Hi everyone! Our family has decided to take a 2 week vacation to Japan during summer. My mom and sister are also going to be joining us as well. Gonna be honest, ever since we had kids we haven’t flown so that’s gonna be 14 years of no flying or really traveling far. We are super excited, me and hubs have never been (and neither have our kids) so this is going to be a great experience! We have 6 kids ages 14,14,11,7,5,2.5 so we aren’t completely alone with just little kids so we do have help but still want travel tips!! We want to get connecting rooms but I’m not sure if 2 rooms are gonna be enough for all 8 of us, me and my hubs aren’t too worried if we have to share the bed/ room with our kids as this isn’t a couples vacation. Any tips in general for traveling would be so helpful and if anyone’s ever made the trip to Japan I would love to hear about it and get some info on what we should do. Thanks everyone
@brandon05w Your kids are old enough that flying should be relatively easy. The only challenging part is making sure your 2.5 year old stays seated during the flight. Bring a tablet or other source of entertainment.
Try to get an airbnb with multiple rooms. That should cut hotel costs a lot.
Be aware that some hotels in Japan have beds that are on the floor (Japanese style).
@brandon05w You may want to check with foreign airlines, but American airlines will all check your stroller and car seat for free, not as part of your baggage allowance. Check the car seat before you go through security with your big suitcases, but you can roll the stroller right up the to the gate where the flight attendants will give it a special gate pass. And then you can walk it down the tunnel, where they stuff it under the plane at the last minute and then retrieve it immediately upon landing so that you'll have that stroller with you throughout the airport before you claim your bigger baggage.
Give your toddler child Tylenol half an hour before landing so their ears won't hurt so much, and bring gum or a hard candies for everyone (sunbursts are perfect) to help their ears pop.
I can't include Amazon links here, but there are some inflatable pillows you can put between your seat and the tray tables that allow a child to stretch out and lie down for a little bit. Don't forget headphones for everyone and a device or two loaded with movies.
@brandon05w You should look into a JR Pass for transportation while in the country. You can only get them outside of Japan, but they give you significant savings in traveling on the Shinkansen across the country and taking the local train lines as long as it's JR West/East. There are reduced fares for the 7 and 11 year old, and kids 5 and under are free assuming you don't need a seat reservation.
@brandon05w I don't know about flying - never did that with kids - but we just went on vacation last week with our 7 and we fit into 2 connecting hotel rooms. 2 people per bed (queen size) plus baby in the pack n play.
