12 Parks in 16 Days - Disney Parks Around the World Trip Report

[Rimmit]

It is located right at the entrance to Disneyland Park. The Disneyland Hotel is directly opposite the station.

It is absolutely gorgeous at night. We enter into the lobby, and just like all the other lobbies this vacation it is cavernous and beautiful.

Tonight we booked a Cinderella Suite.

As you can imagine, with a name like Cinderella Suite, it’s themed to Cinderella.

It has a separate living room and bedroom. It’s a beautiful room and we wish we had more time to spend here.

Like many other hotels, they offer reusable bags and amenity kits and themed plastic cups to take home.

We hadn’t had dinner yet so we order some room service. While waiting for room service I head down to the laundromat as the next hotel does not have laundry. I hope to god that this one is relationship material unlike my last two laundromats.

I head down to the laundromat and they have a similar QR code system as the previous. The laundromat is very busy and I was lucky to find an empty washer to do our laundry. I start it up and head back to the room. Room service finally comes around 9:30PM and we eat. We just ordered some pizza and pasta so nothing fancy. It did come with a cream of corn soup that I found to be excellent.

Kendall then get’s Lucy ready for bed while I head back to the laundromat. Unfortunately, I can’t find my laundry. I was about 15 minutes late to move over our laundry as I was eating so I suspect someone moved it but as I don’t see it in any dryer or sitting in a pile around the room. There is a sign that says that laundry that is sitting unattended can be retrieved from bell services. I head to bell services and they have my laundry. I’ll definitely be do a better job of moving my laundry the moment it’s done as there definitely isn’t a grace period.

When I get back all the dryers are occupied but within 10 minutes one frees up. Thankfully the dryers here actually DRY and do it relatively efficiently, and within 30 minutes our small load of laundry was dry. I feel like I’m in laundry heaven. I head upstairs with the laundry. It’s been a long day, and tomorrow isn’t any shorter, so I get ready for bed and hit the sack at about 11:30PM.

Day 14, January 1st, 2025 Step Count – 24,849 Steps

Total Step Count – 233,188

 

[Rimmit]

Day 15 - Tokyo Disneyland
“There’s a great, big beautiful tomorrow!”

I woke up at 7:30 AM today which was the first day I actually slept a decent amount in a quite a while, and Lucy and Kendall get up shortly after. We all eventually take a shower and get ready.

Today rather than a fancy sit-down breakfast like yesterday, we opt to do the hotel buffet at the Sherwood Garden Restaurant. It’s a hotel buffet and very expansive and large. It reminded me of a buffet on a cruise ship to be honest in terms of the size and selection of foods. They have some cute Mickey plates I feel the need to use.

One of the problems we’ve been running into is that there just isn’t a lot of food available in the hotels after we get back from the parks at night. Our options are typically just room service or some snacks from the convenience store in the hotel if it’s even open. For this reason we decide to go ahead and hit up the convenience store for some Raman as a late night snack as sometimes we don’t make it to the store before it closes. They have a very large raman selection. We opt for the standard flavored Cup Noodle that we are familiar with.

I initially couldn’t figure out how they warm up the ramen they sell in the store as there is no microwave an any of the rooms. It then dawns on me the tea kettle is also used to boil water for the ramen, and not just for tea. I felt so stupid.

Then we head to the hotel gift shop to get our Vacation Package merch. The Vacation Package comes with 1 shoulder bags per person and 1 gift. We choose as our gift one blanket and two cushions.

In Japan people sit on the sidewalk for shows and parades rather than stand, so everyone brings a cushion or blanket to sit on. We also buy some Mickey knit hats and 3 magnets. It was only $73 dollars for all the stuff. In the US it would be at least $125 ballpark at least for 3 hats and 3 magnets and that’s probably underestimating.

Afterwards we pack up our room and stop by bell services and ask to transfer our luggage to the Hotel Miracosta. We then head to the park which is not even 100m from our hotel.

We cross the turnstiles and head to the wheelchair rental. As always it’s not far from entrance and there are ample wheelchairs lined up unlike at Disneyland Paris. The Tokyo prices could time to shock as a wheelchair rental is just 3.59! It’s cheaper than a cup of Starbucks coffee! An ECV was just 12.73 to rent but they were out. For comparison an ECV to rent for a day in the US is $60.

The World Bazaar is the equivalent of Main Street USA in Tokyo Disneyland, and unlike other Main Streets, this one is actually covered. While not as aesthetically pleasing as an open air Main Street, I do love the practicality of this.

As with all castle parks our first priority is our castle pic, so we march down the World Bazaar straight to Cinderella’s Castle.

I must say, I do prefer the original grey color scheme in comparison to the newer pink one that Magic Kingdom has. It just looks more classic.

We then head over to Fantasyland to do Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast. This is supposedly the BEST ride in all of Tokyo Disneyland and one of the best in the ENTIRE world. It has gotten rave reviews, so we are very excited to see this ride. I have avoided any and all spoilers, while Kendall has seen a handful of Tik-Tok videos.

Thankfully, we have have unlimited Premier Access to rides to rides today via our Vacation Package so any ride with a Premier Access line we can just do over and over again with minimal wait. Thank goodness, as the wait today was 180-220 minutes all day long.

We just would not be able to accomplish that much if we did not utilize some degree of line skipping.

The queue was beautiful, and felt like you were walking right into Beast’s castle.

It was themed incredibly well and the atmosphere really put you into the story. The wait was about 15 minutes to get to the preshow. The preshow took place in the grand staircase room.

Then you had about another 10 minutes or so in line after the preshow.

They had a variety of animatronics in the queue such as Lumiere and Cogsworth and used shadows as as well to convey the story.

The ride vehicles were super cute in that you boarded onto large size tea cups.

The ride itself is a dark trackless ride akin to Rise of the Resistance. The teacups have the ability to sway as well as move which is synchronized to a variety of shows scenes and music. This combination makes for an absolutely spectacular experience.

The story picks up from “Be Our Guest” and the ride incorporates many scenes from this point in the movie onward.

The ride definitely lived up to the hype and then some.

I absolutely loved it. The music, the show scenes, the animatronics, the special effects. It just all clicked and made you feel like you were part of the story.

The animatronics did not really stand out to me, but the show scenes and scale were just incredible. The combination of the practical effects, the music, and ride vehicle was just perfect. There is no dark ride in the US or really any park that could come close to competing in my opinion except for Rise of the Resistance, and I actually liked this better. Rise of the Resistance is really just an incredible testament to technology but this beats it for me in terms of sheer enjoyment.

