One Day at Tokyo Disneyland & Tokyo DisneySea

Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea are some of the premiere attractions to visit in Tokyo and for a good reason—they’re insanely intricate, a lot of fun, and a great experience for Disney fans. That said, social media really hypes the parks up and the value of a visit totally depends on you!

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I made a one-day visit to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. Now, I may have made a bit of an error, and I’m willing to own it. Rather than buy two full-day park passes (they only offer a “parkhopper” type of option during special promotions), I chose to purchase the full-day pass for Tokyo DisneySea and an evening pass for Tokyo Disneyland. Ideally, this would have left about four hours at Disneyland; however, I failed to factor in that sunset was around 5:15 PM, and since I had synced my rhythm to early mornings, I was exhausted by about 7 PM.

The only reason I’m not terribly upset about this was that the lines at Tokyo Disneyland were still pretty long, I got to do the one attraction I really wanted, and much of the actual Disneyland park really strongly resembles the Magic Kingdom at WDW and Disneyland in California. While it would have been fun to spend more time there, I accomplished three things I really wanted to accomplish and am fairly happy with that. Plus, the ticket was pretty inexpensive, unlike any of the parks in the US.

Getting to Tokyo DisneySea: Transportation & Arrival

Anyway, on to the day at Tokyo DisneySea! The ride over was a bit confusing—and not just for tourists. I kept getting told to go to different platforms (by Google) every few minutes, and noticed a number of locals also getting off the same trains and heading to the other ones. This was the only time Google Maps really gave me any issues with platforms.

I took the Keiyo Line, and the best thing I could do to ensure my correct train was look for all the Disney outfits and ears!

The park train station was PACKED, but as with the rest of Tokyo, everyone moved in a fairly orderly fashion, and it wasn’t a super long wait. From here, you purchase tickets for the resort transfers since you’ll have to get on the monorail to get around between parks and resorts (not sure if it can be walked, and I wasn’t about to try). This part went fast, and from here, I boarded the monorail to Tokyo DisneySea. Try to sit by the window to get some great views of the park—especially around sunset!

First Impressions of Tokyo DisneySea

Tokyo DisneySea was a zoo; however, security and ticket scanning went incredibly fast—it felt like everything moved twice as fast here with more people than at Disneyland California. It’s just so orderly.

Upon entering the park, I got some strong Adventureland vibes, but if Adventureland exploded into a massive park of its own.

Mediterranean Harbor & Mermaid Lagoon

You enter the park in Mediterranean Harbor, which is designed to look like a coastal Italian town. It oddly reminded me of home, too, since there was a section with Venetian canals along with plenty of shops and restaurants.

I had a mission, so from here, I ventured through Mermaid Lagoon to see all the decor inspired by The Little Mermaid. If you or your kids are fans of Ariel, you could spend a lot of time here. The space is gorgeous.

Since it was also the Halloween season during my late September visit, there were visitors in the most elaborate costumes all around, taking photos. Tokyo Disneyland has very different restrictions for costumes during two short periods around Halloween, while most other Disney parks strictly prohibit full costumes on adults all year long. This made the visit even more interesting because some of these guests had stunning costumes complete with footwear and wigs.

Fantasy Springs: Tangled, Frozen & Wait Times

After this, I ventured directly to Fantasy Springs, the newest area of the park that just recently halted the reservation requirement. Since I’m visiting Hong Kong Disneyland soon, I skipped most of the Frozen-themed parts of the land and went straight to the Tangled area.

I really wanted to ride Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival, and this line was over an hour and a half. It moved steadily, everyone was polite, it was fine, but it was HOT. The queue as you approach the ride was gorgeous—there’s so much to look at, and it really helps pass the time once you get into the covered areas since it’s completely decorated and themed.

The ride was short but beautiful. Part of it is outdoors at first, so be warned that you will be outside a lot at DisneySea (adequate sunblock is a must, and Tokyo has some amazing sunblock).

From here, I went and grabbed a snack at The Snuggly Duckling! I got something like a Dutch Baby inside a little plate that was shaped like a frying pan, and the space was so cute. They were doing pre-orders only and regulating entry by checking for order confirmations.

