A quick note for anyone headed to TDR; guests staying at the MiraCosta and Disneyland hotel get to enter the park 15 minutes before opening. It's called Happy 15 Entry.
From the website-
For Guests with Happy 15 Entry privileges, admission to Tokyo Disneyland Park or Tokyo DisneySea Park begins 15 minutes before regular Park opening time. Guests can get a head start on enjoying popular attractions.
What is not clear (it wasn't to me at least) is that the benefit only applies for the morning after your hotel stay. Not the day of check-in as with Disney and Universal's early entry/magic hour benefits.
And 15 minutes may sound silly to those used to the Florida hotel perks, but TDR still uses the old paper Fastpass system. So good planners and fast walkers can really take advantage of those few minutes.
Also, hotel guests can get park hopper tickets to cover all their days at the parks. Normally a multi-day tickets means you can visit one park on the first day, the other the second day, and both on the third. However, you have to buy your tickets at the resort, not online.
Sayonara
Douglas- Your plan isn't too ambitious at all. You should have no problem doing TS, ToT, and JCE by 9:30. Those extra 15 minutes really do make a difference.
Hotel check-in is where you will get your Happy 15 tickets and check-in is at 3 PM, no exceptions it appears. This is why you wouldn't be able to get into the Happy 15 by just showing proof that you were staying at the hotel on that day. You have to have the Happy 15 tickets.
We got in the line for Happy 15 at TDS around 7:20 and it was already pretty long. But once the gates opened at 7:45 things moved along quickly. We passed through the turnstiles at about 7:50 or so. Select areas (Mysterious Island) were not open until 8:00 during our visit in June, but I am not sure if this is a permanent schedule. Toy Story and ToT should be open at 7:45. During our visit Toy Story MM was not open. You'll definitely want to go there first as most of the crowd will be running (literally) for that and the Fastpasses will go quickly. There was also a big rush to get to the new Nemo & Friends Searider. We were not terribly impressed with this so I would get a Fastpass and do it later in the day if you really wanted to try it.
As far as the unique MiraCosta entrance, it is not used for the Happy 15. You will have to go out the main entrance of MC and take a right to the regular DisneySea front entrance. It's a short walk and you should have no trouble finding where to go as there will be crowds of people headed that way.
We did not use the Happy 15 for DL so I can't tell you were the line for it is located. As long as you get to the entrance around 7:20 and have your Happy 15 tickets someone can show you which line to get in. Pooh's Honey Hunt was surprisingly good. I highly recommend it.
And Fastpass distribution did not begin for some rides until 8:00. I remember getting a ToT Fastpass before 8, but had to wait till 8 to get one for Nemo. Not sure what the standard is there.
One other quick tip; you will need cash if you want to buy snacks in the park and the ATMs inside TDL and TDS only accept Japanese bank cards. The only place to get cash (as far as I know) is at an ATM hidden in the basement of Ikspiari, Japan's version of Disney Springs. However, all the gift shops and hotel restaurants accepted US cards.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask. TDS is by far my favorite of the Disney parks as it is so beautiful and unique.
I never did make it to TDR last Spring. I'm hoping to make it happen next Spring, though!
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Thanks for sharing! I'll be able to use the Happy 15 this coming September (staying at Miracosta). Is it true that only select rides are opened for the Happy 15? I'd like to run my plan-of-attack past you for advice...
For DisneySea (accessed via the unique Miracosta entrance) I aim to head straight for Toy Story Mania (I wouldn't even consider this ride without the Happy 15), then grab a Tower of Terror Fastpass before heading to Journey to the Center of the Earth standby maybe around the time the crowds start to gather. Is this too ambitious?
For Tokyo Disneyland, where is the Happy 15 entrance? And how soon before the 15 starts should I queue up? My plan, incidentally, is to grab a Monsters Inc. Fastpass and then head straight to Hunny Hunt. In fact, do they distribute Fastpasses during the Happy 15, or is it simply ride time? Thanks.