Our day started at 7.30am as we met to catch taxis to Shinjuku to get a bus to DisneySea. We determined last night that at $10pp for a 45 minute trip, the bus there was the best way to go.

Only one of our three rooms has breakfast included, so the boys took the coupons down to the restaurant hotel this morning while the rest of us ate cereal in our rooms 😂

The boys took the first taxi to the bus terminal, which gave them time to buy our tickets and be ready for the bus departure time. The girls’ taxi driver had no idea where to drop us and left us in a side street quite disoriented, so once again I had to map my location to Ross’ to find them, and we arrived at the bus just as it was about to depart. The conductor made us RUN to catch it – running is not my sport at the best of times, and certainly not now I’m limping with whatever ligament damage I’ve done to my left foot 😬

The trip was fine on a comfortable coach, we arrived before the park opened, and were at the Indiana Jones ride by 9.20am. We decided to skip the 120 minute wait (!) and do the ride as single riders. Only Belle and I had to ride as singles – Zac was placed in the same row as Ross, and the other four were given a row together!! And we walked straight through and were done with the ride by 9.27am!

That spurred everyone on to do as many single rider rides as possible. They next did a rollercoaster called Raging Spirit, while I minded bags and jackets and elevated my leg, and then we all did the Sinbad ride together.

We next visited Ariel’s Grotto and I made Sam pose with Prince Eric to help him get into the zone for next year’s school musical, and the kids did some of the rides there. They also enjoyed a sea salt icecream sandwich in a clam shell.

Most of the kids then went to line up for Tower of Terror (a 90 minute wait) while Ross, Zac and I rode the railway, watched a Mickey and Minnie show on a boat on the water, and went to line up for lunch.

We ate seafood pizza at Zambini’s, an Italian restaurant. Just as we finished, the others arrived from their ride and were able to order and use our table (the lines for restaurants and snacks here are long waits).

We all then did the Aquatopia ride together, and then Ross and I did a paddle steamer ride while the kids returned to rides in Ariel’s Grotto and then did Indiana Jones and Raging Spirit again. We had intended to meet them at the Indiana Jones ride to do it with them, but the boat ride ended nearer the park entrance , so we elected to just rest and wait for them there. We checked out some of the shops, but the queues in there were also ridiculous.

They made it back to meet us for the 6.15pm bus ride back to Shinjuku. I’m sure they would have liked to stay for the fireworks, but the bus didn’t run that late at night, so we weren’t sure how we would get home if we left when the park closed.

One disappointment we have here is the wait times. Most rides have times ranging from 100 minutes to 190 minutes! When the park is open for 12 hours, I can’t imagine wanting to spend a quarter of your time available waiting for one ride, but the Japanese do 🤷‍♀️ They also queue for restaurants and even snack carts. When we did Disneyland in July, you could order ahead everywhere and just press a button when you were ready to pick it up, so these theme parks have been quite a shock in comparison.

The bus returned us to the Shinjuku Bus Terminal, and we stopped in the next street for McDonalds for dinner (which Jess and Belle have been requesting). Two taxis then took us back to the hotel, and I announced I have moved our admission tickets tomorrow from 9am to the afternoon so everyone can have a sleep in. Zac and Jess in their post-HSC haze have found the constant early mornings a push, so decided it was very generous of me to change the day’s plans so they could sleep in (although Zac looked at me suspiciously and asked did I change it for them or for me 😉).

Another exciting thing that happened tonight was Jess and Abi both asking for medications. Jess needed some cream for an infected toe (caused by new shoes rubbing and causing blisters – shoes that someone else earned commission on at Rebel because Tim missed her visit….but I digress, Tim…..). Abi needed something for a scratchy throat from all the screaming she did on rides today.

One thing we have all not done well enough over here is drink enough water (oh! And I just realised we have had NO coffee today!!!!! …..Coffee is so hard to find, especially at theme parks……but I digress again….). I made everyone pack a drink bottle, but we have not been diligent enough at filling it and taking it each day.

But something else I pack every holiday is medical supplies, including a letter from our GP explaining why we have them. And every holiday I take a copious amount of supplies of various items, and bring them all home again. So the fact not one, but TWO people needed something, made lugging it all around worthwhile 😎😂