs Magic. It’s only for Fantasy Springs Hotel or vacation package guests of the other hotels.
The big selling point of the Fantasy Springs Magic Ticket is that it offers open access to Fantasy Springs and is basically an unlimited FastPass for the attractions. Of course, this ‘Golden Ticket’ isn’t without a catch…and that catch is cost. Here are the prices:
The Fantasy Springs Magic Ticket is more than double the cost of a normal Tokyo DisneySea ticket, but it offers tremendous peace of mind. It allowed us to enter the new port-of-call in the first place without worry. It enabled us to sleep in, instead of getting up at the crack of dawn and being zombies all day. It allowed us to have a carefree day, rather than being glued to our phones.
I’m not sure what the value of the Fantasy Springs Magic Passport is to us, but definitely much more than we paid for the Vacation Package. We went from never doing the package to, at this point, never not doing it (at least until the initial excitement of Fantasy Springs dies down…so like for the next decade?).
Another advantage of the Vacation Package is that it allows you to enter the restaurants (for free drinks) without making a Mobile Order. This is hugely advantageous–and a perk that’s flying under the radar. In our estimation, the food at Fantasy Springs is only okay…but the themed design is exquisite. So exploring the restaurants without committing to a full meal, and instead eating elsewhere, is the way to go. And you can only do that with a Vacation Package.
If you’re traveling internationally to experience Tokyo DisneySea (presumably anyone reading this), making the splurge for the Vacation Package with a Fantasy Springs Magic Ticket is highly recommended. Honestly, I don’t know how you even read to this point of the post and conclude otherwise.
All of the methods before this should sound stressful…because they are. They absolutely can be done–we did them, multiple times! But again, if you only have a day or two at Tokyo DisneySea and you’re flying from the United States or wherever…do you really want to risk it?
The whole reason we booked the Vacation Package in the first place was because we feared it would take 2-3 days to fully experience Fantasy Springs without it. While we ended up not needing the safety net, we didn’t know that going in. If we had to do it all over again, we would again overpay for the Vacation Package. Without any hesitation whatsoever. It’s not even a remotely close call for international tourists.
One final recommendation I’d make, and this is bound to be a controversial one, is booking Hotel MiraCosta over Fantasy Springs Hotel. In part, this is a subjective one. We think Hotel MiraCosta is much nicer and better themed than Fantasy Springs Hotel. But this is not simply based on our personal tastes.
It’s also worth noting that the Fantasy Springs Hotel entrance closes promptly at 9 pm. This is another thing that’s subject to change–and we hope/assume it will change very soon with negative guest feedback. If not, that means guests of the hotel who plan on staying until the end of the night will need to exit out the front and take the monorail all the way around to get back to their hotel.
Strategically, it also makes more sense to book Hotel MiraCosta. Since you already have unlimited access to Fantasy Springs and its attractions, you don’t need proximity to the land. Having the in-hotel entrance to Fantasy Springs offers absolutely no advantage. Moreover, that unlimited access also means you should resist the temptation of doing Fantasy Springs first.
Hotel MiraCosta is closer to all of the other high-demand attractions in Tokyo DisneySea. Meaning that if you’re going to take advantage of Happy 15, you’re coming out ahead with the proximity offered via Hotel MiraCosta. Your best bets are going to be focusing on Soaring Fantastic Flight, Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror, or Journey to the Center of the Earth (in that order). Every single one of those rides is closer to Hotel MiraCosta.
Finally, and I cannot stress this enough, but Hotel MiraCosta is nicer. Maybe you’ve seen some pretty photos or effusive praise for Fantasy Springs Hotel–which is also more difficult to book right now, but that’s due to FOMO and the ‘new hotel smell.’ (Also, there’s a good chance the praise you’ve seen is from Westerners who have never stayed at Hotel MiraCosta–they don’t know what they’re missing.)
Ultimately, there are a few options for accessing Fantasy Springs and getting on the attractions, all of which have their own upsides and downsides. In the end, I wouldn’t consider any of these good, bad or ugly–they are all a mix of all three, depending upon your perspective and how things play out during your trip.
As is probably clear from our enthusiasm, we think the Vacation Package is the best option…but even that has the ugliness of creating an inequitable system that significantly advantages those spending the big bucks and disadvantaging regular park guests. We used it with a “don’t hate the player, hate the game” mentality, but still hope Tokyo Disney Resort makes efforts to close the gap on these options and make access easier and without such a steep learning curve.
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 be doing the Tokyo Disney Resort Vacation Package to efficiently experience the new port-of-call? Or will you stick with free Standby Pass or paid Premier Access? Thoughts on rope dropping Tokyo DisneySea, Fantasy Springs Hotel vs. Hotel MiraCosta, or anything else covered here? Wondering how any aspects of visiting work? 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!
