On Thursday we went back to Tokyo Disney Land to hit Westernland, Adventureland, and Critter Country. The parks were beautifully decorated for spring with amazing flower displays everywhere.
While we were waiting for the rope-drop we met some characters. The characters in Tokyo are EVERYWHERE! You also see a ton of characters from the classic Disney Movies. They are so animated and fun to interact with! We saw Bernard and Bianca from The Rescuers, the Aristocats, characters from Pinocchio, and many more. The Sheriff of Nottingham even wanted a hand-out!
We said "No" so he tried to take Teddy instead!
The Central Hub and the Partners Statue. Always gets me choked up....
Mickey was there and Sasha got a special smooch from the Main Mouse! We really stood out against all the Japanese in the parks (obviously) and we got lots of special attention from characters and cast members because of it. I even noticed it during the parades. The kids seemed to get singled out for special waves and greetings because they stuck out like sore thumbs. Hey, sometimes it's good to be different!
On to business! The rope drop was much tamer today as the crowds were smaller and we were going for Splash Mountain and not Pooh. This means no one was nearly trampled to death like on Tuesday. I tell you, you're taking your life in your hands sprinting for Pooh fastpasses in TDL! We headed to Splash, got our FP's and then rode it. Then headed to our family fav: Big Thunder Mountain. Teddy and Sasha will ride Splash and BTM as many times as they can get through the line!
Both rides were very nice versions of the ones in WDW. Our favorite ride song ever is the "pretty good sure as you're born..." song on Splash. That song was in Japanese! Then the song "Laughing Place" was in English, then at the end of the ride "Zipadee do da" was in Japanese again. Go figure! I made this video in the ride:
Tokyo Splash Mountain:
There is a great little restaurant at the base of Splash called "Grandma Sara's Kitchen" We ate an early lunch there. The food was great and so was the theming. You can just see the restaurant from this part of the ride where you go through that ol' Briar Patch:
We read in one online guide that we would not get wet on the Tokyo version of Splash as the Japanese dress up to go to the parks and do not enjoy getting wet. Yeah. That's a total lie....
After that we headed to BTM again. The boys were all smiles!
We took a raft ride over to Tom Sawyers Island. My kids love this area here and in WDW. Just getting to explore with no structure is a treat when your Mom is a Disney commando. There were NO RIFLES in the rifle roost however. That's bunk dude. Teddy was pissed.
Took this great shot of the castle framed in the entrance of the Fort.
Jeff always loves the Steamboat (someday we'll actually ride it!) and the one in Tokyo was gorgeous.
I'll admit it. Within hours of park arrival back on Monday I was a popcorn junkie and TDR was my dealer. The popcorn thing is just fantastic. Freakin' AWESOME. There are flavored popcorn carts all over both parks in any flavor you would ever want in a popcorn. Buckets are 14,000 yen (about 15$) and a re-fill is 500 yen ($5.50ish). There is a 500 yen coin that we started to refer to as a "Popcorn coin" as in "SWEET I got another popcorn coin! Save it for tomorrow.." They all bring their buckets back again and again. We saw "Christmas 2005" buckets and even as far back as "Tokyo Disney Sea Grand Opening" buckets. I am halfway convinced that the commercial success of TDR is mainly to do with popcorn. I mean what's the mark-up on that stuff, like 500%? I can't believe US Disney hasn't jumped on THAT bandwagon! Flavors include honey, caramel, soy sauce and butter, black pepper, strawberry, soda, sea salt, curry, and milk tea. Waiting in line is sooo much easier with a yummy bucket of popcorn especially for kids. I could eat 15 buckets of honey popcorn per day if I let myself! By Thursday, we had all purchased the bucket we liked best and I had tried every flavor except soy sauce and soda. Guess I have to go back now.....
" That's a popcorn coin - save it, save it!!"
We munched popcorn and did the Jungle Cruise, Swiss Family Treehouse, and the Western River Railroad. Looked in some stores and just walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere of the park before heading back to the hotel for an early afternoon nap. We got to watch the "Mythica" show again from the window while the kids were napping.
