Tokyo Disney Resort Part III: DisneySea
Probably the most unique Disney park outside of the United States (and maybe anywhere in the world). Here's what you need to know about this mysterious and intimidating park.
If you’re visiting Japan, and then Tokyo Disney Resort (TDR) on top of that, I sure hope you like waiting in lines.
And if you’re visiting DisneySea and you don’t have Happy Entry, AND you didn’t get up at 5 a.m. to go get your spot in line, I hope you like this view:
We got there an hour early and it still took us a full hour just to get through security. This isn’t WDW or Disneyland — say all you want about Japanese efficiency, and most of it is true, but sometimes all that attention to detail just takes too long when you’re trying to get into the park and book a Disney Premier Access (DPA) time for the most-coveted attraction. Also, shuffling through a huge line for an hour simply sucks.
There are way too few security screening stations, and multiple lines were merging at the gates, which made everything painful.
But that is just kind of how it goes in Japan. Everywhere you go in Tokyo there’s a line somewhere — and much of the time you’re only lucky enough to get a spot in that line if you were picked from a lottery to begin with.
So yeah… while it’s super hard to justify essentially an extra $1,000 dollars just so I could have stayed on property and skipped this massive line, I can’t say there weren’t many times that fateful morning that I questioned that decision.
But it was kind of an appropriate primer for the day we were about to embark on. There was plenty of magic and joy, to be sure, but there was also always an underlying sense of everything being bigger and more difficult that it seems like it should have been.
A park of massive scale and scope
While Tokyo Disneyland felt familiar and easy to navigate, DisneySea might be the exact opposite — at least for a first timer like me.
For starters, this isn’t a hub and spoke situation like most Disney parks, but instead a long, out-and-back map. So if you want to get from the main entrance to Fantasy Springs, you’re walking through the entire park, and that’s pretty much all there is to it. Forgot your water bottle somewhere in Mediterranean Harbor? Yeah, you’ll need to walk through the entire park again to go back and get it.
Yes, there are two transportation options — the Electric Railway and Transit Steamer Line (which is just a little passenger boat) — but chances are you’re better off walking most of the time anyways. We waited 25 minutes to take the train from American Waterfront to Port Discovery (the only two stops, btw), which turns out would have taken us about 5 minutes to just walk the damn thing.
In fairness, I never got on the boat, which may have been a better option for actually getting somewhere, as it has three stops: American Waterfront, Lost River Delta, and Mediterranean Harbor.
To be honest, all the handwringing and nerves you see from people planning a trip to DisneySea is more or less warranted. Sorry!
But with all that said, this place is pretty damn incredible to look at. After you pass through an esplanade featuring a pretty cool globe/water feature, you enter the park in earnest, and are immediately struck by the sheer scale of Mount Prometheus, the park’s icon and the show building for one of the best rides at DisneySea.
Oh, and this giant volcano is seen from across a bay that truly looks like you’re in Venice, Italy. It’s really difficult to put into pictures or words just how impressive it all is. This thing is nearly 200 feet tall and takes up 750,000 square feet. So, yeah, it’s big.
Whatever your expectations are for DisneySea, however many pictures you’ve seen or videos you’ve watched, there is no way to prepare for the sheer scale of it. The scale of EVERYthing in this park.
In fact, if I were ever to go back to DisneySea, I would probably try to spend most of the day just looking around at stuff and going, “Wow!”
The DPA that wasn’t meant to be
The first thing we tried to do was book a DPA for Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey. Why, you ask? Because wait times regularly reach or exceed — hold on to your butts — 240 minutes.
For those counting at home, that’s four hours of your day waiting in a standby line. Sure, it’s the hottest, newest attraction, but sheeeeesh. And I kind of get it, because if you live in Tokyo, why not throw down $60 and spend a day waiting for one ride if you feel like it? But for the rest of us… well, damn it.
