April is coming to a close, so I wanted to take a look back on what's been a very busy month at the parks for me.
I'm keeping a log of all my park visits this year, partly to see whether the cost of a two park annual passport is worth it, and partly because I'm looking forward to year end stats (oh no, nerd alert). I took a look at my log this morning, and was actually surprised to see that I've been to the parks five times in April. Yet, I still feel like I haven't truly experienced the Easter events. At all.
How do I not have any decent pictures of the decorations?! I've been to the parks every week this month! I'm distressed.
Parades and shows seen in April
Usatama on the Run (Tokyo Disneyland Easter Parade) - 3 times
Fashionable Easter (Tokyo DisneySea Easter Show) - 2 times
Big Band Beat - 2 times
Nightfall Glow - 1 time
Fantasmic! - 1 time
Tokyo Disneyland Attractions Experienced in April
Pirates of the Caribbean - 1
Cinderella's Fairy Tale Hall - 1
Mickey's Philharmagic - 1
StarJets - 1
Gadget's Go Coaster - 1
Haunted Mansion - 1
Western River Railroad - 1
Splash Mountain - 1
Pinocchio's Daring Journey - 1
Snow White's Adventures - 1
Space Mountain - 1
Tokyo DisneySea Attractions Experienced in April
DisneySea Electric Railway - 1
Sindbad's Storybook Voyages - 1
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - 1
Journey to the Center of the Earth - 2
Venetian Gondolas - 1
Tower of Terror - 1
Nemo & Friends Searider - 1
First impressions of the Easter events: I love the music for Fashionable Easter, and I adore the Usatama wackiness. In other words, the trend I noticed last year continues. I love the music for the DisneySea harbor shows, but prefer the dynamic presentation of the parades at Disneyland. I think the parades that roll by are easier to watch, there aren't really any bad spots to watch the Disneyland parades from, whereas for the harbor shows you need a good spot to truly enjoy the performances.
The characters absolutely steal the show during Fashionable Easter, and they're placed up on top of the barges for the most part, so you should be able to get a pretty good view of them no matter where you watch the show from. I've only watched the show from Lido Isle so far, but Gelatoni's little dance is amazingly cute, and José and Panchito are hilarious. I'd love to get some pictures, but I feel it would be impossible to capture their amazing chemistry and humour in a still.
I want to get close enough to get a better look at the dancers and their fashionable costumes. Hopefully some day.
Some Disney firsts for this month:
- Got front row seats for Big Band Beat! Actually not the best seats in the house, but wow, you get close to the performers. They literally reach out and touch you.
- Took my mom on Splash Mountain and Journey to the Center of the Earth! She enjoyed both, but kept screaming "WILL IT GET WORSE??????? IS THIS IT???? HELP!!!!" after the big drop on Journey. I couldn't stop laughing. She wanted to ride it again after we got off.
- Got to experience Nemo & Friends Searider before the official opening! They were doing soft opening of the attraction (assumably to train the cast members working the attraction) for a couple of hours this week, and I was lucky enough to catch it. The ride is adorable. It uses the same ride system as StormRider, but it's a less violent experience. Unlike StormRider, it didn't give me motion sickness. Huzzah! It's still a bit of a stomach churner, so I didn't feel comfortable going for a second go. And I probably won't ride it right after snacking once it opens. I'm sensitive to simulator style rides, but I'm thrilled it's not a 3D attraction! Having to wear glasses over my glasses always bums me out. I should probably get around to watching that Dory film at some point too.
It's been an amazing month of Disney shenanigans, I'll blame the shifty spring season weather for the lack of pictures. I'll try to make up for it starting next month! I love the Easter events too much to let them pass by without decent pictures of decorations and snacks!
I haven't even done the Usatama egg hunt yet! I also really want to get pictures of all 50 character Easter eggs placed around Disneyland. So much to do, so little time. Easter lasts until June 14th at both parks!
