When I was a wee kiddo, I grew up reading fairy tales and watching Disney movies. It’s not the greatest way to be learn English, really, because you either end up being cynical (“As if happily-ever-afters do happen”) or hopelessly idealistic (“When I am 25, I will marry my Prince Charming and we will live happily ever after”). No prizes for guessing which category I belonged in.
But now that I am older and wiser, I – unabashed and unembarrassed – can say that I love Disney and Studio Ghibli to bits. Bits. Which was why I decided that we had to go to Disneyland and the Ghibli Museum when we were in Tokyo.
What a perfect decision!
On Friday morning, we packed ourselves to Mitaka where the Ghibli Museum was located.
It was such a whimsical place! You are encouraged to be “lost” and the place has no real order to it. There are beautiful displays that whirl and spin, a tiny spiral staircase where you have to bend to walk down, stained glass windows that depict scenes from Studio Ghibli movies, odd-sized doors, a replicate of the room that Hayao Miyazaki works in and even the Cat Bus! The Saturn theatre was too cute – the windows looked like airplane cabin windows with similar shutters, albeit automated.
Needless to say, we loved, loved, LOVED the museum. Everything was so delightful and charming and FUN! Photography was not allowed in the museum though. Poo.
After that, we took the subway and headed towards Maihama for Disneyland. The moment we stepped out from the station into the glorious day, it was immediately obvious that we were in Happy Land.
Songs from Disney movies were playing and the railings had little statues of Disney characters. There were vibrant flower bushes and lots of ecstatic little children and adults. Everything was planned to perfection at Disneyland. Throughout our seven-hour (!) trip there, we were laughing and giggling, the joy and delight were so infectious. I felt like I was eight all over again. Even sitting on the cold ground, sipping hot chocolate and eating popcorn while waiting for the parade to start was fun. I loved seeing the oh-so-adorable tykes dressed in Disney characters, they were so rosy-cheeked from the cold and beaming from ear to ear.
O, Happy Place, Happy Day!
Of course, in future we will have a little girl whom we will take to Disneyland and then I am going to dress her as Belle. And how adorable will she be! (It’s a rhetorical question but the answer is: VERY.)
Photos of our Disneyland/Ghibli Museum trips here.
Photos of our trip to Kyoto and Osaka here.
Yannisms 