The Bounds Do Tokyo Disney - Day 2

[Melanie]

The Bounds Do Tokyo Disney

Cast of Characters -

Melanie (37) - that's me
James (37) - that's hubby
Josh (8) - oldest, loves Donald and thrill rides
Ryan (7) - youngest, loves Stitch and Goofy, and not too sure about those thrill rides yet


Day Two:

The first two days of our tickets required that we visit only one park per day. No hopping until the third day. Not sure why they do this. We let the kids decide which park they wanted to do first, and no surprise they chose Disneyland.

Disneyland opened at 8:30am, so we grabbed some pastries for breakfast at our hotel, and walked to the monorail station around 8am. The monorails weren’t too busy, and we hadn’t encountered exceptionally large crowds the day before while we were exploring, so we were hoping for smaller crowds at the park. Not to mention it was cold (in the low 50s) and it was a Monday. Hmmm, little did we know (again, I didn’t do my research), the parks here are crowded year round. They arrive by train and by bus and I guess that explains why the Disney parking lot in front of our hotel was never filled.

So we arrive at the park to this scene. Boy was it crowded! The gates had just opened. The first folks let in were sprinting to their destinations! I know that’s not allowed at WDW or Disneyland, but everyone was very respectful here from what I could tell. We waited in line about 15 minutes, and were finally in.

We took in the atmosphere of the entrance, then entered World Bazaar, or what we all know as Main Street. World Bazaar is covered, and I assumed it would be heated. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, but it does protect you from the elements, I suppose. The cover does give it a different feel than we are used to, but it’s still distinctly Disney.

The side streets in World Bazaar aren’t dead ends. They lead to the “lands”, so we cut off quickly to the right into Tomorrowland to get out of the crowds. First stop, Star Tours. My boys love Star Wars and this ride is exactly like WDW (except in Japanese, of course). No shop though. Next we want to check out Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters, but the wait is already an hour. Huh? This would be a pattern. So we grab our first FastPasses of the trip.

Next stop, the Grand Circuit Raceway, aka Tomorrowland Speedway. The wait wasn’t that long, maybe 15 minutes, and we had a very excited 7 year old who was now tall enough to drive his own car. Wow, Mom and Dad get to ride together! As far as I could tell, this is the same track layout as in WDW. And the Bounds clan had fun on it as always!

Next it was on to ToonTown. All the usual suspects were there: Donald’s boat , Chip ‘n Dale’s Treehouse, Goofy’s Bounce House and Minnie and Mickey’s houses. Also, just like in Disneyland California, was Gadget’s Go Coaster and Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin.

Gadget’s was our first real test of how Ryan was going to handle the “fast” rides. Last year at this time at WDW, he tried Test Track, Splash Mountain and Goofy’s Barnstormer and declared them all too fast. He assured us he wanted to ride all the rides this time, but we’d heard that before. Gadget’s went fine – he loved it! Whew, one down.

We meandered around ToonTown a bit more, then headed out to Fantasyland. We came to Pooh’s Hunny Hunt and saw the huge standby time, and since we already had Buzz FPs, we couldn’t do anything but pass on by. Pooh is supposed to be incredible here in Tokyo, so I wasn’t surprised by the long wait times. Next came It’s a Small World, and it has a pretty big façade, although not quite as big as Disneyland in California. I loved the color scheme – bright pastels! Very pretty. The wait wasn’t long at all, and we soon entered the very large loading area and took our boat ride with the dolls. It was the same ride we all know and love (well, most of us).

Kids are amazing! It’s 50 degrees and Josh wanted ice cream. Brrrr! Both boys got a cup of vanilla served in a cute little glass hunny pot with Pooh characters on it that we got to keep. Next up was the Mickey Mouse Revue. This is an animatronics show featuring some of the popular early Disney characters, which at one time was in WDW. I certainly appreciate the achievement of this attraction for it’s time, but I have to say it was a bit bizarre to me, with it being in Japanese and quite outdated. The Three Caballeros in Japanese was giggle-worthy. I couldn’t help it! Mickey’s Philharmagic would be an excellent replacement for this.

We saw our first characters of the trip, Peter Pan and Wendy. As luck would have it though, they were on their way out. Peter did talk to Ryan quickly though, and told him he’d see him and his funny Stitch hat during the parade that afternoon.

[Melanie]

We wandered over to Westernland and now our time had opened up to where we could get another FP. Ryan was ready to conquer Big Thunder Mountain, so with standby time of 100 minutes, we got FPs. Oh, and there were waits for FPs as well. I often waited in lines of 5-10 minutes just to get them.

We continued around the park and came to Jungle Cruise, and the wait wasn’t that long, so we hopped in standby. We enjoyed our cruise, and could follow along fairly well since we had done it so many times before.

