Japan with a child - Disney, robots, zoos, miniature cities, samurai parks, and a festival (belated)

Matt_01 · Sep 14, 2019

On the back of this thread Writing your trip reports I have decided to finally post some old trip reports. They will be focused on travelling with kid(s) and providing a few photos of kids activities, aircraft travel and hotels. As these are family trips and wherever possible have tried to cut out the family however will be a number of photos with burred faces as the photos not were planed to be published. I am also not good a remembering to take photos, most of them are pinched from MrsM.

First off the bat is Japan.

Off to Japan a kid’s trip so robots, zoos, Disney, small worlds, samurai parks, a festival, aquarium and Tokyo. MrsM and MissM travelling on rewards in school holidays and a duration of 3 weeks

First leg was ADL-BNE with an overnight at the Novotel BNE Airport. Probably not necessary there is only one morning flight from ADL to BNE that can connect to QF61 and we don’t like running the risk missing connections. We also do ExMEL or SYD when connecting to am International flights.

Once through the standard checks and off to the lounge. The QF one is being renovated to the Plaza Premium our daughter just went to sleep.

On the plane she seemed happy with her seat the crew were very good

Flying over PNG

Over Japan getting ready for arrival into NRT

Matt_01 · Sep 14, 2019

From NRT we use the Airport Limousine Bus rather than the train as the bus will drop us off at the hotel and it was just easier than dragging the luggage through the stations. We were staying at the Hilton Shinjuku I had booked the a standard room however the hotel upgraded us. MissM get excited when we stay in larger than normal hotel rooms.

Matt_01 · Sep 14, 2019

To start the day breakfast in the Hilton restaurant, it is an impressive spread but we forgot to take photos. Then off to Ueno park for the zoo and a couple of museums. In Tokyo I was using a Suica Card and the girls using day passes.

The zoo is not that large however is the oldest zoo in Japan and has a large number of animals it is a great place for the kids

MissM wanted this dish, the picture looks a bit better and as an adult I thought it looked awful, it is rice and other food stuff put together to look like a panda. MissM liked it.

Matt_01 · Sep 14, 2019

After the zoo we strolled through Ueno Park and visited National Museum and the National Museum of Nature and Science.

You can easily spend a day in the Ueno Park area, the zoo is not large however has a number of different animals the park area is large and an in close proximity to Ueno station. Travel within Tokyo is not difficult and I will come back to this at the end of the report.

Matt_01 · Sep 14, 2019

We spent the next day just doing tourist stuff through Ikebukuro, Asakusa, Shibuya, Harajuku and Ginza. No photos to be posted.

Next on the cards was the Ghibli Museum and Hello Kitty World. We chose to do this in a single day as they are both only about 30 minutes outside of Tokyo. If I had my time again I would do them on seperate days, the reason being is that the connection from Mitaka (Ghibli) to Tama (Hello Kitty World) is doable however if you are not familiar with the Japanese rail system and the number of carriers it can become quite confusing.

From Shinjuku we headed out to Mitaka (Ghibli) after visiting caught the train to Tachikawa and the monorail down to Tama (Hello Kitty World). To get back to Shinjuku we purchased Keio Line tickets back to Shinjuku.

Matt_01 · Sep 14, 2019

So off to Ghibli Museum and Hello Kitty world.

The Ghibli Museum would not have been a place on my list and to be honest I had no idea that it existed. MrsM came across it online. For those that are considering going do some research prior to leaving AU as tickets need to be pre purchased and are released 3 months in advance are only available in limited quantities, when we purchased ours we were advised that the limit is 50 tickets per day across AU and NZ and they get snapped up quickly.

We do not have that many pictures of the Ghibli Museum as you are not allow to take photos inside we got a couple but the staff do watch out for guests no following the rules.

If you can get tickets and fit it in this is a great place.

Matt_01 · Sep 14, 2019

Sanrio Pouro World – This place was debated before we left AU as it was not a place high on my agenda, all I can say is MrsM and MissM thought it was a great place as as much as I do not like to be proven wrong it was quite entertaining. I am sure there are other things to do in Tama however it would seem like everything from street design, shops etc. is geared to kitty world. Heaps of shows and lots to keeps little ones, especially girls amused for hours. It is not the Japan I know however the kids were having a great time.

Matt_01 · Sep 14, 2019

More Hello Kitty

ALH · Sep 14, 2019

Matt_01 said:
So off to Ghibli Museum and Hello Kitty world.

The Ghibli Museum would not have been a place on my list and to be honest I had no idea that it existed. MrsM came across it online. For those that are considering going do some research prior to leaving AU as tickets need to be pre purchased and are released 3 months in advance are only available in limited quantities, when we purchased ours we were advised that the limit is 50 tickets per day across AU and NZ and they get snapped up quickly.

We do not have that many pictures of the Ghibli Museum as you are not allow to take photos inside we got a couple but the staff do watch out for guests no following the rules.

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If you can get tickets and fit it in this is a great place.

I second that. My youngest daughter took me to Studio Ghibli many years ago and I just loved it. I was sad that I was too old to play on the Cat Bus

Matt_01 · Sep 14, 2019

Another day doing shopping or should I say what will be purchased on our return at the end of the trip. Not a busy day as we were going to to the robots.

What is a trip to Japan without the Robot restaurant. It was another on the girls list, it is another thing that if you have the time and do not mind the cost it is well worth a visit and is completely over the top and loud, ear defenders are available and made MissM use them.

Matt_01 · Sep 14, 2019

The next day was another quiet day as we were going to Disney the following day, MrsM started doing bag re-packing, as she does I went out to pick up some other stuff, presents etc. MissM spent most of the day sleeping and going to pool which she was completely amused by the fact that she could not go in the pool without a cap.

Matt_01 · Sep 14, 2019

The next day and it was an early start and off to Disney. Time to get on the early morning peak hour with luggage, the Chuo line (express) is in my experience the the easiest as most commuters disembark at Shinjuku and there is a reasonable amount of space on the trains. A quick but lengthly (distance) through Tokyo station to the correct line and we are on our way to Disney. On arrival at Maihama station it is a quick walk to the Disney Monorail, drop off luggage and off to the parks.

rbjhan · Sep 14, 2019

Wow, certainly a Japan I've never seen in all my previous trips....

Matt_01 · Sep 15, 2019

MissM had informed us that she would like to go to all the Disney’s, We will be in the US and HK next year so a couple more will get ticked off the list. If you are going to bring your kids to Japan Disney there are 2 parks and you could easily spend 3-4 days here. Also apart from the Disney’s there is not much else in area other than hotels.

Disney Sea

Matt_01 · Sep 15, 2019

More Disney Sea.

Matt_01 · Sep 15, 2019

We stayed in the Hilton, they had just opened their lounge and were quite proud of this, the food was pretty good.

Also As I posted up thread there is not much at the Disney other than Disney and Hotels. So eating options are limited however the Hilton did have a small connivence store in the lobby.

And a Disney Shop

Matt_01 · Sep 15, 2019

KidZania is another place that MrsM found and another that you need to pre book as there is limited paces and run two sessions a day. It is essentially a little city where the children try different activities from mail delivery, cooks, vets, pilots etc. They run some professions in English, but most are in Japanese. We had to head back toward Tokyo and this was the first time they had to board a train in the morning peak. 4 trains arrived and departed before MrsM realised they do not get any less crowded. We only had to go 2 stops and change to the metro lines. Kidzania is in Koto City and is not difficult to get too.