Tokyo Disneyland!

It’s not a secret that I love Disney. It forms some of my most fondest childhood memories- whether it was watching a new release at the cinema, replaying the old VHS tapes, dressing up at Halloween, or going to Florida for a big family holiday.

With only 3 months left in Japan, I’ve made a wish list. One of my top priorities was to visit Tokyo Disneyland, and relieve some of my favourite Florida memories. My last Disney experience was Paris, which was great, but on a much smaller scale.

I arranged to go with my fellow Scottish friend, Misha. Although we’ve had a few days of rain and cool weather, making me think the rainy season had arrived, we were lucky to have clear blue skies on Saturday. I barely slept a wink, too excited and nervous I would sleep through my alarm! I got up at 5.30am and threw myself into the shower. Breakfast was some burnt toast and red bull. I had toyed with the idea of wearing Lolita (as it was International Lolita Day) but the early heat and the long journey ahead soon cancelled that thought!

I managed to catch all four trains, a rare miracle as there is only a few minutes between each transfer and they are always on different platforms. I arrived in Tokyo Station just after 10:30 and after grabbing some combini food, met Misha.

We headed to the JR Keiyo line which has two lines that pass nearby the Disney entrance. Although early it was already in the 20s, and I was glad I has chosen the comfy option of a tshirt and skirt! I wore my Laudree macaroon t-shirt in honour of Lolita Day!

It’s a short walk to the park, less than ten minutes, and we saw the monorail pass by. You have to queue to ride it and pay, so walking seemed the better option!

It was nearly 11 by this point and there was hardly any queue at the ticket office. We waited about ten minutes before were served, which was great! The park was so busy when we arrived, getting our first view of the castle.

Cinderella castle, celebrating 30 years of Tokyo Disneyland!

It was strange that the park was completely full of Japanese- I think I saw about five other foreigners the whole day! The Japanese park workers were just as happy (if not more so) than their US counterparts, always smiling and waving. The only downside to the day was we didn’t see any characters wandering about taking pictures- then again, the park was so busy it would have been difficult to.

Our first stop was the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, which is always one of my favourites, seeing as it spawned the movies. We had about thirty minutes to wait, though luckily a lot of it was inside in the shade. I saw two Lolitas in the queue, which made me smile.

The Pirates ride started the same as the others, gliding us along in the boats in the darkness. It was funny to hear the pirates speaking Japanese though! We got a sudden surprise with a sharp drop that made us all scream!

I was further surprised when the ride began to mimic the background and sets of the movie- soon we saw a large Black Pearl with a moving and talking Barbossa (a robot, but a very life like one!) It was even his voice from the movie, and he mentioned Jack Sparrow. To our delight, we rounded the corner to see a VERY life like Jack Sparrow hiding behind some barrels while other pirates were being arrested! It was pretty cool!

From far away he looked real…even the way the robot moved was like JD (photo credit to laughingplace.com)

The rest of the ride was really well done. We got to see Jack 3 times, and my fave was when we was sitting on the throne, with booty and treasure all around him. He was so close I could almost touch him!

We went into the Pirate shop after, and I could have went mad! I controlled myself to buy one thing, and settled on a cool pirate medallion shaped like a ship’s wheel.

Although it was still morning, all the fast passes for the big rides were already gone! I wasn’t really fussed, because I hate rollercoasters and I’m not a fan of thrill seeking rides anyway!

We spent most of our time in Fantasyland, where all the classic Disney rides are. It in this part of the park that I can remember spending most of my time as a child- the Peter Pan ride, the Dumbo ride, the Carrousel, It’s a small word, and Alice’s teacups.

All the rides had an average waiting time of 45 minutes, but we were quite lucky that the queues seemed to move quickly. Next was Snow White, which I don’t remember riding as a child. The carts were shaped like the dwarf’s beds, which was really clever! We got Doc’s bed.

It was quite creepy, like the film, plunging us through dark woods, with the cackling witch. The there was the happy song scene in the cottage with Snow White and the dwarfs. It was a really great ride!

The cool “beds” that were our transport!

We went on Peter Pan afterwards, skipping Dumbo because the queue was crazy. It was like I remembered, riding in the ships high above a small version of London, traveling to Neverland, seeing the mermaids, Red Indians and Lost Boys! Of course the best part was the fight between Peter and Hook, and the arrival of the crocodile!

