When to Visit Tokyo Disney & Universal Japan in 2025 | 328

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey explorers. Welcome to episode 328 of the TR now podcast. We're the first English speaking podcast about the Asian theme parks like Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea. You can find us over on our website, tx4.com and all, and under social media under the same name. I'm one of your hosts, Chris. I'm the one that see on camera all the time on YouTube, usually stuffing my face with some sort of food. And joining as always, is Patricia. [00:00:28] Speaker B: Hey. I'm dying. [00:00:30] Speaker A: Oh no. Well, I'm glad you made it. [00:00:33] Speaker B: I did. I will, I will show up. I will show up for the podcast. I am the one. I, I work with tourism and you can find me at Dream Sweets Love on Threads and on Instagram. And I'm part of a team for Discover Urayasu, which is to promote what's going on in the city in English. So you can check that out if you're interested in it. But I'm, Yeah, I'm, I'm not, I'm not doing good. [00:01:03] Speaker A: Oh, no. [00:01:04] Speaker B: Hopefully it's not like, it's not like that time that I got pneumonia. Like, hopefully I don't end up hospitalized, but I think, I think it's getting better. It's been like, like a little over a week. [00:01:16] Speaker A: Okay, well, hopefully you're on the mend because I know like last week we didn't record because you weren't feeling great and I didn't. No, I didn't want to make you go through that. [00:01:24] Speaker B: No, no, no, it's better. No, believe it or not, it's way better than it was that day. That day I could not. Was just like, I couldn't even talk because I was coughing and I was like dizzy, you know. [00:01:37] Speaker A: Oh, that's. [00:01:37] Speaker B: I don't have a fever, so coughing and dizzy and like there was congestion and it, that's, that's it. So I don't know if it's like a really bad cold or if it was the flu, I don't know. But I, I was knocked out like for like the entire week. [00:01:52] Speaker A: That's not good. Well, it's been chilly lately, so you could have just stuck your head outside. [00:02:01] Speaker B: I haven't even done that. I heard, I heard Saturday was like super, super windy and cold and I'm like, I didn't even go out because I was in bed all day. [00:02:10] Speaker A: It was pretty chilly. Yeah, it's gotten really chilly. I actually complete aside. So as you know, like last month I was hit by a car, right? [00:02:19] Speaker B: Yes. [00:02:20] Speaker A: And most of, most of November was out for me and I. And I was able to go home and everything. [00:02:25] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:02:27] Speaker A: But like, I had just started like a few days before the accident, I had just started like starting to rearrange my apartment because I was like, okay, I need to like, I want to redo my kitchen, I want to redo my living space and where the computer is. I just want to redo it because I kind of set it up back in 2020 and I just haven't touched it since. And I feel like, okay, it's time to kind of change things up a little bit. [00:02:51] Speaker B: Time before the New year too, you know? [00:02:54] Speaker A: Yeah. So I started doing that and then my accident happened and I couldn't do anything. So my apartment was just in disarray. So that added to my stress. So. And then when I got back from Canada, we went straight to Osaka because the grand opening of Donkey Kong country, which we'll talk about in a different episode because I have a lot of things to talk about about that, but I just haven't had time to like, properly sit down and like, get stuff from my apartment. So like this last few days, I've been going to Muji, I've been going to Nitori, I've been ordering stuff from Nitori online, getting it delivered. I actually went to Nitori today and I bought. I decided to treat myself. So I guess for context, for people that don't know, in Japan we don't have central heating. Yeah, we just don't. And the insulation in a lot of places is terrible. So that means it gets really cold. If you don't have a heater on or anything, your apartment, your house gets really cold. Mine is no exception. So, you know, I'll. I will, I will wear fleece to bed. Like fleece socks, fleece shirt, fleece pants to be nice and warm and cozy. And then I would have a fleece blanket. And that's usually what I would have. But this time I decided to treat myself. I went and bought a fleece line mattress topper and a fleece lined pillow topper. So then I'm just like engulfed in fleece. [00:04:28] Speaker B: That's so cozy. [00:04:30] Speaker A: I know. Like, and I just put on the bed and I'm so excited. I can't wait. [00:04:34] Speaker B: Oh my gosh, that sounds so good. [00:04:37] Speaker A: I was trying to mute. Sorry. I guess we're both. We're both kind of sick, aren't we? [00:04:41] Speaker B: No, I hope you don't. I really hope you don't because it's. It's been knocking everyone out around me. So I Hope you didn't get it, too. [00:04:50] Speaker A: I don't think so. I hope not. [00:04:52] Speaker B: But the fleece blankets sound so cozy. I still have the freaking summer blankets on. I need to change it. [00:04:59] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. [00:04:59] Speaker B: I've been dying. [00:05:02] Speaker A: Yeah. So, yeah, I'm, like, super excited about that. [00:05:06] Speaker B: Yeah, I can't. [00:05:07] Speaker A: I can't wait. [00:05:09] Speaker B: I love the coziness of winter season. [00:05:14] Speaker A: And on top of that, I've been doing well, like, for me, since I rent my apartment, I can't drill holes in the walls. But recently, Nitori and Muji have started selling shelving that uses the three push pins that goes into the drywall. [00:05:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:05:38] Speaker A: And, like, those are easy to cover up, right? [00:05:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:05:40] Speaker A: Those little holes. So I've been buying all these really nice shelves and putting them on my walls. [00:05:45] Speaker B: Nice. [00:05:46] Speaker A: And, like, making my house look a little nicer because, like, bare walls are just kind of boring. And Japanese homes are usually. It's either concrete wall or it's like, you know, that. That white wallpaper, that textured wallpaper, and it's kind of boring. So I've been putting stuff up on the walls, and it's actually been quite nice. [00:06:09] Speaker B: Nice. [00:06:09] Speaker A: And, like, hangers and things like that. I know it's very, I don't know, domestic sounding. [00:06:17] Speaker B: I mean. Yeah, it's like, you know, it's. It's the perfect time, you know. [00:06:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:06:24] Speaker B: Clean everything up. Organize before, like, the new year comes. [00:06:29] Speaker A: Yeah, it's been. It's been nice. [00:06:31] Speaker B: I'll say that. [00:06:32] Speaker A: It's been nice. [00:06:33] Speaker B: Great. [00:06:34] Speaker A: And. And just, like. And cold. It's just been getting colder. [00:06:38] Speaker B: Yeah, I've been using. I usually. We don't use the heater just yet because it's not like, super cold yet. But because I was sick, we had it cranked up and I'm like. Yeah, I don't like it that much because it feels, like, so oppressing, you know? [00:06:52] Speaker A: But I usually don't have it on except for, like, in the evenings or, like, I have it on right now because we're recording. So it's usually, you know, just sitting still. You start getting a little chilly. [00:07:05] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:07:08] Speaker A: But typically, I don't have it on because I'm usually moving around like I'm cooking or something. And, you know, I don't really need to. Don't really need the heater on just yet. It's usually like, what, January? Definitely February. [00:07:20] Speaker B: In February, probably. We use it, I think, the most. [00:07:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:24] Speaker B: But now I've kind of ruined it because I gave my husband permission to turn the heater on so I could warm up. Really super heat my body to see if that would help. And now he wants to use it every day. And I'm like, it's not even cold yet. Just wait, you know? [00:07:42] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. Yeah, don't even get me started. When the heaters turn on in, like, October or September, you can't even go. [00:07:49] Speaker B: Shopping because it's, like, way too hot. [00:07:52] Speaker A: Ask any, like, foreigner that lives here. And we all say the same thing. The heaters turn on. It's usually like, September. The heaters turn on and it's like, it's still like 25, 30 degrees outside. What are you doing? It's not cold. [00:08:04] Speaker B: It's ridiculous. No, but even if you talk to Japanese people, like, I was talking to, like, a friend who's Japanese and she was complaining about, like, the getting on the train and she's like, dying on the drinks is so hot, you know, and it's like, it's. It's like, why do they. Why. Why is the temperature turned up so high? [00:08:25] Speaker A: You know, it's just. And it's staying hotter longer. So. [00:08:30] Speaker B: Yeah, no, and like you said, like, starting in October, it's still summer right now in October, so it makes no sense. [00:08:38] Speaker A: We don't have to turn on the heaters just because the calendar says it's supposed to be falling. [00:08:43] Speaker B: Exactly, Exactly. [00:08:45] Speaker A: Sometimes. Anyway, that's not the point of this podcast. That's not the point of this episode. [00:08:50] Speaker B: No, we got off track. Sorry, guys. [00:08:52] Speaker A: I guess, like, weather kind of plays into this, doesn't it? I guess, like, deciding when to know. [00:08:57] Speaker B: What the weather is going to be anymore. We don't know. We know. It's like, we know autumn is, like, nearly non existent. [00:09:05] Speaker A: We kind of went from. We went from summer to. For like, a couple of weeks of autumn, and now we're into winter. Autumn hasn't been lasting as long. Autumn's usually, like, the really nice, comfortable weather, too. [00:09:16] Speaker B: I love autumn. I'm like, super sad. I'm like, we're slowly changing into the climate that I left. You know, pretty soon there's not even going to be, like, winter. It's just going to be summer. And I'm like, I love. I love having autumn, you know, I don't know what to do about it. [00:09:37] Speaker A: So we thought we would talk about, like, when to visit Tokyo Disney and