It’s our last day in Japan! Exciting and bittersweet. It’s been quite the experience but we are ready to be home. We have a flight from Tokyo to Osaka at 8pm and then we go straight to our flight from Osaka to Honolulu. So fingers crossed it all goes smoothly today.
Breakfast in the hotel as usual. We debated which park to go back to, whether to bring the luggage or not. In the end we decided to leave the luggage at the hotel, and start off at Tokyo Disneyland.
Something I didn’t know about Japan until a week or so into our trip. They don’t offer hand towels, or dryers in most bathrooms. So everyone brings their own hand towels in their bags to dry their hands. Very economical but different for us. So you’ll see these little hand towels for sale all over. Something I’m guessing you won’t see for sale at Disney in the US.
Something else we couldn’t understand was how everyone seemed to be really interested in waiting in lines at Disney. There were huge lines for shows, hours in advance. People would line the pathway of the parade several hours early. There would be HUGE snaking lines, for popcorn stands!!! Even the gift shop right at the front entrance would have huge hours long lines of people waiting to shop. We just could not understand it! They’d bring stools, and just sit there on their phones.
We went back to the really yummy buffet from the other day, for our lunch. It was right on the parade route too. So when the parade came by we snuck out and watched from the front steps. R was so dang cute! She was waiving with all her might, and squealing when the princesses showed up.
We tried for a few more rides but most everything was too long of a wait time. It was also getting late so we decided just to finish the day out at Disneyland rather than start over at Disney Sea.
About this time kids started melting down. This was our third day at the parks, and definitely the busiest crowds. We couldn’t even buy popcorn without waiting in a 30 minute line. We were trying to go to the canoe rides when R tripped and bruised her big toe. So every step she was taking was painful. Then they told us the canoe ride was closed for the day. Salt on the wound!
We tried to rally, and got one more River Boat Cruise, but no one was super into it. Since we can’t understand the guides whole talk. WwDisney
We wanted to buy a souvenir or mail a postcard but the lines to check out were outrageous so we scrapped it and headed back to the shuttles. We had to get the bus back to our hotel, grab our bags. Then shuttle back to Disneyland where we’d catch the bus to the airport. Sounds a bit time consuming but easy enough.
Till you factor in R and her bruised toe (slowest walking ever!) The hotel shuttle parking lot was of course at the opposite end of the park from the airport shuttle parking lot. The airport shuttles were super packed and it took us about 5 buses before we could get seats. We were starting to stress big time! It was 6:30, our flight left at 8pm, and we were still a 45 minute drive from the airport. We couldn’t miss this flight either because we needed to catch our next flight back to Hawaii. Ugh parent stress, kids tired, and hungry. We held it together pretty well considering.
So, so thankful we made it to the airport more quickly than expected. The check in process, and security went smoothly.
We were even able to grab one last bowl of Udon noodle soup and tempura chicken before we boarded our flight to Okinawa. It was an easy hour long flight. We walked out, and walked over to the international terminal. Checked in, and by now it was almost midnight. L and R were both exhausted. L was just laying on the floor whenever we stopped. We had all our bags so he couldn’t be carried. But once again, we were able to get checked in, and through security quickly. We quickly filled up our water bottles, and walked onto our last flight.
L watched about 10 minutes before passing out. R watched a full 20 minute show before I settled her down to sleep. After about an hour, I was finally able to get some sleep. Ty took this oh so flattering photo of us. I can not sleep sitting up, so that’s why I’m flat on my face.
We arrived in Hawaii at noon on Thursday, the same day we left Japan. Time zones are weird! So we got to the hotel and tried to enjoy the pool.
But it’s super windy here, and combined with off and on sprinkles, it’s not the most enjoyable. We walked to get some food about 3pm, then decided to enjoy a movie in our room. I think Hawaii for the next two days is just going to be about relaxing, trying to get back on a US time zone and recovering.
We walked to one of our favorite hole in the wall restaurants for dinner. Gorged ourselves on American food and then tucked the kids into bed.
It’s been a very long day and a half technically but it is wonderful to be back in the USA.
