Travel Diary: Tokyo || Episode 2: You’ve Got a Friend in Me

I grew up watching Disney shows and being able to visit all Disney Theme Parks was my long-time wishlist. Up until now, I’ve only visited two out of twelve in this world. The first was Hongkong Disneyland and the recent one I visited was Tokyo DisneySea, which I’m going to feature in this post.

I visited the Tokyo DisneySea on my second day in Japan. Since I’m going to Universal Studios in Osaka too, I’ll have to choose between DisneySea and Disneyland. My friends who have been to both of them recommended me to visit DisneySea. So, I went there and had a blast experience even though the weather was not helping. I bought the tickets from the Traveloka apps, so we can directly go inside the park. As soon as we exited the JR Line Disney Resort Station, the kid inside me made me jump like Goofy.

I visited DisneySea in September when they are ready for Halloween. Many of the visitors wear Disney Characters’ costumes for the season. It was fascinating to see many Disney fanatics there. They were pretty all out. I bumped into Princess Aurora and Ariel on the train to the DisneySea entrance.

Before we get to the DisneySea entrance, we had our brunch to fill in the energy before we conquer the park. We decided to eat at the Disney Resort Cafeteria. I ate Omurice and it cost pretty expensive. It cost around 853 JPY. But, it tasted pretty good for a cafeteria menu.

To get into DisneySea or Disneyland, we had to take the train from the Disney Resort entrance. The train was full of Mickey Mouse and even when the train started to be seen nearby the station, I’m already excited.

After a 10-minute train ride, we finally arrived at the entrance of DisneySea. At the DisneySea main entrance known as DisneySea Plaza, there was a globe water fountain. You might think it’s like Universal Studio’s trademark, but it’s different. We took some pictures there and then we finally entered the magical place. Too bad we arrived pretty late, so we didn’t get any fast pass tickets.

After acquiring DisneySea’s map, we went left to the American Waterfront area. I wanted to take the fast pass for Toy Story Mania, but we came too late so we didn’t get one. 

So, we went to the House of Terror and waited for around 1,5 hours in the rain. I didn’t know what to expect from that attraction, but it was a very thrilling and exciting one. One of my cousins is acrophobic, so she didn’t join the rest of us at the House of Terror (but she queued the line with us though). 

After the 10 minutes ride, we went to the Turtle Talk attraction. Since it was raining, so we find an indoor ride that all of us can join. The Turtle Talk is surely for families with kids because it was so boring and the commentary was in Japanese, so I didn’t really understand what is it all about. But since the queue wasn’t that long and we can sit down inside and it was air-conditioned, so we enjoyed the break time ride.

Then we headed north and moved to Port Discovery. There, we ride the Aquatopia (see it here). It’s basically a whirling boat ride. There were fewer people because it was raining and Aquatopia is an outdoor ride. We were all wearing raincoats anyway, so we don’t really care about getting wet.

After that ride, we went straight to Lost River Delta. The Port Discovery doesn’t really have much attraction, so we went to the other area. Lost River Delta's main attraction is the Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull. But, we didn’t try that ride and we ride the DisneySea Transit Streamer Line instead. It took around 20 minutes from Lost River Delta to Mediterranean Harbor. On our way, we passed by the Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast, and Mysterious Island. While riding the streamer line we planned to ride the Flounder’s Flying Fish Coaster and Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage, but it’s only a plan in the end. 

As soon as we get off the boat, it started to rain again, and we were pretty tired. So, we just took photos and see the volcano show from afar. It was around 6PM and then we sat down by the cafe nearby for a while.

After that, I went back to the American Waterfront with one of my cousins to buy the Little Green Men Mochi Ice Cream. Then we took lots of photos at Toyville. They lit up the lights and it feels more magical than the daytime.

Japan is known for its’ seriousness in culinary. And DisneySea is not an exception. They take the in-house snacks game seriously. I didn’t get to try all of their famous snacks, but I got to try the infamous Little Green Men Mochi Ice Cream and I love it very much! It was one of the reasons why I went to Tokyo DisneySea.

DisneySea Tokyo is really beautiful at night. It was one of the most magical night scenes I have ever seen in my life. Well, it will be better if you come there with your partner. The scene will make you feel like you are the main character of the Disney movies. Disney has really made me live in dreamland for a whole day. I really wish I could go back there again and stay in this magical place longer.

The only downside of my DisneySea trip was the weather was gloomy and it rains frequently. Brought my own raincoat was a smart move. The raincoat inside the park was pretty expensive. Well, I can't really show off my Minnie t-shirt, but that's okay. It was not the best outfit anyways. Also, too bad that we only can enjoy indoor attractions. I really wanted to play every ride, but the line was too long and we were not that capable to ride all of it. But, it’s the reason to come back again. Let’s pray that I got a job so I could travel back to DisneySea again before I get too old to enjoy all of the rides. For sure, we really need lots of energy to go to the theme parks. Also, friends that have the same adrenaline rush as you.

After the magical journey at DisneySea, we went back to Shinjuku. While on our transit at Tokyo Station, we discovered a random Gyutan restaurant there. We had our dinner at Date-No-Gyutan Honpo. It was one of the best meals I had in Tokyo. I really love the hotpot rice (see more in my video here). It was a superb dinner. Sometimes, things that are unplanned are better.

My second day in Tokyo was very magical because it really felt like I was taken to another world. I was a big fan of Disney and it might sound like a bias, but it was really magical. The Tokyo DisneySea was beyond my expectation and I was grateful to visit there before the pandemic strikes. Since I stayed at home most of the time lately, I got to reminisce about the old days a lot and am grateful for every moment. I hope you feel the same and since the pandemic situation is getting better, let’s hope that we can go back to travel the world again. Thank you for reading and see you on the next episode.

Further Readings & Source:

https://www.disneytouristblog.com/tokyo-disneysea-best-theme-park/

https://www.wannabeeverywhere.com/japan/tokyo-disneyland-disneysea/

https://sometimeshome.com/ultimate-first-time-guide-tokyo-disneysea/#Riding_the_Tokyo_Disney_Resort_Monorail

https://inspiredbymaps.com/disney-sea-tokyo/

https://www.mousehacking.com/blog/ranking-every-disney-park

https://wdwnt.com/2019/09/review-teriyaki-chicken-bun-for-disney-halloween-at-tokyo-disneyseas-seaside-snacks/