Disneyland - Wednesday, June 20

Our second trip to Tokyo Disneyland went so much better than our first trip. We went by car instead of train and had no traffic delays. The weather was hot, but we were prepared for that. We arrived a half hour after the park opened. Thanks to my friend Yuka, we were already in possession of an English guidebook and I had a plan!

My plan didn't count forgetting Addison's stroller, so our entrance was delayed in order to rent a "baby car". It turned out to be a stroke of luck to have forgotten Addy's baby car. The novelty of the Disneyland stroller coupled with the baby Mickey and Minnie characters on it lead us to a stress-free day. Addison kept asking to take a ride! That wouldn't have happened with our old green stroller!

The morning passed quickly as we took a ride on the Omnibus around the plaza, picked up our Fast Passes for Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters ride, rode the Star Jets, and saw the "Minnie Oh Minnie!" show. We had lunch at Captain Hook's Gallery and ended up with prime seats for the Hulihuli Ohana Bash parade staring Lilo and Stitch.


Mesmerized by the Minnie show.



After lunch we rode the Mark Twain Riverboat and the Western River Railroad. We quickly followed those rides up with a Jungle Cruise. Since it was a Wednesday, most of the wait-times were relatively short. To this point our longest in-line wait was probably 25 minutes. That wait was for the Star Jets. Our Fast Passes (genius, whoever invented that, genius!) for Buzz's Astro Blasters were now good. We walked back to Tomorrowland and took our turn blasting the evil Zurg.

Next we walked to Toon Town where Addison got to meet her (newest) hero, Minnie Mouse! Addison also got to drive Mickey's car, steer Donald Duck's boat, explore Chip 'n Dale's treehouse, and play in Minnie's house. Addy loved Minnie's house. I liked it too! It was really cute!




In the afternoon we caught the Disney-Dreams-on-Parade-"Moving-On" parade. Addy was captivated by all the singing and dancing and music. When the parade ended we headed to Fantasyland to ride the Castle Carousel, the Tea Cups, the carousel (again!), Peter Pan's Flight (a 45-minute wait, we couldn't believe it!), and the Haunted Mansion (a 5-minute wait, we couldn't believe it!). Phew. That was a lot! And Addison was begging to go on the Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride.


Waiting to ride the tea cups.

We took a break for dinner at the Queen of Hearts banquet Hall. We even bought a piece of cake to share. Before we ate the cake Addison sang me "Happy Birthday" all by herself and didn't make any mistakes. It was the sweetest thing ever! To reward her we got in line for the flying elephants, another long wait, but Addison loved it.

There was one last big stop on my list that I wanted to do before leaving. We needed to meet Mickey. This too was a long wait even as the sun was sinking quickly into the horizon. About 40 minutes after getting in line we were in a smaller line waiting to have our photo snapped with the mouse himself. Addy loved it. Mickey even gave her a kiss on the cheek before leaving. Our timing was great the whole day. Our meet and greet with Mickey finished in time for the Dreamlights night parade.


Addy and her magic wand at the night parade.
The fireworks that normally follow the night parade were cancelled due to high winds. That was ok with us, we were all pooped. We pulled out of the parking lot about 9 p.m. and Addison fell immediately into a deep sleep. Sweet dreams baby girl!

This slideshow contains our entire day's excitement.