If you have been a long time listener of the podcast, you will recognize Jeanette as she was one of the very first guests! She’s been back multiple times since then, but this appearance is so exciting because she and Virginia are sitting down to talk about Jeanette’s upcoming trip to Japan. While there, of course she has plans to visit Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea, but she and her husband Rob will also be spending some time outside of the Disney bubble. Destinations on their journey will include Tokyo, Shizuoka, Kyoto, Osaka, and Yakushima island.

  • Trip Dates: September 21 - October 4, 2024

  • Pre-Trip Interview: recorded 9/10/24

 

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Transcript Below

00:00:12.137 --> 00:00:16.137
VIRGINIA: Welcome to Where I Long To Be, a magical trip report podcast.

00:00:16.137 --> 00:00:18.897
VIRGINIA: My name is Virginia and I am your host.

00:00:18.897 --> 00:00:21.437
VIRGINIA: Thank you so much for tuning in today.

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VIRGINIA: If you are interested in being a trip report guest, please reach out through the website, which is
whereilongtobepodcast.com.

00:00:29.337 --> 00:00:35.317
VIRGINIA: I'm looking for guests who will be traveling anytime in March 2025 through the end of that calendar year.

00:00:35.317 --> 00:00:39.697
VIRGINIA: Today, one of my besties, Jeanette, is back.

00:00:39.697 --> 00:00:51.177
VIRGINIA: If you've been listening for a long time, you will know that Jeanette was on the very first trip report of the podcast ever and has appeared more times on the show than any other guest besides my son, Alex.

00:00:51.177 --> 00:00:58.537
VIRGINIA: Before we get into this pre-trip interview, I just want to note that this trip was scheduled for the end of September and into early October.

00:00:58.537 --> 00:01:04.837
VIRGINIA: You may be rightfully wondering why it's only being released now, considering it's December 2nd today.

00:01:04.837 --> 00:01:09.337
VIRGINIA: And the reason is simply that I had so many guests who had Halloween content to talk about.

00:01:09.337 --> 00:01:14.177
VIRGINIA: I wanted to get through those so we wouldn't still be talking about Halloween this close to Christmas.

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VIRGINIA: That's all.

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VIRGINIA: So let's get right into it.

00:01:16.897 --> 00:01:17.397
VIRGINIA: Shall we?

00:01:17.397 --> 00:01:19.797
VIRGINIA: Here's Jeannette.

00:01:19.797 --> 00:01:23.077
VIRGINIA: Jeannette, you are a sight for sore eyes.

00:01:23.077 --> 00:01:29.797
<v SPEAKER_2>Hello, my friend Virginia, my podcast crush Virginia.

00:01:29.797 --> 00:01:32.217
VIRGINIA: I have missed you on the podcast.

00:01:32.217 --> 00:01:44.177
VIRGINIA: It has been, I don't know how many months now since we've had Jeannette on, who is Pixie Jeannette on Instagram, and one of my most beloved Disney dames.

00:01:44.177 --> 00:01:46.397
VIRGINIA: So very excited to have you back.

00:01:46.397 --> 00:01:56.677
VIRGINIA: For listeners who do not know who you are, why don't you give them a little bit of the scoop on your background and your sort of Disney story.

00:01:56.677 --> 00:02:00.757
JEANETTE:So I am Jeannette, I live in Brooklyn.

00:02:00.757 --> 00:02:08.717
<v SPEAKER_2>I am a very enthusiastic Walt Disney World Annual Path Holder, I go down to Disney.

00:02:08.717 --> 00:02:13.197
<v SPEAKER_2>It's starting to be like five times a year, do all the run Disney races.

00:02:13.197 --> 00:02:24.117
JEANETTE:And I am about to embark on a big journey to another continent to enjoy Disney in Tokyo.

00:02:24.117 --> 00:02:25.797
VIRGINIA: I'm so excited for you.

00:02:25.797 --> 00:02:30.037
VIRGINIA: This is now going to be my second Tokyo interview.

00:02:30.037 --> 00:02:31.437
VIRGINIA: We had Kristina on before.

00:02:31.677 --> 00:02:39.357
VIRGINIA: So anybody who's looking for additional Tokyo content outside of this episode can definitely check that out.

00:02:39.357 --> 00:02:43.397
VIRGINIA: Why don't you explain how this trip came to be?

00:02:43.397 --> 00:02:46.977
VIRGINIA: Why are you going and why are you going now?

00:02:46.977 --> 00:02:47.477
JEANETTE:Sure.

00:02:47.477 --> 00:02:56.857
JEANETTE:So my husband actually lived in Japan for three years between undergrad and grad school.

00:02:57.657 --> 00:03:08.237
JEANETTE:And he taught English at a high school in a very rural area of Japan, right at the base of Mount Fuji.

00:03:08.237 --> 00:03:20.417
JEANETTE:And so when after we met, it was always a foregone conclusion that we would visit Japan and probably visit it multiple times.

00:03:20.417 --> 00:03:23.957
JEANETTE:So about nine years ago, we went on our first trip.

00:03:25.557 --> 00:03:33.977
JEANETTE:At that time, I was just really dead set on doing Tokyo Disney Sea because it is so unique, it's such a different park.

00:03:33.977 --> 00:03:37.437
JEANETTE:There's not another park like it anywhere in the world.

00:03:37.437 --> 00:03:44.497
JEANETTE:But we had so much that we wanted to do on that trip that I didn't want to take too much time at the Disney parks.

00:03:44.497 --> 00:03:46.657
JEANETTE:So we just did the one day.

00:03:46.657 --> 00:03:52.497
JEANETTE:You know, I loved this trip to Japan and obviously Rob still loves Japan, still has friends there.

00:03:53.177 --> 00:04:01.077
JEANETTE:And so we had been planning to get back to Japan within a couple of years time.

00:04:01.077 --> 00:04:10.397
JEANETTE:And then obviously with lockdown and they're not being travel permitted to Japan, that didn't happen in 2020, 2021.

00:04:12.057 --> 00:04:17.057
JEANETTE:And this was the first year that it sort of made sense for us to do it.

00:04:17.057 --> 00:04:19.677
JEANETTE:So we're going back to Japan for a second time.

00:04:20.097 --> 00:04:28.057
JEANETTE:We're repeating a little bit of our itinerary just so that we can see some of my husband's friends and then doing new things.

00:04:28.057 --> 00:04:40.317
JEANETTE:And one of those new things is having a little bit more time at the Tokyo Disney Resort and having a day, one day at Tokyo Disneyland and one day at Tokyo Disney Sea.

00:04:40.317 --> 00:04:40.797
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:04:40.797 --> 00:04:48.557
VIRGINIA: So you have lots of things going on outside of your Disney days, but we're going to walk through your entire trip.

00:04:48.617 --> 00:04:57.117
VIRGINIA: You can just give us a general sense of the landscape of where you will be and kind of what you think you might be doing.

00:04:57.117 --> 00:05:01.197
VIRGINIA: You did mention the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel.

00:05:01.197 --> 00:05:04.437
VIRGINIA: So is that where you are staying for your Disney time?

00:05:04.437 --> 00:05:07.437
JEANETTE:Yes and no.

00:05:08.557 --> 00:05:10.757
VIRGINIA: OK, what does that mean?

00:05:10.757 --> 00:05:24.497
JEANETTE:So with everything going on with the brand new expansion in Tokyo Disney Sea, the Fantasy Springs, there are stipulations at this point in time, and maybe it will change by the time people are hearing this.

00:05:24.497 --> 00:05:37.337
JEANETTE:But as of early September, you can't get into Fantasy Springs without either having booked passes the day of, which is like a little dicey.

00:05:37.337 --> 00:05:56.537
JEANETTE:And as someone who has anxiety, not super excited about that, not knowing if I'm going to get to go to this brand new area that includes Rapunzel, who is my favorite, I decided to go the throw money at it route and book a vacation package.

00:05:56.537 --> 00:06:08.357
JEANETTE:And the way Tokyo Disney does their vacation packages is you either can do two days, which is what makes sense for us, given that we have other places we're traveling to.

00:06:08.357 --> 00:06:11.437
JEANETTE:But that only comes with one night of hotel stay.

00:06:12.817 --> 00:06:17.537
JEANETTE:Or you can do three days, which comes with two nights of hotel stay.

00:06:17.537 --> 00:06:29.177
JEANETTE:But because we're going to Tokyo Disney immediately after flying from New York, we needed a place to stay the night that we arrive.

00:06:29.177 --> 00:06:43.697
JEANETTE:And then I also wanted a place to stay at the end of the full second day of park time, so that we could stay the full day of park time and not have to move to somewhere else that would be further away.

00:06:43.697 --> 00:06:47.737
JEANETTE:So what we ended up doing was booking...

00:06:47.737 --> 00:06:49.777
JEANETTE:It's not even like a good neighbor hotel.

00:06:49.777 --> 00:06:51.697
JEANETTE:It's like a friendly hotel.

00:06:51.957 --> 00:06:58.697
JEANETTE:It's sort of like the third category where the only benefit you really get is they offer a shuttle bus.

00:06:58.697 --> 00:07:02.417
JEANETTE:I booked that for our first night there.

00:07:03.417 --> 00:07:09.597
JEANETTE:And then we're in Tokyo Disneyland Hotel the second night there.

00:07:09.597 --> 00:07:14.077
JEANETTE:And we're back to that original hotel the third night.

00:07:14.077 --> 00:07:21.877
JEANETTE:And that hotel is called the Yurayasu Brighton Hotel, Tokyo Bay.

00:07:21.877 --> 00:07:22.517
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:07:22.517 --> 00:07:29.697
VIRGINIA: Well, we will be very excited to learn whether that was a good hotel or not, whether it was truly a friendly hotel.

00:07:29.697 --> 00:07:30.537
JEANETTE:Yeah.

00:07:30.817 --> 00:07:41.077
JEANETTE:Well, I can already say that because we are staying there the first night and then coming back the third night, they are going to hold our suitcases.

00:07:41.077 --> 00:07:42.017
JEANETTE:Oh, that's nice.

00:07:42.017 --> 00:07:53.277
JEANETTE:The entire time so that when we go to the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, we can just go with like backpacks or duffels and not have to worry about lugging everything there and back and there again.

00:07:53.277 --> 00:07:53.837
VIRGINIA: Right.

00:07:53.837 --> 00:07:54.477
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:07:54.477 --> 00:07:56.217
VIRGINIA: That is very good.

00:07:56.217 --> 00:08:07.557
VIRGINIA: In advance of this trip and planning and buying that package, is there anything else that's included in your package beyond the hotel and the park ticket?

00:08:07.557 --> 00:08:15.477
VIRGINIA: Like, does it include any kind of special access, what we might call Genie Plus or Multipass, that sort of thing?

00:08:15.477 --> 00:08:40.417
JEANETTE:Yeah, it actually includes a lot of stuff, which was the other reason that I was excited to get it, because for us and the types of things that we want to do, it kind of takes all the pressure out of like, with this package, I know that we're going to be able to for sure do everything that I really want to do, you know, and everything else is just extra, like cherry on top.

