A Magical Day at DisneySea

The day after my exciting long day the Tokyo Disneyland (see blog post), the magic didn’t stop. Today was the day my family and I tackled Tokyo DisneySea – and I say tackled because DisneySea isn’t to be taken as a light park day, you must have your park knowledge to a high standard to achieve anything similar to what we achieved in Tokyo Disneyland. 

Once again, you need to have an early start – ours began at the parks at 7:30am. Once the park has opened at 8:30am the dash to Soaring was on. We got there at 8:38am and the queue was already an hour long and our fast passes were for 2:15PM. (Now I thought this was bad this day, but I went again the next day to DisneySea, which was a Saturday, and within 15 minutes of the park open the fast passes we gone for the day and the standby queue was almost 5 HOURS LONG!!! – be quick if you want to get on it on a weekend).

Myself in front of the lake all the 'Ports' in DisneySea connect to

Once the passes we secured and we could breathe again, we made our way into Mount Prometheus (the volcano in the middle of the park which replaces the traditional castle in most Disney parks) to ride Journey to the Centre of the Earth. I went on this ride back in February and I never thought much of it, but I did break down on it so that might have ruined the effect, this time however I loved it so much! It was definitely cold though in one section as you go quite fast in the open air and seeing that it was about 5^O C that day, the wind hitting your cheeks made for some rosy ones.

Myself in front of Mount Prometheus

Afterwards we went on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as there wasn’t much of a queue and we wanted to get out of the cold a little longer. We could get more fast passes at 10:10am and I was dying to go Toy Story Mania as I hadn’t ever had the chance to ride it before. Toy Story Mania is in the American Waterfront section of DisneySea, which is a beautiful area reminding you of old New York/Brooklyn. Dad and I had planned on going on the Tower of Terror which was also in that area so we bypassed it and check out the standby queue before getting Toy Story fast passes. Unfortunately the queue was over 2 hours long so we decided to get the fast passes for Tower of Terror and we missed out on Toy Story as the standby queue was 3 hours long at this point. I ended up visit Toy Story Mania by myself the next day in the parks and I was so upset I didn’t do this with my family as it is such a fun and interactive ride.

By this time it was almost 10:30am and once again we all forgot to eat and were starving. I swear I plan to eat all this amazing food at Disney and I am always just so busy racing from ride to ride I forget to eat! We went to New York Deli in the American Waterfront and got some ‘Hearty’ Chicken Soup (as they called it) and some chips. With the cold all of us were so excited for that soup to just warm our souls but I think we all agreed this chicken soup was the most unpleasant soup we had ever tasted ☹ It tasted like hot water with a chicken stock cube in it and all of us were under the impression ‘hearty’ chicken soup would be a nice thick creamy chicken soup. Lesson learnt that in Japan nothing in cream unless it clearly states creamy in the name. 

We then took a walk around to the Port of Discovery and rode the ride Aquatopia. The ride was quite uneventful but the queue was short and was different to any of the rides I had come across in other Disney parks. We had about 2 hours left until the Tower of Terror fast pass time so off we went to one of my favourite areas in the park, Ariel’s Grotto.

Ariel's Grotto

This whole place is straight out of a Disney film and you enter inside and descend into an underwater wonderland. It reminds me a lot of the inside queuing area for Crush’s Coaster in Disney Studios in Disneyland Paris. This area is all kid friendly rides from about 3 years and up but is still enjoyable for adults who are really children at heart. There is a great gift store with plenty of Little Mermaid merchandise and a good counter service restaurant call Sebastian’s Calypso Kitchen. If you go on the Jellyfish ride to the left as you enter the Grotto, you get an excellent view of the whole area!

Myself in Ariel's Grotto

After enjoying being big children for a while, we went over to Arabian Coast (the Aladdin area) where mum rode the Carousel while dad and I, mistakenly, went on Sinbad’s Adventures. Oh man, you know how people complain about how annoying It’s A Small World is when the same song plays over and over? Well this ride was excruciating compared to that. The ride itself lasts something like 8 or so minutes and moves really slow. Its probably amazing for children (who speak Japanese as the story is told in Japanese) but after a few minutes of the ride, I was definitely ready to get off. Once out, the hunger kicked in again and it was time for some food, specifically really delicious Indian style curry.

Arabian Coast

Myself in front of the Jasmine fountain

It was getting close to the time for Tower of Terror after we finished eating so we took a detour through Lost River Delta and caught the rail train from Port of Discovery down to the American Waterfront. The theming in Tower of Terror at Tokyo DisneySea is incredible! Much better than the one in Disney Studios in Paris. Its all based of a rich man who acquired rare artifacts and received a cursed statue. The queuing area is full of ancient treasures like sarcophagus’, statues and maps.

