Exploring Disney Sea Part 3: Lost River Delta and Arabian Coast

Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull awaits in Lost River Delta

Our last destinations around Disney Sea include the Lost River Delta and Arabian Coast, where you'll find jungles and temples, and maybe even catch a glimpse of Jasmine and Genie!

Lost River Delta

This area of the park is basically the equivalent of Adventureland. It features jungles, ancient runes, and a small South American style village featuring some of the only Mexican food in Japan. Attractions include Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull, DisneySea Transit Steamer Line, and Raging Spirits. In a way this is my favorite area of the park because it has my favorite ride in all of Disney Sea – Indiana Jones! It's absent from Tokyo Disneyland because they decided to put it here instead.

One of the best lookouts in the Lost River Delta is the river and bridge connecting the park, where you can see the transit steamer line journeying down the river. The red against the green and blue makes for a pretty picture.

See Disney Sea from the comfort of DisneySea Transit Steamer.

The bridge itself is designed to look like it was made by hand many years ago, perhaps by one of the tribal villages.

Cross the bridge to enter into the Lost River Delta.

The Lost River Delta awaits.

If you're lucky you might even see Goofy's son Max in traditional South American clothing. Max is actually a fairly popular character in Japan!

Make sure to snap a quick pic with Max in beautiful South American clothing!

There are also two Mexican style restaurants (Miguel's El Dorado Cantina and Yucatan Base Camp Grill) which offer tacos, a godsend for those of us craving Mexican food in Japan!

Around the Indiana Jones ride you'll find some nice details that bring the area to life.

This reminds me so much of the Road to Eldorado.

The most prominent landmark of the area is of course the temple, inside which lies the "Temple of the Crystal Skull" ride. As with the original Indiana Jones ride, there are a lot of details to observe while you wait in line. Unfortunately neither Disney Sea nor Disneyland seems to have caught on with the concept of "single riders", but you can make do with a Fastpass. Naturally this is a popular ride, so try to get a Fastpass early on.

Delving deeper into the ride, you'll come into an impressive room that's pretty spooky!

Observe the warning on the ceiling: don't look into the eyes of the crystal skull!

There are plenty of detail to observe while you wait.

Spooky drawings cover the walls.

Don't be tempted by treasure!

Treasure inside the Temple of the Crystal Skull.

Although the ride is titled "Temple of the Crystal Skull", it's pretty much the exact same ride. The only part that's different is the entrance where you're not supposed to look into the eyes of a giant crystal skull. Apart from that, everything seemed identical! The ride is, of course, all in Japanese, however. It was really hard to hear.

The other popular ride in this area is Raging Spirits, which is a high-speed roller coaster ride through "the excavated ruins of an ancient ceremonial site". There's fire and smoke effects, and a 360 degree loop! It looks fun, but honestly I'm too chicken to go on it because of the loop!

Catch a ride on Raging Spirits if you're a thrill-seeker!

Arabian Coast

The Arabian Coast at Disney Sea

This is another land completely unique to Disney Sea, which makes it a must-see attraction! There are three rides: Caravan Carousel, Sinbad's Storybook Voyage, and Jasmine's Flying Carpets, and one showroom, The Magic Lamp Theater. When you see the Arabian Coast spread out before you you'll feel instantly transported to the land of Agrabah! Aladdin is a highly popular Disney film in Japan, so it makes sense that they feature a whole area of the park devoted to it.

You can see by now how water runs through the entire theme of the park. You'll have to cross another bridge to enter.

Agrabah lies just across the river.

Agrabah straight ahead!

The Arabian Coast has some of the most gorgeous architecture I've seen in any of the Disney parks. The level of detail is unparalleled!

The courtyard of Agrabah.

That's one impressive doorway!

The Magic Lamp Theater is inside that building.

This is one of the focal points of the area, which houses a merry-go-round inside featuring a few Genies.

Caravan Carousel

A close-up of the attraction.

Another beautiful feature is this fountain adorned with tigers. There are so many great spots to get a picture! The backdrop is so amazing throughout the area that you won't have a hard time getting a good one just about anywhere.

A beautiful tiled fountain in front of Caravan Carousel.

You can see nods to Aladdin characters such as Jafar at the entrance to the Casbah Food Court, which serves up delicious Indian curry.

Nosh on curry and naan at Casbah Food Court.

Welcome to Agrabah! It looks just like a scene cut out of the movie! Unfortunately there's not a lot you can explore through, but it's cool to look at. Maybe in the future they could develop some walk-through attractions like at Cinderella castle.

