An Asian Disney and Universal Adventure - Trip Report COMPLETED 6/23

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 12 - Part 5 - Blue Hour

After the Parade we decided to head out into Disney Town for an early dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (we preferred this to the counter service options in the park, and decided against having Chinese at the Wandering Moon Cafe, the only other table service restaurant in the park). We timed it well, as by the time we returned to the park blue hour was settling over everything! We decided to focus on shots of Gardens of the Imagination during this wonderful Blue Hour. Most of these shots were hand held, as it was easier and there was still enough light. We were LOVING the beautiful water reflection shots we could get in this area though!

































We managed to catch the last little bit of light going down behind the castle, it was beautiful!





We moved into Fantasyland to take night shots in the only location we hadn't really paid too much attention to at night.





Unfortunately these shots were a little uninspired and there were still way too many people around!





Peter Pan still had a 90 minute wait, so we never did get to ride that one again!



See, people everywhere!



We gave up on shots of Mickey Avenue, knowing that there would be a constant stream of people between now and the fireworks, and we really couldn't be bothered closing down the park to get the empty shots! These were the only two we really got...





At this point it was about 1.5 until Ignite the Dream was due to start, and we knew we had to find a spot and get settled in such a way that people wouldn't knock the tripod and camera equipment out the way muscling for a spot at the last minute. We didn't even know if this was possible, but we decided to try...stay tuned to find out if we did or not!

Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 12 - Part 6 - Igniting the Dream again, our farewell to Shanghai Disneyland

So, we managed to find a spot across the water in Gardens of the Imagination perfect for us, and our tripod. It was right in the corner of the fenced boardwalk area, and there was a bin behind it, so Jared was wedged in between the railing, which covered two sides, and the bin, which covered the third, and me - who sat (and later stood) determinedly to his left, blocking any and all people who wanted to get close to him and his tripod!

There were better angles further around the railing, but we thought having the tripod in such an open area when we knew how pushy the Chinese crowds could be would be a recipe for disaster.

This was the full angle we were able to shoot:



Unfortunately, Jared decided he didn't want people's heads in his shot, so he zoomed in until he couldn't see the railing for this composition:





It does mean we didn't get the full reflections in the water sadly, and later on Jared realised he should have probably widened his shot to incorporate the widest angle possible, but live and learn!

It was a long wait having showed up 1.5 hours before the show was due to start, but we had plenty of entertainment. About an hour before the show started a little girl was placed by her father on the pilon next to the bin behind Jared, I guess so she could see better. I'm sure the CM's would have put a stop to this immediately in the US parks due to safety concerns, but no one said anything here. Anyway, Jared was just checking his settings and waiting when he heard a confident voice from behind him say "hello, my name is Tina, I'm 8 years old and I'm very outgoing". The gorgeous little girl, whose English was pretty amazing, had decided she wanted to introduce herself to us, and try out her English, which she later told us she'd been learning for about 3 years. You could tell she was a very intelligent and outgoing child, she chatted with Jared and I about all sorts of things, she even asked Jared if he could advise her which of two English phrase was correct in a certain situation. We learned her family was at Shanghai Disney for a holiday, and this was her third day in the park and she was loving it! She was so adorable, probably the cutest kid I've ever met in a Disney park! During the show she was confidentially singing along to Frozen (so adorable) and just seemed so happy to have been at the park. After the show was done we gave her Dad a smile and a wave (I'm not sure how much English he understood) to try and let him know how adorable his daughter was, he was smiling a lot so I think he realised she'd made quite the impression on us. This was honestly one of the highlights of our time at Shanghai Disney, getting to chat with a little girl from a completely different culture about her life and her hobbies, it was really a wonderful experience. Of course, we still had to deal with the pushing crowds once we were only a few minutes out from the show. I was resolutely holding fast to the railing in front of me, trying to make sure Jared and the tripod had plenty of room, and my head wasn't in his shot, and a mother sent her son to stand between my arms! Either way it didn't bother us as much after our interaction with Tina.

When the show started I was enraptured again. I was actually wondering if this would be a good spot to watch the show from (I knew it would be a good spot to capture the fireworks from) but it actually was a great place to see the show from. You aren't as close to the projections, but you can still easily make them out. You get a better overall view, and don't have to fight with throngs of people in for a decent view! We loved the show, and still managed to get some nice fireworks shots, even if our composition wasn't perfect.











I think this one is my favourite!









Or perhaps this one!





And that ends our time at Shanghai Disneyland. It is an incredible park, and while we did find the crowds and crowd behaviour a challenge at times, we still had a fabulous time enjoying everything Shanghai Disneyland has to offer. The state of the art technology employed in it's attractions, the detail and craftsmanship put into the park is all incredible! The only thing I wish they would improve here is the system for distribution of Fastpass, and entry to the park, all of which are designed in such a way that they don't adequately handle the crowds that descend upon the parks during their busier times of year. Still, with a good plan, and early arrival, we managed to do and see plenty and loved every moment of experiencing a brand new Disney park for the very first time.

Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 15 - Part 1 - Dark Days, but we made it to Universal Japan

You may have noticed that for this next part of my report I've skipped ahead a few days. This is due to the fact that I came down with a very terrible chest infection, which knocked me out for about a week of our trip! I was still able to do a few things in Osaka and Kyoto, but nowhere near as much as planned, as I had to be inside resting most of the time. It was awful, and something I think I caught on the plane from Shanghai to Osaka. We had a few travel woes getting to Japan too. Firstly, we had to actually fly from Shanghai to Hong Kong and then Hong Kong onto Osaka, so we had a full day of travel on the 17 January. There was also only 1 hour between our two connecting flights when we landed in Hong Kong (don't you hate how airlines do this!) and then our flight from Shanghai was delayed by half an hour so when we landed in Hong Kong we only had 30 minutes to get from the gate we landed at, through security, all the way to the other side of the airport in order to make our flight. We did make it (just) but our bags didn't, so when we arrived at Osaka airport we had to fill out documentation RE missing bags! We weren't too panicked, we assumed they'd just be arriving on whatever the next flight to Osaka from Hong Kong was, and sure enough the airport delivered our bags to our hotel the next morning, but we were without our PJs and toiletries the first night. Still the hotel had a few things we were able to use!

Once we had arrived in Osaka, and sorted out the issues with our bags (at least we didn't have to cart them on the train) we had to catch the train out to the Universal Hotel Port where we were staying. It took a while, and as a result we didn't arrive until late in the evening, about middnight. It also involved waiting on a train platform in Osaka in the freezing cold (all their train platforms are outdoors) as we missed one train and another didn't arrive for 30 minutes (a rare occurrence in Japan, as mostly the trains came every 5-10 minutes). I could tell, when we were sitting on that train platform, that I was started to get sick as a hacking cough overtook my body, but I was still hopeful a good nights sleep would heal all. Unfortunately, when I woke the next more it was incredibly clear to me that I was very sick (in fact I had a bath and almost passed out after getting out of it) and that I had to stay in bed on the 18 January. We had planned to do some siteseeing around Osaka that day but that had now gone out the window. Jared found me plenty of green tea, and some soup, and I rested and watched TV shows in bed.

Our hotel in Osaka was great, I loved the heated toilet with a toilet cover that automatically raised and lowered when you approached and left it (so good when you are sick not having to bend to do that!). Out view was awesome too!









