Takayama Hokuriku Pass

3rd visit to japan this may
plan to explore kanazawa tateyama takayama and onwards to tokyo
day 1 friday morning: arrive in osaka, buy this pass, all the way to kyoto
day 2 saturday: around 8:30 hop on the thunderbird to kanazawa
day 3 sunday: check the weather, if okay then take shinkansen to toyama and on to tetayama, back to kanazawa in late afternoon
day 4 monday: bus 9:00 to takayama via shirawakawa-go just passing through arrive around 11:00 takayama
day 5 tuesday: take ltd hida to nagoya and shinkansen to odawara for hakone
day 7 - 10 tokyo: should be no problem

questions:
day 2 thunderbird: it's a saturday 8:30. can i just hop on without reservation or would it be super crowded? i'd like to avoid reservation if necessary
day 3 sunday: shinkansen to toyama: how does this pass work to catch shinkansen? just show the pass at the gate and hop on? or need to show the pass at the ticket window to get a shinkansen ticket? will it be busy around 7:00? again, try to avoid reservation if necessary
day 4: i'd like to book this nohi bus as it is not very frequent. can i just go to the bus station in front of kanazawa station on saturday to make the booking for monday?

any suggestions?

thanks a lot
Jay

Of course you can hop on The Thunderbird without making prior reservation. Just ensure to be early at the departing platform and queue at the Non-Reserved car!

At Kanazawa Station, just show the Takayama Hokuriku Pass to the station staff at the Manned Gate. You could only ride Non-Reserved between Kanazawa & Toyama. Hence, Shinkansen ticket is not requied.
You will definitely get to board on a early Sunday.

Takayama-Hokuriku Area Tourist Pass holders cannot use web reservation.
If you want to make a reservation, please make a phonecall as follows.
Telephone reservation to Nohi Bus Reservation Center（9:00am〜6:00pm）
TEL (0577)32-1688