Day 16 & 17 – Disney Land and Sea
Yesterday started like most busy days have on this trip; an early alarm, a rushed breakfast, cold weather and a walk to the train station.
It was officially Disney day! Amy being Amy was on a mission, and was waiting for no one, so when Lobada was a little late down stairs, he was almost left behind! I had looked up the route to Disney Land, so I was prepared for the 3 separate trains we needed to take to get there, what I was not prepared for was the Japanese rush hour that we happened to be trying to join… There we were, the 12 of us, standing on the platform waiting as the train pulled up looking like a sardine can. No gaps visible between the what looked like thousands of people already squeezed in there, and we were about to try and join them. Game plan quickly changed, there was yelling at each other over the crowd. I believe one quote was “We get off at Ginza. Split up. Good luck.” And with that it was on. A small group of Drew, myself, Brad, Alysha and Tim were pushed (by pushers. There are legitimately people employed to jam people onto trains) onto one carriage, and we quickly lost sight of everyone else. I’m not fond of crowds anyway, but this was a little too much for me. I was literally being touched on all sides of myself because it was so tight in there. I kind of just closed my eyes and waited for the moment everyone left so I could breathe again. 4 stops later, I open my eyes to movement and pushing around me, suddenly everyone around us it trying to get off! Air! Relief!
It was a few stops later we were able to get off. But once we did, we realized we had lost Lobada again! We waited at the station, hoping that he was around somewhere. We found him maybe 5 minutes later getting off the train after ours. Turns out he was pushed off at a station where people tried to get off, but wasn’t able to get back in! The group then moved towards the next platform, for train 2/3 for the trip to Disney Land. This ride was much simpler, and roomy in comparison! Went off without a hitch! Same with the last trip, the only difference being that you could feel it getting colder and colder as we were travelling away from the inland and out towards the Disney Resort – which is built on reclaimed land. They built the island that it is standing on, so we’re in the middle of the ocean – freezing! And I have to say; it was the coldest day I think I have ever experienced in my life.
The original 6 were the only ones who hadn’t already purchased a ticket, so we went to line up for purchase, as the other group only had to line up to enter. Seriously, Japan is a fan of the queue. So Drew and I went up to try and buy our tickets; we order our 2 2-day passes, and try to pay. Nope, card declined. Tried again. Declined again. At this point, I’m having a freak out, because I’m sure there’s money on there! What’s going on?! It’s lucky we were carrying cash at the time, but we were in need of an ATM ASAP. We turn around and explain to the rest what has happened with our card, thinking that they mustn’t accept Master Card, which is a problem because Lobada only had Master Card as well, but no cash. The three of us then go on a hunt for an ATM so we can make sure that Lobada can get into the park! The 2 of them are directed by one of the guards to a help desk, so they go over there. I didn’t think I was required, so go over to stand with the others and wait to get in. All well and good, but the line they’re in starts moving faster and faster, and I’m standing there without my ticket (Drew has it!) Bugger. We’re about 2 groups away from the front, and there’s still no sign of Lobada or Drew. Sigh. I end up leaving the rest of the guys and going towards where I saw them being directed, and when I find them, they are still standing there at the help desk, with a lady who didn’t seem to speak very much English, and 3 different maps, open, searching for signs of an ATM. Turns out, Lobada’s card worked! It was because our travel money is on a prepaid card, their system just didn’t like it! So, our little adventure was all for nothing anyway! We leave the help desk about 10 minutes later, still none the wiser for the location of a ATM.
When you first walk into Disney land, the first thing you see is an archway with Cinderella’s castle framed perfectly. I’m not a huge Disney fan, but it was still pretty magical to see that for the first time. Getting in contact with the group we find that they are waiting in the square in front of the castle. So off we go. When we find the group I first saw Amy and Anthony hugging, and everyone else kind of standing around not really knowing what to do with themselves. Turns out, the cheeky bugger couldn’t wait 5 minutes for the rest of us to get there; Anthony proposed to Amy! I’ve since seen photos, and it did look really sweet. He set it up beautifully with the castle and the whole ‘I need to tie my shoe’ thing. A little rushed and chaotic, but perfect. I am so happy for them both. And after 12 years? About time!
