TOKYO DISNEYSEA GUIDE! (JAPAN WINTER TRIP PART TWO)

February 14th 2018: celebrating Valentine's Day at Tokyo DisneySea, the place that a lot claim to be the happiest place on earth (wait that might be Disneyland) but really any day spent at Disney resorts is uplifting and joyful, definitely one of the most unforgettable highlight of the trip!

This was my second visit to Tokyo DisneySea, the blog post draft for my first visit is still on the draft page of this blog, I decided not to upload it because I REALLY don't like the photos (nor I took a bunch) because it was continuously raining heavily that time, this one is a lot more worth it to post for I really had better experience and not to mention, the perfect weather!

WHERE TO PURCHASE THE TICKETS?
Visitors can purchase the ticket on the spot but watch out for the queue, but since I like to make sure I prep well before actually arriving in Tokyo, I choose to purchase the tickets via Indonesian travel agents, most major travel agents have this service and I purchased the tickets via phone call through HIS MidPlaza (021-5795 2052) and each ticket cost me around IDR 975.000 ($72 or 7400 yen) with payment done via bank transfer (the agent might ask for your phone number for details), my tickets were then sent to my email and you're REQUIRED to print the tickets in color and bring them for scanning entrance at Tokyo DisneySea.

Using Fast Pass ticket service is not exactly the most beneficial thing for me, especially if you are not into riding the games like me because you can only use the Fast Pass benefit every two hours, so after you're done with one game, you can't just hop off to another one and you'll have to wait two hours before jumping in to another one. There are 8 stations with Fast Pass service, and with the two hours waiting time in between, I guess you'll get to ride 3.

GETTING TO TOKYO DISNEYSEA!
Various transportation alternatives are available to reach Tokyo DisneySea: trains, taxi, buses you name it, but the thing is, you're in Tokyo, take advantage (and have faith) of their perfectly on-time trains, not only to Tokyo DisneySea, but personally for me, taking the train is one of the most convenient and easiest way to reach every part of Tokyo and it's funny how I miss the feeling of being on the Tokyo trains now, just unbelievably easy, and all you need is good internet connection and Google Maps ready.

I will write the full Tokyo travel guide soon! In the mean time if you're travelling to Hokkaido, check out the Hokkaido Travel Guide -> HERE

Train

No matter where you depart from (except if you happen to stay at the Tokyo Disneyland resorts), you'll have to embark on the JR Maihama station. I took the train ride from Higashi-Shinjuku where my AIRBNB was located and it cost us around 1 hour and 15 minutes on the road to arrive at the JR Maihama station, then from the station you can choose to walk to the Tokyo DisneySea (like I did, for around 1,5 KM) or took the train from the Resort Gateway Station to Tokyo DisneySea station which would cost you 260 yen.

Spared the whole day for DisneySea so we didn't mind walking to the entrance gate from the station, a tiny bit of cardio on a day where the weather was perfect (but read more...)

The small entrance gate for pedestrians

Since I came on Valentine's Day I kinda pre-expected the uber packed crowd, not sure whether Japanese actually took one day off to celebrate (because it was Wednesday), but as soon as I arrived at the main gate...well sea of people, mostly couples in matching tees, matching outers, matching headpieces/accessories, it was actually pleasant to look at.

Anyway don't let the bright sunny day and vivid blue sky fool ya, that day in DisneySea was among one of the COLDEST during my days in Japan, the wind was blowing hard especially during the dawn and night!

Tokyo DisneySea is divided into seven lands: Mediterranean Harbour, Mysterious Island, Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast, Lost River Delta, American Waterfront and Port Discovery! You can click HERE to download the map for Tokyo DisneySea.

One of the most common misconception about Tokyo DisneySea is that so many people (including my friends/family) actually think of Tokyo DisneySea as a water theme park, and NO IT IS NOT. It's just like Disneyland, a theme park, only it's INSPIRED by some of Disney's famous atlantic themed classics like The Little Mermaid, etc.

Even though it's technically TOKYO DisneySea, but the whole area has this vintage Western country-ish vibe with this mix of Victorian European-ish vibe and details at certain areas. Can't argue on how gorgeous it is and how eyegasmic the whole DisneySea is to look at, each station offers different experience both for the eye and overall experience.

