JAPAN! Part Three
Got up earlish to shower and eat breakfast. Then Zach wanted to fiddle with Skype to make sure it worked. Then we left to the station and transferred trains to the Disneyland line!
Things like this amused me:
Empty train to Didneylan
Disneyland sign from the train!!!
HYPERVENTILATING DISNEYLAND!!!
Ahhhhh the castle is so gorgeous.
Pirates!
ALMOST smelled like the original ;)
While we were waiting to board the boats (all of five minutes), I see that Tokyo has the Blue Bayou like California and just mentioned to Zach that it's one of my dreams to eat there. He just said “Okay. We'll see about that tonight.” Wait, what, really? You do realize that that is the most expensive restaurant in Disneyland!? He just shrugged, “Oh well - Dad's paying for it.”
We walked further into Adventureland and got on Jungle Cruise. Even though we didn't understand our tour guide, he was still entertaining. They have a new area in TD!! You go into ruins and there's tigers!!
Then we went over to the Tiki Room where Stitch had taken over.
Bugger wouldn't turn around and look at me.
Handy translator so we could actually understand the speakings.
Lunch!
MELON BREAD! And banana almond muffin. And a ratatouille thing.
Awesome band!
White people in the parade, lol. I mean, it makes sense, but I was not expecting it.
Dat Peter.
We watched the parade on our way to Country Bear Jamboree. California doesn't have it anymore, so we decided to see what Japan did to it. They translated all but three songs into Japanese and boy was it strange o_O
Splash Mountain was close, of which didn't hurt Zach feelings cause I guess he doesn't like it. So we went and played on Tom Sawyer's Island.
Then we pranced over to Haunted Mansion!
It was more or less the same as California. Some scenes were swapped, but nothing really major. The line to get into the buggies was highly efficient, though! That's one thing I really loved about Disneyland there - there would be a wait time for 45 minutes, but you'd really get through in 30. They know how to get you through a line.
After that we wandered to Fantasyland and scoped out the lines. As usually, Peter Pan was insanely long. So we decided to go over to Cinderella's Castle.
It's a Small World was basically backwards - all nations in the first room, then all the other countries in reverse and ends in Japanese.
Still waiting for the line to diminish for Peter Pan, we hopped onto Pinnochio and it was missing a lot of scenes for some reason!
Then we went to Philar Magic, they have this show at MGM Studios, and it was good to see it again.
After that, we decided to wait for Peter Pan. I'm pretty sure that was the second longest line we waited for. I don't know what it is about that ride and its long lines, but that's like the one ride in Fantasyland I always want to ride. Have I mentioned that Japan can't make up its mind what voices it decides to leave in English and which ones to dub over in Japanese???
Then we go back over to Blue Bayou. And. Go. To. Dinner. Looking at the menu, it's CHEAPER there o_o. Not complaining, we still ate there. I got a salmon, shrimp, lobster gratin thing. And omg it was sooooooo good. It was awesome to be in that place I'd only been able to see across the ride bayou.
It was getting dark and the younger crowd was leaving the park or lining up for the Electrical Light Parade, so Zach and I decided to check out Big Thunder Mountain's line. Ehh... still like 50 minutes! I noticed Zach was in thought while waiting for Peter Pan - he claimed he was tired... Instead of waiting in line, he starts walking towards Tomorrowland, I believe we were going to see what the wait was on Space Mountain, and it would have required crossing the parade route. He then detours, and was like “What's this grotto thing over here?” And I'm like “Either Ariel's or Snow White's Wishing Well, probably?” (it's not quite next to the castle like it is in California.) We stand there for a bit looking at the statues and listening to “I'm Wishing, I'm Wishing” in Japanese. I guess it was funny to hear her high-pitched Japanese voice?
He's quiet, not quite awkwardly, but enough to make me curious of why we are still standing there. Then, “Well. There's something I've been wanting to say all day - the reason for this trip - now's a good time.” My heart just stops in my chest. Oh. OH. OOOOOH! O_O “If I give you half my life, will you give me half of yours?” (he probably said some other things, but my inners were freaking out). He then gets on his knees and takes a ring box he's been hiding in his pocket all week (he had been saying how he wasn't warm enough, and I encouraged him to bring his other coat, but then he'd shrug and say he was fine. Now I knew why!) “Krista, will you marry me?” By then I'm sobbing and can barely see him. I kneel and hug him around the neck and he stands and hold me up. “So... is that a yes?” All I can manage to say is “Uh-huh SOBSOBSOB” He holds me until I regain my composure. I look at the ring - it's the one I linked Melissa to several months ago. He asks me if it's okay and I'm like “OF COURSE!”
