A Christmas Present to Remember

Our last full day in Japan was earmarked to spend at Disneyland, the girls Christmas present.  The hotel we booked was a short distance away to Disneyland and provided regular free shuttle bus to this popoular destination which was very handy.

We researched a little about Disneyland, the layout, attractions and parades and with the girls input planned out a general route and timetable. One of the attractions the girls were keen to see was the firework finale - Sky High Wishes scheduled for 8.30pm. Hence there was no reason for an early start and we found outside at the shuttle bus at 9.30am.

By 10am we were inside Disneyland, catching the first glimpses of Cinderella's magical castle! For those not in the know, Disneyland is made up of several different lands - Adventureland, Westernland, Critter Country, Fantasyland, Toontown, Tomorrowland and World Bazaar. In each of these lands there are numerous rides, shops and refreshment opportunities.

Adventureland was our first stop. We walked straight in and on to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, a boat ride through dark tunnels with spooky effects. Both girls were sufficiently scared! Next were the much more sedate rides - Jungle cruise and Western River Railroad before climbing up the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. 

Following our agenda we went to  Big Thunder Mountain, a roller coaster ride on a runaway mine train. Here we first encountered the large crowds with the sign outside on the ride indicating an hour wait in the standby line. Alternatively as we found out you could get a fast pass ticket, which gave you a time slot to return. Our time was 12.40am. We had 90mins to explore.

Taking the Tom Sawyer island raft, we ventured over to the island, crossing the bobbing barrel bridge, descending into Injun Joe's cave, exploring through tunnels of Castle Rock Ridge and climbing Tom's Treehouse before returning on the raft to the mainland for a bite to eat.

Still with time to spare we walked over to Critter Country where Splash Mountian, the crazy log ride, was located to get a fast pass ticket but were unsuccessful. We opted to do the Beaver Brothers canoe adventure, paddling around Tom Sawyer's Island. 

Back to Big Thunder Mountain, we all really enjoyed this roller coaster ride. The girls were so pumped afterwards wanting to go on it again!! We picked up our fast pass ticket for Splash Mountain  which  was valid after 4.50pm! 

Fantasyland was next on the list with lots to do and see. A few quieter (boring in the girls eyes!) rides - Snow White's Adventures, It's a Small World and Castle Carousel were all completed in quick succession. Andy took the girls on Alice's Tea Party - the turning tea cup ride with the aim to be the fastest spinning tea cup and subsequently got off very dizzy!

 

We noticed  people lining the street edge and remembered reading about parades coming through. So we joined them  to watch the Happiness is Here parade full of fancy floats, with well known characters plus various dancers and actors.

With everyone freezing thanks to the chilly wind and the wait time for Peter Pan's Flight was too long, we  had a bite of pizza before headeing off to Cinderalla's Castle to try on the glass slipper. No luck there with the glass slipper.

Over to Tomorrowland we secured another fast pass ticket for ride called Space Mountain which we could do after 6.40pm. We backtracked to Toontown to ride a mini roller coaster, Gadget's Go Coaster. The four of us successfully held our hands up for the whole ride. The Frozen Fantasy Parade came past a little while later capturing the girls attention so we stood eating popcorn trying to keep warm in the chilly conditions.

Back to Splash Mountain, for our scary log ride. Katy exclaimed after 2 small drops and prior to the big drop that she wanted to get off! Both Andy and I got a fair soaking on the big drop and we were all laughing with excitment having survived the ride. Afterwards Katy said that it was the best ride ever!!

Peter Pan's Flight was still too busy so we walked to Tomorrowland via the Space Jets ride where we piloted our own jet over Tomorrowland. Into a warm restaurant we shared  mickey shaped burger and fries. Again it was perfect timing as we finished just as the Electric Parade Dreamlights came though. We huddled together in the dark and cold to watch wonderfully lit floats adorned w ith popular Disney characters roll past.

Straight off to Space Mountain, for the scariest ride of the day - a roller coaster in the dark!! Again both girls were pumped afterwards! We were luckily now as the crowds had subsided that we walked straight onto Star Tours, a 3D Star War themed ride which was really fun. 

With only 20mins until the fireworks started we popped over to see if Peter Pan Flight was any quieter. An announcement  came over the loud speaker system informing us that the fireworks had been cancelled due to weather conditions. There had been a slight breeze all day making the already cool conditions much colder. The girls were disappointed but it was short lived as we found a small queue  at  Peter Pan's flight.

Suspended in a chairlift type boat, we flew through the night skies across London and Never Never Land . It was a lovely way tranquil ride well suited for the last ride. We wandered back towards the front gate, stopping for a Mickey Mouse waffle with chocolate topping before continuing on to find a shuttle bus waiting to take us back to the hotel. It was about 9.30pm by the time we arrive back at our room. A very long but fun filled day was had by all and hopefully a Christmas present the girls will remember forever!