00:08:40.417 --> 00:08:44.577
JEANETTE:So they do designate which park you go to which day.

00:08:44.577 --> 00:08:50.517
JEANETTE:So the way it's set up is our first day, we go to Tokyo Disneyland.

00:08:50.517 --> 00:09:04.617
JEANETTE:And with that day, we get, there was choices, but I got us a timed ticket for the Beauty and the Beast ride, which is just supposed to be incredible.

00:09:04.617 --> 00:09:07.317
JEANETTE:And I haven't done it yet.

00:09:07.317 --> 00:09:17.537
JEANETTE:And then also got us passes that we can choose what we want to do with them, that go for a range of the top tier rides.

00:09:17.597 --> 00:09:23.437
JEANETTE:So basically, there's also this 40th premiere pass that you can get.

00:09:23.437 --> 00:09:27.417
JEANETTE:It's like sort of a free lightning lane.

00:09:27.417 --> 00:09:42.657
JEANETTE:So I think that when we arrive there on the day, I'm gonna see what I can get with that freebie pass and then make the decision on how to use our other two passes based on what we got with our day of freebie pass.

00:09:42.657 --> 00:09:49.857
JEANETTE:So that's already like four big rides that we get to skip the line for on our first day.

00:09:49.857 --> 00:09:53.597
JEANETTE:We also get a couple of like merchandise tickets.

00:09:53.597 --> 00:09:59.717
JEANETTE:So we get some Tokyo Disneyland exclusive or vacation package exclusive products.

00:09:59.717 --> 00:10:01.177
JEANETTE:And it's just, there's a smaller array.

00:10:01.177 --> 00:10:06.317
JEANETTE:I think there's like a tote bag and they sit for parades and fireworks and stuff.

00:10:06.317 --> 00:10:17.037
JEANETTE:So they, one of them is one of the items you can get is like a pad to sit on, like a little foldable, you know, seat, cushion seat.

00:10:17.037 --> 00:10:26.137
VIRGINIA: I have something like that from Disneyland here in the US because I did some kind of dining package for a meal.

00:10:26.137 --> 00:10:37.357
VIRGINIA: I think it was at Blue Bayou and part of the package was you got a Fantasmic themed seat cushion for the ground to go watch Fantasmic and I still have them.

00:10:38.197 --> 00:10:49.537
JEANETTE:Yeah, I'm sort of leaning towards getting one of those because I feel like, I don't know, it's something I could use from time to time, but and I might use it at the park.

00:10:49.537 --> 00:10:52.877
JEANETTE:We also get a popcorn holder.

00:10:52.917 --> 00:10:54.577
JEANETTE:It's not a popcorn bucket.

00:10:54.577 --> 00:10:59.437
JEANETTE:It actually fits two popcorn containers.

00:10:59.437 --> 00:11:05.037
JEANETTE:And this is a big part of what I would like to do on this trip, is to try a lot of the different popcorn flavors.

00:11:05.037 --> 00:11:13.437
<v SPEAKER_4>So I am seriously thinking that I'm always just going to have two flavors going in my popcorn bag at all at any given time.

00:11:13.437 --> 00:11:15.997
JEANETTE:There will be a sweet and a savory in there for me.

00:11:17.877 --> 00:11:24.317
JEANETTE:And then you get a ticket where you get free beverages all day long.

00:11:24.317 --> 00:11:30.257
JEANETTE:And this one is actually pretty cool because some of the restaurants are like super themed.

00:11:30.257 --> 00:11:32.437
JEANETTE:The quick service restaurants are like super themed.

00:11:32.437 --> 00:11:34.337
JEANETTE:So you want to go in there.

00:11:34.337 --> 00:11:40.017
JEANETTE:And normally you would have to wait in a line to go in there with all the people who are getting food.

00:11:40.017 --> 00:11:49.517
JEANETTE:But with this ticket, you can like skip that whole line, go to the front counter, get your beverage for free, and check out the space.

00:11:49.517 --> 00:11:51.277
JEANETTE:So that's pretty cool.

00:11:51.277 --> 00:11:58.757
JEANETTE:And then the main attraction of the vacation package is you get a bracelet for Fantasy Springs.

00:11:58.757 --> 00:12:10.977
JEANETTE:And this bracelet allows you to come and go from that area of the park as much as you want, and skip every single line for all those rides, and ride them as many times as you want.

00:12:11.977 --> 00:12:12.597
VIRGINIA: Wow.

00:12:12.597 --> 00:12:13.857
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:12:13.857 --> 00:12:16.097
VIRGINIA: Those are some pretty big perks.

00:12:17.297 --> 00:12:20.657
VIRGINIA: So I don't need specific prices.

00:12:20.657 --> 00:12:28.977
VIRGINIA: But in general, how much more expensive is it to get a package like this where so much is included?

00:12:28.977 --> 00:12:35.177
VIRGINIA: Are we talking a price difference of a couple hundred dollars or a lot more than that?

00:12:35.177 --> 00:12:38.737
JEANETTE:So it really depends on what you choose.

00:12:39.017 --> 00:12:44.297
JEANETTE:Oh, and I forgot there's also one meal included, one sit down meal included.

00:12:45.777 --> 00:12:52.997
JEANETTE:It depends on what elements you choose and very much on the hotel you choose and the type of room you choose.

00:12:52.997 --> 00:12:59.637
JEANETTE:So when I was first making plans for this trip, I thought like, okay, if we're going to do the vacation package, let's just go all in.

00:12:59.637 --> 00:13:01.517
JEANETTE:Let's go to Miracosta.

00:13:01.517 --> 00:13:05.577
JEANETTE:Let's be like looking into the park from our hotel room.

00:13:05.577 --> 00:13:08.177
JEANETTE:And I priced it out and it felt insane.

00:13:08.597 --> 00:13:10.317
JEANETTE:And I was like, I'm not going to do this.

00:13:10.477 --> 00:13:12.217
JEANETTE:I just won't even think about it.

00:13:12.217 --> 00:13:27.497
JEANETTE:And then as I got a little bit closer to the date and the anxiety of maybe not being able to do as much fantasy springs as I would like creeped in, I looked again and I said, okay, well, what's an option where it would be like the least expensive?

00:13:27.497 --> 00:13:39.337
JEANETTE:So of course, because I had waited, the like very lowest price hotels were already booked up for the vacation package, but the Disneyland Hotel was still available.

00:13:39.337 --> 00:13:56.497
JEANETTE:And when I did a price comparison of like what we would pay for hotel, what we would pay to do those paid rides in fantasy springs, kind of gave us a little beverage, a little merchandise cost, the difference was about $200.

00:13:56.497 --> 00:14:11.717
JEANETTE:And so I felt like for that, for the ease, for knowing that we get all the rides we want, there's even in addition to fantasy springs, there's a couple of rides that you get VIP passes for in Disney Sea as well.

00:14:11.717 --> 00:14:15.737
JEANETTE:I just felt like it was $200 for all that last stress.

00:14:15.737 --> 00:14:17.377
JEANETTE:I'm happy to pay that.

00:14:19.157 --> 00:14:31.777
VIRGINIA: When you were beginning this planning, what is the timeframe that you were looking at in terms of nailing down what you actually wanted for a hotel, for a package?

00:14:31.777 --> 00:14:43.017
VIRGINIA: Like how far in advance does someone who's thinking about a trip to Tokyo need to really start making actual plans as opposed to just doing research?

00:14:43.017 --> 00:14:43.477
JEANETTE:Yeah.

00:14:43.477 --> 00:14:45.337
JEANETTE:These dates do shift a little.

00:14:45.337 --> 00:14:56.337
JEANETTE:I would look at someone like TDR Explorer for the most up-to-date information, or even the Tokyo Disney website for this exact information.

00:14:56.337 --> 00:15:06.457
JEANETTE:But at the time I was booking it, packages were bookable five months in advance, and rooms were bookable I think three months in advance.

00:15:06.617 --> 00:15:13.117
JEANETTE:So I had looked at the Miracosta, the big splurge version at five months.

00:15:13.157 --> 00:15:20.557
JEANETTE:Then I think it was probably at about three months that I ended up booking my package, three months in advance.

00:15:20.557 --> 00:15:21.237
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:15:21.237 --> 00:15:21.577
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:15:21.577 --> 00:15:28.957
VIRGINIA: You mentioned TDR Explorer, and I think that is the same person that Kristina from her Tokyo episode mentioned.

00:15:29.097 --> 00:15:35.237
VIRGINIA: So he seems to be the go-to resource for Tokyo specific info.

00:15:35.237 --> 00:15:45.597
JEANETTE:He's an American who has been living in Japan for a long time, loves theme parks, he's constantly updating.

00:15:45.597 --> 00:16:00.377
JEANETTE:He has a YouTube channel, he has a very active Instagram account, he has a blog, and he's always giving updates on what's going on in the parks that are over in Japan, and also a little bit the ones that are in China.

00:16:00.377 --> 00:16:01.137
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:16:01.137 --> 00:16:08.137
VIRGINIA: I will link all of his information in the show notes as well so that people can take a look at that and you don't have to remember the name.

00:16:08.137 --> 00:16:10.857
JEANETTE:He also has a book, and I did buy the book.

00:16:11.017 --> 00:16:11.557
VIRGINIA: Who did you?

00:16:11.557 --> 00:16:24.017
JEANETTE:It came out before Fantasy Springs opened, so some of that information wasn't as thorough as maybe it could have been if he had published it after Fantasy Springs opened, but it was still very helpful.

00:16:24.017 --> 00:16:38.637
JEANETTE:It gives you a lot of information about which rides are different there from in the United States, and which are the things that you would really recommend that you don't miss, which restaurants are considered the best, that kind of stuff.

00:16:38.637 --> 00:16:39.417
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:16:39.417 --> 00:16:40.577
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:16:40.577 --> 00:16:43.497
VIRGINIA: Well, let's get into mapping out your days.

00:16:43.637 --> 00:16:53.617
VIRGINIA: You are flying out of the US on Saturday, September 21st, which is a mere 11 days from now.

00:16:54.457 --> 00:16:55.357
JEANETTE:It's true.

00:16:55.357 --> 00:16:56.517
VIRGINIA: So exciting.

00:16:57.637 --> 00:16:59.837
VIRGINIA: Which airport are you flying out of?

00:16:59.837 --> 00:17:00.977
JEANETTE:JFK.

00:17:00.977 --> 00:17:02.217
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:17:02.217 --> 00:17:03.057
VIRGINIA: JFK.

00:17:03.057 --> 00:17:05.677
VIRGINIA: And what airline did you choose to go with?

00:17:05.677 --> 00:17:06.757
JEANETTE:JAL.

00:17:06.757 --> 00:17:15.737
JEANETTE:That is the Japanese airline, and my husband is quite set that when we fly to Japan, we fly JAL.