Universal Studios Japan, because they kind of go hand in hand. Like, if it's busy at one park, it's usually busy at the other, and vice versa. Like, it's just These parks are busy, so we kind of thought we'd kind of go over the basics and when we, like, went to visit in 2025 and all that kind of fun stuff. So I guess, like, to start off, like, in general, Japan, as we know, is a hot spot right now. [00:10:10] Speaker B: Oh, my God. [00:10:11] Speaker A: Yeah, it's just gonna keep increasing, I think. So Japan as a whole has become quite popular for tourism, and it's just going to keep increasing. And with that increase, that means these theme parks are going to get busy because they're huge drivers. Right. Like, people come to Japan and then they want to. They want to do, you know, a day at Disney or two days at Disney, or if you're like us, you know, people that listen to this podcast, you want to do four days at Disney, four, five days at Disney, two days at Universal, you know, whatever the case may be. But there's just going to be people. Right. [00:10:46] Speaker B: And I would say it's kind of funny because I think in the past we would say things like avoid Golden Week, avoid the late summer holidays, etc. But like, I would say maybe even more so now, avoid the overseas holidays. You know, avoid spring break, which used to be, like, for us, like, a fairly calm time because it's such a. It's like one of the busiest seasons of the year, along with New Year's, with people starting new jobs and going back to school and stuff. And. And I would say now probably avoid it because the overseas tourists want to see cherry blossoms and they're all here at that time. Right? [00:11:25] Speaker A: Yeah. So there's. [00:11:26] Speaker B: There's a lot of factors changed so much. [00:11:29] Speaker A: Yeah, it really has. Um, so I guess, like, the biggest takeaway before we start talking about this is kind of like you're not going to pick the most perfect time to come. Like, it's not gonna. The perfect time doesn't exist. Um, so you kind of have to pick what works best for you and what you want to accompl and. And just, like, adjust accordingly. So try not to stress too much about choosing, like, should I visit on a Tuesday versus a Wednesday? Like, things like that. Try not to stress too much. But of course, there's things we got to take into consideration as well. So we'll. We'll talk about. We'll talk about those things. [00:12:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:12] Speaker A: But let's go over the golden rules first. Golden Rules. So this kind of applies, like, pretty much any time of the year. Just a general, you know, Golden Rules. Exactly what the name says. I guess this one we kind of have to put an asterisk now. But the golden rule typically is avoid weekends and national holidays. And if a holiday. So this is one that trips a lot of people up because people don't realize this or whatever the case is, if a holiday, national holiday, tends to fall on a weekend, then it's usually substituted for Monday. So like, if it's on a Saturday or Sunday, a lot of the times it's pushed to Monday. That really does. [00:12:57] Speaker B: Holidays. It's also school events. So, like, if students have a school event on the weekend, they'll also have that Monday off. [00:13:04] Speaker A: Yeah. So like sports day is a very popular one. [00:13:07] Speaker B: Exactly. So watch out in autumn and spring for those Mondays because you'll see a lot of students. Right? [00:13:15] Speaker A: Yeah. So this can cause like either Friday or Monday. And sometimes. I've recently noticed this, Tuesdays can end up being busy because of this now. [00:13:27] Speaker B: Okay. [00:13:28] Speaker A: Which is very interesting. Like, there's a few times I've went on Tuesdays, like after a long weekend, thinking, oh, it'll be fine. And I notice it was busier than the Monday, which didn't make any sense to me, so I don't know why. But general rule of thumb, weekends and holidays kind of use that as a gauge as to like, okay, I shouldn't be going around this time. The weekends thing, we were talking, kind of talking about this before we started recording. Sometimes the weekends, specifically Saturdays, are less busier than Fridays, sometimes wild. [00:14:00] Speaker B: And I think, I think again, it's because people don't want to go because they assume Saturday is going to be crowded. [00:14:06] Speaker A: And also pricing Saturday. Saturday and Sundays and weekend, like weekends and holidays are the most expensive days because of the. The whole dynamic pricing that they do. Right. So Friday is usually cheaper, you know, maybe about a thousand yen or something like that. So people who want to save money are going to go on a Friday. And a lot of it seems like a lot of people are thinking that way now. [00:14:31] Speaker B: I can. I can see that. But I think the reason why we've always chosen a Friday, back when the price was the same, was because we assumed people would be working so there'd be less. We. It was a lot of people assumed Fridays would have less people. [00:14:45] Speaker A: Yeah. So that's changed as I've. [00:14:49] Speaker B: Okay, good to know to avoid Fridays now. [00:14:52] Speaker A: Yeah, you. So usually, I guess it kind of goes to the next thing. Usually the best days to visit are, I say Tuesday through Friday, but like, if you hit. If you like, depending how many days you want to do, if you hit Wednesday and Thursday, those are usually the Least busy days, typically Tuesday kind of depends. Like if there's a holiday that just happened. If there's no holiday, then usually Tuesday is fine. Yeah, Monday kind of depends. It's kind of Monday is usually the more busier weekday just because, you know, some people move stuff around, whatever. And also Mondays are typically cheaper as well. Like the weekdays are usually. Monday through Thursday are usually the cheapest days in terms of park tickets. [00:15:38] Speaker B: Because people are working, right? [00:15:41] Speaker A: Correct. So yeah, like I wish I had a perfect answer because it just, it just, it varies so much. But just try and hit like the middle of the week and just anticipate you're probably going to have at least one of your days is probably going to be a little bit busier than you intended to be and like thought it was going to be. So just kind of keep that in mind, I guess. Golden rule to have a head start before the park opens. The park usually opens. It varies on the day they will open earlier than the, the posted time. So right now the park is set to open at 9am they might open it as early as 8am it's either, it's usually 8 8am, 8:15, 8:30 or 8:45. It really depends on the day. And you don't know ahead of time. Unless you're staying at a Disney hotel and you have early entry, then they tell you when it opens. [00:16:34] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:35] Speaker A: So general rule of thumb, get there an hour or two before the, before 9 o'clock. So like if you're there at 8 on a weekday, they're probably going to open at 9. Usually weekdays, they usually just open at 9 anyway. But like busier days they might open earlier so you can get there as early as seven. I don't think you really need to be there any earlier than that. Even with the Fantasy Springs thing, I think if you're there like latest 7am I think you're fine, honestly. Unless it's like a really, really busy day, like a weekend, then probably 6, 6:30. But like this is if you, if you want to like be first and like have first choice of everything in terms of Disney premiere access, which kind of leads me to the next thing. Do you need. Oh, I guess I'm only talking about Tokyo Disney, aren't I? This kind of applies to Universal Studios Japan as well. I'm sorry, I should preface that. All this also applies to Universal Studios Japan. They open the park early, weekends are just as busy. Weekend pricing is expensive as well. So this applies to both Tokyo Disney and Universal. So and days of the week to visit and all that. Same thing for Universal. I forgot about that. I see a lot of people stress about this and it really depends on your situation. Do you absolutely need a dpa? I'm putting an asterisk there. Do you need a DPA or Express Pass? No. But it does make things easier and that's kind of what they're there for, right? [00:18:14] Speaker B: I think especially if you want to do everything. Like if you're from overseas and you won't get the chance to come back anytime soon, it's kind of become almost a necessity, right? [00:18:28] Speaker A: Yeah. Depending on the day. But I guess, like, I'm not saying don't use them. Like definitely use them if you feel the need that you need to, but don't feel like you need to do it for every single attraction, you know, unless you want to, that's perfectly fine. Like, like if you want to that, that it's your money, do what you want. I personally think you don't need to use it for every single ride. [00:18:54] Speaker B: You can use common sense. Look at the wait times. If it's 30 minutes, you don't need it. [00:18:58] Speaker A: You know, like for me, my, my kind of general rule of thumb, if the wait time, I guess it's more for Tokyo Disney. Universal is a little bit different. But for Tokyo Disney, if it's above, like, if it's above 70 or 80 minutes, then I'll consider Disney Premiere Access to pay to skip the line. If it's less than that, I usually don't. That's kind of how I tend to gauge it. Of course, if you're on a vacation package, then that's all included anyway. You don't need to worry about it. So that's a whole other, that's a whole other episode in itself. But like, and I, I guess like the more stressful thing, like DPA is pretty easy to kind of get your head around. Like Disney Premier access. Like, you don't have to do anything ahead of time, right? You just, you buy it on the day of your visit. So the earlier that, the earlier you are there, the more slots that are available, right? That just, that's how it just works logically, right? So you'll, you'll, you'll have more choice and everything. But when it comes to universities, Japan Express passes, you don't do that the day of. I doubt there will be any available ticket booth. That's something you need to do ahead of time. And a lot, I know a lot of people stress about it because it is stressful. I totally get that. The good, I guess like again, it kind of comes down to price and like what you're pricing and like what your, your goals are. Like, do you want to ride everything or is there like just like