"At Last I See the Light" - Our Nov 2024 Anniversary Trip Report

[Nakkira]

And it's porcelain and breakable! We got one for our daughter to use, before realising that it wasn't plastic.

Yes, that is good information to add for those that might not be aware in advance.
I knew before getting it that it was breakable, because of somebody else 's video on YouTube. So yes, PSA folks: It's not a plastic toy, it's a real breakable plate (collectible).

 

[Disco]

It's not just you. We didn't care for 20k Leagues ride either when we went to Tokyo Disney this summer. I didn't hate it that much but my wife hated how claustrophobic and stuffy it was. Of course it was in the 100's F when we went so we were a little done with the heat and a little crabby at times.

 

[Disco]

This looks very cool. Is this something a 9 year old and a 15 year old would find interesting. I might have to add this to the list.

My 17 and 20 yos liked it. I didn't know there were two different Team Lab experiences though and I heard the other version is larger. This one is pretty close to the Disney Parks and was plenty interesting. We went through it twice because we thought we were getting lost and missed and couple different doors. Turns out they redirect the crowds through slightly different routes, I think so they can clean the mirrors and such. So we saw everything on the first pass.

 

[Nakkira]

Day 10 Part 9
DisnerySea

I wanted to check out the Fantasy Springs gift shop so we headed over that way and went in.
There were SO many people. It was next to impossible to get to anything. I found a hoodie (or maybe it was a sweatshirt) that MIGHT fit me but there was no space to pull it on over my shirt to try it, so I passed on it even though it was getting quite chilly out and I had not though to bring my jacket with us that day.
I had one item in my hand (a pretty tin of candy) as did "S". However after trying for several minutes just to get through the crowd to maybe pay we gave up, put the stuff down, and left.
After departing the store we looked again for any passes and weren't seeing anything.
We were trying to decide what to do next when we both realized we could see the WALL.
We hadn't hit it yet but it was there.
What wall? The limit of our physical abilities and exhaustion (remember we both have a spinal issues and were both recovering from a cold). It was only 5 pm but you can only do what you can do.
So we decided to leave FS and start making our way towards the park exit with the idea if we saw anything we wanted to do or stores to shop along the way we could.
It helped that we knew we had a second day.



"Who R U"

Again, so glad we were seeing it at dark as well as during the day.


Like a dream....





We hadn't been through the Arabian Coast yet so we went that way and realized that Sinbad's Storybook Voyage had a pretty short wait. Maybe 20 minutes. I had heard it was really cute so we rode that.
Again I thought hhe visual story telling was good enough to understand most of it without understanding the words.

Chandu is so adorable!


I bought a Pin with Chandu on it at the nearby giftshop, and I kind of wish I had gotten the plushie I wanted but I was very concerned about luggage space going home. Dude, I should have just committed to holding him on the flights if I had to.

We rested for a bit at Sultan's Oasis and I bought us the Long Naan (Meat Sauce) to share. It was warm, soft, and really just tasted of a sweet marinara. It was also only ¥500 so a very affordable snack. We weren't even hungry but I wanted something warm and felt like I should buy SOMETHING if we were taking up the table space.

Mermaid lagoon was very pretty at night too.



When we finally got out of the park (around 6:30) we went the wrong way to get to the monorail and ended up walking way more than we needed to. (Not fun when the feet are barking).

Thankfully exiting the Park before the "closing time rush" meant that we had no real wait times for transportation back to our hotel and I am pretty sure we were in the room well by 7:30-ish.

It was very good day and while it didn't feel like we did that many rides and we didn't see any shows I felt like we had still seen a lot.

Hot shower felt so good.

I finished my popcorn, had some sake, happily sorted through my pictures to delete the bad ones, and posted my daily Facebook photo dump for friends and family back home. (they only got brief synopsis, y'all are getting details)

Step Count: 19,916

 

[skellinton]

Loving all the pics and getting so excited for my trip next year!
Laughing about you not buying the stuffie. When I went to DL the year they started HMH (my husband and I had a Nightnare Before Christmas wedding) I bought a 4 foot tall stuffed Jack Skellington. I had to carry that bad boy on the plane and people were staring at me like I was a lunatic. This was well before there was NBC merch everywhere and very few people knew who it was I was carrying around and before being a Disney Adult was a way of life for so many. He proudly sits in my craft room now and I imagine he might be getting a stuffed Chanda to hold in his lap, because Chanda is DARLING!

