First of all, we would like to thank fellow fodorites esp emd & kimjapan for all the posts that were made in this forum re. Japan. They helped us in planning our trip.

We just got back from Tokyo last friday after spending 12 nights there. We've tailored this trip specially for our 3 year old.

Had lots of fun, enjoyed the Anime Fair very much. Son had fun posing for pictures with characters there, Japanese (like Ultraman Mebius, Conan) & non-Japanese (like spongebob, Noddy...)

As son is a big fan of Ultraman & Masked Riders, we went to Bandai Museum (costs 300 yen for adults). Had the whole place to ourselves. Bought an Ultraman Dash jacket for him. Also went to Ultraman Club in Asakusa. He had fun posing for pictures with Ultraman Jenno. Spent half an hour in the gym and made some new Japanese friends. In fact we went to Ultraman Club three times during our stay! But for Ultraman figures, we bought them at Yodobashi-Akiba & Bic Camera outlet. The prices for Ultraman merchandise are much cheaper than at Ultraman Club & Bandai Museum.

Stumbled across Matsuzaya's roof garden which is full of kiddie rides. Son took rides on Doraemon & Thomas train.

Tokyo is full of toy stores, that when son is getting cranky, we just made a stop to any toy stores and he'll have fun playing there for a few minutes.

We also went to Transportation Museum, Tepco Museum, NHK Station, Fuji TV, TV Asahi, Toyota Amlux Showroom. Transportation Museum were packed with kids and their parents, but son got to try the train simulator. He had fun playing with the interactive exhibits. When in Japan, follow what Japanese do. We noticed that Japanese likes to collect stamps (or chops as we called it here). So we got the forms and walk around to find the stamps. After getting the stamps, we went to a counter where we got in return for our effort souvenirs from the place. We did this at Transportation Museum, Tepco, Fuji TV... and got some nice & free souvenirs to take back home...

We also went to Ueno Park with the intention of going to the Zoo, but the Zoo was closed that day. Managed to view Sakura flowers. View Sakura at Yoyogi Park and saw some bands playing there. Had our lunch at Yoyogi which to us are much more expensive than eating at a noodle shop!

Eating was not a big problem and not that expensive either. We stayed at Toyoko Inn at Asakusa for 4 nights, and they provided free breakfasts which consists of onigiri and miso soup. Ramen & Soba also are not expensive (from 400 yen onwards). Ate a McDonalds a few times, I always had the teriyaki burger and husband always go for Ebi-Fillet. It was delicous! Had a full set of the Dragon Ballz toys that they're giving out, including the placemats & posters.

The last three days were spent at Disneyland & DisneySea. Both parks were teeming with people. Spent 1 1/2 hours in queue to pose with both Mickey & Minnie and another 1/2 hr for pictures with Pooh bear. Tried 75% of the rides, as we missed out only on the rides that son cannot go on. He made few friends there, and had so moch fun that he doesn't want to go home. Actually cried when the park is doing the evening parade & asked us to come back again, which of course we did!

Your post really shows that Japan, esp. Tokyo, has something for everyone. You tailored your trip to having your son w/you and also got in some things you enjoyed. That is how I plan my trips w/my kids to Japan, although they are young teens now.

I think you hit Disneyland and Disney Sea at a very busy time. I have heard that several big attractions are getting ready to close and that the crowds have been so bad that they have closed the gates at 11 am til about 4 pm for the last week, not letting anyone additional in during those hours.

See 2nd article at: http://www.jtcent.com/nempa/index.html

My 13 yr old daughter and I are spending two days at Disney (probably both days at Disney Sea, haven't decided if we will go to Disneyland one day or not) next week, and those attractions will already be closed so I am hoping the crowds won't be as bad.

lina219...I'm so glad your trip was enjoyable. The crowds at Disney last week are because school vacation began March 25 and lasts until this Friday (April 7). BIG crowds at Disney during school vacation.

emd - school vacation will be over. Twice we've gone to Disney the same week, just after the start of school, and the crowds were very manageable. Sea is less crowded than Land, it seems. You will see some schools on trips there to start the year right. We didn't need to use Fastpass at all though the two times we were at Disney the same week. You should be fine.

Thanks Kim! I thought that might be the case w/the school holidays. I am really looking forward to Disney Sea. I think we will go there from the Westin on Wed. morning and spend half of Wed and Thurs at Disney Sea, instead of half day at Land and full day at Sea. We are staying at the MiraCosta, so we will be right at Disney Sea. I made priority reservations for dinners also.

Enjoy!

DisneySea were less crowded than Disneyland, as KimJapan said. We went to Sea on the first and pretty much explore all the attractions by 5pm. (We reached Sea at 9 am). The funny thing is at both Disneysea & land, I must have this clueless foreigners look because I was always given the translation sheet of the instruction for each ride. lol.

We took trains everywhere, except to DisneySea and Land because our hotel provided free shuttle bus. Son loves the rides as he loves trains, as has two complete set of trains (1 of shinkansen & 1 of thomas).

We also went to several toy stores, the big ones were Hakuhinkan Toy Park in Ginza and Kiddyland in Harajuku. but comparing prices, we found it is cheaper to buy his toys at a big electronic chain stores like yodobashi, bic camera, etc.

Husband had a lot of fun too. He bought a PSP and several games. We went nuts over the capsule toys. I had a suitcase full of them - Doraemon, Hello Kitty, Thomas, Masked Riders, Anpanman, and of course Ultraman! There even capsule toys of "adult version" which husband bought as a gag gift for his co-worker.

Can you tell me more about the Anime Fair? How did you find out about it and are they held on a regular basis? My daughter is a huge anime fan and is quite a manga artist. She is hoping to spend her summer in Tokyo, if things work out.

The anime fair that I went to were a held from Mar 23 - 26. It was the Tokyo International Anime Fair or TAF. I believe it's held once a year.

However, there are other events held -you can check Japan-Guide.com website for further information as there are a lot of posts regarding anime there.

offlady: Do you know about the new Anime Center in Tokyo? It has a 3-D animation theater. It just opened.

http://www.animecenter.jp/home_en.html