My daughter was very excited to learn that I was taking her to Disneyland. Actually, it was our first visit to this magical and fantasy-filled park. Our original plan was to take her to Disneyland in California. Unfortunately, my wife and the two kids' US visa applications were denied. I decided to bring my daughter in Tokyo to ease her frustration of not seeing Snow White, her favorite Disney princess.
Saturday, Nov 9
I woke up 9:30am. Although my wife had prepared all the things that we needed to bring the other night, it was only that day that we packed them up in our bag. I found out that the camcorder we were bringing needs head cleaning cartridge. I spent about an hour calling for the stores to check if they have available stock. There was a Sony store in United Nations Avenue so I thought of dropping at the shop on our way to the airport. We left the house at 11:00am and arrived at the airport after one and a half hours (fare was P165; take note of this).
We didn't have confirmed flight reservations but PR432 bound for Narita was wide open. The queues at the check-in counters and immigration were average. I was not able to eat my breakfast and lunch that day. 
It was only until flight take off that we had our meals. Flight to Narita is about four hours; Japan is nine hours ahead of GMT.
It was my second flight to Japan; the first was in July 2002. We were able to clear immigration and retrieve our bags about 9:30pm. I went down the JR train station to check for the fare and the train schedule the next day so we would be at the park the earliest possible time. We missed the 10:05pm shuttle bus (bus stop 26) for Excel Hotel Tokyu so we waited an hour for the last schedule at 11:05pm. The temperature outside the airport fell to 9.7 degrees Celsius. We arrived at 11:20pm and settled for one single room at 6,930 yen, tax included. The hotel receptionist, upon learning that we were off for Disneyland the next day, offered us limousine service to the park at 2,000 yen per adult. My daughter is free provided she would not take a seat. Despite its name, it's just an ordinary air-conditioned bus. I advised the attendant that I would rather take the JR train to Maihama. I also considered taking the Narita Express to Tokyo Station with a 15-minute trip on JR train line to Maihama but it would cost about 3,000 yen.
Saturday, Nov 10
We slept only for five hours because we had to catch the first shuttle out of the hotel for the airport at 6:30am. The schedule was perfect for the first JR Rapid Service to 
Chiba leaving at 7:02am. I bought one round-trip ticket to Maihama for 2,040 yen (1,110 one-way) using credit card. I'll tell you later that it's not a good idea to get a round trip ticket when you're going to Disneyland for some reason. We went down to the station and waited for just five minutes before the train arrived. Our first stop was in Chiba, the sixth station from Narita Terminal 2 on the Joban line. We changed to another flatform going to Soga, the second station from Chiba. From there we changed again to another train going to Maihama, the tenth station from Soga on the Keiyo line. We arrived 8:30am in Maihama. The Disney resort is five-minute walk from that station.
Entrance to Disneyland costs 5,500 yen for adults (major credit cards are accepted at the gate and inside shops) for one-day passport. Two, three and four-day passports are also available. My daughter who is three years old was admitted free. After getting our tickets, we proceeded to the lockers' station to keep our trolley bag. An extra big locker is 600 yen. You need six 100-yen coins to use the locker. At the entrance, characters like Pooh, The Three Pigs, Alice, Chips 'n Dale and a few more were greeting visitors. If you want to meet characters, this is the time to do it.
The World Bazaar offers an array of shops and restaurants. It is under a glass roof; the whole thing looks like a very large crystal palace adorned with a big Christmas tree at the center. Just before the World Bazaar, to the right, we rented a stroller for Honey. 
I thought of having it so she would not walk very far and had a place to sit anytime.
We went through the World Bazaar. At the end of it is the Walt and Mickey statue. To the right, is the Tomorrowland. We got fastpass for the Micro Adventure (return time was 9:40am) and went straight to the Space Mountain, waiting time was 20 minutes. There are designated spaces for strollers. It is an advantage of if you have one; you can leave your bags and other belongings with it. One good thing about Tokyo Disneyland is that you can leave them unattended without losing anything. Children need to meet certain height requirement in some attactions. Forturnately, Honey is tall enough so we were able to get a ride. It was an exciting rocket journey through space. It was dark with stars all over the place. Honey was quite uncomfortable and afraid and kept on calling my name. We get back to the Micro Adventure and experienced to be shrunk into small creatures. The provided eye glasses had to do more on the 3D effects. We went to the Parade Route to find a place for the Disney's Jolly Holiday Parade. It was 10:00am and having missed breakfast, we were very hungry. We left the stroller and my bag on the bench and made our way to the restaurant near the Star Jet. Because the StarJet had only 20 minutes waiting time, we took our chances, having our bags and stroller left at the Parade Circle. After the ride, we bought two salmon and one chicken rolled sandwiches and two large drinks (1,774 yen). We went back at 11:00am and all the spaces were taken. We got a note attached to our belongings that items unattended to secure places for viewing any attraction will be removed. Many were spreading out blankets along the side to hold places. We managed to find a small place for us in that same area and enjoyed the sandwiches and drinks we bought through out the parade. The parade features some of the Disney characters singing and dancing to the tune of Christmas songs.