Our FP time had arrived for Buzz, so we headed back to Tomorrowland. We didn’t want to test the using of FPs after their time window had passed, so we always used them within our allotted hour. Buzz here is like the California version, with the guns that can be removed. It was closed last year at WDW when we went, so the boys were super excited. Dad once again whipped us all. There is no on ride picture here, although I could have sworn one was taken. Maybe we just couldn’t figure out where the pictures were.

It was lunch time, and we chose the closest counter service place – Pan Galactic Pizza Port. It was actually very good pizza served in a cool box! Instead of combos, they are called “sets” here. So we got pizza, a drink, and then something else I can’t remember for the life of me. But I do remember that none of us really cared for our side item.

From there we went to stake out our place for the parade. We found a nice curbside spot, and waited about 45 minutes. It gave me a chance to take in some of the crowd control procedures. Wow, these folks have got it under control. I was very impressed. Disney Dreams on Parade – Moving On was a very nice parade. And indeed, Peter Pan did see and remember Ryan. And Bert pointed out Josh’s Philharmagic Donald hat to Mary Poppins. I guess we stood out a little.

I’ll take a little time here to explain the hat situation. The Japanese don’t wear the hats at the parks like we do in North America. The big thing with them are barrettes with ears – mainly Stitch, Bambi and Minnie Mouse. Also the headbands with ears are popular as well. Minnie Mouse is huge over here! I don’t think we saw one pair of the traditional Mickey Mouse ears the entire trip. So needless to say, my boys and their “funny” hats got lots of looks and giggles throughout the week. Always very respectful though. I never felt like we were being made fun of.

After the parade, we walked around the Castle area and enjoyed the huge area called Cinderella Gardens. Very pretty landscaping, and beautiful glass statues of Cinderella from various scenes in the movie. I’m not sure if they are there all the time, or just part of the Season of the Heart promotion going on right now. They have a huge seating area in front of Cinderella Castle for their stage shows. Seating is given out each morning as part of a lottery. Apparently the stage shows are very popular here.

Cinderella Castle is beautiful! Even my boys recognized the slightly darker "stones" used here compared to the WDW version. And I loved the castle towers.

We walk back into Fantasyland and find all seven Dwarfs out for a meet and greet. Yippee – we know how rare this is. We had a great time figuring out who was who and got autographs and signatures from them all. Another observation – autographs aren’t big here. I never saw anyone but my boys asking for them. They are more into photos. And no lines, it’s a free for all for pictures, but again everyone is very nice and respectful.

I have to tell the story about Dopey. He signed Ryan’s book with his typical backwards p and e, and then when he signed Josh’s, he had to copy from Ryan’s book, letter by letter. It was too cute! Poor Dopey! He thought Josh's hat was very funny as well.

Next we grabbed FPs for Haunted Mansion, and went to check out Splash Mountain. Since it was a 120 minute wait, we moved on to the Beaver Bros. Canoes, where we waited over a half hour, I believe. This was really fun! I’d never done this before at any Disney park. We didn’t know what they were saying to us, but we worked it out and the boys at least could follow the 1,2,3 in Japanese while paddling.

It was time for our Big Thunder FPs, and Ryan absolutely loved it! We were over the hump – he was ready for big thrills! And Josh had been waiting for this all day. Next we went over to Tom Sawyer Island, another first for us all. This is a boy’s playground heaven, and they were upset when we said it was time to go.

We finished up the evening in Fantasyland. Ryan really wanted to ride Dumbo (he’s still a little guy at heart), so he and I waited the unbelievably short time of 20 minutes while James and Josh scouted out a place to eat. They chose the Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall (a buffeteria), and what a great choice that was. We all loved this place! The theming was incredible and the food was yummy. What a pleasant surprise our trip to Wonderland was.

After dinner, we finished up the night with Haunted Mansion (glad to hear Grim Grinning Ghosts was in English), Peter Pan and Pinocchio. We also found Ryan some Stitch gloves to go with his hat, so his get-up was complete. We were tired, as we had been going at it all day. It was getting really cold (well in the 40s by now), so we headed out, taking a few pictures at the World Bazaar while passing through.

An easy trip on the monorail back to our hotel, another trip to the Starwood Lounge for drinks and snacks and we were all in bed again by 9pm. Honestly, we had a great first day at Tokyo Disneyland.


Next Up:

The incredible Tokyo DisneySea

[ChipnDaleGal]

Again, that was just a blast to read!! Thanks for all the details Mel, and the pictures. For those of us that are very unlikely to ever get to this park, you are giving us a wonderful window into it. Thank so much for sharing with us!