The city of Agrabah.

Another view of the city.

In the Abrabah Marketplace you can go exploring through the streets of Agrabah to find great deals on lamps, magic carpets, and the like.

Who's up for some shopping? You can purchase cool items to impress your friends with your "magic" skills.

Through here lies Abu's Bazaar, where you can play fun games to win prizes.

I definitely feel like I'm in Agrabah.

Do you have any magic lamps?

Curry is a definite feature of the area, though Flying Carpet Curry seems to have been replaced since 2013.

Delicious curry served at Flying Carpet Curry (at least till 2013).

There are some fun decorations inside the shops!

Remember this scene from the movie? 

Make sure to get a photo at this fountain!

A Jasmine-themed fountain is the perfect spot for a photo.

I wish I could bring it home with me!

If you're lucky you'll catch a performance going on at the Sultan's Oasis.

You can also see Stitch, Jasmine, and Genie around here, so be on the lookout!

Jasmine and Genie greet fans.

Jasmine doesn't look too amused at something Genie said.

It's Stitch and his pink girlfriend Angel!

At The Magic Lamp Theater you can enjoy a 10 minute show featuring Shaban, a snake who's apparently a colleague of Genie's. The show combines 3D effects with actors and animatronics, and is so popular it's even listed as a Fastpass attraction. (Tip: Never underestimate the power of a Fastpass! If something is popular in Japan, expect to wait hours for it. I was unable to watch the show at the Mermaid Lagoon Theater as it was a two hour wait just for a 15 minute show!).

The Magic Lamp theater will wow you with its 3D effects.

Sinbad's Storybook Voyage is actually a pretty decent ride, even though it's – gasp – basically "It's a Small World". However, (100% thanks to a much less annoying song), it ends up being a relaxing ride touring through the Arabian land in a boat. Trust me, the song is actually pretty catchy – take a listen. It's no surprise, as it was written by Disney legend Alan Menken, who wrote scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and more.

The different sets are also much more entertaining, as the story takes us through different lands as young Sinbad voyages around the world, joined by his adorable tiger cub Chandu (no, it is not baby Rajah).

Sinbad fights off a fiendish character.

Sinbad's adorable and trusty companion Chandu.

The story starts off with Sinbad setting out on his voyage around the world, accompanied of course by his cute tiger cub (everyone needs a sidekick, right?). They say goodbye to their village as they sail off.

Sinbad sets sail.

Along the way Sinbad encounters various adventures and meets fantastical creatures, like these phoenixes hatching out of giant eggs.

Don't disturb those eggs!

Watch out for the mother phoenix!

Here Sinbad runs into an ogre and a room full of treasure.

Sinbad opens the cage of an ogre with a feather.

The ogre really towers over you! Does he look benevolent, or nefarious?

A giant ogre plays a tune for Sinbad.

There's another room that's full of bananas and monkeys, and it really smells like bananas!

May as well stock up on bananas for the journey.

Watch out for monkeys!

 Sinbad is welcomed wherever he goes, and the whole town turns out to greet him.

Townspeople admire Sinbad from atop elephants.

In the end, Sinbad and Chandu finish their quest and return home to their village to fireworks and fanfare.

The end of a long journey.

The other ride in the Arabian Coast is Jasmine's Flying Carpets, which is a fun, short ride just like its Dumbo counterpart in Disneyland: you get to control the height and tilt of your flying carpet.

Enjoy the beautiful tiled walls while waiting in line, featuring all the characters from Aladdin.

Iago and Abu.

Jasmine's faithful companion Rajah greets you at the entrance.

Rajah welcomes you to Jasmine's Flying Carpets.

The structure is modeled as a fountain, topped with a peacock! Riders fly on pink and blue carpets.

Riders control the fun on Jasmine's Flying Carpets.

Even though each carpet seats four, you can control the angle of your section of the carpet!

At night the fountain lights up purple. It's really pretty!

Watch Agrabah light up at night.

See the bit of red in the middle? That's the volcano on the Mysterious Island!

Of course it wouldn't be complete without one of these 15th anniversary celebration statues!

The last of the 15th anniversary landmarks.

That's a basic run-down of all the attractions in the Disney Sea park – but what about food, souvenirs, and entertainment? Look for more blogs on the way highlighting all the fantastic snacks and treats, merchandise, parades, and night-time shows!