What a blessing it is to be able to hop on a plane and 3 1/2 hours later explore a completely different culture. JAPAN was a fantastic trip... we wished we planned more days - but what we did was FUN FUN FUN!
Mia, our little 2 1/2 year old continues to say, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Mommy!" My sweet girl reminds me daily how blessed I am to be alive! This Japan trip was my 40th Birthday Celebration! I loved being with my family and celebrating 40 years... wow, am I really 40? Where did the time go? How come I don't feel this old? Honestly... I truly don't!
Thanks to friends who gave great tips and advice I was determined to packed "light" (for my standards)... we had a good idea what to expect but we knew the language barrier would be an issue and the adventure would be exciting. The kids did great sticking close to us at Disney, as well as in Tokyo.
Thanks to friends who gave great tips and advice I was determined to packed "light" (for my standards)... we had a good idea what to expect but we knew the language barrier would be an issue and the adventure would be exciting. The kids did great sticking close to us at Disney, as well as in Tokyo.
DAY 1 - we got our 6:30am flight... arrived at 9:30am Japan time... hopped on an Airport Limo Bus and arrived at our hotel - The Sheraton Grand Tokyo Bay Hotel at the Disney Resort. Checked in and went straight to Tokyo Disneyland by 3pm... and stayed there until 10pm. The kids enjoyed exploring and it was laid out so similarly to other Disneylands that it felt very familiar. Of course, the kids LOVED all the fast rides - especially SPACE MOUNTAIN, which we were able to FASTpass it... and then luckily looped around (because it was the end of the night) and rode it again!!!
When Mia was scared by a character walking around or on a dark ride that she wasn't too sure of, she'd say, "I want to go home" It made us all laugh when she tried to show how brave she was by saying, "That was fun", after a ride that she cried in (i.e. Winnie The Pooh or BuzzLightYear rides). Oh the torture I put my children through...
DAY 2 - we took our time and arrived at Tokyo DisneySea by 10:30am. This place was unbelieveable! There truly is nothing like it... I would say it's a good mix of Epcot and Disney... combined... but yet - it is still uniquely it's own! The details were fantastic Disney standards. As an adult, I was mesmerized by the place. We learned to FASTpass right away to make the most of our day. Ate brunch there and continued to explore. King Tritons Kingdom was underground... "under the sea" theme and had so many things for Mia's age - she loved it... and WOW - the Ariel show was the BEST show ever! Think Cirque du Soleil style - very acrobatic, colorful and mesmerizing. The songs were all in ENGLISH... but the dialog was in Japanese... but other than that... it was awesome! Once again, Mia said, "I want to go home"... she still is talking about how she is scared of the CRAB claws.
DAY 3 - packed up our things, and checked out of the hotel by 8am... and headed back to DisneySea to explore the other half of the park. It takes a good 2 days to explore this place! So glad that we did a 3 day Disney pass... giving us the ability to take our time and enjoy without feeling rushed.
By 3pm we were heading to Tokyo downtown area with all our luggage and all our little peeps... in the subway, Tokyo Metro. We missed our first stop - thankfully we were at the end of the line... so we just stayed on board and headed back 1 stop. Ran into other military folk who led the way to our hotel... The beautiful NEW SANNO hotel.
We relaxed and while the kids swam with daddy - I scheduled a 1-hr. massage.... Ahhhhh.. it was AAAAHhhhhhwwweesome! Sat in the jacuzzi with them... and then off to a Japanese Dinner we went.
DAY 4 - woke up early to talk to the TRAVEL desk and she suggested we take the Grand All-Day Tour to capture all the major sites of Tokyo. It was the BEST thing we did! We were on a comfortable bus... not having to think of where to go, how to get there... and how much it will cost. It was great! We saw:
- Tokyo Tower
- Meiji Shinto Shrine, and saw a wedding processional
- Imperial Palace Plaza
- Sumida River Cruise
- Asakusa Kannon Temple & Nakamise Shopping Arcade
- Tasaki Pearl Gallery
DAY 5 - We were on our own to explore the city. I bought the multi-use pass for the Tokyo Metro so we only had to worry about ONE ticket machine the entire day. And since we were traveling all over the place... it made sense to use it. Today we saw:
- Ueno Zoo
- Shibuya Intersection... by Hachiko Statue - the faithful Akita, a famous Japanese landmark.
- Club Sega - for the kids to play a few games
- Childrens Castle for a few hours
- Tokyo Dome City to ride the Thunder Dolphin roller coaster!
On the way back to the hotel - we paused for a while to see if the downpouring of RAIN would let up... it sure did... it helped that we were prepared (everday) for rainy weather. It rained ONCE... we were so lucky!
