Waking up at 6.00am , we set off at 7.00 am for Shinjuku station. At Shinjuku station, we will probably get some breakfast. Today, we plan to spend the day at Tokyo Disneyland. However before that, we will head for the Odakyu Sightseeing Service Centre to enquire about getting tickets and information for our trip to Hakone the next day to catch a glimpse of Mt Fuji. The Odakyu Sightseeing Service Centre is located on the 1st floor of Shinjuku Station on the West side of the Odakyu Shinjuku Station platform.
We plan to take the opportunity to take a Shinkansen ( Bullet Train) of which there are a number of types in Japan. The one we are planning to take is the Romansuka ( Romance Cars) which has love seats for couples as the double seats have no armrests to separate a couple, hence the term- Romancecars. A round ticket for one person from Shinjuku to Hakone Yumoto is ¥4040(SGD$64). This is inclusive of the limited express surcharge one has to pay in addition to the normal train ticket price since the Romancecars are limited express services[¥870+¥1150]. More on the Romancecar in our next posting on the Hakone trip.
Back to our Disneyland trip. After settling our tickets and information requests for our Hakone trip, we will head to the ticket station to purchase tickets to JR Maihama station where Tokyo Disneyland can be reached. Based on research, it will be good for us to catch the 8.51am train via the JR Chuo line from Shinjuku station at platform 7. It is a much simpler route since we only have one transfer to make. That is, we will only need to transfer at Tokyo Station from the JR Chuo line to JR Keiyo line which will take us direct to Maihama Station. We should reach Maihama Station by 9.40am. The ticket fare one way is ¥380(SGD$6.10) per person. A useful website which one can use to get JR train schedules and costing in advance is from http://grace.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/hyperWeb.cgi .
Reaching JR Maihama Station(above) which is the main access point of Tokyo Disney Resort, we will be able to see the park's main gate located in front of the station as well as the Resort Gateway Station of the Disney Resort Line monorail. The Disney monorail is worth a photography or two due to it’s unique Mickey Mouse-shaped windows and hand straps which sports a different accent color on the nose and sides. The seats in the monorail are shaped and colored to represent Mickey’s button pants. However, since we are only heading for Disneyland only, we don’t plan to take the monorail(below) as it is more useful for those who are travelling to the Disney hotels or from Disneyland to Disney Sea World. Moreover, the 1 day pass on the monorail costs ¥650(SGD$10.40) per person and we can put that money to better use. It would also be wasted since we will only be within Disneyland. 
If like us, you are heading only to Disneyland from Maihama station, then it’s probably much easier and faster and to just walk from the station via an elevated walkway a distance of 335m to the entrance of Disneyland. For those who have not bought tickets to Disneyland in advance, they will have to head for the Tokyo Disneyland Resort Welcome Centre on the left after exiting Maihama station to purchase the tickets. Those who will be staying at the Disney hotels can also check in at the Centre.
Just a little trivia, Tokyo Disneyland is the only Disneyland that is not owned by Walt Disney but rather by a company known as the Oriental Land Company. One more reason to access Disneyland via the elevated walkway is that the main store for Disney merchandise known as Bon Voyage(below) is located along the way. It is shaped like a giant suitcase and hatbox and has been described as a Disney store on steroids, meaning it has the grandest selection of Disney merchandise available under one roof anywhere in Japan, even more than within the park itself.
We have been warned that we have to be prepared to spend at least an hour in it gawking and controlling our urges to buy every single item we see there. A good place to pick up souvenirs. We will probably look around and see what we plan to buy and then come back again after we have visited Disneyland as we do not want to be carrying so much stuff around the park. One thing good is you don’t have to worry about rushing back to the store as it closes one hour after the parks close at 6pm. For those who just want to buy merchandise but don’t wish to pay admission fee to get into the park, it is a godsend!
Just a little trivia, Tokyo Disneyland is the only Disneyland that is not owned by Walt Disney but rather by a company known as the Oriental Land Company. One more reason to access Disneyland via the elevated walkway is that the main store for Disney merchandise known as Bon Voyage(below) is located along the way. It is shaped like a giant suitcase and hatbox and has been described as a Disney store on steroids, meaning it has the grandest selection of Disney merchandise available under one roof anywhere in Japan, even more than within the park itself.
We have been warned that we have to be prepared to spend at least an hour in it gawking and controlling our urges to buy every single item we see there. A good place to pick up souvenirs. We will probably look around and see what we plan to buy and then come back again after we have visited Disneyland as we do not want to be carrying so much stuff around the park. One thing good is you don’t have to worry about rushing back to the store as it closes one hour after the parks close at 6pm. For those who just want to buy merchandise but don’t wish to pay admission fee to get into the park, it is a godsend! 
Entering the park after the customary bag check at the ticketing area, we will be planning to move in a clockwise direction, starting from Adventureland to Fantasyland and then ending at Tomorrowland.
As there will probably be queues around, we plan to go for the popular rides during lunchtime so that crowds will be lesser and also being a weekday in winter, there will be less people. We will probably grab meals from the many stands around so that while queuing for the rides, we can munch on food instead of wasting precious time queuing just to get into the eateries or restaurants. We heard that the smoked turkey drumstick is something to look out for. It is sold at the takeaway stands and is value for money plus delicious and tender. It costs ¥472(SGD$7.55) per drumstick and will fill you up. I know Gayle will be looking out for her favourite caramel popcorn, which I read in reviews stating that it’s so fresh and the caramel heavenly! One bag costs ¥300(SGD$4.80).
We will probably use our Fastpass to gain entrance to the haunted mansion located in Fantasyland which is a more popular ride. Fastpass tickets are dispensed by machines outside each attraction that uses them. The guest inserts his/her park ticket into a reader on the machine. The machine then returns the admission ticket and a Fastpass ticket will be printed. This ticket will show the time at which the guest may enter the special priority line at that attraction. The time period given is normally one hour for rides, and 15 minutes for theatrical presentations. It will also show when another Fastpass can be obtained. Fastpass allows visitors like us to avoid long lines at the attractions on which the system is installed, freeing us to enjoy other attractions and then come back at the pre-fixed time with a reserved place for the ride.
We will probably stay until latevening before leaving the park and heading for Bon Voyage. After which we will return to Shinjuku via the JR line. Reaching Shinjuku about 7plus in the evening, it would be time to look for some dinner. We plan to head for a thematic restaurant called ‘The Lock Up’ located at Kabuki-cho 1-16-3, Shinjuku Square Bldg. 6-7F. It has a hybrid prison/dungeon/horror movie theme where customers are led to tables inside stone cells by waitresses in plastic-miniskirt police uniforms. There, one of us will be chained while we are "locked up" in a cell which is where we will have our meals. Before the meals start, customers will be given 2 complimentary choice of coloured vitamin pills.The menu is filled with bizarre drinks (the most well-known of which consists of a rack of test tubes filled with flavored syrups, a flask full of alcohol, and a beaker to mix everything in) and imaginatively titled food. Twice every night, a "jailbreak" is staged in which the lights go out and costumed hoodlums scare the living daylights out of random patrons. It is opened from 5pm to 5am. After this interesting concept dinner, we will probably do some shopping around Shinjuku area before returning to our hotel.
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