12 Parks in 16 Days - Disney Parks Around the World Trip Report

[Rimmit]

The story and preshow were told in Japanese so I am not 100 percent sure what the story was, but based on the queue, I’m pretty sure it was about the history of flight. The ride is the exact same except the ending sequence that has you return to Tokyo instead of Disney World or Disneyland.

We are out of attraction tickets at this point and it’s about 7:00PM so we go decide to go and pick up our vacation package from the Hotel Miracosta which is the hotel connected to DisneySea. We were told at check in at the Grand Chateau we could not get it the day before. The online bloggers and people in the Facebook groups say you can so we went to try and pick it up. The vacation package was in a very nice plastic envelope which would make a nice souvenir.

Picking it up now saves a ton of time in the AM, as the Vacation Package contains your park tickets, and unlimited Premier Access passes, and pretty much EVERYTHING you need to actually go to the parks. It is only available for pick up a the hotel you are staying in for your vacation package which is for us is the Hotel Miracosta. Tonight we are staying at the Disneyland Hotel which is right across from Disneyland. If we did not pick it up tonight then we’d have to take the monorail over to the Hotel MiraCosta in the morning, pick up the vacation package, and then ride the monorail back to Disneyland which is a total waste of time. The Hotel Miracosta is literally connected to Tokyo DisneySea via a hotel entrance so we just exit via that entrance and go to the front desk. Thankfully, the bloggers were right and we pick up our vacation package without issue.

Believe: Sea of Dreams, the nighttime spectacular, was starting in 45 minutes at 8:00PM but since we still have one more day in the park we decide to see it the second night. Unfortunately, we have to return the wheelchair all the way across the park at the Fantasy Springs Hotel which is a 20 minute walk.

We walk across the park and leave via the Grand Chateau entrance and return the wheelchair.

Then we walk to the monorail station right next to the hotel passing the Fantasy Springs Entrance on the way.

Of note, this entrance is ONLY for use of hotel guests of Fantasy Springs hotel. There are a number of hotels within a 2-3 minute walk of this entrance, but they are not allowed to enter or exit via this entrance. This can be very aggravating as it is a 25 minute walk to the front of the park, and then a monorail ride to the station here, so literally about 35-40 minutes in transit minimum, rather than just walking out this gate. This is a huge point of aggravation for many Tokyo DisneySea goers at this point. The picture below illustrates what an inconvenience this. The red line below shows the distance you’d travel if you could go out the Fantasy Springs gate. The yellow line shows the distance you travel if you are not staying at the Fantasy Springs Hotel. The yellow line involves a monorail ride as well.

We arrive at the Bayside Station.

Unlike the monorails in the US parks that are free the monorails here require you to buy a ticket to ride. I attempt to use my credit card but for some reason it won’t take our card. In general using a US credit card in Asia I’ve noticed is hit or miss. Sometimes some cards work, and sometimes they don’t. It really seems random to be honest if our card gets accepted. We end up just using cash. It’s only 300 yen per adult and 150 yen per child so just 750 yen total, which isn’t even $5 USD.

The monorail compared to the US versions are much bigger and nicer and actually themed.

I would gladly pay the small amount to ride the monorail in the US if it meant they were better maintained and had this level of theming. It was really cute, and just puts you in a Disney mood. We take the monorail to the Disneyland Station.

 

[Rimmit]

It is located right at the entrance to Disneyland Park. The Disneyland Hotel is directly opposite the station.

It is absolutely gorgeous at night. We enter into the lobby, and just like all the other lobbies this vacation it is cavernous and beautiful.

Tonight we booked a Cinderella Suite.

As you can imagine, with a name like Cinderella Suite, it’s themed to Cinderella.

It has a separate living room and bedroom. It’s a beautiful room and we wish we had more time to spend here.

Like many other hotels, they offer reusable bags and amenity kits and themed plastic cups to take home.

We hadn’t had dinner yet so we order some room service. While waiting for room service I head down to the laundromat as the next hotel does not have laundry. I hope to god that this one is relationship material unlike my last two laundromats.

