Visit Japan: Hakone Free Pass

Hakone Shrine

On a recent girls trip to Japan, we spent two nights in Hakone. It was my first time visiting that part of Japan and I was so excited to visit somewhere new. I usually look for hotels near train stations so we stayed at the Yumoto-Fujiya Hotel which was located across the street from the Hakone-Yumoto Station. It made for the most convenient stay.

Since we were going to visit the most popular Hakone tourist destinations, my friend suggested purchasing the Hakone Free Pass which gets you unlimited travel on designated transportation routes within the Hakone area. We began the use of our two day pass on the Odakyu Romancecar from Shinjuku Station to Hakone-Yumoto Station. We also used the pass for the Hakone Tozan Cable Car, Hakone Ropeway, and Hakone Sightseeing Cruise. 

View from the Lake Ashi sightseeing cruise

One of the cable car stops

View of Mount Fuji from Owakudani

Although we didn't take advantage, the Hakone Free Pass also provides discounts at various attractions, shops, and restaurants. We purchased our passes from Klook.

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Klook Private Transfer in Tokyo

Disclosure: Links below are affiliate. 

Klook is a great site for purchasing discounted amusement park tickets, booking airport transfers, and more. We've used the site for experiences in South Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong.

I highly recommend using Klook to arrange transfers to hotels and airports if you have a large family and / or you have a lot of luggage.

We didn't want to deal with train stations, crowds, and lugging our suitcases on stairs, so we booked a van to take us to / from the hotel in Tokyo during our two visits recently.

I booked our res via the app, and once a driver is assigned 24 hours prior, you'll get a notification.

They give 90 minutes free waiting time upon arrival in HND, which may not be enough time depending on how long the lines are to get through Customs & Immigration (for our two recent trips - our first trip took us more than 90 minutes and we had actually taken taxis to get to our hotel; our second took us just 30 minutes). 

The terms and conditions say you have to pay a cash fee if your driver has to wait beyond the 90 minutes (or 30 minutes if you are going to the airport).

The driver will WhatsApp you within 24 hours of your reservation to confirm. 

Our drivers were always on time and polite.

The van was also a lot faster (approximately 30 minutes) than if we had taken the train (60 minutes) - and of course we didn't have to lug our suitcases on stairs or squeeze into crowded train cars.  Some of us even got to nap on the way!

Yes, private transfer is more expensive than the trains or Airport Limousine, but I value time and convenience, and if you do too - definitely look into Klook for private transfers.

You can sign up for Klook here.

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Visit Hong Kong: Hong Kong Disneyland

Some links below are affiliate.

We went to Hong Kong specifically to visit Disneyland.  We haven't been to all of the Disney theme parks yet, but so far, Hong Kong Disneyland is my favorite.

Getting to Disneyland was super easy on the train (they have a dedicated Disney line you can transfer to).  We bought tickets online for a Tier 1 day, which meant the crowds would be minimal.  You can buy tickets via Klook for slightly cheaper, but we bought tickets through Disney just a few days before the day we visited. 

As soon as we entered the park, we noticed Duffy was featured vs Mickey at the entrance.  Duffy and Friends are huge in Asia.  

I immediately checked the wait times and we saw that Frozen Ever After only had a 10-minute wait, so we proceeded to that ride first. 

It was a great ride and my fave of the park. The animatronics were so neat and the ride itself was so fun!

The rest of the day in terms of rides went the same - we never stood in a standby line longer than 15 minutes, and we even got to ride multiple rides more than once. There was no need to buy early entry, premiere access or "fast passes" (they sell them per ride).

There were many rides also found at other parks, such as Jungle River Cruise, "it's a small world," and Hyperspace Mountain, which differed slightly from other parks.

There were also some rides like Mystic Manor that were unlike rides we've been on at other Disney parks (I thought it was going to be like the Haunted Mansion, but it was completely different).

The park is overall small compared to other Disney parks, but it didn't make it any less fun. 

The food options, in my opinion, were not as good or plentiful as in other parks, but they did have some cute options as well as cool looking burgers.  

I did love the ice cream options. We can never leave a Disney park without getting ice cream, and Small World Ice Cream had the best treats!

There is a parade - Mickey and Friends Street Celebration, but it was literally just 5 minutes long.  

During the time we visited, they had a Find Your Super Power: Battle in the Sky drone show that was super neat.  

The “Momentous” Nighttime Spectacular really was spectacular.  It was the best Disney fireworks show I've seen and lasted a good 20 minutes.  

It was a combination projection / light / water / fireworks show and it was so amazing.  

We caught two taxis to get back to our hotel (we didn't want to wait for a larger taxi) vs catching the train (it was only 25 minutes to get back vs almost an hour on the train).

We also lucked out with weather. We visited during the summer rainy season, but it was breezy with just a few light sprinkles.

It was a very long day at Hong Kong Disneyland, but truly magical!

Hong Kong Disneyland
Lantau Island, Hong Kong

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