Saturday:

After literally over half a year in planning, I finally got my dream fulfilled (again) and went to Tokyo and had the opportunity to visit the Tokyo Disney Resort. On this very special trip, I took my sister along, as I had brought my brother along back in 1997.

I got up before the alarm I had set on Saturday morning, the 6^th of September. As I got ready, I noticed the strong thunderstorm over the area. It did not look good. There was heavy rain, wind and lightning. I had a feeling our flight would depart late and that if it did, we might miss our connection in Los Angeles. At around 5:15 AM, I drove over to my sister’s house. It was still raining, but not as strong. My brother in law drove us to the airport after getting some gas.

We arrived at Miami International around 6:00 AM. Check in at the Premium Class counter was very quick and we were given boarding passes all the way through to Tokyo. Even our bags were checked through to Tokyo. When I first made the reservations, the aircraft American Airlines was using from Miami to Los Angeles was a two cabin 757. Since my business class tickets permitted me to fly in First on two cabin aircraft, I was confirmed in First. After a while, the aircraft was changed to a three class Boeing 777, but my reservation was kept in First class. Fortunately, they did not notice and I was able to keep my reservations in First class. I was really looking forward to flying in American’s Flagship Suites. It was still a bit early, so we went to the Admiral’s Club in concourse E. We waited there until it was about 7:15 AM and time to go down to board. Security was very slow, even though there were not too many people in the area at the time.

Fortunately, the storm had passed and we would take off on time. We boarded the 777 and found our seats – 2 D and G. These were situated next to each other but separated by a partition. The seats were quite large, and featured a small seat for a visitor to sit with. The small seat also became part of the bed when the seat was fully reclined. The controls for the seat were all electronic, of course. At the push of a button, the seat would recline and the leg rest would extend. The chair also swiveled from its forward-looking position, to the bed position and even to a 90° position, which made eating with the table easier. There were two meal tray tables as well – one on the desk and one in front, which could be used by the visitor. A small video monitor also popped out of the desk, and a small video tape player was located behind the desk. There were two lights located above, plus a point able reading lamp attached to the chair. During the smooth flight, we were served breakfast and I was able to watch "The Matrix Reloaded." During the flight, I wanted to walk around the cabin some. As I made my way towards the Business Class cabin, I felt my feet get cold. The carpet was wet from the rain and my socks were now soaked. When I made my way back to the seat, I took my socks off. The socks would not dry until we reached Tokyo, about 14 hours later. Warm chocolate chip cookies were served before arrival in to Los Angeles.

The flight arrived early and it did not take us long to reach the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Japan Airlines was conveniently located close to the entrance. We checked in with them and were given new Japan Airline boarding passes. Our original tickets also reflected a return via San Francisco. At the same time that the aircraft was changed, the return San Francisco to Miami flight was cancelled, so we were rebooked via Los Angeles. The American Airlines agent in Miami told us that we did not need to have our tickets reissued, but I knew better. When I asked the Japan Air Lines agent in Los Angeles, she told me that we did in fact need to have our tickets reissued and that only American Airlines could do that. So, we took the quick stroll back to terminal 4. Fortunately, there was not that many people there and a young lady quickly reissued them for us. By this time, my friend Pepe, who was meeting us at the airport arrived and found us there. We walked with him to the International terminal, where we sat for a while and talked prior to our going through to the gate area. It was nice to see him again. I thought that security would take longer, but it was rather quick, so we went to the airline’s business class lounge. It was a very small lounge, shared with Air France. We had a drink there, but it was not too comfortable as it was very warm. This was a preview of things to come in Japan.

Japan Airlines’ Boeing 747-400 was parked at gate 104. There was a long First and Business class queue to board, but it did not take long once the actual boarding began to go through. We entered the aircraft and went upstairs to the upper deck. I could tell it was an older aircraft, nothing special, but adequate. As is my custom, we made our way to our reserved bulkhead seats, 15 H and J. Although there was no amenity kit, we were offered eyeshades, toothbrushes, and earplugs. JAL slippers and headphones were located in each seat. Lunch was served shortly after take off as we headed northwest towards the Far East. I had a great steak dinner with all the accompaniments. Japan Airlines also had a very good entertainment system with on demand video, games, music and information. They even offered live forward and downward looking cameras during the flight. The forward view could be seen on the main screen as we took off and landed for a unique view. On this flight, I saw two movies, before going to sleep. Before arrival, we were served dinner. I chose the Japanese meal, with salmon and rice, among other delicacies.

Sunday:

It was cloudy as we landed into Tokyo's Narita airport.  It took a while for the aircraft to taxi to the main terminal.  It took a while for us to go through immigration.  They were checking people thoroughly and there were lots of foreigners entering the country.  Our bags were already on the conveyor belt when we found them and customs was very quick, as they did not ask us to open our bags.  Just outside the customs area, we found a Citibank ATM and after a few tries, got ¥20,000.  We also found the Friendly Airport Limousine counter and purchased tickets for our ride into Tokyo.  I had thought that there was a bus every hour, but we had to wait for about another hour till the next bus.  While we waited, we found a Starbucks and used some one of the Internet kiosks they had.   After a short while, we went back down to the arrivals level and waited for the bus.  It was on time and took us comfortably to Tokyo.  During the trip, we passed the Tokyo Disney Resort, but it was not completely visible as they have some dividers on the sides of the highway. 

It took about two hours until we finally arrived at the Westin Tokyo in Ebisu.  From what we could see in the lobby, this was a beautiful and very classy hotel.  The decor looked very elegant with rich colors and details.  Check in was very easy and we were quickly given our keys to room 728.  It was conveniently located right off the elevators.  It was a large room, with two twin beds.  It also had a nice view of the Yebisu Garden Place and Tokyo Tower.  There were several English and Japanese channels available on the TV. An English newspaper was also delivered daily. We were very tired and went right to sleep.