I head down to the laundromat and they have a similar QR code system as the previous. The laundromat is very busy and I was lucky to find an empty washer to do our laundry. I start it up and head back to the room. Room service finally comes around 9:30PM and we eat. We just ordered some pizza and pasta so nothing fancy. It did come with a cream of corn soup that I found to be excellent.

Kendall then get’s Lucy ready for bed while I head back to the laundromat. Unfortunately, I can’t find my laundry. I was about 15 minutes late to move over our laundry as I was eating so I suspect someone moved it but as I don’t see it in any dryer or sitting in a pile around the room. There is a sign that says that laundry that is sitting unattended can be retrieved from bell services. I head to bell services and they have my laundry. I’ll definitely be do a better job of moving my laundry the moment it’s done as there definitely isn’t a grace period.

When I get back all the dryers are occupied but within 10 minutes one frees up. Thankfully the dryers here actually DRY and do it relatively efficiently, and within 30 minutes our small load of laundry was dry. I feel like I’m in laundry heaven. I head upstairs with the laundry. It’s been a long day, and tomorrow isn’t any shorter, so I get ready for bed and hit the sack at about 11:30PM.

Day 14, January 1st, 2025 Step Count – 24,849 Steps

Total Step Count – 233,188

 

[Rimmit]

Day 15 - Tokyo Disneyland
“There’s a great, big beautiful tomorrow!”

I woke up at 7:30 AM today which was the first day I actually slept a decent amount in a quite a while, and Lucy and Kendall get up shortly after. We all eventually take a shower and get ready.

Today rather than a fancy sit-down breakfast like yesterday, we opt to do the hotel buffet at the Sherwood Garden Restaurant. It’s a hotel buffet and very expansive and large. It reminded me of a buffet on a cruise ship to be honest in terms of the size and selection of foods. They have some cute Mickey plates I feel the need to use.

One of the problems we’ve been running into is that there just isn’t a lot of food available in the hotels after we get back from the parks at night. Our options are typically just room service or some snacks from the convenience store in the hotel if it’s even open. For this reason we decide to go ahead and hit up the convenience store for some Raman as a late night snack as sometimes we don’t make it to the store before it closes. They have a very large raman selection. We opt for the standard flavored Cup Noodle that we are familiar with.

I initially couldn’t figure out how they warm up the ramen they sell in the store as there is no microwave an any of the rooms. It then dawns on me the tea kettle is also used to boil water for the ramen, and not just for tea. I felt so stupid.

Then we head to the hotel gift shop to get our Vacation Package merch. The Vacation Package comes with 1 shoulder bags per person and 1 gift. We choose as our gift one blanket and two cushions.

In Japan people sit on the sidewalk for shows and parades rather than stand, so everyone brings a cushion or blanket to sit on. We also buy some Mickey knit hats and 3 magnets. It was only $73 dollars for all the stuff. In the US it would be at least $125 ballpark at least for 3 hats and 3 magnets and that’s probably underestimating.

Afterwards we pack up our room and stop by bell services and ask to transfer our luggage to the Hotel Miracosta. We then head to the park which is not even 100m from our hotel.

We cross the turnstiles and head to the wheelchair rental. As always it’s not far from entrance and there are ample wheelchairs lined up unlike at Disneyland Paris. The Tokyo prices could time to shock as a wheelchair rental is just 3.59! It’s cheaper than a cup of Starbucks coffee! An ECV was just 12.73 to rent but they were out. For comparison an ECV to rent for a day in the US is $60.

The World Bazaar is the equivalent of Main Street USA in Tokyo Disneyland, and unlike other Main Streets, this one is actually covered. While not as aesthetically pleasing as an open air Main Street, I do love the practicality of this.

As with all castle parks our first priority is our castle pic, so we march down the World Bazaar straight to Cinderella’s Castle.

I must say, I do prefer the original grey color scheme in comparison to the newer pink one that Magic Kingdom has. It just looks more classic.

We then head over to Fantasyland to do Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast. This is supposedly the BEST ride in all of Tokyo Disneyland and one of the best in the ENTIRE world. It has gotten rave reviews, so we are very excited to see this ride. I have avoided any and all spoilers, while Kendall has seen a handful of Tik-Tok videos.

