Tokyo's Hub

Although Tokyo Disneyland's Castle is almost a replica of Cinderella's Castle in Walt Disney World, there is one major difference in the area surrounding the Castle, also known as the hub.

In Tokyo, the hub is a much larger area. Their parades tend to loop around the hub, which gives many more vantage points for the parades and also makes general guest traffic flow much easier at their very busy times. There are also two towers placed in the hub, usually used as storage places for Cinderella...or sound-booths for the parades.

At the far end of the hub is the beautiful Cinderella Castle.

And if we turn around, we are faced with the entrance to the hub from World Bazaar (conveniently undercover to deal with Japan's abusive winters and rainy-seasons).

Ticket To... World Bazaar & The Castle

Unlike the Disney Theme Parks throughout the world, Tokyo Disneyland doesn't have a Main Street USA. Instead, we are welcomed to the park with the World Bazaar! A main street covered with a Victorian style glass ceiling, constructed in order to protect guests from the Japanese weather, which can actually be quite harsh at times of the year!
World Bazaar has several different shops and restaurants - more eating places than any other of the Disney Main Streets. It also has the Tokyo Disneyland Club 33 restaurant, a similarly exclusive restaurant to the one in New Orleans Square, Disneyland, California. Here we can also find the Penny Arcade (where we can be transported back in time to enjoy penny games from the late 1800s) and the Disney Gallery, which features a place where you can have your very own Drawing Lessons!
Once we get through World Bazaar (where we try not to spend too much money on food or souvenirs!), we reach the Hub and we catch our first view of the beautiful Cinderella Castle.
Whilst very similar to the Castle in Walt Disney World, this Cinderella Castle used to have its very own walk-through attraction. Between 1986 and 2006, guests could experience the magical "Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour". And notice, the name is "Cinderella Castle" and not "Cinderella's Castle" like in Florida.

The Castle usually hosts some shows throughout the year, so maybe we'll pop back another time and have a look and see what shows are happening for us to enjoy!