one specific ride you want to do? Like, kind of depends on what you need. Yeah, I see way too many times people buying the most expensive Express Pass when they really don't need it. Like unless you, like, unless you really need to ride all those rides, you probably don't need the Express Pass 7. Get the Express Pass 4, right? Yeah. [00:20:57] Speaker B: It comes down to common sense, you know, like what do these other attractions have a super long line. If they don't, you know, you don't need it. And you can tell on average, you know, looking at the wait times, you know, it's, it's not like. [00:21:12] Speaker A: And I guess like depending on your situation, a lot of these rides, this is more for Universal Tokyo Disney doesn't really have a lot of single rider lines for whatever reason, but Universal series Japan, a lot of the major rides have single rider lines. So as long as you're okay splitting your party up, you can get through a lot of these attractions rather quickly. So kind of eliminates the need for the Express Pass for a lot of things like Jaws and Flying Dinosaur, the Hollywood dream, like you can do single rider on those. [00:21:49] Speaker B: And on top of that, I find Universal Studios is a lot friendlier towards day pass guests. So there's a lot more side entertainment to do even if the lines are long. And let's say you don't have an Express Pass, you can catch like an atmosphere show or you can catch like entertainment that's happening like a big stage show, you know, so it's, there's less need to like focus so much on attractions because there's so much other, so many other things happening, you know what I mean, around you in the day. [00:22:22] Speaker A: 100%. Yeah, I agree with that. I know. Like, probably the biggest reason people get Express Pass is for Super Nintendo World, which I get, because if you get Express Pass, if you get it for one of the attractions in Super Nintendo World, then it gives you that timed entry automatically for Super Nintendo World so you don't have to worry about it the day of. So if you're gonna do like, like I guess if you had to choose like one Express Pass to get, get something for Super Nintendo World and then save your money for the other attractions, like, like the ones I just mentioned, like Flying Dinosaur and those kind of attractions, do single rider for those and then do the Express Pass for Super Nintendo World. Then that way you don't have to futz with the, the timed entry system if you don't want to. [00:23:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:17] Speaker A: But if you want to save even more money, as long as you're at Universal early enough, you're going to be able to get into Super Nintendo World. Like don't, like, don't stroll up at noon expecting to get a timed entry. No, don't like, don't do that if you're there. Like, you know, obviously the earlier the better. I've gone to Universal Studios Japan. Like they've opened at 8 and I showed up at 7:55. I walked in and I was able to get a timed entry for that morning into Super Nintendo World. And this was like midweek, like on a Wednesday. [00:23:54] Speaker B: I think the other pattern that people would want, the Express Pass is for seasonal attractions or limited attractions, like kind of like related to different things. Like Conan or like Demon Slayer is a big one. Exactly. Like whatever is like the, like the attraction that's being promoted at the moment, you know, because those do really get up there in wait times as well. [00:24:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:21] Speaker B: And I can see people visiting specifically for that. [00:24:24] Speaker A: Yeah. So I guess like the big thing is like, what is your goal? What like, what's the like one or two things that you absolutely must do and then kind of decide from there if you should. If there's an Express Pass for it and if you want to spend that extra money and if you don't, then just get there a lot earlier than you think you need to. I guess then that way there's a good chance you can get on it with a, like no wait time or I shouldn't say no wait time, but like a less of a wait time and whatnot. I've just seen too many things like on TikTok, on Instagram Reels, people showing up at noon or 1:00, honestly, Saturday, expecting to ride a bunch of stuff and they're upset. [00:25:05] Speaker B: Yeah. But they also get engagement if it's like, you know, they're purposely. Oh yeah, 100% people are like, oh, you're doing it wrong or blah, blah, blah, you know, and it boosts their numbers. So I mean, there's strategy to that as well, right? Oh yeah, no 100% posting those videos. Yeah. [00:25:20] Speaker A: But then there's also people that believe it, which. [00:25:23] Speaker B: Oh for sure. Yeah. [00:25:24] Speaker A: Which makes me angry. That makes me angry. Like please don't believe everything you read or see on, on these things. But anyway, yeah, it's. There's no easy answer. It's kind of nuanced it really. Like, like I said, it kind of depends on what your, your goals are. Right. [00:25:42] Speaker B: And a lot is, is common sense. Of course, if it's limited, it's going to be popular, right? Of course, if you're going on the weekend, probably it's just to make your life easier. It's better to get the Express Pass for Super Mario Land. Right. And like, for ease of mind, if there's something that you absolutely want to do, I would say just get it for that reason, even if it's not like 100% going to be super long or not, you don't even have to think about it. So for the things that you absolutely, absolutely want to do. Yeah. Don't stress out over it and just do it just to avoid the stress. Especially if it's like a once in a lifetime trip. I wouldn't, I wouldn't mess around with it, you know. [00:26:24] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, I guess I kind of to. I lost my train of thought kind of. As I was just saying earlier, pick like, I would say like the, like the top three things that you need to do. Like the top three things at Disneyland, top three things at disneysea, top three things at Universal Japan. What are these three things that you absolutely must do and then go from there, like decide, okay, does this offer dpa? Okay, am I willing to spend money on that? Does this require Express Pass? Okay, am I willing to spend money on that and just kind of go from there? Don't feel like you need to get it for everything because 99 of us don't need it for everything. But if, if you feel you need to, that's perfectly fine as well. I'm not going to tell you to spend your money. Do whatever you want. Other things to take into consideration, check attraction closures. That can also deter, that could make or break stuff as part of. [00:27:25] Speaker B: I've seen so many people distraught over this and I feel so bad for them, you know, but, but they do put the closures up ahead of time. So please, please, please check the website for them. [00:27:36] Speaker A: So I guess this kind of goes back to what I was saying before. Pick like your, like the top three things and check the attraction closures. If your top three thing is in that attraction closure, you're going to have to make adjustments if you can because sometimes these attractions go down for a very long refurbishment and there's just no way around that. [00:27:55] Speaker B: There's not much, but you know exactly when the days are and sometimes it's out of your hands, sometimes you're only able to travel at a certain time and there's nothing you can do. But if you have. If you have the ability to choose when and you can check those schedules ahead of time, it's so worth it. [00:28:14] Speaker A: Yeah. So, like, I guess a good example is Sinbad was down. Was. [00:28:19] Speaker B: Well, definitely ever. Right? [00:28:20] Speaker A: Yeah. It was under. No, it opened in the fall. It was down for refurbishment for seven months. But my guess is because it's a water ride, you know, that building probably had a lot of maintenance that needed to be done because it's a building full of water. [00:28:36] Speaker B: Right. [00:28:37] Speaker A: I can imagine that's a nightmare to maintain. So, like, that's how the quality is maintained at these parks. At both Universal and Tokyo Disney is. They are not afraid to put, like, they're not afraid to bring these rides down to maintain them. So they continuously run well. So check them. Tokyo Disney is usually about six months out. It's typically. Is when they're. They're. They have the schedule out. Universal is kind of the same thing. It's on both their websites. You can go and check those as well. And when they have the dates on there, those are pretty. Like, they. They follow those to the T. Like, if it's closing on January 1st and not opening until July 1st, you're not gonna be able to ride that thing until July 2nd. [00:29:30] Speaker B: Yeah. And I see so many people going, you know, like, oh, do you think it'll open a day earlier? Probably not. [00:29:38] Speaker A: No. Usually with. [00:29:40] Speaker B: Expect it to open a day earlier, you know. [00:29:42] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, with maintenance stuff, they never do. Like, I've never seen that happen. Never. Like, it's not like they're doing a soft open, you know. [00:29:51] Speaker B: No, no, no, no. Yeah. So, like, don't. Don't assume. Because I see a lot of people assume, like they might hope they might open it. It's not gonna. It's probably not gonna happen, you know? [00:30:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Do not bank on it. Just do not bank on it, like, at all. [00:30:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:30:08] Speaker A: The other thing is also check the event calendar for events that you wish to experience. [00:30:14] Speaker B: Yes. [00:30:14] Speaker A: There's a lot of events at all these parks. There's events all the time. Although Tokyo Disney seems to have just gotten rid of Easter entirely. [00:30:25] Speaker B: I mean, there's nothing wrong. That's good. And I feel like they. They killed. They overdid it with. [00:30:31] Speaker A: It was too long. I don't. I don't need three months of Easter. I'm sorry. [00:30:35] Speaker B: Kind of boring as well. Yeah. And it was becoming like. Like summer Easter, you know? [00:30:40] Speaker A: Right. I'm like, this is too hot. This is too hot for Easter, man. It was too much. [00:30:46] Speaker B: Uncomfortably hot. Yeah. No. Oh, my gosh. I don't know if this would count as the Easter season or not, but, like, I guess it's winter. It's like