Let me put this bluntly: If you want to ride Frozen at DisneySea, if it’s a must, then the truly only sure way to beat those insane standby times is to book a Vacation Package, which will allow you to prebook a DPA. Alternatively, you’d need to stay at Hotel MiraCosta to get Happy Entry for DisneySea and either get a shorter standby line or the ability to book a DPA before 40,000 other people are also trying.
So in other words, if you’re willing and able to shell out lots of money, then anything is possible.
As for me, I still did not have that extra $1,000 to spend, so getting there early and trying to book a DPA was our best shot. I was through the gates roughly 5 minutes after the park opened — and all the DPAs were GONE.
I checked back throughout the day, and a couple of times I nearly nabbed one, but they kept slipping through my fingers. So in other words, I spent most of the day refreshing the DPA list and had zilch to show for it — and ended up watching a YouTube ridethrough when I got home instead.
Damn it.
So that’s the story on Frozen. I hope you have/had better luck than me.
Instead we booked a DPA for Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure and rushed our way up to Raging Spirits, as it was showing just a 5-minute standby wait.
Thrill rides here… aren’t that thrilling
Raging Spirits is one of the attractions that only exists at DisneySea, and one of the few “thrill rides” at TDR that we had our eyes set on. As we hurried through multiple lands — the spectacles of which made my jaw drop and only the insistent urging of my wife kept me moving — I had visions of enjoying a sweet coaster I’d never ridden before.
Sadly, the Indiana Jones attraction was still in the midst of a long refurbishment, so this was our chance to get a taste of that adventure life.
The theming was incredible. Waterfalls. Fire. Ancient ruins that look incredibly real. And signs everywhere warning me that my health could be at risk by riding this attraction.
Hell yeah! I was pumped — despite the fact that by the time we got there the wait had ballooned to 50 minutes. Meh, whatever! COASTER TIME!
And then, after we spent nearly an hour getting pumped up, we finally got onboard… and basically got off two seconds later.
Womp womp.
The “thrills” on this ride lasted for about a nanosecond. I don’t understand it, but you would go up, go fast for a heartbeat or two, and then it would slow you down and prep you for the next drop. And after like three of those it just… ended.
And that was kind of the name of the game. It just felt like the thrill factor on most rides was turned down in general. Not sure what’s up with that, but now you know.
The attractions I rode and what I recommend
Because we didn’t want to wait in those insane standby lines, we kind of ended up with a lot of time in between DPAs where we weren’t sure exactly what to do. On top of that, we had an app issue that I mentioned in Part I that was messing with us — which, again, just restart your phone if that happens.
That said, by the end of the day we were able to get in quite a few attractions and even a show while spending money on three DPAs. No Frozen, which was a major bummer, but otherwise I feel like we got a pretty good taste of all the unique things DisneySea has to offer.
Here’s what else, besides Raging Spirits being boring, you need to know about the attractions at DisneySea:
Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure
I’m pretty sure Neverland is supposed to be one word, but this is how they officially spell it on the website and in the app, so who am I to argue?
Since we couldn’t nab a DPA for Frozen, we instead grabbed one for this unique Peter Pan attraction that’s part of the new Fantasy Springs land. As an FYI, in retrospect we could have left this as our final DPA for the day and nabbed something else instead, as it turned out the DPAs for Peter Pan were available all day long.
This looked like one of the more unique and interesting attractions — and it was! Also, you can check out Skull Rock and Captain Hook’s boat nearby.
To be clear, this ride is totally separate from Peter Pan’s Flight, versions of which which can be found in Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, and even in Tokyo Disneyland. This is a completely new attraction that blends 3D animation and something akin to a good ol’ fashion dark ride.
This ended up actually being one of my favorite rides in all of TDR. The 3D effects are actually super impressive (sorry Flight of Passage, but it beats even that). The blending of practical and digital is seamless, and you get six to seven minutes of ride time, which felt like a lot for the rides in Tokyo.
An important note — if you’re susceptible to motion sickness, there’s a chance this one could trigger some queasiness for you. While most of the ride is pretty chill, there are a couple of parts where the screen is doing some loop-de-loops and whatnot. My wife and I each took a half Dramamine, and were totally fine. This isn’t Mission Space or anything, but be aware of it.
