This next post will be mostly a quote from my cousin, since she did a fantastic job summarizing our DisneySea trip:
. . . we walked to the 100 yen store again & also the post office which was miraculously open so we mailed more postcards. Then we walked to McDonalds. I got a picture of Rob walking in the door so we have evidence of his voluntary entrance into the premises. The girls went upstairs to sit down (like S. America McD's) while Rob & I stood in line at least 20 minutes if not 30. It wasn't a terribly long line but we think there might only have been 4 or 5 employees. Anyways, the food was good! Came home & did laundry & got ready for Disney Sea the next day. I think it might have rained that day so it wasn't quite as warm. Rob had checked the bus sign & determined they did indeed run at 6 AM. He had also checked conflicting weather reports that said it would either be partly cloudy or possibly raining every hour. We decided to go anyways. We got up around 5:30 and got out the door by 6:10 to catch the 6:19 bus to the train station where Rob bought a ticket & we hopped on the 6:48 shinkansen. It did indeed go fast but maybe because you're on elevated tracks it didn't seem quite as fast as I expected, although Rob said a couple of the 3 stations before the Tokyo one were too close together for it to get to top speed. We got to the Tokyo station (that's the name of the station) and encountered a mass of humanity moving in every direction imaginable. I didn't let the girls more than 2 feet away or I might never know where they ended up. (A couple times later on when we had to look at signs or schedules we parked them at a location & said DON'T MOVE NO MATTER WHAT if we had to step across the concourse or around a corner or something). Found the line we needed & walked a lo-o-o-o-ng way (including 3 long automatic walkways) & hopped on the train in the direction of Disney Sea. Took about 13 minutes to that station & then it was just a couple of minutes to the train that circles the Disney Resort. The windows were all shaped like Mickey so we figured it was the right train. It was fun to finally see lots of little kids, I hadn't seen many up until now. Got off at Disney Sea, bought tickets & got in line unfortunately at the slowest turnstile. They opened precisely at 9 and since we were in the back I think it was 9:20 before we were in the park. By now it's 3 hours since we left home. We headed over to "American Harbor" & got in line for Tower of Terror (like Haunted Mansion but with a dropping elevator). The building is impressive & can be seen from the whole park. And the wait was still 35 minutes. Somewhat discouraging, but the detail on the inside queuing area was amazing. The ride itself was fantastic & very original. You go in a little spooky room where the hostess tells the story of Harrison Hightower (not in English unfortunately, but all the little signs & box labels were) who brought back a cursed tiki from all his archeology expeditions & then disappeared one night so people think the hotel is haunted. Then you go into a large elevator that seats 25 people & as it goes up it stops & opens for various scenes including one view of the park... then it drops you, pulls you back up, drops you, etc... lots of fun! We got fastpasses & headed for "Mysterious Island", a large mountain in center of park, to go on Journey to Center of the Earth. While Rob & Laura went on it, we walked over to Mermaid Lagoon to go on Flounder's Coaster. That was cute & fun. Just as we got on , it started to sprinkle. It was light rain by the time we got off & a solid downpour by the time we got in line to see Ariel. We left & raced to a stall to buy cheap raincoats & headed to "Journey to Ctr. of Earth" exit, where all the walkways were through the mountain & covered. Still too late to save our feet, which were as wet as if we'd dumped them in a bucket of water. Really wish I'd brought dry socks. We met up with Rob & Laura & got in line for "20000 leagues Under the Sea", & after 20 minutes just as we got to front of the line, there was a delay & none of the cars which we could finally see (little "submersive vehicles" suspended on a track) were moving. They directed us all to the exit but our frustration was alleviated when they gave us all super duper fastpasses that could be used on any ride at any time that day. By then it was close to 11:00 so we decided to have an early lunch at "Miguel's El Dorado Cantina" in the Lost Delta area (like Adventureland, w/ Indiana Jones) because the brochure we'd checked out the day before (home made tortillas) gave us wild hopes it might be Mexican food. And it was close enough for us. The place was dead, so I guess Japanese people aren't as excited about Mexican food as us. We saw another Westerner there. At that point I had to start using my other hand to count.
We headed back over to "Port Discovery" because the Storm Rider ride looked like something Caitlin would like... a simulator ride a la Star Tours except you fly through storms to diffuse them. There was no wait besides the indoor area where they do a brief demonstration that included a big bang lightening flash, so Caitlin almost didn't want to go on that, but I coaxed her on & thankfully she liked it. She even wanted to go again, so we did that while Rob & Laura looked around the area. Then we all went on Aquatopia, an interesting ride that involved little round boats on a magnetic track underneath about 2 inches of water that makes it look like the boats are in deep water. They're continuously loading & move along the little track, briskly along the straight part, then they stop & spin around & the track twirls a lot through a small area so we enjoyed that. It's right next to Tower of Terror, so Caitlin & I did Aquatopia again while Rob & Laura used their Tower of Terror fastpasses. Then we walked towards the shops & saw Minnie. We got close enough to get an individual picture with Caitlin, but other people always got in the way & Minnie was actually trying to get to a door but kept stopping & posing. Caitlin said I was pushing her into other people & we never did get a picture. Oh well. By the time we went into a shop & got a couple of things, we heard music & there was a huge show with fabulous floats & singing & dancing on top of the large bay of water right in front of Mysterious Island that was a waterfront for several "lands" like Mediterranean Harbor & Arabian Port. Caitlin loved it & I got lots of pictures & video, although at one point I almost had a heart attack when Caitlin said "there's room up there!" & raced off while I was adjusting my camera and then I couldn't find her for a couple of minutes. I did finally see her & she came back to find me & show me where she was. I guess at least Disney is the "Safest Place on Earth to Lose Your Children." About when the show was over was when Rob & Laura showed up. Also the rain had stopped way before & the sun was even trying to peek through.
Well, Paula covered most of the day, but I'll just add that for a big part of the evening, I went on repeated rides on "Tower of Terror", which was ABSOLUTELY my favorite ride in the park. By early evening, the lines were very short for a while. I think I ended up going on it six or seven times. I bought one of the on-ride pictures they sell as you leave the attraction. I thought I looked like I was having a blast, but the look on Paula's face is priceless-can't even exactly figure out if she's terrified, confused, or someone just goosed her! I'll hopefully get to one more post later today.
