How to Purchase Your Tickets for Tokyo Disneyland

Tokyo Disneyland is a popular destination, so planning your visit is essential. This guide will provide information on what to do before visiting and once you have stepped inside these beautiful Disney parks.

Purchasing Tickets through the Website

There are various ways to purchase tickets to visit the Tokyo Disneyland Resort, both before arriving in Japan and while visiting Japan.

The official Tokyo Disneyland Resort website and app can be the most reliable ticket purchase source. Guests can select the type of ticket they want, whether a single-day pass or an early evening pass and proceed with the online booking process. The website is in English and provides detailed information about ticket prices, availability, and special offers or packages. Tickets are available 60 days prior to park visit beginning at 2 PM Japanese Time. The official Tokyo Disney Resort website has a helpful calendar showing available tickets.

If you plan to spend only part of the day at either Disney Park, save money by getting the later entry or weeknight tickets.

The tricky part about purchasing tickets online through the Tokyo Disneyland Resort website is that taking payments is very picky. Many foreigners often complain that foreign (non-Japanese) credit cards do not work with the Tokyo Disney Resort website. When I purchased our tickets online through the website, the only card that worked was my verified Visa Mastercard with 3-D secure authentication after trying all my other Visa cards.

Ironically enough, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express work well inside the parks and when purchasing Disney Premier Pass (more on this later). Ticket prices and information from my previous article is HERE.

The only way to get physical paper tickets is by buying from a Disney Official Hotel. Guests will then scan the paper ticket onto the Tokyo Disney app or when entering the park.  Currently, only 1-day park tickets are available, so park hopping does not exist. If guests wish to visit both parks in one day, they can buy two 1-day tickets. Military discounts are not available.

Other Ways to Purchase Theme Park Tickets

The second way to purchase tickets is to stay at a Disney Hotel with guaranteed admission.  During a guest’s stay, they can buy tickets at the hotel with cash or a credit card. Tickets can also be purchased online with the guest’s reservation. These include Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, Hotel MiraCosta, Disney Ambassador Hotel, Toy Story Hotel, and Tokyo Celebration Hotel.

Another way to purchase tickets in Japan is by visiting convenience stores, such as 7-11, Lawsons, Family Mart, and Ministop.  These convenience stores can be found throughout Japan at stand-alone terminals in the store (not at the checkout counter). Physical tickets are printed out for guests and are paid at the checkout counter when paying for the price of the ticket and handling fee. Lastly, if all fails to purchase tickets, the Klook website is a legit third party company that sells tickets. 

Scanning Park tickets into the Tokyo Disney Resort App

Guests must scan their park tickets into the Tokyo Disney Resort app to use the Disney Premier Access, Standby pass, Entry Request, and other functions available on the app.

Tickets that have been purchased through the Tokyo Disney Resort app or website will automatically show up in the app. Nothing further needs to be done. However, for all other tickets, like physical tickets bought from a Disney Hotel, a third party like Kook, or a Japanese convenience store, guests must manually scan them into the app.

Quite recently, tickets are available to scan directly into the app before entering each theme park through the turnstiles. Tap the “scan ticket” option on the home screen of the Tokyo Disneyland app.

Disney Premier Access

Just as the pandemic ended FastPasses at Disney Parks in the States, the same can sadly be said about FastPasses at Tokyo Disneyland. Disney Premier Access began in May 2022 for select popular attractions and shows at Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea.  Guests can make selections for the day they visit the park; the cost is for one-time use only.

Guests can only purchase Disney Premier Access selections when they have entered the park by utilizing the app. Purchasing Disney Premier Access is not required as the regular standby line is still available.

Tokyo Disney Parks do not offer Wi-Fi in the parks. Therefore, guests must ensure they have internet access via a cell phone plan, utilizing a Japanese SIM card or portable Wifi device.

Disney Premier Access costs are the following: Tokyo Disneyland Attractions: Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast- ¥2,000 (USD 14.25), Baymax Happy Ride ¥1,500 (USD 10.70), and Splash Mountain ¥1,500 (USD 10.70).

Tokyo Disneyland Show– Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights- ¥2,500 (USD 17.82), and Disney Harmony in Color ¥2,500 (USD 17.82)

Tokyo DisneySea Attractions: Soaring: Fantastic Flight ¥2,000, (USD 14.25) Toy Story Mania! ¥2,000 (USD 14.25), Tower of Terror ¥1,500 (USD 10.69), Journal to the Center of the Earth ¥1,500 (USD 10.69)

Tokyo DisneySea Show: Believe! Sea of Dreams ¥2,500 (USD 17.82).  

Purchasing Multiple Disney Premier Access

Guests can purchase a second Premier Access pass either after their time to enter the ride has started – or an hour after they purchased them, whichever comes first. The exception is purchasing a Premier Access for both a show and an attraction. Guests can have both of them at once.  For example, I bought both Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights and Disney Harmony in Color Premier Access in the morning.

During our family trip to the Tokyo Disneyland Resort, we utilized the Premier Access for a few attractions because we only spent one day at Tokyo Disneyland and 1.5 days at TokyoSea. Therefore, purchasing the access passes was handy, saving us time from standing in lengthy lines.  

For example, we bought Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast twice during the day—one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Trust me, you will want to ride this attraction as often as possible! An incredible perk of Premier Access is that guests can purchase attractions multiple times a day, unlike at the parks in the United States!

