Originally Posted By Malin I've been checking out an Osaka tourist site and I thought this was a well good feature. An online audio system. <a href="http://www.osaka-info.jp/audio/en/" target="_blank">http://www.osaka-info.jp/audio/en/</a> Check it out!
Originally Posted By Malin Out of interest has anyone visited the Toei Kyoto Studio Park. I'm thinking it could be a fun half day out from seeing all the Temples and shrines in Kyoto?
Originally Posted By SuperDry I've been to *a* studio park in Kyoto - not sure if there's more than one. I do think it would be an interesting half-day excursion in Kyoto, if you think you'd otherwise be interested in such things.
Originally Posted By MagicalNezumi SD, most likely you visited the same studio that Malin inquired about. I have been there twice, in 1995 and in 2000. I'm not sure how things have changed, but back then I had lots of fun checking out the sets and characters walking about. I have heard there is very little filming done there these days. By the way, the locals call it "Uzumasa Eigamura" (Uzumasa Movie Village). -- MagicalNezumi
Originally Posted By Malin Cheers thanks for the reply the reason for giving it a consideration is because I'm trying to balance my trip with a mixture of historical and modern attractions. Lonely planet wrote about the attraction that while Tōei Uzumasa Movie Village is a notorious tourist trap. It does, however, have some recreations of Edo-period street scenes that give a decent idea of what Kyoto must have looked like before the advent of concrete. I feel its worth at least a couple of hours while I'm in Kyoto!
Originally Posted By Malin Update Going to visit the Tokyo Disney Resort for a couple of days to break the trip up a little bit. Booked a room for one night only at the Sheraton though Hotels.com for a bargain of a price. Never stayed here before how is it?
Originally Posted By SuperDry The Sheraton is a good hotel. It's much less westernized than the Hilton, and seems more focused on banquets and especially weddings. But, they still handle foreign visitors well, and I'd say overall that the guest rooms are of better quality than at the Hilton, although the Hilton has better public area facilities. Overall, they're about on par with each other, all things considered.
Originally Posted By karlg Just curious, why base yourself anywhere? Why not get a JR Rail pass and spend a few day's here and there? Maybe you could store some bags some place along the Shinkansen line (say Kyoto) along the way and pick them up on your way back. With a rail pass it changes your concept of just getting up and going and really taking advantage of being able to travel. And with the rail pass you don't think twice about jumping on a train.
Originally Posted By Malin I actually do have a rail pass voucher ready to exchange when I get to Japan. The reason for picking one base is that I prefer not to have to carry to much lugage around and most of the stuff I'm looking into seeing are within easy distance from Osaka, with the two exception's being Hiroshima and Tokyo. But even these two destinations are only a few hours away. Thanks for your reply SuperDry your help though out this thread has been very informative. I do however still have some more questions. Apparently a lot of Universities and Schools will be off during the week begining 15th of March, will this prevent in more trouble reserving the Builet Train and how packed will the parks be? Apart from the Imperial Palace in Kyoto is there anywhere else I need to sign up to visit in advanced?
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Apparently a lot of Universities and Schools will be off during the week begining 15th of March, will this prevent in more trouble reserving the Builet Train >>> If someone else knows better, please speak up, but I would not be worried about Shinkansen reservations during that period. Although it's spring break for 2 weeks, there are no national holidays and it's not otherwise known as a travel period, and those are what can really burden public transport. You probably already know this: once you have your exchange order turned in and changed into the actual rail pass, you can make reservations for any eligible train at any JR office that makes reservations (which most larger stations have) - you don't have to use one of the limited offices that can actually turn an exchange order into a rail pass. Also, this applies nationwide, so you can reserve seats on any reservable JR train, even if it's in another JR regional company's area. So, if you're able to plan ahead, you can get all your long-haul train reservations immediately upon arrival at the airport and not have to worry about it. <<< how packed will the parks be? >>> What I use to gauge this is to look at the pricing matrix of the Disney hotels. They break days of the year into 4 categories: Value, Regular, Peak, and Top. This March, Peak starts on March 14 and then switches into Top on March 20 for the rest of March. I make an educated guess that park attendance is going to be roughly proportional to what's going on in the hotels. So it looks to me like it might be busy in the parks.
Originally Posted By Malin Well this thread has come full circle since I first posted it and in just a few days I'll be on the way out to Japan via Dubai with Emirates flying into Kansai International Airport. This week I've started to build up the final itinerary for the trip. I think hotel selection is spot on staying at the Swissotel Nankai see the video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pbdnfmQ1rs" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...dnfmQ1rs</a> I'm going to start listing my itinerary starting with day one, feel free to chime in at anytime with your views. Day One: I've decided to spend the first full day visiting the Osaka attractions. So the first call of visit will be the Osaka Castle. I will likely follow this up with a visit to the harbour to check out the Aquarium, and possibly others near by attractions like the Suntory museum, and move on to the Umeda Sky Building. And finish the night around Shinsaibashi shopping before possibly sampling some Takoyaki in Dōtonbori.
Originally Posted By MagicalNezumi The Swissotel Nankai is at a great location. Have fun in the Namba Parks shopping area. I wish Tokyo had a similar area. -- MagicalNezumi
Originally Posted By Malin Right on the way back from my Trip, and I just like to thank everyone who provided advice that made it such an incredible trip, thanks again and I`ll try and follow it up with Trip Report soon !
Originally Posted By Mr X AWESOME! Glad you had an incredible trip! Looking forward to the report when you are up to it (please link to the Tokyo section if you can...since it's easy to miss if it's in the trip reports place somewhere).