All in all, I’d say it was well worth the DPA for this one.
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Mama Mia!
First of all, you catch a glimpse of the ride vehicles for this one when you first peek Mount Prometheus, so the anticipation builds pretty quickly.
This one doesn’t get as crazy as Frozen in terms of standby times, but it still gets up there — at last check, 160 minutes even on a winter’s day.
So after we booked Peter Pan and while we were in line for Raging Spirits, our next DPA window opened, so we grabbed one for this bad boy. It seems like DPAs for this one are readily available into the afternoon, so you don’t have to be too rabid about it.
This is easily one of the most unique attractions you will ever experience. It’s somehow a mix of dark ride AND thrill ride, and features one of the most impressive animatronics you will find anywhere in the world. The entire vibe of this ride is, as my son would say, peak.
I’m so glad we got to experience this one — but there’s no way in hell I’d wait in the standby line for this. Why? Because it clocks in at a paltry three minutes, and honestly I’m shocked that’s the listed ride time. As was the case with several rides at TDR, it felt like it ended just as it was really getting going. So while it was truly awesome and one of the coolest attractions I’ve ever experienced, there was still something a bit unsatisfying about it.
With that said, you should definitely ride it. And the land where it’s housed, Mysterious Island, is truly one of the most stunning places I’ve ever seen, in a theme park or otherwise. Pictures just don’t do it justice. Believe me, I just checked and decided it wasn’t even worth throwing my crappy phone pics in here.
Any steampunk fans, in particular, will enjoy grabbing a drink at the café and just chilling here for awhile.
Other attractions and what to prioritize
Back to bullet points! Hell yeah!
Sinbad’s Storybook Village: This was the only ride in all of TDR that we rode twice. That should tell you something. I don’t know why this ride doesn’t get waaaay more hype. And the wait times are almost always negligible. It’s in essence a dark boat ride that follows the exploits of Sinbad. It’s sort of like Small World, with a song that loops endlessly and will get stuck in your head as you travel from room to room — but it’s also not like Small World at all, because it’s a totally different story for Disney and the animatronics are actually kind of amazing. And it’s long! This is truly a hidden gem and I think everyone should ride it. Go now.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: This is not a retread of your daddy’s submarine ride from Disneyland — this was a really cool, Jules Verne-inspired exploration of the deep. We burned a 40th Anniversary Priority Pass on this one (as a reminder, that’s the free one), but honestly I don’t know that you’d need to. The wait times are usually quite reasonable, and I would have ridden it again if we had just a little more time.
Nemo & Friends SeaRider: The exterior of this ride is actually pretty awesome, as it’s a real-life version of the Marine Life Institute (MLI) from Finding Dory. That theme carries through as you’re shrunken to the size of a fish and get to take a small adventure through the world of Nemo (& friends, of course). It’s basically like a more chilled out Star Tours experience. The vehicle/theater is much bigger than Star Tours, and the movement is fairly minimal. This would be a great one for littles. It tends to have a shorter wait time, so it’s fine for a filler, and actually I really just dug the theming of it more than anything. Otherwise, it’s one you can probably skip if you’re short on time.
Tower of Terror: If you’ve watched Behind the Attraction on Disney+ (and if you haven’t, what are you even doing?), you know a little something about all the variations of Tower of Terror out there, and DisneySea has one of the more unique ones. It’s New York in 1912, and you’re on a tour of a hotel made famous by the mysterious fate of its past owner. There’s a pre-show effect that’s super cool, and the attention to detail here is on par with any attraction at any Disney park I’ve been to. Like many of the rides in Tokyo, the thrill factor seems like it’s turned down just a touch, but the unique qualities of this variation still made this one of my favorites, and certainly worthy of a DPA.
