Tokyo DisneySea

Our last full day in Japan was spent at DisneySea. Jalen and I had already spent a couple of hours there and were looking forward to going with Harri and Kobe.  We lined up early again so that we could get in as soon as it opened and was able to get a free Priority Pass for Soaring as soon as we walked in and a bought Premier Passes for the Tower of Terror. 

                                   

Soaring was so popular and within the first 15 minutes of the park opening, the line for the ride had already gone up to two hours. We were so glad that we were able to skip the line. We loved it and it reminded us of the Sky Voyager at Dreamworld in Queensland. It's a ride where you are sitting down, and then it's like you are flying all around the world. 

Straight after Soaring we headed to the Gondola rides as they weren't too busy. 

We were so lucky to have another sunny winter's day.  

The theming around the whole park is incredible and it's very easy to forget that you are in Japan. 

We headed to the American Waterfront so that we were there for our timeslot on the Tower of Terror.   

                              

I loved hearing Mr Potato Head speaking in Japanese and listening to all the kids reply to him. 

                                          

I've never been on the Tower of Terror in the USA and was actually so scared to go on it, but knew I'd regret it if I didn't.  Harri hates heights so he decided to skip it.

Even the line up inside was very cool.  It wasn't half as scary as I thought it would be, and I loved it.  I would've loved to have gone on it again but wasn't keen on paying more money to skip the line and the line was over an hour and a half all day, so we were happy that we got to do it at least once. 

Jalen and I had gone on the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride the night that we went together, and the line is always quite short compared to other rides, so we went on that next. It's a submarine type ride where you go around and lots of things pop out from under the water. It's very dark and very cool.  

It wasn't a warm day, but Kobe and I couldn't resist getting some Disney themed ice creams. 

The mermaid lagoon section is the kid's section and is so beautiful inside and out.  We didn't go and do any rides but popped in for a look from above. 

A few months before our trip a new area opened up called Fantasy Springs. You could previously only get into the Fantasy Springs area if you had a pass to go on one of the new rides in there.  Just before our trip the area was opened up to everyone, and you could go in and walk around, but you could still only go on a ride if you had either a Priority Pass or a Premier Access Pass.  You couldn't just line up to go on the ride (I think that has now changed).  

There are three rides in Fantasy Springs - Rapunzel, Frozen and Peter Pan.  Frozen seems to be the most popular ride in there and the hardest pass to get.  We kept trying all day to get a pass for the rides in there and were able to get Peter Pan (which we loved). 

We had a Priority Pass for Journey to the Centre of the Earth which was one my favourite rides at the park.  It was in the middle of the volcano and was more of a thrill ride. Harri wasn't feeling great on the day that we were at DisneySea, so he went back after this ride and said he'd join us again later. I was so glad that we had a hotel close by, as it gave us the option of having a break if we needed to.  

I was so sad when we got to the Arabian Coast area to see that the carousel was shut as I thought it would be so fun to go on with the boys. 

There were lots of flavoured popcorn spots all around the park and we were only game enough to get the caramel one. 

I loved the Japanese money and found it very easy to use and understand because the Australian dollar was almost even with it while we were there. 

We did a few more rides and then were able to get some Priority Passes for later in the day.  We felt like we had seen and done a lot, so we decided to go back to our hotel for a little break before we headed back for some more rides. 

On the way out we ran into some characters, and it was the first time all day that it felt like a Disney Park. 

We had a quick rest and then went back as we were able to get a pass for the Rapunzel ride. DisneySea is so big, and our hotel was literally across the road from the Fantasy Springs area.  If we were allowed to, we could've just walked through the Fantasy Springs hotel and be at the ride, but instead we had to catch the train to the main entrance and walk about 20 minutes to get to the ride. Even though we had a Priority Pass we still had to line up for about 40 minutes before we got on the ride.  It was an absolutely beautiful ride, especially when you got to the part with the lanterns, but it was so short compared to all the other rides we had been on and we felt it was over way too quickly. 

Straight after we had a priority pass for the Indiana Jones ride and this was also one of our favourite rides as it was more of a thrill ride.