Thankfully, we have have unlimited Premier Access to rides to rides today via our Vacation Package so any ride with a Premier Access line we can just do over and over again with minimal wait. Thank goodness, as the wait today was 180-220 minutes all day long.

We just would not be able to accomplish that much if we did not utilize some degree of line skipping.

The queue was beautiful, and felt like you were walking right into Beast’s castle.

It was themed incredibly well and the atmosphere really put you into the story. The wait was about 15 minutes to get to the preshow. The preshow took place in the grand staircase room.

Then you had about another 10 minutes or so in line after the preshow.

They had a variety of animatronics in the queue such as Lumiere and Cogsworth and used shadows as as well to convey the story.

The ride vehicles were super cute in that you boarded onto large size tea cups.

The ride itself is a dark trackless ride akin to Rise of the Resistance. The teacups have the ability to sway as well as move which is synchronized to a variety of shows scenes and music. This combination makes for an absolutely spectacular experience.

The story picks up from “Be Our Guest” and the ride incorporates many scenes from this point in the movie onward.

The ride definitely lived up to the hype and then some.

I absolutely loved it. The music, the show scenes, the animatronics, the special effects. It just all clicked and made you feel like you were part of the story.

The animatronics did not really stand out to me, but the show scenes and scale were just incredible. The combination of the practical effects, the music, and ride vehicle was just perfect. There is no dark ride in the US or really any park that could come close to competing in my opinion except for Rise of the Resistance, and I actually liked this better. Rise of the Resistance is really just an incredible testament to technology but this beats it for me in terms of sheer enjoyment.

 

[SkampyOne]

Thankfully my daughter doesn’t care. She’s on a tight budget given she is 9 years old, so the extra $30-$40 bucks to buy pins on property really sting her budget. I didn’t have time to go to eBay and buy a huge lot for cheap, and my daughter is not exactly a pin affficianado. I wanted to go to character warehouse but it is a madhouse around Christmas due to the parking situation. It would have taken half an hour minimum just to find parking at the outlets. She just needed SOMETHING to trade. Ironically, the majority of pins on the trading boards just so happened to be the ones available at the non official third parties. lol. So clearly every one has the same idea to get there collection off the ground.

Budget friendly - yes. Authentic - no. Sadly all the pins sold in the 3rd party stores off-site are fake and if that doesn't bother you, then it's even cheaper to buy them off e-bay. And that's why you see the same pins over and over on all the boards across the parks.

 

[Rimmit]

Budget friendly - yes. Authentic - no. Sadly all the pins sold in the 3rd party stores off-site are fake and if that doesn't bother you, then it's even cheaper to buy them off e-bay. And that's why you see the same pins over and over on all the boards across the parks.

My daughter could care less if they are authentic or not. She just needed something to trade and didn’t cost 14.99 per pin.

As I said in my post we woulda bought off eBay but I can’t overnight from eBay at that point as we needed them now.

 

[Rimmit]

Next up is Poohs Honey Hunt which is right next door.

We just used our Premier Access and the wait was not even 10 minutes after entering the line. They set the queue up as though you were walking between a bunch of pages of the books.

We didn’t know what to expect from this ride, but I must say we were very impressed. This was a trackless dark ride, and you board a honey pot as a ride vehicle.

It is hands down the best pooh ride we’ve ever been on, and somewhat similar to Beauty and the Beast at times.

Beauty and the Beast is just bigger, grander, and has better songs. I suspect they looked at this ride design and thought about how they could improve it even more and then decided to do that with Beauty and the Beast. I must say we all found having Pooh speak in Japanese to be quite jarring, as Pooh has such an iconic voice and hearing him in Japanese was just odd.

Haunted mansion is in Fantasyland here so we make a short walk to it next.

At this time it has a holiday overlay, Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare which features Jack Skellington. The preshow was changed to include Jack, and the whole queue was redecorated as well.

We’ve never seen the Disneyland Holiday overlay, but I’m betting this is likely very similar.

I know that the Disneyland overlay is somewhat controversial, but we enjoy it overall.

It is a pretty impressive overlay, and much more thorough than the Jingle Cruise or some other overlays we’ve seen over the years.

