Overnight Odaiba trip
Posted on January 6, 2023
Introduction
During the 2022 winter holiday, my family did a one-night staycation in Odaiba. It was the first time we’ve done this, and overall it was a success.
Day 1
Getting in
We took the Yurikamome Line into Odaiba which itself is a highlight of the trip offering great views of the island and Tokyo Bay. The kids (eight and six years old) enjoy riding in the front where you get a driver’s view, as the trains are automated with typically no human driver. A trick is to wait at Shimbashi Station, the first station of the line, without getting on a train until you are the first person in line for the front car.
We got a glimpse of Mt. Fuji during the stretch between Daiba and Tokyo International Cruise Terminal stations.
Miraikan
We went to Miraikan for the first part of the day. I did not get an online ticket beforehand because I wasn’t sure when we would actually arrive. It turned out OK as there was no line on this day (the day after Christmas, a Monday which was not a public holiday).
We just did the regular exhibition (常設展), forgoing the special exhibition (特別展) and the Dome Theater. I would probably do Dome Theater next time; this time I was a little apprehensive of our family potentially sitting next to the same set of people for thirty minutes during the nth Covid wave. Speaking of which, Miraikan had a unique messaging about Covid with signs featuring a slogan of “risk ≠ 0” (“the risk is non-zero”), and encouraging the usual anti-spread practices, which I appreciated.
The regular exhibition turned out to easily entertain us for three hours including lunch, and we didn’t even see most of it. My older kid really liked the “Backward from the Future” [en] exhibit and repeated the game several times though my younger kid and I didn’t really like it.
Going upstairs, we happened across a talk that was just starting about earthquakes and disasters with a focus on the probability of various events happening (chance of car accident, chance of strong earthquake, etc.), which was interesting enough.
We then had lunch at the 7th floor Miraikan Kitchen which is a great spacious area with a wonderful view of Odaiba and across to Tokyo Tower. Another option could have been to take food in and eat there or any other designated eat-in space.
After hanging around a bit by the giant Geo-Cosmos globe, we started to head to our hotel to check-in.
Gundam
We were staying at Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba which is about a 1 km walk from Miraikan. Along the way we stopped by the life-sized Gundam statue, and were just in time to see the transformation sequence.
Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba
The hotel was a bit pricey but it satisfied the requirements of accommodating four people comfortably and having an available room when we booked on relatively short notice. It also accepts JAL coupons as payment and I had lots of miles, which can be converted at a rate of 10,000 miles for 12,000 yen in coupons, which as far as I can tell is one of the best uses of JAL miles.
The hotel check-in had a long line. I was halfway through the line when a staff member came by with a sign asking if anyone was in an executive suite or was a One Harmony member. I had happened to join One Harmony when booking dinner online, so I was able to move to a shorter line.
The room turned out spacious with four actual full-sized beds and an interesting view of the Tokyo Bay Tunnel that connects the Haneda area with Odaiba, so you could see traffic seemingly drive and disappear into the bay.
For dinner we had the buffet at the hotel’s Garden Dining on the first floor which I had booked beforehand. I didn’t really need a buffet but wanted somewhere easy to eat and the other hotel options were course dinners which were probably not best for kids. It turned out we all enjoyed the food including a generous dessert section.
At 6pm it was largely empty, but around 6:30pm what appeared to be a large tour group entered, so getting there as early as possible was a good choice.
Day 2
Legoland
The next day we had breakfast at Garden Dining again. There was also an option to have a sushi breakfast on the 30th floor.
Following checkout we walked around on Decks, seeing the Statue of Liberty and Rainbow Bridge, etc., before going to Legoland Discovery Center. This I had booked beforehand and it turned out wise because I think you could not buy tickets at the entrance (but possibly could have just bought them on your phone assuming they weren’t sold out).
This was our first visit to Legoland. We spent about three hours here including lunch.
The highlight for me was the workshop where you got the pieces for a small Lego build (a rabbit, on this day), and the staff walked kids through the build. They also taught general Lego terminology and tips. I learned that word for the circular bumps on Lego bricks that have “LEGO” printed on them is ポッチ (in English, it is “stud”). We luckily got tickets to the fully-booked workshop because someone cancelled just as I was asking about availability.
After the workshop, my older child wanted to ride Merlin’s Apprentice, which turned out non-optimal because my younger one did not want to ride it, so my wife and the younger one waited for us to finish the ride which had an hour or so line.
Ninjago City probably would have been fun for the kids but between the workshop, exhibits, rides, and lunch, we were Lego’d out and decided to leave without playing there.
Beach
After Legoland, the kids enjoyed playing in the sand by the water at Decks Tokyo Beach, for much longer than expected considering the winter weather. They liked this more than Legoland.
We then went back to Yurikamome for the ride home. This time there was railway staff in the driver’s area apparently doing a training which was also interesting to see.
Conclusion
The one night stay in Odaiba was overall a success. The kids said they want to go back. The highlights seemed to be the hotel and the beach; and Miraikan for the eight year old.