Trip Report *COMPLETED* I've climbed the mountain, I've crossed the river, and I'm almost there!

Introduction

We've only been back from Japan since Saturday night but I am just itching to get started on this report! We had an absolutely AMAZING trip and I'm not ready to let it go, and writing my TR is one way for me to delay the inevitable return back to "the real world." This was the longest vacation I've ever taken, and like any long trip-or any new experience, for that matter-there were ups and downs, good moments and not-so-good moments. There were mistakes, mishaps, mountains, and monkeys. Yes, monkeys! There were surprises and there was DRAMMA!* There were things we will do differently next time we visit Japan, and believe me, we knew less than halfway through the trip that there WILL be a next time someday!

In case you missed the PTR, here it is: Bee's Big Birthday! There you can read about the cast, the general plans, and the reasons for planning this particular trip.

Now about the title: It's a reference to this song from The Princess and the Frog:

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I have been kind of obsessed with this song lately and I found myself singing it in my head repeatedly during the trip. You'll see why soon!

So, if you're ready for a journey halfway around the world, thousands of photos, and Double Disney bookends, keep reading!

EDIT: The Tokyo Disney stuff starts here.

*I've mentioned it in previous TRs, but I like to spell "dramma" the Italian way because I'm an opera singer and what's more DRAMMAtic than Italian opera?? So please don't think I'm an idiot (for that reason anyway )!

 

[Rista1313]

I loved this report..... I really want to go to a 7-11 there now... and try the egg sandwich.... and buy all the things!

 

[Spash007]

Thank you for this report! I found it really interesting to see the differences, not just in Disney but throughout your journeys!

 

[bee]

Some final thoughts: Japan

• What a beautiful country!
• The people were amazing! They were so respectful and kind, and everyone we talked to seemed genuinely interested in where we are from, and welcoming!
• The language barrier was a non-issue the vast majority of the time. Granted, we were in cities most of the time, but still.
• A little Japanese goes a long way. I think any time you visit a foreign country you should at least learn key polite phrases, and the more the better, but in Japan I felt that my little bit of language knowledge was sooo appreciated.
• It's not easy being vegetarian! Of course if you live there or are staying somewhere with a kitchen and have time to grocery shop and prepare your own food it would be different, but we definitely struggled. Thank goodness for egg salad!
• I keep going back to the people, but everyone we encountered in a service job (bus driver, ticket seller, restaurant server, etc.) was sooo polite and did their job sooo well. It's almost like if you adequately pay people and have a general culture of respect, people will happily do their job well.
• GACHAPONS! So cool! I especially love my big princess ones!
• TRAINS!! I can't tell you how many times M and I have said, "I miss Japan!" because the public transit sucks so much here in the US. Even in New York, it's an inconsistent mess that's mismanaged and constantly late.
• We found prices to be pretty reasonable. But since we live the NYC area everywhere else seems cheap to us (even London did). S told us that her family members who visited said everything seemed expensive. So, it's all relative.
• We wished we had tried more sake, Japanese whisky, etc., but we were hanging out with non-drinkers most of the time who wouldn't have done tastings or tours or anything. So, next time we will plan for that!
• There will absolutely be a next time! We might have to wait 10 years or so, but we know we want to go back!

I'm sure I'll think of more to add to this. It was a really, truly wonderful trip.

Up next: Souvenirs!

 

[bee]

SOUVENIRS!

I apparently don't have pics of everything (because I remember giving people things that don't appear to be here...) but here is most of the stuff we bought!

For M's dad:

For M's mom:

For M's parents:

M's mom is also a musician (I'm sure I've mentioned that in one post or another) and she is always disappointed that there isn't more music merch at WDW. I saw lots of it at TDR so I knew we had to pick something for her! This was perfect since there are two towels in the pack.

For my train-loving brother:

The gachapon is a bunny with a sugar cube, and the train container is full of train cookies!

Also for my brother:

It's a Gelatoni (DisneySea cat mascot) towel. I guess I don't have a pic of it outside the bag, oops

For my cat-loving grandmother:

For my parents:

The church box is also cookies!

