I haven’t shared much about my trip to Japan, as I mentioned in my article “45 souvenirs de mon voyage au Japon,” I wanted to cherish this journey privately. However, today I’m here to offer you an article about Tokyo DisneySea, the unique theme park located just outside Tokyo. It was one of the highlights of my trip, and I thought a small guide might help you and perhaps inspire you to visit. A big thank you to Leslie for this article idea (and yes, feel free to ask me to write about a topic that interests you)!
What is Tokyo DisneySea?
Tokyo DisneySea is a one-of-a-kind theme park, opened in September 2001, with a maritime theme. It’s actually a separate park from Tokyo Disneyland, and together they form Tokyo Disney Resort. Despite its aquatic name, Tokyo DisneySea is not a water park but a theme park that draws its name from its seaside location and its (more or less) sea-related themes. The park is divided into different areas representing ports from various countries: Italy with its Venetian canals, the United States with its large old steamships, Central America with its Mayan river, and the world of mermaids straight out of Ariel’s universe.
One thing is certain: it’s the most beautiful park I’ve ever visited, and in my opinion, a must-see when visiting Japan. The decorations are absolutely fabulous, every detail is thoughtfully designed and refined, so much so that you forget you’re in a theme park. Of course, we’re in Japan—the land of merchandising—and you’ll find tons of accessories and souvenirs unique to DisneySea: badge holders (for transport cards), keychains, backpacks, hairbands, phone cases, and more… It will be hard to resist; everything is so cute!
Being unique in the world, I recommend prioritising a visit to DisneySea over Disneyland, as the latter is quite similar to those in France or the USA: the most well-known attractions are also there, but you’ll find some exclusive attractions at DisneySea.
How to get to Tokyo DisneySea ?
Nothing could be easier! The park is accessible from Tokyo in about thirty minutes via the JR Keiyo Line (red line, usable with a JR Pass) to Maihama Station, followed by about ten minutes on a Disney-themed shuttle that will take you to the gates of DisneySea. Plan for about thirty minutes from Tokyo’s central station and approximately 5€ in transportation costs if you don’t have the JR Pass.
When to Visit Tokyo DisneySea?
For our visit to Tokyo DisneySea, we consulted various English-language sites that allow you to check the expected crowd levels for specific days, but this Japanese site was the most useful (link here. Essentially, the closer the number is to 100 and turns red, the more you should avoid that day for your visit) In general, avoid visiting the park from mid-March to early May (during Japanese school holidays or Golden Week), on Saturdays, or during holiday periods such as Halloween, Christmas, or New Year.
How and where to buy your ticket for Tokyo DisneySea ?
If you want to go for the easy road, I highly recommend to use Klook. Klook is a website where you can buy tickets for experiences in general! I’ve used it several times and I can vouch that it is a trustworthy site! If you use my referral link, you can get a 5€ promo code when signing-up with it (to be transparent, I’ll be also receiving a 5€ voucher).
In our case, we used another method which was more complicated (at that time, I didn’t know about Klook!). If you’re in Japan, you can buy your tickets at a Disney Store (like in Shibuya), the Ticket Center upon exiting the Disney train station, or at the park’s entrance ticket booth (beware of the wait). But beware that it might be sold out! Following the recommendations of our Japanese friends, we bought our tickets in advance at a Lawson Konbini (convenience store). This chain of convenience stores offers Loppi machines that allow you to purchase tickets for concerts, theater, or theme parks such as Universal Studios Japan, Disney Resort, or the Ghibli Museum.
As you might expect, everything is in Japanese! Don’t panic and do as we did: we followed this step-by-step guide with photos to purchase our tickets ourselves. Once the instructions were followed, we decided to pay in cash (you can pay with a Visa or Mastercard) and then printed a payment proof that we gave to the store’s counter.
Be careful; you must present this payment proof within 30 minutes. And there you go! If you’re familiar with Disney parks, you know about the Fastpass system, which offers quick access to certain popular attractions. You can benefit from a Fastpass every two hours. I recommend heading directly at the park’s opening to the Toy Story Mania attraction (one of the most popular) to get your Fastpass. We didn’t do this and missed out on this attraction.
