Sonia and I took the ITT bus to Tokyo Disneyland on Wednesday. Tokyo Disney is on the southeast side of Tokyo. It is very near the Narita airport. The bus ride was a little over an hour. We left the main base at 7:30 am and arrived shortly after the park opened. Our timing was good. We went on a weekday during the week when school resumed after a long break for most local children. Honestly, I would describe the park as having an average sized crowd.
To prepare for our visit, we both downloaded a couple apps to help us track the wait times at each ride. Most importantly the rides with the Fast Pass option. Throughout the day, I relied on the “Wait Time 100” app to check the status of various rides. It was nice because it also told you the ticketing time for the Fast Pass. We were able to four of the seven open Fast Pass available rides. (Pooh’s Hunny Hunt was closed.) We rode: Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Star Tours, and the Haunted House.
The Fast Pass option allows you to skip the line and on average made each ride experience only about 20 minutes compared to the 180-minute line. It was well worth it. Knowing the park a lot better now and the demand for different rides, I could plan my next visit a lot better. For one, Splash Mountain has a single rider option. If you tell the Cast Members you are a single rider, they will let you go through the Fast Pass line. We did this and ended up being able to sit together anyways. Obviously, this wouldn’t work if you have young kids or a large party. We rode Splash Mountain first and before we grabbed a Fast Pass from another ride. This cost us some valuable time (haha). In the end, we rode plenty of rides. Including Pirates of the Caribbean, Alice’s Tea Party, and Mickey’s PhilharMagic. Plus, we walked around Tom Sawyer Island and the Swiss family Treehouse. I set my expectation to only ride two of the major rides and as a result, I was pleased with my Tokyo Disneyland ride experience.
Food is another issue within the park. There are several sit down style restaurants and typically a long wait to be seated. We decided to pack snacks and grab food at the various “street vendors” throughout the pack. After visiting Tom Sawyer Island, we arrived at Camp Woodchuck.
There was no line for the food and so we decided to eat. It was about 11:45, putting us ahead of the lunch rush. We went to the “Camp Woodchuck Kitchen” for lunch.
I ordered a maple chicken sandwich on waffles set. A set is the Japanese way of saying meal deal. The set included fries and a drink. The sandwich was messy and delicious.
For dinner, we made a quick stop for a Mickey Mouse steam bun. Yum and kawaii!
The other must have with respect to food is the popcorn. There are a variety of flavors and containers. A different container is sold with each flavor. Sonia went with the R2D2 container with soy sauce popcorn.
I finally decided on a Mr. Potato Head. Mainly because I love the commercial of Mr. Potato Head discovering Mrs. Potato Head in the pantry eating potato chips. “But, you’re a potato!” Haha anyways, it took us forever to find the Mr. Potato Head container and when we did, the cart was serving chocolate popcorn. Yuck. I decided to ask for just the container and I would go to another spot to buy the flavor I wanted, curry. Turns out, they will give you a popcorn voucher! Perfect! Curry it is!
The container has a strap to hang around your neck enabling you to snack and still walk around. Brilliant.
I must also address my Mickey Mouse sweatshirt. Long story short, I got really cold and needed another layer. And who doesn’t want a sweatshirt with Mickey ears?
The park was decorated for Easter. There were cute eggs everywhere.
The castle didn’t disappoint either.
The funniest part was hearing the tune to so many songs we know and yet not knowing the words because it was being sung in Japanese. Probably my favorite was on the Star Tours ride, hearing Yoda speak in Japanese. I couldn’t stop giggling.
Finally, I must address how cute so many people dressed to come to the park. Matching outfits were everywhere! Kawaii!!
The park is a lot smaller than the U.S. Disney parks. None the less, we walked over 22,000 steps according to the “health” app on my iPhone. Not too shabby for a full day of fun at the happiest place on Earth!