RE: A Geeky Guy's Guide to Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge at Universal Orlando's Epic Universe

I don't know, I mean as I suspected the biggest difference is air fare. Millions of people in the U.S. are also within driving distance which substantially reduces the cost (I'm a bit spoiled in this regard as it is only a little over an hour away from me, but as a family, even if we were 12 hours away and wanted to vacation at Disney we would be driving...not an option for Tokyo).

The ticket price difference starts to add up the more people and days are involved but you have to take into consideration that Disney World Orlando includes four parks with far more rides and attractions than Tokyo which has two parks that are both quite a bit smaller on average with far fewer total attractions. I don't think it is fair to factor in genie which is optional and not available in Tokyo. It's not clear that Tokyo has significantly shorter wait times on average. I've seen some sources that say, on average, wait times at Tokyo Disney are much longer. In both cases it is far preferable to go at non-peak times.

Just to give an idea on size, Tokyo's two parks are about the size of Magic Kingdom alone. Disney World in Orlando includes Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. The total size of Disney Tokyo including on property resorts is about 500 acres. The total size of Disney World in Orlando including on property resorts is about 25,000 acres. The four main theme parks that are part of Disney World alone are nearly 1200 acres in total compared to Tokyo's total park size (2 parks) of less than 300 acres. So Disney Tokyo might be quite a bit cheaper as a theme park but it really doesn't compare to Disney World in terms of what you get for your ticket. If you truly want the Disney experience (and not everybody does, lol), Orlando is the only way to go in my opinion. Orlando also gives you options for Sea World and the Universal parks which are less expensive than Disney. If you are going to Tokyo, there are probably better things you could be doing as a U.S. tourist. Anyway, sure, the story is accurate as far as it goes but it doesn't tell the whole story.

Cheapskate tip #1: You can bring your own food and drink into the Disney World parks. This can save you a small fortune as well as more time in lines.