Asia Trip 2023 Day 2 - Ode to Joy
Today was originally planned to be a day of museums and touring but when the weather forecasted a rainy Sunday we decided to move up our trip to Disneyland Tokyo by a day. We woke up a little after 7 AM and were down in a taxi a little after 8 AM. The drive to Disneyland Tokyo should have taken 20 minutes but we got there right as it was opening so it took closer to 45 minutes. Not a cheap taxi ride.
When we arrived it was packed. We waited another 20 minutes to get through security before we were able to scan our tickets and walk down the covered main street before seeing Cinderella’s Castle. This is the 5th (of 6) Disneylands we’ve been to (only Shanghai left) and there is still something magical about the first time you visit one of these parks. Now even in my late-30’s I can still feel that small moment of childlike joy that I had the first time my parents took me to Disneyland.
We had done a little research before going and found out that you can pay per ride to skip the line. Sort of like Genie Pass at Magic Kingdom except you do it for each ride. We immediately bought it for Splash Mountain which had a 70-minute wait a few minutes after the park opened. We got a ticket for an hour later and made our way to Pirates of the Caribbean for our first ride of the day. Unlike other parks, this was a direct replica of what we could tell of the one at Disneyland. A classic for a reason.
From there we went to Splash Mountain and walked by over a thousand people to walk straight onto the ride. It cost roughly $10 per person but the catch was you couldn’t buy more tickets until after you had scanned this one. By the time we had come down the main drop, we tried to buy tickets for Beauty and the Beast which had already sold out leaving only one other ride available to skip the line and it wasn’t one we wanted to go on. Instead, we went out in search of some snacks.
What’s interesting about Disneyland Tokyo is that they don’t have any regular sort of snacks. Instead of regular popcorn, they have curry, cheesecake, caramel, and black pepper popcorn same with various flavors of churros. We started off with some black pepper popcorn and while in line Jenn grabbed me a chicken leg to gnaw on. From there we walked around the park before finding a churro stand that had an apple cinnamon churro which was fine but not the classic one we were hoping for. We concluded our time in Disneyland Tokyo with a quick ride to Haunted Mansion which was also eerily similar to the California version.
We left Disneyland in the afternoon grabbing a taxi and going back to the Park Hyatt. When we arrived we went up to the 41st floor to have afternoon tea. Jenn started with a plate of cheese and I had a chicken sandwich. From there we split their cookies and chocolate plate, with Jenn having a lavender, rose, and camomile tea and I had a cappuccino. It was a very nice way to wind down from the busy morning at Disneyland and get ready for the rest of our day.
After a brief hour nap back in our room it was time to get ready for dinner. We grabbed a cab a little after 6 PM to take us to the one-Michelin star restaurant Ode. When we arrived we were greeted outside the door and taken right into the small restaurant which houses a 12-person chef’s table. For the next 3+ hours, we were whisked away into a French and Japanese culinary adventure that begin and ended with some great theatrics. We both started out with a glass of champagne, I later transitioned to a Syrah, while Jenn finished the trifecta with a glass of white and red. From the first to the last bite, the entire dinner was tremendous. There was a level of sophistication to each dish that we just marveled at. Some of the highlights included the firefly squid, the eel, and the megumi duck.
A little after 10 PM we left the restaurant and grabbed a taxi to take us back to the hotel. We arrived back and called an end to what was a perfect day in Tokyo.
