Wednesday 27 November 2013

The Happiest Place On Earth

Before I came to Japan I didn't know there was a Disneyland in Tokyo. I never really thought to come here. One, I considered it a place really for kids (or for the weird J types obsessed with everything Disney). Two, I wanted to come here for a reason - a "special occasion" of sorts. It has been on my to do list recently. Well that occasion happened to be my birthday. It was given to me as a present so.. here we go!

The key to maximising your time is the fast pass. I researched a little what I wanted to do, and it was decided "Pooh's Honey Hunt" would be worthy of the first pass.

The line of "Haunted Mansion" wasn't too long so we went through there. One thing that kind of bothered me throughout the day is the lack of English on the rides. I know I'm in Japan but it would be nice to have maybe a headset to translate?

We waited in line for "Big Thunder Mountain" Nice. After that we got our fast pass for "Splash Mountain" and went to try out the Pooh ride.

Most people make a big deal of the trackless cars. They are pretty cool. As with most of the rides, it was too dark and speedy to take photos. The animatronics looks very new and modern, easily the best in the park. It's clear why this is one of the favourite rides here.

We went back towards the castle and had a popcorn break. I bought the curry flavour. It tastes great. It wasn't the last time I tried it. Later we had chocolate which tasted pretty good too.


Back to "Splash Mountain". We were in the front seat so unfortunately I got pretty wet. I noticed most of the attractions feature animatronics leading to a surprising climax.

"Beaver Brothers Explorer Canoes" was a bit of hard work especially considering the mother and son in front of me decided to take extended breaks OFTEN. Ga! Lots of ducks around.


Next was "Pirates of the Caribbean". Although we didn't use a fast pass the line was not too long and moved quickly. I guess since it's an older ride people aren't as excited for it anymore. Still enjoyable enough.

It's hard to navigate around parades. I had to take the LONG way around to get to Captain EO. Along the way I managed to take some great photos. I bet when these happy people go home they are chain smoking and swearing. Parade people can't be happy like this ALL the time.

So, Captain EO.. This seems REALLY out of place and dated. The years have not been kind. I hated the pre-show video. It made the time feel even longer to go in (and there wasn't even a line!) I love the 80's and Michael Jackson's music but I don't see this attraction lasting too long.

In sharp contrast I LOVED Mickey's PhilharMagic. The 3D was infinitely better as well as the "special effects". Good thing too that Donald Duck is the main character and I can't understand him half the time in English so the story was quite understandable too. The songs were real nice too. We watched it twice. It was THAT good.

Before we saw this show we went on "Star Tours" and "StarJets". We strolled through Toontown riding "Gadget's Go Coaster" for a laugh.

Space Mountain had one of the biggest lines. For sheer thrill this was probably the best ride for me. Maybe too scary for young kids. This would suit Disney Sea quite well.

By now we were both quite tired. Peter Pan's Flight was "ok". I had stupid fun "racing" a mother and daughter on the Grand Circuit Raceway. Then we went on Dumbo's "Flying Elephants",  "Castle Carousel" merry-go-round, and the Teacups "Alice's Tea Party" to be completists.

Finally to end the day we did the "Jungle Cruise" just before closing. Here again the jokes were completely lost on me being in Japanese.

We were here from virtually opening time till close, so it IS possible to do Disneyland in a day. This really is a place to take the kids, or maybe a date. You have to do it because it's DISNEYLAND. Right?

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