Prior to this resort review, my ‘biggest’ piece of commentary about Toy Story Hotel is that it’s absolutely hideous. When it opened, I joked that Toy Story Hotel reminded me of a children’s hospital or perhaps a colorful prison? My view was that the vibrant, larger-than-life style of Walt Disney World’s Value Resorts work much better for animated movies.
I thought Toy Story Hotel was getting a pass from fans because people love the movies. Much in the same way that all of the Toy Story Lands are seemingly immune from criticism, despite being mediocre and far from the best versions of what they could be. (This isn’t to say that Toy Story Land is bad. It’s the opposite–the concept is so unbelievably good for a theme park that it’s disappointing there hasn’t been a big budget version. Sorta like Dino-Rama and dinosaur lands–the concept is awesome, the execution decidedly less so.)
After staying at Toy Story Hotel, I could double down on my criticism. There were things that reinforced my preconceived notions–and who doesn’t love to dig in and cherry pick things that confirm their priors?! Instead, I’m going to take what I hope is the higher road: admit that I was wrong about Toy Story Hotel–it’s good, actually.
Toy Story Hotel at Tokyo Disney Resort is a moderate-type hotel with 595 guest rooms–575 standard rooms and 20 superior rooms. The hotel has streamlined facilities and services to bring guests a new option between the existing deluxe and value hotels at Tokyo Disney Resort.
This is the first non-Deluxe hotel on-site at Tokyo Disney Resort, and is located directly across from Bayside Station, in between Hilton Tokyo Bay, Hotel Okura, and Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay Hotel. It’s technically the first and only non-Deluxe Disney hotel on the monorail loop anywhere in the world.
Location is always important, and Toy Story Hotel is certainly better than Tokyo Disney Celebration Hotel (which is off-site and requires bus transportation to the parks), but it’s not as good as Hotel MiraCosta, Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, or Fantasy Springs Hotel, all of which are looking their respective lands and parks.
Speaking of Fantasy Springs Hotel, the entrance and exit to this Peter Pan, Frozen and Tangled port of call at Tokyo DisneySea is right next to Bayside Station–across from Toy Story Hotel. So you’d think that guests of this hotel would also be able to use that entrance, especially since it doesn’t go inside Fantasy Springs Hotel (just under).
You’d be wrong. You nevertheless might assume that, if Toy Story Hotel guests couldn’t use the entrance, they could at least exit. After all, who cares about that. You would once again be wrong. Do you want to know how we know?!
Trying to exit, unsuccessfully, through Fantasy Springs while staying at Toy Story Hotel is one of the more frustrating experiences we’ve had with Japan’s rigid rule culture in a while. Despite staying at a Disney-hotel and buying a Fantasy Springs Vacation Package, we could not exit through those gates. What would’ve been a 5-minute walk became a 30+ minute ordeal with a mile-plus walk, monorail ride, and that same 5-minute walk on the back end. But I digress.
From the moment guests arrive at Toy Story Hotel, however long that takes and by whatever route and roadblocks they encounter, they’ll be greeted by a Cast Member verifying room keys at the pathway. Like Fantasy Springs Hotel, this is also on lockdown for some reason (you can freely enter and exit the nicest two hotels at Tokyo Disney Resort).
After gaining access to the property, guests will feel like they’ve been shrunken and are welcomed as “honorary toys.” As the story goes, Andy has assembled this toy hotel so that his toys have a place to stay and play while he is away at Cowboy Camp.
Outside of the hotel, there are oversized toy action play figures of Toy Story pals. Buzz Lightyear and Jessie are part of Slinky Dog Park in front of the entrance, which is a fun little play area. This is great for photo ops and features oversized icons that would be right at home at the Value Resorts at Walt Disney World. Perhaps more accurately, in Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios, since some of the characters are identical to that land.
The front side is also home to RC Racer Garage, which is the hotel’s parking structure. Oddly enough, everything in this parking garage is still regular size, so don’t spend too much time hanging out there unless you want the illusion ruined. I know you would’ve been tempted had I not mentioned that.
Toy Story Hotel’s lobby is a colorful, toy-filled space. Guests will find slot cars racing on tracks overhead, a giant Bo Peep game board on the ceiling, puzzle pieces used to decorate the floor, colorful furniture and more.
While the exterior was mostly what I expected (probably because I’ve seen most of that in Toy Story Land), I’ve gotta admit that the lobby exceeded expectations. It’s obviously not the pinnacle of themed design, but there’s much more depth, detail, and dimensionality than I anticipated.
Not only that, but it’s all clever and charming. You feel compelled to spend time poring over the details and exploring to see everything; it appeals to the children at heart in us all, much in the same way that Toy Story Land does.
The hotel’s front desk has an oversize Lite Brite-style toy behind it. I had somehow never seen photos of this, and was mesmerized by it in person.
It really pops, punctuating the whole area and making a strong first impression as you’re checking in. It’s nice that there’s eye candy in this area, as check-in can be excruciatingly slow.
