On Monday, my husband and I took my mom to Disneyland Tokyo, which is located about 35 minutes from us via train. Having my mom in town this month is giving me an excuse to do all the touristy things around our new home. I am thoroughly enjoying exploring Chiba, Japan and its surroundings from the perspective of a tourist instead of from the mindset of someone who lives here. As a newbie in this area, it’s really fun to see all the things I haven’t gotten a chance to with the hustle and bustle of basketball season, unpacking, schoolwork, and learning as much about our neighborhood as possible. Getting to experience them with my mom, who also happens to be my best friend and favorite travel companion, is an added plus.
From the time I was 2 years old until the time I was about 17, my family and I went to Disney World annually. When I was small, my family would take me every year and, when I got a little older and my nieces and nephews were born, the focus shifted to them. For one reason or another, we would find ourselves down in Orlando every single year and when I lived in central Florida briefly during my husband’s time with the Orlando Magic, we visited the parks pretty frequently. Although I consider myself well versed in all things Disney (I’ve literally been to every single park in America multiple times), I had never been to a park abroad and it was something that was on my travel bucket list. With parks in both Paris and Tokyo, Disney has a real presence overseas and I was excited to experience it outside of America.
Disneyland Tokyo was, for the most part, just like Disneyland in California. We enjoyed rides, parades, and scenery similar, if not identical, to what we have experienced at other Disney parks through the years. I enjoyed taking a twirl on the teacups, flying high on Dumbo, drifting down the rivers of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and the infamous It’s A Small World ride, and taking a tour of another galaxy on Star Tours. The iconic Disney castle was just as beautiful in Tokyo’s park as it is in all of the other parks that I have visited and, for the most part, the feel of Disneyland Tokyo was identical to other Disney theme parks that I’ve been to. It was lovely to see the park decorated for Christmas.
The major difference between Disneyland Tokyo and Disney parks back in America was the food. I feasted on a teriyaki chicken leg instead of the turkey legs I have grown to love at American amusement parks. Although it was different, it was just as delicious. I also enjoyed hot cocoa as opposed to snow cones and frozen lemonades, which was probably due to the weather more than anything else. Popcorn is all the rage in Japan and it showed at Disneyland Tokyo. There were more popcorn stands than I have ever seen at other amusement parks with familiar flavors such as simply salted and caramel and different flavors such as soy sauce with butter and curry. I tried the curry popcorn, and I am SO glad I did! It was absolutely delicious and was honestly the highlight of the whole experience for me. I’m dying to go back so that I can get it again and will be shaking curry seasoning on my popcorn at home from here on out.
All in all, I really enjoyed our visit to Disneyland Tokyo and I am eager to visit the other local Disney park, DisneySea, in the near future.
Have you ever visited Disney or another amusement park abroad? If so, what was your experience like?
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