Tokyo Disneyland Adventure

Long ago, a long layover in Tokyo persuaded my flying partner and I to venture out to visit Disneylando, as the locals called it. We started out early in the fog about 8 a.m. We had our map that was printed in mostly Japanese, and we asked a worker at the train station the train stop where we should depart from. He told us to depart the train at Funabashi. Figuring out how to purchase a token for the train was an adventure in its self as the instructions were only in Japanese which neither one of us were able to comprehend. We finally asked a student who was a stranger, but was willing to help us get the correct token. We had been told that the train station was very near Disneylando and we thought we would not have a problem finding it as every taxi knew how to get us there. Soon we were on our way feeling excited to experience the fun in Tokyo Disneyland. We kept a careful eye on the train stops and in just a little while we saw Funabashi. We gathered our things and quickly departed. We found ourselves on a small island with several train tracks on both sides all alone. We looked at each other with dismay and decided we would board any train, no matter where it was headed. At this point we said a little prayer that we would find someone, anyone, who could understand English who might be willing to help us. We boarded the next train that arrived in about 15 minutes. There was standing room only, but there were many students who were eager to show off their English skills. This particular train made many, many stops... we didn't care as long as it got us there! We were only on the train for a short time before seeing Funabashi again. This time before we departed we asked our friendly Japanese students "is this the stop for Disneylando?" They said "no," so we trusted them. We were a little worried they might be having some fun with us, but soon there was another train stop that said Funabashi. We felt sure this was our destination, but again we asked "Disneylando?" and we were told "no." This was becoming to be a bit of a comical fiasco for us. Many students had departed by this time and we were able to find a seat. After several more stops there was another Funabashi, the fourth in all, and we were told by several young students "Disneylando!" We were so relieved to leave that train behind us. We found a taxi and soon arrived to Disneylando about two hours longer than it should have taken us. It was noon! We thought there would be a lot of international visitors. We were wrong, we seemed to be the main attraction with our blonde and strawberry colored hair. We were stared at with amazement by all the little children and some adults too. We saw no other light haired people there the entire day. Ruth and I both had to laugh at how cute Mickey Mouse sounded speaking Japanese. One of the most popular rides at our California Disneyland is 'It's a small world' but we were delighted to see no long line for that ride at Disneylando, and our feet were so tired we rode it four times in a row. It lasted for twenty minutes. If I remember correctly, there were no Cups and Saucer ride and no Bear Jamboree there. We also noticed that every bit of grass and flowers had a fence around it. We thought it best to leave before dusk, tired and hungry. We were determined to find a fast train back, and we did! It was an adventure we still look back on and laugh at. 5-17-20 ~Second Place Premiere Contest~ Action Adventure Poetry Contest Sponsored by: Chantelle Anne Cooke