# TR(tdl/sdl/hkdl)-> This Is Where Your Dream Begins; A New World in Every Chapter. COMPLETED 12/8!!!



## katt789

This is a celebration of smiles and joy!! Children of all ages, join your Disney friends on a merry go round journey of joy & wonders, there’s magic to the brim, so let *your* magic begin, SMILE, HAPPINESS IS HERE! Feel it draw you in, let the wonder take hold, ready to begin, your story waits to be told, better when you don’t know where its goin’, dive in with your heart wide open Let your precious memories light the way, you’re on a journey that’s only beginning; When your heart makes a wish, the worlds in your hands, this is where your dream begins, following the wishes in your heart, and it’s authentically Disney, distinctly Chinese!!



…okay…so….SOME of it’s distinctly Chinese, the other parts are Japanese…or from Hong Kong…..but it was ALL SO MAGICAL AND OUR DREAMS BEGAN, CAME TRUE FIVE MILLION TIMES and I STILL can’t believe that we got the chance to experience all of it!!!


Wait…you don’t even KNOW WHO WE ARE DO YOU?!?! 


Well…that certainly is the most rude of me….I do believe introductions are in order!


Well, HI!! I’m Katt!!




13173197_10156989361010360_3625622338247591927_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


I’m you captain of this OH SO ADVENTROUS trip report, and have been circulating the Disboards for YEARS, with a minor vacation while I spent a year working for the mouse! I live in Vancouver, Canada, while working in the food & beverage industry. I love all things Disney, and all things performing! If the time isn’t too late, I would LOVE to perform for Disney! This love, led me to apply for the Canadian Cultural Representative Program, where I worked in food & beverage, mainly at Le Cellier inside the Canada pavilion in Epcot! While working this program, I found my literal soul mate & best friend; Kara!!





13151892_10156967623545360_2670940311639208732_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


She’s the exact same age as me, and lives about an hour outside of Vancouver working at a gym. We share a lot of the same interests as we both grew up dancing, she did acrobatics as well, and is an avid marathon runner! Kara’s also just like the greatest person ever, instant BFF’s! 




13198649_10156989360075360_5464467342196622732_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

During our cultural representative programs at WDW, Kara & I had made a couple of entertainment friends who, within a few short months of our program, ended up receiving contracts for Tokyo Disneyland! I hadn’t heard or researched much into these parks at that time, but that made me start to pay attention. Our original trip had us going right after our program in October 2015, hitting California on the way over, and hitting Paris, making it a true ROUND THE WORLD trip, BUT, life took its toll on us, and budgets had to be redone, and we started to plan for fall 2016 instead (which was a bonus since Shanghai would now be open too) A few months later we returned to WDW for the Princess Half Marathon, where our friend Abby asked us if she could join in on the China portion of our adventure.





We met Abby down in Florida on the program as well; she had a huge love for rope drop, character greeting, watching 12 Trolley shows in one day, and she carries a personal supply of pixie dust around, she’s a great person to have around, which is probably a good thing considering we’re roomates too, bahaha! 


So that’s us!! So we’ll get to the other W’s!!


*When*: October 3/2016 to November  14/2016


*What*A round the Asia Disney trip (we REALLY wanted to add Paris in, but it added on nearly $2000 in costs)


*Where* Well, obviously we COULD  just do Disney, but Kara & I wanted to adventure, and there was SO much to explore in Asia, especially with a YEAR of planning, our final list looked like this:

-Tokyo

-Matsumoto

-Kanazawa

-Kyoto/Nara

-Hiroshima/Miyajima

-Beijing

-Shanghai

-Hong Kong


*Accomodations*

I covered a lot more of this in the PTR, and included a LOT of our planning process in there. Obviously, we would have stayed at Disney hotels everywhere if we had the money, BUT, those things are EXPENSIVE. We stayed mainly at Hostels, a few cheap hotels, a few AirBnB’s, and lastly the Hong Kong Hollywood Hotel. Things had been changed around a LOT during the planning stages, but it all worked out in the end!! 


To say it was quite the feet was RIGHT, I have to say, I’m glad we had a year and a half to plan it, as it was QUITE the adventure!!! We were braving 3 new countries 4 parks in total, one that was COMPLETELY UNIQUE TO EVERYWHERE AROUDN THE WORLD, not to mention the language barrier!!


It certainly was meant to be an adventure, so I do hope you’ll stick around to see what happened!!!

*Chapter Links!*

*Day 1: October 4/5*
Travel Day/Arrival in Japan
*Day 2: October 6/2016*
Meji Jingu & Harajuku
Shibuya & the Disney Store
*Day 3: October 7/2016*
*Lake Kawaguchi-co *
*Day 4: October 8/2016*
*Part 1*
*Part 2*
*Day 5: October 9/2016*
Senso-Ji, Akihabara Day
*Day 6: October 10/2016*
Ueno Park & Ikspiari
Disney Hotel Exploration
*Day 7: October 11/2016*
5:00am Wake Up Call, totally Worth It
Critter Country & CHANS!
JUMP! SHOUT! And Let it all Out!
Kara's Best Purchase
The Best Ride in All the Lands 
*Day 8: October 12/2016*
Discovering DisneySea
Crystal Wishes
A TRIUMPHANT RETURN
Chilling, Thrilling Villains
Imagination, Follow Your Dreams
*Day 9:October 13/2016*
Exploring the Castle
One Man's Dream
One Man's Dream Part 2
Celebrations of Smiles & Joy
A Villains Wish
Dream Lights
*Day 10: October 14/2016* 
A Morning in Disneyland
The last night in DisneySea
*Day 11: October 15/2016* 
Travel to Matsumoto
*Day 12: October 16/2016*
Matsumoto Castle/Travel to Kanazawa
*Day 13: October 17/2016*
Kanazawa Touring
*Day 14: October 18/2016*
Leaving Kanazawa to Kyoto
*Day 15: October 19/2016*
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove Part 1
Arashiyama Part 2
*Day 16: October 20/2016*
Fushimi Inari Shrine
*Day 17: October 21/2016*
Nara Day Trip
Nara Part 2
*Day 18: October 22/2016*
Kyoto Celebration Parade & Kara's Solo Adventures
*Day 19: October 23/2016*
Daigo-Ji Temple
*Day 20: October 24/2016*
Arriving in Hiroshima, Check in at Hostel
*Day 21: October 25/2016*
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park & Surroundings
Hiroshima Castle & Some Puppies!!!
*Day 22: October 26/2016 *
Miyajiyama Island
Mermaid livin'
*Day 23: Oct 27/2016 *
The Travel Day of Heck
*Day 24: October 28/2016*
Tienanmen Square
Forbidden City Part 1
Forbidden City Part 2
Behai Park
*Day 25: October 29/2016*
The Great Wall
Part 2
Part 3
*Day 26: October 30/2016*
The Summer Palace
Part 2
*Day 27: October 31/2016*
Travel to Shanghai & DISNEYTOWN
*Day 28: November 1/2016*
The Race to The Sunken Treasure
Royals
Wait...that Man looks VERY familiar....
Voyages of Crystals
A Whole New World
Do You Want to Build A Snowman?
Call of the....Sunsets?
Eat Up Me Hearties!
Mickey Avenue
*Day 29: November 2/2016*
Making Tomorrow a Better Today
A Whole New World
People I CAN TALK TO?!?!
Reuinted Across the World
Friendship & Photos
All the Princesses
Sunsets & Tron
Ignite the Dream
*Day 30: November 3/2016*
Last Day at SHDR
*Day 31: November 4/2016*
The city of shanghai
*Day 32: November 5/2016*
Yuyuan Gardens
The Bund
The Pearl Tower
*Day 33: November 6/2016 & Nov 7th*
Zhujiajiao Town
TianZiFang/Travel to Hong Kong
*Day 34: November 8/2016*
Getting Lost
Victoria Peak
Ozone
*Day 35: November 9/2016*
Lamma Island Adventures
*Day 36: November 10/2016*
SunnyBay Station
The Studio Lounge
*Day 37: November 10/2016*
BEST DAY EVER!
TWO NEW VERY NEW THINGS
Fairy Tale Forest
Flights of Fantasy
Festival of the Lion King
Old Friends, Shopping & Too much Cuteness
Paint the Night & Firework Adventures
*Day 38: November 11/2016 -> ALL NEW*
The One with the Disneybounds
The One with the Princess Medley
The One With the Evening Star
The One With the Characters
The One with the Parade
The One Where Everything Comes to A Close


*VLOGS!!!*
We obviously vlogged the entire trip, and are in the process of working on the city vlogs. Kara did the TDL, Abby did SHDR & the city of HK, I did HKDL and am working on the Japan ones, uploading a new one each week!

ETA: Apparently you can only enter a update with 5 pieces of media, so I'm going to throw a link HERE with our vlogs, I'll post when it gets updated!


Asia Disney Parks Vlogs
Japan City Vlogs


----------



## katt789

So, the travel day is never that exciting, and I never remember, but I’ll do what I can!


I had booked off work the two days prior to departure, and converted myself to Japan time, which meant staying up all night and hoping reverse jet leg would work!! I spent a lot of time watching YouTube and trying to finish True Blood. Unluckily for me, this time change meant that I had to be up at the equivalent of 3:00am to go to the airport….which meant I snoozed my alarm, over and over again…. WHOOPS!!  Luckily it was SUPER early as I had planned to take the Sky train, so I had time to get up and call a cab to meet Kara at the airport. We were just in COMPLETE AWE that we would be in Japan soon!! It didn’t feel real AT ALL,I mean, we’d been planning this trip for nearly 2 years now, and it was actual reality, WHAT EVEN?! Security and customs and all that was a breeze, and before we knew it, we were having our last meal in North American and boarding our plane.




image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

There were 2 meals on the plane, and we both went with chicken I’m pretty sure



image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

I’ve never really understood why airplane food was deemed to be so horrible, I’ve always found it to be good!  Don’t know why, but hey!!

From what I remember we both slept, watched some movies, I found Bring It On and before we knew it, we were descending upon our greatest adventure yet!




image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We landed in Tokyo just completely mind blown and absolutely LOVING every second of it! Kara had instructions on where to go to buy our bus tickets, exchange our JR pass and ATM’s, meanwhile I had the instructions on where to pick up our portable WiFi (we rented from Global Advanced Communications and I would 1000% do it again!) We found everything pretty easily, and were feeling SO welcomed and in love with the country before we’d even left the airport. I had trouble with one of the ATM’s, but the other one worked so we were okay! And a lovely worker at the JR exchange counter said that if we didn’t need them right away (we didn’t) we were better off exchanging them at Tokyo Station the day we did, as it was quite crowded at the airport location right now. Yay!



Kara had the PERFECT directions printed out from our AirBnB host, Dante. Originally we had been booked into 2 separate hostels/cheap hotels, but to save money right before we left, we’d ended up swapping a few more accommodations over to AirBnB, and were hoping that their proximity to Disney Parks were true!

There was a shuttle bus from the airport to Kasai station; which was about half an hour of a trip.





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


The MOST exciting thing happened on the bus too! We were driving in, and it was all dark, like, DARK, dark. Kara noticed some prettily lit buildings off to our left, and said something about it, and that’s when I realized….THAT WAS THE DISNEYLAND HOTEL!!! WHAT?!?!! AHHHH!!!!! We both promptly FREAKED out as quietly as we could, and as we rounded the road, WE COULD SEE THE CASTLE, AND MOUNT PROMYTHEUS, AND OTHER PARTS OF THE RESORT AND IT WAS SEIROUSLY THE MOST EXCITING THING EVER!!!!


It was definitely real now.


When we arrived at the station, we bought our Pasmo Cards. I immediately pondered if we were buying the monthly pass or not, as we would be in Japan for a while, but Kara figured it wouldn’t be worth it so we loaded up a dollar amount and made for the next leg of our journey.


Kasai train station is right across from their bus hub, where we boarded a bus, and were pleased to see a screen up front that had the names of each upcoming stop, and rotated between Japanese & English. The bus driver was also able to tell us when the stop was coming, and a local on the bus gave up her seat and moved further back so we could sit down with our packs! So nice!! At our stop, we started to follow the directions that Dante, our host, had given us. They started out super precise, and we had no problems, until they mentioned something about “turning left onto the street right after the construction”. We saw construction, but no street, further up, there was construction, so we tried that, only to find that the directions AFTER that didn’t match up at all. Thank goodness we were in Japan so it was safe while we wandered around this random neighborhood for like, half an hour trying to figure out where to go. I turned on the portable Wi-Fi but that didn’t help much, Japanese addresses are super confusing. We were pretty sure we knew the building we needed to get to the other side of, but just couldn’t figure it out, after circling around a few more times, WE FINALLY FOUND IT.


Turns out what Kara & I called a “sketchy looking alleyway where a hobo would live if this was Vancouver” was what Dante called “residential road”…


Fun times.


Dante, our host for the week, wasn’t home when we got there, so we had some time to check things out on our own. It was super small, which was expected. Directly in the entrance way was the kitchen (microwave, fridge, hot plate) and to the left was the bathroom (tiny separate room for the toilet, shower on the opposite side) and a laundry machine. The bedroom had a set of bunk beds (for us) and a loft style bed that Dante would sleep in.  Kara & I hadn’t eaten since the plane, so we walked back over to the 7-11 we had discovered when we got off the city bus (it was not even a 5 minute walk from us). It was QUITE the experience, trying to figure out what to buy! We picked up a few packs of Ramen noodles, and some pastry like breads for breakfast, and also saw the infamous Milk Tea that our friend Alicia had CONSTANTLY talked about! Bonus points, IT HAD DISNEY CHARACTERS ON IT!





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


(we later discovered that this wasn’t THE milk tea but it was still good! It’s basically early grey tea with milk & sugar chilled!)


Soon after we arrived back at the apartment, Dante made his way back home! We lucked out a lot in having our first host (especially one who was living with us) actually be American! He taught English over in Tokyo, I think he’d been there just over a year? Either way, he was super accommodating, welcoming and friendly! After meeting, we discussed  a bit what our plans were, and he let us know that he usually got up around 5:00am in order to get to work on time, which was fine for us since we’d have some pretty early mornings too.


I let Kara take the bottom bunk, we took turns showering and got ready for bed, it was time for some ADVENTURE!!!


----------



## zanzibar138

I'm here! Enthusiastically reading along and looking forward to the next instalment


----------



## AusAnnie

Looking forward to reading more!!  I love your trip reports


----------



## camper06

Cant wait to read all about it!!  Great start!


----------



## Aussie Wendy

I'm here too reading in my lunch hour at work - have to remember your thread title for later! So looking forward to reading on as we loved Japan and are big AirBnB fans too and have a mini china trip being planned (booked) for March.


----------



## Lynn57

So excited to read your trip report! How was your flight? Did you get and walk around a lot? I'm nervous to be on a plane for that long!


----------



## katt789

zanzibar138 said:


> I'm here! Enthusiastically reading along and looking forward to the next instalment



Yay!!! Glad you're here!!


AusAnnie said:


> Looking forward to reading more!!  I love your trip reports



Yay!! Hi, welcome!! Thank you so much, hopefully you enjoy this one!!



camper06 said:


> Cant wait to read all about it!!  Great start!



Thank you!! Glad you're joining in on this adventure!!



Aussie Wendy said:


> I'm here too reading in my lunch hour at work - have to remember your thread title for later! So looking forward to reading on as we loved Japan and are big AirBnB fans too and have a mini china trip being planned (booked) for March.



Yay!! Hahaha, glad you're looking forward to it!!! We LOVED Japan SO MUCH, I'm already dying to go back! And Airbnb did not fail us during the trip (spoiler alert lol) Yay!!! China was fun!! Are you doing Disney over there?



Lynn57 said:


> So excited to read your trip report! How was your flight? Did you get and walk around a lot? I'm nervous to be on a plane for that long!



Glad you're excited!! I'm excited to share it with all of you!!! The flight was fine! I surprisingly didn't get up that often, Kara was on the aisle & I hate disturbing people lol. The flight there was no problem, it really didn't seem like it was that long, and between meals, movies and sleeping I kept pretty occupied!!


----------



## katt789

**dealing with technical difficulties & image problems...


----------



## katt789

*Thursday October 6/2016*

It here!! It’s time!! AH! It was our FIRST MORNING IN TOKYO!!!! SO BIZARRE STILL!! Dante was long gone by the time we got up, so we had a little bit more space to get ready and eat a little bit of breakfast while we did so! It was back to the bus next, right across from the 7-11 we would be frequent visitors at, it took us to Kasai Station, where, with help from our Wi-Fi and the Tokyo Metro app (seriously, download it, it’s incredible and works offline) we knew where we had to transfer to get over to our destination.




image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


Our first pleasant surprise, was noticing that Tokyo Metro has cars that are only for women during rush hour!! It’s the little touches that make things so much better! I’d feel so much more comfortable if that was a thing everywhere! Another point for Japan! Soon enough, we reached our first destination, Meiji Jingu Shrine!




image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

And before you ask, yes, we were definitely those people with a selfie stick…but like…everyone had them, and we were the LEAST obnoxious so it’s okay… The Shrine started out with a lovely walk through a huge park, and we spotted some barrels of Sake off to the side




v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

To enter into the main part of the shrine, you go past a little “cleansing” station, where you scoop up the water using the ladle, rinse one hand, then pour into the other, to rinse your mouth (and spit it back out) then rinse that hand, then the ladle itself, and then you can head on in. This practice is not required, but we both did it (though I skipped the mouth part…) and we headed inside!





v5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We took some time to explore around, there was an entrance looking thing over into what we figured was the main shrine area, but there was either a cost, or a huge crowd, so we continued out the other side to continue on our explorations!




v8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We ended up circling back to the front of the shrine, and Kara knew there was a park nearby that she wanted to check out, so we pulled up the Google maps to check things out.




v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It was super pretty, and we had a nice little walk around to explore it! Everything in Japan was still super lush and green, it was basically still summer today! SO HOT! Like, Florida hot! Luckily we were able to find some shade to relax in for a bit in the park.


The slightly more exciting part of our day was coming up next, as we were headed into Harajuku to explore and of course, SHOP! We were even able to walk over there since it was only 1 train stop away!




v15 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



It was super neat, the bustling alleyways, full of people, eclectic shops, and TONS of amazing things to look at!



v12 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Daiso ended up being one of our FAVORITE places in all of Japan, and would definitely come into play all the way through the country! It’s their version of a dollar store, and they legit sell everything, and the quality is decent too! I’m sure we both threw away SO much money into Daiso! Lol! We popped in, and discovered it was multi floored, and held lots of practical things, but nothing that we really thought we needed at that point, and not a lot of Disney souvenir stuff.


An obvious big pull towards Haraujuku is the specific style that it holds, the Harajuku girls that Gwen Stefani made so famous those years ago! The outfits are to the extreme, and then there are others that are just adorable!




v13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We definitely noticed that the Japanese were a well dressed country, nothing too crazy, but most women were always in skirts or dresses, and always looked kawaii!!


I’m apparently out of photos for a bit, so I’ll jump through the next bit! We were starting to get hungry, so we stopped into a little food court place (things at first were a bit hard to find, Japan is a very stacked place, and you often have to go into buildings and then up or down to find what you’re looking for). We both got a shwrama  (I can’t for the life of me figure out how to spell that) style wrap, and it hit the spot! To finish off Harajuku on a high point, we headed to the obvious spot, the DISNEY STORE!!!! It was CRAZY exciting and obviously we instantly wanted to BUY EVERYTHING!!!! Japan is KNOWN for it’s AWESOME merchandise, and stuff that’s SUPER exclusive!! AND the TSUM TSUMS, oh man, it was crazy! We both picked up a couple of things, but the biggest thing we were there for was the Tokyo Disneyland Park tickets, since we’d been having struggles buying them online prior to leaving. Unfortunately, we found that they don’t sell them at that location, just at Shibuya, but we were headed there anyways!!


On our way over to Shibuya, we came across another fun looking store;




image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

It was obviously STUFFED to the brim with cool toys and other such merchandise, various animes, the like, and it was like 5 floors of store!! INSANE! We were both a bit disappointed in the lack of Sailor Moon stuff though! It was okay, since our next stop was about to BLOW OUR FREAKING MINDS.




v16 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



I MEAN JUST LOOK AT THAT!!! Upon entering the first floor, we were welcomed with 100% TSUM TSUM MERCHANDISE WHAT EVEN AN ENTIRE FLOOR OF TSUMS HELLO THANK YOU THIS IS WONDERFUL!!!



v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


IT WAS INCREDIBLY AWESOME!!




v19 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


It was also just fantastically awesome because they had SO many that have been discontinued in North America! We were able to pick up SO MANY that we had missed, or that had gone missing since we’d bought them! It was nice to notice too that the QUALITY of the Tsums were way better too!! I ended up buying Tinker bell, Perry the Platypus, Elsa, Snow White, replacing my lost Prince Eric, and a Minnie Halloween pumpkin one!





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


While Kara picked up Alice, the Halloween Minnie, and Dory





v7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


Our adventure took us through 4 floors of amazingness, where we found so much merchandise that we wanted, but did hold off on most knowing that we still had 4 days in the parks after!! Up on the top floor, was where they sold the Disneyland tickets! The park tickets are assigned to dates and to which park you want to go to (for the first two days) so it was a little bit of a process to get to the point of actually purchasing. Kara had no problem…and then my card began the saga of being a pain in the BUTT!! My Visa was my ONLY income of money for this trip, and on day 1, it was already not working….I got them to try again, and then said I’d have to go take money out and come back.


Kara was already on it, searching for an ATM, and we headed over to one to take some cash out. Unluckily…it didn’t work either…and naturally, it was the middle of the night back home, so I was unable to get a hold of my Mom to call Visa right away, not that Visa would be open to do anything anyways. I’ll also point out that I CALLED VISA FROM THE AIRPORT TO LET THEM KNOW I WAS GOING TO JAPAN, and the lady had snarkily replied “you don’t need to tell us when you’re travelling anymore”.


**sigh*


I of course, was freaking out, the card working was pretty important, and getting the tickets were PRETTY IMPORTANT. Especially since they were date assigned, and sell out on regular occurrence! I left various forms of messages for my Mom, and double checked how much cash I had in my BMO account, and figured I would have enough. I had another pay cheque coming in before rent was due for the next month, so I had JUST enough to cover it, IF it would work….


THANK GOD IT DID.


It was BACK to the Disney store to pay with cash this time, but at least the tickets were secured for both of us now!! Feeling relieved, we adventured throughout Shibuya over to the famous Shibuya crossing, the busiest crossing in the world!!





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


It wasn’t anything TOO crazy at the time, but it was still cool to see, and we still got to see the dog statue! I can’t remember the name, but the story is that the dog would always meet his owner at the train after his work day, and when his owner died, he continued to come and wait every day!




v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Our afternoon was spent simply wandering around, checking things out, we found a Donki store, which was THE place for the Disney onesies! We were mildly confused as they barely had ANY, and not a lot of Disney ones. I think this was the location that had a Stitch one, but Kara was holding out for Scrump or Angel, so we held off. The store was amazing though, again, like, 6 floors and TIGHTLY PACKED full of stuff; there were toiletries, make up, electronics, snacks, beer, everything! We got some water and took a little bit of a break on a bench outside the store.





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The Kawaii Monster Café was in the area,  and we knew we wanted to head over there, so after finding out it was back near Harajuku, we began our adventure back that way. We were crossing a street just past the Disney store, when I saw something that looked SUPER kawaii and mysterious!





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


Having NO idea what it was, we clearly went right inside.





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It was this simply ADORABLE shop, obviously all themed to Alice in Wonderland, and they had so much cute stuff!





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Kara ended up buying one of the drink me bottles, and we made on our way, distraction out of the way! While we finally arrived closer to Harajuku, I opened Googlemaps again to find the way exactly to the café, to find that it WASN’T ACTUALY OPENED YET! It was closed between 4:30 to 6:30 every day, and we were too hungry to wait that long! Defeated, we decided to find another place, and discovered there was a conveyer belt sushi place nearby!





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


It was okay, the quality wasn’t as fresh as I’d hoped, and I personally just wasn’t feelin it, or sushi that night, so I didn’t eat much. It was also kinda confusing since it was our first time and we weren’t really sure how it worked, but hey, we experienced it. 


Finding our way home was much easier than we’d expected, and we noticed that when you scanned your Pasmo card on the trains, it would tell you how much was left on it, so that was a huge bonus! We’d know when to top it up! Once back in Edogawa (where we were staying) we stopped at 7-11 again, obviously, and picked up a  few more things, including some of the ACTUAL milk tea that Alicia recommended (the Lipton brand)




v6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Since Dante wasn’t home yet, we decided that now would be a good time to try out our Disney face masks that we’d picked up! They have these HILARIOUS masks that look like the faces of various Disney characters, and we’d both picked up a Stitch one to try out!





v8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


Naturally, we’d had them on for like, 2 minutes when we heard the door start to open and promptly RIPPED them off and into the garbage they went! Bahahha! We barely knew Dante at that point and didn’t want to be the weird Airbnb girls on our first day, lol!


We chatted about our day with him briefly, took turns showering and attempted to update some photos/blogs, etc before we headed to sleep!! 






[/COLOR]


----------



## Aussie Wendy

Your TR is bringing back great memories of out time in Tokyo though tsum tsums hadn't  been invented then. I like the look of the alice store too. We are lucky to have had Daiso in aus for a few years now - always fun. looking forward to your first impressions of TDL!


----------



## missangelalexis

So glad you've started, following along! 

I'm glad your initial travels all went smoothly! 

Your first day in Japan sounds so fun. All those tsum tsums!!


----------



## Grumpy's Wife

I am so thrilled the trip report has started.  I can't wait to hear all about your journey.


----------



## MomoMama

I myself just came back from a short Japan trip.  Wish I could have gotten that Stitch mask!  That is so cute and hilarious!

Were they not giving tickets to enter that Alice store?  Maybe it's only the weekends, but I heard you have to get a ticket just to go inside the store because the store is so popular. 

And that dog's name is Hachi-ko.  The american version of the movie made me cry!

Looking forward to reading more of your Japan days!


----------



## katt789

Aussie Wendy said:


> Your TR is bringing back great memories of out time in Tokyo though tsum tsums hadn't  been invented then. I like the look of the alice store too. We are lucky to have had Daiso in aus for a few years now - always fun. looking forward to your first impressions of TDL!



Awee, yaya!!! It helps me relive it! I'm so sad it's already over and can't wait to go back!! Bahaha, god Tsum tsums!! I WISH I didn't have as many of them as I did!!! The Alice store was cute & I regret not buying anything!! We actually have 2 Daiso's in Vancouver, one actually called Daiso and one is called something else but when I google mapped it it popped up!! Tokyo Disney is coming up!! Our last TDL day til bascailly the end of the trip I trip reported while we were there, so I wanted to make sure I had enough typed before I spam posted lol!!



missangelalexis said:


> So glad you've started, following along!
> 
> I'm glad your initial travels all went smoothly!
> 
> Your first day in Japan sounds so fun. All those tsum tsums!!



Yay!!! Glad you're here! Japan was wonderful!! There were so many tsums!! I bought WAY too many!!



Grumpy's Wife said:


> I am so thrilled the trip report has started.  I can't wait to hear all about your journey.


Yay!!! Glad you're here and excited!! I'm excited you're here!!



MomoMama said:


> I myself just came back from a short Japan trip.  Wish I could have gotten that Stitch mask!  That is so cute and hilarious!
> 
> Were they not giving tickets to enter that Alice store?  Maybe it's only the weekends, but I heard you have to get a ticket just to go inside the store because the store is so popular.
> 
> And that dog's name is Hachi-ko.  The american version of the movie made me cry!
> 
> Looking forward to reading more of your Japan days!



Haha!! They had ALL SORTS of disney character face masks, one of my friends just bought a bunch and has been instagramming them since he bought them and they're JUST INSANE, esp if you leave the eye flaps over your eyes for the picture! Lol.

No...there were barely any people there when we were, but there was a worker out front!

Ah! Yay! I didn't know there was a movie!! I'll have to check it out!!


----------



## katt789

*Friday Octobr 7/2016*


Are you ready for ONE HECK OF A SMALL UPDATE….cause this is it… (I don’t know what happened to my notes… #whoops)


We were up CRAZY early today, probably around the same time as Dante, got up and ready and peaced out. This morning we had to walk to Kasai Station since the bus wasn’t even running yet (but it wouldn’t be during our Disney days, so this was good practice), we were running late, and missed the train that we should have connected to….and got to Shibuya Station with about 2 minutes to catch the long distance bus we wanted that would take us out to Kawaguchi; where we would be able to see Mt Fuji….problem was that WE HAD NO IDEA WHERE THIS FREAKING BUS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE, OR WHERE TO BUY TICKETS FOR IT!!


We spent about ANOTHER 20 minutes wandering around, getting super frustrated, having NO clue where to go, we finally found what we THOUGHT was the right spot, but then there wasn’t even a bus for way too long. Ugh. WHAT a way to start the day. Thank goodness for the portable Wi-Fi that day because we were able to figure out a HORRENDOUSLY long way, but a way, to the spot via trains. It involved a lot of help from an employee, and a few stopovers….(but at least there were vending machines)





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


I KID YOU NOT….guys…that 5 hours was legitimate information. It took us FIVE HOURS from the time we left that morning, to the time we’d FINALLY arrived to see Mount Fuji…how does that EVEN HAPPEN?! 





v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


Not sure of where to go, we followed the signs down to the lake to hope to catch a glimpse of the mountain. It wasn’t anywhere around there, so we tried to find some lunch, after a few misses, ended up in this little ramen place over looking the lake ran by legit 2 old ladies, it was super cute.




v5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

A beer was needed with lunch today, I am telling you!





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



After lunch, we figured if we circled around part of the lake, we should be able to find a view of Fuji, right? So we started our trek, commented on how similar it was to Vancouver.




v6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


It was a super pretty walk, and beautiful town, a nice relaxing time for the both of us!




v8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



The highlight of our day was while we were walking through this little town, we passed a school/daycare, where a family was getting their kids ready to take home. As we walked past, the smaller girl (which from now on we’ll be calling kids chans, just a heads up) called out to us (and in such good English) “Have a nice day!” and waved with a big smile, and it was JUST SO ADORABLE, and made us smile a lot.


Not smiling so much was the fact that we’d been here for a few hours, and STILL HAD YET TO FIND MT FUJI! HOW HARD COULD IT BE! IT’S A FREAKING MOUNTAIN!! We had basically given up, and bought our tickets to head back home, this time on a bus. Since we had time to kill, we stopped inside the train station café for a snack, and while we were sitting there, Kara turned to look out the window, and noticed something peeking out from behind the clouds!





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


WELL IT IS ABOUT TIME SIR!!!


We promptly headed outside to try and get some better pictures from across the street.





v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Well…I guess you can say that we saw it, so our day wasn’t completely wasted!! It was just so WEIRD to me that Lonely Planet had recommended Kawaguchi as a great place to see it from, yet, the only view was OVER the train station…at least that we could find….oh well…lesson learnt, you can’t always trust the books! And at least we got to see Fuji for a little bit!





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


The bus we’d booked to get home, Kara bought her ticket via a machine, while I had to go to a person, so we ended up NOT sitting together, and seat assignments were enforced. Ugh. Luckily I had my ipod, and was able to work on some notes and such on the way home. Once back into Tokyo we crossed back near Shibuya Crossing, which was much more bustling at night!





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


But it wasn’t a bit night for us, just some snacks, and heading home, it had been a VERY long day, and we were very tired!!


----------



## Kyjin

Oh man, sorry you didn't get a great view of Fuji! There are a lot of places to see it, but it really depends on the weather. (I actually saw it from Disneyland last week! First time that happened. ) Once I was in Fujinomiya, right by the mountain, and we couldn't see it. My friend's dad (Japanese), said that the mountain was embarrassed because such beautiful women were there, so it was hiding from us. XD


----------



## nycdisneygal

Oh what a fun trip so far! Well, except for the 5 hour trip to Mt Fiji...Looking forward to more (meanwhile I am busily planning MY trip to Vancouver for my DCL cruise!).


----------



## missangelalexis

5 hours?! Woof that sounds frustrating! I'm sorry the day didn't turn out exactly as planned and that you didn't get the best view of Mt. Fuji. But it sounds like you made the best out of it! And that little girl sounds adorable!!


----------



## Aussie Wendy

Sounds like some mad expedition we'd do - and fail! At least you got to see it a bit! I've had friends get great (distant) pics from the bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo. We didn't even try!


----------



## MomoMama

Sorry to hear your Mt. Fuji day did not turn out to be what you hoped for!  When you mentioned about going to Mt. Fuji, I assumed you were joining one of those tours that would take you to the viewing spot by bus.  So you just took the regular bus to Kawaguhiko?  That did not take you to the Kawaguchiko train station?  I think Kawaguchiko train station itself is a tourist-y place, with gift shops, tour busses, and all.  They say you can view the mountain from the station, and also I thought the lake is very close.  I have not done a lot of research about Mt.Fuji myself, but reading your experience, I think I should do more research when I go!


----------



## katt789

*October 8th/2016*


Thanks to a good night’s sleep, and it being a new day, we were off to a good start today! We got ready, ate some breakfast at the house, and headed off to the bus stop. Our luck faltered a little bit when we realized that the bus hadn’t come on time because it was Saturday! #whoops. Good thing we didn’t have too much time to wait past that! 


The train took us straight to Tsukiji Station, where we simply had to actually GET to the market from there, we’d gotten to ground level no longer than a few seconds before an older Japanese woman came right up t us to help us out! She was SUPER nice and helped us find our way, even giving us her map!! SO NICE!! We joked that the only time that happened in Europe was when it was a scam & you were being pick pocketed lol!! The Market wasn’t far from the station either!




v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It was Saturday too, so it WAS A BUSY ONE!!! But that’s totally okay, it added to the experience!




v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


There was SO much SUPER FRESH seafood, fruits and veggies, I seriously wanted to buy so much, but obviously we didn’t have the means to cook it (or keep it cold all day) so I withheld the urges!





v5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


We wandered around the market for a bit, exploring, checking everything out, just kinda being swept away with the flow of everything, people watching, the usual. It was actually SO awesome, if I ever did end up living in Tokyo, I would hands down make Tsukiji market a weekly, or every 2 weeks occurrence! Definitely get a lot of my groceries there!! 


Hidden amongst all the seafood, were also a bunch of sweets, we weren’t sure if they were mochi, or the rice dessert things that you could get in the Japan pavilion at Epcot (which were not my favorite) BUT they looked super yummy, and we were hungry, so we both picked up a variety of 3.




v7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
Obviously, food was on our brains; we’d passed a conveyer belt sushi place on our way in, so we headed back that way to see if we could grab a seat to eat some….brunch…? Lol. We were seated right away and happened to be right next to a girl who was from Canada! Even where I used to live, we chatted for a bit before she left, she was super friendly!




v8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The sushi here was IMMENSELY better than the first place we had tried!! It was WAY fresher, everything tasted better, even the rice, and the “service” was a lot better than the other place too. It was a win all the way around! I even got adventurous and tried some octopus!





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


It was super chewy and not the greatest, but at least I can say that I ate it…lol…The way conveyer belt sushi works is that you grab a plate off the belt, eat it, and at the end of the meal simply flag someone down (or start to stand up lol) and they come over to count your stack of plates. The different colors of the plates represent the different prices, and you can order stuff like Miso or Udon soups as well!



v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v12 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It was a fabulous way to kick off our day!! Upon leaving the restaurant, we noticed that the rain had started to pick up, Kara had her raincoat, but I had nothing….whoops…I kept my eyes open for an umbrella, but had no luck so far. 
The rain seemed to stay pretty light, so despite the Hama Rikyu Gardens being our next stop, we didn’t vary from our plans! The Gardens cost 300Yen to get into, and I noticed they did have umbrellas at the entrance, but they were the non-collapsible ones, and it was only misting, so I passed on my chance and we entered the gardens!




v13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


Not too far into our adventuring, we found a nice covered area where we sat around to eat our treats we’d bought at the market. (and where we discovered they were the ones I didn’t really like…whoops…) They had some neat water features around, and I went to change my camera lens and promptly THREW the one I’d taken off onto the cement ground….#sigh I seriously DON’T know how it didn’t break, or even crack, but it was 100% okay….weird…


Kara spent some time creeping on a couple that was taking engagement looking photos where we were, it was super cute!




v14 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Snacks consumed, and creeping finished with, we continued around on our garden adventures!




v15 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v16 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v17 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


Most of the pathways were pretty well covered by trees and greenery, so we didn’t really need to worry about the rain, which was an added bonus.




v18 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Which naturally….only lasted so long…we got to this LARGELY OPEN part of the garden, and it just started pouring…. Kara obviously, was more than fine, having her rain coat…but I was not…it was WET, and I was hiding….




v19 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v20 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Sigh….you think living in Vancouver and having lived in Florida I would own a raincoat by now…but nope…Kara took cover with me under the awning for a bit while we waited for it to die down…




v21 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v22 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v23 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Not too long into it though, I started to get bored and fed up with waiting, and it looked like it had lightened up a little bit, so we made a run for it. First we sped walked our way to a more covered by tree area, and then RAN through this big clearing, laughing at the whole situation while we tried to avoid all the puddles, until we found the side entrance to the park, where I was finally able to buy an umbrella! Kara & I soon found ourselves back at the entrance, so we concluded our visit to the Hama Rikyu Gardens and called it a day. We wanted to see Tokyo Station, and figured out how to get there, only to get distracted by another Donki store!!! It, again, had no onesies (though each one did have a large Halloween section full of costumes and the occasional onesies, so we think maybe the time of year might affect the onesie population…). I picked up a collapsible umbrella, and a super cheap memory card, and we continued along our way.


I pulled out my phone to double check something about getting to Tokyo Station, and the screen promptly FROZE, TURNED PURPLE, and then wouldn’t do anything…well…that was no good… I attempted to restart it as we continued to the Station.


----------



## katt789

v24 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Tokyo Station looked like it would normally be a very impressive and beautiful place, but it was SO under construction that it just looked like a hot mess…and you couldn’t get the full effect of seeing it all from the front without walls up…





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


A bit bummed, we headed down the street to the Imperial Palace!




v25 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v26 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v27 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

I don’t know why there isn’t a photo of Kara…perhaps it was on my camera….but I was happy to FINALLY be able to pose like a princess and not be judged for it…bahaha…seriously... I don’t know how else to pose myself…. You couldn’t get too close to the palace, as the emperor (?) still resided there, so, you know…safety…but we did get to see a little changing of the guards which was pretty cool.




v28 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Finding out that we couldn’t really go any further, and everything being wet, we discussed what to do next. I asked Kara if she could Google where an Apple Store was; there was one near us, and another location in Shibuya (among others) but we chose the Shibuya one. We figured we could fix my phone and hit up the Monster Café by going back there tonight, rather than sticking around the ritzy area we were in!


The Apple store was RIGHT at the metro exit, so it was easy to find, and we were able to get someone who spoke English to make an appointment for me! We spent some time wandering Shibuya, and even popped into McDonalds for a snack, lol! They had these Pumpkin Spice French Fries we’d wanted to try.




v38 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Yeah…turns out they’re just fries with chocolate & orange icing on top of them, but hey, we tried something new! Snack done, we traipsed back to the Apple store, where I was able to drop off my phone, while we were waiting, and I was worried that it was water damaged from the rain earlier, I did pry off the screen protector, thinking maybe water had gotten under it? I was told that it might be an issue with the screen, which could be replaced,  and then if that didn’t work, I could get a new phone. Naturally, this would be free…unless there was water damage…I was rather nervous…..also nervous about potentially having to replace my phone with a Japanese one…


We had about an hour to kill before it would be fixed, so Kara and I headed back into the streets of Harajuku! It was MUCH different on a Saturday night, a way different feel to it, it was really cool, and Kara finally got to see a few Harajuku girls! (Though I’m pretty sure none of them were actually Japanese…lol). We both bought a few things at Daiso this time around,  and then discovered the STICKY PICS!!!! I can’t remember WHAT they’re actually called, but basically you go into a photo booth, and take a bunch of cute posed photos, then you go around to the booth attached to it where you can edit them, add stickers, filters, all that kind  of thing. It was SUPER fun, but also SO STRESSFUL since it’s timed and ALL IN JAPANESE!! Lol!





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


We ended up with some super kawaii ones though!! Luckily, when that was done, my phone was ready! There had been now water damage and it was fixed!! I did pay for a new screen protector and to have it applied, an we were on our way to the Monster Café! 




v37 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We had to wait an hour to get seated, which was a huge pain, our feet were super sore and we just wanted to siiiiiit!!


Inside was definitely…interesting…we were seated, given menus, and told to press the button on our table when we were ready to order. I got a beer, Kara got a non alcoholic drink that came in a mason jar, and we ordered a meal of beef & chicken that came with some veggies and potatoes!




v36 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v29 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


The picture doesn’t make it look very appealing, but it was super good!!! Most of the food was made for sharing, and was Western style too! After we were finished eating, we pushed the button again for the bill. There is a cover charge of 500Yen to get in (per person) and our bill was 7000Yen for 2 beers, a fancy mocktail, and a meal for 2, so decent! After we paid we spent some time exploring the place;





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v30 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v35 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


The place had a very interesting vibe to it, marketed as a Café, and it was a family restaurant, there were multiple kids there when we were, but it had a very “club” esque vibe to it, heck, there was a little show going on that was very “go-go dancer” esque…it was all just very strange.




v31 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v32 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v33 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

When they were done with the dancing, they posed for some pictures, and called Kara up to say hello!




v34 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It was just a very interesting place…very clearly a tourist attraction, but it just couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a club, or a family restaurant…nothing too fancy, but a cool experience I’m glad we did!

With dinner finished, it was time for BED, we were both SO incredibly tired, and just wanted to sleeeeeeeeeep!! These Tokyo days were LONG, and full of walking, basically every train station we went into we had multiple flights of stairs to go up and down, multiple times a day…..it really took it out of ya!


----------



## Grumpy's Wife

What an exciting day you had.  So sorry about the phone but glad it wasn't wet and able to be fixed.

Five hours to get to Mount Fuji is crazy! What determination you had.  I think I would have given up.  Thank goodness the clouds parted and you finally got to see it and take a few pictures. 

I love that the pictures of the food market also had prices in U.S. dollars.  I think that is so cool.


----------



## jelloarms

Totally following!  I was in Japan around the same time as you..wish I could have stayed longer though!  I have a TR going too...link in my signature.  We didn't do any _"nature sightseeing"_ because we were so pressed for time.  I'll just live vicariously through your photos.  

The dog statue's name is Hachi btw!

I'm curious as to how Air BnB works...if Dante wasn't yet home when you guys arrived, how did you get in?  Do they mail you a key beforehand?  Or was it one of those electronic numeric code locks?


----------



## katt789

Kyjin said:


> Oh man, sorry you didn't get a great view of Fuji! There are a lot of places to see it, but it really depends on the weather. (I actually saw it from Disneyland last week! First time that happened. ) Once I was in Fujinomiya, right by the mountain, and we couldn't see it. My friend's dad (Japanese), said that the mountain was embarrassed because such beautiful women were there, so it was hiding from us. XD



Definitely true!! We did end up seeing it from the monorail station later in the trip, lol!!! Aahaha, that's such a cute saying!! I think we just needed to do a bit more research on it too, I definitely wanted to go to the lake at the base of the mountain, shoulda read more into it lol



nycdisneygal said:


> Oh what a fun trip so far! Well, except for the 5 hour trip to Mt Fiji...Looking forward to more (meanwhile I am busily planning MY trip to Vancouver for my DCL cruise!).



Hahaha!!! Yeah, it was still fun though!!

How awesome!!! I don't know much about touristy things to do here since I wasn't born here ,but I can definitely try to help if you have any quesdtions!!



missangelalexis said:


> 5 hours?! Woof that sounds frustrating! I'm sorry the day didn't turn out exactly as planned and that you didn't get the best view of Mt. Fuji. But it sounds like you made the best out of it! And that little girl sounds adorable!!



Hahaha, yup, it was insane!! She was super cute, definitely brightened the day!



Aussie Wendy said:


> Sounds like some mad expedition we'd do - and fail! At least you got to see it a bit! I've had friends get great (distant) pics from the bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo. We didn't even try!



It was quite crazy!!! We tried to spot it on our multiple train trips alter on but didn't manage to see it



MomoMama said:


> Sorry to hear your Mt. Fuji day did not turn out to be what you hoped for!  When you mentioned about going to Mt. Fuji, I assumed you were joining one of those tours that would take you to the viewing spot by bus.  So you just took the regular bus to Kawaguhiko?  That did not take you to the Kawaguchiko train station?  I think Kawaguchiko train station itself is a tourist-y place, with gift shops, tour busses, and all.  They say you can view the mountain from the station, and also I thought the lake is very close.  I have not done a lot of research about Mt.Fuji myself, but reading your experience, I think I should do more research when I go!



We tried to take a bus, but couldn't figure out where to find the station, so we took the trains all the way out, and went to Kawaguchiko station. It was cute, there were some touristy things and lots of tourists around but we just mustve started off going the wrong way, we went down to kawaguchiko lake first, thinking fuji could be seen from down there, when it fact it was directly behind the station the whole time


----------



## katt789

Grumpy's Wife said:


> What an exciting day you had.  So sorry about the phone but glad it wasn't wet and able to be fixed.
> 
> Five hours to get to Mount Fuji is crazy! What determination you had.  I think I would have given up.  Thank goodness the clouds parted and you finally got to see it and take a few pictures.
> 
> I love that the pictures of the food market also had prices in U.S. dollars.  I think that is so cool.



It really was!! Ugh, I still don't know what happened to it but at least it was fixable!!

Hahaha, yeah, we gave up right at the end so im glad it worked out for us!

I think the prices are still in Yen, it's just a super easy conversion, 200Yen is just $2.00, easy enough!!



jelloarms said:


> Totally following!  I was in Japan around the same time as you..wish I could have stayed longer though!  I have a TR going too...link in my signature.  We didn't do any _"nature sightseeing"_ because we were so pressed for time.  I'll just live vicariously through your photos.
> 
> The dog statue's name is Hachi btw!
> 
> I'm curious as to how Air BnB works...if Dante wasn't yet home when you guys arrived, how did you get in?  Do they mail you a key beforehand?  Or was it one of those electronic numeric code locks?



Awe how neat!!! I wish we'd stayed longer too, lol!! It's such an amazing place!!

Ah! Thank you!!

It depends on the place, with Dante's there was a padlock with a code on the door handle that held the key. Everywhere else we stayed the owner was not with us so we just had the key to the house


----------



## missangelalexis

The market looks so cool! And glad you were able to find a good sushi place!

The rain sounds like a bummer but you got some beautiful pictures.

Glad you were able to fix your phone, I would've been freaking out! Those sticky pics are adorable, something I definitely would like haha


----------



## katt789

*Sunday October 9/2016*

Sleeeeeeepppyyyy HEADS we were today!!! We didn’t get up til around 9:00, and then took even longer to actually start getting ready for the day. I personally, still had super sore feet from walking in wet shoes all day the day before, and we were both just plain tired from all our tourist-ing! 


It wasn’t until around NOON that we finally got on the train at Kasai Station! Now, that lateness, accompanied by the fact that it was a weekend (and a holiday weekend at that) made itself known as soon as we arrived at Senso-ji and it WAS PACKED.




v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


It was quick to be apparent too the amount of tourists that were around, we’d managed to avoid them so far this trip, but today, there were lots of them and they were all obnoxious!!




v5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Senso-ji started out with long rows of shopping stalls leading up to the temple itself, lots of over priced touristy stuff.




v6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


After battling our way through the crowded stalls, we found ourselves in the temple’s main courtyard. Off to the sides, were the part I was most excited about, the fortunes!! You picked up this metal box and shook it until a chopstick like stick came out, and then would match the character on it to a drawer, where you would pull out your fortune!




v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


Kara got the medium fortune, while I got the good fortune! YAY! They also have racks where you’re supposed to tie your bad fortune if you get one, so that it doesn’t follow you….something like that…




v12 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Before the actual temple itself, there is a smoke cleansing stop, I can’t remember the tradition behind it, but know that you’re supposed to “wash” yourself with the smoke.




v13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v14 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Up the stairs in the temple itself, was neat, lol. It was SUPER packed with people, and I’m 99% sure that photography was not allowed. Off to the side of the Senso-ji Temple itself was a little garden/grounds, where we explored for a little bit.




v15 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v16 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


The crowds were getting to us, and we knew we needed to eat sometime soon, so we left the temple to explore Asakusa, the neighborhood we were currently in. We found a place that seemed to have decent food, and was cheap! It kinda reminded me of a Denny’s, and it again had the buttons to push when you needed to order or anything, SO HANDY!!! We both got burgers without buns, and they were good. Afterwards we spent some time exploring around and seeing what else we may have missed!




v17 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

After lunch we jumped back onto the Metro to head to Akihabara, the Anime central of Tokyo! It was kind of a struggle at first as we were looking specifically for Sailor Moon stuff. We realized we were just going to have to walk into a store and explore, and ended up in an electronics store, whoops. Next door we ended up finding the right kind of store, but after like, 10 floors, there was nothing worthwhile for Sailor Moon but a phone case for Kara. Everything was way too pricey for the quality it was! 




v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It had been such a long day, and to be completely honest, I was over it. I wasn’t in the mood to search through shelf after shelf to find 2 Sailor Moon things that I wouldn’t want to spend that much money on, again….whether Kara could tell, or was also tired, we decided it was time to head home. SO TIRED.


