sutefutofu ★ a fangirl's epic tale: Disney, until the day I die. ♥

So a while back, I went to Tokyo Disneyland. Well. Twice in two months, actually.

So this post shall be about the first but also the second time.

If you're ever looking to have a good time around Shinjuku in a trendy and unusual shop, I would suggest, if I may, checking out the Lock-Up. Naturally, the best time to go would probably be some time around Halloween, considering the prominent theme the bar has going on. The interior, as soon as you step inside, is all eerie darkness, flickering lights, winding corridors and uneven floor with traitorous bumps and holes. Not the most welcoming atmosphere, but it's all part of the game. As you approach the spot where the staff is waiting, a waitress comes bearing a pair of handcuffs, which she insists she must put on you before you go anywhere. Thus you are escorted to your cell (this is not a joke nor a metaphor, it's an actual rathole with bars for a door). Many of the drinks are quite unusual and creepy-looking, like this experiment set that I ordered, where you get a bunch of colourful samples to mix by yourself. The food is also great! We had quite a few services (six or seven, I believe), which included salad, salmon, pasta, korokke, some kind of cheesy eggplant side dish, and more.

So you're enjoying your food and drinks in peace (almost), happily chatting the night away with your friends, when suddenly the lights go out and are replaced with some kind of faint emergency lighting that makes your teeth, nails and drinks glow in the dark. High-pitched screams and gunshots sound out around you and you can hear a woman's voice through the speakers. Though you may not understand some (or everything) of what she says, you kinda get that something has gone terribly wrong. It all sounds like some kind of attack/invasion followed by some sort of emergency evacuation operation. Through the bars of your grimy cell, you can see people running past wearing costumes and freaking the hell out. You have no idea what's going on, but you can't help but be terribly entertained by the display. I don't remember exactly if it was at the very beginning or at the end, but they also played Michael Jackson's Thriller, and the whole thing ended with a guy yelling out above our heads (but judging from the awkwardness of that performance, I'm not sure it was staged; it might have been one of the clients doing that by accident).

Anyway, it was really great. I'd love to go back!

The weather was pretty bad on that day. There was a typhoon incoming/happening at the time, so we got to the hostel (somehow) in the midst of a veritable downpour. As opposed to what we had read in the weather forecast, it did not stop raining in the middle of the night between Friday and Saturday, far from it, nor did it stop – at all – until far into the day. We knew that the day we were going to Disney on was one of the busiest – if not the busiest day of the year –, and it showed, because despite the absolutely shitty weather, there were a lot of people. The Japanese are crazy about Disney. There were scarcely any foreigners on-site... I'd say 99% of them were Japanese, and it wouldn't be far from the truth. And with Halloween just a few days away, a great many of them were wearing costumes, and pretty kick-ass at that. It was a shame to see those beautiful princess dresses (more or less) hidden under raincoats or completely out in the open, but not protected at all.

When I accepted to tag along on the trip, I was merely looking to see other sights and spend time with my ALT friends. I didn't think I would be so excited by the prospect of Disney. And yet I was, terribly so. I went to Disney World in Florida when I was a child, but I was only two then, so I don't really remember. Moreover, I had forgotten what importance the movies and their characters had had for me in the past, and how much they still have today. And so childhood feelings were rekindled on that very day.

We tried quite a few rides. Here they are, in no particular order.

Space Mountain was the first we went on. We had to get fast passes for this one. Fast passes exist for the rides that are most popular. Essentially, you put your ticket inside a machine and it gives you a slip of paper with a time interval on it. You can only have one at a time. It allows you rapid access to that particular ride during the time specified on the paper, and that speed at which they disappear is probably equivalent. It isn't unheard of that at 10'o'clock, only two hours after the themed park's opening, there aren't any left or that they're already at like 6:00 or 7:00 PM. Anyway, we still had to wait for a while, but man was it worth it. It's my absolute favourite ride. I tend to be quite the chicken when it comes to roller coasters, but this one is just fast with sharp turns, and it's in the dark. There aren't any crazy loops that kill your back and make you sick. What's more, all throughout the ride you're surrounded by stars, nebulaes and galaxies. It's extremely pretty. The trajectory is just so chaotic that I couldn't help but screech like a madwoman and laugh to tears. I'd do it over and over and over and over again if the wait wasn't so horribly long.

