Advice on 15-day itinerary

I'm planning a trip to Japan with my ten-year-old daughter. We had intended to go this month, but unfortunately had to postpone the trip due to health issues. I'm now looking at booking again for October, and taking the chance to think about any tweaks we can make to our original itinerary. The original plan looked like this:

Day 1: Arrive in Osaka in the evening.
Day 2: Osaka - Castle, aquarium, Dotonbori
Day 3: Osaka - Universal Studios
Day 4: Kyoto
Day 5: Kyoto - Arayashima
Day 6: Kyoto - Day trip to Nara
Day 7: Kyoto
Day 8: Kyoto to Tokyo
Day 9: Tokyo - Disneyland
Day 10: Tokyo - DisneySea
Day 11: Tokyo
Day 12: Tokyo - Asakusa
Day 13: Tokyo - Shinjuku, Shibuya and Harajuku
Day 14: Tokyo - Ghibli Museum
Day 15: Shopping, depart in the evening

How does that sound? Do you think I have room to add any other destinations? Maybe one or more of: Himeji, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Mount Fuji or Nikko? If so, which of those are most likely to appeal to a ten-year-old?

Thanks!

Hi!

Just a little advice, make sure you look at holiday periods in October when planning trips to amusement parks. They can get really crowded, particularly Disney Sea.

Sure I think you could fit in another attraction, depending on how you tour. For me, Asakusa doesn't need a whole day so I could fit in something else that day, so you could maybe cut a day in Tokyo or cut a day from Kyoto, or possibly both. I would think Nikko, Himeji, Hiroshima or Miyajima would be the easiest to fit in and which I picked would be based on both my and my daughter's interest. Of your list, my daughter has been to Miyajima and enjoyed it a lot. But we live in an area without a lot of beaches, so she was fascinated with low tide and walking to the Tori gate. I hope to take mine to Himeji on our next trip, though I expect she will like the garden more than the castle. I'm saving Hiroshima until she is a little older. I read John Hershey's Hiroshima in Jr. High and had nightmares for weeks. It's an important place to visit, but can also be a difficult place. Only you know how your daughter will handle it. I really enjoyed Nikko and if I could fit it in, I would take her back. I'm waiting on Fuji Five Lakes until we can actually climb Mt. Fuji. Since we tend to visit in the Summer our chances of seeing Mt. Fuji aren't that high as is, though I was surprised and saw Mt. Fuji 2x last trip. Once from the shinkansen and once faintly from Tokyo!

In certain respects, Nikko or Fuji Five Lakes might make the most sense, since as of right now, you don't need a JR Pass since it's cheaper to just pay out of pocket for all your trips and both locations are readily accessible via non JR means. Have you thought about Hakone or Kamakura?

Good luck with your trip!

As PP said you can fit in more. Would I personally do it? No. But it is your travel and you guys interests. If fitting in anything I would opt for something between Kyoto and Tokyo just to reduce travel time.

Regarding Ghibli you are probably already aware how difficult tickets are to come by. Be prepared to buy them as early as possible through JBT. (Now still to early)

Nikko can also be done as a daytrip from Tokyo so you could leave that decision until you are actually in Tokyo.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!