Tokyo Update!
Yesterday, I went to Tokyo Disneyland with a group of friends from class. It was sudden too. I had skipped class, as I wasn't feeling top notch and they were teaching us something I learned over two months ago, and came to meet Allie and Amanda for a supposed romp in Shibuya. I packed up and left, wearing the coolest(heat wise)shirt I had that was clean.
When I managed to get to Kudan, several people were already meeting, and wanted to go to Tokyo Disneyland. I was all about it. Wasn't so psyched about the price (it was around $50 US), but thought it would be fun. Thus we went.
Now Tokyo Disneyland is not is Tokyo. It's actually in a small city called Maihama. We took a quick little train there from Tokyo Station, and stowed our bags in some coin lockers. Which would prove to be the smartest thing I did that day.
The minute we were in the park, we split the group up. At the time, there were seven of us; Brittany, Joseph, Chris, Jeff, Allie, Amanda and I. I went off with Allie and Amanda, and the rest went off together. The thing that kept striking me as we walked about, looking for rides, was how similar it was to Disneyland Anaheim. The setup was MUCH similar, except for the fact that it was a smaller park, and there was Japanese everywhere. Other than that, I kept having to remind myself I was in Japan.
First off, we rode Star Tours, which was much better in Japanese than English. It gave more of Star Wars feeling, not being able to understand a damn thing anyone was saying. Second was space mountain, which was AWESOME. We then hit It's A Small World, Pinnocchio's Wild Adventure, and Peter Pan's Flight. We waited in line quite a while for the last two, and were disappointed that they were simply retellings of the movie. The only good thing was we got to scream "Candy Mountain!" a lot in the Pinnocchio one.
After Peter Pan, we headed over to Haunted Mansion. This is where Steven found us, to make us an even four. He had been seeing off a friend that was going back to Sweden today, and was a little late getting to the park. He got in for roughly $25 American though, as they have a discount after 5 p.m. We rode Haunted Mansion, and then headed for where the Beaver Brother's canoes were. We managed to have a snafu with going to the bathroom though, and managed to just miss that. So, we grabbed our fast passes for Splash Mountain, and headed towards the Rumble Mountain Rollercoaster, or whatever it was called. That had a 50 minute wait time, so we went and ate some food, and rode Pirates of the Carribean, which had a 5 minute wait time for some reason. That was shorter than the Anaheim version, but plenty of fun nonetheless. Had to keep in my want to yell some curses in proper pirate fashion, as there were more than likely people around that would understand them. *sighs*
After Pirates, we headed back to the rollercoaster to wait in line. Which, wasn't so bad and totally worth it. Not only was Steven allowed to run and get us pizza, we had a good time talking in line and watching night fall. The coaster was fabulous, and sent us back to Space Mountain, where we screamed out hearts out. By then it was time to redeem our fastpasses for Splash Mountain.
Now, I never knew much about Splash Mountain. I was informed it was based on a Disney movie about the south and some Brere Rabbit character. Thus I was pretty surprised that Spahs Mountain was actually a RIDE, and not just a trip up the mountain with a drop at the end. We had a great time, and the photo was hilarious.
Since we were inside Splash Mountain, we missed the fireworks. Which was sad, but oh well. We had a great time, and met up with the other people in our group coming out from Splash Mountain. We headed as a group to Becker's burgers, where we had a great meal and good conversation. We also had fun as Joseph's last name is Becker, and he was wondering how "his" burgers were. Then it was to home. Took the Marunochi line back to Nakano-Sakaue, and rode the Oedo line home. Was PACKED, too! Wobbled home, and rushed to take a hot shower.
Alas, there was no hot water for reasons unknown. In fact, the water was COLD. As in from the fridge cold. I almost cried, I was so upset. I made that right this morning though, and took a nice hot shower. I think the rub has to be on for the hot water to work somehow... Must ask Tomoko-san when I get a chance.
(from left to right) Joseph, Brittany and Chris, right in front of the entrance to Tokyo Disneyland.
Allie and Amanda in front of the Pinnochio fountain. Don't they look happy to be in Disneyland? Don't believe them, they LIE. *evil laughter*
Our Splash Mountain photo. It's blurry because I was too cheap to buy one, and other people were taking picture of their samples. I'm the one in the second to last seat in the car, looking like I'm trying to climb out. Allie is behind me, sitting with Steven, and Amanda is sitting next to me. My arms are all weird because I was trying to protect my camera. I must go back and take a proper photo sometime. Then, perchance, I will buy one.
In other news, Tomoko's mother is here! I think she's come to help take care of the family, and she's been great to be around. She's really nice, and incredibly funny. Also, my Japanese is good enough that I can communicate with her fairly well. Been quiet lately, mostly because I know I'm a chatterbox, and everyone else has been pretty quiet due to sickness. Decided to spend a quiet day at home today before we go to Harajuku tomorrow. Thus is my update. Rejoice!