Tokyo Disneyland: Proving There's Room for More Than One Happiest Place on Earth

Entrance to Tokyo Disneyland

I absolutely love Disneyland. Ever since I was little. I’ve been one to two times every year for 23 years – that makes between 20 and 40 times! I’ve always loved Disney movies, the Disney store, and anything else Disney related (I have yet to embark on a Disney cruise yet, sadly). So with Tokyo Disneyland (actually in neighboring Chiba, but Tokyo sounds cool right) only two and a half hours south, I was bound to go while living in Japan. Last year I had the chance to visit Tokyo Disneysea, the adjacent park focused around water, while the Christmas decorations were up. (Inside fact, there’s mistletoe in the Cape Cod harbor! Though it’s mostly lost on Japanese people who have no idea what mistletoe is, nor its tradition.) So now I finally made it to Tokyo Disneyland with a few pals! It was a long day – waking up around 5 am and finally hitting the hay past 1 in the morning – but totally worth it for the day packed with food, fun, and more food. So let’s get on to my review plus insider tips!

Tickets

Cheaper than the going price back home, around 70 dollars for the day, but only one park access. I believe it’s over 100 for access to both parks in one day, but honestly there’s not enough time to experience everything in both parks. Back home we’ve managed it, but as Disneysea is completely unique I'd recommend splurging for two days to see everything. You can buy tickets ahead of time and skip the lines by stopping by at a Disney store, or alternatively you can go to your nearest Lawsons and use the Loppi machine. I went with the latter option and it worked pretty smoothly; it functions as a regular ticket upon entering, although you won't get an official ticket that says Disney on it with a cute character. Yet I would not recommend waiting until the day you get to the park to buy tickets, as lines can be quite long.

I have not yet had the pleasure of staying in one of the Disney hotels, but I would love to if I could afford it. In a pinch, there are buses ferrying park goers back to major train stations. What with traveling hours to get down to Chiba, staying somewhere for the night is definitely preferable, but avoidable.

Disneyland Entrance

Starting off at the beginning of the day, I’ve already eaten breakfast, showered, and been awake for four hours by the time I walked through those Disney gates. This is a huge area devoted entirely to the purpose of taking pictures. Easter celebration at Tokyo Disneyland – not a thing in the states; what Japanese people understand of the holiday is basically the whole egg-and-bunny portrayal seen here – includes tons of eggs. Basically everything that could possibly be an egg, even if it’s not remotely egg-shaped, becomes one. This makes for egg-shaped versions of your favorite characters!

Stationed all around this area are characters waiting for you to wait in line to snap your picture with them. This is the biggest gathering of characters I’ve ever witnessed at a Disney park. In fact there were more costumed characters all around the park than I’ve ever seen in the U.S. Japanese people do love waiting in line to take pictures. And waiting in line. And pictures.

There was the usual Tigger, Mickey, etc. characters, but also some more obscure ones – the big bad wolf-guy from Robin Hood? Does anyone even remember his name? Mr. Smee was nice to see; don't think I've ever seen him before at Disney. The one character I definitely would have waited in line to take my picture with if there was more time is Belle. I was surprised to overhear her speaking English with the Japanese people waiting to snap her pic, who I’m sure don’t mind because, heck, its Belle. That dress! It sure is something.

Work that dress!

Once you get past this and head through some tall arches welcoming you to Tokyo Disneyland, you find yourself in what they call the World Bazaar, essentially Main Street with all the shops scattered around. There’s supposed to be a Mickey waffle place somewhere here but we didn’t get to that. There’s also an area devoted to those fancy penny machines that stamp your favorite character onto them as a memento, although here you just feed it 100 yen and it spits out something way shinier than any pennies back home. And making your way straight out from here gives you a nice view of Cinderella castle and a statue of Walt Disney and Mickey.

Fastpass and attractions

First stop was Tomorrowland to try and get tickets via lottery for prime seating to the Once Upon a Time night show. Everyone was in there trying the same as us (extremely limited seating, so not many get lucky). No such luck for us, so moved on to Star Tours, a surprisingly short line! We waited only around half an hour. We were also starving again so went in to Pizza Planet, 'cause what could be better than pizza at 9am on a Saturday? Answer: nothing! I have my reservations about pizza in Japan outside of Costco, so I was happily surprised to find it was in fact super delicious! I wanted to eat it again. In the states I always plan my day around monte cristos in New Orleans square for lunch, but this pizza takes over that role here (there are sadly no monte cristco at Tokyo Disneyland).

Mm-mm, pizza! I picked off the olives though.

My absolutely favorite ride of Disneyland remains Space Mountain, the darkened roller coaster that simulates flying through outer space. The inside of the building was surprisingly darker and more ominous than back home. If I hadn't ridden Space Mountain a thousand times I would have been a little nervous. And the biggest difference? No music! I was shocked. It was really strange not having any music. Also I felt a bit dizzier than usual after getting off.

