Tokyo Disneyland

We finally made it to Tokyo Disneyland!  

Because of Covid the only way we could purchase tickets was by paying to also stay a night in the hotel.  I hated spending a ton of money to stay in the Disney hotel only an hour away from our house.  We even had to get two rooms, which is not my favorite.  It really doesn't make sense, but I've been trying for almost a year for a way around it and I couldn't.  Everyone on base, also agrees this is just what we have to do.  I gave in because I really wanted to go now, while they are limiting the number people in the park.  The kids loved running around the hotel and watching Disney shows in Japanese late at night.

Our first ride was the Toy store one.

One really cool thing about going in October is that the Japanese people get really into dressing up.  Not just the kids.  In fact the park is mostly full of adults.  There were families there, but there were way more adult only groups then groups with kids.  I think this clock and candlestick were pretty good.  There were tons of very elaborate and expensive looking costumes.  Calista kept pointing at them and saying who was the real princess.

Penelope, Calista, and Beatrix dressed up.  I loved watching them run around in their costumes.

Before we went the weather said it was going to rain.  We brought our coats and everything, but it never rained.  The weather was actually perfect.  I felt great in a sweater, and Bob thought short sleeves were adequate.

Beatrix absolutely loved the animals in costumes.  In fact she loved the rides as well.  Calista was pretty scared of most rides.  There were lots that Beatrix loved but Calista deemed them too fast and scary.  Calista only seemed to like the slow boat ride type ones.

Its a small world was her favorite.

This guy had so many bears I figured it was worth a picture.

It was really nice that the park wasn't crazy crowded.  We were able to do all the rids.  Space mountain was a favorite and I think the kids said they rode it nine times.  There were a couple 30 minute waits, but the rest were about five.  It really makes a huge difference.  Normally at theme parks we spend hours just waiting in line for a short ride.  We are getting a little spoiled with our wait times.  That is ok, we have been getting all of the theme parks out of our system now.

It was a great day and I'm glad we are fortunate enough to be able to do this for our kids. 

DisneySea

We made it to DisneySea!  I've been wanting to pretty much since we moved to Japan and we finally made it happen.  It was amazing!

Here we are lined up and ready to go in.  Notice Tangled behind me?  We saw tons of adults dressed up in full Disney costumes.  

They even had a few Halloween decorations up.  For those who don't know, DisneySea is a one of a kind Disney theme park located in Tokyo.  It is similar to Disneyland but has more of a water theme, where Disneyland is centered around the castle.  We didn't get wet on any rides or anything like that.  But there is a big lake in the middle and a big focus on the Little Mermaid and other water Disney movies.

 I'm pretty sure Penelope and Scarlett wanted this next picture to be our house.

There were so many rides that we did that I'm not even posting on here.  We all got shrunk for the first time on the Finding Nemo ride.  We also went on a submarine and drove away from a boulder with India Jones.  And we went to Venice to ride a gondola.

There were a few times that we had to split up because Beatrix and/or Calista weren't allowed on the rides.  That was a little bit of a pain because we couldn't all be together the whole times.  But between Bob, Talitha, and I we made it work.  In fact I think we did everything we wanted to.

Calista and Talitha took a break while the rest of us explored a ship. 

Tucker claimed he was doing research because he is currently in the play "The Little Mermaid."  He has several parts including a sailor.

Beatrix was a great companion and rode along with me and Bob the whole time.  I got the fun job of nursing her while in line for the Toy Story ride, and a few others as well.

The Toy story ride was pretty fun.  I remember waiting in line forever for this ride at Disneyland, but with the fast passes it wasn't bad at all.

 We rode the railway around the park, and also took a boat from one section to another.

 We didn't wait in line to meet any characters, but did happen to run into Jack Sparrow.

Duffy was a huge deal there.  I had never heard of him before but we saw many people carrying around all sizes of this Duffy bear.  I think Scarlett wanted one, but wasn't willing to pay for even the small one.  I can't remember the price but I do remember they had a large one for about $500.

Here we are in front of one of the kids favorite rides.  I had to beg and plead Scarlett to go on the ride.  We were already in line when she started crying and I had missed the last ride and did not want to miss this one either.  It was a roller coaster that went upside down.  In the end she did it.  Everyone loved the ride except for her.  Actually Scarlett and Calista seemed to like the calm smooth rides and Tucker, Penelope, and Leon liked the scarier/bigger rides.

I had to post this next picture of Beatrix and I.  It was so crazy that they kept making me take her out of the carrier for the rides.  There is no way that my trying to hold her on the seat next to me is safer than her being strapped to my chest.

 Talitha bought ice cream for everyone.

I didn't get a picture of it but the Tower of Terror was my favorite ride.  It was a little short, but pretty fun!  I heard Journey to the Center of the earth is a good ride, but that one was down for maintenance so we will have to be sure to ride that next time.

Overall it cost a lot to get tickets for our family to go to a theme park like this and it can be hard to spend so much money on just one day.  But on the other hand we had a blast and I know this can be the type of thing kids remember.  I want to go there at least one more time before we leave Japan and we will be going to Disneyland Tokyo as soon as we get a chance!