Woke up early to make our Buffet breakfast!  It was wonderful and I got to watch the greeters waving at guests.  I don’t know how they don’t get tired. 

We got on the monorail for Disney SEA and saw the line was all the way filled in… got in the back and it took about 45 minutes to get through.  They need better queue management for this as we kept getting passed by people who made up a new line and just pushed their way to the front.  Ah well.  

Now we’re sitting in Italy with some iced coffee.  

There were so many great rides!  Ben and I went on the tower of terror which had a different back story because they probably didn’t get the twilight zone here. In this version, a wealthy explorer took a cursed idol home! 

Then all of us went on Toy Story mania! It was the same, but here, I got the high score! 

We ate lunch inside the big volcano!  

Ben and I went on a journey to the center of the earth.  We saw the devil and then went one. Hugh speed chase outside!

Then we went on Indiana Jones and the crystal skull and I was the driver!  

And we all went on soarin!  It was a largely the same but instead of Paris we had a stop in Tokyo!  

Ben and I went on a classic roller coaster that was Aztec themed. It had a single loop and was very fun!  

Then we all went on frozen which was completely different!  It was like the whole story!  Amazingly done! 

Then we went on Peter Pan and it was completely new!  We went through a 3d journey through the lost boys adventure battling Captain Hook!  The seamless transitions between 3d screens and set prices were awesome. 

Then we went on tangled, and it was awesome!  She was singing from atop her tower and there were all animatronics of the horse and the camilian, and Flynn.  And it took you through moments in the movie.  It was beautiful.  

We also tried roast beef flavored popcorn and it really tastes like roast beef!

We had Indian for dinner and we found out mango lassi’s are included in our drink plan. So I had 2 and Ben must have gone up 3 times.  The lady behind the counter was laughing at us. 

We walked around to try to find ice cream or a garlic shrimp flavored popcorn… yes. That’s a thing.  But the line was an hour long for it and the ice cream stands were closed.  

So we walked around some more of the pirate ship area and the top of the castle lookout area.  There was a beautiful sunset that just looked like a sunset over Arabia based on the land we were in. 

The boys played (very roughly) in the water fountain.  And then we headed over to our spots for the end of day show!  

It was amazing!  They had sound synced to fireworks laser projections on the surrounding buildings, giant LCD paneled structures that performers would dance on, and a giant illuminated ring in the center!  They also rejected some lasers onto the volcano in the background that did erupt flame at one point. 

A real highlight was a mashup love song between “kiss the girl” from little mermaid and “a whole new world” and a song from tangled. It was beautiful how they all wove together.  Really the best one I’ve seen them put on!  Much of it was in Japanese, but I got the drift. :)

When we felt like the show was almost done we made a run for the exit because we didn’t want to be on the end of an hour long line for the monorail.  So we got right on one, got our luggage, took a cab to the airport where our hotel is and I’m now lying in bed in a contemplative mood. 

We’ve done so much over the last few weeks, it will be hard to remember everything!  But I’ll always remember the extra time I got to spend with my kids and hear their laughter every now and then.  Even if it’s about some little thing … like Hilary always leaves about two sips left in any bottle she’s drinking out of, and it just takes up room as we just want to throw it out.  :)

I hope we can always look back on these memories as a family and smile.  

Japan is a wonderful country.  Filled with very happy, helpful people.  From the taxi driver who ran across the street to make sure we were at the right address, to the many smiling people who helped us through pantomime to get where we were going.  They all had a smile and happy way about them.  Our tour guides who helped us learn about the history of Japan, and the history of the geisha.  

The food is so different.  I was hoping to lose weight on this trip from all the fish, but I fear I may have gained a ton because there’s so much good food! 

Time to travel home now, but I will always fondly remember Japan. 

Ben’s favorite thing he saw:  Mt. Fuji

Jacob’s favorite thing he saw:  Kobe beef