The biggest differences in attractions here are the absence of the Matterhorn and Indiana Jones ride, the latter of which was built at Disneysea instead and modeled around the crystal skull idea. Also the Monsters Inc. ride is nothing like the one back at California adventure! It’s located in Tomorrowland and much more interactive. Similar in concept to the Toy Story ride, though scores are not kept, riders get flashlights which they try and shine on Monsters Inc. symbols to reveal hidden monsters. It’s quite a popular ride - we just got the last fastpasses around 10am which were slated for 9pm and became our last stop of the day. Definitely make a beeline to this ride for fastpasses.

Be on the lookout for Mrs. Incredible in Tomorrowland! She is super awesome.

Waiting for the Monsters Inc. ride. There could be a monster just around the corner!

Moving on we made our way across the park, in search of –

Popcorn

Nothing better than curry popcorn. The smell...

This design reminds me of In N Out's.

For the longest time I couldn’t understand what all the popcorn bracelet key chains adorning children’s backpacks and pen cases was all about. Now I understand that it’s a Disney thing – popcorn has a huge following here! This is because of the unique flavors you can only get at certain areas of the park, making you go on a little popcorn expedition to try them all. Current flavors included standard butter and caramel, as well as chocolate, soy sauce and butter, strawberry, and curry. Hands down curry is my favorite! We smelled this all the way across the park! It’s simply tantalizing. We literally followed our noses right up to it. And it seems pretty doable at home; just pop some plain popcorn and sprinkle on your favorite curry powder.

From here we had a straight shot at Pirates of the Caribbean, a five minute wait! The major difference here is that there’s only one drop instead of two, and the ride is slightly shorter. The original skull and crossbones that warns you at the beginning of the ride is here, but Davy Jones also makes an appearance later on. So you get a little nostalgia thrown in. Surprisingly as all the other rides are redubbed in Japanese, the original English track is preserved here, which was nice.

On the way to the next attraction I had to get a Minnie mouse man, a steamed bun popular in Asia. Inside the ears was strawberry jam and inside the head was milk custard. And it was piping hot. But sooo delicious.

Moving on we arrived at Westernland, renamed from Frontierland because no one knows what a frontier is here. We walked up through the Swiss family Robinson tree house (which was what the Tarzan tree house replaced back in LA), from which we could see Cinderella castle.

Egg-Olaf chilling by the tree house.

Cinderella castle

Nighttime view of the castle.

The focal point of the park, which can be seen from literally everywhere without the huge Matterhorn to block your view. In California it's Sleeping Beauty castle and Paris has Belle’s castle; never knew before that the castle's were different. I was really impressed how much bigger Cinderella castle is. The walk through attraction is also much roomier, with a huge throne room where you can take your picture and even compare your foot to the glass slipper. Fairly popular, however, which means some waiting in line, but worth it to check it out.

Every girl needs to feel like a princess sometime, and if not at Disneyland, where else?

Cinderella's glass slipper.

Food - More Food!

After riding Thunder Mountain, which was the longest we waited all day for any ride - this one's popular anywhere, so sometimes you're just stuck waiting - it was time for more food! There was a restaurant across from Thunder Mountain restaurant advertising 'American fare', which apparently includes curry. Who knew. Anyway, we were drawn to the giant turkey legs, the only form of turkey you'll find here in japan. It was pretty good, especially as it was mostly dark meat.

Turkey time!

Huh?! This is no place to take a nap!

We discovered this dude camping out in the middle of the street near the turkey legs. What is he doing? Waiting for a parade? Catching up on sleep? Either way, he's taking up space in the middle of the street.

Although we'd already eaten lunch, I had to stop in for a glimpse inside the Alice in Wonderland café. It’s super cute! One of those buffet style restaurants. Definitely want to eat there next time. 

Welcome to Wonderland!

The cutest vending machine ever!!

After a quick ride on the merry-go-round, it was time for mid-afternoon ice cream and churros. Specifically, mixed berry churros, the current limited edition flavor. The churro itself was a bit dry rather than soft and chewy, but the sugary coating was de-licious! Disneysea also has special Mickey shaped churros including chocolate which I enjoyed.

Mixed berry churro = delish!

From here we took a ride on the Haunted Mansion via fastpass, which actually wasn’t too crowded to begin with. The lines are apparently shorter later in the day.  Walking up to it, I was surprised again - the mansion looks completely different! 

The ride is kept the same but the outside is much more like a spooky mansion, much taller and grander than the California one, which looks inviting and cute in comparison. Much shorter area leading from the round room where you wait to be let out onto the ride, which cuts the busts whose eyes follow you (they're featured on the ride instead) or the rainy hallway where the pictures on the wall change. Otherwise kept the same. All changed to Japanese, but surprisingly the little female ghost at the very end calls plaintively ‘Come back. Come back’ in English.

Goods and shopping

As with any Disney park, shopping is plentiful. Hats here in Japan are a big seller; the bigger the better. Another interesting point is how youth often wear their school uniforms to Disneyland, which seems a bit strange as they pretty much live 24/7 in them year round already. Also popular is dressing up identical to your friend/friends. My friend posited this makes it easier to find each other when you split up…? Everyone's got black - or dyed brown - hair here, so I guess it is a little harder. Japan also has a huge tradition of omiyage or buying souvenirs for friends and family. You’ll find a huge variety of prepackaged sweets and snacks in decorative tins for those back home. 

