It’s time for part 2 of my Tokyo Disneyland experience, and this will include some more details into our first trip, a summary of my first experience, and some info about FASTPASSES and on how to get to the park.

After some very much required hydration from some Disney-themed water bottle-purchasing, we carried on our adventures to Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek. Another one of Disney’s unique dark-rides, the story takes place after the monsters eventually decide harnessing energy by traumatizing children is a bad thing.

Your car goes through a power-cut Monstropolis, Mike Wazowski having turned the city’s generator off for a game of ‘flash-tag’. It seems a few of the monsters are OK with it, joining you as your car drives through the dark city, arming you with a flashlight you use to highlight the little Monsters, Inc. icons on the memorable blue hard hats.

While the ride itself is in Japanese, the animatronic characters greatly capture their movie counterparts’ personalities meaning the possible language barrier doesn’t affect the ride experience. It’s highly amusing as you zip through scenes in the movie, and the extra interactivity provided with the flashlights just makes it a lot more entertaining and definitely worth the wait.

As we headed back to the front of the park, my sister and I decided it was time to visit another classic ride: Pirates of the Caribbean. One of the oldest rides in the park, it’s still a lot of fun and a popular attraction for park-goers with its awesome escapade through underground caverns, a battle between a huge galleon and a Caribbean fortress as well as a gentle meander through the pirate-ridden Puerto Dorado town.

Don’t expect an intense ride, but it’s definitely a great ride with a very short queue, and contains Disney’s compelling artistry with audio animatronics and special effects that drive the narrative the talking skull and crossbones initially warns you about as you ride; that it’s too late to alter your course, and to be wary of the thieves and pirates terrorising the Caribbean!

It was after this that we headed for the Swiss Family Treehouse: a walkthrough attraction where you visit the house from the Disney film, Swiss Family Robinson.

Honestly, while it’s very simplistic, it’s one of my favourite attractions because it revolves around the huge tree house the family makes. A pulley system brings up water from the river, their rooms are all dotted about throughout the tree top connected via wooden walkways, and the attraction gives you a pleasant view of the whole park. I especially love it because I think treehouses are dope, which is an opinion I’m certain many people agree with me on.

Check it out if you want a little break from the lines (there rarely is one for this attraction), and want something far calmer than the intense experiences other rides might provide.

That was actually our whole first trip to Tokyo Disneyland, and it was great for a few reasons: it helped my sister get over her homesickness, it was a surprisingly affordable day out, and, also, it was Disneyland. Disneyland is great, always. ALWAYS.

So, what was our first experience like? As expected, pretty damn amazing.

The park costs roughly $67 (¥7400 for 18 years and older) to get into, and this 1-Day Passport includes entry back into the park for the entire day whenever desired, as well as access to FASTPASSES. If you’re there for more than a day then you should go for multi-day Passports, meaning you pay less altogether for multiple trips.

Initially, we had no idea how the FASTPASS system worked, and it wasn’t until our later visit that we discovered how they work. A basic explanation is this: FASTPASSES are used to jump ahead of the line by allowing you to return to an attraction at a specific time (e.g. 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm).

To get a FASTPASS ticket you’ll need to get to the FASTPASS machines quickly, as quite often tickets will sell out very fast, hence why you should aim to get a FASTPASS for the rides you really want to ride as soon as you get to the park. The system works by letting you wait outside of the lines, letting you ride other rides or get rested before your allocated ride time.

Because it’s free it’s too good to avoid: FASTPASS, in my opinion, is a requirement for a good day at a Disney park. An excellent guide on FASTPASSES can be found here.

In terms of getting to Tokyo Disneyland, that’s all dependent on where you’re coming from (another fact: the sky is blue). I highly recommend getting the train (it’s faster, not that expensive, and the trains are wonderfully clean, air-conditioned and efficient), and it’s only a 15-minute ride from Tokyo Station or a 14-minute ride from Shinjuku Station.

If you’re going to the park direct from, say, Haneda Airport, you can take the Tokyo Monorail, JR Yamanote Line and then the JR Keiyo or Musashino Line to the Tokyo Disney Resort. Otherwise, if you’re going from another spot, Disney has provided a very easy guide on its website on how to access the park.

Next time, we’re headed to Tokyo DisneySea: Tokyo Disneyland’s aqua-inspired twin park. In part 3, I’ll document our adventures on the incredible ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’, Toy Story Mania, as well as show off my pictures (DSLR photos!) of this absolutely stunning theme park and offer you some more tips on how to make your day as fun-filled as possible!