00:17:15.737 --> 00:17:16.737
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:17:16.797 --> 00:17:22.877
VIRGINIA: So does that airline have like the lay down seats or is it called lie down seats?

00:17:22.877 --> 00:17:23.497
VIRGINIA: I don't even know.

00:17:23.497 --> 00:17:24.537
VIRGINIA: Lay, lie.

00:17:24.537 --> 00:17:25.077
VIRGINIA: Who knows?

00:17:25.077 --> 00:17:27.997
JEANETTE:We have not done anything like that.

00:17:27.997 --> 00:17:33.257
JEANETTE:We do not, we're not like points people that are really good at playing that game or anything.

00:17:33.257 --> 00:17:35.557
JEANETTE:We will just be uncomfortable.

00:17:37.117 --> 00:17:39.177
VIRGINIA: How long is the flight?

00:17:39.177 --> 00:17:43.357
JEANETTE:I think it's like 15 hours.

00:17:44.157 --> 00:17:44.597
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:17:44.597 --> 00:17:47.057
VIRGINIA: And it's a direct flight?

00:17:47.057 --> 00:17:48.957
JEANETTE:This one is a direct flight, yes.

00:17:48.957 --> 00:17:50.197
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:17:50.197 --> 00:17:51.817
VIRGINIA: That is good at least.

00:17:51.817 --> 00:17:57.577
VIRGINIA: Do you know whether JAL has good entertainment options?

00:17:57.577 --> 00:17:58.817
VIRGINIA: Do they have Wi-Fi?

00:17:58.817 --> 00:18:05.497
VIRGINIA: Do they have those sorts of things to at least ease a little bit of the discomfort of your seat?

00:18:05.497 --> 00:18:11.337
JEANETTE:Honestly, I don't remember, but I think they do and I believe they feed you regularly.

00:18:13.137 --> 00:18:23.437
JEANETTE:I don't remember, again, it was nine years ago, but I don't remember there being anything uncomfortable about the flight other than the length of it.

00:18:23.437 --> 00:18:25.017
VIRGINIA: And what time is your flight?

00:18:25.017 --> 00:18:27.057
JEANETTE:Put me on the spot.

00:18:28.557 --> 00:18:29.637
VIRGINIA: It doesn't have to be exact.

00:18:29.637 --> 00:18:31.997
VIRGINIA: Is it morning, night, what time of day?

00:18:31.997 --> 00:18:33.357
JEANETTE:I should have that in my notes.

00:18:34.177 --> 00:18:37.277
JEANETTE:My flight from JFK is at 1:20 PM.

00:18:39.877 --> 00:18:45.357
JEANETTE:And then, of course, we do the weird time travel situation.

00:18:45.357 --> 00:19:00.717
JEANETTE:So even though it is less than 24 hours for a flight, by the time we arrive in Tokyo, it will be the next day, September 22nd, 4:35 PM.

00:19:01.297 --> 00:19:03.537
JEANETTE:We will lose a day to the travel gods.

00:19:04.297 --> 00:19:05.177
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:19:05.177 --> 00:19:12.897
VIRGINIA: In terms of that first day and kind of acclimating yourself to the time difference, what is your plan?

00:19:12.897 --> 00:19:15.497
VIRGINIA: Are you going to try to stay up?

00:19:15.497 --> 00:19:18.657
VIRGINIA: Are you going to try to go to bed super early?

00:19:18.657 --> 00:19:20.757
VIRGINIA: How do you work with the time difference like that?

00:19:20.757 --> 00:19:24.557
JEANETTE:I mean, I think we'll do our best to stay up.

00:19:24.557 --> 00:19:29.557
JEANETTE:I'm sort of playing with two ideas, one of which is we would get to the...

00:19:29.857 --> 00:19:34.717
JEANETTE:We'd end up getting to our first hotel probably around 6 p.m.

00:19:34.717 --> 00:19:40.117
JEANETTE:And that would be a good dinner time.

00:19:40.117 --> 00:19:45.557
JEANETTE:So we could like kind of get on the roll with, okay, this is now our dinner time.

00:19:45.557 --> 00:19:56.317
JEANETTE:So we can either do that at the hotel to kind of streamline things and then just go to bed at 8 p.m., which is not unheard of in my life, especially as a run Disney person.

00:19:59.437 --> 00:20:21.137
JEANETTE:Or I had thought that maybe to kind of keep us amped and awake, we could maybe go over to the Ikspiari, the sort of mall area that is connected to Tokyo Disneyland and do a little shopping, maybe grab some snacks, maybe grab dinner there.

00:20:21.137 --> 00:20:31.877
JEANETTE:I suppose it will just depend on how, you know, I may have like the adrenaline arriving at a Disney property and be able to do that.

00:20:31.877 --> 00:20:37.837
JEANETTE:Or like I said, we may just try to like stay at the hotel and crash at eight.

00:20:37.837 --> 00:20:58.597
JEANETTE:Because I'm sort of then not worried about being up so early because that next day is the day that we will need to head over to the Tokyo Disney Hotel, pick up all our vacation package stuff, drop off our bag, and then head to the park.

00:20:58.597 --> 00:21:05.377
JEANETTE:And what I have learned is that, and this wasn't really, I don't feel like this was the case when we were there nine years ago.

00:21:05.377 --> 00:21:08.557
JEANETTE:Those security lines get super long.

00:21:08.557 --> 00:21:18.697
JEANETTE:So arriving an hour early before the park opens can actually just make the start of your day a lot smoother because you're at the front of those security lines.

00:21:19.597 --> 00:21:20.777
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:21:20.777 --> 00:21:21.357
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:21:21.357 --> 00:21:25.937
VIRGINIA: So what time does the park open on the 23rd?

00:21:25.937 --> 00:21:28.337
JEANETTE:I believe it's 9 a.m.

00:21:28.337 --> 00:21:40.937
JEANETTE:So thinking if we were to get up six and then we're at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel by seven, I don't know.

00:21:41.377 --> 00:21:42.717
<v SPEAKER_4>Maybe that will be too early.

00:21:42.717 --> 00:21:44.557
<v SPEAKER_4>I may have to think about that a little more.

00:21:44.557 --> 00:21:52.277
JEANETTE:But I think when we get there, we'll have a better sense of it, especially with the time difference and the sleepiness.

00:21:52.277 --> 00:21:52.997
VIRGINIA: Right.

00:21:52.997 --> 00:21:54.137
VIRGINIA: Right.

00:21:54.137 --> 00:21:54.777
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:21:54.777 --> 00:22:05.977
VIRGINIA: And going to Tokyo Disneyland that first day, you said, and it sounded like your priority was going to be the new things that you haven't done.

00:22:05.977 --> 00:22:08.617
VIRGINIA: So the Beauty and the Beast is at that park?

00:22:08.617 --> 00:22:08.857
JEANETTE:Yeah.

00:22:08.857 --> 00:22:14.097
JEANETTE:So we have a time ticket for Beauty and the Beast, which is at 1030.

00:22:14.117 --> 00:22:24.857
JEANETTE:So that won't be our first destination, which is actually good because a lot of people who won't have a pass like that will rush to Beauty and the Beast as their very first thing.

00:22:24.857 --> 00:22:29.197
JEANETTE:So we won't have to worry about like kind of battling those crowds.

00:22:29.197 --> 00:22:39.537
JEANETTE:So given that perk and the fact that we have these two other skip the line passes, I thought we would rope drop the waffle restaurant.

00:22:42.957 --> 00:22:43.997
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:22:43.997 --> 00:22:45.877
VIRGINIA: And what kind of waffles do they have there?

00:22:45.957 --> 00:22:48.597
VIRGINIA: Are we talking something very unique?

00:22:48.597 --> 00:22:52.017
VIRGINIA: Or are you trying to recreate a Sleepy Hollow moment?

00:22:52.017 --> 00:22:54.237
JEANETTE:They have Mickey shaped waffles.

00:22:54.237 --> 00:22:55.497
JEANETTE:They are seasonal.

00:22:55.497 --> 00:23:00.757
JEANETTE:And so for this season, they will be pumpkin whipped cream and maple syrup.

00:23:00.757 --> 00:23:01.997
VIRGINIA: Well, that sounds good.

00:23:01.997 --> 00:23:03.877
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:23:03.877 --> 00:23:04.317
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:23:04.317 --> 00:23:05.237
VIRGINIA: Rope dropping waffles.

00:23:05.237 --> 00:23:07.837
VIRGINIA: And what do you think you'll do after that?

00:23:07.837 --> 00:23:22.897
JEANETTE:So while we're waiting to rope drop our waffles, we, because you have to be in the park before you can make any of the plans online, any of the like priority passes and things like that.

00:23:22.897 --> 00:23:29.457
JEANETTE:I'm going to try to get a priority, a free priority pass for one of the top tier.

00:23:29.457 --> 00:23:39.477
JEANETTE:Like right now I sort of sketched it out that that would be Big Thunder Mountain because that's one of my favorite rides anywhere and I want to see what their Big Thunder Mountain is like.

00:23:39.817 --> 00:23:49.637
JEANETTE:And then I sort of looked at the map and tried to plot out a course for us because there will be a lot of walking, but how can we make that walking efficient?

00:23:49.637 --> 00:24:03.577
JEANETTE:I thought we would go to Haunted Mansion, which is very exciting because it is the holiday Haunted Mansion, which I have had the pleasure of doing in Disneyland, but my husband has never done before.

00:24:03.577 --> 00:24:10.417
JEANETTE:It will be in Japanese, but I think it will still be really cool and he'll understand more than I will because he speaks Japanese.

00:24:10.417 --> 00:24:23.937
VIRGINIA: So when you are interacting with people there, do you anticipate that the fact that he speaks Japanese, that they will converse with him in Japanese, or do you think that they will default to English?

00:24:23.937 --> 00:24:24.597
JEANETTE:They will.

00:24:24.597 --> 00:24:36.877
JEANETTE:And I mean, once they realize that he speaks it, in our experience, it delights people to see this like six foot tall white man speaking Japanese.

00:24:36.877 --> 00:24:43.877
JEANETTE:It just, we actually, a woman actually squealed about it when we were there last time.

00:24:43.877 --> 00:24:44.937
<v SPEAKER_4>Very cute.

00:24:44.937 --> 00:24:45.497
JEANETTE:So yeah.

00:24:45.497 --> 00:24:50.277
JEANETTE:And he says he's rusty, but he picks it up very quickly.

00:24:50.277 --> 00:24:59.397
JEANETTE:So I'm very fortunate that I can rely on him to be my translator and to make the trip a lot more comfortable.

00:25:00.437 --> 00:25:01.637
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:25:01.637 --> 00:25:02.177
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:25:02.817 --> 00:25:07.597
VIRGINIA: Anything else specific that you are aiming for this morning?

00:25:07.597 --> 00:25:19.797
JEANETTE:Yeah, I think I figured that by the time we did the waffles, hit up Haunted Mansion Holiday, it probably would be about time for us to use our ticket for Beauty and the Beast.

