Haters of digital queues, rejoice! Fantasy Springs, the brand new $2 billion land that includes Frozen, Peter Pan, and Tangled that opened final summer time at Tokyo DisneySea and has had essentially the most sophisticated insurance policies for accessing sights is lastly ditching them. This covers the large modifications, why we’re on board with eliminating the visitor unfriendly protocol, plus our expectations for what this implies going ahead.
For starters, I need to underscore simply how depressing of an expertise the rope drop course of has been at Tokyo DisneySea since final fall. In case you visited throughout the opening few months of Fantasy Springs, you doubtless missed this. Suffice to say, it received a lot worse over the vacation season as folks waited till “after” the preliminary rush…after which all descended upon TDS on the identical time.
We had an terrible expertise making an attempt to enter Fantasy Springs at Christmas-time, which nearly soured the day in Tokyo DisneySea for us. You may learn Why Disney’s #1 Park is Getting 1-Star Evaluations for a full recap, however suffice to say, we’re removed from alone in having these points. This got here after fairly clean and seamless experiences with Fantasy Springs throughout the (slower) summer time season.
As maybe essentially the most long-time and passionate American “cheerleaders” for Tokyo Disney Resort, we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out this. For the entire complaints about how Walt Disney World is sophisticated and has insurance policies which can be seemingly hostile in the direction of friends, nothing the home parks have completed surpasses TDR’s authentic method to Fantasy Springs when it comes to awfulness. Their gradual pivot from that has been irritating (albeit typical of change in Japan), however fortunately, that’s about to alter in an enormous means!
Beginning April 1, 2025 you may expertise the sights at Fantasy Springs in Tokyo DisneySea by ready in line or by utilizing Disney Premier Entry (price required). Because of this Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey, Peter Pan’s By no means Land Journey, Rapunzel’s Lantern Competition, and Fairy Tinker Bell’s Busy Buggies will all drop their digital queues (known as Standby Go) and change to common ole standby traces.
For longtime Walt Disney World followers who bemoaned comparable latest modifications to Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Tiana’s Bayou Journey and are disenchanted by this, working beneath the idea their “abilities” would switch to Tokyo: don’t. Now we have an over 99% success charge (just one fail ever, resulting from a glitch) at each Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Regardless of our greatest efforts and displaying up over 90 minutes early, we nonetheless received shut out of Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey.
This follows a change earlier this yr eradicating the blanket entry restrictions for Fantasy Springs as an entire. It’s necessary to emphasise that that is at current, and isn’t essentially a everlasting coverage change. Tokyo Disney Resort has principally reserved the appropriate to reintroduce a digital queue for accessing the land.
Right here’s the way you’ll be capable to inform whether or not there are entry restrictions in place for Fantasy Springs:
- If there aren’t any space entry restrictions, after you enter Tokyo DisneySea, the Park Ticket display on the Tokyo Disney Resort app will show “You may enter at any time.” When this message is displayed, you might be free to enter Fantasy Springs as you would like.
- If there are entry restrictions in place, the TDR app may have a gray field for a “legitimate time of entry to Fantasy Springs” (that will likely be populated with instances if/while you safe Standby Go or Disney Premier Entry)
- If you need to verify earlier than coming into Tokyo DisneySea, please search for the Fantasy Springs Entryway indicators on the Tokyo Disney Resort app on the morning of the day you want to go to.
Since making this variation, Tokyo Disney Resort has not introduced again the entry restrictions for Fantasy Springs. Accordingly, the logical conclusion is that they’re most likely gone for good.
On the identical time, this change to standby traces for the sights as of April 2025 might change the equation. Standby traces may draw extra folks again to Fantasy Springs, ensuing within the land as an entire hitting capability. I’m skeptical that this can occur, however we actually received’t know till the primary stress check, which can come up throughout Golden Week on the finish of the month. If there are ever going to be entry restrictions, they’ll occur then. If not, we’re most likely protected.
The massive query now’s what wait instances will likely be for these sights. Over the course of the final month, the typical wait instances for Hovering, Journey to the Heart of the Earth, Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, and Indiana Jones Journey have all been above 2 hours. Hovering: Incredible Flight is the busiest of the bunch, and routinely hits 240 minute peaks.
It’s protected to say the Fantasy Springs sights will surpass these highs. Based mostly on present demand, Anna & Elsa’s Frozen Journey will develop into the brand new #1 wait instances at Tokyo DisneySea beginning this April. It’s onerous to say how excessive it’ll go for the all-time Golden Week peak, however 300 minutes regularly wouldn’t be in the least stunning.
