Started off the morning way too early again. Was up just after 5am. So got caught up on some things and still had plenty of time to kill till the 9am park opening. Headed for the Resort Line around 8am and grabbed something to eat at Beckers then walked over to Disneyland to get in line about 15 minutes prior to park opening. Once the park opened inched toward the turnstile and then into the park. Made my way out to Winnie the Pooh to grab a FastPass and then walked through Fantasyland to the Haunted Mansion Holiday. The wait was short so went through the Standby queue. Then walked by Critter Country and through Westernland looking for a place to watch the Disney Christmas Stories Parade. After the parade went to try my luck at the lottery for One Mans Dream II (No Once Upon a Time lottery today). We lost. Wandered around Tomorrowland a bit then decided to grab a bite to eat at the Tomorrowland Terrace. After lunch picked up a FastPass for Monsters Inc and then another for Haunted Mansion Holiday (others did not want to ride). Spent some time wandering around Fantasyland and then Toontown waiting to see if Winnie the Pooh was going to re-open so I could use that FastPass. No such luck so walked back through Westernland and into Adventureland on my way back to the central plaza to find a spot for Happiness is Here. After the parade found the rest of my group in Westernland and told them Pooh had reopened so we headed that way and paid the 100 acre woods a visit then went for a cruise on Small World. Missed my Haunted Mansion return window so picked up a new FastPass as I walked by. Next up a trip on the Mark Twain and then the Western River Railroad. Then made our way back to the central plaza for another performance of Disney Christmas Stories. After the parade paid a visit to the Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall for dinner. Then Grizzly Hall for some Christmas music by the Country Bears. Took a night cruise on the Jungle Cruise then wandered around New Orleans Square, paid a visit to Pirates then walked around World Bazaar for a while before going to find a spot for Dreamlights. After the parade the rest of the group called it a night and I headed for Tomorrowland to use my FastPass for Monsters. Made my way to the central area in front of the Castle to find a spot for Sky High Wishes (the fireworks) and then Once Upon A Time. After the show joined the masses leaving the park and took the Resort Line back to the Bayside Station and walked across the street to the hotel to call it a night.

