Tokyo Disneyland

When I initially priced out the Tokyo Disneyland trip, Google told me the USD to JYN conversion told me it'd be $1,000 per day.  Fortunately, a friend double checked for me and it was only $62, so Disney was quickly added to the itinerary.

Relatively close, we took the train to the park.  The Tokyo Disney resort has two parks: Disneyland (Magic Kingdom) and Disney Sea (like Epcot).

The key difference between the California/Florida parks and Tokyo were the guests, the food and the Monsters/Star Tours/Pooh rides (more description below).

The bag check was a relatively quick process where they glanced at the bag and let you pass.  Anaheim bag checkers go through with a stick and much greater scrutiny.

As you see, Disneyland Tokyo was celebrating 30 years of happiness. Their Main Street experience is protected by glass overhead, I suspect because it rains a lot - though we lucked out an just had a cold day without precipitation.

Pinocchio!!!

Balloon lady!!

Girls with Tigger and Mr. Potato Head hats!

You'll notice Walt, Mickey and the infamous castle behind...

As mentioned, the guests were a definite standout.  Most attendees dressed the exact same as their party:

Our first ride was Peter Pan (notice the 'real' snow on the ground…)

Four rabbit girls went on the Pinocchio ride...

 And came off the ride...

Grumpy was not happy to have his picture taken...

I love this cat from Pinocchio - I can't remember his name though!  (Google just told me its: Gideon and his friend, Honest John).

Honest John entertaining the carrousel kids...

A glimpse at Splash Mountain...

We didn't get wet - fortunately!

Someone was scared and hiding...

The best Disney food I've ever had!  Mickey and Minnie Mouse sticky buns!  The Mickey bun had to flavors of teriyaki chicken.

The Minnie buns had strawberry and milk flavored goop inside - super good!

A unique twist on the Tiki Room, the show revolves around Stitch.  Since I don't speak Japanese, I have no idea what the storyline was, but he was there, singing with the birds...

Chip and Dale waiting for the Tiki Room show to start...

The birds came to the show wearing Stitch ears...

There's the blue guy himself!

 And his cruiser waiting outside, complete with the Ugly Duckling book...

We caught an impromptu Mickey and friends dance show before going on the Pirates ride...

The Aristocats are a big deal at Disney Tokyo - we saw them in the parade, in the stores and on guest's heads...

Stitch is my favorite (if you couldn't already tell)...

Pooh is also a big deal at Tokyo Disney.  He has the best ride in the park and great merchandise!

Flipping the switch at Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin.  Every ride I went on made me laugh because it was so out of context to hear the characters talk in Japanese!

A few familiar icons...

Entering Tomorrowland for the first time...

The Claw…do you see two guests hiding in the back??

Captain EO was totally cool!

More dressing alike...

Great pic of the castle…

The longest ride we waited in was Monsters Inc (they ran out of Fast Passes earlier in the day).  It was different than the States because three carts rode through the scenes together.  Like Toy Story and Buzz Lightyear, the ride is interactive where you get a flash light to shine at targets and make stuff happen (like monsters jump out, heads spin, etc).

 Young driver's below...

Tea cups make me dizzy, so we didn't ride, but I did snap a cool evening picture - notice anything different with the shapes of the lanterns above??

At last, the long-awaited Pooh ride.  Like Monsters, three carts travel together at a quick pace throughout the ride.  Traveling through the blustery forest, you meet up to bounce with Tigger (three carts at once go up and down with Disney magic).

The crazy Dumbo elephant psychotic dream phase is still alive and well on the Pooh ride...

And it all ends with Pooh covered in honey, how cute!

I couldn't help myself from trying on the Tigger hat at the Pooh store...

 And his tail...

By Disney standards, our dinner was very affordable ($7) featuring soup and chicken nuggets..

We caught the Disney Electrical Parade and it didn't disappoint!

The castle at night was beautiful, so much so, we decided to go up!

Cinderella scenes were depicted upstairs as well as glass slipper you could try on and the princess' chair.

Nice view from the outside...

 I see a princess!

No Disney visit is complete until you try the popcorn (this was outrageously priced at $9!).

And an evening ride on Space Mountain...

All in all, I loved our Disney day!