late winter. The freaking. The sugar rush. Looks so adorable. [00:31:04] Speaker A: That was out of left field. [00:31:06] Speaker B: I did not expect it to look that good. You know, the merch is. I mean, I expected it to be cute, but oh, my gosh, they outdid themselves with the cuteness. [00:31:16] Speaker A: So, yeah, like, for 2025, for the first time in forever, pardon the pun. I think since 20, like 2019, Tokyo Disney has actually announced all the dates for the events for the next calendar year. [00:31:30] Speaker B: Oh, really? [00:31:32] Speaker A: Yeah, finally. Because for the last few years, they've been just like, oh, here's the events for the next three months. It's like, okay. Well, it's hard to plan anything because you used to tell us the entire year. [00:31:42] Speaker B: But you could kind of assume, though, you know, summer, water event, winter. [00:31:47] Speaker A: Well, holidays this year, Halloween this year kind of took everyone by surprise with October. With Halloween not starting until October in September. So, like, things like that. Right. But now we know. So we have the full year for. For Tokyo Disney coming this year. Universal, they've never announced the full year. It's always been a few months out. They've always done that. [00:32:13] Speaker B: Yeah, that's true. [00:32:15] Speaker A: They usually follow the same pattern. Like right away we're going to go into cool Japan and we already know some of the stuff that's coming out for that. Like Conan is coming back and there's that masquerade thing that's happening. Then we're probably going to go into spring. They usually call it Easter spring. And then it's going to go into summer, and then it's going to Horror Nights and the Halloween stuff and then Christmas. So, like, they. They kind of keep, like, kind of do the same thing every year. [00:32:40] Speaker B: It's a general idea, right? [00:32:42] Speaker A: Yeah. So for Universal, you kind of get it. Like, the dates are usually roughly the same every year. So you can just look at past years and it's usually roughly the same. Give or take maybe a day or two or a week sometimes, but that's. Yeah. Tokyo Disney is probably the more confusing one. I guess there's just. Yeah, because they do tend to change up the events. Not usually the time frame, but just like, what the event is. Like our winter event is usually when they. They like to do different things for the winter event. Like, I'm happy that they're doing like Vanellope from Sugar Rush. Wreck It Ralph. I think that's fun. Yeah. [00:33:25] Speaker B: I love the candy theme. I love it. [00:33:28] Speaker A: Really looking forward to that. I think it's going to be. It's gonna be fun, I think. [00:33:32] Speaker B: What else? [00:33:36] Speaker A: Yeah. There's no Easter at Tokyo Disney anymore. [00:33:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:33:39] Speaker A: Thank goodness. [00:33:40] Speaker B: Bye. [00:33:41] Speaker A: I. I am sad that they kind of got rid of Tana. Tanabata. Wow. Tanabata days. [00:33:48] Speaker B: Yeah. That's a crime. And that's like a theme park crime. [00:33:52] Speaker A: Like, that was such a nice event. It was short. It was nice and short. [00:33:54] Speaker B: It's so inexpensive to do as well. It's like, for what? Why? Why? You know. [00:34:02] Speaker A: Yeah. They could just put up the ton of. But to tree and put the wishing spots and you have like, the little. Like, it's not even a full parade. It's just a greeting. Like a greeting parade, which is so nice. Like, I can't remember the. The guy's name. The. The performer that's always. Was always in that parade. The. The older gentleman. [00:34:21] Speaker B: I don't know his name either. I know his smile. [00:34:23] Speaker A: Yeah, He. He was in that for years. He was in that parade every year. And I guess it's just not doing it anymore, which is a weird. Like, it's weird. [00:34:33] Speaker B: I loved, you know, I loved back, like, back in the day when they would encourage the guests to wear yukata and they would give you, like, little. Like, little accessories if you showed up at the park in yukata. And it would really make it such a nice atmosphere. And it's so inexpensive to do, like, these, like, little gifts that they would give. Cost them, like, nothing, you know, in the grand scheme of things. And people really enjoyed it, and it was just so lovely and fun and exciting, you know? [00:35:02] Speaker A: Yeah. What are they even doing for summer? I don't even know now. [00:35:05] Speaker B: Don't know. I guess I should have something with water. I should have something Splash. Splash is in the title somewhere. Or fruits or fruit splash. [00:35:22] Speaker A: Fruit splash Christmas. Oh, yeah. Disney Palette Palooza. Vanellope's Sweet pop world. January 15th to March 16th. Duppies and friends. Wonderful kitchen. That's interesting. Like, it's all food themed. [00:35:39] Speaker B: Yeah. Because they can sell all the cooking stuff. What is that for Valentine's Day, right? [00:35:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:35:44] Speaker B: They do that every year, though. They just give it a different name. [00:35:47] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, I forgot about the. They're turning the whole Marvel It's a Small World thing into It's a Small World with Groot. [00:35:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:35:57] Speaker A: That's all. It's a whole event. So it's like a little mini event, I suppose. [00:36:01] Speaker B: Like, they sell stuff and they sell food. [00:36:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:36:04] Speaker B: And maybe have a greeting or something. [00:36:06] Speaker A: The. The It's a Small World is done with the overlay. [00:36:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:10] Speaker A: That's going on from January 15th until June 30th. [00:36:13] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:14] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, I forgot. The Duffy 20th anniversary is happening. [00:36:18] Speaker B: What are they doing? [00:36:20] Speaker A: It's called colorful. Happiness starts in April and goes until March 20th. I thought it was written down wrong. It goes until March 2026. So it's like a full year. Almost a full year. [00:36:32] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. [00:36:34] Speaker A: Oh, they're bringing back Donald Duck's Quacky Duck. Duck Duck Duck City, they're calling it. [00:36:39] Speaker B: Makes sense. Yeah. [00:36:40] Speaker A: Donald's Quacky Duck Duck Duck City. April until June. Okay, you know what? That's fine because that's usually when Easter is. I'll take a Donald Duck event over Easter. I think that's better, in my opinion. The. Oh, yeah, the Food and wine festival is coming back. April. [00:36:59] Speaker B: Don't call it that. I know. No, I know. That's what it's called, but April 8th. [00:37:03] Speaker A: Until June 30th, I didn't mind it. The food was actually pretty good. [00:37:08] Speaker B: Like, it's the same. They always have seasonal food. They just put the name Food and Wine Festival with it. [00:37:15] Speaker A: Eh, I'll take it. [00:37:19] Speaker B: They have a different name. They'll still do the same thing. They'll still have a seasonal menu, you know. [00:37:24] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, I guess, like, this is in place of, like, having an Easter event. [00:37:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:37:29] Speaker A: At the same time the Duffy event's. [00:37:31] Speaker B: Happening, there's less effort because they don't have to do a show. I mean, they don't do shows anymore anyway at disneysea. Yeah, that's. [00:37:38] Speaker A: Yeah. And then there's the Star wars event. Well, I shouldn't say event. They're doing the limited time version of Star Wars Adventures. Continue. It's the version that's already playing at the other parks for some reason. We're getting it in April. [00:37:54] Speaker B: Okay. [00:37:56] Speaker A: And then summer starts July 2, going until September 15. [00:38:02] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. Well, I mean, it is summer in September now, you know. [00:38:07] Speaker A: Oh. But I guess they came to a compromise. Halloween starts September 17th. [00:38:13] Speaker B: Oh, man. [00:38:14] Speaker A: Instead of October 1st. [00:38:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:38:18] Speaker A: And then Christmas starts on November 11th. And then New Year's, as usual. January 1st. That's. That's it. Going into 2026. [00:38:27] Speaker B: You know what they should do since, like, you know, they're doing, like, the Halloween in September and it's, like, hotter. It's like hotter and hotter. Every year they should make it like full on like yokai and kind of like obunish, you know, like all kinds of like Japanese ghosts and creatures and stuff. [00:38:51] Speaker A: They'll never do that. [00:38:52] Speaker B: They'll never do it. But it would be so awesome. [00:38:54] Speaker A: It would be. [00:38:55] Speaker B: I would love it. [00:39:00] Speaker A: And yeah, for Universal, like I said at the top is kind of the same every year. Cool. Japan. Then they go into Easter, then summer Halloween, horror nights and the family friendly Halloween, then into Christmas. So their. Their events aren't as varied. [00:39:17] Speaker B: Yeah, I would say maybe only the attraction schedule might be varied sometimes. Like they'll start at different times and end at different times. And some of them start at the same time or they'll start at different times and you know. [00:39:28] Speaker A: Yeah, so like double check a lot of that. Especially with the anime ips. Yeah, they all start and stop at different times. [00:39:35] Speaker B: Exactly. That's the only country. [00:39:38] Speaker A: It's probably contract stuff. It's probably what it is. [00:39:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:39:41] Speaker A: So like Demon Slayer was here for a while. It's still here. But then they stopped and then it switched over to a different Demon Slayer because they went to the different arc of the show. So they had to update stuff and the restaurant changed. So like Demon Slayer has been all year, but they stopped for a little bit and then started again. Right. So you just kind of have to check. That's another thing. Like going back to like just stuff on TikTok, stuff on short form videos. People will talk about like these special events and whatnot, but they never say how long it's running for. And then some