Tokyo Disney Resort

Anyone who knows anyone that remotely knows me knows that I've been a lifelong Disney fan. And as much as I love a lot of their animated films (and two or three live action ones), my fascination is mostly with their theme parks. Ever since I was a little boy, I've appreciated the minute detail in their theming, never compromising quality for something like quantity or cost. In their rides and structures anyway. In their American parks, if they only paid as much attention to their food quality as they did their architecture it would be that much more perfect.

If you've ever found yourself in a conversation with a Disney fan from Japan, I'm sure you're quite used to cries of "Disneyland in Los Angeles is so small. Tokyo Disneyland is so much better." Apparently nostalgia and loyalty to its creator is lost on the Japanese. Walt Disney actually walked the grounds of Disneyland and kept an actual apartment there, and for that, Disneyland will remain superior to any of the parks in my eyes.

Another popular one is "I was surprised by how small your castle is compared to ours." It was the original, I always tell them. To them, bigger is better, but that is not always the case. It was the first of its kind (theme park castles, not castles in general; those have been around for much longer), so that was probably the largest they could have conceived. We have the original, and that makes it the best, perhaps not aesthetically, but historically.

Besides, if you walk right up to them and force the perspective in your brain, you can hardly tell the difference at all.

I've not yet been to the any of the Florida parks or the one in France, but if you twisted my arm and asked me which of the parks that I've been to is my favorite, I'd have to go with the Anaheim original. But a very close second would definitely have to be Disney Sea in Tokyo, which is adjacent to Tokyo Disneyland. Kind of like the distance between Disneyland and California Adventure, the only difference being a twenty minute walk or a 300 yen monorail ride. Okay, not kind of like it at all.

Disney Sea was designed with adults in mind, and as such all of the details, the style of architecture, etc., has a sophistication that the other parks––the ones here on the west coast at least––lack. It's named Disney Sea because part of it is actually built over the sea, and because of it's nautical theme.

The park is comprised of even distinct areas: Mediterranean Harbor, Mysterious Island (inspired HEAVILY by the works of Jules Verne), Mermaid Lagoon (don't be surprised to see a lot of Ariel here), Arabian Coast (Aladdin themes abound), Lost River Delta, Port Discovery (think SCIENCE!) and American Waterfront, which looks like what the Japanese think New York probably looked like in 1900. For all I know it is very accurate.

And Tokyo Disneyland, I hear, is much like Walt Disney World in design and feel so if you've been there then you have some idea of what it's like, just picture it with 95% more Japanese citizens.

I've been to both parks many times and a trip to Japan for me would not be complete without a stop to one, or if I'm lucky, both parks within the Tokyo Disney Resort. Now I will share some of my photos and thoughts from the parks with you, in no comprehensible order. Oh, all right, I'll do my best to divide them up by lands and areas, but that's all you get. I'll focus more on Disney Sea since that's the more foreign (to us) of the two. Enjoy!

FOOD

The counter service foods within the Tokyo Disney Resort is some of the best I've had at any theme park so far. Above is a picture of a sausage with a suspicious bone attached to it, but don't let that deter you from eating it. It's one of the most juicy and delicious sausages I've ever had. That, coupled with a beer or cassis cocktail that you can also purchase at the same stand, makes a perfect midday snack. It's available at a stand called Barnacle Bill's. Click the link (which is in Japanese).

The second to last picture in the collage above is simply of a sausage wrapped in a tortilla with cheese and is the single best snack food I've eaten at a theme park. It's located near their Splash Mountain at a stand called Rackety's Raccoon Saloon.

Their churros also come in a variety of flavors and have a Mickey shape to them. The ones above were just maple, but there are special flavors that come around here and there. I've had strawberry, Lemon Honey, and, get this, sesame flavored ones in the past.

A bit blurry, but they are definitely Honey Lemon and Sesame flavored churros. What else could be colored that way?

Here's something called an ukiwaman, which is a standard Nikuman (meat bun) shaped like an ukiwa, which means floatation device in Japanese. This one was stuffed with minced shrimp. This had the most clever packaging, as I'm sure you'll agree. Donald never had a tastier time being overboard.

Aside from the usual foods, they also sell popcorn in flavors you'd never see here. I've eaten, curry flavored, strawberry flavored, sea salt flavored, standard caramel flavored, cream soda flavored (which is more like a creamy 7-up there then the American version of it) and my personal favorite, black pepper popcorn. There is a black pepper popcorn at California adventure as well, but it's no where near as good as its Japanese counterpart. I neglected to snap a pic of the popcorn though. My apologies.

The only time I've had a bad food experience there was when I ate a cheese burger, but that was during a time where they had a problem with the beef exports in Japan and were using pork as a substitute, so I'll give them a pass there.

ENTRANCE

Tokyo Disneyland Hotel

The monorail that takes you from one park to the other.

The monorail interior.

It was gussied up to celebrate the opening of Toy Story Mania.

TOKYO DISNEYLAND

I went in October, during their big Halloween celebration and the visitors, including adults as well as children, were encouraged to wear costumes, something I couldn't imagining happening on these shores. That may have something to do with the Tokyo Disney Resort being owned by a different entity that's not Disney affiliated. Here are some photos of visitors in costume. There were a LOT of Alices.

TOKYO DISNEY SEA

MEDITERRANEAN HARBOR

The following pictures are from a show they do on the waters of Mediterranean Harbor called, The Legend of Mythica. It's a truly fabulous show with music by Alan Silvestri of Back to the Future fame. 

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND

MERMAID LAGOON 

If there's a better representation of The Little Mermaid than this at another Disney park then I don't know it. Astounding detail. 

ARABIAN COAST

LOST RIVER DELTA

I don't have many shots from the Lost River Delta, but these are from the queue for the ride Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull. I would like to believe that's where they got the inspiration for the film, but despite the similar locations and the name "crystal skull" I don't think they have too much in common. 

A Hidden Mickey

PORT DISCOVERY

I have even less of Port Discovery, but I did risk potential jail time to get these pictures while in the queue to Storm Rider, a sort of Star Tours-style adventure motion simulator. Okay, it wasn't THAT dramatic, but they did ask me to put away my phone during their presentation. They are particular about taking pictures of the queue areas. They don't like it.

AMERICAN WATERFRONT

The pics below are of the Tower of Terror (The "Twilight Zone" is omitted as this version has nothing to do with the TV series). The story line has to with with a Robert Ripley-type (of Ripley's Believe it or not fame) explorer by the name of Hightower. He traveled the world bringing back artifacts to his famed Hightower Hotel, one of them being the mysterious Idol, Shiriki Utundo, an idol that is said to obtain a curse, the curse that may or may not have been the cause of the disappearance of Mr. Hightower. My money says that's definitely the cause.

Mr. Hightower himself!


FANTASMIC!

At night, they have their own version of Fantasmic. I do prefer the original, but theirs is also quite marvelous and very original. And their dragon actually worked!

 
Here's a little video of it.

There's also a Downtown Disney-type of outdoor mall called Ikspiari located near the parks that's filed with all kinds of shops and eateries and a movie theater, but the only picture I got from it was of the facade of the Disney Store.

All in all, the Tokyo Disney Resort is a very magical place and a must-go destination for any Disney parks fan if you ever find yourself in Japan, and if you can afford it that is.