theDIBB - TRIP REPORT: Day 14 Travel Home

Urgh a 3.15am alarm is never pleasant, but we knew that the 6.30am flight out of Tokyo was best for us as it meant we arrived home the same day and still had a full day the previous day.

Before we move on, here are some photos of our room at the Keikyu Ex Haneda - the room was small but it did the job and was cheaper than us staying at the Sheraton and far easier given the time of the morning than trying to get here from Disneyland.

The hotel operated a free shuttle, which was why we selected it (and it was less than half the price of the hotel in the international terminal – I think about £70 for the night). It was first come, first serve though, so we wanted to get down in good time. We got down there at 3.45am for the 4am shuttle and there was plenty of space available.

The shuttle took 8 minutes, and dropped us off at the international terminal. We found the Cathay Pacific desk easily enough, printed our luggage tags, and went to bag drop.

Once through security, we grabbed two drinks from a vending machine (Y160/£1.14 each) and with the spare change, Matt got a selection of other biscuits.

We boarded at 6.05am for a 6.35am departure, and we were more or less on time. We both just watched some content on our tablets (I finished Falling in Love from Netflix, and then Can You Keep a Secret, Matt watched Godzilla and some of Thor Ragnarok), and we landed slightly ahead of schedule at 10am. The flight time was 4 hours but it went quite quickly.

At Hong Kong, we went through security, and then went for another mooch in the Hong Kong Disneyland resort, now knowing what the merchandise was like at the other resorts. I wanted chopsticks but Matt said I wasn’t allowed any more lol, but I did buy a gorgeous Mickey jumper which they didn’t have two weeks ago, and two Apple Watch straps (one for me, and one for my sister) ($188/£18.69 each) which came to $359/£53.85 after a 15% discount. I also got a free ‘blind bag’ which came with a Cookie plush and some hair accessories which was cute!

Whilst here, I took the opportunity to get some pictures in my new Six Castle Club jersey which I had made and wear with great pride!

We also grabbed some food, again at Duddel’s, and virtually ordered the same as last time – I had the beef fried noodles (which were immense!), Matt had the two BBQ meats and rice, one round of BBQ pork steamed buns, and with two drinks, that came to $306/£30.43. It was excellent again.

Our final stop was to grab two drinks for the flight ($32/£3.18) ready for the flight.

We boarded at about 11.30am, and departed more or less on time at 12.15pm. Lunch was served soon into the flight, and we both went for the pork with jasmine rice.

There was quite a lot of turbulence during the flight, but nothing too serious. We managed to stay awake for most of the flight in spite of the early start and time difference, but I think there was a period of about 3-4 hours where I had a few power naps. This was not helped by the blinds having to be closed for a good chunk of the flight. Why do they make you do that?! It doesn’t help adjust to your new timezone for sure and I really didn’t want mine to be closed!

We passed the time watching films – I chose Booksmart, Yesterday, Toy Story 4, A Star I Born, Wild Rose and Clueless. Matt finished Game of Thrones (of what he had downloaded onto his tablet) and Spiderman Far From Home.

We landed on time at 6.10pm UK time, and thankfully, passport control and baggage claim were quite quick and seamless. We made a pit stop into M&S for some dinner (Matt got sausage rolls, I got a chicken & avocado sandwich) and then we met our driver, and we were grateful that Matt didn’t have to drive as staying awake was a battle but we did manage it.

We got home at 8.30pm, switched on the hot water, got out the essentials, and showered and were in bed for 9.10pm.

Steps = 7689