December 22, 2021: DisneySea
We start our day by getting up at 6:15, packing our bags & checking out of our hotel. The night before, the cast member at the front desk informed us that there were storage lockers outside of the park, so we could store all of our baggage for ￥800 and save ourselves a trip back to our hotel after a long day in the park. So we jumped on the shuttle bus from the hotel to DisneySea at 7:00; Katie and I found the storage lockers, threw all of our luggage in and ran to go get in line.
Fortunately, we were able to skip a big chunk of the already-forming line because Katie had purchased the early entry pass to DisneySea. For roughly $30 each, we were able to enter the park an hour before the normal hours began, so we got in line with the other suckers and began our wait! We still had about 30 minutes before we were allowed entry at 8:00 am, so I was able to finish my 7-11 chocolate chip bread for breakfast. I can't imagine a healthier start to a day at Disney!
A few minutes before 8:00 am, the line begins to move and we make our way into the park. I had already made it clear to Katie that we would stop for pictures later; it was more important that we make it to one of the big rides before all of the other guests were allowed entry in an hour. I made it clear that we had to make the most of our hour head start!
When we made it through the entrance and saw the park for the first time, we were absolutely stunned; the park is beautiful. The first area you come into gives off a Meditteranean/ Venitian feel, with a large open water area in the middle and a volcano in the backdrop. We realized that the volcano was DisneySea's iconic image- kind of like Animal Kingdom's Tree of Life, Epcot's Ball and California Adventure's Pixar Pier. We did make one stop for a singular picture since the crowd was so light, but we immediately sprinted over to Soarin'. We jumped in line only to find out that the ride already required a Standby Pass, so we had to get out of line, get a Standby Pass, then get back in line. Katie and I didn't really understand why a Standby Pass was necessary since there were so few people in the park, but oh well; we only lost a few minutes of time.
The Soarin' ride queue was stunning, giving off more Meditteranean vibes, and also visually telling the story of flight history. Katie enjoyed the architecture and design of the ride's queue, which showcased many flight pioneers. I will say, we both looked for the Wright Brothers, but they must not be on the Japanese radar, because we didn't see any mention of the first in flight!
Prior to boarding the ride, we got a short video, entirely in Japanese, that we assumed also talked about the history of flight and what was in store for us on the ride. (Check out the video below!) Soarin' was very similar to the Soarin' rides at Epcot (Walt Disney World) and California Adventure (Disneyland), but at the end of flying over the regular scenes, you fly over the Tokyo cityscape with Mount Fuji in the background. I have to say, it was pretty spectacular.
Following our ride on Soarin', we headed over to the New York area of the park to ride Toy Story Mania! and Tower of Terror; this district of the park was set up like 1920s Manhattan. We made it over to Toy Story Mania! and only had to wait five minutes before we were able to ride. Katie wouldn't like for me to share this, but I won by a pretty large margin, similar to the outcome from Disneyland a few months prior. She says it doesn't matter- it's still a favorite ride of hers!
After the ride, we headed over to the Tower of Terror, and on the way we noticed a huge influx of people working their way into the park: the rest of the crowd with regular entry times had finally made it inside. The Tower of Terror is a very similar ride as the other Tower of Terrors around the world, but this one told the unique story of an explorer who brought back an ancient Mayan artifact that cursed him, and apparently the elevators in his apartment building, thus leading to the sudden drops!
After riding the Tower of Terror, we began our journey to the back of the park to hit the rest of the major rides before the crowds made it back there! As we powerwalked our way to the back of the park, we stumbled upon a great view of Mount Fuji with its snow-capped peak off in the distance, which brought us to a sudden hault. Before living in Japan, we didn't understand the Japanese people's obsession and reverence for Mt. Fuji san, but now we get it. It truly is a magnificent view.
Along our way to the back of the park, we took a detour into the center-piece of DisneySea, the volcano. We discovered that the entrance to "The Journey to the Center of the Earth" was inside the volcano. We decided to wait in the 20-minute queue and join the journey. I must say, this ride did not disappoint, so much so that Katie claims this is one of her top rides that she's ridden at any Disney park.
We eventually made it to the Indiana Jones: Temple of the Crystal Skull ride and ended up waiting in a 35-minute line to ride it. Fortunately, the queues at DisneySea are remarkable; for this ride, you get to spend most of your time in line looking at the beautiful interior of the"Temple of the Crystal Skull." The ride is similar to the Indiana Jones ride at California Adventure; you go on a journey with Indiana Jones...it's super dark and bumpy, not one of my favorites, but still something we wanted to ride while we were here.