 

[Nakkira]

Loving all the pics and getting so excited for my trip next year!
Laughing about you not buying the stuffie. When I went to DL the year they started HMH (my husband and I had a Nightnare Before Christmas wedding) I bought a 4 foot tall stuffed Jack Skellington. I had to carry that bad boy on the plane and people were staring at me like I was a lunatic. This was well before there was NBC merch everywhere and very few people knew who it was I was carrying around and before being a Disney Adult was a way of life for so many. He proudly sits in my craft room now and I imagine he might be getting a stuffed Chanda to hold in his lap, because Chanda is DARLING!

That's a fantastic story and my imagination is completely up to it! You will definitely have to get Jack a Chandu.

 

[Nakkira]

Day 11 Part 1
Tokyo Disneyland


This morning we very much like the prior. Get up, get dressed, try to rush the hubby along...unsuccessfully.
We were on the bug shortly after 8am.



According to the time stamps on my pictures it would seem we got to the park around 8:15



However this crowd felt a little less thick than Disney Sea and we in by 9:01.



I had told "S" the this morning's priority was to try to get DPA for Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast while heading there (in case we couldn't get the DPA and needed to stand in line).

Did't exactly work like that. He saw SPA availability but then for some reason his CC info needed to be re-entered and he had to try again. Thankfully it was still available. I believe it was for 9:50 am. I all got an AP for Pooh's Hunny Hunt later in the day and no luck on the lotteries for shows.

Good. We had time to find it more slowly and look around.

I can honestly say that while I liked it, it's not as impactful visually as Magic Kingdom.



Maybe it's because the Worlds Bazaar (instead of Main Street) is a covered shopping arcade so that area just feels closed off and a bit crowded. However I don't mind the difference, per se, it felt very Japanese, and I wouldn't want the parks to be replicas of each other in every way.

Still.. feels like home.





One thing of course that is so different is the people lined waiting for the parades the entire day. I admire their dedication....
However it meant that it was quite difficult to find places to sit and rest several time during the day. Benches were occupied all day long around the parade route.



We made our way towards Fantasyland on the right had side. I kind of wish we had gone through the middle and the castle because we didn't get a chance to later.

 

[Nakkira]

Day 11 Part 2
Tokyo Disneyland

We got there pretty quickly and had time to kill.

But I spotted a Popcorn flavor that I really wanted to try and the line didn't look horrible so I decided to go for it.


Just in front of is in line was a fabulous Queen of Hearts. I complimented her outfit and we chatted a little with some limited mutual vocabulary. She was really fun.



Yes, I make a regular habit of starting up conversations with total strangers when I travel.... I'm not quite as extroverted at home but it feels somehow safer when I know I'm not like to see these people ever again.

I think I was through the line, popcorn in hand within 10 minutes.



I like the honey popcorn. The was an oddly almost floral under-taste to it that I couldn't quite identify. Sweet but not too sweet.

Soon we it was time to approach the castle.



I love the Fountain. The number of "Belles" taking pictures in the area was impressive (again, unless caught in the background of another shot I did not take photos of the cosplayers without permission). But you can see one Belle in my fountain pic.

 

[Nakkira]

Day 11 Part 3
Tokyo Disneyland

I just need to put this out there:
BELLE is my Favorite Disney Princess.

There are others I like, but Belle was the first I saw and directly identified with. I was an odd-ball, a bookworm, and a dreamer. Listen to me, saying "WAS" like I'm not still.

I have been looking forward to this ride pretty much since I first heard about it.



Wai time 130 minutes at 9:50 am. So glad we were able to get that DPA. I would have waited if I had to (if we had made a bee-line it might have "only" been 90-100 minutes) but it would have done my feet, legs, and lover back in WAY to early in the day.





They did such a marvelous job on the Castle.

The Priority access line pretty much dropped us right into the pre-show.

