Soooo it turns out counting the 89 steps and drinking from the 9-headed dragon spring water doesn’t get rid of all your bad luck…. Taxis were not as quick to arrive today, so when we arrived at the Shinjuku Bus Terminal we discovered we couldn’t board the 8.10am bus and had to wait an hour for the next one. That made Belle sad as we wouldn’t make it in time for the opening of Disneyland, but it did mean we had time to find a Starbucks, drink coffee and celebrate Jess’ great results with her.

When we finally arrived at the theme park at close to 10am, we unfortunately found that the fast pass system was running out, and the line for the Beauty and the Beast ride was 145 minutes wait. So I did something I swore I’d never do…..I paid to do the ride! And even then the earliest timeslot we could get was 6.40pm! The boys decided it was not worth paying for, but the girls and I decided we would not want to miss it.

This was all discussed in the line for Pirates of the Caribbean, a ride that has become our tradition to be the first of the day. It was great but tamer than California, so we went on to do the classics like Peter Pan, Pinocchio and It’s a Small World (I managed to get them all on it!)

The Japanese will queue patiently for hours, and from the time we arrived in the morning they seemed to be placing rugs and sitting in prime spots ready for the lunchtime parade. We took that as a good opportunity to grab a quick lunch at the Plaza cafe. Food is different at every venue, and usually only has two or three options. But it is not worth picking something for food you like really, it is better just to pick a short line, refuel and keep going!

We had booked a fast pass for the Haunted Mansion and Star Tours, and then no more were available. So we waited in line for Roger Rabbit, then the kids all lined up for Big Thunder Mountain while Ross and I rode the Mark Twain paddle steamer and Snow White Adventures ride (it was weird – there was no Prince and it ended with Snow White eating the poisoned apple?!).

Once we all met up again, there was still 90 minutes until our Belle ride unfortunately, so we checked out some of the shops, did Pirates of the Caribbean again, and headed over the Belle’s village. The ride was excellent, our favourite of the day, and it is just such a shame that the long wait times mean people miss out on it.

We were keen to get back to the hotel and start packing, so we left after that ride and caught the bus back to Shinjuku. Tom found a Shake Shack near the bus terminal, so we decided the tradition should be that we eat our first and farewell meal there. The 8.30pm dinner of burgers, fries and shakes didn’t have a calming effect though, or maybe it was the excitement of Disney or mixed feelings about going home, but I am not sure how I am going to get them to pack and turn on quickly enough so they get at least some sleep before our 5am departure tomorrow…….