We are 4 girlfriends flying into Tokyo on April 1-8, 2026. We are diehard Disney fans and friends. We want to do the vacation package at Fantasy Springs for 2 nights and Mira Costa for 2 nights for April 4,5,6,7. We want to visit all the parks (Tokyo Disneyland, Disney Sea, and Fantasy Springs) without rushing around. I see that everything is changing on April 1st which is unfortunate for us. Any advice on when to start looking to book the hotel vacation packages. I am the one coordinating everything and don’t want to be bogged down when we go to the parks as I want to enjoy my time and not have to micromanage everyone’s tickets, que passes, etc, so we want to book the easiest and most $$ to not waste anytime. Any help is much appreciated.
We are headed to Tokyo Disney in June. I looked for reservation options at Mira Costa Hotel and I was able to book 4 nights, but I also looked into a vacation package. From what I could tell the vacation packages were only 2 night/3 day options. We wanted to come in on a Monday and spend Tues-Thurs at the parks and leave Friday. I also think the Magic Ticket seems like the most ideal option. Do you know if there is a way to get Magic Tickets and more than a 2 night stay?
Sorry, just want to confirm.
There’s no standby times for the Fantasy Springs attractions?
Just either getting the vacation package or buying the Premier Access?
I’m not opposed to buying the Premier Access, we’ve done it before, I just hope we at least get a spot.
I guess we’ll be showing up early. We are staying at the Hilton and can’t get a VP. And we’ll be there right at the end of March so we just miss the April cut off. Oh well, hope we get good luck!
Or at least they allow us to at least walk thru it.
Ok, just quickly scrolling through this I noticed the chart that says “preparation before entering kindergarten” and (100% seriously) thought I was looking at a joke/meme showing that it’s easier to enroll a child in school than obtain entrance to Fantasy Springs.
I guess “kindergarten” is just a weird mistranslation of a “children’s park” or something but still made me laugh.
I am under the impression that TDL uses “English as a Second Language” on written signage, menus, etc. but is it pretty commonplace to have weird translation issues like this in the parks, hotels, or online? (I also figured they have some good English translators on staff, but maybe not).
No, it’s incredibly uncommon. That was a Google translate issue, not official comms from TDR.
Tokyo Disney Resort is one of the few places in Japan where you won’t run into comical translations–they’re ubiquitous everywhere else, and incredibly amusing.
OLC and Walt Disney Attractions Japan employ some westerners. I’d say it’s less common for typos or poor grammar there than in the U.S. parks, honestly.
So assuming this change stays in place to no restrictions (there might be some at say bank holidays). Does that change the strategy-my assumption is much like everyone rope drops beauty and the beast that everyone will rope drop to Frozen and Peter Pan and my best bet would be to head to Journey to the Center of the Earth and then follow it up with either Tower of Terror or Soaring if I am willing to pay for the lightning lanes (which will likely still fill up fast but not as fast)?
This doesn’t change anything in terms of strategy yet, as you still cannot access the Fantasy Springs rides without Standby Pass or Premier Access–there still are no standby lines.
Once standby is introduced, which I think/hope is an inevitability by April, that will be a massive gamechanger.
Since the closing of Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear at TDL, plus the temporary closure of Small World, the difference in wait times between TDL and TDS has been remarkable. Holidays are over, kids are back in school and the weather is cold. Wait times at TDL this week have been very reasonable. But wait tames at TDS remain 2-3 hours for all the e-ticket rides at TDS, not just in Fantasy Springs. I wonder expect things to stay that way until TDL construction ends.
Ah I misread that which may show just how complicated things are over there. yes it’s get into park as early book everything you can then loop sinbad(seriously compass of your heart is suuch an earworm! I didn’t get it till was on the rife but wow( , explore and single rider on Indian Jones until all the paid e tickets or standbys come up strategy then.
I don’t want to get people’s hopes up – but I arrived pretty late (~10am) on two separate weekdays this week and was able to book all three Fantasy Springs attractions multiple times each day. I could have ridden them even more by refreshing, but I had spent almost $100 per day on rides and decided to restrain myself…
Obviously, if someone is determined to ride these attractions they need to choose one of the ugly guaranteed options in this post. But the indifferent approach has a chance of working too during off-peak periods. (I say off-peak, but I’ve never seen DisneySea so busy, and I’m a fairly frequent visitor – it’s busier than a Pre-Fantasy Springs summer weekend, and Disneyland park is very quiet by comparison, providing a frame of reference).