Speaking of which, check-in time for Toy Story Hotel is 3:00 pm, while check-out time is noon. You can store your luggage at the guest services desk in the lobby before and after your check-in/out times.
We did precisely this. As mentioned above, we were doing the Vacation Package during our stay here, and since this is all physical (rather than digital) that meant arriving to Toy Story Hotel before rope dropping Tokyo Disneyland. We repeated this process on checkout day, which was when we did Fantasy Springs.
Toy Story Hotel’s lone restaurant is Lotso Garden Cafe. With an interior inspired by Lotso the pink teddy bear from Toy Story 3, this restaurant is open for breakfast and dinner. The colorful (and colossal) dining area features murals depicting Lotso raising smiling fruits and vegetables. The seating area offers views of Tokyo Bay.
Lotso Garden Cafe is a buffet and boy is it a good one. We did the buffets at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, Hilton Tokyo Bay, and Toy Story Hotel all within quick succession and, shockingly, this was the best. Way better than it had any right to be.
The buffet serves everything from Japanese to Chinese to American cuisine, with meats, noodles, curry, fish, salads, fresh fruit, and more. There’s also a ton of desserts, self-service beverage station, and more. My only complaint is that the coffee–all of it–was beyond disgusting.
Lotso Garden Buffet is open for breakfast from 6:30 am to 10:30 am, and then for dinner from 5 pm to 9 pm. At this point, Lotso Garden Cafe is still exclusive to Toy Story Hotel guests. (We’re honestly a bit disappointed by this, as we’d really love to go back and try dinner!)
In terms of other guest amenities, Toy Story Hotel also has a couple of gift shops, one of which is more accurately a convenience store (konbini) where you can buy packaged foods and other practical goods. Silly as it might seem, konbini are a key part of the Japan experience, so be sure to make a stop at Lawson, 7-11, and Family Mart (all three).
The bright colors and theming continue through the elevator areas and guest corridors. The hotel has two wings: one side is themed to Buzz Lightyear and the other is themed to Woody’s Roundup.
Toy Friends Square is a garden accessed from the lobby, featuring oversized toy action figures of Woody, Bo Peep, and other Toy Story characters.
This is even better than Slinky Dog Park outside the front entrance, and is a quasi-playground. By that, I mean that it’s not really a playground…but that doesn’t stop all of the families with small children from treating it like one.
Megatron’s favorite thing about this area was the grass. I’m looking forward to taking her back when she might want to play hide and seek, tag, or the other games other kids were playing. Everyone seemed to be having a ton of fun.
The guest rooms are inspired by Andy’s bedroom from the first Toy Story film, featuring his iconic blue sky and puffy white cloud wallpaper.
There are also Woody’s Roundup inspired headboards, an oversized Mickey Mouse wristwatch hanging on one of the walls, plus other toy-like fixtures and furnishings.
Standard Rooms that sleep up to three guests have two regular beds and a trundle bed. Superior Rooms for up to four guests have three regular beds and a pull-down bed. These are the two basic room types, with a various subcategories based on the view.
The rooms are sufficiently spacious, but probably not for a party of 3-4. There’s a definite lack of storage space for luggage, and what you see in the far corner of the above photo (3 hangers) is really about it in terms of a closet. This is the biggest practical weakness of these thematically-stellar guest rooms.
The TV is framed to look like a giant Etch A Sketch, which is a clever idea. It also means that this television will never be upgraded as technology evolves. That’s a lesson we’ve learned from various themed rooms at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris.
It probably isn’t a huge consideration here. I’d hazard a guess that over half of the hotels or Airbnbs we’ve stayed at in Japan are still rocking televisions from the first half of the Heisei era.
There are also two (2) seating options in the guest rooms. One table with one standard chair and also that blue seat below the desk. So if you’re a party of two who wants to eat together in your room, but separated by a bit of distance, you’re in luck.
Below the television, the pull-down bed is located in what resembles Andy’s toy box. None of this is the pinnacle of themed design or luxuriousness, but you can tell that thought was put into every detail. Like Toy Story Land, it punches above its weight thanks to having heart.
The bathroom is separated from rest of the room by a sliding door.
The bathroom is then subdivided into three subareas, each of which is separated by doors. To the left is a shower room. The center is a sink area with a mirror and counter space. To the right is the toilet room.
The bathing room has both a standard shower and a bathtub. The kind of setup you see above is common of all the Disney-branded hotels at Tokyo Disney Resort, as well as most Airbnbs and hotels that aren’t part of western chains.
On the counter in the main area, you’ll find with cotton swabs and hair ties, toothbrushes with paste, and hairbrushes. These are not as nice as the amenity kits at the top tier TDR resorts, but as with those, housekeeping will refill these as you use them…or stash them in your luggage to take home, as the case may be. (Our houseguests may or may not be provided similar amenity kits from past stays at hotels in Japan.)
As with every hotel in Japan, the toilet is where these rooms shine. This is a fully-loaded Japanese bidet, complete with heated seats and a stream of warm water to do the dirty work so you don’t have to.
