Since we were free to do whatever we wanted to, this morning five of us (Tori, Lauren, Chelsea, Geoff, and Kirsten) met at 8 a.m. in the lobby to make our way to Tokyo Disneyland!! The train rides took a little over an hour, but luckily we were able to navigate our way there successfully! Upon entering, we were under a very large covered marketplace with the typical "Main Street Disney" shops surrounding us. When we walked to the opposite side, we were struck by the awesome view of Cinderella's Castle, all decorated for the 30th anniversary, and the Mickey-Walt Disney statue. Since this is the 30th year that the park has been open, everything was decorated and themed with the "Happiness Year." Our first stop after taking some pictures was the Space Mountain ride! The wait was long, but it was definitely worth it. We randomly met at UT student and his family while waiting in line as well! Once you're inside the building, you are surrounded by futuristic orbs of light, and a huge model of a spaceship. While on the ride, everything was completely dark, so you couldn't see the tracks, and all that was visible were the starry and celestial surroundings. We all loved the ride so much that immediately after it ended we got Fast Passes so that we could ride it again without waiting. Next, we headed over to the Haunted Mansion. As far as I could tell, this ride was exactly the same as it is in Disney World, but the narrator and ghosts all spoke in Japanese. Our next stop was Splash Mountain. The wait was supposed to be 70 minutes, but a Japanese woman came by and chose us to use her fast pass with her and her nieces and nephews! She spoke English really well, and we were so excited to be able to get on the ride so we wouldn't waste our time waiting. This whole ride was also the same as the American version except for the characters speaking in Japanese. They sang the "Zippity-Do-Da" song with some partial English phrases. Afterwards, we took some pictures with the characters, bought Mickey Mouse ears, and headed to Futureland to get some Mickey-shaped burgers for lunch!
After lunch we continued the fun by going to Toontown first! We rode the tea cups and had one of the biggest laughs of the trip whirling around not being able to sit up straight. We also got to partake in the outstanding 30th anniversary parade! It was a huge show with larger than life floats of swans and castles, with every Disney character iommaginable onboard. The pretty princesses seemed to be a favorite for everyone and it was very surprising to see that the actresses and actors were american (or European). Since the 30th year is called the Happiness year, they sang a lovely song about happiness and everyone, whether speaking english or not, sang along. My favorite floats were the finding nemo one, and the toy story one! It was amzing to see all of the annimated features and awesome designs, and especially some of our favorite characters. We ended the day by getting a fast pass for big thunder mountain which was a thrilling wooden rollercoaster and we all had hillarious scared faces in the group photo. It was difficult to manage our way thtough all of the busy shops on our way out, but overall we had an amazing time and got some wonderful gifts to remember it all!
Kennedy and I opted to stay behind today in order to relax. I woke up late and walked around until deciding on a lunch spot. I read about Tokyo architecture while eating and drinking a small coffee. After lunch I walked around our hotel looking for anything that caught my eye. I debated on going into a casino until my nerves got the best of me. I sat down and observed Japanese pedestrians who are excellent for people watching. Then Kennedy and I met up and kept each other company while sketching and watching you tube videos. The others arrived home and we shared storied of our day. Then it was off to bed! -Raakhi
