Vacation diary (Part 7)

Jan 17, 2011

This post is basically about our observation on the first day of year 2011 in Tokyo Disneyland. On that morning, we left Sheraton hotel, took the Disney resort cruiser to the Bayside station, and from there we took the monorail to Tokyo Disneyland.

Japanese New year decoration - Kadomatsu

Let's have a close look at the cruiser,

The Disney resort cruiser

A shot with the bus driver. Nice uniform!

The idea of the bus is basically Mickey...

The decoration inside the bus...

Mickey welcomes you. (Oh, they use Mickey's voice to indicate the arrival and departure!)

Mickey clock

Mickey on the seat...

Mickey handle

And fresh air from Mickey...hahaha

So we have arrived at Bayside station...

Mickey images in the shadow...awww

Even the back of the bus has interesting details...

Its got a Mickey tail!!

Mickey back lights...

Mickey exzos

Mickey side light

Mickey pointing at the entrance/exit...

We took the monorail to Disneyland station, on the monorail we saw...

Fuji mountain! The sky was so clear that even the Fuji mountain was clearly visible! Very lucky!

However the temperature was quite low. Around 0~1 degree celcius

The entrance. Since Disneyland had been opened since 2am, the entrance was clear of people!

As we entered the Disneyland, we saw many people sitting at the side of the road. These were the people who had spent their night here in Disneyland, enjoying the countdown party and the rides. They must have been exhausted.


The entrance to the bazaar (shopping complex), was decorated with Japanese new year decoration that says "Happy new year 2011" both in Japanese and English.

The Mickey Kadomatsu

We love this picture...:)

These people were waiting for the new year's greeting parade which would not start until 11.20am...

Since it was still early for the new year's greeting parade (so we thought!), we decided to have breakfast at Sweetheart cafe. As you can see, the line was very long. I had to line up for more than 40 minutes for breakfast...sigh!

A long line extended to the entrance...

Sya boring...:)

And people didn't stop coming...huge crowd that day.

Our breakfast: Kagami mochi...a must have during the Japanese new year. You get to bring home the plate too!

Sya and his imitation of Pluto...

Mickey shaped pastries...

"Mike" melon bun

One thing I have never shown before in previous posts is how cute or how weird the fashion of these Japanese when visiting Disneyland. Disneyland is a place where you can wear anything without people criticizing you.

Good friends with Chip n' Dale attire

Good friends with same hairstyle, same bags, same "Minnie" sweaters.

Someone was taking along their bunnies. Hey, it's the year of rabbit!

Mother and daughter with Disney gadgets...

Cute winter hats. There's Minnie and Donald...

Even Nemo...:)

They don't mind wearing blankets like sarong too...:)

Oh, this is our favorite food in Disneyland, Churro.

On the way to Fantasyland, we saw the starjets ride. The view was just simply awesome.


Next: "It's a small world" ride!

The Chip n' Dale we saw previously...

Happy New year 2011!

One of our favorite spots in Fantasyland is the area with "Alice in the wonderland" atmosphere...

I love the combination of pastel color decorations and beautiful flowers...

The mean looking Queen of hearts...Sya was intimidated! ;)

The Carousel ride...

Sya and ayah rode the carousel

Then we saw the fairy Godmother...

And the mouse...

At the Pooh's Hunny Hunt ride...

We found many hidden Mickeys! One way to occupy our time during long waits.

We next went to the Critter Country. In this themed land, there are only two rides, the famous Splash mountain and Beaver brothers explorers canoe. We didn't ride the Splash mountain because ayah is acrophobic! Well, we took these photos to let you see what it is like riding the Splash mountain. It is the most popular ride in Tokyo Disneyland for the past 27 years. So, if you are not acrophobic, go!

The people who sat most front were praying...hahaha

We are looking for ayah... :)


Fishing anyone?

Next, Canoe ride.
For anyone who's not fond of canoeing, skip this or not you will end up with sore arm! Haha...But it was quite fun. Sya stopped paddling halfway though, complaining it was too tiring for a kid!

Note the high school boy, isn't he cute with all the Disney gadgets?

Can you believe him eating another churro? After all that breakfast and two churros previously?

And he finished it too!

The beavers' car...Sya liked this!

Next, we went to the Adventureland for "The enchanted Tiki room". Sya is a big fan of Stitch so we had no choice but to watch the show!

Stitch show was inside the Polynesian style buildings. No photos were allowed during the show...:(

Aloha~

Next: Swiss family tree house from Swiss family Robinson.

Nice view of Cinderella castle from the tree top


Hidden Mickeys again...:)

It was way past the lunch time when we finished with the Adventureland.
We wanted to escape the crowd so we decided to have lunch at the Disneyland Hotel.

On the way, we saw Clarice and Daisy.

So adorable!

As we were enjoying lunch at the cafe, we noticed an elderly couple having lunch too. Beside them were a couple with three children who seemed to have great fun. Disneyland is not for young people only! People in any range of age can have fun. So, it's never too late to come to Disneyland!

Love the Stitch outfit!

We went back to Disneyland after our lunch, just on time for the New year's greeting parade. They were so many people waiting already. We couldn't find any place near the road! We had to stand at the back in order to have a good view. Served us right for coming only 20 minutes before time (People had been waiting for at least a few hours!!)

The parade has started!

Minnie in bright red kimono...

So cute!

Daisy was wearing kimono too!