We picked up a bunch of these free guides and included them with everyone's present:

I'm trying to remember what we got for M's brother. I don't seem to have a photo of it, but if I remember I'll add it to this post.

For us:

These are from the "dollar store" (100 yen store) and we use them to store jewelry.

Just SOME of the gachapons we got for ourselves. There were definitely more, though... The cat in the middle is supposed to go on a pencil/pen but the closest thing I had nearby when I was taking the pics was lip balm

These little notebooks are for us, but we also took pages out of them to include as notes with the gifts we got for other people.

We also gave lucky cats, and matcha and dark chocolate KitKats to some of M's coworkers.

Thank you so much to everyone who read, liked, and replied to my report! As always, it's more fun to relive it with friends than alone! I hope this was helpful to anyone considering traveling to Japan. If anyone has any questions about traveling to Japan please feel free to reply here or send me a message! I'm no expert but I'm happy to help if I can!

Up next: UP NEXT!

 

[PacNWTigger]

Thank you so much for sharing your incredible trip with us! I enjoy reading about your adventures, and I'm looking forward to what might come next.

 

[bee]

UP NEXT FOR US!

We have decided to buy WDW APs once again. We have had them every other year since 13-14, and it works for us because we go a few times over the year and get our fill of Disney, and then take a break for a year. As much as visiting other Disneys has illuminated the flaws of "our" Disney, it hasn't diminished our love for WDW and we are still excited to get back.

Our first trip back to WDW will be in August and we'll be doing some things we've never done before on that trip! Watch for a PTR in the next few days/weeks!

We're also going back around Thanksgiving and New Year's. We have flights booked but in both cases one leg is to/from Orlando and one is to/from Jacksonville. So, we'll split each trip between the two, and we have to figure out how many days we'll be at Disney and how many in Jville.

After that we'll probably take a break from Disney until Memorial Day or early June to close out our 19-20 AP year.

Something that's made this year of planning different is that my younger brother moved back to Florida a couple of months ago, and he is becoming as much of a Disney freak as we are! He already has his FL AP and is about to go for the second time in less than a month. He started a new full-time job recently and he's already known as "the Disney person." So, he may be meeting us for part of one or more trips this year. M's parents will be joining us on at least one of the trips, maybe her brother will join in too? Who knows?

Once again, thanks to everyone who followed along with my report! I had so much fun writing about our Japan trip!

 

[krisri18]

Loved seeing Japan! What a beautiful country, but those lines at Disney... OMG!

 

[bee]

Thank you so much for this very detailed fun report! Besides the cats, lol what stuck with me the most is how pristinely clean the parks looked to be. I was amazed in what pride they seem to take in the daily maintenance. Looking forward to your upcoming adventures!

Thank you for reading! I really appreciated how clean and well-maintained everything was! TDO should certainly take notes, especially when it comes to transportation!

I loved this report..... I really want to go to a 7-11 there now... and try the egg sandwich.... and buy all the things!

Thank goodness for those egg sandwiches!! Some days it seemed like our biggest source of protein! Also, for the first few months back home I'd get excited every time I saw a 7-11...then I'd remember I was in AMERICA and nothing good was inside!

Thank you for this report! I found it really interesting to see the differences, not just in Disney but throughout your journeys!

Thank you for reading! We loved seeing the similarities and differences!

Thank you so much for sharing your incredible trip with us! I enjoy reading about your adventures, and I'm looking forward to what might come next.

Thank you for reading! We are so excited to get back to WDW!

Loved seeing Japan! What a beautiful country, but those lines at Disney... OMG!

OMG the lines!! I really think it's not THAT typical. I mean there aren't really low crowd days, but I think if we hadn't been there so close to NYD it would have been better!

 

[Swissmiss]

Thanks for all the time and effort for this TR - I enjoyed the non-Disney part as much as the Disney part. I had friends who were there at the same time (they chose not to do Disney though despite being fans as well) and they had gone too many of the same places as the two of you, so it was interesting to hear different perspectives of the same place.

 

[LittleTuna12]

Awesome report @bee! Thank you for taking the time to let us relive your trip through you!

 

[riverside]

Great TR!! I really enjoyed it!! It was so interesting!! Woo-hoo for the AP's!!