There was still a couple of hours before the park was going to close, but we were so happy with the rides we had done and we ready to go back to our hotel, but as we were walking out, we came across the Aquatopia ride which had no line up, so we thought we'd have one more ride. 

The boats are actually on tracks, and you can't control them, but it was so much fun as they would spin around at unexpected times. 

Everything was so pretty as we were walking out because it was all lit up. 

As I was taking a photo of the boys some cute Japanese girls asked me if I wanted to get into the photo with them. They were giggling as they were taking the photo, and I kept wondering what they were saying about us. I kept pretending that they were saying 'those boys are so kawaii (cute in Japanese)'.  

We loved DisneySea and we thought the rides at DisneySea were better than Disneyland but still think we enjoyed our day at Disneyland more as there was always something to constantly do or see, and we've never had the opportunity to go to Disneyland till now and it was just very nostalgic. 

We decided to have a late dinner out of the park as the lines for food were always so long and thought it would be fun to go to Outback Spectacular for dinner, especially since we don't have it here in Australia. We laughed at some of the names of the menu items and really liked our meals. 

After dinner the older boys went back to the hotel and Kobe, and I decided to have one last look at the Disney store at the train station before we went back. 

Kobe saw that you could go and get a special sticker from the worker (it's a big thing in Japan to collect stickers at different places) so we went over to ask. She couldn't speak any English, and we had trouble trying to explain to her what we wanted.  I pulled out Google Translate, and she was trying to explain that you had to say something to get the sticker. We had no idea what she was saying (thank for nothing Duolingo!) and then these legends came over to help us. They could speak quite a lot of English and explained that it was a game of 'rock, paper, scissors' but you had to say the words in Japanese and then do a Mickey ears sign at the end.  They helped us say the words in Japanese and we had so many laughs together. It was such a fun way to end up our last night in Japan. 

Jalen made us laugh as we were going to bed - saying we've made lots of memories, but it was now time to hang up the key. 

Tokyo Disneyland

Ever since I visited Disneyland as a teenager, I've dreamt of going back and taking the boys there.  I decided we would end our trip to Japan by going to Disneyland and DisneySea. I joined a Facebook group that gives you tips and tricks to get the most out of going to the Disney parks and Universal Studios in Japan and it helped us get the most out of our days there. 

I didn't want to be tired our whole trip, so we would just take it slow in the mornings since we were out until late.  I told the boys that our Disney days were going to be different - there was no sleeping in as we had to be in the line up before the park opened, because once you are scanned in you can access express passes on the app and they go pretty quickly. Some people line up as early as 4:30 am but we were not that crazy and left our hotel about 7:30 am (the park opened at 9 am). 

We've been to the theme parks in Queensland many times and I always hate how expensive the tickets are, but I felt like the Disneyland and DisneySea tickets were so much more reasonable at about $89 Aus when we were there. 

On top of the normal park pass, you can choose to buy express passes as well. There are two different types of express passes - Disney Premier Access where you pay extra to skip the queue for an individual ride and Priority Pass which is free but also a way to skip the queue.  You can only do this for certain rides, and they only release a certain amount during the day and usually once they're gone it can be hard to get one later in the day as you have to constantly watch the app to see if they've released more. 

You can only get one Premier Access and one Priority Pass at a time and can't get another one until two hours after you got the first one, or after you scan into the ride. 

We had a game plan to run to the Beauty and the Beast ride, which is the most popular ride at the park, but everyone else had the same game plan.  Instead, we went to the closest ride when we got in that is also very popular - Monsters Inc.  It was only about a 20-minute wait when we went but later in the day the wait was always a couple of hours, so I'm glad we did it early. 

Jalen and I had a game plan and were both on the app at the same time.  His job was to get a Priority Pass while I got a Premier Access pass.  I was able to get a Premier Pass for Beauty and the Beast, which is what I really wanted and once I knew I had that, I was very happy. The passes were about $20 each and I really didn't care that I was spending money on it, because it guaranteed that we got to do the ride, we skipped a 3-hour long line up and I wasn't sure if I'd ever be back to Disneyland in Japan, so I'd made sure I'd saved up enough money so that we could really enjoy the day. 

