Tokyo Disney Sea
When we decided we wanted to go to Japan, we started doing research on what we wanted to see and do. The first hit that came up every time we googled “Best Things to Do in Tokyo” was: Tokyo Disney Sea. Truthfully, I didn’t even consider this as something we’d want to do while in Tokyo. I initially thought: I’ve already been to Disney in Orlando, I don’t need to go again and further; Why would I go to Disney when I’m in another country?
Don’t get me wrong, I love Disney as much as the next guy but after John read deeper into the reviews, he really persuaded me that this is something we HAD to do. Turns out he was right. (Which is hard for me to admit sometimes!)
1. The atmosphere: The moment you walk through the doors, you’re immediately in awe at the park. It’s absolutely stunning. The thing about Disney is that they go to extra mile to emphasize the little details to make the atmosphere absolutely perfect. For example, when you’re standing in line inside King Trident’s castle, you notice the lights are underwater slugs, the posts are tall pieces of coral and the bolts are starfish. I LOVE that Disney does that small extra bit to create the perfect space and really transport you to a whole new world. (No pun intended, but there is an Aladdin ride in the park as well.)
The park being Disney Sea means the park is primarily sea themed and water centric. So the main themed attractions are: Finding Nemo, The Little Mermaid and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The park is designed around a giant lake, with many canals and rivers connecting the different sections of the park. There’s a few ports where you can board a river boat around and a part of the park where you can ride a gondola through the canals! The section of the park that was the Mediterranean Rivera looked exactly like Venice!
2. The food: Spending a whole day at the park, hunger is inevitable, and luckily for you, the food here is UNBELIEVABLE. The food is as delicious as is it unique. The food sold here is catered to the Japanese culture, so you’re not going to be getting the same old cotton candy, hot dogs, and burgers. Instead, the stands sell gyoza buns, shrimp popcorn, potato churros, and so much more. Yup, this definitely isn’t your usual American theme park. John’s favorite was the smoked chicken leg which he described as the best chicken on planet earth.
He actually liked it so much he went back and got it twice. Here’s a quick list of some of our favorite snacks we had throughout the day: Eukiwa Bun (shrimp filled bun), Yucatan Sausage Roll, Gyoza Dog, flavored Caramel popcorn, Tiramisu ice cream sandwich, raspberry popsicle, and fried banana and chocolate! OH! And don’t worry about the calorie intake today because walking throughout the park you will indeed get your work-out in. According to John’s apple watch at the end of the day we walked in total: 35,224 steps and walked 17.58 miles. We settled on the idea that we deserved all those snacks!
3. The outfits: Walking throughout the park, there’s one omnipresent thing that one simply can’t help but notice: the matching outfits. Everyone is matching with their group. Whether it’s a pair of best friends, a couple deeply in love or a giant group of girls, they are all matching. And I don’t just mean all in shades of blue, no it goes deeper than that. They are all wearing the EXACT product, wearing identical outfits. We saw groups of girls all wearing the exact furry jacket, pleated skirt and matching knee-high socks. Tons of groups wearing Disney t-shirts and Mickey Ears. A couple wearing a matching brown corduroy bottoms and champion black sweatshirts with Alvin the chipmunk hats!—that one was so cute! It was such a spectacle and something that is seriously interesting about Japanese culture. Throughout Tokyo, you’d occasionally see couples matching, but here at Tokyo Disney Sea, it was the thing you did. If you were a couple and you weren’t matching then you were definitely a tourist…Hence that was us.
4. The shows and experience: The shows are so unique, entertaining, and they’re all in Japanese. It’s so interesting to see how different the shows are in Japan than they are in The United States. They really cater to the Japanese crowd. We watched King Trident’s Show and all the songs were in Japanese. It was insane to see how much the vibe changed and I loved it! In all honestly, the rides at Disney Sea weren’t anything to write home about. I felt that Disney Sea really focuses on the atmosphere and creating the experience of each scenery, rather than roller coasters. That’s just another difference between the American Disney’s, so if you go to Disney Sea don’t expect to ride a lot of high-speed coasters.
5. One of a kind: Tokyo Disney Sea is one of a kind because it’s the only one in the world!
That alone makes it a huge bucket list item. I think the best part of being here was actually experiencing the Japanese culture by going to a place where all Japanese people go. Disney Sea wasn’t really touristy in the way that Americans would think and we saw so many more tourists at the temples! Being at Disney Sea, which is such a popular place for Japanese people to go, revealed more about Japanese culture than you would ever imagine.
Well I hope I gave some insight about Disney Sea and if you find yourself in Tokyo with nothing to do, now you know what to do!