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[pamcarey]

Gorgeous view from your balcony!!

[chezp]

Wednesday 8 April – part one: the best monorail station in the world

I woke up to a report about British football. Oh the joy! Still, at least it was 6.30, so not too bad a time. I was soon up and about, as I wanted to shower and get dressed, so I could go outside to see what the view was like from our balcony in the daytime. The shower was superb, very powerful, although a little hot at times. There’s nothing like a walk-in shower to start off your day.

Once dressed, the view was worth getting up for, although I hadn’t realised in the dark that part of the huge parking lot sprawled out beneath us. Still, they had had fun with the cones this morning!



And we had a great view of most of the two parks in front of us. As I stood there, I also saw the monorail go past. There’s nothing more magical than that to start your day.



The monorail station


By the way, I just want to point out here that you can see a lot of the backs of facades if that makes any sense. You'll see a lot of shots of Tokyo DisneySea here, as we were closest to that, but you may also spot some familiar views. By the way, if you see Tower of Terror, that's in Tokyo DisneySea. It's one of the only rides introduced from another park in there, but we'll get there when we get to DisneySea... I'm getting ahead of myself!

We went to check out, but that ended up being quite a commotion, because we apparently came in on the second floor last night, which we didn’t realise. We went to the first floor and couldn’t find front desk, only to discover that it was on floor two. I left Mark with the luggage downstairs and went to check out, where I encountered a very large Japanese guy, who I guess was a regular, as he was snapping his fingers at the staff and expecting them to serve him. How rude. Fortunately, another staff member came out to deal with him and I got seen quickly enough. We had no expenditure on the bill, so it was away and back down to the taxi, which a staff member had specially called downstairs for us, as apparently usually they pick up from floor two.

We set off for Maihama station, where we quickly found the Tokyo Disney Resort welcome centre, only we couldn’t get in on the first floor, so we had to take the elevator up to the next floor. As we entered, we were asked which hotel we were checking in for and then taken to a desk, where two Cast Members dealt with us, checking us in, taking our luggage and getting our park tickets and monorail tickets. That’s free to Tokyo Disney Resort hotel guests only, with everyone else having to pay to take trips on the monorail – a good reason to stay at a Disney hotel.

We were offered the option of getting a three day ticket that could be used on all days for both parks, but we decided to stick with the one we had, which meant that we would be at Tokyo Disneyland today and Tokyo Disney Sea tomorrow. Yes, it’s the only Disney theme park in the world where this system exists and, for the first two days of any park pass, you have to decide which one of the parks you’re going to. You can’t park hop until day three.



That all done, we headed out and had a quick look around the Ikispiari complex. The best way I can describe this is that it’s like Downtown Disney, but very, very different. Yes, it’s got shops and restaurants, but that’s about where the comparison ends. Have a look at these photos, admittedly from before it opened, and you’ll see what I mean. It’s certainly themed much more than any Downtown Disney in Walt Disney World, Disneyland in California or Disneyland Resort Paris.



Next, it was into the monorail station and this has to be the best monorail station in the world. It’s just gleaming and huge. Only the Japanese could have a monorail station this lovely and the Americans could definitely learn from them on this. The Hong Kong and Tokyo systems are much, much better than the ones in Orlando and California.



We got up to the platform and found that one had left, but it gave us the chance to take in our surroundings and we got talking to the Cast Member on the platform, explaining to her that Tokyo Disney was the last Disney park for us, having visited all the others and she told us that was her dream as well. I’m very glad that we are now finishing that dream, as all the parks have been wonderful to visit.



When we got to the Tokyo Disneyland stop, the next one along, the lines were quite big to get in, but we figured those would quickly go when the park opened in a few minutes time. Instead, we had a look at the display about the history of the monorail. They had smaller displays like this all around the park, as it’s celebrating its 25th anniversary and it’s a nice touch.



Next: a very odd Main Street

[BeckiO5]

Cheryl I love your update, and I love those Mickey Handles on the Monorail at Disneyland Tokyo! How different!

[mcc0313]

Wow - it is so different, I love the theming of their "Downtown Disney', very original when you compare it to the others and the monorail, it looks like its own transportation system, loved the colors and the stations were amazing.

[Tinkerboo]

Love it, love it, love it - can't wait for more!!

[Mauimouse]

Love the update - I've seen pictures of the monorail over at Tokyo and I agree so much nicer than here in the U.S.

Can't wait to see inside the park.

[MinnieMary]

Wow, I can't wait to see the rest of Tokyo Disney! Great photos.

[Wendyismyname]

Now I see what you mean about the Monorail Cheryl. I really love those handles!!

[Desurae]

Love the cone art!!!! I bet someone had fun with that one! Such a beautiful morning.

[mpwife153]

WOW I wish WDW would add those neat little details (the Mickey shaped windows & Mickey Handles! Too cute) Another great update

[lazanya]

Great update! Love the nice touches they have for their monorail, especially the Mickey handles!

[pamcarey]

This is great stuff!! Tokyo Disneyland isn't really celebrating it's 25th anniversary, is it? I can't believe it's been around that long!

[DisneyLuv]

great update and pictures! can't wait to see what Tokyo's Main Street looks like!

[KMB733]

Great update! I like seeing the pictures of the differences between WDW and Tokyo Disney.

[Colexis Mom]

That's quite the parking lot!! Great pictures!! More please!!