Tokyo DIsneyland

When you land in Narita, you have to take a bus or train to Narita. Don’t contemplate taking a taxi because Tokyo is about an hour away and the taxi fare will buy you a ticket to Hong Kong! We decided to take the bus because it involved less commuting and walking. The bus station is right at the airport and there is minimal baggage handling or walking to the bus station, whereas the train requires more walking and personal handling of your baggage.

While you are at the airport, you might consider picking up a Tokyo Metro pass at a discount offered only at Narita. The Metro pass allows you to take unlimited rides on the Tokyo Metro which goes around Tokyo. Other lines such as TOIC and JR lines are not included, but if you are looking to travel around Tokyo’s main metro area, it’s a good tool to have because you don’t have to figure out fares and stand in line for tickets at every station. We purchased a 2 day unlimited Metro pass, but in retrospect, 2 X 1 day unlimited Metro passes would have been better since we had 48 hours to use the pass from the first time we used it, but we didn’t need it for two consecutive days. At an average of 160 Yen per trip, it can be a big saving if you are planning to do some train hopping through Metro. It’s possible to buy these passes from Tokyo Metro stations, but it’s only at the airport that you will receive the extra discount. There is also the option to buy the Metro and TOIC line passes if you are planning to do more traveling. The line is more expensive, but the stations and trains are a little more elegant. Whether or not you buy a pass, be sure to pick up one or two English language guides to the subway. Though the stations are somewhat simple to use, if you are planning your route as you walk around Tokyo, it is good to have a map handy. Also, though the subway personnel is very helpful, the majority of large or giveaway metro maps are not in English.

While you are at the airport, you can pick up drinks, including juice, hot coffe and milk tea from the many drink vending machines, as well as nutritious and scrumptious snacks at the small gift/food stores. There is also a CITIBANK atm machine to withdraw cash using your VISA or bank card. Once you get into Tokyo, there are international atm machines located in post offices and 7-11 convenience stores which will charge you about $2 US to process a cash withdrawal.

Stroller! If you are a family requiring the use of a stroller, I would recommend that you bring one. Although it is quite a workout to get on and off the train platforms if you don’t happen to be near an escalator, the stroller was really vital for us to walk around town, although admittedly, some of the smaller stores were harder to manoever around – even with a backpack, it would be hard to negotiate some of the smaller marketplace alleys. I also found that even from the JR train to Disneyland entrance, I was happy to have the stroller, and once in Disneyland, there were no problems leaving the stroller outside.

Subway tips – elevators are hard to come by depending on your entrance, so be prepared to take your child in and out of the stroller or walk down the stairs on escalators.
There are some pink cars which state women only. These are cars for women only from early morning start to 930am since as a local woman told me, sometimes people are just coming out of bars and may exhibit less than desirable behaviour towards women.

The call of Disneyland was not enough to conquer fatigue and get us out of the house before 9am. We took the train to Hatchobori station, from where we switched from the Metro to the JR line and took a train to Mahaima station – Disneyland and Disneysea resort and their own Disney Metro line going from one attraction to the next. I was surprised at how little guidance there was to the Disney Metro – in English. Perhaps there were signs everywhere in English. I realized here too that Tokyo Disney is geared towards many locals rather than tourists from outside Japan. There was so little advertising or signage that even though our map showed and our friend had given us directions, we asked again and doubted the route until we saw the towers of Disney’s castle on the horizon.

It was snowing when we showed up at the gates of Disneyland so it was relatively uncrowded. Still it didn’t stop the queues from forming by the popular rides like Space Mountain. Having visited Disneyland only once before, and without three children of varying ages, I spent much of the first day just wandering around relatively aimlessly, and overwhelmed by the number of rides, things to see, do and eat, as well as the fact that the snow – cold and melting made sitting outside less of a pleasure and more of a chore. Though there were Disney staff wandering around constantly cleaning up. With a two and a half year old in tow, we were more concerned about balancing the amount of time indoors and outdoors to make sure we stayed warm.

By the middle of the day, we figured out fast pass, a free service that allows you to reserve a spot on the ride during a one hour window later in the day.

