Sunday 16 November 2008

Japan - Day 8 (Disneyland)

We woke up early on day 8, hoping that we could reach Disneyland early and beat the crowd. Got our good spread of hearty breakfast at Hilton and reached Disneyland approximately 9 in the morning. What we did not expect was the crowd was already there before us. Again, we were lucky to pre-purchase our Disneyland tickets and saved a lot of time queuing up at the ticket counter.

When we were at the front courtyard, we found ourselves being a kid again. :D We were chasing the Mickey & Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, etc, trying to take a photo with them. After a while, we sort of gave up, there were just too many children surrounding them! Understandably, they are the most well-known Disney characters. Lily made a good call, in taking photographs with the lesser known Disney characters and spending more time in Disneyland rather than chasing after Mickey & Minnie Mouse, etc.

Disneyland crowd - 1

Disney crowd - 2

Disney crowd - 3

Jiminy cricket from Pinocchio

Panchito from Panchito Pistoles

Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh

Lily with Eeyore

Disneyland front courtyard - celebrating 25th anniversary

Us at the front courtyard

A happy couple in Disneyland

The first parade was Lets Go, Villains! and it runs once a day. There was no way we were going to miss it. We found the parade route and got ourselves a nice front spot along the route. Waited for a couple of minutes and when the music started playing, we parade was approaching!

Let's Go, Villains parade - 1

Let's Go, Villains parade - 2

Let's Go, Villains parade - 3

Let's Go, Villains parade - 4

Let's Go, Villains parade - 5

Let's Go, Villains parade - 6

The crowd leaving Let's Go, Villains parade

After Let's Go, Villains, we went off to a number of live outdoor theater entertainment and explore Disneyland by themed land. There are 7 different themed lands and each offers a very unique experience. We were having so much fun with all the entertainments and rides that time passed really quickly.

Disneyland castle

Us with Disneyland castle at the back

Halloween decoration

Us with Halloween decors - 1

Us with Halloween decors - 2

Lily with Halloween decors

Us with Mickey ghost

Us with Minnie ghost

Us with Halloween decors - 3

We both find this just amusing!

Us mimicking our pass holder (if you haven't realise that already!)

There was another parade in the afternoon entitled Jubilation. It's similar to Let's Go, Villains, it only runs once a day. It goes through the same route as Let's Go, Villains as well, around Disneyland and by the time we reached there, music has just started playing. We were just in time!

Jubilation Parade - 1

Jubilation Parade - 2

Jubilation Parade - 3

Jubilation Parade - 4

Jubilation Parade - 5

Jubilation Parade - 6

Jubilation Parade - 7

Jubilation Parade - 8

Jubilation Parade - 9

Jubilation Parade - 10

Jubilation Parade - 11

Jubilation Parade - 12

Jubilation Parade - 13

Jubilation Parade - 14

Jubilation Parade - 15

Jubilation Parade - 16

Jubilation Parade - 17

Jubilation Parade - 18

Not long after the Jubilation parade, it started raining! It was not heavy but good enough to get the whole place wet. Most of the live outdoor entertainments were canceled. We and the rest of the Disneyland enthusiasts were lining up for the rides. The queue was so long that each one takes approximately 45 minutes. Thank goodness the rides were all worth the wait!

It rained through the whole evening and into the night. Both of us were looking forward for the Dreamlights Parade, with millions of dazzling lights lighting up the night and the 25th anniversary fireworks. We were quite dissapointed that it was cancelled but understandably, there's nothing much can be done. That gives Lily another excuse to visit Japan for the second time. :D

The rain got a little bit heavier at night and most of the enthusiasts went indoor to do some shopping at World Bazaar. We didn't lose out and got outselves a couple of souvenirs. :)

Wet Disneyland - 1

Wet Disneyland - 2

Wet Toon Town - 1

Wet Disneyland - 4

Even Daisy Duck's fridge needs an umbrella

Wet Toon Town - 2

Lamp post in Toon Town - 1

Lamp post in Toon Town - 2

Wet Toon Town - 3

Chaotic World Bazaar - 1

Chaotic World Bazaar - 2

Before we headed back to our hotel, we wanted to take a good photo with Mickey Mouse. We were looking at the entertainment schedule and to our surprise, there was a Meet Mickey session in Mickey's House. We headed there without second thought! Thankfully, the queue was not very long but still, we waited almost 45 minutes. We didn't know why it took so long until we went into Mickey's House, we understood why. We were exploring his house and had a tour at Mickey's backyard Movie Barn. It was a showcase of Mickey's cartoon from when it first started up to now. We then asked to go into his studio where the Mickey himself was there waiting for us. We were DELIGHTED!

A very joyful Mickey welcoming us

A happy couple with a joyful Mickey!

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