tokyo disneysea photo dump

are you ready for more pictures of our first day at tokyo disney than you ever wanted to see?  because i really tried to narrow it down (and you won’t be shocked to know that there are lots more than what you’ll see here), but it was so much fun and looking at them all takes me right back to that day.

i had spent the week before we left in the sewing room working on a few pieces for us to wear that i’d crafted out of vintage disney bedsheet sets.  the bean was willing to wear twinning outfits with me, and i wasn’t about to pass up that opportunity.  here’s the first set - frozen themed, since we were going to do our best to snag tickets for the new fantasy springs area that officially opened that day.

good morning, tokyo disney!

we made our way across the street to the monorail station, bought 3-day passes from the vending machine and hopped on the first monorail that pulled in.

we peeked out the window as we approached disneysea and here’s what the crowd looked like at the security checkpoint - it wasn’t too much of a surprise based on instagram videos we’d seen and the fact that it was opening day for a whole new section of the park.  this is 40 minutes before the park opens for the day:

everything you’ve read about the japanese being courteous and polite is true. and while the lines were long, they moved quickly and in an orderly fashion.  once we got to the front, we just had to walk through the detectors and follow the cast members’ instructions (some folks kept on walking and some had to have their bags checked). 

after that, we just continued on to have our entry ticket scanned.  admission here, by the way, was just $60!

the moments after that were a little bit of a blur, because as soon as your ticket is scanned you can hop onto the disney app to try and score your passes for fantasy springs.  you have to have fast fingers because the new land is only accessible if you can score a standby pass for one of the three attractions (which is free), or be able to click through and snag a paid priority pass.  i did my best to make it happen while the bean navigated us through the crowd.

after all of my frantic clicking, here’s what i was able to get.  i was so relieved to be able to get at least one entry for fantasy springs, and while we’d really wanted to do the frozen ride, we were pretty excited to score a standby line pass for the rapunzel ride (which also guaranteed that we’d at least be able to see fantasy springs).  tower of terror was the one thing that neither of us wanted to miss and it’s one of the most popular rides in the park, so that’s what i ended up paying for.  there’s a free 40th anniversary priority pass system as well, so i grabbed what i could.  phew.

when the park finally officially opened, we followed the crowds to enter the park.

it was really fun to see the cast members lined up along the way, clapping and cheering to welcome everyone in for the day.

and then we got our first glimpse of the park that everyone says is the most unique of all disney parks around the world.

i don’t know what i was expecting, but i had no idea we were going to basically walk into a mini world showcase.  everything is beautiful and full of detail, and sometimes it was hard to remember that we were in a disney park - until we spotted characters stopping for photo ops.

while we walked around and got our bearings, we stopped in one of the shops to check out the merch.  there were lots of ears and bags and plushies, and i knew we were going to be making some purchases.

but the first thing we actually bought was something we’d been super excited to try for months (if not years), and we headed to this restaurant to pick them up.

these are the little green men mochi, each filled with a different flavor of custard (chocolate, vanilla and strawberry).  and yes, they were worth the wait.  so chewy and delicious, not overly sweet and just $3 for the whole cup.

we got our first look at their version of tower of terror:

and checked out this section of the park that was modeled after new york city from like the 1920s.

i gotta tell you - there was so much more to look at and experience and i was so overwhelmed that i guess i really didn’t take pictures of everything.  i also had it in my head that we’d have another chance to take it all in a couple of days later, so i was just trying to live in the moment without snapping away like crazy.

we ended up back near the front of the park and decided to stop in at this bakery to have a snack.

the bean was super excited to find one of our favorite drinks on the menu, while i went for one of their iced coffees and a mike wazowski-shaped pastry with a custard filling.

the bean had one of their flaky meat pies, and it was really good.

by then it was time for our tower of terror pass.  funny thing - we’ve been on this ride a bunch of times at home and in florida, but we knew that this version had a different backstory (not “twilight zone”-themed).  and what if it was extra scary?  i’ve become a big ol’ chicken in my old age.

i’m happy to report that we emerged unscathed, and we agreed that while it looked scarier than the ones at home, it was actually pretty tame.  still a good time though, and here’s our ride photo - we’re on the bottom left:

after that, we somehow ended up in the american-themed restaurant, of all places.  later on, we laughed about this because how in the world did we pick this spot over everything else in the park??  oh well.

the bean managed to find a gachapon machine in one of the shops and ended up with a miniature version of the lighthouse that you see behind us in these pictures.

this ice cream kiosk was a must-do for us.  here’s where we got to sample what ended up being one of our most favorite treats here - the sea salt ice cream monaka.

it’s a seashell-shaped wafer filled with a delicious salted vanilla ice cream and a raspberry jam filling. of course, the filling wasn’t exactly my thing - but the rest of it was DELISH.

