The Bounds Do Tokyo Disney - Day 6 & Final Thoughts

[Melanie]

The Bounds Do Tokyo Disney

Cast of Characters -

Melanie (37) - that's me
James (37) - that's hubby
Josh (8) - oldest, loves Donald and thrill rides
Ryan (7) - youngest, loves Stitch and Goofy, lovin' the thrill rides now


Day Six:

Our last day – what we like to call eviction day, although we didn’t receive one of those nasty eviction notices like we do at WDW. Well, we hadn’t left resort property all week. That’s not what we intended to happen, but it did. As you may remember, our original plan was to do only 3 days at Tokyo Disney, then spend a full day in the city. sigh If we hadn’t already decided to return to Tokyo, then we would have surely stuck with that plan.

Our flight wasn’t until almost 4pm that afternoon, so we had a lot of time. James and Ryan did hop a train that morning and headed to the Chiba Lotte Marines baseball stadium to get some souvenirs. Yes, we are totally into Japanese baseball now, since the majority of the teams in the Japanese baseball league do their spring training here on Okinawa.

Josh and I relaxed at the hotel and finished packing. We hung out in the Lounge until James and Ryan returned around midday. Check-out was at noon, so we checked our luggage in with bell services. James had purchased our bus tickets for the airport before he left the hotel that morning. We then run into the same problem we had when we arrived – nowhere for a quick, cheap lunch. We didn’t feel we had enough time to head to Ikspiari at that point, so we decided to start walking and check out what the other “official” hotels had to offer.

Uh, the Hilton has a Starbuck’s in the lobby. Wish we would have known that at the beginning of the week. They also had another place that sold quick sandwiches as well. We sat in the lobby of the Hilton and enjoyed our Starbuck’s sandwiches, checked out a few of the other hotels, then walked back to the Sheraton. We waited maybe a half hour before our bus arrived, had a quick trip to the airport (although with heavy hearts) and an uneventful flight home. We were back at our house by 7pm that night.

[Melanie]

Final Thoughts:

Wow, where to start? I know my reports have been loooong, but I hope that I’ve somehow been able to somewhat accurately bring the Tokyo Disney Resort to you.

Hotel: The Sheraton was very nice, and I would recommend it in a heartbeat, especially to American travelers. The staff was exceptional, and we never had any problems. The location can’t be beat, and the transportation was very convenient. What a nice surprise we had being upgraded to the Starwood Preferred Floor and having use of the lounge. We definitely used it too! We had such a wonderful view from our room, and I definitely recommend the park view. There’s something very magical about Cinderella Castle being the first thing you see when you wake up and last thing you see before going to sleep. I loved that!

The room itself was just fine. We didn’t have any English stations on our TV, but we did get an English newspaper delivered every morning, so we didn’t feel too out of it regarding what was going on in the world. Oh, and even though the park channels were in Japanese, we watched them all the time. We still pronounce DisneySea “DisneySHE” like the gentleman does on the info channels. Like I said before, the rooms are small, but that’s typical in Tokyo. The bathroom was cool. It had heated mirrors, lots of amenities and a toilet with tons of functions. The bathtub and shower area is hard to explain – you walk into the shower area with the shower head, and then you can step into the tub. It’s one big open area. That was cool!

Like I’ve also said earlier, our only complaint was the lack of quick, cheap meals. There are lots of nice restaurants in the hotel, but they were all very expensive. That is a definite plus for the Hilton if you are considering a trip.

Transportation – The airport transportation was a breeze. Ticket buying was quick and easy, and we waited maybe 5 minutes for a bus. It said on the website that the trip to the resort was around 50 minutes, but it took us no more than 30 minutes both ways. Now this is from Haneda, which is the domestic airport. Of course it would be different if you fly into Narita, the international airport.

Park transportation – what a treat! The monorails are the coolest, and we didn’t mind at all having to pay to ride. It’s relatively cheap anyway. The ticket kiosks at the stations have an English option, so they were very easy to use. The monorails arrived either 4 or 6 minutes apart the entire time we were there, with nice signage in the stations informing you of the train status.

The Disney Resort Line bus, with it’s retro 50s look, was so neat. The boys loved sitting in the jump seat behind the driver, and you can’t beat Mickey Mouse speaking in Japanese. We didn’t ride it often though, since the monorail station was so close to the hotel.

