Tokyo Disneyland!!!!!

Being away from family can be difficult around the holidays, so Bryan and I have chose to celebrate them non-traditionally.  Last year we spent Thanksgiving in Miami, walking the beach and exploring South Beach and instead of having turkey, dining at an amazing Cuban restaurant.  And come Black Friday, our minds were far away from shopping as we drove down A1A through the Keys to Key West (thinking about this makes me want shrimp and grits....mmm....so good!) 

This Thanksgiving we decided to spend it in one of the most magical places in the world, Tokyo Disneyland :-)  MWR took us on their lovely bus for $10, which is way cheaper than if we were to take the train, and we got a comfy seat the entire way.  Amanda, who is also a dentist at the clinic, came with us too!

In a lot of ways, the park is extremely similar to the Magical Kingdom in Orlando or Disneyland in California.  The park is modeled off of them.  Cinderella's giant castle is in the middle of the park and then  there are the different sections: The World Bazaar, Westernland,  Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Toon Town, and Critter Country.  All of the rides and attractions that Disney is famous for can be found, like Dumbo, It's a Small World, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, and the Teacups.   I haven't been to Disney in Florida in over 15 years, so the Toy Story ride was new to me (laser gun ride!) and so was the Winnie the Pooh ride (lots of spinning in a cart while riding a track through Pooh land.)   I was surprised by how much English was used, both in the writing and speaking.  Of course the majority of the workers spoke Japanese, but all of the songs in the parade and most of the characters talking in the parade were in English.  The names of the rides were all in English.  The signs giving information on the rides and wait times were in both languages.

There were of course many things that were distinctly different:
*From my experiences so far, I understand that a lot of Japanese people LOVE dressing up.  So of course, lots of Disney accessorizing.  It wasn't anything crazy like the people who dress up in Harajuku (Tokyo), but I think more than you would find in America, for sure.  Some was subtle, like girls having on tights (girls love tights here....short shorts and skirts with tights/pantyhose are very popular) that have a Mickey face by their ankle. Some wore red skirts with white polka dots to resemble Minnie.  The majority just wore accessories that they bought at the park (see pics below!) like Minnie ear headbands (the classic ones like I got, but then regular and pink leopard were also available), hats and earmuffs.   Some little kids wore full costumes, like Buzz Lightyear or the princesses. A lot of teenage girls wore hair clips that looked like Minnie ears too.   It was excellent people watching and made the day even more fun.   And as you can see below, Amanda and I caved to the trend and bought our own head ware. 
*Some of the food was very different.  The snack stands all around the park sold mostly churros or popcorn.  They had regular, chocolate, and strawberry churros.  We didn't get any, but they smelled delicious.  The popcorn came in a variety of flavors.  The most popular was soy and butter, but then they also offered caramel, chocolate and honey.  The honey popcorn stand was right beside the Winnie the Pooh ride, of course, and it smelled amazing, so we caved and bought a bag.  At first it was a bit strange, but then it was delicious.  A lot of the families buy these buckets that they sell.  Each popcorn stand has a different shape and theme bucket.  All of the buckets are attached with a strap that you can wear around your neck, so you have you can easily carry and snack on popcorn all day long.  They have character themes, but since it was decorated for Christmas, the most popular bucket was in the shape of a stocking.  You buy the bucket for around $20 and then you can get it refilled that day, and any other day that you return to the park for just about $4.  Not bad, if you want to try all of the popcorn!  It's also good at Disney Sea, which is the other park next door (it's aimed towards a bit of an older audience, but still Disney fun).  I heard they have some other flavors too like curry, strawberry and black pepper.    Also, the rest of the food was different too.  They had some of the regular Disney food, but the massive pieces of chocolate in the shape of a Mickey head were missing :-(   We also were sad that we couldn't find a fudge shop.  American sweets just wouldn't cut it in Japan.  But they did have a cafe with coffees and a lot of breads.   We had lunch at a restaurant with a Alice in Wonderland theme. They offered some nice salads, a flank steak meal, rotisserie chicken meal, and a meat patty (see pic below) and some desserts like strawberry mousse and Unbirthday Cake.   Some of the quicker places to eat had more Asian style meals like curry and rice and ramen bowls.  There was a sit down Chinese restaurant and even as we were leaving the line to get in was really long.   There were french fries at several places and the cart that sold turkey legs was really busy all day too. 
*The park was a lot more quiet and organized than American amusements parks.  I didn't see any signs that discussed how line jumping is not a sport and will get you kicked out of the park.  I'm sure there are some who would, but that's just one of those things that I don't think 99% Japanese people would ever consider doing.  I saw a couple parents take kids out of line to go use the restroom or get a snack, but it wasn't a big deal.  Also, they line up for the parades like we do, but in a very organized way.  No pushing and shoving at the last minute like I remember in Florida. You're not allowed to stand up during the parade, and everyone respects that rule.   It's really funny at first, but really, it's quite nice.  Aaaand children weren't throwing tantrums or having meltdowns until it was time to go home. 
*The characters weren't wandering around the park like they do in Florida.  They have some scheduled times and places where you can get pictures with them, but no appearances outside of that schedule.  I was told that they do wander around Disney Sea though.
*We went on a Thursday, so it wasn't too bad.  We waited a little over an hour for 2 of the most popular rides.  On the weekends though, I hear it gets really crazy busy.  In fact, they let 85,000 people in the park and then once that limit is met, no one else can get into the park again until 5:00 in the evening.  They they let in just a limited number of people in then too.  Even though it's built in one of the world's most densely populated cities, the park is actually bigger in area than both the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland because of the swarms of people on the weekends.

Enough of the writing, now to the pics! 

Bryan made a little video of our magical day with a couple of the pictures and video clips that we had.  I would recommend watching it, but if for some reason you can't, I'll post the pics separately too.

We made it!!

This is in the World Bazaar, which is like the Main Street area in Florida.  Because the area gets a lot of rain in the spring and fall, they made the whole area covered. 

I go back and forth on asking random strangers to take pictures of them.  On this particular day, I was leaning towards thinking that it was rude.  So I just pretended to take a picture of something behind them.  But here is an example of the variety of head ware that was worn.  And some of them must have been on field trips, because like these girls, some were in their school uniform.

During the Christmas parade....how fun are those outfits??

 Here are two videos from the Christmas parade.  They're pretty similar.  In the first video, notice how all of the people know the clapping that the performers do in the Christmas song.   This was entertaining to me.

We were super excited to be at the castle!

Mickey and Minnie!

One of the dancers in the parade.

Outside of the haunted house ride.  It's The Nightmare Before Christmas themed.

Teacups!!

Inside the teacup.  It wasn't built for tall men.

 It's a Small World is one of my favorite rides.   Instead of playing the song the entire time, they mixed in some Christmas songs too! 

Bryan didn't really buy the leopard hat.  He was taking a picture of Amanda right after she bought her Aristocat hat when some lady insisted she takes a picture of him and her together.  Then I showed up with my new purchase.

We were trying to blend in with everyone else.

One of our lunch choices.  "Meat patty" is a popular option here, but not usually with salami and mayo on it, in the shape of a heart. 

In line at lunch, somewhat cafeteria style.

Custard filled pastry.

Not a very good picture, but proof of soy sauce and butter popcorn.

This was my dessert of the day, mixed berry and chocolate parfait!

I love the Electrical Parade!  The next photos hardly do the floats any justice since they're so flashy (literally).

Cheshire Cat!   He was much more pink in real life.

Scully and Mike!

It was beautiful!!!

And here's a random video that I took on our way out. I enjoy Bryan's analogy at the end.