Tokyo Disneyland Part 1

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Finally the day we have all been waiting for, did we make it to Disney or didn’t we? Of course we did. Nothing will stand in the way between me and visiting a Disney park. I would have to be actually dead for me not to go to a park when it is so close, esp. with the prospect of being able to visit all the Disney parks in the world. That is something that appeals to me greatly. I had found out that today was actually a national holiday so that the parks would be busier, this warranted an earlier start. As all veteran Disney goes know, that on public holidays and during peak attendance periods, one must always be up and at the park a good 30 mins before it opens to be in with any sort of chance to get on some of the bigger rides before the crowds descend. I had also been forewarned that Tokyo Disney will always be busy. Yeah, just how busy can it be during February when all the kids are in school? Oh dear what a shock I was in for.

We had a light breakfast in the bedroom before we left to save some time. It was about a 20 min taxi ride to get there. We were so excited. The kids really needed this. We had been doing so much and seeing so much that they needed a break from all the culture. They needed a chance to run around, skip and just have some fun without being told to listen to what is going on and to look at all these impressive sites. As I am writing this I am currently in Egypt and the other day after a trip to the Pyramids (what a treat you will be in for if I ever get there) I asked HB what she thought of them and her response - They are a little scary because they are so big! We forget as adults that big buildings, while impressive, can be a little intimidating for smaller children. So I was very glad to be giving them a break from seeing too much. Plus I needed the break, I was getting a little cultured out, and there is nothing better, in my view, than a little Disney fun to recharge those batteries.

Once at the front of Tokyo Disney we had to get tickets to get in then get in the longest queue I have ever seen to get into the park. It was massive. So much for getting there early. By the time we had our tickets and lined back up we only had 10 minutes before opening. Three things struck me as we were in the line:
* How cold it was. It was frigid, really cold, and of course I had forgotten my lovely great big ski gloves. Fan-tabi-docious. All I can say is COLD HANDS!
* That we were the only white/western people in the WHOLE of the park. That is no exaggeration. We were. We only ran into one Black person. The rest were all Japanese. We had a lot of looks during the day.
* Finally just how dumb people can be. F came out with the best quote I think I have ever heard in my life. I think it beats mine from my Concert band tour when playing I Spy at Dover waiting in a coach to get on the ferry to France. When someone had chosen F as their letter, the answer was Fog (which I actually got) then turned round and said I can’t see any fog. That may not seem funny. But we were delayed at Dover because the Fog was so thick you couldn’t see anything but Fog. I actually won a prize for the dumbest quote on tour for that one. This beats that. While waiting F turns round to me and tells be to keep my eyes peeled for a boy of his height with black hair. Again that may not seem stupid. But we were in Japan. Everyone there is his/my height and everybody has black hair. I laughed all day over that one.

Finally we got into the park. It took 10 mins to get in from where we were in the queue. They had lots of characters out in the front part. Ah, this is going to be like the Disneyland Paris system - the no queuing, let’s all mob the characters at once. That’s a great system. I am so glad that they have that hear. Instead of going of going for the big characters we went for the unknown ones that you don’t general get in the Disneys in America. We went for two out of the three Caballeros. Having wasted precious time with them we headed over to Space Mountain. We did the obligatory skip down a completely covered Main Street, or World Bazaar as it is known here! That was weird. I am not sure I liked that. We past Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters on the way which had a 50 minute! OMG 50 minute wait after being open after 15 mins. Wow, I wasn’t expecting that. I guess when they say that this park doesn’t have an off peak season just a busy and a busier season they weren’t kidding. Space Mountain was a little further in so I think people got way laid by Buzz and hadn’t all reached here yet. The wait was only 20 mins. HB wasn’t sure that she wanted to ride it, so we did the child swap. That worked really well. F went on first and waited 20-30 mins then when he arrived back I went to the CMs (that’s Cast Members for you non Disney folks - all Disney rides get abbreviated to the first letters of the name so Space Mountain is SM, Buzz becomes BLAB or just Buzz, see if you can work out IASW) and they took me through the entire ride so I could skip the line. I thought that this version of SM was probably the best out of all of them. It was very zippy. It is very similar to the one in Florida but quicker. Suddenly thinking ‘what would happen if there was an earthquake while on this ride?’ just adds to the excitement. When I came off both L and I decided that this would be a great one to do again, it definitely needed a fastpass (fp). This wait time was now up to 60 mins. We got a fp for HB also, as F could use it. As we only had an hour before our fp time came around we went for the BLAB. If you remember from the visit to Disney in Hong Kong HB totally freaked out when she saw the moving Buzz on the inside of the ride. Well we had a 70 min wait for this ride (! I know!) with the majority of it outside in the cold. Wonderbar. This gave me the chance to talk HB round. It basically went along the lines of - you’ll ride this whether you like it or not and I don’t want any fuss! Only joking, I am not that cruel. I would never make a child ride something if I thought it would be too scary for them or if they refused to go on it. HB freaked the first time because she wasn’t expecting a statue to come to life. So what I actually said was that it was all pretend, just a bit of fun. Remember Mickey Mouse would never do anything to harm you. I also told her if she didn’t like the noise or what she saw just to tell me and I would carry her so she could shut her eyes. She did such a great job, she took it all in her stride and actually got a pretty decent score. We asked her if she liked it and she replied yes I liked shooting things.