 

[SkampyOne]

Thankfully my daughter doesn’t care. She’s on a tight budget given she is 9 years old, so the extra $30-$40 bucks to buy pins on property really sting her budget. I didn’t have time to go to eBay and buy a huge lot for cheap, and my daughter is not exactly a pin affficianado. I wanted to go to character warehouse but it is a madhouse around Christmas due to the parking situation. It would have taken half an hour minimum just to find parking at the outlets. She just needed SOMETHING to trade. Ironically, the majority of pins on the trading boards just so happened to be the ones available at the non official third parties. lol. So clearly every one has the same idea to get there collection off the ground.

Budget friendly - yes. Authentic - no. Sadly all the pins sold in the 3rd party stores off-site are fake and if that doesn't bother you, then it's even cheaper to buy them off e-bay. And that's why you see the same pins over and over on all the boards across the parks.

 

[Rimmit]

Budget friendly - yes. Authentic - no. Sadly all the pins sold in the 3rd party stores off-site are fake and if that doesn't bother you, then it's even cheaper to buy them off e-bay. And that's why you see the same pins over and over on all the boards across the parks.

My daughter could care less if they are authentic or not. She just needed something to trade and didn’t cost 14.99 per pin.

As I said in my post we woulda bought off eBay but I can’t overnight from eBay at that point as we needed them now.

 

[Rimmit]

Next up is Poohs Honey Hunt which is right next door.

We just used our Premier Access and the wait was not even 10 minutes after entering the line. They set the queue up as though you were walking between a bunch of pages of the books.

We didn’t know what to expect from this ride, but I must say we were very impressed. This was a trackless dark ride, and you board a honey pot as a ride vehicle.

It is hands down the best pooh ride we’ve ever been on, and somewhat similar to Beauty and the Beast at times.

Beauty and the Beast is just bigger, grander, and has better songs. I suspect they looked at this ride design and thought about how they could improve it even more and then decided to do that with Beauty and the Beast. I must say we all found having Pooh speak in Japanese to be quite jarring, as Pooh has such an iconic voice and hearing him in Japanese was just odd.

Haunted mansion is in Fantasyland here so we make a short walk to it next.

At this time it has a holiday overlay, Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare which features Jack Skellington. The preshow was changed to include Jack, and the whole queue was redecorated as well.

We’ve never seen the Disneyland Holiday overlay, but I’m betting this is likely very similar.

I know that the Disneyland overlay is somewhat controversial, but we enjoy it overall.

It is a pretty impressive overlay, and much more thorough than the Jingle Cruise or some other overlays we’ve seen over the years.

We head over to Adventureland next as we are starting to get pretty hungry and there is a quick service restaurant there that serves gumbo and we want to try it out. This is one of the busiest days of the year and I had been warned of the crowds by everyone, but to be honest it’s not any worse than Disney World crowds in my opinion. It is definitely crowded but I have seen Disney at Phase 4 capacity so anything compared to that feels light. It also helps that the Japanese are just more orderly than the US crowds and they are also just more respectful. Thus far in the time we’ve been in Japan we have seen zero “Karen” type moments, whereas in the US, at least once per day I typically see someone making a scene either with a cast member or other guest. On our way to Adventureland we notice everyone is sitting for the parade.

I read that for shows and parades everyone here sits, but it’s still neat to see in person. I really wish this was how things were in the US as it would make it so much easier for everyone to see. Also something we really noticed today is that there is no trash or food on the ground. Despite the obsession with popcorn, somehow Tokyo Disneyland has the most efficient cleaning crew ever. There is also no trash on the ground or gum either. In general the park just felt immaculately clean. What’s also odd, is that trash cans are few and far between unlike in the US. So despite the lack of easily accessible trash cans and a cultural obsession with Disneyland popcorn the parks are somehow notably cleaner and better maintained than the US parks.

We eventually get to Cafe Orleans for a taste of home.

Kendall is from New Orleans so she is somewhat skeptical that this is gonna be any good. While I stand in line for food, Kendall goes to a nearby popcorn stand to get our popcorn bucket included in our vacation package.

We order three bowls of gumbo, and also three soft drinks.

There was some confusion as included in our vacation package is unlimited nonalcoholic beverages in the park. You only need to show your beverage ticket. Apparently, the beverage ticket is also good soup and I did not know this. They thought I was trying to get 3 drinks and 3 soups for free, and I only thought the drink was an option, and was happy to pay for the gumbo. Eventually with some google translate they understood that I was happy to pay for the drinks and get the gumbo for free, and did not expect 6 free items. We also ordered a Mickey Cinnamon roll as a back up option in case the gumbo turned out to be a bust.

Believe it or not, but the gumbo was actually really good. It had a hint of some tomato in it that I’m we’re not used to in any gumbo we’ve ever had, but we all really enjoyed it. It was probably the best thing we’ve eaten in a park since leaving the US. It was really nice to eat something that wasn’t a burger, pizza, pasta or lounge food which has been our primary diet over the last two weeks. Lucy hasn’t been eating too great since we hit Asia so it was good to find something she liked. Of note the prices were very affordable with a cup of gumbo not even costing $5 USD.

 

[Rimmit]

After we are pretty close to Big Thunder Mountain, so we head toward it. On the way we pass by the Enchanted Tiki Room which apparently is run by Stitch here. We wished we had time to do it as Lucy love’s Stitch.

The queue and theming for Big Thunder Mountain is pretty identical to the US, but the track is not.

We found it pretty tame compared to other versions of Big Thunder Mountain.

We still do it twice because we have the Premiere Access and the line isn’t even 5 minutes via the Premier Access. The standby line is pretty intensive though extending far outside the attraction in the walkway area.

We then take a bathroom stop which just happens to be next to the Western Shootin’ gallery.

The irony here is that there is a 5 minute wait to pay 200 Yen for 10 shots. In the US, the WDW version was free, and there were so little playing it that it is now being removed and being replaced by a DVC lounge.

 

[distherapy]

Loving your report - thank you for taking us along on this incredible adventure!

 

[Rimmit]

Big Thunder Mountain is pretty near Splash Mountain so we then head over to Critter Country where it is.

The queue here is loaded from a cavern in the mountain which gives it more of a mysterious feel than the ones in the US.

Like all the Splash Mountains it starts with you climbing ascending the mountain. You get a real nice view of the park from the top.

We really miss Splash Mountain. After having just gone on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure 10 days ago, riding Splash Mountain now makes me realize how much better I like it in comparison to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.

