On a certain Wednesday two weeks ago, I skipped classes and went to Tokyo DisneySEA with Klins. It was my first ever Disney trip and my first theme park in Japan, so I was really excited. I woke up pretty early in the morning (at around 5am?) and dragged my groggy self to Motosumiyoshi station to catch a train to Tokyo station, where I'd transfer to the Keiyo line for Maihama station. Eventually, I arrived at Maihama station at 7am and waited for Klins to reach before entering the park together. Despite it being so early, there were already throngs of schoolchildren and adults making their way to the Disney resorts. I panicked a little at the possibility that we would wind up quite far behind in the queue.
Since there was time, I wandered off to the Disneyland side to see what I could find.
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| As you can see, the sky was overcast and the entire day was pretty much like that with very light drizzles. |
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| Is it just me or is the hotel looking finer than Cinderella's Castle in the distance? |
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| Inside the merchandise shop just outside of the Disneyland entrance |
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| Inside the exclusively designed tram that brings you around Tokyo Disney Resorts Park |
Having done my research, I briefed Klins that the first area we would *run* for was the Toy Story Mania to get our Fast Passes and then we could check out the other popular rides to see if the queues were not too long, i.e. Tower of Terror, Journey to the Center of the Earth. At the end of this post, you will find my own review of the various rides we managed to go on. As luck would have it, we managed to obtain our Toy Story timed passes and eagerly made it to a 30min queue for the Tower of Terror. Honestly, although the queues for most of the good rides were at least 45min long (pretty good according to other recounts I've seen online), the queue area was well-decorated to keep you from feeling bored and to 'transport' you into the setting of the respective rides. Disney and Oriental Land sure paid lots of attention to all the details, mood, and ambience.
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| Cutest Little Green Men mochi balls ever!!! Chewy and just the right amount of sweet |
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| A ride on the DisneySea Transit Steamer Line, which we mistakenly thought would transport us from place A to place B. Don't be fooled guys, only the DisneySea Electric Railway does that. |
When you go to DisneySea, do wear a pair of good walking shoes as there will be LOTS of walking and LOTS of standing around in lines. Also bring your own food and bottle (water fountains are easy to find everywhere) to save money as having a meal in one of the restaurants can get pretty pricey.
Keep reading for my reviews of the rides ;)
Ratings are out of 5 stars.
Expected: 4 stars
Actual: 5 stars
Comment: Scariest ride of all. But after surviving it, I joined in the applausewith the other riders. The storytelling parts were awesome and the whole experience was eerie in its own good way.
Expected: 3 stars
Actual: 5 stars
Comment: I loved spamming the 'fire' action on the virtual shooter and the different scenes of shooting ranges.
Expected: 4.5 stars
Actual: 5.5 stars
Comment: Unexpected scare towards the end but the ride was thrilling and kept me on edge.
20,000 Leagues Under the SeaExpected: 5 stars
Actual: 3.5 stars
Comment: Mostly tame, gives you the illusion of being underwater in a submarine ball. Lots of interesting 'sea creatures' to gape at but I think I expected more? Maybe from the sound effects or accessibility for English speakers.
Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull
Expected: 4 stars
Actual: 5 stars
Comment: Very entertaining ride, felt like I was in a movie. A pity that they didn't include the Fountain of Youth in any of the scenes. Crystal Skull was scary.
Comment: Did not ride personally, but Klins said that it was more of a beginner's roller coaster with one suddenly terrifying part towards the end.
Caravan Carousel
Expected: 4.5 stars
Actual: Sadly I can't rate this ride because it was not available when I visited. Sob.
Sindbad's Storybook Voyage
Expected: 3 stars
Actual: 3.5 stars
Comment: Ride obviously meant for kids but Klins and I decided to try anyway for fun. Queue was 5 minutes. Very slow, many many animatronics to admire. Chandul the tiger is a cute darling.
Expected: 4 stars
Actual: 4 stars
Comment: We accidentally chose a really bad place to sit (but the hall was almost full anyway). King Triton is HUGE and magnificent. Flounder the fish is chubby and adorable. Ariel the Little Mermaid was a legitimate white person (thank goodness) but she was the only human actor in the show (~14 minutes long). Felt bad for her, but good performance.
DisneySea Transit Steamer Line
Expected: Would ferry us from American Waterfront to Lost River Delta.
Actual: Went in one big loop and dropped us off right back where we boarded.
Comment: Don't be lazy guys. You can't escape walking in Disney Sea Park. However, they use actual boats (not a track-driven one) so it was pretty cool.
DisneySea Electric Railway
Expected: Would transport us from Port Discovery to American Waterfront.
Actual: Transported us from Port Discovery to American Waterfront.
Comment: Relaxing, quick ride to temporarily relieve your sore feet.
Aquatopia
Expected: 2 stars
Actual: 2 stars
Comment: Purely track-driven, this ride offers you no control over the movements of your 'raft' and you are forced to spin in circles at selected spots in the ride area. 2 stars for the hilarity of watching people queue up for this ride. You should totally go on Youtube and check out this ride for what it's worth.
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