In writing, it seemed like we just ate lunch, but I swear, there were a few hours in there (and a lot of wandering around and getting kind of lost). When we got back to Kasai, we decided to try out the ramen place that Dante had suggested. It was one that you order from the machine and then give the ticket to the cook/server, problem being it was 100% in Japanese. I used “WayGo” app I had to try and figure it out but because Japanese is all characters that can mean different things, it wasn’t working too well…I eventually used my other translator to say “no meat” to the guy, and he pointed out what button to push.




v18 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

GUYS!

This ramen was INCREDIBLE!!! Im SO glad that we ended up going to at least one legit ramen place! The stuff at Mt Fuji had tasted a lot like Mr Noodle, and this stuff was amazing!! The beer was also way better lol! The server/cook guy was also super friendly, so it was a great way to end our day!! Kara & I were both very happy campers!!

We decided to walk home from there since it would save us money and only took about 10 minutes, and we were home around 7:00pm to upload some pictures, update blogs and just relax!!


----------



## missangelalexis

The fortunes sound really cool! And I'm glad you found a good ramen place. I can imagine how tired you guys were!


----------



## MomoMama

That crowd at Asakusa looks bad...making a note to myself never to go there on weekends!
The medium fortune basically tells to be careful with everything!  Good for you that you got a good fortune.  I am too chicken to try it!

That ramen looks pretty good, you are making me hungry!


----------



## zanzibar138

I'm still here and enjoying the ride 

Just wanted to say good on you for getting off the tourist track and trying some authentic local cuisine. Reminds me of one of our trips to Thailand. We were in this little town with hardly any other westerners, and barely anyone could speak English. We found this little local restaurant which was pretty full so we thought it must be reasonable. The lady there couldn't speak a single word of English. She motioned to us to sit down and cleared the table for us, gestured two (as in, 2 meals?). We gestured yes, and pointed to a bottle of coke. We had no idea what she was whipping up for us out the back, but she came back to us with the absolute best fried rice I've ever eaten, full of delicious flavour and heaps of juicy prawns. Sounds pretty basic, but it was easily the best meal I've eaten in Thailand, and one of my favourite travel memories!


----------



## Aussie Wendy

We had a similar experience in Osaka before heading out to the airport to meet our daughter - yum! We never made it to Senso-ji - it was some hol when we were there too and it was so crowded at the entrance to the touristy bit leading to the temple we didn't even try! but we had by then seen similar temples in Kyoto and elsewhere.


----------



## katt789

missangelalexis said:


> The market looks so cool! And glad you were able to find a good sushi place!
> 
> The rain sounds like a bummer but you got some beautiful pictures.
> 
> Glad you were able to fix your phone, I would've been freaking out! Those sticky pics are adorable, something I definitely would like haha



It was super awesome!! Thank you!! I was glad it got fixed too, I mean, it wasn't a huge necissity, but at the same time, it kind of was!! Lol. Sticky pics were so fun!! So stressfull too!!



missangelalexis said:


> The fortunes sound really cool! And I'm glad you found a good ramen place. I can imagine how tired you guys were!


They were super cool, definitely one of the things I was most excited about!!



MomoMama said:


> That crowd at Asakusa looks bad...making a note to myself never to go there on weekends!
> The medium fortune basically tells to be careful with everything!  Good for you that you got a good fortune.  I am too chicken to try it!
> 
> That ramen looks pretty good, you are making me hungry!



It was horrible!!!! Didn't help that we were later in the day too. Lol, yeah, Kara was all "well...this is...interesting..." lol. i'm glad I got a good one!!The ramen was delicious!!!



zanzibar138 said:


> I'm still here and enjoying the ride
> 
> Just wanted to say good on you for getting off the tourist track and trying some authentic local cuisine. Reminds me of one of our trips to Thailand. We were in this little town with hardly any other westerners, and barely anyone could speak English. We found this little local restaurant which was pretty full so we thought it must be reasonable. The lady there couldn't speak a single word of English. She motioned to us to sit down and cleared the table for us, gestured two (as in, 2 meals?). We gestured yes, and pointed to a bottle of coke. We had no idea what she was whipping up for us out the back, but she came back to us with the absolute best fried rice I've ever eaten, full of delicious flavour and heaps of juicy prawns. Sounds pretty basic, but it was easily the best meal I've eaten in Thailand, and one of my favourite travel memories!



Yay!!! GLad you're still here!! We did our best this trip to make sure that we were trying authentic things, and anything away from a touristy area too lol. Until near the end of Japan, noodles were the last thing we wanted!!lol



Aussie Wendy said:


> We had a similar experience in Osaka before heading out to the airport to meet our daughter - yum! We never made it to Senso-ji - it was some hol when we were there too and it was so crowded at the entrance to the touristy bit leading to the temple we didn't even try! but we had by then seen similar temples in Kyoto and elsewhere.



Yeah, the temple itself was pretty meh, the fortunes were the only really cool part about that day!!


----------



## katt789

Hey all!!! Thank you so much for reading along with our journey, and thank you with putting up with the boring Japan stuff, becuase DISNEY IS UP NEXT!!! I've got most of the trip actually all typed up on my phone already so updates should start coming out faster in the next few weeks!!

***********


*Monday October 10/2016*


TODAY WAS AN EXCITING DAY!!!!



…but we had a bunch of stuff to get through first…


..we also slept in a bit again…


Hey! We had to rest up for Toyko Disneyland! We knew it was going to tire us out so why not rest while we could?! 


It took a little bit to get ready and out of the house, BUT, luckily we were earlier than the day before. The train took us up to Ueno Park, and it was definitely a holiday!! It was busier than we’d expected, and we commented that we were both glad we hadn’t said “screw it” and added on an extra Disney day, because the parks were probably PACKED today!




v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


The park was certainly pretty, but at this time of year, it wasn’t anything spectacular! You could tell just by the ways the trees hung though, that during cherry blossom season or autumn foliage that it would be absolutely STUNNING!

We did come across some acrobats doing a little show in the park (much like in the China pavilion in wdw lol)




v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The mask dance was super cool, he would change the mask all the time from one to a different one, to a different one, no clue how it works but it was cool! When we had first walked up there was some plate spinning going on & one of the girls had climbed up on someone’s shoulders but couldn’t keep her balance & fell off. I COMPLETELY missed it (minus the gasps from the crowds) so I was fine, but Kara was a little nervous watching the rest. My favorite was the acrobat with the hoops, it reminded me a lot of all the rhythmic gymasntics I used to be able to do bahahah!




v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

They finished with a guy stacking chairs ontop of each other and hand standing and balancing on top, which was pretty nerve wracking, I just don’t know if there’s like, a way that they latch together, or if the wind shifts a little bit, will they all come crashing down?!?!



v7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

#stressed

There was a little market set up that we spent a bit of time wandering through, and then the tired Katt here could SMELL the Starbucks, and promptly wanted to get one, BUT, the line was legitimately horrendous. There was a little café across from it, but the prices there were horrendous, so we continued on.

The park was nice to stroll around, we noticed the line to get into the Zoo was backed up MAJORLY, glad we hadn’t planned on going there. To get away from the crowds & tourists, we ended up leaving after our stroll was over. I had spotted a Gap on the way into the park, and wanted to see if I could find some kind of sweater as all I had were pullovers & a heavier one. Luckily, they had a cardigan that was PERFECT, and was 30% off!! Shopping done, we knew it was lunch time, so we wandered a little bit until we found a place that had $2 beer!




k1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The added bonus was that with your meal, you also got soup, and rice for free, all you can eat, serve yourself style! BONUS!



k2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

I had gotten chicken while Kara opted for the steak, hers was definitely better than mine, but hey, we got free rice & soup, it was good lunch!!


Now guys….this is where things get real exciting, and let’s be real, it’s what you’re ACTUALLY reading the trip report for….it’s time for us to actually set foot on DISNEY PROPERTY!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!

We practically RAN to the nearest station to get ourselves over to Disneyland, and were just WAY TOO EXCITED WE COULD BARELY HANDLE IT!!!!

The Metro drops you off at Maihama Station, which is the gateway to the Disney Resort, and the entrance to Ikspiari, their version of Downtown Disney. From the Gateway you can monorail to either of the parks/hotels, or potentially walk to the Disneyland hotel/park. We chose to shop first, obviously. Things like ears and shirts were on the list to get right away, as we wanted to wear them tomorrow!


Bon Voyage is their big, park merchandise store, off to the right of the JR Station, so we skipped our way over there, and guys, everything about the merch that you’ve heard is 100% right. It IS JUST AMAZING. I wanted to buy EVERYTHING!!! We bought matching headband bows, and I picked up a DisneySea 15th anniversary travel mug, and at the til, impulsively bought something for our Baymax obsessed friend back home! Kara picked up a couple things too. Sadly, we couldn’t find the shirts we wanted, but figured they might be park exclusive; we headed into the actual Ikspiari area!




v8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Kara also promptly put her “ears” on because she was so excited. Inside Ikspiari, we noticed it seemed to be a pretty legit and high end shopping mall, so we made straight for the Disney Store instead of making any stops.




v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

After finding it had mainly the same merch as the stores we’d already been do, and no Duffy stuff, OR the shirts, we KNEW they had to simply be park exclusive, and we could pick them up tomorrow!

It was time….time to explore the FANCINESS of the hotels! AND TIME TO RIDE THE DISNEY MONORAAAAIIILLLL AAAHHH…just a little bit excited.  That excitement continued when I saw the amount of Halloween everywhere….




v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Everything was all decked out for DisneySea’s 15th anniversary, which was cute, though we were hoping that we would catch a glimpse of the Duffy monorail! Not today though, as we boarded the 15th anniversary one, still adorable! All the hand holders were MICKEY




v15 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It was ALL very exciting, and about to get EVEN more exciting!!! We rode a very short distance on the monorail, and hopped off at the Disneyland stop. The Disneyland hotel is directly across from the Disneyland PARK! I somehow didn’t realize it was RIGHT there, despite having looked at so many maps,  so it took us by surprise and emotion that we COULD SEE THE CASTLE AND SEE RIGHT INTO DISNEYLAND AND IT WAS JUST A LOT TO DEAL WITH.




v12 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

See…castle…beautiful castle…beautiful park….


Kara & I figured that was our glimpse of the park for the day, so we stood up in the train station staring in, wishing we were inside the park right now, for a few minutes. Upon descending the stairs, WE REALIZED THAT WE COULD LEGITIMATELY WALK RIGHT UP TO THE TURNSTILES


WHAT


I’M SORRY WHAT?!!??!


YOU COULD SEE RIGHT INTO THE PARK


GIDEON WAS STILL OUT DOING SETS



I’M SO CONFUSED AND I LOVE TOKYO SO MUCH





v14 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Crying…legitimately…

It was just really emotional, like, we’d been dreaming of this for 2 years, been planning, waiting, stressing, and finally, everything was ACTUALLY happening, we were at the gates of TOKYO Disney….it was insane. Naturally, we creeped at the gates for a while, watching the couple of fur characters that were still out, just absolutely dying.

As if we weren’t dying enough…we turned around to the GORGEOUSNESS that is the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel.




k5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v27 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

These pictures don’t do it justice AT ALL, because it was absolutely gorgeous, especially at dusk! UGH.




k4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
Looking back to where we had come from, and right into Disneyland park, talk about a short commute!


----------



## katt789

The grand Disneyland hotel stood before us, the train station & Disneyland park at our backs, and we were feeling absolutely amazing filled to the brim will glee, seriously, insane.





image by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v16 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We were taking pictures of each other with the hotel sign when the lovely door attendant cm came over to take one of both of us, which was super nice!




v17 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
(that would be the cardigan I’d bought earlier in the day….I was cold…lol

Right inside the doors was a smaller staircase that led up to the lobby with a BEAUTIFUL Alice in Wonderland mosaic!




v18 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

And beautiful is just a way to describe this hotel!




v19 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
(can you tell which one was my phone vs the dslr….bahahhaha)

The interior was similar to the Grand Floridian in feel, and it was just simply stunning. The cutest thing was the little dollhouse they had on display in the corner, and inside IT, were adorable little Disney touches!




v20 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v21 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Off to that side of the lobby was their gift shop, where we found the usual stuff we’d seen already that night, but spent a good chunk of time looking. The most amazing part was the PRINCESS DRESSES, legit, these are the ones for the KIDS; GUYS!



v25 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



k6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

JUST LOOK AT THEM!!!! They were made with so much CARE! SO much more detail, the fabric was soft (not itchy glittery crap) and you could tell they would just move beautifully on…I was LEGIT so sad they didn’t come in adult sizes because I wanted to buy them all!!


The doors near the gift shop took us out to the…front? I guess of the hotel, where there was the car drop off/valet area, and a gorgeous Sorcerer Mickey/Fantasia fountain!!



v22 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v24 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v23 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Off to the sides they also had other Fantasia statues, including the hippo ballerinas, which resulted in some awesome dance photos of Kara & I….but alas….those photos are gone…


Having explored the hotel began to head back to the monorail.




k10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

I was seriously SO in love with everything and we weren’t even IN THE PARKS YET…like…how were we going to deal with tomorrow?!?!!

Our routine continued the same way over to DisneySea, we hopped back on the monorail (didn’t mention this, but you can pay per ride, or buy a day pass if you’re planning on using it a lot, like, more than twice, we paid with our Pasmo cards each time), then stopped to stare into the park for a bit.



v26 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

They had a little lookout point in the train station that we took that from, before heading down to creep from the park gates. We couldn’t see as much from this entrance, really just the globe & ship (which was part of the 15th anniversary). To get to the Miracosta, we bypassed a gift shop, where I found a couple of fun things




k8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



k9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The second one being a Chandu tail key-chain….I seriously regret not buying it…

Now into the Miracosta




k7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

From everything I’d seen online of the hotel, and read in TR’s, I had expected to FALL IN LOVE with this hotel, everything seemed so grand & spectacular, and prior to actually being in Tokyo in person, I thought I liked it the best…

That was honestly, quickly changed today lol. It was still pretty, and had gorgeous views into the park (which we stared at for a while, but it was dark, so we couldn’t really take pictures). I was a bit disappointed, but I’m sure the rooms make the Miracosta much better, or there was just so much that we missed? Who know?!


It also could be that we were getting pretty hungry, so it was time to head out. Alicia had told us her favorite conveyer sushi place, and there was one in Urayasu near Disney, so our plan was to check it out tonight! Turned out getting there we’d have to bus, and not really knowing if we’d mess that up, we ended up walking, only took about 20 minutes!


When we got there, we had to wait a bit, but it was TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!! Hamazushi is the name, and we were BLESSED to know it was a chain so it would be in other places too! It worked a bit differently, you were seated at a table/bar, in front of a little touch screen, where you could order ANYTHING, there were sushi rolls, nigiri, salads, udon, miso soup, drinks, cakes, mochi, green tea ice cream, everything! Or you could pull off the conveyer belt. When your food came around, it would be on a little riser (how to let other people know not to take it) and IT WOULD PLAY A LITTLE SONG WHEN YOUR FOOD CAME TO YOU!!!


IT WAS AMAZING!!


I did a little dance to it at one point and the ladies beside us hardcore laughed at me but it was a VERY exciting moment. 


With sushi completed, it was time to figure out how to get home; we had to walk a ways to a bus stop, and I made Kara stop at a grocery store along the way. I’d been drinking coffee every morning and felt bad that it was almost out, so I wanted to pick some more up. Boy oh boy was THAT stressful!! Lol. Then it was onto a bus to Urayasu station, where we walked the rest of the way home, it wasn’t too far, but we were TIRED when we finally got home.


We got ready for bed and talked to Dante about our adventures through the day, and set our alarms for BRIGHT and early tomorrow morning! IT WAS FINALLY TIME FOR DISNEYLAND!!! 



[/COLOR]


----------



## missangelalexis

How exciting getting your first glimpses of Tokyo Disney! So many pretty pictures!


----------



## MomoMama

Awesome photos!  I can feel your excitement reading this TR! 

I felt the same as you about the Disneyland hotel and Miracosta... I was wowed by the beauty of Disneyland hotel, but not as much as I expected by Miracosta.  I think I over-expected because everyone says how grand and beautiful the hotel is.

So what happened to your dancing photo?   I took DD's dancing photo there.  I love those silly photos.


----------



## katt789

missangelalexis said:


> How exciting getting your first glimpses of Tokyo Disney! So many pretty pictures!



It was absolutely thrilling!!! Thank you!! Most of them at this point are Kara's work, but mine come into play later on!



MomoMama said:


> Awesome photos!  I can feel your excitement reading this TR!
> 
> I felt the same as you about the Disneyland hotel and Miracosta... I was wowed by the beauty of Disneyland hotel, but not as much as I expected by Miracosta.  I think I over-expected because everyone says how grand and beautiful the hotel is.
> 
> So what happened to your dancing photo?   I took DD's dancing photo there.  I love those silly photos.



Awwe!! YAY!!! That's what I strive for, for my readers to really experience things themsevles the best they can!!

Yes!!!! I had LOVED the Miracosta from the tr's I'd read, but my views totally changed once I'd seen them in person! Maybe the rooms in the Miracosta are what I was thinking of!

Hahaha. The photos were awesome, there are some hinting towards other photos that may have ran off over the next few days, it'll all get revealed soon!!


----------



## katt789

*Tuesday October 11/2016*


It’s 5:15 in the morning…..


UGH


ONLY FOR DISNEY


Dante was up right with us getting ready for work, and gone before we were ready to go. Kara & I walked to Kasai station and found the bus stop no worries. The bus was LATE though, and  it was suuuuuuuper packed, but that’s okay! It made a couple of more stops, and then WE WERE IN DISNEYLAND AAAAHHHH!!!!


The lines for the turnstiles were already huge, but not insane, and there was a separate area for hotel guests, as they got in 15 minutes early! 








Then it was TIME TO GOOOOOOOOO!!! AHHH!!! THE PARK WAS OPEN!!!! We scanned our tickets, (I’d grabbed a map/times guide the previous night) and it was OFF TO THE RACES!!! Seriously…there are cast members everywhere holding signs that say “no running” and “walk please” but no one actually follows those rules, the only time you’ll see stuff like that in Japan…in Disney!




















The park was ALL decked out for Halloween and it was seriously amazing and incredible!! We were both SO INCREDIBLY OVERWHELMED instantly, like, this place is absolutely incredibly wonderfully, AMAZING, and we’d just stepped in the gates!! 


We however, had a game plan, that we couldn’t deviate from, so we cut down the little side street off World Bazaar to head into Tomororwland (along with all the crowds) in our passing by the shopping, I shrieked when I saw the shirts we’d been wanting in the store on the corner, and we made a mental note to head back there right away! Tomorrowland looked very similar, but also had the huge addition of Monstropolis, which was (sort of )where we were heading! A fast pass was in order, and the line didn’t seem too crazy thankfully! The best part was that the machine LAUGHED when you pulled the fast pass! SO KAWAII AND PERFECT I AM CRYING.


Post securing fast passes, Kara & I promptly did what a pro-Disney park attendee would do, and headed back to the Bazaar for some shopping…bahaha!! They had one of the shirts we wanted…the Rapunzel one but…..


IT WAS ONLY IN KIDS SIZES


AND I’M TALKING TEENY KIDS SIZES


Okay…maybe the largest size wasn’t too small, Kara managed to squeeze herself into it, but said it was not comfortable, and felt rather short. I took it up to the desk to ask a cast member if they had adult sizes; there was a bit of a language barrier, but after checking the log book she determined they didn’t have them. When I asked if they were elsewhere in the park, she said yes, so hope was not gone yet!


Shopping lagging us down a little bit, we had to do something exciting, right?! Bahahha, I kid, I kid, being in Tokyo Disney was PLENTY exciting for us! We had a fast pass for one of the biggest rides in the park, so why not walk over to Fantasyland to see about the other one? Naturally, we got distracted by a very beautiful sight & photo shoots occurred!




















JUST LOOK AT IT! IT’S INCREDIBLE!!!














The hub is gigantic too! SO much space!!! While we were crossing through it, I noticed that one of the food kiosks had the pumpkin cinnamon bun I’d had my eye on! (thank you TDRexplorer for the pointers!) naturally, since breakfast was already 3 hours ago, I got one!








It was okay, not warmed or anything, so that would’ve helped, but I’ll take it!! Kara & I also noted that the cart sold the Alien Mochi, so we’d certainly be back for that!!


Figuring that the easiest way to Fantasyland was through the castle, we obviously took the most magical route, just simply amazing at everything, crying at all the detail and just living life! Fantasyland was set up so similar it was eerie, like, we were in our home park, but 100% NOT at the same time! We weren’t quite sure where to find Hunny Hunt, but we DID see that Snow White’s Scary Adventures had NO wait, and with limited options to ride that Stateside, we jumped on! The ride was just as fabulous as we’d remembered, and it was interesting to note that they asked us to take our ears off before the ride began!


We managed to avoid the Evil Queen, and witnessed the prince & the princess ride off into the sunset, and emerged back into Fantasyland to the MOST WONDERFUL smell!! We followed the delicious sent over to a popcorn cart!! OF COURSE! THE FAMOUS FUN FLAVORED POPCORN! 



…and I KID you NOT, the line was longer for the popcorn than it was for any of the rides we could see…


To help pass the time, Kara went “live” on facebook for a bit, it was about midday back home, so there were some people watching/chatting with us for a bit. I spent some time on Instagram, as some local Tokyo Instagrammers had reached out to me, asking if I was in the park that day, and if we had any questions! She sent me the set times for the “roaming” characters that came out both in Fantasyland & Main gate, and gave her recommendations for where to watch the parades! She was SUPER sweet, and helped us out throughout the week!!


And then, it was time to DIG IN!








Popcorn cost: 300Yen


It was milk chocolate flavored and MAN WAS IT DELICIOUS!! The popcorn bucket they were selling was cute too, I can’t remember exactly which one it was, but we were holding out, knowing that we didn’t really have room to take a giant bucket back home with us…or through the rest of Asia!! Munching on the popcorn (and probably dropping it everywhere…we were excited…and we’re messy people) we found our way over to Hunny Hunt, to find, that the wait time was well over 30 minutes. I THINK it was around 45-50, and I just didn’t really want to waste our morning waiting in the line, and we agreed to grab a fast pass for it when we could!


We were practically in Tomorrowland by this point, and were basically in the line for Space Mountain, when we realized that some characters would be coming out in Fantasyland in a few short minutes, and we desperately wanted to track down a Gypsy, and some other friends, so it was back to behind the castle for us! It was easy enough to know we were in the right spot and at the right time due to the other girls our ages with GIANT cameras, lol! We ended up waiting a bit longer than either of us really wanted to, but eventually they started to come out! Unluckily, it was all fur characters, and all ones we’d met in other parks already! Boo! Kara did see the Wonderland & Neverland crew’s come out closer to Small World, and we hung around kinda watching everything, but were hoping there was more coming! It came close to the time they would be coming out at the front of the park, so we started to head back up there! Kara decided she was too hungry to wait, and stopped to grab some Mochi on the way through the hub!








She said they were super good, and had different flavors inside, chocolate, strawberry & custard! They were definitely on my list of things to try! Cost: 360Y


Upon arrival at the front of the park we had a few minutes to wait before anyone would start coming out, so we hung around.














Soon enough, characters started coming out, and we were surprised to see that there were quite a few repeats that we’d seen in Fantasyland, and no one we were really interested in seeing, especially the Fairy Godmother, because lets be real, this is just scary…














No thank you…


It was a little disappointing, but hey, we were still in Disney, and still had a few more days, and KNEW that we’d at least be seeing Alice post parade! And hey, we had a fast pass burning a hole in our pockets! It was time to find some Monster’s! 








The Monster’s Inc Ride & Go Seek was cute, it’s sort of similar to the one in California, but your car has a flashlight, that you shine on the M logo to try and find Boo/make her pop up from various places. It was a cute ride, and fun to do!


With another fast pass available, you can imagine that it was quick back to Hunny Hunt, hoping that they weren’t out by now! (despite it being early still, it was a concern). They weren’t! And we were able to score one for AFTER the nighttime parade! Wowza!



Hope you enjoyed part 1 of our Tokyo Disneyland Day!!! Not to worry, there is WAY more fun where that came from!!!  [/COLOR]


----------



## Candycane83

Loving your report!!! We just got back from WDW for my son's first trip last night and dreaming of going to Asia next year!  This is certainly helping with the Disney withdrawal and of course in my head, I'm scheming... ahem, I mean planning on when to go next year!  Can't wait for the next installment of your report!


----------



## Grumpy's Wife

I'm so excited that you finally got to go into a Disney Park.  Your pictures are great.  I love trying to compare them to Magic Kingdom. What is up with Fairy Godmother? Wrong on so many levels.


----------



## katt789

The two of us considered that we had spent the majority of the time on one half of the park, and we should probably venture across into the lands of Adventure, and we knew our lunch destination was over there, so it was a good idea. Then Kara promptly remembered about Country Bears and FREAKED OUT, see, we LOVE ourselves some Country Bears, sometimes it’s the only “attraction” we get on in a day at Magic Kingdom, and here, it’s in Japanese, which clearly would make it 10000 times better!














When we pulled up to the theater, we noticed that it was all decked out in the “Summer Vacation” version…interesting since it was October and the rest of the park was decked out for Halloween, but sure, that made sense. It was a little bumming out since we were excited to see the original version all in Japanese, but, this version ended up being absolutely WONDERFUL as well!! It was pure hilarity, and still one of our favorites! We both tried to video a bit, but apparently that’s not allowed #whoops. This was also somewhere else that they asked for ears to be taken off before the show began! Bonus points for when you’re sitting behind someone with obnoxious ears….or any ear hat really…








By this point, it had been at least 5-6 hours since our last actual MEAL, and even then, a 5am breakfast when you’ve got to get your butt to Disney isn’t a big meal, it was time for lunch! We delved further into Critter Country, and found ourselves outside of Gramma Sara’s Kitchen!








I had, again, heard about this through TDRexplorer, their Halloween set looked delicious, and it’s INSIDE SPLASH MOUNTIAN SO HOW COOL IS THAT?!?! The place was open, and at first it appeared that the line was OUT THE DOOR, YIKES!


Luckily, the way that Tokyo works during busier times like this, is, well, EFFICIENTLY! They had a line out the door that we waited in, they stopped the line at the top of the stairs, and then would let a certain amount of people down the stairs at a time, where you would be let to ordering lines! It at first seemed interesting and perhaps odd, but it worked wonderfully, and kept the restaurant more clear for moving around and those who already had their food!  BONUS!








We both ended up getting the special Halloween set, which came out to being around $15. (1580Yen to be exact) It had pumpkin soup, ketchup rice(in the shape of a pumpkin!) a small side of veggies/pasta salad, and a meat in mushroom sauce (I seriously can’t remember what it was, I know it was not pork, but that’s about it), a piece of apple pie AND A DRINK!














We were also super happy to see that it all came on real plates and with real silverware! YAY! It was DELICIOUS, seriously, loved every part of it, and we were amazed that it came with THAT much food for the price! In WDW, it cost that much for just a burger, fries & drink, this came with so much more! The other HUGE bonus; I got an iced coffee, praying that it wouldn’t be too disgusting, and WAS SO FREAKING HAPPY WHEN IT CAME OUT LITERALLY JUST ICE & COFFEE!!! It was simply heaven!


Gramma Sara’s Kitchen: 10/10!


Knowing that it was a bit crowded that day, and knowing how seriously the locals take entertainment in Tokyo Disneyland, we figured it was about time to get a spot for the Happiness is Here Parade! I mean, it was only 1.5 hour early…that’s totally normal, right?


(lets be real, we’re usually in Frontierland an hour early in wdw, we just don’t claim spots that early)














We cute. Don’t worry though, we didn’t spend the entire time waiting taking selfies, Kara (map in hand) ran off to get Haunted Mansion fp’s, and when she got back, I ran off to Tomorrowland to try my hand at the Lottery for One Man’s Dream II. (Some of the shows in TDR are too crazy to have open seating, so you scan your ticket like you would for a fast pass, select how many people, and then see if you win, OR, for this show, you can go to the first show of the day). We didn’t win, BUT, I picked up some more dessert on the way back to our parade spot!














Kara had more too, because THAT’S JUST HOW GOOD THEY WERE! Man, I could REALLY go for some right now!!














To pass more time, we made sure our friendliest friends were ready to go;








That’s a Mulan Itty Bitty doll, but for purposes of our friends group, it’s our friend Pearl….bahahha…


Kara played around with her camera, making sure that all her settings were ready to go!


























Where she spent some time creeping on the Chans, because, I mean, just look, THEY ARE ADORABLE!! All the kids had the most adorable outfits, but not your classic princess dresses you might normally see! Our favorite was the Donald Duck outfits!! I’m not sure if we have one in our pictures, but I’ll try to find one online if we don’t!!



Then…guys….guys…GUYS!!! 


IT WAS TIME!!


WE WERE PROBABLY FOR SURE SHAKING WITH ANTICIPATION TRYING NOT TO CRY OUT OF EXCITEMENT AND JUST SO NOT READY FOR THE PARADE!!!


I’d watched it on youtube years back, and we’d both listened to the soundtrack all the time, but Kara hadn’t seen a LICK of it, and we knew it was amazing.  To really give you a true experience, here:








CLICK THE LINK!!![/COLOR]


----------



## katt789

To give you a little bit of atmosphere as we take a journey with you! 








SMILE! Happiness is here!!




















SO MUCH KAWAII!!


We were also pleasantly surprised to find that lesser seen characters/movies in the states were pretty well represented! Aristocats even made an appearance!!














Kara was more than happy to see her favorite Stitch out there too! And on a carasoeul horse, how adorable!!








The most important was about to round that corner into the hub though!! Speaking of people who don’t get enough recognition over in the States, boy, Tokyo is the place for them!!














ahhhhh!! Like WHAT EVEN?!?! ON AN ELEPHANT?! THIS IS INCREDIBLE AND I’M DEFINITELY CRYING….okay…maybe only a little crying…


Aladdin & Jasmine kick off the royalty section, so there was plenty more princesses to come, and even some familiar faces!!


























Even despite being on the opposite side of the float, Belle still managed to catch a peak of us, which was super exciting!!








They continued on with an ADORABLE Wonderland unit, I mean, just LOOK at these outfits, and there’s EVEN TEA IN THEIR HATS LIKE WHAT EVEN?!














Casual...KING of hearts…cause he’s totally everywhere…

EVERY unit was seriously insane, the dancers were all so freaking cute, and it was super nice to see a daily ops parade that showcased so much technique from their performers!




















And of course, to close out the show, the Boss Man & his Lady come soaring through!








In case you haven’t caught on yet, we were ABSOLUTELY blown away by the parade, it was BEYOND anything we could have imagined. The music was SO catchy, super upbeat & high energy, all the performers were incredible, the costumes so detailed and beautiful, it was seriously just ALL SO PERFECT. We were both in SUCH a high post parade, it was incredible!!! [/COLOR]


----------



## MomoMama

Your photos are AMAZING! I love that Chip n Dale's photo with the castle in the background, and Mickey and Minnie's parade again with the castle in the background.  Fantastic shots!!! 

I am blown away by the parade too just by looking at your photos!  I really hope to see it next time!


----------



## AusAnnie

Loving your photos - especially Mickey & Minnie with the castle!!!


----------



## missangelalexis

Are those the park tickets? They are SO cute!

The FP machine sounds so cute!

Ugh the castle is perfect! Love all the Halloween decorations!

Fairy Godmother is SO creepy!

Your lunch sounds like it was good value. Glad you enjoyed it! 

The parade looks fantastic! Loved seeing all the pictures.

Sounds like you guys are having a blast already!


----------



## Candycane83

Your parade pictures (and all your other ones too) are absolutely amazing!!!! If I do get to go this year, I need to convince my family to sit for an hour and a half to watch that parade!!!


----------



## katt789

Candycane83 said:


> Loving your report!!! We just got back from WDW for my son's first trip last night and dreaming of going to Asia next year!  This is certainly helping with the Disney withdrawal and of course in my head, I'm scheming... ahem, I mean planning on when to go next year!  Can't wait for the next installment of your report!



Ahh how amazing!!! Asia was wonderful!! Definitely lots of info here for you lol!!! Ahahaha, yes yes yes!! Disney in Asia too is just the most amazing!!!



Grumpy's Wife said:


> I'm so excited that you finally got to go into a Disney Park.  Your pictures are great.  I love trying to compare them to Magic Kingdom. What is up with Fairy Godmother? Wrong on so many levels.



Yay!!! Thank you so much, most of them are Kara's at this point, but end of Day 2 mine kinda come back into play!! It's so weird, the worst part was not taking the map when you were going for a bathroom break & expecting there to be one in the same place when there wasn't lol!!! SO CREEEEEPY!!! I think it's just a casting thing, since FGM would be an elderly white female, that would be her only role, so they make her fur instead....



MomoMama said:


> Your photos are AMAZING! I love that Chip n Dale's photo with the castle in the background, and Mickey and Minnie's parade again with the castle in the background.  Fantastic shots!!!
> 
> I am blown away by the parade too just by looking at your photos!  I really hope to see it next time!



Thank you!!! Mostly Kara's at this point, but mine come out later on! Lol!!! Happiness is here is truly amazing!!! I hope you get to see it tooo!!



AusAnnie said:


> Loving your photos - especially Mickey & Minnie with the castle!!!



Thank you!!!



missangelalexis said:


> Are those the park tickets? They are SO cute!
> 
> The FP machine sounds so cute!
> 
> Ugh the castle is perfect! Love all the Halloween decorations!
> 
> Fairy Godmother is SO creepy!
> 
> Your lunch sounds like it was good value. Glad you enjoyed it!
> 
> The parade looks fantastic! Loved seeing all the pictures.
> 
> Sounds like you guys are having a blast already!



They are!!!! Super kawaii!!! Special for the 15th anni!!

They were super cute!! The castle was super pretty, it's my favorite, there are small differences between wdw and it too!! 

SO FREAKING CREEPY!!

Delicious!! I'm so glad we fond that place!!

thank you! parade was amazing!!!



Candycane83 said:


> Your parade pictures (and all your other ones too) are absolutely amazing!!!! If I do get to go this year, I need to convince my family to sit for an hour and a half to watch that parade!!!



Thank you!!!! Most are Kara's right now, but next day mine finaly pop up!! And YES!!! You might not have to sit that long, but definitely plan on watching it! it's easy to walk up and stand behind people too since everyone in the front HAS to sit donw!


----------



## katt789

Hoping that maybe our luck would continue, we headed back into the shops in World Bazaar to see if the shirts were in any of the other stores….no luck…maybe we would find a cast member who spoke more English? Luck!! However we then found that the shirts were for sure no longer being sold in adult sizes. WAAAAHHH!!! Tangled & Beauty and the Beast were two of the ones we definitely wanted! I texted Abby to let her know, as our plan had been to pick the Tangled ones up for our whole squad, and we headed out of the store.








We went down the pathway leading off to the left side of the park off World Bazaar, to find Pirates of the Caribbean tucked away in the little corner! Number one, what a weird place! Number two, the wait wasn’t long at all, yay! The ride was awesome, much like California’s version, even with it going through the Blue Bayou at the beginning!


Having remembered about the Blue Bayou, we wanted to check out that menu, so we wandered through that way (finding nothing interesting, and certainly no gumbo on the menu). It was the first time we’d been in Adventureland! Everything was pretty packed, including the popcorn cart, where they were selling a Stitch popcorn bucket. 


Kara walked past, completely enamored by it, but trying to reason with herself that she didn’t have room for it in her luggage, after all, it was only week 2 of 6!! Well…we made it about 5 feet past the popcorn stand before she exclaimed that she NEEDED it, and before we knew it, she was the proud owner of a popcorn bucket!





The stand was selling curry popcorn, which was a plus as it was a second flavor knocked off the list! We both liked it too! The other added bonus was the “hands free” popcorn eating, since it would just hang from your neck, so convenient!


From some messages I’d gotten earlier in the day, I knew it was about time to go see Alice at the front of the park, so Kara, Stitch & I headed back that way to wait.








Before too long, everyone started to make their way out from the magical entrance! Alice was among the first few, and gave us an excited way before disappearing across the courtyard! I kid you not, she legitimately disappeared! We had stuck around to see who else would be coming out (and got very excited to see Belle was around) and completely lost sight of Wonderland within seconds! When neither of us could spy her around, we followed Belle over to her spot and vowed to try to see Alice after!


So the way that most character meets work in Tokyo is, the characters all come out, and they go to various spots around Fantasyland/Maingate, and everyone kinda crowds around them. It isn’t insane though, partially because the Instagram crew is more there to take pictures OF them, not with them, and the characters are in charge of picking who gets to come up and say Hi! ADDED BONUS!! There’s no pushing and shoving or having to be aggressive to get into the meet because everyone waits for the character to pick them instead!


It also added up to be a huge bonus for us being not Japanese….it was clear that the characters appreciated having someone they could have a fluent conversation with!


Belle pulled us in and asked how our adventures had been going, and what stories we had been reading recently. We told her they were mainly ones about this Kingdom, and we chatted a bit about Kingdom’s back home, and then had the attendant take our picture!








We said our goodbyes to Belle, and continued on our hunt for a wildflower! Kara soon found her, hidden under the awning of the Emporium, she had her hood up, which made her even harder to find in the sea of people!














Kara joined in on the character creeping with the locals, and I wished I hadn’t packed my camera away after parade! I only had the time to dig it out though, because Alice was calling us up shortly!! We chatted about flowers, she commented on our lovely bows, and asked if we’d made any friends so far today. We told her it was really just Belle and herself so far, lol. Alice then had us pose like flowers!








Kawaii!!


We thanked her and started to search around the courtyard to see who else had smaller crowds around them. Naturally, we’d met 2 characters you could meet stateside, and ones that we’d met plenty of times…good for us…so Kara wanted to go see Wendy, as she’d never met her before.








We hung around for a while, but she was trying to finish up with all the Chans as her attendant was clearly trying to get her back offstage, so we just creeped for a while, bahaha. Happy that we’d gotten to see at least 2 characters, we made our way back inside the park to find that the Halloween parade had just started to hit the hub. It’s one of those stop & go ones, so we stopped to see the very start of it. When it wasn’t very entertaining (so far) and we realized our fast pass was coming up in Fantasyland (and the parade would lock us on the opposite side of the park) we left.


If you want to check it out here it is:







The part with the floats hadn’t reached us when we left, for a better idea.


Our fast passes were for Haunted Mansion, which had the whole Nightmare Before Christmas overlay, which we were very excited about! It was fantastic, even though it was all in Japanese! Lol, there was much more Sally in it as well, which was awesome.








Kara suggested eating some dinner next, since we were near where we wanted to, and the way the night was scheduled out. I wasn’t too hungry, but figured it was the best plan.








Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall!!! One of THE most popular and favorite placed in Tokyo Disney to eat!! It’s a QS, buffeteria style restaurant. Meaning you go through a line, and pick out what you’d like as you go through the line. (like a cafeteria….hence the name)








Kara chose the Burger Patty with a heart of cheese








While I chose the roast beef








Well…it was certainly a good thing that I wasn’t that hungry! The plates didn’t have much on them…which was disappointing to me. It was a good quality, but pretty pricey, especially compared to lunch! We enjoyed the experience though, and you were definitely paying for good atmosphere!


We had a bit of time to kill, so we pondered through Fantasyland, noticing that there was honey popcorn near Hunny Hunt!








Which I’m pretty sure we got, not sure if it was right then, or a bit later on, but I know we had it on the first day!! Toontown was practically calling to us, so we ventured through there, checking things out.








We spent a good chunk of time in Toontown, exploring the shops and wandering through some of the houses, though we didn’t wait in any lines, it was a great time killer!


Parades were clearly the popular thing, so we figured we should get a spot for Dreamlights next.














It had (in real life) been a decent chunk of time since dinner, and I hadn’t really eaten that much/been hungry then anyways, so I ran off to grab some food. It ended up taking WAY longer than I’d expected, around 30 mins in total. I’d gotten a Mickey Burger, and asked for a cup of water. This is when I discovered that in the QS places, there’s a little water stand with cups off to the side! Yay for self service and not having to wait in lines! 







Things are just tastier when they’re Mickey Shaped!! Soon after I finished my burger, it was time for the PARAAAADEEE!!! It was either tonight, or the next time we watched it, but I know I livestreamed it on Facebook, especially since DEP had JUST closed in WDW and the music is the same for both parades! [/COLOR]


----------



## katt789

The hub was plunged to darkness and we were soon immersed into the world of glittering, sparkling lights and magic!!



















 [


Alice is ontop of the Chesire Cat here! Super kawaiii!! The parade may have the same basic idea as the one in the States, but even ¼ of the way through it was already a million times better!!








Now, we had been sitting on the far side of the hub that the parade hits second, and Kara had EVEN SEEN THE GIANT GENIE FLOAT ROUNDING THE BEND, but somehow had been way too into the parade to notice the royalty coming towards us until they were RIGHT THERE! I swear, the highlight of this trip was Kara’s reactions. She had NO CLUE that Aladdin & Jasmine were in Dreamlights, and promptly FREAKED OUT when she saw them and it was the MOST adorable!














Right after that pair was one of our other favorite Disney couples and one of the most beautiful parts of the parade!! 


























The parade ends off with the fab 5 ish style characters, and its just wonderful!








Our reactions to Tokyo Disney Dreamlights: it was amazing, I mean, are you even surprised?? Tokyo certainly had a way with entertainment, and a way to make it absolutely unbelievable. I’ve always loved DEP, but this brought it to a whole other level, a level that I REALLY enjoyed watching and got a thrill out of! It was amazing and it was EVERYTHING!!


The parade ended, and we followed it through the park over to Fantasyland where we did our absolute BEST to get to Hunny Hunt on time, and were REALLY hoping that they wouldn’t be 100% strict on our return time. I was worried based off what I’d read, and if we missed this ride, I’d be beyond bummed out, LUCKILY for us, they let us in, but it was post parade rush, and we weren’t super late or anything!








Now, for anyone who is okay with spoilers, here’s a link to the ride through on Youtbue!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEyEI6WELDo


We boarded our Hunny pot not knowing a SINGLE thing about the ride, I’d skipped over it every vlog I’d watched, and we were READY! Well, the whole trackless system along was amazing enough, then it was hilarious to see the characters talking in Japanese and 


SPOILERS



When we got into the Tigger room, and the ENTIRE FLOOR STARTED BOUNCING, OMG I WISH WE HAD BEEN VIDEOING THAT REACTION SO BAD!! IT WAS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE WE SQUEALED WITH JOY!!



****SPOILERS DONE***



The ride was INSANE and AMAZING and I wish I could ride it again right now, it KICKS BUTT!! UGH!! TOKYO HAS ALL THE NICE THINGS!! And we’d only explored one of the parks so far!!


I’m  out of pics for the night so I’ll spare you the details.  We headed over to Adventureland, in search of more fun things to do, and found that since the fireworks/ Once Upon a Time show was over, the park had COMPLETELY CLEARED OUT! COMPLETELY! It was SO dead!!


We were walking around Adventureland trying to figure out where to go when the poor cm’s at the Tiki Room looked like they were BEGGING people to come in, so we headed on in, and without an English Translator, which seemed to confuse them. We were both super excited, since it’s been taken over by Stitch, and we ALMOST had a private viewing! There were only 2 other people in there with us!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32xxerzh3XU


There’s the link.


Now, this show starts out not too weird,  it’s about halfway through that the middle carousel of birds come down WEARING STITCH EARS LIKE WHAT?!?!?! And then of course Stitch himself shows up to take over, and all was insanely awesome!! Kara & I were both in FITS of laughter, and it was another thing I WISH we had been videoing because you simply cannot recreate the reactions to something like this!!


Thankfully, Stitch and his birds let us go, and we wandered further into the Jungle…there were no English skippers at this time, but that was more than okay, chances are we wouldn’t have taken one anyways! We boarded our Jungle Cruise boat and made on our adventure. It was pretty similar from what I remember, until we got to the part where the lions are eating the zebras and


**SPOILER ALERT**


OH. EM. FREAKING. GEE.


As we pull up to it, freaking CIRCLE OF LIFE STARTS PLAYING SUUUUUPER LOUD OVER ALL THE RIDE, AND ALL THE LIONS, WHICH ARE EATING THE OTHER ANIMALS LIKE WHAT IS THIS?!?!!


KARA AND I LOST IT! LIKE WHAT ARE YOU TOKYO?! COMPLETELY CRAZY?!! GEEEZEEE!!



** done**



Basically it was all amazing and we were all really happy to have all these first reactions to rides that we’d already experienced elsewhere, it made me super happy that Disney Parks kept things different in each of its parks!!


When we docked back from our 2 week fight through the jungle, we checked the time; we weren’t sure what time the last bus back home was, and were even less sure of how much a cab would be if we were late (heads up,,,Uber was INSANELY expensive..) so we figured it would be time to find our bus and head home.


We had accomplished a LOT today, and BOY was it an insane day. Thinking back on our first day in Tokyo Disney just gives me WAY too many feels, it truly is on a level ALL ITS OWN, like, I cannot begin to explain to you just how incredibly amazing it is, just how much it stands above the other parks. IT’S INSANE!


When we got home, it was a quick debrief with Dante about our day, and we were all quick to bed, it had been a long day, and we were all up for another one tomorrow! 



[/COLOR]


----------



## Grumpy's Wife

Great updates.  The parade pictures are wonderful.  

Love the Mickey shaped burgers.  Now we need that!

I keep forgetting to ask about the snack you had.  The one with the three little green circle things.  What is that?


----------



## missangelalexis

What a great day!! I'm glad you were able to meet a few characters. Dream Lights looks amazing! And the Pooh ride sounds really fun!


----------



## xlsm

I've been following but haven't commented yet for some reason?? I love following along with your Tokyo adventures so far!! L-O-V-E the parades and I can't wait until the DisneySea posts!!

We just got back from WDW, and I can't remember why, but I was telling my 13 year old about how scary FGM is at Tokyo Disneyland...I googled the picture and showed him, and he hated it, LOL! So I saved the picture and brought it out from time to time to torture him.  We're weird


----------



## katt789

Grumpy's Wife said:


> Great updates.  The parade pictures are wonderful.
> 
> Love the Mickey shaped burgers.  Now we need that!
> 
> I keep forgetting to ask about the snack you had.  The one with the three little green circle things.  What is that?



Thank you!!! 

Lol, they're Mochi!! It's hard to explain, they're like, custard/pudding filled things...they're super good!!



missangelalexis said:


> What a great day!! I'm glad you were able to meet a few characters. Dream Lights looks amazing! And the Pooh ride sounds really fun!



It was awesome!!! Everything was seriously so amazing, and the pooh ride was seriously a highlight! Such incredible technology!



xlsm said:


> I've been following but haven't commented yet for some reason?? I love following along with your Tokyo adventures so far!! L-O-V-E the parades and I can't wait until the DisneySea posts!!
> 
> We just got back from WDW, and I can't remember why, but I was telling my 13 year old about how scary FGM is at Tokyo Disneyland...I googled the picture and showed him, and he hated it, LOL! So I saved the picture and brought it out from time to time to torture him.  We're weird



Hahaha!! Glad you came out to say hi!!! It was amazing!!!

Lol, totally scary! She's so freaky!!


----------



## katt789

Hi all!! Happy New Year!! Now, just before we get started, I wanted to share that Kara has finished the first of our vlogs for this trip, and it's the Tokyo Disney one!! Go check it out! I absolutely LOVE IT!






*Wednesday October 12/2016*


Is it 5:00 am???


Why yes…yes it is….and we were up like a well oiled MACHINE. My obnoxious phone went off, I jumped out of bed to stop it, and turned on the coffee and we all started to get ready for our different days.


Kara & I took the same route as the previous day, and along the way were texting with our friend Chi! She had completed a Cultural Representative Program in Florida with us, (though she’s from Japan) and would be joining us today with one of her friends!!


We arrived an hour prior to park opening again, and did our share of waiting, and before we knew it, WERE IN A BRAND FREAKING NEW TO US DISNEY PARK!!! IT WAS SERIOUSLY EXCITING GUYS!!


Obviously we’d been excited for everything in Tokyo, but DisneySea is SUCH a completely UNIQUE park that it was just that much more exciting!!








Everything is decked out for the 15th anniversary and its lovely!! This is one of those parks where things are REALLY cut off from eye sight when you walk in, we had to take a hard right to get into the park and EVERYTIME it threw me off, like, I felt I should be walking straight! But then you get this magnificent view:








Like…I can’t….


DisneySea has a lot of things to do, but not a crazy amount of high-level attractions. All the rush was heading over to Toy Story Mania, and since we have that in the States, we opted to join the rush up til about this point








Where everyone RACED off to battle toys, and we decided it was a great time to check into a hotel.








