Tokyo: Tokyo Disneyland
Nothing says save the best for the last like Tokyo Disneyland at the very end of our itinerary. What a great idea it was! That is a fact until we realized a lesson we learned from our Universal Studios experience: Asian theme park queues are always long! But this is Disneyland we were talking about, and beside it is like, Disney Sea, so what's the fuss? Well either way I was still stoked, because this is the third Disneyland I visited! (Previous two were in Hong Kong and Anaheim.)
A One of A Kind Transit
I think it's a given that all Disney theme parks have their own train lines, but Tokyo's station is my top favorite. The branding just blended Disney and Japan together so well.
Entrance
Dunno if it's because of my memory, but I think Tokyo Disneyland's entrance is way more complex than the previous two I went to. There were a lot of arches and gates that we passed through before we got to the actual entrance. What was interesting though, is that even before you enter the actual park, there were several characters waiting outside to greet you. My niece got a picture with Jiminy Cricket!
The entrance also contains most of the souvenir shops as well. Their pastel aesthetic is so Instagram worthy!
Also I was very grateful for the blue-sky, clear weather that day because The Creation of Mickey, 1928, in chocolate / bronze / iron / whatever, looked amazing. Plus that day it was only 1ºC. For someone who's lived in tropics all her life, this was euphoria!
Tomorrowland
Our first ride (and honestly, the only decent one) was Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. It's a bumpy, exciting 4D tour of the Star Wars universe with C-3PO as your tour guide. An adventurous tour, the fussy 3PO, and at high speed, I think this is one of the most fun rides you can ever go into any Disney park, ever. Again, the queue was made more interesting with the displays such as droids and C3PO "entertaining" us while we waited.
Right after the ride, we walked along the Meiji-sponsored Soft Landing ice cream stand. I'm the type to torture myself by eating cold food in cold weather so I still decided to get myself some soft serve milk ice cream.
It looks so damn good near my dried-ass hand.
My niece and I headed to the Stitch Encounter show. It was in Japanese, so we couldn't understand everything it said. (Save for a few words here and there...) Luckily for us, others were chosen to participate in the interaction. Imagine two Filipinos in this scenario. Yeesh.
And just when you think the ride queues are long, the line to the cashiers in the diners are also long! It took my cousin and his wife around 30+ minutes just to get us all our food. Finding tables inside was hard as well. My niece and I waited at an outdoor table which wasn't such a good idea because the Urayasu winds got stronger. We're not used to this kind of weather. :')
Mid-Day Parade
Not a day goes by in Disneyland without the parade! But first, let me take a selfie because Chiba's selfie lighting from here is killer.
What separated Tokyo Disneyland's parades from the others is that you're required to sit on the floor. The cast members are pretty tight on this, probably to let others have the same level of view when enjoying the parade. Seems only fair though! But we noticed everyone else had mats and we didn't. We ended up using our own maps as mats and they got so torn up. Next time though, we'll make sure to bring mats!
What I also found interesting in Tokyo Disneyland's parade is how the cast members allowed a group of passersby to walk through. Come to think of it, the long wait and watch spent on watching the parade is better off with rides and such. Another lesson learned again this time.
The Castle
Another regret of mine: not actually entering the castle! We can actually walk inside the Cinderella Castle after waiting for about an hour. Regardless of my regrets, I still got to take a photo with it and there was an entire plaza just so guests could take a photo with it.
I Almost Rode The Haunted Mansion But Damn I Was Too Lazy To Wait
A little anecdote from me: I was supposed to ride the Haunted Mansion. I wanted to see what the Japanese version of it was like. I didn't initially care about the waiting time, TBH. But my mistake was not informing my companions about it and just walking inside. So all this time I stupidly waited for one hour only to get out of the line and go back with my companions. Yes, I was that anxious. But still, Halloween on Christmas was a pretty sight to see. Blink 182 approves.
We saved our souvenir shopping before we left, and even the shops are filled with so much people. At that point I have no idea why I was expecting lesser people. Obviously I must have forgotten that 1) it's Disneyland, 2) we were in Tokyo, 3) it's almost the end of 2016 then.
We ended the day with some souvenir shopping and take-out dinner. If there's something this Disneyland left me with, it's that maybe I'm a bit jaded with Disneyland now that I'm older. Or maybe it's the exhausting queue wait for the rides? But I'm still in love with the magic of Disney, maybe I was just pretty impatient and tired back then. I'm gonna make sure to enjoy my next visit with all the lessons I've learned here, though. Especially now that my next dream is Tokyo Disney Sea!
And this blog concludes all of my Tokyo-related entries. Yes, my Japan 2016 adventures end here. This is where I say the following: ども ありがとう, 日本. I had a great time.