Following Indiana Jones, we got in line for Raging Spirits, the only roller coaster at Tokyo Disney Resort with a flip! This was a pretty cool ride, because the roller coaster sounds like blowing wind, not old metal scrapes like most coasters. I guess the "raging spirit" is just the wind! This coaster was quite short, but it was exhilarating and very smooth!
It was now time for lunch, and nothing better than the Mexican restaurant located conveniently next to Raging Spirits. At Yucatan Base Camp Grill, Katie got the roasted chicken with salsa, Mexican rice (essentially just sticky rice with Mexican seasonings), and corn; I got a similar meal, but instead of roasted chicken I got salmon. For those wondering, yes, I did eat the corn and salsa.
After lunch, we rode Raging Spirits one more time since we were in the time window for our Standby Pass and then headed over to Agrabah, the Aladdin & Arabic-themed land. While there, we rode Sindbad's Storybook Adventure, a ride similar to Small World. On this ride, you go on an adventure with Sinbad & his sidekick, Chandu the tiger cub, as they travel around and meet mermaids, villainous pirates and save a giant. This ride is based on one of the tales in "The Book of One Thousand and One Nights" (also known as "Arabian Nights,) so it was a fun, culturally-rich Disney ride! Again, we had no clue what the characters were singing, but we got the general gist of the ride's storybook tale!
Check out these clips Katie took in the ride:
Following the boat ride, Katie and I grabbed a chocolate churro with blue sprinkles. Katie and I weren't really sure if the blue sprinkles were blueberry flavored or not, we just knew the flavor was a bit odd. After our mild disappointment with the churros, we made sure to grab another helping of the curry popcorn that we fell in love with yesterday. Katie and I each got our own popcorn; of course, I ate all of mine in one sitting, but Katie was smart and saved some of hers for later (that she shared- I'm a lucky man.)
After our snacks, we ran back into the volcano to ride 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which only had a 15-minute wait. For this ride, you enter into an enclosed submarine and begin your journey; this ride was very unique because they fill up the window with water and have bubbles going through it, making it seem like you are actually underwater. This ride was especially cool since 20,000 Leagues used to be a ride at Walt Disney World that has since been transformed into the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train roller coaster at Magic Kingdom. Katie and I found this modern take on the old ride pretty nostalgic (even if we never got to ride the original.)
After our adventures with the Atlantians and Captain Nemo, we decided to go watch the Mickey & Friends Harbor Greeting "Time to Shine!" water parade. Even though it was only one float, it was still cool getting to see all of our favorite characters bringing Christmas cheer in Japanese from on the water.
My stellar wife caught some of the parade on video! Check it out here:
At this point in the day, we had ridden every one of the "must ride" rides in DisneySea! I would argue that we were only that successful because of the early entry pass- without it all the major rides would have required the standby passes and there's no way we would have gotten them all. Instead, we lucked out and were able to get Fast passes for Soarin, Tower of Terror and Journey to the Center of the Earth for later in the night to ride them a second time!
So with that ease of worry, we decided to work our way around the park, clearing out shops as we go and getting all the pictures Katie wanted (and I could stand.) Unfortunately, the poor retail experience isn't just a Disneyland thing, it's all of Tokyo Disney Resort. We were able to find a cool Toy Story Mania! pin, but outside of that, there wasn't much we were interested in. We also realized that their Disney clothes and hats are just different. (Notice the Goofy hat Katie tries on below.)
One of the unique things about DisneySea is Duffy the Bear. Duffy the Bear is known as Mickey's own teddy bear and was sold exclusively at DisneySea from 2005-2008. Due to its growing popularity, Duffy is now sold at Shanghai, Hong Kong & Aulani Disney Resorts as well. There was Duffy stuff everywhere: the bears themselves, outfits, jackets, Duffy "ears" and even a few of Duffy's friends. Katie and I even found a hardback children's book titled "Duffy the Disney Bear: Valentine's Day and White Day," which Katie and I had bought used at a shrine sale in Osaka for significantly cheaper just a few months before. That's bargain shopping for ya!
After our shopping spree, Katie and I ventured around the large central water area, grabbed a few more pictures, and continued back around to The Journey to the Center of the Earth. Yes, Katie and I loved this ride so much we decided to use another Standby Pass on it and wait in another 35-minute line. It was just as awesome as the first time! This is one of the best rides in all of the Disney Parks that we have visited so far. It's up there with Rockin' Rollercoaster, Ride of Passage and Rise of the Resistance!
