Tokyo DisneySea
Day 1 kicks off with an ambitious plan to tour the whole of DisneySea. As expected of a mega-tourist attraction, the information is all available on their website in more languages than I can speak, but I’ll just do a brief summary of the really, really important bits. (Really!)
I spent about 9 hours in the park, and covered all the areas except the Mermaid Lagoon, took all the rides except for the Tower of Terror, but only caught the BraviSEAmo! and Christmas fireworks performances. (Coincidentally, the former has ended permanently while the latter ends with Christmas.) I really like Raging Spirits (except for the wait of an eternity – get your FP early for this one!), andSindbad’s Storybook Voyage (you have to look carefully at the details to see the humour). And I really didn’t like 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, because it was awkward to look out of the side windows, and the crew refused to let me wait for the next carriage. I’ve read that it’s much more enjoyable in the front seats, but the side view didn’t entice me to try it a second time. The rest of the rides were alright, nothing that impressed nor disappointed. I wouldn’t return, but… There’s aTOY STORY MANIA addition to DisneySea in 2012 and I.. think.. I.. can’t.. resist…
The most notable thing about this place is the waiting. I probably waited in line more today than the rest of the days combined. Perhaps I was too much of a newbie at this “FastPass” thingamajig, but it feels like my day went like this: find ride ; get fast pass ; find another ride ; wait in line for an hour ; sit on ride ; run back to first ride ; use fast pass, and then repeat. So I probably spent a waiting:riding:walking ratio of 60:15:45. Yucky. I probably could do better if I figured out how to use my fastpass wisely, and avoid touring the entire park every couple of ride… but the lack of rides and the absurd waiting time on “some” of the rides proved too much of a challenge. (The fastpass timing for the tower of terror at 11am was 4am, and there weren’t anymore at 4pm.)
How a FASTPASS (FP) works:
I took a long time to figure it out, so I thought I’d share. First, it’s FREE. Like, F.O.C kind of free. All you need is your “Passport”, which is really Disney’s fancy term for your ticket. Check out the FP machine and the FP timing which will be near the ride entrance. Stick your passport in, get a FP (and your passport) out.
the FASTPASS machine
You can get an unlimited number of FPs, but only one FP for each ride, and there’s a waiting time between each FP. To get your next FP: 1) You wait out two hours, then collect your next FP. 2) You wait for your ride timing, then collect your next FP. (Hint: My FP was taken at 11:00am.)
FP to 20,000 Leagues
What the park really offers is Stuff To See – you can really believe that you’ve been transported to some other world. A world where mermen, gondolas and steamers co-existed peacefully. A world where everyone has their personal expensive (¥2300) popcorn bucket and Disney headwear. Plus, a friend says that the most beautiful part of DisneySea is the Mermaid Lagoon (which I didn’t visit), so I guess it can only get better.
Electric Train View of the American Waterfront
River View of the Mediterranean Harbour
Another highlight for me: commemorative Disney postmarks! I love! It’s between ¥100 to ¥200 for each postcard, and then another ¥70 for the stamp for international mail. A pricey hobby. Alternatively, you can just take a picture of the current postmark. (I did both. I couldn’t resist the call of those kawaii mickeys, minnies, goofys, chips, dales…) Note that you must drop your mail in the Disney postboxes! Do it when you get out, and you’ll just get a plain ol’ regular Tokyo one. I recommend doing your letter writing while staking out a good spot for any performances.
DisneySea postmark for Nov 2010
Moving on to food – for lunch, I had a Chef’s Special Set at the Yucatan Base Camp Grill. Chicken drenched in ketchup, with rice and a palmful of mixed veggies. Uninspiring lettuce leaves with a lonely tomato. “Melon” drink that tasted like, that weird green F&N flavour. What’s it? Flashy Fruitade? Summary: just about edible. (Sorry for the discoloured photos. The low light atmosphere wreaked havoc with my amateur photography skills.)
Chef's Special Set - ¥1,450 - 2/5
Salad - 1/5
Dinner at the Casbah Food Court was a vast improvement, with a Curry Sampler of chicken, lamb and shrimp, with rice and naan. (That’s what the menu says, but I only remember the naan. Maybe I had 2 naans instead?) Each type of curry had its own distinct flavour, nothing was too spicy, and everything went well with the naan. I liked the Arabian decor too!
Curry Sampler - ¥990 - 4/5
Pretty lights at the Casbah Food Court!
Website:
Official site: http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/tds/index_e.html
Getting here:
There’s about a thousand and twenty ways to get to Tokyo Disney, all conveniently detailed on the Disney website (direct link).
The most common, given that you won’t be rushing from (or to) an airport nor carrying refrigerator-sized luggages, would be heading to Tokyo and transferring to the JR Keikyo/Musashino line to Maihama station. After that, alight and walk out and head for the Resort Gateway station outside and take the Disney Resort Line. The leg from Tokyo to Maihama costs ¥210 (covered by the JR pass), while the Disney Resort Line goes for ¥250 each entry. There’s a also Day Passes available (1 day @ ¥650), and each Resort Line station sells different designs. A fun souvenir, but hard to justify collecting them… (I suppose if you had a party of 4, the most cost-efficient way to collect all the entire set would be to buy one Day Pass at Resort Gateway station, and send one adventurous fella to visit the other 3 stations and get one Day Pass at each station, then meet-up with the others patiently waiting.)
JR Keikyo/Musashino Line from Tokyo to Maihama
Resort Gateway Station
Disney Resort Line - with Mickey-themed fittings!
Opening Hours:
The opening hours vary (direct link to june 2011′s), but generally it’ll be about 1000 to 2200. The day starts earlier on weekends and school holidays, but the queues get longer too. The winter crowd in January thins down considerably, but a large number of rides also undergo maintenance in the same period. (ps: There’s a cool website that provides crowd forecasts, but I lost the link. Do let me know if you can find it!)
Crowd on a Thursday morning
Prices:
¥5,800 per adult, for a 1-day Passport. ¥10,000 for a 2-days Passport. Unless it’s already late April 2011, in which case, fee hikes would have been implemented and you’ll be paying ¥6,200 or ¥10,700 respectively. Prices are the same for both DisneySea and DisneyLand, and no park-hopping is allowed on the same day. Interestingly,
Other Tips:
- Guest Relations at the Mediterranean Harbour provides a set of English-language “story papers” about most of the attractions in the park. Very handy for non-Japanese speakers. Wish I knew about this -before- I went.
- Read this. The experts will help you much more than I can.
- Try the milk tea popcorn (a box for ¥300) sold near Port Discovery. Yummy.
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