The trains to Disneyland (Maihama JR) was a lengthy walk, thanks to the Keiyo line being at quite a significant distance away from all the other lines at Tokyo station. As you'd expect, even during the weekdays, there was a sizeable crowd already at Disneyland. I ended up going to Disneyland and not Disneysea (the 1-day pass only allows admission to one of them and not the other), mainly because I had more of an interest in the "traditional" Disney fare.
To be honest, I did feel a little isolated. The crowds were made up of families with kids, couples (boy/girlfriends) and teenage girls, with quite a number of groups (i.e. more than one) of tourists around. A bit strange seeing as I fall into none of those categories commonly sighted here at Disneyland. Nevertheless, I pressed on with the day. It was Disneyland Tokyo's 30th anniversary, so there were a lot of themed goods and celebration events going on; even the famous Disney castle was decked out with a giant 30 sign.
There weren't many queues for rides during the morning, although a 20-30min wait was still the norm at this time. First stop was the Haunted Mansion, and no it wasn't scary. In fact, it was pretty cute with all the different, comically designed ghouls, monsters and witches attempting to scare you as you whiz down the car track through the constructed mansion.
Next stop as I passed through Critter Country was Big Thunder Mountain, the first of the roller coaster rides I was to go on throughout the day.
I had obtained a Fastpass ticket earlier on for this ride. so the wait wasn't lengthy. As for the ride itself, it was certainly exciting, with its many sharp and fast turns, and steep drops littered throughout, although it was certainly a short one. Sometimes, I felt that my head would smash into the top ceiling as the train sped its way along the track, so I was constantly ducking for cover (in reality, it was probably set high enough such that I didn't really need to).
After that ride, I walked around a bit more. I managed to try out the Pirates of the Carribean ride, which ended up being not much more than a glacial river ride set amongst the world of the film, along with a few bumps along the way.
Passing through the fun and colourful Toontown, Adventureland and the Americana of Westernland, I finally ending up at the other side of Disneyland, where Tomorrowland was. There, I really wanted to try Space Mountain - plus, I thought it would probably be a wise idea to go on it before having lunch.
There was no Fastpass option available for this ride, so the wait was slightly longer. I thought Big Thunder Mountain was wild - Space Mountain was hair raising in comparison. You definitely needed to heed the staff's instructions to really secure yourself into the carriage; the turns here were much sharper and faster in comparison, all set in a futuristic backdrop. Incredible fun, and definitely not for those afraid of roller coasters.
After that thrilling ride, I went to have some lunch. Considering this is Disneyland, drawing in millions of tourists from all over, I expected most basic food and drink to be overpriced. Oddly enough, I went for something that's a bit of a hybrid mix of local and Americana - fried chicken curry rice. Tasted decent, although considering the place was sponsored by House Foods, their curry mix packets off supermarket shelves would've done a similar job.
With my stomach feeling satisfied, I walked over to the centre area near the castle, close to the front entrance, and I noticed crowds beginning to slowly gather around the main road. There was going to be this Disney character parade later in the afternoon, but it was still early with 2 hours until the beginning of the parade. Instead, I headed over to the front entrance of Disneyland where there were two long queues. They were for taking photos with Mickey and Minnie Mouse respectively. So I joined the Mickey queue, waited for half an hour, and got my shot taken.
It was soon time for the parade to start, and the crowds were flocking onto the main road sidewalks in numbers, some having already got there early and setting up their mats to sit down on. I managed to find a decent spot in the middle, close to the front but not without a few heads on the sides slightly flanking the view, so at least I could get a reasonable photographic frame.
The parade began, with music blaring from the speakers positioned at various points along the main footpath. Familiar characters, floats and dancers from different Disney films and TV series paraded through the main road, crowds eagerly cheering, waving and taking photos of them as they passed through. It was indeed a colourful sight, and great seeing various Disney characters, new and old, in action.
The parade lasted for approximately half an hour, so afterwards, I continued my walk around of Disneyland. This time, I went back to Critter Country and lined up for Splash Mountain, with its famous rapid water drop, but not before trying out Snow White's Adventures - another fairly lightweight ride (relatively speaking) exploring the world of Disney's Snow White. Mildly entertaining, to put it, but it was nevertheless great to see the Snow White world of yore again.
After that, I headed over to Splash Mountain. Unfortunately, there was no Fastpass and since this was during the afternoon when there are more people (especially considering school has finished for the day for quite a lot of students), the waiting time was quoted to be an hour. Nevertheless, I joined in. Fortunately, it didn't seem as long as what an hour might suggest - in fact, I checked my watch and I only managed to queue for less than that. 40 minutes in fact. Finally, it was time for me to board the ride. At first, everything seemed pretty peaceful, like a mini river cruise with various hillbilly Disney characters laid out everywhere. Until you hit the first few sudden drops. And then the climatic climb up the river before you fall rapidly with a huge splash at the bottom; onlookers outside taking photos of you as you scream and become wet. I wouldn't say it was as exhilarating as Space Mountain overall, but that drop at the end was certainly fun.
As evening began to draw near, I was going to take it a bit easier. Walking around Tomorrowland, there was this Buzz Lightyear attraction that drew quite a sizeable crowd. I went and joined in without enduring too much of a queue.
It was a small ride, but an interactive one. Upon boarding the car, you're given a laser gun, similar to the one Buzz has. The aim of the game, which it essentially is, was to shoot as many targets as possible, which were all scattered around the area as the ride moved, racking up as many points as possible. You can rotate your car if you wish to get a better aim, too. For some reason though, I found it pretty hard to get a good aim and getting the target to register with my "laser shot", which meant I ended up with a paltry final score. For comparison, I saw a few others around me getting at least 10-20x my score. Or maybe I'm just terrible at shooting games, I don't know.
It was time for dinner. Judging by my observations, a lot of people seemed to go for the BBQ turkey legs, so thus I did too. At $5 AUD, it's a pretty good bite. I also went for a pork and chilli crepe, which was also decent.
During the evening, there was going to be some light show parade, similar to the one held earlier in the day except with fancy lights. And, of course, fireworks afterwards near the (now lit up) castle. So I stayed on for the rest of the evening.
Again, I managed to get a decent spot - this time, though, I was right at the front of the sidewalk. The light parade was good: again, the characters and floats paraded along the road, but the floats themselves were made up of a large array of different coloured LEDs. Certainly made for a bright and dazzling experience to witness.
The final show for the day was a fireworks display around the castle. This time, they tied it in with their 30th anniversary celebrations and kept harping on about it before and after the fireworks. Nevertheless, I do enjoy my fireworks displays (I mean, who doesn't), so it was a great finish to the day.
Overall, I did enjoy my time at Disneyland. Certainly reminded me a lot of the colourful and wonderful characters that dotted my childhood. And of course, (most of) the rides were really fun. Whilst I wouldn't call it so far as "where dreams come true" (that title fittingly goes to the Sunday at Makuhari Messe), Disneyland made me feel a bit, even for just a day, like a kid again.
Trains back home weren't incredibly packed, although Tokyo station was still full of people at 9:30pm. I bought a cheesecake back home to eat as a late night snack and an excuse for breakfast - apparently made from Oregon.
Breakfast: Krispy Kreme Green Tea
Canned coffee of the day: Tully's Black (2.5/5)
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