Monday 17th January: The Land Where Dreams Come True

The Happiest Place on earth.

They certainly got that right.

Disney Land Castle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as I walked through the gate into Disneyland Resort (after taking the JR to Maihama Station) I seriously felt like crying. The music The weather The location. Everything just seemed like a dream, yet so real (How’s that for Inception-influence?!)

I have to say this part of the trip I was looking forward to the most.

Upon our alighting the JR at Maihama Station, we could see that the blue skies were once again in our favour. The weather was beautiful, sun was shining and we were ready to be blown away by Disney, as they do so well.

We purchased our tickets, which allowed us to have entrance into both Disney Land and Disney Sea. Two days of Disney, amazing.

As we walked through the gates, Disney characters, Goofy and a characters from Pinocchio were there greeting the visitors for the day.

Pinocchio

As we walked in, we knew it was time for us to get into order and plan the day and circle the rides we wanted to wait for. With all theme parks the wait takes up most of the day, but oh, are the waits worth it.

It brings tension and hype and being in Japan, and just being at Disneyland you forget about long lines and you’re just happy to be there.

The first ride we encountered was Space Mountain, usually housing the longest line in the park, we were surprised to see it wasn’t too full and glad that we chose week days and I don’t think schools were on holidays either.

Space Mountain, part of Tomorrow Land- the futuristic park of the land, was pure awesome, you’re riding along in the dark with flashing lights, just like what it would be going through space, I imagine. Dips, turns, and opening my mouth so wide to scream that my mouth would be dry because of the rushing air- wow.

After that dizzying spin to start off our day, Monsters Inc’s Ride and Go Seek interactive Ride was next, the line was quite long for this but they did a great job on the interior, which is why Disney is the best, they never fail on the detail, the waiting room for the Monsters Inc ride was fashioned like the Entrance of Mike and Sully’s work place.

With the same ceiling and even a reception desk.

Ceiling of the Monster Inc ride waiting room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was so cute, the ride involved waving a little torch at monsters in a ride through -with a photo at the end as well- Very sweet and suitable for younger kids, but big kids can really appreciate the amount of effort going into making larger than life size characters from the film come to life with advanced robotics. Cool.

Next on our Tomorrow Land trip was Captain EO. A 3D film, starring Michael Jackson. A classic with Disney and George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, this tow tapping 3D musical magicness was very cool, at previous visits to the other Disneylands (Anaheim and World in Florida) I don’t think I actually saw this, and I suppose it makes it much more special now after all these years and especially after MJ’s death.

After Tomorrow Land we explored the other side of the Park at Adventure Land, where the coolest ride, Pirates of the Caribbean is housed. Set in a dark environment with a restaurant set over the water of the ride, it gives a special ambience.

Blue Bayou Restaurant set near the POTC ride

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I absolutely love the ride, once again the characters look so real and the robotics spot on (especially with the little animals) Its hard to believe a film was made from a ride like this.

Continuing in Adventure Land we took part in a jungle cruise outside on a boat this time with our Japanese speaking tour guide, showing us some fake crocodiles and Rhinos , pretending they were real of course. I had no idea what he was saying as the tour was completely in Japanese. But otherwise it was a pretty cool ride, with less than a 5 minute wait.

One of the many highlights of the day was the It’s A Small World ride, after seeing all the episodes of the Simpsons (where Lisa and Bart drink the water) and in Family Guy (where Stewie is chained to the ground to sing as one of the children of the world) I finally took part in this ride! One of the most popular rides in the park, you sit in a magical boat ride, going past various rooms with animated children from all around the world singing Joy to the World in different languages. The lights were quite amazing and the vast expanse of detail never ceases to impress and boggle my brain.

Its A Small World, part of Fantasy Land

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toon Town was very cute and set up too look like it came straight out of an early Disney animation, the set pieces are so realistic and so much effort and detail are put in to make it look like it really fits in. It is truly magical

Toon Town

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By this point, the sun was going down and the icy wind chill was picking up (and believe it or not, we went on Space Mountain twice). And we passed Critter Country and Splash Mountain (an extreme roller coaster ending with the slide down water) it was way too cold and being wet and cold were too combinations that didn’t seem practical, unfortunately we passed on it

But we were getting ready to view one of the highlights of the evening, the Electrical Parade Dreamlights Millions of lights are attached to various huge sized characters and lots of dancing and music is in store, accompanying the magical lights against the dark sky.

 

 

 

 

 

Part of the Dream Lights Parade.

It ran across the main walkway around Disney, signifying the closing of the park for the day and concluded the end of our day of adventure at Disneyland.

Sigh of content