You can choose between 3 types of tickets (at the time of this article in 2018):
- A day ticket (7,400¥ or about €62 for an adult)
- A Starlight Passport for entry after 3:00 PM on weekends and holidays (5,400¥ or about €45 for an adult)
- An After 6 Passport for entry after 6:00 PM on weekdays (4,200¥ or about €35 for an adult).
You can find all ticket prices and options on the Tokyo Disney Resort website.
FastPass and Single Rider at Tokyo DisneySea
We visited DisneySea on a Friday at the beginning of May, just after Golden Week. Based on the crowd calendar I mentioned earlier, this day was marked as “moderately crowded” with a crowd index of 30/100. There were people, but it wasn’t overwhelming. As far as I remember, we never had to wait in line for too long. We also made use of two FastPasses and several Single Rider lines, so we were able to try out quite a few attractions!
Fastpass
If you’re familiar with Disney parks, you probably know about the FastPass system, which gives you quicker access to some popular attractions. You can get one FastPass every two hours. I recommend heading straight to Toy Story Mania right at park opening, as it’s one of the most sought-after rides. We didn’t do this and unfortunately missed out on the attraction. Also keep in mind that Indiana Jones and Journey to the Center of the Earth are among the most popular rides. If you want to experience them, it’s a good idea to grab a FastPass.
Single Riders Lines
The Indiana Jones and Raging Spirits rides offer Single Rider lines, ideal for guests willing to ride alone. We opted for this strategy to avoid long wait times: I would go first and get placed in a group with a vacant seat, then wait for my boyfriend to do the same a few minutes later. This saved us a lot of time, and I think it’s a great tactic—even if you’re visiting as a couple or in a group.
Food at Tokyo DisneySea
Here, we’re far from the fast food served in many theme parks (I have bad memories of Disneyland Paris). As everywhere in Japan, you’ll probably have to queue to get food or drinks, but honestly, I’ve experienced much worse. I loved the Alien Mochis, the mini calzone, and the delicious popcorns with incredible flavors (you can truly find everything, and combinations that exist only in your wildest dreams). Moreover, DisneySea is one of the rare Disney parks to offer alcohol, which my partner really appreciated!
The must-see attractions at DisneySea
In addition to the characters you’ll encounter throughout the day, the food stands that will make you drool, the discovery of Duffy (a little bear, the undisputed mascot of DisneySea), the collection of popcorn with crazier flavors than the last, or the superb water parade, you’ll have a series of attractions to enjoy. I found that the attractions weren’t really thrill rides but rather based on the experience, the decor, and the universe of the port you’re visiting.
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – a must-do: Discover Captain Nemo’s underwater world from inside a submarine. It’s a beautifully immersive and atmospheric ride that’s definitely worth experiencing.
- Journey to the Center of the Earth: Based on Jules Verne’s novel, this ride is mostly underground, with track-guided vehicles that take you through the heart of a volcano. In short: it’s a must, even if the wait is long!
- Raging Spirits: A roller coaster that blends fire and water-themed scenery. We went there at the end of the day when the line was quite short.
- Toy Story Mania: This ride plunges you into the world of Toy Story, where you’re shrunk down to the size of toys. You’ll ride in pairs and shoot at moving targets—it’s fun and interactive.
- Indiana Jones Adventure: Escape from a Mayan temple on a thrilling ride with motion-enhanced vehicles. The scenery is stunning and absolutely worth the experience.
- Mermaid Lagoon Theater: I absolutely loved King Triton’s world—it was breathtaking and really made us feel like we were inside a movie.
For more information, check out the park map with all attractions and find all useful details on the official Tokyo DisneySea website.
As you’ve probably guessed, I absolutely loved my visit to DisneySea. It’s an incredible park—stunningly beautiful and well worth the visit, even if you’re just passing through Japan. I’m sure I’ll go back one day… After all, I still have so many popcorn flavors left to try!