00:25:19.797 --> 00:25:26.297
JEANETTE:And then after we're done with Beauty and the Beast, it would be about a little after 10.30.

00:25:26.297 --> 00:25:28.617
JEANETTE:I want to start my popcorn adventure.

00:25:30.217 --> 00:25:45.297
VIRGINIA: Can I just say that when you talked about that before, what I was imagining was sort of like you as a milkmaid with the stick thing on your shoulders and a popcorn on either side hanging from it.

00:25:45.297 --> 00:25:47.717
VIRGINIA: I know that's not what it is at all, but I was like...

00:25:47.717 --> 00:25:51.657
<v SPEAKER_4>Now I'm worried I'm going to burst your bubble by explaining what it is.

00:25:52.017 --> 00:25:56.077
VIRGINIA: No, I got the fact that it was like a carrier for two things.

00:25:56.077 --> 00:26:01.637
VIRGINIA: But just in my mind, I was like, wouldn't that be funny if it were milkmaid style?

00:26:01.637 --> 00:26:09.457
JEANETTE:Well, so the way that I get this popcorn carrier is at one of the stands.

00:26:09.457 --> 00:26:12.097
JEANETTE:So I would like to go to...

00:26:12.097 --> 00:26:17.997
JEANETTE:I think it's kind of like their big stand, like the biggest popcorn stand, the fanciest popcorn stand.

00:26:18.397 --> 00:26:22.377
JEANETTE:And that's what I am gathering, and I could be wrong about that.

00:26:22.377 --> 00:26:27.097
JEANETTE:But it's called Big Pop, and it's not too far away from the Beauty and the Beast ride.

00:26:27.097 --> 00:26:38.557
JEANETTE:And it's where they have a bunch of the popcorn flavors that are only at Disneyland, because there's some that are only at Disneyland, there's some that are only at Disney Sea, and then there's some that are available at both parks.

00:26:38.557 --> 00:26:44.677
JEANETTE:So Big Pop has three flavors right now, this time in history.

00:26:45.317 --> 00:26:51.697
JEANETTE:So they have strawberry neapolitan, salted caramel and cheddar.

00:26:51.697 --> 00:26:54.697
JEANETTE:And those are just available at Disneyland.

00:26:54.697 --> 00:27:11.117
JEANETTE:I want to go there, get my two-seater popcorn bag, I guess, and it's even got like a little compartment on the top of it for handwipes, so that you can like eat your popcorn and then use your hand wipe, and get the popcorn dust off you.

00:27:11.117 --> 00:27:16.537
JEANETTE:I want to get the strawberry neapolitan flavor, because that just sounds really yummy to me.

00:27:17.037 --> 00:27:20.697
JEANETTE:Those, I believe, are ones that change out seasonally.

00:27:20.697 --> 00:27:28.097
VIRGINIA: Is this like the US, where as you try these different popcorns, it's a much lower price to get a retail?

00:27:28.137 --> 00:27:29.997
JEANETTE:No, it's not.

00:27:29.997 --> 00:27:45.357
JEANETTE:But I get one container of popcorn included in my package, and then the container of popcorns, which are the same size as the individual container of popcorns that we'd get in the US, I think they amount to like $2.

00:27:45.357 --> 00:27:46.657
JEANETTE:Oh, okay.

00:27:46.657 --> 00:27:50.037
JEANETTE:They're really inexpensive in comparison.

00:27:50.037 --> 00:27:51.297
VIRGINIA: Okay, got it.

00:27:51.297 --> 00:27:58.257
VIRGINIA: What other flavors are you looking forward to at Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea?

00:27:58.257 --> 00:28:00.537
VIRGINIA: Let's just talk popcorn for a minute.

00:28:00.537 --> 00:28:00.957
JEANETTE:Sure.

00:28:00.957 --> 00:28:17.937
JEANETTE:So the Tokyo Disneyland popcorn flavors that I have, those exclusive ones, are milk tea, which I've heard is amazing, honey, which I love, and it's also the one that's by Pooh's Honey Hunt, so I feel like I got to do it.

00:28:17.937 --> 00:28:25.457
JEANETTE:And then corn potage, which is like rich corn soup, popcorn that's flavored like rich corn soup.

00:28:25.457 --> 00:28:36.077
JEANETTE:In addition to the exclusive ones for Tokyo Disneyland, there is soy sauce, matcha white chocolate, black pepper, and curry popcorn.

00:28:36.077 --> 00:28:43.817
JEANETTE:And those, what is that, four flavors are available at Tokyo Disneyland and at Tokyo Disney Sea.

00:28:43.817 --> 00:28:49.417
JEANETTE:And then at Tokyo Disney Sea, they also have garlic shrimp.

00:28:49.417 --> 00:28:51.837
JEANETTE:I think that's their exclusive flavor.

00:28:51.837 --> 00:28:54.017
JEANETTE:And I think that's all of them right now.

00:28:54.017 --> 00:28:55.977
JEANETTE:So and I will, I'm going to try it.

00:28:55.977 --> 00:29:01.357
JEANETTE:Oh, no, there is a beef one in Fantasy Springs.

00:29:01.357 --> 00:29:04.477
JEANETTE:It's like the Lost Boys popcorn flavor.

00:29:04.477 --> 00:29:04.897
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:29:04.897 --> 00:29:09.137
JEANETTE:But I won't be having it because you're a vegetarian.

00:29:09.917 --> 00:29:11.717
VIRGINIA: I'm a pescatarian, basically.

00:29:11.717 --> 00:29:11.917
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:29:11.917 --> 00:29:13.937
JEANETTE:So shrimp is fine.

00:29:13.937 --> 00:29:14.997
<v SPEAKER_4>Beef is not.

00:29:14.997 --> 00:29:17.917
VIRGINIA: I wonder why they chose beef for the Lost Boys.

00:29:17.917 --> 00:29:18.757
JEANETTE:I don't know.

00:29:18.757 --> 00:29:26.337
JEANETTE:I mean, it's like if you were a boy who never wanted to grow up, would you just want to eat beef?

00:29:26.337 --> 00:29:27.177
VIRGINIA: I don't know.

00:29:27.177 --> 00:29:28.837
<v SPEAKER_2>Is that the idea?

00:29:28.837 --> 00:29:30.837
VIRGINIA: No idea.

00:29:30.937 --> 00:29:31.237
<v SPEAKER_4>All right.

00:29:31.237 --> 00:29:34.037
<v SPEAKER_4>I'm never growing up and I'm only eating beef.

00:29:36.137 --> 00:29:40.277
VIRGINIA: I'm just thinking like what kind of access to beef did they have in Neverland?

00:29:40.277 --> 00:29:41.077
<v SPEAKER_2>I don't know.

00:29:41.077 --> 00:29:44.337
VIRGINIA: I feel like they would be pescatarian of anybody.

00:29:44.337 --> 00:29:45.197
<v SPEAKER_2>Oh, sure.

00:29:45.197 --> 00:29:49.037
JEANETTE:Although maybe they would feel weird about it because they're friends with mermaids.

00:29:49.477 --> 00:29:50.157
VIRGINIA: That's true.

00:29:50.157 --> 00:29:50.977
VIRGINIA: That's true.

00:29:52.757 --> 00:29:55.177
<v SPEAKER_2>So we shouldn't think too hard about it.

00:29:55.177 --> 00:29:56.697
VIRGINIA: No, we're not going to think too hard about it.

00:29:56.957 --> 00:29:58.577
VIRGINIA: I'm here for your popcorn journey.

00:29:59.377 --> 00:30:07.757
VIRGINIA: Looking forward to hearing how all of that goes and seeing photos of this popcorn container.

00:30:08.017 --> 00:30:08.977
<v SPEAKER_2>Yes.

00:30:08.977 --> 00:30:09.397
JEANETTE:All right.

00:30:09.397 --> 00:30:19.417
VIRGINIA: Well, after you started at the very starting line of your popcorn journey after writing Beauty and the Beast, what do you have on your agenda for that afternoon?

00:30:19.417 --> 00:30:23.677
JEANETTE:Well, we'll still have our vacation package passes.

00:30:24.817 --> 00:30:25.557
JEANETTE:Tongue twister there.

00:30:25.557 --> 00:30:27.617
<v SPEAKER_2>Vacation package passes.

00:30:28.817 --> 00:30:32.557
JEANETTE:And so, I know I want to use one for Monsters, Inc.

00:30:32.557 --> 00:30:37.717
JEANETTE:Unless I get another freebie pass for that.

00:30:37.717 --> 00:30:40.057
JEANETTE:I also really want to do the Tiki Room.

00:30:40.057 --> 00:30:47.397
JEANETTE:And you're going to hate this, but the Tiki Room at Tokyo Disney is hosted by Stitch.

00:30:50.037 --> 00:30:51.077
<v SPEAKER_4>Which I love.

00:30:51.077 --> 00:30:52.337
JEANETTE:I'm so excited about it.

00:30:52.337 --> 00:31:01.577
JEANETTE:And it also is maybe one of the only rides there that has like a listening device so that you can watch it.

00:31:01.577 --> 00:31:03.117
JEANETTE:And it's translated into English.

00:31:03.117 --> 00:31:04.017
VIRGINIA: Oh, OK.

00:31:04.017 --> 00:31:06.057
VIRGINIA: I remember this from Kristina now.

00:31:06.057 --> 00:31:13.477
VIRGINIA: I don't know why, but the fact that you were pumping it up as you went to say Stitch, why would this be?

00:31:13.477 --> 00:31:19.117
VIRGINIA: But in my mind, I was like, she's about to say there's real birds there, because you know my bird phobia, but.

00:31:20.617 --> 00:31:23.257
<v SPEAKER_4>No, it's still fake birds, but it has Stitch.

00:31:23.257 --> 00:31:26.657
VIRGINIA: So not that they would be real birds singing.

00:31:26.657 --> 00:31:29.457
VIRGINIA: Not that it would be real birds singing.

00:31:29.457 --> 00:31:29.817
VIRGINIA: I don't know.

00:31:29.817 --> 00:31:34.937
VIRGINIA: In my mind, I was like, real birds in addition to the animatronic birds.

00:31:34.937 --> 00:31:43.957
JEANETTE:Well, it's not so crazy, because actually, last time that we went to Japan, one of the places we went to was a live aviary where there were all these different birds.

00:31:44.137 --> 00:31:52.057
<v SPEAKER_4>So I have pictures of me with a special glove on, so that these birds that have claws could land on my arm.

00:31:53.537 --> 00:31:55.757
VIRGINIA: That is my worst nightmare.

00:31:55.757 --> 00:32:04.997
VIRGINIA: I literally have nightmares sometimes where I'm trapped in a room and a bird is flying around and I can't escape, and it's really traumatizing, and I don't know.

00:32:04.997 --> 00:32:07.837
VIRGINIA: I probably need to see a therapist or something.

00:32:07.837 --> 00:32:12.037
<v SPEAKER_4>I think I'm like a Disney princess, and I sing with the birds, and they sing back to me.