Then we get distracted by how much time we don't have at the park and rush to Big Thunder Mountain and talk in line. It's kind of nice to be surrounded by people who don't speak English - I felt like we were in our own world attempting to make plans. Zach is more of a planner than he gives himself credit for. He wanted to propose in Vegas, but the trip was such a drag, he didn't want to soil the proposal and wanted a moment more grand. He had been in the process of planning things since my birthday. So all this time I've been whining, he really has been thinking about it, and angsting over it, as he says. For a week or so we talked about going to Disneyland in December, and he would have proposed to me there, but it didn't work out. But then the plans for Japan started to happen. He was determined that the Mamo concert happened - of which was another possible venue for proposal. But in all actuality... the trip was to propose to me. Akfuhgsaliduahfsgkudafhskgdlf *gushing forever *
Thunder Mountain is amazing at night. Especially when you are screaming like a dork with your fiance.
Ran by Space Mountain, finally, and the line was two hours long. We decided we'd get in line before the park closed. So we ran to Toon Town to check it out. It more or less looked the same, and we hopped on Roger Rabbit. And holy crap, Japanese Roger Rabbit is spot on! As is Donald Duck. Ran back to Space Mountain and they capped the line with only an hour and a half left of the park being open. Sad day :( Not like California at all! But I guess it's good they crack down on the rules so they aren't there until ungodly hours. Soooooo we went over to Monster's Inc.
It's a bit different than California Adventure. It's like a cross between CA and Buzz Lightyear Space Shooters as you shoot for the Monster's Inc. logo on Boo and objects and various monsters.
We leave the park and get on the train. He tells me he got Skype set up so we could call our parents. Sneaky Zach is sneaky. Then came the challenge of figuring out when. Once we got to the hotel, I emailed my parents and said I'd call them on Skype when mom got off work.
I had no idea I was going to be proposed to that day. I mean, I mentioned to Melissa how romantic it'd be if her proposed to me on the trip. I even thought it on the plane ride there, but I wasn't going to be heartbroken if it didn't happen. But it did, and feels forever. Sure girls can say that got proposed to at Disneyland, but was it in Tokyo, Japan, half a world away?
I wanted to video the crazy crossing in Shibuya, so we went over there since Disneyland closed so early.
Hachiko prints in the subway!
We woke up to see a response from my parents. I think they had an idea of why we wanted to call them and need them both present. We got on the train for the Disney resort. We tried multiple times to see if my dad was connected to Skype right, and he wasn't :| My parents are so technologically impaired, it's sad. So after an hour of that and getting lost looking for the entrance to Disney Tokyo Sea, we finally just found the tram over, of which seemed to be THE ONLY way over there.
Hmmm. You wouldn't see an empty lot in California, nope!
TOWAH OF TEWWER
We get in!
We ducked into a shop to use Skype to call my dad's cell phone since trying to call Skype both ways wasn't working. They were really quiet calling that way, but oh well. I told them the news and they seemed positive - said they were happy for me, were surprised Zach was romantic, wanted to know if they could tell everyone, etc. Then Zach called his parents and told them I said yes, though they've known forever and figured the answer anyway.
Mediterranean Harbor
Mysterious Island
That Volcano is the Journey to the Center of the Earth ride!! We checked out the line and omg it was already a three hour wait. We went and grabbed Fast Passes for it.
After nabbing the Fast Passes, we spotted 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. It only had a 30 minute wait, so decided what the heck and hopped in line. Disneyland has always gone all out in its decorum... but, I found Tokyo Sea to be VERY impressive in just the two areas we explored.
The ride was a lot different than what it looked like from the outside - it looked like it was going to be like the Finding Nemo ride. It wasn't.
This car pulled up and we were like “Why isn't it wet?... didn't we read it was a submarine ride??” I'm going to reveal the magic of this ride - we get in and we start moving. The track is above and it's a lot like Peter Pan with things below you and around, but then the glass in front of you fills with water to make you look like you'd just submerged into the water! Yet, the movements of the car still felt very aquatic and the scenery swayed appropriately. You also have a flashlight to shine on the dark corners of your submarine few. You get attacked by a giant squid! And I swear the captain was Miki Shinichirou...
Left the ride and traveled over to Mermaid Lagoon.
Inside is a lot like Bug's Life Land with a theater, food and kiddie-type rides.