We head over to Adventureland next as we are starting to get pretty hungry and there is a quick service restaurant there that serves gumbo and we want to try it out. This is one of the busiest days of the year and I had been warned of the crowds by everyone, but to be honest it’s not any worse than Disney World crowds in my opinion. It is definitely crowded but I have seen Disney at Phase 4 capacity so anything compared to that feels light. It also helps that the Japanese are just more orderly than the US crowds and they are also just more respectful. Thus far in the time we’ve been in Japan we have seen zero “Karen” type moments, whereas in the US, at least once per day I typically see someone making a scene either with a cast member or other guest. On our way to Adventureland we notice everyone is sitting for the parade.

I read that for shows and parades everyone here sits, but it’s still neat to see in person. I really wish this was how things were in the US as it would make it so much easier for everyone to see. Also something we really noticed today is that there is no trash or food on the ground. Despite the obsession with popcorn, somehow Tokyo Disneyland has the most efficient cleaning crew ever. There is also no trash on the ground or gum either. In general the park just felt immaculately clean. What’s also odd, is that trash cans are few and far between unlike in the US. So despite the lack of easily accessible trash cans and a cultural obsession with Disneyland popcorn the parks are somehow notably cleaner and better maintained than the US parks.

We eventually get to Cafe Orleans for a taste of home.

Kendall is from New Orleans so she is somewhat skeptical that this is gonna be any good. While I stand in line for food, Kendall goes to a nearby popcorn stand to get our popcorn bucket included in our vacation package.

We order three bowls of gumbo, and also three soft drinks.

There was some confusion as included in our vacation package is unlimited nonalcoholic beverages in the park. You only need to show your beverage ticket. Apparently, the beverage ticket is also good soup and I did not know this. They thought I was trying to get 3 drinks and 3 soups for free, and I only thought the drink was an option, and was happy to pay for the gumbo. Eventually with some google translate they understood that I was happy to pay for the drinks and get the gumbo for free, and did not expect 6 free items. We also ordered a Mickey Cinnamon roll as a back up option in case the gumbo turned out to be a bust.

Believe it or not, but the gumbo was actually really good. It had a hint of some tomato in it that I’m we’re not used to in any gumbo we’ve ever had, but we all really enjoyed it. It was probably the best thing we’ve eaten in a park since leaving the US. It was really nice to eat something that wasn’t a burger, pizza, pasta or lounge food which has been our primary diet over the last two weeks. Lucy hasn’t been eating too great since we hit Asia so it was good to find something she liked. Of note the prices were very affordable with a cup of gumbo not even costing $5 USD.

 

[Rimmit]

After we are pretty close to Big Thunder Mountain, so we head toward it. On the way we pass by the Enchanted Tiki Room which apparently is run by Stitch here. We wished we had time to do it as Lucy love’s Stitch.

The queue and theming for Big Thunder Mountain is pretty identical to the US, but the track is not.

We found it pretty tame compared to other versions of Big Thunder Mountain.

We still do it twice because we have the Premiere Access and the line isn’t even 5 minutes via the Premier Access. The standby line is pretty intensive though extending far outside the attraction in the walkway area.

We then take a bathroom stop which just happens to be next to the Western Shootin’ gallery.

The irony here is that there is a 5 minute wait to pay 200 Yen for 10 shots. In the US, the WDW version was free, and there were so little playing it that it is now being removed and being replaced by a DVC lounge.

 

[distherapy]

Loving your report - thank you for taking us along on this incredible adventure!

 

[Rimmit]

Big Thunder Mountain is pretty near Splash Mountain so we then head over to Critter Country where it is.

The queue here is loaded from a cavern in the mountain which gives it more of a mysterious feel than the ones in the US.

Like all the Splash Mountains it starts with you climbing ascending the mountain. You get a real nice view of the park from the top.

We really miss Splash Mountain. After having just gone on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure 10 days ago, riding Splash Mountain now makes me realize how much better I like it in comparison to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.

It’s just as good as I remember it. While I enjoy Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the new song ending song, Special Spice, doesn’t hold a candle to Zip-a-Dee-Dooh-Dah.

Unfortunately, Lucy gets absolutely soaked. Luckily the weather today isn’t too cold, and her winter coat is waterproof, so she shakes off the water and dries up without too much issue.