Received a lot of questions about the Mickey hat I had on, you can easily get this at the souvenir stores which are available inside the DisneySea, this was around 2700 yen if I'm not mistaken.

The iconic Mount Prometheus, visible from almost every part of DisneySea

TOY STORY MANIA

One of the most popular attraction in Tokyo DisneySea has got to be Toy Story Mania, unfortunately I didn't queue for this one as the queueing time alone was 3,5 hours! Could harm the time for me to explore DisneySea that day so maybe next time.

One of the famous places to dine at Tokyo DisneySea is The New York Deli where you can grab burgers and sandwiches here. Do remember that since you're inside a themepark, food can cost you more here so spare some money for consumption.

THE CARS carnival, hello Mr. Lightning McQueen!

THE TOWER OF TERROR
I queued (unpatiently) for 2,5 hours just to get on this ride, really I hate queueing for rides but one thing that I learn about being in Tokyo DisneySea is how it actually teaches you to be PATIENT, especially since you're being surrounded by Japanese who generally are very calm and patient people, you can choose to stand and patiently wait, or not waiting at all.

Do I think the queueing's worth it? Not for 2,5 hours but it was a cute experience tho! The game only lasted for around 5 minutes, but again you can't be too long because a lot are waiting to enter too.

One of my favorite areas was this little harbour called American Waterfront where you can chill and take pictures, one thing that fascinates me the most about Tokyo DisneySea is the effort they put out to build everything, the detailing is spot on AMAZING.

Snacking this Herb Chicken Roll (500 yen), I forgot the real name but the outlet was located next to the harbour, this was actually well seasoned but sorry but this was just too greasy and fatty for me ugh.

SAILING DAY BUFFET
Time for early-dinner! We were devastated that the queue to every restaurant were so long that we thought about having something so fulfilling to last until the time we got back, not too far from the Harbour Master station was this buffet restaurant called Sailing Day. I know right, the idea of having buffet might sound so crazy, but we were honestly so hungry that time so whatever to fill me up!

The buffet was not the cheapest, around 4100 yen (around $50 or IDR 635k) per person, and we were given 90 minutes eating time.

The meal options might not be a lot, but I must say that the quality and flavor of the food was pretty decent! It was clearly much more delicious than I thought it would be! There were Kids Meal Stations, starts (soup, salad), Mains (fried rice, pasta, meats) and Desserts.

Mickey shaped grilled rice!

We utilised the whole 90 minutes inside the restaurant to dine and relax (and after fuckin paying that much) before exploring back the theme park, and next was the Mermaid Lagoon aka the castle of Ariel from The Little Mermaid! Again, captivated by the details and the beautiful pastel pop colors of this castle, it's the 'part of that world' that I like!!! I have more pictures of when we entered Mermaid Lagoon towards the end of the post so keep scrolling!

Ariel statue

Kawaiiii couple! I don't know why but I have this thing with Japanese couple! They're so cute and shy in public (I don't know actually but I see it that way), they don't do PDA (I didn't see even one lip-kissing in public), I don't know just cuteeee!!!

THE PORT DISCOVERY/AQUATOPIA

Probably the shortest queue of all, literally waited only 5 minutes just to get on this ride! The ride features this automatic water gliders that goes round and round, totally safe for kids.

MERMAID LAGOON (interior)

The Sleepy Whale Shoppe

You can find this souvenir shop at the lowel lever of the Mermaid Lagoon, I just realized that they named this store Sleepy Whale for a reason, the whale's eye on the picture below sometimes lazily open and quickly shut LOL!

When you're genuinely happy and focus on that, one whole day just passed that quick and it's time to bid farewell to DisneySea *sad*, FYI DisneySea closes at 10 PM daily.

I FOUND COCO!!! Remember meeeee......~~~

Firework attraction for closure! What a day!

Other frequently asked questions:

1. Can you bring camera inside? Of course, but watch out for the selfie sticks, no strict and fix prohibition on this one but at certain areas it's prohibited.

2. Can you bring water bottle? Nope. My friend's was not allowed in.

3. How much money should you prepare for the whole day?

Let's say you're eating twice that day WITHOUT any shopping, then try prepare at least 5000 yen/person.

Thank you guys for reading!!! If you have any questions feel free to drop them below!

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