On our recent visit to Japan we had the pleasure of going on a Tokyo helicopter tour from Urayasu Heliport, which is located in the Tokyo Disney Resort area. Below is our detailed overview of this awesome experience you can also have when you visit Tokyo, and how to book your Tokyo helicopter tour experience.
We really enjoyed flying a large loop around Tokyo, it was amazing to see the famous landmarks of the city at night! And gave us a whole different perspective of this mega city.
Check out our video above to see what to expect from this experience.
Join the Japan Travel Planning Facebook Group and Discord Server
You are also welcome to join our Japan Travel Planning Facebook Group and our new Japan Travel Planning Discord Server – they are great resources to enable you to ask questions about your upcoming trip to Japan!
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How to Book Your Helicopter Tour Tokyo
Viator provides a very easy option to book a range of helicopter tour options for Tokyo of various time periods and locations. Note that this activity is dependent on weather conditions, so we recommend you book your flight early during your visit to Tokyo so if your flight is rescheduled you have other date options.
Click here to check out and book your Tokyo Helicopter Flight options through Viator
How Can Weather Affect your Helicopter Ride Tokyo?
In our case our first flight was cancelled due to weather. We promptly received a message when this occurred, and the operator contacted us to re-book on another day. We booked our new flight time for two days following our original date, and quickly received a new confirmation email.
How to Get to Urayasu Heliport near Tokyo Disney Resort
Many of you will be asking where is Urayasu Heliport and Maihama Station in relation to the rest of Tokyo. In the below map you can see that Maihama Station is located on the eastern side of Tokyo and is a 20 minute train ride from Tokyo Station. If you are travelling from either Shinjuku Station or Shibuya Station your travel time is around 45-50 minutes.
After you arrive at Maihama look for the signs for the Northern exit from the station. After you exit, you will see on your right hand side a decorative clock tower which you can see in our photos below. Descend the steps and wait in front of the clock tower for your shuttle bus collection. Do not be late as they arrive promptly!
You will then be driven the short distance to the Excel Air Facility.
Tokyo Helicopter Tour Check In
When you arrive at the Excel Air Facility you walk up the stairs to their departure lounge. The first thing you will see is the reception counter where you check in for your flight.
Of note is that you are only allowed to take your phone and cameras with you in flight mode, they also have special stickers which you must apply to your phone and cameras to prevent the flash from being used as this is a safety risk for the pilot. You are also not permitted to carry selfie sticks, gimbals or tripods onto the helicopter.
Once you have checked in you then move into the luxurious waiting lounge, where you will be offered a complimentary drink. We enjoyed viewing the sunset over Disneysea resort while we waited for our flight.
When they are ready they will invite you to move onto the next stage, which is a safety briefing and locker room to store your valuable items during your flight. The lockers are of medium size so are able to hold normal backpacks and carry bags, but not big enough for suitcases.
After we were ready we were led through a hangar full of helicopters onto the helipad to board our flight!
Our Helicopter Ride Tokyo Experience
After we had been strapped in we were ready to go! And very excited as we do not get to travel in a helicopter very often ? .
We took off smoothly and travelled over the water parallel to the Disney Resort area as we ascended. We quickly travelled over the Odaiba area, and had lovely views of the Rainbow Bridge.
We then travelled on to Shibuya to see the crossing from a much higher height! Then circled on to see Shinjuku.
We then travelled to view the Tokyo Skytree in all of its splendour.
Finally we headed back to Urayasu Heliport past the Disney Resort area again and finally landed after our 15 minute flight. It was a short but lovely flight to gain some perspective of how large Tokyo is as a city.
After a family photo we returned to the locker area to collect our personal items and were then promptly taken by the complimentary shuttle bus back to Maihama Station. We were able to easily then catch the train back to our accommodation in Tokyo.
Wrapup
We all really enjoyed our Tokyo helicopter ride and our children were particularly excited as they mostly do not recall their previous helicopter flight which was 9 years prior in New Zealand!
We definitely recommend this activity to our readers as a great option to have a special experience in Tokyo.
Click here to check out and book your Tokyo Helicopter Flight options through Viator
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Join the Japan Travel Planning Facebook Group and Discord Server
You are also welcome to join our Japan Travel Planning Facebook Group and our new Japan Travel Planning Discord Server – they are great resources to enable you to ask questions about your upcoming trip to Japan!
Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links. If you book after clicking on one of these links then we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.