Next up is Happy Ride with Baymax over in Tomorrowland so we have to trek back through Fantasyland. We pass by It’s a Small World, but sadly it is closed at this time most likely because they are installing the “I am Groot” overlay.

A short bit later we arrive at The Happy Ride with Baymax.

I was very skeptical of this ride as it’s basically a reskinned Alien Swirling Saucer’s. It has a consistent 80-120 minute wait the whole day so I’m curious as to why people are willing to wait this long for a ride that is basically in any basic amusement park.

I must say the ride is greater than the sum of its parts. The music is SUPER HAPPY, and a large number of the people there REALLY get into the music and start dancing. It’s really hard to be in this line and do the ride and be sad. It’s just a very fun and happy experience. We enjoy the ride about the same as Alien Swirling Saucers, which for us is not that much, but I must say the music and atmosphere is great and is probably the best part of the ride.

Star Tours is right next door so we head to it next and use our Premier Access.

The queue is just like all the other Star Tours.

Of any ride this is probably the most consistent in terms of theming and experience. The boarding area is totally different, felt way more sci-fi than the other boarding areas which can be pretty bland.

The ride is identical to the other Star Tours aside from it being in Japanese. Once we exit Star Tours we start to walk to Monsters, Inc. Ride and Go Seek. On the way we can see Space Mountain behind some barriers being deconstructed.

They are in the process of demolishing Space Mountain Tokyo and are going to rebuild a brand new version.

Monsters, Inc. Ride and Go Seek is an attraction unique to Tokyo Disneyland.

We use the Premier Access line which cuts down on the queue but we still have about a 15 minute wait. The queue is themed to the Monster’s Inc. headquarters, and is very well done.

This is a tracked dark ride where you board a Monsters, Inc. themed vehicle.

There are flashlights in the vehicle that you can shine one targets that activate them and cause them to move.

It adds some interactivity to the ride which elevates the experience so you aren’t just a passive observer. No score is kept, so it’s primarily to just add some interactivity.

 

[Rimmit]

It is a very cute ride, that even without the flashlight it would be a be pretty entertaining ride but the flashlight adds some interactivity.

For those that don’t feel like using the flashlight that’s fine as the ride is good without it. We all really enjoyed it. It’s not a ride I feel is so amazing that you instantly want to do it again, but I’d definitely want to do it at least once per trip.

At this point it’s about 1 hour till Reach for the Stars, the brand new nighttime spectacular so we decide to stake out a spot. One of the only benefits of having a wheelchair in the parks is there is typically a designated wheelchair seating area for the main shows. We eventually find a Cast Member, and with some Google translate they understand we are looking for the wheelchair seating. They then walked us to where the viewing area was, and it was a pretty nice spot just a little off center.

We are pretty hungry at this point and sticking with the theme of if it works, don’t fix it, Lucy and I walk to Adventureland to get gumbo again.

Lucy doesn’t like it as much as the first time as there is a little more tomato taste to it, but thankfully the cinnamon rolls taste identical to last time.

As we wait for the fireworks, everything just seems calmer compared to waiting for fireworks in the US parks. Maybe it’s the cold, but everyone just sits down and sticks to their space. There is no fighting over spaces, no arguments, it’s just people waiting to watch a show. It was the easiest time I’ve ever had waiting for a nighttime show by far.

The show was nice, but in all honesty given this was nighttime spectacular number five of the trip they are all starting to run together. It was also completely in Japanese except for the main theme song which I found odd, given the rest of the show and all the other songs were in Japanese. For that reason I just found it hard for me to really give it a review.

There were lots of movie clips including some from the Marvel movies. It was beautiful as all the nighttime spectaculars are with great projections and lighting. There really wasn’t too much fireworks though. I can’t speak to the narrative due to it all being in Japanese. From a gut feeling perspective, it was just ok for me in comparison to the other shows we’d seen this trip.

Afterwards we go stake out a spot for the night parade, Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights. Yes, that really is the name and it is a mouthful. This parade has rave reviews and many have stated it is the BEST Disney nighttime parade of all time. We decided to go sit somewhere in Fantasyland so afterwards we can head over to the Beauty and the Beast ride one last time before we leave as it was just incredible.

