Goodbye Hokkaido Hello Disney!

Despite the bumpy start we have had an immensely enjoyable 4 days of skiing. Although I personally felt it wasn't the best or most efficient of systems, it did work in a strange sort of way.

Other points which I may not have mentioned:

• There was a coin laundry which wasn't too hectic.
• The squash courts were a nice change and if you go in winter, there is a heater which can be turned on to make it more comfortable for spectators!
• With a small refundable deposit, they will lend you a mahjong set which you can play on the card tables
• The ski instructors rotate through the various different classes. The way they run their classes were quite varied as were their teaching skills! 
• There was only one small rack of air dryers for boots. The snow was relatively dry most of the time but these dryers were almost impossible to get unless you were one of the first off the mountain
• Club Med transfers were not cheap. We organised a private bus via Skybus which worked out MUCH cheaper. The bus picked us up at Club Med and took us directly to Chitose Airport.

Would we come back to Club Med Sahoro? That was still debatable. All in all, the children had a ball and we really enjoyed the skiing. The snow and quiet mountains ended up being more wonderful that we had originally anticipated. Ski in-ski out convenience was a big bonus as was the ease of not having to worry about meals. Japan is relatively close compared to North America or Europe and the time difference isn't too big so a quick trip is quite feasible. However, the resort itself is tired and is need of refurbishment. Our experience here was vastly different to that in France.

Our journey from Hokkaido back to Tokyo was relatively uneventful other than Elliot's rubber shurikens! Malcolm had to go back out to check them in where they were placed in a special white box. He only just made it back in as we were boarding the plane...

Our private transfer to the airport!

The airport limousine was easy to use. 

Everything was well signed, orderly and efficient

One must be clothed appropriately when travelling to a Disney resort. Thank you Uniqlo!

From Haneda Airport, it was an easy and quick airport limousine ride to the Tokyo Disney Resort. It was finally Disney time! Excitement levels bubbled over as we entered the opulent Hotel Miracosta, beautifully themed to recreate the feel of an Italian Mediterranean port. The hotel forms part of the entrance to Tokyo DisneySea and has three sections: Tuscany Side, Venice Side and Porto Paradiso Side. As we used our DVC points to book, we were not able to get Porto Paradiso and went for Venice instead. It was no hardship looking out our window...

The ornate ceiling of the lobby

The children knew what to do while the adults check in. As with other Disney hotels, there is a suitably sized TV watching area for mini guests

Our room. Apologies for the blurry photos...

The highly detailed tapestries in our room

Bathroom door

Toiletries

The view from our room taken the next day!

We had time for a visit to Ikspiari for a dinner and purchasing breakfast provisions. An early start was in order for the next day!

Club Med Sahoro

Opa and Oma were highly anxious about our transfer from Tomamu to Club Med Sahoro. The group had decided months ago to have an "adventure" with the cheap option of a train journey with unreserved seats versus a private door to door transfer (the savings was around $400 between the 12 of us).

After a leisurely breakfast, a leisurely pack and a leisurely lunch, it was time for our first test...the shuttle bus from Tomamu resort to Tomamu Station. We had positioned ourselves in an ideal position for the shuttle bus but we needn't have worried. We were the only ones on it! And there we had our private transfer :)

Upon arrival at Tomamu Station, we were also the only ones at the Station. There was no one manning the station and we were told by the resort staff that ticket purchase would occur on the train itself. Enough skiers disembarked at Tomamu for all of us to get a seat on the train. It was only a 27 minute journey to Shintoku station which was a bigger and manned station. Ticket purchase occurred on arrival and it was a bargain 640 yen per adult. Thankfully our two prebooked taxis were waiting for us. Between the jumbo taxi and the regular taxi, we were able to fit the luggage of all 12 of us comfortably (12 large suitcases and 12 carry ons). The total fare from the station to Club Med Sahoro between both cabs was only around 9000 yen for a 15 minute drive.

Tomamu Station

No one else there!

Unfortunately our initial introduction to Club Med Sahoro was not the smoothest. Expectations were high after our most wonderful experience at Club Med Valmorel in France and we were disappointed with the many inefficiencies we faced that were not at Valmorel. Our welcome was friendly and we were given face towels and a drink but it went downhill from there. The lifts to our rooms were being serviced and we were pointed toward the ski service to get our skis. It was advertised to be open. However, upon reaching there, we were informed that they could not help us until 4:30pm. This was at 3pm. Alright...next step we thought we could register the children for kids club. Wrong! Even though they were open, we could only register them at 6pm which we found out later was the one and the same step as registering them for ski school. This information though was not clearly communicated. Adult ski school registration also occurred at 6pm as did dinner. 6pm was a chaos at both ski school registration and at the dining room. Over at ski school registration, there was confusion as to whether or not there was a teen club. We were told it was cancelled because there were not enough teens which surprised us. Strangely enough other families with teens were also told the same thing. Surely that was enough children already to for a program to occur? The manager had to come by later to apologise and to confirm that the teen club indeed was running. The last irksome thing we discovered was that we had to register for ski school EVERY DAY. We also didn't understand why the lift passes could not be included in the welcome pack that we received at check in rather than requiring us to pick them up at 8pm at reception.

Ski school registration chaos

Meanwhile over at the dining table, there was a crazy line for the sushi (30 minutes in a line just to get some albeit freshly made). There were children running wild everywhere (not too judgmental here as mine will probably partake shortly) and it was almost like a marketplace. The food itself though was quite decent. There was a good variety on offer and most were tasty including the desserts.

One word of warning, Club Med Sahoro is old, which in itself isn't a problem, but do be prepared for tired rooms and facilities. We booked a deluxe room which could fit all 5 of us. The rooms itself though were clean and reasonably spacious and our bathroom seems to be have recently renovated. There was really only one lounge which wasn't anywhere near big enough. If you got there late, you would not get any seats. Tea and coffee are served by the same person who cater to the children's drinks, so there can be a long wait for a simple cup of caffeine...

Our deluxe room with 3 futons on the tatami mats for the children

We were looking forward to the skiing the next day and hopefully it will be as good as everyone reports it to be! We were also glad to finally meet up with the Yeohs!

Apologies for the lack of photos. We were too busy trying to sort things out and so the camera did not make any appearance other than in our room.