Disney College Program

 

As soon as we got back from Japan, Jennifer headed out to Florida to start in the Disney College Program. She had tried to get into the program in previous years, but was not accepted due to her young age.

She moved into a room in one of the apartment complexes Disney maintains for the college program east of I-4 near Disney Springs, then went through the Traditions class and earned her ears and name tag.

She was assigned to work at Typhoon Lagoon. When she's not working she spends time in the parks, mostly dressing up and meeting characters.

The rest of us moved out of our rental in Beaverton, and into our house in Bend. I rented a room from a friend in Vancouver Washington, and usually drive to Bend on the weekends, but sometimes Susan comes over to stay with me in Vancouver. When I'm in Bend I often work on the pole barn, and sometimes I get visitors.

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.