Wow, that’s fantastic to hear!
Every time we’ve visited since Nov. ’22, we’ve never seen TDS so busy. The only exception to that was right around (immediately before and after) Fantasy Springs opened, which I believe roughly coincided with ticket prices shooting up.
Despite that, there have been times when Fantasy Springs has felt quiet by comparison, with a significantly larger crowd *outside* the entrance. I wonder if they’ve finally figured out how to allocate capacity for the attractions, which would be a huge win.
Thanks for sharing your experience–it’s definitely reassuring, to at least some degree.
This is very encouraging to hear! I know nothing is official until it’s announced, but reading between the lines it really does seem like they are trying to move this land towards being a more “normal” area of the park. I’m hoping by April the land is essentially open entry (unless it hits capacity) and the rides move to standby with a paid Premier Access option.
Of course I just booked plane tickets last week to be in Japan from March 25-April 8. For a trip we specifically delayed from this spring so we could catch both sakura season *and* Fantasy Springs (and visit the Tokyo parks for the first time). We hadn’t been planning on going to Tokyo Disney until the later half of the trip, now I’m worried if we wait until April we’re going to have to try lotteries or dedicate a whole day just to waiting in lines at Fantasy Springs.
If you were in my situation what would you do, Tom? I had been planning on getting the package to ensure one stress free day at Fantasy Springs with multiple rides on each attraction in case we had bad luck with the free access options the other days. (I know my husband is going to want to go on Tangled more than once, the lantern scene is his favorite in any Disney film).
I’d probably wait a little bit to see what, if anything, is announced as an alternative to this discontinued ticket.
If that’s nothing or not to your liking, I’d move TDR to the front of the trip. Honestly, I prefer starting at TDR regardless–you have jet lag working in your favor and (IMO) it makes adjusting to Japan time a lot easier. Others might disagree as to that, though.
As much as I dislike how much it costs and the principle of it all, I view the ‘Golden Ticket’ as a complete game-changer for Fantasy Springs. With that said, if you’re only doing 1-2 days in TDS, you shouldn’t spend a disproportionate amount of time in Fantasy Springs.
Thanks for the reply! I wasn’t planning on spending a whole day in Fantasy Springs but do want to ensure that we can do more than one ride if we really love something.
The plan is to do 4 days at Tokyo Disney and then split the rest of the trip between Tokyo proper and Kyoto. A blogger I respect recommended spending no more than a third of any Japan trip at TDR and I’m gonna take his advice 😉
Do you think TDR will make the vacation packages available for April 2025 (and later)? So far, they’ve only released dates up until the end of March. They usually announce the extension of the vacation packages deal by the end of each month (by the end of September they announced the extension to March 2025). But so far, nothing for April…
I guess the October 29 update answers my question 🙁 Haha
Just a note: in the article you mention “April 2026”, but the 1-Day Passport: Fantasy Springs Magic ticket will be obsolete from April 2025 on.
Thanks for the heads up. Not quite sure why I thought the mont that came immediately after March 31, 2025 was…April 2026.
Also, apologies for not directly answering your question. I meant to do so when updating this, but got pulled away.
Is there a US based reliable travel agency that can arrange the hotel and vacation packages?
I just went to Tokyo Disneyland, Disney Sea, and Fantasy Springs 2 weeks ago. Guess what? We’re going back in December – it was that good! I’m a big Disney fan – these Parks are absolutely amazing and I’d like to see how they decorate for the Christmas Holidays. Two days ago – July 2 was the opening date for the new packages. I had our reservation oh most completely done and we lost power here in Florida – horrible! It took another 24 hours before I got back in – the line was very busy, I waited in line for a long time. I finally booked our package this afternoon. On our first trip we stayed at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. It was a beautiful hotel in all aspects and the buffet breakfasts were good that comes with the plan. This time we are staying at Toy Story. I debated about us staying at Mira Costa but ….. I didn’t do it even though Tom recommends it highly. It will be Christmastime and I have lots of gifts to buy. Someday we’ll do Mira Costa. I wouldn’t go to Tokyo Disney without buying the plan. Tom is correct – you need the plan. When we went 2 weeks ago the plan worked perfectly. The stand-by lines were really long (80 to 90 minutes). I was so glad we had Premier Passes in our plan. We just walked on to rides. I will say the Japanese don’t seem to mind waiting in lines. They enjoy socializing with whoever they are with. We also took advantage of the 40th Anniversary free tickets – you can sign up for a “fast pass” every 2 hours I believe. We never stood in line the entire 3 days except to get into the Fantasy Springs Gift Shop – 26 minutes