The way the food was displayed... so cute!! We ended up getting the pizza for the lols. The seafood pizza had octopus and shrimp on it. And just a pizza with lotsa sausage on it!
Then we went over to the theater and grabbed the subtitle device. The show messed with the movie canon, so it was super weird - Ariel decides not to take Ursula up on her offer of becoming human and stays with her friends in the sea. Um. Kaaaaay. Also, all the songs were left in English, but the dialogue was Japanese. Did I mention this inconsistency consistently confused me?
A shop in a whale!
On our way out, we bought sea salt ice cream. SO GOOD! Tastes a lot like homemade ice cream.
Arabian Coast
There was a carousel where you could ride on Genie, but it was closed. That's okay, I thought it was disturbing anyway. So we got in line for the Magic Carpet Theater show instead.
Got out subtitle thing again. Japanese Genie is interesting. The show itself was quite clever with its use of 3D and real stage acting. Genie was in 3D while the evil sorcerer and his apprentice were real people. Until the end when the apprentice goes off stage and gets an animated 3D version of himself.
Adventure Band played Indiana Jones and Pirates!
Jasmine's Flying Carpets! Just like Dumbo.
This little ride became one of Zach and mine's favorites. Not only is it exclusive to Tokyo Sea, it just had adorable animatronics with the ride song composed by Alan Menken. It's a boatride like It's a Small World/Pirates of the Caribbean.
Click to viewCame out of the ride and saw a hot Aladdin. Too bad the line was forever long D:
Walked over to Lost River Delta.
Awesome roller coaster that was actually down for maintenance :(
Sad tears.
INDIANA JOOOOOONES~
~and the adventure of the three hour wait.
We decided to bypass the line for now and finish exploring the park.
On to Port Discovery! Aka Steampunk Land.
This ride was called Storm Rider.
Reading about it online, I was lead to believe it was like Soarin' Over California. Turns out it was more like Star Tours.
You go in and there's this pre-show demonstration of the weather diffuser machine that will be used to stop the storms that are raging across the country. Then you get in and it's the same type of motion simulator of Start Tours with the moving seat platforms. But. You get sprayed with water and your ship gets destroyed by the diffuser. You EVENTUALLY make it safely back to the port.
Once we get out, it's time to head over to Journey to the Center of the Earth!
This ride went to great lengths to put on a show on your journey to get to the actual ride. You go inside a cave in the volcano we'd been hearing going off and people screaming all day. You're in this cool cavern with lotsa stuff inside. Then you're filtered into an elevator like Tower of Terror. You ride to the top, and the ride is all rocky and meant to freak out you. Then you wait in another line to get into your pod. At first the ride is jerky like Indiana Jones, but the alcoves and cavern makes you think of Matterhorn. Then you start going faster, and you climb up the hill where there's a huge monster, then you plummet fast like Splash Mountain and that's the end! It was such a blast!
Then we decided we needed noms. Headed back over to Lost River Delta for dinner.
We had some kind of pork thing. It wasn't all that great, actually.
Indiana Jones was still a ridiculously long line... but they had single rider line that would only be about a 20 minute wait! The ride itself wasn't all that different even though it was based more off the Crystal Skull. You only have the one door to go through, and the idol is the crystal skull. There's giant spiders. An idol that blows fire at you. And rather than javellins, it's poison darts. Oh, and they take your picture when you duck under the boulder. Japanese Indiana Jones' voice didn't really fit, IMO.
We didn't get to ride together because of the long normal wait, but we really wanted to ride Indiana Jones! Grabbed some STRAWBERRY POPCORN.
We then made our way to the American Waterfront for Tower of Terror.
On the way, there was a show happening on the fake docked ship and Japanese Lumier is weird. The line for Tower of Terror was three hours :| Poked our heads over to Toy Story Mania and had the same results. Went back and rode Storm Rider again. Grabbed some Milk Tea popcorn and decided to explore the other side of the Mediterranean Harbor castle thing.
There was an observatory thing and Zach aligned the planets.
Zach was pleased.
Then we decided to go get a spot for Fantasmic! The show was a little different, with the floats and segments, but still really neat!
On our way to Sindbad again, we caught some fireworks.
The wait was 5 minutes. After that, I hurried and got a few things at the gift shop, then we went to Indiana Jones again. Went back to Tower of Terror and Toy Story Mania and they had capped the line :(
Zach originally thought to propose to me on the gondalas they have in the Little Italy place, but decided it was too public. But on our way out, we decided to get on one anyway.
Bye, Disneyland :(
Next entry for Part Four!