The next morning we were heading to Universal Studios Japan, and I prayed I would wake feeling better and ready to go. This was not to be I'm afraid, but I was determined to make it to the park an hour before park opening and to tour the park as planned! We had bought Express Passes for our day at Universal Studios Japan, which included entry to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and that had been expensive, and I wanted to make sure of all the money we had spent. This passes were for use between 12pm and 2:40pm, so we thought we'd try last until then. I also really wanted to make it to evening so we could get some night photos, as I knew if we left the park we couldn't get back in later (a stupid rule that I've not heard of anywhere except Universal Studios Japan, but if you exit the park you cannot re-enter on the same days ticket, but need to purchase a new ticket, so going back to your hotel for a rest in the middle of the day is not an option!).

Anyway we arrived early and waited to be let in. There was no rope drop, the park opening at 9am as advertised, and we decided to head to the Hollywood Dream Coaster first. They have test seats out the front of all their coasters and they asked me to try it, and I found that I just couldn't get the lap bar down! This has never happened to me at a theme park before, and it was a little embarrassing to say the least, but be aware if you are bigger and go to Universal Japan that their seat constraints are TINY! I was able to get on everything else ok, though the staff made me check the test seats every time. I was already feeling sick and miserable and that deflated my mood further. I offered for Jared to ride on his own while I waited but he declined.

We felt a little lost with our plan up-ended so we decided to head over to the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman next. There was no wait, and we basically walked on. The ride was awesome, though the same as the version in Orlando. Next we went to try the Flying Dinosaur, as the wait time was only posted at 30 minutes. I was able to ride this one, but maybe shouldn't have! It was THE most intense coaster I've ever been on (I know I was sick, and that could have made it feel worse, but Jared also agrees it was the most intense coaster he's experience). If you've ever been on Manta and SeaWorld in Orlando, that's what I was expecting from this coaster. It's a flying coaster, so I expected there to be a few inversions and thrills, but mostly just a relaxing 'flight' over the park (like Manta). The coaster however NEVER let up, it dipped at what seemed like greated than 90 degree angles, it turned so sharply and quickly, and looped upside down so long, there were times I felt like I was going to fall out! It was so intense! It was fun, but a little too much for me, especially when I was feeling so sick. Jared, on the other hand, loved it (of course he's a boy and being scared out of his wits is fun for him!).

We had already discovered that there would be no timed entry for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter that day (we had gotten one with our Express Passes but it looked like it wouldn't be needed). It turns out it was a really quite day at the park, and we were stressed about crazy crowds (Universal Studios Japan is known as the busiest theme park in the world) for no reason. We were determined to make some use of our Express Passes (that had cost us so much money!) though, and so we wanted to use it to ride the Forbidden Journey at about 11:40am, so we knew we had to wait until then. I was feeling so unwell though, I literally couldn't do anything, so I asked Jared if I could find a cafe and sit and drink hot tea, while he went to take some pictures of the park. He agreed and I sat down in the Beverley Hills Bouleneige and enjoyed more green tea (it was seriously a life saver) while Jared went and took the following pictures.

































While I was sitting and resting as Jared took these pictures I had a nice moment with Marilyn Munro, who was coming around to greet guest in the Bouleneige. She saw me, saw I was a Westerner, and came over for a chat (she was chatting to the other guest in English so I guess she figured she could have a more in depth conversation with me as English was my first language). Unfortunately I had completely lost my voice and had to gesture and croak at her that I was sick and couldn't say much. She was nice, told me to rest up and stay warm! Jared came back after a while and bought me more tea, and one of the staff at the counter was all excited about his backpack, the Everyday Backpack by Peak Design, as she had one! We found the staff at Universal had excellent English and we were able to converse with them really well.

Anyway, when it was time to use our Forbidden Journey Fastpasses we headed to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter...

Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 15 - Part 2 - A whole new Wizarding World

We were on our way to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and despite my rest, I was still feeling VERY unwell. Now seems as good as any time to tell you what we thought of Universal Japan, as we'd seen pretty much all of the park (bar the Wizarding World) at this point. Honestly, it didn't impress me at all. I think it's Universal's weakest park. Now, I was sick, as we didn't get to spend as much time there as we could. In addition one of the attractions unique to the park, Space Fantasy (an indoor coaster) was closed when we visited (along with the Jurassic Park ride) and we didn't manage to ride Hollywood Dream (the other coaster unique to the park). Still, it felt like the park had a lack of attractions, most of what was there you could already experience in the US. It also felt like the park was cobbled together, each of the lands just sort of sprouting wherever there was room for them, with no thought to thematic design or ambience. In addition, the theming of each land (other than the Wizarding World) is probably some of the weakest I've seen from Universal. Jurassic Park was a great example, as I've seen this land done way better in a lot of places! You forgive this sort of hodgepodge theme and placement at Universal Studios Hollywood, because that park started out as a studio and grew rather organically to what it is today, because of the lack of space and the need to make things fit within the studios boundaries. Universal Studios Japan though seems unintelligent designed from the offset, and a little cheap in most places too!

Anyway, we made it into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The area has a very long walkway from the main park which is surrounded by big pine trees, and the entrance to this has stones that look a little like a small version of stonehenge! We wandered taking Hogsmeade in, though photos were hard because the area was teeming with people.

















We still had time to kill before so we decided to go sit at the back of the Three Broomstickers overlooking the Wizarding World at Universal Studios Japan's unique feature, the Forbidden Lake which provides a foreground to the castle. Jared got a butterbeer and we both got some lunch, though I barely ate much of mine. After we were done with the food, Jared set up his tripod and took some long exposures of the beautiful reflections the castle casts into the lake - this was definitely an awesome feature of the Wizarding World in Japan and something I wish they could add to the Orlando version.



















Next we headed towards the Forbidden Journey to ride.







I knew this version would be in 3D, something I haven't experienced as I've only ever been on the Orlando version of the ride, so was interested to see how that worked and if it improved the ride or not. The lockers for the ride were a mess, similar to Orlando looks when things get busy. We showed our express pass 'booking' for the ride and were handed rules and warnings for the ride. This was another weird thing Universal Japan did, hand guests a list of rules and warnings for each attraction - either in English or Japanese. You were instructed to read it and told that by handing it back before the ride you had legally agreed to the conditions for riding and had noted the warnings provided - so intense! Anyway, we had showed our Express Passes, had this warning, and then I realised I had to go to the toilet, so we asked staff if we could exit the line and do that and come back, even though we'd already had the Express Pass taken from us. We were told we could, and to exit through the lockers and gift shop and just come back that way, but when we returned the staff were very sceptical and seemed to think we were trying to cheat the system, and use our Express Pass again. Finally we managed to convince them we weren't, and were allowed through the line to the attraction!

I enjoyed the ride in 3D, I think more than the original. Jared preferred the original version. I liked that things seem to come out at you a little more with the 3D, and make the screens tie in a little more with the real life three-dimensional animations. That being said wearing 3D glasses on this ride was a pain, they kept threatening to fall off and tumble away given how much movement you get on those robotic arms! I really do love this ride. It completely flawed me the first time I rode, and until I rode Mystic Manor and Pirates it was my favourite ride of all time! I think it helps that I am a huge Harry Potter nerd, and I love the sensation that I can visit the castle and it's characters and enjoy and adventure with them.

With the ride done we decided to take a few more pictures and leave. I was barely able to keep myself upright at this point and as much as I lamented the waste of the rest of our Express Passes, and the fact we wouldn't get any night shots, I knew I couldn't go on. It was extremely disappointing, and I even offered for Jared to stay and enjoy the park, but he told me he didn't really want to do that, that he wouldn't enjoy himself as much without me (I also think he was really worried about me at that point and didn't want me to be left alone in the hotel room, when I nearly passed out again after another bath that day he wouldn't leave to go buy us some food until he was sure I wasn't going to pass out). Anyway, here are the few further photos Jared took of the park. They'll be posted over two posts as I'm going to run out of room to post them all here!