After the parade, we went to Fantasy Land to meet Snow White and the other Disney princesses. They were not there so we sailed in It's a Small World. The room was filled with dolls dressed in different costumes, singing and dancing to the song "it's a small world". As we waited for our turn in Alice's Tea Party, we saw Sleeping Beauty with her Prince, so we cut our way and rushed to have some souvenir pictures with them.
We went to the Adventure Land and queued for the Jungle Cruise. It features a 'mysterious and danger-filled jungles'. The animals looked real and the wilderness was designed almost perfectly. The queue for Western River Railroad was just on top so we took our turn there after. The train makes no stops but it will tour the Western Land, Adventure Land and Critter Country.
We dragged ourselves back the Fantasy Land because my daughter kept on asking about Snow White. On our way, we passed by Critter Country to get a fastpass for the Splash Mountain (return time was 6:40pm).
I couldn't tell how happy and amazed she was when she saw Snow White. She got two souvenir pictures with her. We stayed there for a while. 
I told Honey to approach Snow White once more because it would be long that she'll see her again. She went and held Snow White's hand. She didn't lose her grasp with Snow White and they walked together for a while. It was a very warming scene for my daughter; I had tears of joy seeing her fulfilled her dreams of meeting Snow White. We returned to Alice's Tea Party and rode the spinning colorful cups and saucers.
We checked the Grand Circuit Raceway but the waiting time was long. We went to Toonstown instead. While having her milk on her stroller, we went around shops to hunt for some items. We climbed and explored the giant Chips 'n Dale Treehouse before Honey had a good time jumping in Goofy's Bounce House. We enjoyed the thrill in Gadget's Go Coaster. We passed by Mickey's House but it was closed. When the parade started at 3:30pm, we went back to Grand Circuit Raceway. The lines were short so we were able to ride in 10 minutes. We went back to Fantasy Land to get a glimpse of Cinderella but she was not there.
The Big Thunder Mountain at the Western Land was closed when we got there at 5:00pm. I just found my daughter sleeping on her stroller. I knew she would need it when she's tired so I got one beforehand at 1,000 yen. They will give you a 300-yen ticket that will be refunded upon return of the stroller. She slept there for over an hour. I went to a bench to rest and ate the last rolled sandwich in my bag. I strolled around shops while she remained asleep.
The Castle Forecourt Stage ground begun to be filled with viewers waiting for Sparkling Christmas For Your presentation at 6:15pm. I went there to save a seat. I was told that free tickets for the show where distributed earlier (I don't know if it started in the morning) and the booths were closed by that time. We went to the standing view side instead. After about two hours of sleep, Honey finally got on to her feet again. We did not finish the show.
We walked to the Mystery of the Cinderella Castle. Upon seeing the witch on the mirror, Honey cried and wished to exit. It was our fastpass time for the Splash Mountain so we went back to the Critter Country to take a ride. My daughter preferred not to ride because it was dark; she might had linked the scene with the witch she saw at the castle. I was trying to convince her that it would be fun but she didn't really want to ride. 
We went back to the Parade Circle to find a place for the Electrical Parade Dreamlights but it turned out that all the front row spaces were taken. The Dreamlights parade features Disney characters and scenes from Disney animated films and over a million lights, a must see night spectacle in the park. After the parade, we bought popcorn and waited for the Fantasy in the Sky at 8:30pm, a showcase of choreographed fireworks display with Disney songs playing at the background.
Just after the fireworks display, we returned the stroller and retrieved our bag from the locker and caught the 8:56pm train to Soga. Unfortunately, we were not able to board the immediate connecting train in Chiba. We waited there for about 10 minutes before we were able to get a train to Narita. I checked with the ticket booth which tract would the train bound for the Airport but he told me the last train had just left five minutes ago. He added that there were no more buses outside and the only way to the airport that time was a taxi. I checked for shuttle buses and indeed there was none. We had no other option but to take a taxi ride; flag rate was 600 yen. At the security check, the officers asked us why we were heading to the airport late that night (probably there were no flights departing that time). I said we were going back to the airport to take the shuttle bus back to the hotel. Narita station to Terminal 2 is about 10 minutes ride and about six kilometers apart but our fare was 2,580 yen (1,110 pesos compared to our 165 pesos fare in Manila)! It,s more expensive than the 1,020 yen one-way train. Remember, I bought round-trip train ticket. That's the reason why you should think twice in buying a return ticket. It's not refundable. You have to make sure you would get the last train, otherwise you'll spend more than what you could imagine. Taxi in Japan is very expensive.
At the airport, the last shuttle bus to the hotel had departed. It was past eleven; we had no other option but sleep at the airport. Our flight was leaving early the following day anyway. I asked the security office if we could stay there. I was interviewed and our passports and visas were screened. Nevertheless, we had a good sleep on the couch at the arrival hall.
Saturday, Nov 11
We woke-up at 6:30am, washed ourselves and changed our clothes. At 7:00am, we checked-in for our flight back to Manila. After getting our boarding passes, we went to the lower basement and bought food for breakfast and some stuff at the convenience store. We cleared immigration afterwards. We did a light shopping at the duty free shops where I got a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P31 digital camera for only 24,800 yen (original price was 34,800).
I can tell that our stay in Tokyo Disneyland was indeed a magical moment for us, especially for my daughter. I can't wait for another adventure in Tokyo DisneySea next time.
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