2026 Japan Park Trip = Any Tips?

[TBoy]

Hello everyone:

Me and my family are looking at maybe doing a trip to Japan, most likely in April or May 2026 but that is not confirmed yet. Any places we should go? We will most likely be going to Osaka and maybe Japan via the Bullet Train, so we are looking at things to do there. We want to go to Universal in Osaka and maybe Tokyo Disney, but we wont just be doing a park trip so we want some suggestions on what else there is to do in Japan. If any previous visitors to Japan could leave some tips here that would be great.

[Brad2912]

Went to Japan in December just gone 

April/May is peak season for them with cherry blossoms

their parks are crazy busy so just be prepared

factor in express passes for universal, they are expensive but basically a necessity unless you like spending 90% of your day in queues. We did one day with passes and one without and worked well

We didn’t have time to explore Osaka in our trip so can’t make too many recommendations aside from universal and the aquarium which is quite amazing compared to anything you’ll find in Australia 

 

Tokyo wise - you have Land and Sea. To be done properly you probably need 2 days at each

i’d also recommend Team Labs Planet, Akihabara for all things pop culture, video games and animal cafes. Shibuya for shopping (Pokemon centre, Nintendo store etc). Joypolis is super fun. 
 

no matter how much time you have, it won’t be enough

[TBoy]

Just spoke to one of my family members about it, they want to spend 2 days at Universal as it has Mario, Harry Potter, Jurrasic Park etc. but only wants to spend 1 day combined at Disney. Not sure if that will be enough so I am thinking we might have to cut that out. Also we might go in June/July if it is too busy.

The problem is there would be 11 rides with Express that I would want to use (FOTH, Forbidden Journey, Jurrasic Park, Hollywood Dream, Flying Dinosaur, Space Fantasy, Jaws, Minion Mayhem, Mario Kart, Yoshi and DK) but only 7 slots for the highest express pass. What four would you recommend I cut, or should I buy two express passes.

[Ryande16]

Went to Japan a month or so ago and went to Fuji q, nagashima spa land, universal studios and Disneyland. 
fuji q and nagashima weren’t overly busy, but operations weren’t the greatest. I just purchased fast passes to skip the lines on most rides. Cost like 10-15 dollars more to skip the ques was worth it especially if you might only go once in your life. Universal studios and Disneyland were busy asf, I don’t think there are any quiet time for those parks. Mind you we went midweek when it was like 5 degrees and raining and it was still packed. If you’re taller like I am you can use the I’m not sure if I’ll fit on the rides. They then take ya through the back entrance and down to the maintenance bay to see if you fit in a spare cart. From there they take ya to the front. Was worth it, skipped 2 hour plus ques on three different rides. Also just go singles. Did that on flying dinosaur and even though singles was advertised as 120 minutes we got on in about 40. 

[Brad2912]

1 day combined at Disney is a waste of time.

there is also no park hopper tickets in Japan so you’d be paying 2 separate full day entries 

re: USJ

There is a long time before you go, the express pass offerings and even available rides will change so impossible to judge now 

[jayw]

2 hours ago, TBoy said:

 only wants to spend 1 day combined at Disney.

I agree...this is pretty much a waste of time - was in Tokyo in early march and did a day each at Disneyland and DisneySEA - but it was my third visit over the last 15 years...and even then I wish I had time for at least 1 more day at Disneysea. Reports on crowds from Aprils this year are that the first week after Japanese school holidays in April is one to the quietest times of year to go - if you there - April/May check the Calendar to avoid school holidays and golden week and you should be ok. June/July is the wet season  - April/May weather is much more favourable.

 

2 hours ago, TBoy said:

What four would you recommend I cut

Haven't done universal since 2015 - so SML is new...But all those rides on your list have their pros if you haven't been before - but getting in the park at opening to do some big ridea before lines build, then working through your express pass rides could be a viable way to hit most/all of your list. 

Universal is Great - But DisneySEA is a must do IMO.

We also did Teamlab Borderless which was great, Harry Potter Studio Tour was well worthwhile also.

[Ash]

Imo disneysea over Disney land if you can only do 1. Tokyo tower is amazing, Shinjuku is a nice city, Akiharbara is cool to see, plus we did a heap of tours to, Mt Fuji tour and to see the nuclear bomb museum was an eye opener. We are going again in 2025.

