After some downtime at the Hilton were ready to return to the park. Before we stroll back in, I should say that the whole reason I wanted to come here was to experience the reputed “Best Disney Park in the world”, Disneysea. The way the tickets work here is a bit confusing as far as how many days you can buy and which park you can visit on each day, therefore I had to wait to see the pièce de résistance, as it were. I should look up what that would be in Japanese… Anyway, truth be told I would not have come all this way to see this version of the “Magic Kingdom”. As lovely as it is, it’s just not that different than what you can experience in the states aside from everything being in a different language. At this point I was hoping that Jeff was having good time here and not regretting coming half way around the world for seemingly what we could see in USA.
Onward!
The Grand Finale! Wait, we’re just getting started!
World Bazaar was lit up beautifully.
Music was blaring!
People were stopped to witness the dancing lights.
We were feeling a bit peckish. Jeff got a special 35th Anniversary food item that’s not as it seems at first glance… can you guess what this is?
Wrong! It’s braised beef, rice and gravy…in an ice cream cone.
I’ve gone K-razy with the anniversary foods!
Off to some attractions! First up, the Jungle Cruise.
The signage was mostly in English.
The Skipper’s jokes, were not:
I had curated a long list of snacks I wanted to try here. Below is a teriyaki chicken thigh that sounded good, tasted amazing and looked like something you’d see in a burn unit. Scroll past if you’re squeamish.
Ewww.
Flavored popcorn is a big deal here in the parks, and people will queue up for super long waits for it. The flavors can get kind of weird here but most are familiar. They had garlic shrimp, blueberry, herb tomato to name a few. I really wanted to try the Curry.
Found it!. The aroma was undeniable.
One popcorn, please Mr. Roasty Toasty.
Salty and delish.
Next, we made our way to the Haunted Mansion.
Move all the way to the Dead Center.
Amazing Details
This ride was narrated in Japanese, but the classic songs were in English. You just never know.
Gorgeous Small World facade. Different than either in the states.
Space Mountain. We’ve aged out of this one.
While I just went on and on about how everything is pretty mush the same in this park as in the states, here is an exception. This Monster’s Inc. attraction is unique to this park. We managed to snag a fast-pass and it was time to check it out!
The facade and queue area are replicas of the facility from the movie.
The mural of the world made up of doors.
Very cute.
Why oh why can’t we buy these posters?
Can you set me up, Sully?
Celia must be on break.
This ride was very cute and interactive, but with regular wait times around two hours, I would never do this with out a fast-pass. Even traveling around the globe for it.
We did what we set out to do so it was time to retire for the evening. Good night, gang!
Good morning! Do you feel rested? Good. This trip took place in March and I was well aware that it is rainy season in Japan. I resigned myself to this fact and just tried to prepare as well as I could.
This was a little worse than I hoped.
We decided to wait out the rain by exploring this beautiful hotel.
Patio area where one could dine if it weren’t a monsoon.
A nice view of the ocean and a good indication of the force of the winds.
Looking down over the buffet dining room. We did not participate.
There were beautiful Kimono on display, mostly for brides.
Lush, dense gardens.
A tea house across the garden.
We didn’t sign up for the buffet, but we did enjoy breakfast each morning during our stay. There was an Italian cafe in the lobby that served the creamiest cappuccino I’ve ever tasted.
Let me call you Sweetheart, I’m in love with you!
I had this avocado and shrimp panini every morning they had it. They ran out some days. Boo!
Just like that, the rain cleared. Look at the rainbow!
You can see all the way to Odaiba from our room. I told you the view from our room would get even better!
I bought this cute raincoat for this trip and I’m wearin’ it, gol dangit!
The monorail was just steps from our hotel.
Okay, guys. Here we are at Tokyo Disneysea! So here’s the thing. I didn’t take a whole bunch of photos of the entrance because we needed to beat feet over to the most popular attraction to get fastpasses. After this we can relax and take a look around.
The open plaza leading to the entrance.
Just through the archway now.
One could easily assume (as I did) that a park called “DisneySea” would be a marine park something like Sea World in the states. This is not the case at all. This park is elaborately themed around different “ports of call”. The entrance to the park is Mediterranean Harbor, which opens up to six more nautically themed ports: American Waterfront, Lost River Delta, Port Discovery, Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast, and Mysterious Island. The last of these was our goal to get those fastpasses. Let’s gazelle on over there.
We made it!
This machine is boring.
20.000 leagues
We secured our fastpasses so we needed to reward ourselves with some food and drink.
Beer. You don’t have a choice of fancy IPAs here, it’s just beer.
Still celebrating!
This baby was the next on my list. A giant Gyoza. Like the best steamed Peking ravioli ever!!!!
Now to walk about. We headed over to Mermaid lagoon. This is the only area that is specifically for children. The rest of the park is more like World Showcase in Epcot writ large.
King Triton’s Palace
The level of detail is astounding.
The king himself!
Kids or not, it’s well worth it to walk through this place. It’s an indoor kiddie park that is fashioned to make you feel like you’re under water!
Can you hold your breath?
Exit through the belly of the whale.
Next, we made our way to the Arabian Coast. Dedicated readers of my blog (I’m looking at you, Erin) may recall that the Morocco pavilion at Epcot is me very favorite. Oh my goodness. I think I’m ruined.
Huge plaza
There’s a double decker carousel in there.
Gorgeous tiled archway.