Hightower Hotel!!! It was our plan since Chi’s friend Yuriko wasn’t a big thrill ride person, so we adventured before they got to the park!








The logistics of the ride were the exact same, go into a room, get freaked out by story line, then board an elevator that crashes to the ground, but the theming was different. I honestly couldn’t tell ya much about it, but hey, we enjoyed it! Bonus points, it was only a 10 minute wait. Weird point, the seatbelts were cross body ones, so there wasn’t quite as much “lifting” when you fell, lol.


The other big thrill ride was, naturally, on the opposite end of the park, and we definitely had to pull out the map to try and figure out the best way to get there, MAN DISNEYSEA IS SERIOUSLY CONFUSING. Like, I get the general layout of it and could find my way around it now, but it’s still confusing. I just double checked the map and was confused so that shows ya just how different it is. Our trek took us past the S.S. Columbia








And over my favorite bridge that you could see to the outside of the park, but it was super neat because you could see the ACTUAL SEA! One side, real sea, one side, DisneySea, kawaii!!


Our adventure ended with us in the Lost River Delta, where we were going to join Indy on one of his escapades!








The ride was AWESOME!! It was WAAAAAAY less jerky than the one in California (which Kara loves but I really don’t like) so I actually quite liked this one!  Aside from that it was basically the same! The Arabian Coast was CALLING us when we finished our mission with the crusader, Aladdin is one of Kara’s favorite movies (and mine TBH, anything classic 90’s really….) and we could see it peaking around the corner and just NEEDED TO GO NOW. Chi &Yuriko were in the park now, and said that they would meet us over there too!








We took some pictures with Rajah, who was out front of JASMINE’S Flying Carpets, and were just in complete AWE of the AMAZING DETIAL that was put into this land, and the way you could see Mount Prometheus, and even Mermaid Lagoon peaking through but it all fit together so well!!














I mean JUST LOOOOK AT IT!! It was SO visually stunning!! It’s Kara’s favorite land in ANY Disney park!




















We found the marketplace and figured this would be the place to buy the Aladdin shirts! Kara wanted one and Abby had asked me to pick her up one; I hadn’t been planning on buying one, but with Beauty & the Beast and Tangled not being available, I figured this one would fill the void! I was just about through my purchase when Chi & Yuriko found us and we all had a lovely little reunion! Chi had even BROUGHT US PRESENTS, LIKE HI, YOU’RE AMAZING.








They were little phone charm things, I got the idea to put it on my camera when I saw some girls with Princess scrunchies on their lenses! It was so sweet & thoughtful of Chi to bring us something!! So nice!!


They asked if we wanted to ride Sinbad, and we promptly headed over there, since I’d heard plenty of great things about the ride!








Sinbad’s little tiger friend, Chandu, really steals the show though, HE’S SO FREAKING CUTE! I was bummed to not find any merch of him! I would’ve LOVED a Tsumtsum or a stuffy!














SO KAWAIIIII!!!!


The ride was super cute, your basic dark boat ride through scenes thing, but the MUSIC! Oh man! I’m pretty sure it was done by Alan Menken, which duh, means it’s gonna be great. It definitely will get stuck in your head, and as I’m writing this up I’m reminded that I wanted to see if I could find it to download! Lol!! We all loved it!!


Heading back up, deeper into the Arabian Coast, I said that I NEEDED to try a Chandu tail that they had to eat, and Chi pointed out where they had them so we stopped for a little pick me up snack and mid morning tea!














It’s a creamy chicken filled bun, and it was SO good!!! Definitely a favorite for me!! We ate our snacks and caught up with Chi while we did so. We found out that she had a second interview for a guest relations exchange position at WDW, which was super exciting!! (and spoiler alert….SHE GOT IT!! She starts in May and I’m super excited to see her again down in Florida!!) And we talked about the various things that we wanted to do that day, things we HAD to do, and things we’d like to do, plus their recommendations since they knew the park better than we did![/COLOR]


----------



## katt789

The four of us hung around a little bit after eating, waiting to see if Jasmine would be coming out at all, and spent a bit of time exploring the Arabian Coast, marveling in its beauty.














That would be the shirt I bought, and don’t judge me for the fact that I totally wore it the next day too, it got super hot and I ended up mainly in the tank top I had underneath anyways…..bahahaha








The famous double decker carousel!!! SO CUTE!!  Chi asked if we’d wanted to see the “Crystal Wishes Journey”,  the show that celebrated the parks 15th anniversary, and duh, we wanted to. It was starting semi soon, so it was time to head over to the Mediterranean Harbor to get spots for it; and we GOT TO WALK PAST MERMAID LAGOOOOOOOOOONNNN ON THE WAY!! #cries




















Like…just look at it…it’s so gorgeous…I wanna be part of that world so hard…. Aurora may be my girl, and I love her a lot, but I’m pretty sure Ariel’s back in my number one princess spot….I think Mermaid Lagoon kinda made that push, I was seriously ALL about the mermaids this trip!


Kara & I were SUPER happy to have Chi & Yuriko with us, because they knew their way around, and when it came to times like right now, it helped SO MUCH, they were able to get us back to the Harbor way faster than we would’ve made it! It was just SO COOL how in DisneySea everything was so separated and so well done, like, you walked from Mermaid Lagoon into a cavern that spat you out into the foot of a volcano, then you’d round a few corners and the wall would open up and you’d be in Italy….








Like…what…


We found some decent spots, and waited probably around 20-30 minutes before the show started. We certainly weren’t front row, but we were close enough to see everything!! We’d also acquired some popcorn somewhere along our walk, always time for food, am I right?! It was cappuccino flavored, and pretty good! 








For a character you never see in the States, Clarice certainly was EVERYWHERE in Japan! They really love their chipmunks over there!! The show also had Gelatoni, Shellie May & Duffy!! ALL THE KAWAII!!














The show was super cute!! I don’t remember much about it….lol…a host came out and talked a bunch, introduced things, probably talked about what each of the colors of the crystals meant, but it was all in Japanese…


Then all the barges with the characters came out and it was all fun and games.








THEN all the dancers came out, they came through the crowd and were on a stage at the front of the harbor.














The barges docked briefly, so that the characters could join the fun on the stage for a bit.








When it starts off all the dancers are all separated by the color they’re wearing, representing different wishes, red represents the wish for love, blue is friendship, green is energy, and Mickey has a clear crystal that represents all of the wishes. For the finale of the show the dancers are all mixed in with the other wishes on the various stages, and there are beautiful rainbow-ey ballgowns that I would like to own, bahaha. It’s tricky to explain, especially since I just had to look all of that up….bahahah. Here’s the link! It’s a cute watch, and if you’re not heading there this year, it won’t spoil anything!!








Since we were near the entrance, we headed to the wondrous store of DUFFY to check things out. Kara & I both NEEDED Gelatoni, but held off on buying him at that moment, didn’t want to put him down somewhere and forget him!! We searched for the Duffy/Shellie May sweaters, but they were nowhere to be found, so we assumed they were sold out (they were, and heartbreakingly, they were restocked when we were in Hong Kong a month later…) Kara did pick up a little Shellie May purse though!







She was used to having a backpack with a side pocket to shove her phone in, and this one didn’t, so she kept having to take her backpack off to get her phone, her park ticket/fast pass (which in Florida we wouldn’t need either) so this was a nice little thing to keep those kind of things in! It was hilarious to see her around the parks though cause she’d have her Shellie May, her Stitch Popcorn bucket, and her camera all around her neck with her bag on her back, bahahaha! I found some suuuuper kawaii ears, that I DEEPLY REGRET NOT BUYING.





[/COLOR]


----------



## missangelalexis

DisneySea sounds amazing!! Loved seeing all your photos! Sounds like such a fun day so far.


----------



## xiphoid76

I love reading this thread!!!  I am sorry you did not find any Chandu merchandise.  I have a stuffed Chandu that sits by my bed - I got him 2 years ago at Disney Sea.  Was hoping to get another one as well as some more Chandu-related stuff.  He is definitely my favorite character there!  We run when the park opens right to Sindbad and usually have the ride to ourselves for about 30 minutes before anyone else comes - we get either 4 or 5 rides in consecutively all by ourselves - love it!!!


----------



## MomoMama

I am in LOVE with your parade/show photos! 

WDW Jungle cruise did not impress us, so we skipped it in Japan.  But now I'm very interested!  Another "must try" for the next time!


----------



## petals

Love your trip report. That Disney hotel looked amazing and then you started posting parade pictures. It all looks fabulous. I LOVE the Stitch popcorn bucket and the vlog is fabulous. I cried watching it. I so want to go to the Asian parks someday.


----------



## katt789

Hey all! I just wanted to give you a little update as to why I've COMPLETELY disappeared over the past month!!

A few weeks back, I was in the midst of transferring things to a memory card so Abby could start working on her blogs when my computer turned black and wouldn't turn back on! I took it into the apple store, where they fixed one part, but said the hard drive was completely shot. Another store said it would be $600 and up to a month for them to replace/back up/repair the hard drive.

Naturally, EVERYTHING was on that computer and not backed up at all...

I did have the original trip report stuff all on my phone, but naturally, the day after my laptop died, my phone also died....and hadn't been backed up to i cloud in nearly a year...resulting in literally everything being gone.

IF I can find a way to get the stuff off my hard drive for cheaper, I will continue the trip report, if not, no such luck. So...hold in there for a little while!!


----------



## Grumpy's Wife

Oh no that's terrible.  I'm so looking forward to seeing Disney in the different countries.  I hope they can get you up and running soon.


----------



## missjackiemcg

Oh, gosh, that is terrible   I'm so sorry!!!

When we were in Disney World over Christmas, I dropped my phone getting off Rock'n Rollercoaster and they still haven't found it   Somehow Google photos was saving my pictures in the background without me ever knowing, so I was able to access the pictures that way even though my Verizon Cloud was actually full and hadn't backed up in months.  

I hope you're able to get all your pictures back!!


----------



## wanderlust7

Oh no!!!  That's awful!  Thinking good thoughts that you get it all back.


----------



## missangelalexis

I'm so sorry to hear this


----------



## Karin1984

That is really terrible  and a lot of money and then they probably can't tell you for sure if they can restore everything 

It happened to me once too and I would suggest to write down now as many details as you can remember from your trip. Then in years from now, you might not have the pictures for your memory, but you will have an abbreviated trip report for yourself. 

Fingers crossed they can fix it!


----------



## OhioStateBuckeye

This is very upsetting   I was really enjoying the report.  At least you still have the pictures you posted to social media


----------



## MomoMama

I am so sorry to hear this!  I can see losing photos of the magical trip of a lifetime would be heartbreaking.  I hope you will get everything back!


----------



## katt789

Grumpy's Wife said:


> Oh no that's terrible.  I'm so looking forward to seeing Disney in the different countries.  I hope they can get you up and running soon.





missjackiemcg said:


> Oh, gosh, that is terrible   I'm so sorry!!!
> 
> When we were in Disney World over Christmas, I dropped my phone getting off Rock'n Rollercoaster and they still haven't found it   Somehow Google photos was saving my pictures in the background without me ever knowing, so I was able to access the pictures that way even though my Verizon Cloud was actually full and hadn't backed up in months.
> 
> I hope you're able to get all your pictures back!!





wanderlust7 said:


> Oh no!!!  That's awful!  Thinking good thoughts that you get it all back.





missangelalexis said:


> I'm so sorry to hear this





Karin1984 said:


> That is really terrible  and a lot of money and then they probably can't tell you for sure if they can restore everything
> 
> It happened to me once too and I would suggest to write down now as many details as you can remember from your trip. Then in years from now, you might not have the pictures for your memory, but you will have an abbreviated trip report for yourself.
> 
> Fingers crossed they can fix it!





OhioStateBuckeye said:


> This is very upsetting   I was really enjoying the report.  At least you still have the pictures you posted to social media



Hey again all!! First off just wanted to say thank you for all the kind words and sticking with me despite complications!

I've bought a super cheap, refurbished laptop for life purposes, and so I could edit pics from our WDW trip, so I'll be on the disboards a lot more now!

I LUCKILY, had managed to edit all my photos and get them up to Flickr before the computer crashed. I also still had all the original unedited ones on the memory cards! So pictures are still all good. The trip report however, we're still gonna have to wait a bit, life's been super busy so I havent' been able to call around to get some prices on getting my data recovered. If I can do that, I will continue this report, if not, then I'll call it closed.

For now, still in progress, and HERE! Check out our Shanghai Disneyland Vlog, made by Abby!






I'm in charge of the HKDL one, so it probably won't be up for a while, since I don't have a movie editing program on this crap laptop lol!!

I MIGHT be doing a quick trip report from our last trip to WDW, so I'll link that here if I do end up doing it!

THANK YOU for all being wonderful! I hope your spring's are going fantastic and that the weather is starting to warm up!


----------



## katt789

Y'ALL!!! I AM CRYING HAPPY TEARS!!
I was clearing out my email today, and managed to find MOST of my typed up trip report updates hiding in a folder in there! I am MISSING the updates from the last few days at Tokyo Disney, so I'm currently working on getting those completed (as I DO still have the notes. we'll see what I'm able to pull up) Aside from that, I've got everything through Shanghai Disneyland, and will be able to kinda throw together the ending based off more of a summary! I do still have the chance to recover my hard drive of my old computer, but we'll see what I can manage with this!! 
SO!!! HERE COMES THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF TOKYO DISNEY SEA!

ETA: I have NO idea what most of the pics from the first part of the TR aren't working. I've linked them through facebook, so maybe that's why? I clicked on one to "reopen in new tab" and it said "url signature expired" Thoughts on what this might mean? I'm so freaking confused and irked that now the tr pics aren't working...

*****************************
In case you were wondering where we were off to next, my inner mermaid DESPARATELY NEEDED TO BE SATISFIED, so we were back over to Mermaid Lagoon! (sorry if any of these pictures are repeats…)





When you first enter the Lagoon, you see Triton in his little shell/clam mobile(?bahahaha) that he rides into Ariel's concert at the beginning of the movie, and are lead under the sea into an indoor playground of BEAUTY




I obviously HAD to go find my true love, so we opted out of the rides first, and headed into the literal playground that is Ariel's Grotto!










Why Eric, run away with you? This is all so….sudden…

(that was the caption I posted the pic with to which my Mom replied "NO RUNNING AWAY" lol)





The Grotto has LOTS of neat stuff all hidden in there, Chi told us about a hidden Chip (from BATB) somewhere and "hot or cold" directed us until we found it. I did take a picture, but again…my photos are gone….waaaahhh!! You'll have to see if you can find it when you're there!






We ventured through the rest of the playground, bouncing between some stuff, having a good old time, and spent only a TEENY bit of time exploring the rest of Mermaid Lagoon. Chi suggested we pull a fast pass for Ariel's Concert, which we agreed to (I had read online to skip it, but if Chi said to do it, we were gonna do it lol). And of COURSE we ventured into the gift shop! They sold the Little Mermaid shirts that were the same as the Aladdin ones here, so Kara & I both picked up one, and we stared longingly at all the other merchandise we wanted! Here I also picked up a pair of Rapuznel Shoe Ornament earrings for my bestie Amanda! (They're the same as the Xmas tree ornaments, but obviously much smaller!) 

The four of us were starting to get hungry around this point, and we knew we wanted to eat over at the Arabian Coast! The Cashbah Food Court had a bunch of different options, and looks just like the marketplace inside, again, we were BLOWN away by all the theming in DisneySea!





We all got different kinds of curry, I got the trio that had a bit of everything, and a salad, because GIRL NEEDS HER VEGETABLES! (this seemed to be an ONGOING thing in Japan…) We all really enjoyed our lunch, it was SUPER good, and really filling without leaving us feeling OVERSTUFFED! We had a nice chat about Chi's interview for WDW (she arrives so soon now!) and discussed what else we wanted to do for the rest of the day. We also roped in a cast member to take a group picture of all of us!






Chi's on the right, next to me (chances are she'll be making a guest appearance in our May WDW trip report since she'll be down there by then!)

With our bellies full, we started to slowly head back to the front of the park, where Kara was promptly distracted by Aquatopia! It's a trackless water ride, where you're seated 2 in a ride vehicle, and it spins you around the water, threatens that you'll get wet, and such. It was super random, but we laughed a lot and had a good time, can't say I'd wait a long time for it though. I'm pretty sure this was one of the occasions that the CM's thought Kara & I were NOT with the other 2 based off skin color, bahahahah #awks

Post ride, it was time to definitely head to the Mediterranean Harbor, we had a VERY IMPORTANT DATE WITH SOME VERY IMPORTANT VILLAINS! We grabbed a decent spot, surrounded by not to heavy crowds about 30 mins prior to show time. It was starting to get MUCH warmer now, especially standing in the sunshine, so I ended up back in my tank top & took the time to google where the frozen beer I'd read about was! Luckily, it was RIGHT beside us, so I ducked off to get one (spoiler alert, they sell them in the Japan pavilion in Epcot too..)




The foam is the frozen part, which tasted GROSS by itself, I think mainly because when you see something like that, your brain is hardwired to think it's like, ice cream or whipped cream…yeah…it doesn't taste like that lol! When you got a bit of the foam gone and got to the beer with it, it was rather delicious, and it kept the beer NICE and cold! Kara and I ended up sharing the drink. Chi also pointed up to the Miracosta behind us to point out a bride watching from the window!




The wedding packages in TDR all have provided dresses, this one's clearly inspired by Belle. But enough about princesses, it was time to experience some TRUE DISNEY ROYALTY OUT ON THE HARBOR! The loop music scratched like a record, and then got SUPER intense, and I'm gonna throw in a link to the show here:


----------



## katt789

Show link/soundtrack link








-> soundtrack link, to add a bit of intensity to the update 













The show begins with the Evil Queen, Captain Hook, Jafar, Maleficent, and Hades each on their own barge (which is beautifully themed after their costumes) and after the little song intro, Mickey and the gang pop up, all dressed like villains too!




IMG_9871 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




It's been a while since I've watched it, so I can't remember EXACTLY when, but there are dancers, each themed to each of the Villains, who are all out in front of the water/on the various stages dancing along as well.
















IMG_9830[/url] by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr[/img]




IMG_9840 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr






There's a little song portion for some of the villains to take the individual lead, and Then, as we near the end of the show, Malificient moves from the top of her float, and GODDAMN URSULA LEGIT RISES UP OUT OF NOWHERE AND HER TENTACLES COME OUT OF THE SIDES OF THE BARGE AND SINGS WHAT I CAN ONLY ASSUME IS POOR UNFORTUNATE SOULS.




IMG_9855 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr






It was literally the most magnificent thing in the world.





Though we were a wee bit obsessed with Evil Queen, and that was only going to get worse as the trip went on lol.




IMG_9942 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

There's a bit more of some intense dancing/singing, including a nod to the Crystal Wish show "when your heart makes a wish" in there, and the barges do a final circle around the bay, with al the fur characters up on Malificient's. As the show ended, I just turned aroudn to Chi (as it's one of her favorite shows) just COMPLETELY in awe/shock. Like, guys, the show was FREAKING INCREDIBLE, it was super intense, super villain-ey, and just ALL AROUND SO AMAZING! I was SO freaking happy that we'd managed to get a trip that fell over halloween and thus got to see the show. It was just MY FAVORITE. I had a NEW DREAM goal for a role in a Disney show, like, this is my motivation to get to the gym more often baahahha!!


----------



## katt789

With our minds just simply blown from the show, Chi pointed out that now would be the best time to check for some characters, and as we lucked out, Jasmine was out adventuring through the marketplace. (Aladdin was too, but they meet separately) so we started with Jasmine. 




She was super sweet, and very interactive with us. She asked where we were from, and commented that that was a very long magic carpet ride, and wondered if we'd seen the Genie around anywhere. I said I could potentially see him over by the carousel but we decided it was an imposter since he was looking rather purple. The weather had warmed up nicely, so it seemed like a perfect time for an ice cream snack!





Kara obviously got that one, Chi and I got the seasalt ice cream sandwich that shaped like a shell, super cute, and all delicious. We spent some time enjoying the sunshine and watching Aladdin's meet and greet while we finished out treats before we crossed lands again to meet my favorite prince!





He asked where we sailed from, commenting that that must have been a COLD boat ride, and asked if we'd seen Ariel yet on our explorations, then saying that she was super pretty, and we should probably go see her. CUTE!

We headed inside the lagoon again to watch King Triton's Conert! There was no picture taking or videoing allowed, so you'll have to do with my explaining lol. The show basically follows the plot of the beginning of the movie, with a concert Ariel's late to, and then she comes out and "swims" above the audience while she "sings" songs from the movie. The songs were all in Japanese, so It was interesting to see how much of the words you REALLY knew! Now, despite hearing not so great reviews on the dis/other areas about this show, I HIGHLY recommend it. The visuals are STUNNING, the effects are super cool, and it made Kara & I both want to promptly start training in aerial harness/silks work! Bahaha! 

Kara & I weren't really sure on what else to do, so the four of us just kinda circled through the park, exploring some of the stuff we'd missed before, or had rushed through to get somewhere else!




Along the streets of New York area, we did happen to follow along some Aristocats and spot Cruella on their way in from mingling with guests, and of course, stopped for some more Green Alien Mochi! Chi then suggested we try to do standby for Big Band Beat! Now, this was something that due to reviews/what I'd heard online, I was okay skipping, but, again, Chi clearly knows more than I do, and we had open time, so why not?! Big Band Beat usually runs off a lottery system, and it was running that day, but you can choose to watch standby and view the show from the upper balcony, which was totally fine with us!

Again, this show doesn't allow any recording or pictures inside (I could find some Mermaid stuff on YouTube, but nothing but the soundtrack of BBB).

The show starts off with "It Don't Mean a thing, without that swing" classic jazz number, lots of FLAPPERS, LOTS OF BALLROOM, AND GUYS THEY EVEN GODDAMN DID THE QUICKSTEP I NEARLY FREAKING CRIED.

There's live singing, dancing,  Mickey joins along and PLAYS THE DRUMS AND TAP DANCES, Goofy, Minnie, Daisy(?) and maybe Donald(?) pop up to join in on the adventures, and IT WAS SO FREAKING AMAZING I KID YOU NOT! Kara and I were just COMPLETELY blown away. I mean, obvs we both love all things theatrical, but like, I'm OBSESSED with that jazz, Fosse, flapper, scene. The moment the dancers started quickstepping though, that was the moment I truly lost it, it's my all time favorite ballroom/latin dance to watch or do, and I've NEVER seen it in something like this. Needless to say, we were SO thankful that Chi had brought us in there!

Due to reading other trip reports, I knew where I wanted to watch Fantasmic; there's a little wall over to the right side of the harbor, you can sit on it, and everyone has to sit that's in front of you. I told Chi I wanted to sit there for Fant, because, well, then we could SIT, and not have to worry about not being able to see as much as if we'd sat in front of it. We saved some spots, and split off in 2's to find food, which is where Kara & I ran into some problems….Tokyo Disney REALLY doesn't do "to go" containers. Most of their QS's had real plates, and no other option…..Kara & I had gone into a QS restaurant right beside where we were watching (and where I'd gotten the frozen beer ealier) and got some pizza's, which we shoved in our faces as fast as humanly possible. We then switched out with the other 2 and they (obviously knowing the park better than us) returned shortly with sandwiches in take away containers (it was from somewhere on the NY area, I'm not sure where, but some places will serve cardboard while others do the real plate thing).

Shortly after we were all fed and satisfied, it was time for the show to begin, I was SUPER excited as I'd watched the show online before, and knew it was just simply incredible, but also it had been a while, so I was probably due for some surprises!









The show obviously follows the same plot line, but with some variable differences. In one scene, all 3 of us knew what was coming, or had clued in quicker, and all looked toward Kara, knowing that Stitch was HER FAVORITE character. She noticed us all looking at her and it took a moment before she realized that her love of a little alien was on top of the sorcerer's hat, and FREAKED OUT!




It was the cutest thing of the day, and Chi was quick to point out that Angel would be spinning around the bay soon too, and you can even hear Kara going "OH MY GOD!" in the vlog when Angel zips by, bahaha!





Luckily, Malificient is defeated, and all things good are returned, and the royalty comes out to celebrate! We were on the side of the Harbour with Aladdin & Jasmine. There are three(?) barges of characters, and from where we were, we saw like, 1.5 worth of them, we never saw Aurora or Ariel despite knowing they were both in the show, simply because of timing lol.









Kara was simply swimming with the happy thought that her Agrabae's were in day & night parade in DL, in Fantasmic, and EVEN HAD THEIR OWN LAND. Clearly Tokyo did something right for her, bahahah.



IMG_0071 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
You can kinda get a gist of the barges/a more zoomed out look on the show there! Another hilarious moment was right at the end (which we just watched to get the emotional effect of dreams coming true, and imagination and all) Mickey's at the top of the hat, simply  LIVING, and all the pyro's going off; well, in Florida, I'm used to him popping down from the top of the mountain, and when he disappears, there's a big "dun dun dun POP" and like, it's a super obnoxious, loud, hurts the ears type sound, so I was 10000% prepared for it, plugging my ears & Chi just started laughing and was all "don't worry, we don't have that here" and it was just hilarious that she knew EXACTLY what I was doing lol!






So, thoughts on the show? Definitely the best of the 3 resorts that have the show. I haven't seen DLR's version since I was 7, and it was THE GREASTEST THING CHILD ME COULD HAVE EVERY SEEN, so when I first saw WDW's I was a little underwhelmed. Now to me, WDW's is good, I live for the princess unit, and the last minute. Kara enjoys both, and has seen DLR's more recent than me. I THINK she prefer's WDW because they have the Poca unit instead of Peter Pan, which is what she prefers.

BUT.

TOKYO.

WOW.

LET ME TELL YOU WHAT WOW.
Tokyo's just takes the other shows and blows them out of the water, they truly do with most shows, and this was no other. I absolutely loved the inclusion of characters we may not see in other ones, and how it was similar but different. I also LOVE the lyrics," _carried away, to a place where dreams come true/imagination, imagination/follow your dreams/imagination, catch a ride upon a moonbeam/imagination/we are swept away this night"_ ESPECIALLY the "imagination, follow your dreams" part, like, you just know that everyone who's out on that barge dancing their hearts out to those lyrics truly has followed their dreams, they've worked their butts off to get where they are today, and it's just inspirational to work on your own dreams a little bit harder.

Ugh

#feels

The park wasn't closed just yet, and Kara & I desperately wanted to get some nighttime photos of the areas, especially since they'd be more empty now with Fantasmic over. 



IMG_0089 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr





As we were over near Mermaid Lagoon is when the fireworks started going off. Tokyo doesn't really do much, there's just some fireworks shot off almost, between the parks, with music pumped in, and it's a short show. Sky High Wishes uses the same song as the 15th anniversary show, slowed down, and with some movie medley's thrown into the middle. It was a cute show, but nothing to write home about.(and totally watchable from wherever you were in the parks)







IMG_0101 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0103 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0110 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
We crossed the bridge over into Kara's land next.











IMG_0118 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0120 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The two of the ports out of the way, we ended up taking the long way back around to Scrooge McDuck's aka, the main Duffy merchandise store, where I found finally pick up Gelatoni!




IMG_0129 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0130 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The halloween displays were extra kawaii!

With the loop of the park done, it was time to call it a night, and back to the front of the park we went







IMG_0137 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
But of course, WE COULDN'T LEAVE WITHOUT A SELFIE!





We thanked Chi again for the presents, and them both for the company and playing tour guide for the day, and said our goodnights. They headed off to Maihama Station, while we headed off to the bus to find our way home! 

It was truly surreal to experience DisneySea, as it's just 100% original, not modelled after any other park, and just has such a unique and amazing design to it. It completely impressed us and left us in awe of it's beauty. Both Kara & I WISH we had taken more photos of it's beauty, but hey, it's an excuse to go back!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

I am super late to the party but enjoying your TR immensely - this sounds like quite the adventure!   Though, I must say, as the father to two daughters one of my first reactions was "Who is this Dante and can he be trusted?!?!?!" 

Disney Sea looks amazing!  Seems like a lot of amazing shows (always love the focus you put on the performers' faces in your pictures - I think that has caused me to notice that more as well when I am in the parks ... hit me when we saw FoF for the first time this past trip, noticing the dancers' faces more than anything else)

Looking forward to the rest of your report - especially when you get to Hong Kong as that is the only one I have been to so interested in your reaction to it (the park and the city)


----------



## katt789

TheMaxRebo said:


> I am super late to the party but enjoying your TR immensely - this sounds like quite the adventure!   Though, I must say, as the father to two daughters one of my first reactions was "Who is this Dante and can he be trusted?!?!?!"
> 
> Disney Sea looks amazing!  Seems like a lot of amazing shows (always love the focus you put on the performers' faces in your pictures - I think that has caused me to notice that more as well when I am in the parks ... hit me when we saw FoF for the first time this past trip, noticing the dancers' faces more than anything else)
> 
> Looking forward to the rest of your report - especially when you get to Hong Kong as that is the only one I have been to so interested in your reaction to it (the park and the city)



YAY! Glad you found your way over here!! 
Bahahahahha!!!! Yeah, we were a little wary with it being our first BNB experience ,and a little weirded out when we realized we'd ALL be staying in the room, thank goodness Dante ended up being awesome and a wonderful host! We were glad to know he was American too, before we went...though that doesn't necisarily confirm safety lol!!

IT'S AMAZING!! Disney Sea truly is a one of a kind experience, I miss it so much!!! Awee!! Thank you!!! That's awesome!! I feel like people always focus on the royalty and don't give the dancers as much credit as they deserve!

Hahah!!! It'll be a while til then, though I'm hoping I can do it justice, having no notes from that part will definitely make it harder to remember!


----------



## xlsm

I'm so glad you were able to find your report updates!

I was a bad Dis-er and didn't pull quotes, but:




katt789 said:


>


Daisy's fur and lashes on the villain float
I love that picture so much!! 

DisneySea is gorgeous. I love how unique the whole park is.

Hooray for Gelatoni...so cute!! 

Those shows sound amazing! I kind of love that they don't allow photo or video recording, because it can be so distracting when you're trying to watch and someone has a freaking iPad up in the air. On the other hand, I'd love to see pictures and it's super sad. I can't make up my mind, lol!!


----------



## katt789

Realized I never replied to these before!! Sorry!!



missangelalexis said:


> DisneySea sounds amazing!! Loved seeing all your photos! Sounds like such a fun day so far.


It WAS AMAZING!!! Seriously such a unique and incredible park!! Thank you!!



xiphoid76 said:


> I love reading this thread!!!  I am sorry you did not find any Chandu merchandise.  I have a stuffed Chandu that sits by my bed - I got him 2 years ago at Disney Sea.  Was hoping to get another one as well as some more Chandu-related stuff.  He is definitely my favorite character there!  We run when the park opens right to Sindbad and usually have the ride to ourselves for about 30 minutes before anyone else comes - we get either 4 or 5 rides in consecutively all by ourselves - love it!!!



Thank you!! Glad you're here!! Awee!! So cute!! I've seen some people get the Chandu face backpack (like the Duffy one) in the past 2 years or so, but that's about all Ive seen for merch!! It's such a good ride!!



MomoMama said:


> I am in LOVE with your parade/show photos!
> 
> WDW Jungle cruise did not impress us, so we skipped it in Japan.  But now I'm very interested!  Another "must try" for the next time!



Thank you!!! Mainly just Kara's for now, but mine pop up in the next few updates finally lol!!
Hahaha!!!! Yeah, its definitely not one of my favorite rides, I've only had about 2 of like, 15 in WDW actually entertian me, I usually get bored, but it was great to experience Tokyo's!



petals said:


> Love your trip report. That Disney hotel looked amazing and then you started posting parade pictures. It all looks fabulous. I LOVE the Stitch popcorn bucket and the vlog is fabulous. I cried watching it. I so want to go to the Asian parks someday.



Thank you!!! Glad you're here & enjoying!!! The hotel was beautiful!! Aweee!! It really was AMAZING!! I'm super sad it seems that Tokyo is getting a new parade next year for the 35th, we're not sure whether it will run like a special event or if it's replacing Happiness is Here, which makes us sad! lol!  Thank you so much!! It's my favorite Vlog that we've made!! The Asian parks are incredible, they're on a whole other level compared to the States!


----------



## missangelalexis

That looks like Little Mermaid heaven! 

My god I would love to see that Villains show! The costumes are amazing! And I just watched the video you linked and that intro song is EVERYTHING! 

It sounds like you saw some really fun shows! Especially Fantasmic!

Beautiful nighttime shots!

Gelatoni!! I hope they start selling him at WDW one day.


----------



## Grumpy's Wife

I am so so happy that you found your notes and are able to continue with this report.  It's just so different and since I will probably never get there I just love hearing all about it.


----------



## katt789

Okay guys…bear with me…I have pictures and minimal notes to go by on this day, I'll do my best!
**
Kara & I began the routine as normal today, getting up and getting ready right at the same time as Dante, and were headed out the door and to Tokyo Disneyland at the usual time! Today, we could finally park hop. Park hopping isn't REALLY necessary in Tokyo, especially since it costs money to use the monorail, but we had some entertainment reasons why we wanted to today!

We began our adventures in Disneyland, and with the crowds today, headed STAIGHT OFF TO HUNNY HUNT!! 





The ride was JUST as amazing as it was the first time, and I found some amazing stuff in the gift stop afterwards!




Low key regret not buying it, low key regret not buying EVERYTHING in the Winnie the Pooh Store!

We didn’t really have any strong urge to find some Monsters again this morning, but we headed over to Tomorrowland to try our hand at the Lottery for One Man's Dream. I got Kara to do it this time, see if her luck was any better…SPOILER ALERT….it wasn't. BOO

To cheer ourselves up we BLASTED OFF through space and conquered that mountain before realizing that we desperately needed some breakfast. Thankfully, just off Main Street, across from Pirates, there's a waffle shop that we picked up the most delicious of meals!  





The waffles were seriously amazing, and we both really enjoyed the berry and custard toppings! YUM! When we'd finished our meals, I had my coffee to go, and we headed back over to Fantasyland for some character hunting! We knew a Sleepy Princesses would be out that we'd want to see, and hoped maybe we'd find a Gypsy or a chimney sweep!

Aurora was easy to find, and I took the time to facetime a friend back home so they could spend some time chatting as well.




It was AMAZING to see her, we chatted about all of our adventures and how much we loved the kingdom over here, and exchanged the best of hugs





Also, in case you couldn't tell by our outfits, it was pretty chilly today, I was actually surprised to see none of the characters were in winter wear considering they're outside for longer periods of time!

We had enough time to pick another character before they went in, so we naturally chose a dashing looking ruffian across the way, who was quick to pick us to come up. Flynn asked what kingdom we were from, and if we had a castle there, we explained we basically did, since we spent so much time in that Orlando kingdom. When he asked about our prince situation, we laughed and said it was non existent, so he taught us how to smoulder!






HANDS DOWN one of the best pictures and meet and greets, it was a GREAT morning so far!! 

Kara & I had no immediate plans, and since we were at the back of the castle, why not venture THROUGH IT?!








The walk through was much more extensive than the Stateside parks versions, even Lady Tremaine made an apperance 













The main room of the walk through has gorgeous ceilings, windows looking out onto Fantasyland, and multiple picture opportunities!














I was thankful to have known that there's (obviously) a little magic here too, there's a portait of the Fairy Godmother to take pictures with, with no flash, it comes out pretty "muggle" like




But once that flash hits, Fairy Godmother can ENCHANT YOU




Also I'm 100% missing pictures of Kara from this little tour, I KNOW we have them, I just can't find them, ugh lol!
We headed out of the castle, and over to the left, I had to take another shot ode to my lovely Tremaine Family,since that's where they meet in Florida





And we took a few shots over by Snow White's wishing well





THEN, it was time to check out something completely new! Which meant we had a line to wait in….see, we didn't win the lottery for One Man's Dream, but we could still watch the first show of the day Standby, so we headed over to Tomorrowland, very happy with what our day had accomplished so far!


----------



## katt789

It appeared we got there right on time, or the crowds weren't too bad yet, because even without lottery tickets, we got pretty good seats for the show!




Now, I can NOT tell you what the heck the show's about, it's ALL in Japanese, but It starts out in black & white with Mickey & Minnie;





And then EXPLODES into COLOUR





And the OG princess appears




Before we escape into the Jungle!



IMG_0196 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
Which then moves into an entire Bugs Life portion which we have no evidence of, before it changes 100% into Dream Along with Mickey….bahaha! I kid, I kid, but the song for the Peter Pan section is EXACTLY THE SAME (though as I type this I'm watching a video with "English subtitles" that the words aren't the same, but Kara and I had a good time fake doing Dream Along choreo in our seats. It was also around this time that I realized my memory card was full, and quickly changed it without really paying attention…




IMG_0203 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_0218-2 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr





However it was the appearance of Tick Tock that CRACKED Kara & I up like NO TOMORROW



IMG_0221 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The really cool part of the show was that Peter & Wendy literally flew!




IMG_0233 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_0237 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Things get a little dark too, as our Evil Queen pays a visit to the stage…




IMG_0240 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

AND THESE SUPER COOL DANCERS COME OUT AND SHE TRANSFORMS TO THE OLD HAD AND I DIE OF MY VILLAIN LOVE




IMG_0246 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0248 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0249 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
ALSO FLAILED at this point as I realized the song during the villains part, USED TO BE PART OF THE LOOP MUSIC AT MNSSHP IN FLORIDA! IT WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS AND I COULD NEVER FIND IT ONLINE AND NOW I KNEW WHY.

THEN, that creepy judge came by…








IMG_0253 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
Lastly, the queen of all darkness and her minions take over



IMG_0264 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0265 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The show then cuts from Malificient saying "she'll sleep forever" to my GURL!




IMG_0277 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_0279 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

And her prince coming to save her!





True love's kiss works!




IMG_0284 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

IMG_0286 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_0292 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_0295 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

They waltz, along with the other OG's, Cinderella and Snow White! 




IMG_0302 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr





I had seen pictures of the show before on Tumblr, not knowing they were from this show, and being a ballroom dancer, HAD COMPLETELY FALLEN IN LOVE WITH THEIR DRESSES (and chroreo) the nod to the original princesses with the style of the dresses and how they mixed into moving so beautifully with the dancing, it just amazed me. I LOVED the chorus girls dresses too, the whole segment was just beautiful from end to finish!



IMG_0309 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0313 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0316 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_0331 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0305 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0334 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Then the show went some super weird direction, there was a movie being made, there was so much going on, and all in a different language, I lost it lol.



IMG_0336 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The finale brought out most of the main characters(fab 5, Peter, fur characters mainly, along with the dancers to finish off the show!)



IMG_0346 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0349 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0355 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
Obvs big movies stars they all are now!



IMG_0359 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0378 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr





Overall, we thought the show was cute, it wasn't worth watching twice during our trip, partially due to the Language barrier. The dancing was great, and we had a good laugh over the very similar dream along bits, but we enjoyed it! 

Kara& I were both in search of some noms post show, and headed over to Toon Town where we'd seen some PIZZA SPRING ROLLS, cause like, you can't turn those down!









And stopped for some Mickey Nugs to go along





One our mission from grabbing these snacks and heading to our parade spots, we SAW THE FAMOUS SCRUMP MOCHIS! We both thought they were limited time only ,so to know they were still here, was INSANE! We took note of where they were, and grabbed our spots for parade!


----------



## missangelalexis

The castle walk through looks amazing!

Love your pics from One Man's Dream- so colorful!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

I just watched a ride through of Pooh's Hunny Hunt on youtube and the ride is super cute - so much better than the Pooh ride we have stateside .... do they offer it in English at all?  I was thrown not just by the Japanese but that their voices sounded totally different as well

One Man's Dream looks pretty fun - glad you got to see it


----------



## MomoMama

So happy to see you are continuing with your TR!
Again, amazing photos... you girls are such talented photographers. 

I too have read others' reviews on King Triton's court and Fantasmic! being not so great, but I loved them.  When Ariel swam above us and waved at my daughter, it felt so magical.  And you saw Big Band Beat!  We did not get lucky with the lottery and could not stay in the long standby line.  The show sounds so good, I hope the third time will be a charm and we will win the lottery next time!  Reading your TR makes me want to go back to TDR so bad!!


----------



## katt789

missangelalexis said:


> The castle walk through looks amazing!
> 
> Love your pics from One Man's Dream- so colorful!


It really is!! It was gorgeous!! And thank you! The show was fun, that's for sure!



TheMaxRebo said:


> I just watched a ride through of Pooh's Hunny Hunt on youtube and the ride is super cute - so much better than the Pooh ride we have stateside .... do they offer it in English at all?  I was thrown not just by the Japanese but that their voices sounded totally different as well
> One Man's Dream looks pretty fun - glad you got to see it


It's amazing!!!! And no, it was all in Japanese, but that was totally fine for us lol, a lot of the attractions are all Japanese, and MAN yes, the voices throw you off so much!! Sometimes it's hard to not laugh at how they sound!



MomoMama said:


> So happy to see you are continuing with your TR!
> Again, amazing photos... you girls are such talented photographers.
> 
> I too have read others' reviews on King Triton's court and Fantasmic! being not so great, but I loved them.  When Ariel swam above us and waved at my daughter, it felt so magical.  And you saw Big Band Beat!  We did not get lucky with the lottery and could not stay in the long standby line.  The show sounds so good, I hope the third time will be a charm and we will win the lottery next time!  Reading your TR makes me want to go back to TDR so bad!!



Thnak you!! I'll do my best to stay more up to date on things now! Lol. And thank you so much!! It's been such a passion for us over the past few years! The shows really are amazing at Tokyo, they just go a whole other level!! Awe man, BBB was SO good!!! Haha, writing it makes me miss it too! I can't wait to go back!!


----------



## Karin1984

Can you check your photo account? All the pictures on the first pages are gone 

And one question for planning my own trip, how did you know where which characters were? I thought Tokyo didn't publish the times of character sets like other parks do.
I plan to do a lot of character hunting in Asia  but then I do need to know where to look!

*Edit* I went back and read your report again, you had locals via Instagram helping you where to find characters?  Can I ask which accounts?


----------



## katt789

Karin1984 said:


> Can you check your photo account? All the pictures on the first pages are gone
> 
> And one question for planning my own trip, how did you know where which characters were? I thought Tokyo didn't publish the times of character sets like other parks do.
> I plan to do a lot of character hunting in Asia  but then I do need to know where to look!
> 
> *Edit* I went back and read your report again, you had locals via Instagram helping you where to find characters?  Can I ask which accounts?



The photos are just beign a SUPER PAIN! I've linked them through facebook from Kara's page (esp since I have no pictures from Tokyo) and the link has apparently expired? I'm not quite sure how to fix it! Hopefully for the future updates I can sort something out to fix them, or download pics from facebook to reupload them, ugh, suepr frustrating!

Hahaha, we NEVER did, the only time we 100% guaranteed knew was Aurora, and I'd been chatting with a very close friend of hers all morning  Otherwise, they come out on the 0:15 and the 0:45 in Fantasyland & at the Front of the park, find the hoards of younger guests with camera's, and you'll know you're in the right spot!


----------



## katt789

If you guessed our next stop was HAPPPINESS IS HERE, you so wrong

Just kidding

You so right!



_This is a celebration of smiles and joy_​




IMG_0399 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_0405 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_0412 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



_Smile happiness Is here_​



IMG_0422 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr







IMG_0424 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

_Just turn and spin, give us a grin_​



IMG_0427 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


IMG_0437 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_0443 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_0448 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



_Jump, shout, let it all out_​




IMG_0456 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr







IMG_0465 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr






_Let your heart find, and we'll gone on and on, happiness is here_​_



IMG_0477 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0484 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0488 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
One of my favorites of the trip right there



IMG_0495 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0503 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr







Sparkles in your eyes, suddenly feel alive​




IMG_0521 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0530 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0538 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_0557 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


IMG_0575 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr_


----------



## katt789

LIFE UPDATE/PSA:
From THIS update onward I am downloading pics from Facebook to RE upload to flickr so the links will NOT be broken, I will WORK on getting all the older ones done so the TR still looks good from the start!
I also only have 1 update left to type, everything else is typed up already in the notes I found, so all I have to do is add pictures, updates should be coming much faster now!
Happy May!!

********************
Happiness is Here ended, left us with SO much happiness in our lives, and we turned back around to head into Tomorrowland! We HAD TO GET THOSE SCRUMP MOCHIS!



v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



14581322_10157781145425647_4053915137215076396_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
They automatically came in the souvenir tub, which I 100% thought I'd end up dumping somewhere along our trip, but it actually made it all the way home! I LOVED the dumplings! They were a mango, a passion fruit & banana (I think lol) I actually liked them more than the green alien ones, but the cost of them (because of the dish) would keep me from buying them again on this trip. 

It was getting a little bit MORE chilly as the day went on, so we spent some time looking for some sweaters that we liked, especially since the Duffy ones were sold out. We had no luck, I settled for a cappuccino to attempt to warm me up, and it was time to leave the park, we had an important date over at Disney Sea!! 




v6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
We had 1000000% LUCKED OUT in having a friend hanging around somewhere we had been  VERY excited to see, and obviously couldn't wait.



IMG_0587 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


IMG_0621 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


_ Take a step into the darkest night_

_This is where the villains shine their light_

_With passion_
_So strong  _​





IMG_0665 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0674 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



_Elegance beyond compare_

_Piercing beauty with the midnight stare_​



IMG_0687 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0730 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0758 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0786 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



_Welcome, to the villains world_
_there every move is cool and simply thrilling_
_Tonight they are willing, chilling, thrilling villains_​[/I]




IMG_0804 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0806 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0809 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_0714 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I'm NOT even sorry in the slightest that there's so much Evil Queen in there, she SLAYED, killed it, was absolutely incredible, Kara & I were completely in love. During the show we had what I would say was our ONLY interaction with some slightly "obnoxious" Instagrammers. They were younger, and more in your face than most of the other ones we'd encountered seemed, but still like 100 times better than the obnoxious ones in the States, bahaha!

Kara desperately wanted to see if Stitch & Angel were out, so we attempted to find our way over to the Arabian Coast. This was when we realized how much we had been following Chi the previous day, we had like, NO idea where we were/where we were going, bahaha! DisneySea can be SUPER confusing lol! Eventually we did find our way out, and I'm saddened to report that Angel & Stitch were nowhere to be found. Waah! 

I picked up another Chandu tail to eat, and we figured now was a good of time as any to head back over to Disneyland (we were here to Evil Queen, lets be real).




v13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Back over in the land of Magic and castles, we headed to our new favorite spot for dinner, Gramma Sarah's! 



k3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

I tried a different set this time, it was still good, but not as great as the Fall themed one, and was a little bit more expensive than the special set, but I still really enjoyed it! The tart for dessert was a sweet potato tart, and it was definitely the best part. The two of us sat there a bit longer than we had planned to, we were tired, and I was starting to feel sick, I don't think the Chandu tail was sitting well with me. Ugh. Luckily, it was time to bundle up and just SIT for a bit while we claimed our spots for Dreamlights! [/CENTER]


----------



## Karin1984

katt789 said:


> Hahaha, we NEVER did, the only time we 100% guaranteed knew was Aurora, and I'd been chatting with a very close friend of hers all morning  Otherwise, they come out on the 0:15 and the 0:45 in Fantasyland & at the Front of the park, find the hoards of younger guests with camera's, and you'll know you're in the right spot!



Check! I will look for the cameras! I have found some clips on youtube and Instagram of the door to backstage where characters appear and disappear. So I know what it looks like  


Your parade pictures are amazing! I love the costumes, those of the chorus members are so colorful and happy


----------



## missangelalexis

As always, more great photos! The little Stitch container for the mochi is so cute!


----------



## katt789

This update's gonna be super short, lol, sorry about that?




v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_0829 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_0854 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_0867 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_0898 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_0943 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Post Dream Lights, we wandered back through Adventureland and ended up doing Tiki Room again, enjoying it just as much but also realizing how EXHAUSTED we were!! We opted to just grab a snack and head out of the parks for the night




IMG_0970 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




k4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Pumpkin churros! Yum!a


----------



## katt789

Karin1984 said:


> Check! I will look for the cameras! I have found some clips on youtube and Instagram of the door to backstage where characters appear and disappear. So I know what it looks like
> Your parade pictures are amazing! I love the costumes, those of the chorus members are so colorful and happy



No worries!! Yeah, they do end up being pretty easy to find, I BELIEVE, they came out on the 0:15 in Fantasyland, and 0:45 at the main gate!
Thank you so much!! They're all so cute & excited, the parade's amazing



missangelalexis said:


> As always, more great photos! The little Stitch container for the mochi is so cute!



Thank you so much!!  Right?! Everything's just so much more adorable over there!


----------



## missangelalexis

Those Dream Lights pictures!! That parade looks so phenomenal.


