06/10/2006: Tokyo Disneyland for my Birthday

     Today we woke up at 6AM to make sure we'd be early in line to get in at the opening of Tokyo Disneyland. At 7 we nudged ourselves on to the Metro and rode to Tokyo Station where we swapped over to the JR line and rode to Maihama Station (Disney's personal station with special train music and everything). We couldn't believe how many people on that train with us had the same early-bird idea we did, mostly because back in the US people at Disney never seemed to be as eager to get up early just to get to the park on time. The train was already packed with families, couples, and others donning shorts, shirts, bags, and keychains that spelled out Disney or had Disney characters designed on them. We would soon learn that Disney is very popular in Japan (perhaps in some ways more popular than in parts of the United States.) Disneyland is a fun vacation spot no matter how you look at it, really.

     An Australian we met at a cafe that day told us that the Japanese people "love to qeue" meaning they love to wait in line and they actually enjoy the anticipation of it rather than getting irritable and bored like the Americans in Disney back home. As the day went on we noticed people were talking in line and enjoying themselves as though the wait didn't even matter. This was incredible to me because the hot sun, massive crowds, lack of personal space, and of course the hour long waits for all the rides was actually wearing on me pretty quickly. I'm a pretty patient person, but this was a lot more crowded then I was used to in the Disney in the States. The only speedpass we managed to score was for space mountain at 7:45 PM (we got some of the last speed passes at 10AM).

     The first ride we did manage to get on was Pirates of the Caribbean, which was a carbon-copy of the ride in America minus the language was Japanese. The two most iconic parts of the ride were left in English - "Yo ho, Yo ho a Pirate's life for me!" and "Dead men tell no tales!" Everybody at this part of the ride giggled (just like people do back home) right before plummeting down the slope and splashing into the ride.
     Some rides (most actually) had no English except for the "keep your hands in the ride" warning. Disneyland was cool but it was pretty much the same as it is in the States. I will say that the "Tiki Tiki Room" was rather entertaining because we got to hear the little birdies sing "Fever" and "Feeing Hot, Hot, Hot" in Japanese. I am a little embarrassed to say we got stared at for laughing at probably inappropriate points during the day.

     The highlights of my day made me pretty happy I had bought my ticket even though the park was so crowded. First, I got to have a delicious rotisserie chicken, roasted vegetable, and Cesar salad dinner at the Queen of Hearts Buffet - appropriately named and themed after Alice in Wonderland with tables looking like giant playing cards and the lamps above them looking like enormous pink flowers. I even got a Happy Unbirthday cake that was vanilla with tasty frosting, fruit, and marshmallows on it. I like Japanese cakes a lot because the frosting isn't as overly-sweet as it is back home. Here I feel like there is more of a balance between sugar and taste.

     The second major highlight of my day was riding Space Mountain, because it has always been my favorite Disney ride. The whole coaster whips around turns and all the rigging around us was lit up with strobe lights which made everything look fantastic during the ride. Kristina and I took turns laughing and screaming because it was so much fun. I could ride that coaster over and over if I had the chance.

     The only negative experience of our day was trying to shop at a gift shop before we left. It was like trying to walk the wrong direction into a crowd of people fleeing a burning building. By the time we got to the stores around 8 PM, almost all the shelves were half emptied, and people looked really tired from a long day. It was all just a little too intense for me. A woman in front of me was not so polite, however, and had the nerve to curse at a poor older store clerk for being too slow. Had I known more Japanese I probably would have defended him, but it had been a really long day. After that we crawled back to the train and made our way home half-asleep in our seats. My feet were much more sore than they've been in a long, long time. It was such a relief to get a full night's sleep after all that!

Signing out,
 Lady Lara Jones




















Yarghhh, I would have gotten this hat if it wasn't so expensive.















The gateway to the Tokyo Disney Resort and to Tokyo Disneyland further down the way.
















This crowd was waiting for one of the seven parades held throughout the day. They have more parades in this Disney than any other in the world. The amount was double what they have in a day at the Orlando Disneyland.















A very, merry Unbirthday to me!

















Wonderland!
















Gadget's Go Coaster. I miss the Rescue Rangers!
















After all that searching during the "Find Stitch" festival, we finally found him.
He was hiding with the seven dwarves and snow white.
I've got you now you little blue demon!