#123 Tokyo Disney Resort

There are two parks at Tokyo Disney Resort – DisneyLand and DisneySea. I have been to DisneySea twice, and DisneyLand once.

Price

Prices are 7,400 for a one day pass, and you can only enter one park on one day. If you want to go over two days, there are no discounts and you can still only enter one park on each day.

There are many hotels at the resort, but actually it’s less than an hour and about 500yen from Tokyo city so staying elsewhere in the city would not be an issue.

So, my key advice: go on a weekday. It is literally the difference of waiting in line for 10mins and 100mins.

When To Visit

I went to both DisneyLand and DisneySea on weekends during the Christmas season – in late November and early December. Both times it was crazy busy – wait times for everything (including restaurants) and not a hope in hell of getting on all the rides. If a line was less than 2 hours you were doing pretty well. However, I would also argue that Disney at Christmas is even more special and magical than usual so it's a great time to visit - just not on a weekend.

The second time I went to DisneySea I went on a Friday in April – at the start of the school year. It looked busy – but we had time to go on almost every ride and never waited longer than 15mins, and the lines for food seemed short, so evidently it wasn’t busy at all.

As I’ve said in a previous post, DisneySea is sea-themed, but not like a water world or anything. For example, there is an area called ‘Mermaid Lagoon’ with rides based on The Little Mermaid, and the entrance with the shops and restaurants looks like Venice, complete with gondola rides. It is regarded as more of an adult destination with rollercoasters, pretty facades and fancy restaurants.

DisneyLand on the other hand is more for children, with the classic “It’s a Small World”-esque rides and the pink fairy Castle. If you have ever been to DisneyLand in Paris, it is almost the exact same at Tokyo.

Food and Drink

You are allowed bring drinks and snacks into the park, but you’re not allowed full meals (they check bags on the way in, but I’m pretty sure you could get away with a lot of snacks). In restaurants prices are high, portions are small and lines are long, plus the excitement and running around all day can make you pretty hungry. 

The first twice I went I brought snacks with me and then forked over for dinner, but recently I decided to book the buffet. It was expensive (3,000 for 90mins), but they had a good choice of foods (Japanese and Western) and needless to say I was absolutely stuffed. The prices and portions of the regular restaurants and snack stands would add up to close to that and I still wouldn’t be quite satisfied. It was also a relief to know we would just be able to walk in and not worry about lines. While I didn’t regret going, in the future I would probably just bring my own snacks again.

#31 Tokyo DisneySea

When I was learning Japanese at age 17 I had a test which was based on the Tokyo Disney resort website. From that moment on I had dreamed of visiting it, and after nearly 4 years I eventually had my chance!
Anyway, in Tokyo there are two Disneylands - Disneyland, and DisneySea.
To start with, DisneySea isn't a seaworld or water themed park as you might expect. It's like any other Disney park only it's simply laid out like Venice and features water all around (and it's located right on the coast too). Typically, DisneySea attracts more of an older crowd while Disneyland is more for children, although both are very popular! I only had the chance to go to DisneySea, so I can't really comment on Disneyland (but we can assume it is also a magical place).

It's pretty

Titanic? This is actually a really fancy restaurant, not a ride :(

Tower of Terror in the background

This is basically the reason it's called DisneySea

The main rides at DisneySea are Tower of Terror, Indiana Jones, Raging Spirits, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Toy Story Mania and Stormrider. It was really busy when we went so I only got to go on the first four rides from the ones above. I think Raging Spirits and Indiana Jones were the most fun, but my friend loved Tower of Terror.

When I went it was just before Christmas so that was also an added bonus with the decorations! The one thing that was strange was the range of goods on sale - they were really aimed for the Japanese market. There was a whole store full of boxes of sweets, a really common souvenir for Japanese tourists. There were also lots of phone charms, but only a few mugs, key chains and fridge magnets. The goods also didn't really advertise Tokyo DisneySea which I found really annoying, I'd have liked a fridge magnet or mug that prominently displayed where I'd been! 

I've been to Disneyland Paris and my friend had been to DisneyWorld in California, and we both agreed DisneySea was basically the same except it's in Japan, so if you've been to either then you get the idea. I had a great time, although if you're only in Japan for a short time then you should probably focus on doing things that are specific to Japan! Also be sure to check out Fuji-Q Highland, it's a Japanese amusement park about 2 hours away from Tokyo and it looks really fun (unfortunately I didn't have time to visit, but next time!).

Tickets for both DisneyLand and DisneySea cost 6,200 yen for one day for adults (or 10,700 yen for two days), and both parks are located near Narita Airport, about 20mins outside Tokyo by train.

This link will take you to the list of different attractions in DisneySea http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/en/tds/atrc/index.html

And this one will show you the rides at Disneyland http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/en/tdl/atrc/index.html