How to Use Premier Access

When the guest has entered the park and has verified that their ticket has been scanned into the Tokyo Disneyland app, they will find a 3-star icon on the home screen. After clicking on it, it will bring up three items: Standby Pass, Entry Request, and Buy Premier Access. Click the Premier Access button, and guests will select the Premier Access attraction.

It will provide a list of options for times when the attraction will be available. Select the time, and the following screen will be credit card information.  Enter credit card information. The guest will receive a text message from their credit card company providing an authorization code. This step will repeat each time the guest purchases a pass. When the purchase is successful, a “Display Code” screen will display.

Visa, MasterCard, and American Express are accepted to purchase Premier Access Passes.

Guests will have an hour-long window to return to the attraction. Return at any point in the time frame, click on “View Code: Display Code,” enter the attraction at the Premier Access entrance and show the QR code to the attendant, and scan it into the machine at the attraction’s entrance.

What Happens for Closures and Cancellations?

If an attraction suddenly has a closure and a guest has purchased a Disney Premier Access, they will receive a refund directly to their credit card. The same will occur if weather conditions cancel a show where the pass was purchased. 

Unfortunately, this happened to us for the Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights.  It had been raining throughout the day, and two hours before the parade, I received a notification that the parade had been canceled and that we would be receiving a refund. Within two days, I noticed that the amount had been refunded on my credit card statement.

Entry Requests

The Entry Request is a lottery-based system to enjoy character greetings and shows at the Tokyo Disneyland Resort. Guests will find which events and shows require an Entry Request on the app. Show Entry requests are one time per day per show per guest linked to their group. Guests can enter the Show Entry up to 30 minutes before the performance.

If guests win the lottery, the Tokyo Disney Resort app will list the show time and seat number. Each person in the guest’s party who entered the Show Entry will receive a QR code.  A cast member must scan the app’s QR code before you enter the venue.

Entry Requests are free, but there is no guarantee of winning entrance into a show. At the moment, Entry Requests are available at Tokyo Disneyland for Jamboree Mickey: Let’s Dance! Mickey’s Magical Music World and Club Mouse Beat. In Tokyo DisneySea: Believe! Sea of Dreams, Big Band Beat: A Special Treat, Jamboree Mickey: Let’s Dance!

My Experience

Upon entering the park, I stood to the side to make our selections for Entry Requests. Personally, it was nerve-wracking when submitting my entry requests because the first time I requested Mickey’s Magical Music World, I received the dreaded message that I had not won the lottery. 

The frustrating thing is that if you pick a designated show time and are not selected, you cannot select the same show for another time! Next, I tried the Club Mouse Beat at 11 am. I received a notification that we received seating.

However, some shows will allow people into shows without an Entry Request if they are not full. Therefore, I encourage guests to arrive at the show before it starts to see if accommodations can be made.  While Believe! Sea of Dreams is an Entry Request show, this only applies to one viewing area and can be seen from other areas around the park that does not need special access tickets or passes. Therefore, there is no need to panic if you do not receive an Entry Request for this show!

Standby Passes

Lastly, some shops and restaurants in the Tokyo Disney Parks require guests to have a Standby Pass to enter them. They can be booked on the app, providing a time to queue to get into the shop or restaurant.

While it can still be possible to get into the designated shops or restaurants without a Standby Pass, on other days it’s the only way to have access. I personally never booked a Standby Pass for applicable stores and restaurants.

Shops That Need Standby Pass include Disneyland: Disney & Co, Adventureland Bazaar Capsule Toys, Kingdom Treasures, Gag Factory (both outlets), Treasure Comet, Planet M. and at Disneysea: Il Postino Stationary, Emporio (the biggest shop), Galleria Disney and Aunt Pegs (if you want Duffy Merchandise). Steamboat Mickey’s, Tower of Terror Capsule Toys. McDucks Department Store, Lost River Outfitters, The Sleepy Whale. Mermaid Treasures Capsule Toys

Here are the restaurants that offer a Standby Pass:

Disneyland: Sweetheart Cafe, Tomorrowland Terrace, and Disneysea: Zambini Brothers Ristorante, Cape Cod Cookoff, Dockside Diner, New York Deli. Miguel’s El Dorado Cantina, Yucatan Basecamp Grill

Final Thoughts

Although it sounds like it is much work to plan a trip to visit the Tokyo Disneyland Resort, once in the parks, it is manageable. A lot of it is placing what we know about the parks stateside to the side and learning new things, such as the Entry Request and Standby Passes.

Our family was able to experience purchasing theme park tickets two different ways because we could not buy our weekend afternoon passes as we had booked with a travel agent for our Japan trip. Therefore, I purchased my tickets through the Disney website and had no trouble utilizing a Visa Mastercard (which I had applied for specifically, knowing that it was the only credit card the website accepted).  Once we arrived at the hotel, our paper tickets awaited us when we checked in.

Regarding Priority Access seating for the Disney Harmony in Color Parade that is currently in celebration of the 40^th Anniversary of the theme park, I found it pleasant and worth the price point of $17.82 per guest as we were provided assigned seating on the ground floor with a view of the castle across the way from us. One thing to remember is that it is customary in Japanese Disney parks to sit while watching the parades. No one stands up for them! It is so lovely that everyone has a clear view of the parade route, floats, and entertainment!

For the next article in the Tokyo Disneyland series, I will focus on the best rides and shows not to miss!  Please share this article with a friend who loves Disney parks, especially if they will visit the Tokyo Disneyland Resort!