Greetings! We just returned from our trip to Disney Tokyo. We had an amazing time! We spent two nights at the New Sanno Hotel. It is a pretty nice hotel that is owned by the US Military but it sits smack dab in the middle of Tokyo. It was awesome. Great rooms, great restaurants, great pool, great staff. We (us and the Whites and their 4 boys!) all loaded up and headed out at 6:30 Thursday morning. The hotel is only about 1 1/2 hours from our house but it feels like it is soooooo far away...it was almost like being in America! We checked into the hotel and headed straight for Disney Tokyo. Despite the unbelievable crowds, we were able to hit most of the rides. Remember, we are in the land of little people so the height requirements for the rides are significantly shorter here in Japan than in the states. In fact, Carson was tall enough to ride every single ride at Disney......Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain....etc. We spared him from Space Mountain but we did take him on Big Thunder Mountain......he loved it! He is a Conway after all......and we are like adrenaline seeking roller coaster junkies! We couldn't believe the crowds....the Winnie the Pooh ride had a 110 minute wait at one point if that tells you anything. Luckily, we strategically planned out our day and took full advantage of the fast passes and we were able to do a lot considering the crowds. We all wore our Disney shirts and despite the masses of crazily dressed Japanese folks, we still stood out. People were dressed so crazy. It was hard to tell if they were doing it because it was Halloween, or if that is just how they normally dressed. We had a good time looking at all of the outrageous costumes. We all watched the Haunted Halloween Parade and ate lots and lots of popcorn......caramel, chocolate, soda, honey, and just plain old regular salted popcorn. We passed on the curry popcorn though! Popcorn is the treat of choice at Disney, you find popcorn stands at every corner. They honey flavoredwas my personal favorite, and wouldn't you know it was next to the Pooh ride! We were planning on spending two days at Disney but we weren't up to facing the crowds two days in a row. So, on day two.....we all wore our matching pumpkin tshirts that we hand tie dyed and decorated.....and we headed to Harajuku.....a busy shopping district in the middle of Tokyo. It is known for the outlandishly dressed teenagers. But, before shopping we made our way to the Meiji shrine. It is one of the busiest shrines in our area. It was Halloween night and it seemed that they were gearing up for some sort of night time festival. It was sort of spooky! We had a really great time and ate dinner at a yummy Thai restaurant. You should have seen their face when we asked if they had a table for 11! We were so proud that we had successfully navigated through Tokyo using the trains and subways! Most of all......we drove around and didn't get lost. It is sort of like driving in New York City.......but you are driving on the wrong side of the road and none of the signs are in English! You can imagine how fun that was! Well, here are some of the pictures of our adventures......enjoy!
Kenzie in front of the Tokyo Disney castle.
Carson and his best friend, Jake!
Here comes trouble.....The Conways and the Whites
Conway kids at the New Sanno pool
A little Japanese girl after a religious ceremony....she was happy to pose for us.
Entrance to the Meiji Shrine
Kenzie and Calvin in front of the lanterns....notice the homemade tie dye pumpkin t-shirts.
The Tokyo Tower....modeled after the Eifel Tower
And my personal favorite......We found the Pearly Gates! They aren't in Heaven after all!
