Trip Report Thank you note

[Asa]

My wife and I were at Tokyo Disneyland on 11 July. My wife forgetfully left behind her handbag near StarJets after the Electrical Dreamlights Parade. Everything important was in the handbag including our passports and all our cash.

Fortunately when we got to lost and found center, cast member Ms. Arakawa was able to find my wife's handbag with nothing amiss!!! We were so happy we were over the moon!!!

We have no idea who found her handbag and gave it to lost and found, so here is a little note to say thank you whoever you are. You saved our trip. :bow:

[Asa]

Re: Thank you note

Here is a little trip report.

We flew from Hong Kong to Tokyo on ANA flight, due to arrive at 3:10pm at Narita Airport. We arrived slightly early and got through immigration and customs quite swiftly. We were able to catch the 4:04pm Keisei Sky Access Train (orange line) to Higashi Matsudo (910 yen).

We arrived at Higashi Matsudo at around 4:40pm and connected with JR Musashino Line train bound for Tokyo at 4:54pm, which stops by Maihama (about 240yen). We got to Maihama at 5:16pm.

We were booked at Sunroute Plaza but they could no longer check us in at the Welcome Center so we had to take the Sunroute Plaza bus at 5:25pm to the hotel itself. We got there, checked in at the front desk, dropped our bags in the room and proceeded to Disneyland, using the 6pm hotel shuttle.

We arrived at the gate at 6:15pm, bought the Summer 5 passport (3,300yen) and proceeded to Tomorrowland. We were hoping to do three rides: Monsters Inc Ride and Seek, Star Tours 2 and Pooh's Hunny Hunt. Monsters showed a 80minutes wait time (must be the movie craze) so we went for Star Tours first which said 50minutes. As we waited my wife bought a piece of pizza that we consumed in the queue. The ride is good and we had a good laugh when Darth Vader said there was a spy among us in our starspeeder, which on the monitor turned out to be a chubby Japanese girl, her friends could not stop laughing at that. We enjoyed it but the ride seemed very short.

We then moved to Pooh's Hunny Hunt which showed a wait time of 40 minutes. We promptly joined the queue. It seemed we only waited 30 minutes and we got on the ride. (I had to explain to my wife that this ride is very different from the one we have in Hong Kong.) She was very impressed with this trackless ride and she also noticed that the whole platform jumped along when we saw Tigger.

We then sat down near StarJets for the Electrical Dreamlight Parade. There were so many gorgeous floats and the parade lasted so long it was unbelievable. Someone said HKDL will have a bigger and better Night Parade in 2014 and I seriously doubt that.

Next thing was my wife lost her handbag (see above post), but we got it back throught Ms. Arakawa at Lost and Found at about 9:20pm. With 40 minutes to park close we made another attempt at Monsters and they let us join the queue. So we rode it and I think it is very much like Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters and it is good fun.

After that we took a look at the shops before returning to the hotel via the Sunroute Plaza shuttle. Tomorrow is DisneySea.

[Berry Princess]

Re: Thank you note

That is awesome that her bag was returned so quickly and with nothing missing. I have to say I love reading about everyone's trips. Hoping one day we can get there.

[Asa]

Re: Thank you note

Day 2 DisneySea


Next morning we woke up at about 8, we ate in our room and then packed everything to go to Maihama station. We stored our luggage at the coin locker there and then took the monorail to DisneySea entrance. We arrived at just before 9am. We already bought our tickets when we were in Hong Kong so we used them to go straight into the park.


Once inside I decided we should go to "Journey to the center of the earth" for the fast pass. We got them for 10:00 - 11:00. Today Toy Story Mania is sadly closed for maintenance. (So I guess we will have to try that next year when we go to DCA.) We are also too old for Tower of Terror, so we know we will miss those two rides today.



Next stop is the nearby "20,000 leagues under the sea". It was almost empty and we got on in no time. The ride was quite interesting. Then we made our way to Lost River Delta where I want to ride Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull. The wait time indicator said about 30 minutes so we queued up. The ride vehicle is much the same as the California version but the smoke ball and darts effects seem to be exclusive for this version. The ride camera is right after the huge boulder. We rode this with 4 local Japanese girls behind us. When we saw our pic it was clear they knew exactly where the ride camera was located and all of them posed for it.


Then we moved to Port Discovery and I was surprised we were able to walk straight in for Stormrider. This is a huge simulator with some very good effects. It does spray plenty of water on you so be warned.


We went back to Mysterious Island as our time to ride Journey is up, but when we got there the cast members told us the ride has broken down and we could come back with our fast passes any time after the repair is done. So we went to Arabian Coast for the Magic Lamp Theater.