It’s just as good as I remember it. While I enjoy Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the new song ending song, Special Spice, doesn’t hold a candle to Zip-a-Dee-Dooh-Dah.

Unfortunately, Lucy gets absolutely soaked. Luckily the weather today isn’t too cold, and her winter coat is waterproof, so she shakes off the water and dries up without too much issue.

Next up is Happy Ride with Baymax over in Tomorrowland so we have to trek back through Fantasyland. We pass by It’s a Small World, but sadly it is closed at this time most likely because they are installing the “I am Groot” overlay.

A short bit later we arrive at The Happy Ride with Baymax.

I was very skeptical of this ride as it’s basically a reskinned Alien Swirling Saucer’s. It has a consistent 80-120 minute wait the whole day so I’m curious as to why people are willing to wait this long for a ride that is basically in any basic amusement park.

I must say the ride is greater than the sum of its parts. The music is SUPER HAPPY, and a large number of the people there REALLY get into the music and start dancing. It’s really hard to be in this line and do the ride and be sad. It’s just a very fun and happy experience. We enjoy the ride about the same as Alien Swirling Saucers, which for us is not that much, but I must say the music and atmosphere is great and is probably the best part of the ride.

Star Tours is right next door so we head to it next and use our Premier Access.

The queue is just like all the other Star Tours.

Of any ride this is probably the most consistent in terms of theming and experience. The boarding area is totally different, felt way more sci-fi than the other boarding areas which can be pretty bland.

The ride is identical to the other Star Tours aside from it being in Japanese. Once we exit Star Tours we start to walk to Monsters, Inc. Ride and Go Seek. On the way we can see Space Mountain behind some barriers being deconstructed.

They are in the process of demolishing Space Mountain Tokyo and are going to rebuild a brand new version.

Monsters, Inc. Ride and Go Seek is an attraction unique to Tokyo Disneyland.

We use the Premier Access line which cuts down on the queue but we still have about a 15 minute wait. The queue is themed to the Monster’s Inc. headquarters, and is very well done.

This is a tracked dark ride where you board a Monsters, Inc. themed vehicle.

There are flashlights in the vehicle that you can shine one targets that activate them and cause them to move.

It adds some interactivity to the ride which elevates the experience so you aren’t just a passive observer. No score is kept, so it’s primarily to just add some interactivity.

 

[Rimmit]

It is a very cute ride, that even without the flashlight it would be a be pretty entertaining ride but the flashlight adds some interactivity.

For those that don’t feel like using the flashlight that’s fine as the ride is good without it. We all really enjoyed it. It’s not a ride I feel is so amazing that you instantly want to do it again, but I’d definitely want to do it at least once per trip.

At this point it’s about 1 hour till Reach for the Stars, the brand new nighttime spectacular so we decide to stake out a spot. One of the only benefits of having a wheelchair in the parks is there is typically a designated wheelchair seating area for the main shows. We eventually find a Cast Member, and with some Google translate they understand we are looking for the wheelchair seating. They then walked us to where the viewing area was, and it was a pretty nice spot just a little off center.

We are pretty hungry at this point and sticking with the theme of if it works, don’t fix it, Lucy and I walk to Adventureland to get gumbo again.

Lucy doesn’t like it as much as the first time as there is a little more tomato taste to it, but thankfully the cinnamon rolls taste identical to last time.

As we wait for the fireworks, everything just seems calmer compared to waiting for fireworks in the US parks. Maybe it’s the cold, but everyone just sits down and sticks to their space. There is no fighting over spaces, no arguments, it’s just people waiting to watch a show. It was the easiest time I’ve ever had waiting for a nighttime show by far.

The show was nice, but in all honesty given this was nighttime spectacular number five of the trip they are all starting to run together. It was also completely in Japanese except for the main theme song which I found odd, given the rest of the show and all the other songs were in Japanese. For that reason I just found it hard for me to really give it a review.

There were lots of movie clips including some from the Marvel movies. It was beautiful as all the nighttime spectaculars are with great projections and lighting. There really wasn’t too much fireworks though. I can’t speak to the narrative due to it all being in Japanese. From a gut feeling perspective, it was just ok for me in comparison to the other shows we’d seen this trip.

Afterwards we go stake out a spot for the night parade, Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights. Yes, that really is the name and it is a mouthful. This parade has rave reviews and many have stated it is the BEST Disney nighttime parade of all time. We decided to go sit somewhere in Fantasyland so afterwards we can head over to the Beauty and the Beast ride one last time before we leave as it was just incredible.

We pass by The Big Pop on the way.

This is the super famous popcorn shop we have read about, and Tik-Tokkers are always advertising. We figure we’ll go stake out a spot real quick and then I’ll head back and get some popcorn. They have a Strawberry Napoleon flavor we thought might be worth a try. So far this trip we’ve had roast beef, milk chocolate, and caramel.

We have not been adventurous nor willing to spend the time to get popular flavors such as soy sauce and butter, garlic shrimp, or curry. We are directed to the wheelchair area, and find a spot. I then head back to The Big Pop. The Big Pop is a nicely themed store devoted to popcorn and popcorn buckets.

It takes about 5 minutes to get into the building. Once I get inside I have an “Aha!” Moment in that The Big Pop is a take on The Big Bang!

I suddenly felt so enlightened and so stupid all at once. The line takes about 10 minutes once I enter the building. Unlike any other place in the park, they serve THREE types of popcorn here instead of one. This is crazy talk. I honestly don’t know what people do given they actually have to make a choice unlike every single other stand that only has one type of popcorn. Here they serve Strawberry Napoleon, Cheddar Cheese, and Salted Caramel. Aside from Strawberry Napoleon, these were the most normal flavors we have seen thus far in Tokyo. The Strawberry Napoleon, which is basically Neopolitan, is an exclusive to The Big Pop and cannot be found anywhere else.

They also sell a variety of popcorn buckets here. From what I can tell, it’s practically every currently available popcorn bucket. Like all popcorn stands there are no soft drinks or drinks of any kind available here. I then get back to our spot and Lucy is dead asleep on the ground.

We have a bit before the parade so we let her nap and eat the Strawberry Napoleon popcorn. It’s actually pretty good. It’s basically three flavors in one just like Neapolitan ice cream.

A random observation, but they stick glow sticks in the rope which is a nice safety feature.

Definitely helps keep people from clotheslining themselves on the rope as it is getting pretty dark at this point.

Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights then starts.