to get in. The Japanese love their souvenirs! I wanted to buy Tom’s hat – they were out. I wanted to buy Cheese – they were out. Hopefully, I have better luck in December. On our Fantasy Springs Day we rode Frozen, Peter Pan and Rapunzel at least 10 times each. I’m a huge Frozen fan but truthfully Peter Pan was my favorite ride. The food is OK but not outstanding but the ambience in the restaurants is excellent that comes with the plan.. We loved mobile ordering as the lines are terribly long. I was excited about getting my Peter Pan popcorn bucket in the plan – the lines are terribly long at every stand so I finally settled on roast beef popcorn so I wouldn’t have to stand in line so long for the butter popcorn. Yes, I emptied out the popcorn when we got back to our room. You will never see any trash anywhere and very few trash cans – unreal!! All the cast members are trained to always smile and wave. I loved it – it was a wonderful happy place for 3 days. Japanese dress very conservative. Many of the young people really dress up – like they are going on a special date. Truthfully, we decided we couldn’t go to the Parks in shorts and t-shirts – after the 1st day he wore long pants and a button-down shirt and I wore a nice blouse with my capris. There are lots of stairs and hills to climb in Disney Sea – no scooters and very few wheelchairs. You even climb stairs in some of the Fantasy Springs rides but after spending 4 days in Tokyo I learned you also climb lots of stairs in Tokyo. Japanese people are in shape!!! It was an amazing adventure – hope lots and lots of you get to do it!
Just wanted to say, I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience! Always helpful to hear detailed reviews from those who have been. I’ve been researching to plan a trip in a couple of years.. but I don’t think I can wait that long!
Hello, I was able to book MiraCosta for a 2 day/1 night vacation package, but the earliest breakfast time they had was 7:50 a.m. This is for November 2024, so assuming a 9am opening time, do you think this is enough time to eat (really) fast and get to DisneySea in time to take advantage of the Happy 15? Or should I stick with my original Toy Story Hotel vacation package which has a 6:50 am breakfast time. For context, this is my 3rd trip to TDR and I have stayed at MiraCosta before, so I am most concerned w/getting the most value out of the Fantasy Springs pass and don’t expect to spend any time at the hotel.
Already working on a guide to TDR Vacation Packages.
Please keep the questions coming so I know what to incorporate into that!
There are 2 things I’d love to know about the packages:
1) a breakdown of the cost of the different components. I’ve spent a bunch of time on the website (which is…not great) and while the hotel prices seem to vary by night I don’t think the uncharges for different package options/ride reservations do, but it’s sort of hard to tell without going through the booking process many times. a chart would be super handy for making decisions.
2) strategy on how/when to book them. I tried to price out the “Fantasy Springs: enjoy even more attractions” package and couldn’t find a single date where it was available. I expect that one is expensive, but for a potentially once-in-a-lifetime trip I might splurge. But it looks like I need “speed strategy” as well as a willingness to pay.
One other thought – the packages include ride reservations. Strategy on which ones to pick would be helpful. Is it better to pick the most popular ones (that cost $ regularly) or do those last longer (and can be purchased day-of) so maybe take reservations for the ones that are nominally free…
I can’t wait! I’ve already booked my VP for early September, so have made all the random selections already, but hoping you have tips on how to maximize it! It was a gamble at the time–we booked it before Fantasy Springs opened–but was definitely the right move!
Oh, but in terms of questions for VP, I would definitely say (1) what time to book breakfast / do you still need to show up super early on a VP, (2) which rides and at what times to book priority access, (3) can you pick up your packet the night before if you’re staying in a different Disney hotel, (4) the attractions versus the attractions and more VP. And probably more!
Hi Tom, I just booked a 2 night 3 day vacation package for April 2025. Got to book ride times at 9 am for Frozen ride. I am staying at Toy Story Hotel. My question is, Do I need to worry about making it in time for the 9am ride reservation, considering I have a 630 Breakfast buffet included in our package, and then have to use the monorail to get to DisneySea and then walk to FS. Never being to Tokyo before, I’m not sure of the time it will take to get to the actual ride entrance from our Hotel.
Tom,
+1 regarding how to book vacation package and what it entails. It sounds like I can book a vacation package for several of the DisneyLand Hotels and receive “unlimited” access to Fantasy Springs (so staying at Toy Story Hotel would offer the same access minus the proximity of using Miracosta or Fantasy Springs Hotel). Does the Fantasy Springs one day passport get you into the rest of Disney Sea as well? Walking the readers through some scenarios would be useful.
How do we go about buying a vacation package from the USA?
