December is always a busy month for us; we have two birthdays in November (Alan on the 16th, Momo on the 25th), and Christmas as well. This year, we went Skiing for Alan’s birthday, and for Momo’s we went to Tokyo Disneyland with a trip to the Bippity Boppity Boutique for Momo. Or possibly for Lisa, it is hard to tell who enjoyed that more.

We drove to Tokyo Disneyland in the morning, along with Lisa’s parents. Since Lisa works as Tokyo Disneyland, we end up going there more than I would expect, but it’s always a fun time.

We started out on the Jungle Cruise, always a favorite. I like the jokes in America better, but it is always fun to see how they do it in Japan. They also are funny, but not as many puns, and I’ve never heard the back-side of water joke (is it a joke or a tradition?) in Japan. I brought my nice camera (Olympus E-M10 Mark IV) and had it set to portrait mode, so was playing around with getting some interesting pictures. I’m not a good photographer though, so you can probably get just as good stuff with an iPhone.

After Jungle Cruise, we stopped by the Country Bear Theater for their Jingle Bell Jamboree. This was a Saturday, and a few days before Christmas, so Disneyland was super crowded. It is usually crowded at Tokyo Disneyland, but this was another level. So we did many fewer rides than we usually do, and they were weighted towards the less popular attractions. Which is fine; it’s really about spending time with the family for me.

After that, we split up, with Alan and I going to Pirates of the Caribbean, which he likes a lot, and Lisa and Momo going to the Bippity Boppity Boutique for Momo’s appointment. Momo chose the Princess Anna set.

After her appointment, we went outside, and there was Prince Flynn Rider there.

Lisa and the kids rode the Mad Hatter’s teacups (I abstained – nothing good comes from me getting on that attraction), and the Merry-‘Go-Round. We waited in line for the Haunted Mansion, and then one go on the Pirates of the Caribbean with everyone. We stopped by the Central First Aid station so Lisa could talk to some of her co-workers and they all fawned over Momo and Alan. We also went to one of the music shows that we had to use FastPass ticket purchase for, Mickey’s Magical Music World, which is always nice. We had dinner at the Eastside Cafe, a kind of Meiji-era imagining of a Western restaurant. I hadn’t eaten there before, it was nice.

We went home a bit early after that – probably leaving at about 8pm or so, and the kids collapsed in bed exhausted. We usually would have done a few more attractions, but it was just super busy on the weekend before Christmas. Momo has some great memories – when she met the prince he showed her that he had the Crown in his bag – but with a magic trick where it wasn’t there originally. She still talks about that. I hope she enjoyed her (pre-!) birthday.