March 13 - "You've just survived traveling all over Japan and The Philippines - what're you going to do next?"

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March 13, 2019 


I'm going to Disneyland!





The first view of Sleeping Beauty's Castle from the metro station
It's the Park's 35th anniversary, so they're having a Party Gras.  It's weird to me because I remember Disneyland's 35th anniversary Party Gras when I was my kids' ages. I felt oddly old.




If three parks (California, Paris, and now Tokyo) can be considered a tradition, we had our traditional first ride on the Haunted Mansion.  



I guess The Beast's castle is actually the Haunted Mansion


This gargoyle we were absolutely certain was a statue.
 

A number of us got a giggle out of the tomb for Bluebeard's wives.

You'd think in a country known for people walking around with cameras, it'd be easier to get a group photo! 

When you travel, it's hard to arrange for bounding costumes.  I'm always impressed with what they come up with.  
(Bounding - the art of dressing in a way that evokes a character without actually dressing in costume.)
Rebecca is as Ariel, Irene as The Genie, Karina as Disgust.

One of our big complaints about Disneyland Paris (do we sound like snobs yet?) is that they treated Magic like something condescending we do for children.  So we were pleased to see that, here, even the grounds crews are dressed in costume.  Green Army men! 


Since we knew it would be a big day of walking, we rented a wheelchair for Irene.  The way they handle it here is that five of us would wait in line and Irene and one other person would join us at the designated time.
 When Cast Members say the wait is 20 minutes, they mean the wait is 20 minutes.  
Maybe 22.  
Definitely not 25. 
Never.

Rebecca usually took the job of attendant, so they got to see a bit more of the Park.
Apparently Mary Poppins and Bert spoke in perfectly accented English.  
I'd be intrigued to hear their Japanese. 
Rebecca started to get a gleam in her eye for a couple gap years post-college. 
Though we knew we wouldn't understand any of it, we went on the Jungle Cruise. 
We didn't understand a word, but that was still the bloomin' funniest Jungle Cruise I've ever been on. 


The Tour Guide was a riot!  His screams and yells and flails were masterfully done. 

 Between my very limited knowledge of Japanese and very extensive knowledge of Jungle Cruise jokes, (and his very expressive performance) I enjoyed following the narrative.  
 As far as I could tell there was no Dr. Albert Falls, but there was the backside of water.  



Steven and I had a Monster's Inc bound. 




If Mickey met Prince Eric Dragon!

The bits of The Tiki Room that were still present made me laugh.  Jose, Michael, Fritz, and Pierre had different names, but all the female birds were still Gigi, Suzette, Fifi, etc.

  This show starts in the same way, but is mostly a backdrop for Stitch and a Hawaiian show. 


You can't have a Main Street Electrical Parade without Pete's Dragon!
One thing that kept bugging me throughout the trip, but especially at the Disney Parks, was how much English there was.  Despite the fact the most people in Japan speak fairly limited English, nearly every character in this parade spoke in English!  
As an armchair linguist, I'm still working out my feelings on that, but it really rankles just how much our culture is shoved down other culture's throats.


Off the soapbox and back to the rides!!  

The line for Pooh's Honey Hunt goes through pages and pages of illustrated books.  

Sometimes you wove between the pages, sometimes there were cutouts you walked through.  So you could read the stories as you waited.


They honestly and truly thought we could fit 3 people in these cars. 



Most of the windows on the World Bazaar (their version of Main Street) aren't decorated, but this one is right where the Firehouse is on CA's Main Street.


CASTING AGENCY
Walter Elias Disney
Founder and Director Emeritus
"It Takes People To Make The Dream A Reality"

  
 
The Castle at Night

"Best Friends" 
  
 Getting this shot without people everywhere was a minor miracle. 


And, as is tradition, we closed out the night with It's A Small World. 



Final step count - 11.2 miles





Rest well kids - tomorrow's another big, big, big, big day!! 


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