This is the first time the girls have been to any Disneyland!
So thought I’d do a blog post on it for the memories, and also as a testimony of thanksgiving.
Grateful for the chance to bring the kids there, for the providential change in weather. If it were stormy and super crowded, we would have enjoyed our time there a lot less.
Beyond our wildest expectations, we managed to do 14 rides and indoor shows, plus 3 outdoor parades and then the fireworks display!
Here’s how we managed to do so.
(Won’t be going into all the prep on what to bring and the how-to details on the Fastpass since there are a number of great blog posts out there, especially this one by Life’s Tiny Miracles and this one by utter fanatics from the US who have visited it multiple times, both of which I referred to when planning our trip.)
We planned to go on Tuesday, after consulting this official crowd calendar. The day before, the predicted crowd was 50,000 strong, and for us it was only 28,000. I put it down to the fact that Disneyland opened one hour earlier that Monday.
Being gung-ho after using the metro system extensively over the preceding 3 days in Tokyo, we decided to take the metro to Maihama Station instead of taking a bus (which was double the price), mainly because we would be able to wake up 45 mins later.
On the walk from the Maihama train station to the entrance was the opulent Disney Ambassador Hotel. Really quite beautiful, isn’t it?
A couple of months before, the weather prediction for Tues was sunny, but in that week itself, it turned into “scattered thunderstorms expected in the afternoon”.
We were slightly dismayed, since we didn’t have wiggle room to change our dates given the rest of our itinerary, though our Disneyland ticket was an open one, and not tied to one specific day. So we thought we’d just make the most of it, and hide in the indoor shows when it stormed.
8:20am We made it to the Disneyland entrance with our pre-printed tickets, and were in a good position for entry by the time the gates opened promptly at 9am. If this is ‘relatively uncrowded’ according to their charts, you can imagine the madness when it is double or triple the crowd.
It’s cute how they had signs saying “Please walk” to discourage fans from running (some accidents previously, perhaps), so we walked briskly to our first stop. I didn’t see that many people running, and perhaps since it was not peak-crowded, the folks were more chill and there just to enjoy the atmosphere.
One of the main reasons why I think Tokyo Disneyland is special is that the Japanese visitors are so fun to watch! Most were decked out in special garb, and so many groups were in coordinated wear. I had specially ordered personalised tees for our family too. ✌🏻
I was surprised that there were many Japanese tourists who made a beeline for the shops after the entrance.
9:08am My original strategy was to go get Fastpasses for the family for one of the more popular rides first, but when I passed by Buzz Lightyear’s AstroBlasters and there was no queue, we changed our plan to walk right in! All of us had a great time shooting and gaining points (I was the top scorer amongst us whee!).
9:30am When we emerged, Star Tours had no queue, so in we went too! It was a bit like the Transformers ride, and we had a great time enjoying the special effects and the thrills. Thereafter, we walked to the nearby Monster’s Inc ride to get our first Fastpasses, but by then the return time was 2:20-3:20pm.
I learnt that Tokyo Disneyland is one of two in the world that have the Cinderella Castle, as opposed to the Sleeping Beauty Castle. Apparently, Japan chose it as it resonated more with their work ethic! And this castle is indeed beautiful from every angle. We took So Many photos of it, and most of the park-goers were there to do the same.
9:50am We walked to FantasyLand, and the girls wanted to go on the Carousel, so we queued about 15 minutes for it. Quite charming, but nothing out of the ordinary.
10:10am We went to queue for It’s a Small World, one of the most popular rides in Tokyo Disneyland due to its uber kawaii nature. The wait time said “35 mins” but it was an okay wait cos the queue kept moving, there was nice music and lots to see along the way. The girls and I truly enjoyed the ‘boat ride’ within with the very elaborate moving displays, every inch was a feast for the eyes.
11am We emerged, went to the restroom and realised the streets were lined! A sign that a parade was going to happen soon. We found a spot, and waited for about 10 minutes.
11:20am Tanabata Parade. This seasonal parade was really cute – apart from Mickey and Minnie in rickshaws, there was a marching band, Goofy, Donald Duck and Daisy Duck in a small float and four pairs of gorgeous princes and princesses waltzing their way down the parade route.
11:40am Whilst Papa and the kids went for Peter Pan’s Flight, I went to get our next fastpasses. I redeemed one for Big Thunder Mountain (since the rest were not into fast rollercoasters), and 3 for Pooh’s Hunny Hunt. I could hardly believe it that by this time, the return time for that was 8:20pm! For “It’s a Small World”, the fastpasses had been totally redeemed for the day!
12:20pm We went for Snow White’s Adventures cos it was very near and had only a 10 min queue. BUT, this was the ride we least enjoyed. In fact, a 4 year old kid burst into tears after she emerged from the dark scary ride of witches and dwarves in mines.
12:45pm We watched Mickey’s PhilharMagic 3D show, which was the best 3D show I’ve ever seen! We were tickled to bits, and stretched our hands out to ‘catch’ Donald Duck, and were surprised by sprinkles of water, making it a 4D show, really. It was about 20 minutes long, and we were able to walk in 5 minutes before it started (i.e. hardly queued!). The great thing about the theatres is that they are huge, so at least 300 people can watch each session.
1:20pm There were some characters doing ‘Meet-and-Greet’ nearby but my kids were not interested! *weep* We had another chance in the day when there was Mickey (!) and a princess, but by the time they agreed to queue up for the photo, the photo session was closed – here’s Mickey trying to run away. Haha.
1:25pm The kids enjoyed Peter Pan’s Flight enough to take it with me again, yay! It was a mild gondola flight with lovely whimsical, dreamy displays to admire as we zipped around.