people just assume it's all the time. [00:40:20] Speaker B: Yeah, it's not. I remember like people used to, you know, like for Attack on Titan, they're like, do you know Universal Studios has an Attack on Titan land? And I'm like, no, they don't. What? Because they act like it's like permanent, you know. And a lot of these things are super like short term. Like Demon Slayer. Like I don't know if they done Jujutsu Kaisen. I imagine it'll be like in the future or something. Or like the new one, Dandadan I'm sure is like in the pipeline or something. But like these things are not permanent. I mean, unless they build a permanent land. But you know, you can check the map and you can see if there's a land or not, you guys. [00:40:58] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:40:59] Speaker B: And I'm sure a lot of these like. Okay, a lot of these people that get confused about this are people that do zero research usually. [00:41:05] Speaker A: Yeah. And those are usually the most vocal kind of people. [00:41:08] Speaker B: Yeah. It's like if you go to the website and spend like five minutes, you'll find out what's in the park. [00:41:13] Speaker A: You know, I'm pretty sure 100% of our audience, all the wonderful explorers listening. [00:41:19] Speaker B: Oh, oh, I know that they know to check. They do the re. They. These are ultra planners, you know. Yeah, yeah. [00:41:25] Speaker A: So they all know. [00:41:26] Speaker B: I don't even think they need to be warned about that. Yeah. [00:41:29] Speaker A: You know what you're doing. You all. You all do. Yeah. So that's, I guess golden rules. [00:41:36] Speaker B: Don't go in the summer. Heatstroke, dangers. It's just not comfortable. [00:41:41] Speaker A: It's death. [00:41:41] Speaker B: It's fun. And September is part of summer now, so don't go in September either. [00:41:47] Speaker A: September gets pretty hot. [00:41:48] Speaker B: Yeah, it's really hot. And even October was pretty hot this year, you know? [00:41:52] Speaker A: It was. Yeah. [00:41:54] Speaker B: On the flip side, I would say, you know how we always used to say avoid February? I would say our winters are very mild right now. You know, like, even. Even, like it started to get really cold, like I hear this week. But, like, it was. It's been like. I mean, we still had, like, if you went like about a. About a week ago, you could still see the. The ginkgo leaves, like, fully on the trees, you know, in this. In this area. I forgot what it's called. And I know it was like, all over, like, social media. I had a friend who went, and she's like, oh, that's like full. Full autumn foliage, you know, so winter is super mild right now, so don't avoid it. [00:42:42] Speaker A: I would say it's still going to be cold in February. [00:42:46] Speaker B: It'll be chilly, but nothing like super cold, you know? [00:42:53] Speaker A: I disagree. It's still going to be cold. It's not going to be Hokkaido cold, but it's still going to be. It's the coldest time of the year. [00:43:01] Speaker B: Yeah. By comparison, for sure. [00:43:04] Speaker A: Yeah. But. Yeah. Well, I guess we're gonna get into all the different months, so we'll talk about that. But I guess, like, big events happening in 2025, we don't have any major openings happening at the theme parks. I think everything kind of has happened this year. Like, we're like, I think Donkey Kong was the last thing last week. Fantasy Springs was like, the biggest thing. And then we don't really have anything at Disney until 2026. That's with the Sugar Rush, the attraction opening. And then 2027 is going to be the new Space Mountain. And I don't think they're we haven't heard anything from Universal at all. Like, they're doing something to the Spider, like the former Spider man ride. Something is happening in that building. We just don't know what yet. Yeah, there's something happening at the Backdraft building as well, because that's gone. So, like, they're doing something. So we'll probably hear something this year. Like in 2025. They'll probably say something maybe. Yeah, we might see something maybe in 2026 or 2027. It's my guess. So I think 2025 is going to be like the year of what we have now. That's. That's it. That's what we got. Not that that's a bad thing because there's still a lot, but like, I guess, like big events that are happening that are noteworthy. I guess Star Wars Celebration is happening from April 20th. April 18th until 20th. So that's going to bring crowds in April. But April is usually busy anyway. [00:44:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:45] Speaker A: Because it's spring and everyone's here for the cherry blossom, so I think it's just going to add to the chaos. [00:44:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:52] Speaker A: And Star wars celebrations happening at Makuhari Messi, which is a gigantic convention center area that's on the KO line that's not far from Tokyo Disney. It's like, what, half an hour train ride deep into Chiba. I should say deep into Chiba. [00:45:07] Speaker B: It's like right there. [00:45:08] Speaker A: Yeah, it's not far, but like, that's where huge conventions always happen. Like Comic Con was just there. That's where the. The Comiket, like the huge anime convention happens there. Tokyo Game show happens there every year. So, yeah, it's a. It's a huge area for conventions and stuff, so that's going to be happening. And then we also have the World Expo in Osaka, and that's happening from April 13th until October 13th. So it's kind of like a. It's quite a long event. So I think it's going to bring more people to the Kansai area because there's a lot to do over in Kansai. Don't just stick to Tokyo. Go over to Kansai and go to other places. Like go past Kansai. There's a lot to do on that side of the country. Yeah, like, those are like the biggest events that I could find. Like, they're sporting events and stuff, but I don't really follow sports, so Kylie Minogue is coming. I guess that could be big for some people. [00:46:09] Speaker B: I mean, there's always something happening in the city, so. [00:46:13] Speaker A: Always something. As for major closures of course. Like, this is not a final list or anything. This is just what I've seen so far. That's, like, things that are noteworthy being the Beast at Tokyo Disney is going to be down for a week in February. So February 4 and. Till February 10, 2025. And then Raging Spirits is closing from January 16 until February 19, 2025. Those are the only major closures that I could find. Oh, and then at Universal Studios Japan, the Jurassic park ride is closed until sometime next year. They haven't said when it's reopening, I think. I think they're like, they must be refurbing that entire ride, like, the track and everything. They must be, because it's. It went down. Oh, my goodness. Earlier this year. It's like, it's going down for a lengthy refurbishment, so they must be doing some major updates. I don't think they're changing the ride because they would have said something. [00:47:10] Speaker B: I would think, oh, okay. I mean, that's fine. [00:47:15] Speaker A: You sounded very disappointed. [00:47:16] Speaker B: I was like, if it was closed for so long, I was kind of, like, hoping they were, like, I don't know, Add all kinds of crazy dinosaurs and stuff. [00:47:23] Speaker A: Yeah. All right, well, let's go. Let's do the month by month breakdown. [00:47:29] Speaker B: Okay. [00:47:33] Speaker A: Of course, this is all kind of. [00:47:34] Speaker B: Subjective, too, but, yeah, it's like, a lot of guessing and, you know. [00:47:39] Speaker A: Yeah. Kind of. Yeah. Kind of what we've been saying. Well, starting with January. January is usually a pretty good month to come after the first week of January, because January, the New year's holiday, starts December 25, typically, like, right around there, like, that week, and goes right until after the first week of January. That's the major holiday here during that time. [00:48:04] Speaker B: And I would come during that time just to see, like, Mickey and Minnie and Kimono, you know, I would say that alone is worth it. [00:48:11] Speaker A: Yeah. Usually the event. They usually run the event longer now, which is nice. [00:48:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:48:17] Speaker A: So I think. What does it run until this year? I actually don't even know. It's usually like, the second. Like, it usually runs for two weeks now instead of, like. Remember it was only, like, a week before. [00:48:26] Speaker B: It used to be only a week. Yeah. That's wild. But it runs for so long now. Okay. And special note, for New Year's stuff, that stuff goes on sale. Like, it's probably on sale right now, I'm guessing. Right. [00:48:42] Speaker A: Okay. So they usually do two batches. Right. Like, they. They do the. Like, they do this every single year. I don't remember. I don't remember. Not Ever seeing this, they always release, like, you know, the. The Fab Five in the little plush outfits for that animal for the year. [00:48:59] Speaker B: Right, yeah. [00:49:00] Speaker A: So this year, it's year the snake. Right. So that stuff is out already. That usually comes out in November. [00:49:07] Speaker B: It comes out hella early. Yeah. [00:49:09] Speaker A: Yeah. And then the. The shogatsu, the New Year's. [00:49:13] Speaker B: New Year's. [00:49:13] Speaker A: New Year's stuff for the actual event come out in December, I think it's already out. December 2nd. [00:49:19] Speaker B: It's got to be out already, right? [00:49:20] Speaker A: Yeah. December 2nd is when it came out. [00:49:22] Speaker B: That's crazy. That stuff is already crazy because even that is so early. [00:49:27] Speaker A: It seems like it. [00:49:28] Speaker B: Yeah, it's like, what. What is even happening? So, I mean, there'll still be stuff if you go for a New Year's, but also stuff is probably already sold out, like, some things. [00:49:41] Speaker A: You know, according to the website, it looks like it's all in stock. [00:49:44] Speaker B: Oh, that's good. So I would, you know, watch and see what's available, what's not available, you know, but you should find stuff if you go during that week. But it goes on sale so early. [00:50:01] Speaker A: And this year it's running until the 13th. [00:50:04] Speaker B: That's wild. [00:50:06] Speaker A: Yeah. That's a long time. That's two weeks. Yeah. Usually it used to be just January 1st until, like, that Monday, like, the following Monday, whatever. [00:50:16] Speaker B: The first Monday was an amazing time