Two week trip to Tokyo and Tokyo Disney - day 2

[fifi500]

Day 2 – Tokyo DisneySea Thursday 30th August

After an unsettled night we were up late again. Our presumption when planning our trip was that we would just power through and be at the parks for opening as we did in WDW and Paris. We are early birds when it comes to our Disney days and much prefer to be there at the beginning, but in Tokyo the jet-lag and time difference made this impossible for us. So, it was coming up to 10am when we left our hotel room and gone 11 before we arrived at Maihama Station. We managed to nip to the supermarket in Ikspiari before getting on the monorail, and I bought a melon bread and DD had a pot of melon. This and a drink set us up to explore the park before needing to think about eating.

Next, we went to find the monorail. The entrance is in front of and slightly to the left of the Ikspiari entrance and can’t be missed.

The cost on the website says ¥260 each way and this is very expensive for a very short train ride, considering DD only pays ¥195 each way to university and that is 20-minute train journey. However, as we used our Suica and Pasmo cards and we are not actually sure what we paid so, DD is going to check next time she goes, but this may take a while as this weekend is a bank holiday and therefore annual pass black out days. The ticket barriers worked identically to every other station barrier in Tokyo.
The monorail ride to DisneySea is very scenic and takes you past the hotels and Tokyo bay. It took just a few minutes and you get off at the 3rd stop.

A walkway takes you from the station to the park, first is bag check – same procedure as WDW (minus the metal detectors) they want every compartment open and check with a stick. The ticket barrier was then immediately after, so it was very tricky trying to zip my bag and present my ticket at the same time. The ticket barrier here was an older style turnstile with no finger print taken, certainly no magic band.
The main feature of the DisneySea entrance plaza is the globe and its stunning, and a very popular photo spot. So, we went to have a look and take the obligatory snaps.

We then realised that we hadn’t any park maps or guides, it turned out that they were on top of the turnstile’s and we had to retrace our steps to pick them up. This was the same at both parks the guides and maps were available at the entrance but not further into the parks.
The park maps are available in several languages, so DD picked up Japanese and I had an English copy, they were more or less identical. The park guides Today with parade times etc. were also available in English, but the Japanese version is glossy and the same size as a park map. One side has park information and the other side has pictures of new merchandise and food for that month, and whilst it’s in Japanese, the numbers used in Japan are the same as ours, Arabic numerals. The English version meanwhile is normal paper in black and white, tiny and just includes the entertainment schedule and park rules, so definitely pick up both versions or you will miss a lot of information and the Japanese ones are really good to look at.

We then headed under the hotel Miracosta towards the Mediterranean Harbour and the lake at the centre of the park. As we arrived at the lake the Pirates Summer Battle was taking place and it was so, so noisy, this meant we passed through the area really rather quickly and so the photos here are from other days. The crowds of people sitting on mats to watch the show were huge, and its clearly quite a spectacle.

At this point I must confess that we had only one reason for picking DisneySea as our first park at the Tokyo resort and that was to add to DD’s collection of Duffy and friends plushes. Duffy and Shellie-May currently reside on her bed at home but rest of the gang are not available to purchase outside of Asia but are only available for purchase in Japan at DisneySea, not even in Tokyo Disneyland. So, she obviously needed, and was thrilled to finally be able to be in a position to purchase Stella- Lou (a ballerina rabbit) and Gelatoni (an artistic cat). Cookie (the dog chef) is also a friend of Duffy but she has not yet made her way to Tokyo from Hong Kong, but you can be sure that if she makes her debut in the next year, DD will be joining the probably enormously huge queue.

So, our first task was to locate the Duffy merchandise shops and head that way. The cape cod section of the American waterfront area is essentially Duffyland and is where Duffy and friends are said to live in the accompanying story. There are only 3 stores in the park that sell Duffy merchandise and Aunt Pegs village store is one of those. This one concentrated on just plushies and their outfits but had only a small number of other collectables in the range. This was of course perfect for us and DD quickly chose her 2 new friends. They were fairly expensive at just under £30 each but this was very much a purchase that had been planned since the trip to Tokyo was in the pipeline. When she went to pay she was asked if she wanted to carry them, so she said yes, and the CM cut off the labels and folded a store bag (Duffy themed) for each of then into another bag before passing it all over. The bags we assume are collectors’ items in their own right, as they were treated as equally important by the staff.

