I am a huge Mickey Mouse fan so if there is a Disney theme park nearby, I’m going. With two theme parks in Tokyo, Disney Sea and Disneyland Tokyo, and having to choose one due to time limitations, Disney Sea won hands down. Not only because I had my eye on it ever since it opened back in 2001, but because it was more unique with its nautical theme and seven themed ports of call.
Tips to Maximize Your Day
But with so much to explore and just a day to do it, I had to be very strategic in my itinerary to maximize my day.
1.
List
every ride, food, and attraction of interest and then assign A or B importance
to it, A = must do, B = would like to do if time permits
2.
Then
place everything in the respective port and the estimated hours of operation
for the day of your visit. Certain rides
have premier access option available to pay for a shorter line but we ended up
not buying any.
3.
Schedule
your day to hit the ports in order based on proximity to the previous port and
schedule and make reservations for your sit-down meals based on the estimation
of which port you will be at during lunch and dinner time.
4.
Print
park map(s) at home as the park does not have paper maps and this will help you
plan your itinerary as well.
5.
My
first port of call was going to be the furthest not only because I would have
the most energy early in the day but because many will explore ones closest to
the entrance first. In addition,
Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival was my top must-do ride.
Although
ambitious like most of my Japan trip, luck happened to be on my side the day we
visited so I was able to see everything I had planned and more.
I
heard about those crazy long lines and people lining up 2 hours before the park
opens just to get into the park. I
decided if I am going to wait 2 hours, it better be with the line moving the
whole time so with a 9AM opening time, I decided to arrive at 8:30AM, expecting
to be in by 10AM.
We
got a glimpse of what to expect from our view of a football field worth of
guests at Disneyland Tokyo from the Disney Resort Line on the way to Disney
Sea. As we approached the entrance by
foot, I was confused as I didn’t see a line, but I saw people walking in. As I got closer, I realized it happened to be
one of the random days they opened early, so that football field of people I
was expecting was already inside the park.
Please note that all descriptions of each activity are from Tokyo Disney’s
website direct and not my own words.
TAKE
TRANSIT STEAMER FROM MEDITERRANEAN HARBOR TO LOST RIVER DELTA AND WALK TO
FANTASY SPRINGS FROM THERE
Transit Steamer Line – Mediterranean Harbor 7 min
ride/transportation 9:00-18:30
Take a ride on this steamer and enjoy a fun waterway
adventure during the day, or a romantic voyage in the evening.
Fantasy Springs
Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival – Fantasy Springs 5 min
ride – premier access available - 2000 Yen = $13.60 - A
This attraction takes guests on a romantic boat ride that
leads to the annual Lantern Festival, where they experience Rapunzel's
"best day ever" as she falls in love with Flynn Rider and visits
various locations featured in the film.
Lost River Delta
Gyoza Sausage Bun – 600 Yen - $4 – Yucatan Basecamp Grill at (Lost River Delta - to-go and requires mobile order) – A – I preordered it after I was done with Rapunzel so it would be ready when they opened. Luckily there was a short 20-minute line for the Mickey character greeting vs. 40 when we left and I was able to see Mickey before picking up my preorder.
Mickey and Friends Character Greeting – Lost River
Delta - A
The Disney Friends are studying the ruins of an ancient
civilization, plants, and insects of the jungle in Lost River Delta. Go through
the jungle and take a keepsake photo with one of the Disney Friends!
WE
TOOK THE TRANSIT STEAMER LINE BACK TO MEDITERRANEAN HARBOR AFTER ENJOYING OUR
GYOZA.
Transit Steamer Line – Lost River Delta 6 min
ride/transportation 9:00-18:30 – A to Mediterranean Waterfront
Take a ride on this steamer and enjoy a fun waterway
adventure during the day, or a romantic voyage in the evening.
Mediterranean Harbor
Lady
luck strikes again. The Venetian
Gondolas happened to be operating early and only a 10-minute line so we ended
up doing this before lunch instead of after lunch.
Venetian Gondolas – Mediterranean Harbor 11 min ride
15:00-18:45 - A
The cheerful gondoliers will be happy to show you around
Palazzo Canals. Enjoy an elegant, romantic time aboard your gondola.
WALKED
TO AMERICAN WATERFRONT FOR LUNCH
American Waterfront
Restaurant Sakura 12:40PM reservations – American
Waterfront - A restaurant where Japanese immigrants in New York gather - A
Owned by a Japanese immigrant, this restaurant is in a former fish market. The
windows look out on New York harbor while the signs on the walls still list up
the fresh seafood that used to be sold here. The Japanese dishes served here go
well with sake.