Star Tours was pretty fun, too. (This is a relatively recent Star Wars attraction.) We got to walk through a few rooms that looked like the interior of a space ship, as well as meet R2D2 and C3PO. At the end, we entered a room where, sporting a pair of 3D glasses, we were asked to take our seats and buckle our seat belts. A movie was shown on a screen and our seats moved according to what was happening before our eyes. It was a rocky road for the most part, and pretty fun.

After that, we did a lot of shopping and tried many kinds of foods sold on-site at a surprisingly decent price. Especially the popcorn, of which there are many flavours, including shoyu, curry and chocolate. I found that considering the size and quality of the foods, they could have gotten away with a higher cost and managed to sell a lot, but they were by no means expensive. Pretty normal, actually. The goods, on the other hand... Well, their price is acceptable, but the diversity and number of them is absolutely overwhelming. Most major rides have a shop attached to them which sells merchandise based on that particular movie or series (ex: Toy Story). Plus, as if THAT wasn't enough, there are quite a few "general" shops which sell Mickey and co. products, which range from boxers to snacks or furniture, AND there are specialised shops such as confectioneries. I go completely bat-shit when I go there. I want to buy EVERYTHING. Because EVERYTHING is BEAUTIFUL and RELEVANT and you just NEED IT.

The parades rendered me into a teary mess, but it turns out that I wasn't the only one, so that made me feel better. I don't know... The feels are just too many to count. Everything is SO perfect there. The atmosphere and the scenery is so beautiful and clean and magical, and all of that just takes you in more. I'm not sure people would buy it as much if the ground was littered with junk (and you'd think it would be), but there is literally not a single piece of it, and if there ever is, it doesn't stay there longer than a few minutes until someone picks it up. I was floored by the cleanliness, continue to be, and appreciate it a lot.

Among the quieter rides, I really liked the Pirates of the Caribbean one. We also tried Monster Inc. and it was fun, but not outstanding, 'least not to me. Basically, you're sitting in a boat and you go down a river. It's not like, thrilling, except for one short drop that might pull a yelp out of you, but it's visually attractive and entertaining. The smell, the sounds... It's kind of like a reenactment of the movies with familiar scenes happening all around you, but also some original ones. There are absolutely no actors, but all the (dolls? robots? whatever they're called) look incredibly real. It's truly magical. Jack Sparrow also makes his appearance at a few places. Like here:

Big Thunder Mountain, we had to wait so long for... Placed in a Western setting, it attracts quite a big number of people and thus, line-ups. The fast passes vanish at lightning-speed. We couldn't get any, but we wanted to get on badly, so we did. It was definitely worth the wait, but I was getting tired at that time when we went to stand in line. Again, it's a pretty cool coaster ride with exciting drops and sharp turns. During that trip, I discovered just how much I like those. What I don't like is extreme heights and loops. The likes of these rides that I mentioned in this post are exactly to my tastes.

Later in the evening, after the night parade, we tried the Haunted House (Mansion) based on Nightmare Before Christmas. I might place it right after Pirates in the "quiet rides" category. It's quite complete and realistic (as far as haunted houses are concerned). In particular, there was a time where we were riding and we could see a dining room down to the right. There were chandeliers and ghosts flying around casually. I couldn't take a shot because my phone/camera were both dead by then, but it was really spooky! After that, we didn't have that much time left before closing, so we went to Mickey's Philarmagic Orchestra (a 3D compilation of Disney songs and characters) and the Winnie the Pooh ride, which resembled a crack overdose very much.

The following day, we went to Odaiba and a Mexican restaurant called La Salsa, where we pigged ourselves to death and I made multiple false claims that this would be "my last plate". Someone thought it was a necessity to immortalize my hypocrisy.

I went back to Disneyland with one other friend in October, this time just in time for the Christmas decorations. We had a great time! The weather was quite good – clear blue sky and warm for October! – but we did not get to do many rides, because of my inability to plan and because there were just too many people. We told each other that we would take leave and go back again on a work day so that we don't have to wait in line all the time. Nevertheless, it was very beautiful. Here are some pictures of what it looked like: