Tokyo Disney
Day 5
笑いは時代を超越し、想像力には年齢がなく、夢は永遠です - ウォルト・ディズニー
We have now reached the couple of days of the trip that I have been planning the longest. I’ve been to Walt Disney World in Orlando, and Dan and I have been to the parks in Paris and Anaheim. This was a bucket list item if we ever came to Japan, and here we are.
In my research, the most nerve racking was about the crowds. How people would line up at 530 or 6 in the morning just to be the first ones in. Mind you, the park opens at 830 and closed at 9pm. Folks line up hours early just to catch the parade, get special merch, have reservations at the restaurants, and they don’t have lightning lane, the have other versions of those passes.
Welp, to avoid all this, I got us the Disney Vacation package. This got us a room on site, the Toy Story hotel, tickets to both parks, tickets to selected rides, free merchandise, a free popcorn bucket (if you know, you know), beverage tickets, and restaurant reservations.
We checked in early, dropped off our luggage and took the monorail to the entrance.
Tokyo Disneyland was day 1, we were in line by 910 and in by 925. Not bad. It was also sunny and clear, with no wind. The park had a celebration going on - Quackity Duck, Duck, Duck City in honor of Donald Duck. He was everywhere!
The entrance and centerpiece is of course the castle. Each Disneyland has a different one, Tokyo’s is Cinderella’s. Tall, enchanting and majestic. The layout was similar to the original Disneyland, so we were mostly familiar with what was where.
Last shout out - the cast members. They are top notch, friendly, wave at everyone, and go out of their way to be helpful. The CMs back in LA can learn a thing or two.
The first ride as always was Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s our favorite. This one had just one drop, lots of mist, same dank smell, and some of the old scenes like the pirates chasing the wenches. The fires also looked much better in this one.
Next up was Jungle Cruise.
Side note: all the rides, guides and characters spoke Japanese, with very few having English in them. The boat guide in the Jungle Cruise absolutely ate his role. He was part of the ride. It was freaking hilarious and was one of the best rides of the day.
Because of the package, i was able to get reso’s at Blue Bayou. Dan had been wanting to go here for years. The food was a 3 course preset meal, including lobster, prime rib, some sort of soup, beignets, and a berry chocolate mousse .
We ended up doing a majority of the rides, including Big Thunder Mountain,
Pinocchio, Star Tours, Haunted Mansion, Big Hero 8, and Dumbo. We skipped the Alice in Wonderland (I get dizzy), Winnie the Pooh (was broken), and Splash Mountain (no one wants to walk around wet).
It was midday, and we were able to catch the afternoon parade, in honor of Donald himself. All the characters were on the floats, and the music was catchy.
Now we get to Its a Small Groot World. You fun, typical boat ride, except baby groot is in every country and many differ scenes. It was adorable.
On the way out, we noticed that Mickey’s Philharmonic was about to start. It was in a theater behind the castle, probably used for the Muppets previously. It was a 4D show - meaning you had 3D glasses, the seats moved, you could feel bursts of air, smell the scents, and even got sprayed with droplets of water and mist. There were new scenes from the Lion King, Coco, Little Mermaid, Moana, Snow White and more. It was beautifully done, and literally caused me to cry. That’s the magic of Disney.
We walked out of the theater elated. And it was perfect, because now it was time for the star ride of the park, the Enchanting Beauty and the Beast. The ride is set in an area of the park straight out of France. With cottages and food halls and a statue of LaFoo.
The ride puts you in broken teacups, whisking you through the story of how they met, falling in love, the fear, the fight with the crowd, and culminates in a scene from the ballroom where you are a spectator watching Belle and Beast dance.
By the time it was over, there were tears streaming down my face.
Disney 2. Us 0.
Walking back towards the castle, we came upon the Electrical Parade. The floats lit up the sky with all the lights, Cinderella’s Castle bathed in pink and blue. Fun, different version than that from what was held in Anaheim.
As we wound our day down, it was time for the last ride, Monsters Inc. we boarded the car in the laugh factory, following Sully and Boo chasing doors while being chased by other monsters. Mike Krzawski came in and helped Sully rescue Boo.
And that’s really what Disney is about. Hope, happiness, dreams. Disney also triggers for many of us those memories of childhood. Watching the movies, reading the gold books, family experiences and trips to Disneyland. I mean who didn’t watch Sleeping Beauty or Up or Aladdin or 101 Dalmations or Bambi. We all love those stories, and what they taught us.
So thank you Disney, for helping me and Dan create new memories.
