July 27, 2016

On this day we woke up super early, around 6 am, to get on the train to Tokyo DisneySea. We were really excited, or at least I was. If you have the chance to pre-purchase your ticket, I highly recommend this. You can do so online before you arrive in Japan or at many convenience stores or certain Disney stores. This saves time and hassle once you arrive as there is usually a line that forms just to get into the park.

Tokyo DisneySea opened on September 4, 2001 and is a Disney theme park located next to Disneyland in Urayasu, just outside of Tokyo. I knew that Grant, E, and C had all been to Disneyland in the U.S. so for something different, I thought DisneySea would be a good experience.

The difference between these two parks is that Tokyo DisneySea is made up of various “worlds” with a nautical and exploration theme. There is a renaissance Venice setting complete with water canals and gondola rides, to Ariel’s Grotto, to a quaint New England sea town, to a fantasy steampunk ocean world (think of the Disney film “Atlantis: The Lost Empire”).

If you are trying to decide between the two parks which to visit, here are my observations:

1)  Overall, DisneySea has less rides than Disneyland. If you are wanting the typical Disney experience, go to Disneyland. But if you enjoy rides that are offered at Disney World or California Adventure, DisneySea is a great choice.

Rides include:

Tower of Terror (freefall)

Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull

And some unique rides including:

Venetian Gondola with an actual singing “Gondolier”, singing in Italian of course!

Raging Spirits Roller Coaster

Aquatopia Spinning Water Ride – where you do get soaked. Luckily we tried this ride in the morning and were dry in a couple of hours in the noon sun. The cool thing about this ride is that there are several different tracks that the cars follow. So while Grant and I got soaked, E and C who were on a different car and got a lot less wet.

2) DisneySea is really pretty to just see and explore the buildings and landscape. I think it’s prettier than Tokyo Disneyland. They really did a great job with the faux renaissance styles. There’s even a renaissance fortress, great for kids to discover and interact with the various gadgets of the time period. And especially at night, the lights and various world areas light up beautifully.

3) They say that DisneySea was geared toward adults. You can buy alcohol such as beer and cocktails and walk around the park with drink in hand. This is something you can’t do at Disneyland. That being said, the roller coaster rides are still more extreme at Disneyland.

4) The people here are funny to observe. A lot of the guests get really into Duffy the bear (a DisneySea mascot) and Gelatoni (a painting cat friend of Duffy) and will go to the extremes of walking around with stuffed Duffy and Gelotonis. Even adult males. I found this to be less the case with Disneyland. So people watching from a Japanese pop-culture perspective is definitely recommended at DisneySea.

5) If you’re into anything steampunk, DisneySea is the best choice. There is a whole theme section of steampunk that includes rides called none other than… 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of Earth. The latter of which is a roller coaster.

Conclusion – If you are into rides, go to Disneyland as there are more of them and more extreme. If you’re into the sights and the whole fantasy theme experience, then DisneySea is best hands down. This includes gawking at visitors walking around with 2 feet long Duffy Bears hanging off their necks.

Please enjoy the pictures!

 

 

 

Steampunk Area:

 

 

 

We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant in the steampunk area and the price was pretty good for the amount of food you get, especially with the daily set menus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mediterranean Sea Area:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course, silly pictures in the Disney store:

 

 

 

 

 

And some evening pictures. The mood was definitely different in evening:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our favorite ride was Journey to the Center of the Earth. This is a steampunk mining theme coaster and you actually feel like you are delving deep in to the earth and then you shoot up and out of a volcano that is the main landmark of the park. As each coaster car shoots out, the volcano spits out steam. Once in a while, the volcano erupts with fire balls!

We ended the evening at TGIFriday’s just outside the resort.

 

 

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