It has the classic electrical parade music much like Disney’s Electrical Sky Parade in Paris. It is absolutely incredible.

 

[Rimmit]

The floats are plentiful, have a lot of variety and are beautifully lit. The parade is VERY long, and might be the longest Disney parade in recent memory. They have a plethora of characters and pretty much cover nearly every era of Disney.

It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip, and we enjoyed it much more than Reach for the Stars. Once it ended we made a beeline for Beauty and the Beast.

Everyone has the same idea, as the lines always go down during the parade and everyone rushes to get in line before it get’s too long. Thankfully, with our Premier Access we don’t have to worry about the line growing too much.

The line goes quickly and we get on Beauty and the Beast one last time. It truly is a spectacular ride, and it only makes me wish they would make dark rides like this and Pooh’s Honey Hunt for the US as they are just so impressive. It’s sad we have no dark ride attractions on this scale for any of the classic movies in the US. The closest thing we have is Rise of the Resistance and it’s based on Star Wars and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure which is not nearly as good as either Pooh’s Honey Hunt or Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast.

At this point it’s getting pretty close to closing time so we start to head out. We walk past Monsters Inc. on the way out. I get a better view of the building at this point and notice it does pretty good job of looking like the HQ.

It’s a little congested in the World Bazaar, and this is probably the biggest crowd we’ve encountered in our time at Tokyo Disneyland thus far. Despite the heavy crowd it is very orderly.

We return the wheelchair just past the entrance.

After we return the wheelchair, we head to the monorail. It’s just a short ride and we arrive at the Tokyo DisneySea station where the Hotel Miracosta is.

Like every hotel so far, the lobby is of course absolutely beautiful.

Check in goes smoothly without issue, and amazingly our luggage is already waiting for us in our room. At the Disneyland Hotel we had to call bell services to bring it up, so this was a very pleasant surprise. We are very excited for this stay as for the first time in 4 hotels, we are going to stay in a room for longer than 1 night. This time we’re going to stay for 2 WHOLE NIGHTS. This was such a treat it felt like we were practically moving in. This greatly simplifies our morning routine as we don’t have to pack in the morning!!

 

[Rimmit]

The room we booked at the Hotel MiraCosta this time was a Venice Canal View room.

I really wanted a harbor view room, but this room was part of our Unlimited Premier Access Vacation Package and we were very lucky to just get the package as it is highly competitive to just book this Vacation Package. After having just been to Venice this July, we were not super impressed with the view, but I must say they did a pretty good job of simulating Venice.

The room was very nice and well themed with lots of Disney details.

Like all the other rooms we’ve had comes with the standard amenities such as a robe, amenity kit, hot water kettle, slippers and some bags.

Lucy then eats the ramen we bought earlier today as a late night snack. Notre Dame was initially slated to play today while we were at Disneyland, but due to the tragedy in New Orleans the game was delayed till tomorrow. For this reason, I am now getting up by 6AM to watch Notre Dame hopefully beat Georgia. It’s about 10:30PM so we all get ready for bed. I fall fast asleep with dreams of an Irish victory running through my head.

Day 15, January 2nd, 2025 Step Count – 18,315 Steps

Total Step Count – 251,503

 

[Rimmit]

The room we booked at the Hotel MiraCosta this time was a Venice Canal View room.

I really wanted a harbor view room, but this room was part of our Unlimited Premier Access Vacation Package and we were very lucky to just get the package as it is highly competitive to just book this Vacation Package. After having just been to Venice this July, we were not super impressed with the view, but I must say they did a pretty good job of simulating Venice.

The room was very nice and well themed with lots of Disney details.

Like all the other rooms we’ve had comes with the standard amenities such as a robe, amenity kit, hot water kettle, slippers and some bags.

Lucy then eats the ramen we bought earlier today as a late night snack. Notre Dame was initially slated to play today while we were at Disneyland, but due to the tragedy in New Orleans the game was delayed till tomorrow. For this reason, I am now getting up by 6AM to watch Notre Dame hopefully beat Georgia. It’s about 10:30PM so we all get ready for bed. I fall fast asleep with dreams of an Irish victory running through my head.

Day 15, January 2nd, 2025 Step Count – 18,315 Steps

Total Step Count – 251,503

 

[Rimmit]

Day 16 - Tokyo DisneySea Revisited
“Some dream it, some do it, some do both.” – Walt Disney

IT’S GAMEDAY!!! I woke up at 4:30AM because I am just so excited about the Notre Dame game. This is the biggest Notre Dame game since the 2012 BCS National Championship game in Miami. Kendall and I did attend that game, and it was a great time…. until the game started.

I can only hope and pray this game goes better than that walloping. To this day I still have PTSD from that disaster. I had already downloaded a VPN the night before and tested out the internet. The internet in our room is absolutely terrible and streaming is nearly impossible so I will need to watch elsewhere. I take a real quick shower as I will be watching the game in the lobby on my iPad.

I get to the lobby lobby and I am totally by myself as there is no one up at 6:00AM aside from Bell Services. I honestly can’t believe that for Notre Dame’s biggest game in 12 years I am watching it on an iPad in the lobby of a hotel in Tokyo Disneyland. I look up and say a quick Hail Mary and ask God to please help Notre Dame. As I do so I notice that the lobby atrium is absolutely stunning.

The game is intense but Notre Dame gains some momentum going into the half leading 13-3 and I head back to the room for a bit to check on Kendall and Lucy.

The internet is a little faster now and I start to watch it in the room. Midway through the 3rd quarter we head to our breakfast reservation at the buffet downstairs, Oceano. This is part of our Vacation Package and the reservation time was selected when we booked it 5 months ago well before the football season had even started. I then start streaming the game on my phone and listen to the broadcast via AirPods. The streaming is pretty inconsistent and that’s putting it nicely so I have my brother text me updates as to what’s happening.

The restaurant here is very nice and modern.

The buffet is pretty expansive and interestingly enough has a large number of lunch options despite it being 8:40AM.

I have some beef dish that tastes like braised beef and some Cocoa Krispies. I did eat them separately and not together in case you were wondering although that may be an experiment for tomorrow. We finish breakfast and head back to the room. Unfortunately the connection has slowed again so I finish watching the game in the hallway.

As long as Notre Dame wins, I don’t care where I’m watching the game.
Notre Dame ends up being victorious over Georgia in their biggest win in over 30 years so I am on cloud nine. I can’t think of a better way to start the day.

With the game over we start to get ready to go to the park. We look out our room window, and see the crowd is slowly starting to build.

