Yokoso! Japan Day 5 - Tokyo

Disneysea!

Next day was spent at Disneysea in Tokyo.
We took the JR line Yamanote line to Tokyo station, before changing to JR Keiyo line and stop at Maihama station. The journey took us about 45 min.

The Maihama station:



We'll be taking the Disney Resort Line to get to Disneysea itself, as it was a distance away. The trip cost around 250 yen for one trip (~S$3.50). There're also 1-day, 2-Day passes etc, for unlimited rides. But as we would likely be only taking 2 rides one day, the 1-Day pass which costs 650 yen does not seem that worth it.



Us at the Disney Resort line station, with a picture of the lengendary Beauty and the Beast castle behind us:



Disney Resort Line, with Mickey Mouse-shaped windows!







There were also cute Mickey Mouse shaped hoops for passengers.



A glimpse of the Disney Resort while we pass by in the train. Looks pretty much like a castle!



Once you enter Disneysea, you can see this big globe, reminiscent of the one at Universal Studio (See Day 2: Osaka - Universal Studio)



A band which welcomed us visitors. Mickey and Minney Mouse were there too, but as too many pple were crowded around them and forming queues to take photos with them, it was almost impossible to see them at all:



A Spring Carnival was held during the period when we were there. That meant that we saw lotsa very nice flowers in the place:



And also Tinkerbell (and friends)!



Nice flowers outside and around the premises within Disneysea:









There were also Disney-themed flower displays, such as this Minney Mouse shaped arrangement of shrubs and flowers:



Also, carts themed after each favorite Disney character: Mickey Mouse, Minney Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck and Pluto.

Mickey Mouse and Pluto:









Donald Duck:



Minney Mouse and Daisy Duck:



Goofy:



Even the street lamp is decorated with spring flowers:



The main entrance was styled after a Mediterranean Harbor, where you can enjoy the ambience of a Southern European port town. The buildings are also European-styled.









You can see a huge volcano "Mount Prometheus" from the harbor, which was actually part of the Mysterious Island where exciting rides like Journey to the Centre of the Earth etc are found.



One can also take a boat and cruise along the lake, taking in the surrounding sights at a leisurely pace:




Restaurants that line the Waterfront:





You can also take one of these big city vehicles to explore the area:




Group Photo taken by one of the kind Disneysea staff who had kindly obliged to stop and take photo for other visitors, and we "grabbed" her before she could rush off again:




Tower of Terror is our first ride of the day (one of the best, in fact):



It tells the story of a Hotel Hightower, which has been scheduled for demolition. However, the historical preservation society is trying to persuade the new owner not to demolish this place that has such rich history.

The previous owner, Mr Hightower, had obtained many of the artefacts in the hotel through illegal means, such as this idol sculpture that was rumoured to be cursed, and had caused the death of Mr Hightower when he fell in the elevator and his body was never found....



The hotel was pretty creepy, with all the sound and lighting effects at the right times. We took the elevator that Mr Hightower supposedly died in... it was very thrilling; the apparently cursed elevator was being brought up and down by this green-eyed demon. We even caught a glimpse of the outside surroundings when we were brought to the top and the window opened. Also, there was a part whereby a photo of us was taken, and our images started to blur. Kinda reminds me of the Thai movie "Shutters".


A big cruise ship parked in the theme park. There were restaurants on it that visitors can patronize:





We also saw this percussion performance, which was pretty good and entertaining. There were lotsa pple crowded round it as well:



The service provided by Disneysea also impressed me. I had accidentally dropped the sausage that i bought, a distance away from the shop i bought from. One of their staff who walked past saw what happened, and offered to give me a new piece without charge (and without my asking, of course)! Very nice of them.


We went next to the American Waterfront, with the charms of a New England fishing village.















We had lunch at the restaurant there. There were short skit performances put up by Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Chick and Dale in the restaurant itself. During intermission, they also showed old cartoons for visitors to reminisce.







Nice flowers outside the restaurant:







There was a shop that sells many Walt Disney bear soft toy, accessories etc.



Zhenzhi with a bear riding on top of her head:



Me with the super-giant bear at the entrance of the shop:



Disneysea was surrounded by water everywhere we go.



There's even an almost-real airplane that looks like it crashed here:



We saw Goofy along the way. He seems to be rushing off for a show, but kindly obliged to stop to take photos with visitors.





We also met Chip and Dale. One of them even grabbed Zhenzhi and hugged her. LOL.



We next went on to Port Discovery to take 2 rides, one is the Aquatopia, the other is Storm Rider:

Aquatopia. Basically, pple sit on these auto-watercrafts which will move through a maze of fountains, rock formations and whirlpools. As the watercraft does not follow a fixed path, it brings a little excitement somewhat:



The Storm Rider was disappointing, however. Like other simulated rides, it comes with a storyline whereby we were trapped in the eye of a storm aboard an advanced aircraft, and we could feel the rocking of the craft and raindrops on our heads. It somehow did not appeal much to me.