The Tokyo Disney footage that we have watched, a lot of people carry around their plushes, so we had decided to buy them at the start of the day and carry them around for photos etc., when in Rome and all that. What we did not appreciate was that today was mid 30’s and really humid, and the last thing we needed was an extra layer of fluff. That was their only day out! they remained in our hotel the following days.
The Tokyo Disney parks still use the paper fastpass ticket system, and we were able to get some for Nemo and Friends Sea rider in Port discovery.

By early to mid-afternoon, predictably the wait times for everything were huge, DD used a wait time app on her phone (Tokyo Disney wait times) but to be honest we were happy just to wander and absorb the sights. We both felt that the best spot for DH would have been on the edge of the park watching the planes arriving over Tokyo Bay.

This park is more about the theming rather than the characters (apart from Duffy) and is an excellent place to take photos. But one thing we did notice was how little Disney there was here. We seemed to see very few references to Mickey and gang, a bit like World Showcase in Epcot.

We were hungry and made our way around to the Mermaid Lagoon, as inside Triton's Kingdom was one of only 3 quick service restaurants to sell fries (the others being the New York Deli and Cape Cod Cook off – cape cod also houses a Duffy show, so the queue was out of the door).
The entire Mermaid /Triton area is really quite spectacular and worth visiting although the rides are mainly aimed towards children and it contains a play area, but the theming is fabulous. Unfortunately, the wait times were very long.

Sebastián’s Calypso kitchen serves fairly standard theme park food but somehow distinctly Japanese, with plastic food displayed before you join the queue so that you can see what you are buying – all labelled in English.

From other restaurants.

It is also a place that has free water and cups from a chilled water filter in the seating area (DD has also since found that Yucatan Base Camp Grill in Lost River Delta has water as well). So, we purchased fries and had a rest and made our plans for the afternoon.
On the subject of water. It’s the same as WDW, expensive to buy in the park, but plenty of drinking fountains scattered around, with the variance of water quality.
We then had a look around the area and went into the Mermaid themed shop before making our way to Arabian coast, another beautifully themed area with the bonus of wait times being shorter, allowing us to go on the Caravan Carousel horses (one on top of the other), the flying carpets and Sinbad’s Storybook voyage. We really enjoyed them all but obviously only Sinbad was new to us, and is a boat ride depicting Sinbad’s adventures, whilst I couldn’t understand a word, I got the gist and it was cute.

We then wandered through the Lost River Delta, basically the walkway in front of the Indiana Jones ride, again spectacularly themed. We stopped at a small merchandise stand area and purchased a plush Oswald passholder for me to wear during my visit, there wasn’t the selection of these we were expecting, only about 8 to 10 different characters to choose from throughout the park.

Then it was time for our Nemo and friends Sea rider fast pass. We loved this, simulator that took you on an adventure under the sea. Like a cute, again all in Japanese, really enjoyable Star Tours type ride. The sun sets fairly early and very quickly in Japan so by the time we finished our ride it was dark.

We then went up to the near the SS Columbia and found the popcorn cart that sold Strawberry popcorn, we really enjoyed this as it wasn’t too sweet, and you get a large popcorn box for ¥310 (£2).

We found ourselves an empty bench and had a good sit down and watched the world go by, an absolutely fascinating pass time in Japan. Tokyo guests take their park wear very seriously and dress for the occasion. Lots of couples and huge groups all in matching outfits with matching tea shirts, headband ears, popcorn buckets, plush pass holders, and bags, even down to shoes and socks. We constantly marvelled at the planning and dedication this level of coordination must take. We felt that most park merchandise was sold to be worn in the parks, not much of the homeware and general Disney character clothing you get in other countries. It seems that guests celebrate Disney by accessorising their normal clothes rather than wearing Disney branded attire. We also noticed that park guests took all their accessories off at the train station before leaving Disney and you rarely saw a trace of Disney clothing outside of the resort area.