in the “port discovery” area of the park we found aquatopia, a fun little ride that was like a water version of autopia back home.  there was no line for it, and we had a blast.  we were in what looked like about a foot of water, but the ride vehicle zoomed around tight turns and quick little spins, and it was really cute.

also in port discovery we found this nemo-themed attraction.  we had no idea what it was, but we got in line and were seated pretty quickly.  it turned out to be a very tame star tours-like simulation that took you underwater and into the world of nemo and dory.  also super cute.

i spotted this as we went over a bridge into the next land.

and then it was time for our pass to the indiana jones ride.  it wasn’t quite as exciting as the one in disneyland paris, but we still had a good time.

look, it’s agrabah!

this was a ride called “raging spirits.”  again, we had no idea what it was (and didn’t bother to check in the app) but got in line anyway.  and it turned out to be a fun little roller coaster ride, complete with a loop.

in agrabah - which is technically called the “arabian coast” - we decided to ride jasmine’s flying carpets.  i still have never done this at disney world, but really it’s the same ride as dumbo’s flying elephants at home.

there are two rides in the mysterious island area, inside the big mountain.  i managed to snag us passes for both so we didn’t have to wait in line.  journey to the center of the earth was the first one:

it starts off with a nice, slow ride with some weird ass creatures that eventually get darker and scarier, and then all of a sudden you find yourself hurtling through the rest of the ride at breakneck speed out of nowhere and it was all very confusing and exhilarating and the bean’s face as we got out of there says it all.

20,000 leagues under the sea was much less thrilling.

afterwards, we stopped at a snack stand where we got to sample a savory potato-based churro filled with a demi glacé that was surprisingly tasty.

and we washed it down with one of these very generously-sized bottles of water from the vending machine for a mere $1.25 USD.

we went into this area and looked around, but opted not to stand in line for the ride since we have it at home.  we’d also passed on soaring: fantastic flight for the same reason. although it was pretty funny to stand and watch mr. potato head put on his show, but in japanese.

at this point, we decided to go back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and transfer it over to the disney ambassador hotel, which would be our home for the next two nights.  we headed back to the station and hopped on the monorail.

one last look at our hotel:

and then it was back on the monorail to take us to the next one. when we got off, we were so amused to find this:

and i have to say - getting to the disney ambassador hotel from the monorail station was a little bit of a maze.  it seemed to take forever, especially while dragging two full suitcases.  but it was worth the effort, because the hotel was really cute:

and the room was really nice too.  not quite as large as the one at the hotel okura, but we didn’t need that much space anyway.  and the disney magic was everywhere in this room.

we just had enough time to drop off the bags, take a quick look around the room, and then head back downstairs to make our way back to disneysea.  it was almost time for our standby pass at fantasy springs, and we were excited to finally get in there.  and even better, the hotel had a shuttle that picked up right at the front door and dropped us off at the entrance to the park - so much easier and convenient than the monorail.

it was VERY crowded when we finally entered fantasy springs.  but we were prepared for that, so it was okay.  and i was a little bummed that our pass was so late in the day, because it would have been nice to see it all in daylight.

we got in line for rapunzel’s lantern flight behind a family in front of us who had two small children that fell in love with the bean.  the bean is really good with little kids, which is so much fun to watch.  they were from honolulu, so it was fun to chat with them as we went through the line.  and the little girl had turned around, pointed at our outfits and said “hey, i have that!”  her dad said “oh, you mean you have those dolls?” and she said “no, that’s on my bed!”

and then i started cracking up because i realized that she recognized the bedsheets that our clothes were made out of.  still makes me laugh when i think about it.

we said goodbye to our new friends as we got on the ride, and sat back to take it all in.  it’s really well done and very detailed, and we sang along to all of the songs even though their lyrics were in japanese (which duh, makes sense because japan).

just past the ride exit we found the snuggly duckling, just like in the movie.  we took a look at the menu and didn’t really find anything we wanted to eat so we kept on walking.

we gazed longingly at the frozen ride, which we couldn’t do without a standby pass.  so sad.

the peter pan ride also looked fun.  but that’s okay - next time.

earlier in the day, the bean had spotted a restaurant near the entrance and found some delicious-sounding entrees on the menu.  i’d said we could go there for dinner, and so we hotfooted it over there to try and get a table before it got too late.  it was also time for the fireworks show, and i wish i’d have gotten a picture of everyone as they sat politely on the ground in very straight lines.  no squabbling, no standing and blocking anyone’s view, no arguing.  it was all so very civilized.

this was dinner:

by then, we’d been going for a full twelve hours and we were wiped out.  between the heat and humidity, plus all the walking not to mention the excitement and anticipation, it had been A DAY.  and so we were happy to head on out and find our bus back to the hotel.

final activity count for the day:

phew.  disney day 1, check!