Lunch and the rest of the day

So, a couple of things I want to note about in this post - especially since my better half has determined that she’s not a typer but a reader! I’ll get back to Disney day 1 at some point.

First, the food here at the resort. When Denise booked the trip, she did so through the Tokyo Disney website, which is not exactly intuitive. She actually had to use AI and some Reddit blogs to make sure she got things booked properly. Also, since it was going to be right at our 26th anniversary, I told her to go for it and book what she wanted since we never stay at the park at WDW…. It didn’t hurt that it’s much cheaper here to stay on property.

So, with the package we had, we got to book reserved seats at restaurants for lunch and dinner both days. Now, the restaurants can be mixed, much like WDW, but my wife knew which ones to aim for, and whether she knew it or not, we got some good ones. Especially the food. We have pictures of all our plates, which looked more like pieces of art that we shouldn’t touch, vs food we were getting ready to devour. Portion size was modest, but worked out perfectly. We didn’t over eat, which I definitely would have since it was so good, but we were satiated (see Dad, I know some smarty pants words!).

All the meals were set menus where we typically got to choose from a couple of options for the appetizer, main meal and dessert. We also got one regular drink at each meal - think soft drinks, tea or coffee, but every restaurant tended to have their own specialty drink. Basically a mocktail, without the liquor (which you could add for a fee!).

After lunch we were back at it, and good news, the rain had relented a little bit. We jumped on Journey to the Center of the Earth (very cool and different), 20,000 leagues under the Sea (cool, but would have been enhanced if we understood Japanese) and finally back too our old friend, the Raging Spirits (because who doesn’t like to ride a roller coaster in a cold rain!). We also jumped on Aquatopia, I mean we were dressed for the water and then headed over to hit the other three rides Denise was targeting - Turtle Talk (we were advised against it as it is just talking to a Turtle - in Japanese!), Tower of Terror (A Denise favorite and a different story here - kind of dark - I liked it!), and Toy Story Mania (same as at Disney Studios).

But it was between Aquatopia and our Turtle Talk discouragement that my other point for this thread becomes appropriate, and that’s the popcorn. Along with our meals, we also got a ticket for free popcorn and free regular drinks. Now the popcorn at Tokyo Disney is something they are known for and it did not disappoint. They have flavors like Butter and Soy Sauce, Salted Caramel, Strawberry Neapolitan (one of our favorites), Curry, Honey (was good warm) and Corn Potage (Basically cream corn flavored - a lot of corn flavor). At Disney Sea, there were similar flavors along with milk chocolate and white chocolate but also some additional savory ones like Roast Beef (we were hesitant on this one, but we had paid for it and it wasn’t bad), Chinese chili (very good, one of my favorites) and finally, the pièce de résistance which I just had to try - Garlic Shrimp!!! This was my last box and was surprisingly, right up there with the Chinese Chili - both were significantly better than my baking or Denise’s grilling (well, she’s does surprise sometimes). Anyway, highly recommend trying all the flavors you can!

And with that Disney comes to an end. As I told Kathy, Mom and Dad via text - We made it through the rain… we kept our world protected. We made it through the rain and found ourselves respected… by the others who, got rained on too, and made it through! Definitely worth the side trip if you are a Disney fan, just make sure you get the unlimited rides ticket by staying on property - you’ll be glad you did!

NOTE - I talked about Disney being pretty cheap - or shall we say reasonable - compared to WDW. Well, on our way out, we looked for some souvenirs and now I know why people have to leave with extra suitcases! We got 4 sweatshirts and 1 T-shirt for about $150 - that would have been probably $500 at WDW!!!!Read more