Disneysea Tokyo

 Disneysea Tokyo

Japan Reopens 2022

The night before, we were in Tokyo Skytree. I was at Central Square Life, queueing up to pay an unexpected haul while being sandwiched between aisles of alcohol. I couldn't resist the cute rose bubbly wine. Back in the hotel while "winding down" after a late night at about 1AM, I drank it up and set my alarm to wake up at 7AM. We have to be at the Disney gates before it opens at 9AM so we can ride as many rides as possible. 

The next morning, I woke up and saw everyone else was still sleeping. I looked at my phone and it was past 9AM! I was in a daze - we were supposed to be at Disney right now but I just woke up?! Why I did not hear my alarm at all? In a panic, I sprung out from bed. There is no time for breakfast. I threw in the sandwiches into the bag. Let's quickly get ready and go NOW!

We took the train to Tokyo Station where we will take the Keiyo Line to Maihama. The stop for Tokyo Disneyland & Disneysea. It felt like walking in a large airport as we went up and down escalators and over conveyor belts just to get to Keiyo Line. Luckily, the signage was very clear plastered on walls, beams and floor to Keiyo Line. After walking forever, we finally boarded the Keiyo Line. The sign showed we should be on one track but everyone went to the train in the other track. So we followed but still doubting if we took the right train. The train was quickly filled up with people in Disney and Halloween costumes. Well, that verified it for us. We were looking at a distraught dad with 2 young kids. Probably a 2 year old girl and a 7 year old boy. Dad got his pants spilled with drinks already. Not sure where is the mom but I am more intrigued as the little girl started drinking some adult drinks. 

We reached Maihama station. We boarded the Disney Resort Line towards DisneySea. 

Such a cute train!

I've not known Lina Bell until this day. It turned out to be the hottest character in Disney now. 

Under construction. It looked like a hotel with Beauty and the Beast theme. The train ride brought us around the Disney resort and we can glimpses of the whole area. 

The view from the Disney Resort Line station as we reached DisneySea. 

If you don't have Suica or some other train pass, you can buy the train ticket in the station itself. 

We went through what looked like airport scans. Then, I scanned the tickets from my phone that I bought from Klook. Somewhat relieved that the ticket worked! We were greeted by the super ecstatic staff. The staff were so friendly and complimented lil M's Minnie Mouse shirt. As soon as we walked through the turnstile, I was gleaming with joy as we made it! This was the last attraction of the trip and so proud of our adventures. Our ticket worked without any hassle and we made it still to DisneySea even though we were late. Our first choice was to Disneyland. I remembered 2 weeks ago, I went to Tokyo Disney Resort website to purchase the tickets to Disneyland. After filling up a long form and made an expensive payment of over RM750, the payment was rejected. I tried another card thinking there is a problem with my card and the payment was rejected again. However, one of our bank SMSed and said the payment went through. We ended up calling our banks to ensure we weren't charged as our online payment was rejected by the website. I was so disappointed and decided to use Klook instead. To my dismay, Klook no longer has tickets for Disneyland during our entire trip. Then, I decided to buy DisneySea tickets which was still available. However, I got more disappointment as the weekday tickets were sold out. They were still available a few hours ago. The only option was Sunday which was not ideal due to the crowd but that was our only choice. Even the Saturday ticket was left with child ticket. No adult tickets left. I was wondering how can the child go in by him/herself? LOL. Alas, I bought the tickets. Although ticket is bought through Klook, it mentioned that it is still not affirmative until I receive the email with the e-ticket as the ticket may still be sold out. It was nerve-wrecking waiting while waiting for the mail and I was so relieved that I received it. Phew!

Back to DisneySea.....

The iconic globe. Before going further, we decided to have our breakfast here. Ahem...it was already a little past 11AM. 

We entered the harbour area right on time as the Disney Halloween Greetings was just about to start. We squeezed in a gap and managed to get a good view of the characters happily dancing on the boat. 

Look at the telescopic camera. 

Am I in Europe now?

After the show, we walked towards the American Waterfront. 

We did not enter this area as we have other targeted areas to explore. However, don't miss out the iconic Tower of Terror & Toy Story Mania in this area if you have the chance. Just be ready for the long queues that can easily go up to 2 hours in the weekend. 

The Tower of Terror

Some rides were temporarily suspended. I believe it's due to Covid and the park needed to cut some costs. The DisneySea transit steamer pictured here was one of them. 

We were now in Port Discovery. Looking at the long lines for Aquatopia, we started queueing for our first ride that looks short and fast enough - Nemo & Friends Searider. Lil M got measured and was given a "good height" band to take the rides. 

Before starting the ride, we watched an interesting safety video while being narrated by a lady that sounded like an anime. Each of the lines goes to a door that will open up to the row where we are being seated for our 5D ride. So systematic! 

We truly enjoyed the 5D experience. It was the best 5D I've experienced so far with HD quality animation & surround sound. Even though we don't understand Japanese but the animations are easy to understand. We giggled ourselves silly while being lightly sprinkled with water. 

We headed to the Mermaid Lagoon which was at the top of my list in DisneySea.  Before heading in, we rode a mild roller coaster - Flounder's Flying Fish Coaster. It was Lil M's first coaster and she wasn't scared at all. The ride was just 1 minute and we queued for about 20 minutes. While queueing, I tried getting us tickets to some of the shows. Show tickets can only be won by entering into a lottery via the Tokyo Disney Resort app. I only successfully got 1 ticket at 3:30PM 😔 . We decided to part ways later as I go watch the show by myself. 

Here we are at King Triton's castle! Boy, it looked so good in person.

