Open the gates!

Let me get this out of the way early, many Disney fans, who have visited multiple parks worldwide, rate Tokyo Disneyland as the best. Based on today's experience I'm likely to agree with them. Read on to discover the scientific formula I used to edge towards this conclusion.

Today was 3 years in the making, a chance to add another Disney park to the list of Disney parks visited. Now I only have Paris remaining, out of the 6 Disney locations worldwide.

The day began at 5am, because you don't just turn up at the gates and expect to win. Your Disney game needs to be stronger than that, and my Disney game has been hardened in the furnace of queue-robics, and merchandise combat.

Staying in a Disney hotel gets you a 'Happy Entry' for your chosen park. This gives you a critical 15 minute head start on the general admission peasants, and you must strategise to make your quarter of an hour count! I already knew that 'Belle's Enchanted Castle' was the ride to start with.

We left the hotel at 6:30am and used our Suica cards to get us onto the Disney Resort Line monorail. Two stops later and we arrived at the Disneyland park outer entrance and joined our first queue of the day, a holding area for Disney Hotel guests.

Just after 7am we filed through the metal detectors and walked towards the park entrance proper. Here I had my first taste of Japanese organisation. Almost everyone had a mat that they laid on the ground to then sit on while they waited. Boy, did I feel like an animal just standing there!

At 8:15 precisely (it's Japan, what else would happen?) we were let through the turnstiles and fast walked towards 'Belle's Enchanted Castle'. Luckily I still possess my incredible natural athleticism and we were almost the first people through the queue line and onto the ride. It retells the story of Beauty and the Beast as you ride a trackless vehicle through rooms recreating scenes from the movie. It's beautifully done and very like Mystic Manor at Hong Kong Disneyland, or Remy's Ratatouille Adventure at Epcot in Florida.

Next ride was Space Mountain for Jean. To avoid vomiting this early in the campaign I bravely opted out and rode Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters instead.

Over the next two hours we managed to ride Snow White's Adventures, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin. To keep us fuelled like champions we paused for a few minutes between rides for caramel-apple churros and a frosty frozen treat of indeterminate flavour.

By lunchtime we needed more calories, so we exited the park for Ikspiari, the Tokyo equivalent of Downtown Disney. Here we perused the many dining options on offer before deciding on The Rainforest Cafe.

Recharged, and with a steely glint in my eye I surged back into the park to ride The Jungle Cruise and the Mark Twain riverboat, while also catching the 2pm parade. All that was left to do was exit via the giftshop, or giftshops which line the main street.

By 4pm our first Tokyo Disney day was done (although I did zip back to the park after 7pm to see it at night. and sneak another ride on Big Thunder Mountain).

So, what makes Tokyo Disney so good? There are lots of intangibles that are hard to put into words, but there are a few reasons I can come up with. Cast members,. They are always smiling, waving and greeting every guest with enthusiasm. They all look great in their tailored uniforms, and I'm yet to spot a morbidly obese one, or even a chubby one. America, I'm looking at you!

Dress standards. Now this could go either way. Most guests here are very smartly dressed, many women in heels and skirts. However, there are also lots that are dressed in some pretty whacky outfits, including lots of young women dressed as French Maids, or other risqué outfits. Doesn't bother me, but it's an observation.
Strollers. There aren't many, and the ones there are parked unobtrusively.

ECVs. Or the lack of. If you're too lazy, or too fat, then you probably don't come to Tokyo Disney, again unlike America. I saw one ECV, and it was driven by an elderly person.

Bubble wands. I saw one. That's it, one! Again, in the US those things are everywhere.

That's about it. First park day down, and tomorrow it's the first day at Tokyo DisneySea. Because part of our Disney hotel is actually inside this park we can use a private hotel entrance to get into it. I. Can't. Wait!Read more