A test of endurance at Tokyo DisneySea

What was supposed to be a fun day at Tokyo DisneySea turned into a battle of strength: me vs. the weather!

Journal date: February 10, 2023

Buying tickets for Tokyo DisneySea

Overseas Visa credit cards can’t be used for online ticket purchases at the moment, due to an incompatibility between Japanese credit card process thingys and everybody else. However, there’s a work-around: buy a ticket on Klook!

Klook is an app from a Singaporean company that focuses on discounted tourist stuff for Asia. It’s very similar to TripAdvisor/Viator; they’re a 3rd party middle man for tour companies, transportation tickets, etc. And they sell tickets for Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, for the same price as the main website!

I only recently started using Klook, but so far it’s been very easy to buy tickets, transit passes, etc. If you’re interested in trying it out yourself, sign up using my referral link and you’ll get a $5 credit.

There are two Disney Resort parks in Tokyo: Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea. I was really only interested in going to DisneySea, as it’s a unique park with different rides and lands from other Disney Parks I’d already been to.

I bought a one-day pass for $61.27 USD (same price as it would’ve been on the Disney Parks website) and got a QR code voucher to use at the gates.

A rainy day…

My mistake was not checking the weather when I bought my ticket. I checked the crowd levels and…nothing else.

Unfortunately, February 10th was going to be rainy, cold, and overcast: definitely NOT what I wanted for a day of fun. Since the ticket was non-refundable, however, I decided to just suck it up and go. I bought an extra heat tech shirt from Uniqlo the night before and hoped my “cold weather” clothing would be enough.

Transit to DisneySea

It was snowing when I left.

Luckily my hostel had BIG umbrellas for guests borrow, so I grabbed one and hustled to a train.

Getting to DisneySea took roughly an hour from my hostel; the route from anywhere in Tokyo is basically the same, with the only difference being which line you start on.

Basically, you need to get to the Keiyō Line, take it to Maihama Station, and then transfer to the Disney Resort Line at the Resort Gateway Station.

This is Disney’s automated monorail (with Mickey-shaped windows!) which goes in a loop around the parks and Disney hotels in the resort area. It costs ¥260 to ride and takes the standard transit cards for payment.

I arrived at DisneySea about 30 minutes before opening. There were already huge lines, even though the weather was terrible.

It was fun watching the other tourists while waiting for the gates to open. I saw lots of Japanese tourists, of course, but also German, Spanish, Arabic and Australian tourists as well.

We started going through security a bit early and by the time I got through the metal detector, the gates were open.

Freezing at DisneySea!

My touring plan was mostly focusing on a) rides not available in the US parks and b) stuff that I didn’t have to wait an hour to get into. Some of the best rides were unfortunately closed for refurbishment, but I still made it through the majority of the park.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Based on the Jules Verne book, you get into a sea pod doodad and dodge giant squid monsters. Narration is all in Japanese so idk what they were saying, but it was a fun little ride.

Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull: This was actually really fun, and I skipped the 30 minute line by getting into the Single Rider one so I only had to wait maybe 5 minutes.

American Waterfront, Arabian Coast, Mermaid Lagoon: various themed lands which looked dismal in the rain but would probably be a lot better in the sunshine. The Mermaid Lagoon had the most amount of details and visual interest; there’s actually not as many small detailed things decorating DisneySea as I normally would expect in a Disney Park. Mermaid Lagoon also had the most indoor seating NOT near an open doorway in the whole park.

Sinbad’s Storybook Village: probably the most detailed ride I went on, with lots of animatronics and a real earworm of a song. Turns out “Compass of Your Heart” was composed by Alan Menken, which explains why I couldn’t get it out of my head for several days.

Casbah Food Court: an Indian-themed restaurant, but aimed at Japanese palates. I got a curry and a mango lassi drink and it was perfectly good for park food. Only ¥1400 / $11 USD as well, which is fairly cheap for Disney.

Nemo & Friends SeaRider: A Finding Nemo-themed ride where you “shrink” down to the size of a fish and roam around with characters for a bit. It’s one of those theater seating style rides where the chairs rumble and saltwater sprays out at you.

DisneySea Transit Steamer Line: this is a boat that takes you around all the lands in DisneySea; it doesn’t stop anywhere so you just do a big loop. It’s covered, so you don’t get rained on!

Aquatopia: zoom around on the water, with a lot of spinning. Would be more fun in warmer weather but it wasn’t terrible on a cold day, either.

Aunt Peg’s Village Store & Galleria Disney: I visited these stores looking for Duffy items and wasn’t wowed with current selection. Prices seemed a little high for items that definitely looked more janky than I expected. I DID get some pressed coins from a machine…which would sadly get lost a week later when I switched hostels. 🙁

So while I was trying to find rides to go on, I was struggling with constant rain, cold, foggy glasses, frozen fingers, an unresponsive Disney Parks app, and a damp face mask. By 2:00 pm I was totally exhausted and couldn’t handle any more weather, so I headed back into Tokyo.

Park Observations

Kept seeing girls with short skirts and (what seemed like) NO leggings or tights. According to a hostel staff member, that’s typical fashion for junior high school girls. Later on I learned they were probably wearing flesh-colored fleece tights, but I’m sure they were still freezing.

Lots of couples with matching outfits, including these hats.

Staff members constantly waving and saying “welcome” EVERYWHERE. Three of them were stationed outside a closed ride, and still they constantly waved.

Heated toilet seats!!! I hid in a bathroom for about 10 minutes trying to leech heat from the toilet.

Stores accepted IC payments so I just kept using my Suica card since I wasn’t sure my VISA would go through. Actually, at the Disney Store they specifically only accepted IC payments (I think).

Back to Tokyo

I stopped at the Disney Resort Line station and got some smashed coins, and then went over to the nearby shopping area. It’s kind of like Downtown Disney, with a bunch of restaurants, stores, and a movie theater.

I wandered into the Disney Store and saw many more cute things than what was in the park, and what looked like better quality as well. There’s several Japan-only lines that are seriously tempting, such as this Disney Cats collection:

I bought a small Toulouse plush (the orange one on the left)– just couldn’t resist that little face.

Finally, took the train back to central Tokyo (exact reverse of the route I took to get to DisneySea) and then straight into hostel to lay in bed and contemplate life for a few hours.

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More adventures in Asia:

• From Los Angeles to Tokyo via Singapore Airlines
• Seoul, South Korea budget backpackers’ travel guide
• From Fukuoka to Busan by ferry (JR Queen Beetle)
• Vending machine drinks in Japan