Tokyo - Osaka - Kanazawa suggestions

Hello kind travelers...
I need some suggestions for my 11 days itinerary in Japan for the end of December.
We are a family of 5, my children are 9, 11, and 13 years old. We will be arriving at Haneda by December 27. My plan of itinerary is:
Dec 27 haneda - kanazawa
Dec 28 shirakawago day trip
Dec 29 kanazawa - osaka
Dec 30 universal studio osaka
Dec 31 kyoto
Jan 1 kyoto - tokyo
Jan 2 tokyo shopping
Jan 3 disneyland
Jan 4 disneysea
Jan 5 tokyo sightseeing
Jan 6 fly back home in the evening from haneda
I need some suggestions for:
1. Do I need to buy an all japan rail pass for this trip? Or is there any other cheaper option to cover the transportation expenses?
2. If I do need a JR pass, should I activate it immediately from haneda and use it for the train to kanazawa? Is it possible to make the same day reservation for the train?
3. Is it better if we do the other way around, say do tokyo first and then move to other places at jan 1?
4. Does the luggage delivery service run during new year holiday?
I am open to any other suggestions so please put some of your thoughts to my questions, I really appreciate it..
Thank you so much...

Comments on your itinerary:
There is a lot of travel for such a short trip. Visiting so many locations will be very rushed, particularly over New Year when transport will be busier and certain attractions closed for several days. I would cut quite a lot from your itinerary to make it more smooth and enjoyable.

Three days in theme parks mean a lot of your trip isn't actually focussed on seeing Japan. This seems like a waste of time when visiting a foreign country for only two weeks! Pick one theme park and skip the others. Note also that January 3 and 4 are predicted to be VERY crowded days for the Tokyo Disney parks. Likewise, the 30th of December is predicted to be the BUSIEST day for USJ! You will be standing in very long lines all day if you visit these parks. Use your time to actually see Japan instead while all the locals are at the theme parks!

I would recommend only visiting Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. You have not left a lot of time for Kanazawa once you include travel from Haneda and to Osaka. Skip Kanazawa and Shirakawago to give yourself a slower pace and actually enjoy your trip instead of rushing to the next location. Actually see Osaka, spend 2-3 days in Kyoto, sightsee for more than one day in Tokyo (it's huge!).

Answers to your questions:
1. There is a rail pass calculator in the "Plan a Trip > Transportation" section of this website.

2. Depends on what length of pass you buy. Again, use the rail pass calculator.

3. See above - I advise a complete rearrangement of your itinerary as it is currently far too rushed. If you're unsure what will be closed over the New Year period to help your planning, the New Year section on this website (use the search bar) is very helpful (I'm also planning to go to Japan over the New Year period, and found it useful to help me work out where to be/what to see on certain days).

4. I'm not sure, so can't help you here, sorry.

Hi there, thanks for your input. The reason why I include all those theme parks is because my children don�ft really like sightseeing, all they interested in are theme parks and that�fs the main reason we travel 😅
So I try to accommodate their interests and mine for our traveling itinerary.

You do not "need" to buy a rail pass, but from your arrival to the return to Tokyo it fits within seven calendar days so there is a saving given your route.
If you do get a rail pass, you will not be able to reserve seats until you arrive. As this is a very busy travel period, you may not be able to get your first choice of train (or second), so you need to be flexible. At least your return to Tokyo avoids a weekend day.
Doing theme parks for the children is quite a valid use of holiday time. There are some alternatives like the Toei Movie Park in Kyoto for something different. But, as noted above, holiday dates are super crowded and if the park is full/at capacity, you may be denied entry.

If your kids don't want to sightsee, either don't take them on holiday or visit theme parks that are in your home country, or closer than Japan! I see no point in taking such a short trip to a foreign country to spend so much time in American theme parks.

The dates you have chosen to visit them are predicted to be the busiest days of the month, and so you will spend most of the days in lines and your kids will be just as upset, if not more, than if you went sightseeing.

Pick ONE theme park to visit during your trip, and consider changing the date you visit. There are crowd calendars available online - try Google. The best ones are in Japanese, so use a web browser that has auto-translate (e.g. Google Chrome).

Instead of american theme parks you might try to visit different kind of aquariums.
For example:
Osaka Kaiyukan
Awa-Kamogawa aquarium
Enoshima aquarium

IMHO they all provide better value for the money.
I had to enjoy the pain in 2018 april; for some silly reason i told my wife "hey, Disneyland is quite close to our hotel". Although advise her "hey, according to forums it is CROWDED, do you enjoy standing in the queues", she did not backed down :-). As i predicted, we took couple of rides (the 5D cinema was quite nice) but most of the time "enjoyed" Oktoberfest or Shibuya crossing kind of crowds.

So, IMHO, Japan has better places to enjoy with children than Disney or USJ. For some reason even the Japan Guide has a highly recommended rating for those sites ...

BR,
Lauri