I think I’m turning Japanese

Unexpected Disneyland Park days are always a little bit of extra magic, and every ride is a bonus.

Today started in a leisurely fashion, strolling down to the Hilton buffet breakfast around 9am. That promptly ended the relaxing feel for the next twenty minutes, as lots of other people appeared to be working to my timetable. The restaurant was packed, with more guests lining up for their crack at the trough every minute.

There was a vast selection, although most of it was Japanese, and some of it a complete mystery to me. I tried some dumplings and a couple of other new breakfast surprises. I'm still alive and kicking, so I class that tasting as a success.

By the time we had finished breakfast and rode the monorail to the park it was about 10am.

On a normal park day arriving at this late time would cause me to perspire and shake, but this was a bonus day, so every ride and experience was a gift.

The one mission today was to ride any rides we hadn't gotten to. This included the terrifying teacups, which I have avoided like covid, ever since I began visiting Disney parks. (I don't handle rides that spin. Loops and drops and speed are no problem. Spinning makes me nauseous). There was virtually no queue, so we rode the teacups, and there was no technicolour yawn from me, so I'm counting that as a win. We followed the teacups up with another death-defying thrill ride, It's a Small World.

Next was Pooh's Hunny Hunt, which is in other Disney parks, but the Tokyo version is unique in that it was Disney's first trackless ride and is great fun, especially if you're a Winnie the Pooh fan, which it turns out I now am, result!

I then ambled over to Westernland for one more ride on Big Thunder Mountain, which I managed to smuggle my action cam on to and filmed this great rollercoaster.

In between rides I was able to get some more Little Green Men dumplings and another serving of Fanta Melon. This is my new favourite soft drink. It's green and delicious and probably illegal in 7 star systems. We also tried the crepes from the New Orleans Cafe. There are three varieties you can buy, Cajun shrimp, Strawberry and Dark Cherry. They are all really tasty, but I enjoyed the strawberry version most.

By this time it was around 2pm, so we stuck around to watch the parade before returning to the hotel for a breather.

Around 7pm it was time for just one last visit to Tokyo Disneyland, via Ikspiari for dinner, because you have to be fueled!

One last wander around the park, time to watch the nightly fireworks and then conclude with another go at saving the universe from the evil Emperor Zurg on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.

That's it. The adventures have concluded. All that has to be done is to check out of the hotel tomorrow. Catch the bus to Narita and try and get some sleep while we fly back to Auckland via quick stops in Taipei and Brisbane. Thank God for the lie-flat beds on the incredible China Airlines!

Sayonara Japan. It's been weird, beautiful, chaotic, tasty, amazing and unexpected.Read more