JordanPachal.ca ...Just Me, Myself and I...

Day 5 - July 25...Disneyland Day!!  After the long day and late night the previous day, getting up early was a bit of a challenge, but we were going to Disneyland so I persevered.  We left the hotel room around 9:00am and on our way to Shinagawa station, we stopped for breakfast.  Michael wanted breakfast from the noodle-house again and Jaime and myself opted for McGriddles and hash browns from McDonalds.  While eating breakfast I realized that I had forgotten the memory card for my camera so I shoved the last of my breakfast in my mouth and ran back up the hill to the hotel room to retrieve it.

We arrived at Disneyland shortly after 10:00am and made our way to the entrance gate.  We were going to start off the day at the Disney Sea Park and then make our way to Disneyland around 3:00pm and take advantage of the Starlight Pass, a reduced fare for entering the park after certain hours.

The initial entrance to Disney Sea contains a large, probably about 10 meter tall spinning globe of the earth with water cascading down it to simulate the ocean waters.  It was quite a sight.  Once you enter the park, the theme is very Mediterranean with pastel coloured stucco buildings surrounding a small lake.  Minutes after we entered the main entrance of the park, the speakers started blaring music and chipmunk voices.  If you thought Chip and Dale sounded annoying in English, wait until you hear them in Japanese.  After the initial audio introduction from the Chipmunks a boat entered the small lake and went around the perimeter spraying all of the onlookers with water.  I quickly hid my camera to avoid any water damage and felt the cool dampness at the hose washed over us.

We continued around the perimeter to the other themed lands and next found ourselves surrounded by mountains with what appeared to be mining gear embedded in the mountains.  We started by getting our first "Fast-Pass" for the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride and continued around the park.  We stopped at a snack stand and purchased "Apple Tea Soda" for ourselves and Michael purchased a sausage bun for himself as well.  All were good, however the Apple Tea Soda is still one of the best beverages we have had so far in Japan.  The next area we found ourselves in was modelled after Agrabah from Alladin complete with clay buildings, carpet roofs and a large open square where the late-night bonfire show is held.

Continuing along the path we came across an Aztec themed section which included a roller-coaster ride called Raging Spirits and the Indiana Jones ride.  The wait for Raging Spirits was only about 30 minutes, so we entered the ride.  The ride was good, complete with a 360-degree loop.  By this time, the sun was also beating down hard on us, and Michael and I were starting to develop sunburns, so we stopped off at a kiosk to pick up some sunscreen and put it on.  We made our way back towards 20,000 Leagues and picked up a Fast Pass for Journey to the Center of the Earth to return to later.  We rode 20,000 Leagues, which has some pretty cool scenery, however it was a bit slow and boring.

We decided at this time that some lunch was in order, so we did a bit of wandering around to find a place to eat.  We ended up making our way back to Agrabah and had a curry lunch in the food court there.  Michael had a beef curry and Jaime and I had Curry Samplers which consisted of beef, chicken and shrimp curry, rice, and naan bread.  We completed our meals with more Apple Tea Soda and I had a Mango, Peach Strawberry Jello-type dessert and Jaime had a piece of mango cheesecake.

We made our way back to the Journey to the Center of the Earth ride and got into the FastPass lane.  At the time we arrived it was sticking out of the entrance longer than the regular line, but we figured it would still move much faster anyway.  Thankfully it did, and we were on the ride in about 20 minutes.  The beginning of the ride had a very similar feel to 20,00 leagues as we passed by the imaginings of large open caverns and luminescent insects but near the end the tempo changed dramatically and we were passing by a 5-meter tall animatronic insect which was spouting fire and our cart increased speed at a dramatic pace and we were shooting out of the top of the mountain which minutes ago we were looking at the outside of from below.

We capped off our time at Disney Sea with ice cream, Jaime had an iced apple bar, Michael had an iced orange bar and I had frozen chocolate covered banana pieces.  All were very good.