The weather had even started to take a turn for the better, a shame for us to be leaving with the sun coming out!



See, could barely keep my eyes open for this picture! But I had to do the "when in Japan" pose at the Japanese version of the Wizarding World.







Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 15 - Part 3 - Farewell Universal Japan, sorry we didn't stay long

As I said, we were on our way out the park thanks to my awful chest infection, which had literally taken my ability to want to theme park out of me! Here are a few more pictures of the park we took before finally making our way out.



Check out all the people

















See that bridge in the background, that's an actual bridge from a road behind the park that you can see clearly from within the park itself!









So it's probably clear we didn't love Universal Studios Japan. Partly because I think it's probably the weakest of the Universal parks, also partly because of how sick I was and how little we did. But one thing I will say in the parks favour is that the staff were incredibly kind and courteous at all times, always waving and smiling, and even when it involved unpleasant tasks like handing out warnings/rules or checking you fit in the coaster cars in test seats, everyone was incredibly professional and courteous. It's something that is so normal in Japan, and the Japanese do it better than any of country I know, that attitude of respect and humble serving of others seems ingrained in their culture. It really is beautiful, and we were so glad to be back in Japan experiencing that again (especially after the crowd culture in China!).

I really wish I'd been able to see and do more at Universal Japan, and am very sad sickness meant we couldn't manage a full day at the park. Still we were glad we'd at least been able to spend a few hours and do a few things, and hadn't completely wasted the money we'd spent on the day in the park!

Continued in Next Post...

 

[katt789]

Wow, SO MANY UPDATES!! (at least that I hadn't read...lol)
Looks like you really enjoyed your time at SDL, and managed to do it so efficiently too!! LOVE all the photos!! I do have to agree, the parade wasn't as great as I'd hoped/thought it would be. The music is super catchy & cute, and the performers all did great jobs, but it was just lacking, especially compared to FoF, or Happiness is Here!! I do love the castle show though! BEAUTIFUL photos, seriously, I'm crying and want to go back just to take more pictures!! I'll have to go back to find my other post in here, but what lens do you predominately use? Esp for the nighttime stuff?
Yay for being in Japan!
BOOOOOO for being sick! Major props to you for going out and powering through anyways!! I bailed on a day in Kyoto when I was sick, and an afternoon in Shanghai because of the air bothering me. I'm excited for Universal Japan next year, though I'm not the biggest fan of Universal in general. I can only handle so many simulators in a day, and don't like super scary rides, so in Fl we'd hit Harry Potter, Jurassic park, watch some shows and the parade and then leave (which left me with even less after Beetlejuice closed! wahh). It should be interesting!! I'm excited to read more!! Hope you were feeling better quickly!!

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Wow, SO MANY UPDATES!! (at least that I hadn't read...lol)
Looks like you really enjoyed your time at SDL, and managed to do it so efficiently too!! LOVE all the photos!! I do have to agree, the parade wasn't as great as I'd hoped/thought it would be. The music is super catchy & cute, and the performers all did great jobs, but it was just lacking, especially compared to FoF, or Happiness is Here!! I do love the castle show though! BEAUTIFUL photos, seriously, I'm crying and want to go back just to take more pictures!! I'll have to go back to find my other post in here, but what lens do you predominately use? Esp for the nighttime stuff?
Yay for being in Japan!
BOOOOOO for being sick! Major props to you for going out and powering through anyways!! I bailed on a day in Kyoto when I was sick, and an afternoon in Shanghai because of the air bothering me. I'm excited for Universal Japan next year, though I'm not the biggest fan of Universal in general. I can only handle so many simulators in a day, and don't like super scary rides, so in Fl we'd hit Harry Potter, Jurassic park, watch some shows and the parade and then leave (which left me with even less after Beetlejuice closed! wahh). It should be interesting!! I'm excited to read more!! Hope you were feeling better quickly!!

Yes, am trying to keep on top of updates so I don't fall too far behind or loose your attention

SDL was awesome, once we got the hang of touring it during such a crazy busy time of year. The good news is it's doable, even when it's that busy (I'd say we probably went at the busiest time of year, I know for a fact - because I tracked them - that waits looked similar to what they did opening week). Yes the SDL Parade was only so so, I have to admit I've never really watched Hapiness is Here (we always seem to have other things to do at Tokyo Disney) but I do love Festival of Fantasy!

We use a Tamron f2.8 28-70mm lens and we also have a Sigma Zoom lens (f4.5-5.6 70-300mm I think - just a cheap one). I think the key to good night photograph though, is knowing how to use your camera on it's manual settings, and whereever possible, use a tripod for long exposures - as your shots will turn out so much more crisp and clear (especially since you can use much higher apertures to get more in focus). It also helps that we have a Canon 6D (full frame) which gives us a wider shot, plus can handle high ISOs when we need to do hand held at night. But you can get great shots if you really learn how to use your camera

Yes, being sick SUCKED! And I think it's possible the worst chest infection I've ever had! Timing was awful, but I did still manage to see some things in Osaka and Kyoto - that being said it knocked me out for about a week, and anything I did during that week wasn't quite as enjoyable because I was so sick!

I hope you enjoy Universal Japan more than we did - like I said we didn't spend much time there...If you are going at a busy time of year I'd suggest reading my pre-trip report RE how you can pre-book express pass - it might come in handy (seriously the things I've read about the crowds in this park are insane, we were just lucky to go at the quietest time of year!). I really love Universal in Orlando, and Universal Japan doesn't really hold a candle, so if you didn't even like Universal in Florida I'm not sure how much you are going to enjoy Universal Japan! Did you do both parks at Universal Orlando?

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 16 - Part 1 - Into Kyoto, city of 1000 torii gates

The next day I awoke and was feeling a little better, which was lucky, as we had a full day planned taking a train from Osaka to Kyoto to experience a tour of Kyoto with the wonderful Backstreet Guides to Tokyo (our favourite Japanese touring company, their guides are so amazing!! If you are ever going to Japan look them up, you won't regret it!). I knew that I had to be able to keep going today, as we wouldn't have access to our hotel room until after 3, and the tour was scheduled to go until 5. Luckily, after taking some codine, I felt like I could be up and about, though my throat was still sore and my voice completely unworkable!

We were to meet our guide for the day, Maki, at our hotel in Kyoto (the Righa Royal Hotel) at 9:30am, which meant we had to leave Osaka at about 8am to get to Kyoto on the train. We had booked tickets on the Thunderbird Express from Osaka to Kyoto (we did this when we collected our Japan Rail Passes the night we arrived at Osaka Airport which I now realise I forgot to mention! We pre-booked seats for all our trips between major cities at the Rail Pass Office at the Osaka-Kansai Airport Station to make sure we would be able to catch the express/shinkansen trains). When we arrived at the train platform at Osaka station for the Thunderbird Express we were pleased to see that there were small heated rooms that you could wait in, instead of on the cold cold platform, which was very good for my chest! On the train we had to leave our larger suitcases at the back of the train, where there was room behind the seats for larger cases, but this didn't bother us in the slightest, we completely trusted our bags were safe there, we were in Japan after all!

When we arrived at Kyoto Station there were shuttle buses to take us to our hotel, and we arrived a few minutes early. We stored our luggage, and sat down to wait for Maki. She arrived right on time and our first impression was that she was incredibly friendly, and very quite, in the way many Japanese people are quite and reflective and polite. As I couldn't talk much at all (which I was super upset about by the way, I love to talk to people and learn more about them) and Jared is not a huge talker, this suited us really well.

