This would be our last full day on Disney property before we head out to “Real Tokyo” . Once again, the weather was beyond perfect!
Blue skies
Tokyo’s version of the Plaza Restaurant. No fried chicken on this menu though.
We queued up up for a cruise on the Riverboat.
Some passengers checking the itinerary.
Everything looks in order here.
Model of the Mark Twain
Flags a-Flyin
What I love about a ride on the river boat, or the train etc. is the unique, elevated views you get of the park.
A view of the train.
A nefarious looking rock on Tom Sawyer Island.
Big Thunder Mountain
After cruising the Mighty Mississippi,we were right hungry. We headed to Westernland, a land unique to Tokyo, to wrangle the waffle sandwich I’d had my eye on.
Camp Wood Chuck
What an incredible coincidence.
Jeff got in line and I scoped out some seating.
Not here.
Here!
Some built in seating.
Cute, hand-sewn looking banners adorned the outdoor area.
large fire pit
Just LOOK at how cute the wrappers are!
There she is…
A little closer.
This was delectable! The chicken was spicy and crisp. It had some sauteed vegetable and served with maple syrup for you to judiciously drizzle over top of everything. I still had sticky everywhere after.
We decided to get a ginger lemonade. The cups are so cute!!!
A little boba too.
After lunch we scooted over Tomorrowland to experience Star Tours again. It was one of the few rides with a reasonable wait. We ran into something quite curious on the way.
What’s happening here?
There was a long wall in the land blocking the view of some new construction. As Disney does, the wall was decorated so as to not look so terrible during the transition. Apparently the Japanese guests thought this wall was worthy of taking a photo in front of. Not unusual, but in this instance, they were facing the wall as if the were on a time out, while a friend took a picture of the back their head.
Looks like the last scene in The Blair Witch Project!
On to Star Tours!
I’ve made a lot of silly observations about the Japanese Disney fans. I’ll throw one more in the mix. They adore popcorn buckets. Now, Disney parks in the states will have an occasional holiday popcorn bucket or the like. In Tokyo, they are ubiquitous. Fans wear them with or without being jammed with a tasty popcorn treat. I tried to take some pictures on the sly without seeming like an American creep, so they are not so artistic.
This is a suitcase popcorn bucket.
A Lightening McQueen from Cars.
He’s rockin’ Winnie the Pooh.
She’s dressed up like Duffy the Bear and sporting a Duffy bucket.
Another fun ride through the galaxy.
The exit dumps you out on a foot bridge. Nice view from up here!
Next we made our way to Fantasyland for Philharmagic. This is one of my favorites in the states, despite being 3D which usually doesn’t work for me.
Mickey!
Adorable posters line the vestibule.
They had some practical displays of the show scenes here. Much nicer than Orlando.
Here we go!
So far all of the classic attractions have had a combination of English and Japanese. I figured the dialogue for Philharmagic would be Japanese, but all the classic songs like, “Be our Guest” and “Part of That World” would be the original recordings. Not so! All the songs were Japanese re-recordings! You’re not allowed to take any pictures or video, but someone on Youtube broke the rules. Check it out if you wish:
Back out to the castle!
Sorcerer Mickey doing his thing.
Much more detail on this castle.
We watched the school girls take their selfies for a bit.
This is all selfie town.
Instead of going back for a nap, we decided a cocktail was in order instead. I had wanted to explore the Disneyland Hotel anyway.
Hello, gorgeous!
They let us through the gates.
There are shops that line the courtyard.
A royal staircase greats you as you enter.
The whole resort is Alice in Wonderland Themed.
Playing with Queen of Hearts!
Alice is Aces.
This hotel is certainly reminiscent of the Grand Floridian. However, the scale of this lobby is even more grander!
Fountain in the lobby.
Three story windows and full palm tress.
Gorgeous marble inlay floors.
Your host.
As with all the other lounges, despite there being only one person seated at the bar, we were required to wait about ten minutes.
The lounge area viewed from the bar.
Gorgeous mirror above the bar and up to that tray ceiling.
The adorable bartender had no idea what a Manhattan was. She was so sweet just yessing us then thumbing through a big binder trying to figure it out. We played a game of “hotter/colder” as she reached for rum or gin instead of whisky. Then a manager came to the rescue!
That’s the right stuff.
The manager knew her way around and mixed us up the best drinks of the trip AND they were full sized!
Double score!
I noticed that in Tokyo, when you order a cocktail, they leave the bottle right in front of you for about five or ten minutes after they’ve served you. I’m guessing it’s to show that you’ve gotten a quality spirit in your drink.
We finished our american sized Manhattans as we gazed out to the park.
Time to head back in.
There was a little more elbow room in World Bazaar.
You can actually see the pavement.
I love the smell of the Confectionary!!!
Here’s that guy again!
We set about finding a little something to bring back to my mom. What’s neat about the souvenir boxes and tins here is that they have a display in a lucite box showing what exactly is inside. No guessing!
Cookies and crackers in the 35th box.
Fab Four shortbread cookies.
This column of candy was not for sale!
We wandered out of World Bizarre.
We made a brief stop at the bakery. I got some treats, but you can’t see those until tomorrow! By tomorrow I mean whenever I write the next installment.
Next, we explored more of Adventureland. We really hadn’t been here in the daytime.
The Tiki room! That’s never crowded!!
Never mind.
Wanna ride the railroad? Me neither.
Not to worry! There was some fun, live entertainment right near by.
Best cast member costumes, ever.
Bird or monkey?
Now, that’s a monkey!
Ooh, ooh ooh. Aah, aah, aah. I speak monkey.
Leading down the path…
I was unaware that there was a New Orleans Square type of area.
Familiar ironwork.
Someone last their beads.
The waffles smelled A-mazing!
We discovered a small, covered alleyway.
We took a rest under this (real?) tree.
Got to witness a cute interaction with a cast member and a tot.
The cast members here are just wonderful.
A little hide-n’seek with the castle.
The day wore on.
Splendid plantings.
The evening sun made the facade of small world look magical.
It was time to redeem our very last fastpass in Tokyo Disneyland, Pooh’s Hunny Hunt.
This was the last coveted attraction and I’m so glad we got to experience it.
Our story begins…
The queue was so pretty.
A Trelised alley.
Christopher Robins House?
This cartographer seems a bit suspect.
You can call him Winnie.
The titular page of the book.
Here we go!
We boarded our honey pots and I was, as usual, told “no pictures”.
This was perhaps my farovrite attraction of the trip. It was so cute and so well done. The ride vehicles are trackless so they swirl and bounce around depending on the show scene you are in. Below is a very high quality ride through video. My favorite scene is when pooh goes on a honey induced LSD style trip.
So that was then end of our Tokyo Disneyland vacation. This was a ten year bucket list item that this lady really didn’t think would ever happen. It was all that I hoped for and more. The weather cooperated, which was a huge bonus. More than that, the Japanese culture of service and excellence simply shines here.
My friends, this may seem an end, but it’s just the beginning. Next we will be leaving this cushy bubble of Disney and heading out to real Tokyo!!!
See ya real soon!