After a good night sleep we woke up really early at 6:00 o’clock. Probably because the sun already shone through the curtains. But that was no problem, I finished the 2nd blog of the vacation while Danielle took a shower and in the end we were both ready to go at the same time. At 7:45 we left the hotel towards Shinagawa Station where we started with a breakfast to go at the Starbucks.

While eating we wandered towards the central gate and here we started to see some crowds. We went through the gates and took the metro towards Tokyo Station and in this Metro it was really busy, we thought more people inside would be impossible. After we had arrived at Tokyo Station we walked the 700 meters towards the 2nd metro and at 8:20 we arrived at Maihama at the Tokyo Disneyland Resort.

Today we planned to visit Tokyo DisneySEA, which is the most beautiful theme-park I’ve ever seen. To get here you need to take the Resort monorail for which you need to pay, we went for a multi-day ticket so we can take the monorail as often as we like. The Monorail is in complete Disney style which makes it more a fun ride as a public transportation solution.

At 8:35 we went through the gates at Tokyo DisneySEA and the first idea was to get a Fastpass for Toy Story Mania, looking at the crowds we weren’t the only one with this idea. But when we entered the area we saw a huge crowded and these people were waiting for the Fastpass line…we were both speechless a whole street was full with people waiting!

We walked towards Hightower Hotel, the Japanese version of the Hollywood Tower of Terror when Danielle spotted Shellie May as a photo opportunity. So I went to get us 2 Fastpasses for the Tower while Danielle queued up for a 70 minutes wait! Yes that’s long for a picture but this is the only place in the whole world where you can get the picture. While Danielle kept waiting I went to take some pictures around the park and was back in time for our photo-session with Shellie May.

After the shoot we went to McDuck’s Department Store, the place to get your Duffy and Shellie May merchandise. But this was a deception most of the items are sold out so we left with way less as we had expected. After this short shopping trip we got ourselves a locker near the exit of the park before we found some more characters for pictures.

At somewhat after 11:00 we decided to get a really early lunch at Vulcania at Mystery Island, which is a Chinese-styled buffet restaurant. We went for the Vulcano menu which was a combination of multiple dishes we went for Dim Sum, Fried Rice, Fried Chicken, Cheesecake and a Chinese Salad. Everything was delicious and compared to other options during a theme-park trip one of the healthiest places to go.

Afterward we went for a walk with the target to get on Indiana Jones Adventure! And we succeed although the waiting time was  about 3 hours because the single rider line was open. In less than 30 minutes we were outside again and we got ourselves Fastpasses for the Raging Spirits, a rollercoaster with a looping.

We then were close by the Sinbad’s Storybook Voyage and with a 10 minutes wait this was a no-brainer. We couldn’t understand a word but it was a fun ride because of the music. When we exited the ride we went to the Little Mermaid Show where got translators which didn’t work. But this was not a big problem since the show is fun to watch and most songs are in English.

At 13:35 it was time for our Tower of Terror Fastpass. This Tower is really beautiful but the ride itself is not so exciting as the other 3. When we exited the tower we almost stepped on 2 tiny mouse’s from the RescueRangers. And with tiny we really mean tiny, the funny things is that Bernhard and Bianca both really wanted to get a picture with us, probably because we where huge compared to them.

30 minutes before the Legend of Mythica, a beautiful water-parade started we found a nice spot to lean against a wall and get some pictures.

From there we walked to the StromRider to get Fastpasses which were valid from 18:55-19:55 just before we went in the Raging Spirits with the Fastpasses we took earlier today. From The Lost River Delta (back of the park) we took the DisneySEA Transit Steamer Line towards the Mediterranean Harbor area of the park (entrance), very convenient.

At this time we got a bit tired and decided to sit down in the Ted Roosevelt Lounge inside the S.S. Columbia. Here we both got a cocktail and a delicious cheesecake with cassis ice cream. When we left the ship we walked directly in to a show called Table is Waiting and this show was a real joy to watch.

At the end of the show it was time for our last ride of the day, the StromRider, this is a huge simulator ride in which you see how a huge storm gets stopped with a special weapon. After the ride it was already 19:15 and Danielle smelled strawberries and they came from a popcorn cart! In Tokyo Disneyland Resort they have many different popcorn stands with a lot of different tastes, this time Danielle couldn’t hesitate and needed to try.

Since it was getting close to 20:00 o’clock we needed to find a good spot for Fantasmic! and I guess we found a good spot! Due to our length advantage we didn’t need to stand front-row. And this show blew us away, it was much better as we expected and it’s difficult to say which of the Fantasmic! shows is better the one in Orlando or the one Tokyo!