Once again, we arrived just on time for the next show. We asked a cast member for the translator machines and he duly came up with two for us. The show is fun, with real actors performing along with Genie on a 3D screen. I think this is better than PhilHarmagic.



Then we just walked across and saw Sinbad's Storybook Voyage only had a 5 minutes wait time so we went in and in fact boarded in no time. This is a ride that is similar to "It's A Small World" but with nice and much larger animatronics.


By now it is near lunch time and we were looking for something to eat. We got back to Port Discovery and took the Electric Railway to American Harbourfront, where we finally settled for burgers and fries at Cape Cod. It costs us about 1,800 yen and the food is good.


Next we decided to take it slow as we are full. We boarded the Transit Steamer Line for a full circle of the park. It is a good ride that allowed us to see the whole park from the water level.


Then we went back to Journey and the ride is now operational again. We used our fast passes to get to the elevator doors, descended to the heart of the volcano and boarded the ride vehicles. I knew this ride would be fast near the end but its speed and the small drop still surprised me. My wife said afterwards this was the best ride in the park.


With that done we went to Mermaid Lagoon. The next "Under the Sea" show was still 20 minutes away so we went to the Sleepy Whale Shoppe. The story of "Under the Sea" is different from what I know, but the show is fun and Ursula's animatronics is very impressive.



We then got back to Mediterranean Harbour where Minnie is about to soak everybody with Minnie's Tropical Splash! The Japanese locals were really into the water cannons and dance routine and lots of them danced while getting totally soaked by the water cannons.


We had a look at the park merchandize at Med Harbour then decided to head back to American Waterfront. Then we arrived at Broadway Theatre and they are taking in guests for the next "Big Band Beat" at 15:40. So lucky, we got straight in and seated. Not the best seats but still very happy to be seated and in an air-conditioned auditorium. "Big Band Beat" is such a good show.


Now we had to look for a place to watch "Legend of Mythica". We found room at Lido Isle but it was boiling hot. I had to go to the bathroom to wet our towels so we could cover our heads with them. I really pity the performers who had to perform in such weather. The show was good and the floats they had really mark this show out as something very different from all the other parks.


By now it is 17:15 or so and we reckon we have just about done all we wanted to do and see. But there is one more ride I wanted to do, the Venetian Gondolas. (Being from Hong Kong I am used to the Gondolas in the Venetian Macao, which needs to be paid even if you stayed on property. But here it is included in the entrance fee. I needed to wrap my head around this idea of free gondola rides.) The wait was a bit long compared to others because they stopped operation during Mythica and after Mythica finished lots of people joined the queue. But the queue moved very quickly and in about 15 minutes we were on our gondola. Among us was a girl celebrating her birthday (she had a sticker) and the gondoliers congratulated her.


We sailed into Med Harbour and back in about 15 minutes and the gondoliers made some jokes (I did not understand Japanese) and sang a song. As the sun was setting this was a good way to see all the park again before saying goodbye. Yes, I know, at 8pm there is Fantasmic!, but we saw that before in Anaheim, we are staying in Shinjuku tonight and have a long trip to Hakone tomorrow, so it is better to retire early.


After the gondola ride we were back to the shops again and I bought a 30th anniversary t-shirt. We took some photos with the AquaSphere and then left for Maihama on the monorail.


We retrieved our luggage from the locker and boarded the JR Keiyo train to Shin-Kiba. We had learnt from many people that changing trains at Tokyo Station would require a 20min walk so we changed to the Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line for Ikebukuro at Shin-Kiba. The walk to change train here is only about 2min. At Ikebukuro we changed again for the Fukutoshin Line to Higashi Shinjuku where we stayed.


Overall very happy with DisneySea. Sad to miss Toy Story Mania but maybe another time. DisneySea is a park that Disney fans must see if they have done any versions of Disneyland before. Personally I think it can do with another Finding Nemo attraction (in addtion to Turtle Talk with Crush), as the property is quite poorly represented in the park dedicated to the sea, its exact element. Seeing that a sequel is already lined up, I can see that happen.


For those with small children especially little girls who like their princesses and Winnie the Poohs, I think they are better off going back to Disneyland. But for young adults and boys, DisneySea is the park for them.

By the way, Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea admission price is only JPY 6,200, for me it was HK$490 as I bought the tickets in Hong Kong. HKDL is charging HK$450 now and in terms of attractions it is nowhere near comparable. Disneyland Anaheim is charging US$95, which is HK$741!!! For that I have to say TDR is amazing value for money!

[Fukai]

Re: Thank you note

Good trip report. Considering the heat and how much you did, I'd say you should have gone on Tower of Terror. Smooth as a baby's backside.

TDR is an amazing value: $160 for a 4-day passport.