00:32:12.037 --> 00:32:13.317
VIRGINIA: Well, you are.

00:32:13.317 --> 00:32:14.537
VIRGINIA: You are.

00:32:16.617 --> 00:32:17.137
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:32:17.137 --> 00:32:25.697
VIRGINIA: Well, we all know Stitch is not my favorite, but I could handle seeing Stitch host the Tiki Room just to see something different.

00:32:25.697 --> 00:32:25.977
<v SPEAKER_4>Yeah.

00:32:26.417 --> 00:32:32.137
JEANETTE:So Tiki Room, Splash Mountain is on my to-do list, Country Bears Jamboree.

00:32:32.137 --> 00:32:38.457
JEANETTE:I think it's still going to be their summer vacation show, which is a unique show that only happens at Tokyo Disney.

00:32:38.677 --> 00:32:40.837
JEANETTE:So try to hit that up.

00:32:42.477 --> 00:32:50.077
JEANETTE:There is a greeting spot for Daisy and Donald, and you know I have a great affinity for those crazy ducks in love.

00:32:50.077 --> 00:32:55.217
JEANETTE:So I might try to do some photos with Daisy and Donald.

00:32:55.217 --> 00:32:57.237
JEANETTE:They're in wilderness outfits.

00:32:57.557 --> 00:33:00.237
JEANETTE:They're in the frontier landish area.

00:33:00.237 --> 00:33:02.417
JEANETTE:So they're in wilderness outfits.

00:33:03.577 --> 00:33:05.517
JEANETTE:I'm sure Daisy's is fabulous.

00:33:06.617 --> 00:33:27.577
JEANETTE:And then, as always, there's sort of a walk-through area in the Cinderella Castle that I want to check out and after that, um, figure that by that point in the day we might be getting into the afternoon and there is a parade called Harmony in Color.

00:33:27.577 --> 00:33:29.917
JEANETTE:So we may or may not try to catch that.

00:33:30.357 --> 00:33:36.217
JEANETTE:We'll use our vacation passes for Who's Honeyhunch.

00:33:36.217 --> 00:33:40.077
JEANETTE:Because again, that's one that's really high in demand.

00:33:40.077 --> 00:33:41.137
JEANETTE:Very unique.

00:33:41.137 --> 00:33:45.657
JEANETTE:And I think that that was the first use of the trackless ride.

00:33:46.117 --> 00:33:47.097
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:33:48.257 --> 00:33:54.557
JEANETTE:Um, I did, so my husband does have motion sickness issues.

00:33:55.077 --> 00:34:10.617
JEANETTE:So I purchased some of those, uh, acupressure bands, acupressure bands in the hopes that maybe it will allow him to ride because he sort of got like a one ride limit otherwise.

00:34:10.617 --> 00:34:14.637
JEANETTE:So I'm hoping that those acupressure bands can allow him to ride.

00:34:14.637 --> 00:34:17.837
VIRGINIA: Does he ever do Dramamine?

00:34:17.837 --> 00:34:20.477
JEANETTE:He did try Dramamine and it actually made him feel worse.

00:34:21.057 --> 00:34:22.837
JEANETTE:So that's a no go.

00:34:22.837 --> 00:34:27.377
JEANETTE:Like he basically like took the Dramamine, rode the ride, and then was like, I'm so exhausted.

00:34:27.377 --> 00:34:30.037
JEANETTE:I have to go immediately back to the hotel.

00:34:30.037 --> 00:34:30.877
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:34:30.877 --> 00:34:32.217
JEANETTE:So there you go.

00:34:32.237 --> 00:34:32.717
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:34:32.717 --> 00:34:45.057
JEANETTE:Um, and then my next real like big goal plan for that day is that I want to eat at the Queen of Hearts banquet hall.

00:34:45.057 --> 00:34:55.497
JEANETTE:So, you know, and maybe listeners know if they've heard my previous, uh, guestings, um, I love Alice in Wonderland.

00:34:55.497 --> 00:34:59.937
JEANETTE:I like read the book every year around my birthday.

00:34:59.937 --> 00:35:02.977
JEANETTE:And I'm just a big fan of the artwork.

00:35:02.977 --> 00:35:07.417
JEANETTE:I have a tattoo on my forearm of a number of the characters.

00:35:07.497 --> 00:35:13.637
JEANETTE:Um, Curious Air and Curious Air is sort of like my, my life mantra.

00:35:13.637 --> 00:35:22.537
JEANETTE:And, um, in, in our stay, as part of our vacation package, we're actually going to be staying in an Alice in Wonderland room.

00:35:22.537 --> 00:35:23.977
<v SPEAKER_2>Oh, that's so exciting.

00:35:23.977 --> 00:35:25.777
JEANETTE:So stoked about this.

00:35:25.777 --> 00:35:34.057
JEANETTE:I have a Alice in Wonderland themed outfit that I'm planning to wear on my day at Tokyo Disneyland that's painting the roses red.

00:35:34.777 --> 00:35:37.537
JEANETTE:And I want to eat at this restaurant.

00:35:37.537 --> 00:35:43.297
JEANETTE:And thankfully, the park is getting just a little bit better about plant-based options.

00:35:43.297 --> 00:35:47.777
JEANETTE:And this is one of the restaurants where they have a dedicated plant-based option.

00:35:47.777 --> 00:35:51.697
JEANETTE:So we'll be able to have a plant-based meal there.

00:35:51.697 --> 00:35:59.257
JEANETTE:Because last time we went, we ordered a dish that had a side of vegetables and it had bacon in the, in the side of vegetables.

00:35:59.397 --> 00:36:01.817
JEANETTE:And it was really rough last time.

00:36:01.817 --> 00:36:06.317
JEANETTE:And so I'm hoping it's, it's improving in terms of vegetarian-friendly.

00:36:06.317 --> 00:36:08.357
JEANETTE:And it seems like it is.

00:36:08.357 --> 00:36:18.577
JEANETTE:So, and then they also have a heart-shaped dessert that you can get this heart-shaped souvenir plate that has like the characters on it.

00:36:18.577 --> 00:36:27.237
JEANETTE:And the plates that you get or the mugs that you get as part of these like souvenir food purchases are actually porcelain.

00:36:27.637 --> 00:36:28.837
JEANETTE:They're not plastic.

00:36:28.837 --> 00:36:30.077
VIRGINIA: Oh, wow.

00:36:30.077 --> 00:36:35.297
JEANETTE:So, it's like a pretty nice little heart-shaped plant that says like Queen of Heart banquet.

00:36:35.297 --> 00:36:38.297
JEANETTE:So, that's big on my goal list.

00:36:38.297 --> 00:36:41.157
JEANETTE:And I can get my free beverages there too.

00:36:41.157 --> 00:36:42.257
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:36:42.257 --> 00:36:44.117
<v SPEAKER_4>Not free, included in my vacation package.

00:36:44.117 --> 00:36:45.577
VIRGINIA: Well, included, included.

00:36:45.577 --> 00:36:47.177
VIRGINIA: But GirlMath, they were free.

00:36:47.177 --> 00:36:50.477
JEANETTE:GirlMath, they're already paid for, so they're free, exactly.

00:36:52.397 --> 00:36:53.917
VIRGINIA: Oh, that sounds amazing.

00:36:53.917 --> 00:36:54.637
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:36:54.697 --> 00:36:55.257
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:36:55.257 --> 00:36:58.357
VIRGINIA: And is this a place that you had to make a reservation for?

00:36:58.357 --> 00:36:59.417
JEANETTE:No.

00:36:59.417 --> 00:37:21.337
JEANETTE:And in fact, because the food choices, other than the fact that I'm going to be scarfing down popcorn all day, because the food choices are a little bit limited for somebody who's plant-based, I'm sort of thinking that this will be like an early dinner, late lunch, and then that will also allow us to not be there at one of the busiest times.

00:37:21.337 --> 00:37:22.017
VIRGINIA: Right.

00:37:22.017 --> 00:37:23.317
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:37:23.317 --> 00:37:23.677
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:37:24.597 --> 00:37:28.717
VIRGINIA: What else do you have to wrap up your day in Disneyland?

00:37:28.717 --> 00:37:36.817
JEANETTE:So the rest of the day is really like trying to catch some of the nighttime spectaculars.

00:37:36.817 --> 00:37:44.317
JEANETTE:There's going to be a brand new fireworks show that's starting on the 20th, and we're there on the 23rd.

00:37:44.317 --> 00:37:45.857
JEANETTE:It's called Reach For The Stars.

00:37:45.857 --> 00:37:48.597
JEANETTE:It was just announced at D23.

00:37:48.597 --> 00:37:54.697
JEANETTE:There's two showings of it, so I think we'll have a pretty good chance of being able to catch at some point in time.

00:37:54.697 --> 00:38:01.717
JEANETTE:At some point in time, we'll probably also want to grab our merchandise with our merchandise tickets.

00:38:01.717 --> 00:38:06.757
JEANETTE:Maybe we have our little padded seat to go ahead and sit use to sit on.

00:38:06.757 --> 00:38:12.557
JEANETTE:I believe those can be picked up at a bunch of the different gift shops.

00:38:12.557 --> 00:38:14.957
JEANETTE:I think the one in the hotel, you can get it.

00:38:14.957 --> 00:38:17.717
JEANETTE:Maybe we get it first thing in the morning.

00:38:17.717 --> 00:38:20.777
JEANETTE:There's some in the front areas of parks.

00:38:20.777 --> 00:38:22.917
JEANETTE:That will be on the agenda at some point in time.

00:38:23.797 --> 00:38:31.817
JEANETTE:And then, what I'm very excited about is Tokyo Disneyland has an electrical parade.

00:38:31.817 --> 00:38:32.057
VIRGINIA: Yes.

00:38:32.057 --> 00:38:35.917
JEANETTE:And I love an electrical parade.

00:38:35.917 --> 00:38:38.977
VIRGINIA: I miss ours so much.

00:38:38.977 --> 00:38:41.357
JEANETTE:I'm, aren't we, we're getting one, right?

00:38:41.357 --> 00:38:42.677
VIRGINIA: We're getting something, yeah.

00:38:42.677 --> 00:38:42.817
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:38:42.817 --> 00:38:46.017
VIRGINIA: I cannot remember when it's supposed to start.

00:38:46.017 --> 00:38:47.657
<v SPEAKER_2>Yeah.

00:38:47.657 --> 00:38:59.317
JEANETTE:So I'm hoping this is the one thing weather wise, you know, I know that the time that we're going is likely to be very rainy.

00:38:59.317 --> 00:39:15.937
JEANETTE:I will not be too mad at the rain if it can avoid raining the night of the 23rd, so that I can see the full electrical parade because they have a shortened version of it for rain nights.

00:39:15.937 --> 00:39:16.577
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:39:16.577 --> 00:39:20.277
VIRGINIA: Now, you gave us a little sense of what you're going to be wearing.

00:39:20.417 --> 00:39:23.797
VIRGINIA: That was going to be my follow-up question after you got to the end of the day.