We pass by The Big Pop on the way.

This is the super famous popcorn shop we have read about, and Tik-Tokkers are always advertising. We figure we’ll go stake out a spot real quick and then I’ll head back and get some popcorn. They have a Strawberry Napoleon flavor we thought might be worth a try. So far this trip we’ve had roast beef, milk chocolate, and caramel.

We have not been adventurous nor willing to spend the time to get popular flavors such as soy sauce and butter, garlic shrimp, or curry. We are directed to the wheelchair area, and find a spot. I then head back to The Big Pop. The Big Pop is a nicely themed store devoted to popcorn and popcorn buckets.

It takes about 5 minutes to get into the building. Once I get inside I have an “Aha!” Moment in that The Big Pop is a take on The Big Bang!

I suddenly felt so enlightened and so stupid all at once. The line takes about 10 minutes once I enter the building. Unlike any other place in the park, they serve THREE types of popcorn here instead of one. This is crazy talk. I honestly don’t know what people do given they actually have to make a choice unlike every single other stand that only has one type of popcorn. Here they serve Strawberry Napoleon, Cheddar Cheese, and Salted Caramel. Aside from Strawberry Napoleon, these were the most normal flavors we have seen thus far in Tokyo. The Strawberry Napoleon, which is basically Neopolitan, is an exclusive to The Big Pop and cannot be found anywhere else.

They also sell a variety of popcorn buckets here. From what I can tell, it’s practically every currently available popcorn bucket. Like all popcorn stands there are no soft drinks or drinks of any kind available here. I then get back to our spot and Lucy is dead asleep on the ground.

We have a bit before the parade so we let her nap and eat the Strawberry Napoleon popcorn. It’s actually pretty good. It’s basically three flavors in one just like Neapolitan ice cream.

A random observation, but they stick glow sticks in the rope which is a nice safety feature.

Definitely helps keep people from clotheslining themselves on the rope as it is getting pretty dark at this point.

Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights then starts.

It has the classic electrical parade music much like Disney’s Electrical Sky Parade in Paris. It is absolutely incredible.

 

[Rimmit]

The floats are plentiful, have a lot of variety and are beautifully lit. The parade is VERY long, and might be the longest Disney parade in recent memory. They have a plethora of characters and pretty much cover nearly every era of Disney.

It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip, and we enjoyed it much more than Reach for the Stars. Once it ended we made a beeline for Beauty and the Beast.

Everyone has the same idea, as the lines always go down during the parade and everyone rushes to get in line before it get’s too long. Thankfully, with our Premier Access we don’t have to worry about the line growing too much.

The line goes quickly and we get on Beauty and the Beast one last time. It truly is a spectacular ride, and it only makes me wish they would make dark rides like this and Pooh’s Honey Hunt for the US as they are just so impressive. It’s sad we have no dark ride attractions on this scale for any of the classic movies in the US. The closest thing we have is Rise of the Resistance and it’s based on Star Wars and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure which is not nearly as good as either Pooh’s Honey Hunt or Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast.

At this point it’s getting pretty close to closing time so we start to head out. We walk past Monsters Inc. on the way out. I get a better view of the building at this point and notice it does pretty good job of looking like the HQ.

It’s a little congested in the World Bazaar, and this is probably the biggest crowd we’ve encountered in our time at Tokyo Disneyland thus far. Despite the heavy crowd it is very orderly.

We return the wheelchair just past the entrance.

After we return the wheelchair, we head to the monorail. It’s just a short ride and we arrive at the Tokyo DisneySea station where the Hotel Miracosta is.

Like every hotel so far, the lobby is of course absolutely beautiful.

Check in goes smoothly without issue, and amazingly our luggage is already waiting for us in our room. At the Disneyland Hotel we had to call bell services to bring it up, so this was a very pleasant surprise. We are very excited for this stay as for the first time in 4 hotels, we are going to stay in a room for longer than 1 night. This time we’re going to stay for 2 WHOLE NIGHTS. This was such a treat it felt like we were practically moving in. This greatly simplifies our morning routine as we don’t have to pack in the morning!!