We were up at 5:30am this morning to get to Disneyland nice and early. From everything I’d researched, it’s worth arriving before opening (officially 9am, but they often open the gates from 8:15am) to line up. Once you’re inside, the Disney app lets you access the free 40th Anniversary Priority Pass — these give you skip-the-line access for certain rides, and they sell out fast. You can also buy a paid priority pass, and once you’ve used it, you can buy another. Basically, the earlier you arrive, the better chance you have of locking in your rides.

We caught the train to Maihama Station, then jumped on the Disney monorail — such a fun way to arrive. It definitely sets the tone for the day. Once there, you go through security (yes, you can bring your own food and drink in, which I thought was awesome) and then join the next line to wait for the gates to open. Even at this point, the staff were in full Disney mode — one guy was giving off serious Japanese Elton John energy. Loved it.

We laid out our picnic sheet from Daiso (the one we bought yesterday in Harajuku) and had a konbini breakfast — croissants and canned lattes — while we waited. We didn’t get let in early, but it was decent people-watching, and honestly, I had no idea there were so many different mouse ears out there.

Once we were in, I went into a bit of panic mode trying to figure out how the passes worked on the app. It took me a few goes, but I eventually got our first ride booked for 10am. We headed to a café for a coffee and a Mickey-shaped muffin and made a bit of a plan. The signage isn’t super obvious, so you kind of have to rely on the app map and figure it out as you go.

We wandered around, took the classic castle photo, and bought Jessie some ears. She wasn’t feeling it at first — the waiting, the walking — but that changed fast once we got on our first ride: Beauty and the Beast. Watching her face during that ride nearly had me in tears. She was completely in awe, and for me, it hit that nostalgic nerve — I was younger than Jessie when my uncle bought me the Beauty and the Beast cassette tape. Even though it was all in Japanese, it was beautiful, and the ride itself is incredible.

The skip-the-line passes were a game-changer. We used them all day and only had to line up once — Thunder Mountain, which was about 30 minutes, and even that was worth it. Jessie loved it — screamed the whole way and wanted to go again straight away. We kept ending up at the front of rides somehow, which made for a pretty epic Splash Mountain photo (yes, we bought it — her face was too good not to).

We also checked out a couple of shows: Mickey’s Philharmagic (great 4D experience) and Country Bears Jamboree, which a friend had said was weird and funny — they were right. It was bizarre but hilarious.

Lunch was quite interesting, but Jessie was into it because rice shaped like Bay Max!

At the end of the day, we found a spot for the Electrical Parade. We laid our picnic sheet down early (you’re allowed to do this up to an hour before parades) and let Jessie rest and have some snacks while we waited. The parade was amazing — the lights, the music, the characters. A few of them spotted Jessie and blew her kisses, which made her whole night.

We decided to skip the fireworks — they would’ve been cool, but Jessie was wrecked, and it felt like the right time to go. She crashed on the train again, and Craig ended up carrying her and the backpack through Tokyo Station, which was a mission in the heat, but he managed.

It really was such a good day. Exhausting, but so worth it.

Tomorrow we’re off to Kyoto on the Shinkansen — can’t wait for a change of pace.

Hope everyone’s having a great Easter weekend.

❤ Laus

P.S. I’ll add all my Disney tips to a Japan tips blog at the end of the trip.