Episode 24: Tokyo Disneyland, a rollercoaster of emotion

Konnichiwa mina-san!!!

Ben: "Holy shnikes, this is our trip to Disneyland, in a nutshell. That's right, you heard it right here, we went to that magical land where time ebbs and flows like the drifting sands of the Sahara, and old age becomes youth at the drop of a hat. Even those big hats that cowboys wear."

Laura: "In regular people speak, that means that the day lasted FOREVER. We left our hotel at at 7:00 am on a magical shuttle that took us straight to Disney. We got there at about 7:30, and in true Japanese fashion waited in a huge line to get our tickets, then another, separate huge line to enter the park. We booked it straight to Space Mountain, and were rewarded with a very short wait for the most popular ride in the park."

Ben: "After our trek into space, we made our way over to the dinky rides. You know, those little kiddy type rides that most adults don't really want to ride on, but then after they wait and get on the ride, they're always shocked at how much fun it actually was, and then they won't shut up about how much fun they had? Yeah, well those are the ones we hit up. Basically there was this little airplane ride thing that went around in circles (made by JAL), and some other little ones. Afterwards, we decided to celebrate with a mean spicy chicken wrap from a food stand. To our surprise, the price wasn't so jacked up that you had to mortgage your first born child to be able to afford it.

Laura: "It was at this point that the reality of Tokyo Disneyland began to reveal itself. Up until it had been all fun and games --- not anymore. First of all, the crazy heat began to sap our (or at least my) energy. It was over 40 degrees that day, probably 41 or 42 around lunchtime. The sun was intense, there weren't many places to sit, and pavement everywhere. I asked Ben what time it was totally expecting him to say "It's 2:00" - it had just turned 11:00. I couldn't believe that we had 9 more hours to go. But we solidered on, conquering the Honey I Shrunk the kids 3-D adventure and a few other not-so-popular rides, mainly because the lineups were starting to get ridiculous."

Ben: "That's fact. Thunder Mountain, for one, was 'down for repairs' and once it opened, there was literally a three hour wait to get on that ride. Big Thumbs Down! Suffice to say, at that point in the day, we had neither the will nor the time to squander on such short winded entertainment. Instead, we took a train ride around the park, one that took us into the Canadian Wilderness to see some native Canadians, and also some natural wild-life (pronounced "anamatronic deer and people." That ride was a short break, and it luckily took us away from the wicked-crowded Japanese line-ups. I'm being totally honest here when I say there were no less than 30,000 people, I wouldn't be surprised at numbers as high as 50,000 or more. It was crazy... and I mean crazy in the full sense of the word."

Laura: "We also went on a crappy river cruise to Tom Sawyer's island-- it lasted literally 30 seconds. But the day wasn't all disappointment. There were some cheesy, but really fun parades of all the Disney characters. The pixar float was the best, mainly because Sully (the big blue monster from Monsters, Inc.) looked like he was telling the crowd to "Suck It!" (look at the picture and you'll see what I mean).We went on a fun Buzz Lightyear ride where you got to shoot bad guys with a laser gun. Also, at the end of the day we went on Splash Mountain, which was totally worth the wait.

Another highlight of the day was the 'It's a Smal World' ride -- if you've never been on it, it's as creepy as you think it is. Think hundreds of tiny animatronic robots that look like little kids singing "it's a small world" in creepy robot voices. Oddly, North America was completely left out of the ride - no Canada or United States! I mean come on, even Finland was represented! The heat was a killer and the crowds got to be kind of suffocating, but Tokyo Disneyland was ultimately a pretty fun place to be."

Ben:"True. We had a wicked time, and it felt so good to get home after a long day, and just have a nice cold-shower, while relaxing at the hotel. Our feet were pretty sore, but you know that good feeling you get when you get home after a long day skating and take off your skates and put your feet up? Yeah, well it was kinda like that. Oh, and to top it all off, we finished off some of the delicious strawberry white cake we got from Tomo, and watched some Japanese television on our 40" flatscreen. Hilarious."

The next day promised exciting fun at the Tsukiji fish market, as well as our long trek home to Mie-ken. Until then,

matane,

-benjamin & laura


p.s. Ben: "In "Western Land" we went to a shooting range, where you had a lazer rifle, and you could pay money to shoot at things in a bar. If, and only if, you managed to hit 10 targets out of your 10 shots, then Goofy told you that you rocked out harder than a drunk Japanese salaryman at a 2am Karaoke session. To reward you, he would give you a sheriff badge. Well guess who rocked out that game? Watashi!!! (me!)

Laura: "I didn't hit any of them :-( "