Our tour was to begin at the Fushimi Inari Shrine, a Shinto Shrine famously known for it's 1000 Torii gates. In Japanese Shinto religion, the Torii gate separates the sacred from the everyday, and bring good luck and good fortune, so lots of businesses donate these gates (which need to be replaced every 10 years or so) in order to create luck for their business endeavours. The gates are all painted the traditional vermilion colour (orangy-red). We didn't see all the Torii gates, that would have required a hike up into the mountains which would have taken much more time than we had to spend at Fushimi Inari, but we did get to see plenty of beautiful gates, all in rows creating these fabulous corridors (you'll see what I mean below)!

We started off at the main temple





As part of the main temple display there was an area strung with thousands upon thousands of Japanese paper cranes, usually made by local Japanese children. If you aren't aware, the Japanese paper crane, when strung together in their 1000s, are a symbol of good luck and long life. The tradition became better known when a young Japanese girl, a victim of exposure to radiation during the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, begun making paper cranes in hospital, with the goal of getting to 1000. She was sadly only able to fold around 644 before becoming to weak to do more, and subsequently died, so her classmates decided to complete the remaining cranes for her. I learnt this story when I studied Japanese at school and I remember it really moved me at the time. Seeing the thousands of cranes at Fushimi Inari, and their significance and how they have become a symbol of hope and renewal even in the most devastating of circumstances, I was really moved. It was a beautiful display.





Fushimi Inari, and a lot of Kyoto in general, is set in beautiful forrested areas, it was so peaceful as we made our way towards the beginning of the 1000 Torii gates.



Here you can see what I mean about how the Torii gates are placed close together to create a corridor, or tunnel of gates through which you can walk.



It's really beautiful and unique, and very very peaceful, even though at first there were a lot of people around.













The symbols you can see here are normally the names of the people/business who have donated the Torii gates





This was Maki, our wonderful and we were learning, incredibly knowledgeable guide! I'm afraid it was another no make-up day for me thanks to my being so sick, so I don't look the best here!



Jared and I wanted a picture under the Torii gates too!











Our our way out of the shrine area we saw you could purchase adorable little Torii gates, on which you could record wishes, we decided to hang one for good luck. We told Maki we were trying to buy our new home, and we wanted to write that on our Torii gate, so we did, and she translated the wish into Japanese. Something must have worked, because we are now living in that house!





Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 16 - Part 2 - A taste of traditional Japan - Nishiki Market, Gion and Ponto Cho

We headed towards the Nishiki Food Market next, a very well known food market in Kyoto famous for it's local food and produce. Before we toured the market we stopped in at a small and traditional Japanese restaurant for a Kyoto speciality, Ton-Katsu, which is a type of tempura like deep fried pork that comes with raw cabbage and seasame soy sauce. And of course, we were in Japan so we were also given Miso Soup (a stable of Japanese cooking made with soybeans/tofu and kelp I believe, which is very yummy). This was what our lunch looked like:



The Nishiki Markets themselves were fabulous! Just a narrow enclosed walkway with hundreds of tiny stalls selling everything from Takoyaki (Octopus Balls), Japanese sweets, Sake, groceries, medical supplies and souvenirs. We stopped at two stalls. The first was a local Sake stall that made traditional sake. We bought ourselves a bottle of an incredible sweet Saki and two bottles as a gift for our wonderful house sitters!





The second stall we visited was selling something I needed, Japanese honey and lemon syrups for hot tea! They were delicious and the sample I tried really helped my throat, so we bought some to help me as I got over my awful infection!





When we were done with the Nishiki Food Market it was a short walk to Ponto Cho, and Gion. These two areas are the heart of traditional Japan in Kyoto, and are well known Geisha districts. Ponto Cho is a small and narrow walkway filled with tiny restaurants, geisha houses and cafes, it's named for the Portuguese who settled in the area. We learned a lot about the beautiful traditional wooden buildings that make up this area, along with the history of Geisha's in Japan. Geisha's are prized because they are seen as protects of traditional forms of Japanese art, culture and dance. They originally began as waitresses in traditional tea houses, and were soon entertaining guests with all forms of traditional Japanese music, dance, fashion and poetry. Despite what popular culture has portrayed, Geisha's are not now nor have they ever been prostitutes, but are more a very classy and expensive entertainer. Maki told us that girls usually start training to become Geisha's from the age of 15, and that training will take around 5 years. A Geisha is also required to remain single and chaste, and cannot marry or have relationships. Maki also informed us that it's rare to see Geisha during the day, as they usually rest because most of their work is done at night. You can tell a Geisha by their traditional hairstyles and certain type of dress apparently (though many people wear Kimino's in Japan the Geisha have a certain style, and will always have traditional hair, and for the most part, traditional make up as well). We were not expecting to see any Geisha in Ponto Cho however Maki tapped us both on the shoulder at one point and indicated behind us, advising us there was a Geisha walking away from us! She said it was such a rare thing to see one during the day and we were very lucky. Generally speaking it is considered bad etiquette to take a Geisha's picture, but Maki encouraged us to get one as she was walking away.





The rest of Ponto Cho was just beautiful! Narrow streets with cobblestone paths and slightly slanted wooden bamboo buildings, built so close together that it almost blocked out the sun!







Ponto Cho street is just the otherwise of this small river, the buildings on the left make up part of the street.



And on the otherwise of the River lay Gion, the heart of traditional Kyoto, and it's main Geisha district. Gion was just beautiful in every way - it looked as though you had stepped into the Japan of 100 years ago!













We found a whole pile of girls dressed in traditional Japanese Kimono's - so I of course had to have a picture! They were so friendly too!





We also ran into another Australian couple who Maki had shown Kyoto the previous day. They had nothing but praise for her as well.





There was a little alcove in one of the streets in Ginza showcasing some of the areas Geisha in beautiful portrait pictures.









This, we were informed, is the very incognito entrance to a Geisha house!



At this point I was starting to wilt a little. Luckily for me there were vending machines everywhere in Kyoto, all of which sold hot drinks, and I'd been drinking green tea constantly all day to help me feel better. By the time we were done walking around Gion though I was ready for a break, and Maki suggested that we visit one of the local and traditional tea houses for some more tea, and a bit of a rest. The place we visited was TINY, perhaps four tables, two of which were in small individual rooms! This was something we discovered of most of the places we visited in Kyoto (restaurants and cafes in particular), that they were all tiny and yet there were so many of them. It seemed as though they were there to so many to cater to one tiny neighbourhood, but they were all so small I guess they were all needed.

It was at this point that Maki let us know that Kyoto has it's own dialect of Japanese which we weren't aware of. Where in Tokyo it's polite to say Arigato Gozaimasu for Thank you, in Kyoto locals say Okini.

We enjoyed our rest at the cafe, I had more tea and treated myself to some creme brulee. Jared got some sort of dessert and some coffee and Maki had tea too I think. However all good things must come to an end and we were on our way again before long.

Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 16 - Part 3 - Temples, snow and no shoes

Maki informed us our next stop would be just up the road, a Buddist Zen Temple called Kennin-Ji. It was starting to get very cold as we arrived, and we were informed that we would need to remove our shoes to enter the temple! Ekk! I'm not sure if it was the lack of shoes, or the fact it did start to flurry with snow while we were walking around the temple, but this was the coldest I felt our entire trip! The temple itself was beautiful though, a lot of lovely zen rock gardens, traditional Japanese artwork and architecture. However, like most Japanese and Chinese temples the inside areas were all open to the outside elements, so it was SO cold! Unfortunately, being so cold seems to be my predominant memory from this temple, though I know Maki told us plenty of interesting things about the place!