After we got off the ride, it was starting to get cold with the sun setting and the wind whipping off of Tokyo Bay! We were also getting hungry, so we decided to wait in line for hot chocolate & a turkey leg. Did we wait longer for food than to ride a single ride that whole day? Yes. Katie and I each really enjoyed the turkey leg, but Katie wasn't so hot on the cocoa. After finishing our snack, we ran over to the Tower of Terror to try and make it to our Standby Pass time slot.
Katie caught a video from inside the ride even though we weren't allowed to. It's pretty cool and gives you an idea of the story (which I briefly shared earlier) behind the Tokyo Tower of Terror.
After getting tossed around in an elevator, Katie and I were getting hungry for dinner, so we decided to stop at the closest counter-service restaurant- New York Deli. I decided to get the tuna melt set while Katie grabbed the turkey club set with a raspberry mustard sauce. Since it was so cold, we also grabbed a hot red wine and a coffee. Of course, both ended up spilt down the front of my gray sweatshirt, so I was very self-conscious about my stains for the rest of the night.
Following dinner, we hit a few of the small rides that we hadn't hit earlier in the day; Auqatopia, a kid's water ride that tosses you around in a car on top of the water, and Nemo & Friends SeaRider, a 3D ride where you swim along with your favorite characters from Finding Dory, and leave with the slight urge to vomit.
After our rides, Katie and I decided to do one final loop of the park. Along the way, we ran across the children's area underneath King Neptune's Castle; this area was super cool because all of the children's rides were entirely underground, so if you didn't take the time to walk into the castle, you'd have no idea this entire area existed. This was the area with the kiddie roller coaster and simple rides that little kids could ride. Again, Katie and I were blown away with Tokyo Disney's ingenious way of incorporating another castle in their parks- this time it was The Little Mermaid's underwater castle!
To end our evening we headed back to Soarin' to ride it one more time before we left, using our last Fast Pass of the day. We also took some time to grab night pictures before we left.
By the end of the night, we were sad that our time at Tokyo Disney Resort was over, but we hope to go back to these amazing parks. Katie and I both agree that DisneySea is the most beautiful and our favorite Disney park we've visited so far. Yes, you read that right: Tokyo Disneysea is our number one Disney Park to date.
Once we left the park, Katie and I grabbed our luggage from the storage locker and made the 15-minute walk to the train station. Everyone said that Tokyo trains are some of the most crowded in the world, but Katie and I hadn't experienced the crazy masses of people until we tried to squeeze onto the train after a night at Disney. Katie and I made the uncomfortable 20-minute train ride up to our hotel, about halfway between Disney and the Narita Airport.
We departed the train station and started making our way down a pretty sketchy street. The hotel that Katie had in Google Maps was actually located above a strip club, so I was not feeling confident in Katie's ability to be our family travel agent any longer. We rode up a very sketchy elevator, poked our heads out to the sketchy hotel lobby and then (without saying a word to each other) turned around and headed back down to the ground floor. One way or another we weren't staying here.
Come to find out, we had the wrong hotel entered into Google Maps and we were actually in the APA Hotel located on the other side of the train tracks. After a few uncomfortable chuckles at our mistake, we headed back through the train station towards the better side of town. Don't get me wrong, we have never felt unsafe in Japan, but staying in a hotel over a strip club just isn't a place I'm ever going to feel comfortable staying!
Shortly after Katie and I made it to the hotel, we got checked in, took showers, and fell asleep around 11:00 pm.
December 23, 2021: Homeward Bound
We got up the next morning, sad that the trip is over, but excited that we get to be home with our puppies for Christmas. We checked out of the hotel at 6:45 am to jump on the express train to Narita Airport, which took about an hour.
Since Peach Airlines gives passengers a two-item limit not to exceed 7 kilograms, Katie and I made sure to spread the weight pretty evenly between our two bookbags and the shared duffel bag. Luckily our shared load weighed in at 6.8 & 6.3 kilograms, so we were good to proceed to security- it was close though!
It took us nearly 30 minutes to get through security, but we finally made it to our gate just in time to board the bus that would take us from the gate to our plane on the tarmack. Due to the long lines at security, the flight was delayed almost an hour. Eventually, the flight took off and we started the two-hour journey south to Nagasaki Airport. Along the way, Katie got some great photos of Mount Fuji from a few miles up; she tried to wake me up from my nap but I wasn't having any of it.
Upon landing in Nagasaki, we paid our ￥3800 parking fee and then enjoyed the hour ride back home to Sasebo! While we were sad to leave Disney and our amazing time in Tokyo behind, we had two happy pups waiting for us at home!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
--Bryan
Absolutly Beautiful! So Jealous! I will just have to live through your Disney Adventures! Miss you both and Hope you both had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! ❤️