----------



## katt789

* Friday October 14th*
Good mooooooorning. Are you ready to get up?! Because we certainly WERE NOT! It had been one HECK of a busy past 3 days of hard-core Disney-ing & the day had come that was our LAST in the parks!!! Waaaaaahhh!! Slowly, very slowly, the three of us clambered out of bed and started to get ready. A short walk down to the station, and the line for the bus wasn't too bad today! Another plus side, when it pulled up THERE WERE STILL SEATS!!! Whaaaaaat?!

This was a sign of what was to come as when we arrived at Disneyland, the lines for the turnstiles were HALF of what they were our last few days in the park! Wait... What? We knew Disneyland was closing early for a private event, but still thought that it would be CRAZY crowded because it was Friday. Guess not!! While we were waiting a CM came around & was handing out cards that said the park was closing at 6:30 and because of that, you could show the card & your park ticket at the ticket booth for DisneySea & upgrade your ticket for 2000 YEN! That's like, $20 guys... Because the park closed early.... It didn't effect us because we were on day 4 and able to park hop now, but what an AMAZING gesture for those on day 1 or 2!!

The "rope" dropped right at 8:00am exactly like the days previous, and we headed off to the lands we had barely set foot in so far, Westernland! We hit up Big Thunder first, and while we both enjoyed it, we agreed that it wasn't *as* fun as the Stateside parks because there was a divide in the seat & you had your own lap bar! Splash was our next adventure, we barely waited & were soaring through the briar patch before we knew it. I was super glad we didn't get wet since it was still pretty chilly out!




v17 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr 

The 2 big rides Kara & I hadn't done out of the way, we started the search for something to fill our tummies; and let me tell you, this was not an easy task! I know Japan isn't big on "regular" American styled breakfasts, but ALL there is, is the waffle place! We found a couple carts open selling hot dogs & burgers, but opted to pretend that a sweet cream cheese filled pretzel was a better option. To balance out our breakfast we stopped to refill Stitch with some honey popcorn!




k2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

I added onto this well balance breakfast by picking up a purple sweet potato churro! Everything was good obviously, but I wish they had more breakfasty stuff, or even like, a smoothie would be nice!



k11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Well we munched away (and legitimately DEVOURED the popcorn, we picked up a fast pass for Hunny Hunt since we were in the area! Our other big plan on our last day was to find a few more characters, Esmerelda, and a few familiar faces we knew would be a fun time. Since we were in the area, we hung around Fantasyland to see a handful of fur characters, Snow Prince & Prince Charming come out. Cool & all, but nothing we needed to wait around for. We also found it hilarious and slightly odd that Snow Prince had a SOLO meet and greet here meanwhile he was barely recognizable in Florida, bahahah! After spending some time watching the on goings in Fantasyland we started to head back down to Main Gate, but not before getting distracted!! I noticed a stationary shop we hadn't been in yet and wanted to check for some post cards for friends back home! WELL WERE WE EVER IN FOR A SURPRISE! We spent a decent amount of time in stationary HEAVEN!! Not even kidding guys, everything was beautiful! They had NUMEROUS journals, agendas, calendars, everything!! I knew I wanted a new agenda but there were so many choices! Specific princess/characters, ones with photography from around the park, and some post card type things I knew I needed. We had barely scratched the surface when we had to head to the front to see the characters, vowing that we would be back!!

Unluckily for us, Main Gate was even less fun than Fantasyland had been. I knew Aurora would be out after parade, so we hoped some other friends would be too, and promptly headed back to stationary heaven!

Kara & I ended up both getting the agenda that had ALL the princesses in it with art from concept art to full animation it's gorgeous! I also picked up some little note cards w/envelopes that had Cinderella, Ariel or Rapunzel on them, super cute & the closest thing I could find to post cards! Since we were in the shopping mood, we continued over into the Emporium to browse through searching for anything we might need for ourselves or people back home. I ended up with a bag w/the Tangled pattern that's the same as the shirt we wanted (Kara got the same & the BATB one),  and the Aurora shoe key chain

Since the park was closing earlier tonight, the day parade was also happening earlier, and it was nearly time! WAAAAHHH! We really didn't want it to be our last time seeing Happiness is Here! Food was on our minds, I mean, our breakfast was SOOOOO healthy, lol, so we made a brief stop at Tomorrowland Terrace to pick up some burger sets for lunch. It set me back ¥980, was a Mickey shaped burger, fries & tea. Kara got the one with egg on the burger simply because the box had Stitch on it, bahahaha!




k24 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Lunch in hand we picked our spots for HiH, we were gonna try from the opposite side of the street but the way the hub curved meant it was not prime for viewing or picture taking, so we ended up in what had become "our spot" over the last few days and settled in for our last parade! Just before it started we noticed a couple of people that had "that look" of entertainment faces, and hey, its not as easy to blend in when it's Tokyo!

In case you couldn't tell from previous updates, we absolutely fell in LOVE with Happiness is Here, Kara even said she might like it more than Festival of Fantasy in WDW. It's super hard to compare, for me, it's the people that make FoF, but there are parts of the parade that are "lull's" to me, that doesn't happen with HiH. There was something about it that last day too, something extra, all the performers were ON POINT, we got so much love from so many people & I was like, nearly tearing up by the end of it thinking this could be the last time ever seeing it, truly magical. We were both just So happy & exhilarated by the end of it! 




IMG_1012 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1027 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1030 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1036 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1066 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1074 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1104 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Ugh. I die. She's just perfect.




IMG_1112 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1122 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Post parade, we had Hunny Hunt fp's to use; we were a little worried since we'd had to wait for the parade to pass a point so we could cross into Fantasyland, and were a little late for our return time. Apparently they let it slide a bit post parade as we had no problem! After our spin through the 100 Acre Wood we were off to check on those characters, and were mighty confused when it was the same old fur characters & JUST Princes... No girls in sight! We figured they were still busy post parade but who knows? While we were on the hunt for some friends, a friend spotted US! The girl who'd been Insta dm'ing me info about the parks, a mutual follower, saw us and came up to say Hi. She didn't speak much English but it was still super nice to get to meet her, and thank her for all the help!




k10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Not wanting to deal with crowds back there, we slowly made our way to the front of the park to still not find who we were looking for, but decided to say Hi to Snow White.




k9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

She was lovely as always, commenting on Kara's bow & how it needed a diamond! She said she would get the dwarves on that to find one for her from the mine! So cute!! We hung around watching some other character interactions for a bit & then I desperately needed a water bottle, so we began the hunt for that. There were NONE (and no coolers) in the confectionary or anywhere along World Bazaar, so we swung into Tomorrowland, where we started to head to a cart, I asked for water, but the cm said it was a sports drink, that or pop. I was bummed a bit, before I remembered the vending machines beside Space Mountain! It seriously a struggle to find water bottles in TDR! I hope that's different in the summer months! While we were on the topic of ingestible things, we realized we had to track down some Soy Sauce popcorn, and there was a cart in Tomorrowland! Literally WHILE WE WERE WALKING UP TO IT, I wondered aloud to Kara how they never run out of popcorn, it's so popular! And we had times at the Canada cart where we simply couldn't keep up with the demand. 



...i kid you not... The cart we wanted our treat from... WAS OUT OF POPCORN!!!

Bahahahahahahahah!!!

Knowing there was another cart with the soy sauce flavour, we continued on our quest to find some characters, hoping that our luck would be better now, post parade! We could tell that there were some friends out, and it was Kara who spotted BERT!!! Naturally we went running up to his circle, and he almost immediately turned to us to come say hello!! We were the MOST excited to meet him; 2 years of hearing stories about him and the shenanigans from some mutual friends had lead up to a very exciting meet and greet! He commented that he'd remembered us from the parade earlier asked where we were from, and what kind of adventure's we had been on that day. We said we'd mainly been trying to track down characters as it was our LAST DAY, especially that gypsy & of course himself! Bert commented that gypsy's were rather hard to find, and hoped us luck in finding her; he then asked if we wanted to step in time for our picture!!




k12 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The meet & greet was seriously everything, we were SUPER excited to finally meet him, and were pretty sure Mr Penguin might've said something about us being there!  We bid the Jolly Holiday goodbye & peered around the corner of the castle to find Rapunzel & Flynn doing a greet in a little nook!! And they looked rather familiar  Sadly, because they were crazy popular, they had a queue & it was already closed off, though that didn't stop us from watching & being the creepers that we are bahaha.




k13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Kara & I had ONE last chance to see the characters we'd been waiting on, and I had confirmation Aurora would be hanging around again, so we headed to Main Gate & prayed to the pixie dust Gods for some good fortune. Naturally though, we got distracted by a castle photoshoot before we left, knowing this would probably be the last time we were in Disneyland.




v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


But now…back to praying for pixie dust with our character luck…..

Welp, they must've been wanting wishes on stars, it was the same group as earlier, no gypsy, and not even any Aurora, which was interesting, but at least we'd seen her the other day already! Slightly defeated, and half joking that this meant we HAD to come back to the parks on our 17hr Tokyo layover on the way home, we decided it was time to head over to Disney Sea to finish off our Tokyo Disney Resort Saga!


----------



## katt789

Upon arrival, it was apparent how INSANE it was, especially compared to Disneyland that had been SO EMPTY all day, all the people were here. The crowds for Villains World were too much, we'd watched it twice & evil queen had SLAAAAAYED yesterday, so we opted to head to the Arabian Coast in PRAYERS that Kara would get to see Angel & Stitch today!

Well.... She got to see them....



...from a distance...




v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


WAAAAHHHH

Of COURSE their line was already cut & it was their last set! Daisy was out in the area too, but it was a mad house. To sooth our sorrows, ice lollies were in order!




v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k15 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

 We really wanted to catch Big Band Beat again, so we traipsed across the park to find that the standby line for the next show was FULL & there was already a line for the 6:40 show. We could jump in it, but then would DEFINITELY not have a decent it any spot for Fantasmic. I pointed out we hadn't seen A Table is Waiting yet, and it was closing its run after our trip so we headed that way. Not sure if we could go into the seating area (it was mostly full) we claimed a spot by the rope to stand & see perfectly fine, and then noticed people going in still, so we ended up with a seat! The show didn't start right away, but we were completely enamoured by the STUNNING SUNSET anyways!!




v16 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v15 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Just look at that!! Wowza!!! The show started, and I'm not even really sure what to tell you... It was something, that's for sure. Lumiere hosted it, and there were 2 mic'd performers who also kinda looked as if they were dressed up like Lumiere. It was all spoken in Japanese, with songs in English. I THINK it was about Mickey & his friends travels around the world and all the kinds of food there was? All I'm really sure is there was Chip & Dale with moustaches, ponchos & sombreros, and Daisy Duck singing spice girls & pies were being thrown in peoples faces. It was insane & we laughed through most of it.




IMG_1138 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1147 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Obviously it was no Big Band Beat, but I am glad we got to experience it! And while our brains were on food, our noses were leading us to The Teddy Roosevelt Lounge, which is also somewhere I had desperately wanted to go! Unluckily for us, there was a large line, we weren't sure how fast it was moving, but knew we probably didn't have enough time for it. Boooo.

Our experience was about the same around the rest of the park, and nothing seemed as good as the Lounge had SMELT! Oh GOD YOU GUYS IT WAS AMAZING! Buttery & garlicy goodness! Waaaah!! Kara & I reached our favorite Fantasmic spot on the wall and decided it was time to sit down, 2.5 hours til show time & there was just enough room for us! I was getting SUPER hungry at this point, and asked Kara if she would mind if I went for a food run first. She didn't, so I set off. The first two, and closest two, were absolutely jam packed, we're talking full inside, full lines & queues extending WAAAYYY longer than anyone sane would wait. Way worse than anything at WDW (though it would probably be faster... Bahaah). I thought I'd be smart & head into Mount Prometheus, where there would be less people, and get food from the restaurant we'd seen in there! Well, for starters, that was a LONG walk, second, I totally turned the wrong way inside the mountain & almost got lost, third, it was still crazy. THEN, I get to the front & of course they don't have take away things. Welp, shoving this into my face here then! I didn't have my phone so I don't have any pictures. I got a set that I chose chicken, fried rice & the Dim Sum set with coke. I ate all the chicken, drank the coke & then noticed the water station... Hmmm... I looked at how much food I had left & figured I could shove the dim sum & rice into a couple of the paper cups, and did just that! I felt super bad for Kara! I knew I'd been gone a long time, and she still had to get somewhere, get food & get back in time for Fantasmic!! I scurried my way back through the dark & oh so crowded park until I was back at the harbour! Kara said I'd been gone around 45 minutes! Maybe longer! GEEZE! She took off next & was back surprisingly quick, she'd chosen a meal from the New York Deli that DID have takeaway, while I munched on my rice....




k17 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1176 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Luckily, this killed some time, so we didn't have much time to freeze before Fantasmic started. Ugh, it was JUST as amazing as the first time, and always will continue to be. Every version of the show has its amazing qualities, and while I do miss seeing the individual princess floats/segments in WDW, I really appreciate the way Tokyo has shown their love for it. I also really love the "imagination.... Follow your dreams..." Lyrics. Ugh, just incredible.




IMG_1184 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1200 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1208 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1244 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1254 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Post show, we gathered up our belongings, our feels & our frozen selves, and didn't really know what to do! The park was closing in about an hour? Maybe 1.5hr? But it WAS SUUUUCH A HOT MESS!! And EVERYONE was leaving, so if we tried to get anywhere but where we were we'd be swimming up a very crowded stream, and that was something neither of us wanted to do. Collectively, we sighed a sigh of defeat, and ended up in the Duffy store, thankful for the one by the entrance, no matter how crowded it was. Kara got her Gelatoni and promptly paid, not wanting to deal people or all the other temptations. The two of us stood outside the shop trying to figure out what to do, and ended up saying that leaving was probably the best choice.


Goodbye DisneySea. We'll FORVER LOVE YOOOOUUUUUU.

Seriously. 

It is truly one of THE greatest theme parks, Disney & the Oriental Land Company have created something completely unique, and amazingly beautiful and SO jam packed with incredible things. It is no wonder why it's considered THE theme park of the world, and why it's so many people's favorites. It takes you from the middle of the Mediterranean, to a gondola in Venice, the streets of New York, a small New England coast town, the MIDDLE OF A VOLCANO, and into the lands of Fantasy where you can swim through Mermaid Lagoon or fly over Agrabah on a flying carpet. The entertainment is all Broadway level, so creative and interesting and is just plain amazing. I wish I could stay forever!! (also throwing this pic in here because I can't remember where it happened…EVEN THE SOAP IS MICKEY SHAPED)




k5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


Heartwarming part done with... It was time for the heart BREAKING. Earlier in the day I'd noticed the envelope with my full memory cards wasn't in my bag, and thought nothing of it. I'd taken a few pictures of the back of my camera the previous night to send to some friends back home & thought I'd left it out on the desk. Heck, it wasn't even the first thing on my mind as we got back to the house. When I did remember, I checked around the desk to find them not there... And began to internally panic...  I checked my bag again... Voiced to Kara what was happening... And then DUMPED my park bag out, tearing through everything



... They were gone...

All I had was what was on my camera, and it wasn't much. Everything from the first 5 days in Tokyo, everything from the first 3 days in the park.

Gone.

I broke down into a hot mess of ugly crying. Honest, tearing up a bit now thinking about it. I did end up finding one card in my wallet, where I had been keeping them, but all it had on it was Villains World from Day 2 in the parks. The one that was in my camera had parts of Day 2, a teeny bit of Day 3 & most of Day 4. I usually ended up filling a card up mid show, so I'd throw it into my bag & start a new one right away, then go back & delete the bad pictures on the full card & continue to use it till it was full again. Because of this, pictures from all over the place were missing & I was seriously just heartbroken.

I had originally been keeping them in my wallet & thought I was being smart by moving them into the park ticket envelope & putting them with my passport. Guess not. I had no clue where they might be either, maybe I did forget to put them back into my bag the night before, and they'd been thrown away by accident in the coffee explosion that happened that morning? Maybe I'd pulled something out of that pocket & they'd dropped? Maybe I'd misplaced them when I was changing them out in the park? I looked up Lost & Found for the resort, and for those already gone, there was a phone number but if you called, it was all in Japanese.

A few days later I did realize that because of WHAT pictures I did have, the last thing I *think* I would've taken with the one missing card was at One Man's Dream. Thinking this must be where they went missing, I messaged Chi & she said she was more than happy to call & try to help find them. The information I gave her ended up being no help, and as of Oct 23, they haven't been found. There's a tiny glimmer of hope though, the optimist in me knows they'll turn up, (lol...that side of me doesn't come out often). We will be back in Tokyo for that layover & I've told Kara I'll be going back to the resort to try & find them at the very least. I'm hoping they'll let me go through any memory cards that might've been found on the 13th & 14th. Japan is a culture where if something does get lost or forgotten, it usually gets turned in, or left just where you left it. I am worried because the envelope might've just gotten swept up, but hoping that a CM would notice it was a ticket envelope & pick it up. So. Here's hoping.

ANYWAY, it was a SUPER sour note to end Tokyo on, the rest of our time had been SO incredible, and to have something so ****ty happen at the end of it just made me NOT a happy camper, I felt bad for the mood I put the room in for Kara too.

The next few days I did realize it COULD always be worse, it could've been mainly Disney stuff that went missing, and it was mainly city stuff. It COULD have happened in Hong Kong, and I might've lost even more pictures. It COULD have been like, 6 memory card, not 2. It COULD ALWAYS BE WORSE. Ugh


----------



## Grumpy's Wife

Oh no!  You take the most beautiful pictures.   I definitely can relate.  A few Disney trips ago I was playing with the settings trying to take really cool pictures of the fireworks and I deleted the pictures by mistake.  Not just a few but the whole trips worth. Like 400 to 500 pictures.  I just stood there and cried.  When we got home I took my camera to a camera store to see if there was anyway they could recover the pictures.  Nope, they couldn't.  At least you have some and hopefully Kara will be able to share with you what she took.

I'm still holding out hope that you will find the memory cards as the trip goes on.  You just need a really good dose of pixie dust.


----------



## Karin1984

Omg... first this and then after the trip the problems with your computer.... I agree with Grumpy's Wife, you are in need of some pixie dust!


----------



## katt789

missangelalexis said:


> Those Dream Lights pictures!! That parade looks so phenomenal.



It's SO CUTE! Like, I love my some DEP, so it's awesome that it's like an incredibly upgraded version of that parade!!



Grumpy's Wife said:


> Oh no!  You take the most beautiful pictures.   I definitely can relate.  A few Disney trips ago I was playing with the settings trying to take really cool pictures of the fireworks and I deleted the pictures by mistake.  Not just a few but the whole trips worth. Like 400 to 500 pictures.  I just stood there and cried.  When we got home I took my camera to a camera store to see if there was anyway they could recover the pictures.  Nope, they couldn't.  At least you have some and hopefully Kara will be able to share with you what she took.
> 
> I'm still holding out hope that you will find the memory cards as the trip goes on.  You just need a really good dose of pixie dust.



Thank you so much!!!! OH NOOOOOOO!!!! Losing pictures is legit the worst, thankfully Kara was there and also took a TON...or those first few days of the TR woulda been REAL boring, baahahaha! I was MOST sad about the picture I took at the wishing well being gone. Ugh. I knew I should've been careful, we'd even talked about lost photos all the time, Kara & her cousin went to Europe & her cousin got her DSLR stolen! They posted everywhere in the hostel they just wanted the memory cards back, anonymously but nothing ever turned up! Hahaha.... spoiler alert...they never turned up, everything that's prior to the Villains show in the TR is from Kara...  



Karin1984 said:


> Omg... first this and then after the trip the problems with your computer.... I agree with Grumpy's Wife, you are in need of some pixie dust!



RIGHT?! Ugh, it SUCKED, though the computer issues I had were bound to happen, the hard drive's just SHOT from all the photography work I was doing on it, the same thing's happening with Kara's computer right now so we're both kinda stressed. I'm just thankful I got the photos edited & uploaded before that happened!


----------



## katt789

HI Friends!! Happy Victoria Day/early Memorial Day/whichever holidays are celebrated in not North America...? Baahaha! Okay, so as I've had a lot of time to work on TR updates and get photos sorted out, I'm going to be posting a lot more at once, just to get through the country/cities sections a bit faster because I feel like most of us are here for the Disney stuff!! I'm also headed to Disney World for a birthday trip the 27-June 5th, and am not sure if I'm bringing the laptop or not, so I may be on a break over that week!

Happy reading!!

********************

*Saturday October 15*

There was still a little funk in the air in the morning as we got up and did the last of our packing, making sure the place was clean & we had everything we'd brought with us. Dante hadn't come home, but had emailed Kara about "check out" so we were quickly on our way to the bus stop. Just before our bus pulled up, Dante did! We thanked him for the stay & hospitality, and he wished us the best on our future travels through Asia!

Our first stop was the JR office at Tokyo Station to redeem our JR passes and book tickets to Matsumoto, which was pretty simple. Our train would leave from Shinjuku in a few hours, but in the meantime, we were STARVING! Starbucks was just around the corner, so we got breakfast from there, and I was super impressed to see they gave me a card to notify that my drink was soy milk, I'd exchange it with the barista for my drink to ENSURE I'd gotten the allergy friendly drink! WHAT EVEN?!?!? I couldn't tell you how many times I've been given real milk in drinks in Canada/US, it's insane!! 




k18 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Our train ride was about 2 hours, we used the time to catch up on blogging and sleeping & were pulling into Matsumoto before we knew it! Before we could even check where to go for our hotel, Kara spotted it directly across the street from the station! Bonus! The night was pretty chill, it would be dark soon, and we were both so wiped we decided to leave the sightseeing for the morning. We picked up some dinner at McDonald's (not the brightest idea..) and some snacks & beer from the convenience store and laid around in our tiny bed while we did some laundry & took turns showering. Seriously guys, that's it. Productive day, hey?




v21 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k19 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We stayed at Ace Inn Matsumoto, for anyone that's wondering. It was suuuper cheap for the one night, suuuper small room, but had everything we needed. There was laundry & vending machines on our floor (machines also had beer in them... Didn't need ID for that... Interesting). Bathroom was SUPER stocked, we didn't need to unpack our toiletry bags! Shampoo, conditioner, body soap, razor, comb, body cloth, towels, everything!! Hotel staff were super friendly too.


----------



## katt789

*Sunday October 16th*

One big added bonus of the hotel, FREE BREAKFAST!!! Kara & I got up around 6 and headed down to find a large variety of food laid out for the guests. The usual pastries, rice, miso soup, breads (INCLUDING WHOLE WHEAT BREAD WHAAAAAAAT), YOGURT AND FRUIT, hot dogs, and something I dubbed to be cold pizza. It was super nice to have a few heathier options today a relief from the white bread & Disney treat lifestyle we'd been having!

Our sightseeing adventure took us to Matsumoto-jo, the castle in the area. We had seen signs for it the previous night, and just followed them through the town to find it. It was a super nice, quiet walk with practically no one around, we both really enjoyed it; and managed to find our destination without needing Wi-Fi! Yay! Lol. 




v8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1264 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1270 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1271 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1283 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The castle was certainly beautiful, I'm glad we went so early, so serene & calm, no large tour groups around. I couldn't tell you the amount of times I would turn to Kara & say "I'm so glad we're not part of a tour bus". Lol.




IMG_1297 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1308 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

 A photoshoot was had, as the castle was gorgeous, the grounds beautiful, the morning still, and there was even some wildlife out to play!




IMG_1314 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1316 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The calm was coming to an end as we were wrapping up our time, so we headed back to the Station. I suggested we go pick up our tickets to our next destination now, while we were NOT carrying our weight in luggage, and we found a nice little bakery that had ALL THE PUMPKIN THINGS to snack on later! Checking out of the hotel was a breeze & we were back at the Station waiting for our train after a brief tea refill!! The first train was about an hour, then we transferred to another train & were SUPER EXCITED BECAUSE IT WAS A BULLET TRAAAAAIIINNN!!!




v19 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

So fast!!! We arrived in Kanazawa about an hour later, and then came the struggle of figuring out where the heck to go. A guard at the station attempted to help us, at least he got us onto the right side of the station!! From there we hoped we were going in the right direction, took a couple of circles & eventually found our Guest House.




v16 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



...it was closed...



*sigh* 



We traipsed back to the station with all our luggage to hang around for another nearly 2 hours until it would be open again & we could check in. It was a little bump in the road but hey, if we'd re-read the confirmation email, the whole thing could've been avoided! Lol.

Once 3 o'clock did hit, we walked back and were welcomed very warmly into Guesthouse Pongyi! Our hosts were in the middle of checking in a guy from Israel at the same time so we kind of went over some stuff together. The place was super small, but there was still so much space! It used to be a kimono shop & factory, and was suuuuper old! Lol. There were super steep staircases & nooks & crannies everywhere! Super adorable!! The main floor was the check in desk, a little living room, small kitchen/lounging area & a full kitchen that was private. There was a mixed dorm at the bottom of the stairs, and 2 steep windy staircases leading up, one to a private area, and one to our dorm! (And our bathroom). The dorm had 2 bunk beds, that the bottom was a traditional mattress on the floor style, with lights, plugs & a privacy curtain, it was like a little fort & Kara was in LOOOVE with the entire thing, so was I, it was awesome!!

While we were checking in, our hosts, Maru & Masaki, said that they were planning on a little outing to a sweets festival & a Shinto shrine & asked if we would like to join? Yay!! Group activities!! 




v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The sweets festival was something comparable to food & wine, but ALL desserts! I got a little pumpkin treat as we walked around & we all ended up getting some ice cream too! It was all super delicious!




IMG_1317 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

They had a little indoor section where they had these gorgeous flowers that were MADE OF CHOCOLATE. LIKE WHAT?




IMG_1318 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

While our group headed back to the car, we had parked in the garage for an art museum across from the Festival, and our Host got distracted and started to show us around the place a bit as most of the rooms were free of charge! The one we first went into had this super weird vibe, it was mainly white, and lit weird, it felt like something out of the Hunger Games, bahaha. Pictures really don't capture how creepy it was!




IMG_1322 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1325 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1326 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The last thing he showed us was this area, it was free to see from the top, and looked like the people in the bottom were on the bottom of a pool, but walking around, so weird!




IMG_1328 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Our next stop was to explore into the Geisha district! Our host led us through the winding streets, where we walked past some locals playing something like the "ball in a cup" game, but there was a hole in the ball you had to land on a spike! One of our group asked to try & we all joined in on the fun, everyone was cheering & excited it was just super neat! It took me AGES to finally get the ball in the cup so it was all cheers & excitement when I finally got it! Lol… The Geisha district was just teeeeeny winding roads, and there are dark stairs; to go down in the evening, and light, to come back up in the morning. We didn't see anyone out and about, but everyone is rather private. Still cool to see!




v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Now that I'm going through pictures I remember something about the two rivers, one was the female river & one was the male and they never intercepted? I'm not sure. It's been months. Lol. It's also super cute to note that there were little baby canals throughout Kanazawa, and our hosts said that if we were ever lost, the canals could lead us back to Pongyi lol!

We made a quick stop back at the house to pick up another guest before we headed over to a neighbouring Shinto Shrine, where we enjoyed a ritual all about harvesting crops & the like. We even got to try a little bit of sake afterwards!! The embarrassingly hilarious moment when Kara had it go down the wrong tube & inhaled it and had a coughing fit bahahah! When we got back to the house, the other guest asked our host about where that conveyer sushi place was. I overheard the word "Hamazushi" and perked up like no tomorrow, grabbing Kara. Surprise! Field trip number 3 as we all piled back into the car & went out for some dinner!!




v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v12 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Mochi's!!




v13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Man oh man do I miss that place, bahahah!

After that, we were pooped, and it was time to settle in to our insanely cozy beds to rest up for our next adventures!! Though our host did make ONE last stop for us at a 7-11 on the way home and showed us his favorite ice cream, of the mochi variety, so we picked up some of that to try later on!


----------



## katt789

*Monday October 17th*

Y'all….I somehow didn't write an update for today….and I definitely don't remember details, even DURING our trip there wasn't much I could remember #sleepdeprived I'm working from memory/photo order lol!

Kara & I probably slept in a little bit, those beds were SO comfy, and headed downstairs after getting ready. Pongyi sold bus tour passes for around 500Y, so we got those, some maps, and headed back to the Station to catch the bus. Our first tourist destination was the Kanazawa Castle!




IMG_1332 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1337 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v14 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1339 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1349 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

It was really pretty, and the grounds were all lush and green!




IMG_1350 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v17 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1356 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1356 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I low-key wanted to go up into the tower to get the birds eye view of the grounds, but you had to pay another fee on top of the gate fee and I was NOT about that life!




IMG_1360 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


We found our way back to the bus stop and hopped back on to hop off at some park/garden area….I'm so sorry but I have NO idea what it was called. I even just dug through my keepsake box to see if I still had the map…I found the bus pass but it's all in Japanese…bahahaha!




v15 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Y'all…bless Kara….she had the pictures labelled on facebook, it was Kenroku-en!




IMG_1376 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1377 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1388 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

It was pretty enough, but it was also super busy, we were bummed we weren't there when the leaves were turning, it would've been so beautiful. That seemed to be a theme of this trip a "this would be SO GORGEOUS during autumn foliage/cherry blossom season" bahahaha. Excuses to book a second trip, am I right?




IMG_1395 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Well, we had accomplished 2 things so far off our trip plans, and we were hungry, not really feeling anything else on the bus loop, we found some Wi-Fi, and googlemapped where Hamazushi was, as it hadn't been that far from where Pongyi was. We favorited it on the map, and compared to the bus loop, and found the bus stop closest to it. There was still about a 15 minute walk on the other end, but we made it with HUNGRY BELLIES.




v22 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

I also noticed this go around that there was HAMBURGER SUSHI!? I'M SORRY WHAT?




k2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It was surprisingly tasty, though Kara hated it because of the onions in it….sorry girl… GUYS WE ATE SO FREAKING MUCH. Seriously,  plates on plates of sushi, multiple desserts, udon/soba noodle bowls, ugh, it was amazing.




k3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

That's JUST my stack. Also in the back you can KIND OF see the little like, calculator looking thing. When you were done, you pushed a button for a server to come around and they'd total up how many of each price plate you had, and print of a little bill for you to take to the front to pay.

We basically ROLLED out of there, and found our way back to the bus loop, making one last stop at a little mall that was on the loop to explore a bit. I found some sweet potato ice cream that despite having eaten so much already, I still had to try.




k4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It was pretty good! The mall was decent, Kara found an entire floor of sewing supplies/scrapbooking crafty things & fabric that she wanted to buy ALL of, she said it was way cheaper than the stuff at home too, bummer we couldn't buy any. We also found a little pharmacy/Daiso section of the store where we picked up a few toiletries and I FINALLY BOUGHT SOME ALOE VERA! Guys, I'd gotten a WEE bit burnt like our FIRST day and still hadn't managed to find any until now! 

The bus was doing its final loop soon, so the two of us hopped back on and headed back to Pongyi, we showered, packed, and got ready to leave in the morning, but not before some more group fun! We were learning how to make paper cranes! Well…I was….Kara was a PRO, I got a lot of help from the Japanese woman beside me….




k8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
(excuse my hot mess of pajama choice that day, bahahaha)

We didn't have any big plans, though the rest of the group was going out to an Onsen, we weren't sure if it was one that allowed swimwear, AND we both have tattoos, so we chose to stay at home, where we had our ice cream mochi's for dinner because we WERE BROKE FROM SPENDING SO MUCH ON LUNCH.

It was to bed after some work on photos/blogs at that point!


----------



## katt789

*Tuesday October 18th*

Goooood morning! Our wake up call was around the same time this morning & we laid around in our comfy beds for a little bit, not wanting to leave our forts behind! I showered again, everything got packed up, and we took our linens downstairs to get checked out! 

Maru was quick to ask how everything was and make sure that our stay was comfortable & that we had gotten everything we had needed. (Obviously it was all amazing). She checked us out & even took some pictures for us on the way out! She said they would update their facebook page next month with all of this months photo's!




k5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
She also made sure to get a picture of Gelatoni on the side of Kara's bag, she'd just found him super adorable!! We said our final good byes & made our way over to the station. We picked up some breakfast & found our platform. 




k6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The train was fine, there was a winy kid that was annoying, and I was getting hungry which was making me hangry, but we survived all the way to Kyoto!!!! We found the directions to our AirBnB fairly easy to follow, a couple subway stops later we were at our station. Things got a little confusing here, they specifically said to MAKE SURE we took the Tazao exit 2 & NOT the Keihan line, but from where we were there was ONLY one exit 2. Hoping it was the right one we exited (up a million stairs) and when the directions matched the landmarks, we knew we were in the right place.

The house was close to the station, key was easy to get, and we were in our room in no time! It was a larger 3 story house, the first floor was a bathroom & bedroom, 2nd floor the common area, with a kitchen, bathroom, shower & laundry. Up on the top floor was our room, and another bedroom. The house had a/c in each room, fans & locks on the bedroom doors! Our room actually had 3 single beds, and 2 large closets! This was AMAZING since our plan was to COMPLETELY unpack everything since we really needed to re-organize our bags & we were here for 6 days! 

I studied the map they had left for us and noticed there was a grocery store nearby & said I NEEDED TO GO! Google maps took us around the back & we ended up walking an extra block out of the way but hey, we made it there in the end, and were greeted by THE MOST GLORIOUS OF SIGHTS!! ALLLL OF THE VEGETABLES!! And fresh produce!! We had fun looking through all the isles looking at stuff, picked up some fruit & veggies, ramen, bread, what I thought was peanut butter, and some sake & beer & tea/coffee drinks for mornings! The evening was spent just chilling at the BnB and heading to bed early, all that travel made us tired & we had an early morning ahead of us!!


----------



## MomoMama

And the great TR continues! 

First of all, so sorry to hear you lost your memory card!  But Japan really is one place you might recover any lost items, so wishing for you!

Looks like you did not pack your travel schedule too tightly, and that is smart.  Sometimes trying to visit everywhere and do everything would leave you with nothing but exhaustion.  I like reading that you enjoy the food you can get from convenience stores or grocery stores.  How was that soft green tea flavored pocky? 

The pics of Matsumoto castle are beautiful.  But you did not go inside?  I hear the waiting line can be long on weekends and holidays, but if you were there early in the morning, you probably would not have had problems getting inside.

I think this is the first time I see the pic of Kanazawa castle.  It looks pretty neat!  And seems there isn't many people there?  
it would have been so nice to see the fall foliage photos since you take amazing photos!


----------



## katt789

MomoMama said:


> And the great TR continues!
> 
> First of all, so sorry to hear you lost your memory card!  But Japan really is one place you might recover any lost items, so wishing for you!
> 
> Looks like you did not pack your travel schedule too tightly, and that is smart.  Sometimes trying to visit everywhere and do everything would leave you with nothing but exhaustion.  I like reading that you enjoy the food you can get from convenience stores or grocery stores.  How was that soft green tea flavored pocky?
> 
> The pics of Matsumoto castle are beautiful.  But you did not go inside?  I hear the waiting line can be long on weekends and holidays, but if you were there early in the morning, you probably would not have had problems getting inside.
> 
> I think this is the first time I see the pic of Kanazawa castle.  It looks pretty neat!  And seems there isn't many people there?
> it would have been so nice to see the fall foliage photos since you take amazing photos!



Yes!! Happy I'm back!!

Ugh, I'm SO BUMMED it never turned up, to my knowledge at least! It didn't turn up in the few weeks after so I'm sure I'll never get it back!!
Yes!! We had originally planned some days a bit crazy, but also knew we didn't know 100% train/flight times or the check in/out times so we planned it pretty well! Hahhaa! ITS SO GOOD, the stores here SUCK compared to them! I assume it was great? Lol, that picture was Kara's food!

Thank you!! No, either there was a cost? Or the line was forming before we realized and was too long for our morning!

Nice! It was pretty! I honestly don't remember a whole lot of details of that day at all, but it was pretty, and there wasn't a lot of people around, it was pretty large grounds too! UGH I'm so bummed, BUT we have plans to go back next year for cherry blossom season, so we're all REALLY excited about THAT!


----------



## katt789

Hey Y'all! SO, again, thank you for reeeeaaading! Come comment! I promise I don't bite! Lol. It's the night of the 25th right now, and I am getting all ready and doing the finishing touches to be able to leave for Florida BRIGHT AND EARLY 6 AM FLIGHT on the 27th!! I at this point, think I'm leaving the computer at home, hence the BUTTLOAD of updates before I leave. I'm going to polish off Kyoto now, and finish up with Hiroshima when I get home on the 5th.

For anyone with social media, feel free to follow along on our adventures "live style"
Instagram:
kattwyllie
magickingdomprince

Snapchat:
kattwy
sbmorasch

It''s sure to be a fun time, we've got a few dining things booked, TONS of first times for us (new stage show, new welcome show, new fireworks, new projection show, new star wars stuff, an elephant tour, rivers of light, and pandora, AND Disney Springs) We'll be at Art of Animation in a mermaid room for the entire time and celebrating BOTH our birthdays (which actually DO fall on our trip) Hope to see ya along the journey!! 


*Wednesday October 19th*

Today was one of the days that I was MOST excited for during our whole trip!! I was really hoping that it wasn't going to disappoint!! We got up SUUUPER early & had to take a couple trains for nearly an hour to reach our destination. To try and cut down on Transportation costs we looked for routes that were covered by our JR pass, which led us to a station on the opposite side of where we were going, but it was a multi entrance place, so we were totally fine!

Where was this magical destination, you may ask? Well, we were at the Arayshiyama Bamboo Grove! All the pictures and vlogs I'd seen looked truly magical, and it lived up to my expectations!!




IMG_1400 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1409 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The place was beautiful, we took SO many photos, and I played model for Kara for a bit when she got bored of taking pictures of just bamboo! Lol




v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v12 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

#mermaidlife since I was in my Ariel bound.




v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1454 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

One of us has clearly held onto more of our dance skills over the past few years…




v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

One of the nicest things was that because it was so early, and so far out of the city, there was practically no one around, so it was easy to get empty pictures!! It was just so serene, quiet & calming. Which really is one of my favorite things about most of the places we explored in Japan, everything was peaceful, about appreciating where you were in the moment, blocking out the real world. It was glorious.




IMG_1410 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Kara & I photographed our way through the grove & continued to wander around the area. There wasn't much to look at, we found some cool looking buildings, some signs about watching out for scammers, and eventually looped back through the grove.




IMG_1415 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1443 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1460 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1462 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

We had a plan to stop at a Temple that was on our list. Well, I called it, by this point in the trip, we'd seen so many temples, and this one cost money, and that was too much at this point, bahaahhaah, so we skipped it! Back out on the main road, we came across a bunch of little shops & eateries that had all been closed earlier. It was about time for second breakfast, and there was one place that had Bamboo Udon!! YUM! And fun to try!!




IMG_1477 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

It was DELICIOUS!! Seriously, I wish I could have some more right now!! While we ate we pulled up Google Maps to try & see if we could find the Monkey Park & decided that it looked like it was a straight shot down the road we were on, so that was our next destination! The road had TOOONNNSSS of little shops filled with souvenirs, food, trinkets & lots of overpriced things, it really reminded me of Banff the way it was all set up, and in a valley! At the end of the road we found the entrance to the Monkey Park & paid our fee to get inside.




v15 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v14 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1483 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1485 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

What we DIDN'T know, was that we were ABOUT TO CLIMB A MOUNTAIN to get up there! We were both in skirts & not good climbing shoes, but it had to be done, right?!?! Bahaha. I was also SUPER nervous about the monkeys being loose, which in turn made me more nervous because I figured they could "smell fear" bahahaha!! Luckily, our hike didn't involve getting attacked by any monkeys! After our climb, we emerged into a little playground & rest area, unsure of whether it was for little chans or the monkeys, we stayed on the path and headed to the tippy top, WHERE THE MONKEYS WERE ROOOOAAAAMING EVERYWWWHEERRREEE freely! 




v19 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v18 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Freaky.




v17 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v16 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The view was also STUNNING, Kyoto is HUGE!! The view of the city alone was worth the mountain climb! And then there was the added bonus of slightly controlled wildlife, lol. There were keepers(? Sure. Lets call them that) and the top with us, who kept an eye on the animals, and a little building we could go inside to rest. Inside they also sold drinks, snacks, and small trinkets, AND the BEST PART!! They sold apple slices & peanuts that YOU COULD FEEEED THE MONKEYS WITH!! AND the best part of that was that it was US that were in the cage!




v20 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

In place of windows was a wire window! The monkeys would climb around on it, and stick their hand through when they wanted to be fed!




v21 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v22 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1500 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1503 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

We bought a couple bags & spent a while feeding them & chilling out with them, it was so fun! They were so polite & would take the food right out of your hand with theirs! And once they knew you were all out, they'd hop right over to someone else, lol. ADORABLE.




k5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Kara was braver than I and ventured further up a pathway past the building but I was seriously uneasy around the free unsupervised monkeys so I hung around with the keepers & took in the views.




v24 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v23 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


After we had been up there a while & recovered from the climb up, it was time to climb down! Lol, it was easier going down so that was good! We continued along the way we had been going but after a bit thought it might not actually lead anywhere. Kara was looking for a baby kimono for her cousin's baby, so we walked back through the main touristy street to see if we could fine one! Naturally, we got distracted, and surprise, it was by an ice cream shop! I always like to see if they have any fun flavours, and THEY DID!! Cherry blossom!!




k6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It was good!! I'm pretty sure Kara got green tea, seems like something she would do again! Lol. We had no luck finding kimonos at a price she wanted to pay (everything was a bit overpriced since it was a tourist area) so we found ourselves back on the train home.

Our comfy beds were calling us after an early morning & climbing a mountain we were not prepared for! It was also our first encounter with our Host! All the reviews said they had never seen the host during their stay, but it became obvious they weren't tourists who came home midday! Lol. After a little rest, we looked up where the Donki store was, and figured out how to get there. It was about 40 mins away, but we really wanted those onesies! #commitment The train was more than easy enough to figure out, but once we were out of the station we were pretty much lost. I had the directions still open but Google wasn't registering WHERE WE were, and it was super frustrating & making me angry! Lol. Eventually, and with Kara's calming, we did find it! 

Unluckily for us, they had no onesies that were Disney, just some crappy ones mixed in with their Halloween costumes. Waaaahhh! I was able to replace my lost memory cards though! Got 2 new ones, some face masks, beer, candy, instant coffee & instant milk tea packets & possibly some other small things for around $60!! Mega awesome since that was two 32gb memory cards!! No onesies in hand, we walked back to the train & made our way home. The night was young, but we're gramma's who had an early morning, so it was maybe 1 beer and then bed!


----------



## katt789

*Thursday October 20th*

Hey guys!!! So, what do you think? Were we up early, AGAIN! Yup.... We were. Luckily we didn't have quite as far to go today, and arrived at the Fushimi Inari Shrine faster than I thought we would! Unfortunately, it was already a bit crowded even though it was still early. It was MUCH more IN the city than the bamboo grove was, bummer? Bahahah.




v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1506 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

At the entrance there was your usual shrines, temples mixed in with gift shops. We knew we would come back through here later, so we headed to the mountain trail of Tori Gates! They were GORGEOUS! (This was another thing I was crazy excited about!) 




IMG_1521 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1522 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1524 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1526 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1531 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1532 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

It started with a small hill lined with smaller gates, where we took a bunch of photos. I was standing, camera ready to take a picture, Kara waiting for the people to pass by so I could take said picture of her, when this foreign couple pushed their way in front of us, set up their tripod & then asked me to move because I was in the way..



*le sigh*

I couldn't tell you how many times I said "effing tourists" on this trip. I get that we were ones, but at least we are polite, knowledgeable about the culture & ethics of where we were going and such. Ugh. Rudeness aside, we continued climbing, thinking the further we climbed the less people there would be. The smaller Tori gates ended and there was a clearing & separate path of gates leading back down, or a path of larger gates leading up the mountain.




IMG_1541 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



You can guess which one we took!


It was seriously such an incredible sight, all these gorgeous red gates, lining the pathways, surrounded by this gorgeous forest & nature. Again, super peaceful, relaxing and quiet. Every so often it would open up to a clearing and it was all "choose your own adventure" to which path you'd take lol.




v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1543 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1548 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1556 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

We did eventually make it all the way to the top before we started our descent. 




k3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1580 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1587 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The thing that I really love about all the touristy things in Japan is that they're all so spiritual. You don't have to have any specific type of beliefs to feel the spirituality either. It's just something there. They're majestic, calming, respectful places to be able to visit, and I'm so happy I was able to visit so many of them!

As we neared the bottom of the mountain, it was starting to get CRAZY! I can't imagine what this place is like on weekends!! There were people EVERYWHERE!! We browsed the shops for a bit & I FINALLY found some post cards!! Yay!! Down a corner, we found rows upon rows of street food and other vendors! I got a little pastry with some custard inside:




k7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It looked way better than it tasted. Womp womp.

Kara found a hurricane potato!




k6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

And upon seeing that, I realized how much I was craving something salty, and was super happy to see sweet potato fries right beside us! I was disappointed when they turned out to be covered in sugar, not salt, but they were still good.




v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Since we had Wi-Fi, and were in (what we figured would be) our last city with Hamazushi, you can figure out where we went for lunch.


...oh...and it was half an hour out of the way...



BAHAAH!

Yeah... We're crazy. 



BUT ITS SO GOOOOD!! 

We were both SO glad Alicia told us about it, as it obviously ended up being our favorite place. I mean, the quality was great, quantity was awesome for what you paid, the screen to order was awesome (and in English) and IT PLAYED THE SONG for your food, like, what could be better than that?!? Neither of us ate as much as we had the previous time, in fact, our plate stacks were PITIFUL, but we both had filling beer, filling soup & multiple desserts, bahah.

Home was calling our names after lunch, and we were quick to collapse in our beds. It really seemed like we'd only done one thing, but we were super tired by this point, and still had another 2 countries to get through!!!  We were both also super bad at remembering everything we had planned for our days this late in the game, I'd open up the PTR to remember what we were doing since my plans were at home most days! Lol.

Today, we took it easy, climbing into bed, catching up on our blogging/trip reporting, and of course Netflix while we drank some of the beers we had from Donki. When it was time to start thinking about dinner, ALL that we wanted was PIZZA!! I knew Domino's existed in Japan & decided to see what I could manage. GUYS! Turns out you don't even NEED to input an address, you can let your GPS tell them where you are!!

So duh.  We ordered pizza & spent the evening watching YouTube videos! There's a channel that has "kids react to____" and we did a bunch of those, including kids naming classic Disney songs, adults try to guess the song by one note, kids react to Miranda Sings, Miranda Sings reacts to kids reacting to Miranda, bahaha. It was a GRAND time. The pizza was also DELICIOUS, and nothing like American Dominos! The cheese wasn't heavy, the crust tasted lighter & the sauce wasn't as full of sugar! Eating the entire thing didn't even leave us bloated and full! THANK YOU JAPAN!



Best. Night. Ever.


----------



## katt789

*Friday October 21*

So. Freaking. Tired.

Seriously.

'Cause like, 3 weeks of straight travelling is supposed to be relaxing or something? Bahaha. And it was a HECK of an early wake up call today, a nice 6:00 am alarm time! Luckily, we don't take long to get ready!

Our destination today was Nara, a smaller town outside Kyoto you might know as the "place with the deer" lol. It was covered (mainly) by our JR Pass to get there, and took about 1 hr and a half. We arrived, and I stopped to pick up a coffee and ended up picking up a Milk Tea Crossoint! Yum!!  There were a few tourist maps around, so it was easy enough to get our bearings and head off to Nara park! Kara has a thing for Pagoda's, so we got distracted…




IMG_1613 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


 Our first glance was at a smaller edge of a park with a handful of deer wandering around!!




IMG_1624 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

We ventured further in & saw one playing around in the mud, we took some pictures of it & Kara went closer to say hello, which is when it shook like a dog & got mud EVERYWHERE, including some on Kara lol.




IMG_1626 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1627 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

When we ventured further into the field, there were a TON more deer! We picked a friendly looking one laying down around the edge & hung around with it for a while.




v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1631 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1643 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1648 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

We saw a baby hanging around by itself, and since the deer were all pretty used to people we hung out with it for a while, IT WAS SO SOFT!




IMG_1651 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




k2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1665 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




k1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


Kara knew she wanted to feed them (I did too) and she was dying watching all the people getting swarmed by deer when they had food, so she bought some of the specific "deer crackers" from a lady selling them in the corner of the park and went to town while I video'd/took pictures.




v7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It was SERIOUSLY hilarious! First just one or two would notice you had food, then out of nowhere you'd be SURROUNDED by them!  Some of them would get antsy and start biting your clothes or nudging you when they wanted more, but the nice thing was when you were done, you held your hands up, and they knew you had no more! Hahaha!! I tried my hand at it too, it was super fun, kinda scary when they'd surround you but at least they knew when you'd ran out!




v14 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We hung around the side of the park with some chill deer for a while, took some selfies, lol, found a little baby deer too!! While we were hanging around a group of girls came up to us & a couple asked for some pictures with us, which we happily said yes to lol. So weird that they find foreigners just so interesting, or whatever it was! Lol!! I wanted to feed the deer again, so I bought some more biscuits, and this time, remembered to bow to the deer first, AND THEY WOULD BOW BACK and then take the food (well, some of them would) AND IT WAS THE CUTEST AND MOST WONDERFUL THING WE'D EVER SEEN!! 




