Tokyo DisneySea
I was initially hesitant to visit DisneySea (or Disneyland for that matter) while in Tokyo because I knew that the rides there weren't going to be very thrilling and the admission fee was quite expensive (going for ¥7400). Due to the packed itinerary of previous days, Saturday was the only free day for us to visit, and after reading some reviews online, I was very wary of the long waiting times reported for many popular rides on weekends. I am certainly not one to wait 2 hours for every ride. However, I had already covered most of the places of interest that I wanted to visit in the city, so I decided to tag along with my friends.
We set off extremely early in the morning, because we had not booked our tickets in advance. Things were already looking bleak when we exited the train station to head for the monorail. Crowds on a Saturday were absolutely insane. Thousands of people were already queuing up at the park gates before the 8am opening time. Looks like this website (link: http://tdrnavi.jp/forecast/disneysea?lang=en) which estimates crowd levels as a percentage of total park capacity wasn't wrong after all.
Fortunately, Disney's Fastpass priority queue system did benefit us to some extent after all. Unlike the equivalent Universal Express at the Universal parks, no additional fees are required to be eligible for Fastpass access, but instead, Fastpasses have allocated return timings which in turn have a limited quota of tickets, making it absolutely essential to run for your favourite ride in the morning to grab one. I was naive to think that I could grab the Tower of Terror Fastpass after our first ride, but by that time the available timing was already late in the evening.
Pro tip: Download the Wait Times for Tokyo Disney app to have convenient information on hand without having to move around the park. This app shows not only the standby waiting time but also Fastpass availability so it's easier to plan your route around the park.
Once the gates opened, we decided to head straight to Journey to the Centre of the Earth, located in the middle of the park in the Mysterious Island zone, under the massive Mount Prometheus, a man-made volcano that serves as the park's centrepiece. Just barely half an hour into the park's official opening hours, the line for this ride was already at 60 minutes, but we all agreed that this was still fairly reasonable. Fortunately the ride has a high capacity and loading times are fast, so the line moved along fairly quickly. The ride employs the same slot car technology as Test Track at Epcot and Radiator Springs Racers (the Cars-themed ride) at Disney California Adventure, reaching a top speed of 76km/h, which is between the top speeds of the two aforementioned rides in the USA. Similar to those rides, the ride starts off slowly, with a sudden event (in the case of Journey, an earthquake and volcanic eruption) triggering the vehicle to accelerate through the fast portion of the ride. Overall I was fairly impressed with the theming of the ride, though I wished the fast portion was longer. Still a decent first ride in my opinion.
The next ride that we tried was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the only other ride in Mysterious Island. Given the 45 minute wait time, we decided to grab the Fastpass for this ride, shortening our wait time to a mere 5 minutes. Thank goodness we did that, because I personally did not think that this ride was worth such a long wait. It may be fun for kids but ultimately it's just a slow ride with some decent special effects, simulating an underwater journey. Even the seats were probably designed for young children, and it wasn't exactly the most comfortable ride vehicle to be in. The story also a little hard to understand given the language barrier. Without any expectations going in, I wasn't too disappointed though.
We were off to the Lost River Delta next, which houses two thrill rides - Indiana Jones: Temple of the Crystal Skull, and Raging Spirits, the only roller coaster in the park. They are also the only rides in the park to offer Single Rider options. We tried Indiana Jones first, opting for the Single Rider line. Unlike Universal parks, Single Rider lines share the same entrance as the Fastpass entrance, but split up nearer the loading platforms. It is also at this split where the Fastpass line merges with the Standby line. Universal parks usually have 3 separate lines from the ride entrance all the way to the loading platforms. Having taken this ride many years ago when I was still a kid at the Anaheim park, I definitely felt some nostalgia and happy memories flowing back when on board the ride. It was surprisingly more thrilling than I had recalled. The ride uses Disney's Enhanced Motion Vehicle (EMV) technology, which feels quite similar to the Spiderman/Transformers rides at Universal Studios.
With the waiting time for Raging Spirits standing at a whopping 120 minutes, we decided to get Fastpasses instead. While my friends headed off to catch a morning parade, I decided to go for Indiana Jones again. When that was done, I rejoined them to grab a quick lunch. Every restaurant had a long line, so we decided to get hotdogs from a food stand instead. They cost ¥390 each. This also took quite a while. It seems that service tends to be a tad slow at the park.
After realising that we didn't actually have to wait till the next Fastpass start time to obtain another one, we decided to Fastpass another attraction where they were still available. By this time (about 1pm), only the Magic Lamp Theatre had a Fastpass timing which was still reasonable (about 3pm), so we headed to the Arabian Coast zone, which was really pretty. We then headed to Sinbad's Storybook Voyage, which was supposedly a leisurely boat ride, since the waiting time was a mere 10 minutes. What an absolute snooze fest. All of us fell asleep because the music was too soothing. It was basically a remixed version of It's A Small World, with it's own theme song. The only upside of taking this ride was to rest our feet. When we were done, it was time to use our Fastpasses for Raging Spirits.