Believe! Sea of Dreams: This is a bit of a cheat, because it’s not really an attraction, but instead the one show we got to see at DisneySea. It’s a water show, akin to World of Color, that takes place in the harbor. We had no problem getting a good spot to stand and watch. We got a bit lucky, but it seemed that the steps near Soaring (they do have the “g” at DisneySea) were a good spot for those coming in at the last minute. This show was… really long. It was pretty cool, with lit up boats, fireworks, classic songs, movie clips, characters, and a general good time. But it seemed like there were like five finales, and yet after over 30 minutes when we said screw it and went to ride something before the park closed, it was still going. I’d say carve out 10 minutes to catch a bit, and then run up to Fantasy Springs and get a short standby time.
What to know about the food at DisneySea
See this thing? Wherever you see it anywhere in the park, buy it and eat it.
In fact, buy two. Two for everyone in your party.
This guy is the Spicy Smoked Chicken Leg, and it’s usually found as a side or snack for just ¥600 ($3.79). This chicken is much more than a replacement for turkey legs (which you can indeed find in DisneySea as well) — these are the perfect little snack that are way easier to eat while still being packed full of flavor.
One of the places they’re available is Yucatan Base Camp Grill, where we enjoyed a mobile order meal that also included the Hashed Beef Yucatan Rice Bowl and a Hot Peach Tea.
Everything here was really tasty, and if this was an option here in Denver, I’d probably go eat it pretty regularly.
Another priority food item for us was the Gyoza Sausage Bun, which we grabbed at Nautilus Galley alongside a seasonal cocktail (which has since been replaced by Hot Wine, it appears).
This is another great snack — not quite as good as the chicken leg, but on par with most steamed buns you’ll find anywhere else. And in a fun shape, too! It also helped that this was in Mysterious Island, my favorite land to just look around.
A couple more quick food highlights, first from The Snuggly Duckling in Fantasy Springs. Here we enjoyed the Fried Shrimp Burger, and it was honestly better than I expected.
My son also had a Rapunzel’s Magical Milk Tea, and it was indeed magical — both with the fun effect after you stir up the little candy stars, but also in terms of solid flavor. The Snuggly Duckling’s theming (essentially a Viking eatery/pub) is also really fun.
Lastly, I have to mention the Chinese Chili popcorn at the popcorn wagon in American Waterfront (the one in front of Liberty Landing Diner). This was definitely my favorite popcorn at TDR and one of the best popcorn flavors I’ve ever had.
One general thing I noticed at DisneySea was that people tended to wait in lines for food, even when mobile ordering was available. Not sure what’s up with that, but mobile ordering seemed more abundant here compared to Tokyo Disneyland, so take advantage of it.
Final tips and closing thoughts
Unlike Tokyo Disneyland where a single day felt like plenty of time, DisneySea probably needs two to three days to get the full experience. I didn’t have that.
The sheer scale of the theming across each land is truly massive, at times bordering on overwhelming. And the layout of the park — in-and-out vs. hub-and-spoke — means lots of steps and wear and tear on the ol’ legs.
And even though I watched a bunch of videos and read a bunch of articles ahead of time, there really wasn’t anything that could fully prepare me for the experience. It’s simply different than any other theme park out there.
Given the chance, I would probably revisit DisneySea, and this time I might just spend more time simply looking around. At every turn it seems like there’s something else to discover. At one point we were walking past Mermaid Lagoon and casually stepped inside a small building to look at a statue of King Triton — then we noticed people going into a hall behind the statue. Lo and behold, we went back there and it turns out there’s essentially an entire indoor theme park in there.
That happened at almost every turn. Beyond the attractions, there’s just an immense amount of exploration to be had.
I’ve heard a lot of people who rate DisneySea as the best Disney park, and maybe best theme park, in the world. I’m not ready to go there just yet, but I do think it’s well worth it for any Disney fan to carve out a day or two to see for themselves what all the hubbub is about.
They take rope dropping to a whole new level there dont they! Though I will say one time I went on New Years Day and it was (almost) a ghost town, we got right in and didn't get there super early.