After all of that excitement, we decided to go and have a look at our first ride of the day. The Buzz Lightyear attraction (I have no idea of the real names, so I’ll make my own names). It was when we were standing in line for this that the little drizzle that was happening started getting a little more floaty. The drops weren’t hitting the ground as water anymore. It’s SNOW! Real snow! I’ve never been out in real snow before, so I was excited and probably acting a little bit like a child. As exciting as it was though, it didn’t last for long. The rain turned into rain again and it was gone. But hey, I can officially say it snowed while I was in Japan! It wasn’t long before we were up to the inside section of the line. I won’t go into too much detail about the rides, because it will make this blog longer than it already will be. But what I will say, and I think I’ve said it before, the theming and attention to detail for everything is amazing. Even the line areas of attractions are beautifully made – which is great when you have to stand in them for sometimes over an hour. When we finally get into the ride, we quickly find out there’s a competition (who shoots the most targets wins). Drew won; by quite a bit too.
Once we were done there, we pretty much went straight to another ride line. This time Monsters Inc. It has the same concept, with targets and aiming, so the idea wasn’t new. But again, the sets were amazing. I would go through again and again to try and find things I missed on my first time around. Once that was done, a big chunk of the group headed to Space Mountain – a roller coaster I hadn’t quite worked up to yet, so gave it a miss. While they were doing that, the group that remained, who ended up just being Drew, Lobada, and myself went off exploring the areas. I was absolutely freezing. Unable to stop shivering I was so cold! We were wondering the park when we came across a gift shop that was selling clothes as well. I was desperate to try and get warm, so I bought a jumper to add to the layers of clothes I was already wearing! It was at this point I realized just how many clothes I had on. A singlet, long sleeve t-shirt, t-shirt, jumper, the jumper I just bought, a jacket, a scarf, beanie, earmuffs, gloves, leggings under jeans and explorer socks. It was better, but even then I was still a little cool. We had received word while I was re layering, that the others were done with their ride, and were ready to meet up again. We found the rest of the crew in front of the teacup ride. I’m pretty new at rides, as I’ve never really had an opportunity to ride any, so I thought that I would give it a go. Plus, teacups are tame as right? Boy was I mistaken.
There were 6 of us who ended up getting on this ride. Tim, Brad, Alysha and Rob in one cup, and Amy, Anthony and myself in the other. I should have seen it coming, but the second the ride got going, off we went – spinning as fast as Anthony could spin us! I quickly lost sight of where the others were, as I couldn’t see anything apart from a blur! My hair was everywhere, but I had an absolute ball. I had tears streaming down my face from the laughter, and as soon as it stopped I wanted to go again. Turns out Drew had filmed everything, because of course he had. It is a pretty hilarious video though – parents and small children going at a leisurely pace, and then us, 2 teacups going mental between them all.
I got off the teacups pumped and ready for more. So we wasted no time in going and finding the next one! It’s unfortunate, but Drew doesn’t really do rides with his motion sickness, so he didn’t get on many rides at all. He would have really struggled with the Star Wars ride that we went to. A 3D adventure where you’re strapped in and your chairs move. It was pretty awesome. The funniest thing was though; you get a little story that goes with your ride. Ours was that we were heading through a checkpoint, and they were scanning our ship for the rebel. They ‘randomly’ select someone from the ride to display as the rebel. And in our case, it was Anthony! Quite funny, and at the end of the ride, some Japanese girls took photos of Anthony, because he was the ‘one’.
Our next choice we wanted to be Steve and Drew friendly, so we lined up for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Which ends up basically being a story, where you float by on a boat and watch everything happening. It was very cool actually. And the animatronics were amazing! There was a point where Jack Sparrow popped up, and there was an extensive debate there in the boats of whether it was a person or a robot. We’re still unsure!
