We hit Tokyo Disneyland full of energy, the Georgia practically bouncing through the gates, Dotty being snotty as normal recently and jacked up on calpol bless her.
First up, we stormed the gates had no idea what to do and turned left and fell upon Jungle Cruise in Adventureland. The wait time? A breezy 10 minutes. Our skipper didn’t speak English, but that didn’t matter her over the top enthusiasm, expressive gestures, and hilarious delivery had us laughing from start to finish sits an amazing cruise through hippos crocks pirates gorillas (planet of the apes) lion king and more! It’s wild!!.
Straight after, we wandered up into Westernland and hopped on the Western River Railroad. Again, only 10 minutes of queue time absolute dream. The train was a perfect way to get a feel for the park layout, especially for the Georgia, who loved spotting different themed areas from the comfort of her seat.
Ali took Dotty off for a break as she still wasn’t feeling it and Georgia and myself headed to Fantasyland, and there it was a Disneyland exclusive we didn’t expect to love so much: “It’s a Small World with Groot.” A limited-time Marvel-themed overlay running from January to June 2025, this version adds Groot and other Marvel characters into the classic ride, reimagined in the charming Small World style. It was an absolute mind bender, loud, quirky, colourful, and honestly felt like you were tripping while watching Groot groove through different global scenes while floating around on a boat, wild.
We told Ali we loved it so much, so, we did it again. Back to back rides, because when something hits the spot like that, you don’t walk away. The kids were captivated, and honestly, so were we, minds truly blown!
After all that fun, hunger kicked in. We headed over to the Restaurant, after lunch we split up to let Ali and Georgia have some fun so they headed for the kid’s roller coaster for a thrill, while Dotty and I hung out on the play boat, which turned out to be a fun gem. She loved exploring, climbing, and sliding honestly it brought her out of her feeling sorry for her self phase, where she was happy just watching the world go by.
Later in the afternoon, we regrouped and made our way to Goofy’s Paint ‘n’ Play House in Toontown. What a wild and colourful ride literally! You’re given a virtual paint shooter and set loose in Goofy’s madcap living room to redecorate in true Disney fashion. It wasn’t a hit with Dotty and Georgia was not impressed…,
We were not quite finished yet not by a long shot. After Goofy, we wandered into Cinderella’s Palace, soaking up the royal vibes Georgia sat on the throne, tried on a glass slipper and generally acted royal walking outside there was the carousel. There’s something timeless about a good carousel ride smiles all round, well nearly but dotty didn’t hate it.
From there, we stopped by Minnie Mouse’s house, which felt like stepping into a life sized cartoon. The girls loved peeking into her pink, polka dotted world, complete with her kitchen, living room, and a cheeky look at her wardrobe fridge cooker and more gave a crazy insight into the messed up minds at Disney 😉
Our final adventure of the day? We boarded a raft to Tom Sawyer Island. That’s right we went full explorer mode. The kids raced through caves, climbed up into forts, and searched every nook and cranny for hidden treasure. It was the perfect end to an action packed day, with just the right mix of imagination and adventure on the island are full sized forts caves bridges and more!
As the sun dipped low, we grabbed some dinner rice chicken some veggies options and then we headed home early at 7 PM knowing we had a long one tomorrow!
Day One done and it was magic.
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