Monday:

I was up very early on Monday morning.  The time difference and jet lag took a few days to set in.  We ventured out of the hotel early and had breakfast at a pastry shop at the Yebisu Garden Place.  The Saint Germaine pastry shop stood by itself in the expansive mall.  They had lots of pastries, but all the signs were in Japanese, so we did not know exactly what was being offered.  We made the safe choice and had what we think were turkey sandwiches with egg and lettuce.  They were quite tasty.  The Yebisu Garden Place was connected to Japan Rail's Ebisu station by a series of covered moving sidewalks.   This was very convenient, but would prevent us from venturing further along the Ebisu area.  We took the Yamanote Line to Tokyo Station, which was about a 20-minute ride. 

Tokyo Station can be overwhelming with all its lines and levels, but we made our way out to the street and walked a few blocks to the new Tokyo International Forum.  This convention center was housed in an ultra modern glass and steel building.  Also around this commercial area, were lots of airline offices.  I remembered that there was a Tokyo Disney Resort ticket center nearby, so we found it only a few blocks away. Inside, they had a few displays and information in Japanese.  This office sold theme park tickets, but we waited to purchase them at the park when we arrived there.  It began to drizzle as we walked towards the Imperial Palace Plaza, but fortunately, I was carrying two umbrellas, which we only used at this time.  It was a pleasant walk around the palace moat, watching joggers take time from their busy schedules to get some exercise.  The Imperial East Garden was sadly closed on Mondays, so we could not see it.  Instead, we took the subway to Ginza. 

The subway station was directly underneath the Mitsukoshi department store and we entered through one of its food basements.  The variety and amounts of amazing chocolates and pastries was overwhelming.  There was another floor filled with fish, meats and other delicacies.   Back on the street level, we walked north passing by some of the most expensive stores in the world.  We also passed many banks, but we soon realized that many ATMs would not accept our bank or credit cards to get cash.  We kept walking North past the Nihombashi bridge, the point from which all distances in Japan is measured.  This beautiful bridge was covered by an overhead highway, which took some of the charm out of it.  The main Mitsukoshi store was also here and we went in to view its interesting atrium and multi level sculpture.  We were quite tired by this time, so we took the Yamanote line back to Ebisu.  We had lunch at the McDonald's there.  The service here was very friendly and efficient.  The menus in English also helped us place our order.  Although they had the standard burgers, I tried a Teriyaki burger combo.  

We rested for a few hours in the hotel, until about 6:00 PM, when we took the Yamanote line to Shinjuku, Tokyo's skyscraper business district.  This is also the world's busiest train station.  We followed the signs in the underground corridors and made it to the twin towers of Tokyo's Government Office Buildings.  It was after office hours and this area was mostly empty.  Somehow, we found the entrance to the South tower's observation deck elevators.  They quickly too us up to the observation deck.  It was very warm up there and the floor's lighting and hazy weather did not make for a great view of the city.  It also seemed to us that this was a convenient hang out point for teenagers, as admission was free.   Back on street level, we headed back towards the train station and passed through a few of the tall buildings and the amazing electronics stores.  These multi level stores sold hundreds of different varieties of the latest electronics.  Prices though were somewhat higher than in the US.  We searched in vain for a Citibank, although we would later see that there were two only two blocks away.  The area around the train station was a very busy area with lots of people. 

We took the Yamanote line back to Ebisu station and had dinner at Pappa's Cafe in the Yebisu Garden Place.   Back at the hotel, we asked around at the front desk for ATM information and we were told that post office ATMs accepted international credit cards.  Sadly, we had passed several post offices during our tour that day.

Tuesday:

Tuesday morning began as a cloudy and hazy day in Tokyo.  In the afternoon, it would become sunny and hot.  Early that morning, we found the post office location at the third floor of the Yebisu Garden Place Tower.  The office was still closed, but the ATM was open and we were able to get cash out easily.  That morning, we had breakfast at the coffee shop across from the Saint Germain shop.   While Saint Germain was French, this had a more British/Italian flavor, but their selection was more limited.  Back on the Yamanote line, we took it to Uguisudani station, just North of Ueno park and right behind the Tokyo National museum.  It was a short walk from the station to the museum entrance.  After paying the ¥420 entrance fee, we walked over to the main museum building to see the permanent exhibits.   We were also able to use a complimentary locker after depositing a refundable ¥100 coin.  The museum's two floors contained Japanese ceramics, traditional ceremonial robes, ornate swords and prints among their displays.  After seeing all the displays, we left the museum and walked south through Ueno Park.  It was odd to see homeless people using the park as their home.  In such a wealthy country, there should not be any homeless people.  Along the way, we saw a Shinto shrine and a pond full of large plants growing from the water.  In the distance, we could see the unusual architecture of the Sofitel Tokyo Hotel. 

Close to the Ueno subway station, we meandered through the alleys of a street market.  It was only a few stops on the Ginza subway line to the Asakusa station.  A few blocks away was the Kaminarimon gate and the Nakamise Dori shopping street full of souvenir stalls.  There were lots of tourists and worshipers going to the Sensoji Temple, one of Tokyo's main attractions.   Heading through the street shops, we entered a Pachinko parlor to escape the heat.   I put ¥500 into one of the machines and tried to play, not fully understanding how it worked.  The small metal balls did not last long - just like a Las Vegas slot machine.