IMG_1676 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

We also noticed that the female deer were WAY nicer than the males, so we tried to stay away from the dudes. Kara warned me about one coming up behind me, I threw him a small piece, and fed the good ones the last of my crackers, then held my hands up to show I had no more. Then the little jerk decides to HEAD BUTT ME! Uhm NO SIR!! Right in the butt, and he had horns too! (They were little ones, but STILL) it was both traumatizing & hilarious at the same time!




IMG_1680 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Our favorite moment came when we pulled out the vlogging camera to try & selfie with our favorite deer friend. She hung around for a long time even though we weren't feeding her! Kara had the screen flipped up so we could see, and we tried to take a few selfies, then we pointed the reflection out to the deer and she PERKED RIGHT UP, AND WE GOT THE GREATEST SELFIE IN HISTORY!




v12 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Like, there's no way she DIDN'T see herself, it was BEYOND adorable!!

In total, we spent around 2 HOURS hanging around in that corner of Nara Park, watching the deer, people watching, making deer friends & petting them & feeding them. It was super nice & relaxing, one of my favorite memories of the trip!! And SO cute that the deer would bow for food!!


----------



## katt789

b]Saturday October 22nd[/b]

Sleep was crucial this morning, we both slept way later than normal! I rolled over at one point & since my phone was far from my bed, checked my IPod for the time & since it hadn't adjusted from last night, I thought we'd slept til 10! Kara was still out, so I rolled back over & eventually got up when she did, and it turned out to only be like 8:45! Bahaha. We had a super lazy morning before getting ready. There was a festival going on in Kyoto that weekend, all about the heritage, culture, and beginnings of the city. There was even a parade & it came right by the main road by the house! Awesome!

Despite having breakfast already, when we claimed our parade spots we took turns running to the store for snacks. I was finally able to get the green smoothie I had been CRAVING! The downside was that I was NOT feeling well this morning, my stomach was bothering me and just overall I wasn't feeling it! I managed to stick it out for 1/2 the parade before I told Kara I needed to go lie down.




IMG_1736 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1738 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1747 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


The parade was neat, but meh, kinda boring, but neat to see some of the traditional stuff!! Kara finished watching it while I had a little nap before she came back to the house to eat lunch. I told her I would do the laundry we'd been needing to do so I wouldn't feel completely useless! Lol.




v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


Kara had an adventure on the other hand! She wandered through Gion, and actually saw a Geisha!! She said it was kinda stressful watching since there were SO MANY tourists & photographers just acting like CRAZY paparazzi waiting outside tea houses, or SWARMING cabs the moment they would pull up. When she finally did see a Geisha she said the poor girl looked terrified and was walking super fast trying to get away from it all. I guess, neat to see her, but sad to see how obnoxious people have gotten it, like, just pay for the ceremony if you wanna see one that badly!!




v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

In her wanderings she was searching for Daiso (the dollar store) and came across a Disney Store which she snap chatted me from & I immediately insisted we go back the next day, cause like, you went somewhere Disney without me!!!

BUT

It was okay because she came back with presents.




k1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

(I'd commented the day prior in Nara that I was SO SAD I DIDN'T GET A BAMBI TSUM in Tokyo, and she was awesome enough to buy it for me…find a best friend like Kara)

Kara also said that it was SO nice to be able to wander around a city at night completely alone, and feel completely safe! The route even took her along the river, in some cities that would mean the ULTIMATE of sketch! Oh Japan, you are WONDERFUL!! We both went to bed pretty early that night, I was still feeling meh, and I wanted to make sure I got as better as possible before we got to China, the land where you need a prescription for a Tylenol....


----------



## katt789

*Sunday October 23rd*

Today ended up being what was our extra day in Kyoto! We had added it in when we booked hotels because we felt we had too much to do, and that the festival in town would increase crowds. When we began looking at what we actually had planned we considered taking a little side trip to Osaka, maybe even going to Universal! 

But we broke.

Bahaha. Okay, not broke, but trying to budget & we could spend that $80 on something better anyways, so we stuck around in Kyoto. Plus, a friend had posted a beautiful picture of Daigo-ji in autumn the night before so we decided we needed to go! Bahaha.




IMG_1749 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1752 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I was feeling a bit better today too! The bit of sleeping in helped!! It cost 600¥ to get into the temple & its garden, and it was gorgeous!There was another Pagoda that we stopped for




v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Kara was playing around with the vlogging/point & shoot camera & it's fun effects today, and y'all, this was just the START of something loopy…




v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We both really wished we were in Japan for more of the autumn foliage, we kept holding out, hoping that the next city would be more colorful, but most were mainly green.




IMG_1772 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1773 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1774 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1783 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

#autumn

We wandered around taking pictures, I lost Kara at one point, but she was just hidden by trees lol.




IMG_1784 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1800 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1816 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1818 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1826 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1836 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Once we'd found each other we found a nice little rock that (REBEL) was behind the rope, but Kara gave no cares, and I got one of my favorite shots!




IMG_1843 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1844 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

We also spent a good chunk of time trying to get proper pictures of both of us without them being selfies lol. We had the camera balanced on a bush at one point, lol. 




IMG_1848 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr (that's the bush one…..)


Twenty days in & we were getting majorly loopy. We joked about how poor Abby would be meeting us next week & be all "*** is wrong with you guys?!" Bahahah.




v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Yup…that's ma bes fraaaan




IMG_1851 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1853 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Temple fully explored, I stated I wanted to go to the Disney Store (duh) so we trained back to the station by the house & walked down along the river to get there! I picked up a few more Tsums for myself, Judy Hopps, Boo in her pink pj's (the same for Abby) and Nick & Judy for Amanda! I also threw a Nick Wilde face mask in for Amanda & found a little cute change purse style bag with a Pooh Bear design to keep my memory cards more safe in! We spent a good chunk of time in the store & had to remind ourselves how much space we had left to buy stuff lol!

Next I knew I needed more setting powder, and Kara had seen a MAC, so we swung over there (it was more expensive than home, womp). The department store we were in ended up having a CRAZY amount of floors & we finally found the Pokémon store Kara had been looking for the day before, and then tracked down some lunch. The top floor was all fancier restaurants, and the cheaper stuff was down in the basement. Although it still took AGES to find a place to sit & eat. We ended up getting some cheap & nice curry at a little place & picked up some dessert from elsewhere on the way out. I was also ESTATIC to notice an all vegetarian place selling smoothies & pre-made DELICIIOUS LOOKING SALADS FULL OF VEGGIES & NUTS & BERRIES & AVACADO! I promptly bought one, and the cashier noted the expiry date before we left. It was only upon going to eat the salad the next day that I realized the expiry date WAS THE DAY I BOUGHT IT.

It was a VERY sad occasion. Bahaha!

We were still craving junk food, so for our last night in Kyoto, we stopped in the grocery store & bought all kinds of sweets & chips & ate them while we packed & cracked open the sake! Kara hates liquor, but I made her try it straight, just a sip then she mixed it with her Orangina. The evening was spent re-packing &  re-evaluating what things we REALLY needed and what could be left behind in Kyoto. I ended up tossing a few toiletries & pairs of shoes. One pair were fake Toms that weren't worn in properly & pinched my feet if I wore them all day. I knew I wouldn't wear them, so they were done. The other was my LOVES, the teeny lace up style flat/runners, kinda like converse but they'd gotten wet too many times & despite being in decent condition, they were stiiiiiiiinky (and also had been super cheap so there was no worry there). With that, we made sure we had everything packed, sorted our garbage downstairs & called it a night!!


----------



## katt789

Here's the vlogs we have goin on so far!!


----------



## katt789

Tokyo City Vlogs


----------



## MomoMama

LOVE those deer selfies!    How cute is that deer!!! 
Butt heading deer does sounds funny, but seriously, glad you were not hurt! 

It is kind of funny that you were asked to have the photos taken with locals. Nara is one of the most visited place, and it's not rare to see foreign tourists these days.  I am wondering if they thought you girls were actresses or someone famous? Or maybe they were your social media followers...  Or were you doing one of those impressive dance moves like you did in the bamboo forest?  

Bamboo forest and Fushimi Inari...2 places I would looove to visit in Kyoto!  They are so beautiful!  

Too bad to hear ill-mannered tourists though.  I think tripods are banned in most places in Kyoto.  And it's common sense not to use them in narrow spaces or crowded place.   But it's not like this is at Disney, where CM would be working around and checking offenders... 

Hope you will have a magical time at WDW!


----------



## katt789

All this feeding was making OUR tummies growl!! So we headed back into town a little bit, and down a little side street in search of cheap lunch! The place we ended up at was good! I got breaded salmon with rice, it also came with a teeny pasta salad, some veggies, and miso soup! I think Kara got a similar one but with chicken, and she was even nice enough to pay! (Since I'd paid for the pizza last night lol)




k3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



While we were chowing down, I pulled out our touring plan so we didn't skip anything, and the map to try and figure out how to get around. There was a shrine directly up the main road, and a Buddha shrine off to our left, so we opted to visit them in that order and made on our way!



The first shrine had SO many pathways leading around it, and just as many deer as there were in the park! Though these ones weren't as tame and didn't want to hang out with us as we walked. Lol.




k4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v15 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



The shrine was pretty, there were lots of kids all dressed up too! In like, little kimono outfits, so kawaii! The pathways of the shrine were lined with stone lanterns all throughout the area. We explored parts but when there got to be too many stairs we decided to say we'd seen enough! Lol. We were not up for unexpectedly climbing a mountain for the third day in a row!




IMG_1688 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1701 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1710 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1719 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



The Buddha Shrine was next, it was pretty easy to get to, and there were deer EVERYWHERE! Along with people, SUCH a cluster! We took our time wandering through the crowds & up to the gates, where we realized you had to pay, and it was more than we were willing to spend on temple seeing. Especially since you could see through the gates! Lol.




IMG_1728 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1732 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Kara wanted to feed the deer again, so we picked up more crackers & she fed them again! They were going insane with the biting! (Just her clothes though) they kept grabbing the waistband of her leggings & snapping them on her! Bahaahha!! As we were just about to leave the area we got approached by a group of school children who were learning their English. They had a worksheet of a few questions to ask us & fill out; where we were from, our names, what we thought about their culture & something about where we were from. They took pictures with us & then gave us a little paper crane mobile to thank us for our time! SO CUTE!



Not even 5 minutes a second group stopped us and we did the same thing, lol. It was super cute & I enjoyed talking with them, they were all super polite & were excited when we said we were from Canada! Hahaha! Kara & I found our way back to the train station where I picked up a snack for the train;




k5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



 & found our way back home; we updated notes & vlogs & called it a night. I mean, we were tired, it was the first day in Kyoto we'd actually stayed out ALL DAY, bahahaha!!


----------



## missangelalexis

Beautiful pics of Matsumoto-jo!

Your time in Kanazawa sounds awesome. It's great that your hosts were able to take you out to places and organize group activities!

Love the photos at the Bamboo Grove & Monkey Grove!

Those deer pictures are awesome (especially the selfies!!), what a fun experience!

I'm sorry you started to feel ill, how nice of Kara to bring you back a present!

The pictures at Daigo-ji are so beautiful!


----------



## katt789

MomoMama said:


> LOVE those deer selfies!    How cute is that deer!!!
> Butt heading deer does sounds funny, but seriously, glad you were not hurt!
> 
> It is kind of funny that you were asked to have the photos taken with locals. Nara is one of the most visited place, and it's not rare to see foreign tourists these days.  I am wondering if they thought you girls were actresses or someone famous? Or maybe they were your social media followers...  Or were you doing one of those impressive dance moves like you did in the bamboo forest?
> 
> Bamboo forest and Fushimi Inari...2 places I would looove to visit in Kyoto!  They are so beautiful!
> 
> Too bad to hear ill-mannered tourists though.  I think tripods are banned in most places in Kyoto.  And it's common sense not to use them in narrow spaces or crowded place.   But it's not like this is at Disney, where CM would be working around and checking offenders...
> 
> Hope you will have a magical time at WDW!



They were all so adorable!! (I also totally missed a Nara update when you read them! No tsure if you caught that1)

Hahahah, I'd heard it happened a lot, I know the last 2 were school groups who were doing projects that involved talking to tourists & taking their picture with us!

They're so amazing!! I'm so glad we got to see them!! THat wouldn't surprise me!! I had looked into a tripod for the trip but didn't end up having money for one, I think I'll end up getting one of those beanbag camera holder things lol for the future trips!!



missangelalexis said:


> Beautiful pics of Matsumoto-jo!
> 
> Your time in Kanazawa sounds awesome. It's great that your hosts were able to take you out to places and organize group activities!
> 
> Love the photos at the Bamboo Grove & Monkey Grove!
> 
> Those deer pictures are awesome (especially the selfies!!), what a fun experience!
> 
> I'm sorry you started to feel ill, how nice of Kara to bring you back a present!
> 
> The pictures at Daigo-ji are so beautiful!



Thank you!!! It was SUCH a great time, honestly I don't remember too much about the city itself but Kara & I will ALWAYS speak highly of the guest house, it was so amazing!!!

Thanks! It was SO fun, we loved hanging out with the deer, and the bamboo grove was stunning!!
I think my body just needed a bit of a break, I'm just happy it happened the day it did lol! Right? She's awesome!!


----------



## katt789

*Monday October 24th*

Today is the DAY! We are travelling to our FINAL destination in Japan!!! Ahhhh!! WHERE DOES THE TIME EVEN GO?!?!??



Kara & I headed down to Kyoto station, where we booked seats for Hiroshima. There was a bit of a panic when the agent said "its sold out". Thankfully, the English was a barrier, and there was one a few hours later, it was JUST the one right away that was sold out! Phew!  We booked it, and hung around the waiting room for an hour or so before we stopped for lunch.




k1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



They had neat coffee things, which smelt SO GOOD, I had to get a coffee, lunch was good, then it was back to the waiting room for another hour or so before we FINALLY got to get on a train!! The first leg was a bullet train from Kyoto to Osaka & I KID YOU NOT WE WERE THERE IN FIFTEEN MINUTES! 




k4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Man! We really could've gone to Universal for cheap!! Guess we know for next time!




k5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



We had a brief stop where we ate some ice cream & pretended we had visited Osaka before boarding the second train & soon found ourselves in Hiroshima! The hostel had sent us specific directions on various modes of transportation on how to get there from the station, and as I was pulling it out, a station...information... Worker(? Bahaha) nearly ran up to us to help us out! She gave us multiple maps & confirmed what we pretty much already knew, but it was just SO NICE!! We thanked her profusely & headed to the exit. 



There were a few ways to get to our hostel & one was to take the sightseeing bus, and since it was FREE with a JR pass, you can bet which one we went for. We got outside & barely had time to look around before a random Japanese woman came up asking if we needed help finding anything! SERIOUSLY THIS PLACE IS WONDERFUL!! We said we were headed to the sightseeing bus & she pointed us in the right direction. I then saw her run over to the "out of service" bus to talk to the driver quickly before she ran all the way over to the bus stop to confirm with us what time it came & direction it went! SO NICE!!



Shortly after boarding the bus we arrived at Santiago Guesthouse Hiroshima. It was...interesting... A very basic hostel set up. We were in an 8 bed dorm, they were kind of capsule like beds, which at first Kara thought was super cool lol. The odd thing to me was that there was simply a code to get into the FLOOR of the hostel & then no locks on any of the doors.... So anyone on your floor could waltz into your room? Yup. AND the code for each floor was the SAME, so legit ANYONE could waltz into your room. I thought it was super sketch, but Kara said she'd stayed in worse in Europe & I definitely believe that! At least it was all super new & clean!! 



Looking at the map on the way in we'd noticed multiple Daiso's and a Donki super close by, with ONE LAST CHANCE to get onesies, we went on our way. THE STORE WAS HUUUUGE! We're talking, like, 6 floors of cheap goodness!!




v00 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



We both picked up some crazy kit-kat flavors, some face masks, I debated buying colored contacts for cosplay, and alas, we found NO ONESIES. (That were Disney) UGH! Kara wished she had bought the Stitch one at the first store we'd been at!! Sad about that, we ended up wandering around the streets for a while just checking things out. I was surprised to see that Hiroshima was a very big city, the area we were in was full of super tall buildings and neon signs! Eventually, we stumbled upon a super adorable Italian place & ended up having pizza & sangria for dinner! Bahaha! It was really delicious & the place was SO cute!




k3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Kara got the "American pizza" which was pizza with French fries on it, she'd had it in….Italy? Somewhere in Europe, but we're like 999999% SURE that THESE FRIES WERE LEGIT FROM MCDONALDS! Like, actually. They were also just kinda thrown on top, she said the one in Europe was way better, though I could imagine McD's tasting fries on a delicious pizza crust would be the BEST drunk food. They also had wine bottle like, chandeliers here, I thought I had a pic, but I must've just snapped it!

Kara & I LOVED our dinner & headed back to our Hostel where we put some of our Donki Face masks to work!




v0 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

(I had no clue she took that picture) THOUGH, she creeped up into my bed space and I thought she looked like something from a horror movie, bahahha! I posted the pic to Facebook and HER MOM of all people was the person to comment "that's creepy" BAHAHAH




k6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Really tho…

Despite the horror movie villain in the bunk under me, I did eventually get to sleep that night. Both Kara & I thought at first that the SLIGHT "capsule" style beds were cool, and had no problems, and thought they were comfy…at FIRST. Like, halfway through the night, not so much, it wasn't the greatest sleep either of us had.


----------



## katt789

*Tuesday October 25th*

Our first morning in Hiroshima! We were up around 8:30, got ourselves ready & headed out to the sightseeing bus stop. We'd been there barely a minute when Kara realized we hadn't checked what time the bust STARTED running. 



#derp



It wasn't for another few HOURS! Luckily, our destination wasn't too far on foot (another reason we had chosen that hostel) so we set out on an adventure! The first stop was the Peace Memorial Park, 




v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1873 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1874 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1861 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1864 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1870 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Wandering through took us to the Children's Memorial, which was FULL of paper cranes, and even pictures made out of tiny & different colored cranes!



v7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr








IMG_1885 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1886 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1887 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The story behind the cranes is of a very young girl, she was a mere 2km away from ground zero, escaped, and managed 3 months until she started showing symptoms of leukemia from radiation poisoning. Apparently her hospital roommate told her of the Japanese legend that one who folds 1000 paper cranes is granted a wish, and they taught her how to fold them. There are multiple stories onto whether she completed the 1000, and was buried with them, or whether she finished a bit more than half, and her classmates finished the rest, or if she hit her 1000 and her classmates folded another 1000 that were buried with her. Either way the story ends, it still holds a very strong place in the Hiroshima Memorial.




IMG_1889 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1890 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1888 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



  I specifically enjoyed the one of Obama.  



We wandered over to the A- Bomb Dome last, there were too many tour groups in the first part of the park, and TONS over at the dome, so we picked a bench across the river to hang out on for a bit. The walk through the park had been rather somber, it brought up feelings & questions like how the human race could suck so much, how long it takes before sights of immense tragedy & horror go from a place people quietly go to pay their respects for the lives lost, go to mourn their friends or family who were killed, to a tourist attraction. A place where people take selfies, smiling and laughing with their friends, how long did it take for Hiroshima, Ground Zero to change into a place tick off a travel list? How long would it take for Pulse to turn into that? (edit…even at time of us being in Hiroshima there were already people going to Pulse taking selfies and throwing up peace signs…meanwhile I couldn't even make it through the episode of Glee I watched last night that had a "shooting" in it completely unexpected……)



Our little bench talks started out with that, (you'll notice there isn't a single selfie or picture in front of anything but the cranes). We moved along to a bit of a political talk after that (not gonna write ANY details on that because I know everyone has their opinions, heck, *we're Canadian*, AND the election will have already happened by the time we get back...and definitely by the time this gets posted!) It was only natural that we somehow ended up talking about Disney, favorite characters, rides, our first time in the parks. I seriously don't know HOW we progressed through conversation like that, but it's what best friends do, and it was lovely.  We'd noticed the crowds around the actual dome had lightened up, so we walked on over there to check things out.




v12 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1898 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1904 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_1913 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_1915 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

Hiroshima Castle was the next logical thing to see, and it was an easy walk that way! It was a neat castle, very vast & large grounds.




v13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v14 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v15 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1927 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



 You could pay to go in the castle & up to the top which I'm sure had a glorious view, but we opted out, lol, seeing the castle was nice enough! 




IMG_1936 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v17 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v18 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1945 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


v19 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Half the day gone, we were hungry, and 3 weeks of ramen, sushi & udon was catching up with us, all we wanted was a BURGER! Luckily, there was some Wi-Fi, and we were able to find a restaurant with American food for lunch! The place itself reminded me of a little dive bar, kinda sketchy, but decent. Though the beer was outrageously priced, so we stuck with water. The burgers however, WERE AH-MAY-ZING! They REALLY hit the spot & were JUST perfect!! ETA: I HAD COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE BURGERS UNTIL I WAS WORKING ON THE TR AND LET ME TELL YOU, MAN OH MAN THEY WERE SO FREAKING GOOD!!



After lunch we were both craving dessert, and I really wanted a nice glass of wine. We wandered around the streets of Hiroshima for a while, discovered another Daiso, bought some more cheap stuff we didn't *really* need, and found a PET STORE WITH PUPPIES!! I dragged Kara in & nearly had to drag her out after she discovered the ADORABLE PUG PUPPY! Seriously, she could've stayed in there all day!! There were so many cute animals in there!!




v20 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Eventually, we said goodbye to the furry friends, and gave up on finding somewhere open with what we wanted & picked up a bottle of wine & snacks from 711!! Legit... 711 BRAND wine, lol. Kara & I decided that maybe we'd try to be social while we enjoyed our treats (and figured this was the kind of place that would charge us if we spilt red wine on the sheets....hahaha) so we brought our wine into the common room to drink. Guys... I've never been in a more quiet & awkward hostel common area ever! It was 100% quiet, no one was talking, and when we walked in everyone stared at us before going back to their own lives.



#whatevs



We sat there for a few hours going through old Disney pictures and talking about all the memories we had from before we met; before our stomachs were wanting more than snacks & we knew it was time for dinner. There was an Italian restaurant directly across from us (like so close we could still connect to the Hostel Wi-Fi!) and we ended up with a cheese pizza to share & some more wine & sangria. We then hung around there having a "vacation" evening reminiscing about times during our program and just having a good relaxing time! It was so nice to have spent so much of the day relaxing, talking & just enjoying each other's company!!


----------



## missangelalexis

Sounds like a great first day at Hiroshima!


----------



## MomoMama

Oh, Hiroshima!
I, too, feel wired that people are taking smiling selfies there.  I have been there long time ago when I was a kid, waaaaaay before this "selfie" and tour group era.  I don't remember seeing smiling faces there.  Things seem to have changed.   I was 11 or 12, old enough to learn about the war, and was about the same age as the girl of the peace statue.  I remember the mixed feelings I had ...feeling uncomfortable, uneasy, scared, sad...can't really describe.  Whatever our political views, we all want peace! 

Sounds like your trip was a great mixture of touring, good food, and fun time with your friend.  Really wonderful!

BTW, those purebred cuties are so expensive in Japan!  I am a pug fan too, and hope to have him someday!


----------



## katt789

missangelalexis said:


> Sounds like a great first day at Hiroshima!


It was great!! A very different style of day, but we still had a wonderful time!



MomoMama said:


> Oh, Hiroshima!
> I, too, feel wired that people are taking smiling selfies there.  I have been there long time ago when I was a kid, waaaaaay before this "selfie" and tour group era.  I don't remember seeing smiling faces there.  Things seem to have changed.   I was 11 or 12, old enough to learn about the war, and was about the same age as the girl of the peace statue.  I remember the mixed feelings I had ...feeling uncomfortable, uneasy, scared, sad...can't really describe.  Whatever our political views, we all want peace!
> 
> Sounds like your trip was a great mixture of touring, good food, and fun time with your friend.  Really wonderful!
> 
> BTW, those purebred cuties are so expensive in Japan!  I am a pug fan too, and hope to have him someday!



Yes!! I feel like that's how I felt about 9/11, I was in about grade 6? Maybe a year younger, and didn't really understand the whole thing, the Pulse shooting is right up my alley though, so I get the whole thing a lot more now (hauntingly fitting that today is the 1 year anniversary too) Peace is the goal, always.

It was a great time!! I'm so lucky to have found Kara & have similar travelling styles as her, it works out great!! Ha! I BET!!! Kara does have a pug right now, his name is Timon and HE'S ADORABLE, lol. She wants about 50 more, lol!


Also thank you to both of you for constantly reading & replying!!! I feel like this trip report is so long that some people ahve lost interest! Hahaha!


----------



## katt789

*Wednesday October 26th*

Morning guys!! What's the most logical thing to do EARLY in the morning after a night of a few glasses of wine?! Why, go on a bus adventure of course!! Kara had figured out the way to get to the JR station to get to Miyajima earlier, so we were taking the tram! It was cute and trolley like, but also didn't take the Pasmo cards we still had (with money on them... Eck). THEN we realized we were going in the WRONG DIRECTION!! The cars & trams on the same side of the road go different directions, and that majorly threw us off! We quickly paid, got off & clambered on the next tram that would take us where we needed to go.

Only then we realized it turned the wrong way! UGH! However it was at least going to Hiroshima Station so we just stayed on and took the long way to the railroad! Aaaaand we had to pay again, ugh. LUCKILY, the train and ferry over to Miyajima was covered by our JR passes so we didn't need to worry about that! 

Neither of us had realized that the island was SO close to the mainland either! You could see the floating tori from the boat dock!



k2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The ferry dropped us off at the opposite edge of town, so we were able to see the gate & the beachfront on our ride over, then it was adventure time! We wandered our way through the first bit, noticing that chans really must not actually go to classes in Japan BECAUSE THEY ARE JUST ALWAYS ON FIELD TRIPS! Seriously they were everywhere!!! There were also some deer on this island too, but they didn't seem to be very nice & there were signs all around saying to be careful, especially in autumn mating season since the males can be aggressive!

The waterfront was cute, lined with shops & tourist type places. We stopped at the side of the Tori Gate for a little photoshoot. 




IMG_1948 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1950 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1952 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

There is a Shrine that you can get a central view of the shrine from, but it cost money, and there were huge crowds going into it as we passed the entrance so we opted to skip it!  The town was quite small on this side, some shops & restaurants, all still closed. We ended up on the opposite coast of the bay we'd first stopped at and had another little photoshoot.



IMG_1959 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_1962 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

And yes….you betta bet Kara made us go explore around the Pagoda….bahahaha

It rained a little bit while we sat on a bench enjoying the sea air, eating some snacks, but nothing heavy enough to be worried about! There were also some school kids taking what looked like class photos on the beach... Random? Or the usual? Who knows?!? Lol.




IMG_1966 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2000 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2002 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Yeti was super happy to have made this adventure




k6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

I was getting hungry, but also having the struggle that I had close to no cash left, certainly not enough for a meal, so we began to wander the streets looking for food that accepted credit card, or an atm.... Could be a struggle here! Especially since most places still hadn't even OPENED for the day! I did end up picking up a little pastry filled with apple flavored custard to tide me over! It was tasty! And not too sweet! The apple cut the sweetness which was great cause we were both so over sweets right now!




k1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Eventually, we came up to a window full of plastic dishes of curry, they were open, AND THEY ACCEPTED VISA! Perfect!!! We were the ONLY people in the restaurant, so we were very well attended to! Kara & I both got the prawn tempura curry with rice & it was delicious! We paid & made our way through the streets, half joining in with a tour group along the way. I joked, saying if we joined up & followed them along all day, I wondered how long it would take until someone would notice that we weren't actually part of their group, bahaha!

Kara & I tried to kind of figure out where we were heading but ended up just exploring randomly, finding our way to a pagoda and some great views of the island!




v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v2(1) by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Our aversion to sweets quickly ended when we passed a Gelato shop that had MILK TEA GELATO!!! WHAAAAAATTT?!?! SO EXCITED!!




IMG_2033 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2035 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




k3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It was SO GOOD! I'm so happy we stumbled upon it!!  Ice cream in hand we had almost decided to call it a day,but we'd reached low tide, so we ventured closer to the now, not so floating tori gate.




IMG_2011 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v14 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2020 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2022 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v15 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

We were almost heading home when I knew we couldn't leave without stepping on the BEACH! Like, actual beautiful sand, ocean waves, amazing BEACH! I promptly took my shoes off, dumped my backpack & proceeded to wade around in the water. There's just something so amazing & peaceful about beaches, and I'm partial to the ones a little chillier, not scorching like Florida. They're so calming, to sit there watching the waves, and especially at the coast, to be in ocean water that is the same ocean that touches back home, in Vancouver, incredible.




IMG_2039 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




k4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Kara & I naturally had a huge photoshoot, did some random gymnastics & dance moves, face-timed with Abby for a bit and really just enjoyed our last day in Japan. Kara even played Happiness is Here on here phone! Lol




v8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v17 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


v18 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v19 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


IMG_2046 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The deer kept CREEPING UP on us over the course of our beach time. They were so quiet you wouldn't realize they were there until they were IN YOUR FACE! One was also tagged, and I'm guessing it's cause it had a weird, milky eye... It was creepy. We were sitting there minding our business when I brushed my hair back AND THERE WAS LEGIT A DEER LIKE AN INCH FROM MY FACE, naturally, I swore, probably super loudly, and scared it…

GUYS I LEGIT SCARED THE POOP OUT OF IT! It flailed a foot or too, then pooped all over the beach and Kara & I collapsed into a fit of giggles. I WISH WE HAD CAUGHT IT ON VIDEO




v23 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


IMG_2078 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Deer fiasco over, I continued on with my modeling career;




v22 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

And proclaimed "I'M A MERMAID"




v24 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2081 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I made Kara do some hand stands….




v25 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v26 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Before the trip, I'd been hoping to get back down to my Pre-Disney weight, and hoping to get some of my flexibility back, but life gets in the way, so I opted for some yoga poses to be my "go to" for the rest of the trip!




v28 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Shoutout to self timers




V29 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



V30 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



V31 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

After a few hours, we figured it was time to head back to reality & civilization, and headed back to the ferry to get home. Miyajiyama was one of our FAVORITE memories, and it was mainly because of that time spent on the beach with each other. We spent so much time reflecting on Japan, how it truly had stolen our hearts and how we felt like we belonged there, and how we almost didn't want to go to China because Japan was HOME.




IMG_2067 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2085 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Kara had expressed MAJOR interest in doing one of those geisha transformation experiences in Kyoto, but we somehow never managed to get around to it, so this is the best she got:




k8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Kara & I started to pack a bit, before we started to STRESS out about HOW we were getting to the airport the next morning since our flight was so early & the subway wasn't running yet! There was a bus, but not wanting be confused & stressed about it in the morning, we took a walk over there to sort things out tonight! Luckily, it turned out to be easy peasy & we didn't have to buy tickets til the next morning! On the way back we stopped by the Pet Store for Kara to say bye to her lil pug friend, and then stopped for some burgers for dinner.

Back at the guesthouse, we finished packing, and took LOOOONNNG hot showers. We knew the water wasn't great in China, and wanted to be as clean as possible. After setting a 4:00am wake up call, it was finally goodnight on our last night in Japan!! Waaaahhh


----------



## missangelalexis

Beautiful photos! Especially love the photoshoots on the beach! I'm sure it was sad knowing you were leaving Japan, but yay for more adventures to come!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

Looks like a nice last day at Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea - sorry that you didn't get to see/meet more of the characters you wanted though

Those Mickey shaped burgers are pretty cool!

I found that when I was at Hong Kong Disneyland that it was hard to find "to go" food (especially when you needed it - like when your friend was waiting at your spot for show/parade)

So sorry to hear about the lost memory cards - I can't even imagine how broken up I would have been!  Glad you were able to keep a bit of a positive attitude and realize it could have been worse! 

Nice pictures of Matsumoto-jo - and I can understand why you were glad to be there when it was quite ... just the serene feeling makes it even more beautiful

How great you did some group outings - that sounds so fun!  Looks like Pongyi was a good choice of place to stay!

The Arayshiyama Bamboo Grove definitely looks very cool, and just different

"I was also SUPER nervous about the monkeys being loose" - there is something you don't say everyday!

Those Tori gates look really cool and something just to take in and appreciate - bummer about the crowds and "tourists"

haha, the deer selfies are great!

(ok, breaking this up since I was so far behind)


----------



## TheMaxRebo

continued ....

The greenery at the parks is very pretty - but I totally get wanting to see it when it was in the fall colors

bummer about the salad!

That's pretty cool about the kids learning their English and coming up to you to ask you questions, etc.

Interesting set up with the beds in the hostel in Hiroshima

haha, I've seen those mask things before and some of them are super creepy when you put them on!

The children's part of the park/museum area was very neat - thanks for sharing the back story of the cranes 

that floating Tori gate that you can then go out to in low tide is very interested and neat

Glad you had that nice time together on the beach to sort of reflect on your trip so far and prep for the next part of your adventure!


----------



## katt789

missangelalexis said:


> Beautiful photos! Especially love the photoshoots on the beach! I'm sure it was sad knowing you were leaving Japan, but yay for more adventures to come!


Haha thank you!!! It was an amazing time, and we were super sad to leave Japan, heck, we're still sad we had to leave lol, Kara said she was reading this the other day just crying wishing we were back there lol!



TheMaxRebo said:


> Looks like a nice last day at Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea - sorry that you didn't get to see/meet more of the characters you wanted though
> Those Mickey shaped burgers are pretty cool!
> I found that when I was at Hong Kong Disneyland that it was hard to find "to go" food (especially when you needed it - like when your friend was waiting at your spot for show/parade)
> So sorry to hear about the lost memory cards - I can't even imagine how broken up I would have been!  Glad you were able to keep a bit of a positive attitude and realize it could have been worse!
> Nice pictures of Matsumoto-jo - and I can understand why you were glad to be there when it was quite ... just the serene feeling makes it even more beautiful
> How great you did some group outings - that sounds so fun!  Looks like Pongyi was a good choice of place to stay!
> The Arayshiyama Bamboo Grove definitely looks very cool, and just different
> "I was also SUPER nervous about the monkeys being loose" - there is something you don't say everyday!
> Those Tori gates look really cool and something just to take in and appreciate - bummer about the crowds and "tourists"
> haha, the deer selfies are great!
> (ok, breaking this up since I was so far behind)


It was a really nice last day, I'm bummed we didn't catch Es, but I'm sure we'll see her next time, she'll be priority lol!
They were tasty too!! Yeah!! All the plates & stuff were all real plastic ones, not ones you could throw away, it was just the burgers that had it in Tokyo!! Ugh, it was horrible, BUT, definitely stayed positive!
Thank you!! It was an awesome time, I LOVED the bamboo grove & tori gates lol, but the deer were probably my favorite!



TheMaxRebo said:


> continued ....
> 
> The greenery at the parks is very pretty - but I totally get wanting to see it when it was in the fall colors
> 
> bummer about the salad!
> 
> That's pretty cool about the kids learning their English and coming up to you to ask you questions, etc.
> 
> Interesting set up with the beds in the hostel in Hiroshima
> 
> haha, I've seen those mask things before and some of them are super creepy when you put them on!
> 
> The children's part of the park/museum area was very neat - thanks for sharing the back story of the cranes
> 
> that floating Tori gate that you can then go out to in low tide is very interested and neat
> 
> Glad you had that nice time together on the beach to sort of reflect on your trip so far and prep for the next part of your adventure!



Yeah!! I'm bummed but hey, again, just an excuse to go back!!!
It was so cute!! I'm so glad we got to experience it!!
Hahahahha WE LOVE them so much, and they're so cheap, i'm so glad we found them at Daiso here too!! No worries! I definitely had to look it up, but I do like to share more background on some of the places we go to make it more interesting!!
It was SUCH a perfect day!


----------



## katt789

*Thursday October 27*

Are you ready for one hell of a day? Cause we had TRIED to prepare, done all the research, but man oh man were we not ready for the ordeal that was about to ensue. I have NO pictures from today, so bare with me as I make you struggle through it with me, bahaahhaah.

Back when we went to book this flight, Kara booked before me since I was at work. When I went to book on my break, I confirmed the flight numbers with her, and noted the stop over in Shanghai. When I clicked book, the CTrip app popped up with a warning saying that our arrival in Shanghai & departure were at DIFFERENT airports, so our layover would include CHANGING AIRPORTS ON OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE CITY.

yup.

Kara did her research & knew there was a bus connecting, so we figured we were golden.

Okay. So, day starts with our alarms going off at 4am, we jumped out of bed, dropped off our "keys" at check out and made the trek to the bus station. Kara wanted one last milk tea so we stopped at 711, which gave me the time to take out cash too! Well... I DERPED SO HARDCORE!!! It was  early in the morning, I meant to take out 3000¥ but ended up with 30000¥ by accident! Last day in Japan and I end up with the equivalent of $300! Man oh man!

I bought the bus ticket with it when we got to the station, but that was only like, $15. Lol. The bus to the airport was fine, we both slept most of the way & it took SO long to get there, longer than we thought it would, but we managed. 

Of COURSE, we get there, get in the pre check security line to check in, to find that our flight had been delayed.. TWO HOURS.... That left us like, an hour and a half between flights to CHANGE AIRPORTS OHHH NOOOO! They also wouldn't let us check in yet because of that delay. Beaten down we retreated to a food counter for coffee while we waited nearly 2 hours. I exchanged what was left of my Yen, and finally it was time to check in! Yay! We did a pre-screen of our checked baggage, and then went to check in. They reminded us of the flight delay, and then did something completely unexpected!! They moved us to a later connection flight with no worries! Whaaaaat?!?! We thanked them so much, and then had to wait to go through to our gate! It irked us a bit but once we got through we saw that the gate was TINY! I also immediately regretted not buying udon outside beforehand as there were very limited options! It didn't really matter cause we boarded right away & I was able to sleeeeep! But not before the woman from the check in desk tracked us down to make sure we had back up paper work to make sure we got on a second flight! AND gave us directions for the bus transfer to the other airport for freeeee! I love you Japan!

Kara poked me awake to eat & we were pleasantly surprised to see that it was a full meal, not just a snack!! 

We landed in Shanghai, picked up our bags & cleared customs suuuuper easily, I was surprised. This part of the journey was totally fine, but it was about to take a turn for the worst. We were struggling HORRIBLY to find where the heck we were supposed to be getting our tickets for the free bus. The people at the information booth then started YELLING across the airport at us to see if we needed help #obnoxious we go up to them & they tell us you need to go to the 3rd floor, someone else tells us 3rd floor, someone else tells us 4th floor... Which doesn't exist.. We wander around getting more & more angry & grumpy & stressed. Eventually wander outside on the 3rd floor, where a man who spoke great English tried to help us out. In the end, we got on the bus (which was on the FIRST floor? Btw) and end up paying for it because we just NEEDED TO GET OUT OF THERE.

Takes us over an hour to get to Hongqiao airport, and go to check in, wait in a long line to be told that flight was cancelled, and to go to the rebooking counter, where she waves in a random direction. We try to find it, no luck, ask the girl at the entrance to the check in lines, she says any line, even though we were just in one that shooed us away. We get in another line, Kara bails to the rebooking line (that we finally found) and the guy is COMPLETELY ignoring her. I bail into the standby flight line & shove my way into the front like everyone else is doing, and manage to get us booked on a flight to Beijing.

Struggle is... It boards in like, 10 minutes. We RACE through security and to the gate, to find that naturally, its been delayed, with no definite take off time. Ugh.

Kara & I got food & ended up playing heads up for a good couple of hours, which was definitely the high point of the day!! We hadn't heard any announcements when she saw people lining up! WE WERE BOARDING!!! Yaaaaayyy!! We did end up sitting on the tarmac for nearly an hour but they had the entertainment systems on for us & gave us some water. We eventually took off, I watched Pirates of the Caribbean, got SUPER excited about all the Pirates stuff in Shanghai Disney, and we got a real meal again! 

When we landed in Beijing, we realized our options were rather limited...originally we were landing MUCH earlier, now it was nearly midnight. The metro wasn't really what I felt like conquering in a new country at that time of night, we hadn't arranged a shuttle with the hostel because of the earlier arrival time, and Abby wasn't replying to any of my wechat's about how much her cab ride was. Frustrated, and with no internet access, we followed a giant crowd into the giant cab line, eventually got in one & one heck of a freaky drive later, FINALLY found ourselves at our hostel. The cab driver dropped us off at the end of an alleyway, and pointed that it was down there, uhm…okay…it was kinda freaky, especially because we were CLEARLY tourists. I took this shot later on in the week, there were definitely less people around this first night!




K3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


It was one heck of an insane, busy & frustrating day, and we were just glad it was over!! Downside, it! Was! Freeeeeezing! Even inside our room & under the blankets, like what the heck?!


----------



## katt789

*Friday October 28*

So, PSA, I LOVE interactive updates, and I LOVE to listen to loop music while I write/edit/whatever, so, I was struggling at first for these updates, but HELLO, EPCOT CHINA PAVILLION, so click here for a soundtrack to this update:

Epcot China Pavilion full Music  loop

There was still a bit of a funk in the air this morning when we woke up. Waking up that cold just isn't fun! And Abby had been awake since 2!! Ugh!!! Though Kara & I did sleep in a little bit later than planned. We layered on up and headed out into the streets in search of some breakfast. I was rather hangry & getting grumpier by the minute, so I was thankful when we finally decided on a place & got some noodles in what looked like a fast food chain place lol. It was still exciting for Abby since it was her first meal in China!! The three of us wrapped up lunch, and continued out onto the street, we knew the general direction we needed to go to get to Tiananmen Square & area, but it was a bit tricky figuring out exactly how to go about it! First, crossing the streets you went through underpasses, and if you went down the wrong one, you'd end up somewhere random, or just further down the street & not across it! Then there were MULTIPLE security checks! We had to cram into this line up, go through a metal detector & put our bags through an x-ray! They were much stricter on the locals, and they had to show ID to get in too, interesting, but at least safety is a major thing?




IMG_2089 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



The square was neat, pretty basic, they had a nice big flower display on one side. We basically used it for crossing over to Forbidden City, which we needed to go through another underpass to get to!




IMG_2090 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




a1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

That last one's looking back across to the Square.

The front was pretty majestic on its own, high towers, lots of regal red & gold. THEN It was time to go inside. We paid for our tickets, I think we may have had to go through more security, I'm not sure.




IMG_2092 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2096 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




a5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2098 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr






v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

After going through, we came into the first big square of the city where a photoshoot was had, naturally…




IMG_2107 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2113 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




a6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2119 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I never know how to pose, so my default after Japan (and Kara's sometimes too) was the "Chan" pose we'd seen so many kids in Tokyo Disney do…




IMG_2121 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Kara struggled with the handstand today…boots weren't the best option…




IMG_2123 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Then Kara went a little weird with the selfies….



v7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




v14 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v19 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
I low key think she might hate my for sharing all these ridiculous pictures, but that's what she gets for posting them to Facebook…[/U]


----------



## katt789

We finished off our shoot of the Main Square up on the bridge to get a different vantage point



16 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v18 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v20 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
Basically...we should never be allowed to have selfie sticks…

Figuring we should explore onward, we headed to the Gate of Supreme Harmony



IMG_2133 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2134 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2143 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2149 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2151 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
I did my best to take pictures of all the signs, so even if I had no memory of what was going on, maybe y'all could read them and get a briefing of it!




IMG_2156 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



We spent the rest of the morning wandering through the Forbidden City, it just KEPT GOING! Like, it was huge, which made sense, lol. 




IMG_2161 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2163 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

We noticed a little gift shop/coffee shop in one opening and stopped in there for a little bit of a warm up for a while, it was nice to take a break from exploring for a bit.



Venture on we must!! So many neat things in here it's crazy! 




IMG_2170 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2179 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
(hidden mickey?! Lol)



Finally we reached the end of the city, the back exit lead into Jingshan park where we paid the teeny fee to head in & explore. There was more security to get in here too!




V24 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




V23 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

We hiked up to the top of the hill where we found gorgeous views looking back over the Forbidden City.




a7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



K2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



V22 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



V25 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



V28 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
Of course the mini's had to come out to play!




V27 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2191 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2202 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

All the detailing, and the color was something that impressed me so much!




IMG_2215 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



V33 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



V29 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
It was so neat to see the contrast between the City and the REAL city of Beijing, so much more modernized, that we never really saw aside from thisForbidden


IMG_2235 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr 




IMG_2219 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2222 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


After a little bathroom break, we found the West exit of the park & crossed the street into Behai park! This was one I was most excited about, so it wasn't a concern that there was an entrance fee again. (All the fees were really cheap too, so it didn't really matter)




IMG_2242 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2247 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



a11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


We spent a while wandering around Behai park, dancing around & doing handstands when we found a deserted corner. Though the highlight of the corner, especially for Abby was the DUCK BOATS



IMG_2248 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2249 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2254 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2263 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




V34 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2266 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2270 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2277 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

Behai was my more liked park of the day, I'm really glad we stopped in there, had fun & got a lot of awesome photos!! 




IMG_2288 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2292 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2294 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




V35 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2308 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


IMG_2312 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2314 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2317 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


Soon enough we figured it was time to head back. We didn't really want to be wandering around at night, especially when we didn't really know where we were or anything. We checked the google maps to figure out where we were & started the walk home. It wasn't too bad, and easily enough we found our way back to the hostel, stopping for some snacks on the way.




a13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



a14 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



 We had dinner at the hostel, some sweet & sour chicken & they had huge, cheap beers.



K4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr 



Then it was time to LAYER up to GO TO BED! It was seriously like we were camping the room was so freaking cold!!


----------



## missangelalexis

Woof, what a terrible travel day! But glad you both made it ok. 

Sounds like a nice first day in Beijing, loved all the photos! 

Stinks that it was so cold though!!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

That sounds like such a harrowing trip getting from Japan to your hostel in Beijing.  Lesson to me is - try to avoid having a layover in a foreign country where you have to change airports!  Glad you made it safe and I am sure those noodle you got the next day were like the best tasting thing ever after all of that!

Wow, the Forbidden City really is impressive and definitely bigger than I thought it was/would be.  Good to know they have English on all the signs - I am sure that helped quite a bit

Behai park does look really nice - love the duck boats!  And you did get a lot of nice photos ... I especially like the ones towards the end of your visit near the sort of weeping willow type of tree


----------



## katt789

missangelalexis said:


> Woof, what a terrible travel day! But glad you both made it ok.
> 
> Sounds like a nice first day in Beijing, loved all the photos!
> 
> Stinks that it was so cold though!!


It was definitely hectic lol!!! Thank you!!




TheMaxRebo said:


> That sounds like such a harrowing trip getting from Japan to your hostel in Beijing.  Lesson to me is - try to avoid having a layover in a foreign country where you have to change airports!  Glad you made it safe and I am sure those noodle you got the next day were like the best tasting thing ever after all of that!
> 
> Wow, the Forbidden City really is impressive and definitely bigger than I thought it was/would be.  Good to know they have English on all the signs - I am sure that helped quite a bit
> 
> Behai park does look really nice - love the duck boats!  And you did get a lot of nice photos ... I especially like the ones towards the end of your visit near the sort of weeping willow type of tree



Lol, that's the truth!! Man, it was stressful, but at least we got there in one piece!!
Lol! It was HUUUUGE!!! 
It was super cute, I quite enjoyed it, lol, thank you!!!!


----------



## Sarabi's Cubs

I'm following along now and loving all of your photos!  We are travelling this October, so it helps to see what the temps will be like!

Laurie


----------



## katt789

*Saturday October 29*

Today is very great day!!!

We were GOING TO THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA!!! AHHHH!!!

After the headache that was finding our own way out to Mount Fuji, Kara & I knew we would rather do a tour from somewhere. Abby, hesitant about the city bus, had noticed there was a tour run by our hostel, it was straight to the wall with no shopping stops, and fairly cheap considering it was transportation there & back, entry to the wall & lunch was included! We'd booked it the day before to make sure we'd get in, since Saturday had the best air quality & weather forecast!



The tour left the hostel at 7:30am, we were bundled up, and thankful that the van was warm!! We stopped at a few other places to pick up more people & were off to the Wall!! We reached the first part of it within an hour of the last pick up, but continued on driving, I think it was around three hours between leaving Leo & arriving at our segment of the wall. A guide hopped on the bus saying we'd be taking a quick bathroom break & driving up a bit more before we got out of the van.



Once out, he talked to us a bit about the history of the wall, how everyone in the past knew that the wall meant death, you'd either die building the wall (which was un-honorable) or die fighting on the wall (an honourable death). He also said that the locals usually called it "The Long Wall". We had about 3 hours, and there were 7 tours he urged us to see, but not go past the 7th, it was one way up, one way back, and that the first segment was going to be the hardest; then he bid us on our way, and we were off!