We then head out to the park. Conveniently, we enter via the Hotel Miracosta park entrance we used the other night.

It is overcast and feels much colder today. The feels like temperatures were in the mid 30s Fahrenheit and this is probably the coldest we’ve felt since our first park morning in Orlando ironically. First thing we do is to go rent a wheelchair near the park entrance.

There are ample available and I continue to be shocked at the wheelchair pricing which is about $3.50 USD.

We didn’t take our Mount Prometheus picture the first day we were here so we go and do that first.

Mount Prometheus is the main icon of the park, and is home to two attractions. A fun fact is that it is the exact same height as Cinderella’s Castle rising to a 189ft.

Afterwards, Lucy is dying to go on “Whoop! Jump Scare!” AKA Journey to the Center of the Earth again so we head that way. We only walked by this area last time at night and it’s slightly disorienting as it looks totally different during the day.

It’s a 220 min wait right now, and we have never been more thankful to have the unlimited Premier Access.

We all absolutely love this ride, and have just as great time riding it for the second time.

The queue and theming is just excellent.

Even though it’s a dark ride there is a short outdoor section and the last time we did the ride it was nighttime so it was definitely a little different doing it during the day when you could see a little more. This is still one of our favorite rides this vacation which is saying a lot after 10 theme parks.

 

[Rimmit]

Day 16 - Tokyo DisneySea Revisited
“Some dream it, some do it, some do both.” – Walt Disney

IT’S GAMEDAY!!! I woke up at 4:30AM because I am just so excited about the Notre Dame game. This is the biggest Notre Dame game since the 2012 BCS National Championship game in Miami. Kendall and I did attend that game, and it was a great time…. until the game started.

I can only hope and pray this game goes better than that walloping. To this day I still have PTSD from that disaster. I had already downloaded a VPN the night before and tested out the internet. The internet in our room is absolutely terrible and streaming is nearly impossible so I will need to watch elsewhere. I take a real quick shower as I will be watching the game in the lobby on my iPad.

I get to the lobby lobby and I am totally by myself as there is no one up at 6:00AM aside from Bell Services. I honestly can’t believe that for Notre Dame’s biggest game in 12 years I am watching it on an iPad in the lobby of a hotel in Tokyo Disneyland. I look up and say a quick Hail Mary and ask God to please help Notre Dame. As I do so I notice that the lobby atrium is absolutely stunning.

The game is intense but Notre Dame gains some momentum going into the half leading 13-3 and I head back to the room for a bit to check on Kendall and Lucy.

The internet is a little faster now and I start to watch it in the room. Midway through the 3rd quarter we head to our breakfast reservation at the buffet downstairs, Oceano. This is part of our Vacation Package and the reservation time was selected when we booked it 5 months ago well before the football season had even started. I then start streaming the game on my phone and listen to the broadcast via AirPods. The streaming is pretty inconsistent and that’s putting it nicely so I have my brother text me updates as to what’s happening.

The restaurant here is very nice and modern.

The buffet is pretty expansive and interestingly enough has a large number of lunch options despite it being 8:40AM.

I have some beef dish that tastes like braised beef and some Cocoa Krispies. I did eat them separately and not together in case you were wondering although that may be an experiment for tomorrow. We finish breakfast and head back to the room. Unfortunately the connection has slowed again so I finish watching the game in the hallway.

As long as Notre Dame wins, I don’t care where I’m watching the game.
Notre Dame ends up being victorious over Georgia in their biggest win in over 30 years so I am on cloud nine. I can’t think of a better way to start the day.

With the game over we start to get ready to go to the park. We look out our room window, and see the crowd is slowly starting to build.

We then head out to the park. Conveniently, we enter via the Hotel Miracosta park entrance we used the other night.

It is overcast and feels much colder today. The feels like temperatures were in the mid 30s Fahrenheit and this is probably the coldest we’ve felt since our first park morning in Orlando ironically. First thing we do is to go rent a wheelchair near the park entrance.

There are ample available and I continue to be shocked at the wheelchair pricing which is about $3.50 USD.

We didn’t take our Mount Prometheus picture the first day we were here so we go and do that first.

Mount Prometheus is the main icon of the park, and is home to two attractions. A fun fact is that it is the exact same height as Cinderella’s Castle rising to a 189ft.

Afterwards, Lucy is dying to go on “Whoop! Jump Scare!” AKA Journey to the Center of the Earth again so we head that way. We only walked by this area last time at night and it’s slightly disorienting as it looks totally different during the day.

It’s a 220 min wait right now, and we have never been more thankful to have the unlimited Premier Access.

We all absolutely love this ride, and have just as great time riding it for the second time.

The queue and theming is just excellent.

Even though it’s a dark ride there is a short outdoor section and the last time we did the ride it was nighttime so it was definitely a little different doing it during the day when you could see a little more. This is still one of our favorite rides this vacation which is saying a lot after 10 theme parks.

 

[Rimmit]

Our next ride is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea which is also in the volcano.

While making the short walk I hear a guy yell “Go Irish!” as he sees my Notre Dame hat. I oblige him and yell “Go Irish!” right back. It’s great to know there are ND fans everywhere.

The wait for 20,000 Leagues is 80 minutes but we have the unlimited Premier Access and the wait isn’t even 10 minutes.

This is a dark ride that simulates going underwater whereas the original 20,000 Leagues in Magic Kingdom and Disneyland actually did take you underwater in a submarine. I’m assuming they made the change due to the amount of maintenance required for an underwater ride.

The ride vehicle is unique, in that you’re boarding a suspended submersible.

The seating inside is a little claustrophobic which definitely gives you that submersible feel. The scale of the show scenes is massive with an impressive amount of detail. Unfortunately, we don’t know Japanese so it is very tough to figure out the story but the scale and theming is absolutely top notch, and even without knowing the story we found the ride to be very enjoyable.

This area of the park definitely gives the feeling of being in the crater of a volcano with a lake in it. They have details everywhere, including a suspended vehicle that appears to be burrowing to the center of the earth.

Afterwards we head toward Mermaid Lagoon which is the kid’s area of the park.

We really don’t know much about this area as we I did zero research on it but it’s right next to the 20,000 League area so we head over to check it out. I didn’t realize it but Mermaid Lagoon is composed of an indoor and outdoor area. I originally only thought it was an outdoor area with small kiddie rides.

Apparently not. The indoor area is very large, impressively themed, and most importantly it is heated.

