I've been to the California version of Disneyland twice, if my memory serves me correctly. Even so, when my travel-mates and I heard there was a Japanese version of the magic kingdom, we felt compelled to investigate. We set out bright and early to get in as much Disney-themed merriment as possible. Upon disembarking from the train at Disneyland station, you could almost feel the magic in the air. Following the necessary photos at the gates, we headed inside.

In classic Tokyo style, Disneyland was busy. Really busy. I couldn't put a number on its population that day, but it was a lot. As you can imagine, this put a slight damper on our ability to ride a lot of rides. With waits for the more popular attractions averaging over an hour and a half, we took advantage of the "fast-pass" system they have there. It involves getting special tickets that get you past the line later in the day, and also a lot of strategy and waiting time. This waiting time allowed us to entertain ourselves in other ways. For example, Steve and Lauren decided to have a competition to see who could get the most photos with random Disneyland staff. Steve won. I have included some of the better ones in the photos section. Steve was also hell-bent on making use of the mini-tripod he had bought the day before...we were all very entertained when he spent a good ten minutes trying to attach it to a railing, in spite of the hundreds of surrounding people who would have been more than willing to take the photo for us.

Even with the waiting, by the end of the day we had managed to hit all the big rides: Splash Mountain (refer to cool photo), Thunder Mountain, The Haunted House (Christmas theme), Star Tours (which made Steve very ill), and of course, Pirates of the Carribean. Aside from all the Japanese people and Japanese language on all the rides, Tokyo Disneyland was pretty much an exact replica of the California version I remember. It was good times indeed.

The next day was my last in Tokyo. I spent the morning exploring the area around the capsule hotel that I had been staying in. It turned out to be a rather interesting area. There was a hugh temple and market nearby that was a hubbub of activity given that it was around new years, a very popular time for temple/shrine-going. I spent about 2 hours looking around the market and temple. Some of the highlights, including a monkey show, are documented in my photos.

After I had had my fill there, I headed to Tokyo station to catch a bus back to Nagoya. Finding the bus depot was a challenge, but I was on a bus bound for Nagoya about 20 minutes after I found it. It was a bit pricy, and took a gruelling 6.5 hours, but at the end, it was good to be home.

Stay tuned for my next journal as it could quite possibly be the greatest entry footstops, or any other travel website, has ever seen...