I love the boys and their hats! And they are just beaming in all their pictures!! Did you see any other American faces at the parks, besides the face characters?

[Melanie]

Did you see any other American faces at the parks, besides the face characters?

Very, very few, Donna. James and I commented that we saw maybe two blondes the entire time we were there. They really stood out!

[Carol]

Excellent report, Mel. I didn't want it to end. What a wonderful first day. How cool Ryan was big enough to 'drive'. Man do I remember that moment when it happened for my boys!

My boys love Star Wars and this ride is exactly like WDW (except in Japanese, of course).

They don't have translation devises like what is offered in Disney World?

Thanks so much for the report. I cannot wait to read more.

[CanadianWDWFan]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! I am really enjoying your report and pictures, thanks again!

[Ian]

Mel, to call myself jealous would be to make an understatement of epic proportions ... all I can say is WOW!!

I have so many questions ... I don't even know where to begin! It all looks really amazing ... is it as clean and neat as it looks in your pictures? Everything looks freshly painted and shiny ... how were the CM's were they polite? I assume they would be since you said how orderly and well mannered everything seemed.

I have to go ... I just have to ... I really need to find a job that requires me to go to Tokyo.

I cannot WAIT to read about Tokyo Disney Seas ... I've heard it's simply astounding.

[offwego]

What a great day. I loved the pictures and your descriptions are fantastic.

Thanks so much for sharing this with us.

[SandmanGStefani24]

Awesome report! I love Japan and can't wait to go. Great pix!

[faline]

I guess your picture site is down while they do some maintenance to the site so I'll have to revisit later. I wondered about the language in use for the rides - I assumed it would be Japenese and wondered how that would be. Still, I'd love to be able to visit. I think the closing I'll get, though, is your reports so I'm just loving reading about all the details!

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the report and pics!

[sleepingbooty]

Reading your reports is about as close as I'm likely to ever get to Disneyland Tokyo, as well. Thanks for giving us such a great description. Sounds like you had a great day and managed the crowds well!

[mickeysworld]

Sounds like an awesome day, I'm tired just reading! Thanks for sharing, love the great pictures and looking forward to the next report!

[Melanie]

... is it as clean and neat as it looks in your pictures? Everything looks freshly painted and shiny ... how were the CM's were they polite? I assume they would be since you said how orderly and well mannered everything seemed.

Ian, to be honest, I'm not the best about noticing paint and such, but as for cleanliness, it was extremely clean! This is astounding since trash cans seemed to be hard to find. But the custodial CMs were everywhere. Before the parade, they were out on roller blades and if a piece of popcorn hit the ground, it was scooped up in seconds.

As for the CMs, my goodness, they were incredible. They all seemed very happy to be there and they were plentiful. I remember thinking on the Fantasyland rides how many CMs were working. There were at least four at all times - someone running the controls, someone loading, someone unloading, and usually another floating around. I know I haven't seen that at either WDW or Disneyland for years.

On a whole, the Japanese society is so polite, and the CMs didn't disappoint. Always with a smile (and a bow ) and trying to help when they could. If we had a question we couldn't work out with them in our limited Japanese, they would always get a CM who spoke English to help us. We were very impressed!

They don't have translation devises like what is offered in Disney World?

On very few attractions, Carol. We only got them at the Magic Lamp Theater in DisneySea and at MicroAdventure (Honey, I Shrunk the Audience) at Disneyland. You know, my kids were really good about it though. Having gone to WDW and Disneyland before surely helped them.

[DisneyorBust]

Enjoying your reports as always! Thanks for taking us along. I like all of the photos, keep them coming!

[NotaGeek]

SUPER! Man I have travel bug! This report ROCKS so far!

[Bethis26fan]

Thanks for sharing. The pictures are great.

[faline]

Great pics, Mel! They have me wishing I could make a reservation and head to Japan immediately! Gene would love that, actually. He keeps saying we should check out Disney in Tokyo!

[Melanie]

Great pics, Mel! They have me wishing I could make a reservation and head to Japan immediately! Gene would love that, actually. He keeps saying we should check out Disney in Tokyo!

You should do it, Linda! DisneySea is worth the trip alone!

Glad you could see the pics. Not sure what the problem could have been.

[Christine]

Wow!

I feel like I'm having a once in a lifetime experience just seeing these pictures and reading your report!

I think it's interesting that while you list wait times of 100+ minutes, you never sound put out or frustrated...maybe because of the infamous Japanese polite culture (my dad spent a month in Japan on business years ago and was awed by their mannerisms!!) or maybe b/c of the abundant CM's keeping things moving as smoothly as possible???

Anyway, I am so excited to read on...I can't wait to see what 'Disney Seas?' is about???