Now that they had got me on this idea that rides aren’t so bad, they wanted to amp it up a little. So they decided the next ride should be a roller coaster! So we headed to Thunder Mountain. We wait for this one was pretty intense. There was a number of times where I asking myself if this line was worth it… I think it was about an hour later where we finally got on the ride. And oh man – I loved it! As soon as it was done, we organised fast passes for it and went on again (thanks Chris). It doesn’t seem like we got very much done today, but at this point it was getting pretty late, and I wanted to find Drew. And I would have found him a lot faster if a Parade didn’t get in the way!
They basically block of a section of the park, straight down the middle, making it so there is no way to get to the other side until it’s done! Oh well, nothing I could do. May as well get a good view right? We were right up the front as the floats started to come pass. They are absolutely gorgeous though. I mean, like I’ve said, I’m not the biggest fan of Disney, but these were impressive! Each float has thousands and thousands of LED’s on them each with moving parts. Each float was a little more impressive than the last. But I have to say; the Cheshire cat was my favourite! The parade took about 20 minutes, and after that I was off to find my other half. Took a little while, but we eventually found the others in the warmth of one of the shops.
By this time, there was only about half an hour until the closing show, so we decided to stick around for that. It was pretty impressive. If not the content, the show itself was pretty cool! They projected the imaged onto Cinderella’s castle, and there were lasers and fireworks involved as well. I happen to be standing behind Amy and Anthony at the time, and I could see how happy she was. She was in heaven. I think it ended up being a perfect end to a close to perfect day.
Today started remarkably similar to Disney day 1 – but we were all just that little bit more tired, so just a little bit slower. We didn’t rush for the train this time, so the rush hour was a little bit easier to deal with. I was still being touched on all sides, but not squeezed! Same amount of trains as yesterday, only this time, there was a Monorail added! We got to Disney Sea safely and with all party members present and accounted for (even Lobada! Finally, the buddy system is working)!
After my miserable day yesterday, I had prepared for the cold a little more today (I packed the same amount of layers as I wore yesterday, and added another pair of socks! But of course, the sun was out, and most of my preparations were pretty pointless. Still freezing by Melbourne standards, but bearable! This made the day significantly more enjoyable already. So as we enter the park (tickets pre purchased yesterday, so there was only one queue to get in), we see a giant globe, quite similar to the Universal spinning globe, front and centre, and 3 characters offering photos to the side. At first glance you can see the Mediterranean section, as well as the Arabian section. It was immediately apparent that this park was very different to yesterdays Disney Land. I’ve heard that Sea is more adult than Land, and it was clear from the get go. There were very few children around, and the characters that were included in this park were more the older generation of Disney.
Following the people who have been here before, we walked around the back of the park, with promise that we would come back and explore the parts we missed. We headed straight to the Jungle section. We were initially just having a look around, but we found some rides back there that we wanted to have a look at. But as we were walking, we came across an Aztec themes temple area, where there was a little pedestal you could take photos on. We stopped there for a second, getting little pair photos, but Rob suggested a group shot, and me being the quiet bad influence, said sure! Let’s try and get everyone onto the little pedestal. Mind you there are 12 of us, and the pedestal was only about 1.5 meters in diameter. A challenge to say the least! I asked a Japanese lady who was in line for the photo behind us to take the photo for us. So I give her the camera and quickly run back to try help get everyone up and on this tiny thing. We were all up and there for a moment! And she starts taking photos. Good on her for the continual clicking, she was able to capture the moment where Lobada lost his footing, fell on his ass, with the guys still standing at the top with their arms out trying to catch the guy. I was at the front so I didn’t get to see this happen, but looking back through the photos, all I could picture was the scene from the Lion King where scar has Mufasa by the paws, and says “Long live the king” and lets him fall. A wonderful set of photos, a good laugh. Poor Lobada.