Not far from the temple, on the Sumida River, we found the station for the water taxi.  We purchased tickets from Asakusa to Palette Town via Hinode.   The large and comfortable water taxi took us South on the Sumida River past many residential and commercial office buildings and under twelve bridges spanning the river.   It took about 40 minutes to get to Hinode.  Luckily, the ferry to Palette Town had not yet departed, so we could immediately get onto that boat.  On this ferry, we sailed past the Rainbow Bridge and Big Sight Tokyo, another convention facility.  The Palette Town dock was a step away from Mega Web and Venus Fort - just where I wanted to go.  The second floor walkway from the pier took us right to the door of the Toyota Showcase hall.  In this two level building, the Toyota Company had every current automobile model they make, including Lexus cars.  Cars were also on display vertically in mechanized racks.  At the push of a button, the automated system would bring down a car where a flourish of lights would welcome the car in car show fashion.  The e-com ride was also located here.  For a mere ¥200 per person, we could ride in small-automated electric vehicles around the facility.  These tiny cars zipped out of the building to Mega Web's history garage, past the huge Ferris wheel and back to the Showcase building.  Just next-door was Venus Fort - a shopping mall geared towards women.  There were many stores there, including The Sports Authority and a huge pet shop with lots of cute and pricey cats and dogs.  At Toyota's History Garage display, we saw a few antique cars.  They also had a huge store with scale car models and books.  Here, we conveniently purchased a book that my brother had requested.  Back in the mall, we found a quaint Italian restaurant - Il Forno, a branch of the restaurant from Santa Monica, California.  We both had the special meal set, which included a salad, soup or appetizer, the main pasta entree and a dessert.  It was very good and filling.  Just North of the Toyota Showcase was a very tall Ferris wheel.  For only ¥900 each, we were given a 15-minute slow ride on the 15 story tall wheel.  The acrylic windows hampered the view and it was also warm with bad ventilation.  Back on the ground, we went to the Tokyo Teleport station for the Rinkai line and returned to Ebisu via Osaki.  Back at the hotel, I called JTB to confirm our tour for the next day, as well as called Joe, the Tokyo Disney Resort expert to say hello.

Wednesday:

As I had been in Tokyo before, I wanted to see something new and different.  When I saw a tour of Mt Fuji on the internet, I knew that would be a fun possibility and since one of the tours returned on the Shinkansen, Japan's bullet train, it made it even more enticing.  I had purchased this tour back home and reserved it for Wednesday, September 10th.  It was a beautiful day, Sunny and warm.   We had purchased sandwiches and drinks from the train station the night before, so we had breakfast in the room.  Just before going down to the lobby to wait for the tour bus, we went up to the hotel's top floor to see the view from up there.  The building was not that high, only 22 stories, but the view was slightly better and we could see views from other angles from the lounge and the restaurant, open for breakfast for suite guests only. 

At 8:10 AM, the Hato bus came by and picked us up and took us to the main tour bus terminal.  At 9:00 AM, our tour departed.   Interestingly, our seats were assigned before we boarded the bus.  I guess because we had reserved so early, we had the first seats behind the tour guide.  The tour took us towards the East on the Chuo expressway into the mountains.  After about an hours drive, we saw Mt Fuji in the distance.  Sadly, the summit was covered with a layer of clouds and we would not see the famous snow covered peak.  Our first stop was the Mt Fuji Visitors Center.  There, we saw a brief film on the history of the dormant volcano and were able to purchase some snacks and souvenirs.  From there, we drove up the side of the mountain to the fifth station, more than half way up the mountain.  As we drove up, it became cloudy and we even drove through some clouds.  Upon reaching the fifth station, we put on warmer clothing and headed off the bus.  It was very windy and wonderfully cool.  We saw the magnificent views of the valleys and lakes below and browsed through the gift shops, mostly selling the same things.  There was also a Shinto shrine up there, which we paid a quick visit.   It was interesting to see the side of the mountain above us covered in rich brown soil and patches of green foliage.  I am sure this will all be covered with snow once winter sets in.

After the quick drive down, we stopped at the Highland Resort Hotel, where we had lunch, which was included in the tour price. As the tour continued, we drove through the town of Gotemba to Lake Hakone. Once there, we stopped near the Hakone Prince Hotel and took the cable car up to Mt. Komegakate. It was a nice easy ride, however the mountain was covered in clouds from about the half waypoint and visibility was nearly zero. We still went out to see the facilities on top, but it was so humid, that no one stayed. Back on the lake, we spent some time in the few shops until it was time to board the ferry for our lake crossing. This was a really pleasant ride to the other side of the lake, where the bus was waiting for us. Our last stop would be Odawara station for our Shinkansen ride back to Tokyo. There was hardly any traffic, so we made it about an hour before our scheduled train’s departure time. We would be able to catch one of two earlier trains as long as there was space available. My sister and I got away from the group and waited for the train to arrive where the third train car would stop. While we waited, a speeding Shinkansen train heading towards Osaka raced through the station at a tremendous speed. This caught my sister by surprise and she jumped into my arms. When she realized that it was the famous bullet train, she smiled and laughed. By the time she realized she should get her video camera out, the train was gone. Soon after, our 6:11 PM train arrived and we boarded. There were not too many seats, but we did find two across the aisle from each other. When the person sitting next to my sister saw that we were together, she offered to switch seats so we could be together. It was a short and quick ride back to Tokyo Station, with only one quick stop in Yokohama.

Since we were in the area, we decided to do some exploring. I wanted to purchase some books, so we went into the Yaesu bookstore, across the street from the station. This was an immense store and had a good selection, including the Disney magazines I wanted. Nearby, there was a Kinkos, where we used their computers to log onto the Internet and check our emails. We headed back to Ebisu on the Yamanote Line from Yurakucho station. Before heading back to the room, we had a quick bite at the McDonald’s. When we got back, we saw that my mom had left a message only a few minutes earlier. My employees called from my office a bit later, so I asked them to call my mom and request that she call us again, which she did.

Thursday:

We had decided not to do any sightseeing on Thursday morning and go directly to Tokyo Disney Resort and take advantage of the day to see the most we could.   After packing, we went to have breakfast at the Excelsior Cafe in the Garden Place Tower, after getting some cash from the post office ATM.  We strolled behind the Mitsukoshi department store and found the Sapporo Beer Museum was not yet open for the day.  It did not take long to check out and we were schlepping our bags through the Yebisu Garden Place towards the Ebisu JR station. 

