Tokyo Disneyland Done Right

I honestly can't explain how excited I was to be going back to Tokyo Disneyland as my first experience there wasn't as I had hoped. I had no idea what to expect from the crowds and I was horribly sick so I spent a day shopping at Disney and didn't go on any rides! This time though, I was prepared...

If you're not a morning person Disney can be a struggle, especially if its Tokyo you're going to as you have to get there ridiculously early in certain parks.

I ended up queuing for an hour before opening as Tokyo Disneyland doesn't do magic hours unlike Florida. Queuing earlier made such a difference when it comes to getting on the popular rides within Tokyo Disneyland (a.k.a. queueland 😂). 

Once the park opened it was a mad rush among the people wanting to get photos in front of the Disneyland sign, people spreading securing their spots for parades and everyone else aiming for Pooh's Honey Hut or Monsters Inc. I had a plan with my parents (who were spending the first 2 days at Disney with me) to conquer and divide. I raced through to Tomorrowland to get Monsters Inc fast passes (theirs a cut through to the right of the center of World Bazaar) and my parents made their way to queue in Pooh's Honey Hut. 

Pooh's Honey Hut Exterior

The queuing area for Pooh's Honey Hut is probably my favourite in Tokyo Disneyland. It begins outside among some beautiful autumn leaves then curves around a lush garden. Once you enter inside you're transported into a little room with the hundred acre woods map which leads you into a Winnie the Pooh book. It makes it's super enjoyable queuing as you can read the story as you wait. It's only a short queue once you're inside, I do however wish it was slower so I could enjoy it a little more. But alas, we're there to ride the ride and not read a book. 

Pooh's Honey Hut - Garden

The ride itself takes place in a honey jar which can seat up to 4 adults and 1 child. It's a reckless ride system, similar to the ratatouille ride in Disneyland Paris, which takes you on an adventure through the hundred acre woods then into Pooh's dreams. The ride itself lasts about 3 minutes but is great fun and enjoyable for all ages. 

After we finished up on Pooh's Honey Hut, we still had an hour until our Monsters Inc fast passes. I was in a tangled theme disneybound and I needed to get my hands on the new Rapunzel popcorn bucket offered in Tokyo. I went for a hunt to find the popcorn stand and got the bucket along with some honey popcorn (which was delicious! I swear Tokyo Disney does the best popcorn flavours). Mum wanted to do the Peter Pan and since the queue was small we headed on over to it. I personally didn't enjoy it as much as the one in Disneyland Paris. I'm not sure if I was just younger and enjoyed it more or if the Tokyo ride was just less detailed. It was fun nonetheless but it wasn't anything to queue longer than 30 minutes for. 

With 10 minutes to wait until we were able to get our next lot of fast passes we went on snow white's adventures. The queue for this was small which was great as we were in and out within 15 minutes. Our monsters inc ride had 10 minutes until we could go on, we made a dash over to big thunder mountain to get fast passes for that ride then crossed the park to Tomorrowland. The Monsters Inc ride was a cute ride, very similar to Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters but without any scoring. You go through the monsters inc world and shine your torch on the M symbols and they interact with the environment. The ride is definitely worth going on but I found the standby queues for this ride were extremely high anywhere from 1-3hrs! It's one of the rides you'd need a fast pass for.

By this time it was almost 11am and we hadn't eaten yet. We started our hunt for food and on the way we passed star tours with a 10 minute standby queue. Well how could we pass that up! Unfortunately that 10 minutes ended up being 30 minutes and we were all quiet hangry by the end of the ride. I am glad I didn't eat before it because oh my did I forget how sick that ride made me! 

We got some chips and a drink quickly as we totally forgot we had our big thunder mountain fast passes at 11:30 and it was closing into to almost 12pm. 

As the afternoon carried out we rode big thunder mountain then had a break on the Western River Railroad. I had no idea what to expect from this but I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. There was a fair amount to see as you went through the forest then into a prehistoric area. Next to the railroad was the Jungle Cruise (yes the movie coming out this year is related to this ride). We had to wait a little while for this ride but it was really enjoyable even if you don't speak any Japanese. 

By the time we had done all these rides the need for an afternoon nap was setting in. I wanted to do a shop around before heading back to the hotel so I went exploring around the World Bazaar and found a cute fair isle Christmas mickey sweater. 

About 5pm all of us felt rested and were ready to spend the evening back in Disneyland. We rugged up heaps as the temperature in the evening in December in Tokyo gets quite cool, around 6°C while we were there. 

The first ride I wanted to go on was the Haunted Mansion. It currently had the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay and the queues were always over 2 hours during the day. The queuing area and the mansion is so beautiful in the evening. The Mansion is lined with Jack-o-lanterns and had a Jack-o-lantern Christmas styled tree in the front garden. The ride itself is so fun with overlay and as much as I love the original there is something about bringing the Halloween and Christmas spirit into the ride that is just so magical! 

Haunted Mansion with Nightmare Before Xmas overlay

As we hadn't had much during the day, we were desperate for some food again. The electrical night parade was about to begin and with all the restaurants quite empty during parades we thought it was the perfect time to go to the Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall. 

The theming of this restaurant is absolutely stunning! The moment you walk in you're swept away into the Queen of Hearts castles garden area with her guards around, this is where the seating area is. As you continue through into the serving area, the kitchen is very beautiful with large teapots, cups, pots and pans hanging from the ceiling and a wonky cake where the fake food is displayed.

Ceiling of the Queen of Hearts serving area

I got the vegetables and hamburger patty. It was so cute with the sweet potato and cheese in the shape of a heart. Overall I loved this restaurant. The food was really delicious for the price, the presentation was in theme and the restaurant was enchanting! (I will say though the queues can get big as you will learn in an upcoming blog post).

Once we were all full and happy we set outside to watch the parade as it ended in Toon Town (near the restaurant). We had about 10 minutes before the parade came back to where we were so mum and I quickly rode Mad Tea Party as there was not wait time.

Mad Tea Party - Mum and Myself

We only caught a glimpse of the parade as it passed it as it is one of the more popular parades and people secure spots for this hours before the start time. We still saw the beauty and the beast and frozen float which were super beautiful!

Belle and the Beast float

After navigating the swarm of people once the parade finished we went on it's a small world, how can you not do it at least once each Disney trip, then went to my favourite ride, pirates of the Caribbean.

I haven't been on a pirates ride in years and the Tokyo Disney one has a section from the films which the Paris Disney (last time I went on it) didn't have. It was a really great ride and lasted a long time. Perfect for escaping the weather and resting your feet.

By this point the fireworks were about to begin in 15 minutes. We made our way to the castle area and just relaxed taking in the ambiance of the area at Christmas. Honestly it was so nice to just reflect and really soak in how magical this day way. I think this was my favourite Disney day I've ever had. 

The fireworks were nothing special compared to the evening firework shows like Happily Ever After as the castle was under construction but they were still beautiful nonetheless. Perfect end to a perfect day.