IMG_2318 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



a1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2322 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


The first steep climb WAS DEFINITELY the hardest, between the air not being the greatest & the bit of asthma that I have, it was actual hell & I thought I might not make it at points.




a2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2325 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Luckily, that was the worst of it & we were soon hiking our way along one of the wonders of the world!




IMG_2332 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



a4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2337 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2341 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



It was seriously so amazing to think that we were actually ON the Great Wall of China! THIS was what all the stress & money had gone to pertaining to having to get a visa, and it was totally worth it.




v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



a5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2352 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2353 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


Of course all of our FRIENDS came out to play too!




a6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2363 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2366 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2370 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

We came across a particularly deserted patch of the Wall and obviously, it was photoshoot time, and time for us to try out some tricks!




IMG_2361 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



a7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



a8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



k2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



k5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
#chanlife




v14 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr






v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v16 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2354 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Kara took the time to bust out some dance moves;




v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

And do the BEST handstand she had all trip (probably because she was wearing runners and NOT a skirt for once in her life lol)




IMG_2356 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

JUST LOOK AT HER GO! HOW FREAKING EPIC?! It inspired me to do something crafty of my own, but since I hadn't been stretching enough




k6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr





IMG_2381 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2386 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2389 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

There were quite a few points during the climbing that I had to stop to rest, my lungs were REALLY not having it, it was difficult, because the other 2 were totally fine, and I felt super bummed out about it, and at points I was INSANELY frustrated with myself not being able to keep up; which was kind of silly since it wasn't something I could control, it wasn't like I was out of shape or anything, I was just struggling. We reached a point that I wasn't sure I could climb up, especially given how much time we had left, but with the patience of the other two we did make it up and just a TEENY bit further before I said I would need to start heading back, who knew if it would take longer! (our climbing was made SO much easier by the presence of the Mulan soundtrack…nothing motivates quite like "Make a Man out of You")




IMG_2405 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2410 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

In total, I think we made it to 4 tours, and the huge added bonus was since we had chosen to do the hostel's tour, we were in a very uninhabited portion of the wall & there were multiple points where we were practically alone! It was also a segment that was much more local people, as the only tourists we saw were people from our van! How cool is that!?






IMG_2412 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2414 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2391 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
Things got a little artsy;




IMG_2417 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2420 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
And then they got REAL silly




IMG_2423 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


IMG_2425 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

It was somewhere around there that we were either singing or listening to Dream Along With Mickey and pulling out some choreo, but hey, that's nothing new. 



We obviously had time for a jumping picture;




v17 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Aaaaand everyone should know that those don't always work on the first try….




v18 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



The time came that we realized we should start heading back, and BOY OH BOY, climbing DOWN some of those super steep hills was SO much harder, it took longer, since we had to go SO much slower, not to mention it was just SCARY! Lol.!




IMG_2427 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2429 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

You really cant capture the steepness in photos!



It was a bit of a walk past where we were dropped, but we found a building marked "Leo Hostel" and all gathered in there until everyone was back & we moved into the restaurant next door to eat! There was rice, and 4 different dishes, green beans with bacon, eggs with tomato, a salad & a chicken vegetable dish. It was good! We all scarfed it down after being so hungry for so long! Our breakfasts had not held up! It was also absolutely freezing in there! Apparently Beijing doesn't know what heaters are!

When everyone was done, we climbed back into the van & headed back into the city. The drive ended up taking AGES, due to traffic & us being the last stop. When we got back we pretty much ate dinner & went to bed, it had been a cool day, but one heck of a long & tiring day!




a10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

*Sunday October 30*

It was our last day in Beijing!!! And our thoughts were mainly that we only had to suffer through one more night of cold in the hostel! Bahaha! The weather was freezing & the air quality was BAD today, so we were layered up with masks on! 




a5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We ate our snacks from the convenience store while we got ready & headed to the train station with a brief few stops along the way! Our in the street they had these fresh steaming dumplings just Everywhere!




v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Abby was eyeing them a bit, and because the locals can be a little ruthless when it comes to selling their produce, no one was surprised when we ended up inside while Abby ate her giant pot of dumplings! (and it cost like, $1….)




v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

She really enjoyed them! I was hesitant to try with not really eating a lot of pork…or meat in general on this trip…lol. After she finished, we made our way to the next stop at Starbucks! Abby really wanted to try the cheese latte she had seen online, and I needed coffee. I opted for the Black Forest Latte, it mainly tasted like a mocha, but it had chocolate whipped cream! They didn't have the latte Abby wanted but she found something else yummy instead.



Our train ride today was insanely long as we were headed to the Summer Palace, which was way on the other end of the city! I couldn't remember much specific information about where we were going at this point but it seemed mildly self explanatory. We had also been on a hunt for an ATM this morning that WOULD WORK! Both Kara & I were seriously low/out of cash by this point & none of the atms we were finding were working with our cards! I got my issue resolved eventually but was OUT of money by the time we reached the palace so Abby became my Mom for the day, helping me out lol. The through ticket for the Summer Palace cost 60CNY, and included admission into some of the internal attractions that you'd usually have to pay extra for, so that was an added bonus!



Right on the inside we saw a cute little river "town" area that was included so that ended up being our first stop! It was super cute, though was lacking any rails along the water & we were pretty concerned with falling in! 




IMG_2431 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2439 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2441 by 

Katt mccluskey, on Flickr





v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




k1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



a6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr





IMG_2450 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2456 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2458 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
I'm a snake in the Chinese Horoscope lol, explains my natural draw to Slytherin lol!!




IMG_2461 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2482 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr 


Today was all about exploring, and this was certainly the place to do it! THE PALACE WAS HUUUUUUUUGE!! And we didn't have a map, so we climbed around, wandered and

Hoped we would end up in the right place!




IMG_2491 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2492 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



a8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

I miss the selfie stick…I won't lie…



v6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
.…the picture of sophisticated grace…




a2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We were LITERALLY rock climbing through parts of it, obviously you didn't HAVE to go that way, but there were SO many nooks and crannies to explore it was INSANE!




IMG_2499 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

When we came out on the other side of the thing…sort of…it was also kind of only halfway through, but hey, we found another lagoon, and there were some pretty neat looking boats. We also had a very language difficult chat with a local about something, but god if I can remember what it was supposedly about…




IMG_2506 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2509 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2513 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2525 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

We found some more little hidden court yards, and actually managed to find some Autumn leaves!




IMG_2531 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2536 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
And it wasn't long before Kara was being weird again….




IMG_2540 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2544 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
It's okay though because shortly after that I found a PERFECT MERMAID ROCK




IMG_2549 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Basically we're all ridiculous, we exited the little courtyard and Abby & Kara started picking up piles of leaves and tossing them around while they sang Colors of the Wind…

The three of us stopped for lunch inside the Palace Abby was the smart one & got the vegetarian dish, while Kara & I opted for a dish that we thought was the "kung pao chicken" from the sign out front. The rice was good.... The chicken was downright gross, I ended up picking around it & neither of us really enjoyed our meals lol.




a7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



We still had to find what we thought was the legit PALACE area, so we began trekking again!




IMG_2565 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The architecture and the beautiful paint style/decoration still continues to awe me, it's all so pretty!



IMG_2572 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2579 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



The three of us felt like we hadn't hiked up enough stuff in the last little bit, so we climbed our way up a GIANT amount of stairs to see what the view was like from the top!




a10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2606 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2615 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

It still kind of makes me laugh, just kind of boggles my mind to see such ancient architecture and detail and classic Chinese things, with HUGE sprawling MODERN cities and skyscrapers in the background lol!



In the end, we knew it was coming up to closing time & we still needed to FIND our way OUT! Seriously, SO BIG! SO CONFUSING!! But no matter, we were not trapped, we managed to get back to the entrance before closing time, and started to find our way home.




IMG_2632 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




Once home it was another stop for snacks, and then dinner in the lounge. I opted for pasta today, and it was good! We attempted showers before we packed but the water would just NOT heat up, and no one wants to shower in cold water when the hotel room's freezing too... We opted for an earlier bedtime after everything was packed and ready to go for the next morning!


----------



## MomoMama

Sad to see the Japan portion ended, but how exciting to read about China! 

I have not thought about visiting China, but your TR is so intriguing.  Especially the great wall...the pics are amazing!   The air quality and food (especially with food allergies) are main concerns for us.  But now I'm thinking maybe we should plan a short visit, when my kid is a bit older and I'm not too old to climb the walls.  It may have been a long and tiring day, but it seems so worth it!

Looking forward to reading more.


----------



## katt789

Casual self promotion, if you haven't watched our Shanghai Disney Vlog yet, HERE'S THE LINK!





[/url]


Also for part of today's interactive update, click HERE for the amazing loop music!

*Tuesday November 1st*

Good morning! Good morning! It's time for a Disney day, good morning!

Except it wasn't a good one right off the bat, it ended up kind of being a grumpy one. We had alarms set super early, thinking the park opened at 8:00am, and not being sure how heavy the crowds would be, or if we'd need to exchange our tickets at the booths or not. Either I had been thinking of Tokyo, or Shanghai had changed their park hours since I'd checked, but turns out they didn't open til 9. When no one got up after multiple alarms, I got up to start getting ready, and turned the light on in which it was said "did you not hear me say it doesn't open til 9?". I had not... Otherwise I would have left the light off, duh, it was morning, I had no coffee, and it was like,  a month into the trip, I was a grump. Luckily, it didn't end up causing anything and we slowly got up and had a breather taking our time getting ready.


Even with taking our sweet time, we were AGES early, especially with finding out that we didn't need to stop at a ticket booth! Just your passport & confirmation number was needed at the turnstile! When we arrived at the Resort the excitement was in FULL FORCE!!! Ahhh!!!  This was really real, it was really happening!! SHANGHAI DISNEYLAND!!! We went through bag check & the metal detectors, and then lined up for the turnstiles. Shanghai Disney had Wi-Fi, but you have to enter your phone number & they text you a code, so we had to turn our phones on to get said text, but it was worth it since that was the best Wi-Fi we'd had in China so far!! The gates ended up opening shortly before 9:00am!! AHHH!!




a2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2654 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT THOSE BEAUTIFUL BLUE SKIES, LIKE THIS IS CHINA PEOPLE!!
THEN WE WERE ACTUALLY WALKING DOWN MICKEY AVENUE WITH THAT GIIIIIANT CASTLE AT THE END OF THE STREET!



a1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



k7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
Yeah...those selfies close to the castle were DEFS from later on, but #yolo 



The park itself not yet open we joined the cluster mob of people at the rope, positioning ourselves on the RIGHT for Adventure Isle (weird, right?) and waited while the final minutes ticked by. The announcement sounded, AND WE WERE OFF!!



Seriously.



It was freaking crazy



WAY worse than any kind of rope drop run in Florida. It didn't make matters easier that all the fp kiosks for each ride, were condensed by the land the ride was in, and one line. So Soaring, Roaring Rapids & potentially one other, all had 1 giant line. When you got to the front, you scanned your ticket & chose which ride you wanted. By the time we had finished the ordeal, it had been FIFTEEN MINUTES. Seemed crazy to me!! Fast passes secured, we backtracked a little bit to head over to Treasure Cove, AND MAN OH MAN WAS I SO FREAKING INSTANTLY IN LOVE!!!




IMG_2672 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

This place was 1000% amazing guys!!! To preface, I have ALWAYS loved all things pirate & POTC related. When the first movie came out, I was 14 & we went to see it over 10 times IN THEATERS, once at the cheap theater we saw in two times in a row. That soundtrack is one of my FAVES, and this land was definitely my favorite in Shanghai Disney! All the theming is absolutely brilliant, the soundtrack's constantly playing & it was just so wonderful!!




IMG_2667 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



 Our first stop in Treasure Cove was over to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride of course! And we were greeted with a 5 minute wait (which is less time than it took to walk through the queue).



IMG_2663 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2664 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Before our trip, we'd watched a bunch of vlogs, but if there had been any glimpse of rides, especially Pirates, we would skip it, we wanted to be 100% surprised. And OH MAN WE WERE!! I DONT EVEN HAVE THE WORDS TO DESCIBE JUST HOW AMAZING AND MINDBLOWING THIS RIDE WAS!!! IT WAS WORTH THE TRIP ALONE!!! Standard boat you're loaded into (though they're a bit bigger) and off you soar into adventure. The first big room has a giant, Imax style screen around you (which I 100% admit affected me, thought I might throw up a bit.... I didn't though, which is super lucky) and you're guided through the journey. It's based more off the 2nd & 3rd movie, with lots of Davy Jones & huge battles, it's incredible. After some closer up animatronic stuff you come around the corner into another screen room to witness Davy Jone's ship surfacing & then are taken DIRECTLY DOWN THE MIDDLE of a battle between it & The Black Pearl.



Guys... I cried a single tear...



I'm NOT JOKING. That single tear of AMAZEMENT, of satisfaction, like, the improvements they'd taken with this ride, the boundaries Disney has broken is truly amazing. All 3 of us were completely mind blown by it and just in total awe as we came back into Treasure Cove! I STILL can't get over how amazing it was, someone in Florida last week asked about if POTC really was THAT amazing over there, and like, I nearly cried again just thinking about it. If you don't have plans to go anytime soon, maybe check it out on YouTube, though it doesn't give the same effect, it's still amazing.



Having 2 big e-tickets of the right side of the park established for the morning, we knew it was time to satisfy our stomachs! There was a waffle house on Mickey Ave, but when we arrived it was CLOSED! Wah!! But that did mean we got to walk past the castle again, and no one's complaining about that!



IMG_2668 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2671 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2674 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
And like, y'all, if you think it looks big in pictures, like, ITS FREAKING INSANE…


Luckily, Remy's Patisserie was across the way, welcoming us with the delicious smell of baked goodies!! 



IMG_2675 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2676 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
(it was around this point I told Kara & Abby to just be prepared for this happening all week, I was constantly going to be 5 steps behind taking pictures of LITERALLY everything)



IMG_2678 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2679 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2681 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
(also can we TALK about how weird it is SHDR has PEPSI NOT COKE LIKE ***?!)
I picked up a chocolate Mickey muffin, a coffee & a pastry filled with hot curried chicken. Kara also got the chocolate muffin while Abby got the Mike Wazowski bread (which, to my surprise, was NOT melon bread like in Tokyo...)




IMG_2683 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2685 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2686 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



a4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



 The three of us picked a seat outside and commented on the amazing friendliness of all the cast members while we dug into our food with the castle just off in the distance. It was while we ate, that I noticed the amazing jazzy loop music, was FROZEN!!! The loop they play in Mickey Ave/the Gardens of Imagination (aka the hub) was quick to be my favorite.(ETA; it's also what you're listening to right now) It was all the Disney classic songs you knew & loved, but redone in a classical and jazzy way! There was even tons of Hunchback music!!! And a song that sounded like Rainbow Connection but we knew it wasn't & COULD NOT figure out what it was!


----------



## katt789

All of our senses going bezerk, but our hunger satisfied, we decided to explore the GIANT and beautiful castle. We knew the stage show, Golden Fairytale Fanfare was due to start soon, but we didn't think we would be able to get a spot. Turns out the first show of the day isn't the most popular, and we were able to get a decent spot!!




v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2689 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The show was super cute, all the spoken bits are in Mandarin, but the Disney songs were all in English. Our Host greeted us with a large smile, some waves & a big speech we couldn't understand, but the song still gets stuck in our heads all the time, and the costumes are just gorgeous!



Snow White kicks off the royal festivities with her dwarf friends & Prince.



IMG_2698 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2696 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2691 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



She's the QUEEN in China, partially because it was one of the first movies to be released & everyone knows it, partially because she was the oldest who has similar features to their culture(?) It's what we were told!




IMG_2699 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Everyone's favorite sisters took center stage next (sans Olaf which was something I was more than okay with).




IMG_2708 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2715 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2720 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



The water effects made the Frozen segment SO MUCH COOLER. It also made for some fun pictures (and challenging photography lol)



The stage was swarmed with EEEELLLEEEEPPPHHHHAAAAAANNNNNTTTTTTSSS NEXT! (They're my favorite...) along with dancers and, drummers, quite extravagant!




IMG_2726 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2735 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


Prince Ali & Jasmine made their debuts in their golden costumes of course.




IMG_2737 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Then the waterworks came back into play to help out a mermaid!! 




IMG_2743 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I really liked the color scheme on her shells & tail!! I still find it hilarious that her fin is legit different in EVERY SINGLE PARK! No joke....




IMG_2748 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I had a lot of fun with the water streams with this one!!




IMG_2751 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The brave Scottish lass finished off the guest stars, on her horse nonetheless. It's super nice to see Merida actually get in on stuff, especially a castle show! 




IMG_2765 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

For the finale all the characters & dancers came back out in all their Golden Glory (which meant costume changes for Elsa & Ariel, and a visit from Prince Eric).




IMG_2788 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2771 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I'm 100% in LOVE with Elsa's golden dress, I think it's absolutely stunning. Ariel's on the other hand... Eeehhhh... It looks like curtains... And the winter wear wasn't helping (neither was Jas's winter wear..) a friend the next day pointed out that it looks like a taco & now we can't get that out of our heads! Bahaha!




IMG_2774 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2790 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Overall, the show was great, much better in person! We all enjoyed it and thought it was super cute, and loved how the water effects added to it! We knew we'd be watching it again throughout the week, so it was good we liked it!! Lol!


----------



## katt789

*Monday October 31st*

Happy happy HALLOWEEEEEEEEEEEENNNN!!! Aaaahhhh!!! My FAVORITE HOLIDAAAAAAAYYY!!!!



Too bad we weren't doing ANYTHING to celebrate it bahahah!!! I mean, I had my Halloween earrings & socks on, but that was about it.

Our morning started off freezing & sleepy. We lugged all of our baggage on top of all of our layers & checked out of Leo Hostel. Baaaaaaaiiii Felicia, won't be back til you get heaters.



We had to exchange our vouchers for legit train tickets, so we had to get to Beijing's Railway station early, AND I REEEEEALLY didn't want to deal with all this luggage in rush hour traffic, so we left super early. The metro was fine enough & before we knew it, the tickets were exchanged & we were on our train to Shanghai! It was a bullet train, I think it took around 5 hours in total, we had our own snacks & drinks but there were some for sale too. I spent most of the time working on blog posts while the others slept.



Welcome to SHANGHAAAAIIII!



And this welcome was a MILLION times better than we had arrived by plane a few days earlier! It immediately felt nicer, cleaner & more modern, it was a much younger crowd & nearly everything was already better. Abby had the directions figured out to get to our AirBnB, and they were pretty straight forward. Upon arriving in the "gated" community, and finding the building we were staying in, I was immediately super sketched out. Bars on all the windows & around all the patios, garbage, sofa chairs on the lawns, nothing was maintained, I was more than sketched out…(like, y'all, I WISH I had a picture, I wish we'd vlogged it, like, our mother's would have all freaked out…bahaha)



Our host was there to meet us, and thankfully, the inside of the apartment was as nice as the pictures showed. A small little 1 bedroom with beds for 3, a living room, kitchen & bathroom. She went over a few things with us, gave us an extra set of keys & wished us a good time in Shanghai before leaving home. Pretty much instantly we all showered and threw a load of laundry of ALL the layers of clothes into the washer. Once all clean & not so smelly, we headed back to the Metro! It was along the way that Kara pointed on that there was a Mercedes Benz in our parking lot, and that most of the cars were super nice. Either China didn't care about building maintenance, or the people didn't, but we felt a little better after that realization. I was also thinking that maybe the area USED to be super sketch, or low income housing, but with all the new development of the Pudong area, it became a better area instead of demolishing the apartments or something.



The best part of the Airbnb, DISNEY WAS LITERALLY 2 STOPS AWAY! AHHHHH!!! It was CRAZY exciting to think that we were stepping foot into Disney land that had only been open for months!!



v12 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
 We arrived at the Station & figured out where to go, resisting the urge of World of Disney, Pandora & Sephora as food was the priority! Since we don't have Cheesecake Factory in Canada, you can guess where we headed for dinner! We each got a drink to celebrate & Kara & I got burgers while Abby got the gumbo.



k2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



k3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Everything was great & we really enjoyed the evening until our server had actually disappeared. We hadn't seen him since he dropped off our food, and we were getting antsy, we had shopping to do! Eventually I grabbed to go boxes from the bar & we flagged someone down to pay. None of the cheesecake seemed like a necessity after waiting so long for service!



We walked back to World of Disney, where we spent a long time wandering and looking at everything. It was attached to the jewelry store & TrenD, much like TrenD & the Co-op in WDW. There was plenty to look at, and plenty to want to buy. We all ended up getting the same ears (Shanghai exclusive of course), I got a pair of Aurora earrings(which, I'm sad to announce, I now have NO idea where they are…), and Abby got the SDL Alex & Ani bracelet.



a0 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

 I originally really wanted it, but since being home (and working in the food industry) I never wear the ones I have, so it seemed like a waste of a large chunk of money lol.



k5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



k6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Disneytown was very similar to Downtown Disney in terms of shops it offered, we spent a bit of time wandering through, and checked out the dance party going on (it was legit like a club!). They were also offering trick or treating & there were tons of kids dressed up! My plan had involved seeing at least one of the hotels that evening, but energy levels were crashing and we had an earlier morning tomorrow, so we took the short journey back to the BnB where our beds were calling us!!


----------



## Karin1984

Yay! We are at Shanghai Disney! (Today is my 50 day mark!)

Memo to me, I need those Chinese Mickey/Minnie ears. My mom got a headband very similar to this from her first trip to China years ago  Now I can match hers!



> IMG_2681 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
> (also can we TALK about how weird it is SHDR has PEPSI NOT COKE LIKE ***?!)



Yes! We can! I have a serious diet coke addiction, but only Coca Cola, I really do not like Pepsi...   I don't have a game plan yet for this problem.

Love your Golden Fanfare pictures. A bit jealous that I won't see it during out visit, it is replaced with a summer show, it features Moana which is great, but I wanted to see the elephant and all the costumes and other details that make Golden Fanfare great! 

By the way, any reason why you posted November 1st, first, and then October 31st?


----------



## missangelalexis

Beautiful photos from the Great Wall & Summer Palace!

Yay Shanghai! Your first night sound like it was nice! And Ahh Disney! The castle is so beautiful. What a great morning you were having!


----------



## AusAnnie

Loved your photos and report about the Great Wall.  We are going to China in September and I'm looking forward to seeing it.  Alas, it's a tour with no time for Shanghai Disney


----------



## katt789

Karin1984 said:


> Yay! We are at Shanghai Disney! (Today is my 50 day mark!)
> 
> Memo to me, I need those Chinese Mickey/Minnie ears. My mom got a headband very similar to this from her first trip to China years ago  Now I can match hers!
> Yes! We can! I have a serious diet coke addiction, but only Coca Cola, I really do not like Pepsi...   I don't have a game plan yet for this problem.
> 
> Love your Golden Fanfare pictures. A bit jealous that I won't see it during out visit, it is replaced with a summer show, it features Moana which is great, but I wanted to see the elephant and all the costumes and other details that make Golden Fanfare great!
> 
> By the way, any reason why you posted November 1st, first, and then October 31st?



Yay!!!! The ears are gorgeous!! Lol, yeah, it was weird, I don't drink a lot of soda, but when I do it's at Disney, so pepsi was weird!!
Thank you!! UGH though the summer show looks AMAZING, Kara & I were talking about how we wish we could be there to see it!
Hahahaha, I just somehow completely BLANKED and forgot to post it before we got in the parks!



missangelalexis said:


> Beautiful photos from the Great Wall & Summer Palace!
> 
> Yay Shanghai! Your first night sound like it was nice! And Ahh Disney! The castle is so beautiful. What a great morning you were having!


Thank you!!!
It was awesome!! It was a beautiful park!!



AusAnnie said:


> Loved your photos and report about the Great Wall.  We are going to China in September and I'm looking forward to seeing it.  Alas, it's a tour with no time for Shanghai Disney


Thank you! We had a blast!! That'll be amazing though!!!


----------



## katt789

Distraction passed, we headed around and up a pathway leading directly into the vast castle in front of us. It really is HUGE, it's bigger in person, and WAY more pretty in person!!



IMG_2801 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2804 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2806 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2809 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2812 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2813 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



The murals inside are GORGEOUS too, I love that they all represent the seasons, and that Tiana finally get some light in the overseas parks! 



IMG_2813 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2815 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



a6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2817 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


We were on our way to behind the castle when Abby got distracted with something sparkling in the jewelry/figurine store. The huge replica of the castle of course.



a3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



 While I was searching for her among all the people, I saw what I thought was a familiar face... He was all suited up, and surrounded by other suited up people... And there was suddenly a huge crowd of security in the store. I grabbed Kara's arm and "whispered"



"IS THAT BOB IGER?!?!??" 



IT WAS SUCH AN OMG MOMENT.



OMG IT WAS BOB IGER!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHH



(PSA for anyone who has no idea who I'm talking about, he's the CEO of Disney Parks... He's basically the Roy Disney of today.)



We frantically grabbed Abby and half followed into the store, casually freaking out while no one in the store seemed to know who he was. We tried to sneakily take a few pictures but we're pretty sure he saw, though Abby got a fantastic one.




a8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

He clearly noticed that we KNEW who he was were casually fangirling, so HE CAME RIGHT UP TO US!!!!

AAAAHHHH WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING?!????!!!
Bob freaking Iger came up to us and said hello. He asked if we were cast members, we said we used to be, and he guessed Florida correctly. Then asked if it was our first time in Asia, and asked if we were having fun so far. When we said yes he said "yeah, it was pretty fun to build" #casualsmirk and then wished us a good day and continued on his way.



We were too star struck to even be able to ask for a picture, but it happened!! UGGGHH



*cries*



We all promptly updated our Facebook statuses, and both mine & Abby's mother's were quick to ask (after my Mom had to ask who he was...) if we'd asked him for a job again... Sigh... It was SUCH A MOM THING TO ASK. Lol.



Guys.



We freaking met Bob Iger on our first day in the BRAND NEW DISNEY PARK THE YEAR IT WAS BUILT. Things were pretty amazing. To wear off a bit of the shock, we checked out a couple of gorgeous things in the shop & then meandered out of the castle, shaking with adrenaline & laughing that legit no one in that store had known who he was.



k8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2818 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2819 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2820 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2821 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Around the back corner of the castle is where the Princesses do meet & greets. We found Cinderella out, and jumped in line. It was about half an hour until we got to the front, and she had swapped out with Belle. That was completely okay because Kara & I like Belle better, and she was looking particularly beautiful today 




IMG_2823 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Belle asked us how our adventures had been so far, and if we had run across any enchanted objects! She was absolutely stunning and absolutely perfect, down to her voice. Ugh. Perfection was today.




v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

IMG_2826 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
Since we were in Fantasyland, our adventures continued through there. Noting how it had such a similar feel to the States parks. A Shanghai exclusive, Voyage of the Crystal Grotto found its way in front of us, and with only a 20 minute wait!




IMG_2827 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2828 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr





IMG_2832 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2835 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2840 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2841 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2845 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

And you can't really tell, but on the globe, there were little pink flowers dotted around to mark where each Disney park was, which I thought was SUPER cute!




IMG_2847 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2851 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2852 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2862 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2864 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
(when I was re-uploading these to put into the TR chapters I CACKLED at this picture and commented on Kara's facebook "wait…is this where Rivers of Light was the entire time..?!?!)


The boat ride was super cute, similar to the Disneyland canal boats, but with more interactive features, and bigger statues with the characters. At the end you actually go IN to the castle too! Pretty neat stuff!! There were some neat effect inside the castle, and some stuff about dreams/wishes, etc, that definitely made me tear up a bit lol. Even neater was at the exit to the ride, we found the boat from Tangled among other fun "hidden" things.




IMG_2882 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




a9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2883 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2886 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2887 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2893 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2894 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

SO FREAKNG COOL.

I also couldn't resist another castle pic….




IMG_2896 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

Having been going all morning, we stopped for a quick bathroom break, and had the time to grab a fast pass for Peter Pan's flight before heading back into Adventure Isle.




IMG_2898 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

It was officially time to SOAR AROUND THE WOOOOOOOORRRRLLLLDDDD!!! We hadn't been to a park in so long we hadn't a chance to experience it yet, and were super excited. The queue and intro were interesting... It felt more like we were heading into Indiana Jones!!



Naturally, the ride was amazing, I squealed when we raced through Africa with elephants, we all exclaimed "WE'VE BEEN THERE!" as we soared over the Great Wall & cheered as the fireworks exploded over Shanghai. (And wondered how the endings were in the other 2 parks). I was more than happy to find they still had amazing smells & the ride was great! I THINK I honestly prefer the original, but this one's pretty cool too!!



By the time we came down from our flight, and knowing it would take a bit to get back to Fantasyland, it was time to use our fp's for a different kind of flight!




k9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

I'd heard that Peter Pan's Flight was similar, but a do not miss because it was so amazing. It was good, super cute, but aside from it being newer, I didn't see that many differences from the States parks! Another fast pass was available, and we went with Mine Train next! The morning was FLYING by, seriously!! It seemed like it was going way too fast, felt like we hadn't accomplished enough yet, especially with the park closing so early!! Lunch was on our minds, and Abby knew where she wanted to go (where we all wanted to eat at) was the Tangled Tree Tavern!




a10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
It was suuuuper cute, menu looked good too. Abby got a beef & noodle dish, Kara got the chicken, and I opted for the vegetarian. We all got "Rapunzel's refresher", a slushy drink as a treat. 




k10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




a11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


As an extra treat, Abby ended up getting the souvenir cup! It was GORGEOUS gold, plastic, but not cheap, shaped like a wine GOBLET, with the sun, Rapunzel & Flynn decorated on the sides of it. I highly debated getting it as well but wasn't sure if I had enough room! The food was good, we all enjoyed our meals! The best part was the bowls though, they had a circle of purple with the Tangled sun on top of it at the very bottom. We all wished they were selling THOSE because it was super adorable!




a12 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



When the three of us were done eating, it was already time to get spots for the parade!! It was going by TOO FAST!! I mean, parade was at 2:00pm, so not as late as in Florida, but still! The parade route was super long, and we didn't have too much of a problem finding a spot in the hub for it. 



It was a cute parade, Mickey's Storybook Express was the name. Catchy music, characters we knew & loved, and cute costumes for the performers.




IMG_2906 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2928 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2933 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2942 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2945 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v14 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2956 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_2960 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2962 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2979 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

We were particularly excited to see Flynn.




IMG_2983 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

MINE!




IMG_2987 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_2992 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v15 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3000 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_3013 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3026 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v16 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

commented that Elsa was really givin it with the ice powers today, lol.




IMG_3028 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_3042 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3046 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3048 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



The Mulan unit was an overall favorite, it was done so well!!




v17 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v18 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_3059 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3065 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_3077 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3079 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v19 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Overall, it was super cute, and much better than I had expected it to be, even having watched it online prior. It doesn't even come close to any of the parades currently running (minus HK as we haven't seen it at the time of writing) BUT, we really enjoyed it.



There was a Frozen Sing a Long starting shortly after the parade had finished, so it was OFF TO ARENDELLE for us! The queue was pretty nondescript in theming, I thought it almost had more of a "Festival of Fools" feel to it. Perhaps they did it like that on purpose to make it easier to re-theme if Frozen ever dies down, bahahah.



The show itself was super cute, I liked the style of it much more than the States counterparts. Naturally, it was all in Mandarin, but we still liked it. There were the same funny bits, movie scenes played up on the screen, BUT there were also dancers, more performers, and they cut down the song lengths! The BEST PART though, was that EVEN ANNA SPOKE COMPLETELY IN MANDARIN!!




IMG_3099 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3104 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_3112 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3126 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3134 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Do the magic! DO THE MAGIC!




v20 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

JUST SO FREAKIN PUMPED

Guys... Anna & Elsa & Kristoff have very good friends who are NOT from Shanghai... Elsa & Kristoff had a few lines here & there, but Anna had full MONOLOGUES speaking Mandarin, it was seriously impressive.




v21 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3142 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The cutest part came from the small, Chinese Elsa behind us; she was standing directly behind Kara & Abby's seats, hands on them, and when the second song started all we hear is this little "Do you want to build a snowman?"  Sung in Mandarin & it was just TOO adorable!


----------



## Mom2m&k

Loving your report... such an awesome adventure! ThAnk you so much for sharing... I can't wait to read more!


----------



## missangelalexis

Such amazing pictures!! So cool that you got to meet Bob Iger! The boat ride looks so cute as does the parade!


----------



## katt789

Mom2m&k said:


> Loving your report... such an awesome adventure! ThAnk you so much for sharing... I can't wait to read more!


Thank you for reading!!! Glad you're enjoying it!!


missangelalexis said:


> Such amazing pictures!! So cool that you got to meet Bob Iger! The boat ride looks so cute as does the parade!


Thank you!!! It was seriously amazing lol!! We were super jacked on life!! A lot of SDL was simply adorable!


----------



## katt789

With shows on our minds, we knew we wanted to see a few more today! There was a Tarzan acrobatic one starting soon, but I pointed out I didn't think we'd make it with the size of the park. A bit later than that start time was a Pirates Stunt show, so we headed to Treasure Cove to see what Jack was up to!



v22 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_3147 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3148 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



The show began out in the lobby, with some pirates taking over & reminding us to boo the admiral... Or... That's the extent we got since it was 100% in Mandarin.



We then entered the theater & took out seats, which is when Jack showed up, the Admiral showed up to blow some stuff up, and there were some pretty cool stunts. It seemed like it was all really kitchy humour, which we enjoy, so it was a bummer we couldn't understand it! The sword fighting was all cool, and there was a part where the stunt guys were "swimming" I guess... On gusts of air blowing upwards. Pretty neat, but not as awesome as I had hoped it would be. Lol.As we came out of the show, the sun was starting to set, and naturally that meant it was photoshoot time! We had a lovely skyline of the horizon and the castle with the sun going down creating a whirlwind of colors.



a14 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v23 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3150 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3154 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



For the better angle, we ended up on the ship they have open for exploration for some of the pictures; also ran into one of the roaming atmosphere pirates! She said hello to us but that was it, probably didn't know a lot of English, lol.




IMG_3160 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



a13 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3167 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v24 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v25 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3168 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr





IMG_3175 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v26 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v27 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v28 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

I'M NOT EVEN SORRY FOR HOW MANY PHOTOS THERE ARE CAUSE IT WAS SO FREAKIN PRETTY




IMG_3177 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3184 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3185 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3215 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_3224 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3230 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3238 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_3242 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

Sun moving further and further down, we knew we had to head over to the Jungle to see the ape man. This theater was similar to FOLK at DAK, with the stage in the centre & seating all around 3 of the 4 sides.




IMG_3244 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3248 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3254 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


The show was absolutely breathtaking!!! I ended up taking more video than pictures (easier to actually watch and nicer to have in the end) It was all told through song & various forms of acrobatics, some stunt like stuff, some gymnastics/dance, and lots of aerial/silk stuff! It definitely added on to the reasons behind me wanting to learn more aerial arts stuff!! We all almost reached the point of tears, but like, how can you not?! Tarzan is A REALLY EMOTIONAL MOVIE OKAY?!??



The emotion taking over after however, was HUNGER! I'd heard glorious things about Barbossa's Bounty so we headed there. 




IMG_3287 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3288 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


Abby & I went adventurous and ordered the squid, and it came in a little boat!! So cute!!




a15 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3289 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


IMG_3290 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



The food was super good, it was more flavorful than lunch which was nice too! While we were eating a bunch of awesome songs came on, including Whale of a Tale which we all sang along with!



With dinner finished we took a few more pictures on our way out of Treasure Cove as we headed back to the land of castles & magic for our last fast pass at Mine Train.




IMG_3271 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3273 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v30 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



The ride was cute, exactly the same as at home, but with 1/4 of the wait time! Lol!! Kara & I were sitting beside each other, and went to rock our mine car/dance along to the music & were less than coordinated, we BASHED heads super hard but it was just hilarious! When we rounded the bend where we were expecting the picture, we posed, held it, only to NOT have a picture taken! ACK! We tried again on the next drop, but NOTHING, which just made the whole thing even funnier!!



Still laughing from our trip to the mine, it was getting close to park closing, which meant it was getting close to Ignite the Dream, their nighttime spectacular, so we hurried around the castle to get spots for that. This was another thing I hadn't seen a LICK of, heck, the song was ON my IPod, but I wouldn't listen to it! Lol.




IMG_3292 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The show absolutely blew me away, all of us. It naturally, opened with a Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, but in Mandarin, which was beautiful!




v32 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It then switched over into Circle of Life & a whole Lion King segment, quickly followed by a Little Mermaid segment, which reduced me into a puddle of feels on the floor.



There was a large Aladdin segment, all in English, a huge Pirates part, and a Star Wars segment that opened with Han's line "Chewie, we're home" followed of course, by Let it Go, again all in English, but everyone knew all the words anyway! It cut into the reprise, which at first instinct was weird, but then I realized that was the emotional bit leading into the finale.




v33 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The show is much like Celebrate the Magic/Once Upon a Time, with castle projections, but adds in fireworks and the water fountains. There are points where the projections are done on the water as well.



When the show ended and we were simply BURSTING with emotion, everyone was bursting to get out of the park. Not wanting to leave, or deal with that hot mess, we moved down closer to the castle to enjoy the magic, the after show and the music.




a16 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3298 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3300 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



 At one point, Once Upon a Dream started playing; Kara & I looked at each other and just instantly started to waltz around, it was hilariously perfect. The three of us danced & derped & arm bursted our way around for a while until the crowds had died, and then took some time exploring all the shops along  Mickey Ave. One of the MOST EXCITING THINGS WE NOTICED, was in the shop closest to what would be Casey's in MK (at the end of Main st on your left) THERE WERE A TON OF OLD SOUNDSTATIONAL/ALADDIN SPECTACULAR COSTUMES LIKE WHAT IS THIS?! IS THIS REAL LIFE?! HOW MUCH DO I HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT AURORA DRESS?!?




IMG_3311 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3312 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v34 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v35 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

Mickey Avenue is seriously too short, and we reached the exit much too quickly,




IMG_3315 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I tried some fun, UN focused photos, I'd wanted to play around, especially with nighttime stuff this trip!



IMG_3318 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3321 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3323 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3326 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3328 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3331 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I may have found a LOT of things I wanted in the shops….




IMG_3332 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3335 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Abby ended up buying that pin…cause like…duh…




IMG_3345 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

G'night Shanghai Disneyland!!!

At least we knew we'd be back again in the morning, and we headed to the train for home!!



All in all, a VERY successful first day in Shanghai Disneyland. We thoroughly enjoyed everything we had done and seen, and were still casually freaking out that we'd met Bob Iger. Shanghai Disney had  pleasantly surprised me, I had heard so many negative things about it leading up to the trip, but things were looking up so far! Abby was 10000% IN LOVE with the place, like, I cannot describe it, the girl could legitimately stay there forever. It was amazing, full of magic, and distinctly Chinese.


----------



## missangelalexis

Such beautiful photos at sunset! Sounds like rest of your day was very magical! The nighttime show sounds awesome!


----------



## Karin1984

I wanted to get an idea how much you can achieve in one day. With plenty of time to explore, shop, take photos and just enjoy the surroundings you did the following from open to close:
1.      Get FP for Soaring
2.      Pirates of the Caribbean
3.      Snack at Remi’s
4.      Golden Fairytale Fanfare
5.      Explore castle
6.      Meet Belle
7.      Voyage to the Crystal Grotto
8.      Get FP for Peter Pan’s Flight
9.      Soaring
10.   Peter Pan’s Flight
11.   Get FP Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
12.   Lunch at Tangled Tavern
13.   See Mickey’s Storybook Express
14.   See Frozen Singalong
15.   See Pirates Stunt Show
16.   See Tarzan Show
17.   Dinner at Barbossa’s Bounty
18.   Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
19.   See Ignite the Dream

Did I miss anything? It's a lot!


----------



## katt789

missangelalexis said:


> Such beautiful photos at sunset! Sounds like rest of your day was very magical! The nighttime show sounds awesome!



Thank you!!! It was pretty awesome!! And the show certainly was incredible, I THINK it was my favorite fireworks from all 3... (Fant from DisneySea not included cause that was a whole nother level!)



Karin1984 said:


> I wanted to get an idea how much you can achieve in one day. With plenty of time to explore, shop, take photos and just enjoy the surroundings you did the following from open to close:
> 1.      Get FP for Soaring
> 2.      Pirates of the Caribbean
> 3.      Snack at Remi’s
> 4.      Golden Fairytale Fanfare
> 5.      Explore castle
> 6.      Meet Belle
> 7.      Voyage to the Crystal Grotto
> 8.      Get FP for Peter Pan’s Flight
> 9.      Soaring
> 10.   Peter Pan’s Flight
> 11.   Get FP Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
> 12.   Lunch at Tangled Tavern
> 13.   See Mickey’s Storybook Express
> 14.   See Frozen Singalong
> 15.   See Pirates Stunt Show
> 16.   See Tarzan Show
> 17.   Dinner at Barbossa’s Bounty
> 18.   Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
> 19.   See Ignite the Dream
> 
> Did I miss anything? It's a lot!



I feel like that's about everything!!! I was typing up that day's update as we went so it should include everything!! Lol. It's definitely easy to accomplish a lot if you stick to one side of the park and don't try to criss cross it so many times as it is LITERALLY HUGE


----------



## petals

Great report. Luvin the pictures and how cool that you met Bob Iger


----------



## nancygirl1

I've been enjoying your trip report. It's been my late-night reading. This is the first time I've caught up and now can't wait for more ! Thanks for all your hard work!


----------



## katt789

Hey team!!! Thank you to EVERYONE who's out there reading!! I WILL be posting the rest of this TR rather quickly, I feel like it's just been going on for a LONG heck of a time and I've got so much else going on! I finally sat down and finished most of it this past week so here we go!!

*Wednesday November 2nd*

Mornings are stressful.



Mornings are EVEN MORE STRESSFUL when you wake up to see that Disney Careers HAS FINALLY POSTED CANADIAN CRP APPLICATIONS AFTER MONTHS AND MONTHS OF WAITING AND YOU'RE HALFWAY ACROSS THE WORLD WITH NO WAY TO APPLY!!!



CRAP!!



Luckily, we had a bit of extra time to freak out that morning & attempt to contact people back home to try to help us apply or at least send us resumes & cover letters to see what we could do. (Ie, Abby managed to get hers in, Kara & I had to end up waiting until we got home to reapply, I was super stressed that might effect things, but who knew?!)



It was stressful to say the least.



We arrived at the Disney Metro station at 8:30 and stopped in the little bakery for coffee & breakfast. It was surprisingly cheap & had lots of options. Food in hand we did the same routine as the day before, but were off on the left side instead, baring ourselves for the race for Tron. While we waited we wondered to each other if the cast members stationed along the route, telling people to walk, were scared of being trampled. We thought so.



a3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



a4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Our thoughts were confirmed when the rope was dropped in the center but not the sides & people got angry. The girl on our side with the rope undid it & promptly RAN herself out of the way, not wanting to get hit by the crazies. After our fast pass experience the day before, it had been decided that we would simply jump in the standby line. 



k1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

First, we had to grab a locker for all our belongings. This added to the stress as it was not in English, and it assigned us a locker that was 3 stations away from us. We got it sorted out & through the queue. None of us knew anything about the movie Tron, but that "this is what It looks like". There was barely any wait & we were boarding our light cycles before we knew it. They put us in the first & second row, I refused the first, and ended up with a random beside me.



This was when things took a turn for the worst. You pull the handlebars down, and lean forward, causing the seat back to come down on your back. Problem is, that's it, no belt, nothing locked into place, the seat back was 100% moveable, it did NOT feel safe & I IMMEDIATELY wanted to get off. I could feel the anxiety creeping in, and not like the fun adrenaline when you board a fun yet scary ride. The FULL BLOWN panic & terror that made me barely able to breathe, trying to hold it together as we were blasted off onto the course, holding on for dear life because it truly felt like I could fall off. I started worrying about an inversion, but that didn't last long as I literally could have no thoughts aside from clinging to that bike because my life depended on it.



THANK GOODNESS the ride was short, and I managed to clamber off that bike. Kara & Abby shot off the exit, meanwhile I instantly needed to sit down, thankfully, they had an area for just that at the ride's final point. I felt like I couldn't breathe, like I was going to throw up, my chest was tight, I was shaking horribly and I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. It was HANDS DOWN the worst panic attack I'd had in months, and it made it worse that I held so much of it in; there were no tissues around, mine were back in the locker & it was humiliating to be sitting right at the ride exit with everyone getting off staring at me. I took a few minutes to attempt to calm down, drank a bit of water, and finally started to exit Tron.



Up at the entrance to the gift shop I found Kara & Abby, confused as to how and where I had disappeared. I told them what happened & they got super awkward about it. I get that a lot of people don't know what to say (hence WHY I share all those articles on Facebook) and admit that I snapped at them a bit, saying they didn't have to get all awkward and quiet, giving me those sympathetic pity looks. They said they didn't know what to say. Just acknowledge it, and then move on, I said to talk about how much they'd love the ride, something, anything but dwelling on it. It helped a bit.



For what it's worth, they both ABSOLUTELY LOVED Tron.



Since we had planned to conquer Tomorrowland that morning, Buzz was next on our list. That quickly changed when Kara spotted her favorite little alien heading over to his meet & greet spot! And with no line either!




k8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



k7 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



k4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



k5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

He was super adorable, gave us all big hugs & surfed with us for pictures!



k3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Then, we made it to help Buzz save the galaxy!! I had heard that this ride was far superior to it's Florida brother, and man oh man was that ever RIGHT! You could take the guns right off the ship, your lazer was a different color than your co pilots, and you could actually tell where you were shooting! It was SO MUCH MORE FUN! 




k2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



We all achieved the second highest of ranks & were pumped when we got off the ride! We got even more pumped when we saw that this gift shop was FULL of Stitch merchandise!! They EVEN HAD A SCRUMP DOLL!!! Kara knew she would be coming back to buy that! They also had a super fuzzy Stitch hoodie with the hood being his head that she REALLY wanted, and I REALLY wanted to buy it for her as a surprise, but it was nearly impossible since we were almost always together. AND it was expensive, I was running low on cash and felt bad that I wasn't able to get it for her, but hey, it's the thought that counts? Bahahahaha! I ended up finally finding post cards, and decided on a Treasure Cove pin to be my bit of "Shanghai Disney exclusive merchandise"!



Despite seeing it the previous day, we had a very important date with the castle show, and a very good reason that we were all wearing our matching Aladdin shirts from Tokyo Disney. To make sure we had good, front row seats, we were there early, and ended up being early enough to have a little photoshoot! Yay!




IMG_3352 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3353 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



a by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3356 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3359 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v1 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



a2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3362 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

SHOWTIME!!




IMG_3365 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3377 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v10 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v11 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr





IMG_3409 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr





IMG_3423 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v12 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3437 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3444 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3447 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

So in love with these water effects guys!




IMG_3456 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3464 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr





IMG_3466 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3469 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v14 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_3479 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


Seriously just all the feels when Aladdin came out on that stage, casually owning it, no big deal.



IMG_3482 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v15 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v16 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr





IMG_3491 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v17 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



v18 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3502 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

IMG_3517 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3519 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v19 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3528 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3534 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Forever in LOVE with Elsa's Golden dress!!!




IMG_3539 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr





IMG_3556 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

BABIES!




IMG_3559 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



v20 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3574 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3575 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




v21 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3590 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Again, really enjoyed the show. I think I put everything into detail with yesterdays update, so I won't bore you with it all again lol.




IMG_3597 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


Castle show finished, Abby suggested that we go meet the main Mouse himself, and the wait time wasn't too long either! The wait itself, was probably the worst line we encountered our entire time. Too many shovy people, ugh. The queue room itself was super cute, with all sorts of portraits of Mickey & the gang. My favorite was the one of him & Minnie in Starry Night! That was, until we were ushered through a room that had GORGEOUS "paintings" of Mickey and the various castles from all around the world! I WISH WE HADN'T BEEN SO RUSHED I WANTED PICTURES *cries*




IMG_3598 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



It's okay, Mickey was waiting for us in the next room. He greeted us each with a hug and a kiss on the hand & it was just so kawaii of a meet and greet.




v9 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Mickey's meet exited right beside the Marvel fortress, so we figured we would go explore! There was a big Iron Man area all set up, some sort of video game? And a bunch of Doctor Strange posters. Both Spider Man & Captain America were available for meet and greets. Spidey barely had a wait, so we jumped in to say hi. Completely unaware of what language he would speak, we tried to figure it out in line. It backfired when he said "Hi" to a group in front of us, but when we got up to him it was a heavily accented "hello, goodbye" and that was it. Lol.




v8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Captain America DEFINITELY spoke English, and we never really saw him around, so it was a natural progression to head there next. It was quite funny as we noticed that while we were in line, performers would always give us a little love. He gave us a small wave & "Hello" when we got up closer, we guessed he was relieved to see someone that spoke English. Well, imagine our surprise when we got up to see him and he greeted us with a "Wow! Hi! Finally someone I can TALK TO! It's been such a long morning!"



Bahahahahahahahhahaha!!!



