Hi Vivian, I think you are right that it will be very busy during the Olympics but it's much harder to predict how that will impact outside Tokyo than normal seasonal peaks. I would pre-book the romance-car or another train between Tokyo and Odawara/Hakone that way you know you are going to get there and back on your own timetable. The Hakone transport on the loop using the pass is just a case of waiting for the next one if it is full, it's less of an issue on the trains and buses but there is often a bit of a queue as they are loading up the cable car (due to be reopened in March after the typhoon damage) and at the ropeway stations but it moves quite quickly.

There are many places to view Fuji but all of them depend on the day and with the Olympics being in summer that is less likely to be a clear day although it changes frequently, our best view was from Owakudani near the geothermal area at the top of the ropeway but when we arrived it wasn't visible due to clouds, when they cleared just a few minutes later it was a stunning from up there. On Lake Ashi and from the shores around the lake is another top spot. Both are on the circuit with the Hakone Freepass.

At this stage (December 2019) the Tozan Cablecar is not operating due to damage to the track that occurred during a major typhoon in the late summer. Odakyu are operating an alternative bus between Gora station and Sounzan Station. This is expected to continue until late March 2020. The bus fare is included in the Hakone Freepass. Changes to services can be seen on the official site.

The 2-day pass includes 2 days of transport in the Hakone area but one return trip to Tokyo.

Anyway, I have a question.
If I take a 2-day pass & come back to Shinjuku that day, then can I use the same pass the next day?
I am not getting this information anywhere.
So, if you know please let me know before 30th December.
Thanks!

Hi Viv. The JR Pass covers very little of Hakone. JR or Japan Railways is the National train company and operate most of the intercity routes and bullet trains in addition to some routes in city areas. There are also many smaller railway companies that cover smaller areas and provide commuter and/or tourist services in those areas. In Hakone that is Odakyu which is why their 'Hakone Free Pass' can be a good option for visiting here and saving money if you are doing the loop or moving around quite a bit. With your JR pass you will probably want to take the bullet train as far as Odawara (the JR Hakone stop) but from there will need individual tickets or the Hakone Free Pass. Odawara is a hub station, both JR and Odakyu use it. I'll link another article that shows a value calculation on the pass, this was based mostly on one of our first trips there where we also use the JR pass as far as Odawara.

While you can see Fuji really well from points around the circuit you aren't actually that close to it so it doesn't form part of the Hakone circuit. If you were going to do both destinations in a couple of days the Fuji Hakone Pass would be better than the Hakone free pass for that. By preference, if doing it independently I'd go directly from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko then take the bus from outside the train station (just under an hour) to the Fuji 5th station.