Singaporean tourist shocks netizens with photo of snaking line outside Tokyo Disneyland; 2-hour queue just to get inside

It might appear that there's a never-ending queue to get to the 'happiest place on earth'.

If you're thinking of making a trip to Disneyland Tokyo this holiday season, you might want to pay attention.

A Singaporean Facebook user raised some eyebrows with a photo taken of the queue situation outside the gates of Disneyland Tokyo last week on Nov 21.

In her post to the Singaporeans Traveling to Japan Facebook page, Esther Chee showed a photo of a snaking queue of hundreds of people stretching as far as the eye can see, as they waited patiently to enter the park.

According to Esther, the photo was taken at 7.19am Tokyo time, slightly more than an hour before the park opened for the day. Speaking to AsiaOne, she shared that it took about two hours before she managed to get inside.

In total, she spent about 12 hours at the park, and went on a total of nine rides — one of them, twice.

The astounding post has since gone viral, with more than 1,800 reactions and 240 comments as of writing.

Many commenters were shocked by her photo of the queue, with many expressing apprehension about visiting the park in future.

Several users, however, noted that the queue situation was "normal", while others advised that it was better to go at a later time where there won't be a queue to enter. 

Wrote one: "My friends were there, entered about 11am no queue at all."

Others added that there's no need to stress oneself by joining the crowd in the morning.

But there may be some merit to getting to the park early.

Said one user: "There are free shows (seated musicals, night parade standing area, etc) and limited slots for the premier access pass (sometimes they could get sold out by noon) which you can only purchase after you enter the park. So entering early does have its benefits, else there will still be rides or shows that you may not even get a chance to see. The first thing you need to do after you enter is to turn on the app and quickly grab all the time-slot passes that you can."

Another drawback to getting in later is that "queuing time for rides goes up exponentially", pointed out another user.

In her post, Esther also gave a breakdown of the rides that she took for the day and the amount of time spent queueing for them.

The longest time spent queuing was for the Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast, which Esther went on twice. The waiting time for the second go-around was at 120 minutes, she noted.

Speaking to AsiaOne, Esther shared that she had zero regrets: "I must say it is worth the queue as the ride is amazing."

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This was also her sixth trip to Tokyo Disneyland.

However, she observed that it was the most crowded that she's seen the park of all her trips there. "I don't recall it ever being so crowded before," she said, noting in her post that many of the park-goers appeared to be local.

Despite the queues, Esther told us that she still had time for shopping and a sit-down lunch, and would recommend that guests try their best to get in early.

This is to ensure that they can get premier access (priority) passes for the rides that are distributed daily upon entry, "especially for Beauty and the Beast".

Perhaps something to consider, if one is looking for their "happily ever after".

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candicecai@asiaone.com