I think I set my expectations too high for the Raging Spirits ride. Being the only roller coaster there, and actually featuring a single loop, I initially thought that it would be a few notches more exciting than any of our previous rides. While in line you can also get a good view of the loop, and to be honest, this one was tiny. That was the first indication that perhaps, this wasn't going to be as exciting as I hoped after all. I then noticed that many people were wearing their spectacles on board. My level of anticipation began to dwindle. When finally on board, I was still holding out hope for at least a fun first drop, but that too was totally underwhelming. The only fun part was the loop and the drop just before it. To be honest I thought that Indiana Jones was slightly more enjoyable. In order to maximise our entrance fees, we decided to go on it again, this time going for the Single Rider line.
It was then time for us to head back to the Magic Lamp Theatre. This one featured a 3D show based on Aladdin. Once again, another absolutely boring attraction (not aided by being unable to understand the commentary), and I fell asleep again. When we were done here, it was about time to catch the iconic Fantasmic show back near the main lagoon, but we ended up taking the Caravan Carousel just for the fun of it. While the ride was uneventful, I thought that having a double-storey carousel was aesthetically a little more impressive.
I ultimately decided against watching the show. I had watched it in Anaheim (not that I remember any of it though - I was 7 years old, but also the weather was really cold!!!), so I went off to grab some dinner instead. Again, thanks to the ridiculous queues, I just grabbed a quick bite from the food carts. This time, I had some Teriyaki Chicken rolls, which were a bit more expensive than the hotdogs we had for lunch at ¥500 each, but tasted quite good anyway.
Finally, it was time for my most anticipated attraction in the park, the Tower of Terror. A big mistake we made was not going for the Fastpass first thing in the morning. Along with Toy Story Mania (which we didn't bother with because none of us were interested in arcade-style shooting games), Fastpasses for these two rides got snapped up incredibly quickly, and were completely gone even before lunch. The wait times at this attraction simply did not let up throughout the day, hovering between 100-150 minutes throughout the morning and afternoon. In fact, it got much worse by the time we entered the queue. When we went in at 6pm, the timing displayed was a depressing 200 minutes. Since we already covered all the other major attractions, and I knew that this was by far the best ride in the park, I decided to endure the wait. What made the wait most unbearable was the freezing wind. With nearly three-quarters of the queue outside the building, it was quite a torturous wait. I spent nearly 90 minutes enduring the cold. Thankfully my friend got us some piping hot corn soup and hot chocolate to warm ourselves up. I was so relieved when we finally entered the main building, and my anticipation level started to rise rapidly. I read about the attraction prior to visiting and had really high expectations.
The ride experience begins with an introduction by one of the staff members about the explorer Harrison Hightower, who owns the Hotel Hightower (which forms the ride building), and how he brought back a sinister-looking idol named Shiriki Utundu from his expedition to Africa. Obviously this thing is cursed (Duh!). He was last seen before an accident in which the hotel lift crashed to the ground floor while he was in it. After a long period of closure, the hotel was reopened for paid tours of the building (which we the guests are on). After catching a glimpse of the idol coming to life, we are ushered into the loading rooms.
The main ride was an absolute blast. This time I think I underestimated the intensity of the drop so I was actually quite pleasantly surprised. While you are allowed to bring your bags onto the ride, it is advisable to keep loose articles inside your bags. I could actually feel my bag being lifted off the ground during the drops. I was also glad that the eventual amount of time that I waited was just over two hours, a whole hour lesser than what was being reported at the ride entrance. I had so much fun that immediately after exiting the ride I was ready to go again. After catching the fireworks, we came straight back, and the waiting time had dropped to 80 minutes by then. What was interesting the second time around was that I realised that the multiple loading platforms actually are themed differently, which is a really nice touch. The actual ride wasn't as thrilling the second time round, but I still had a lot of fun. I also learned from Wikipedia some interesting facts about the loading system. While there are only 3 elevator shafts, there are 6 loading docks across 2 levels, so that one lift can be filled up while the other is in the drop zone, thereby increasing efficiency. This is achieved thanks to the ability for the vehicles to move horizontally in and out of the elevator shafts. Overall, I didn't feel too upset about the long wait.
Despite my initial hesitations, I was glad that I ultimately decided to join my friends to make the trip here. Even with the large crowds, I was glad that we didn't have to wait more than an hour for any other rides other than Tower of Terror, thanks to an otherwise effective use of Fastpass and Single Rider save for that ride. It was definitely still fun visiting a Disney park as an adult, and after so many years. While only one ride was actually legitimately thrilling, the others were all quite enjoyable nonetheless, and the level of detail that Disney puts into designing their rides and parks are really impressive. Of course, the company of friends was also much fun. Overall, a unique and memorable experience that I wouldn't forget. If I ever return though, I'd have to rethink my Fastpass strategy for a couple of these rides.
