lioness in japan

Before the kangaroo hopped out of the country for a long business trip, he thought hanging out in Tokyo Disneyland would be a great way to spend some quality time. Aww…

Dressed to kill in my spring outfit, I relished wearing a skirt after months of encasing my legs in jeans and thick socks.

It took us an hour or so to get there. As the train approached the JR Maihama Station, we could see from a far that this was definitely Disney town.

Snuck in a shot of the kangaroo’s butt as we were boarding the Disney train. Check out the Mickey-shaped windows.

…and the Mickey-shaped handles. Too cute.

A grand entrance

Piped symphonic music boomed at us as we passed through the ticket gates. It felt surreal, especially since a strong breeze whipped up. Everything was so colourful and larger than life.

We felt like we were in Italy – haha! The pseudo European architecture sure lent a dreamy feel to Disneyland. The last time I was in Tokyo Disneyland was when I was a wee three-years-old. Obviously, I don’t remember much of it except the fun moments captured on pictures.

Disney shows aren’t bad at all…

After a tasty roast chicken lunch at what looked like Snow White’s kitchen, Mr. D was keen as beans to watch a show. I was more enthused about the rides and thought the shows would be cheesy as hell. But you know, leave those cynical remarks at the door and enjoy Disney for what it is. The formations made by the showboats were impressive, humorous and entertaining. It was such a laugh to listen to Mickey Mouse speak in Japanese. Yes, everything is in nihongo here.

The weather was chilly with sharp winds and grey clouds — that wasn’t supposed to happen! The news report said there was going to be rain the next day. Well, big freezing drops started falling…

Wet rollercoaster ride

I know this is quite an ugly photo but it was from my viewpoint in the queue for the Raging Spirits rollercoaster ride. My spring outfit got drenched while we waited in the queue for 80 minutes. Beware of the never-ending queues. I never thought that this would be a problem. But the amusement park is pretty efficient — they hand out a fixed number of Fast Pass tickets so you can skip the regular standby queues. If we had known, we would’ve loaded up on those Fast Passes but they were not available by 4pm. You have to get these earlier in the day.

My enthusiasm for Disneyland plummeted at the thought of waiting for 80 minutes (they have signs to inform you how long you have to wait at each ride). But surprisingly, this time went by quite quickly. The kangaroo was great at cracking jokes to lift my spirits: “Hey babe, look, there’s some blue in the sky! It’s clearing!” And it was still raining a heavy drizzle. He can be very silly and he always makes me laugh. We started reading the caution signs around us as they were in Japanese.

…and it was worth the wait. Five unadulterated minutes of screaming and strapped to a speed demon of a machine felt awesome. “A lot of build up and a tiny portion of fun — kinda like Japanese meals, eh?” quipped the kangaroo.

Ariel’s Playroom

I told Mr. D that my younger sister and I watched the Little Mermaid ad nauseum when we were kids, so he thought we should visit what looked like Ariel’s playground.

It was a really cool room with the Under the Sea theme but the rides were definitely for kids only. Kawaiiii…

Fast-tracking tactics

We were adamant on not lining up for hours. We discovered the fine print on our brochures that said if you were a single rider, you could jump the queue to the front. I think they always needed singles to fill up the odd number groups because a lot of the rides had even numbered seats.

So Mr. D and played strangers who met at Disneyland haha! I thought it was a great idea. What would spoil my fun was to stand in a line for three hours to get seven minutes of entertainment. We noticed that hardly anyone would take the single rider route. The kangaroo told me before that in Japan, being alone is embarrassing, and that kind of makes you a social anomaly. We had no qualms at all obviously and we would talk excitedly about how our rides went at the exit.

Strolling around

You can play carnival games and win plush Mickeys and Minnies. I would’ve loved to try this but the queues were ridiculous.

The ladies are called “Princess” — funny.

Winding down

After all our rides (the Indian Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull was the best), we tucked into delicious salads and red wine at a medieval-style lounge bar. Those are Mr.D’s famous bunny fingers. They usually make an appearance on every special outing or trip.

Boom booms

I know this picture doesn’t look like much but the fireworks show we watched was amazing. Mr. D hugged my waist while fireworks exploded in the sky. Very romantic, I must say. Highly recommended for couples.

Disney has departos

There are department stores in Disneyland in every themed port — from Mysterious Island to the Arabian Coast.

Check out Mickey in the form of Japanese biccies. The amount of merchandise was out of this world.

Mr D. was impressed by Disney as a business: “People would pay to queue — now that’s a great business.” It’s very funny when he makes these comments — his head space is always about thinking how to make moolah.

A parting gift

Cute, eh? We got into the habit of buying small soft toys to remember our trips. They will be the new additions to the Aussie friends in my collection. I felt all fuzzy when we finished the night with a cocktail at the Teddy Roosevelt Lounge in America Town.

Related posts:

1. Winding queues
2. My massage adventures in Tokyo
3. Mid-week update

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