Christmas Eve at Tokyo Disneyland

This year we spent a magical Christmas Eve at Tokyo Disneyland. The decorations were beautiful, and it was a great chance to do something special for the holiday. We even spotted a snow-covered Mt. Fuji on our way into the park!

In addition to the holiday decor throughout the park, the Christmas parade was really fun. We saw all of little man's favorite classic characters, and even saw Santa at the end. Plus, some of the floats had "snow" coming from the top, giving the illusion of a light snow flurry on a 50 degree day.

It's a Small World was decorated for the holidays, inside and out.

A view of the park from the platform for the Western River Railroad.

We had dinner at the Queen of Hearts Banquet hall, immersed in one of my favorite movies- Alice in Wonderland.

The castle was dressed up to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the park opening.

We ended our day with the Main Street Electrical Parade before taking the trains back home.

Hope your holiday was full of warmth and joy!

荒川遊園 Arakawa Amusement Park

 

 My family arrived in Tokyo late last week! We've spent a fantastic few days exploring local sites and adventuring around the city. Our first day out was at Arakawa Amusement Park, a small kids park that is close to our apartment. This was a great way to spend our little dude's birthday- it is affordable and small enough in size to be accessible, and contains lots of fun rides for kiddos. The Ferris wheel had a great view of the city, including the Sky Tree.

 

 

There were a variety of small rides such as JR Trains, Thomas trains, bullet trains, and Japanese cartoon characters like Anpanman and Doraimon. The park also had bumper cars, coffee cups (like the Disney teacups), a small train ride, a small roller coaster, a sky bike, some games, a fishing pond, and a small petting zoo/animal area. We enjoyed watching the monkeys for a while, as well as the meerkats. For a full review of the park in English, click here.

 

 

 

 

 

There was also an indoor area with a train display where kids could drive a train on the huge model railway. Needless to say, this was a hit with our family.

 

 

What I really loved about the park was the old school feel. It was clean and well maintained, but there weren't too many screens or flashy rides- just simple enjoyments. It reminded me of the kids amusement parks I grew up with in Chicago- Santa's Village and Kiddyland. While I really have no way to judge what those were *actually* like, I got the same vibe from the Arakawa Amusement Park- happy. I'm sure many afternoon trips to Arakawa are in our future.

Disney World!!

 

 This post is over a month late... but it's fun to relive the memories of an amazing week at Disney World on this cold February day. We spent the most fantastic week at the parks in early January- Epcot, the Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. We also enjoyed a warm day at Typhoon Lagoon and a few evenings at Downtown Disney. There were so many favorite moments, it's hard to capture the week in one post. I think seeing the parks through the eyes of a three year old was definitely a highlight. It was also a great time for Joe to spend a week there, previously he had only been for two days when we were in college. Being with my parents was also a lot of fun, it was neat to relive memories from my childhood with them while sharing the experiences with our kiddo. 

Cheers from Epcot/Germany~

 

We were fortunate enough to stay at the awesome Art of Animation Hotel. The hotel had four areas- Little Mermaid, Lion King, Nemo, and Cars. We stayed in the Cars area- which was so cool. Everything was based around Radiator Springs, the fictional Route 66 location of the movie. All of the details are what make Disney so fantastic, and this hotel definitely had the details- the Cozy Cones (like in the film), the life-sized characters, even the room decor, complete with traffic cone bedside lamps.

A highlight of my childhood, and of every visit, the Main Street Electrical Parade. Greatest parade music EVER.

 The Japan pavilion at Epcot! Fun!

 

Meeting the characters was definitely a highlight for the munchkin.

  

Flip flops in January? Yes please.

 

The marketing bit about happiest place on Earth is really not that far off. We had many great experiences and were so pleased with the service and ease of the trip. From the airport bus that played classic cartoons to the bus driver who went out of his way to send the collectable transportation cards to our hotel room when he ran out, to the operator of the steam train at the Magic Kingdom who let the munchkin say "all aboard" in seeing his excitement for trains. And a shout out to my high school friend Julia who works at Disney and had one of the clowns from her show address our kiddo by name. When they say magic, it's no joke. Things were so smooth and the entire experience of staying on property was very well thought out.

 

I think after such a wonderful week of characters, rides, swimming, good food, and amazing experiences, we are all scheming about our next trip!