 

 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

We are planning a trip this year and the one thing we have learned is that you need to plan and research a LOT.

I'm hearing you about it not being a park trip, so while it'll be hard for most folk here to not fall back to 'do this park too!' i'll try and balance things out a bit...

First, a couple of things to echo - if you do Disney, DisneySea should be the priority. You should still spend 2 days there minimum, but if you only have one, spend it at Sea. We have 3 weeks, and we've already put down 2 days in each park. But don't not go just because people have said you need more time there. A little time is enough to show you if those people were right, and whether you want to go back again later for a better experience.

Be prepared to be flexible. A lot of things sell out early (including express passes) and in Disney's case - vacation package guests, and then hotel guests, get first dibs on pretty much everything. A lot can be sold out so have alternative options if something isn't available. 

Know the dates things are made available - As an example, Universal passes are dropped around 2 months out. Disney  usually drops hotels & vacation packages 3 months out, but in our case they dropped the packages early due to the opening of fantasy springs. This sort of thing drops at a set time of day, and some of the websites drop from too much traffic \ place you in a queue. (We waited in the queue for 11 hours to secure a Fantasy Springs package, but that's not the average experience). 

Even experiences like Shibuya Sky, some of the Team Lab experiences drop tickets a certain time out, and there is a rush to get all the best spots early. You might still find tickets closer to the day, but they may not be at an ideal time and you'll find yourself compromising things if you haven't planned.

ESPECIALLY because you're planning to go in Sakura season - you should get a good idea of your itinerary NOW and so that you're ready to book accommodations as soon as they're available for your dates (usually 12 months out). You'll also want to be researching all of the attractions you want to do, though with two years before you go there are going to be plenty of changes in that time, so again, be flexible)

Transport. iPhones these days can add an IC card like Suica for general public transport. If you're doing a lot of back and forth between cities, consider whether the JR pass will work, but note that it had a huge price increase last year and you really have to do a lot of long distance shinkansen to make it worthwhile.

We're hitting Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Nara, Nagoya, Hakone and then back to Tokyo, so for us it works - but if you're just hitting the golden triangle, (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto) it generally isn't worth it. Many of our stops don't include parks, so may be closer to the itinerary you're looking for.

Youtube is your best friend. The amount of things we've found, learned and researched by watching youtube is mind blowing. There is so much to learn, and we're still making tweaks to our itinerary based on updated info from the latest videos. 

We've watched a lot of different channels, but the ones that ended up in our subs were:

• For the bigger parks, TDR Explorer is really informative.
• For getting around (especially as a family), Kensho Quest has been really good
• For just seeing what a place \ attraction looks like without much waffle, channels like ITSUKA JAPAN provide walkthroughs
• Americans documenting their travels (which is great as you learn lessons from them as a result) check out Ordinary Adventures or Tales from our Pocket
• Hints and tips about everything japan from a local guy starting his own tour guide \ travel company - HARBLIFE
• Hints and tips about everything japan from a local - TOKYO KENCHAN
• Hints and tips about everything japan from an american guy who does travel videos everywhere - YELLOW PRODUCTIONS
• Good japanese advice from a westerner (UK) living and working in japan (but mixed in with silly video collaborations made with friends - Abroad in Japan (he's also written several books under the same name)

 

[aaronm]

Some great advice shared already, outside of Disney/Universal I'd recommend adding at least one or two smaller parks. In Tokyo:

- Yomiuriland has some wonderfully unique attractions (noodle cup rapids is my personal favourite)

- Tokyo Dome City has the excellent Steel Dolphin

- Hanayashiki is peak "weird Japan park"

None of these would necessarily use a full day either.

 

There's also Fuji-Q with its infamously slow operations, I would try to combine this with a visit to Mount Fuji if you're going to bother. A day trip from Tokyo is possible but personally next time I'll be trying to spend at least one night up there.

 

Other random parks to consider:

- Nagashima Spa Land, Japan's answer to Cedar Point

- Greenland, quite big with a healthy dose of oddball, weird and interesting rides

- Parque Espana, takes some getting to but well worth the effort. You may even end up as "King of the Parade" (as happened to my friend, hilarious!)