to go because, you know, like we said before, like, spring and the beginning of the year, like the busiest times of the year. And it's like a hard schedule to return because you've had, like, a long vacation. So you. Once you start school and work, you're, like, there, you know, so once the official, like, New Year's holiday is over, I would hit around that time would be fantastic. [00:50:47] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. So, like, this year, everyone should be going back to work and school On Monday the 6th. [00:50:54] Speaker B: Yeah. So then right after that, seventh at the latest. Yeah. [00:50:56] Speaker A: Yeah. So then, like, that week, it's gonna be quiet. [00:50:59] Speaker B: It's gonna be fantastic. [00:51:00] Speaker A: Yeah, it's gonna be quiet. [00:51:03] Speaker B: But things are open again then. Businesses are open, like, and businesses, I think, like, now compared to the past, there's a lot more things open than there used to be, you know, used to come, like, during New Year's and everything was closed, and like, now almost everything is open, you know, I guess. [00:51:18] Speaker A: The only caveat is this is when attractions start going down. [00:51:24] Speaker B: True. Yes, that's right. [00:51:25] Speaker A: This is. This is when they start bringing attractions down for refurbishment. So January, February is usually when they start. So if things need a refurbishment, it's going to go down during this time. So that kind of leads into February. And just like I mentioned, Being the Beast is closing from February 4th to 10th, and I know exactly why they're doing that, because that's the least busiest time, so they impact the least amount of guests. Right. [00:51:51] Speaker B: Isn't that also the time when there's the Lunar New Year, when you see, like, massive crowds of overseas tourists? [00:51:57] Speaker A: I've never seen it that busy for Lunar New Year. Definitely not like a Shanghai or Hong Kong. Disney. [00:52:05] Speaker B: Oh, not like that, obviously. [00:52:07] Speaker A: No, no, no, no, no, no. [00:52:08] Speaker B: But it gets fairly crowded and in the city as well. [00:52:12] Speaker A: I haven't really. Like, it might have changed now, but I honestly haven't really noticed that. Like, it can uptick a little bit, but not to the point where it's like, oh, my goodness, I wouldn't come in February. But February is also when they start doing the discounts for students, like, they do the student tickets. So that usually makes the week, like, the attraction. Wait times kind of tend to go up because all the students want to go on the rides, right? [00:52:43] Speaker B: Yeah, they're celebrating, you know, like passing, like, tests and stuff like that. So it's an exciting time for them. [00:52:50] Speaker A: So, yeah, February. February can be kind of hit or miss, but typically, typically it's a. It's a slower time. January and February, just because of the weather, never went back to school. Blah, blah, blah, blah. March. It's just avoid March, please. March. [00:53:04] Speaker B: But everybody's coming for March and April. [00:53:06] Speaker A: I know cherry blossoms. So I mean, like, if you have. Like, if you're here for crowded. Yeah, just know it's going to be crowded. Just know. [00:53:14] Speaker B: And there's a reason. You know, the cherry blossoms are nice weather, beautiful flowers. You know, there's a reason why it's crowded. [00:53:23] Speaker A: Just know everybody's gonna be coming. Of course everybody is gonna be here for it. It's just gonna be busy. So just prepare for that. Yeah, April, kind of like the beginning of April. That's kind of when things start to taper off a little bit because everyone's going back to school, start the new school year. But then we lead into the end of April. That's when Golden Week starts. And that's when it starts to get busy again because it's a big holiday, and that usually leads into May. I think this year is not as bad. [00:53:54] Speaker B: And I would check, always check Golden Week, because sometimes we get some weird golden weeks where the days will be separated and you're back at Work in the middle of the week and it's split. And those tend to be slightly better than when we have all the days together. So check the calendar because you know, if it's. It's a week like that, it's actually not too bad. [00:54:16] Speaker A: Yeah. So like, as I was just gonna say, like this, this golden week is not too bad because it's split. [00:54:22] Speaker B: Oh. [00:54:23] Speaker A: So it's just the first day doesn't start until the 29th, which is, which is a Tuesday. And the next one is not until Saturday. [00:54:34] Speaker B: Ugh. [00:54:35] Speaker A: But. And then so it's Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. So I don't know where the third. Like. Because there's two holidays that fall on the weekend where those are going to go. One might go on the second and one might be moved down to the seventh. [00:54:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:54:52] Speaker A: Hard to say. I'm not sure because it kind of depends on the workplace. [00:54:56] Speaker B: True. [00:54:56] Speaker A: School. So it's just a good general rule of thumb, just avoid it. Just so you don't have to like futz around with that. It's just going to be busy. Just. [00:55:06] Speaker B: But again, May is super comfortable. [00:55:09] Speaker A: Again, weather wise, right after Golden Week is a good time. It has been getting busier. [00:55:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:55:18] Speaker A: Just because I want to say it's our fault, Patricia, because we tell everyone to go in May. [00:55:23] Speaker B: I think that's probably like just the general advice because once you get into late summer, it's just like way too hot, you know. [00:55:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Like weather is very comfortable in May. That's nice. Spring weather, like April's comfortable as well. But you know, hit or miss with crowds. But yeah, May is usually the most comfortable. And then once again to June it starts to get hot. It might be rainy. It typically hasn't been in the last. [00:55:51] Speaker B: Few years, so, you know, rainy. We talk like the news talks about rainy season and I don't think we've had like a legit. It's actually kind of interesting because you know, rainy season is supposed to be this really light rain and we've actually been getting like summer squalls instead, which is kind of wild downpours. [00:56:10] Speaker A: Yeah. Just. [00:56:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Like short, like really short heavy rain. [00:56:13] Speaker A: You know, because I remember this is probably like 10 years ago now. It was probably 2015, 2016 or something like that where like the entire month of June it rained every single continuously day. Yeah, I remember that. I just thought, man, this is rainy season. [00:56:32] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. And like consistent and like, like, like just drizzly all day, you know. [00:56:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Last few years it hasn't been like that, but it does. It Rains more. It rains. [00:56:46] Speaker B: It rains heavier. [00:56:48] Speaker A: Yeah, it's like it'll rain more in June than in May. [00:56:51] Speaker B: Oh, for sure. [00:56:52] Speaker A: Good way to put it. And then once you get into June or July and August and even September, it's just hot and it's busy. [00:57:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:57:01] Speaker A: August is the worst. Like August, 30, 39, 40 degrees and like 100 humidity is not fun. No, it is not a good time. [00:57:10] Speaker B: Avoid. And it's, it's dangerous. It's like, it's just like not the best time to travel, you know? [00:57:17] Speaker A: No, no, no, no, no. But I like, I do know some people have to like, I guess like when we say all this, like it's. [00:57:25] Speaker B: If you understand like some. [00:57:26] Speaker A: Yeah. Sometimes you don't have a choice. So at least you kind of know what you're getting into. Especially when it's hot. Like I would say like the, if you're, if you're visiting during a very busy time, I think this is when it's worth paying the extra for a vacation package. 100. I think, like, if you have to come during a very busy time, getting a vacation package is not a bad idea because I mean, you can still get on the rides and everything pretty easily. But like. Yeah, I don't know where I was going with that. [00:58:02] Speaker B: And I would also say get a hotel with a pool, you know, and like go in the middle of the day and cool down, you know. [00:58:10] Speaker A: And it's one of those things, like, I know we've talked about this before, but like, comparing to like Florida. Right. Florida will have reprieve from the heat for shorts amount of time because it'll rain and it cools things off. That doesn't happen here. It's just hot constantly, like consistently. It just, it doesn't cool off. Even when it rains, it doesn't cool off. It's just hot and it's gross. It's not pleasant. And then I guess like October can. Tends to be like typhoons. [00:58:45] Speaker B: You know, it's, it's gotten, it's, it's, it's, it's getting like, it's so unpredictable now. Yeah. It's hard to say. Yeah. But like, yeah, October, even November, you could get a surprise typhoon. But like for, for the Tokyo area, it really depends on where you are. Of course, if you're like in somewhere mountainous or you know, if you're like in Okinawa, you have to worry about, you know, I mean, I guess like Tokyo too, they, they were getting pretty high with the water levels. The trains, the train stations started getting flooded. Right. Like during, like, these typhoons passing. So it's getting kind of wild now. But I wouldn't say it's in, like, a city like Tokyo. I wouldn't say it's dangerous, but it can be incredibly inconvenient in some ways. Like, some train stations will close down. You know, some train stations will close down due to, like, flooding and stuff. [00:59:44] Speaker A: You know, And I guess, like, the K Line in particular will close down due to wind. [00:59:49] Speaker B: Due to wind. But it's gotten so much better over the years. [00:59:52] Speaker A: Yeah, there's been a few times. There's been a few times where it's closed for wind. [00:59:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:59:57] Speaker A: And also, if the weather starts to get really bad and there's delays, then the train, like, can't. Like, my home station can get really