Seemed like there were even services for people to dress up and take professional photos by Disney staff. 

Inside King Triton's castle. It felt like we descended into the sea and the sight was sooooo colorful & beautiful. There were many rides mainly for kids inside. We took the Blowfish Balloon Race ride. Then, we went to The Whirlpool ride looking like spinning cups. I was having a bit of a headache and took some medicine while queueing up. I guessed it wasn't a good idea to ride these with a headache as towards the end of the ride, I almost felt like puking. If the ride turn another round, I am pretty sure that'll happen as I felt the vomit at the edge of my trachea. 

After that ride, it was time to part ways. I headed to the Halloween show that I won the tickets while they spent time playing at Ariel's playground. 

This picture took friend goals to another level!

OK, this was the Halloween Show. My seat was towards the corner but still it was all right. The hall quickly filled up and the show began. I don't really remember everything as I was dozing off. The show was just all right, it wasn't that interesting but I was pretty tired with that little headache. It was cool and dark and a perfect place to zzz. I just remembered bits and pieces of the show in Japanese. There were Chip & Dale, Mickey, Minnie, some monsters, some opera singing, some catchy Halloween dancing. All of them dressed in Halloween costumes. I don't really remember if there was Donald Duck or other characters. 

This was the entrance to the show. 

After an energizing nap (LOL), I squinted by eyes as I came out from the darkness. I really liked this ancient scene at Lost River Delta just opposite of the theatre. I made my way back to Mermaid Lagoon to meet up with them again. 

In reality, look at the humans!

Met Captain Jack Sparrow along the way. I was contemplating if I should ask for a picture and I gathered by nerves to do just that. Eeks!

The Arabian Coast was opposite of the Mermaid Lagoon.
Looked like they wandered into the Arabian Coast where we met up once again. I didn't expect this area to be so beautiful. 

The star attraction here was the 2 story carousel. 

Of course we have to ride it on the top level. Lil M was too afraid of the blue genie and we took the horse instead. 

Stomachs were rumbling. It was about 5PM and the curry smell coming out of this place was so enticing. Without thinking twice, we went in and had the most delicious chicken curry rice with naan. A simple meal but so satisfying. I was surprised Lil M ate the curry rice too. Well the spice level is below mild level for us 😚

One more attraction in the toilet. Soap dispensers that dispenses Mickey shaped foams. 

After the meal, we came out to our amazement that the sky turned completely dark. It was just about 6PM. However, the whole place looked so magical and 10x more beautiful at night. 

After taking way too many pictures at Agrabah, we needed to head elsewhere. Oh look, King Triton's castle lit up too. The castle changed its colors and my favourite was when it was lit up in rainbow colors. There were sparkling lights too that made it shimmer under the night skies. Sooo....enchanting 😍 

We entered into Mysterious Island. As we entered, the enchanting atmosphere we had back there quickly turned into a futuristic and rugged landscape. The main attraction here was the Journey to the Center of the Earth ride. But we didn't ride that and instead went to 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea where the queue was pretty fast. It was an OK ride more suitable for kids. Watch the video above to see it for yourself but beware of spoilers. 

I am mesmerized by the volcano that erupted once a while. The lighting was spectacular and you can hear people screaming as they dropped from the volcano from the Journey to the Center of the Earth ride. 

The circular queue to 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.

We exited Mysterious Island and were back at the Mediterranean harbor area. As we exited, we saw a never ending line of people. Following the line from Mysterious Island's exit, it ended up in here - Soaring: Fantastic Flight. Ladies and Gents, this is the park's top ride. I still have my Disney app and even on week days, the queue is usually 1.5 hours long. It was around 7:30PM and I wondered if all of them get to ride it. The park will close at 9PM. 

This is where if you can use the Premier access if you really really want to take this ride. One premier access costs RM50 per ride! It's one of the longest ride - 5 mins so no wonder the queue is long. 

Instead of queueing up, we took a relaxing cruise that showed us the whole of DisneySea all lighted up. If you'd like to see the cruise, watch my video above. To me, it was a better choice as if we did indeed queue up for the Fantastic Flight ride, most likely we will be cranky, tired and maybe not get to ride it. 

I wanted to get a fridge magnet for a souvenier. After visiting a few shops, we couldn't find any fridge magnet. I guessed those souveniers are no longer in style? Anyway, I feasted my eyes on the cute cookies and packaging in the shop but didn't buy anything. The shops were crowded and payment lines were long. The things were pretty expensive too. 

Some staff came in and reminded the shoppers that the fireworks were about to begin. Wow! The staff even reminded us. Come to think about it, DisneySea staff were one of the best and really dedicated into their role. Staff operating the rides kept waving to the visitors non stop. I wondered will they have sore hands? They also checked on the rides for leftover belongings and ensuring the rides are good to go. They were always ready to help and tried their best to speak English. At the beginning of of trip here, we called upon a staff to take a picture of us in front of the globe. He asked us to take off our mask and he just took 1 shot. That one shot was perfect in every composition. He walked away and we realized that he was a security guard and that was the most confident guy ever. 

Heading out to watch the fireworks near the globe. What a magical way to wrap up the night. We were blessed with a clear weather today as it rained the days before. 

We sat here and waited for the crowd to subside before heading back. Oh boy, throngs of people kept coming out of the park non stop for the next 30 minutes. Easily the number of visitors today can be 10,000 or more. We decided to head back as it's getting late and we have to wake up early to catch our flight home tomorrow. 

I can't wait to come back to Japan again! I am still having withdrawal syndrome even after a month back at home.