Food: We did a lot of snacking (can you say POPCORN?) and counter service on this trip. Our sit-down meals were awesome! The BellaVista Lounge at the MiraCosta Hotel is one of the nicest restaurants I’ve ever been to. I’d love to try either lunch or dinner there the next time. And of course we loved our lunch show with Lilo and her pals. And I can’t forgot the Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall – what a very pleasant surprise. Good food and great atmosphere. Well done! We really enjoyed our meal at The Teddy Roosevelt Lounge at DisneySea as well.

Popcorn – so much fun! The refillable popcorn bucket was great! We tried chocolate, caramel, strawberry and sea salt. They were all good, but I liked the caramel the best, as I’m not very adventurous. I wish we could have tried the honey flavored located by Pooh’s Hunny Hunt. There was a curry flavored stand over between Adventureland and Westernland, and that had to be the worst smelling stuff ever! I thought James was going to hurl each time we walked past.

The ice cream and candy situation was interesting. I understand the whole “when in Rome” philosophy, but by golly, I wanted a Mickey Ice Cream Bar and a caramel apple! At least we got Churros! The Japanese love cookies – shortbread cookies to be exact. The Confectionary at Disneyland and Merchant of Venice Confections at DisneySea were almost entirely full of cookies, in many varieties and packaging. No fresh candy at all.

People: Everyone was so nice! Even with the huge crowds we encountered, we never felt crowded or were bothered by other folks. The Japanese society is such a polite society, and that was definitely reflected here. We definitely stood out, but never felt unwelcome. They love Disney and love the characters! The CMs were outstanding and in abundance. I don’t think there are any cutbacks in Tokyo. Even with our language barrier, they were always so helpful.

The Parks: Wow, what more can I say?

I can only compare the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland in California, but Tokyo Disneyland has a very familiar feel - a good mix of the two. Everything seemed very close together, and getting from one side of the park to the other wasn’t bad at all. But the pathways were huge, thank goodness! Very clean and spiffy looking as well! I loved the large area in front of Cinderella Castle.

We did miss Pirates and Space Mountain. They had Pirates covered up so well that I didn’t even realize where it was until later in the week. And I felt bad for Josh, who has really gotten into the roller coasters and wanted to do Space Mountain very badly. I think Ryan may have even ridden it. Next time, next time. Pooh’s Hunny Hunt is one of the most incredible rides ever! It’s a shame it’s not stateside.

It’s hard to not just continue saying wow, wow, wow about DisneySea. It just takes your breath away and I’d be content just hanging out, not even doing any attractions. It’s Disney Imagineering at it’s best, and Walt would be proud! We had so many favorites here, but I have to say we were most surprised by Triton’s Kingdom and the Legend of Mythica water show.

The resort as a whole sits in the middle of the city just like Disneyland in Anaheim. I think you can tell that from my pictures I took from our hotel room. Just like in Anaheim, this didn’t bother me a bit. I still felt swallowed up by the Disney magic.

Souvenirs: Well, this was a bit a of a disappointment, to us at least. We realized on that first day at Ikspiari that what we are used to wouldn’t be available here. They don’t put out a lot of “branded” stuff. Very, very little apparel with “Tokyo Disney” on it. The majority was general Disney merchandise – the classic tees and specific character merchandise. We felt fortunate to find the 5th year anniversary Tokyo Disney Sea hat, which wasn’t a trucker hat. I was sad I couldn’t buy shirts. Also, very few coffee mugs to be found.

Mostly available are figurines, different character ticket/fastpass holders and the variety of hairclips I mentioned earlier in my reports.

No Christmas ornaments (which is understandable), no magnets and no snowglobes.

Characters: We had a lot of fun with the characters. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s so much more spontaneous and fun without having to line up to get pics and autographs, and everyone was so polite while gathering around the characters. We saw some really odd ones, like Clarice (Chip ‘n Dale’s friend) and Marie from the Aristocats (she’s huge in Japan!). Seeing the Dwarfs out was a real treat. Talking to the face characters in English was soooooo nice!

Conclusion: We’ll be back – hopefully sooner than later! We are talking about Christmas of this year, if my husband is back from his deployment by then. This time though, we will go with a tour from here on our base, stay in town and spend two days at the resort and two days touring Tokyo. I’m still kinda embarrassed we didn’t even go into the city on this trip. But, we had such a great time and this family bonding was just what we needed before we go through our separation.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my reports, even though they were long. I’ve enjoyed re-living our trip!