There is a theatre, a quick service restaurant, some kid’s rides, and a shop shaped like Monstro.

I honestly can’t think of a better place to shop than the inside of a whale. If I ever setup a store, that is without a doubt going to be my go to design.

There is also a large playground, Ariel’s Playground. Lucy really wants to go play for a bit so we take a short break. I was glad to see she still gets excited to see a playground as I know those days are sadly limited. The playground is incredibly well themed, and is probably the best themed playground I’ve ever seen. I think I still like The Boneyard at Animal Kingdom better, but in terms of sheer theming it’d be hard to beat this playground.

We were totally in shock just how big this indoor area is. We figured it’d be a throw away attraction akin to Dino-rama in Animal Kingdom. NOPE! The size and theming of this indoor space is quite incredible and there is nothing like this in Walt Disney World or Disneyland. Probably the closest thing would have been the Wonders of Life Pavilion or maybe Innoventions before they both closed. In general, from our time in DisneySea thus far the scale of everything is just BIGGER. This goes for not just the spaces but the rides as well. The only ride in the US that compares in scale to the newer rides in Tokyo would be Rise of the Resistance. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind would also qualify, but since it’s a roller coaster I don’t lump it in the same category as all the dark rides that Tokyo DisneySea has. It was almost as if they gave the Imagineers a nearly blank slate and unlimited budget when designing this park. The ONLY thing that felt like they cheaped out a little is probably Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival just because it’s sooo short.

Lucy finishes playing, and we grab a quick snack before we head out of Mermaid Lagoon. There was an ice cream stand inside with 4 possible ice cream bar options.

This is by far the most options we have seen from a snack stand ever in our time in Tokyo Disney Resort and were nearly paralyzed by the choices. We order a sea salt ice cream monaka and two tiramisu ice cream sandwiches.

The sea salt manaka was nothing special and neither was the ice cream sandwich, but it was ice cream so you really can’t go wrong. While we are eating we notice a sudden influx of people into the building. Apparently, for the first time this vacation it started pouring the rain while we were inside the Mermaid Lagoon. The rain was quick and only lasted 15 minutes, but it sent everyone scrambling inside which caused some mild chaos. By the time we were done eating our ice cream the rain had stopped, which continues our streak of not having been rained on this trip.

We then head over to Sinbad’s Storybook Voyage just across the way in the Arabian Coast.

Entrance to the Arabian Coast
There is no Premier Access for this ride but it’s just a 10 min line so no Premier Access is really needed.

This is a dark boat ride that is very similar to It’s a Small World in that it has a lot of small cute characters and there is a catchy song that plays throughout the entire duration of the ride.

 

[Rimmit]

Given everything was in Japanese we really aren’t entirely sure of the story. As best as I can tell Sinbad goes on a voyage and returns so it definitely lives up to the name, Sinbad’s Storybook Voyage. The ride was VERY long and the show scenes like everything in DisneySea had a very large scale about them and were very well done. The sidekick tiger, Chandu, was super cute as well and I’m sure he sells a fair amount of merchandise.

The animatronics are plentiful and very impressive. Tokyo DisneySea just seems to take proven formulas and just improve on them in every aspect, either by adding more of something, making it bigger, or just making it longer. The ride was so long I can honestly say I think I spent more time on the ride than in the line.

 

[Rimmit]

At this point we are in the corner of the park very close to Fantasy Springs and the Lost River Delta. We did all the Fantasy Springs rides twice two days ago so we decided to skip them for now and go back at the end of the day if we had time. So we went to the Lost River Delta and did Indiana Jones again. We use the Premier Access line and it’s much shorter today only took about 10 minutes. We find it ironic as the wait times are much longer today with Indiana Jones clocking in at 140 minutes but the Premier Access lines are shorter.

We all love this attraction and the moment we get off we decide to go right back into the queue and do it again. I mean why not? How often do we have the chance to do Indiana Jones as many times as we wanted? It really is a great ride with some really great thrills and effects. I’m so glad we still get to do it one last time in Anaheim. I still find it hard to believe it’s the exact same ride as Dinosaur. I’m so glad they are going retheme Dinosaur to Indiana Jones in Animal Kingdom.

On exiting the ride the weather clears up and the sun starts shining. It starts to warm up a just a little.

It’s time for lunch so we head over to Miguel’s El Dorado Cantina near Indiana Jones. We order some pork rolls, a churro, and some fries. The pork rolls ended up basically being rice with bacon rolled around it. It wasn’t bad. It was a little slimier in texture than I woulda have liked but it tasted about like what I’d expect bacon and rice to taste like.

We finish our food and walk toward Port Discovery. It has a bit of a steam punk vibe almost similar to Discoveryland in Disneyland Paris.

Port Discovery is a land that has Nemo & Friends Searider which is another ride we are able to access via the Premier Access line. It’s not more than a 5 min walk and we are there.

We don’t know much about this ride at all and haven’t heard much about it. That’s normally means it’s not super amazing but it’s also not super bad as you always hear about the extremes.

We enter the line and during the preshow it becomes obvious this is a simulator ride like Star Tours. The preshow is in Japanese but based on the videos it seems as though we board a submarine shaped like a fish and then the submarine is shrunk down to the size of a fish.

When we board the “submarine” we notice it’s MUCH bigger than other simulators.

This was definitely the largest ride simulator we’ve ever been on. The ride was also entirely in Japanese so not again not entirely sure of the story but execution was very good. They had some fun effects that separated it from Star Tours.

Afterwards we head on over to the Tower of Terror in the American Waterfront. We pass by a ride called Aquatopia on the way. It looked pretty fun. You board a floating craft and which is automated and it moves throughout the bay area, spinning and turning while you ride. We sadly did not have Premier Access for it and it was a 50 minutes wait at the time so we opted to skip it, but if we ever come back will definitely make an effort to do it. From my understanding you can get wet in the summer, but they reduce the splash elements in the winter for obvious reasons.

As well as continue our walk we spot some pretty impressive water art on the sidewalk as we continue walking toward the American Waterfront.

Just looking at the building from the exterior the Tower of Terror show building seemed much bigger than the US ones. It’s also much more elaborate in theming.

The queue inside was totally different as well.

The wait was 100 minutes but we use our Premier Access and it’s just a 10 minute wait. As is the case with all the preshows here it is in Japanese so we are not totally sure of the backstory. Unlike the US Tower of Terrors there is no Twilight Zone tie-in. From my best understanding there was a hotel owner named Harrison Hightower III and he collected artifacts and some were cursed.

