Winter Nagano Trip

 SNOW MONKEYS

To reach the snow monkeys we hiked through a beautiful forest

This monkey decided to skip the hot springs and warm up by a vent.

On our hike back we saw a rare Japanese marten running through the forest.

Monkeys in the forest

keeping her baby warm

Monkeys swimming in the hot springs

MADERO

The snow covered little ski town of Madero was so beautiful. We stayed in a nice little ski lodge run by Australians. 

It was magical to wake up each morning to the trees (and our rental van) covered in so much snow.

 

This happened in just a few hours of  being parked at our place. 

We went to a fun Vietnamese restaurant (also run by Australians) and played some darts while we waited. There weren't any good grocery stores in town, but a few little shops where we could get snacks. Brooklyn laughed at the "cheesy dibbles" I bought her. 

SKIING JAPAN

We had fun skiing at a little resort in Madarao. 

We also enjoyed skiing at the big Shiga Kogen resort. Brooklyn and Audrey took a day of lessons there. 

Brooklyn and Audrey had fun playing in the snow and building little snowmen after their ski lessons. 

NEW YEARS AT DISNEYSEA

We stayed in a home in Tokyo our last day before doing Disneysea. Brooklyn has excited to stay on the Tiger bed.

We enjoyed the inside portion of Little Mermaid while we warmed up after waiting outside in line for so long. 

We were really excited to see the new Fantasy Springs area. The Fantasy Springs Hotel looks amazing.

It was really beautiful. 

We really liked the Peter Pan ride.

Arendelle was amazing with lots of cool details. 

We also liked seeing Rapunzel's tower and the Snuggly Duckling Tavern. 

Since we don't speak Japanese, we didn't stop to talk to the characters, but it was still fun to see them. 

  Agrabah is really impressive too. 

We went on a gondola ride in the Italy portion

The Peter Pan area was fun

We waited in line a long time for the Frozen ride, but we didn't mind too much since the detailed decor and sets were amazing.

Kristoff's sled

We ended our day at Disneysea with one of our favorite rides, Soarin'. We also watched the fireworks and light show. 

Before we flew out from the airport we found a really nice vegan restaurant at Narita. Their Sesame Tantanmen was our favorite dish. I'm posting this for future reference in case we end up there again.