I kid you not.



I guess that's what we get from a super hero instead of a princess, bahaha!! We had a nice little chat with him about where we were from & our adventures so far; he had us pose like superheroes, and then salute. It was a reference to the movie but we all thought of rhe finale girls in DEP. 




k15 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Lawl. It was a fabulous meet & greet, so despite not knowing like, anything about the movies, we enjoyed our time in Marvel Island.



Having conquered so many things already that morning, you can assume correctly that we were hungry! We had knocked out our "must eats'" the previous day, but knew we were close to Pinocchio's, and who doesn't like pizza?!




IMG_3600 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


They had a pork one, a margherita style one, and a duck one. The girls both got the pork one, which would take a 5 minutes, so I took mine out into the patio and started without them, lol. Hey, I didn't want it to get cold!




a5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3602 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


My pizza was VERY similar to the balsamic glaze one at Pinnochios in WDW, but it was Mickey shaped, so it wins. All our meals so far apparently came with drinks. We weren't sure about how that worked because of the language barrier. One time Kara was handed this weird & gross orange/yellow drink so she would now make sure to ask for Pepsi (also weird that they're Pepsi products here...) I usually swapped out for water & was pleased to discover that this was not an extra cost!




v22 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


Lunch was fully enjoyable, more so because the patio was legitimately empty aside from like, 5 cast members. We were blessed with low crowds so far, and noticed that most people brought lunches in (we'd also noticed this at most tourist destinations) thus keeping the restaurants pretty empty, even at peak meal times.


----------



## katt789

With lunch finished, we ventured further into Fantasyland, picking up a fast pass for Winnie the Pooh, and jumping in line for the Hunny Pot Spin!



k16 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


Throughout the morning, I had been chatting with a friend who works at Shanghai Disney, and he was going to come up during his lunch break to say Hi & hangout for a bit! I let him know where we were while we were waiting in the line & he said he'd head that way; letting me know that he was just across from the ride watching the Belle show while he waited for us to finish! AHHHH!




k17 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



k18 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


The ride was super cute and fun! I'm pretty sure it didn't spin as fast as the teacups do, but I love myself some Winnie the Pooh, so we enjoyed it. And hey, isn't spinny yourself to a tizzy always THE most fun?! We found the exit, and I sent Steve a message saying we were done & he said he was coming our way! It was actually like, the most exciting thing ever. Kara & I used to pat visits to him at work in WDW EVERY Friday for the first few months of our program until the bid changed. We'd still see him around all the time, and we'd obviously kept in touch when he took the contract out in Shanghai. Both of us were CRAZY excited to see each other & when we finally spotted each other, there was a bit of shrieking and lots of THE greatest, longest hug of my life! I'm pretty sure Kara recorded it, but I'm not sure if it will end up in the trip video. (ETA: IT DID! Lol, makes me super happy, I miss him lots!)



Steve asked if we'd seen the Belle show yet, I said no, and the four of us set off over there. The whole thing's in Mandarin, and it's a cute show to kind of teach children about proper manners. It has a similar style to the shows over in DLR, with the princess & 2 hosts/assistants to help to act out all the other roles. It was pretty cute, and Belle definitely noticed some familiar faces watching!




k19 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



k20 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



k21 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



k22 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



k23 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



k24 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



k25 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Steve needed a picture of the new hat he was wearing, it was a super cute Aladdin themed hat with a lamp on the front & the pattern under the brim was the carpet! We obviously also needed some pictures together, so we all headed to the most obvious of spots, the front of the castle!




k27 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3603 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3605 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3607 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


We took a couple of cute hugging ones & then he grabbed my hands & asked "are we going to be *those* people" and I was all confused until he put me into an Agrabah pose, bahahahaha.




IMG_3612 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


We cute.




k28 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



While we were catching up and having our photoshoot, Steve saw some more familiar faces down a level closer to the castle, and we were excited to see someone else we knew, that we weren't sure if we'd see in Shanghai! It was really funny because she saw Steve, got all excited because she saw him, and then panned over to us, and was super surprised and excited since she'd had no idea that we were there! It was super hilarious. Her & her friend that was visiting came up for hugs & catching up for a bit. The funniest was when we were saying that we'd have to get used to having our filters back on once we were home! It was pretty standard that you could say something that may not be that nice, and no one around you would understand. The new pair had been on the metro the other day, where it reminds you to make sure your party is together since the doors will NOT bounce back open; a girl ran onto the metro, and found that her boyfriend was now on the other side of the closed door. Bahahahah! The guy we were chatting with then said that he'd mentioned something to his friend about keeping parties together & the girl he was talking about turned around & in perfect English said "I thought he was gonna make it!"



Bahahahaha.



It was a good time. The two said their good byes & then went along there way, and the four of us decided we needed to move too. There were multiple locals around that had begun both videoing and taking pictures of us, and it was awkward.



The four of us moved up in the hub towards Mickey Avenue, when we were joined by another visitor! Apparently a bookworm had told her there were some cool people in the park & she'd popped out to hang out for a bit! We spent a good chunk of time just hanging out talking, catching up & talking about the various parks around the world & how they compared. Steve was headed to Tokyo in a few days, and obviously we were headed to Hong Kong next week, so we kinda amped each other up for those trips. Steve also gave us tips on where good places to watch parade & the nighttime show were. Specifically for parade he suggested right beside the lamp post near Mickey Avenue that had the garden directly behind it (and thus a fence) to help with the people shoving in around you problem.




IMG_3616 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


Steve went through some stuff around the park, making sure that we knew all the secrets lol. When Abby mentioned being bummed that the Baymax & Hiro aerobics show was down, Steve mentioned that they would be out doing sets instead of the show! Yay!


----------



## missangelalexis

I'm so sorry about your panic attack  That must have been an awful feeling. But I bet meeting Stitch helped you feel better, cute pics with him!

Love the castle photoshoot photos! I always love the photoshoots you do, no matter which park, they always come out so great!

Mickey shaped pizzas!! We need those in the states haha

The Hunny Pots are too cute!!


----------



## Karin1984

That was one serious panic attack  If it's of any consolotion, if they have benches just outside the unloading area, then you are probably not the first and most likely not the last  

I absolutely adore the pictures of the castle show, how long before the show did you claim your spot? Also which settings do you use on your camera for shows & parades. Also on Instagram you have such great pictures! 

I had already seen the hug in the Shanghai Video and I thought: Who is this guy? It's not Bob Iger ;-)


----------



## petals

Love the castle show pics.


----------



## katt789

missangelalexis said:


> I'm so sorry about your panic attack  That must have been an awful feeling. But I bet meeting Stitch helped you feel better, cute pics with him!
> 
> Love the castle photoshoot photos! I always love the photoshoots you do, no matter which park, they always come out so great!
> 
> Mickey shaped pizzas!! We need those in the states haha
> 
> The Hunny Pots are too cute!!



It was AWFUL! Certainly wasnt expecting it lol! It was so nice to see Stitch! He was awesome!!

Awee!! Thank you!!! It means a lot!!! Well, we're back in disneyland in Oct! There'll be plenty of photoshoots!!

RIGHT?!
MICKEY SHAPED EVERYTHING


----------



## katt789

Karin1984 said:


> That was one serious panic attack  If it's of any consolotion, if they have benches just outside the unloading area, then you are probably not the first and most likely not the last
> 
> I absolutely adore the pictures of the castle show, how long before the show did you claim your spot? Also which settings do you use on your camera for shows & parades. Also on Instagram you have such great pictures!
> 
> I had already seen the hug in the Shanghai Video and I thought: Who is this guy? It's not Bob Iger ;-)



I'm assuming the benches are for motion sickness but i sure was happy they were there!!!

Thank you so much!!! Uhm, it was about 20-30 mins? The first day we walked up right at it was starting & were just behind the first set of gardens!  As for settings, I shoot manual, so it changes a lot during the sjow! Sports/kids setting works pretty well if you dont wanna delve into manual stuff, i'm usually between 1/2000 and 1/4000 depending on how bright it is, automatic white balance most days, the focus setting that focusses on moving & still subjects, and ISO depends on how bright it is. It's good to leave it on auto most days

Thank you so much!! It means a lot! A lot of work goes into photos!

Hahahah!!! Yeah!!! A great friend who I FREAKING MISS since he keeps extending his contract!!



petals said:


> Love the castle show pics.



Thank you so much!!!


----------



## katt789

Eventually, it was time for our friends to head back to work, hugs were had, and we went our separate ways, knowing that we'd see Steve again tomorrow! The three of us took his advice, choosing to watch parade from the suggested spot & it was definitely an incredible tip! He'd also said he'd told a few of his parade friends that he had friends in town, so we got some extra love which was super nice!!




k26 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
Kara captioned that pic on Facebook with something like "yeah girl… I feel ya…sometimes I wanna kick guests in the face too" BAHAHA!




IMG_3631 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3633 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3635 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3639 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Jumping Stilts always freak me out to be totally honest lol.




IMG_3642 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3644 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3651 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3655 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3659 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
That cutie though!




IMG_3662 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3663 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3664 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_3674 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_3685 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_3690 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3704 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3708 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
UGH SO PERFECT MUCH POWER MANY WARRIOR




IMG_3714 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

Post parade, the girls wanted to see if they could pull a fast pass for Tron that would give them a time after dark, so it was back to Tomorrowland!




15032219_10157918908530647_7979147075638336821_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Prior to even getting to the fast pass machine, we noticed that Bay & Hiro were OUT DOING SETS NOW, and with practically no line!! Abby BOOKED it over there, while Kara ran to pick up the fast passes, and made it back in time to meet the pair!




v6 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



It was a super cute interaction, as always is with Baymax. I was also pleased to see Hiro out, obvs a little easier in China, but hey, he should still be around in WDW!Excited by how we were kicking butt at character meeting (remember, Kara & I averaged 2 per day in Tokyo... And none of them were special) we figured it'd be nice to jet into hyper speed & visit Launch Bay! Upon arriving, we saw Kylo Ren with legitimately NO ONE in his line. Despite being absolutely terrified, we went to see him. While in the queue, I noticed Darth Vader was chilling all alone, watching us, I waved, and he shook his fist in return...




v4 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


Kylo's scary, so we sent Kara in first to stand next to him, so naturally he walked all around us, speaking in Mandarin, probably demanding that we join the Dark Side. 



v5 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Vader was practically calling to us when we finished with his Grandson, so we paid a visit to him. Especially exciting since we don't see him often!! He wasn't quite as scary.



v3 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Across the way, again with no wait, were R2D2 and a fighter pilot (who spoke very little English) but it was beyond exciting to meet R2! We were sad C3PO was nowhere around, but oh well.




v2 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Beside them was a queue to have your picture taken in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, which we skipped. There was a small merchandise shop, and a small lego(?) area. I honestly can't remember what was in that last room but it wasn't interesting to us.


----------



## missangelalexis

Great parade pics!

Ahh Hiro & Baymax- awesome!

Great Star Wars character pics!


----------



## katt789

Y'all. Posting from an Iphone is WAY HARDER THAN YOU'D THINK!! Im going to try & post as much as I can tonight!


************
Kara & I realized that we'd gotten so distracted earlier we hadn't taken our heart photo, and NEEDED to do that, so it was BACK to the front of the castle for another photoshoot!




IMG_3719 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Y'know, sometimes I STILL can't believe that I've seen this castle in person, this whole experience feels like a dream really.



IMG_3723 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3729 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3735 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I wanted to do another one like the Torii Gate in Miyajima but the castle's so freaking big it wouldn't really focus lol!



IMG_3736 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3740 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3743 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

And of course we had to get one of all of us!




IMG_3751 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_3752 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

Abby really wanted to meet Rapunzel, so we popped to the back of the castle to see if she was out. The wait looked super low, and Snow was out currently, so we opted to wait, and took a turn at the castle walkthrough.

https://flic.kr/p/VXENr2]
	
k29[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/127532342@N06/]Katt McCluskey[/url], on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/PdAqJe]
	
IMG_3754[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/Pb3JNC]
	
IMG_3755[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/NQcKC3]
	
IMG_3756[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/Pb3HGu]
	
IMG_3757[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/PksEHL]
	
IMG_3758[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/Pb3GUY]
	
IMG_3759[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr

So pretty!!
https://flic.kr/p/PksEro]
	
IMG_3760[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/Pb3FP1]
	
IMG_3761[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/PksE2A]
	
IMG_3762[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/Pb3tF3]
	
IMG_3763[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/PksDU1]
	
IMG_3764[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/Pb3Efj]
	
IMG_3765[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr

Legit ALL of them


The staircases were lined with portraits of all the princesses, which made me happy. The walk through for the rest of it was a retelling of the story of Snow White. It was wonderfully done & a neat idea, but it didn't work wonderfully. It was very start & stop as there were scenes that would play out in each little room, and everyone was very shovy & pushy to make sure they got to the front & got out of the room & into the next one first. I gave up and just let everyone go in front of me coming out of one room and a cast member handed me a sticker..... Bahahahaha...


Castle explored, Evil Queen defeated, we hopped into line for a princess meet and greet. The wait wasn't that long, but we were sprinkled with pixie dust as Snow swapped out to Rapunzel RIGHT before we got up there! Yaaay!!

https://flic.kr/p/VUdB1C]
	
15036755_10153928330457624_3341879432103326710_n[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/127532342@N06/]Katt McCluskey[/url], on Flickr

Abby wanted a solo picture, and chatted with Rapunzel first. She asked where we were visiting from, and when Abby said her favorite part was pirates, Punzie said she thought her ruffian friends would like that ride. She called us all in for a group picture & said she liked our matching outfits!

https://flic.kr/p/VLeWJB]
	
15193688_10157896253720360_1894574508140068405_n[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/127532342@N06/]Katt McCluskey[/url], on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/VUdAZL]
	
15181474_10157896254020360_4447484920790619810_n[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/127532342@N06/]Katt McCluskey[/url], on Flickr


Being on a character roll, and knowing it was a good day to track down Jack Sparrow, we ventured into the land of pirates to try and find the Captain. Unluckily for us, we appeared to have missed him for the day. Fortunately for us, there was a gorgeous sunset going on, so it was time for another photoshoot.

https://flic.kr/p/PksDKd]
	
IMG_3770[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/PksDHu]
	
IMG_3773[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/PksDFf]
	
IMG_3778[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/Pb3Dc7]
	
IMG_3780[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr

I will NEVER get over these sunsets! We were SO LUCKY!


----------



## katt789

To kill some time, we rode Pirates again. I kept my head down during the first big screen part, I already had a headache & didn't want to make it worse. But that didn't make it any less amazing. Upon returning to shore, there was still no Sparrow, so we gave up.

https://flic.kr/p/Pb3CNS]
	
IMG_3783[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/PksDzy]
	
IMG_3784[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr


https://flic.kr/p/Pb3Coo]
	
IMG_3786[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr

Tomorrowland was our base for the day, and because there were Tron fast passes to be used, we decided to grab food there! Tomorrowland Terrace had the usual Tomorrowland grub, burgers! I opted for the veggie burger & it was great!

https://flic.kr/p/Pb3ABh]
	
IMG_3806[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/PksDbs]
	
IMG_3807[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr


Normally, I would have offered to hold the girl's bags while they went on Tron, but I wanted to take some pictures, so I told them I'd meet them in the gift shop. I took some of the Tomorrowland area; including playing around with the colored fountain!
https://flic.kr/p/Pb3BYL]
	
IMG_3792[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/131804258@N08/]Katt mccluskey[/url], on Flickr



IMG_3794 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3799 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3803 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
Then I moved into the Tron dome, it definitely did look way cooler at night!




IMG_3811 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3815 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3828 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


I found a seat outside, but still under the dome to hang out for a while. I chatted with Steve a bit, he'd sent me the pictures we'd taken on his phone, and had uploaded one to WeChat earlier in the day. I was sitting there catching up on blogging & taking the occasional picture when a local came running up to me, phone in hand. Oh great, another paparazzi, I first thought, but he was super polite. He said something about me being "Steve's friend" and showed me the picture on WeChat! I said that was me, and then the surprise came! I hadn't recognized him, but he'd been hanging around a kid with a robot earlier!! Ah!! He was actually super nice & said he'd wanted to come say Hi, and that it was nice to meet me! So cute!




IMG_3829 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3832 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
url=https://flic.kr/p/PoBYYr]
	

	
	
		
		

		
			
		
		
	


	




[/url]IMG_3818 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3821 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


My visitor left, and the cold was starting to bother me, so I moved inside the gift shop. It didn't help a whole lot since it was pretty open air-ed in there, but yolo. Abby & Kara finally came through the exit, exclaiming that the ride was SO much better at night! Yay! We were all feeling the chill, and knew there was hot chocolate where we'd eaten earlier, so we picked up some on our way back to the hub.


----------



## katt789

Following Steve's advice yet again, we got spots for the Nighttime Spectacular at the edge of the flower bed, where there wouldn't be anyone in front of us! There DID end up being a super obnoxious group behind us, but they weren't even locals! I mainly just wanted them to stop shouting in my ear during the show but hey, you can't win 'em all!




IMG_3874 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3876 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3882 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


Post show we hung around a little bit to let the crowds die down, but it wasn't long before we joined them to head home. We had a good laugh about how EARLY we were coming home from the parks, this never happens in Florida! It's 8:00am open to 1:00am close! Here, we were home by 9:00pm! Heck! We were pretty sure we were home faster than if we had been staying at a Value resort at WDW! Bahahahah!




IMG_3885 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3886 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3887 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_3888 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I just love the look of Mickey on his steamboat with the castle and "train station" in the back!




IMG_3898 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

So, to start off with, I've got some bad news....again.....lol. I got my computer up and running long enough to email the updates to myself  but somehow missed our last day at SHDR. To summarize, we did the following:
-met characters on Main Street, the mice, the ducks, and Duffy, all short waits
-rope dropped the challenge courses, they were pretty fun, not to daring, they had some of the more challenging courses blocked off which was a bummer for me!
-Steve had been texting me about how the lifts for the castle show were all messed up, so we ran there next to catch a ONCE in a lifetime show of Ariel being on stage from her entrance till the end and no Merida!
-rode Tron
-watched the parade
-ate dinner at Wandering Moon Teahouse (?)
-explored the gardens of imagination
-took pics with the partners statue
-rode the carousel 
-attempted to ride dumbo (took pics with the photo op instead)
-rode pirates again
-attempted to find Jack sparrow
-rode the Winnie the Pooh ride (exact same as the US versions)
-watched the nighttime fireworks
-attempted to book it out during the finale to beat the bus crowds and go explore/have a drink at the hotel only to find out you needed a room key to get on the bus at that time
-had cheesecake and wine at the cheesecake cafe again

Sorry for the lack of pics, my iPad doesn't want to copy & paste the links properly....


----------



## katt789

Goooood morning!! Today we slept in a teeny bit, finished packing, and said goodbye to our lovely BnB, and lugged all of our stuff off to the train and headed into the heart of Shanghai. Our hostel was about a 5 minute walk away from the Train Station, where we hilariously found 2 stores right across from each other….




15134681_10153933748262624_5940325567958304677_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15095013_10153933748122624_4401342762401989416_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
We checked in pretty easy, and found our room that we shared with 3 other girls. After settling in a little bit, Abby & Kara wanted to go check out the French Concession. My throat was really bothering me after being outside ALL day for 3 days in a row with no mask or anything, and I really just needed some quiet time, so I opted to stay behind.




15056405_10153933746792624_7291923519357332723_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15032170_10153933746762624_3521081605056807098_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15032661_10153933746777624_2468962902750659341_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
I got some dinner and a baileys and coffee from the hotel café, and WAS LUCKY ENOUGH to find a book from one of my favorite series in the library and spent the evening getting super into it!



14947662_10157918916095647_432991915726782812_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


It was a pretty chill night!


----------



## katt789

It was FINALLY time to explore the city of Shaghai! The three of us started off with a breakfast from the hostel café, which was decently priced and very filling!



14962569_10157918916115647_2533711395401585782_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Our destination today was the Yuyuan Gardens and shopping stalls, a major tourist spot in the city!




IMG_4210 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4221 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4224 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4229 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
We took a few hours exploring it, and discovered new areas around every turn, and even areas that you wouldn't have known were there had you not explored around what looked like a dead end!




IMG_4243 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



15134606_10153933747972624_7336921164093460462_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15109353_10153933747487624_7291669804357243897_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15350611_10157918095040360_7596236868469569280_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4252 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4263 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4264 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4271 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



15055664_10153933748452624_7911080755672081318_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15350520_10157918092465360_3346753665439522192_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4280 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
It's always entertaining to me to see the areas of such detail, culture and history in the same skyline as the huge new skyscrapers!


----------



## katt789

IMG_4287 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



15355671_10157918092115360_1592431089565950063_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The shopping streets were crazy crowded as it was a weekend. At some point I stopped to buy ear phones for the equivalent of like $1 since I needed new ones (spoiler alert, they were broken in like, 2 days, but yolo) 




IMG_4310 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



15037070_10153933748732624_6654545641151122185_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We found our way down to the Bund area pretty easily as it wasn't too far away from the Gardens.




IMG_4315 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I even found a Hidden Mickey bahahha!



14925505_10157918916245647_9077393888024955901_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15055806_10153933749147624_7827390066986019005_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15036436_10157918916265647_8427257771428333280_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

The cityline was pretty impressive that's for sure!




IMG_4324 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



15337569_10157918094165360_3675814489665987092_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15283987_10157918094255360_5556002555395024012_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

And bless that selfie stick!



15032867_10153933748947624_3789340702932574346_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15055777_10157918094425360_3984403029195708567_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Our adventures took us across the river, and closer to the Pearl Tower!




15032877_10153933749127624_4558526135223894680_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15337515_10157918094485360_7110379555073672282_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
The most exciting part however, was still to come!




15078750_10153933749272624_5046006380646272564_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



14955862_10157934047480647_7538827072496125309_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15267882_10157918094695360_3665652389239178514_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
YUP! We'd been gone from a Disney park for like, 24 hours and were already in need of another fix!




15241418_10157918094735360_3319721910341601533_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We got there right in time too since on our way out there was a QUEUE to get in! We browsed around, each of us bought Tsum Tsums since they were all on sale (though the didn't have as many as Tokyo did lol) At one point Kara was holding the GIANT Stitch one, well knowing that she couldn't buy it, and some little local girl came walking by and was all "too big!! Too big!" to her, bahahahha! The kid clearly didn't speak a lot of English so it made it even funnier lol!

The three of us crossed over the shopping mall across the way and were looking for a place to have lunch when Kara & I saw the Hooters sign, and had a good laugh over it, and talked about how much we loved the food there, and Abby said she'd NEVER been to a Hooters…well…clearly we do tourism RIGHT, because you can guess where we had lunch, drinks, and spent the next like, 3 hours….




15027876_10157918919205647_8551710750405704909_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING!!

It was delicious, the drinks were cheap and strong and the servers were decent enough lol!

Post lunch and relaxing, we explore the Pudong area a bit more, Abby definitely loved it. We stopped in Sephora for a bit, each of us picking up some stuff (spoiler, the eye brow stuff I picked up broke within a day….ugh…)


----------



## katt789

When night hit us, we headed back over to the Pearl Tower and Bund for some more photos!




15032921_10157918919300647_3234966119832571045_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15056488_10153933749277624_7197098301849497907_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15170958_10157918095225360_6172891186038296495_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It was a completely different experience at night!



15241943_10157918095465360_8597793765818553922_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
...yup...

It's okay…she classied up back on the other side of the river




15337420_10157918095760360_1637732276021327095_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4331 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4337 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

It was definitely prettier all lit up at night!




15032687_10153933749387624_5129276010210295310_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15327335_10157918095610360_1044875653060654922_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We called it a night and started our journey back to the hostel. I'd been texting with Steve during the day (he'd sent me pictures of one HECK OF A CROWDED Disneyland, so we were glad we weren't there!) and  he'd sent me info on a caramel popcorn sundae from McDonald's, so it was obvious we were making a pit stop before bed!




15036731_10157918919975647_4197479312163163811_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Y'all it was THE greatest thing I've ever had lol.


----------



## katt789

Well, the time had come, it was already our last day in Shanghai, and today we were venturing outside the city a little bit to explore Zhujiajiao Water Town! It was about an hour outside the city, accessible by bus, and it was a bit tedious to get to not speaking any Mandarin…. We took the train a bit, then had to find the right bus, it was a bit of walking in circles and being confused, I was definitely not having it today, and neither was my respiratory system, it wasn't too fun.

LUCKILY, we got on the right bus, didn't get scammed, and found our way to the right place! We avoided the scammers outside the bus station and wandered our way over to where the river streets and touristy areas began. YAY! WE DID IT!




IMG_4370 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4375 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



15284178_10157918093415360_5176539619501549533_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15032786_10153933750527624_5261567821078307758_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15232203_10157918093335360_1628856765987430338_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It was a cute little area, full of shops, restaurants, you could even take a little river cruise! 




15267526_10157918093740360_7299089772567613271_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15253560_10157918093605360_3042974138176850365_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4392 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4409 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4410 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4414 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4416 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

We were there for most of the day, checking out things for sale and just exploring, looping around all the canals, seeing where everything was.

It made me laugh that among all these ancient buildings and such culture and home owned stalls and crafts that there was still a Starbucks…




IMG_4432 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4437 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4443 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4454 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

None of us were particularly hungry, but in need of at least a snack before we headed back so we found a nice little café to have one!




15109413_10153933750657624_7554517185410508560_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Back at the bus depot, we came across hands down the GROSSEST AND WORST thing we came across the entire trip. We stopped to use the bathroom, and by this time, were used to the squat toilets…thing is, this one wasn't JUST a squat toilet, it was like a TROUGH that, despite private stalls, it was all joined together and was WITHOUT DOUBT the most disgusting experience. Like, ugh, please, never again…


----------



## katt789

The three of us managed to get onto the right bus back into Shanghai and around an hour and a half later, were back at our hostel. We took a bit of a break before we headed back out after dark to explore something Kara had really wanted to see!




15285031_10157918096015360_4992905701369129654_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It was just a MAZE of alley ways, little side streets and CRAMMED full of amazing things. So many different specialty stores, weird crazy awesome foods, restaurants, bars, and full of life!




15219543_10157918096440360_5105817168174866241_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15036218_10153933750742624_5879282673024431507_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


15203178_10157918095855360_714108933573690171_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

You'd be that excited if you had cotton candy the size of your HEAD too!

We spent the better part of the evening there, eventually finding a neat little place to have dinner (lets be real, we were enticed by the buy one get one drink offer they had…) Post dinner we HAD to find the cotton candy ice cream, because one giant treat wasn't enough for one day!




15349727_10157918095905360_1933652969900840013_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15317962_10157918096225360_1770277626095960261_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15107327_10153933750797624_2815356551982752994_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15338706_10157918096360360_2484879322242753428_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
DELICIOUS, and well worth the sugar!




15230809_10157918096145360_5468536795903555749_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Our sugar rushes got us back to the hostel in one piece, where we decided to call it a night after a bit of packing and organizing things. I headed to bed, since we were on different flights the next day, Kara & Abby took off early, and I was able to sleep in, have some lunch, and finish my book before having to check out of the hostel and head to the airport!! 

*Monday November 7th*

Today I'm gonna throw onto the end here since it was a travel day for me and that's about all I know. Kara & Abby had one HECK of a time since they had to battle the rush hour traffic on the trains with their giant back packs. Apparently the doors were nearly shutting on Kara & a local woman reached out, grabbed her by the pack straps and PULLED her into the train, bahahah. I'm SO thankful that I had such a later flight and didn't have to worry about crowds at all.



I arrived in Hong Kong with a decent idea of where to go, but naturally didn't have any change, or the right amount of cash or something. I'd headed straight to the bus I needed and the driver sent me BACK to a ticket counter, and thus I had to wait for a second bus. Ugh. I was tired, didn't want to deal with it, but hey, it worked out in the end. I had the directions printed off for our hostel, but also had directions in a message from Kara since they'd had some troubles finding it earlier on. Turns out the hostel has TWO different entrances, on different streets (aka sides of the building). I followed my directions until it came time to using the elevator, and used Kara's, and was promptly confused, lost, alone and frustrated. I eventually found where I needed to be (Kara and Abby had come in the first entrance they saw and not even known there was another door/set of elevators!) They'd left the door unlocked for me, and BOY OH BOY IT WAS THE SMALLEST ROOM I THINK I've ever seen! Kara didn't even FIT in her bed properly, and it's not like she's crazy tall! I jumped into bed pretty quick and was out like a light!



During the day I'd been travelling the girls went and got some rainbow grilled cheese that I was SUPER bummed I'd missed out on….




15085541_10153939942097624_6637310668141655015_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15181708_10153939942047624_4736714935046288831_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15355558_10157922557780360_3111555438549529707_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

Our tiny hostel room couldn't hold us for too long, we were up and sorting to get ready to explore Hong Kong today! Abby took the lead and said we were going to go to the Friend's Café for breakfast, and then head over to Secret Honey (a store that specializes in Disney inspired outfits/costumes). We set off with the plan of finding Central Perk. It started out in the wrong direction, then ended up in circles while google maps confused Abby, and we couldn't find it. We found some WiFi, I googled the place, and found out it had been closed for a while now…well…crap… We knew there'd be food in the metro stations, so down we went to get some breakfast, and oh God did I need coffee. (In case it hasn't come apparent, I am one of those people who's mood improves a million times after coffee, and before can be dangerous…. Lol)



It was then time to find Secret Honey, we took a train or two over to a more ritzy area, tracked down the shopping center and found our way to the store, which, luckily for us, was still open! There were SO many gorgeous things, skirts with details on them, more subtle Disneybounding type clothes, and of course more costumey type things! Neither Kara or I had enough money to splurge on anything, and of course it being  a Japanese brand, the ONLY sizes they had were like a 2/4, so nothing was going to fit over our girls anyways. There WAS a gorgeous Winter/Xmas Ariel inspired dress that I did try on, and with a few inches less it would probably zip up, but it wasn't worth the cost…and I did want to eat still…bahahah. Abby DID however find a Rapunzel one that was on sale, so she ended up Yolo'ing and getting it!



With some treat yo self done, we were finally on to the tourist activities of today, a few more train rides and some walking, and we found ourselves at the base of Victoria Peak, where we picked up some tram tickets!




14947868_10157934047570647_8707315526120247260_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15317809_10157922558085360_6186644969309410667_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

And boarded our tram off to our next adventure!




IMG_4460 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4464 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
The Tram takes you up to one of the highest peaks above Hong Kong, with gorgeous views of the city!




IMG_4469 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



15284966_10157922558500360_3352348089708040207_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15285067_10157922555435360_2825356092304267035_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15356738_10157922558990360_7256504801291518210_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15350489_10157922559810360_6518563299596037867_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Y'all, I was (and still am) COMPLETELY IN LOOOOVE WITH HONG KONG!!! It was SO gorgeous, and had SUCH a vast variety of landscape/cityscape/beaches to it. It was also INSANELY like Vancouver, lol.




IMG_4480 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4483 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4492 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
This was also the point in our adventure where things started to get WHACKY again, like, just full on, we'd been travelling so long, had too little sleep, and were just plain crazy lol! 


15326434_10157922559185360_5696903396326357369_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
Though we took some time for some nice pictures throughout our hot mess express.



15193516_10153939942537624_7904191051587057521_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4506 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4508 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



15338729_10157922558750360_1373015461211475216_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15242021_10157922559260360_2995524706295474222_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

So pretty. Much model.



15337498_10157922560140360_7721055163605579266_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15232162_10157922558450360_7095088339442460494_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
That's better!



15219491_10157922558235360_211581272552622229_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15232289_10157922559910360_7428903292128149714_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4515 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



15220212_10157922559985360_7525168263245639907_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15232110_10157922558710360_4104363733878484310_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

I just don't even know….there was LOTS of photo opportunity up here!


----------



## katt789

15337446_10157922559945360_280010041541338978_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15268045_10157922560115360_271592510063649504_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15267860_10157922558120360_7243565771309758411_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15220174_10157922559095360_4632111277255620346_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Seriously…what is wrong with us…why are you still reading this insanity…bahaha




15267815_10157922558775360_7455947456573147992_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
Good ol' Pearl showed up too!


15241847_10157922558510360_3096551991379373921_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
We found a path and followed it for a while before realizing it didn't really go anywhere so we turned back to the main area of the peak. It was time for lunch too! There was a little mall type area across from the main building, and we found some Vietnamese food there! YUM!




15032772_10157934052745647_1872587169787657389_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15027552_10157934052780647_6813388656924401369_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



14955868_10157934052835647_2258918610710170494_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Vietnamese coffee gelato/ice cream for dessert! ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!! 

After lunch we spent a teensie bit more time exploring the top of the peak before it was time to head down the mountain! We found our way over to a zoological garden and explored through it for a little bit.



15337406_10157922560185360_4947842524002171993_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15241224_10157922560190360_5403315801882257850_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15032794_10157934047785647_7224379608709924924_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We had plans originally to hit up a few more touristy attractions today BUT as we were headed over to our third stop, it started to rain, and not lightly, so we decided to call it a day and head back to the hostel. I'm sure we probably grabbed a snack and hung around the room for a little bit. It had a tv, which we were all pretty excited about, even if it didn't have a lot of English channels lol!

A few hours later, we'd gotten all dolled up, google mapped our directions, and started out on our next adventure.


----------



## katt789

One of the things that we like to do best is YOLO, or…be fancy, I mean, we're the people who leave MK after parade to sit and drink wine & eat cheese plates over at the Grand Floridian, so when we heard about Ozone, the bar on the 118 floor of the Ritz Carlton with STUNNING views of Hong Kong, we knew we had to go!

The Google map directions included a bit of a walk, and then….we were super lost…like, WANDERING AROUND AND AROUND THE SAME building, I was getting super frustrated that we couldn't possibly find a way in. I don't remember HOW, but we ended up going into the train station that was there, and found our way into the Ritz lobby through there. We still weren't sure where to go, and popped out the front door and the view was STUNNING. (this picture does absolutely no justice…)




15319051_10157923213055360_2404549259672238786_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
FINALLY, we found the right elevator, and found our way up to the bar! There was an indoor section, and an "outdoor" section, like a balcony, but it was all sealed it with wall to wall glass. We had originally chosen out there, but smoking was allowed, and because it was all sealed, it was all GROSS out there, so we changed back to inside. The place was gorgeously decorated, but the lighting sucked, so I apologize for the horrible picture quality lol.




14947968_10157934048190647_6890654720571397788_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15134754_10153939942392624_5791477157043351676_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
I got essentially a grilled cheese;



14956639_10157934047885647_2422653277236336170_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
Kara & Abby got Truffle fries, and we all got glasses of wine!


15192652_10153939942742624_925113611168107115_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15355810_10157923213015360_603589138247878094_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Again, these photos SUCK! Lol. The food was pretty good, and the wine was delicious, everything was obviosusly WAY more expensive than it needed to be, but the price came with the location! I'm 99% sure my wine & little grilled cheese was around $30 Canadian dollars! The three of us enjoyed the views and our time together being classy, we only had 1 glass of wine for obvious reasons, lol. I made a pit stop in the bathroom before we were going to leave, and PROMPTLY returned to the table where I stated that NOT ONLY was the bathroom the MOST GORGEOUS of things but the VIEW from it was the MOST AMAZING. 

Well…you can guess where us basics spent the next like…HALF HOUR….




15356546_10157923211785360_6900431619143681891_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15356753_10157923212855360_5772145294718498706_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15337607_10157923212405360_3091016438369186073_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15193492_10153939942782624_8812123856773605333_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
As you can see, it was seriously gorgeous, and the lighting was the most perfect for selfies!




15219425_10157923212625360_4008420277650287902_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15027732_10157934047940647_7143624821926382032_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
Was that lady judging us? Probably…



14962656_10157934048280647_7189177102227404576_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15036340_10157934048285647_3038178405981739912_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15253435_10157923211895360_8199366497159058925_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
Just a casual bathroom photoshoot because that's how we ROLL! 

We did finally wrap it up and started our descent from the 118th floor back down to reality!




15219993_10157923211395360_5688158291127194357_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
The train took us back to near our hostel, and I made a pit stop at the McDonalds beside it because lets be real, I was still hungry, and fast food was MUCH more in my budget than Ozone was! Bahahaha!

It wasn't that late by the time we got home, but we did set an alarm pretty early. The US election was happening, and coverage would start at 6:00am HK time the next morning, despite us being Canadian we still wanted to keep an eye on it so we set an alarm for 6:00 and called it a night!


----------



## missangelalexis

Great photos in front of the castle!

The plaques in the castle walk through are to die for!

Ah the sunset pics- love!!

Love your TL pics! And what a cute encounter with the local who recognized you as Steves friend.

Sounds like your last day at SHDR was packed full of fun!

So many great pics around Shanghai! Loved the ones at night with the Pearl Tower. And the cotton candy looks so yum!

Your time in HK sounds like it was off to a great start! As usual, more awesome photos. And that bathroom is incredible, I would've wanted to spend a lot of time in there as well!


----------



## hkkatie

I live in Hong Kong, and I know that path on the Peak you were walking. It's basically a circular route, you would just end up where you started if you kept going. Takes about 45 minutes to walk the whole thing. I'm sorry you had a hard time finding places!  Sometimes addresses really make no sense here. I've lived here 14 years and sometimes I still get lost! Looking forward to more of your HK trip report. It's always interesting to see it from the eyes of someone who has never been here before!


----------



## katt789

Hey team! So just as a heads up, I've been computer-less for ages now, and unfortunately, found it suuuuuper hard to update the tr's from my _ipad_, it was either a headache for trying to copy & past the pics, or the typing up was a headache, it was just a mess, so I'm deeply sorry for the lack of posts over the last little bit! I'm going to try to blast through our last day of HK before we moved into the parks right now, honestly not too much happened, so we'll see how quickly I can finish this!

Our last day in the city found us taking an adventure over to Lamma Island. it was recommended by Lonely Planet as a nice thing to do to explore, so we hopped onto the fairy, and enjoyed our ride over there, we disembarked and immediately found ourselves COMPLETELY out of civilization, okay, so there were still shops, restaurants and people around, but, considering it was the day fo the US election, it was probably nice to be away from internet and tv for a bit and kinda forget that it was going on.



IMG_4527 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4530 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4538 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

It was a really nice little place, gorgeous beaches, lots of places to kinda explore, our plan was to do the hike and then eat on the other side before ferrying back to the main island, so we followed the signs that way!


IMG_4539 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
It wasn't long before we came across a beautiful beach! There was a group of school kids playing there too, and it was mildly hilarious as they were singing Let It Go and tossing sand into the air like they had ice powers, bahahah!



IMG_4543 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
I also promptly found the MOST PERFECT MERMAID ROCK



IMG_4541 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
It was an exciting moment.

We all also immediately regretted the fact that none of us had even thought to bring a swimsuit, or wear shorts, or like, be even the SLIGHTEST bit prepared for some wading/swimming!



15356599_10157922561070360_4731630859026447273_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15355675_10157922555960360_4452173158965766086_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4544 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4545 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
We seriously spent so much time hanging out just enjoying life! I'm still surprised that Abby didn't completely fall into the ocean at any point, she nearly fell a few times derping around, and we all definitely got more wet than we had planned to, but hey, we were having fun! 



15338851_10157922555990360_7488353155657705791_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15338730_10157922560280360_2103089302426155941_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4558 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


IMG_4577 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




15253433_10157922561080360_6118992241497050840_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
Soon enough, we figured we should probably keep going, found the signs of the way to go, and continued along our hike. now, I'm calling it a hike here, but going into it, none of us expected to be hiking, we thought it was a nice seaside walk, that's what the book had made it out to be, y'all, it was a true hike....#whoops



IMG_4588 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4602 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4605 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
The cool thing was at least that it took us to some awesome and scenic points! SUper pretty and I"m glad we got to see the gorgeous views, I seriously cannot rave a bout Hong Kong enough!!



15284126_10157922555410360_5918170474569212643_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
When we arrived on the other end of the island, it was time for food, and fresh seafood was the amazing thing we got! Everything is obviously locally/family owned, the place we ended up eating they gave us multiple types of FRESH DELICIOUS seafood, a beer, rice, and maybe even something else, all for like, $35-40 per person, I can't remember exactly the price but it was really cheap for what we got! WE also naturally got a seaside table to enjoy it on!



15202616_10153939944367624_4956893399089447756_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15032903_10157934053015647_6224092213840510640_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
when we finished eating, we still had some time to kill before the ferry came along, so we wandered around a little bit on that end, explore a little "fitness" playground they had, and eventually hung around the loading point, where _I_ noticed a couple watching something on their phone and it was clearly about the election, the girls had seemed SO sure that Hilary would be winning, maybe I was feeling pessimisstic that day, but I knew that wasn't going to happen, so I had to ask this couple what ended up happening, and lets just say they had a nice laugh at our reactions....like...damn...

Anyway! Soon the ferry was there, and the trip home was hands down my worst experience on a boat and I was legit terriffied, I think we all were! We kept CRASHING down onto the waves that we were going over, and rocking a LOT side to side, I don't remember which deck we were on, but I was terrified that if something did happen, we wouldn't be able to get out easily. Kara tried to sleep to get away from it, meanwhile I focussed super hard on a game on my phone, but it was barely enough. UGH. WORST.

Thankfully we arrived back in one piece, and the girls promptly jumped onto WiFI to check if what that couple had said, and all of us decided we needed a starbucks treat to try and cope, and try and cope with the hellish ferry ride we'd just experienced. I'm 99% sure that we stopped back at the hostel for a little bit, before headed back down to the harbour to see the light show that night!



IMG_4641 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4672 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_4680 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
The harbour looked nice all lit up at night, but maybe it's the Disney spoiled princess in me, but I would NOT call it a show, some stuff lit up, there was some lazer stuff, but that was about it.

Super tired from all our adventuring over the past few days, it was time to head back to the hostel for one last night, where we packed our things up, and geared up for the LAST portion of our trip!!


*********************
Thank y'all for reading, and thank you for sticking around so far, I'm going to TRY and type up the updates at home while I'm watching tv or something, so all I have to do at the libarary is move the pictures in and it'll all be good! It's so hard to believe that this trip was LITERALLY a year ago! We'd just gotten to HK a year ago, it feels like forever ago, and also kinda feels like a dream....


----------



## missangelalexis

Beautiful beach pictures! I'm sorry you have been computer less


----------



## katt789

LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!!! IT IS OFFICIALLY THE LAST LEG OF OUR TRIP!



WHAT?!?! 



WHAT?!?!



HOW DID WE GET HERE SO FAST?!?!



Seriously, the last half of our trip went by SO FREAKING FAST!! It was crazy that we were checking out of our last hostel and officially moving into our FIRST Disney property of the trip! Originally, we had booked into the Toy Story Hotel for Shanghai, but it was JUST INSANELY EXPENSIVE, and lets be real our AirBnB was incredible. We wanted to have a rather nice TREAT to end off our vacation, and had originally been looking towards booking in at the Hong Kong Disneyland hotel, but ended up booking into the Hollywood Hotel. It was marketed more as a “moderate” resort, so we were excited to see how it was going to turn out. For Hong Kong I also spent a good chunk of time trying to find a hotel/hostel/bnb that was ANYWHERE near HKDL, and considering we like to be at the parks crazy early, we figured we’d want to be on property anyways.



SO, Kara, Abby and I packed our things up, checked out of our hostel, and hopped on the metro! We had to make a couple of train changes, but it wasn’t too crazy of a time. the BEST part was when we finally got over to the SunnyBay Station, the last stop that swaps over and only services Disneyland, so naturally, EVERYTHING WAS SO FREAKING ADORABLE.






IMG_4692 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr






IMG_4694 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



ALL THE MICKEY SHAPES!!

AND OUR BOYS!




IMG_4695 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr






IMG_4697 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



We crossed through the area that lead over to the parks, there’s a little terminal hub thing, train, busses, etc. We figured out we needed to get on a bus, and found our way over to the Hollywood Hotel! When we finally arrived at the hotel, I went to check in and had a MAJOR FREAKOUT, as I had been in charge of the booking, had booked it, and THOUGHT the payment had taken the ENTIRE amount off my credit card, especially SINCE I HAD COLLECTED THE MONEY FROM THE OTHER GIRLS AND KNEW THE VISA WAS NOT DOING SO GREAT.



I honestly don’t remember HOW I ended up sorting it out, but obviously I was the one who paid it off, I think they gave us overnight to sort things out since I needed to get in contact with someone in a different timezone! My Mom reminded me that I could still CHARGE stuff to the Visa, it was just in terms of WITHDRAWING that the limit was WAAAY lower. Seriously, sucked that Asia was such cash society, I thought I was prepared…so not..



ANYWAYS



Long story short I had a mini panic attack but everything was sorted out, and we were all checked in and given room keys. Before we even got into the room, we KNEW that this hotel was much more “Deluxe” than moderate, much fancier than I’d thought!






IMG_4699 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4700 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4701 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4703 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



The room was super nice, water and coffee in the room, SUUUUPER comfy beds too! AMAZING! We spent some time chilling out for a bit, and I’m 83% sure that we went down to the pool for a bit next, considering the sun was still up, and it wasn’t TOO cold, though we were the ONLY ones swimming.






15369039_10157922561805360_2443540136713621402_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15370172_10157922562525360_8726624736293072841_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



The pool was heated, but it wasn’t too warm, so after a quick dip and some mermaid-ing, (and some mainlanders asking for our photos…#awks) we moved on over to the hot tub!






15235400_10157922562500360_1647110479190058252_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Post swim, we took turns showering, getting out stuff ready for the  next couple of days, and decided that we were going to explore the other hotel for a bit!






IMG_4707 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



The Disneyland Hotel is just like a mini Grand Floridian, and just as gorgeous.






IMG_4712 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4713 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4714 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4717 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



The lobby elevator had an adorable Mickey & Minnie decals on it!






IMG_4720 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4722 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4724 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4725 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Off the lobby was a gift shop, naturally, lol. We spent a good chunk of time dying over the merchandise, especially all the TSUM TSUMS! There were a few gorgeous bags in there too that I seriously debated over through the next few days! We ended up kinda splitting up in the shop, and at one point, I heard a familiar, and English Speaking voice behind me! Wait…what?!?!



I turned around to see Matt & Jessie, who are current Shanghai Disneyland CM’s, who HAPPENED to be on holiday in HK at the same time as us, like, we’d ALL just been in SHDR, and managed to see a special friend of Matt’s from a distance but that was it! We spent a good chunk of time catching up before we bid our separate ways.



Abby, Kara & I continued down the hallway a little bit to explore the last bit of the hotel.






IMG_4731 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



The chandelier had super adorable glass slipper decals all around, which was super cute!!






IMG_4733 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4734 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4735 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr






IMG_4737 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

The three of us hopped back onto a bus, and finished our hotel tour back at our own hotel, in some DIRE need of FOOOOOD!! The lounge looked pretty appealing to us to have a little treat, so we settled into a table and got some drinks.




14980608_10157934053170647_8695485289115997434_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15036561_10157934056315647_3469086536420748222_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4740 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4742 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4743 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Drinks were good, we all got food as well, and just had a chill night!






15036475_10157934053235647_921808156774764136_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Couldn’t tell you what that was, or who ate it, I THINK it was mine, but I know we all thoroughly enjoyed everything that we had. Our server was also incredible, super friendly, great service, and we’d definitely be seeing him again over the next few days.



Drinks & food in us, we were ready to SLEEP! lol. Those comfy beds were CALLING TO US!! We showered, got ready for bed, and set out a plan for tomorrow after setting our alarms!


----------



## katt789

Well, this was it guys, this IS IT!



IT WAS OUR LAST FIRST DAY IN A NEW DISNEY PARK!!



AND even more crazy, was the fact that this was KARA’S ABSOLUTE LAST DISNEY PARK on the board to cross off! So to say that today was going to be insanely magical would be 100% TRUTH!






15288439_10153954828382624_8124716231927155501_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IT IS TIME!!!






15181405_10153954828032624_3928469551986549914_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr






15289207_10157923268940360_1192217060895022028_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




14925229_10157934056320647_9037451924177435251_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15073398_10157934056420647_8896863933922049346_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Kara & I were bummed that somehow I ended up with the Kylo ticket, and she got R2, lol #backwards, but hey, we’d make it work!



As we headed down the open Main Street, we had some time to kill, and new we needed breakfast!




IMG_4745 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4746 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



YUM! The Darth Vader was mine, and was red bean? I feel like that could be right but honestly who knows lol. They’re both waffles, and they’re both delicious! Post breakfast it was CLEARLY time for CASTLE PICS!!






14980739_10157813511870360_1886470528666285278_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4749 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




15073559_10157934055965647_5934852025739291216_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4754 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




15253480_10153954828482624_6891359153093601132_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4756 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4760 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



And Kara & I took our last heart photo of the trip!




IMG_4767 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4773 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4774 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



We all seriously LOVED the look of the castle with the MOUNTAIN background, like, it was absolutely gorgeous!!




