Disney Chronicles!

Monday morning, at the hotel, we woke up around 6 to get ready to board the bus to Disneyland at 7:30 – at least I did. I believe Wendy had trouble sleeping and had actually been up for several hours.

Eventually, we made it down to the lobby, after having to run back upstairs twice be -cough- I forgot both my sunglasses and my camera. >_>. We boarded the bus shortly after 7:30 and waited while the rest of the people took their time showing up. The first bus left quite a bit before us because right around 8 o’clock, the last, lone passenger showed up. Coincidentally it was the girl across the aisle from us.

Then we were on our way driving through Tokyo which was pretty neat. I was still amazed at how big everything is. Just huge. I took some pictures of the giant ferris wheel, which other people have heard about were all amazed at just how many people were there. I think we got there before it opened and there were still a good several thousand. It was crazy for a Monday and I’m sure the weekends would be terrifying. Everyone was really decked out in Disneyland and Mickey Mouse stuff. They also loved Stitch; he was everywhere! Hats, ears, headbands, dresses – It seemed like these people go there every day.

Then we were in (to the ‘lobby’ at least)! We passed a huge line waiting to get pictures and signatures from Mickey and that was the last I saw of any character. There weren’t any in the park itself. Nada. None. So we headed into the World Bazaar/Park Entrance, after taking some more pictures of course.

We browsed through many shops – I actually didn’t buy anything and slowly made our way to adventureland which featured POCT stuff. The buildings were all so great. I was impressed at just how much detail was put into the park. Nothing was forgotten. At certain times and places, it really felt like you were in your favourite Disney flick.

Unfortunately, most of that was not yet open. We eventually made our way to the Jungle Cruise ride and jumped in line for that. We waited 20 minutes or so until we got on and I took a lot of cool shots. It was a bit sucky that we didn’t speak Japanese cause the boat driver/guide did a great job of pretending to be real. The animals were all fake but I thought they did a great job.

We spent a few more hours wandering around and looking. We eventually had lunch at the Queen of Hearts (from Alice in Wonderland) Ballroom which was really cool. It was buffet style and I think we both had roasted chicken which came with vegetables and potatoes as well as a little plate of dessert.

Next, we headed next door to the Haunted Mansion ride (also in Fantasyland) and, as we were waiting a parade based on Lilo and Stitch went by. I snapped a couple pictures of that but we weren’t in a very good vantage point and had to keep moving because we were still in line.

We were shortly in the Haunted Mansion ride. Let me mention that I loved this movie. It was dorky but cute and I thought all the effects, costuming and props were done very well. Someone, behind the scenes, had a Gothy touch. -w-

After that, we wandered around some. Soon, I would realize that my lack of sun screen had left me looking like a lobster and my arms were burning. Of course, with such a crowd, it was nearly impossible to steer clear of others so there were a lot of painful moments when I brushed against someone or something else.

It was about that time when I decided I wanted to partake in some food in the shape of Mickey mouse. Afterall, this was Disneyland. Even though I wasn’t particularly hungry, I decided on a hamburger. They had Mickey shaped pizza but, by then, I wasn’t feeling particularly ambitious and we were much closer to the hamburger place so off we went.

The place was the Tomorrowland Terrace which sounds much cooler than it really is. Essentially, it was a giant fast food restaurant with Mickey shaped burgers, which also happened to be extremely popular and packed to the max. I made Wendy wait with me for probably 20 minutes as the throng of people we were in only moved a few millimeters as a time. Several times either one of us suggested just giving up, but I toughed it out.

How was the burger? Gross. I had to pick off all the vegetable crap and there was this weird sauce on it. Totally not worth it. To top it off, there were no tables so we ate outside on the steps, with many other people.

After some wandering around and acquiring some drinks, we decided to join the masses who had clustered on either side of main street for the giant parade, and I’m glad we did. Originally, we found a bench but the Disney police (okay, not really police but still!) kicked us out so we had a seat on the ground with everyone else.

The parade was super cool. It started with Mickey and featured a lot of the classic characters as well as many of the ones that are in right now. The song they played was really cool, too. I know it was something about being welcome in this wonderful land where everyone is special. I felt very much like a little kid.

Snapping pictures was hard because the characters kept moving and, obviously, so did the parade. Plus, I was sitting down and we all know I’m not the tallest person. It was still cute. I was especially impressed when they had boo and Sully from Monsters Inc. -l-

The parade ended with Cinderella, followed by Minnie Mouse who was quite stunning.

After, we followed the parade for a bit trying to get out of the mess of people and browsed some shops back in the World Bazaar. We took the early bus home at 5 pm. I certainly had had enough of Disneyland and wasn’t in a great mood. We spent a quiet night at the hotel ordering sandwiches and wahtching a rented movie.

My first Disneyland experience was great but certainly extracted a high toll. I’d love to go again with more money, better shoes and sun screen!