(Day 5) A Day at the SEA

Oh Happiest Day! Today we ventured out to Maihama to visit the Tokyo Disney Resort Park of DisneySEA. The DisneySEA theme park is exclusive to Tokyo and thus the perfect choice for us, who have been to Disneyland previously in California. We knew we were heading in the right direction when a bunch of girls boarded the Keiyo line train decked out in Mickey earrings and t-shirts while carrying Disney bags. I think Disney holds a whole different meaning for the Japanese; in North America, Disney is for children while in Japan, well, Disney is important to people of all ages.



After jamming down a sandwich and tea, we boarded the Disney Resort Liner that would take us to the entrance of DisneySEA.






We’re in for the happiest day of our life! Okay, well, a good day at least.

The weather was cracklin’ hot and sunny! This was our first sunny day and boy, the sun delivered. I got a sunburn, but really, there is no surprise there if you are aware at how white I normally am.





The entrance led us into the first “port” of DisneySEA, the Mediterranean Harbour. We stared in fascination for a while before heading to our first ride of the day, the Venetian Gondolas.




I thought it was absolutely fantastic that this girl was wearing a Nemo costume.


A view of the Mysterious Island port.




The driver/steering guy kept on telling funny jokes…but we didn’t understand them because we don’t know Japanese. Sad. He did teach us how to say, “Ciao!!” to people in other boats though. I guess I’ll have to settle for the smidgeon of Italian that I understood.

As the morning wore on, the crowds started flocking in and the ride lineups got longer and longer. Disney has the Speedpass system, where you can reserve a spot in line for certain rides, so I took to doing that for the day. The next ride we went on was at Port Discovery called ‘Stormrider’ where you “experience” the ride by sitting in a theatre. Again, a whitty Japanese introduction that fell onto my deaf ears. The ride was rad though as it blew wind and rain and was in 3-D! Aw, so best.

I then got a Speedpass for the Indian Jones Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ride before heading to Mermaid Lagoon to kill time before it was my time to ride.






King Triton riding his seashell chariot. So colourful his kingdom is!



Since Mermaid Lagoon was mostly kiddy rides, we then headed to the Arabian Coast and rode the carousel.




Not sure what a carousel has to do with the Arabian Coast, but maybe it was invented by Arabs.





Next was Sinbad’s Storybook Voyage. This ride is classic Disney as I remember it from a child – vivid colours and songs constantly playing overhead as the boat floats from one room to the next. Ahhh, super natsukashii. I don’t really know the story though, since again, it was entirely in Japanese. There is something to be said about hearing English in situations such as these.









The ride also included a possessed monkey. Now THAT part I don’t need a language to teach me.





For those of you who have never had the pleasure of experiencing a Disney ride, I made a brief, low-quality video for your viewing pleasure.



I then rode the extremely awesome Indiana Jones ride…so sweet! No pictures because I was riding in this Jeep and it really was that you needed to hang on for dear life. Harrison Ford is in the ride, and he speaks Japanese. Let me clarify, Harrison Ford’s younger likeness was placed on an android who spoke Japanese. It was all around good times. They had the giant rolling ball and everything.

After I emerged from the Temple of Doom (I’m gonna call it that too), Mother was hungry so we ended up at one of their cantinas and I bought my first $4 cup of oolong tea which was really mostly ice.



Next was the ‘Raging Spirits’ roller coaster which was a bit of a let-down…although I did get to sit at the front. They just kind of whipped you back and forth and then it was finished in like, 45 seconds.



Time for more food! I wanted to buy a steamed bun that was heavily advertised everywhere but I didn’t find it, so I had gyoza instead at the cantina on the Mysterious Island, via Mermaid Lagoon.





Then it was time for ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth; speedpass and by the time I emerged, Mickey was performing his afternoon show in the harbour. I snapped one picture and then took this opportunity to rush off to catch the hopefully-empty train to the American Waterfront port.






Port Discovery from the train.




I grabbed my speedpass for the Tower of Terror but it was for in 3 hours time. BOO! So we wandered through the waterfront before heading on a waterbus for a park tour.


This really does look like Pennsylvania, ne?





We checked out the shops in the Mediterranean Harbour before finding another cantina to eat dinner at. This offered a lovely view of the harbour and I was psyched on their salmon and potato pizza. Food nostalgia is high with this one.



I had convinced Mother to ride with me on the Indiana Jones ride, so we did. It was just as awesome the second time. Here’s our night vision shot with me on the left, my Ma on the right.



Night fell quickly enough but we hadn’t finished motoring around the park yet. Thankfully, Disney is just as lovely at night.











We went and saw a show at ‘The Magic Lamp Theatre’ in 3-D and this time had translators, so I enjoyed it very much. We hung around the Arabian Coast and viewed the lovely lights before heading to the cantina there for dessert.




What a lovely day…thanks Mom! I won’t forget the evening there sitting and eating dessert in the streetlights.

We strolled through the park for one last look at the sights before heading to the Mediterranean Harbour for a bit of shopping before the final show, ‘BraviSEAmo!’










That was totally a fire-breathing dragon.


And DOWN he goes!





What a day. It can’t mean even remotely the same to a reader since you didn’t get to experience it, but honestly, I write these blogs more for myself than anyone. Disney does a great job on delivering good times, despite the language barrier. Thanks, Disney, for all the fun and great memories made with my Mom.

ps – This is my 100th blog post. Yippee!