Following Joe's advice, we took a train on the Saikyo Line that would take us directly to Shin-Kiba for an easy connection to the JR Keiyo Line.  This was easier said than done as the Saikyo Line magically turns into the Rinkai Line, with is somehow not considered part of the Japan Rail system.  When we got off at Shin-Kiba, we had to pay a surcharge and then purchase new tickets on the JR Keiyo Line.  Some things in Japan are still a mystery.  It was a short ride on the old train, which arrived at Maihama Station.

Lots of people got off - most of which were going to the parks.  It was going to be a busy weekend.  Tokyo Disney Resort's Welcome Center was close by and we went there, hoping for a one-stop service counter to be able to enjoy our day at Disney.  There were lots of people checking in bags at the hotel service counters at the lower level of the Welcome Center.  The Hilton was the furthest from the entrance.  They quickly took our luggage and confirmed our reservation, but that was all they could do.  They could not sell park tickets unless we paid cash and could not sell Disney Resort Line tickets either.  It would have been so much more efficient had we been able to purchase all our tickets here, as well as get our room keys. 

Having been relieved of our luggage, we could have boarded the monorail to Tokyo Disneyland, but we preferred to walk the short distance and stopping by Bon Voyage along the way.  Bon Voyage is TDR's answer to the World of Disney Stores located at Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort.  This was a huge store filled with souvenirs from both parks and the resort in general.  It had sections dedicated to Tokyo Disneyland's 20th Anniversary, Tokyo DisneySea's 2nd Anniversary and much more.  The Transportation section had merchandise representing the Disney Resort Line and the Disney Resort Cruiser.  When I saw a scale model of the Cruiser, I knew I had to have it, but at ¥15,000, I had to think carefully before purchasing it.  I did not bring a hat from home, knowing that I wanted to purchase a Tokyo Disney Resort hat, but I did not find anything I really liked and would not find any hat interesting enough at any shop at the entire resort.  My head would stay uncovered throughout my stay.  We did not want to be carrying souvenirs around all day, so we did not purchase anything and walked over to Tokyo Disneyland.  After having our bags searched, we purchased 3 day Magic Passports for ¥13,700 each.  Upon purchase, we had to tell them what parks we were visiting each of the first two days.   We could park hop on the third day.

"Rrrrriiiiing" is the sound you hear as Tinkerbell spreads pixie dust when you enter the park's turnstiles.  The area just in front of World Bazaar was crowded with people taking photographs and greeting the characters.  We made our way through World Bazaar and took a right turn towards Tomorrowland.  There, we found the queue for the show lotteries.  Guests wishing to view any of the park's shows from the central viewing area, right in front of the castle needed tickets, only available through this lottery.   After a short queue, we presented our passports to a castmember, who put them into the system.  Sorry, we did not win tickets to either "Mickey's Gift of Dreams" or "Blazing Rhythms."  We headed up towards Fantasyland and found that fastpasses to "Pooh's Hunny Hunt" were already gone.  It was hot and we were tired of walking, so we entered "The Mickey Mouse Revue" - the original show transplanted from Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.  This was our first inkling that the air conditioning at the Tokyo resort did not work as well as its American counterparts.  We'd find it slightly cool, but not cold enough for our tastes in the uncommon Tokyo heat.  Other than the soundtrack being changed to Japanese, this was the same show as originally installed and from what I remember seeing again on my trip to Tokyo Disneyland in 1997.

Heading back towards Tomorrowland, we stopped into Toontown and went on Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin.   This was a good ride and relatively short queue.  Back in Tomorrowland, we got fastpasses to Space Mountain.  While we waited for our fastpass time, we went to the other side of the park.  As we ventured towards Adventureland we went on Pirates of the Caribbean and then we entered the queue to the Western River Railroad.  A train had just departed and another was on its way, so we did not have to wait long.  The train took us around the jungles of Adventureland, next to the Rivers of America, past Critter Country and Fantasyland.  Just before returning to the station, we passed through the Primeval World dioramas. The Jungle Cruise was just below the Western River Railroad and the queue was not too long. The ride was nice, but the entire spiel was in Japanese, so we did not get any of the jokes. How do you say "back side of water in Japanese?" As we continued through Westernland, we saw that people were lining up to view the 3:00 PM Disney Dreams on Parade. We watched this from a bench, which was in the sun, after I had purchased some snacks – a cold soda and a churro. I also asked for a cup of ice, which took a while to request, since this was not on the menu, and I did not know how to say ice in Japanese. The parade was fun to watch and the songs were nice to listen to.

It was time to ride Space Mountain as our fastpass time was up. There was still a short queue before we got to board the vehicles, but it was not that bad. When we entered the loading area, I remember that this was how it was at Disneyland, which I never got to ride on, but it is different than the Walt Disney World counterpart. Once on the ride, I felt it go faster and with more curves. I do not remember the WDW counterpart coming close to the walls of the mountain. We were tired and wanted to avoid a long queue to check in at the hotel, so we began to exit the park, stopping at the Storybook store, where I purchased some CDs and some magazines. I did not purchase the 11 CD set available for ¥29,800. We also stopped at the Grand Emporium on Main Street, where I purchased another CD that was not available in the Storybook shop. The CD for "Blazing Rhythms" was sold out here too.