Myself outside of Tower of Terror at DisneySea

Soaring fast passes were in 1.5 hours and as we didn’t have time to queue for Toy Story Mania, we decided to standby queue for Journey to the Centre of the Earth again. Once we got off the ride it was perfect time for us to go into Soaring. The queuing area for Soaring is so beautiful with the Italian renaissance architecture and decorative murals on the ceilings and walls. The ride itself was really fun, I did however notice the ceiling of the ride which took away from the overall experience. It’s definitely worth the wait if the queues were under 2 hours long but I wouldn’t wait anything more than that for it.

Interior of the Soaring queuing area

Mum and Dad were flying out this night back to Australia, so we didn’t have much time left until they needed to leave the parks and pack for the airport. We went shopping for about an hour as it began to rain outside. Walking through the Venice inspired area in the Mediterranean Port in the rain was truly magical. The lights had gone on across the walk ways and it created this beautiful moody feel to the place. 

Myself in the Venice area at DisneySea

Another view of the Venice area at DisneySea

We had one last snack over at Cape Cod as they sold Mickey shaped nuggets then left for the day to head back to the airport. The park shut at 6pm this day so unfortunately once I had said goodbye to Mum and Dad I was able to re-enter the park and spend the evening there but other than Toy Story Mania, we managed to achieve a very successful day at Tokyo DisneySea.

My Mickey Mouse nugget meal

Tokyo Disneyland Done Right

I honestly can't explain how excited I was to be going back to Tokyo Disneyland as my first experience there wasn't as I had hoped. I had no idea what to expect from the crowds and I was horribly sick so I spent a day shopping at Disney and didn't go on any rides! This time though, I was prepared...

If you're not a morning person Disney can be a struggle, especially if its Tokyo you're going to as you have to get there ridiculously early in certain parks.

I ended up queuing for an hour before opening as Tokyo Disneyland doesn't do magic hours unlike Florida. Queuing earlier made such a difference when it comes to getting on the popular rides within Tokyo Disneyland (a.k.a. queueland 😂). 

Once the park opened it was a mad rush among the people wanting to get photos in front of the Disneyland sign, people spreading securing their spots for parades and everyone else aiming for Pooh's Honey Hut or Monsters Inc. I had a plan with my parents (who were spending the first 2 days at Disney with me) to conquer and divide. I raced through to Tomorrowland to get Monsters Inc fast passes (theirs a cut through to the right of the center of World Bazaar) and my parents made their way to queue in Pooh's Honey Hut. 

Pooh's Honey Hut Exterior

The queuing area for Pooh's Honey Hut is probably my favourite in Tokyo Disneyland. It begins outside among some beautiful autumn leaves then curves around a lush garden. Once you enter inside you're transported into a little room with the hundred acre woods map which leads you into a Winnie the Pooh book. It makes it's super enjoyable queuing as you can read the story as you wait. It's only a short queue once you're inside, I do however wish it was slower so I could enjoy it a little more. But alas, we're there to ride the ride and not read a book. 

Pooh's Honey Hut - Garden

The ride itself takes place in a honey jar which can seat up to 4 adults and 1 child. It's a reckless ride system, similar to the ratatouille ride in Disneyland Paris, which takes you on an adventure through the hundred acre woods then into Pooh's dreams. The ride itself lasts about 3 minutes but is great fun and enjoyable for all ages. 

After we finished up on Pooh's Honey Hut, we still had an hour until our Monsters Inc fast passes. I was in a tangled theme disneybound and I needed to get my hands on the new Rapunzel popcorn bucket offered in Tokyo. I went for a hunt to find the popcorn stand and got the bucket along with some honey popcorn (which was delicious! I swear Tokyo Disney does the best popcorn flavours). Mum wanted to do the Peter Pan and since the queue was small we headed on over to it. I personally didn't enjoy it as much as the one in Disneyland Paris. I'm not sure if I was just younger and enjoyed it more or if the Tokyo ride was just less detailed. It was fun nonetheless but it wasn't anything to queue longer than 30 minutes for. 

With 10 minutes to wait until we were able to get our next lot of fast passes we went on snow white's adventures. The queue for this was small which was great as we were in and out within 15 minutes. Our monsters inc ride had 10 minutes until we could go on, we made a dash over to big thunder mountain to get fast passes for that ride then crossed the park to Tomorrowland. The Monsters Inc ride was a cute ride, very similar to Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters but without any scoring. You go through the monsters inc world and shine your torch on the M symbols and they interact with the environment. The ride is definitely worth going on but I found the standby queues for this ride were extremely high anywhere from 1-3hrs! It's one of the rides you'd need a fast pass for.

