Review: Tokyo Disney Celebration Hotel
This review is about a hotel stay from April 14, 2017 until April 17, 2017 (Last Updated: June 21, 2017)
Tokyo Disney Celebration Hotel is the most recent hotel to join to Tokyo Disneyland hotel family, opening in 2016. The resort consists of two separate standalone hotel buildings separated by a road and are named Discovery and Wish. We decided solely on design to book Wish.
Prior to our arrival in Tokyo, I had some reservations about booking this hotel based on some negative reviews online. Some complaints are distance to park, theming, room size and overall value. I was worried most about distance to park but the advantage of staying on property is guaranteed entry, Early 15 and a special Multi-Day Passport ticket. Tokyo Disney has a nice page explaining the benefits of staying on and off property. The only big advantage for staying at the value hotel is the Early 15. As we had planned on visiting the park on the ever busy weekend, we thought this was a huge advantage for us, and it was.
Arrival
We arrived by shuttle bus from Narita to the transportation hub at Disneyland and from there took the free hotel shuttle. As you enter the hotel you are greeted by very friendly and helpful cast members. In the lobby sits three seating areas all themed or inspired by Disney classics and Fantasyland themes rides. There are some beautiful stained glass artwork that line the lobby and when you have a sunny day, it’s stunning.
We arrived before check-in (3pm), but were able to pay for the room and also purchase our 4-day park hopper tickets at the front desk. We then checked in our luggage with bell service and headed over to Tokyo Disneyland for a few hours.
The Room
Once we returned to the hotel we were able to pick-up our key and went straight to our room where our luggage had been delivered. Since we are only two people, we chose to book the Corner Room which comprises of two regular single size beds and one day bed. Although the corner room means no courtyard view, we had a very nice sea view on the 5th floor and you could open the door and step out to view Tokyo Bay.
The theming in the room doesn’t disappoint. It’s playful, cute and the artful details of the Fantasyland ambiance fills the room. As you enter the room you will find a wall coat rack with a set of slippers for you to use in the room. To your left you have a door for the toilet followed by the second door for the bathroom sink and second door into the shower/tub room. This is the only room I felt did not match the theming. The shower room is really a dull bland brown color and is not appealing to the eye. However, the water pressure made up for the bland room! Both water pressure and temperature were extremely good which I wasn’t expecting. There are also no H20 products, only a wall dispenser of soap and shampoo. At the sink you do have a tooth brush kit, amenity kit dental set and hair brush all individually packaged.
Back into the main living area, sits a daybed and coffee table. We used it often to arrange our things we needed each day. Next to this was the entertainment unit/dresser. The hotel includes a safe and mini fridge which was perfect when you wanted to keep your purchases from the market downstairs cold. There is a tea kettle and you have the choice of instant matcha tea packets. There are three small dresser drawers below with the top drawer containing pajamas. Yes, you read that right, they provide you with pajamas and they are quite comfy. With that said, there is still very little space for storing your luggage. There is a luggage rack and a small wall coat rack, so you will have to get creative with storing your items.
The room has two twin/double beds that I found to be quite comfortable. Although very sturdy beds, I did not wake up with any discomfort. The beds have a headboard and a platform to place personal items. In between the beds you will find a flashlight at night, outlets for charging your electronics and light switches for reading and for the rest of the room. What really themes this room other than the wallpaper is the beautiful mural artwork above the beds.
Amenities
For a so-called budget hotel, I felt that they still offered quite a few services. There is a 24-hr market on the ground floor which is very well stocked with drinks, food and toiletries. Also inside the market is an ATM machine where we were able to take out money with our foreign ATM card for a small fee. Next the the market is the standard Disney merchandise store where you can purchase many seasonal and standard products.
Down the hall from these two stores is a breakfast room, Wish Cafe. We did not try out the breakfast but did take a few pictures of the area. Just outside the cafe you can purchase a ticket for breakfast. Next to this area is a small game room, smoking room and another all day lounge adjacent to the cafe where you can find a microwave.
What I assume is a leftover amenity from the previous hotel is a laundry room. We did have the honor to do some laundry and used our translator app to figure out the steps. It wasn’t too bad and were successful in washing our clothes there. Also on each floor you will find an ice machine and a vending machine with some unique Japanese drinks that you should give a try.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m really pleased with this hotel. Although it’s considered a budget hotel, rooms were still around 200USD per night. Since we were staying Friday through Tuesday, we wanted to have the Early 15 into the park. And yes it is true, it’s organized chaos on the weekend and everything takes triple the time to complete, so we found the Early 15 advantageous.
The shuttles to the parks are prompt and the schedule is provided at check-in. Think Swiss mentality. If the bus is to leave at a specific time, it will. It can and does take 20 minutes to the park which is a big negative, but it’s also the same in Florida. We did have a few times where there was no traffic on the road and made it in 10 minutes, so be flexible!
The hotel itself had many little extras like the market and laundry machine which were extremely useful to us. We also liked how quiet it always was and that’s often rare at Disney hotels. The artwork and design of the hotel is so playful; I could sit there all day enjoying the music and looking at all the art.
The big drawback is location and cost. Not everyone will want to rely on the shuttle and at 200USD per night as there are cheaper hotels just across from the Disneyland Resort. I think on our next trip we will consider a lower priced off-property resort which is on the monorail or bus route mainly.