We set off extremely early in the morning, because we had not booked our tickets in advance. Things were already looking bleak when we exited the train station to head for the monorail. Crowds on a Saturday were absolutely insane. Thousands of people were already queuing up at the park gates before the 8am opening time. Looks like this website (link: http://tdrnavi.jp/forecast/disneysea?lang=en) which estimates crowd levels as a percentage of total park capacity wasn't wrong after all.
Fortunately, Disney's Fastpass priority queue system did benefit us to some extent after all. Unlike the equivalent Universal Express at the Universal parks, no additional fees are required to be eligible for Fastpass access, but instead, Fastpasses have allocated return timings which in turn have a limited quota of tickets, making it absolutely essential to run for your favourite ride in the morning to grab one. I was naive to think that I could grab the Tower of Terror Fastpass after our first ride, but by that time the available timing was already late in the evening.
Pro tip: Download the Wait Times for Tokyo Disney app to have convenient information on hand without having to move around the park. This app shows not only the standby waiting time but also Fastpass availability so it's easier to plan your route around the park.
Once the gates opened, we decided to head straight to Journey to the Centre of the Earth, located in the middle of the park in the Mysterious Island zone, under the massive Mount Prometheus, a man-made volcano that serves as the park's centrepiece. Just barely half an hour into the park's official opening hours, the line for this ride was already at 60 minutes, but we all agreed that this was still fairly reasonable. Fortunately the ride has a high capacity and loading times are fast, so the line moved along fairly quickly. The ride employs the same slot car technology as Test Track at Epcot and Radiator Springs Racers (the Cars-themed ride) at Disney California Adventure, reaching a top speed of 76km/h, which is between the top speeds of the two aforementioned rides in the USA. Similar to those rides, the ride starts off slowly, with a sudden event (in the case of Journey, an earthquake and volcanic eruption) triggering the vehicle to accelerate through the fast portion of the ride. Overall I was fairly impressed with the theming of the ride, though I wished the fast portion was longer. Still a decent first ride in my opinion.
The next ride that we tried was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the only other ride in Mysterious Island. Given the 45 minute wait time, we decided to grab the Fastpass for this ride, shortening our wait time to a mere 5 minutes. Thank goodness we did that, because I personally did not think that this ride was worth such a long wait. It may be fun for kids but ultimately it's just a slow ride with some decent special effects, simulating an underwater journey. Even the seats were probably designed for young children, and it wasn't exactly the most comfortable ride vehicle to be in. The story also a little hard to understand given the language barrier. Without any expectations going in, I wasn't too disappointed though.
We were off to the Lost River Delta next, which houses two thrill rides - Indiana Jones: Temple of the Crystal Skull, and Raging Spirits, the only roller coaster in the park. They are also the only rides in the park to offer Single Rider options. We tried Indiana Jones first, opting for the Single Rider line. Unlike Universal parks, Single Rider lines share the same entrance as the Fastpass entrance, but split up nearer the loading platforms. It is also at this split where the Fastpass line merges with the Standby line. Universal parks usually have 3 separate lines from the ride entrance all the way to the loading platforms. Having taken this ride many years ago when I was still a kid at the Anaheim park, I definitely felt some nostalgia and happy memories flowing back when on board the ride. It was surprisingly more thrilling than I had recalled. The ride uses Disney's Enhanced Motion Vehicle (EMV) technology, which feels quite similar to the Spiderman/Transformers rides at Universal Studios.
With the waiting time for Raging Spirits standing at a whopping 120 minutes, we decided to get Fastpasses instead. While my friends headed off to catch a morning parade, I decided to go for Indiana Jones again. When that was done, I rejoined them to grab a quick lunch. Every restaurant had a long line, so we decided to get hotdogs from a food stand instead. They cost ¥390 each. This also took quite a while. It seems that service tends to be a tad slow at the park.
After realising that we didn't actually have to wait till the next Fastpass start time to obtain another one, we decided to Fastpass another attraction where they were still available. By this time (about 1pm), only the Magic Lamp Theatre had a Fastpass timing which was still reasonable (about 3pm), so we headed to the Arabian Coast zone, which was really pretty. We then headed to Sinbad's Storybook Voyage, which was supposedly a leisurely boat ride, since the waiting time was a mere 10 minutes. What an absolute snooze fest. All of us fell asleep because the music was too soothing. It was basically a remixed version of It's A Small World, with it's own theme song. The only upside of taking this ride was to rest our feet. When we were done, it was time to use our Fastpasses for Raging Spirits.