So now that I’m not saying no to all the rides, Amy wanted to keep the momentum going! So the first ride of the day was a roller coaster called Pressure Point. I agreed, and before I know it, I’m in a line. It was about half way through the line where they have a little display showing you that it had a loop the loop. Oh dear. Lots of nervous excitement, not really sure which one I was feeling the most! It was a long wait too! I had all that extra time to psych myself out! In the end it wasn’t bad at all. I was actually a little disappointed – the loop was so small you hardly felt it! It was really fun though I have to admit! The others got a bite to eat as soon as we got off, I passed on the chicken legs. But from there we went to explore Agrabah! The Aladdin themed area! I was very excited for this, as Aladdin is one of my 2 top Disney movies.
This area was amazing to look at. Every nook and cranny has something there to look at. Windows on tall buildings, little pots and jugs in corners, street signs, everything was gorgeous! Plus a big statue of Rajah the tiger! We tried getting into contact with the non riders at this point, as there was a slow ride, I’ve been told is an in between of Small World from Disney Land and Pirated of the Caribbean – Sinbad’s Adventure Story. We heard nothing from them, so decided to head on. Now to be honest, there was a reason the wait for this one was less than 5 minutes. It’s not a ride per-se more of a story. But again, the sets are absolutely amazing. And huge! You go through following this Sinbad character and his tiger cub on their adventures of saving a town and freeing a troll from some bad guys (at least we think – it was entirely in Japanese, so we made our own story to fit what we were seeing). The sets and all the little details, absolutely perfect! And the animatronics were impeccable. I’ve been really impressed by it all.
On our way towards the Agrabah area, we passed the Indiana Jones ride. Amy, Rob and myself collected everyone’s tickets and headed back down to the ride to see if we could get a fast pass for later in the day, while everyone else headed to the halls for lunch. When we had passed this area in the morning, the wait time was up at 75 minutes. When the 3 of us went back there for the fast passes, it was down to 10 minutes. That’s less time than it would take to go back with fast passes! So there was a rash decision, and we chose to make the most of the low wait time, and ride it before heading to lunch. We were walking through the line feeling all rebellious, rode the ride, and managed to get back to the others after about 30 minutes.
All through Agrabah, all you could smell was curry an naan bread! So that seemed like a good idea for lunch. And it was yummy too! I’m all too used to being out somewhere that’s not a restaurant and getting expensive shitty food, but it was great! Even the little dessert we got was themed with a little chocolate genie lamp! We took this opportunity to just sit and chill for a sec; we haven’t had much time for that on this trip. After about half an hour or so, we were off again. We split the group at this point, as some wanted to stop and look at the arcade, some were still eating, and some wanted to keep exploring. So I headed off with Drew, Lobada, Tim, Brad and Alysha to keep exploring. This place is huge! And I am still so sure that we missed so much!
In our explorations, we made our way to the section called Mysterious Island, which mad a volcano that was part of the Journey to the Center of the Earth ride, and the 20,000 leagues under the ocean ride. Brad and Alysha decided to have a go at that ride while we were waiting for the others to go on Journey. I’m glad I didn’t end up going on 20,000 leagues, Alysha struggled with the tiny subs that you were in, and I’m sure I would have too! After about 10 minutes of enjoying the sun, we got word that they were heading for the Journey line. It was a long wait, but again, worth it! The sets were stunning! The colours were vibrant and the animatronics were flawless! I was so distracted by all the beautiful creatures we were going past, I was not ready for the drop at the end. Scared the absolute crap out of me! It takes a lot for me to scream… but for the drop, I am positive I squealed like a child until we were level again. Totally worth it though. I would ride that again and again just to see the creatures I missed!
When we got out of there, I discovered that about 2 hours has passed. Where has all the time gone? It was already time to head to the Indiana Jones ride for our fast pass. So we headed over there and waited patiently for out 16:00 start time. It was about 20 minutes until we were able to ride again. Just as enjoyable the second time around! It was after this ride that I decided that I’d had enough. I was happy to explore a little bit more for some photo opportunities, as I have taken very few, but after that, I want to go home! We explored until maybe 6.30, and called it a day. It’s now 12.30, I an utterly exhausted, but I am caught up on blogs! We’ve bailed on tomorrows’ activities, so there’s a sleep in tomorrow, which should be marvellous! I want to sleep and wake up minus this cold I’ve picked up!