We next went on to Lost River Delta, which was like the ruins of an Central American civilization within the remote jungles. Here, you can find Indiana Jones ride, and Raging Spirits roller-coast ride.

First thing we spotted, however, was none other than Indiana Jones himself.



Indiana Jones the actor is apparently looking for treasures, running around in the area, and even bending down at certain points to act like he's looking for some clues. Do you see that lady wearing the white top and a tigger tail behind her, running beside Indiana Jones? She's actually a visitor, but has joined in the "search" with much enthusiasm.










The Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull was quite an exciting ride.

It follows roughly the story of the movie, whereby a search for the Fountain of Youth through ancient temple ruins with Professor Indiana Jones and his assistant, Paco. The tour turns into a life-or-death race to escape the wrath of the Crystal Skull. The light and sound effects were superb, of course, and was definitely worth the wait.

The Raging Spirits roller-coaster ride was not as great. I couldnt help comparing it to the other roller-coaster ride we took at Universal Studios (Hollywood Dreams), which was much more exciting.

Next was Mysterious Island, where the huge Mount Prometheus (as seen once you enter Disneysea) is located. Here you can find Journey to the Centre of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea rides. Unfortunately for us, the Journey to the Centre of the Earth ride was closed for maintenance during that period. Oh well.





20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, in search of the legendary city of Atlantis that was said to have sunk to the ocean depths, was quite good. It was almost impossible to believe that we did not actually move through water, and what we see is only a combination of great effects and the fishbowl-windows of our watercraft that makes the surroundings look like we're underwater.

We had ourselves some sea-salt ice-cream, with Minney Mouse box that can be kept as souvenir:



A cute little Jasmine on our way to Arabian Coast. She rather enjoyed the attention, and even posed for us:



The Arabian Coast, where Aladdin can be found.





A big Genie statue greeting visitors at the entrance to Arabbian Coast:



Jasmine statue, which is made up of shrubs:











Us with Aladdin and Jasmine. IMO, Jasmine is not that pretty, and looked kinda fat :P



Us with Genie. He is a very comical character, and constantly makes funny poses for visitors. It's kinda weird to see such a thin Genie, tho:



Minney Mouse in Middle East-style costume:



Next, we caught the spectacular Legend of Mythica. Besides Disney characters like Mickey Mouse and gang, there were also mythical creatures like dragons, phoenix and unicorns.

Water fountain in the middle of the Mediterrean Harbor:



Next was a parade of various well-decorated boats, where performers ride and dance on it as part of the parade:









Mickey Mouse came out on top of the water fountain:



Donald Duck on top of the snake-like boat:



At some point, some of the water-cyclists (those on small ski-boats) started to fly those kites, winning "wow's" and "oh's" from the surrounding audience:



Next was the beautiful unicorn:



3-headed snake:



Phonenix:



And lastly, the dragon that spits fire:



The whole show finally ended with some fireworks. It was a good 25 min show.

We went on to the Mermaid Lagoon, which to me, is the highlight of the place as my favorite Disney character is Little Mermaid.

Cute baby Ariel with her prince-charming, Prince Eric. The chemistry between the two was quite amazing. The baby was so enthralled by the prince, and as you can see from the photo, she was touching his face, and the prince clearly like babies very much and played with her for very long:



Us with Prince Eric, and with Chef Louis (i think):



King Triton, father of Little Mermaid, Ariel:



Inside Mermaid Lagoon is a series of rides suitable for most ages. The place was quite well-done, making you feel like you're underwater:





We watched the Little Mermaid theatre production, starring Ariel, the Little Mermaid and her friends, Flounder the fish and Sebestian the crab. It also starred the evil Ursula, who tried to trick Little Mermaid into giving up her beautiful voice for a human body.

Unlike other shows we've watched, this was a muscial with real persons acting and puppetry characters. We were also very up close with them. Very enjoyable overall.

We also took photo with Little Mermaid. She was really beautiful, and looked just like Ariel from the animation:



We had dinner at one of the restaurants in Disneysea, while waiting for the last show of the day "BraviSEAmo!", which starts at 8:05 pm and lasts for 30 min. There were already crowds of pple surrounding the Mediterrean Harbor where it will be held by 730 pm, and we quickly grabbed a place to sit down.



The show was pretty amazing, with lotsa water and fire effects. There were also fireworks at the end of the show, which kinda made up for the cancellation of the daily fireworks show (due to bad weather conditions).





P.S. will be posting videos of the show later.

With the end of the show, we left Disneysea. We had initially planned to go Roppongi, but as it was almost 9pm and we were all pretty tired, we decide to change to another day instead.

Before ending the post, would like to include this abstract of Walt Disney's Dream when he set up Disneyland:

"I think what I want Disneyland to be most of all is a happy place,
a place where adults and children can experience together some of the wonders of life, of adventure, and feel better because of it."

I'd definitely look forward to visiting another Disneyland some time soon.

Next day: Tsukiji Fish Market, Ginza and Odaiba Rainbow Bridge+Statue of Liberty.