As we were on a roll with her, and because our fp time for SM had opened up we asked if she would like to ride it. She answered yes! Wow, that was a turnaround for the books. I told her it was okay to scream. The only time she screamed on the ride is when we were climbing up the hill, lol, she didn’t scream at all when it started going fast. Too say I was a little nervous about her freaking out on the ride would be putting it lightly. I needn’t have worried. She loved it, she is actually a little roller coaster junkie. She is still talking about it. I so wished that they did ride photos that would have been a great one to get.

By now it was time to do some rides that HB would like, so off to Fantasyland for her. With a little detour to the Grand Circuit Raceway. This is basically a chance for children to drive race cars round a track on a track. The catch 22 you have to be a certain height before you can drive it, and all of those that this ride really appeals to are those too short to drive the cars. That didn’t stop us. HB took the wheel in our car, although I did the peddles. She had such a serious face on as she was driving - totally priceless.

We really did go to Fantasyland after this going straight to IASW. Have you guessed what it is yet? Maybe I shouldn’t tell you the name or you will all be singing the song for days. Okay, don’t say I didn’t warn you. IASW is It’s A Small World. Lets sing it It’s a world of laughter, it’s a world of tears, it’s a world of hope, it’s a world of fears. There’s so much that we share that it ‘s time we’re aware It’s a Small World After all. It’s a Small World After all; It’s a Small World After all. It’s a small small world! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Now you will all be singing it for a week. There is not much to say about the ride. It’s the happiest boat ride in the world: D

I think F got his own back at me because I had to ride the tea-cups. I tried to get them to ride it without me, but they need to have someone over 16 with under 7s. We meant I had to ride it. BOOOOOOOO! I hate this ride. I hate any ride that spins. It makes me so dizzy. I don’t do well on things that spin or swing. I get motion sick from playground swings. I get dizzy doing more than one pirouette in ballet - which is why I can only really do one anyway. So putting me on tea-cups and putting an almost teenager in charge of spinning it is never EVER a good idea. He span it as fast as he possibly could. It took all my might not to fall onto my arse when I got off. I felt rather green after that. So which lovely ride did I go on next? That is right, the carrousel. Another ride that turns. I can cope with this because it is slow and it makes large circles. It is in fact my favourite ride, not today though. It made me feel so much sicker.

Here marks the end for the moment - more will be coming soon 😊

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Photos

Getting closer
Its the sign! AHHHHH

World Bazaar
This would have been Main St USA - but it is covered.

Cinderella's Castle
Isn't it pretty

Being brave
Outside her first roller coaster!

Waiting around
Waiting for F at the child swap area of SM

Just before going on.
I'll let you decide whether she is happy about it or not.

Not a sure HB
This is before we went on Buzz.

A Happy HB
Pointing at her score range. She got to level 2! Bless.

A very serious driver
look at that concentration.

Having fun
as always

Except Cwocks
He wanted to eat the dolls.

Japan
Well we had to get a photo of Japan

Perla or Suzy
not sure which

Oh so innocent
or not!

The back view
it is pretty even from the back.

Comments

[Elaine]

"Nothing will stand in the way between me and visiting a Disney park." Not even the french transport system!!! Where's the fog?

[Anita85]

lol you better bloody believe it. I would swim to America if I couldnt get a plane there!