Tokyo Disneyland, Part 1: Rope Drop to Toontown

The Earliest Start of the Trip

We’ve done a lot of early mornings on this trip, but Disneyland day beat them all. We were on the Disney Resort Line monorail by 7:15am, the one with Mickey-shaped windows and Mickey-shaped hand straps. Our tickets had Frozen 2 on them, since the movie had just come out.

Our Frozen 2 Disneyland tickets on the Mickey monorail — Mickey windows, Elsa tickets

The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel in the early morning sun — Mickey windows, Elsa tickets

We thought we were early. We were not early. By 7:20am there was already a huge crowd at the gates, with lots of people sitting on the ground on mats like they’d been there for hours. So we did the same, ate our convenience store onigiri for breakfast, and waited for the gates to open.

People sitting in rows at the entrance in the morning sun — The waiting game

Minmin bundled up in the queue with her Mickey ears — The waiting game

Cinderella Castle (Under Wraps)

First surprise once we got in: Cinderella Castle was covered in scaffolding. It was being repainted from October 2019 to April 2020, so the most famous view in the park looked like a construction site. Bad timing, but the rest of the park was all there.

Cinderella Castle covered in scaffolding — Not quite the castle shot we wanted

Westernland and Splash Mountain

We headed straight through Westernland, past the Mark Twain riverboat, to Splash Mountain in Critter Country.

The saloon buildings of Westernland — Westernland

The Mark Twain riverboat’s steam behind the trees — Westernland

Splash Mountain is the log flume with the big drop at the end. The queue winds through caves, and the ride floats past all the animatronic animals singing before you go over the edge.

The Splash Mountain welcome sign in the queue — Mighty good to see you

The view over Critter Country from the ride — Mighty good to see you

The red rocks and pond at the bottom of the drop — Where everyone gets wet

The riverboat finale scene inside the ride — Where everyone gets wet

After that, a few photos around Critter Country, which is basically a giant playground of red rocks and tiny houses.

Minmin with the bear statue in Critter Country — Minmin and friend

Me in front of the red rocks in Critter Country — Minmin and friend

Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters

Next, Tomorrowland, for Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters. You ride through in a little spaceship with a laser gun and shoot the Z targets for points.

The Buzz Lightyear figure in the queue — Star Command

Final score: one of us got 3,000, the other got 12,500. I’m not saying who was who.

The two score counters, 3000 and 12500 — No comment

Toontown

Then we spent most of the late morning in Toontown, where everything is cartoon-shaped and nothing has a straight line. We climbed through Chip ’n Dale’s Treehouse, rode Gadget’s Go Coaster (a short kiddie coaster, but still fun), and visited every photo spot we could find.