Japan Chronicles: Tokyo Disneyland!

        Aaaah... The highlight of my Japan trip! (Actually this is tied with the little snow we experienced in Hakone because it was my first time ever to experience snow)

        Being a Disney fan, I decided that it would be cool (even cooler if I can make it come true), to visit Disneyland in different holidays. For the simple reason that Disneyland dramatically transforms as well based on holidays. Thus giving you a different experience every time.

        Rain, my sister Chai, my dad, my Aunt Bablou, and I were all very lucky to be able to visit Tokyo Disneyland, thanks to my generous Tita Lourdes who gave us a generous treat! The moment the Japan trip was brought up, I was already set that we would not leave Japan without going to Disneyland! <3




        We took 3 train rides from our hotel to Tokyo Disneyland. Because Japan's train lines are a lot and are very clean and organized, it wasn't a hassle commuting by train at all. In fact, it was very quick! Before we knew it, we were there!


        I was extra excited for my sister, because this was her first time to go to any Disneyland! I'm sure she will be as starstruck as I was during my first time. (Actually I'm always starstruck every time! This is my 3rd Disneyland experience). Here she is when we got to the "Tokyo Disneyland" arch!


        My heart is always giddy with joy when entering a Disneyland park! And yes if I could only take photos of each signage and corner I would.



        After getting our tickets, we entered and was greeted by this huge Christmas tree display. Oh, I should probably mention that this was last December 2014. Delayed post!


        And after walking past the Christmas tree and the crowd, we finally got to see the castle! The crowd was huge! No wonder. The Christmas Parade was ongoing. This means we get to see Mickey and Minnie and the gang in Christmas outfits! <3


        There was so much people that it was hard for Rain to see the parade. My dad carried her on his shoulders :-)





        When the parade was done, that's when we got to see the statue of Walt Disney holding hands with Mickey Mouse. It's always been my dream to see this! I thought this statue was only in Disney World. Happy that I was wrong :-)


        Tokyo Disneyland is huge. Well, also because my only point of reference is Hong Kong Disneyland. In fact, upon realizing how big Tokyo Disneyland is, I felt so overwhelmed and I felt sad and frustrated at the same time, knowing that we were only going to be there for just one day. There was so much to do but so little time. But I really couldn't complain. One day in Disneyland is better than zero days.


        We haven't had breakfast yet so we went to the first food place we saw. Plaza Restaurant on Tomorrowland. We had these cute Mickey bowls of I think beef curry with egg.


        Check out the hard boiled egg with a Mickey Mouse yolk center. Pretty cool!!! :-) Until now I still can't figure out how they do it.








        Inside, you get to ride a tram in the dark and see funny monsters pop up. This is one of the most popular rides here I think because it's one of the rides with Fast Pass. We didn't get Fast Pass so we were in line for what seemed like forever, especially with the fact that I was with a 3 year old that was getting impatient already. Big mistake. I didn't think we would really need it. But I guess I didn't expect that the crowd here in Japan is times 5 or something compared to Hong Kong Disneyland, the only Disney Park I've been to prior to Tokyo.

        After the long line wait and the short ride, we started plotting out the rides we wanted to try given that we had very limited time in such a huge park. We started walking around and we saw Toon Town. It was so cute! Too bad we didn't get to try any of the attractions there. So I just took photos for now.



        As we were walking around, another parade started. It was the Daytime Parade: Happiness is Here wherein everything just looked really vibrant and happy and colorful! Apparently Tokyo Disneyland has more than one kind of parade in a day. This made it more overwhelming and at the same time frustrating because I wanted to see all the parades. This meant we had to make sure we schedule our rides around the parade hours haha! But we were able to do it! Yay!


        Here's a video from Tokyo Disneyland Website. I'm just going to use theirs because the videos I took are crappy.

        Because we were with Rain, we stuck with the kid-friendly but pretty and fun rides. Like the happiest cruise that ever sailed 'round the world: It's A Small World After All!

        And of course, we wanted to go on something spooky. Like the Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare! This was another long line. But I think Rain was happily asleep during the line so it was a relaxing wait and hehe. But she was awake during the ride.

        The only thing was that during the ride, in my experience, it stopped for like 3 times, everything as well as the music and the scary stuff immediately stopped, then a recorded female voice came on the speakers and said something in Japanese. Of course we couldn't understand. Probably some mechanical error or something. Or maybe someone was trying to stand on the ride? I wish I knew why.


        After the Haunted Mansion, it was time to save a spot by the Parade route for the Electrical Parade Dreamlights. It's Tokyo Disneyland's night parade and it was one of the most beautiful parade I've ever seen!



        After that beautiful parade, we hurried to one of the closest rides from where we were staying. Peter Pan. I thought this ride would be a simple one for kids. But I actually enjoyed it. Truly there's always something unique in each Disney ride. At Peter Pan, the rail tracks are above, and a Pirate's Ship hangs on it. So when you ride it, it feels like you're flying over England and Peter Pan and the gang. Awesome!



        While the Disney in the Stars Fireworks was the big finale at Hong Kong Disneyland, in Tokyo Disney, for me, this was definitely the big bang. The Once Upon A Time Castle Projection Show. There were so many people that's it was a challenge to see clearly. Maybe if you position yourself further you would get a better view. Anyway, of course I wanted my little Rainbow to see the whole show, so I was carrying her and raising her the whole time. I probably burned tons of calories during the whole duration of the show doing that. But it was soooo totally worth it! Especially during the Tangled part (4:40 in this video that I got from YouTube user Theme Park Review. During this time, my sister and I failed fighting back tears and had goosebumps all over :') Especially at 5:36 when the lanterns were floating up, reminding me of the King and Queen's love for their missing daughter. WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!! I totally lost it  :(((   It was just. So. Beautiful.


        And then there was the fireworks, which I have to say, was less spectacular compared to Hong Kong Disneyland. But still beautiful non the less :-) Finally, it was almost closing time. This is the time when we checked out the souvenir shops. Being a cellphone casing addict ( it's a sickness really), I was on the lookout for beautiful cases for my then new phone. But unfortunately they didn't have my phone model yet because it was fairly new. I was really bummed because the designs were so pretty!!!


        And I wanted to get a Disney souvenir that screams Japan so I was so happy I found this Minnie Mouse mini doll wearing a kimono and Japanese slippers <3
        I vow to go back to Tokyo Disneyland hopefully in the near future and spend at the very least 2 days there. Or maybe try Disney Sea first! :-)