1:55pm We emerged to throngs lining the streets! Parade alert! We managed to get a spot at a corner and watched the impressive parade from 2-2:20pm under the scorching sun. There were so many dancers and princesses atop floats who were beaming so widely and sincerely, exuding the joyful spirit of Disneyland. I must say all the crew (even those just operating the ride or show counters) really internalise their training well, waving and smiling beatifically to everyone, even to grumpy looking adults.
2:30pm Papa and the kids went to watch Country Bear Jamboree (which was from 2:40-3pm), whilst I went to enjoy the exhilarating roller-coaster that was Big Thunder Mountain! Fast pass is really amazing. I just trotted right in (whilst the standby queue had a 50 min wait in the hot sun).
The Fastpass system sounds complicated but I think it’s fantastic, because it is a very logical, fair and egalitarian method as compared to Universal Studio’s pricey elitist Express Pass.
At the ride, I was seated next to this excited Japanese girl and we all waved our arms in the air and whooooooooo-ed throughout the ride. FUN!
3:15pm We used our Fastpasses for Monster’s Inc Ride and Seek. It was pretty much like AstroBlasters, but we enjoyed the earlier ride a more. With many of the rides, I guess we would have enjoyed it more if we understood Japanese, since there were jokes being made by the characters that we totally didn’t get. Glad we could walk right in instead of queueing up for more than half an hour for this.
3:30-4pm We realised that K left her waterbottle and its carrier behind, so we went to check if someone had turned it in at the Lost & Found in the Guest Information Centre near the entrance. It wasn’t there but they took our details. We were quite tired and a bit grumpy then so we rested at the Guest Information Centre, which was air conditioned with nice sofas along one side.
Tip: You can get a complimentary pack of ‘Disney Story Cards’ (in English) which tell the back story to some selected rides, from the Guest Information Centre. A lovely souvenir!
4:10pm The girls changed into their Cinderella dresses (thank you Aunty Wendy!) and we went to take photos in front of the beautiful, beautiful Cinderella Castle. We took more family photos against the backdrop of the “Happiest 35th Celebration” decor too.
I never got to visit Disneyland as a child or teenager though many of my friends did, so I’m glad they get to have this experience!
I have been to Disneyland in Anaheim, California but I enjoyed Tokyo Disneyland more – everyone present was so much more ‘into’ the spirit of things!
4:20pm We stumbled on the short queue for Cinderella’s Fairy Tale Hall, and the girls agreed to check it out. We didn’t even know that it entailed going up a lift within the Castle to an elaborately designed grand hall with chandeliers, little antechambers with delightful little displays.
5pm We queued to take the Omnibus (we could have boarded after 5 mins, but as the top deck was full, we opted to wait for the next bus. It came in another 10 mins, but we could sit right in front, since it meant we were first in line), which made a loop around the Castle.
It looked like it was going to rain, and we confirmed with a crew member that the Parade would be cancelled or curtailed to a smaller-scale one with sheltered floats if the rain was heavy. It would be disappointing, but we were still very thankful that the scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon, predicted as recently as the day before, had not materialised so far.
5:45pm We decided to take things easy (though we could have queued for a few more rides), and have an early burger dinner at the Tomorrowland Cafe. Cute Mickey-Shaped burger buns!
We also saw many cute popcorn buckets throughout the day, and considered getting one, but Papa bought the girls caramel popcorn in a normal paper holder instead, which the girls were cool with. I must say I was sorely tempted to get the BB8 one though. On hindsight, it was probably best that I didn’t, since we have far too many THINGS as it is.
6:20pm We walked to secure a space to watch the evening parade – thankfully there was no sign of a thunderstorm though there was a slight drizzle (Praise the Lord!). We got a splendid vantage point to lay the Daiso picnic mat I had brought from Singapore, with the lit Castle directly in the background.
7pm The parade started! And what a mesmerising one it was. The beautiful thing about being in Tokyo Disneyland is that the adults there are so into the whole thing, waving to the characters and mobbing them like this was totally their dream come true.
The girls throughly enjoyed themselves too, waving and beaming to the characters as they passed. They agreed that this was worth staying late for!
8pm We went shopping! Bought some souvenirs.
8:30pm Fireworks display! It was a cool 10 minutes of continuous fireworks, and the kids loved it.
8:40pm Decided we still had some energy to use our last fastpasses to Pooh’s Hunny Hunt. There was still a queue (30 mins for standby) but we just walked right in once again (best feeling ever).
I now understand why people love this ride so much! It was so fun – you sit in a hunny pot which is like a spinning teacup, which brings you through the usual beautiful decor as you are immersed in the story land of Winnie the Pooh. Added entertainment when the hunny pots are choreographed to almost collide but of course never do.
9pm We decided to call it a night! Still an hour before closing time, but we thought we’d start making our way home. We dropped by Guest Information Services on the way out just in case, but there was still no sight of K’s waterbottle, so we just gave it up as lost. She’d have to use a mineral water bottle for the rest of the trip.
The REAL MAGIC then came to pass more than a fortnight later. We received a courier package at our doorstep, and it was from “Tokyo Disneyland”!
It was the waterbottle! O.O
The sweet letter was dated 19 June, which meant that they bothered to check and match what came in a week after we visited, and then lovingly encased it in bubble wrap to mail it all the way to our home!
It is quintessential Japanese service excellence; we were so touched, gobsmacked to be honest.
We are thus, understandably, fans for life of Tokyo Disneyland. And this was truly that little bit of extra magic that will be the girls’ story to tell for years to come.
Thank you, Tokyo Disneyland – your stellar crew with their brilliant smiles made our day during our visit, and your kind attention to small incidental things even after we left, has truly won our hearts.
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