00:39:23.797 --> 00:39:30.717
VIRGINIA: So, now I'm going to ask a follow-up to that follow-up, which is, is this a Meme Make?

00:39:30.717 --> 00:39:43.117
VIRGINIA: And by Meme Make listeners, for those of you who have not listened to a Jeannette episode, Jeannette is a seamstress extraordinaire, and she loves making vintage style clothing.

00:39:43.117 --> 00:39:45.837
VIRGINIA: And if you take a look at her page, you can see exactly what I'm talking about.

00:39:45.837 --> 00:39:50.997
VIRGINIA: She makes the cutest dresses and rompers and skirts and everything that you could think of.

00:39:50.997 --> 00:39:54.897
VIRGINIA: So is this outfit you're wearing something that you made yourself?

00:39:54.897 --> 00:39:56.617
JEANETTE:It is.

00:39:56.617 --> 00:40:19.277
JEANETTE:So back when Margot Robbie was doing the Barbie promotion tour, and she was wearing all the ridiculously cute outfits, she wore like a mini skirt, kind of halter top, one piece outfit that had red roses on it.

00:40:19.277 --> 00:40:21.317
JEANETTE:And I thought it was so cute.

00:40:21.317 --> 00:40:27.117
JEANETTE:It was some very fancy designer, I don't know if like Gucci or whatever.

00:40:27.117 --> 00:40:29.897
JEANETTE:Maybe I can fact check that for you.

00:40:29.897 --> 00:40:42.517
JEANETTE:And I was like, I'm going to recreate that using Charm Patterns, which is the vintage repro pattern company that I almost exclusively make my makes from.

00:40:43.217 --> 00:40:49.877
JEANETTE:And I found this fabric that was painting the roses red.

00:40:49.877 --> 00:41:13.677
JEANETTE:So it had that red rose theme, but instead of just being red roses, it was white roses that had splashes of red on them, paint brushes that had red paint on them, little paint containers that said red on them, with kind of like the black and white, chakar board, the paint can.

00:41:13.677 --> 00:41:16.537
JEANETTE:So very queen of hearts.

00:41:16.537 --> 00:41:21.097
JEANETTE:Even the sweethearts is very, you know, heart shaped.

00:41:21.097 --> 00:41:24.137
JEANETTE:The sweetheart bodice is very heart shaped.

00:41:24.137 --> 00:41:30.517
JEANETTE:To be a little more modest, I'm going to be wearing a black and white polka dot bolero over it to cover my shoulders.

00:41:30.517 --> 00:41:36.277
JEANETTE:And depending on how hot it is, I'll see how I feel if I feel comfortable taking that off or not.

00:41:36.277 --> 00:41:42.917
JEANETTE:But I do want to be respectful of Japanese culture that like a whole lot of jacquotage is not appreciated.

00:41:42.917 --> 00:41:52.577
JEANETTE:But yeah, so it's sort of a Margot Robbie promoter, Hellas in Wonderland, Vintage Repro mashup.

00:41:52.577 --> 00:41:53.177
VIRGINIA: Nice.

00:41:53.177 --> 00:41:53.697
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:41:53.697 --> 00:41:55.217
VIRGINIA: I cannot wait to see it.

00:41:55.217 --> 00:42:09.597
VIRGINIA: And once we get your photos back and everything, I'm going to try to remember, and I'm saying this aloud so that Editor Virginia in the future will remember to look for the Margot Robbie photos so that we can see the inspiration and how your make turned out.

00:42:09.597 --> 00:42:11.177
JEANETTE:I can send those to you.

00:42:11.177 --> 00:42:19.437
JEANETTE:I think I still have an image of that bookmarked on my Instagram because I tend to like bookmark things that I'm like, oh, I want to make something that looks like that.

00:42:19.437 --> 00:42:19.937
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:42:19.937 --> 00:42:20.397
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:42:20.397 --> 00:42:21.637
VIRGINIA: Fantastic.

00:42:21.637 --> 00:42:22.237
JEANETTE:All right.

00:42:22.237 --> 00:42:28.097
VIRGINIA: Well, let's move in to Tuesday, September 24th.

00:42:28.097 --> 00:42:30.657
VIRGINIA: We're almost an hour in and we've made it through one day.

00:42:30.657 --> 00:42:34.357
JEANETTE:So yeah, I mean, this is this is the meat though, right?

00:42:34.637 --> 00:42:36.077
<v SPEAKER_4>Like the Disneyland part of the trip.

00:42:36.077 --> 00:42:37.237
VIRGINIA: This is the meat.

00:42:37.877 --> 00:42:41.157
VIRGINIA: This is the fish for this pescatarian.

00:42:41.157 --> 00:42:44.997
JEANETTE:But the park will close, the parks close at 9 p.m.

00:42:44.997 --> 00:42:50.197
JEANETTE:And I, you know, depending on what our energy is, I may try to like stretch that out.

00:42:50.197 --> 00:42:53.117
JEANETTE:Like, can we just like be in an empty park?

00:42:53.117 --> 00:42:56.897
JEANETTE:But I'm also super excited about staying in the Alice and Wonderland suite.

00:42:56.897 --> 00:42:58.297
JEANETTE:We just have the one night there.

00:42:58.297 --> 00:43:05.357
JEANETTE:So the following morning, we have breakfast that's included in our vacation package.

00:43:05.357 --> 00:43:13.177
JEANETTE:It's in the Sherwood Garden, which looks to me a little bit like, I mean, Disneyland Hotel in general has a very Grand Floridian vibe.

00:43:13.177 --> 00:43:17.297
JEANETTE:So it looks a little bit like, let's say, like the Grand Floridian Cafe or something like that.

00:43:17.297 --> 00:43:21.217
JEANETTE:And they do a breakfast buffet that claims to be Western breakfast food.

00:43:21.217 --> 00:43:23.977
JEANETTE:So we'll see how true that is.

00:43:23.977 --> 00:43:29.337
VIRGINIA: Are you planning to go over and be at Tokyo Disney Sea for Park Open?

00:43:31.177 --> 00:43:33.417
JEANETTE:I think we'll do as close as we can.

00:43:33.417 --> 00:43:43.177
JEANETTE:Because I booked the vacation package a little bit later, some of those sort of prime time breakfast spots were already booked up.

00:43:43.177 --> 00:43:52.937
JEANETTE:So we have a 7.50am breakfast, which theoretically will put us coming out of breakfast right at nine.

00:43:52.937 --> 00:43:59.717
JEANETTE:So we would go over to Disney Sea, but we might be like a little later than other people.

00:43:59.717 --> 00:44:16.957
JEANETTE:I'm also contemplating whether we're going to leave our smaller luggage with both services, or we could get a large locker in the front of Tokyo Disney Sea, and then we just wouldn't have to go back to the Disneyland Hotel that night.

00:44:16.957 --> 00:44:20.117
JEANETTE:So sort of leaning into the large locker idea.

00:44:22.497 --> 00:44:29.837
VIRGINIA: So we talked about your outfit for Tokyo Disneyland, but what are you going to be wearing on your Tokyo Disney Sea Day?

00:44:29.837 --> 00:44:34.697
JEANETTE:I think I just changed my plan of what I'm going to wear today.

00:44:34.697 --> 00:44:36.077
JEANETTE:So see if I change it back.

00:44:37.317 --> 00:44:46.597
JEANETTE:But I have these shirts, they're sort of like, they're tanks, but they're like 1950s tanks.

00:44:46.597 --> 00:44:49.357
JEANETTE:So they're very high on the neck.

00:44:49.357 --> 00:44:55.237
JEANETTE:And anyway, I got this, I have a fabric that is like all the Disney characters.

00:44:55.237 --> 00:44:56.097
JEANETTE:Not all of them.

00:44:56.097 --> 00:45:00.777
JEANETTE:In fact, some of the ones they don't include bother me, but it's a lot of the Disney characters.

00:45:01.117 --> 00:45:06.137
JEANETTE:And it's like just a mixed mishmash of all these different Disney characters.

00:45:06.137 --> 00:45:07.217
<v SPEAKER_4>They're very small.

00:45:07.217 --> 00:45:09.737
JEANETTE:And they have pretty much all the colors in it.

00:45:09.737 --> 00:45:20.297
JEANETTE:And then I was thinking I was just going to wear like athletic skirt that has the shorts underneath it, either in pink or I ordered a new one in blue.

00:45:20.297 --> 00:45:23.037
JEANETTE:We'll see if I like that one.

00:45:23.037 --> 00:45:27.457
JEANETTE:And then I have these scrunchies that have the Mickey Mouse ears on them.

00:45:27.817 --> 00:45:35.397
JEANETTE:So I'm just throwing my hair in a ponytail and pink Mickey Mouse scrunchie on my head, or Minnie Mouse scrunchie on my head.

00:45:35.397 --> 00:45:38.237
JEANETTE:So it's going to be a little bit more casual of a look.

00:45:38.237 --> 00:45:44.737
JEANETTE:But I feel like because Fantasy Springs, it has these carvings of all the different characters and all the different stories.

00:45:44.737 --> 00:45:51.137
JEANETTE:It should be representing a lot of the different characters and the different stories on my shirt.

00:45:51.137 --> 00:45:53.497
VIRGINIA: Sounds really cute.

00:45:53.497 --> 00:45:54.077
VIRGINIA: Cannot wait.

00:45:54.637 --> 00:46:03.857
JEANETTE:Once we're in Disney Sea, we'll have a couple of past things that I want to try to book.

00:46:03.857 --> 00:46:13.897
JEANETTE:I want to go to McDuck's department store, and I believe that is a shopping experience that you have to get a standby pass for.

00:46:13.897 --> 00:46:15.017
JEANETTE:It's funny.

00:46:15.057 --> 00:46:20.757
JEANETTE:I love DuckTales and I love Scrooge McDuck, but this store is actually filled with Duffy stuff.

00:46:22.137 --> 00:46:24.417
JEANETTE:It doesn't have DuckTales stuff in it.

00:46:24.837 --> 00:46:30.237
JEANETTE:It's the main store in Disney Sea where you can buy all the Duffy gear.

00:46:30.237 --> 00:46:33.917
JEANETTE:I have a goal of getting something, Lena Bell.

00:46:33.917 --> 00:46:41.397
JEANETTE:She is the newest addition to the Duffy crew, and she is a fox that solves mysteries.

00:46:41.397 --> 00:46:44.077
VIRGINIA: I mean, that sounds like you.

00:46:44.077 --> 00:46:44.397
<v SPEAKER_2>Yeah.

00:46:45.057 --> 00:46:46.677
JEANETTE:I want her.

00:46:46.677 --> 00:46:48.857
VIRGINIA: Fox that solves mysteries.

00:46:48.917 --> 00:46:49.417
<v SPEAKER_2>Yeah.

00:46:49.417 --> 00:46:49.957
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:46:49.957 --> 00:46:51.657
JEANETTE:And she's pink.

