Visiting Tokyo Disney with my 24-year old son who has anxiety problems

[jackiesyu]

Hi, We live in California, US and my son has Autism and is always anxious when there's line/wait/crowd. But, he LOVEs Disney. We have been to Disneyland and WDW and our experiences had been GREAT with the DAS! We are planning a Japan trip in May to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea. Went thru their website and there's this mention of "disability certificate". I am more interested in the DAS like experience in Disneyland & WDW such that he won't be wait in long lines, etc.
So, the question is whether there's such service at Tokyo Disney? If so, what would I need to do to get him that? Also, it seems to be impossible to get this "disability certificate" in Japan as we will only be visiting for < 2 weeks. Thank you all for the pointers and advices!

 

[SueM in MN]

Hopefully, someone who has been there will be able to answer your questions.
I kind of looked around the website snd found a couple of things that might be helpful info, but not specifics about how DAS works there or what you need to register.

Disability Information Book link - This has really complete information about specific attractions, including ride vehicle photos with measurements. Some of the info may be helpful to you (wish all the parks had these).
Link to Services to Support Guests with Disabilities page - At the top of the disabilities section, it says “Services are available for Guests with special needs due to a disability (including temporary disabilities) . These services are provided to alleviate some of the challenges that Guests with disabilities may have in the Parks. Eligibility and contents differ depending on the service.”sounds like it works differently for some attractions than at WDW; it says guests wait in ‘the designated space’ for some. This might be for those who don’t have proof of disability - it’s not very clear.
In the DAS info, it says, “Please present a disability certificate along with all of your party’s Park tickets.” Then it sounds like it works similarly to US DAS, so maybe DAS for guests with disability certificate and an alternate wait area for those without.
This DISBOARDS thread from 2019 pretty much confirms that, but, it’s possible things might have changed.

I did find this blogpost from 2021 about registering for and using DAS there. It mentions that proof of disability is required, but the family was from from Australia and did have proof from the official agency in Australia where people with disabilities are registered.

Link to previous post on disABILITIES Board - not specific about DAS, but does have info that Should be helpful

 

[JLTraveling]

Disclaimer: I have NOT been to Tokyo Disneyland or Japan at all, so hopefully someone who has will weigh in. But *in general* we've found that in foreign countries that require a "disability certificate," proof of disability from the United States is typically accepted. Not sure what that would look like for your son, maybe a letter from his doctor confirming the diagnosis and type of accommodations he requires? Again, it's case by case and we've never been to Japan, but that's been our experience in general with foreign travel. Good luck!

 

[Absimilliard]

Hi, We live in California, US and my son has Autism and is always anxious when there's line/wait/crowd. But, he LOVEs Disney. We have been to Disneyland and WDW and our experiences had been GREAT with the DAS! We are planning a Japan trip in May to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea. Went thru their website and there's this mention of "disability certificate". I am more interested in the DAS like experience in Disneyland & WDW such that he won't be wait in long lines, etc.
So, the question is whether there's such service at Tokyo Disney? If so, what would I need to do to get him that? Also, it seems to be impossible to get this "disability certificate" in Japan as we will only be visiting for < 2 weeks. Thank you all for the pointers and advices!

Sorry I saw this late, but will try to answer your questions later. I took my mom to Tokyo Disney and we used their disabled guest service to great success.

 

[Absimilliard]

In regards to Tokyo Disney, their program for guests with disabilities is called "Barrier Free". The link to download an english booklet for both parks is on this page: https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/tdr/bfree.html . The component to get an alternate waiting method is called Disability Access Service. The booklet has photos of every attraction and theater in regards to seating or accessing the attractions, so it is an amazing ressource. It gives measurement of how big the seats are and openings to get into ride vehicles.

The key points in regards to Barrier Free:

- Guests with a disability need to be accompanied by an able bodied member of their party to do attractions and character greetings.

- You will need a certificate or doctor's note to show to Guest Relations at either parks to get access to the service. A doctor's note in english was enough for my mom and we are from Canada.

- It used to be booklet that would be filled with times to return for attractions when I went. Now, a photo is taken when the Disability Access Service is issued and it linked to a park ticket, like what WDW and DLR do now.

- You will need to wait the same time or longer depending on the attractions than the posted waited times.

- It is valid for up to six persons at attractions and up to 10 at character greetings. If your group is more, the extra people will be told to wait in the regular queue and to meet up with you at the end of the line.

- It used to be that you could get fast passes in addition to using the booklet for return times. Now, with the system moving online, I wonder if you can buy Premier Access and also use the return times? I am going to Tokyo in March and will inquire then.

In regards to visiting the resort:

- the monorail is paid public transportation with its own tickets or you can use your PASMO/SUICA payment card. (PASMO/SUICA cards are loaded with yens and you tap them when entering and exiting trains and subways. The amount is deducted and you save a little versus using individual tickets.)

- Crowds are quite large at the resort and pre pandemic, your average friday in october was equivalent to a christmas week visit at the Magic Kingdom crowd wise.

- Food wise, it is quite varied, but vegetarian options are more limited than at the american parks.

- The parks have a temporary closure calendar where they list when rides go down for refurbishment and repairs. This is the link to the page where the dates are listed: https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/tdl/monthly/stop/ Right now, if you're going in May 2023, Space Mountain is going down for its last refurbishment from April 17th to June 21st and depending on when in May, other rides will be closed at Tokyo Disneyland. Over at Tokyo DisneySea, Raging Spirits will be down from May 12th to June 14th.

In regards to that, I have my list of attractions that are different, unique or just amazing there that have to be running for me to consider a trip:

Tokyo Disneyland

- Space Mountain (Its a clone track wise of Disneyland with a unique Matrix like theme. The ride is closing for good in early 2024 to be replaced by a new Space Mountain opening in 2027.)

- Splash Mountain (No, its not closing for good there.)

- Big Thunder Mountain.

- Pooh's Hunny Hunt.

- Beauty and the Beast.

- Monsters Inc Ride and Go Seek!

Tokyo DisneySea:

- Tower of Terror.

- Soaring Fantastic Flight.

- Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull.

- Sindbad.

- Journey to the Center of the Earth (if this ride is down for refurbishment, I am not even going...)

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

I'm a nearly 28 year old with autism so I understand. While I haven't been to Tokyo Disney before, I have been to Disneyland Paris. There, they also require a doctor's letter to get the disability thing. Since only other person could go with me, we ended up getting a disability thing as well for my sister who gets tired easily and has chronic health issues. Have a great time!!

 

[studiojmm]

Trying to figure out if this is worth dealing with the Tokyo Disney Resort disability pass for my own autistic teen. She really appreciates DAS in Florida, but if Tokyo lines are quieter, it might not be too big a deal to queue. Even with sound-canceling headphones at WDW, the combination of close quarters, people talking and moving about, and the constant soundtrack and intermittent announcements for an unknown duration in the heat just pushes her into sensory overload. People moving and heat are likely not negotiable, but people talking and background noise levels?

Does anyone know if a National Park Service disability card would suffice? This is the easiest to obtain documentation for a minor not receiving SSI that was accepted by Disneyland Paris. We could also bring the signature page of her assessment report, but that was just by a private psychologist since she's not in school. (Paris does NOT accept doctor's letters of any kind, but Universal took her assessment as proof for their new system.)

One consideration for us is the companion requirement. It's unlikely that she'll want to do an attraction without me (or someone else in our party), but it could happen. Seems like with this pass, she'd have to have a companion for everything. (I understand TDL not wanting to have to decide which guest with a developmental disability is independent enough for rides on their own, but I can also see this being really frustrating for many people who struggle with lines.)