Oh look! A gaggle of school girls. We’ll be seeing more of this.
There are quiet paths to get lost in.
I’m running out of gushing descriptions of these details. Stunning!
You’re not allowed to go up those stairs. Trust me.
These guests aren’t waiting for an attraction. They’re in line for churros.
A regal palm.
There’s just a couple attractions here. The carousel I pointed out earlier, a magic carpet ride and a dark ride, Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage. Even if the park is packed this attraction never has more than a five minute wait. It’s a hidden gem.
A preview of what’s to come.
People refer to this as a “Small World” type experience. Yes, it’s a boat ride and yes, there are animatronics, but this goes far beyond anything I’ve ever seen before. It features original music by Alan Menkin and a story line that is well, impossible to perceive in Japanese but it’s presented in gorgeous vignettes of fluidly moving characters.
I really don’t know what’s happening here, but look at those colors!
This doesn’t look good for Sinbad.
This guy was two stories tall.
Who knows what the story was, it was an amazing attraction and with a five minute wait, why not?
We circled around to the next land, “Lost River Delta”. This has a Aztec theme to it with two majorly popular attractions: Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull which is mostly the same as the Anaheim version and a roller coaster called Raging Spirits. We did the former via the single rider line. We skipped the latter due to the incredible lines. We didn’t chicken out, really.
Lost River Delta
I waited for a shot of the Raging Spirits Roller Coaster. Unsuccessful.
Impressive facades.
Now for some more helpful information if you’re planning your trip to Tokyo Disneyland. Japanese students go to school eleven months out of the year. Their only break is….drum roll….March!!! Yes, exactly when we are here. This park was 85% students and it was a full capacity.
Feeling a bit crowded?
It gets worse.
This was what we were dealing with, folks. Just like in the states, you can have a fabulous time if you have a bit of a plan and a good attitude. Each day we hustled to get at least one coveted fast pass, then we just strolled around checking out the beautiful sights. The crowd above wasn’t everywhere, just near the most popular attractions.
See, peaceful.
Can i jump in one of those boats?
We hopped on the electric railway and got some keen views of the American Waterfront.
New York, New York!
Big Band Beat concert…we’ll be checking that out later.
It was probably well past noon so a cocktail was in order. There are several high end lounges around Disneysea. In the American Waterfront you’ll find a full scale steam ship, the S.S. Columbia. Nestled inside is the Teddy Roosevelt Lounge.
Brought to you by Kirin.
The man himself.
It was here that we discovered something interesting about Japanese lounges; you can’t just walk up and sit down at the bar. Even if there are plenty of open seats, you still have to give your name and wait. I’m only swinging a big guess here, but waiting and queuing up just seem to be a part of the culture. There must be order and propriety. We’ll see more of this once we explore “real Tokyo” .
Plenty of room at the bar. Still had to wait ten minutes.
Another teensy Manhattan.
A bit of Camembert.
We finished our snacks and took a walk past the Tower of Terror.
The most amazing ToT facade of all the parks!
Just a look for today. We’ll have to work hard to get these fastpasses.
Back around to the beginning.
You nearly saw the whole place! We’re getting pretty tired too. Let’s get a nap in before the night time adventures.
Bye, Mike!
Lookin’ good, Sully!
Another look out the hotel window.
And we’re back! This is the globe fountain we blew past this morning.
It was near dusk and we hadn’t really had a full meal. back in the NYC area we found our first authentic Japanese cuisine.
Under the tracks we rode earlier.
Too chilly to dine outside, but what a view!
I adored the crockery here!
This was the house Sake. Sakura Restaurant also celebrating the Sakura season.
Jeff’s beer.
I got the most delectable tempura.
Jeff got noodles and a whole bunch of stuff that I don’t know what it is.
We finished our dinner and headed back to Mysterious Island to finally use our coveted Journey to the Center of the Earth fast pass. The sun had set and the park was in full illumination.
That sailing ship is a clever children’s play area, we later discovered.
We had a bit of time so we first rode 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. A respectable submarine type of ride.
Lots of steam punk here.
We didn’t have to don these.
Your ride vehicle.
Now, for the big Tuna. This attraction is the only one of it’s kind and I was not disappointed. I’ll let Wikipedia tell you more about it:
Riders then board steam-powered mine vehicles that travel through pre-drilled tunnels into the heart of the Earth. The ride begins through a cavern of colorful glowing crystals, before entering a giant Mushroom Forest, which is inhabited by strange insect and amphibian-like life forms. Before the car can proceed further, an earthquake causes a cave-in of the tunnel ahead, forcing the car off its planned route and down a side branch filled with giant egg-like sacks that appears to have been dug by a gigantic creature. The car emerges on the shore of the Subterranean Sea, and is nearly struck by a lightning from the electrified gas clouds. The finale comes when riders are forced into the fiery heart of an active volcano, where the riders come face-to-face with the giant, tyrannical centipede-like lava monster that has built a nest there, before escaping back to the surface on the wave of an eruption.
Yup, what he said. It was a blast!!!!
Sorry, no ride pics.
We were making our way back to our hotel, but decided on a night cap at the Hotel Mira Costa, the signature resort at Disneysea. It just happened to have a full view of the Fantasmic water show!
The only picture i got before they asked me to put my camera away.
A peak at the lobby.
Back to the room. We were ready for a good rest. We would be getting up early tomorrow to beat the crowds. We were so naive.
Good night, Tokyo!