Tokyo Disney Family Trip Day 1 (2009.12.08)

At the end of 2008, I had already taken my wife and our two girls to Hong Kong Disneyland. Under normal circumstances, that should have been enough Disney for a while. But after we came home, I used a family photo with Buzz Lightyear to make a good-behavior reward card, almost like a calendar. Without quite realizing it, I had turned the next Disney trip into a household prize.

The rule was simple: collect all 49 cartoon stickers I had made, and the girls would earn another Disney trip. Lisa and Belle worked very hard for those stickers. I was also fairly generous, because the hidden purpose was to train good habits: pooping today... one sticker; finishing a meal by yourself... one sticker; not taking candy from strangers while outside... one sticker; helping Dad with a shoulder massage when he got home... also one sticker.

And just like that, they casually earned their second Disney trip ~.~'"

A Tokyo Trip Earned With Reward Cards

The problem was that we had just visited Hong Kong Disneyland not long before, and after two days there we had more or less done everything the kids could handle. What I remembered most was not the big attractions, but five rides on the carousel and three on Dumbo. I was nearly dizzy enough to throw up @.@'"

The shows my wife and I wanted to see were still too much for the girls to sit through, including The Lion King and the Mickey musical. So if we were going to keep our promise, we had to accept the pain and spend roughly twice as much to go to Tokyo Disney $.$

On departure morning, we woke the kids up at 5 a.m. For adults, that is an interruption to sleep. For children, once they hear that they are going out to play, the energy comes back immediately.

Belle posing early in the morning before the family leaves for Tokyo Disney. — Belle, already wide awake after a 5 a.m. departure call.

Three and a Half Hours to Narita

The flight from Taoyuan CKS Airport to Tokyo Narita took three and a half hours. Come on... why was it an hour and a half longer than flying to Kansai? Luckily, we landed right when the kids were about to run out of patience.

After immigration, we went downstairs to buy limousine bus tickets. Someone actually approached us in Chinese to sell a seven-seat unlicensed van ride. Even more ridiculous, the price was the same as the official limousine bus. What kind of joke was that...

Honestly, even if it had been cheaper, I still would not have taken it. Who knows where we would have ended up after getting in. When traveling, safety first, do not be greedy for a bargain... okay, I am getting a little off topic... heh...

Lisa bundled up while waiting for the limousine bus at Narita Airport. — Lisa waiting outside in the 8-degree cold before the bus ride.

From Narita Airport to Disney, the bus ride took another hour. After very careful calculation... heh, the fare was higher than taking the train, but transferring three times with children is no joke. Since we were already out on a trip, there was no need to make life hard for ourselves ~.~'"

Arriving at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel

The bus took us all the way to the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. One moment we were keeping our distance from suspicious airport vans; the next, we were suddenly inside a hotel with a heavy fairy-tale mood. The whole feeling of the trip shifted with that arrival.

Exterior view of the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel after the family arrives. — Finally arriving at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel.

Once we entered the room, Lisa saw that besides the two large beds, there was also a princess-style bed. She immediately became so happy that she started dancing. That is probably the point of traveling with kids: the most memorable thing is not always the most expensive item on the itinerary. Sometimes it is a bed that looks just enough like a fairy tale.

Lisa and Belle in a Tokyo Disneyland Hotel room with two large beds and a princess-style bed. — The princess-style bed that made Lisa dance as soon as she saw the room.

We unpacked and rested for a bit. When I turned on the television, I discovered that Japan's over-the-air broadcasts were already Full HD... I was so jealous. As for the two little girls, once the cartoons came on, they completely forgot why we had come here in the first place.

One child watching cartoons in the hotel room after arrival. — The room television quickly pulled the kids away from the original travel plan.

Two children resting on a bed in the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel room. — A quiet hotel-room pause before heading back out.

A First Evening That Got Dark Fast

After a short rest, the sky was already getting dark, even though it was only a little past four in the afternoon. Day one was never the time to overpack the schedule, especially when traveling with two kids from early morning all the way to Tokyo. Getting there, checking into the room, and going out again for dinner was already a complete first day.

Before leaving the room area, we took a photo in the pretty hotel lobby. Looking back now, these photos are not just a record of where we stayed. They capture the moment when the family had just arrived and was still easing into the Tokyo Disney atmosphere.

Family posing for a photo in the decorated lobby of the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. — A family photo in the hotel lobby before the first evening walk.

Right outside the hotel was the Disney Resort Line, which connects the two parks and the official hotel area. On a trip with children, saving a few walks and transfers matters more than the transportation cost saved on paper.

A Disney Resort Line train near the Tokyo Disney hotel area at night. — The Disney Resort Line was right outside the hotel.

Family riding a Disney Resort Line train with Mickey-shaped windows. — Inside the Disney Resort Line, even the windows kept the Mickey shape.

That evening, we went to nearby Ikspiari for a walk and solved dinner there as well. We did not actually enter the park on day one, but from the castle photo to the hotel, the resort train, and dinner, the Disney rhythm for the next few days had already begun.