Busy seasons and Off seasons
There are busy seasons and off seasons in Tokyo Disney Resort(TDR), and the difference is drastic. The low season is from January to February. March is the busiest month of the year because of the spring vacation and the discount tickets for students. April is relatively less crowded. (This year, however, it will be crowded because “New Fantasyland” will open) In August, there is a summer holiday, so it is crowded every year. October is the second busiest season of the year because of the Halloween event, and also because the hot summer ends. If you like Halloween costumes, you may be able to enjoy them during Halloween events. However, when visiting TDR for the first time, I can guarantee that you will have a better experience if you got to the park at off-seasons.
Crowd Calendar
Do you know the crowd calendars?
I recommend checking the crowd calendars before your trip. I regularly check the crowd calendar before going to the parks. The following site offers a crowd calendar written in English.
Click here for details; DISNEYREAL
The parks are usually busy from Friday to Monday. Many people visit the parks after work, so it’s busy on Friday nights. The park is busy all day on Saturdays. but some guests return early on Sundays, so the parks are relatively vacant on Sunday nights. Mondays are crowded because, some guests stay from Sundays and also because the national holiday in Japan tends to come on Mondays.
Since most businesses are closed on weekends, I can only go to the parks when it is busy. I sometimes take a vacation on weekdays and go to the parks, where I get so amazed at how different the crowds are compared to from weekends. For example, on holidays you have to wait more than 100 minutes to ride on the Splash Mountain, but on weekdays typical waiting time is about an hour. We highly recommend you visit the park between Tuesday and Thursday. Also, we recommend that you check for inactive facilities. You will be disappointed if the attraction you want to ride is temporarily closed. You can check the inactive facilities on the official website.
Admission restrictions
One thing you have to be careful about if your planning to go to TDR on busy seasons is that, admission restrictions occur on busy seasons few times a year. For example, during school holidays, consecutive business holidays, and events. If admission restrictions occur, new tickets will not be sold, and you will only be able to enter the park if you purchased a ticket with admission guarantee, or if you are a Disney Hotel / Disney official hotel guest. The following lists the entry restrictions in 2019.
If the park has restricted entry, guests with open tickets must wait until the park confirms that the park is secure. The waiting time varies but is typically around 3 hours. For this reason, we recommend that you purchase tickets with admission guarantee in advance, but if you only have an open ticket, you should arrive at the entrance gate in the early morning.
Open Ticket : Open tickets are tickets with no specified date and expires in one year.
Annual Passport Blockout Dates
The park has few days in a year called annual passport Blockout dates, where entries by annual passports are restricted. Annual passport Blockout dates are days when the park is expected to be crowded. For example, the annual passport Blockout days from January 2020 to May 2021 are as follows:
You can enter the park if you have a normal ticket, however, it is better to avoid these dates, because the park will be very crowded.
Conclusion
In summary, I recommend going to the park in January and February (accommodation fees are cheap as well! ). However there are a variety of events throughout the year in TDR and many ways to enjoy it. Of course, it is possible to enjoy your time at TDR even in the busy seasons. I will be uploading articles in the future, on how to enjoy TDR on busy seasons, based on my experience at TDR.
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