Japan - Day 5 - The Last Day at Disneyland

Today was a sad day.  It is the last (planned) day to go to the Disney parks.  Since we get to go to both parks, we wanted to focus on the stuff we'd missed and things we really liked. 

Surprisingly we were both able to sleep until 7am.  A record so far for this trip.  After a quick breakfast of Cup of Noodles, we met Ruston and Jacob at 8:15 and walked over to the monorail.  Since we knew we were going to finish our day at Disneyland, we started at Disney Sea.  The skies today were so much clearer, so we were hoping for a beautiful day in the parks.

Japan - Day 4 - A Rainy Day at Tokyo Disneyland

Here in Redondo Beach California, we just got a ton of rain today.  Seems appropriate that I should write about our super rainy day at Tokyo Disneyland.

Rain, rain, rain.  The word of the day, is rain. Theresa woke up at 4:30am and couldn't fall back asleep.  I woke up at 6:30am.  The time change is going to take a few more days to get used to.  Breakfast was... can you guess... from the convenience store downstairs in the lobby.  They've got a good selection of foods though.  I decided on a warm Cup of Noodles and Theresa got kimchi and rice.  I opened the door at 8:15am just as Jacob was about to knock.  Pretty good timing.

We put on our rain jackets and took the monorail around the entire loop to reach the gates of Disneyland.  It was 8:40 by the time we got there, but the lines were much shorter than a couple days ago.  We were crossing our fingers that the rain would keep the crowd levels down today. 

At 9am, the gates opened and we all ran to Pooh's Hunny Hunt.  The Disneyland Band was serenading everyone as they walked/ran in.

Japan - Day 3 - Tokyo Disney Sea

Another day of waking up at 5:30am.  Theresa went and grabbed breakfast again from the convenience store in the lobby.  At 8:15am we met up with Jacob and Ruston again and took the monorail over to Disney Sea.  I was really excited to go here!  I've been to a few Disney Parks, but this was like nothing I had ever been to.  Disney Sea was just one stop from the Partner Hotel monorail stop, so by 8:30am we were through security and in line for the park.

Japan - Day 2 - First day at Tokyo Disneyland

Maybe it's the time change, maybe it's the excitement for being at Disneyland the next day, but sleep did not come easy.  After going to sleep at 10:30pm at 1:30am, I was wide awake and ready to go.  Luckily after 30 minutes, I fell back asleep, but then again at 7am, wide awake and ready to go.  Luckily Theresa was awake too, so we went down to the convenience store in the lobby of the Hilton Tokyo Bay and grabbed breakfast.

We then met Jacob and Ruston at 7:45am and headed over to the monorail.
Along the way, we saw the awesome Disney Resort buses.  Even the tail lights had a Mickey design.

Japan - Day 1 - Flight to Japan

Jacob, Ruston, Theresa and I all started planning this trip way back in November of 2010.  We were still in the early stages of planning when in March the terrible earthquake and tsunami hit Japan.  After that, we were constantly watching the reports coming from Japan to see how recovery efforts were going, what the status of the reactor was, and any other news.  After the earthquake there were still good size aftershocks occurring frequently.

In July though, we all decided that we were still going to go.  We made final hotel plans, got our JR Rail passes, and got everything ready for our trip.

Our itinerary

10/1 and 10/2 - crossing the date line, Arrive in Japan

10/3 - Disneyland

10/4 - Disney Sea

10/5 - Disneyland/Disney Sea

10/6 - Disneyland/Disney Sea

10/7 - Train to Tokyo and explore

10/8 - Exploring Tokyo

10/9 - Train to Hakone and exploring Hakone (Mt. Fuji)

10/10 - Train to Kyoto and exploring Kyoto

10/11 - Exploring Kyoto

10/12 - Exploring Kyoto

10/13 - Train to Tokyo and Disney Sea

10/14 - Disneyland

10/15 - Disneyland/Disney Sea

10/16 - Flight Home

On October 1st, Jacob, Theresa and I all met Ruston at the airport.  The day had finally arrived and we were ready to fly to Japan.

Apple Orchard in Michigan

Everybody piled into the church van to head down to the apple orchard

Halloweentime at Disneyland - 2011 Carved Pumpkins