After the show all the crowd left so we were confused, within 10 minutes the fireworks should start. At 20:35 we understood why everyone left, after seeing such a great show the firework isn’t important anymore to most people. But at least I found a spot where I could use my GorillaPod and try the new neutral density filter.

After some more pictures of Mount Prometheus we went for another walk through the park where we took some more night pictures.

At 21:15 we left the park and we took the Resort Monorail towards Maihama Station, here it became busy. And we thought it wouldn’t get any busier in the next metro this night. But…the train from Tokyo towards Shinagawa, on the Tokaido Line was extremely busy we didn’t had enough place to stand and we felt like we just fitted in. The next station 10 new people came in through our door and it also fitted! But we were lucky the next station we could get out of the train, and again many more new travellers entered the train. In some wagons the people were pressed in while the doors closed, with their faces pressed against the windows. We had only seen this online so far but it happens for real!

At 22:10 we finally arrived back in our hotel.

Shortly after arriving in our room we left for Disneyland by Metro. We entered Shinagawa Station through the central gate and took an escalator down towards the JR Keihin-Tohoku line and there it went wrong again Danielle was blocking the walkers on the right side of the escalator. But the Japanese are polite and nobody complained. Within a couple of minutes we entered the Metro which was the fast connection towards Tokyo Station, at Tokyo Station we need to change metro to the JR Keiyo Line to get to the Disneyland Resort which meant a walk from about 700 meter below the ground.

45 minutes after leaving our hotel we were almost inside the park, that was about 15:00 o’clock local time. First we changed our printed tickets for regular tickets which is easier due to the size and 2 minutes later we walked through the gates in the direction of World Bazar, this is the same as Main Street USA but with a roof and side streets.

We walked towards Tomorrowland to check out the first waiting lines, we wanted to do as much rides as possible today because it would be the day with the lowest crowd. But after seeing the waiting lines for Monsters Inc. Ride and Go Seek 100 minutes, Space Mountain 150 minutes, Buzz Lightyear AstroBlasters 130 minutes and Star Tours 3D 80 minutes we knew we won’t do a lot of rides today.

From there we entered Toontown where we went on Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin which had a wait-time from about 50 minutes, during the wait we tried a FaceTime call to Belgium which worked out pretty well for a distance rom about 9.300 kilometer in a crowded area. Normally we don’t wait longer as 30-40 minutes because we get irritated by the other people in line but here everyone is so easy ad polite you really don’t get frustrated.

So this made us decided to try out some longer waiting lines. At Pooh’s Hunny Hunt the line was 120 minutes so we decided to go back to to the Monsters Inc. ride and wait for 120 minutes. During this wait we saw a lot of interesting things like a lot of school girls and as Disney characters dressed up girls which must be ill tomorrow because they showed too much skin for the temperature and the strongly blowing wind today, crazy people. Also everyone looks as ut but that’s probably because we were the longest 2 people in line and the only 2 non-asians. Also we got a FaceTime call from our little nephew which made the wait look a bit shorter and in the end we waited ‘only’ 90 minutes.

The ride was worth the wait it was a lot of fun shining with your flashlights and these ‘activated’ the monsters. From there we walked to the other side of the park through the shops, the merchandise isn’t so nice as in the american parks so that would save us some money, 🙂 After a quick bite at a churros cart we found out that Pirates of the Caribbean had a wait of only 30 minutes which in the end only took us 30 minutes. After we left the ride it was 18:30 o’clock, only 60 minutes to the most beautiful evening parade of all we’ve seen, the Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights.

This also meant that the first spectators were already finding there spots, we decided we didn’t want to sit down and watch so we had some more time left. This because the first 4 rows stay seated during the whole parade, so we needed a spot in row 5. After something which looked like dinner at the Lucky Nugget Café we found our spot 30 minutes before the parade started. And we had a great spot as you can see on the pictures.

After the parade we went to back to the World Bazar where the crowds where low because the parade was still running through the park. Directly after the park ran empty since the fireworks where cancelled because of the wind. After wandering to the park to get rid of the crowds at Maihama Stations we visit the Ikspiari, a modern shopping mall near the metro station before we went back through our hotel.

At 21:10 we boarded the JR Musashino Line towards Tokyo, in Tokyo we walked back the 700 meter to the Yamanote Line (Outer Loop) which brought us back to Shinagawa Station. And we also mentioned that most stairs help you count kCals!

After getting some groceries at the 7eleven we went to our room where Danielle prepared tomorrow and I wrote the first of the 2 post about our vacation.

At midnight I was to tired to continue and we both went to bed to sleep till 6:00 hour before we woke up.