I think I set my expectations too high for the Raging Spirits ride. Being the only roller coaster there, and actually featuring a single loop, I initially thought that it would be a few notches more exciting than any of our previous rides. While in line you can also get a good view of the loop, and to be honest, this one was tiny. That was the first indication that perhaps, this wasn't going to be as exciting as I hoped after all. I then noticed that many people were wearing their spectacles on board. My level of anticipation began to dwindle. When finally on board, I was still holding out hope for at least a fun first drop, but that too was totally underwhelming. The only fun part was the loop and the drop just before it. To be honest I thought that Indiana Jones was slightly more enjoyable. In order to maximise our entrance fees, we decided to go on it again, this time going for the Single Rider line.
It was then time for us to head back to the Magic Lamp Theatre. This one featured a 3D show based on Aladdin. Once again, another absolutely boring attraction (not aided by being unable to understand the commentary), and I fell asleep again. When we were done here, it was about time to catch the iconic Fantasmic show back near the main lagoon, but we ended up taking the Caravan Carousel just for the fun of it. While the ride was uneventful, I thought that having a double-storey carousel was aesthetically a little more impressive.
I ultimately decided against watching the show. I had watched it in Anaheim (not that I remember any of it though - I was 7 years old, but also the weather was really cold!!!), so I went off to grab some dinner instead. Again, thanks to the ridiculous queues, I just grabbed a quick bite from the food carts. This time, I had some Teriyaki Chicken rolls, which were a bit more expensive than the hotdogs we had for lunch at ¥500 each, but tasted quite good anyway.
Finally, it was time for my most anticipated attraction in the park, the Tower of Terror. A big mistake we made was not going for the Fastpass first thing in the morning. Along with Toy Story Mania (which we didn't bother with because none of us were interested in arcade-style shooting games), Fastpasses for these two rides got snapped up incredibly quickly, and were completely gone even before lunch. The wait times at this attraction simply did not let up throughout the day, hovering between 100-150 minutes throughout the morning and afternoon. In fact, it got much worse by the time we entered the queue. When we went in at 6pm, the timing displayed was a depressing 200 minutes. Since we already covered all the other major attractions, and I knew that this was by far the best ride in the park, I decided to endure the wait. What made the wait most unbearable was the freezing wind. With nearly three-quarters of the queue outside the building, it was quite a torturous wait. I spent nearly 90 minutes enduring the cold. Thankfully my friend got us some piping hot corn soup and hot chocolate to warm ourselves up. I was so relieved when we finally entered the main building, and my anticipation level started to rise rapidly. I read about the attraction prior to visiting and had really high expectations.
The ride experience begins with an introduction by one of the staff members about the explorer Harrison Hightower, who owns the Hotel Hightower (which forms the ride building), and how he brought back a sinister-looking idol named Shiriki Utundu from his expedition to Africa. Obviously this thing is cursed (Duh!). He was last seen before an accident in which the hotel lift crashed to the ground floor while he was in it. After a long period of closure, the hotel was reopened for paid tours of the building (which we the guests are on). After catching a glimpse of the idol coming to life, we are ushered into the loading rooms.
The main ride was an absolute blast. This time I think I underestimated the intensity of the drop so I was actually quite pleasantly surprised. While you are allowed to bring your bags onto the ride, it is advisable to keep loose articles inside your bags. I could actually feel my bag being lifted off the ground during the drops. I was also glad that the eventual amount of time that I waited was just over two hours, a whole hour lesser than what was being reported at the ride entrance. I had so much fun that immediately after exiting the ride I was ready to go again. After catching the fireworks, we came straight back, and the waiting time had dropped to 80 minutes by then. What was interesting the second time around was that I realised that the multiple loading platforms actually are themed differently, which is a really nice touch. The actual ride wasn't as thrilling the second time round, but I still had a lot of fun. I also learned from Wikipedia some interesting facts about the loading system. While there are only 3 elevator shafts, there are 6 loading docks across 2 levels, so that one lift can be filled up while the other is in the drop zone, thereby increasing efficiency. This is achieved thanks to the ability for the vehicles to move horizontally in and out of the elevator shafts. Overall, I didn't feel too upset about the long wait.
Despite my initial hesitations, I was glad that I ultimately decided to join my friends to make the trip here. Even with the large crowds, I was glad that we didn't have to wait more than an hour for any other rides other than Tower of Terror, thanks to an otherwise effective use of Fastpass and Single Rider save for that ride. It was definitely still fun visiting a Disney park as an adult, and after so many years. While only one ride was actually legitimately thrilling, the others were all quite enjoyable nonetheless, and the level of detail that Disney puts into designing their rides and parks are really impressive. Of course, the company of friends was also much fun. Overall, a unique and memorable experience that I wouldn't forget. If I ever return though, I'd have to rethink my Fastpass strategy for a couple of these rides.