We exited the park and went to the Tokyo Disneyland station for the Disney Resort Line – Tokyo Disney Resort’s monorail system. We purchased tickets for ¥1,000 each, which permitted us, unlimited use of the Disney Resort Line for the four days we would be staying on the property. Disney Resort Line tickets used to be complimentary for guests staying at Official Tokyo Disney Resort Hotels, but this was changed when Disney opened their own hotels on the property. The gates at the Disney Resort Line worked just like its Tokyo subway and Japan Rail cousins. Guests need to enter their ticket through the turnstile upon entering and departing the station. Multi day passes had different Disney designs on them depending on which station the tickets were purchased. Ours were red with Mickey Mouse on them, as we had purchased them at the Tokyo Disneyland station. Sadly, no one threw his or her used tickets away, as I would have liked to have more than one different type. It only took about three minutes to reach the Bayside station, just across from the five official Tokyo Disney Hotels.

The Hilton Tokyo Bay was just across the street from the station. Most often, we would walk to and from the hotel, instead of taking the complimentary Disney Resort Cruiser, which took guests to their hotels from the station. The Hilton Tokyo Bay was one of the original Official Hotels and was built in 1988. The hotel was completely renovated though and they did a good job. There was a substantial queue to check in, even at this hour, which took us about thirty minutes. We promptly received our keys to room 764, overlooking the park. When I asked the clerk if our ¥24,500 nightly rate included breakfast, she kindly offered us a discount coupon of ¥400 off the normal ¥2,900 price for breakfast. There were a few people before us waiting to be escorted to their rooms, so while we waited, we reserved and purchased our bus tickets from the hotel to Narita Airport for our Sunday departure. We were escorted to our room, which again was conveniently located just off the elevators. The room was a nice size, with two double beds. Instead of curtains, there were two sets of screens on the window – one was sheer white, and the other to block out all light. There was a small minibar, but no safe in the room. It was definitely not as plush as the Westin. As for the TV, the only channels in English were CNN and the Disney hotel information. This was not good at all for an American brand name hotel. We would also receive a Japanese newspaper daily. After resting a while, we purchased some breakfast for the next day at the hotel’s patisserie and left it in the room.

We returned to Tokyo Disneyland just in time to see "Blazing Rhythms." The crowd gathered in the hub was huge. People were sitting on the pavement by the hundreds. Fortunately, we were able to find a perch on a light pole, which gave us decent views. We watched as the floats were brought around the hub, and then exploded in fire as the dancers entertained the crowds. The Disney characters were perched high above the floats. Mickey Mouse began the whole show from high above Cinderella Castle. Guests were even allowed into the act when they were asked to join a tremendous conga line around the hub. The whole show ended with some fireworks high above the castle. On our way out of the hub, I noticed people at what seemed like a restaurant overlooking the hub on the second floor of World Bazaar. There was no restaurant listed in the guidebooks. This was Tokyo Disneyland’s Club 33.

It was time for dinner, so we headed towards Grandma Sarah’s Restaurant in Critter Country. Why here you may ask? Well, the Japanese guidebooks handed to guests as they enter the parks cleverly have small pictures not only of the attractions, but also the special foods available in each restaurant and unique shopping opportunities throughout the park. I had the chicken special set, which came with a salad, dessert and a drink, which was pretty good. Unfortunately, we missed the fireworks display as it was presented as we were having dinner. By the time we were finished, people were waiting to see that evening’s presentation of the Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights – an updated version of the classic Disney parade.

I took advantage of this and we headed to "Pooh’s Hunny Hunt," currently Tokyo Disneyland’s hot attraction. The queue to ride on Pooh was only about twenty minutes. The queue went quickly and we boarded our "hunny pot" vehicles. This was a new type of vehicle used from anywhere from what I knew. Rails did not guide these vehicles on the floor or even radio signals. They simply moved around the attraction, seemingly on their own, but of course, never crashing into anything. The vehicles went in all directions, and even spun around. In the Tigger room, the vehicles seemed to jump up and down with Tigger. The vehicles went through the Hundred Acre Wood, following Pooh’s adventures and even into his dream. In a huge "fun" room, the vehicles went all over the place, even interacting with another vehicle filled with imaginary guests. This was lot of fun indeed. As we exited the attraction, we went through the shop filled with Pooh merchandise.

We also caught the tail end of the Dreamlights parade. As more and more people arrived to see the spectacle, people were asked to sit on the ground, so as to permit everyone to watch the parade. By the time the parade was over, it was close to 9:30 PM, and we were able to quickly ride on Pinocchio’s Daring Journey and Snow White’s Scary Adventures in Fantasyland. The queue to the always-popular Peter Pan’s Flight was longer and already closed to more guests. We exited the park and took the Disney Resort Line back to the Hilton. Even at this late hour, guests were enjoying the Hilton’s late night Roast Beef Buffet and the folks from the patisserie had smartly taken out their sandwiches and other treats and put them for sale at the hotel lobby entrance.

Friday:

The true purpose of my journey to Tokyo would be fulfilled on Friday, Sept. 12th.  When I saw the pictures and information on Disney's newest park - Tokyo DisneySea, I knew I had to see it in person, and this was the day.  The morning began as another sunny and it would be a hot day.  Before we left the hotel, I called Joe, an online friend, who happens to be a Tokyo Disney Resort expert and owner of a Tokyo Disney Resort website.  Unfortunately, he was on the train on his way to the resort so; he did not get my calls so that we could meet.

Believing that the park opened at 8:00 AM, we took the Disney Resort Line to Tokyo DisneySea station, which also served as the station for Tokyo DisneySea's MiraCosta Hotel.  We were there shortly before 8:00 AM, and there was already a decent amount of people sitting in front of the turnstiles waiting for the gates to go up.  When the gates did not go up at 8:00 AM, I realized that DisneySea opened at 9:00 AM.  We sat in queue with the rest of the crowd until the park would open.  At 8:30 AM, the Parkway gifts shop just outside the gates opened, and I took a quick peek at that, along with the display of the Nissan Cube automobile that was being given away in honor of Tokyo DisneySea's Second Anniversary.   Shortly before 9:00 AM, the gates went up, and some of the characters could be seen inside the Aquasphere plaza ready to greet the awaiting guests.  A band also came out to provide some exciting music.  Right on time, guests were permitted to enter the park.  We saw some of them literally run inside the park.  We took it a little more slowly, trying to see all we could in this most amazingly detailed park.