It was now time to find ourselves a spot to watch Fantasmic, which is held on the lake in the Mediterranean Harbour. The park rules state that you can spread out your mat and other belonging from one hour before the scheduled start to shows and parades, so as we arrived about 7.30 pm for the 8.05pm show the area was already very full. People in the Tokyo parks sit on their mats and stay seated during the performances so that everyone can see. It was very civilised, and relaxed. As we did not have a mat yet, we found a spot along the fence to one side of Café Portofino and were very happy with our view. So much so that we went back to the same spot on our next DisneySea day.

Fantasmic! was amazing, so much easier to watch than in HS as it was much closer to the audience, even to us standing back. Similar show to its counterpart in HS, and but far, far more impressive. Just Wow.

After the show we went back to the Nemo ride which we planned to try and get on again, but before we got to it, we got distracted by the Aquatopia boat ride. The sign outside said it was in “wet mode” and that we would get wet, as it was still 30°C so we decided to give it a try. It is a trackless boat ride and great fun, we did however not get wet but think we just got lucky. By the time we finished on this we were tired and decided with over an hour’s journey ahead of us, it was probably best to leave the park.
The monorail was more organised than trying to leave MK at night, and they ran them more frequently, the busier it became.
It was just after 10pm by the time we were at Maihama train station, both absolutely shattered. The trains had huge queues and were packed as far as Shin-Kiba, but they did seem to run frequently enough for it not to be an issue.
The second train to Ikebukuro was busy and we didn’t get a seat, lots of “salary” men in suits at this time of night. The area around our hotel was equally busy and even though it was gone 11pm when we did the 15-minute walk to our hotel, lots of people of all ages were about. We felt quite at ease wandering around.
These were my thoughts in a text to my DH later that night;
“Possibly felt more like SeaWorld than Disney- haven’t seen Mickey in person or merchandise (apart from Fantasmic). Really Duffy orientated. Was very hot and busy – but probably a good park to start with to get our bearings a bit. Definitely not better than the Florida parks, although Fantasmic was fantastic. Looking forward to tomorrow and proper Disney”
I still probably agree with this text, even after a second visit later in my trip. However, I think that the appeal of the park is the theming, it really is brilliant. We haven’t been to Universal in Florida, but I reckon it may be a bit like the Hogwarts area, fully immersive. That is what DisneySea seemed to us, and if you have an eye for detail then you’ll see the attraction of the park. DD has returned several times and has already filled her camera’s SD card with great photos.

Coming next – day 3, at Disneyland

[Rae21]

Another brilliant and really informative day. You’re making me even more excited for my trip, and giving me lots of useful info (also helping to put my mind at ease about travelling). Xoxo

[fifi500]

Thank you, I am really glad my experience is helping to give information that might help.

For the travelling, honestly if DD and I can manage I am sure most people can. In normal life we live very rurally and never use public transport ( as it does not exist ) and any longer trips even within the UK have always been with DH, so we were far from experienced travellers. And the very fact that I am back in tbe UK writing this report is proof that I managed to get from central Tokyo to Stansted on my own, which was daunting but apart from the emotional side not a difficult journey.



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[AntonyJ]

Oh thank you so much for this, really informative, will have to consider any questions...

Well i have one - the vending machines in Disney, from videos I have seen they are quite a few, but can you buy boring old water in them?

[fifi500]

Thank you and glad to be of help.

That is definitely something I will have to get DD to check on, in every vending machine outside we looked at outside of Disney there was always water but we did not use the ones inside Disney, just took in a bottle of water each and then refilled them at the fountains or in restaurants that had free water.

Any questions welcome

[pink glitter]

Wow another fabulous day. Such a detailed report 😀 I would go to Tokyo Disney just for the merchandise. Loved the Mickey shaped plate ❤️

[fifi500]

Thank you. Tokyo is certainly a fascinating place, although I brought far less merchandise than I have ever brought in WDW or Paris, it was all so cute to look at and I loved browsing but nothing much that I actually wanted to purchase.

I am very much look forward to making my return journey next year.