Started my day slightly later today.. woke up just before 5am.  Went to breakfast at 7am when the Lounge opened and then set off for a morning of sightseeing in Tokyo.   Walked over Bayside Station and took the resort liner around to the Resort Gateway station then walked to the train station.  Took the Keiyo line to Tokyo Station.  Walked around the outside of the station a bit then over to the Imperial Palace grounds and took a look at the Nijubashi Bridge.   Walked to the nearby Hibiya Station and took the Mita line to Onarimon Station.  Then walked a few blocks to the Zojoji Temple which near the Tokyo Tower.  Took a look around that area and then walked to to Akabanebashi Station and took the Oedo Line to the Aoyama-Itchome Station and transferred to Hanzomon Line to Shibuya Station.   Watched the Shibuya Crossing for a  while then walked up the street to the near by Disney Store.  Back to the Shibuya Station and caught Hanzomon line to Nagatacho station where I transferred to the Yurakucho Line taking that to Shin-Kiba Station where I made one last transfer to the Keiyo Line and took that back to Maihama Station to conclude our sightseeing adventure.  Took the resort liner around to Bayside Station and walked to the Hilton since we just missed the bus.  Stopped by the room then lounge before setting off again on the resort liner to the Resort Gateway.  Grabbed some food at McDonalds then back to the hotel to call it an early day.

• The weather forecast cleared up a bit with no rain until mid afternoon, which meant we were able to keep our plans to go sightseeing in the city today.
• It was a great experience riding the train into Tokyo Central Station in the 8am hour on a Sunday.  Same for walking around the station and surrounding area.
• Near the Imperial Palace grounds there were quite a few groups of joggers and others exercising on the comfortable weather.  It was noteworthy that the groups would do a lap of the park and then take a water break.  Once they set off again they left their bags, drinks, etc.. all on the wall or bench.  And this being Japan when they would come around again all was as they left it.
• On my 2015 visit we toured the east gardens of the Imperial Palace.  This time we went to the south to check out the Nijubashi Bridge.  I thought this was more impressive and more what I had envisioned.
• Our next stop was in the Tokyo Tower area.  We visited the Zojoji Temple and walked up near the Tower, but did not bother visiting the Tower itself due to the cloudy weather.  The temple grounds offer some nice views of the tower looming behind.  
• Our third and final stop was at Shibuya to see the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing.  Hundreds to Thousands of people cross on each signal change when traffic in all directions is held for pedestrians.  It being a Sunday late morning when I visited the area was moderately busy from what I understand.  It was still busy enough to be impressive.  We watched the cycle from ground level and then from a second floor window.
• A few blocks away there is a Disney Store.  We paid a visit since it was a short walk and a somewhat unique store spanning three stories.  There were a few items with the store name on it and anniversary but not many.  I did find it funny they had WDW 50th items but no Tokyo Disney 40th.  Assuming this is due to the stores being Disney and not OLC.
• Decided to give the McDonalds a try in Ikspairi.  I put the Japanese McDonald’s app on my phone and the process worked, but we had some network connectivity issues.  The food came and was correct and hot.  Prices were $1.27 for a hamburger.  Interesting I saw no ketchup and no one using any. 
• The weather forecast for tomorrow calls for rain most of the day and highs in the low 60s.  With this forecast we decided to move our Disneyland day to Friday instead.  I went to the Tokyo Disney Resort website to do this.  Thought it was interesting they ended up charging my credit card and refunding the original value (which was the same in this case).    The process made changing park reservations in the domestic parks seem trivial.  There are some quirky rules here, for example you cannot change the park.  You can change the date and pay the difference if there is availability and if you are within the validity period of the ticket (which is 1 year from when it was originally purchased).
• The Hilton was busy tonight. We watched four buses drop guests off for something plus the normal airport and other buses.  We stopped by the lounge and it was very full.  They were limiting people to one hour only.  There were a large number of guest with some other type of access, numbered cards.  So not sure what that was part of.  There also seemed to be a few extra choices this evening.
  

2023 Tokyo Disney Trip Summary

Links from today:

• Pictures: Morning Views from the Hilton Tokyo Bay of the Tokyo Disney Resort
• Pictures & Video: Tokyo Disney Resort Liner Featuring 40th Anniversary Wrap
• Pictures: Tokyo Sightseeing – Tokyo Station
• Pictures: Tokyo Sightseeing – Imperial Palace – Nijubashi Bridge
• Pictures: Tokyo Sightseeing – Zojoji Temple & Tokyo Tower
• Pictures & Video: Tokyo Sightseeing – Shibuya Crossing
• Pictures: Tokyo Sightseeing – Shibuya Disney Store
• Pictures: Tokyo DisneySea Fantasy Springs Construction (Samples/Demonstration Pieces)
• All my posts from today

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