The entrance to the park is a large plaza where the Aquasphere is located.   This huge globe fountain rotates and has an amazing water effect.  Before guests enter the park's themed lands, they must pass under the Miracosta hotel.  The MiraCosta is one of the most luxurious and expensive Disney hotels.  Guests staying at this hotel have the option of reserving a room with a view of the park itself.   Walking past the Emporio and other shops, we walked through the hotel's arches and were welcomed with an awesome view of the Fortress Explorations and Mt. Prometheus beyond. The imagineers had designed this entrance perfectly.  I knew that the most popular attraction was "Journey To The Center of the Earth" (Journey), so we headed directly towards Mysterious Island for that.  Along the way, we could not help but get caught up in the detailing of the park.  The view of the MiraCosta, and the Mediterranean Harbor area was incredible.  Everywhere you looked there was something interesting - from the names of the streets, to the weathering in the architecture.   As we walked towards Mysterious Island, we saw a worn Roman aqueduct - a very interesting transition to the Mysterious Island area.  I would notice several of these transitions from one area to another throughout the park.

We entered the foreboding caves of Mysterious Island and quickly found the fastpass area for Journey.   Since it was so early in the morning, there was only a 20-minute queue for this attraction, so we went inside.  The Journey queue area was fascinating and incredibly detailed.  There were tree roots showing from the ceiling, scientific displays in between the queue area, and detailed posters of the incredible machinery used by Captain Nemo to explore the earth's depths.  Groups of guests were then allowed into one of four Terravators, elevators that took us "deep" into the earth to begin our journey.  These Terravators felt very warm and felt like warm air was forced into it giving guests the feeling that they were entering into an active volcano.  Deep inside the earth, there was a small queue to board the vehicles that would take us on our journey.  This detailed queue area was also amazing with a huge waterfall and an electric power generator among other sites.   Once on board our vehicles, we were taken on a tour through the caverns to see colorful crystals, huge mushrooms and a terrible electrical storm.  We knew something was going to go "wrong" when we began seeing strange creatures and then strange pods.  All of a sudden, a huge dragon like creature threatens us and the vehicle speeds up to begin the thrills.  A few drops and surges plunges guests into darkness where the vehicles make a sharp upward turn inside the dark volcano crater only to burst out with a lava explosion out of the volcano to drop back to another quick turn and back to the station.  This was a lot of fun and very thrilling indeed.

After a short rest room break, we saw some things at the Nautilus gift shop and did the queue to "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."  Circling down close to the water of Mysterious Island, we were again shown incredibly detailed displays before boarding our "submarine" vehicles.  This attraction was much like its Walt Disney World predecessor, but with much smaller vessels.  The illusion of going underwater was creatively done.  During this short ride, we were shown many sea creatures and also got to see the sunken ruins of Atlantis.  Just around the exit from the 20,000 Leagues attraction was the famed Gyoza buns kiosk.  For some reason, trendy Japanese guests wait up to two hours to eat one of these snacks at this very location.  There was a considerable queue when we passed by it.  Our fastpasses to Journey were now good and we did that awesome attraction again, trying to see more details than before. 

Heading towards Lost River Delta via Port Discovery, we found the fastpass location for the Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull.   We still had lots of time, so we tried the Yucatan roll snacks and waited a little while and went in to see "Mystic Rhythms" at the Hangar Stage.  This was a very interesting show representing the four elements - air, earth, water and fire.   When the show was over, we headed over to the Indiana Jones Adventure.  The standby queue through was quite long, but we were able to skip most of it and begin the queue at the point that Paco does his safety film display. Despite some minor effect details, the Indiana Jones Adventure is very similar to its Disneyland counterpart.   Instead of the fire effect in the mail temple hall, there is a cool tornado effect.

We made our way to the nearby land of Mermaid Lagoon.  This is a fantasyland for kids. Two attractions are located just outside the entrance to Triton's Kingdom - both for smaller kids.  Inside, guests descend into Ariel's world where more indoor kids attractions are found as well as the Mermaid Lagoon Theater which shows a dazzling musical production with lots of sea creatures and Ariel herself doing amazing acrobatics.  This was a great short show with nice comfortable bench seats.   Upon our exit, we strolled through the Mermaid themed shops and restaurants.  

Across the bridge is Arabian Coast.  Here, we got fastpasses for The Magic Lamp Theater.  While we waited for that, we got some drinks at the Casbah food court and then went on "Sinbad's Seven Voyages."  This boat ride, reminiscent of It's A Small World had a very short queue and took guests through the story of Sinbad as he found fame and fortune on the seas.  All the animatronic characters were cute looking, even the menacing monkeys.  The entire attraction was in Japanese, so we could not understand everything that went on, but we got the idea.  The pre-show and 3-D movie at the Magic Lamp Theater was all in Japanese and we could not understand much.   Live actors accompanied the effects of the 3-D movie on stage doing magic and interacting with the movie.  It was getting too hot and we were tired, so we headed out of the park.  Along the way, we strolled through the many shops in the Mediterranean Harbor area.  The only thing I purchased was the detailed scale model of the Disney Resort Cruiser.  While we were exiting, we got a glimpse of the Porto Paradiso water carnival.  This show featured floats carrying the Disney characters as well as kites on jet skis and other watercraft. 