The Tangled trip will doubtless be #2 in Fantasy Springs and doubtless the park resulting from newness issue. By no means Land Journey will likely be #3 in Fantasy Springs, however perhaps not the park resulting from it being a screen-centric simulator that’s not as interesting to all friends.
These are clearly very excessive wait instances, and you can conceivably spend the higher a part of a day ready in line for simply the 4 Fantasy Springs sights on that foundation. That’s, assuming you probably did all standby and lined up when wait instances are at their peaks. We wouldn’t suggest that.
Towards this backdrop, we’d suggest prioritizing as follows:
- Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey
- Peter Pan’s By no means Land Journey
- Rapunzel’s Lantern Competition
- Fairy Tinker Bell’s Busy Buggies
Peter Pan’s By no means Land Journey is greater on the listing than Rapunzel’s Lantern Competition not resulting from demand, however as a result of it’s higher.
Disney Premier Entry is on the market for a price, and friends should buy Disney Premier Entry utilizing the Tokyo Disney Resort App after coming into Tokyo DisneySea. Visitors are capable of expertise three sights at Fantasy Springs with Disney Premier Entry. Costs are as follows:
- Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey: 2,000 yen
- Rapunzel’s Lantern Competition: 2,000 yen
- Peter Pan’s By no means Land Journey: 2,000 yen
For Walt Disney World and Disneyland followers, Premier Entry is Tokyo Disney Resort’s model of a Lightning Lane Single Go, minus the pre-booking half (in Florida–making it nearly similar to its California counterpart, however with a distinct title). Similar to Walt Disney World and Disneyland, FastPass can be useless at Tokyo Disney Resort. (See our Information to (Free) Precedence Go & (Paid) Premier Entry at Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea.)
Home Disney Parks followers know that we’re averse to Lightning Lane Single Go for private use. Whereas we suggest it (begrudgingly) to rare vacationers and (particularly) first-timers, we’ve got by no means bought it ourselves at Walt Disney World or Disneyland. Not as soon as.
Now we have purchased Premier Entry a number of instances at Tokyo Disney Resort and enthusiastically suggest it to worldwide vacationers. We’re nonetheless towards it on precept, however your time has worth on trip. Not solely that, however the discount in ready is rather more appreciable at Tokyo Disney Resort.
If used on the very best precedence sights at busier instances, a single Premier Entry go might prevent 2-3 hours in line. There’s additionally the fact of the favorable trade charge, which makes these 2,000 yen Premier Entry passes price roughly $13.
Doing the mathematics, you’re conservatively spending round $6 per hour saved on Premier Entry at Tokyo Disney Resort. The hourly price foundation at Walt Disney World or Disneyland is nearer to $15 to $20. That’s nonetheless throughout the realm of “value it” for a lot of vacationers, however it’s extra borderline for others.
Against this, it’s an absolute no-brainer at Tokyo Disney Resort, particularly for those who solely have a single day for every park. Actually, even with 2 days at Tokyo DisneySea, you’re going to be hard-pressed to see and do all of it whereas additionally absorbing the unbelievable ambiance and a focus to element with out shopping for Premier Entry. I can not fathom flying midway all over the world however then deeming my waking theme park hours value lower than $6 per hour, and I’m pretty frugal!
The issue is that the majority different friends have this identical calculus, making Premier Entry a scorching ticket at Tokyo Disney Resort. It often sells out for the Fantasy Springs sights immediately, and for different rides all through the park early on within the morning. For that reason, we’re not likely anticipating a lot change to the rope drop insanity at Tokyo DisneySea. It ought to let up a bit of with the push for Standby Go going away, however it’s not going to go from fully chaotic to calm. If it’s 100 on the depth scale now, anticipate it to drop to perhaps 75.
The larger consequence for Tokyo DisneySea will likely be decrease wait instances in all places else because the elimination of the digital queue will imply friends are literally standing within the standby line. This will even be an incremental enchancment, although, so don’t anticipate Hovering to drop from 240 minutes to 40 minutes. It’ll be extra like a drop to 210 minutes or so.
One other probably missed enchancment will likely be higher operational effectivity. There have been instances when standby traces in Fantasy Springs are on the emptier aspect, and trip automobiles dispatch partially-empty. This problem isn’t as pronounced because it was final summer time, however ought to nonetheless convey effectivity nearer to 100%, which suggests extra friends get to expertise these sights every day.