There were a lot of these artifacts in the queue and preshow areas.

Interestingly enough, the preshow here is done by an actual live cast member and not a recording.

As for the ride, it is similar to the Tower of Terrors in Paris in that it just goes up and down and does not move through a track and you end in the same place you started. It was super fun as always lives up to the Tower of Terror standard. After doing all three Towers of Terror, I think the US may actually be our least favorite with Paris being first and Tokyo coming in second.

 

[Rimmit]

Nearby is Toyville Trolley Park that contains Toy Story Midway Mania so we go and use our Premier Access to bypass the line.

The queue here is similar in theming to all the other Midway Manias with the only difference being the queue is just one massive room rather than multiple rooms.

The ride is totally identical to the US version aside from it being in Japanese. I could at least could understand them counting down from 3 at the end of each round. Lucy normally isn’t a big fan of Midway Mania but today she got really into it, so we jumped back in line right after we finished. After the second time my arm felt like it was about to fall off.

Right outside the entrance they had some fun little free games for kids to play that stuck with the midway theme, so we played those for a little bit.

We then walked back to “Whoop! Jump scare!” AKA Journey into the Center of the Earth as we all wanted to ride it again. Interestingly enough, the Premier Access lines continue to be much shorter today but the crowd is definitely significantly higher than when we came on New Years Day two days ago. We’re not really sure why the Premier Access lines are so much more efficient today. The sun was setting at this point and the temperature was dropping fast.

There was a little extra time after we finished “Whoop! Jump Scare!” so we decided to do Frozen one last time. On the way, I snap a couple pics. I love nighttime pictures in the parks.

We get to Frozen and the Premier Access line extends outside the queue. So our luck with the shorter Premiere Access lines has ended. It ends up taking about 30 minutes to get through the line.

It’s now about 45 minutes till the nighttime spectacular, Believe: Sea of Dreams that is at 7:30PM so we go stake out a spot. At this point in the trip all the nighttime spectaculars are just running together but it has gotten really good reviews so we feel the need to watch it.

While we have had some terrible luck this vacation we had lucked out in one aspect in that the weather while cool had not been really cold until today. Ironically, up until now the coldest we had felt was the very first park morning in Orlando. We stop by a snack stand hoping there is some hot chocolate but not surprisingly all they have is a churro and some tea. We go ahead and get two churros.

It took a bit to figure out where to stake out a spot. Believe: Sea of Dreams is much like the Epcot nighttime spectaculars that take place in a lagoon, and the viewing area is basically any place around the lagoon. This makes for a large variety of viewing options each of which have their own advantages and disadvantages. We ended up choosing a spot opposite the Mediterranean Harbor sitting on some stairs that allowed us to not have to see over peoples heads. A lot of people recommended this area as they have projections on the Hotel Miracosta so from across the harbor you can get a great view of the projections. In retrospect I probably wouldn’t pick this spot again, as there was some minor obstruction from a ship on the left side which made for bad photography. While waiting for Believe: Sea of Dreams the temperature dropped into the mid 40s Fahrenheit with a mild breeze making the feels like in the high 30s Fahrenheit. Combining that temperature with just sitting still in the dark made for a very long cold wait.

Believe: Sea of Dreams was nice and like all the other nighttime shows in Asia it’s hard for me to give an accurate review as I don’t know Japanese so it’s hard for me to determine if the plot is coherent or if it’s just a random mishmash of songs and characters.

The production was top notch as always though as they had a large center piece with a ring like LED screen, large floats that also contained LED screens, pirates ships, fireworks, jet skis with stars, fountains, lasers, fireworks, projections, characters on floats, characters rising on columns from floats, and large set pieces floating through the lagoon all set to Disney music.

It was total sensory overload at times given the sheer number of different things going on. I had a very difficult time figuring out where to devote my attention. Should I look at the buildings? Should I look at the floats? What about the LED ring? Oh look characters! There goes a jet skit with a star on it! Squirrel!!! No, not really, but given all the set pieces I wouldn’t have doubt I missed one if there was one. The production was truly impressive and over the top.

It was fun to watch and I woulda appreciated it more if it wasn’t absolutely freezing.

Once the show ended the park was closing in about an hour. We had pretty much accomplished everything we wanted to do and were pretty tired and so we made our way to the entrance to drop off the wheelchair.

We walked to the Hotel Miracosta park entrance and returned to our room. It had been a long cold exciting day, especially with the Irish winning and moving into the semifinals of the playoff. Lucy had some late night ramen to try and warm back up, but she was so tired she fell asleep while eating it.

Thankfully, I managed to stay awake while eating my ramen and then went to bed.

Day 16, January 3rd, 2025 Step Count – 21,457 Steps

Total Step Count – 272,960

 

[Rimmit]

“Second star to the right and straight on ’til morning.” – Peter Pan

Today I woke up at 7:45AM and feel pretty good. Ironically my body is completely on Asia time just in time for us to leave Asia. This is where those days we lost due to the Air France debacle would have been nice to have back so we could have had more time in Asia without being jet lagged for the majority of our time.

Eventually we all wake up and shower. We take it pretty easy as our checkout time isn’t till noon so we aren’t in a rush for a change.

We still have one last breakfast at Oceano as part of our Vacation Package so we head down at 9AM.

I have some Cocoa Krispies again. Interestingly enough, they have these placemats for the kids that you can pop the characters up.

The characters then stare at you while you eat. I find it kinda cute, but also kinda odd.

I really wanted the beef but every time I went up it was out. It seemed to be a very popular item among the Japanese crowd. Also of note, every time we ate at a restaurant in Tokyo Disney Resort they placed this card on your table. I guess it’s to remind the European crowd that you need to be 20 years old and not 18 years old to have alcohol. They also seem to have a zero tolerance for drinking ANY alcohol and driving and not a blood alcohol level.

Once we finish eating we head back to the room and debate on what to do today. Originally our plan was to do Disneyland for half the day until we left for the airport, but after three straight full park days we decided we needed something a little less hectic. We look into going to the Sky Tower but it’s sold out for the day. One thing that was limiting us at this point was that we will have our luggage wherever we go so we need a place that has luggage storage. We look into some other options like some museums and other things but everything that had luggage storage was sold out, and everything that wasn’t sold out didn’t have luggage storage.

In the end we decide to head to Ikspiari and watch Mufasa. Thankfully, some of the movies playing are in English with Japanese subtitles and this was one of those. This allows us to just leave our luggage at the hotel and we can take the monorail to Ikspiari. We finish packing up and head out of our room. We sadly leave behind all our Vacation Package freebies aside from the blanket as we just don’t have enough room to take it with us.