This dragon artwork was done in 2002 to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the temple! It also took the artist around 2 years to complete, and was done in a completely traditional style.



























There had been quite heavy snowfall a few days before we arrived in Kyoto, and the promise of snow still hung in the air!





I have to admit, as fascinating as the temple was I was super glad when we were done with it, and I was able to put my shoes back on!

Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 16 - Part 4 - Above Kyoto

Our final stop of the day was Kiyomizu-dera Temple, a beautiful temple complex high on the hills overlooking Kyoto. I had planned to stay there to take photos at sunset, however I was really not in a great way by this point of the day. We tossed up whether we should go to the temple or not, and in the end I decided we should, we were in Kyoto after all and it was my most anticipated site-seeing location. We just decided we wouldn't make a point of necessarily staying for sunset and blue hour. In addition Maki suggested that we grab a cab to the temple, instead of walking, so I could get out of the cold air which was making me wheeze and cough quite badly at this point. I was grateful to not have to do a 30-40 minute walk in my condition, though it did mean we missed a little of the history street leading up to the temple. Our car dropped us at the bottom of a step hill which was surrounded by shops selling souvenirs and local crafts and produce. When we finally made it to the top I'll admit, I had to sit for 5 minutes, the wheezing was pretty bad!

My decision to stick it out for Kiyomizu-dera was well rewarded though, it was a BEAUTIFUL place!



We didn't have the greatest visibility, because of all the snow flurries that day, but it was still lovely! This is overlooking the street (and hill) leading up to the temple



The temple's dragon guardian seemed to be guarding some repairs and improvements on our visit.





This was the main pagoda of the temple, I believe it's the only three story pagoda in Kyoto.







We found a likeness of the God Kanon, for whom our Canon camera is named - we thought it would be fun and ironic to take a picture of him!



Further back the temples became less colourful, but just as ornate.



From the back of the temple area there are stunning views over the city and valley!





You can just see the Kyoto Tower in the background of this shot.







We were a bit early for sunset, but we did still get some lovely sun-set like colours in a few of our shots. We were also lucky the clouds cleared enough that we could see the colours!











Kyoto, unlike many major cities in Japan, is not comprised of a lot of high rise buildings or a real city centre. I was surprised to learn that it's a much smaller city than Osaka (as it's the second most popular tourist destination in Japan I just assumed it would be bigger, like Tokyo). Kyoto's real strength has been it's ability to keep traditional Japan alive, while still allowing it's residents to join the modern world. Kyoto is much more solemn, it's more beautiful, peaceful and relaxed that Tokyo. It's residents seem so proud of the heritage they've maintained in this beautiful and ancient corner of the world. Tokyo, on the other hand, is much more of a modern city, more westernised and much further developed. While it has ancient sites, it's much better known for it's bustling nightlife (Shinjuku), it's crazy fashions (Harajuku), it's electronic madness and anime crazes (Akihabara) and it's upscale shopping (Ginza). Random fact learnt on our 2013 Tokyo trip thrown in here, Tokyo actually means east Kyoto! Kyoto was the capital of Japan until it was moved to Tokyo during the Edo period when the Emperors moved from Kyoto to Tokyo.



I now present some awful pictures of me, taken to prove that I managed to get out and about to see Kyoto this day (because I could have easily stayed in bed!)





It freaked us out a little when Maki told us that the temple we had been standing on early was built up on the hill side with this structure, which was made with no nails or screws! I took a picture for my Dad and brother-in-law, who are both carpenters, and were fascinated to see structure built on interlocking beams with no fastening implements!





As we made our way out of the temple the sun had begun to set in earnest, and it was a beautiful sunset! We stopped to buy a few souvenirs for family at home and made our way out of the temple complex.





I suggested we take a taxi home, rather than trains, as I was pretty much about to collapse by this stage, I had definitely over done it! I think Maki was happy with the suggestion, as we would stay out of the cold and she'd get back home much quicker. We had the nicest taxi driver on the way home! He didn't speak much English, but with Maki as a translator we had a nice conversation. He wanted to know all about where we were from, and wanted to learn what the capital of Australia was (it's Canberra by the way, not many non-Australians know this as many people think it's Sydney). We also explained to him the history of how Canberra was chosen as a capital. I don't know why, but this seemed to really interest him - as it may not interest you I'll just say that Sydney and Melbourne could not decide between them who should be the capital so it was decided as a compromise to place the capital in between both of them, in it's own little state (sort of like Washington DC) called the ACT - Australian Capital Territory. When we thanked our Taxi driver profusely for his wonderful hospitality (through Maki of course) she explained that he took his job to extend Japanese courtesy, respect and hospitality to all guests who drove in his cab! Other than an experience with a cab driver from Brooklyn in New York, this was one of the best cab drivers we'd ever come across!

We arrived back at the hotel and checked into our room and I proceeded to collapse on the bed! I was COMPLETELY surprised to find that it was SOFT (and cosy), as most beds in Japan (and Asia in general) are always hard and I find that quite uncomfortable! This bed was the best bed of our whole trip, and it came and exactly the right time, as I would spend all of the next day in it, resting and recovering from pushing myself too hard today! We would miss taking the train to Nara, but I really needed more rest!

Continued in Next Post...

 

[Beccybooboo]

Loving hearing about Japan and visualizing it. Being sick on your holiday is a bummer but at least you are managing to still enjoy the sights.

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 18 - Part 1 - Golden Kyoto

After another 1.5 days of rest I was finally feeling mostly better! This amazing bed had a lot to do with it I reckon.





We had plans to travel back to Osaka today for something we had booked, and we also decided there was one more Kyoto temple we had to see, Kinkakuji, The Golden Temple (Pavilion). This is probably one of Kyoto's most well known landmarks, and is another of Kyoto's Zen Buddhist temples. The second and third floors of the temple are covered with pure gold leaf, making it an incredible site to see.

We arrived at the temple by cab, as public transport required multiple trains and a bus (plus too much walking for me as I was still not 100%). This is the entrance to the temple complex.



We had to purchase tickets to enter the area where the Golden Temple (Pavilion) was located, so we did, though I have no idea what they said (perhaps we agreed to hand over our first born as a condition of entering, we will never know )



The temple, and lake it's located on, are beautiful! The reflections cast by the shimmer pavilion into the water make for stunning photos, even on a dreary day like the on in which we visited. The other thing that was beautiful about the temple area was how much green there was! Most of the places we visited in Japan were brown and grey thanks to the large number of deciduous trees native to the island. The Golden Temple however, being a Buddist temple, had been perfectly manicured and kept, even in the middle of winter, with Bonsai trees and moss and rocks still covered in green!











You won't be able to tell from these pictures, but the viewing area from which we took these shots was packed with people. It was a Sunday, so perhaps that's why it was so busy during what is generally a pretty quite season in Japan. I wouldn't like to try find a spot for pictures here during cherry blossom season though!

Happy to have been feeling better, I wanted a photo with the temple (apparently I still wasn't well enough to be bothered with makeup this day!).



It was around this point that it begun to rain, be we were grateful we had gotten our reflection shots before the rain set in. We also keenly missed the presence of a local guide to explain the history and culture of what we were seeing to us.



The rain created some lovely ripples on the water that were fun to photograph.





This was our attempt at a selfie with our giant camera - not great - but the only picture of the two of us at the temple



You walk around the temple and into a forested area above the golden pavilion before exiting the area.











After the temple we headed back to Kyoto Station to make our way to Osaka for the evening.

Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 18 - Part 2 - Lights on Osaka Castle

We were making our way back into Osaka (only a 40 minute train ride from Kyoto Station) for the Sengoku the Real show at Osaka Castle. Our journey on the train was interesting, as we were actually able to see out the window this time around (as it was not night). It's not that pretty a journey between Osaka and Kyoto, and while closer into Kyoto you can see mountains and rice fields and more rural scenery, there are a lot of industrial factories and residential areas the closed you get to Osaka. In addition, there are plenty of power lines as Japan does not appear to have heard of sinking power lines in order to avoid the eyesore of the lines heading into each building in a neighbourhood, and with so many more people in Japan there are so many more power lines! There were a lot of residential houses as well, and I was surprised (perhaps naively) by the lack of garden space, parks or other green spaces in these neighbourhoods. Space is very limited in Japan, so I'm not sure why I was surprised, but it was another unique feature of Japan I hadn't considered before. The trains in Japan are great though, I loved the fact that they have different musical jingles for every station they pull up to. A lot of people sleep on trains in Japan, so I suppose if you travelled a route frequently your brain might learn to wake up to the particular jingle for your station.

We arrived at the castle with plenty of time to spare, only to discover it took 30 minutes to walk to the area where the show would be playing! Osaka Castle complex is HUGE, something that we weren't expecting, and we arrived with only a few minutes to spare before the show started!

Sengoku the Real, put on by Universal Studios Japan, involved live performances, music, projections on the Osaka Castle and fireworks. It told the story of the Sengoku period of civil war between rivals Shogunates, which lasted a total of 150 years. The final battle of this period of civil war was between the Tokugawa Shogunate and a samurai general, and his army, and the corresponding the Seige of Osaka (1614-15). If you are unaware, Japanese Shoguns were sort of like Generals who inherited their position from their fathers. While the Emperor was the official head of Japan, the Shogun's, who generally controlled the samurai armies, held the real power in Japan. The show itself was all in Japanese, though you could make out most of what was going on, and the castle projections were pretty spectacular. We were a little disappointed to discover a strict no photography policy during the show, but then very surprised when, as the cast did an extended encore of sorts, signs were put up all around by Universal staff allowing people to take photos. I understand why they didn't want people taking pictures during the show, as the seating was not tiered, and people with their cameras in the air would have been very distracting to other guests, not to mention they would have blocked the view. Still it was nice to be told we could take some pictures during this encore, and for the most part we were able to capture most of the projection sequences shown on the castle during the show. Our seats were not brilliant, in the back section of the audience area (though there were so many free seats on the front row of this section we remarked after that we should have just moved for a clearer view). Still I was happy with the photos we managed to capture.





Check out all those empty seats!













There was a second lot of fireworks at the end of the finale, which was a surprise to us, but ended up being a great photo





As I said, with the show in Japanese we didn't 100% understand what was going on. But the show itself was a little bit like a broadway show, with moving music that created mood and evoked certain emotion. The show was also hugely visually impressive, the castle projections really well done and the lighting fabulous. There was an amazing scene at the end of the show where the castle was made to look as though it had been damaged by the war and canon blasts, with parts of the castle appearing to have been blown off, and other parts appearing to be on fire. The effect was really well done. Of course it wasn't the best projection show I've ever seen (Disney does that the best, hands down) but it was beautiful none-the-less.





On our long walk back to the train station we managed to catch a glimpse of what we thought at the time was a cherry blossom. We were so excited to have seen a cherry blossom in Japan we took a picture of it. Later on, someone informed us it was probably a plum blossom, as they bloom much earlier in the year than the cherry blossoms! Oh well, it looked like a cherry blossom!



We made our way back to Osaka station and had some time before our pre-booked ticket back to Kyoto, so we decided to find dinner. The Osaka station is huge and incorporating inside a giant shopping complex, so we didn't think we'd have trouble finding something to eat, and we didn't. We ended up at, of all places, a cafe purporting to serve all things bread (I don't believe bread is a traditional part of the Japanese diet, so it must be something of a novelty). Luckily (since I'm gluten intolerant) we were able to find some meat dishes, and we enjoyed our meal. On our way back to the trains I marvelled at the escalator in the shopping centre, it was probably the largest escalator I've ever seen, spanning 3 full floors! In addition, it overlooked the open plaza for the shopping centre, which was about 10 stories high. If you had issues with heights it wouldn't have been a fun escalator ride!

We were back in Kyoto for our final night there at a reasonable time, and I slept well, ready for our next day which would take us back to Disney!

Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 19 - Bullet Trains, Winter Wonderlands and Mt Fuji - from Kyoto to Tokyo Disney

Today we were travelling from Kyoto to Tokyo Disney, and we were very excited about this because we would be experiencing (for my first time - Jared's second) the wonder of the Shinkansen, a Japanese bullet train. The Shinkansens can read speeds of up to 320 km/h (200mph) and are an extremely fast way to traverse great distances on the train in Japan. We were able to use the Hikari Shinkansen with our Japan Rail Pass from Kyoto to Tokyo (one of the only Shinkansen lines available for use with a Japan Rail Pass).

We will start as we left our hotel, because I have so many good things to say about this hotel. We were worried about finding a western style hotel in Kyoto, as Kyoto's accommodation leans more towards Japanese style hotels and Ryokans, tradition Japanese style BnBs. While it would have been fun to try a Ryokan, cultural speaking, we were looking for comfort more than anything on this trip from our hotels, so we were leaning more towards the Western style hotels. A lot of the obvious Western chains (the Hyatt for example) were very expensive, so when we found the Righa Royal Hotel, which is located within walking distance of Kyoto Station, at a reasonable price, we were very happy. And after staying at the hotel we were even happier. As I've already mentioned the bed was the most comfortable of all the hotels we stayed in in Japan. The rooms were large and well appointed. The hotel staff were wonderful and courteous and spoke excellent English. The rooms had free wifi (surprisingly, not a given everywhere in Japan). There was a restaurant that served buffet breakfasts (which we didn't try) but looked great, and lastly, there was a shuttle bus to and from the station. On this morning we went downstairs, checked out and went to go outside to wait for the shuttle bus, and we discovered that the hotel had a small and cosy waiting room, where guests could be seated to wait for the bus until it arrived! Such a nice touch. Anyway, cannot recommend this hotel enough!

So when we arrived at Kyoto Station we were able to find space in one of the heated rooms on the cold outdoor platform, where we remained waiting for our Shinkansen. We of course had booked seats on the train, which advised us which carriage to enter from, and our seat numbers, so we weren't worried about fighting for a seat in one of the free cars. I was feeling a lot better today, though still not completely 100%, so being in the warm and not aggregating my chest was appreciated!

We made sure we were out on the platform to take pictures as our Shinkansen arrived, because we really felt like going on one was more than just a way to get from point A to point B, it was a tourist attraction unto itself!





The trains have extremely long, thin and streamlined noses, which I'm sure exist in order to help the trains get up to maximum speed.



Before long we had taken off, and I sat happily staring out my window as the countryside zoomed by, and I literally mean zoomed. I don't think I have ever moved as fast in my life. There were toilets on the train and I had to use them at one point, and lets just say I didn't feel completely stable, both walking through the multiple cabins to the one with the toilet, and when I was on the thing itself!

