On the previous day, we went to Yokohama to visit Cup Noodle Museum and Anpanman Children’s Museum. Today we will be going to the one and only DisneySea, which is located in Chiba prefecture, just a tad outside Tokyo.
Tokyo DisneySea is located in the Tokyo Disney Resort complex, containing the Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea, as well as the Tokyo Disney Ambassador Hotel, located not too far from one another. True to its name, Tokyo DisneySea has a nautical exploration theme throughout the areas. There are some water-based rides, but for most part, you can stay to only ride land-based rides. If you do get wet, you can use their “instant-dry blower” machine (I haven’t tried it though).
You can reach Tokyo Disney Resort by train, on the JR Keiyo and JR Musashino lines, and getting off at Maihama station. From the station, you can either take the Disney monorail, or walk to the park.
There are seven areas in the DisneySea, and I believe all guests start at the Mediterannean Harbour. As with Disneyland, the areas are themed according to Disney movies, such as Indiana Jones or The Little Mermaid. Despite sharing the “Disney” brand, DisneySea is geared towards a more adult audiences. As such, the rides are much more suitable for adults, and there are a lot more seating and dining areas. When we came in, we were greeted with a marching band playing “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” from The Lion King.
Straight up from where we came from, we you can see a big lake, and various other areas in the DisneySea, including one big mountain at the back. Contrary to my belief, that’s Mount Prometheus (I thought it was Mount Vesuvius). Some parts of the Mediterannean Harbour area are also themed like the canals in Venice, and the buildings around reflect that. When we were there, the movie Finding Dory have just hit the theatres about a month or two, so there were a lot of Finding Dory-related statues in the park.
Hank the Octopus from Finding Dory
Moving along, we explored different areas, such as the Lost River Delta, from Indiana Jones; Arabian Coast, from Aladdin; and the Mermaid Lagoon, from The Little Mermaid. Mermaid Lagoon is a large indoor cave area that serve as a playground, as well as cafes and attractions. Note that since this is based on The Little Mermaid, obviously there are several play areas in the cave that will get you wet. The Mermaid Lagoon rides and playground are geared towards younger children.
Mermaid Lagoon
As the lunch time is approaching, we decided to get lunch inside the indoor cafe. Normally if you go to amusement park, especially in Australia, the food are generally crap and taste somewhat awful. Not in Japan! It wasn’t restaurant quality, however it was definitely above your standard amusement park food.
Looks can be deceiving: it was a good meal!
After lunch, we went to few other areas, and ultimately to the American Waterfront area, modeled after early 20th century America, before finally going back to the entrance. In the late afternoon, before the sun starts to set, there is a parade on the central lake, which I unfortunately did not record. After the parade, we went back home, but not before I tried to get my fridge magnet!
That’s it for our fifth day! Next we will be taking a bit of a break by strolling around Ueno Park, and going to the otaku area, Akihabara.