Next up was Disneyland.  We had heard that Tokyo Disneyland was almost an exact replica of the Disneyland in California, however as Disneyland is one of our favourite places to visit we had to ensure we got some time in at this version of the park as well.  When we entered the park, we stopped by the information booth so that we could enquire about the Electric Parade which we wanted to see for sure, but as we also wanted to make it back to the Bonfire Dance in Disney Sea, we wanted to know the path so that we could exit the park as soon as possible after the Parade was through our area.

Upon entering the park you are greeted with a similar Main Street as in California, however this version is covered from the sun which is a welcome addition.  You then enter out into a large courtyard similar to the circle street in California, however is is quite a bit bigger, as is Cinderellla's Castle.

Our first stop was Space Mountain as that was one of two rides we were intent on riding in Tokyo Disneyland.  The entranceway into the ride is very similar to the California version, although as it was constructed so many years later the polish on the setting seems much more refined and futuristic.  The ride itself was incredible and you achieve speeds and turns far exceeding that of the California version.  It was too bad our mother wasn't there to compare for herself, but she will just have to take our word for it that she missed out.

We did a bit more wandering around, and by this time it was getting a bit later so we decided that it was time for some dinner.  We ended up making our way to the Queen of Hearts restaurant which was incredible.  As you enter the restaurant you are greeted by a flanking of statues of card soldiers.  Further into the restaurant, rows of card soldiers direct the way into the food line.  The restaurant was complete with a delicious variety of heart-shaped hamburger patties, salads, soups and other delicacies.  We ended up having grilled swordfish and caesar salads.  The namesake and image for this blog post is the Happy UnBirthday cake which we also got to share for ourselves.  I topped off my meal with more Apple Tea Soda.  The caesar salad was delicious, complete with large shavings of fresh parmesan cheese and slices of crispy fresh-cooked bacon.  The swordfish was flaky and moist.  The Happy UnBirthday cake capped off the meal however and it was very light consisting of vanilla cake, whipped cream icing, and fruit and marshmallows on the top.  All-in-all one of the best meals we have had so far in Japan.

We left the restaurant and made our way to the only other ride we wanted to ensure we rode, Big Thunder Mountain.  The wait time displayed on the ride showed 40 minutes.  As we were also intent on catching the Electric Parade, we checked our watches to make sure that was enough time to get to the parade.  As efficient as Disneyland is, combined with the efficiency of the Japanese, we were through the line and the ride within about 20 minutes.  Similar to Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain also was far superior to it's Californian cousin.

We made our way to the starting point of the Electric Parade which meant passing through a crowd of thousand who were watching the Starlight Dreams show which was just starting at Cinderella's Castle.  We sat down in the area of of the Electrical Parade route and awaited the parade start at 8:05pm.  At 8:15pm we started wondering what was going on, as we had not seen, nor heard anything about the parade yet.  At about 8:20pm, the speakers started playing the Electrical Parade theme music, which has thankfully remained unchanged since the parade inception (minus the introduction as the Tokyo Disney Electrical Parade).  It was at this time that we realized the instructions we received from the information booth when we arrived in Disneyland were reversed and we were at the end of the parade, not the beginning.  We had already reserved ourselves to the fact we were not going to be seeing the Bonfire Dance so we just enjoyed the parade.

After the parade, we made our way back to Space Mountain for another ride, as we were already stationed in Tomorrow Land for the parade.  The ride was just as good the second time.  At this time, Michael wanted to go on the Buzz Lightyear ride, so Jaime and I departed from him to go see if we could find any Tinkerbell merchandise since we didn't have any luck doing earlier in the day.  On our journey to Main Street, Jaime and I passed by Star Tours and saw nobody in line for it, so we decided to go on the ride, as Michael had about a half hour wait displayed for his line.  We walked through the whole line queue with nobody in sight and when we arrived at the end of the line, there was only one other person waiting there for the ride.  Two other people came up shortly after us, so we had a total of five people on the ride when they started it up.

We made our way to Main Street and Jaime was able to find a handkerchief with Tinkerbell on it, however that was about all.  One other option was a Pocket Watch, however Jaime was unsure of a use for it, so she didn't get it.  We met back up with Michael and made our way back to our hotel.

- Jordan