We returned to Bayside station on the Disney Resort Line and took the Disney Resort Cruiser to the hotel.  This retro style bus had Mickey Mouse images all over.  From the ornate Mickey on the hood, to the Mickey design on the tail pipe.  Inside, there were a few seats and some Mickey style straps for standing passengers to hold on to.  There was also a recording of Mickey's voice welcoming guests on board.  In front, next to the driver, was a small display of the Disney Resort Cruiser model I had just purchased, along with a tinier version and a tiny version of the Mickey statue that appears on top of the cruiser.   At the Hilton patisserie, we purchased some lunch and the next day's breakfast.

At 5:30 PM, we returned to Tokyo DisneySea.  Once inside the park, we went on the DisneySea Transit Steamer Line, which took us from Mediterranean Harbor to Lost River Delta.  It was a nice ride, through the waterways of the American Waterfront and Port Discovery area.  Our destination was the American Waterfront, so we took the DisneySea Electric Railway there.  This overhead trolley car took us there pretty quickly and the views were nice as well.  DisneySea has four of these trolley cars, so there was not much of a wait.  Before entering the Broadway Music Theater, we took a quick look at what was for sale at McDuck's Department Store.  The entrance of this large store had merchandise dedicated to Scrooge McDuck.  Back inside the very ornate theater, we waited to see "Encore," a spectacular revue of Broadway songs and dances through the years.  Upon our exit, we took up some places on Lido Isle to watch the DisneySea Symphony.  This was a show on the Mediterranean Harbor with fireworks, water displays and classical music - all with Mickey Mouse conducting the whole show.  Of course, Mt Prometheus gets into the act too, erupting on cue to the music and shooting some fireworks itself. 

The Buona Sera Serenade is a fireworks display that is shot from Tokyo Disneyland Park. Since the two parks are so close together, the fireworks can be seen from Tokyo DisneySea as well.  Disney music is also played throughout the park to accentuate this display.  We watched the show as we walked over to the Arabian Coast where we wanted to have dinner.  It was almost 9:00 PM though and we were stunned to see that the only part of the Casbah restaurant that was open here was the curry restaurant, which we did not want.  The restaurants in Lost River Delta were also closed.  I remember passing the Vulcania Restaurant in Mysterious Island, which was open, so we ate the Chinese buffeteria there.   It was pretty good.  Upon our exit, we noticed that most of the restaurants in the Mediterranean Harbor area were open including Mamma Biscotti's Bakery.

Saturday:

Typhoon Maemi was wreaking havoc in South Korea, which was bringing Japan hot and windy weather.  As I looked out our hotel window, I saw that the Tokyo Disneyland parking lot was filling up quickly and people were streaming into the park.  This was our day to park hop and also the day where we would meet Joe, the Tokyo Disney Resort expert.  We took the Disney Resort Cruiser to Bayside Station and then rode the Disney Resort Line to Tokyo Disneyland where we arrived shortly after the park opening at 8:00 AM.  There were still long queues to purchase tickets and queues to enter the park.  After browsing through the very expensive Disney Collection shop, we strolled through the rest of the shops in Worlds Bazaar to get to Westernland.   There, we only had to wait 15 minutes to ride on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.   This was lots of fun as usual.  As we made our way to Tomorrowland to meet with Joe, we passed a huge queue that went all the way around the hub.  We would later find out this was the fastpass queue to Pooh's Hunny Hunt.  This must have been at least a two-hour queue.  There was also a very long line to win the lottery to see the shows from the central viewing area.  We'd seen Blazing Rhythms just fine from our vantage point in the hub, so we could see other shows without waiting in queue as well.

Joe was very prompt and after discussing what we would see, we went over to Critter Country and got fastpass tickets to Splash Mountain.  Joe was a wealth of information on the parks and his knowledge of Japanese helped us answer lots of questions as well.  While we waited to ride on Splash Mountain, we went to the Haunted Mansion, where I noticed the special effect of a book walking by itself in the library, which was very cute.  At the Country Bear Theater, we saw the Vacation Jamboree show.  Here too, it was all in Japanese.  The ride on Splash Mountain was great and we were lucky enough to get front-row seats - we did get wet. 

Mickey's Gift of Dreams, the special show for Tokyo Disneyland's 20th Anniversary had already started and we got to view it from the hub.  Joe also explained what was going on as the show progressed.  Each character got a chance to make a wish from a magical bag, each one inducing a musical skit culminating in Mickey's wish of making everyone happy and singing the 20th Anniversary theme song.  We were lucky to see the shows at Tokyo Disneyland, as both Mickey's Gift of Dreams and Blazing Rhythms would end their runs on September 19th.  Although it did not seem terribly windy to us, an announcement was made after the show that Mickey's Gift of Dreams was presented in an alternate version because of the high winds.  

After getting an icee in Adventureland, we saw part of "Mickey's Adventureland Mardi Gras" show at the Theater Orleans, which was also presented in a shortened version, due to the high winds.  The Enchanted Tiki Room was a good way to get out of the heat, even though they were presenting "Get the Fever," an updated version of the classic Disney attraction.  After getting fastpasses to "MicroAdventure," we had lunch at the Plaza Restaurant.  It was noontime and there were huge crowds waiting to get their food at this large establishment as well as to get a table.  I had the chicken sandwich combo, which was good, and we were able to sit outside, but had to move the table a little to be in the shade.  Before heading to "MicroAdventure," we went to the Disney Gallery in the second floor of World Bazaar.  The current exhibit was in honor of Tokyo Disneyland's 20th Anniversary.  Here were displayed posters, videos and selected collectibles showing Tokyo Disneyland's two decades of entertaining its guests. 

MicroAdventure is Tokyo Disneyland's version of "Honey I Shrunk the Audience."  The pre-show was somewhat different from its Epcot cousin, but the actual movie was identical, except for one scene where a Japanese audience is shown on screen.  The second to last row of the theater was designed for foreign guests as it had headphones were guests could choose to listen to the presentation in English or Chinese.  The headphones were not very good and with them on, both languages could be heard, making it confusing, so I just preferred to listen in Japanese.  At Showbase, we caught a musical presentation of "Once Upon a Mouse."  This show was filled to capacity and there were people standing in the rear, including Joe and I.  I'd seen everything I wanted, except for the Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour, so we exited the park and took the Disney Resort Line to Tokyo DisneySea. 