Now we hadn't really experienced any snow in Japan, only a few light flurries while in Kyoto, and while we were pleased about that (snow when you are out and about can really dampen your day - get it) we were so excited when we entered what I called my "Winter Wonderland", as the Shinkansen zoomed through an area between Kyoto and Tokyo that was in the process of getting a very heavy snowfall. This was really the best way to see such a heavy Snowfall, from the window of the train, because it was warm and cosy on the train and looked anything but outside. Being from Australia (and Perth no less) snow is a very rare occurrence for us, and we were entranced by how white everything was, how colourless everything looked and how spectacular the "Winter Wonderland" actually was. The only downside was that the Shinkansen had to slow down a little in the snow, and we ended up a little behind schedule.

















To me, this was magical. Houses with snow covering their rooves, icicles dripping from fences, fields covered with thick snow, frozen lakes and waterways - it all looked like something from a Christmas Card! I can honestly say this is the most snow I've ever seen in my life, we saw snow in New York once, but days after it had actually fallen, and I've been to the ski fields in Victoria, but during a light snow fall season, so this snow, so heavy and thick, was all new to me. It might sound strange to those of you who live in places where snowfall is a normal (and somewhat annoying) part of your daily lives in winter, but for me it was just fascinating!

Anyway, this Winter Wonderland lasted about an hour and then, within the space of about 5 minutes, the snow melted away and everything was colourful again!



We were grateful for this, as we knew you could see Mt Fuji from the train on the Kyoto to Tokyo route, but we assume, given the heavy snow, we wouldn't be able to see it. Luckily for us by the time we were passing the majestic mountain everything had cleared and we had incredible views. Here's a short video of the train rushing past the mountain.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10207877878160445

And some pictures of Mt Fuji as we flew past (we were back up to full speed now).













The mountain was so large that we could see it for a good 5-10 minutes even as the train probably travelled a number of km's through various towns and industrial areas!

The other thing that really makes taking the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Tokyo such a tourist must do is that the scenery is so beautiful. Sure you see towns and industrialised areas, but mostly you see mountains and fields, Japans natural side. It's really beautiful.

Anyway we finally arrived at Tokyo Station, about 15 minutes late due to our slow down through Winter Wonderland. The entire trip had taken about 2 hours 45 minutes, but it had past by in a blur (pun intended here ). It was about 12:25 when we arrived at the Tokyo Station, and we had to transfer to the JR Keiyo Line towards Maihama. Those of you who've been to Tokyo Disney, and caught the train to get there, will know this is the line that goes to Disney! It was quite a walk from the Hikari Shinkansen line to the Keiyo line, and we had to traverse a number of levels as well, luckily there were elevators that we could use in order to avoid having to use stairs or escalators with our giant suitcases. The Keiyo Line wasn't hard to find, there are signs everywhere, it was just that Tokyo Station was so huge it took a while to get to it!

We got on our train, managed to find space for our giant suitcases and seats for ourselves, and then discovered that our train was delayed due to a fallen cable on the track! We were a little dismayed, wondering how long we might be sitting on the track, and how long a fault like that might take to repair, when 15 minutes into our worry and wondering the train took off! So delays in Japan, not so bad! That being said trains in Japan are ALWAYS on time, so the delay was a bit of a shock to us. We finally left Tokyo Station at about 1pm and arrived at Tokyo Disney at 1:30pm.

Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 19 - Part 2 - A Grand Hotel

Upon arrival we headed to the Tokyo Disney Welcome Centre, to check in to the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, buy tickets and drop our luggage. We hadn't used the Welcome Centre before, having gone directly to the Miracosta Hotel by cab on our last trip, and were happy to find the staff here were extremely friendly and courteous, though really we didn't expect any less, it's Tokyo Disney after all. We got our tickets, our monorail passes and checked into the hotel and were all ready to go off and explore until 3pm, when our room would be ready. This suited us find as we needed to find lunch, so we decided to head into Ikspiari. We had originally planned to head into the park this evening as well, and buy a Starlight (after 6pm) pass, however I decided, though I was feeling much better, it might be safer for me to just rest, ready to go for a full day of Tokyo Disney in the morning.

We were so elated at this point, we had arrived in the Disney Bubble and would stay there for the next 4.5 days. In addition we were at Tokyo Disney (my second favourite of all the Disney resorts - Disneyland only just beats it because it was our first resort and I have a nostalgic attachment to it) a park we knew how to tour! I love experiencing new Disney parks for the first time, but I didn't love not really knowing how to best tour those parks in order to get the most out of day. Because of that our Shanghai Disneyland experience was a little stressful for me. However I knew at Tokyo Disney we could succeed with our touring plans because we had before (at a much busier time of year too) and so I was much more relaxed about the whole experience.

We headed into Ikspiari, our goal to head towards the Rainforest Cafe. It may be corny, but we love eating here, we love the faux rainforest environment, the generous portions of food, the huge menu options! I was excited because in the states the Rainforest Cafe has fried cheese on it's menu! Unfortunately the same was not to be said for the Rainforest Cafe at Tokyo Disney, but we enjoyed it none-the-less. Jared was also devastated to find the Japanese version didn't sell Coronaritas, Rainforest Cafe's speciality drink where a margarita is impaled (for lack of a better word) with an upside down Corona!

The Rainforest Cafe is found within an enclosed area of Ikspiari which is supposed to look a little like old style Hollywood I think. The area itself is really beautiful, so we took a whole pile of photos of it.











Ikspiari (which if you haven't worked it out yet it Tokyo Disney's version of Disney Springs/Downtown Disney) is a little confusing, and it took us a long time to find the Rainforest Cafe! The place is like a labyrinth of smaller shopping malls all attached to each other in strange ways, and it can be hard to work out how to get where! Our final stop at Ikpiari was the grocery store, to pick up juice and fruit and a few other things, and it took us a while to find the place! By the time we had boarded the monorail back to the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel it was time for us to check in.

The last time we visited Tokyo Disney we only stayed at the Miracosta Hotel. We managed to book a coveted Porto Paradiso Harbour View room on one night, and moved between three other rooms the other three nights with various views. This time we had decided to stay at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, because it is slightly cheaper, for three nights, stay one night in a Harbour View room at the Miracosta, and our final night at the Tokyo Hilton Bay hotel, which is cheaper again, as an official partner hotel.

The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel blew us away! While the Miracosta is beautiful and so detailed, it's almost a little more laid back with it's Mediterranean style. The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is just grand, there is no other word for it. In fact, this hotel, and the Miracosta, are the two fanciest hotels we've ever stayed in, both in terms of price and the sheer luxury of the design. I wouldn't know of course, but both hotels seem to evoke an old world charm and luxury, with the kind of attention to detail and craftmanship that was put into Victorian era hotels targeted at rich Lords and Ladies. Staying at both these hotels made us feel like royalty, every detail was perfect, and of course the staff were amazing! Always so courteous and polite, something that is intrinsically inbuilt into Japanese society.

While we waited for the Bell Hop to come for our luggage, I waited on a chaise sofa, and was offered some water by one of the staff! I took it and it was the best water I've ever had! They'd left fresh oranges, lemons and berries in the water cooler to add flavour to the water, and the taste was incredible. I went back for a second glass!

Unsurprisingly the Bell Hop was extremely friendly, made sure to point out plenty of small details about the hotel as he showed us to our room, complimented our Japanese pronunciation (though perhaps he was just being kind), and got very excited hearing about all the other Disney parks we'd visited. He had a proud smile when we told him Tokyo Disney was still one of our very favourite places in the world, because you can't beat the service of the wonderful Japanese Cast Members. When we entered the room he made sure to point out our wifi passwords and other details of the room, he also hung up my coat which had been draped over the edge of the luggage cart! Seriously, I felt like I was at a grand manor at the turn of the century being waited on by a very efficient and friendly footman!

