Ice skating, amusement park, Toys R Us, followed by an Onsen! Toshimaenamusement park in Tokyo.

Toshimaen is a place for everyone... And their dogs!

If you value rides more than parades, you shouldn't go to Disneyland.

I have to write about the most perfect day we had the other day at Toshimaen. We went ice skating, rode rides and then went Christmas shopping at a giant Toys R Us located next door.

Toshimaen is a classic amusement park in Tokyo (Nerima), with all the rides you can imagine. It's our amusement park of choice for several reasons:

When driving, the roads aren't prone to heavy traffic on weekends, by train, it's located right next to a convenient station, the ride lines require little wait time, the price is right, and there's a variety of attractions.

I loved the ice skating because it was very child friendly. 

For the small kids, the rental skates have double blades so its easier for small ones to keep their balance on the slippery ice. Plus there are helmets and pads for added safety. The workers give kids advice on skating and tips to improve.

There are also chairs with handles you can rent for 500 yen to push around the rink. Our kids had a blast getting pushed around the rink in the chair and it helped us from falling on our bums. Win-win!

In the winter, there's an ice skating rink and in the summer, there's a water slide park. There is a small petting zoo year round, beetle museum where you can hold giant beetles, outdoor and indoor playground, fishing, large dog park... (By the way, dogs are very welcome to enter the park)

It's a place for those who like Japanese anime and manga characters. There is a costume play club locatedon premises, so anyone who wants to dress up, can easily dress up as their favorite anime character or superhero and blend right in. It's also great for photos.

There are many shows on special dates, including Ultramen, Purecure, Kamen Riders, Doraimon and more.

Anyways, we frequent it regularly, so hope to see you there one weekend!

There's also an Onsen next door for persons 8 years and up.