• Continued my early morning wide awake streak. This morning decided to go search for some breakfast before heading to Disneyland for the day. Ended up at Beckers at the JR Station. It was one of the few places open for breakfast that served hot food and was not a buffet.
• My primary objective today was Poohs Hunny Hunt. It was closed last time I was here and is a signature attraction of the park. So I joined the large mass of guests marching that way at park opening. It was a much small mass of guests than Toy Story at DisneySea, seems the crowds in Disneyland spread out quicker. Secured a FastPass for mid-day with no problem.
• My next stop was the Haunted Mansion Holiday, called Holiday Nightmare. It was interesting seeing how Jack decked the halls here. The Mansion in Tokyo is closer to the Walt Disney World Version. This allowed for several more figures in the additional space. Also interesting to note it is still the original stretching room, not the projection version Anaheim has.
• Tried my luck at the lottery for One Man's Dream, which I lost. There was no lottery for Once Upon a Time this trip.
• The Disney Christmas Stories Parade runs through the park twice a day. It features three show stops along the route. I decided to watch from the Central Plaza and found a nice spot near the Partners Statue. You are not close to the route but being elevated and with everyone in front seated it makes for a great view. The parade itself was great as expected with a large cast including several characters singing and dancing to Christmas music.
• For lunch I went to the edge of my food trial and decided to give the Mickey burger at the Tomorrowland Terrace a try. I had read mixed reviews but thought it could not be worse than the burger I had in Hong Kong last year or the one in Cape Cod. Plus a Mickey Shaped bun sounded fun. One challenge I have learned in Tokyo is if you try to vary from the menu or substitute it usually causes problems. Well I did not want cheese. So that meant a several minute communication challenge (thanks to my Google translate not working for some reason). Eventually managed to get what I wanted, but basically ended up having to say I was allergic to cheese. I wanted a plain burger but that was not going to happen.. so had to get the toppings on it. In the end I should have stuck with the Mickey Nuggets. I ate most of it but it was near the bottom of my Disney burger rankings. Not as horrible as the other two but not good by any stretch. Others in the group liked it. They thought it was closer to a meat loaf taste. The bun was decent.
• The plan was to finally experience the Hunny Hunt, but no such luck it was down. Seems I am destined not to ride..
• The park was running three parades this time of year. The Christmas one, Happiness is Here and Dreamlights. Happiness is Here is the regular daytime parade and it runs once a day this time of year. It was on hiatus my last trip so this was new to me. I really enjoyed it. They have a lot of characters and performers in the parade that I had not seen in a parade before. The floats had fun details throughout too.
• Finally I was able to experience Pooh's Hunny Hunt. It is an extremely well done attraction. The use of the trackless ride system is great and we all really enjoyed and wanted to ride again. I still rank Mystic Manor as my #1 trackless experience but this is a close second. Add in the fact that it opened in 2000 and has been operating for 16 years already is amazing. It really frustrated you that there is no attraction in the states using the system, the closest we have is Luigis that opened this past year and it is a completely different experience.
• I kept missing my Haunted Mansion Holiday FastPass window. I think I picked up three or four FastPasses throughout the day for a second ride.
• Spent the afternoon enjoying Westernland from the decks of the Mark Twain and the rails of the Western River Railroad. I did not make it out to the Island though. It was great to spend some time on the river and rails, I really miss both at Disneyland.
• Dinner this evening was at the Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall. We went in the early evening and it was peaceful inside, plus warm. It was a nice meal and the food was as we remembered, good.
• Visited the Country Bears in the evening. I always enjoy the bears and being able to see the Christmas show again was high on my list for Tokyo. The show did not disappoint. It was an experience to see the Country Bears singing Christmas songs in Japanese. It seemed more of the show was in Japanese than the regular one I saw back in 2015, guess Christmas songs translate better? Even though it was in Japanese I found myself singing along in English since I knew the show. They were enforcing a no video or picture rule fairly tight (even though the announcement seemed to indicate no flash).
• Paid a visit to the Jungle Cruise after dark. I was curious how the lighting was. In a few spots it was nice but overall the experience was close to the same as on the other Jungle Cruises at night. Our skipper this trip was not nearly as animated as the one we had in 2015. So it was not as entertaining. The others onboard were laughing and having a good time so they must have been funny if you understood the language.
• Walked through the New Orleans area of Adventureland and thought the background music that was playing was great. It was a good mix of Christmas music. The decorations felt more understated than those in Anaheim and I thought they looked better.
• The Electrical Parade Dreamlights undergoes some changes for the Christmas season. Some Christmas music is added and some different costumes on the characters. I thought it was a nice overlay for the season. I was hoping for a little more but combine the small tweaks with the impressive parade and it was another unique experience.
• A new fireworks show for 2016, Sky High Wishes, is presented nightly, weather permitting now. As with the previous show it is short and not overly impressive in scale.
• Closed out my evening with Once Upon a Time. Since there was no lottery the benches/seating were not set up in the central plaza and you could stand anywhere. I tried near the center right before the street. I wanted to be close but still back far enough to get a full picture of the castle. I actually find the show more impressive being further back. I guess because I like to see the full breath of the show.

2016 Tokyo Disney Trip Summary

Links from today:

• Tokyo Disneyland – Pictures from the 1st couple hours today
• Tokyo Disneyland – Disney Christmas Stories Parade
• Tokyo Disneyland – Toontown Christmas Decorations & More
• Tokyo Disneyland – Happiness is Here Parade
• Tokyo Disneyland – Christmas Decorations & More
• Tokyo Disneyland – Dreamlights & Once Upon a Time
• Tokyo Disneyland Camp Woodchuck Final Preparations – Opens 11/22

• Tokyo Disney Resort Pictures
• Geek's Blog Tokyo Pictures
• Geek's Blog Tokyo News/Posts