This will even enhance the visitor distribution on these sights. Between the present limitless Magic Passport and quirks with the Standby Go distribution, most of the identical friends are attending to expertise the sights in Fantasy Springs many times. Now, as an alternative of paying the value in solely {dollars} or information, folks will be capable to “pay” the “market charge” wait time.
As somebody who simply waited ~120 minutes on the daybreak within the solar outdoors the park for completely nothing, I might a lot somewhat have had the choice to attend ~3 hours as an alternative within the precise line for Anna & Elsa’s Frozen Journey at a time of my selecting.
It’ll be fascinating to see how technique for Tokyo DisneySea modifications together with the introduction of standby traces. Touring TDS has been “damaged” during the last a number of months, and this needs to be a step in the appropriate course at fixing that.
One wildcard that’s value retaining in thoughts is that Fantasy Springs is far from the entrance entrance. It’s truly nearer to the entrance of Tokyo Disneyland than it’s DisneySea! The trek from Aquasphere Plaza to the Fantasy Springs sights is nicely over 1 mile, and can simply take most friends quarter-hour at a standard tempo.
It’ll nonetheless be the rope drop precedence for a lot of friends (TDR followers are devoted), however loads will cease at Hovering or Journey to the Heart of the Earth on the way in which, or pivot to the simpler American Waterfront sights. This may very well be a win for devoted walkers. It’ll additionally completely profit friends of Fantasy Springs Resort, who ought to have ~20 minutes of the land primarily to themselves since solely they’ll use that entrance.
The identical dynamic might play out in reverse on the finish of the evening. Once more, solely Fantasy Springs Resort friends can exit right here, and others aren’t going to need to get themselves caught at the back of the park once they’re already drained. We already see this play out to some extent with Indiana Jones Journey’s wait time falling quicker than Hovering–it’ll be fascinating to see whether or not this holds true with the newer and extra fashionable Fantasy Springs sights. There aren’t any ensures, and I’ll underscore once more that TDR followers are a devoted bunch. (And queues get lower earlier now, so there’s no leaping into line at 20:59!)
Finally, switching to standby in Fantasy Springs is a large step ahead. It’s not an ideal resolution and I’m certain many individuals are going to balk on the notion of ready in line 3+ hours for these rides. As somebody who has been on the opposite aspect of this, I’m useless sure that beats the disagreeable and unpredictable different.
Fairly frankly, Tokyo Disney Resort dropped the ball with park operations for the primary ~6 months of Fantasy Springs. This can be a much-needed and overdue change, however it’s simply one in every of a number of that’s wanted. Along with this, Tokyo DisneySea wants to revive park closing to its 2019 norms (extending them additional is difficult with trains) and transfer ahead park opening by at the very least 1 hour. That’s only a begin. Additionally they want a full leisure slate, and atmospheric choices to assist take in crowds, amongst different issues.
Our greatest guess is that Tokyo Disney Resort has acquired a whole lot of detrimental suggestions about accessing Fantasy Springs (rightfully so!) they usually’re scrambling to repair the issue. TDR has traditionally taken visitor satisfaction very significantly, and Fantasy Springs has been visitor unfriendly to an nearly hostile diploma, in contrast to something we’ve seen from the Tokyo parks previously. Right here’s hoping April 2025 marks the park turning a nook and getting again nearer to its previous self.
Planning a visit to Tokyo Disney Resort? For complete recommendation, the perfect place to begin is our Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea Journey Planning Information! For extra specifics, our TDR Resort Rankings & Evaluations web page covers lodging. Our Restaurant Evaluations element the place to dine & snack. To economize on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Ideas for Saving Cash submit. Our What to Pack for Disney submit takes a novel have a look at intelligent gadgets to take. Venturing elsewhere in Japan? Seek the advice of our Final Information to Kyoto, Japan and Metropolis Information to Tokyo, Japan.
YOUR THOUGHTS
How will you try to entry Fantasy Springs and trip the rides? Will you keep on with free standby traces or try to buy Premier Entry? Ideas on rope dropping Tokyo DisneySea, finish of evening traces, or the rest coated right here? Inquisitive about crowds or the rest? What do you consider the Peter Pan’s By no means Land, Rapunzel’s Forest, and Frozen Kingdom? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation? Any questions? Listening to your suggestions—even while you disagree with us—is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
