Akane
My family and I are going to visit Hakone and spend the night there. And I need some help planning our itinerary. We plan to head for Hakone in the morning (not too early) and then come back to our hotel in Tokyo at around dinner time the next day.
We’d like to go on the lake cruise, go on the ropeway, see Owakudani, and anything else that’s recommended. We’ll be staying at the Hakone Yumoto Hotel.
We have small kids with us, so we don’t want the itinerary to be too busy.
Akane
Since you want a leisurely itinerary, I think for your first day, you can arrive in Hakone maybe around lunchtime, leave your luggage at the hotel, and have lunch in the area around Hakone Yumoto station. Then you can get on the Hakone Tozan Bus or the Izu Hakone Bus and go to the Hakone Open Air Museum spend a few hours there, and then come back and enjoy the onsen at your hotel.
On your second day, get on the 10am Lake cruise for Togendai. From there you can get on the Hakone Ropeway to Owakudani. Then get back on the Ropeway to the last station. From there you can get on the Hakone Tozan Cable Car. Get off at Gora to have lunch. After that, get on the cable car all the way back down to Hakone Yumoto station, and then head back to Tokyo.