Lines for food – from traditional fast food to churros and fried chicken legs

Due to inclement weather, coronation and parade celebration ceremonies were cancelled, but the rain and cold had us all ready to hit the gift stores for final shopping. Note – everyone saves shopping for last, so if you don’t want crowds, do the shopping early.

Stroller parking outside the various rides, neatly lined up, with no belongings ‘borrowed’.

The hardest part about leaving Disneyland was the knowledge that I was not going to be traveling on the trains for about an hour instead of staying at the Disneyland resort hotel. Next time, I am going to be staying at the hotel for easy and early access to Disneyland, to get to the Space Mountain ride before the line reaches 130 minute wait. Just a note that many of the rides do not allow children under three, so if your child is not yet three, but ready mentally and physically for the ride, you might want to fudge the age of your child give or take six months.

Disneysea also was far more child friendly – with more child rides and an inner playground and area called King Triton’s, complete with kiddie and some older kiddie rides (the spinning cups here are much faster than the ones in Alice’s Tea cups). Also a great place for younger children to camp out with a parent while older children wander around Disneysea. The Sinbad’s Voyage ride is an exotic Arabian version of It’s a Small World Ride. Also, a surprise crowd pleaser was the Ariel Mermaid Theatre featuring a live summarized rendition of of some of the scenes from Little Mermaid. The show transports you to the bottom of the sea by elevating and swirling, acrobatic cast members of the sea around the ceiling stage on wires. The lights, and special effects are fantastic and the music, as always, in captivating. Even the fact that the conversation and songs are mostly in Japanese (as in the other shows), the act is quite captivating.

Ueno known for the park, zoo and museum. We walked through the park, with the cherry blossoms still in bloom. Managed to stop and listen to some Native American Indians playing music and selling CDs. Nearby Ueno is Ameyokocho – an alleyway filled with food stalls – a fantastic doner kebab stall and grocery stores with Japanese snacks galore, in addition to stall upon stall of dried fruit and nuts. Prices were marked 500 yen a bag, but with a little hesitation, the vendor piled bag upon bag, until I received 7 bags of various nuts and fruits for 1000 yen.

On the way to the train station, we passed a four storey store filled with knick knacks – ultraman, totoro, monchichi dolls and other various icons of Japanese culture. A heaven of toys for adults and children alike. We hit Akihabara also known as ‘electric town’ next where we found store upon store of electronic stores filled with gadgets and electronic toys for all ages. IT was a little hard to manouever some of the stores, and it was difficult to negotiate leaving a store without purchasing toys, but this is an eyeful and definitely a good stop for anyone who likes gadgets and hobby stores..

Asakusa is a bustling energetic area with the historical Asakusa temple - a photographic opportunity of beautiful temples and shrines. Take a moment to touch the golden buddha, burn some incense in remembrance of ancesters, and a giant buddha.

Near this famous and popular spiritual area, there is a street filled with stores of touristy souvenirs, japanese delectables, samurai swords and knick knacks. A haven to fill any aspects of the soul left unfulfilled by the wonderful energy of Asakusa temple and shrine.

The picturesque Imperial Palace is a glimpse into the past, with the ornamental bridge and construction of the tile roof, the beautiful trees and parks. A picture perfect area but with very little place to sit as you enjoy the view of the palace.

A long walk from the Imperial Palace, you'll find the kabuki theatre with ornamental theatre fronts and pictures of actors and actresses with and without their makeup, as well as huge sake barrels. We didn't make it in, but I'm sure it would be quite a show to watch Kabuki - something similar to the opera.

If you want to catch the activity in this area, you HAVE to get up before 9am. The fish is fresh, the voices of the fish hawkers loud and the sights and smell of this lively fish market quite engaging.

Make sure you have your camera and make sure you don't have flimsy sandals because there is lots of splish splashing of water as smalls trucks and scooter type vehicles move through the market transporting fishy things around.

Shinjuku busiest intersection in the world electronics retailers, skyscrapers and great shopping in major department stores. On the weekends, some of the major streets are closed to traffic making it easier to walk carefree and shop. Also, Shinjuku is well known for several yummy treats – an infamous curry puff and Krispy Kreme. But if you meander up to the store anytime after 10am, be prepared to stand in line (organized and calm) for about an hour! Also home to the famous statue of the faithful dog Hachiko who waited for his master everyday at Shibuya station.