00:46:51.657 --> 00:46:54.497
JEANETTE:So yeah, I'm pretty much obsessed.

00:46:54.497 --> 00:47:03.077
JEANETTE:I also want to try to get a premiere pass, maybe for something like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, something that is very popular.

00:47:03.077 --> 00:47:07.017
JEANETTE:And then for shows, they do something called an entry request.

00:47:08.257 --> 00:47:19.677
JEANETTE:I would like to try for an entry request for Big Band Beat, which is a musical show in which Mickey dances and plays drums.

00:47:19.677 --> 00:47:27.537
JEANETTE:And I think Donald plays the guitar and it's crazy and weird and wacky.

00:47:27.537 --> 00:47:32.577
JEANETTE:But the thing about their show system is it's a lottery.

00:47:32.577 --> 00:47:38.057
JEANETTE:So you put in a request to see a show, and if you don't get it, that's it.

00:47:38.057 --> 00:47:39.257
JEANETTE:You don't get to see it.

00:47:39.257 --> 00:47:41.457
JEANETTE:So I'll try for it.

00:47:41.457 --> 00:47:43.577
JEANETTE:And if I get to see it, yay.

00:47:43.577 --> 00:47:47.637
JEANETTE:And if I don't get to see it, I'll probably be back in Japan in three to four years.

00:47:47.737 --> 00:47:48.757
JEANETTE:So it's okay.

00:47:48.757 --> 00:47:54.617
JEANETTE:So that will be sort of like the we're in the park, get that sort of stuff done.

00:47:54.617 --> 00:48:00.997
JEANETTE:And then I think we may head right to Fantasy Springs.

00:48:00.997 --> 00:48:06.217
JEANETTE:With our little bracelets that we'll get, we can enter anytime we want.

00:48:07.237 --> 00:48:10.477
JEANETTE:We can skip the lines for all the rides.

00:48:10.477 --> 00:48:17.977
JEANETTE:So we could ride all four of the rides that are there, one after another, as many times as you want.

00:48:17.977 --> 00:48:23.657
JEANETTE:You just get to go through the same line that people are paying to skip the line.

00:48:23.657 --> 00:48:26.337
JEANETTE:You get to go through it just by showing your bracelet.

00:48:26.357 --> 00:48:27.997
VIRGINIA: Okay, all right.

00:48:27.997 --> 00:48:29.277
JEANETTE:I mean, you did pay for it, but.

00:48:29.277 --> 00:48:31.397
VIRGINIA: Right, no, but it's free, right?

00:48:31.397 --> 00:48:34.477
VIRGINIA: Because you already paid for it a while ago.

00:48:34.517 --> 00:48:36.517
JEANETTE:Yeah, exactly.

00:48:36.517 --> 00:48:38.317
JEANETTE:I also really want to try.

00:48:38.317 --> 00:48:42.597
JEANETTE:There's a Rapunzel drink called Magical Milk Tea.

00:48:42.597 --> 00:48:44.037
<v SPEAKER_4>It's a snuggly duckling.

00:48:44.037 --> 00:48:49.257
<v SPEAKER_4>And oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm going to get to go into the snuggly duckling.

00:48:49.257 --> 00:48:53.977
<v SPEAKER_4>Tangled is seriously one of my favorite movies as a screenwriter.

00:48:53.977 --> 00:48:57.417
JEANETTE:It's one that I study like to death.

00:48:57.417 --> 00:48:58.477
JEANETTE:I just love it.

00:48:59.577 --> 00:49:05.317
JEANETTE:And I mean, I'm so excited that I get to be in more than just a restroom area.

00:49:07.457 --> 00:49:08.557
VIRGINIA: Yes.

00:49:08.557 --> 00:49:11.297
VIRGINIA: Oh, it just really makes what we have for her in the US.

00:49:11.297 --> 00:49:16.497
VIRGINIA: Just really, it pales in comparison.

00:49:16.597 --> 00:49:17.377
JEANETTE:100 percent.

00:49:17.377 --> 00:49:35.937
JEANETTE:I mean, and this is probably my primary reason for being as excited about getting to Fantasy Springs at this point and being willing to like splurge a little bit on the vacation package, make sure that I get that full Tangled Park experience.

00:49:35.937 --> 00:49:37.277
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:49:37.277 --> 00:49:44.317
JEANETTE:We also have a vacation package pass for Journey to the Center of the Earth, so we'll be using that.

00:49:45.697 --> 00:49:55.037
JEANETTE:In addition to the popcorn, one of the unique snacks that exists at Tokyo Disney is the Sea Salt Ice Cream Manaka.

00:49:56.097 --> 00:50:01.637
JEANETTE:It looks like a shawl and it's got ice cream in it, and I think raspberry sauce in it.

00:50:01.637 --> 00:50:05.037
JEANETTE:Last time I was there, I could not find it.

00:50:05.797 --> 00:50:10.637
JEANETTE:I really want to get it this time, so that's going to be on the to-do list.

00:50:10.637 --> 00:50:14.557
JEANETTE:We also have a vacation pass pass for Tower of Terror.

00:50:14.797 --> 00:50:18.237
JEANETTE:These vacation pass passes are just making it so easy.

00:50:18.237 --> 00:50:27.897
JEANETTE:I don't know if we'll wait in one line this entire time because we already have so many passes for the things that we really, really want to do.

00:50:27.897 --> 00:50:29.537
VIRGINIA: Yeah, that sounds amazing.

00:50:29.537 --> 00:50:33.437
JEANETTE:In this park, I might try to do the meet and greet with Shelly May.

00:50:33.437 --> 00:50:45.677
JEANETTE:She is the duffy character, the girl, not girl-friendly romantic because they're too young, but the female friend of Duffy.

00:50:47.017 --> 00:50:50.557
JEANETTE:And she's very cute, so I might try to get a picture with her.

00:50:50.557 --> 00:50:55.677
JEANETTE:Obviously, the popcorn exploration will still be happening.

00:50:55.677 --> 00:51:09.537
JEANETTE:I'm sad because today I found out that there is like a train in Tokyo Disney Sea and I didn't get to ride it last time we were there, and I wanted to ride it this time, but it's going to be down while we're there, so that's a little disappointing.

00:51:10.217 --> 00:51:14.317
JEANETTE:But there are other modes of transportations that are supposed to be really fun.

00:51:14.317 --> 00:51:26.997
JEANETTE:So we're going to try to do the steamer line, which is like a boat that takes you through the harbor, and maybe the Phoenician gondolas.

00:51:26.997 --> 00:51:28.237
JEANETTE:I don't know.

00:51:29.317 --> 00:51:30.077
JEANETTE:I'm sure we will.

00:51:30.077 --> 00:51:32.357
JEANETTE:We'll probably have time and we'll do it.

00:51:33.677 --> 00:51:37.717
JEANETTE:But I've already decided we're not going to do something like Soarin.

00:51:37.717 --> 00:51:41.317
JEANETTE:It's so similar to the Soarin we have here, but it's going to be in Japanese.

00:51:41.317 --> 00:51:42.957
JEANETTE:My husband hates Soarin.

00:51:42.957 --> 00:51:46.297
JEANETTE:That's one of the worst ones for him with motion sickness.

00:51:46.297 --> 00:51:47.637
JEANETTE:We're just going to skip that.

00:51:47.637 --> 00:51:50.077
JEANETTE:We're going to skip the Indiana Jones stuff.

00:51:50.077 --> 00:51:51.297
JEANETTE:We did it last time.

00:51:51.997 --> 00:51:58.177
JEANETTE:Those are also rides that are going to be really tough on someone who's prone to motion sickness.

00:51:58.177 --> 00:52:00.797
JEANETTE:So that streamlines the day a little bit.

00:52:01.177 --> 00:52:06.677
VIRGINIA: Is there anything in particular that Rob is really looking forward to on his Disney days?

00:52:06.677 --> 00:52:08.597
JEANETTE:Making his wife happy?

00:52:09.737 --> 00:52:13.337
VIRGINIA: Obviously, he always wants to make you happy, but.

00:52:13.337 --> 00:52:14.797
JEANETTE:I mean, that's really it.

00:52:14.797 --> 00:52:20.857
JEANETTE:Like when we, when I can get him to go to Disney World, he does really enjoy the Star Wars stuff.

00:52:21.917 --> 00:52:26.957
JEANETTE:And he enjoys a good cocktail and things like that.

00:52:26.957 --> 00:52:28.757
JEANETTE:And food, he enjoys good food.

00:52:30.117 --> 00:52:35.397
JEANETTE:But, you know, the food is a little trickier in Tokyo Disneyland.

00:52:35.397 --> 00:52:37.077
JEANETTE:There are cocktails.

00:52:37.077 --> 00:52:38.297
JEANETTE:You could have them.

00:52:38.297 --> 00:52:39.777
JEANETTE:They're not included in the package.

00:52:39.777 --> 00:52:42.977
JEANETTE:I don't know what the quality of them is.

00:52:42.977 --> 00:52:44.877
JEANETTE:Maybe we'll try that out.

00:52:44.877 --> 00:52:46.477
VIRGINIA: For science, for science.

00:52:46.477 --> 00:52:47.597
JEANETTE:For science, obviously.

00:52:47.897 --> 00:52:50.997
JEANETTE:And, you know, so your listeners can have it recorded.

00:52:51.037 --> 00:52:52.037
VIRGINIA: Well, I appreciate that.

00:52:52.037 --> 00:52:52.637
VIRGINIA: I appreciate that.

00:52:52.637 --> 00:52:55.457
JEANETTE:Yeah.

00:52:55.457 --> 00:53:12.817
JEANETTE:But no, I mean, this is really very much a gift to me that he is willing to take up some of the time that we are going to Japan, a place that he really loves, to then go to Tokyo Disney, you know, with my obsession and love for Disney and Disney Parks.

00:53:15.357 --> 00:53:21.617
VIRGINIA: Well, we're running tight on time, so I'm sure that your post-trip interview is going to be epic.

00:53:21.617 --> 00:53:34.717
VIRGINIA: I am absolutely certain because I don't try to limit the time on those episodes, but because this is a pre-trip, is there anything else you want to mention about Tokyo Disney Sea before we just kind of quickly map out what your other days are?

00:53:34.757 --> 00:53:39.377
JEANETTE:Sure, I'll just mention that like what's for my two meals a day plan.

00:53:39.377 --> 00:53:44.557
JEANETTE:I did make a reservation for the Sakura restaurant, which is a restaurant that has tempura.

00:53:44.597 --> 00:53:53.037
JEANETTE:But I may or may not keep that because there's a couple of places in Tokyo Disney Sea, quick service places that have some plant-based options.

00:53:53.037 --> 00:53:55.357
JEANETTE:So I may or may not keep that.

00:53:55.357 --> 00:54:09.237
JEANETTE:And then, yeah, we're going to try to do the day as much as we can, perhaps catch the Sea of Dreams show, and then we'll have to be transferring back to our secondary hotel.

00:54:11.057 --> 00:54:11.677
JEANETTE:Yeah.

