Mara, It's not cast in stone yet as I feel we have a bit of wiggle room before we book hotels for April 2011.

Here's my revised itinerary
Tues. Arr NRT @8pm - Tokyo hotel TBD

Wed. Hakone (daytrip or possible overnight)

Thurs. Disneyland (can we get here directly from Hakone if we overnight there?). Back to Tokyo? OR overnight Disneyland?

Fri. Tokyo
Sat. Tokyo
Sun. Fly home @4pm (leave for airport around 11am)

I've chosen the weekdays for the day trips as I thought they would be less busy than the weekend. Would you agree?

Do we still need the JR pass?

I've not planned an itinerary for our actual time in Tokyo. I need to do a bit more research before I can fine tune it but I'd like to see something of 'old Japan'/ a temple or two, Hello Kitty shopping, etc.

Thanks for any further input!

Here's how to access Hakone from Tokyo:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5206.html

The stop for Tokyo Disneyland is fifteen minutes from Tokyo Station according to the Disney website.

There is no need for a JR Pass with your itinerary - possibly the Suica/Nex package would work for most of your transport needs except the trip to Hakone.

Why hasn't anyone mentioned the overnight trains? They are available with the JR pass, and I believe the Sunrise Seto and Sunrise Izumo are still running...

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2356.html

(a bit late for the conversation at hand, but still worth mentioning.)

Actually Lucy did mention we'd have to sleep on the night trains to have time to fit in such an aggressive itinerary.

That's what convinced me to drop Hiroshima as I didn't want this trip to feel too rushed. Tokyo will be enough of a rush for me.

Thanks, Mara, I'm still studying japan-guide!

I would wait until you get to Tokyo to book Hakone as imo it's not worth the trip if it's bad weather.
You did the right thing dropping Hiroshima, it would be too rushed, leave it for a future trip, you'll love Japan.

Thanks Clark.. so it probably makes sense to keep Hakone as a daytrip then so we can at least book our hotels beforehand.

Bad weather suggestions?

Hi Sassy,

it was a small mention and easily missable. Having said that I love the night trains, and I always recommend them as an alternative, an alternative that many people with JR passes miss.

In your situation I would have done this. Catch the Sunrise Seto or Izumo in Tokyo- they leave around 9pm. Purchase a double berth, the price of which is an additional payment over the travel the JR pass gives you (not the full fare.) Enjoy a nice night as you proceed towards Okayama. My guess is that it'll get there around 6-7am. Lock your luggage away and catch the Shinkansen to Hiroshima. Enjoy a good 9 hours in Hiroshima. Catch the Shinkansen back to Okayama around 6-7pm to be ontime for the returning Sunrise train back to Tokyo, and enjoy another nice night on the train. Arrive in Tokyo around 6-7am. A two night one day itinerary.

Thanks for the details Sydney2K,
Although the two night one day itinerary would feasibly be possible to squeeze in I suspect that the double berth wouldn't be big enough for the 3 of us!

My daughter will be with us and gets input into the planning process as this trip was originally her birthday gift.
We really want this trip to be less rushed and to prioritize her wish list.

Forget Hakone overnight. I looked into this, travelling with 2 x 16 year olds...(from Australia) and decided the ryokans were too expensive to waste on them. There is no guarantee you'll see Fuji (fog/mist) and most places do the kansai (sp?) set dinner, which our kids would not like.

Thanks for your thoughts mel1.

We're considering doing Hakone as a daytrip partly because it would mean we wouldn't have to change hotels and schlep our bags plus we wouldn't be tied by booked accommodation to a particular day. I was aware of the fog issues and maybe we'll get lucky with the weather!
My daughter would probably be game to try the food at a ryokan (more so than my husband!) but it's not on her wish list.

We're leaning towards spending the 5 nights in Tokyo with daytrips to Hakone and Disneyland as this seems the most flexible way to spend our limited time plus my husband can then arrange his possible business meeting in Tokyo more easily.

Thanks again for all the helpful replies.

Sassy_cat,
If you are going to base yourself in Tokyo, do not purchase a Japan Rail pass.
You will not get the value out of it, even with going to Hakone.
Just purchase tickets as required.
All the best...