Tokyo, Japan - Part 5 (Disneyland)

When we were trying to re-plan our vacation this summer & choosing somewhere to go from Hawaii, one of the things that first drew me to Japan was Tokyo Disney because I knew the girls would love it:

That way they have a little fun with their culture. And after researching, I knew I wanted to go on Monday & Tuesday so it would be less crowded. We decided to do both parks in 2 days instead of hopping, so we started with Disneyland on Monday:

We got there around 8:45 and the park opened at 9:00. It was fairly smooth getting inside and wasn't too crowded:

We went to Star Wars first because it was closest and there was no line:

This park was very similar to Disneyland in California except it had Cinderella's Castle:

We were able to buy a few premiere passes once we got inside, otherwise we hopped around all day having fun:

I always love It's a Small World, but I was so sad it was closed while we were there:

Apparently, Baymax is huge in Japan and that is one of the rides we bought a pass for because it had a 2 hour wait. I'm not sure why because it wasn't anything crazy but at least, we can say we did it:

We also bought a pass for Beauty & the Beast, and that was totally worth it:

Space Mountain was also closed, but we finally convinced Sophie to go on Big Thunder Mountain. She was really nervous, but after she did it, she loved it:

I was honestly surprised how quickly we were able to make it through the park. I mean look at these pictures - when we stopped to take pictures at the castle, it looks like we have the park to ourselves:

It was cloudy most of the day so the temperature was perfect, but it did start sprinkling at the end of the day, and the only ride we hadn't ridden yet was Splash Mountain. We decided since we already had our ponchos on, we would just wear them on the ride so we wouldn't be wet and cold riding the subway home:

Again, this was the first time Sophie had ridden it. She was really afraid of that drop back there, but she was so brave! We were so proud of her this trip because this is the most she has ever done:

And that was Disney Tokyo, day 1! We got there at 9:00 and left by 6:00 but we had ridden every single ride in the park. It was a great introduction to Tokyo Disney, so we knew how to get there, how to buy our premiere passes inside the park, etc. so we were ready for day 2. 

When we got back that night, the girls & I were exhausted and hungry. We ate dinner at the hotel while Bryan had reservations of his own:

He really wanted a real sushi, omakase experience, but he knew the girls & I wouldn't want to do it with him, so he went on his own to a place our hotel recommended. It was only him & another family, and he said it was amazing! By far the best meal he had all week and probably the most expensive:

So glad her got to enjoy it even though the girls & I didn't.

Tokyo, Japan - Part 4 (Animal Cafe)

For those still keeping up, we woke up on Sunday with not much of an agenda. I kind of left an open day in case there was something we discovered when we got there and we wanted an easy day because we had big plans Monday & Tuesday. The girls wanted to shop so we took our time walking around, shopping & eating of course. I was really excited to try:

I read about them before we came. They actually have 3 locations in the same block. One is gluten free, one is vegan and then they have regular. Sadie & I hit up the gf location:

While these 2 went to the regular store front:

Later that afternoon, we planned something the girls discovered when we got there - an animal cafe! They had a ton on Takeshita Street, and they are obsessed with dogs (probably since we don't have one) so they chose one of the dog cafes to visit:

This one had the highest ratings with big, fluffy, white dogs. And when we got there, it was all decorated for the world cup:

In case you are wondering, it is not what it sounds like - an animal cafe. That assumes you eat at it, right? In reality, you get an appointment for an hour just to go in and hang out with the animals. But they do have drinks you are allowed to have:

And of course we got a lot of pictures with the dogs:

Honestly, you can tell the dogs get played with & fed all day, so they kind of were lazy and just laid around - they weren't nearly as fun as I thought they would be, but the girls still liked petting them:

I had animal cafe on my list as a maybe, and it was fun to do since I had never really heard of this before, so I'm glad I let the girls choose, but it was kind of a waste of time and money. 

Afterwards, we stayed in the Harajuku &Shibuya areas shopping some more & then we went to get burgers for dinner & they were AMAZING:

It was some kind of egg bun, and it was so light & fluffy. It was so good, Sadie & I ended up ordering a 2nd!

If you haven't noticed, we were all wearing our red, white & blue because it was July 5th in Tokyo, but July 4th at home so we knew everyone was celebrating the holiday in America:

We had fun walking around that night & seeing the craziness of the city after dark:

We even walked through the Shibuya Crossing one more time and it was WAY more crowded than when we went during the day. You can't tell, but there was even a group who had music and they started doing a flash mob right in the middle of the intersection behind us:

We missed celebrating the holiday in America but it was still a fun night out in Tokyo.