Ayano’s Birthday

April 3, 2026 • Louie Mantia

Ayano and I went to Disneyland for her birthday, and got there a little early because it looked busy. After getting a few character signatures in her brand-new autograph book, we next prioritized getting a birthday sticker.

There were a few things on her list. There’s a cinnamon roll at Café Orleans that we had to get. (It was great.) And since we had got to Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 in our Marvel Cinematic Universe watch-through, Ayano became more interested in seeing it’s a small world with Groot. We also recently watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit, so now Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin makes more sense.

It really was a busy day. Pirates of the Caribbean is typically a 5–10-minute wait, but the line extended out into the plaza, which I’ve frankly never seen at Tokyo Disneyland.

Today was the very first time Ayano ever rode the Omnibus!

She’ll say it was completely unintentional, but I’m pretty convinced Ayano Disneybounded as a parade-organizer Cast Member.

I’ve been here more than fifty times and it was super busy today, but there were still opportunities to see new things. Like, look at these Cast Members re-dressing a window display in the middle of the day!