Going to Disney amusement park is the day I've been waiting the most. I've experienced Hong Kong Disneyland twice and wonder how the Japanese one would be like. What's different in Japan is besides they have Tokyo Disneyland, they also have Tokyo Disney Sea. Many people recommend to visit Tokyo Disney Sea first since the sea theme is only available in Japan among other Disney parks in the world.


On fine Friday morning, I got up early to catch up time arriving at the park before it opened. Based on the schedule I checked before on the web, the operating hour is from 10 am to 6.30 pm that day. From where I stayed to Disney resort, it could take up to an hour train ride. Arriving at the platform in Shinjuku-Sanchome station, the train was full just like I saw in videos. The train filled with working people. I had to change train in Tokyo station and I had such a long walk to get another train, my legs were already sore.

At around 9.30 am, I already arrived at Disney Sea gate. Many people were already queuing to get in. I already bought the ticket through HIS Travel in Jakarta so I could join the queue. But I think it's not necessary to buy the ticket prior to your visit because I found there was no people queuing on the ticket booth.

After got my bags checked and took the map, I came in excitedly. I was so ready to play! My family and I chose the interesting attractions based on the descriptions and planned our routes immediately.

The park is divided into 7 areas: Mediterranean Harbor, Mysterious Island, Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast, Lost River Delta, Port Discovery, and American Waterfront.



Stepped my foot on Mediterranean Harbor, I couldn't help myself to gasp in an awe. The view is beautiful indeed! I had no idea before that I would see something like this. I felt like in Europe rather than in Japan. My father really adores European architecture so he also enjoyed the view so much.

I was hoping the weather was good. Turns out it was raining, but luckily it was only little drizzle and didn't last for so long which wasn't really bothering. At one time, the wind was blowing very hard and cold that we needed to hide inside a bridge.


The first attraction we experienced is '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' in Mysterious Island because we saw the queue wasn't long and waiting time was only 15 minutes. We sat inside a small submarine and got to see undersea view. We were a bit disappointed with the attraction, we just expected more of this. Then, we visited 'Journey to the Center of the Earth'. Since the queue and the waiting time was long, we took Fast Pass ticket which we could use an hour later.

We then moved to the Mermaid Lagoon to watch The Little Mermaid musical. The 20-minute show was very entertaining! I've been listening to all Disney songs in English. When suddenly I heard the characters and the songs in Japanese, I found it funny at first. I smiled happily throughout the show, I felt so blessed and I just couldn't believe I was finally here.

We estimated the time well, so after watching the show, we could directly enter 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' which is a roller-coaster ride.

Mermaid Lagoon, one of my favourite spots

The delicious Sea Salt Ice Cream. Super yum and a must-try!

Arabian Coast

We moved to Lost River Delta area. There, we would like to try 'Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull' and 'Raging Spirits' which both are roller-coaster ride. Too bad the Indiana Jones ride was currently not operating.

A really nice Spicy Smoked Chicken Leg we found in Lost River Delta area

We walked through the American Waterfront. I love the area so much! You'll feel like you are taken back to America in the past with Broadway vibe. I enjoyed walking around here. To complete the mood, we watched the Broadway show on the theatre.

American Waterfront

After watching the show, we visited 'Tower of Terror'. I came excitedly since I thought it was a ghost house. Suddenly, my excitement turned into doubts. By watching the intro and everything, it didn't lead me any close to a ghost house, it is much scarier than I thought: a dropping elevator. Oh God, I hate any ride with steep drop that makes my stomach shaky for so long. I almost gave up and wanted to get out instead. But after seeing those children who were brave to take this ride, I prepared myself.

I sat between my brother and father. At first, I thought we were going to be dropped once but very long. Turns out, it was MUCH SCARIER. We were suddenly dropped, stopped, down, and then far up, swung up and down until I had no idea how this ride would take us. I just prayed it would end quickly. It was far beyond my expectation and my heart beat so fast. I was scared to death that I closed my eyes and was screaming like crazy while holding my father and brother's hands. I heard they were laughing at me. Ugh.

I was very relieved when it finally ended. I couldn't believe of what just happened. It is one experience I'll never forget but I never will take that traumatic ride ever again.

Tower of Terror

Just near 'Tower of Terror', there is 'Toy Story Mania' attraction where we could play games. I thought of something like Buzz Lightyear shooting game I've ever played before. It was getting cold and the queue was very long. We waited around an hour. We could have used Fast Pass. But since we had nowhere to go again after this, we got nothing to lose.

When we finally board on the tram with pull-string cannons on it, we were given tutorial of the game. We will pull and release the string to shoot while directing to the 3D screen with variety of scores on it. On some first screens, the scores are same so I just shot randomly. Then suddenly higher scores came up so I aimed to those high scores. After experiencing traumatic ride before this, I found this attraction very entertaining and fun, even for adults. It was worth the wait. At the end of the game, my father, brother, and I were surprised that I got the highest score among us three with large gap. I just beat my brother who plays game more often than me, haha.

With Toy Story's Green Army

Coming out from there, I looked back and was amazed with what I saw. It was getting dark and the lights from Toy Story Mania made such a pretty view.

Best view!

Our last attraction is 'Fantasmic'. There is no parade on the day, but they have this show on the Mediterranean Harbor at night. The show was started at 5.30 pm but many people already gathered around the venue. We were freezing but since this is the last and the peak to complete our day here, we tried to beat the cold. As the show began, we were entertained by it that we almost forgot about the cold. The show plays with light and water that presents Mickey and various Disney stories. There are also ships with entertainers on board just like on the parades. I couldn't imagine how those entertainers survived in the cold since some of them wore thin clothes.
And that's how we ended our day in Tokyo Disney Sea. I've read in some blogs that say attractions waiting time could take up to 1,5 until 2 hours it didn't happen to me on this visit. I managed to experience all attractions I wanted to try without having to wait that long. Overall, we enjoyed spending our time here. Besides experiencing the attractions, along the way we were also mesmerized by the landscape.




TIPS:

• Check the website for peak days and opening hours. Better avoid weekends. The operating time is different between Tokyo Disney Sea and Disneyland every day. Also, some attractions and shows might not open on certain days.

• Choose what attractions you want to visit the most to take the Fast Pass since you can only take Fast Pass once at a time. If you already take one pass for an attraction, you can take another pass for another attraction after time mentioned at your pass (averagely an hour). Make sure you don't lose your park ticket since it is needed to take the pass.

• Bring your own meal and plenty of water since the food sold are mostly expensive. The snacks are still worth to try, though. I recommend to bring onigiris from the convenience store since they are quite fulfilling, but you can still have enough room for the snacks.