Visiting
Tokyo Disneyland is always one of my dream theme park which I would like to bring my kid to enjoy the fun and family time together. So when uncle Hock Cheng includes Disneyland as one the main highlight for this Tokyo trip we were all excited about it till the date we arrived at the park. As you could see from the above photo, we even bought the "open date" tickets way before hand at
JTB (
ION Orchard) to avoid the crowds and queuing time just to make sure everything is on the right track.
There are a few ways to get to the Disneyland such as taking the JR Line or Subway to Maihama Station (舞浜駅), you could also board the complimentary Good Neighbor Shuttle Bus Service (reservations required) if you are staying in one of the Tokyo Disney Resort Good Neighbour Hotels (hotel list here) like what we did.
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| Walkway towards JR Maihama Station (舞浜駅) and Bon Voyage |
As we board the 7.30am shuttle bus service, we were early before the park opens at 9.00am so we take a short walk around Bon Voyage which means "Have a good trip" om French. In the store, you could easily find large selections of Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea merchandise under one roof. Bon Voyage is also conveniently located next to JR Maihama Station (舞浜駅), at the gateway to Tokyo Disney Resort.
Opening Hour:
7:30 am - 11:00 pm
Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is about 8 minutes walk from JR Maihama Station (舞浜駅) or board the Disney Resort Line from "Resort Gateway Station", and get off at "Tokyo Disneyland Station" which takes about 1 minute walk.
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| Walkway towards Tokyo Disneyland Hotel and Tokyo Disneyland Themed Park |
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| The crowds at the ticket booths at around 8.30am on a Wednesday morning. |
Upon entering the park, most of the visitors started to scatter around the park into the different themed land area to queue for the rides or grab hold of some Disney Fastpass (advice to grab hold of a few Fastpass ahead from different attractions to cut short the waiting time) which allows guests to avoid long lines at the attractions.
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| Photo Credit: ©Disney |
Tokyo Disneyland is made up of seven themed lands which features seasonal decorations and parades.
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| Amazed by their patience and queuing system. Even their strollers are so neatly arranged outside each attractions. |
Adventureland includes attractions such as Jungle cruise (above) that brings you through a 10 minutes ride to the Amazon, the Nile, the Irrawaddy and the Ganges…. Or you could explore the Swiss Family Treehouse, ride the Western River Railroad and even sail with the Pirates of the Caribbean (we love this ride which was quite thrilling and makes you hang there in suspend).
Westernland is a theme made after the US western frontier along the Rivers of America and it is also the home of the popular roller coaster Big Thunder Mountain (too bad it was under renovation last year during our visit). In the middle of the river lies the Tom Sawyer Island which is accessible by hopping onto a log raft to cross over.
Another highlight of Westernland is the 12 minutes leisure ride on the three-story Mark Twain Riverboat which we are excited about. It was so beautiful when we spotted it from far during the autumn morning and you get to enjoy the sights and sounds of the old frontier from the ornate decks of the Riverboat around the Rivers of America.
In Tokyo Disneyland you could easily spot visitors especially young kids holding a buket of popcorn with Disney Characters Bucket design that comes in a few flavour such as honey, caramel, original, salted, curry and etc. Each bucket of popcorn cost around ¥1400 - ¥2000 (SG$20.00 - SG$26.00). My boy was disappointed when they went out of Winnie The Pooh Bucket whereas on the other hands I saved S$26.00 for not getting one :p (note: Hunny Popcorn can be enjoyed near the Winnie the Pooh attraction and Curry Popcorn can be found in Adventureland)
Other then popcorn, during the lunch hours everyone was also running after the Turkey Drumstick which was available at ¥500 (SG$6.50) each in conjunction of their Thanksgiving Day on 23 November.
After a quick bite we moved on to Critter Country as my boy wanted to try the Splash Mountain ride. The 10 minutes ride put you on a hollowed log boat through the waters of the South to visit all the little critters living in the area. The highlight of the ride was that 16-meter high waterfall that brings you straight down to a 45-degree dive ending with a big splash.
Tokyo Disneyland provides two parade showtimes to delight their guests. The "Daytime Parade" takes place around noontime whereby you could see the crowds sitting down at their best best viewing locations way before the parade starts. And for second parade, "Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights" usually starts quite late which is around the closing time where it marks the highlight of the theme park.
If you have a strong heart and daring enough to go for a 8 minutes spooky ride, head towards the Hunted Mansion at Fantasyland. Upon entering the mansion, you would be taken into a mysterious, dimly lit room. From there, board the eerie "doom" buggy and starts the journey through the library, music room and more leaving you getting more and more heart throbbing on each venue.
For family with little kids, do consider taking this 10 minutes relaxing boat ride and enjoy a vision of world peace and happiness in all the countries of the world at It's A Small World.
We had lunch at Huey, Dewey and Louie's Good Time Cafe (Toontown) where we get a set meal which consists of Micky Ham and Sweetcorn Pizza, Fries, Sweetcorn Soup, Salad and Apple Juice @ ¥1370 (SG$18.00). Although food at themed park is usually not cheap as compared with normal eateries but this cute Mickey Pizza Set is still quite worth the price.
Further down to Tomorrowland, we tried the Grand Circuit Raceway which gives us a chance to get behind the wheel of a small racecar and test our skills in a challenging course of twists and turns. Between my boy was the driver whereas I am just the passenger sitting beside him enjoying the ride. He had so much fun driving the racecar on his own and it seems that 5 minutes are too short for that ride.
It's a pity that we did not get into Pooh's Hunny Hut at Fantasyland due to the overwhelming crowds that makes the queue seems impossible to get through. Guess if we could stay a night at the Disneyland Hotel it would be good that we might be able to complete ALL the rides within a day or two.
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| Night view of Disneyland Tokyo |
Tokyo Disneyland (東京ディズニーランド)
１-１ Maihama, Urayasu,
Chiba Prefecture 279-0031, Japan
Telephone: 0570-008-632
Website: http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/en/index.html
Opening Hours:
9.00am - 10.00pm (weekday)
8.00am - 10.00pm (weekend)
*check park operation calender here.
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