Next was Alice’s tea cups, another favourite! The queue was long, but because there were lots of cups it went quite quickly. Misha had never been on them before, so we had fun seeing how fast we could spin them (very fast, giving ourselves head rushes!!)

Before we made ourselves dizzy!

It’s a small world was one of my favourites as a child (riding it so many times I drove my parents wild) and I really couldn’t wait to go on it. The one in Paris is much smaller and less detailed. Tokyo’s version was as grand as I remembered, with different rooms holding different continents of singing and dancing puppets. Of course Scotland was featured with bagpipes and lots of tartan! It wasn’t all in English, which was nice- there was some Spanish, Japanese and other languages I couldn’t pick up! The Japanese section was especially detailed, with nods to Kyoto and Mt Fuji. The dolls was wearing incredibly detailed kimono, and two puppets bowed as you exited into the next room!

The crazy, imaginative exterior of Small World

Then it was nearly time for the afternoon parade. Like for all events, people in Japan are always well prepared and patient. Although it didn’t begin until 3pm, we had seen families sitting on their mats as early as 1.30! We though we were okay sitting by some rocks, but were told we had to be behind a certain line. Unlike America, (although it was ten years ago, so things may have changed) there was a lot of order control of the crowds. Although we were allowed to sit to eat, we were approached by 3 different part people telling us we couldn’t watch the parade from where we sat.

Finally we moved to try and find a spot, but everywhere was fully packed. The annoying thing was how some people had spread their belongings over benches or spaces on the ground, taking up valuable space. Everywhere we tried to stand (well out the way of the parade’s route) we were moved on. Finally we found a spot in the crowd, a good while away from the actual parade. As everyone was required to sit, we could still see. It was a bit less energetic from what I could remember as a child, when everyone stood, danced and sung along, kids on their parents shoulders. We even saw one little girl being told by a park attendant she couldn’t kneel up. But it was still nice to see the parade.

Everyone sitting patiently

It lasted half an hour, and there were lots of great floats with the usual suspects! It was nice to see the newer Princess Rapunzel as well.

One of the best floats with Jasmine and Aladdin!

The other downside was for the whole half an hour show, the same song was played on a loop. It was in English and was clearly new for the Anniversary year, but it got old pretty fast!

After the parade, we headed to Cinderella’s castle. There was quite a bit of a queue to get in, and we were surprised to see an elevator. On the top floor, there was a museum type set up of different Cinderella art- moving models and origami.

The rooms were beautiful with fancy curtains and chandeliers. In the last room, there was a throne and a fake glass slipper for photo ops!

This was a nice idea that I haven’t seen at other Disney castles!

Downstairs we headed into the glass shop, which has beautiful statues and jewellery- all completely out of our price range, but lovely to look at!

Time was ticking on, so we headed into Tomorrowland, where most of the rides had an hour or more queues. The Captain EO one wasn’t too bad, so we decided to go for that. I remember seeing the outside of the ride, but I didn’t go on it, too young to know much about MJ at the time.

I’m glad we waited though. I didn’t know that the movie was the first 3D of it’s kind, invented by Disney. Although it’s 30 years old now, the movie was really entertaining. It was great (and a little sad) to see MJ at his peak, and remember how talented and confident he was.

The weather had been humid all day, clouding over and keeping the heat in, but after Captain EO there was a noticeable drop in the temperature and a bit of wind. We went to get some food, which was, as to be expected, a rip off. However I didn’t feel too bad, because I’d brought lots of food and drink into the park, so this was the first time I was spending money on food. I got a (small) Mickey shaped pizza, small fries and a hot choc for 800 Yen (about £5.30). It was enough to keep us going though. We headed to the World Bazaar, which was packed of people and tempting goodies. I was fast running out of money so didn’t go as mad as I could have, which was just as well. I got some cookies in a nice tin for my boss, and a Stitch plushie keyring. They had beautiful Barbie dolls of the Disney Princesses which I knew my ten year old self would have went mad for!

It was starting to get dark at this point. Although we really wanted to stay for the night time illuminations, we were starting to get really tired and sore from all the walking and standing in queues. Plus I had to head for my trains.

The castle lit up at night!

Although we were shattered, it had been a smashing day and I was so glad to have the opportunity to go to Disneyland again! It was great to remember the memories of my childhood, and make many new ones ^^