 

[youngdeb]

Thanks for taking the time to document your journey so thoroughly! I loved following along since it will be a long time before I ever get to experience Japan, if ever!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us! I thoroughly enjoyed following along! Some of your scenic pictures reminded me of our trip we took to Singapore many years ago. Looking forward to hearing about all of your upcoming Disney trips!

 

[MinnieM123]

Wait! It's over?! My vicarious jaunts through the world, and visits to multiple Disney theme parks is done? Say it isn't so! Does this mean I have to find my own fun vacation experiences, without a virtual tour guide?!

Well, thanks again for another great TR. Enjoyed it in its entirety.

 

[LadyBelle]

Thank you so much for not only sharing your Disney report but the rest of your Japanese travels. It was awesome to see everything.

Looking forward to your next trip!

 

[amjt660]

Thanks for sharing !
I want to go back too!

Max

 

[Captain Barbossa]

Really enjoyed reading your TR! Your pictures were absolutely beautiful!

Two things I want to mention. First off, it seems like 711s are everywhere in Japan. I didn't realize that they had them over there. They seem to be pretty popular. And secondly, the monorails. So I noticed that they have 6 cars per train, like WDW, but from your pictures, the interior/seating appears to be different. My question is, do you think that the TDL monorails hold more, less, or the same amount of people compared to WDW?

Once again, great TR! I really want to visit Japan now!

 

[FlaggNL]

Thanks for sharing this more than magnificent and magical TR! Loved to read and follow!!

 

[bee]

Thanks for all the time and effort for this TR - I enjoyed the non-Disney part as much as the Disney part. I had friends who were there at the same time (they chose not to do Disney though despite being fans as well) and they had gone too many of the same places as the two of you, so it was interesting to hear different perspectives of the same place.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Funny that your friends were there at the same time. @dclfan was also in Japan around the same time I was, but I think we had opposite itineraries.

Awesome report @bee! Thank you for taking the time to let us relive your trip through you!

Thank you!

Great TR!! I really enjoyed it!! It was so interesting!! Woo-hoo for the AP's!!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it! And yes, the day I actually purchased the APs and linked them to my account I was giddy all day because WE'RE GOING BACK!!!

Thanks for taking the time to document your journey so thoroughly! I loved following along since it will be a long time before I ever get to experience Japan, if ever!

You're welcome!

Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us! I thoroughly enjoyed following along! Some of your scenic pictures reminded me of our trip we took to Singapore many years ago. Looking forward to hearing about all of your upcoming Disney trips!

You're welcome! Singapore sounds so cool!

Wait! It's over?! My vicarious jaunts through the world, and visits to multiple Disney theme parks is done? Say it isn't so! Does this mean I have to find my own fun vacation experiences, without a virtual tour guide?!

Well, thanks again for another great TR. Enjoyed it in its entirety.

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it! I hope you have a Swolphin stay in your near future?

Thank you so much for not only sharing your Disney report but the rest of your Japanese travels. It was awesome to see everything.

Looking forward to your next trip!

You're welcome!

Thanks for sharing !
I want to go back too!

Max

Any plans to go back soon??

Really enjoyed reading your TR! Your pictures were absolutely beautiful!

Two things I want to mention. First off, it seems like 711s are everywhere in Japan. I didn't realize that they had them over there. They seem to be pretty popular. And secondly, the monorails. So I noticed that they have 6 cars per train, like WDW, but from your pictures, the interior/seating appears to be different. My question is, do you think that the TDL monorails hold more, less, or the same amount of people compared to WDW?

Once again, great TR! I really want to visit Japan now!

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Great question about the monorails. I assumed that the Japanese monorails have waaay more capacity because of how the interiors are laid out (the seats in the WDW monorails take up sooo much space). The OLC Group says that the TDR monorails have a capacity of 537/train, and Wikipedia says the WDW monorails can hold 360/train (though I'm not sure how reliable their sources are). Plus, the Tokyo monorails come super frequently, so the hourly capacity must be many times more than the WDW hourly capacity.

Thanks for sharing this more than magnificent and magical TR! Loved to read and follow!!

You're welcome!

 

[Brwneyedgirl72]

I love your reports! Looking forward to the next one