crowded. [01:00:07] Speaker B: Oh, nightmares. Yeah. [01:00:08] Speaker A: Because of the train delays and everything, it turned to a complete nightmare. So, like, that's, like, a good argument for staying on property, like, staying at a Disney hotel or staying in an official hotel. Because the parks. The parks have rarely closed. I think we closed once this past year for a typhoon. I think they only closed once early. [01:00:29] Speaker B: And that's incredibly rare. [01:00:31] Speaker A: Yeah, it doesn't happen very often because most a lot of stuff is indoors. So that stuff continues. Continues to run. Something outdoors will close down. And, of course, entertainment outside closes, I would say, at Universal. I keep forgetting, like, we're talking about Universal as well. A lot of this applies to Universal, too. Most of this applies to Universal as well. For weather for Universal, they have more outdoor attractions, specifically the coasters, and those do close down in heavy rain. [01:01:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [01:01:05] Speaker A: So that. That gets affected a lot. So like, the June for rainy season, depending. But I've noticed more in, like, October, November with the rain, attractions will close more at Universal. Out. Like, the outdoor attractions close more due to. Due to rain, for sure. I don't know if Donkey Kong will close. It probably will because it's. A lot of. It's outdoors. So my guess is probably it could be. I don't see why. I don't see why it wouldn't. I. The weather's been lovely, so I just didn't have to worry about rain. But, yeah, a lot of what we talked about here doesn't apply just to Tokyo Disney and also applies to Universal. Same thing, kind of. It's. It's just hot everywhere. Osaka can arguably be hotter. [01:01:54] Speaker B: It can be. Yeah. [01:01:57] Speaker A: Especially like. Well, especially if you go to Kyoto, because Kyoto is like a valley. [01:02:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:02:03] Speaker A: There's no. There's no wind. It's like you're in, like. In a. Like, this little valley. You're just, like, sitting in this pocket of hot air. I've done it before, and I will never do it again. Once was enough for me. I'm like, this is not. This is not great. [01:02:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:02:19] Speaker A: Not great. Yeah. So typhoon season. October. November, ish. November starts to cool down, which is really lovely. December, again, it's cooling down. [01:02:33] Speaker B: You know what I'm gonna say? December, I think, is one of the best times to visit because you've got the. It's kind of wild now because you can catch the autumn foliage. You've got Christmas illuminations. In some places, you have the autumn foliage with the winter illuminations, which is kind of, like, wild and beautiful. It's been a really mild weather, so very comfortable. You've got all, like, the holiday stuff, like, all over the. Like, wherever you go, you know, there's like, a bunch of events going on. So I would say, like, early December, like, early to mid December is kind of, like, fantastic. [01:03:16] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, 100%. I agree with that. Yeah. It's a. It's a. It's a nice time to visit. It's not. It's not typically too busy either, because, you know, like, I guess. Like. I guess a lot of our audience, like, lives in North America, I guess, like, specifically the U.S. thanksgiving's a big holiday. [01:03:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:03:35] Speaker A: End of November, Right? [01:03:39] Speaker B: The fourth. Thursday. [01:03:41] Speaker A: Yeah. So people probably aren't, like. If they're probably not traveling abroad, most people are probably traveling to see family. But then after that, come over here. You know, come in December, but do it before the 25th, like, if you're wanting to do, like, things with less crowds. Because after the 25th, Christmas is like. It's never. It didn't exist. Santa who. [01:04:07] Speaker B: And I would say, probably, like, around the third week of December, the kids are on holiday already. They're starting to. They're about to go on holiday this week. Yeah. Like, I think in the middle of the week or something. So it starts to get more, you know, a little bit more busy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [01:04:29] Speaker A: Like next week, like, Christmas week onwards until, like, the second week of January, like we said, everyone's off school, work. It's. It's a huge family holiday. Like, New Year's is a big family holiday. Just like how Christmas is a big family holiday for a lot of people from the West. [01:04:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:04:47] Speaker A: Over here, New Year's kind of the same idea in terms of it's. It's a family holiday. [01:04:52] Speaker B: Absolutely. Yeah. [01:04:53] Speaker A: So it's just gonna be busy. And also things Start, like, businesses close. [01:04:58] Speaker B: Not as much as it used to, though. I feel like almost everything. [01:05:01] Speaker A: My grocery store closes, my grocery store closes, and I get so mad. [01:05:06] Speaker B: But is it. Eon is open though, right? I think almost all of New Year's. [01:05:11] Speaker A: I don't know, because it's too far from me. [01:05:13] Speaker B: Okay. [01:05:14] Speaker A: Like, the ones that are like, I have three near me. [01:05:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:05:17] Speaker A: They all close for, like, five days. [01:05:20] Speaker B: I want to say. Okay. Store closes for like, a few days and then it's open again. [01:05:24] Speaker A: Yeah, it's kind of annoying. [01:05:27] Speaker B: Yeah. But it's not like, I feel like now it's not bad at all. I mean, it used to be everything, like, almost everything closed, you know? [01:05:37] Speaker A: The ATM still close? Well, at least mine does. Or like, not. Oh, well, let me give. Give more detail. The 711 ATMs and all those. Like, those are fine. I'm talking more like my bank. Like, I have one of my banks, they just close. They're just like, you can't transfer money in and out. You could take money out, or you could take money out of an atm, but you can't put more money in. You can't do any online banking or anything. It's all closed. Wildest thing. [01:06:09] Speaker B: And then, like, once it opens, like, everybody's like, in line to do all the banking stuff, right? [01:06:16] Speaker A: Post offices. Post office will definitely be closed. Post office closes. Yeah, but mail will still go out. [01:06:24] Speaker B: Wait, but the mail is still being delivered because they're delivering all the New Year's cards and stuff. [01:06:28] Speaker A: Yeah, I think. I don't think. I don't know exactly. But yeah, the post office does close, but I think, like, the postal stuff still goes out. [01:06:38] Speaker B: Yeah, it's like they're delivering for sure. [01:06:41] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, anyway, long story short, check hours for stuff because stuff closes. Simple as that. Just check the hours. If you think it's going to be open. It might be closed. Except for the theme parks. The theme parks don't close. They're. They're open. So they're open on Christmas Day and New Year's Day and all this kind of stuff. So. Yeah. [01:07:02] Speaker B: Yeah. So what is, like, when is your favorite. What is Your favorite time? 2025. [01:07:10] Speaker A: For me, it's usually January. I like January because everything just feels crisp and like it's a new year. And usually this is. This is when, like. Well, more more specifically, Tokyo Disney. When they're. They're doing like, a weird event. [01:07:26] Speaker B: Like, they. [01:07:27] Speaker A: They do. These events are just kind of out there that you just wouldn't see any other time of the year and the, the whole Wreckit Ralph event next month with Vanellope, like that's. [01:07:37] Speaker B: The March is super cute. [01:07:39] Speaker A: I really love that. I really love that they do this kind of stuff. I find like. Well, I'm sure you agree with this or not. I don't know. But like usually the winter months is like, like January, February. That's when they do the events are kind of for the fans. Like they, they do, they do do these events that are like super cute and gets like the hardcore fans to go to the park. Like remember when they did the, the. I guess it was in 2020 when they did the Minnie Mouse event. Like that was truly for the fans, like getting her back with all the old outfits and everything. [01:08:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:08:17] Speaker A: And then they kind of continued that a little bit. It's done now. But you know, that's kind of when they do a lot of these things, I feel anyway. [01:08:25] Speaker B: Yeah, they do like some interesting stuff in the winter sometimes. And I think, you know, like, just for, you know, if you're like, let's say like a Disney fan or something, like just having all like the like, like Japanese style souvenirs available is also really cool. [01:08:44] Speaker A: I guess this is the only time of the year now because they got rid of Tanabata, so. January. [01:08:49] Speaker B: Yeah, December. [01:08:49] Speaker A: January is the only time you're going. [01:08:50] Speaker B: To see like 100%. Yeah. [01:08:53] Speaker A: Traditional Japanese type of inspired merchandise. [01:08:56] Speaker B: Right, right. Yeah, that's, that's like, I think one major reason to go around, around, you know, January and it's gotten a lot more, again, the weather has gotten a lot more comfortable around that time, you know, and it's hard to say because you never know because like we sometimes get like a random snow day or something, you know, but like. And you can't predict, you can't predict it, you know, but like, yeah, it's, it's a really neat time to visit. And if you're shopping for souvenirs in general, you know, there's a lot of like New Year's, like Japan style things that you can find like just shopping in general, you know, and like regional flavors and stuff like that, you know, kind of like you tend to see more things with like matcha and kinako and things like, you know, so it's. If you're kind of like have an adventurous palette or you're looking for like really like Japan, the Japan souvenirs and things like that, it's a good time to visit. You got lucky bags too, which is kind of fun, you know, especially if you don't live here because I feel like if you live here and you're like a fan of the shops that have the Lucky bags, it's like, you