Tokyo Disney App Issues & How Cast Members Helped

I did encounter a weird problem here that seems to be somewhat common—when I purchased my tickets, they never transferred to the app, so I was unable to make the equivalent of “Fastpass” reservations or pre-order food at the restaurants.

The cast members got this taken care of very quickly by taking a photo of my QR code and then having my app scan it back in so it applied. A little tedious, but good to know ahead of time so you can be prepared and able to enjoy everything the park has to offer!

Arabian Coast, Lost River Delta & Snacks

After this, I wandered past Arabian Coast, which was just the cutest. It felt like seeing Aladdin come to life (the animated one in particular), and it’s just gorgeous. I could see myself spending a lot more time here if I hadn’t had plans to walk the whole park.

I also walked through Lost River Delta, but since I’m not a fan of thrill rides, I mostly just ventured through for a snack (not sure if it’s been discontinued, but the Donald Mango Popsicle was bomb).

Port Discovery & Mysterious Island

I zigzaged my way around the park and walked through Port Discovery and Mysterious Island, but really only stopped to do the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride. That one has a queue that is virtually all covered, so there’s plenty of shade!

The ride itself was fun and longer than expected. All the attractions I explored were in Japanese, but this didn’t really take away from the experience at all.

American Waterfront: Food, Views & Recharge Stations

My last stop (and longest one) was at the American Waterfront. Some of it is designed to look like New York City, and other parts were designed to look like Cape Cod. It’s kind of a funny mishmash, and it was interesting to see a Japanese park’s interpretation of America (I’m sure they think the same thing when they see the Japan Pavilion at EPCOT).

I spent the most time here because my phone was dying, and my fully charged power bank also died. Never fear—you can rent chargers, and it’s super fast and easy with English instructions!

Here, I wanted to try the seafood chowder (partly because it had a Mickey crouton) and order some of the special sauces you can get at certain restaurants so I could bring them home as souvenirs. The food was pretty good, and the ambiance was fun since they were also celebrating Duffy, and the Cape Cod area was all decked out in cute Halloween decor.

I hung out in the New York part of the land and people-watched for a while in the shade. You can also get a really great view of the park’s volcano from the bridge between New York and Cape Cod, and if you’re lucky, you can catch an eruption in action. It’s pretty amazing! There are also lots of little boats constantly moving through the park, so if you want to see the sights from the water, this would be a great way to do it.

Evening Pass at Tokyo Disneyland

Once 4:30 hit, I started moving towards Tokyo Disneyland. There was already a wait for 5 PM for everyone who had evening passes (a lot of people). Once in, there wasn’t a lot of time left with daylight, so I caught some sunset shots of the castle and headed straight for Tomorrowland.

Stitch Encounter at Tokyo Disneyland

If you followed the original version of my blog, you might know that I’m a huge fan of Stitch, like huge. And Tokyo Disneyland has one of the three Stitch Encounters in the world (they’re called something else in Paris and Shanghai, but essentially are the same).

The last time I got to do this ride was in Hong Kong, where we only saw him speaking Cantonese (my mom translated). This time he spoke full Japanese. I think at one point he was talking to me (everyone pointed and stared), and sadly, I didn’t catch it on video to translate later. Don’t make that mistake!

Alien Mochi & Leaving Before the Crowds

After the Stitch Encounter, I went to the restaurant with the Alien Mochi from Toy Story. I wasn’t expecting much, but they were pretty delicious.

I walked around the front of the castle a bit while eating them (Disneyland felt like the only acceptable place in Tokyo to walk and eat) and then headed out so I could catch the train back to Tokyo Station without the massive exodus of crowds.

Final Thoughts: Is Tokyo Disneyland Worth It?

Overall, I really liked my visit to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea. I would definitely be interested in doing them again on a trip when I’m not trying to accomplish quite so much—I would be interested in reversing the times and doing the evening pass for DisneySea so I could see it at night.

I also really liked that they do the shows at DisneySea from the water, making it easier to catch a good view.

To me, the money I paid for tickets was definitely worth it because, compared to the American parks, they were cheap. Food was also extremely reasonably priced, and getting around was super easy. My total spend for Tokyo Disneyland was around $140, including both park tickets, transportation inside the park, a charger rental, and food/drink throughout the day. Much less than the park costs at one of the American counterparts! 

Is Tokyo Disneyland on your list? Check out more Tokyo posts here!