Hello Kitty Part 3, Return to Tokyo: A Sea of Fun (Day 7

Oi! What a day today is! I woke up late due to last night's festivities. Scott also woke up late. For us late is 8:00 A.M. We both feel under the weather. Too much sake. At the time I felt fine. This time with being sick, it wasn't such a good idea.

The plan was to go to Ghibli Studio but my mind and body wants to stay in and try to recover. Who would have thought that being the assistant would be harder than being the student. I guess I felt the responsibility of watching the group even though they are adults.

After staying in for majority of the day, it's time for us to get out of the hotel and breathe some fresh air. I don't want to miss Tokyo Disney this year. Scott and I head to Shinjuku Station and must get to the Tokyo Station. From there we can head to Maihama.

We first take a short stroll around Shinjuku because it's still a little early. We pass by the post office just for Scott. I guess it's closing time. A lot of postal vehicles are coming back. The Japanese are all run on the same clock.

I didn't know how big Tokyo Station was until we had to find the Keiyo Rapid Line. I thought Shinjuku Station was big but Tokyo Station seems just as big.

It was amazing that there wasn't that many people on the train. I guess when it's rainy, people don't like staying outdoors as much. At least Scott and I get to sit down as we head out of Tokyo and to Maihama.

Rapid Line is better than the regular line. Seems like it took only 30 minutes to get to Maihama. We are greeted with many Disney signs. This one is right as you are exiting the train ramp area and heading into the station.

Where to go to first? I have no idea. This is my first time EVER at a Disney Park. The funny thing is that Tokyo Disney is the ONLY Disney Park that is not owned by the Disney Corporation. A Japanese company actually owns Tokyo Disney Sea (Oriental Land Company).

Scott goes towards the Tokyo Disney Resort. So I follow. On the way to the resort a grade school girl (8th grade, maybe) is trying to get donations for disaster recovery somewhere (I can't remember for where). It was funny because she first gave me the sign sheet for Japanese residents. I had to tell her that we were foreigners. Of course, she had one for foreigners. She was a little surprised when I said that we weren't nationals. Do we look that much like Japanese citizens?

She asks where we are from. Everyone is always excited to hear that we are from Hawaii. Is Hawaii THE place every Japanese person wants to go? I guess it's the same for us. Japan is THE place for Japanese-Americans from Hawaii want to go.

Tokyo Disney Resort is very elaborate. Scott says it's more elaborate than the California one. There are door people dressed in fancy outfits. As always, when we enter they bow and welcome us. Everything is Disney-themed. Even the garden area. There are Donald and Goofey bush scultures.

In the front of the hotel, there is a fountain. It was seeing Fantasia in real life.

It's still early, but we decide to go to Tokyo Disney Sea. I don't think we will have time to get to Tokyo Disneyland. Plus, Tokyo Disney Sea is only specific to Japan. I really want to ride the monorail. I'm such a little kid. Scott was right. When you enter Disneyland, something happens to you. It really is "The Happiest Place on Earth." For some reason all the stress and everything goes away once you step onto the grounds.

The monorail is cute. Mickey's face is everywhere: the windows and the handrails. It wasn't too expensive. Plus you have to think the distance we are traveling. We have to get to the other side of the grounds to get to Tokyo Disney Sea.

We first pass Tokyo Disneyland. That's where most of the riders get off. I kinda want to see what's inside Tokyo Disneyland, but my heart is set on Tokyo Disney Sea.

We made it! Well, we made it to the ticket counter. Time to purchase our "After 6 Pass." I can't believe it's only $60 to get in after 6 P.M. Scott tells me that you can't get a price like that at Disneyland in California.

Since it's not 6 P.M. yet, we decide to wait by the gates. There is a small line forming. At that time Jayson calls me to see where we are. I didn't know there were two gates. Apparently we were at opposite gates.

The security people make an announcement (of course in Japanese) to have your tickets ready and to open your bags for inspection. 6 P.M. is 6 P.M. in Japan. The gates are opened for people with the "After 6 Pass" exactly at 6 P.M.

First thing we are greeted with the fountain with the globe. Everyone is taking pictures in front of it as they enter or exit.

What to do? I have no idea. We just start to walk where ever our eyes takes us.

First place we end up is the Tower of Terror. I asked Scott if he wants to go inside. He doesn't seem so enthusiastic. I kind of get bummed because of his mood. I guess I thought he would my excited to be in a Disney Park.

After going the Tower of Terror it's time to go around more. But first, I think we need an umbrella. It's starting to rain a little harder. We go to a shop to find an umbrella. At first I wanted to buy the bigger umbrella, but then Scott asked the question: "Is it going to fit in our luggage?" In the end, we had to buy 2 kiddie umbrellas.

I finally realize the reason for Scott's grumpiness, he's hungry. Time to find a place to eat. The question is "Where?" Looking at the map I want to try Sebastian's Kitchen. Now we just have to find it.

We make it to Trition's Kingdom. Now we just have to find the eating area. Maybe this place wasn't such a good idea. It's more of a place for families to take their kids to eat. There's rides and play areas here. But we are both hungry, so we eat here. Of course, I have to order.

Time to head towards the Bon Fire Dance area. I think it's almost time for the first performance. So it's time to pick up the pace to get there on time. I'm so excited to see this. During this trip, I've been seeing commercials for this and it's only during the summer time when they do this.

We reach the area and there are others around waiting too. Our luck, it's been cancelled due to rainy weather. I regret not coming the other day when it wasn't raining. I was so sad.

Oh well, time to head out and explore more. We head to Port Discovery to see the Indiana Jones ride.

As we are heading towards the ride, we see Sheila, Heather and Jordan with some of the Meiji Gakuin students. I guess everyone decided to go to Tokyo Disney Sea this year. The first year, we all planned to go and no one ended up going.

We made it. Feels like we walked miles in this park. It seems like we didn't get to ride many rides. Instead we've walked around roaming and looking. I think it's time to ride another ride. We wait in line for the Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull ride. It was funny because Indiana Jones talked in Japanese. Scott thought it was funny too.

Even though we came at 6 P.M., 4 hours is not enough time in Tokyo Disney Sea. We wanted to go on the Journey to the Center of Earth ride, but there wasn't enough time. The line was too long. I was bummed. I know Scott was too. He really likes roller coaster rides.

Time to head back to hotel. Time to take some pictures before we have to leave.