Goofy

Pluto

And the bunnies to welcome the year of rabbit!

We witnessed Mickey and Minnie kissed! So sweet!

And then after that, "shy shy cat"...hahaha

The new year's greeting ended here...





Video of 2011 New year's greeting in Disneyland and DisneySea (from youtube)

It's always a chaos after a parade...

We waited for another 3o minutes for the next scheduled parade, The Jubilation.

Enjoy the parade!

The beautiful fairy

The beautiful princesses

The Pocahontas

Winnie the Pooh and friends

The lion king

Lilo and Stitch

Peter Pan

The Pinocchio

The clowns...

The monsters, inc.

The Toy's story

Mickey ended the parade



Video taken by hubby...due to the poor location, heads of various shapes, hair thickness and colors could be observed too. Hahaha

We didn't go around too much after that. We did some last minute shopping, buying souvenirs for family, colleagues and friends at World bazaar before we left for our hotel.

The line for a photo shot with bunnies was too long. The line was closed when we arrived.

Among the souvenirs from our trip. We did another load of shopping at the Disney store in Ikspiari the next day. Each time datang Disneyland, pokai!

Souvenirs with images of Mickey and Minnie in Japanese clothes are available only during New year holidays.

I think I am pretty done with my vacation diary. I may have left out some parts along the way...so there is a possibility that I post about it when it pops out one day. Thank you for dropping by. Till the next entry!


14 comments:

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Nana,
Aaaaargh!!!!! I'm having Mickey-phobia. How can mice kiss and then become shy shy cat? purrrr.....meow!

Nana said...

Dear Cat-in-Sydney,
Ahahaha...Nice one there Angie! Ok, ok...I will rephrase it. What if I change it to " Malu-malu tikus"? I still can't stop laughing! :)

i amsterdam said...

There are so many mickies... how come I didn't realise that many when i was in Paris Disneyland in 2009???

Nana.. you are so observant!!

Cheqna said...

Nana dear,

WOW!!..as if I'm d one doing the tour (i wish i wish...)..disney my fav. channel..so to see all these..jeles lah kita..

thanks for sharing your journey!

:-)

Nana said...

Dear i amsterdam,
Ahh, I am sure there are many hidden mickeys! But most of the times, we tend to chase time for the next ride so tak perasan kot. In my case, we were not too concern about the rides since there are limits to what Sya and ayah can ride. hahaha. But there is always next time! It's fun way to occupy the time while waiting in queues...:)

Nana said...

Dear Cheqna,
Thank you! Hihihi...welcome to Nana's tour! :)
But I strongly recommend you to come to Disneyland when you get the chance yeah! I am a big fan of Disney too, so I can imagine when you come here!! You won't want to come back!

Anonymous said...

Wow! wow! The Japanese's attention to detail never fails to amaze me. It's like a religion to them. I guess that is what makes them so successful -- their passion to even the littlest of details is inspiring.

Nana said...

Dear Andrea,
Yeah, you are right! It's like a religion to them. They are constantly thinking of improvising anything at all. Up to the small tiny details! Of course there are many pros and cons living here but we appreciate their sensitivity and observance to peoples' needs. That is said to be the reason for them to succeed. :)

Lee said...

Hello Nana, wow! Breathtaking pics. Enjoyed looking at everyone.
Never been to a Disneyland so your pics tells me what its like....fun, fun, fun.

And the pics of the hotel, bus people...Japan is the only country in the World that is so spotlessly clean, orderly and everything so clean and shiny.
And most of all, people are so polite.
One city or country in the World where the cops feel bored. Ha ha ha.
I love Japan!
Have fun and must say you all look real good in the pics.
Best wishes.
Lee.

Nana said...

Dear Lee,
Thank you for all the beautiful compliments. I appreciate it. I sincerely hope you enjoyed the trip! :)
Yeah, I do realize that not many people will get the chance to visit here. Hence the reason for me to show photos of our trip, to give people an idea what it is like. Well, I can guarantee that you won't be disappointed if you come to Tokyo Disneyland. Some people had compared Tokyo to other Disneylands in Florida, Paris and Hong Kong and still prefer Tokyo's due to the great service they provide. They just make the experience beautiful and magical!
Yes, we are used to Japan, being clean and spotless so there is no big deal. Haha...but I may have problem going back to Malaysia. I can imagine my son going ewww, going to pasar malam or the markets. That's one thing he has to get used to. :)
About the cops, you are so right! The other day we saw an accident between a car and a motorbike. No people was hurt but the cops? 2 big trucks and 2 cops in bike came!! It was just a small accident! So you can imagine how "jobless" they are.
Thanks for dropping by. Have a great weekend!

TK said...

Wah..mickey everywhere..so tiut..
Panjang Churros tu..I love churros too!
Bestnya parade tu..!!
Thanks for sharing all those awesome photos.

Nana said...

Dear TK,
I am glad you like the photos.
Kat Malaysia ada kuih belimbing kan? something that is similar to Churros I thought.
Thanks for dropping by! Enjoy your weekend!

Cheqna said...

Nana,

yup..I could spend hours if not days there...jiwa kanak2 masih tebal..hehe..

and betullah as Uncle Lee said..so clean there..:-)

Nana said...

Dear Cheqna,

Bagus jiwa kanak2 tu. Forever young!
Betul, memang bersih. Tak nampak sampah pun. They keep it real clean!
Enjoy your week Cheqna!

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