The
food in our opinion was mediocre and nothing to write home about so even though
we had early dinner reservations at Ristorante di Canaletto, we cancelled it since
we already rode the gondalas and decided to take a break during the hottest
part of the day and went back to the hotel for a recharge so we have energy to
return at night for the parade. The
ekiben from the Tokyo Station we picked up on the way back ended up tasting
better than the food at the park.
Before
leaving the park mid-day, we did get a chance to do a B list item, the Big City
Vehicle since there was no wait.
Big City Vehicle – American Waterfront 10 min ride - B
These vehicles were popular in the early 20th century, right
when automobiles began to take over from horse-drawn carriages. High end for
the time, these vehicles are extra fancy. Step aboard and ride through the
streets of New York City in style. There are many models to choose from -- the
open-top town car, the police wagon, the delivery truck, and more.
IF
WE HAD PLANNED ON TAKING A BREAK MID-DAY IT WOULD’VE BEEN BETTER TO STAY CLOSER
TO THE PARK THAN AN OVER 1 HOUR EACH WAY TO AND FROM OUR HOTEL OUTSIDE OF TOKYO
STATION.
Post dinner return
The
mid-day break allowed us to shower and recharge so we can return energized post
dinner for the Believe! Sea of Dreams show.
Without premier access, we did camp out early so we can be closer to the
front and took turns getting our park only snacks including my favorite, the
little green dumplings and do a little shopping.
Mediterranean Harbor
Believe! Sea of
Dreams – Mediterranean Harbor 8 – premier access available - A
Nighttime entertainment where Disney friends remind dreamers
to keep on believing and making their wishes come true.
Enjoy this spectacular show, which features large boats gliding dynamically
over Mediterranean Harbor, bright lasers and pyrotechnics illuminating the
night sky, as well as projection mapping that envelops the vast performance
space of the harbor.
Night High Halloween – Parkwide 5 min - cancelled
Spectacular fireworks will add color to the Halloween
atmosphere at the two Parks.
POST
SHOW THERE WAS A HUGE EXODUS OF PEOPLE LEAVING THE PARK SINCE THE NIGHT HIGH
HALLOWEEN FIREWORKS WERE CANCELLED.
Disney Sea Electric Railway – American Waterfront to Port
Discovery 2.5 min ride/transportation 9:00-21:00 B
There's a shiny trolley running along the elevated tracks,
waiting to take you over the horizons of time, from the marina of tomorrow to
an early 20th century harbor town in America. Enjoy the beautiful scenery of
Tokyo DisneySea from any seat.
Port Discovery
As the railway was pulling into Port Discovery, I saw Nemo and Friends that was showing up as closed all day on my app was actually opened. I need to go buy a lottery ticket!! So, we immediately, went down to squeeze in this ride before the last railway left back to American Waterfront.
Nemo & Friends SeaRider – Port Discovery 5 min
ride 9:00-21:00 - A
Boarding the SeaRider, a submersible that “shrinks” to the
size of a fish, Guests will explore the wondrous world of marine life from the
same point of view as Nemo and Dory. In addition to these characters, Guests
have a chance to meet many of the other popular characters from Finding Dory
including Destiny, the whale shark, and Hank, the octopus.
Disney Sea Electric Railway – Port Discovery to
American Waterfront 2.5 min ride/transportation 9:00-21:00 B
There's a shiny trolley running along the elevated tracks,
waiting to take you over the horizons of time, from the marina of tomorrow to
an early 20th century harbor town in America. Enjoy the beautiful scenery of
Tokyo DisneySea from any seat.
UPON ARRIVAL BACK TO AMERICAN WATERFRONT, THE PARK WAS
CLOSING SO THE PARK WAS QUIET AS EVERYONE STARTED MAKING THEIR WAY TOWARDS THE
EXIT. JUST LIKE OUR TIME IN JAPAN SO
FAR, NO PUSHING, NO SHOVING, JUST AN ORDERLY EXIT. WITH THE $ WE SAVED FROM NOT GETTING PREMIER
ACCESS FOR ANYTHING, WE TOOK A CAB BACK TO OUR HOTEL.
Even
though we lost 3-4 hours going back to our hotel mid-day, it was honestly the
best decision, otherwise we would have been too exhausted from the heat and
miss out on the evening Believe show which is a must. We ended up squeezing quite a bit in the few
evening hours in an unhurried pace and more pleasant temperatures.
It only took almost 25 years for me to get here, but it was worth the wait. To be in the park before the official opening time, during Halloween festivities that I never even experienced back home, hug Mickey Mouse like I didn’t want to let go, experience it through the eyes of a child but in a body of an adult, and close the park down. It goes down as one of the most memorable days of my life.
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