- Suzuka Circuit, with the famous "scream and it goes faster" coaster

- Nasu Highland, with a spaghetti bowl of coasters straight out of Rollercoaster Tycoon

[ThrillsThrillseeker]

It does seem like spending only 1 day combined at the Disney parks would feel a bit rushed. If I were you, I'd consider staying an extra night somewhere to spend a full day at each Disney park. But your family's priorities are understandable too. No matter what you decide, it sounds like with 2 days at Universal you'll have an amazing trip.

[Eyeoneguy]

I took a family trip to Japan last year, and Osaka was a blast! Universal is definitely worth it, but outside the parks, check out Dotonbori for amazing street food and the Osaka Aquarium.

If you’re heading to Tokyo, the teamLab Borderless art exhibit was a huge hit with my kids, and Akihabara is a fun spot to explore, even if you're not into anime. For some good itinerary ideas, https://explorejapannow.com/2-week-japan-itinerary-for-families-with-kids/ was super helpful for us.

It’s got a nice balance of fun stuff for both adults and kids, plus some off-the-beaten-path ideas that really made our trip.

[Flea]

I was at USJ on Monday and had a pretty rubbish day even with an express pass - real shame as I had such fond memories of my last visit in 2017. Maybe it was an off day but crowd management was terrible on a day that comparatively wasn’t that busy (ie no queue exceeded 90 min)

Express Pass seem to dump you mid queue so most rides were still a 30+ min experience. You go straight into the lockers on Forbidden Journey but the room is absolutely chaotic and there is still a lengthy queue to get through following. Similar scenarios for Hollywood Dream and Flying Dinosaur only that those rides have the added benefit of incredibly overzealous security screening where you’re asked to physically show your pockets, then go through metal detectors. On Hollywood Dream you’re even wanded on the station platform while the train sits empty?? It’s weird and completely detracts from the experience.

 

SNW is crowded to the point where it’s barely enjoyable. Very few areas to just stop and take it all in so it constantly felt like we were moving with the crowd. Mario Kart was also a massive miss IMO. I thought it would have huge re rideability but certainly a one and done for me.

I was also very bitter my 16 month old couldn’t ride a tiny Elmo flume (or anything else beyond the carousel) where Disney had no issue with her riding Frozen, Pirates etc with multiple drops 🤣

Really disappointing experience all round. TDR is leagues ahead in every way - fantastic crowd management, food is excellent + cheaper, all staff interactions phenomenal. TDR has always been the better option but following this trip I won’t go out of my way to visit USJ.

 

[Brad2912]

6 hours ago, Flea said:

Express Pass seem to dump you mid queue so most rides were still a 30+ min experience.

That wasn’t my experience at all. Think the most express pass queuing we had was on Journey at about 10mins, actually maybe it was Minion mayhem at around 15, but standby queues at the time were both in excess of 90mins.

 

6 hours ago, Flea said:

incredibly overzealous security screening where you’re asked to physically show your pockets, then go through metal detectors. On Hollywood Dream you’re even wanded on the station platform

 Why is ensuring rider and guest safety overzealous? Clearly these were put in place out of necessity or they wouldn’t be there 

6 hours ago, Flea said:

I was also very bitter my 16 month old couldn’t ride a tiny Elmo flume (or anything else beyond the carousel)

Would you not have preempted what your toddler could ride by checking restrictions prior to visiting? 
 

and to circle back to your first paragraph 

6 hours ago, Flea said:

 

I was at USJ on Monday…… Maybe it was an off day

 

Monday was a public holiday in Japan. If you thought visiting the second highest attended theme park in the world on a public holiday was going to be calm and easy going adventure, you failed to plan 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Yeah i'm with brad on most of his response. I did find Dinosaur's Express pass re-entry was quite set back and there was still a good 20-30 minute wait from the metal detector - but given the extreme lines BEFORE the lockers, it still skipped a huge amount of waiting. I think it could be better, but they do need to ensure there's enough of a buffer after the metal detectors so that the coaster isn't waiting for people to clear security.

Its a tough thing to balance. 

But yeah public holidays in Japan are always days to avoid the parks. Many folk don't work mon-fri and tend to work regularly on the 'weekend'. kids also go to school on saturday, so when there is a holiday, it's a day for literally EVERYBODY to go to parks.

[Gazza]

i think what makes USJ a challenge is the attendance is now higher there than TDL, but the park just never anticipated those sorts of crowds, and everything is over subscribed.

Great that the park is so popular though!

Edited September 26 by Gazza