The room itself was stunning, Victorian in design with Disney flourishes all around. The TV Cabinet was made to look like the wardrobe from Beauty and the Beast, there were roses on the toilet door and hidden Mickey's all around. Rather than trying to describe how beautiful the room was how about I just show you!

Let's start with my Princess mirror in the entrance hall! I loved this thing!





Footstall or footdog? It never came to life while we were in the room but perhaps, like Toy Story, we had to leave for the magic to begin!



Fine china cups! It was the thought to the little details that put this room over the top of any other room we'd stayed in on our trip thus far.











You can see the Beauty and the Beast wardrobe from this angle!



The opulence of everything made you feel so fancy! I liked the marble, and flourished mirrors, they were a great touch!



The shower and bath were enclosed inside one room, floor to ceiling marble and beautiful decorative touches everywhere!



Then there was our view. We'd booked a theme park view room as it wasn't really much more expensive than the standard room, and of course we knew we wouldn't have views like what we expected to see at the Miracosta Hotel (which is inside Tokyo Disney Sea park and looks out on it). However, the view we had here was still pretty spectacular by Disney standard, I'm not sure of any other Disney resort where your hotel room is this close to the parks (perhaps Disneyland Paris Hotel, but I haven't been there). We could see plenty of exciting landmarks from our room. The monorail, World Bazaar, Monsters Inc, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, S.S.Columbia, Mount Promethus and of course Cinderella Castle.







The sun soon began to set and we enjoyed the stunning view from our room!







We had decided to get room service that evening, so I could relax. I also turned on the Japanese version of "Stacey" who was a weird American character trying to sound English in tails and a top hat! It was hilarious, and slightly creep but lots of fun! I hopped into bed and relaxed, and was done for the day, but Jared still had a few more things to do.

Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 19 - Part 3 - Gold and Blue

While I was resting up, trying to remove the final vestiges of my chest infection from my body, ready for our four days at Tokyo Disney to begin in the morning, Jared decided to go and take some night shots of the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. He was quite inspired I think by it's beautiful, and couldn't wait to see it lit up at night. He ventured downstairs during blue hour and took some of the most fabulous pictures of our trip, a stunning canvas of golden light and blue sky! Anyway, here they are for your enjoyment!



























Back in our room, he set up the tripod for some night pictures of our view.





And that ends our first day at the Disney resort. While we didn't really do too much we were still incredibly happy, we were in the Disney bubble, in a familiar place, being treated like royalty, we were pretty sure life didn't get much better than this! Plus it was now Jared's birthday week, and he was so excited to spend it at the Tokyo Disney Resort.

Continued in Next Post...

 

[Texans_loyal]

western Mickey and Minnie is the cutest thing I have EVER seen

 

[RachelleBeaney]

western Mickey and Minnie is the cutest thing I have EVER seen

They really were, it's why we had to stop and snap a picture (if the line to meet them wasn't so long we would have stopped to do that too!)

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 20 - Part 1 - A tale of cats and pooh bears

Today would be our very first touring the Tokyo Disney parks! We were headed to Tokyo Disneyland today, and the park opened at 9am. We left our room a little later than planned (about 8:10am, and we had wanted to be at the gate an hour before opening) but since we were literally next to the gates, and had our 'early entry' tickets because we were staying at an official hotel, we found ourselves only about 6 people back from the front of the gate. As the time ticket on the waiting area didn't really begin to fill too much, and this was our first indication that it was going to be a nice and quite time at the Tokyo Disney parks (there is a crowd calendar for Tokyo Disney, which you can find here, and based on that we knew if would be a very quite time of year - details of how to translate the crowd calendar can be found in the pre-trip report). I should also explain that 'early entry' for hotel guests at Tokyo Disney doesn't allow you entry to the park an hour early, or to get on any attractions before the park opens. Guests staying at Disney hotels simply get to enter the park 15 minutes before the regular park guest for a rope drop of sorts (except there is not rope). It's helpful, as it puts you ahead of the crowds that run into the park as it opens.

Anyway, one of the the many things I love about Tokyo Disney is that as people wait for the gates to open each morning (and heaps of people wait for the gates to open each morning) the park sends out a whole pile of characters to wave and interact with guests on the other side of the park. It's sort of like a welcome of sorts, and once the park is open a whole pile of these characters wait out the front of the parkside entrance to World Bazaar to pose with people. The other thing I love is that, wherever possible, the Japanese are smart enough to sit down, and this includes when waited to enter the park in the morning. They all bring these little single picnic mat type things to sit on! So smart! Anyway, when the characters arrive everyone stands up to get a better view. This morning we saw Mickey and Minnie, Donald and Daisy, Pluto, Pinocchio and Gepeto, The Wolf from Pinocchio (never remember his name), Fairy godmother and my favourites Marie, Toulouse and Berlioz from the Aristocats. I love that movie so much, it was actually the first Disney movie our family owned on VHS (back in the days VHS existed) and I think it's the movie that, in part, increased my desire to have cats (we never had them growing up, now I have three!).

Anyway, after we were let in 15 minutes before opening Jared and I made a beeline for the Aristocats! To my surprise there didn't seem to be many people milling around them! I met Toulouse first!







Jared gave him a nice kitteh scratch, which he seemed to enjoy!



I met Marie next, my favourite, she was very excited about my beanie (a purchase from the last time we were at Tokyo Disney coincidentally).







Jared grew up with cats and is a cat person through and through (though he loves our dog now too). He loved meeting Marie!



Unfortunately by the time we were done with Toulouse and Marie, Belioz had a large crowd of people surrounding him, and we weren't sure we'd be able to get through for pictures so we decided not to bother. Character greetings are strange at Tokyo Disney, in that there is no line, people just crowd around a character until the character makes their way to them, it's not particularly organised, but it works, though I'm pretty sure it only works because people in Japan are polite and happy to wait their turn. While we were meeting the cats though there was a gaggle of girls next to me screaming as they saw each character, it was like the characters were rock stars and they groupees so excited to be in the presence of their idols! I've never seen a reaction like it from adult guests meeting Disney characters.

When we were done with our kitteh friends we headed back down World Bazaar to take a left into Tomorrowland, and towards the Monsters Inc Ride and Go Seek Fastpass machines.



Waiting for the park to open, and the Fastpass machines to open, we saw Minnie walk past, she gave me a nice big wave! I was on my way to find a park map (not that we really need it) in English so I walked right by her and she gave me a hug and a hi-five!



We got a Monsters Inc Fastpass easily as the park opened, and had the pleasure of again getting Fastpasses with two different times (9:40am - 10:40 am and 9:45am - 10:45am). That it had happened to us twice on this trip was crazy, since it's never happened to me before! I suppose someone, somewhere has to be the cut off for one time allotment and it won't always line up to make sure a group of people getting Fastpasses together always have the same time. Perhaps it happens to others frequently and I'm making a bigger deal of it than is necessary, it was just so strange to me ! Anyway, the Monsters Inc Fastpass machines were adorable, the actually giggled when you inserted your ticket! Just a small touch but something that added depth and joy to our visit to Tokyo Disney!

Monsters Inc Fastpasses in hand we made our way to Pooh's Hunny Hunt (for anyone visiting Tokyo Disney wanting to experience it's two unique attractions, Fastpassing one before riding the other first thing in the morning is the best way to see both attractions with minimal waits). The ride was as charming as I remember, though after experiencing Mystic Manor (which employee the same ride technology) it did come across as a little more simplistic (the tone here is a lot more childlike, and more cartoonish, but still wonderful)! That being said, it's still a wonderful wonderful dark ride! Here are some pictures of it's adorableness!

































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