We did a couple of rides and then as we came off the Star Tours ride (which I loved) we came across Mr and Mrs Incredible characters.  Mrs Incredible was hilarious and was gesturing how tall and handsome Harri was, which cracked us up. 

Our third ride was Beauty and the Beast and thank goodness we got the Priority Pass, because the line was so long when we went to line up in the priority line.  Even the priority line took about half an hour to get through, but I can see why people line up and wait so long for it. It amazes me how many people they can get on a ride at once. It was absolutely beautiful and made me want to cry. I loved hearing all the songs in Japanese. 

I loved how the ballroom went from daylight to sunset. 

We were able to get a few priority passes during the day which meant we knew we had to turn up to those rides at a certain time and could get straight on, and in the meantime, we lined up at other rides, watched the parades, and got food. It didn't feel at all like we were lining up all day and the day just flew.  We loved seeing Woody. 

We loved all the classic Disneyland rides. The boys said Splash Mountain was one of their favourites. 

It's a Small World had a special thing on where Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy was placed in different parts of the world which the boys thought was hilarious. 

Groot was in Australia, playing the didgeridoo. 

A huge thing at the parks are different flavoured popcorn and collectable buckets.  So many people have a whole plan of getting the different buckets and trying all the flavours.  We didn't get a bucket as I didn't want to be carrying crap home that I would eventually get sick of and just throw out, but we did try a couple of different popcorns but kept it pretty safe. We weren't keen on trying the curry popcorn or roast beef flavour.   

At both parks I ended up dropping half of our popcorn and at Disneyland two Japanese girls thought it was absolutely hilarious as I was complaining about dropping it and then was getting scared of all the birds that were coming over to eat it.  We had some funny moments with them laughing at us. 

These mochi were not only cute but were also delicious. They were three different flavours. 

The boys all bought funny themed hats. Kobe looked all day for a Toy Story one but didn't have any luck and finally decided on getting a Monsters Inc one. 

I loved going on rides that I could remember from Disneyland in LA like the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean and Big Thunder Railroad.  I loved hearing Japanese all day on the rides. 

                                            

It's a huge thing in Japan to get a spot for the parades hours before they start.  Lots of people buy little Disney themed mats which they place on the ground and just plonk themselves down to save spots for their group.   We just kept lining up for rides and got food and then stood behind the crowds when the parades started and still felt like we saw it so well.   We were amazed at how long the parades were. Each float was so beautiful and professional, and they just kept coming and coming. 

There were two parades in the day, and the second one was a candy theme which was very popular with the Japanese people. It was beautiful but it just went on and on. When we got back to our hotel Harri was saying how the same song over and over again was driving him crazy, so Jalen had to find it on YouTube to sing it to us. 

We loved the Pooh's Honey Hunt ride as it was so cute. 

Because our hotel was just a 10-minute train trip from Disneyland, Jay and Harri ended up going back to our hotel for a rest.  The park didn't close until 9 pm and I knew that there would be fireworks at the castle towards the end of the night, so they said they'd come back for that. I kind of wanted to join them in having a break but also knew that it was our one and only day there and didn't want to miss anything. Kobe and I took a break inside the park and sat down to eat and rest and waited for the light show on the castle.  

I'm so glad that we waited because it was absolutely incredible. It was a lot like the illumination we saw at the Government Building a few days before, but all Disney themed. 

After the light show we knew that we had about an hour and a half before the next parade and fireworks, so Kobe and I decided to go back to the hotel to meet the boys. It was all very pretty lit up at night. 

We all came back in time for the Dream Lights parade and it was so beautiful and went for such a long time. 

Before the fireworks we went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad again as we were able to get a free priority pass and then walked through the middle of the castle. 

The fireworks were beautiful and made me feel quite emotional. 

We had such a fun day, and it was all that I hoped it would be. We definitely felt like we got our money's worth.  We all love huge thrill rides and big rollercoasters so I wasn't really sure what the boys would think of Disneyland. After our trip I asked them what their favourite theme park in Japan was and they all said Disneyland, even though it doesn't have big thrill rides.  They just loved all the theming, nostalgia and just loved the whole vibe of the day.  There was so much to see and do in between the rides, so it felt like no time was wasted.  It was another bucket list item ticked off.