[NotaGeek]

I nominate you for the BEST TRIP REPORTS EVER!!! :

Thanks for taking the time to put in so much thought and creativity! I love how you added pics (and YES, I will steal that idea if I ever get another trip to a park sometime soon!). It was great seeing the trip through your eyes! You rock!

[Fairy Grandmother]

I second the nomination for BEST TRIP REPORTS EVER!

Wow! It was so enjoyable reading your WONDERFUL reports and looking at your BEAUTIFUL pictures. Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us in such detail.

[faline]

Mel, thank you so much for your detailed reports! You've really helped me "see" a place I might never get to experience in real life!

[ElenitaB]

Mel, thanks so much for taking the time to do these wonderful reports! You really made us feel like we were there with you, James and the boys! Thank you!

Souvenirs: Well, this was a bit a of a disappointment, to us at least.

You mean you didn't buy that toilet seat cover?

[disneydrmr]

Wow wow wow! If I may echo your sentiments. Thank you for the wonderful trip reports! To see Tokyo Disney thru you and your families eyes was a real treat! Thank you so much for sharing! And your husband will be in my thoughts and prayers thru his deployment! As will you and your boys!

[offwego]

Melanie your reports were truly outstanding. And I (along with a big bunch of others clearly ) think you did an outstanding job of "taking us with you" on your trip.

And I don't think you need to worry about getting into to the city. Clearly the trip you had was the trip your family needed.

Thank you so much for allowing us to share this special trip with you.

[Nascfan]

Mel, I enjoyed your reports and pictures so much! You made me, and I'm sure many of us, feel like we were there with you. Thank you for taking us all along on your trip with you. Wow! is a good word to sum it all up.

James will be in our prayers throughout his deployment, and we'll be hoping the time passes quickly for all of you until he's back with you and the boys.

[CanadianWDWFan]

Thanks for sharing your entire trip with us. I loved it. It is nice to see how other cultures grasp Walt's vision.

Incredible reports and awesome pictures Melanie!

[BrerGnat]

Mel, thank you again for sharing your trip with us. I think you made a lot of us jealous. It sounds like it was quite an adventure, and I'm sure you guys made some great memories.

I hope the time flies while James is gone and I will pray for his safe return home. A return trip to Tokyo Disney will be a great "homecoming" treat for you all.

[Bethis26fan]

Thanks for sharing your trip. It sure seems like you had a good time.

[TikiGoddess]

Thank you so much for sharing your trip report and photos. It was a joy to read them and hear all about Disney on the other side of the world.

Best wishes to your husband and your family in the coming months!
TikiG

[Katzateer]

Thanks so much for your detailed reports- looked forward to each one and enjoyed hearing about your great trip!

[sleepingbooty]

I loved, loved, loved reading your reports! You did a great job making these unfamiliar parks come alive for me, and linking the pictures to your reports was a huge help as well. Looked like you and your family were having a wonderful time. Thanks so much for sharing your experiences!

[SandmanGStefani24]

nothing short of outstanding!

Between loving Asian culture and WDW, your trip reports made me feel like i was riding shotgun with you! Definately a great way to escape the boredom of work! Many thanks for sharing your trip with us! Have a on me!

[willowpondarabians]

I've been checking the boards a dozen times a day all week waiting for the rest of your reports. I agree, it's the best report I have read in the many years I have been reading reports. I don't reply very often, but I read all the time. And I just had to let you know how much I loved reading all about your trip.

I want to personally thank your husband for all he is doing for our great country and want you to know that your whole family are in my prayers. Being an ex-military wife, I still can't say I have been in your shoes, as there was no war when we were in the military. So God bless you!

And we can't wait for another trip report from Christmas. I can't wait to hear how Tokyo Disney decorates for the holidays!

[Carol]

It’s hard to not just continue saying wow, wow, wow about DisneySea. It just takes your breath away and I’d be content just hanging out, not even doing any attractions. It’s Disney Imagineering at it’s best, and Walt would be proud!

Ya gave me goosebumps there girl !

What wonderful reports. I will miss having my morning coffee while reading them. Such a treat. You ROCK!

[NJGIRL]

Melanears,
Great reports! I don't know anyone who has been there so it was nice to hear about it first hand.
A couple of questions, from your pictures I didn't see any of the "people characters" being Japanese. Do you know if there was a reason for this? What language did they speak? Were the other cast members that ran the attractions Japanese? It was just something that I noticed and seemed alittle odd.

[ChipDale]

I'm just going to echo what everyone else has posted: Mel, your reports were so very very enjoyable! Thanks again for taking the time to share your family's experience!