IMG_4775 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4778 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



As we were mid photoshoot/finishing up, who should walk by, but ANNA & ELSA?!?!?! WHAT EVEN IS THIS PLACE?! They disappeared around the corner, where they literally had NO line, like, actually. We waited less than 5 minutes for them!






15252553_10157923269020360_322956275358153129_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15304622_10157923269035360_1487617918140819215_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



They were super lovely, obviously. We had a nice chat with them, and continued through the castle archways to see what Fantasyland contained!


----------



## katt789

The three of us photoshoot at the opposite end of the castle for a bit.




IMG_4781 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



And the sisters made a SECOND appearance through Fantasyland as they made their way off set!




IMG_4783 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4784 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

We were all just so shocked by this as it just something that could NOT happen in the Statesides parks lol!






IMG_4788 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Okay, I’m not gonna lie, it’s been a YEAR since we GOT HOME from this trip, and I didn’t take notes (though even if I did, they were lost in the numerous computer/ipad/phone DEATHS that I’ve had to deal with over the past year). I also know that a lot of these things were already probably out of order, I’ve gone through the pics to try and remember, BUT, the rest of these 2 days is probably going to be pretty picture heavy and kinda more a rundown of what happened with teensy details.



So, we had a priority of Mystic Point & Grizzly River Gulch…Run? Lol! we could never remember the proper name of it! They’re both 100% unique attraction, and completely new to us, and main attractions of the parks, so like, we figured they’d be crazy busy, and, FUN FACT THAT AREA OF THE PARK DOESN’T EVEN OPEN TIL 11:00 AM!! (Pretty sure the park opened at 10am? So, if you were staying offsite, it’d be okay, it opens late enough it gives you enough time to get there)



I know we rode Jungle Cruise and wandered while we waited for a the lands to open so we could see some amazing new attractions!






IMG_4791 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




15304630_10157923268990360_3884613380323494530_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4795 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4798 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



SO EXCITED!!




IMG_4804 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Mystic Manor is their version of Haunted Mansion since they’re not big into ghosts and such over in Asia, so the plot line is more that the owner of the estate has collected all these amazing artifacts, and his monkey, Albert, who starts messing around and the artifacts all come to LIFE! The ride is all TRACKLESS too, like Hunny Hunt, and JUST LIKE THAT RIDE, IT WAS FREAKING UNBELIEVABLY AMAZING!!! LIKE HOLY POOP I SERIOUSLY CANNOT BELIVE IT!!



Naturally, we saw the Albert Tsum Tsums in the shop and promptly bought some!




15037231_10157934056595647_1566455513047677160_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Next, we had to continue over to the Grizzly Gulch! It’s a coaster, and that’s really all we knew about it, lol! There were bears involved, we knew that! I think it’s something like they get in the way of the miners? ANYWAYS, 



SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!***************







SPOILERS FOR THE RIDE!!





So, it’s very similar to Big Thunder in concept, it’s a nice WILD ride through the mountain type scenery, there’s some bears messing around with dynamite, and it SHOOTS you forward, and then we climbed to the top of a hill, Kara was blogging, we’re all joking around about how scared we are, AND THEN THE RIDE STOPS, AND SHOOTS US BACKWARDS FASTER THAN WE COULD IMAGINE AND WE ALL SHRIEEEEKKKED LIKE DAMN! DID NOT SEE THAT COMING! Then we came back up to a cave, watch a bear for a hOT SECOND, and WERE SHOT FORWARD AGAIN LIKE OMG!! The ride was SO fun, SO unexpected and we absolutely LOOOOVED it!! Damn! GUYS SERIOUSLY! I wish we had this coming to Florida instead of Tron, bahahha!!!









SPOILERS OVER!!!!!********************



If you skipped that bit, the ride was amazing, so amazing, we loved it so much, I wish we could ride it again right now! When we got off the ride was saw Chip & Dale doing the hokey pokey and a little sing a long, which, duh, we had to stop for!




IMG_4811 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4813 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4816 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4817 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4824 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



The Munks ended up doing a meet and greet post show, so DUH, we had to pay them a quick visit, because they ARE OUR BOYS!




15230601_10157923269345360_7431862714317545374_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




14937265_10157813511035360_4419382710837730445_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



The meet was AMAZING, they were super interactive, super hilarious and just so fun!! Dale knew he was my boy, and Chip literally went straight to Kara, it was just hilariously awesome!!



We said goodbye to our boys and headed into our next land of enchantment!






IMG_4828 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4829 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

TOY STORY!!!

I kinda low-key LOVE Toy Story. Not entirely sure why though, the movies aren’t my favourite, but they’re pretty awesome, and I loved Toy Story Land!




IMG_4831 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4834 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




15267976_10157923269890360_8572436432936620416_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



ALSO super cute they had BENCHES MADE OF POPSICLE STICKS!




15304432_10157923269945360_5122834923133663970_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



ALSO, LAWL! We joked about a Zootopia reference, with the popsicle sticks being red….wood…aka. Redwood. It was hilarious at the time, but like, we were probably very under slept! LOL.



We also found the Toy Story Tokyo shirts in the gift shop! Unluckily we didn’t find any of the other patterns!


----------



## katt789

The three of us continued around the circle of the park, and ended up over in Fantasyland, where there was an amazing walk through dedicated to all the princesses!




IMG_4836 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4837 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




15271833_10157923271200360_4385574856080129176_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4839 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Tangled was amazing, well, all of it was, like, seriously just LOOK AT ALL THE DETAILS!




IMG_4842 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

And it was awesome to explore the opportunities as a photographer!




IMG_4844 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

All the little shadowboxes had cranks to turn that would animate the scene, or something around them, and play some music, it was SUPER CUTE!




IMG_4848 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Snow White was next!




IMG_4850 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Followed by Beauty and the Beast!




IMG_4854 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



Cinderella!




IMG_4859 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4861 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



In some cases there weren’t shadowboxes but the cranks would like, open the side of the castle to show the princesses & princes dancing!



MERMAID!




IMG_4862 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4867 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Naturally, I shrieked and proclaimed “I’M A MERMAID TAKE MY PICTURE”




15304427_10157923306190360_8797957012555463133_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Thank god for Kara…..bahaha!




IMG_4871 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

LOOOOK AT THAT DETAIL AND BEAUTY LIKE DAMN!




IMG_4873 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



When we finished our journey through the storybooks (Tinkerbell’s meet and greet was also in there, but she wasn’t meeting quite yet), we found an ice cream cart, and it’s ALWAYS time for a snack!




15055641_10157813511605360_6590292210299726076_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15032213_10157813511650360_8546471144800771535_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15056413_10157934056185647_6187331827155457013_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4876 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



I like Stitch a heck of a lot more than Lotso, BUT I really DONT like blue flavoured things lol,it worked out though because the Lotso one was DELICIOUS!!



But it was NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT WAS COMING NEXT!!






IMG_4875 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



KNJDEEFFRRKOP;EFWIJOFRJUFRBGHJTUR5ERIOERTHIUGYT78TNOJDFSHOPUIERTLN’GAERHOUPFDSANJKLVDSH89



I cannot explain….


----------



## katt789

IMG_4878 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



 MICKEY AND THE WONDROUS BOOK



I PHYSICALLY CANNOT





I STILL CANNOT AND ITS BEEN A FREAKING YEAR



AND EVEN MORE SINCE I’D WATCHED IT ON YOUTUBE



SERIOUSLY



It’s clear that it was so crazy since I didn’t actually take a single picture of it, I needed to enjoy it, and Kara certainly wasn’t taking pics! So! This show, if you’ve seen Mickey and the Magical Map, it’s a similar idea, I ASSUME similar to Mickey and the Magician(?)in DLP. SO, There’s a cast of BEAUTIFUL dancers, singers and SONG, (which has now moved to WDW’s Fireworks show). Then we see Mickey & Goofy, attempting to get Olaf back to his story, so they go through a various amount of stories of Disney characters to find his home along live singers, dancers, acrobats and contortionists.



AND IT IS AMAZING!!



I’ll go through some more details/reactions of the girls in the next day when I have pics to go along cause #spoilers!!



Post show, we were in awe, probably tears in our eyes, but it was time for LUNCH! Right across from us was CLOPINS



YES



CLOPINS!

Like, from the HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, LIKE,, WHAAAAT?!?!?!




15073424_10157934056545647_5424505799230673750_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



It’s a QS place, they offer a variety of WOK dishes and more, I’m pretty sure I was eating majority vegetarian still, so I’m assuming I had a veggie WOK meal. We had a nice chill meal, and weren’t even done when we started to double check what time we should start to get ready for the parade when we REALIZED THAT THE PARADE WAS STARTING WAY SOONER THAN WE’D THOUGHT, LIKE IN 10 MINS! WHAT?! OOOPS!



Luckily, we were able to grab a rope side spot before the parade even hit the hub, and had some time to chill!




IMG_4886 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I knew the parade was basically the same music as Soundsational, but I hadn’t watched any videos in a very long time, so I was excited to see what it had in store!






IMG_4899 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4903 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



We also laughed that it was called Flights of Fantasy, cause the abbreviation is FoF, the same as Florida, but like, not the same, lol.




IMG_4915 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4919 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I was intrigued to see performers that were not from Hong Kong in the parade, like, damn, how do i get a job there!? Lol




IMG_4935 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

THE CUTEST TIGGER OUTFITS!




IMG_4939 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The Winnie the Pooh Unit had the most amazing bumble bee “dancers” which was Kara’s favourite part!




15250700_10157923307935360_475259984204948507_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4949 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The parade does stop for a bit, do a little dance party with the kids, and then continue to move on!




IMG_4954 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



MY GUUUURL!




IMG_4977 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4978 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




15338840_10157923308300360_4806945847456673896_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_4999 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_5002 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr






IMG_5024 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_5030 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_5036 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The parade was super cute, we all really enjoyed it, I liked that it had such similar feels to a stateside parade, but also had so many different elements, so many cool floats (the stitch float had a moving surfboard, pics later)

we all really liked it!!


----------



## missangelalexis

Your hotel looked awesome! And the Disneyland Hotel is super swanky!

Beautiful castle photos!

Mystic Manor and Grizzly Gulch both sound awesome!

Chip & Dale's outfits are adorable!

Wow, that Princess walk through is amazing! Need to get to HKDL... haha

The parade looks cute!!


----------



## katt789

Earlier in the day, I'd obviously been posting to Instagram, and had received a message from a mutual who was a HK Local, was in the park and was pretty sure he'd seen us earlier! We'd chatted a little bit and he said that with his AP he got special seating at Folk, and invited us to join! So sweet! I'm 99% sure we went straight there after parade, probably took a bathroom or snack break, who really knows lol! 

The special AP seating was a super awesome thing, they had it for a few shows around the parks, around with other awesome incentives, but naturally these types of incentives would NEVER work stateside lol!! We chatted for a little bit and he was super nice and friendly, and we talked about our experience with all the parks so far and the differences mainly between WDW and HKDL since he'd never been. We also talked about FOLK at Dak, and how he had heard that it wasn't as good because it didn't really have a story, it was just a party kinda feel. Which, to be fair, is 100% true, but still, FOLK is my BABY, and I will defend it till the day I die lol! 

Thanks to Nevil, we had front row seats, and were excited to see what the show had in store for us!



IMG_5060 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



15369191_10157923309190360_6759211801864028165_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5061 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
The concept's pretty similar, it starts with a Rafiki character doing circle of life, dancers start coming out, then the floats all start coming out, but they move more freely than the ones at DAK, like a trackless ride, they're able to move around more and it's super smooth. 

Rafiki also has 2 little monkey friends that translate things into Cantonese as the singers in this show are not locals.


IMG_5075 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5100 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

They have actors portraying Simba, Nala & Scar, more like the broadway version! Samba pops up out of the basket that's onstage too, which is super cool, Asia REALLY utilizes trap doors & lifts like the other parks DO NOT. The dancers also do a lot more technical stuff here than in the WDW version!



IMG_5111 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

You can kinda see in that last picture THAT THE LITERAL FLOOR MOVES UP, LIKE IT MOVES UP AND DOWN ON ITS OWN AND FREAKING SPINS TOO!! IT CREATES MULTIPLE LEVELS AND I AM SCREAMING.



IMG_5112 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5130 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
They even have literal hyena costumes for the dancers during Be Prepared. And they tell the whole story of the elephant graveyard and all that kinda stuff, it is much more a mix of an actual story!



IMG_5150 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5194 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



15289311_10157923310060360_5624796780748319046_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
The fire part was during the finale/fight scene instead of during Be Prepared too.

Simba & Nala sing Can You Feel the Love Tonight, and I COULD SEE the wire coming down from the ceiling, I KNEW there was a bird dance part coming up (anyone who knows me KNOWs that's my favourite part/dream job/goals in WDW's) BUT I DID NOT EXPECT THE BIRD TO COME FLYING OUT FROM THE DAMN FLOOR LIKE WHAT THE HECK OMG I PHYSICALLY CANNOT!!! I definitely slapped Kara WAY harder than I meant to....and was clearly too busy freaking out to take pics, but there's more tomorrow!

They go on to actually include the fight with Scar & Simba, and have a really cool fight/dance choreography with the hyena's and the dancers!



IMG_5205 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
(this is where the fire guys are, and they use Be Prepared as the background music/Scar sings a little bit)

Samba obviously wins, tells Scar to run away and never return, and they cast breaks into the song that plays when SImba's running back home to Pride Rock in the movie



IMG_5205 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
They conclude everything and finish off with Circle of Life again for their bows



IMG_5235 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

AND THEN THINGS GO FREAKING CRAZY AS THEY ALL JOIN HANDS IN VARIOUS CIRCLES AND THE STAGE STARTS LITERALLY SPINNING AGAIN WHILE RAISING ITS DIFFERENT LEVELS OUT AND i AM TOTALLY NOT CRYING, YOURE CRYING.



IMG_5249 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5262 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

They get the same megamix/finale that WDW's does moving from Hakuna Matata, to Can You Feel, to Be Prepared, Just Can't Wait & Circle of Life.



IMG_5268 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Major difference: the floats all move out from their places in the corner to centre stage, all back to back, and then move around in a circle for the finale



IMG_5280 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5292 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5295 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

So...thoughts?!?!

WE LOVED IT!! Seriously, I absolutely loved it, now WDW's version is still my preferred version, but it was super nice to see a similar show, with a similar concept with a completely different perspective behind it, like, it blew my mind! The way the stage moved around, both turning and how many times people/things came up/went down through trap doors was just insane! The talent in this show was crazy, the dancers were so expressive, energetic, and their technique was ON POINT. Definitely in top 5 shows across all the parks!!


----------



## missjackiemcg

This version definitely reminds me of the Broadway version of The Lion King.  I really enjoy FoTLK in AK, too, but the Broadway show is amazing.  This looks incredible!


----------



## katt789

Now, things get a little out of whack here, for example, I'm sure we ate dinner or another snack, but honestly couldn't tell you when!

We said our huge thank you's to Nevil, and made our separate ways, he'd also specified where Duffy & Friends (at the time it could be any mix of Duffy, Shellie May & Gelatoni) was, so we figured we'd head over there next! On the way, we ended up walking past Matt & Jessie again, and with them, I noticed a VERY familiar face from when I'd spent so much time in the bayou over in Florida, and since it'd been YEARS since we'd seen each other, and I don't think she knew we were even in Hong Kong, there may have been some excitement over it!



14991893_10157934056715647_5714580974466140339_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We caught up for a bit, chatted about my time in Florida, and what kind of crazy adventures we'd been on in Asia so far, introduced her to the girls, she recognized Kara too, so awesome!! She'd been working earlier that day but we'd somehow missed the show times she was in, which kinda sucked, but we still had another day to try! Jessie was decked out in Duffy & friends gear, and we commented on how cute she looked, she mentioned that it was Shellie and Gelatine out when they'd been past, so we quickly said our goodbye's and spend on over there, hoping that we'd luck out too!




14963276_10157813511465360_2008818849316675529_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



14962550_10157813511260360_3254613925519160652_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Y'ALL!!! HAVE YOU EVER SEEN SOMETHING SO STINKING CUTE?!?! They were seriously adorable, like, they opened the door and Gelatoni just POPPED right up with his adorable face and we just lost it like teen girls would. SERIOUSLY.

Post meet & greet we spent a good chunk of time exploring the shops, stocking up on Tsum Tsums & exploring the fun march they had!



15220171_10153954828717624_7598317136264139195_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15073538_10157934056985647_2696305433414079399_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



14962705_10157813511550360_4234877585964214276_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15259199_10157923270390360_6210118736046035356_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

I was HEARTBROKEN when I found a GORGEOUS piece of art in one of the stores that WASN'T FOR SALE



14993295_10157934057445647_8271042757091872250_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
Like, whatever, it's fine, I don't love Aurora or anything. I know I could easily get one of the sketches from Main St in MK, but there was something about actually FINDING one, especially of her as Briar Rose, like, damn. While we were inside, it quickly turned to night, and we popped back out on Main Street to grab spots for the parade, but not without saying hi to our trusty Indian friend first!




14963168_10157934057275647_3007172637812586095_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
(the Indian on Main St in Florida marks the spot where the Trolley Show makes its second stop, so we spend a lot of time hanging out...)



15288662_10157923301350360_3563893098462906085_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15304180_10157923274200360_6125752965793132867_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5302 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5305 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
Look at that TINY castle, seriously, you could barely see it half the time, lol....not for much longer!!




IMG_5310 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5311 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
I was also SUPER happy that through this trip we saw Halloween all over Japan, and Christmas here in HKDL, though I was also SUPER happy it was just decorations so far! They swap out some of their daytime/regular entertainment for Holiday stuff and I would've been bummed to miss it!



15304276_10157923296630360_5779718812614498309_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
We laughed at how Olaf was being such a creeper over the top of the balloons lol!!


----------



## katt789

ARE YOU READY?!?!?!

Because we were PSYCHED!!! It was time for Paint the Night!!! As much as I love MSEP, and as amazing as Dreamlights was, Paint the Night is my all time favourite (permanent) Nighttime Parade (Boo To You wins if we include seasonal....) It's just SO amazing! The technology, the lights, the performers are always so energetic and adorable and perfect and it's JUST AWESOME! I knew there were some differences between the DLR & HKDL one's, but wasn't too concerned, and honestly the biggest change we noticed was the difference in the energy in the crowds, like, the guests in California are usually screaming & hooting & woooo-ing, but that's more of a cultural thing, I think?




IMG_5343 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5353 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5359 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

There were some neat costumes we hadn't seen before!



IMG_5375 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5400 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5417 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_5421 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5434 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The parade was obviously amazing as always, and when it finished, we moved into the street for the fireworks! When we'd been hanging with Steve, he'd mentioned that it was set to the Aladdin soundtrack, or at least, the main bits, but with a children's choir singing, so we knew we were in for a heartfelt night! Lol!




IMG_5508 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5545 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

It was a super awesome show and we all enjoyed it tons! Super cute, heartfelt, had awesome moments, and lots of fireworks, since obviously they can't do much projection wise...I suspect that will change when the castle is done it's refurb!

We stuck around for a few more photos at night with less people in them!



IMG_5589 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



15304246_10157923301345360_4690541863357599875_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5604 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5613 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5621 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5623 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

We made our way back to the hotel, where we chose to eat in the lounge since it was basically the same price as the QS and the options were better, and we had our lovely server again!



15036475_10157934053235647_921808156774764136_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

And then we called it a night! It was awesome to have gotten SO much done in the park in the first day, we'd basically done everything (I know we went on space & star tours and such, it might not've been 'til the second day, but I KNOW we literally did everything in the park) and it gave us a good chance to do things twice, especially the shows!! TOTALLY WORTH IT!

In our opinions, 2 days is definitely enough, we rode the main e-ticket rides midday and they were basically walk ons. This obviously is affected by time of year, and I would NEVER say no to doing a 3rd day in the park, more time to chill, check out the little details....spend all day going back & forth between MWB & FOLK....#noshame.

Stay tuned for OUR LAST DAY!


----------



## katt789

GOOOOD MORNING!!!!

IT was officially our LAST DAY in the parks/doing anything fun! Literally, tomorrow was a travel day (technically...) The three of us all had kick-butt Disneybounds for today too! Abby had bought a Rapunzel dress at Secret Honey while we'd been there earlier in the week, I'd ordered an Aurora dress from Angel Secret (they also do AWESOME cosplay dresses for great prices, Steven gets most of his company dresses from there) and Kara had her super cute Belle Disneybound to wear! Naturally, because of this, and knowing that Mystic Point & such didn't open till later, our priority today was PHOTOS!




IMG_5625 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5629 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
The christmas tree had some AWESOME and cute details/ornaments on it!



IMG_5631 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



15252466_10157923307470360_4466320667807892994_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5634 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
I REALLY am going to miss the view of the mountains behind the teeny castle! I'm hoping it makes the new big castle look even more majestic!



15267511_10153954829907624_2205194939487529251_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
Behind the castle I made Kara take pictures of me in my dress, I guess Aurora gets the castle, so she doesn't get a section in the walkthrough...#whatever



IMG_5636 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5638 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
Twirling didn't really work out lol.



IMG_5643 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



14991965_10157939602825647_2325260568852160531_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
And one on the phone cause naturally I needed to post to social media...bahaha

We then reached Abby's kingdom in the walkthrough!



IMG_5648 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



15253577_10157923302280360_4222410515423881207_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15252573_10157923302885360_2896877861708173412_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15285073_10157923302540360_2944175625974684275_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15241880_10157923303160360_3116036785442799530_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15319110_10157923302475360_131702888124584901_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15284857_10157923302855360_7590884235628380635_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

And then Kara's!



IMG_5657 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



15350515_10157923303205360_5181786108199305798_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5659 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

And we continued on through!



IMG_5660 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5661 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

The three of us had collectively decided that Mickey and the Wondrous Book needed at LEAST 2 viewings today, so we wanted to hit up the FIRST showing of that, so we started our way over there next!


----------



## katt789

Find Your Happily Ever After!!






That's the link to the show, if you'd like to watch, or even just listen along! Be warned though there's LOTS of talking and it's all in Cantonese. The theatre was awesome and had English Subtitles up on these little screens...like...they're all black & lights would make the words so it wasn't distracting. It was nice to have the first time so we kinda understood what was going on, as compared to some other shows where we HAD NO IDEA.




IMG_5667 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
The two singers come out first and are singing in English (all the songs are)



IMG_5672 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
Then our Main Man Mickey comes out along with Goofy, and IT IS HILARIOUS THE WAY GOOFY SAYS MICKEY'S NAME IN HIS ACCENT! Like, take a listen, and you will CACKLE. It's like MOIIIKEY. It's to hard to type. Just listen. THEN, our little snowman friend pops out!



IMG_5678 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

To give you a run down, Olaf appears, and Mickey & Goofy obviously want to help their new friend find his way back to his story, so they go through the pages of the book (there's a giant book on the stage, it forms the back of the set with projections and stuff, similar to Magical Map at DLR, the pics from the next show I used a different lens so it'll make more sense!)

Our first stop?



IMG_5682 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5699 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5704 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I really enjoyed the costumes for this piece, and the choreo was all "Bollywood" style, which I did a unit on in high school (and end of year dance, so that's neat) I enjoy it!
BUT THE REAL COOL PART IS THE CONTORTIONIST! She literally blends in with the chair until her solo hits, so it's a surprise! I'm 90% sure even the first time we saw the show Kara didn't even notice her cause there was a lot more going on. Kara was a dancer growing up too, and specialized/loved Acro, I knew it was coming, so I looked over to her and naturally she freaked and proclaimed "I WANNA BE HER!" Lawl.




IMG_5715 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



15337389_10157923303540360_677467309197019900_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr





IMG_5735 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
Olaf comes back to be all "nope, that's not where I'm from, but like, totally enjoying what I assume is summer, but who knows? And they continue onto one of my top 2 favourite parts of the show!




IMG_5736 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5746 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5749 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

We also lucked out today with the most PERFECT princesses, like, they were all amazing, their voices were so beautiful, they blended together perfectly, it was just PERFECTION.

I mean, we start with a mermaid, which, in case it wasn't clear, I LOVE HER, and the music from Little Mermaid is just perfection. Then we blend into Abby's favourite:




IMG_5755 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5763 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

And they do a beautiful mash up of their songs




IMG_5767 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

AND THEN JUST WHEN YOU THINK THINGS COULDN'T GET ANY FREAKING BETTER OR MORE INTENSE, BECAUSE THE MUSIC OF THE 2 GIRLS ONSTAGE IS BUILDING BEAUTIFULLY THE CLAN OF DUNBROCH'S MUSIC STARTS TO PUMP IN AND MERIDA SLIDES IN CASUALLY FROM THE SIDE AND I SERIOUSLY LOSE IT, LIKE THIS PART GIVES ME CHILLS AND MAKES ME WANT TO CRY OVERTIME (ps it's happening rn)




IMG_5783 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5784 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5790 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
As the kids say nowadays...I was SHOOK.

For the next bit, they do like a jazzy version of Friend Like Me, the singers from the beginning come back as Genie, and at the end Jasmine & Prince Ali pop out to say hi very briefly!



IMG_5806 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_5812 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5819 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

A picture from this show was actually the first time I'd seen pictures of Jasmine's new look, which I promptly went "IS THAT SERIOUSLY IT?!?" It still confuses me/blows my mine JUST HOW INSANELY different this one is, I understand keeping with the times, and when they updated all the merch/pictures of the girls, they updated the dresses. Some of them took some getting used to BUT JASMINES WAS STILL A TWO PIECE IN THE ARTWORK, WHY IS SHE NOW FORCED TO WEAR A TURTLE NECK?! I just don't get it.... Kara & I were super happy she was still in the OG costume in Tokyo (she's since now switched over). HOWEVER, in this show specifically she DOES look awesome under all the lights, it sparkles and moves beautifully, I'm just still salty that it's a turtle neck...

ANYWAYS, MOVING ON TO MY OTHER FAVOURITE PART OF THE SHOW!!.....


----------



## katt789

IMG_5822 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

It moves smoothly into this one, as a man playing the trumpet comes onstage, and kicks it off with some smooth jazz in a backlight stage. Now, again, I knew it was coming, we all knew it was Princess and the Frog, but, you could tell by the silhouette that Tiana WAS IN HER WAITRESS OUTFIT?!?! WHAT THE HECKIN' HECK?!?! Kara naturally FREAKED going "WHAT?!?! WHAT?!?! WAIT WHAT?!?!!" Like, we ONLY ever see her in the ballgown (minus now on the Wonder in her restaurant) despite the fact that she spends all of 0.2% of the movie in that gown....




IMG_5826 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_5831 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5832 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

LOOK! AT! HOW! CUTE! SHE! IS!

It kicks off with Almost There and moves into a more upbeat Dig a Little Deeper, where all the FLAPPER DANCERS come in and its just freaking incredible!



IMG_5844 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



15271759_10157923305865360_6674270910667806674_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5847 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5851 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5871 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Now, i just need to RANT about Tiana today, in the BEST of ways, because GURL!!! She was ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL!! Like, please check out our HKDL Vlog because I left that audio in, she just BLEW me away, goosebumps, just insane!!




IMG_5872 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Now, Mickey & Goofy get impatient, and skip through like, half the book until the find Olaf's home, Anna comes to life in the book, Olaf ends up back where he belongs, and naturally, we get a visit from the Queen of Arendelle!



IMG_5879 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5884 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5891 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5901 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
Elsa killed it today too! SO GOOD!

After let it go, the book goes through some other stories(aka a video clip of said characters) AND BOY OH BOY, they have one for Lion King, but it's literally the fur character of Rafiki, LIFTING UP A STUFFED SIMBA ON PRIDE ROCK, and it makes me laugh everytime!! They're signing the theme song at this point, there's dancers on stage and it all wraps up beautifully!



IMG_5916 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5928 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I also just REALLY love the Happily Ever After song, I'm so happy they brought it to WDW and made it more epic over there! I know I've said it before, but MWB is HANDS DOWN, one of my top 5 favourite shows on property, there's something that separates it from Magical Map, Kara pointed out that it could be all the costume changes for the dancers, but I honestly like it better! Between iT & FOLK, there's no question as to why I want to dance in HKDL!!!


----------



## katt789

Alright, so from here on out, I don't have a lot of stories, just lots of pictures, so thank goodness Kara & I are okay-ish at photography....bahahaha!!!

Post show we met some characters, Rapunzel was super cute, though Abby was more excited about the dress Abby had on than Rapunzel was...#whoops



15259326_10157923274655360_6467267972840951496_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



15267528_10153954829752624_5048862859245195239_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We popped back over to the Fantasyland Forest(?) to say hi to a special Tinker!



15272217_10157923275045360_6619532524443952901_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Now, the next bit makes NO sense, so I'm putting it in here, we ran into our friend from the other day, as she was on her way INTO work, so I feel like it HAD to be prior to the parade, cause a start time after 3pm for a show at HKDL seems super late, but I honestly don't remember when we were in the Town Square area...



15073386_10157939603290647_5650562640328719015_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

She commented on how much she loved our dresses, and we double checked her show times and somehow they didn't match with our plans (on rethinking I'm pretty sure this means we'd already seen FOLK for our day 2 & wanted to watch Book again, otherwise we would've gone to one of her FOLK's instead....but #yolo) So, pretend this picture was after all this:

FESTIVAL OF THE LION KING ROUND 2!!




IMG_5943 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5947 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5962 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_5984 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_5999 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_6021 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_6032 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_6036 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_6043 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_6061 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_6062 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_6065 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

JUST LOOK AT THAT HAPPY FACE!!! LIKE!!! I WANT MY JOB TO MAKE ME THAT HAPPY ONE OF THESE DAYS!!




IMG_6074 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

UGH I CRY.
Naturally, the show was just as amazing the second time around. If I'd have my way, I would've watched both it and book twice today, but the scheduling just didn't allow for it!!


----------



## katt789

We headed to Main Street for the parade next, since we'd watched from Fantasyland area last time!



15325276_10157923307775360_6749023550067221226_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




IMG_6106 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_6113 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_6117 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_6123 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_6127 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_6136 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

OOOH! I don't think I mentioned it last time, but the parade comes out, and does a little stop & go thing. It stops for a little dance party with the kids, then keeps moving, and then I'm pretty sure stops again at one more point to do the same thing, it's cute!




IMG_6138 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_6141 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_6150 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_6159 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_6171 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_6177 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr



IMG_6178 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_6185 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Such a cute parade!!!

The three of us then headed back over to Grizzly Gulch, where we literally walked right on the ride, which was SUPER surprising to us! If I remember correctly, it was a Saturday, and we'd been stressed about crowds, but there was LITERALLY NO REASON TO BE! It was dead....ish...lol...the lines for shows were worse, but no one was on rides!




14962617_10157939603170647_1325913329178582163_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
You can't really tell, but the mountain looks like a bear head...

We stopped for some dinner/snack here, and got some chicken nuggets at the little stand beside the ride.




14991948_10157939603025647_5412160044635992541_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr
If you're thinking they look weird, you are TOTALLY right, they also tasted weird....

Then it was back to Mystic Manor! AMAZING ride, duh, as always, as always will be, the technology just will forever blow my mind, SO COOL! Abby loved Albert so much she bought a little stuffed one that talks! It would make monkey sounds and then go "Nihao" then make monkey noises and say "bye bye" when you squeezed its hand, which made more hilarity when we got home. She'd roll over in bed onto it and I could hear it through the wall and it always made me laugh lol.



15202685_10153954829987624_3079781372121934899_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Okay, now I DEFINITELY know this bit is out of order, BUT literally I just don't really care too much at this point...I just want this TR done, and the big stuff is all here, and I can answer questions with better detail. The girls really wanted to ride It's A Small World, so we headed over there, and the entrance to that is near the backstage of Wondrous Book, and we ended up running into 3 girls! One of who I'd known from Tumblr/Insta for a while, they were all SUPER polite/friendly, commented on all our outfits, and were just SO NICE to talk to for a little bit, I was super glad we'd ran into them! On the ride, it was nice to see the Disney characters hanging around too!



15027921_10157939603175647_7223106955252261453_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15037133_10157939603000647_214351589195818996_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


----------



## katt789

We had one last stop before our day became evening activities, and naturally, that was back to Wondrous Book!!




IMG_6192 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_6214 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr




IMG_6225 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

It was JUST as incredible the third go around, and it was nice to sit back a bit further to take it all in and get all the effects of the "book".



I'm sure we did some shopping and probably got a snack in here, maybe this is when the nugs came in?! God I wish I'd taken more notes lol!! Before we knew it, it was time for our FINAL PAINT THE NIGHT (legit final because by the time we'd be back in California....it was CLOSED)




IMG_9957 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

It was also then THAT MY CAMERA DECIDED TO FREAKING DIE!! I'd been DUMB and thought it'd be fine through 2 park days without a charge, as it usually was, but I guess with all the shows & photoshoots, it just wasn't up to it...boooouuurrrnnnsss.



We watched the fireworks again, holding back the feels and the tears, and then spent some more time in the shops, debating all the last minute purchases that we wanted. We killed a bunch of time waiting for the park to empty out, before we headed back into a basically empty Main Street to take a million and a half photos. lol.






15259636_10157923297350360_6774556947156882431_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15250673_10157923297895360_3181613369901721815_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15289297_10157923297390360_4482800862820973134_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15326541_10157923298235360_1830332256149954741_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



At some point, we were waiting for the street to clear out, just sitting on the side of the road, keeping to ourselves, and this Mom from an English speaking country (maybe from HK, who knows, she wasn't Asian but who knows) came up and asked if we worked there.... Uhmm..what? We said no, because we didn't, like, where/how would we? She was SO CERTAIN that we DID work there, and that we were the princesses, since we were "dressed up"uhm...no...you are mistaken...first off...there is only ONE of each character, secondly, we already said we didn't work there. THIRDLY, if we WERE friends of royalty, WHY would we be in the parks in Disneybounds (that honestly, pushed the boundaries) after our shifts? Like....no...that would just never happen! She also just would not accept that we didn't work there, and wouldn't leave us alone about it, we adamantly repeated that we did NOT work there, or for Disney, and were from Canada, and SHE FINALLY left us alone....






15304351_10157923296970360_7800329037376994032_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15304511_10157923298695360_414666432302849795_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15319281_10157923297665360_8559894172735627876_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15327373_10157923297715360_7956375915140018480_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

That's become my new go to pose when I'm over taking photos...#noshame



NOW, onto the MOST ADORABLE interaction of the night. There was this little Chan who came out of one of the shops & saw us taking pictures, and was just TRANSFIXED by us, her parents, either spoke no English, KNEW we weren't CM's, either way, they were nice, and we waved to her a bit before she was brave enough to come over. In Asia they don't really do the hugs, but they'll hold/shake hands a bit, so I extended my hand out to her, and we exchanged this just MOST adorable moment and it was like, ALL the motivation I needed to get into shape to ACTUALLY make magic one day soon!! We ALSO had another little chan come out who was intrigued, and ended up taking a picture with us, which was JUST ADORABLE!






15259594_10157923297275360_2719555966115663722_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



LIKE HOW CUTE IS THAT?!



We left Main Street, but our photoshoot wasn't done, we finished off in the Train Station...my favourite way to say goodbye to the park, and thank you to Walt for making such an incredible dream reality for so many people AROUND THE WORLD!






15289073_10157923296075360_2447086609194965078_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr






15232178_10157923296115360_3841891836700725640_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15181496_10157923296340360_4400665583552830233_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15027496_10157939603770647_7674696333715231670_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



We were all super sad to leave.






15055821_10157939603875647_4587837524483049112_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

We got back to the hotel, and spent a good more chunk of time shopping (my Visa had just been paid and I SURE DID OVERSPEND). I even bought some Tsums for the girls that they'd been talking about really wanting but didn't think they could afford!




15078598_10157939604000647_7539711316860756751_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr




15032211_10157939603910647_4502193352836052645_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

THAT was my HKDL haul (I took a picture of the entire Asia haul at some point on my Insta, and had planned to do a Vlog about it but that clearly never happened)

Now, the shirt on the right, spent about us $30 on it, it was on sale at the Disney store for $16 later that year #derp. Camera strap? Not long enough for my liking...Phone case, a clip case, which I usually don't buy, dropped my phone once and the screen basically shattered...well...mainly the top half but it was just horrible. ANYWAYS, totally worth it in the moment!!



****************



The next morning came quicker than we would've liked it to, either that night or next morning we all showered and packed ALL of our things up, and collected together all the things that we decided we were leaving in Hong Kong. Some of it was left around the room, but I always feel bad so I tried to organize it. The Aladdin sequels were on TV, so we watched them and stayed lying in those COMFY beds for as long as we could. We stored our luggage, and did one last loop between the resorts, the princesses usually do meets at the Disneyland Hotel, but weren't that day. We explored the maze outside, and sat on the sea wall goofing around, blogging, pretending I was a mermaid, the usual for a bit. Then it was back to the lounge, we had some food & a drink, watched the movie that was on, and before we knew it, it was time for Abby to leave. Her & Kara said their goodbye's, I told her I'd see her at home (remember we lived together) in a  day or so, and she was off.



Kara & I meanwhile, continued to sit in the lounge ordering some more drinks or snacks every so often. As it turned out, we realized we normally would've taken the train to the airport around the exact time the park closed, so we veto-ed that to have a nice nap on the pool chairs! We also realized, at least for the 2 of us, it would've been worth it to buy a ticket to the parks for that last day & just duck out before the parade, we would've made the exact time.



NOW, in case you forget, cause it's been a YEAR, Kara had been pricing flights, and it was cheaper to book a roundtrip Vancouver-Tokyo, then fly back to Tokyo from HK at the end than do a multi-stop/2 one ways, SO, here's a general time line for you.



November 12: Noon: check out of hotel

                   -8pm-ish, get on train to airport

                  -Sit around airport for hours trying to sleep but we're both exhausted and have our luggage cause NOT EVEN THE CHECK IN IS OPEN YET until like 1am 

                  -I'm pretending our flight was around this time

November 13: EARLY BUTT IN THE AM, land in Tokyo

                  -11 hour layover (or something ridiculous like that)

                 -We'd joked about NEEDING to see Esmerelda, or pick up march at Tokyo Disneyland that we'd "forgotten" but when it came down to it, $40/pp for the bus, PLUS tickets, PLUS luggage lockers, it JUST wasn't worth it. Honestly, kinda regret it now cause we would've been able to see Happiness is Here one last time.

                 -9 hours of a turbulent as eff flight later, land in Vancouver (and like 7.2 hours of anxiety from me, I hate flying over water as is, add in that turbulence and Imma NOT have a good time)



I honestly can't figure out the time change right now cause it's late, but Japan is a day ahead of Vancouver, so technically it was like ,2 days worth of travel to get home...I watched like an ENTIRE season of Gilmore Girls in the Tokyo Airport....



When we got home, I was EXTREMELY jet legged, and my manager FORGOT when I was coming back, so I had no reason to get up in the mornings (plus I lived in a basement suite with no windows in my room #pitchblack) so it was SUPER easy to sleep late. Luckily, I was able to pick up my computer from Best Buy repairs (only to find out the track pad didn't want to work) and work on photos, and reapply for the CRP to keep myself occupied. Alicia was basically on the same jet leg schedule as me considering she'd just gotten back from a visit in Shanghai so that was nice too.



********************



I know it's been an INSANE trip report, and I thank you from the BOTTOM of my heart for reading along, especially for putting up with all the waiting, spam posting, and all the challenges I had to go through while writing this. I mean, 

-Tablet died, lost all Windows saved updates/notes up to Kyoto

-Computer died, luckily my pics were fine, but I lost updates

-Phone decided to die, lost updates, lost notes/updates that were on there that WEREN'T on the computer

-Got new window's computer, had some updates back, spilt wine on it, lost that

-Window's computer turned on for 4 mins at a time, managed to send most of what I needed to myself

-Had Ipad, could post, but couldn't copy & past pictures, couldn't link stuff properly

-Nearly ONE YEAR LATER, have borrowed computer, managed to power through. like...how..



SO THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Also to anyone who may be newer, I hope you enjoyed our journey through Asia and through the far away Disney parks, it truly was a once in a  lifetime AMAZING and INCREDIBLE opportunity, and I am so happy that it got to happen! If you EVER have questions about the parks, the culture the cities, I will do my absolute best to answer them in an accurate manner! I HIGHLY suggest you visit these countries, and these Disney parks, especially if you've only ever been to the Statesides ones, seeing the differences will blow your mind!!



***********



Onto some summaries:



Japan: as a whole, my literal favourite place on Earth. Everyone was incredibly friendly, the entire country is one of the safest, and safest I've felt at all in like, my entire life. The place is IMPECCABLY clean, despite there being no garbage cans. Vending machines! WHAT A CONCEPT! I miss those coffee's SO MUCH. Daiso! Incredible, so many GOOD and good quality products for so cheap. Don't even get me started on the Donki stores!! LIKE,  32G memory card for $12, YES PLEASE! Also Hamazushi.... Bummed that we cut out Hakone, and never went to Osaka. I would LOVE to get an opportunity to live and work in Japan, so pray/send all the pixie dust in 2018 for all the auditions to go swell for me lol.



Tokyo Disney Resort is EASILY my NUMBER ONE, & I'm 99% sure Kara's number one favourite park (and she's been to all of them). Part of it does come from the Japanese culture. The fact that you must sit during parades, but no one will shove there way in beside you, they respect your space if you lay a mat/towel down. No recording above your head, no ears or large hats on! The performers are all SO insanely talented and beautiful, the park itself had rides you never would have dreamed about, and the shows were just a whole other level of amazing.



China: I'm glad that we went. I am still amazed that I've climbed the Great Wall, and SO thankful we did the tour we did to get such an isolated experience. Nothing else in Beijing interested me TBH. It was neat. Shanghai was much more my style, I kinda wish we'd had more time/the air hadn't gotten to me so much so I could've seen more of the city. I know Abby felt the same, especially cause the Bund was so "bougie" which is all her style. The Disney Store was awesome too! I have a 10 year Visa for China, so I figure if i'm over in Asia again in that time I'll swing by SHDR, and I'm still bummed we didn't go to Chengdu to see the pandas cause I LURVE THEM! ALSO that we cut out Guilin/the....river...town? that is associated with it. It's gorgeous and I would've loved to go BUT financially it just didn't make sense. I do want to go back, would never want to live there. Especially after all the fires in BC over the summer and my asthma appearing out of nowhere and appearing to be heat activated, not sure I’d MAKE it through a summer there lol



Shanghai Disney: It was beyond amazing to get to experience a park within it's first year of operation, and to meet Bob Iger, WHAT?! I would honestly go back to ride Pirates....the ride was THAT insane. The entertainment was great, the use of new technology was incredible, and again, to see the newest Disney park, to have Disney have an idea what works and what doesn't and be able to build off that from scratch to make a super efficient park.  I would say Pirates and Tron make this park as incredible as it is, despite HATING Tron lol.



Hong Kong: literal just a more cool Vancouver....bahahahha!! I REALLY loved Hong Kong though, because of it's cultural, it was easier to find your way and feel more at home than China. Felt pretty safe, but I was still aware the entire time. Abby also fell in love with the city, we both said we could see ourselves living there! The city/area (province?) was a beautiful combination of tiny, crammed streets, places full of culture, and amazing seaside towns, beaches, and hiking trails/mountains. I REALLY wish we’d had more time in the city, but when planning it didn’t seem like it, which is just proof that you never really know.



Hong Kong Disneyland: Incredible. I loved it, and knowing all the expansions that are coming it’s way (new castle, new castle show, new Moana show, the whole Iron Man Experience/Marvel stuff and new hotel are now open) I think the park is truly going to grow into an amazing place. The park was small, quaint, but still had enough to do, and the entertainment truly BLEW my mind!! The 2 shows they have are just incredible!! Not to mention their completely unique rides of Mystic Manor & Grizzly Gulch, both completely unique, amazing concepts, and completely unexpected!! I hope to see more of that style stuff in HKDL as it continues to grow & expand!



******************



With that, again, from the three of us (and our countless guest stars) I say THANK YOU FOR READING!! I hope this was entertaining, and helped you get a better understanding of the Asian parks (specifically Shanghai as it was a headache to plan!)



Now for some shameless self promotion so you can keep up on our adventures!!!



Check my signature for my most recent WDW trip! Kara & I did Disneyland in October for our Friendiversary, but there’s no trip report unless I get bored and try to remember facts of what happened (….i just might…)



Kara & Abby are both headed back down to Florida on another CRP come February, so follow along their instagrams!! i’ll be back down a TON during their year to visit, so follow along my insta! Also don’t forget about our Youtube Channel! It has ALL our videos from this trip (minus China & a couple of Japan ones due to multiple crashing computers…) AND all the ones since then!! ALSO, Kara has an Etsy shop, bows, ears, skirts, costumes, CUSTOM things, BUT, she closes in Feb, so get those orders in!



If you have ANY questions, comments, anything, we’d LOVE to hear from you! Let us know when you’re going to WDW next and maybe we can say hi!!



Katt: kattwyllie   kattwylliephotography



Kara:  karavanriel  sewitsmagic



Abby: abbywithsparkles



Youtube: festivalofpixiedust (there’s also an Insta but it’s currently not really being used)



THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Without all of you I’d just be typing to myself, so it means a lot when I know people are reading and commenting!!!



I hope you all have the most wonderful weekend!! From, the girls at Festivalofpixiedust






15325345_10157923296750360_1202328074820806458_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr


----------



## mhowens

Great report!  Thanks for sticking with and getting it done.  We are planning HK, Osaka and Tokyo for 2020 so this was really helpful!  Good luck with your auditions.


----------



## missangelalexis

OMGGGG SHellie and Gelatoni! I die lol So so cute!!

Great Paint the Night pics!

Those early morning/late night photoshoot pics are all so gorgeous! I love your Aurora dress!

Sounds like such a great last day! 

Wow what a rough travel schedule home! 

Thank you so much for sharing all this! It really was awesome to get perspective on the Asian parks! 

That's awesome that Kara & Abby are doing another CRP! And that you will get to visit a lot!


----------



## missjackiemcg

So glad you were able to power through all of the technology problems and get to the completion of this trip!!  I didn't comment much, but read along the whole way through.  How very excited for Kara and Abby to head back to the parks as CRP CMs again!!  Looking forward to continuing to follow along


----------



## AusAnnie

That was an awesome trip report!!!  Your photos were amazing and i look forward to reading about any further adventures that the three of you have


----------



## katt789

mhowens said:


> Great report!  Thanks for sticking with and getting it done.  We are planning HK, Osaka and Tokyo for 2020 so this was really helpful!  Good luck with your auditions.



Thank YOU for sticking around and reading!!! AH! That's amazing!! We're planning a quick Tokyo trip Feb 2019!! Let me know if you have anymore questions or concerns or anything!! It was crazy to plan this trip!!! 



missangelalexis said:


> OMGGGG SHellie and Gelatoni! I die lol So so cute!!
> 
> Great Paint the Night pics!
> 
> Those early morning/late night photoshoot pics are all so gorgeous! I love your Aurora dress!
> 
> Sounds like such a great last day!
> 
> Wow what a rough travel schedule home!
> 
> Thank you so much for sharing all this! It really was awesome to get perspective on the Asian parks!
> 
> That's awesome that Kara & Abby are doing another CRP! And that you will get to visit a lot!


RIGHT?!?! I DIE!!! I am DYING to meet Stella Lou!! She's SO FREAKING CUTE!

Thank you!! I'm pretty sure they're mainly Kara's lol!!  And all the nighttime ones are, my camera decided to die on me, #whoops lol. Thank you!! I love it too!!

It was an awesome day! I'm so glad the trip ended up so well!!

ugh woooorst!! but at least I got through a TON of Gilmore Girls lol!!

Thank you so much for sticking around and reading, this tr would be nothing without readers!!!



missjackiemcg said:


> So glad you were able to power through all of the technology problems and get to the completion of this trip!!  I didn't comment much, but read along the whole way through.  How very excited for Kara and Abby to head back to the parks as CRP CMs again!!  Looking forward to continuing to follow along



UGH WORST, I'M SO HAPPY/IMPRESSED THAT I FINALLY FINISHED IT!!! It's awesome!! I'm excited for them!! 



AusAnnie said:


> That was an awesome trip report!!!  Your photos were amazing and i look forward to reading about any further adventures that the three of you have



Thank you!!!! I'm so glad you enjoyed!!


----------



## MomoMama

What a trip and what a report!
You girls are so cute.  Love the outfits at HKDL!

You have given me a reason to visit Honk Kong.  
Thanks for the report, really enjoyed it!


----------



## katt789

MomoMama said:


> What a trip and what a report!
> You girls are so cute.  Love the outfits at HKDL!
> 
> You have given me a reason to visit Honk Kong.
> Thanks for the report, really enjoyed it!



It really was!! I'm so incredibly thankful & happy that we were able to go on such an incredible trip!!

Thank you so much!!! HK we really went all out on our last day for outfits lol!!

Awe!! Yes!! HK is beautiful, and the park is amazing!! I can't wait to see what they do with it after the expansion is complete!!

Thank you so much!! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!!


----------



## KEK1

Fabulous TR, thanks so much! Hope you got your dream, working at Disney!


----------