Hi Tom and Sarah! Hope you enjoyed your time at TDR and that Megatron had a fantastic time. We have booked our flights and will be at TDR March 25-26. I am planning on getting the vacation package and will hopefully be able to stay at the Miracosta on the night of the 25th and want to try to get Tokyo Disneyland Resort for the night of the 24th to be able to get Early Entry to Disneyland on the 25th. I am assuming you will be updating your 1 day plans for both Disneyland and DisneySea and cannot wait to see those (I followed your 1 day itineraries when we went to Disneyland and DCA and had the absolute BEST time). I have a couple of questions. As part of the vacation package, I can pick 3 attractions for DPA on the Disneyland day and I am planning on getting B&TB for one and Splash Mountain for the other. Should we do B&TB a second time if we can or should we get the open flexible one that we can use at other attractions? On the Fantasy Springs day I see we can get 2 DPAs that day. Which attractions do you recommend we get for that day? Tower of Terror I will pass on since my kids are little and we can always do that at Disney World (we are Florida residents). I saw Baymax is not a must ride. Thanks so much for your guidance!
so just to clarify, these recommendations are only how to access the rides in (and get in to) fantasy Springs, which is sort of an exclusive sub land of Disney Sea? But standby bypass, and Premier access apply to the non-Fantasy Springs rides in Disney Sea?
I live here, so I’ll have some plenty of opportunities to find out these questions, but do you know:
1) TDR website often rejects USA credit cards. Will this be a problem on the app when trying to book premier access?
2) In the fury after passing through the turnstiles, should we prioritize premier access over standby passes? I fear struggling with my cc them standby passes are gobbled up because I was hassling with my card.
Can you book the vacation package through travel agencies in the US? Would love to go to Japan and visit TDR but it all seems so complicated.
I know it might be a bit niche but in future blogs could you advise about how to buy the vacation package.
I’ve looked into it and honestly it seems to be the most arcane website devoted by man. Sometimes you can get 1 person sometimes it says you must have 1 depending on the site then claims all hotels are available but won’t let you onto the next oage
I am not planning on going until end of February and currently have a no charge booking on the monorail line resort but do want to look into this to guarantee I get in even if it means I pay more for the hotel as it could be a while before I’m back(I said this the last time I went to Japan too the place has that effect on people !)
Agree. I am going in May 2025 and I have zero idea how to buy this package or what the cost is. Thanks!
I will echo this request, Tom. You’re usually really good about defining any park-specific terminology in your blog posts but after reading this blog post and the official Tokyo Disney website I’m still not entirely sure what the Vacation Package consists of.
I’m fairly certain it includes a hotel stay and park tickets. It seems like it also prescribes which park you have to start at on each day of your trip but I’m not sure. (Also can’t tell if it includes park hopping or if that’s even a thing a TDR?) You are saying the Fantasy Springs Access ticket must be added on the vacation package, correct? Or is it automatically included in all packages?
Sorry if we’re being dense. This post makes me anxious about being able to access the new land (and usually your posts emphasize that one shouldn’t stress too much, which makes me think Fantasy Springs is particularly challenging). I want to make sure I understand what it is you are recommending we purchase and what comes with it. As I’ve never been to the Japanese parks before I want to make sure I am making the best use of my time!
+1. Or if you could point to an existing rundown of how the vacation packages work, that would be super helpful. Thanks for everything you do, as always!
We have package for Aug and I found it super complicated , the website is not user friendly at all. Somehow my husband had luck and we actually got a Fantasy Springs Package (which is apparently almost impossible ) then we had to add a nice before the package starts (DL hotel) and a night at the end (Sheraton) A lot of people advise practicing well ahead of your time frame to see how it works and then cancelling. The packages and rooms sell out so fast, nothing like at WDW so you need to be ready!
We are DVC so would never book any kind of WDW package (we never even do the dining plan) so this is a whole new world for us but all the reviews for Fantasy Springs seem to say it was worth it.
I know from some Disney lovers here in Tokyo that they’ll start lining up at midnight on some rare occasions. 3 A.M. is a little more common than that for merchandise and special events and 5 A.M. could be for a regular day, especially weekends.
What was your experience like with mobile order in Tokyo? They introduced it last year I think and personally I’m not a fan. It seems not many people use it and they’ve eliminated a couple of “stand-by” lines in the restaurants to accommodate it. I’ve seen people’s food sitting out for a long time while I wait in line, too.
In my experience, the food lines in Tokyo are much longer/slower than in Florida, but I’ve only been to Orlando a few times in my life and before mobile order was introduced. I also prefer the food in Orlando, but I’ve noticed you seem to think Tokyo does it best! Aren’t the menus kind of boring here?