As we walk to monorail station we get a good view of the hotel during the day. It’s gorgeous and I can’t even imagine the maintenance required for something this intricate.

We arrive at the monorail station and Lucy buys our monorail tickets.

Thankfully, the monorail is just a loop, so it’s even hard for us to get lost.

Ikspiari is the Downtown Disney area of the Tokyo Disney Resort. It’s a large indoor and outdoor complex with stores, restaurants, entertainment, and a movie theater. We get there and use the restroom. I haven’t spoken much about the restrooms in Japan, and I probably should. I guess it’s because growing up we had a bidet in our home and also had the same Japanese electronic bidet system on our toilets both growing up and currently in our home so it’s not really novel to me. The toilets in Japan all come with retractable bidet’s and dryers.

Another fun feature is that it also has a white noise machine for enhanced privacy.

Ikspiari was our easiest option logistically and at this point something easy was very welcome. We wander around and eventually find the movie theater. It’s located in an area themed to a theater district.

The movie isn’t till 2:30PM but we go ahead and buy the tickets for Mufasa. Figure it’s only more than fitting to see a Disney movie on our marathon Disney trip.

It’s about 2 hours till the movie so we decide to go shopping, or really what minimal shopping we can do given we only have carryons. We’ve left A LOT freebies behind this vacation just due to lack of available luggage space.

The Disney store is pretty close to the cinema so we decided to hop in and take a look.

It is just overloaded with cuteness.

Hands down one of my favorite parts of Japan is the kawaii culture.

Lucy begging for the Stitch. Not sure who is cuter to be honest.

It’s past lunchtime and we’re getting hungry and decide to eat before the movie. We were gonna hit up McDonald’s but it’s at the opposite end of the complex so we went to Chubby Airlines which was close by and seemed like a fast food kinda place.

The menu consisted mainly of chicken. We ended up ordering some chicken nuggets, fries and churros.

Much like every restaurant we have encountered in Japan, there is no ketchup available. They did have Mayonaise, spicy mayonaise, cheese and hot mustard as condiments for the fries and chicken. The fries were very long and quite possibly some of the longest fries I’ve ever eaten. The fries weren’t the best, so I guess there is no correlation between fry length and taste. The chicken was just ok as well.

 

[Rimmit]

“Second star to the right and straight on ’til morning.” – Peter Pan

Today I woke up at 7:45AM and feel pretty good. Ironically my body is completely on Asia time just in time for us to leave Asia. This is where those days we lost due to the Air France debacle would have been nice to have back so we could have had more time in Asia without being jet lagged for the majority of our time.

Eventually we all wake up and shower. We take it pretty easy as our checkout time isn’t till noon so we aren’t in a rush for a change.

We still have one last breakfast at Oceano as part of our Vacation Package so we head down at 9AM.

I have some Cocoa Krispies again. Interestingly enough, they have these placemats for the kids that you can pop the characters up.

The characters then stare at you while you eat. I find it kinda cute, but also kinda odd.

I really wanted the beef but every time I went up it was out. It seemed to be a very popular item among the Japanese crowd. Also of note, every time we ate at a restaurant in Tokyo Disney Resort they placed this card on your table. I guess it’s to remind the European crowd that you need to be 20 years old and not 18 years old to have alcohol. They also seem to have a zero tolerance for drinking ANY alcohol and driving and not a blood alcohol level.

Once we finish eating we head back to the room and debate on what to do today. Originally our plan was to do Disneyland for half the day until we left for the airport, but after three straight full park days we decided we needed something a little less hectic. We look into going to the Sky Tower but it’s sold out for the day. One thing that was limiting us at this point was that we will have our luggage wherever we go so we need a place that has luggage storage. We look into some other options like some museums and other things but everything that had luggage storage was sold out, and everything that wasn’t sold out didn’t have luggage storage.

In the end we decide to head to Ikspiari and watch Mufasa. Thankfully, some of the movies playing are in English with Japanese subtitles and this was one of those. This allows us to just leave our luggage at the hotel and we can take the monorail to Ikspiari. We finish packing up and head out of our room. We sadly leave behind all our Vacation Package freebies aside from the blanket as we just don’t have enough room to take it with us.

As we walk to monorail station we get a good view of the hotel during the day. It’s gorgeous and I can’t even imagine the maintenance required for something this intricate.

We arrive at the monorail station and Lucy buys our monorail tickets.

Thankfully, the monorail is just a loop, so it’s even hard for us to get lost.

Ikspiari is the Downtown Disney area of the Tokyo Disney Resort. It’s a large indoor and outdoor complex with stores, restaurants, entertainment, and a movie theater. We get there and use the restroom. I haven’t spoken much about the restrooms in Japan, and I probably should. I guess it’s because growing up we had a bidet in our home and also had the same Japanese electronic bidet system on our toilets both growing up and currently in our home so it’s not really novel to me. The toilets in Japan all come with retractable bidet’s and dryers.

Another fun feature is that it also has a white noise machine for enhanced privacy.

Ikspiari was our easiest option logistically and at this point something easy was very welcome. We wander around and eventually find the movie theater. It’s located in an area themed to a theater district.

The movie isn’t till 2:30PM but we go ahead and buy the tickets for Mufasa. Figure it’s only more than fitting to see a Disney movie on our marathon Disney trip.

It’s about 2 hours till the movie so we decide to go shopping, or really what minimal shopping we can do given we only have carryons. We’ve left A LOT freebies behind this vacation just due to lack of available luggage space.

The Disney store is pretty close to the cinema so we decided to hop in and take a look.

It is just overloaded with cuteness.

Hands down one of my favorite parts of Japan is the kawaii culture.

Lucy begging for the Stitch. Not sure who is cuter to be honest.

It’s past lunchtime and we’re getting hungry and decide to eat before the movie. We were gonna hit up McDonald’s but it’s at the opposite end of the complex so we went to Chubby Airlines which was close by and seemed like a fast food kinda place.

The menu consisted mainly of chicken. We ended up ordering some chicken nuggets, fries and churros.

Much like every restaurant we have encountered in Japan, there is no ketchup available. They did have Mayonaise, spicy mayonaise, cheese and hot mustard as condiments for the fries and chicken. The fries were very long and quite possibly some of the longest fries I’ve ever eaten. The fries weren’t the best, so I guess there is no correlation between fry length and taste. The chicken was just ok as well.