know, if you've been shopping there throughout the year, it's like, oh, you, you might get something that you know you purchased before or whatever. But if you don't live here, you get like a really great selection of just stuff that you enjoy, which is really cool. [01:10:24] Speaker A: Does the Disney Storage still do them? [01:10:27] Speaker B: I don't know. I imagine they probably do. It might be something like Starbucks or. A lot of places do it ahead of time now, but you can still find them in the wild while you're walking around. [01:10:38] Speaker A: Yeah. Usually if you go to the malls, like the random stores, Village Vanguard will have them. Yeah. [01:10:44] Speaker B: And I don't know if XPR is, if this is still the case, but XPR used to have the earliest like Lucky bags going on sale. Like the earliest in Japan. [01:10:54] Speaker A: No, I don't really do the Lucky bags. I did it once or twice. I was just like, ah, it's just for me it's random stuff. And I'm like, I don't really exactly. [01:11:01] Speaker B: Like, it's stuff that didn't like necessarily sell. And so like, I personally don't have an interest in it, but if I was a tourist and I needed to buy souvenirs, I think it's a pretty good prospect. You know what I mean? [01:11:14] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm not sure if the Disney Store does it. So if people are thinking about it, like double check the Disney Store Japan website, they'll probably only be in Japanese, but that's the only Disney one that'll be happening. Tokyo Disney does not do them. [01:11:28] Speaker B: No. Yeah. [01:11:30] Speaker A: And same with Universal. Universal Japan doesn't do them either. I don't think. They don't need to. [01:11:36] Speaker B: People buy stuff from there. People go to buy the new stuff. [01:11:39] Speaker A: Yeah, people buy the stuff from there anyway, so they don't really need to do it. Yeah. Like Lucky Bake are just a clever way to offload stuff that didn't sell, so. [01:11:47] Speaker B: Exactly like I said. But like, if you haven't been living here all year and you're interested in the things, it could work out really well for you. [01:11:57] Speaker A: Because I know some people do it with clothes, although I would personally never do it with clothes because. Hello, I don't know if it'll fit. [01:12:04] Speaker B: Oh, for sure. Well, some of them, like, I know the sportswear, like my son in the past has like used his New Year's money to buy like the sportswear. Lucky Bags and, like, they have, like, the sizing and everything on it, so. [01:12:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:12:20] Speaker B: But, like, for me. But hey, and just in general, January has some pretty good sales. [01:12:25] Speaker A: That's true. Yeah, they do, I guess. Yeah. We didn't really touch on snow, maybe in February. [01:12:32] Speaker B: The thing is, like, it's. It's gotten so rare, and, like, sometimes it happens, you know, like, suddenly. [01:12:40] Speaker A: Yeah. It's one of those things, like, I guess. Long story short, don't plan for snow. [01:12:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:12:44] Speaker A: The likelihood of it happening on the day of you visiting is pretty low. [01:12:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:12:49] Speaker A: And usually when it does snow, it doesn't stick. Like, it just turns to slush and then it's gone. [01:12:56] Speaker B: And you don't get. Yeah, you don't get, like, those days. Oh, who knows? Maybe we'll get, like, a freak snowstorm and it'll prove us wrong. Like, it'll be, like, a bunch of snow, though. But it's so, so rare, you know? And, like, you're kind of, like, lucky if you catch it at night and it starts sticking at night. You might get some good photos at the park. But, like, it's super, super rare now. Like, we live here and we. We. I love snow, and I still hope every year, but I don't expect it anymore because it's just so rare now. [01:13:29] Speaker A: Yeah. And. And same thing with Osaka. Like, University of Japan. Same. Same idea. [01:13:33] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:13:34] Speaker A: Rarely happens. It might, but that's about it. Like, don't plan for it because I know a lot of people want that to happen. [01:13:44] Speaker B: Oh, for sure. It's like the dream, right? [01:13:47] Speaker A: It is nice. [01:13:48] Speaker B: It's beautiful. Sticks when it sticks. Yeah. If not, it's miserable. [01:13:54] Speaker A: Like, I think in the last 10 years, I think it's maybe, like, stuck around maybe two or three times. [01:14:00] Speaker B: Oh, my God. The best time, Chris, was when you and I were at the park, and it was like, 2014. Crazy. Crazy amount of snow that was in 2014. [01:14:10] Speaker A: That was over a decade ago. [01:14:11] Speaker B: Oh, my God. But that was amazing. And, no, in the bus. We were going home in the bus. I was on my way home in the bus. Like, there was a bus stuck in the snow. They're warning us, don't go this way because you'll get stuck. It was so wild. [01:14:26] Speaker A: And if it does snow a lot, it just messes everything up worse than rain. [01:14:31] Speaker B: It will mess up your travel plans. [01:14:33] Speaker A: It'll shut everything down. Trains, buses, vehicles. Like, it's. It's a mess. [01:14:40] Speaker B: But even light snow sometimes. Right. Will, like, see everything. [01:14:45] Speaker A: Yeah. So. [01:14:48] Speaker B: Like, if you're at the park, and it happens magic. If you're, if you're traveling or you have to transfer somewhere. Oh, no, it's not going to be good. So watch out for that. But maybe if it is going to happen, maybe February. [01:15:01] Speaker A: Yeah, usually February is when that happens. Yeah, usually. Because that's, again, traditionally the coldest month. [01:15:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:15:07] Speaker A: In this area anyway. Same thing in Osaka. It's usually January. February. Ish. Yeah. [01:15:14] Speaker B: February has good chocolate because of Valentine's Day. [01:15:18] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, that's true. [01:15:19] Speaker B: It's like some amazing chocolate if you're a chocolate lover. And that's the thing, you know, no matter when you come, you're going to have a good time because you're on vacation, you know, and there's always something interesting, like, going on. Like if you're at the theme parks, like, whether it's Osaka or Tokyo, you're next to these massive cities which always, always have events going on, you know, so you're going to have a good time whenever you come. If you make the most out of your trip, you know, just enjoy and have fun. [01:15:57] Speaker A: And because you're listening to this podcast, you're. You're, you're going to be more prepared than most. A lot of people just show up, which. [01:16:08] Speaker B: Yeah, it's so interesting. I'm, like, fascinated by it. It's, like, so interesting to me. And that's. There's nothing wrong with that either. I feel like there's kind of like a joy in that spontaneity, you know? [01:16:19] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:16:20] Speaker B: And probably you, if you are that spontaneous, you're not hung up on these, like, little details that might ruin somebody else's trip that they've, like, been planning and planning and planning. So I think there's, there's kind of like a good. Even, even, like, just showing up sometimes. You might not be able to do, like, certain things that require planning, but I think you'll still find, like, enjoyment, you know? [01:16:46] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. 100. Just have fun. That's what it's for. [01:16:52] Speaker B: Enjoy. [01:16:54] Speaker A: And it's not gonna go perfect. Like, let's be honest, something will happen, so you just kind of have to just go with it. [01:17:00] Speaker B: Those are the best memories, too. You look back on it, remember the day that we were on vacation and there was like, a typhoon and this happened and blah, blah, blah, you know, so sometimes you, you just, you know, you'll. You'll have a great story to tell, even if something goes wrong. [01:17:15] Speaker A: Or me, you know, I'm getting hit by a car and then I don't. [01:17:18] Speaker B: Get hit by a car. [01:17:20] Speaker A: Then I had to pivot on what kind of videos I was recording. Yeah, Good. Good times. Yeah. Fun. I don't recommend it. [01:17:27] Speaker B: Before crossing the road. No. Even though they came up behind you, they came up behind you like, no, that was not. [01:17:34] Speaker A: It was not my fault. No, I did laugh. [01:17:37] Speaker B: I know. Yeah. Be, be careful. [01:17:40] Speaker A: There's. [01:17:40] Speaker B: Sometimes you can't do anything, but, you know. [01:17:44] Speaker A: Yeah, it's all good. Well, thank you for listening, explorers. Before we go, though, we want to thank some wonderful explorers that are supporting us over on Patreon. So if you want to support the show, you can get the shows early and everything. We have bonus episodes that come out every month. You can head over to patreon.com TDR now. So big thank you to Acro Disney Girl, Adam, Amanda C, Amy B. Amy C. Mama Explorer, Benjamin, Brent, M. Carrie, Chris B. Claire, Claudia, Dave, David, Baker, Kevin, Harry, Marina, Beth, Eli, Robinson and. [01:18:15] Speaker B: Taylor and Jamie, Jose, Kathy, Lee, Marie, Michelle, Murray, Sophie, Spoopy, Thomas, K. Alexandra, Lizzie, Amy and Andy, Dana, Cassandra, Annie, Sonia, W.W. paige and Tara. [01:18:26] Speaker A: And if you haven't already, we invite you to join our community by hitting that subscribe or follow button on the podcast app of your choice. This way you don't miss out on our or you cannot talk. This way you won't miss out on any of our newest episodes and can stay up to date with Tokyo Disney University of Japan. You know all these wonderful places. I'm one of your hosts, Chris. I'm the one that is not getting hit by cars anymore. Do not recommend not going to do that ever again. Enjoying, as always, is the wonderful Patricia. [01:18:55] Speaker B: And keeping, keeping warm and trying to recover and get back to health. You guys enjoy, enjoy the winter season and all the sparkling lights and presents and fun, fun things happening. And let us know what you, what time of the year you like to go when you visit Japan or what's been the best time, the best season that you visited and let us know why you love it. All right? And we'll talk to you next time. [01:19:25] Speaker A: All right, explorers, we'll see you in the next one. Bye.