Disneyland - The happiest place on Earth!

Jono and I headed to Tokyo for a week and of course that had to include a trip to both Disneyland and Disneysea...first up was Disneyland.

It was every bit as exciting as I was expecting, it certainly brought our my inner (or maybe not so inner) child! The entrance was elaborate and colourful and included a picture of Mickey in flowers. As soon as we stepped through the gate I could feel the vibe...excitement...anticipation...happiness...a step back into my childhood.

The first character we saw was Mickey Mouse and there was a huge line-up of people wanting a picture with him...possibly 50m or so! I was amazed!

We spent the whole day wandering around the massive grounds, sectioned into different themes; Westernland, Adventureland, Critter Country, Fantasyland, Toontown, Tomorrowland and World Bazaar. Each section had themed buildings, rides, shops and characters. It was so much fun to be in the thick of it.

Over the day we became more and more patient about lining up, and with our trusty portable shade (Disney umbrella) we were happy to chat away the time it took to get on the rides. We went on many rides and to many attractions including;

1. The Swiss Family Treehouse

2. Country Bear Theatre: Vacation Jamboree (pictured)

3. Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. This was my favourite ride for the day. We travelled around in a space capsule through different glowing scenes shooting glowing targets with our laser guns.

4. Space Mountain. A fast roller coaster inside a pitch dark dome.

5. Pirates of the Caribbean

6. A Micro Adventure. This was a 3-D featuring the scientist from 'Honey, I shrank the kids', except this one was 'Honey, I shank the audience'.

7. It's a Small World

Being the middle of Summer and unbearably humid, Disney had some attractions in stall to keep everyone cool. The first one being a water show at the castle. Water cannons shot water into the air accompanied by music. It was quite impressive and I'm sure the people sitting near the castle came away a little damp!

The second attraction was Goofy's Water Works truck. This cartoon looking truck drove slow;y around the grounds and it appeared to have several leaks and unpredictable hoses! Even the characters couldn't keep them under control and 'accidentally' drenched the people who stood by watching! I hid behind Jono! hehe

The third was a series of misty sprinklers. They intermittently sprayed people who walked underneath them.

The fourth and final one was called a 'wet zone'. In front of a warehouse-looking building was a TNT box with a push lever. Kids would pump the handle and then water would shoot out of the building. It looked like lots of fun.

Toontown was my favourite part of Disneyland. Everything looked like it was straight out of a cartoon. The stop light was wonky with hands coming out the sides to signal 'stop', the town tram had wonky wheels so as it made its way around went up and down too!I got to meet Chip 'n' Dale in the street (very exciting) and we visited Mickey's house. After a lengthy line up we were able to enter his house and wander around. We sat and posed on his furniture, watched some cartoons and then met the Mouse himself. He was very friendly and seemed to understand English!!! hahaha

Of course there was the ever famous street parades and I madly took pictures as the many characters passed on their floats. The one thing we noticed was that all of the major characters were played by Westerners! Very interesting!

That's just a glimpse into the 10 hour day we spent at this Magical land.