Japan 2013 | Tokyo Disneyland Theme Park Adventure

Why visit: The Happiest Place on Earth!
Recommended time to spend: 1 day
Nearest train station: Maihama station {JR Line}

The boy and I have been to Tokyo Disneyland {and DisneySea} a few times but I guess the happiest, most magical time must be during our last trip, because we brought Lil Pumpkin there for the first time! It's one of the things I wanted to achieve for my 30 before 30 list, and I'm glad to strike it off. 

Ever since Lil Pumpkin fell in love with the Disney Princesses, she's been wanting to go to the castle and I'm glad we helped to fulfill her dream too! It was definitely even more magical exploring Disneyland with our little girl, and seeing all the wonders through her eyes. She was truly, truly happy and that made my heart sing!

Lil Pumpkin didn't go Disneyland on her previous Japan trips because we thought she was too young to remember. At 3+ years old, she's able to appreciate the splendour of Disneyland better and form fond memories of it.

We were debating whether to go to DisneySea instead {it would be too tiring to go to both as we didn't stay at the resort} since Lil Pumpkin loved Ariel and there would be more attractions of her there, but since it was Lil Pumpkin's first time to visit a Disney theme park, it would be best to go Disneyland first as it captures the whole Disney magic. We saved DisneySea for our next Tokyo adventure.

Our Tokyo Disneyland visit was a few days after the New Year so the theme park had its New Year's programs and decorations up. Hurray because I love Daruma-anything and this year's New Year decorations and souvenirs were centered around the Daruma {達磨, Japanese doll which symbolises good luck} theme and even Mickey and Minnie were in their kimonos too! Lil Pumpkin didn't get a chance to take photos with any Disney characters because of the huge crowd, but she was still very delighted to see them outside of the TV heh

There are seven magical lands in Tokyo Disneyland {World Bazaar, Adventureland, Westernland, Critter Country, Fantasyland, Toon Town and Tomorrowland} and I don't think anything has changed much since our last visit a few years back. Because of the New Year programs and holiday week, there were a lot of people even though we went on a weekday and Disney's FASTPASS could not be used... bummer! Shouldn't it be all the more available during this time?? 

Disney's FASTPASS is a system that lets you minimise the amount of time waiting in line at certain attractions by assigning you a specific time to enter. It's very convenient, plus free to use {unlike the Express Pass for Universal Studios Singapore} but too bad we couldn't use it this trip :( Despite that, we queued {sometimes for up to an hour!} and did manage to sit on most of the kiddy rides with Lil Pumpkin, but gave the high-speed, thrilling attractions a miss. Her favourite attraction was, as expected, the visit to Cinderella's Fairy Tale Hall. She still remembers it up to today!  :)

Another spectacular she enjoyed was the night fireworks, which went off just before the theme park closed. Absolutely breath-taking and worth staying until the end for!

We brought Lil Pumpkin's stroller along because we knew she would be having her afternoon nap, plus it's handy to hold our shopping bags and barang barang haha. There are strollers and wheelchairs available for rental too. Don't worry about leaving them at the parking area to go on the rides, service staff are always available nearby and I've never heard of them geting stolen in Tokyo Disneyland. If you are still nursing not to worry as well because there are spacious Baby Centers around the park for nursing/ feeding the kids and changing diapers. Some even sell baby food too. When we went it was a very chilly day, so we rested there for a while to keep warm as its heated ;p

While we were there, a little boy dropped his bucket of popcorn twice and was very upset because about 3/4 was gone. The parents of course were upset too but a Disneyland staff came along and helped to clean up. Then, without even being asked, she offered to get a refill for the little boy FREE OF CHARGE! It certainly made the family's day and the boy was happy again :) Hubby was quite surprised at this but I wasn't at all. I expected the Disneyland staff to do it, and would be surprised if she didn't. After all, this was Disneyland, the happiest place on Earth and even more so in Japan, you can expect them to keep to that service commitment!

We are going back to Japan in June again this year so I'm trying to write down memories from our last trip before we go. Do keep a look out for these Japan travel posts!

Read more about our Japan travels here. 

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