Day Twelve - Welcome to Tokyo Disneyland, the happiest place on Earth

Though not mentioned previously in this blog, the excitement and anticipation for today from one Jennifer Mach Pham has been almost palpable. We've had a long-running countdown and continual reminders for as far back as I can remember. Today we visited Tokyo Disneyland. They say that Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth, and judging by Jen's reaction, I can see why.

Fortunately Tokyo Disneyland opens at 0900h, which meant an early rise of 0630 for all of us. Being just one minute late would be a travesty in Jen's eyes, so we needed to get there at least a half-hour earlier. So we headed off and stopped for breakfast at McDonalds (so Japanese), caught the train from Akihabara Station to Tokyo Station where we changed to the Key line travelling to Meihama Station. From there it was a walk of around 500 metres to the entrance to Disneyland.

Jen's shoes that she bought at Osaka

There was no chance of us feeling lonely there, as there were thousands of others standing in line to get in to Tokyo Disneyland. Even with our pre-purchased tickets we were still on line with thousands of others and the queue was moving at a glacial pace. But eventually we got through and we were in. Jen was high-fiving everyone and was super-excited. 

We set about checking some of the attractions and kicked off with the Pirates of the Caribbean Ride, followed shortly after by the Jungle River Ride, which had by far the most excited boat driver that any of us had ever seen. I don't speak Japanese, but I was truly enthralled. 

We alternated between attractions and shops and various theme-Worlds throughout the day, my favourite ride was the Star Wars (or Star Tours) Ride. We also stopped for lunch in Toon Town. We all bought countless trinkets along the way. Jen also made us wear the Micky Mouse ears she had bought (or variations of). 

On the queue for the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Ride. Nobody told me it was going to be scary.

Jen made me wear these ears

However, my favourite aspect was probably the spectacular parades timed throughout the day. Some of the Floats used in the Parades are amazing pieces of Engineering. 

By 1530h, Maureen, Sky and I were all Mickied out, so we headed back to Akihabara. 

A view on the way out of Disneyland

Kyle and Jen were, however on a mission to stay until closing time.

Check out the Churos Stick

In the end they got pretty close, leaving the park at 2050h. Kyle and Jen's favourite ride was the Big Thunder Mountain and Pooh's Honey Hunt. It was not a bad effort from Kyle and Jen, 12 hours in total.

It goes without saying that today was Jennifer Pham Day.