It’s like the kind of thing you’d see on Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous or Cribs. (Or South Park, which was 100% right about bidets. Seriously, get over any apprehensions you might have and take full advantage of this little puppy. You’ll wonder how you can ever go back to boring ole American toilets again.)
Whether we think Toy Story Hotel is right for you depends upon a few things: 1) your budget, 2) why you’re visiting Tokyo Disney Resort, and 3) with whom.
If you’re visiting with kids, Toy Story Hotel is desirable option for the same reason that the Value Resorts at Walt Disney World are appealing. It has all the subtlety of a gigantic pig operating heavy machinery. It’s bright and bold, with color and characters everywhere. If your family’s definition of “Disney” is stepping into the world of their favorite movies, look no further.
However, if you’re adults or making the pilgrimage to Japan because you’ve heard that Tokyo DisneySea is the best theme park in the world…this just isn’t it. For all of the exact same reasons.
Although there are details that speak to the kid at heart and Andy’s room style is really clever, Toy Story Hotel is essentially the antithesis of Tokyo DisneySea-style themed design. This is largely decorative, with the best visuals reminding you of something else rather than transporting you to a different time or place.
So what are the alternatives? If your budget allows for them, Hotel MiraCosta and Tokyo Disneyland Hotel are unbeatable–two of the top 5 Disney hotels in the entire world–and worth every penny. There is a huge gap between these two and the rest of the Disney-hotels at Tokyo Disney Resort.
If your budget does not allow for those, it could be worth considering Toy Story Hotel because of the price point. When we stayed here, it was by far the cheapest of the on-site Disney hotels, significantly less than even the Ambassador. When forced to choose among these two and Fantasy Springs Hotel, our decision is likely going to come down to cost–and we’d probably pick Toy Story Hotel.
You might also consider booking the Hilton, Sheraton, or even one of the on-site Japanese hotels that’s near Bayside Station. As much as we thought Toy Story Hotel punched above its weight, we will happily take the Hilton Tokyo Bay for less.
The Hilton Tokyo Bay is one of our favorite hotels in the world, and we’ve logged more nights there this year than anywhere else. It’s not nearly as luxurious as Hotel MiraCosta, but it’s also a fraction of the cost. It executes on all of the fundamentals flawlessly (well, almost–some of the guest rooms could use refreshes), and is just a really nice business class hotel. I’d take the Hilton over any Deluxe Resort at Walt Disney World. And although we don’t stay there as often, we feel the same about the Sheraton.
We have Tokyo Disney Resort Hotel Reviews & Rankings for all of the third party properties at TDR. They may not be “Disney,” but we’ve never felt like that has been an impediment to immersion. All of the third party on-site hotels have Disney shops, in-room TDR channels, exemplary service, stunning views of either the parks or Tokyo Bay (and Mt. Fuji on a clear day), and are located on the monorail loop.
Ultimately, our perspective on Toy Story Hotel is very similar to how we view Pixar Place Hotel at Disneyland. Neither are top of their class, as Toy Story Hotel is trounced by Hotel MiraCosta and that doesn’t hold a candle to the Grand Californian. But it’s also fairly obvious that neither of these Pixar properties are pretending to be flagship hotels in the first place, making it a rather ridiculous comparison!
More to the point, we’ve been hearing from a lot of Disney fans who absolutely adore Pixar Place Hotel and prefer it to the GCH. It’s just more whimsical and fun to them–more “Disney” than the luxurious and lavishly themed flagship. They have no illusions about what each hotel is or isn’t–they just like the one with overt movie and character references more, warts and all.
We suspect it’s a very similar story with Toy Story Hotel. The key difference is that this is not a warts and all situation. Toy Story Hotel is exactly what it aspires to be, and executes that concept on a high level. Far better than we expected, in all honesty. Even though this is not our preferred style, Toy Story Hotel won us over. (Not sure what I’m going to do if these Pixar hotels I’m prepared to hate keep stealing my heart.)
Toy Story Hotel is going to be the preferred option of a lot of families visiting Tokyo Disney Resort, especially given the combination of price point and location on top of the Disneyfied design. Even if you’re a solo traveler or couple, it might just surprise you. Toy Story Hotel has a way of speaking to your inner child, and winning you over with its whimsy and reminders of bygone youth and innocence.
Planning a trip to Tokyo Disney Resort? For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea Trip Planning Guide! For more specifics, our TDR Hotel Rankings & Reviews page covers accommodations. Our Restaurant Reviews detail where to dine & snack. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money post. Our What to Pack for Disney post takes a unique look at clever items to take. Venturing elsewhere in Japan? Consult our Ultimate Guide to Kyoto, Japan and City Guide to Tokyo, Japan.
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of the Toy Story Hotel? If you’ve been to Tokyo Disney Resort, what is your favorite on-site hotel? Planning on disregarding our advice and booking it anyway? Think this is a good addition to the Tokyo Disney Resort hotel lineup, or do you also wish it remained a demolished events hall? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
