Tokyo Again

Saturday morning we checked out of the Disneyland Hotel, took the train into Tokyo, and checked into our hotel for the last two nights of our trip. Our hotel was in the Minato area, near Tamachi Station.

We then explored some Pokemon Centers and the shopping districts of Ikebukuro and Shibuya.

That night we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe in Roppongi, the tenth HRC we have visited.

Sunday morning we took a train out to the Narita airport for our flight home.

Park Hopping

We started Thursday morning at DisneySea, where we enjoyed more attractions, eating snacks, and meeting characters. We had lunch at the Mexican restaurant in Lost River Delta.

In the afternoon, we headed over to Disneyland, and explored Tom Sawyer Island, then had dinner at the Coffeehouse on Main Street.

Friday morning we headed into Disneyland again to enjoy a few more rides and watch the Easter parade. 

We finished the day by taking the monorail over to DisneySea for a few hours, and then to Ikspari for a bit.

Tokyo Disneyland Resort

Tuesday morning we took the train to the Tokyo Disney Resort and checked into the Disneyland Hotel for four nights. The Disneyland Hotel is across from the entrance to Disneyland.

The first day we spent at Tokyo Disneyland. It was a little rainy, but we had fun. We especially enjoyed riding the Jungle Cruise and the Western Railroad, which were closed when we went in 2014, and seeing the Easter decorations.

We ate dinner at the Queen of Hearts restaurant in Fantasyland, then spent some time walking around Ikspiari, the shopping center at the resort.

The second day we went into DisneySea, which was celebrating its 15th anniversary. We enjoyed several attractions and had lunch at Vulcania, an Asian cuisine restaurant in the Port Discovery area.

Wednesday night we finished by watching Fantasmic!

Tokyo and Yokohama

Monday morning, we took the train down the mountain and then into Yokohama. We found a hotel for the night, then continued on into Tokyo.

 

We visited Shibuya Crossing and ate at a sushi restaurant before heading back to Yokohama. 

Our rooms were on the 33rd floor, and there was an earthquake during the night.

Hakone

 

On Sunday, the 8th day of our trip, we took the train out to Osaka castle. It was quite a walk up to the castle, but there were great views of the city from the battlements.

We reached the top and took a look around, then headed back to Osaka Station to catch the Shinkansen, or high speed train, to Hakone.

We were able to see Mount Fuji from the train, which we weren't able to do when we were in Japan in 2014, although the photos of it aren't as clear as the view was.

Hakone is a mountain town near Fuji, and it took a while for the bus to wind up the roads from the train station to our hotel. The resort was lovely, and our original plan was to stay two nights but after a few hours we decided we would instead head into Tokyo in the morning.

Hiroshima

Saturday morning we took the train up to Osaka Station, where we boarded a high speed train to Hiroshima.

We took a bus to the Peace Memorial Park, where we were given a free tour of the grounds.

We then went back to the train station, and took a train to Miyajima, and then boarded a ferry to the island.

 

After the short trip out to the island, we walked around the shrine, had some ice cream, and looked at the deer.

We then took the ferry and the train back to Osaka, and enjoyed a meal at Za Watami before heading back to our hotel.

Osaka

From HKDL we took a flight to Osaka, with a long layover in Shanghai. By the time we arrived in Osaka it was night, so we found our hotel near Nagahoribashi Station and went to bed.

Friday morning we made our way up through arcades of shops to the Hard Rock Cafe where we had lunch (Number 9). 

We then continued north toward Osaka Station, where we checked out a Pokemon Center store and a mall, and watched Captain America: Civil War. We took the train back to our hotel.

HK Disneyland Day 2

Wednesday morning we were asked to help open the park. It was a very nice day and we enjoyed most everything the park had to offer, although we just did a walk through of the Toy Story area. Like the one in Paris, it just has some lightly themed flat rides. 

Although there were cute shuttle buses running between the hotel and the park, that morning we decided to walk in, and stopped to look around the Disneyland Hotel. Both hotels are pretty nice.

We hadn’t ridden Autopia the first day due to the rain, so we did it first thing on the second. In Hong Kong, the cars are electric. There wasn’t a lot to do in Tomorrowland besides it and Buzz Lightyear as the Stitch show and Space Mountain were being refurbished, and their Star Tours was being converted into an Iron Man attraction.

There was a nice parade and we enjoyed the Mickey and the Wonderous Book show in Fantasyland, which also has Small World, the Mickey’s Philarmagic movie, and a Winnie the Pooh dark ride. It was also interesting seeing how the Jungle Cruise and other attractions differed from the ones in the States. We ate lunch and dinner at quick serve restaurants in Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. 

At the end of the second day, we rode the Big Grizzly Mountain coaster as our last attraction, then watched the castle fireworks show. HKDL is a pretty small park, but it was definitely worth a two day visit.

HK Disneyland

On Tuesday, our third day in Hong Kong, we transferred to the Hollywood Hotel near Hong Kong Disneyland. We spent two days and two nights at the HKDL resort before heading to the airport for a flight to Japan. The park was still celebrating its 10 year anniversary.

After checking in and dropping our luggage with Bell Services, we headed into the park. When it opened, HKDL only had four lands - Main Street, Adventureland, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland. After a few years they added three more, all outside the train tracks - Toy Story Land, Grizzly Gulch, and Mystic Point. However it’s still a fairly small park.

It was decorated for Easter, with eggs decorated as characters throughout the park. We hit Adventureland first. It has a treehouse with a large island around it, which is circled by its Jungle Cruise. It also has a Lion King show. 

We especially enjoyed the newest ride, Mystic Manor, which we went on multiple times. It’s a trackless ride with lots of great effects, both physical and via projections. We ate lunch at the Asian quick serve restaurant next door to Mystic Manor.

The first night we left the park early, having done most of the available rides and shows. We enjoyed the park quite a bit,  although we did get quite wet on the first day, due to torrential downpours. We ate dinner at the Chef Mickey's at the hotel, and went for a swim.

Hong Kong Part 2

Monday we spent the morning at the zoo, then spent more time riding the Hop On Hop Off bus.

In the afternoon we visited the Maritime Museum and went on a cruise on the bay.

We had dim sum for dinner. 

That night we walked around Whampoa.

Hong Kong

Sunday morning we took the hotel shuttle to the Star Ferry terminal, then the ferry to Hong Kong Island.

We took the tram up to Victoria Peak, where we had lunch, then went around the island to Stanley Bay on the Hop On Hop Off bus.  

For dinner we continued my quest to eat at all the Hard Rock Cafes (Number 8).

After dinner we crossed back over to Kowloon and rode the hop on hop off bus there, then caught the shuttle back to our hotel.

Graduation Trip

To celebrate the kids graduation from college, Susan and I told them they could take a trip wherever they wanted. They decided to take a trip to Asia. On Friday morning we left Portland on a small plane to Vancouver, BC.

 

From Vancouver we flew Air Canada to Hong Kong. It was a long flight, and every time they made announcements during the flight they did it in four languages. 

 

Saturday evening we arrived at the Hong Kong airport, and took a taxi to our hotel near Whampoa in Kowloon, northeast of Hong Kong Island. Our rooms were on the 22nd floor.