I love the way the use the stained glass window to tell the story.



The animatronics were also quite well done here.





We hadn't even ridden the ride and I was already so impressed.

The pre-show is, of course, entirely in Japanese.
I think the visual story telling is good here but also I have seen the movie a million or less times so no translation needed anyway.

 

[Nakkira]

Day 11 Part 4
Tokyo Disneyland


Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast Cont..

Obviously I don't know anything about the que area before the preshow, but the the the que after is still amazing.



The use of animatronics and projections combined just brings things to a whole new level.

Also details like the missing key to the West Wing:



And the kitchen (ride loading area) with the stove:



The seats on this ride were a somewhat tight fit at the hips but not awful.



And here I made the executive decision to put down my camera and just be in the moment.


I wanted to be fully immersed.

I was.
Swept away literally.

The magical motion of this ride, dancing through each scene in perfect time with the music . and the other ride vehicles. The fluidity of the animatronics, the lighting, and the way things are constantly building (especially in the Be our Guest scene) while you are looking elsewhere)
The music is seamlessly blended into itself from scene to scene

The animatronics are the best I'd ever seen.

The transformation scene? Don't try to tell me how it's done, I choose to believe it was actual magic. I had seen a video of it a year before, and it still amazed me.

By the time we finished waltzing in the ballroom at the end I was full on crying.

No really it took me a few minutes to stop.

I did manage to get a first ride sticker from the cast members at the exit.

Wow.

Hubby was also quite impressed. He has been telling people about it since we got home.

 

[skellinton]

Love your updates, that is cool you can get a first ride sticker! How exactly does one do that? I will definitely want one for my scrapbook.
As someone who cried after riding the Haunted Mansion Holiday ride the first time I totally get the tears. I will likely cry many times when we visit. Heck, I cried finding out we were going.
Can't wait to ride this ride, it looks amazing.

 

[Nakkira]

Love your updates, that is cool you can get a first ride sticker! How exactly does one do that? I will definitely want one for my scrapbook.
As someone who cried after riding the Haunted Mansion Holiday ride the first time I totally get the tears. I will likely cry many times when we visit. Heck, I cried finding out we were going.
Can't wait to ride this ride, it looks amazing.

I knew about them because of a YouTube video. I just asked the cast members at the end of the ride, the ones waving as we left.

 

[mlaw]

Belle is also my favorite princess. This is one ride in which I am worried about the seats cuz they look small in photos. I was just telling my husband about her comments regarding the ride. We have the vacation package with unlimited priority passes so I warned him we will be riding this several times. LOL

 

[Nakkira]

Day 11 Part 5
Tokyo Disneyland



While we had been waiting in line for Beauty and the Beast, we had gotten a pass (sorry, don't remember what kind) for Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare for 10:40.
Magic Kingdom doesn't do a holiday overlay so I was excited when I found out that TDR did.

We headed straight over.







Priority Access line was about 20 minutes from start to boarding.




I love Nightmare Before Christmas. This was so much fun.

I don't know what I was expecting, maybe a few added decorations and a spattering of Characters, but no this is a full overlay.
Very well done.




I really loved it.


Unfortunately Vertigo hit the Hubby hard by the time we left. He doesn't get motion sickness all the time but when he does it's bad. I think between the spinning and swaying of the teacups and the spinning and jerking of the doom buggies, it was too much too closer together for him. He was pouring sweat (chilly day), pale, and dizzy.

Found a place for him to sit near the beginning of Critter Country and gave him water and meclizine. After a half an hour of sitting he was not ready to move on yet (it can take awhile to pass). I got up to wander for a few and realized that Splash Mountain was a posted wait time of about 50 Minutes. I went back to check on him and mentioned the Splash Mountain wait time. He told me to go ride it and her would rest for the hour I'd be gone happily.

I didn't like leaving him, but his color was doing better and the sweat he'd originally broken out in was abating. So I figured that sitting still for hour would be for the best so I went off to Splash Mountain.

 

[Nakkira]

Day 11 Part 6
Tokyo Disneyland

The good news was that while the posted wait time for Splash was 50 minutes I only waited about 30. (I think the time did change to the lower number while I riding).