00:54:11.677 --> 00:54:23.077
<v SPEAKER_4>And then that brings us into the rest of the trip, which is, you know, there's still like 11 days more of trip beyond.

00:54:23.077 --> 00:54:23.737
VIRGINIA: I know.

00:54:24.637 --> 00:54:25.477
VIRGINIA: It's a big one.

00:54:25.477 --> 00:54:36.557
VIRGINIA: But let's just, for each day, just kind of tell us what area of Japan you will be in, and if there's anything, you know, big to note about something that you'll be seeing.

00:54:36.557 --> 00:54:37.517
<v SPEAKER_4>Yeah, easy.

00:54:37.517 --> 00:54:44.977
JEANETTE:So the 25th, which is the day we'll be leaving Tokyo Bay, is actually our wedding anniversary.

00:54:44.977 --> 00:54:48.097
JEANETTE:So we're going to spend that in Tokyo.

00:54:48.097 --> 00:54:52.017
JEANETTE:We're going to hit up the kitchenwares district a little bit for both of us.

00:54:52.017 --> 00:54:57.737
JEANETTE:We both enjoy Japanese kitchenwares and pottery and things like that.

00:54:57.737 --> 00:55:00.397
JEANETTE:We're going to hit up the fabric district for me.

00:55:01.397 --> 00:55:05.597
JEANETTE:So maybe I can come back with some really unique fabrics to sew with.

00:55:07.377 --> 00:55:12.417
JEANETTE:The following day, we'll spend about half of a day still in Tokyo.

00:55:12.417 --> 00:55:13.837
JEANETTE:We're not sure what we're doing with it.

00:55:13.837 --> 00:55:16.177
JEANETTE:I've got a couple of ideas in mind.

00:55:16.637 --> 00:55:27.537
JEANETTE:And then we had that afternoon evening, we had to Shizuoka, which is the area that my husband had lived in when he was there for three years.

00:55:27.537 --> 00:55:29.077
JEANETTE:We'll spend some time with his friends.

00:55:29.257 --> 00:55:34.597
JEANETTE:One of his friends inherited a bar and turned it into a sushi bar.

00:55:34.597 --> 00:55:37.557
JEANETTE:So we'll get to visit his sushi bar for the first time.

00:55:37.557 --> 00:55:38.897
JEANETTE:So that's really exciting.

00:55:38.897 --> 00:55:39.417
VIRGINIA: Fun.

00:55:39.417 --> 00:55:49.957
JEANETTE:We're going to spend about two and a half days in Shizuoka, visiting friends, no real concrete plans, because we're kind of like leaving it up to them to, you know, what do you think we should do?

00:55:49.957 --> 00:55:50.557
JEANETTE:What's new?

00:55:50.557 --> 00:55:52.257
<v SPEAKER_2>Or what do you love?

00:55:52.697 --> 00:55:54.957
JEANETTE:And then we head to Kyoto.

00:55:54.957 --> 00:56:06.937
JEANETTE:We're going to be staying in a traditional ryokan, old style hotel, where you're like, there's the tatami mats, and you're sleeping on, you know, fold out mattresses.

00:56:09.217 --> 00:56:10.277
JEANETTE:We're there.

00:56:10.277 --> 00:56:18.657
JEANETTE:We had been to Kyoto before, but we're kind of just doing a mix of things in Kyoto that we hadn't done previously.

00:56:18.657 --> 00:56:21.977
JEANETTE:And then we're there for two days.

00:56:21.977 --> 00:56:25.277
JEANETTE:We head to Osaka from there.

00:56:26.057 --> 00:56:28.237
JEANETTE:And it's probably just going to be an evening in Osaka.

00:56:28.237 --> 00:56:30.297
JEANETTE:Osaka is a very fun town.

00:56:30.297 --> 00:56:33.117
JEANETTE:It's a really fun town for food.

00:56:34.217 --> 00:56:44.597
JEANETTE:It has this Dotonbori area that is just like, it looks like a comic book come to life of food vendors with bright neon lights.

00:56:44.597 --> 00:56:48.377
JEANETTE:And it's spectacular, and it's loud and colorful.

00:56:48.377 --> 00:56:51.637
JEANETTE:And it was actually like what I thought Japan would be.

00:56:51.637 --> 00:56:53.057
JEANETTE:So I'm excited to go back there.

00:56:54.797 --> 00:56:59.717
JEANETTE:And then from Osaka, we fly to a small island.

00:56:59.717 --> 00:57:01.737
JEANETTE:And I always screw up the name of it.

00:57:01.737 --> 00:57:03.737
JEANETTE:So I'm going to look at my notes.

00:57:05.477 --> 00:57:07.557
JEANETTE:Yakushima.

00:57:07.557 --> 00:57:11.817
JEANETTE:And the reason that we're going to Yakushima is for hiking.

00:57:11.817 --> 00:57:16.857
JEANETTE:They have these incredibly ancient cedar forests.

00:57:16.857 --> 00:57:26.417
JEANETTE:In fact, one of the forests that we will do a hike in is the visual inspiration for the movie Princess Mononoke.

00:57:27.497 --> 00:57:29.497
VIRGINIA: I am not familiar with that movie.

00:57:29.497 --> 00:57:33.757
JEANETTE:Well, if anyone is an anime fan, they will have seen it.

00:57:33.917 --> 00:57:34.697
JEANETTE:It's very good.

00:57:34.697 --> 00:57:36.057
<v SPEAKER_2>I recommend checking it out.

00:57:36.057 --> 00:57:38.737
JEANETTE:It's a female-named character.

00:57:38.737 --> 00:57:40.817
JEANETTE:It's very empowering.

00:57:40.817 --> 00:57:41.777
VIRGINIA: Alex may have seen it.

00:57:41.777 --> 00:57:43.337
VIRGINIA: He's really into anime.

00:57:43.337 --> 00:57:44.157
JEANETTE:Yeah.

00:57:44.157 --> 00:57:45.557
JEANETTE:I did a lot of research.

00:57:45.557 --> 00:57:50.077
JEANETTE:I was trying to find hikes in Japan that would feel like a hike in Japan.

00:57:50.297 --> 00:57:56.177
JEANETTE:Because some of the hikes in Japan looked like it could be a hike in New England.

00:57:56.177 --> 00:57:59.557
JEANETTE:I wanted to make sure that we had something that felt uniquely Japanese.

00:57:59.557 --> 00:58:04.297
JEANETTE:This island, I think it's going to tick out that box.

00:58:04.297 --> 00:58:09.457
JEANETTE:We're there for about three days and we're staying at a very nice hotel.

00:58:09.457 --> 00:58:29.557
JEANETTE:I think it's going to be a relaxing experience in addition to doing the hiking, which I feel like will be a perfect ending to what's a pretty busy, lots of movement, two nights at this hotel, two nights at this hotel, one night at that hotel, and a rush, rush, rush.

00:58:29.557 --> 00:58:33.377
JEANETTE:Then we get to chill for the last couple of days.

00:58:33.377 --> 00:58:36.077
VIRGINIA: What day do you fly out?

00:58:36.077 --> 00:58:38.757
JEANETTE:We fly out the 4th.

00:58:38.757 --> 00:58:49.657
JEANETTE:We have to fly off of the island, then to Tokyo, to the mainland, then to Tokyo, then to the US.

00:58:49.657 --> 00:58:56.497
JEANETTE:We have a layover in Tokyo, which may give us enough time to leave the airport for a little bit.

00:58:56.497 --> 00:58:58.517
JEANETTE:I'm not sure yet.

00:58:58.517 --> 00:59:01.597
JEANETTE:And then the flight home from Tokyo.

00:59:01.597 --> 00:59:14.517
JEANETTE:And then we arrive back the evening of the 4th in New York, because, again, the magical time travel time travel, yeah, have given us an extra day.

00:59:14.517 --> 00:59:15.197
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:59:15.197 --> 00:59:17.637
VIRGINIA: This is going to be so good.

00:59:17.637 --> 00:59:24.777
VIRGINIA: This is just such a gift to be able to take a nice long trip like this and to be able to see as much as you're going to see.

00:59:24.777 --> 00:59:32.917
VIRGINIA: And then in terms of all of the Disney stuff, for those of us who are our big Disney fans, that is just a dream come true.

00:59:32.917 --> 00:59:34.637
VIRGINIA: So I can't wait to hear all about it.

00:59:34.757 --> 00:59:36.837
VIRGINIA: And I hope you have the best time.

00:59:36.837 --> 00:59:46.377
VIRGINIA: And I hope Rob has an amazing time reconnecting with friends and translating for you and hopefully eating good food and drinking good cocktails.

00:59:46.377 --> 00:59:49.317
VIRGINIA: And we will be excited to talk to you when you get back.

00:59:49.317 --> 00:59:51.817
<v SPEAKER_2>Thanks for having me again and letting me share.

00:59:53.157 --> 00:59:57.177
JEANETTE:I spent a lot of time planning this trip and I'm really excited about it.

00:59:57.177 --> 01:00:00.557
VIRGINIA: So yeah, well, you are always welcome back on the podcast.

01:00:00.557 --> 01:00:02.597
VIRGINIA: You have an open invitation.

01:00:02.877 --> 01:00:06.777
VIRGINIA: You and Marin were the very first guests.

01:00:06.777 --> 01:00:14.577
VIRGINIA: So that gives you basically a lifelong skip the line pass to be a guest on the show.

01:00:14.577 --> 01:00:15.977
VIRGINIA: You're a VIP.

01:00:15.977 --> 01:00:16.557
JEANETTE:Watch out.

01:00:16.557 --> 01:00:18.197
JEANETTE:We go to Disney a lot.

01:00:18.197 --> 01:00:18.797
VIRGINIA: I know.

01:00:18.797 --> 01:00:19.817
VIRGINIA: I know you do.

01:00:19.817 --> 01:00:29.237
VIRGINIA: And we you and I might have some plans in the works too that we're going to be ready to get out at some point soon.

01:00:31.097 --> 01:00:33.297
VIRGINIA: Some Disney dame shenanigans.

01:00:33.297 --> 01:00:34.337
VIRGINIA: Yep.

01:00:34.337 --> 01:00:34.977
VIRGINIA: All right.

01:00:34.977 --> 01:00:37.097
VIRGINIA: Well, I will talk to you very soon then, Jeannette.

01:00:37.097 --> 01:00:37.777
VIRGINIA: Bye.

01:00:37.777 --> 01:00:39.857
<v SPEAKER_4>Bye.

01:00:39.857 --> 01:00:43.857
VIRGINIA: Thank you, Jeannette, for continuing to come back time and time again to the show.

01:00:43.857 --> 01:00:45.557
VIRGINIA: You are the best.

01:00:45.557 --> 01:00:52.797
VIRGINIA: If you want more, Jeannette, please move on to the next episode for her post trip interview and hear how all the plans went.

01:00:52.797 --> 01:00:56.077
VIRGINIA: Until next time, keep daydreaming about where you long to be.

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