By this time it was almost 11am and we hadn't eaten yet. We started our hunt for food and on the way we passed star tours with a 10 minute standby queue. Well how could we pass that up! Unfortunately that 10 minutes ended up being 30 minutes and we were all quiet hangry by the end of the ride. I am glad I didn't eat before it because oh my did I forget how sick that ride made me! 

We got some chips and a drink quickly as we totally forgot we had our big thunder mountain fast passes at 11:30 and it was closing into to almost 12pm. 

As the afternoon carried out we rode big thunder mountain then had a break on the Western River Railroad. I had no idea what to expect from this but I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. There was a fair amount to see as you went through the forest then into a prehistoric area. Next to the railroad was the Jungle Cruise (yes the movie coming out this year is related to this ride). We had to wait a little while for this ride but it was really enjoyable even if you don't speak any Japanese. 

By the time we had done all these rides the need for an afternoon nap was setting in. I wanted to do a shop around before heading back to the hotel so I went exploring around the World Bazaar and found a cute fair isle Christmas mickey sweater. 

About 5pm all of us felt rested and were ready to spend the evening back in Disneyland. We rugged up heaps as the temperature in the evening in December in Tokyo gets quite cool, around 6°C while we were there. 

The first ride I wanted to go on was the Haunted Mansion. It currently had the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay and the queues were always over 2 hours during the day. The queuing area and the mansion is so beautiful in the evening. The Mansion is lined with Jack-o-lanterns and had a Jack-o-lantern Christmas styled tree in the front garden. The ride itself is so fun with overlay and as much as I love the original there is something about bringing the Halloween and Christmas spirit into the ride that is just so magical! 

Haunted Mansion with Nightmare Before Xmas overlay

As we hadn't had much during the day, we were desperate for some food again. The electrical night parade was about to begin and with all the restaurants quite empty during parades we thought it was the perfect time to go to the Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall. 

The theming of this restaurant is absolutely stunning! The moment you walk in you're swept away into the Queen of Hearts castles garden area with her guards around, this is where the seating area is. As you continue through into the serving area, the kitchen is very beautiful with large teapots, cups, pots and pans hanging from the ceiling and a wonky cake where the fake food is displayed.

Ceiling of the Queen of Hearts serving area

I got the vegetables and hamburger patty. It was so cute with the sweet potato and cheese in the shape of a heart. Overall I loved this restaurant. The food was really delicious for the price, the presentation was in theme and the restaurant was enchanting! (I will say though the queues can get big as you will learn in an upcoming blog post).

Once we were all full and happy we set outside to watch the parade as it ended in Toon Town (near the restaurant). We had about 10 minutes before the parade came back to where we were so mum and I quickly rode Mad Tea Party as there was not wait time.

Mad Tea Party - Mum and Myself

We only caught a glimpse of the parade as it passed it as it is one of the more popular parades and people secure spots for this hours before the start time. We still saw the beauty and the beast and frozen float which were super beautiful!

Belle and the Beast float

After navigating the swarm of people once the parade finished we went on it's a small world, how can you not do it at least once each Disney trip, then went to my favourite ride, pirates of the Caribbean.

I haven't been on a pirates ride in years and the Tokyo Disney one has a section from the films which the Paris Disney (last time I went on it) didn't have. It was a really great ride and lasted a long time. Perfect for escaping the weather and resting your feet.

By this point the fireworks were about to begin in 15 minutes. We made our way to the castle area and just relaxed taking in the ambiance of the area at Christmas. Honestly it was so nice to just reflect and really soak in how magical this day way. I think this was my favourite Disney day I've ever had. 

The fireworks were nothing special compared to the evening firework shows like Happily Ever After as the castle was under construction but they were still beautiful nonetheless. Perfect end to a perfect day.

Welcome to Of Plaid Adventures

I've always loved reading blogs about people's adventures, personal interests and fashion inspiration. While I've had a go a few times in the past I've never been one to jot down my travels and passions.

This afternoon a colleague asked me about planning for Disney and if you know me personally, you'll know I'm an encyclopedia when it comes to Disney holidays. Oh man, where do I even begin answering a question about Disney... It was then I thought I really should write down everything I do for my travels, from the planning to the trips themselves and everything in between.

Myself in front of the (currently under construction) Cinderella's Castle in Tokyo Disneyland

This is where this blog comes into the picture. Of Plaid Adventures will be full of all the fun I have travelling the world, Australia and the many Disney's around the globe. While the majority will be adventuring, I really want to incorporate my other interests such as reading and outfit inspiration.

Hope you all find something here to enjoy!