Chocolates - including strawberry, melon, and grape.

Fitting into this selling plan is limited edition products specific to the current holiday, be it Easter, summer, Halloween or Christmas. Stationary items, notebooks, erasers, and pens are also popular. Pen cases are a big seller in Japan, as well as cell phone cases. Cell phone straps, both for smart phones and standard flip phones, make a fortune here.

What with all the shopping, riding, and eating, could Disneyland have anything more to offer us?

Yes. Yes it did.

Country bear show

I’ve never really been a fan of the country bears or the movie, but my friend has a soft spot for them and there was a short wait. To sum up this performance, all I can say about this: Wow. Who in the world oversaw this? 'Cause they must have a weird/black sense of humor. Probably seen this show once or twice as a child, but I can’t imagine it being the same in America as what I saw this day. The talking was redone in Japanese, but about half the songs were kept in English, and here’s where the trouble began. One of the female bears sings tipsily about drinking too much with a wine glass in hand. Then a group of three more female bears sing a little ditty about the guys they like never liking them back. Ok, We were amused up to this point. That last one was cute. Now comes the final straw. A large dopey looking bear comes out playing a super slow, simple tune. So begins the song, he croons out, “There was blooooood. On the sand.” Uh oh, that’s not pleasant. All right, next? “There was bloooooood. On the ground.” Ok, I let out a laugh here, I can’t help it. “There was blooooood. All around.”

Omg, we totally lost it. Immediately following this was a medley of all the bears singing at once including this slow, morbid song in the background we can’t unhear, and were just dissolving into tears. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. Of course the Japanese people are wondering what’s wrong with us, but whatever. Boy was that infinitely more entertaining than I could have ever imagined it to be. I would go back to that show just for the laughs. There seriously must have been someone snickering away putting that song together.

Here he is, 'Big Al', He's got a thing about 'blooood.'

In case you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V40sgsHhGfA. Otherwise get yourself to Tokyo Disneyland to experience the hilarity for yourself.

Sitch Show, aka Tiki room: Aloha E Komo Mai

This was so cute! The show starts with all the tiki birds singing and Stitch pops up in the middle of the room as a large animatronic, playing a little ukelele. Also an attentive staff member here came to chat and offered us devices that translated the show for us, which was nice, so don't let the language barrier block you from enjoying some of the shows. Stitch is my absolutely favorite Disney character as of the past few years. In terms of popularity ranking, Stitch is very popular here in Japan, along with the usual Mickey characters, Marie from Aristocats, and Chip and Dale. According to one internet site, here's how Disney characters rank in Japan:

1. Mickey Mouse - no surprises here.

2. Minnie Mouse - ditto.

3. Winnie the Pooh (called 'Pooh-san' here, which can lead to some snickering when someone proudly says "I like Pooh!")

4. Elsa - Japan is just as Frozen-crazed as the rest of the world.

5. Duffy - this is a teddy bear character exclusive to Disneysea, It wasn't until I went to Disneysea that I figured out why everyone has little plush teddy bears attached to their backpacks here.

Another site ranked Donald Duck as the number one spot; certainly Donald and Daisy are also very popular. Also Mr. Potato head and the little green aliens from Toy Story have quite a following. There are 'little green dumplings' modeled after them at a food stand in Tomorrowland, basically green mochi balls filled with traditional anko, though I didn't have time to try some; they look really cute though.

Parades and Shows

We got to experience two parades in one day! People had been lining up for spots since we got there in the morning. The Easter parade was cute. I wonder why this isn't a thing back in the states.

Very colorful! And again, lots of eggs.

And next was the nighttime Electrical Parade!

You don't see Elliot too much anymore at Disneyland!

I didn’t think the electrical parade still existed back in the states! Anyway it seems to still be going strong here. You never forget that little melody that plays the whole half hour. Preferable to ‘it’s a small world’, however, which Japanese people actually find pleasant and voluntarily choose to wait hours in line to ride. They can't understand why we’re not fans of the tune. I usually just shudder and leave it to a difference of culture.

There was a tiny Boo attached to Sulley's back! Super cute.

About fifteen minutes later we were treated to a short fireworks show! And immediately following that was the star event of the night – ‘Once Upon a Time’, a light show similar to ‘World of Color’, with the images projected onto Cinderellas castle. This is where the lottery seating came into play. As I said, seating is extremely limited, with only about a hundred or two seats stationed right in front of the castle. Because of a lot of trees planted around here, it's worth the time to stake out a spot you can see most of the castle from.

Belle and Beaste grace Cinderella's castle.

And with a little last minute shopping, an adorable Mickey burger, and finally that Monsters Inc. ride, that caps the day! I was completely exhausted and happy and I loved every minute of it. I'm already planning on stopping by Disneysea again for Halloween!

Mickey burger = too cute!