Joe offered to give us a unique tour of the MiraCosta Hotel, so we entered through the park and entered the hotel via the park entrance.  The main lobby was located on the second floor, and the central dome area with the ship model above the plush circular sofa was impressive.  This five-floor atrium led to the beautifully painted murals in the cupola, each one representing one of the themed lands at Tokyo DisneySea.  We then looked inside the MickeyAngelo Gifts and Minnie Lisa Sundries, the hotel's shops.  Joe somehow got us permission to see the MiraCostas's spa pool and their lovely outdoor themed pool, featuring ornate statues of the Disney characters.  This was a very quiet area overlooking the boarding area of Tokyo DisneySea's Venetian Gondolas ride, which takes guests around the Mediterranean Harbor area.

After viewing the hidden Mickeys in the dome's murals, we exited the hotel and went back into the park.  We had a snack at Mamma Biscotti's bakery and caught a glimpse of "Mickey's Fantastic Caravan" parade.  In the American Waterfront area, we saw "Sail Away," the live character show right in front of the S.S. Columbia.  This fun show, which included the characters, began with the steamship blowing its horn and continued on to present the dedication ceremony of the ship on her maiden voyage.   We walked along the Cape Cod area to Port Discovery, but the lives to both attractions I wanted to see were quite long and fastpasses were already depleted, so we decided to leave the park and take the Disney Resort Line to Ikspiari, Tokyo Disney Resort's shopping mall and entertainment district.  Here, we saw some high priced name brand stores and a few automobile and train model shops. Closeby was The Disney Store.  Here, I purchased two more CDs, which were not available in the parks.   My sister also purchased some souvenirs at the Planet Hollywood here.

At this time, Joe had to leave for home, so we said our farewells and my sister and I returned to Tokyo DisneySea.  Right after entering the park, we rented a small locker to leave out purchases and cameras in.  Along the way to Port Discovery, we discovered the twists and turns of the Fortress Explorations area, just in front of Mt. Prometheus.   This fascinating multi level playground had several rooms, featuring a pendulum, an optical illusions room, an amazing planetarium and a model of Leonardo Davinci's flying machine.  The queue for Stormrider in Port Discovery was about 40 minutes and we waited about that long to go in.  Stormrider takes place in the Center for Weather Control.  Guests are able to board huge motion simulators and are transported inside a huge storm, where a device will be dropped to dissolve the storm.   Not everything goes as planned however and the device crashes into the airplane during the storm, showering the guests in the meantime.  The ride itself was very smooth, unlike Star Tours.  Also unique were the side windows, which displayed what would actually be seen on the planes sides, and not just the forward view. 

Just across the way was Aquatopia.  This outdoor attraction had small circular boat like vehicles, which made their way through several obstacles on a pool like area.   These vehicles were very much like those found at Tokyo Disneyland's "Pooh's Hunny Hunt" and they would go in all directions and spin, seemingly without control.   The queue to Aquatopia was very short, so we rode each of its sides once, noticing that no ride was the same.  As we made our way towards the American Waterfront area, an announcement was made that the evening's performance of the Buona Sera Serenade, the fireworks, would not be presented because of the high winds.  We explored the S.S. Columbia, a replica of a classic luxury steamship.  We explored the vessel's outdoor decks, and got a peek at the S.S. Columbia's dining room and the Teddy Roosevelt Lounge on the third and second levels respectively. On our way to Mediterranean Harbor, we stopped at Steamboat Mickey's - where nostalgic Disney goods were for sale.  We had dinner at the Cafe Portofino, an Italian themed buffeteria.  This place was also yummy.  And sadly our visit to the most newest and most amazing Disney theme park in the world had come to a close.  We retrieved our stuff from the locker and returned to the hotel on the Disney Resort Line.

Sunday (1):

My original plans for our last day in Tokyo were to visit Disney's MiraCosta and Ambassador hotels, as well as Ikspiari.  As we'd already visited the MiraCosta and Ikspiari the day before, we could visit another of the Disney Official hotels.  This day would be busiest of all at the theme parks, as we could see that even the remote lots were filling up quickly early on.  We took the Disney Resort Line to the gateway station.  As Ikspiari had not yet opened, we walked a few blocks to the Disney Ambassador hotel.  We entered through the courtyard area and found the restaurants.  There was a queue to get in to Chef Mickey's restaurant.  When we asked, we were told that the breakfast buffet was reserved for hotel guests only.  We could have a continental breakfast at the Hyperion Lounge, just off the lobby, for only ¥1,900 per person.  It was pretty good too, with Mickey Mouse pancakes, some warm dishes, fruit, salad, juices and really good breads and sweets.  The staff was also very friendly, especially the maitre d, who came by for some chitchat.  After breakfast, we walked through the Ambassador's shops and banquet halls.   Hotels were a very popular place to hold weddings in Japan and every hotel we saw seemed to be hosting more than one wedding at a time throughout the day. 

We walked through Ikspiari to Bon Voyage for some last minute shopping.  Here, I purchased a Tokyo DisneySea entertainment video for ¥2,800.  From the Tokyo Disneyland Station, we took the Disney Resort Line to Bayside station, and then took a Disney Resort Cruiser to the Sheraton Tokyo Bay.  Here, there were more weddings going on at the banquet level and by the specially built chapels by the pool.  We also took a quick tour of the executive floor, to see the view from the 12th floor.   We returned to the Hilton and took a quick peek at its business center and lounge on the top floor.  Their pool was only open during the summertime and so it was closed. We returned to the room and got ready to depart.