Clips from "Mythica"
After naps we got dressed up because we had a reservation to eat in the super fancy dining room onboard the S.S. Columbia. Now TDL is an awesome park, but apart from Pooh, most of the things in the park can be experienced stateside (except the popcorn dagnabbit!) so we decided to park-hop and spend a third evening in Tokyo Disney Sea since that park and many of the attractions in it are unique to Tokyo. Sasha and Teddy in New York!
There was a character meet and greet with the Disney Fairies in the Lost River Delta so we headed over there. The fairy characters were amazing. There was even a fairy-dude, which made Jeff seriously question his career path. There were no lines and we got to meet them all. Sasha has all these dolls and loves them so she was thrilled. They were all from The US or the UK and were very excited to talk to us about life in pixie-hollow.
Tinkerbell! Teddy was actually speechless. Last year he collected nothing but Tinkerbell pins and has a bit of a crush on Tink, but being a guy he had to play it cool and give her the cold shoulder. Sasha had no such issues of course....
The last 2 fairies. Sasha knows their names. I have no idea.
On the way back to the American Harbor we ran into a fiesta-garbed Donald. He and Teddy got into a hilarious interaction with Teddy's hood. Ted loved it.
Dinner on the ship was fantastic. The food was amazing and it was like eating on the Titanic. When we arrived a line of waitstaff with menu's and drapes over their arms were there to meet us. Very old-school! The kids meals were also met with unanimous approval:
Jeff and the kids on the main stairway inside the ship. Notice that NOTHING separates Ted from his popcorn bucket.
And do Disney Ducks like popcorn? That's affirmative.
This is my favorite picture from the whole vacation. That's one happy kid. The flavor? "Milk Tea". Does it matter? Not at all. He will wait in any line as long as that bucket is full. First thing he wanted to do every day. "Let's get some popcorn." "Yeah Ted, we will but we have to get Fastpasses for Pooh first and then ride Dumbo so we don't have to wait for hours later.." "No, first we HAVE to get popcorn!". They need this in Epcot so I can fill his bucket and then make my way through World Showcase without him moaning and being bored.
We let the kids decide what they wanted to do again at TDS and they took us on a Clockwise tour of the park. We did the Tower of Terror again, and then a night time ride of Aquatopia which was beautiful at night with all the lights on the water.
Then Teddy and I rode the Sinbad ride again while Jeff and Sasha did Raging spirits twice more.
Then it was off to Mermaid Lagoon. I got much better pictures this time as I figured out to put my camera in night mode for all the pictures inside. We rode Scuttles Scooters and the Flying Fish Coaster.
Then headed into King Triton's Kingdom through a bunch of spiral sea-shells:
King Triton guards over the entrance of course:
Mermaid Lagoon: One of the most brilliantly themed lands in any Disney Park. Pure Genius, Pure Magic!
You really feel like you are under the sea!
Exploring in Ariel's playground. Again!
The kids could stay in this area for hours and to be honest, so could I! If I lived in Tokyo and had an annual pass, I think I would just come here and hang out on my days off:
Blowfish Balloon Race. One of the 3 rides inside this area. There is also an amazing show called the Mermaid Lagoon Theatre. The whole show takes place above you with the actors all on wires so its seems like you are looking up through the water at the action above you. Pretty Amazing!
Our fav spot in Mermaid Lagoon. So much to see and try and interact with!
Waaaaah! We don't want to leave!!
But we had to. We went around to the Mysterious Island and took another ride on 20,000 leagues under the sea.
This was Jeff and Teddy's favorite ride at TDS. The boys found out on the second day that there was a joystick at the bottom of your window and you could control a spotlight outside the ship with it and shine it all around. Makes it really fun!
The kids and I as our submarine begins to "submerge". Wonder how many foreign visitors never find out about the joystick. I thought it was just part of the scenery. The things you learn when you travel with a 3 year old that grabs everything.....
We had another amazing day and made great use of every second. We were all so sad to leave. Hind sight being 20/20 we should have skipped Kyoto and just stayed at Disney!
No comments:
Post a Comment