Originally Posted By vicenzo83 Hi all, I'll be heading to TDR from the 18th to the 24th of February. Will be staying at both Disney hotels there. On the 19th my fiancee and I plan on heading to Universal Studios Japan. Tried checking USJ's website but there is no significant data so I thought I'll ask some of the experts here... I also checked the Japan Rail website to no avail. What I wanna know is, how long is a bullet train trip to osaka and how long would the overall trip take from TDR to USJ? Where do I board the train and where do I alight? HOw much would it cost and is it worth the trip? Thanks all. Cheers.
Originally Posted By Roger55 You should look into a Japan Rail pass. It is only available to visitors to Japan. It has to be purchased in your home country prior to leaving for Japan. JR is the major rail line and you can use the pass for the Narita Express, JR trains around Tokyo, and the bullet train to and from Osaka. The travel time is around 3 hours. There is a PDF time table on the JR site. You catch the bullet train at Tokyo station. Once in Osaka, you need to transfer to a local JR line to get to USJ. Here are some of the links... Japan Rail Pass <a href="http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en001.html" target="_blank">http://www.japanrailpass.net/e ng/en001.html</a> Shinkansen (bullet train) Time Tables <a href="http://jr-central.co.jp/english.nsf/doc/timetable" target="_blank">http://jr-central.co.jp/englis h.nsf/doc/timetable</a> Click on the links at the bottom of the page for the PDF files Train map from Shin-Osaka station to USJ <a href="http://www.usj.co.jp/tandc/access/train/e_index.html" target="_blank">http://www.usj.co.jp/tandc/acc ess/train/e_index.html</a> Good luck. I'll be doing this exact trip this Monday, that is why I have all the information at hand!
Originally Posted By Mr X Well, that sounds a lot better than the freakin 8 hour bus ride I just had to endure! :O But...it was really cheap so whatever. I prefer the train. This isn't covered by the JR pass, but if you REALLY wanna get there fast the fastest bullet train makes the trip in around 2 hours, I believe (maybe 2hr20min?).
Originally Posted By vicenzo83 Thanks guys. Yeah I think I'll be taking the bullet train. 2 hours is ok for me. I'll be heading there and back to the resort the same day so the bullet train is the best way to go by it. Once again thanks.
Originally Posted By leemac ^^ If you are connecting from Maihama straight through to Osaka that sure is going to be a long day (over 6 hours of travelling and waiting I suspect door-to-door) albeit USJ tend to have short-ish operating hours. If you live in the US or Europe you might want to investigate your local JTB (Japanese Travel Bureau) or ANA Tours office who can help you with trains and ticketing. I'm not sure you will get the benefit from the Rail Pass if you are only going to Osaka and back (but the Shinkansens are wildly expensive for walk-up fares).
Originally Posted By TDLFAN From Maihama to Tokyo station is about 18 mins. From Tokyo station to Shin-Osaka takes about 2:40 hrs travel time. You have to connect at Shin-Osaka to the regular JR trains to the Osaka Station (and loop track) in order to get to Universal. From Osaka Station to Universal City Station is about 20 mins.
Originally Posted By SuperDry I recommend the online Japan travel planner. It covers all rail (and air) travel in Japan, not just JR service. So it even includes the TDR Resort Line. <a href="http://www.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/hyperWeb.cgi" target="_blank">http://www.hyperdia.com/cgi-en glish/hyperWeb.cgi</a> For a day trip from, say, the Hotel MiraCosta to USJ, you could put in Tokyo Disney Sea as your starting station, and Universal City as your destination, then on the next page put in your date and time and uncheck Airline, and you'll get recommended schedules and fares. If you want to compare the fare and schedule to what you can use with the JR Rail Pass, check "excepts NOZOMI" and it will exclude the trains that can't be used with the rail pass.
Originally Posted By Mr X Wow, I didn't realize you were talking day trip! That'd be a tough haul...plus keep in mind that the last shinkansen back to Tokyo leaves pretty early (sorry to say, I think it's around 5pm!).
Originally Posted By Mr X Really cool website SD! By the way, is there any particular reason you wouldn't fly? That might be a way to get a later departure time from Osaka... Maybe more expensive, but I have heard of package deals that sounded pretty good and included park tickets (usually there'd be a night or two hotel in there too though).
Originally Posted By vicenzo83 Aiyaiyai the bullet train ends it's departure from Osaka to Tokyo at 5? Oh no. If that's true, I think I'll have to scrap the idea...
Originally Posted By vicenzo83 I might be wroong but I just checked out the timetable and see that there are trains leavin shin osaka to tokyo even till 10.30pm. Can someone verify please? I'm confused now.
Originally Posted By Mr X Sorry, I could be wrong. It was my understanding that the trains left earlier than 10:30 (maybe it was the cheaper fares or something...). I suggest checking out the site SuperDry recommended, to find out for sure.
Originally Posted By MagicalNezumi I believe the last nightly train leaves Shin-Osaka at 9:18pm and arrives in Tokyo at 11:48pm. Good luck. -- MagicalNezumi
Originally Posted By paulyahoo << By the way, is there any particular reason you wouldn't fly? >> I have the same dilemma now We're going to Japan for 2 weeks in January and it seems we would barely break even on the cost of the JR pass for our Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka-Tokyo trip. Probably we will pay $360 for JAL or ANA tickets instead of the pass.
Originally Posted By leemac Paul if you fly with a Star Alliance (from London that would be ANA, Lufthansa, SAS or Austrian) carrier ANA offer a great deal on internal flights. You can find out more from the Star Alliance website.
Originally Posted By paulyahoo Lee, unfortunately we're flying with SkyTeam. In fact, this time I will use a reward ticket.
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Originally Posted By paulyahoo What was so inflammatory here? Anyway, I checked flight options. Air passes are blacked out for the beginning of January, but ANA has some reasonable rates on their site, so two round trip tickets from Tokyo to Osaka in convenient time cost 47,000 yen.
Originally Posted By Mr X Keep in mind, Paul, that if you do get that JR pass it ALSO covers all your LOCAL train travel both in Tokyo and Osaka (as long as you use JR). It's not "just" for the shinkansen (I think this is so...someone wanna confirm it?). So it might be a better deal than you think. Do a little more research before you book your flight anyway...at least that'd be my advice. Plus, riding the bullet train is fun! That price you found for ANA sounds pretty good though (the shinkansen would be at least that much!).
Originally Posted By Roger55 I'm in Osaka as I type this, so my info is as current as it comes. Trip from Tokyo takes 3 hours by bullet train. Another 20 minutes or so to transfer over to Universal City. The JR pass is fabulous. Like mentioned by others, it covers the JR local trains too. You need the JR trains to get to USJ from Shin Osaka (bullet train stop). If you buy a 7 day rail pass for about $250, you will most likely make up the cost. Especially if you use the Narita Express too. If you are ONLY going to use it for the Shinkansen (bullet train), it isn't worth it.