 

Tokyo Disney Sea 東京ディズニーシー

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On Sunday we returned to Tokyo Disney to visit Tokyo Disney Sea. This park is unique to Japan and is based around themed ports.
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We headed straight for the back of the park to the 'Lost River Delta', which is themed after Mexico. Our first goal was to get a fastpass for the Indiana Jones ride, which we did. Here I am infront of the pyramid that houses Indiana Jones.
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Our next stop was the Raging Spirits roller coaster, which is themed after an archaeological dig. This was very cool, and even the line kept us entertained with many things to look at. The most amusing part however, was probably at the begining of the line, as we walked past the two staff members who held the height restriction pole (to make sure kids are tall enough to ride). One of the staff members stopped Joe and asked his height. Seeing our complete confusion they told us that there is a height limit for the ride! They measured to be sure that Joe could fit, as riders have to be under 190 centimeters. He fit (though not by much), and once again his height was a source of amusement/interest.
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One of the most interesting parts of Disney Sea was the elaborate created landscapes. Here is the Triton's Kingdom area of the park, themed after the Little Mermaid.
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Joe in the Mysterious Island area of the park. This steam-punkesque area included the awesome Journey to the Center of the Earth ride, based on the Jules Verne novel. The line for this ride was inside a 'cave' and included making your way through a 19th century science lab, going down into the earth in a 'terravator' and eventually boarding very neo-Victorian cars that took riders through the layers of the earth, shooting out of the side of the volcano at the end.
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With the Mediterranean Harbor behind us.
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Entering the American Harbor area of the park.
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Lunch at the Teddy Roosevelt Lounge on the huge ship that is part of the American Harbor area.
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The entrance to the Arabian Coast area, where we had some fresh juice and a snack of Black Pepper flavored popcorn.
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Dinner of fresh tortillas and other yummy Mexican food accompanied by live music.
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Back by the American Harbor area, where our last ride of the day was the Tower of Terror (on the left). So scary!
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Gelatto and cappucino in the Mediterranean Harbor to finish off the day, you can see the volcano of Mysterious Island in the background.

Disney Sea was a great park, and had lots of fantastic invented landscapes to marvel at. On a Sunday of a three-day weekend though, this park was crazy-crowded. While we were able to use the fastpass on some rides, and got lucky happening upon Journey to the Center of the Earth immediately after it was re-opened after an hour of breakdown (and not having to wait in line), the lines and crowds were a bit much to take. Disneyland sold out tickets early in the day, and it seemed that Disney Sea was sold to capacity as well. I would like to return on a less crowded day, but still had a great time. I thought it was really neat that the park is located right next to the real sea, so from time to time you get a seaview, and you generally get the feeling that you are on the edge of land. A very cool place to spend the day!
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Tokyo Disneyland 東京ディズニーラント

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The first weekend of November was a three day weekend and the start of a week of election and birthday festivities. We headed up to Tokyo on Friday night and spent Saturday at Tokyo Disneyland. Here's Joe at the front gates of the park.
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Goofing around with Robin Hood.
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The Cinderella Castle.
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Walt Disney statue.
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Lovely topiary.
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2008 is the 25th anniversary of Tokyo Disneyland, so there were lots of banners and anniversary souveniers to be found.
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After riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad with my favorite Country Bear Jamboree character, Big Al!
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Joe hitching a ride after Splash Mountain.

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After riding Pirates of the Caribbean.

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In Adventureland.

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Evening...

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Spinning around on the Alice in Wonderland Teacups.....

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.... whhhhiirrrrrlllllyyyyyyy.......

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The Main Street Electrical Parade! My favorite!

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More parade... I really love the Cheshire Cat.

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Toy Story

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Pete's Dragon, another childhood favorite.

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Joe at the entrance to Tomorrowland, you can see Space Mountain in the background.

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At Star Tours, the Star Wars ride.

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Leaving Disneyland for the day.

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We took the train back to our hotel after a really fun day. Tokyo Disneyland is quite similar to the two Magic Kingdom parks in the U.S., but with a few minor differences. We really enjoyed the Haunted Mansion, which was themed after The Nightmare Before Christmas for the period inbetween Halloween and Christmas. I was a little bit dissapointed that the Tiki Room had been changed to include Stitch (as in Lilo and Stitch), as I love the cheesy classic songs from the original. Seeing the Johnny Depp character inserted into Pirates of the Caribbean was humerous. And all through the day we were amused by the half-English half-Japanese versions of the theme songs that accompany the rides and parades (as in, 小さいの世界、It's a small world....). The park had excellent food as we expected, and the lines for rides weren't so bad for a Saturday on a three-day weekend. More from our weekend is coming soon!