Splash Mountain just hits me right in the nostalgia feels.


What cracked me up was that the girls in the rows behind me kept their heads ducked for most of the ride like they were afraid of getting soaked the whole time.
It was a cool day but saw how little water was in my seat when I boarded so I wasn't worried.
Honestly, I got slightly damp, but that was it.



I was getting hungry so on my way back to hubby I bought us a couple of Churros at the snack stand nearby the exit. There was only 2 people in front of me in line! I figured out why shortly after.

 

[Nakkira]

Day 11 Part 7
Tokyo Disneyland

When I worked my way out of Critter Country I soon realized why there were so few people up near Splash Mountain.
There so many people crowded in on area that I hard difficult work getting my way through to where my hubby was sitting.

Yup. It was Parade time. Disney Harmony in Color.

"S" was feeling well enough to get up and come over to a spot where we could see a little better and eat the Churro I gave him.

\
Always a good day when I get to see my girl Tink!



Being tall is great at times like this because the spot where we were was sort of the exit to the area, so no sitting. Thankfully I could see pretty well over most peoples heads.








At some point in the parade we broke free of the crowds we were in and started trying to find away around and over to Tomorrowland for our Mobile Lunch order.




Before we got there however I also had to find a bathroom!

Then I saw it. The Popcorn bucket I wanted most of all. Paired with a popcorn I actually wanted to try.



The line wasn't too long so Hubby stood in line for it while I ran to the bathroom because when you got to go you got to go!

 

[Nakkira]

Day 11 Part 8
Tokyo Disneyland

Totally Obsessed with the Big Ben Peter Pan Popcorn Bucket.


Love the clip on Tinkerbell that can be removed and put on other things.



The curry popcorn was good too! Of all the flavored popcorns I has I think this was my favorite (also I am a big fan of Curry)

For lunch we ate at Plasma Ray's Diner.



I had the Beef in Demi-Glace Sauce with Rice, Egg, and Fried Prawns Set and of course the Little Greens Dumplings. I also added on the Souvenier Case. This was actually a good thing because I was too full from my lunch to eat them right away and the case kept them safe and fresh.



Hubby had the Chicken Tenders and fried Cheese. He also ordered the Ghost Candy holder.
Orginally he'd ordered the Chef's special set, but changed his order while I had been on Splash Mountain. I had figured out that morning that you change your order after placing it on the app and he also figured out later that you could change the pickup time if need be.


The EGG though!

The Beef in Demi-Glace Sauce with Rice, Egg, and Fried Prawns was pretty good. Lots of protein between the beef prawns and eggs.
The sauce was pretty simply but solid. Nothing amazing but comfort food.



FTR even though I didn't eat them right away I can say her that I LOVED these mochi. They were the perfect soft and chewy mochi and the filling were good. I like all three.

I couldn't resist a photo with my Buddies as we left.



After lunch we wandered towards ToonTown.

The Wait for Roger Rabbits Cartoon Spin was listed at about 30 minutes so I decided to ride that. Hubby, quite understandably because spinning, decided to wait nearby outside.




It was a fun ride, but I am glad I didn't have to wait much longer than 30 minutes. The que was better than the ride for me, full of the Roger Rabbit nostalgia. I hadn't seen that movie since I was a tween. I'd kind of forgotten how much that movie had disturbed me as a tween, but dude, its kind of dark.

We decided to go over to the Five and Dime afterwards. We had just started looking around when "S" realized he didn't have his phone anymore!
We quickly retraced our steps to where he had been sitting and waiting for and not only was his phone still there (Thank you Japan and your low theft rates/good manners), but nobody was sitting in that spot even though it was pretty crowded and there were several people hovering about for a seat! In Japan people will often save a seat with an object such as a wipes, a small personal items, and surprising sometimes even a phone or purse. People there largely respect that and won't sit in a seat that had been so "claimed". It their culture. I am actually not fond of this as often when you have food all of the tables have one item on them but nobody sitting at them. It can be inconvenient. However it's their country and their rules and it works for them because they are used to it. This time though it worked in our favor big time.

Within moments of us scooping up the phone and walking away, the seat was occupied.

Whew!