So much to SEA!

One month ago, after nearly a year in Tokyo, the duck and I finally made it to the land of oceanic enchantment, the place where young and old can experience magical moments aplenty, an area that is so crammed at times that you get thoroughly excited about being allowed to wait in line for only two hours to fall down an elevator shaft, a wondrous land located in Chiba prefecture (which is not Tokyo) that encompasses harbors from all over the world: Tokyo Disney Sea!
We know that, if you spend only a day at a Disney park (and a lot of money on the ticket) it’s a good idea to have at least somewhat of a clue about the popularity of attractions so that you don’t waste your early morning FastPass on a comparatively lame one. So, the night before our little Disney adventure, Sb (our amazing friend), the duck and I did some minor research on which FastPass rides were the most popular and which ones we wanted to experience no matter what. Other than that we decided to just go with the flow.

The weather was perfect for a day at sea and we don’t regret at all that we did regular tourist stops to reapply several layers of sunscreen!

Instead of writing long paragraphs on how much we loved everything (and maybe spoiling your future Disney Sea adventure – if you haven’t been, we highly recommend going if you ever have the opportunity), we decided to share with you our little list of things that we have learned after our day at sea, accompanied by some snaps:

Splash!

This is somewhat of a guide for anyone who is actually planning a trip to Disney Sea. Because it’s rather specific, I apologize if it’s a bit boring for the common reader. In that case, please enjoy our pictures 😛

• if you can, try to avoid weekends, public holidays and school vacations – the wait times for attractions get crazy if the park is close to hitting full capacity!
• do research on discounted tickets. We found out that we could have saved a thousand yen – a day after our expensive Disney Sea trip (sad face)
• if you’re cheap like us – bring some snacks for yourselves (eating at the parks can get pretty expensive and if you’re part of the cheapo club you want to save at least some of your money)

When you sit down to munch on your snacks don’t forget to make friends with the Disney ducks!

• if you want to make the most of your day (and secure on one of those popular FastPasses for your favorite attraction) – arrive before the park opens and prepare for a looooooooong and exhausting day of fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN!
• don’t get too excited about a ride (and definitely check the refurbishment schedule before setting off) because when you have been looking forward to the Tower of Terror and, first thing in the morning, fast-walk to the attraction to get your hands on one of those beautiful FastPasses, laughing about everyone lining up at Toy Story Mania instead, just to find it closed, it can get pretty disappointing (and embarrassing)
• get a guide map so that you don’t run from one end of the park to the other and back just because you remembered that you do need to make a new FastPass plan now that your possibly-favorite ride is closed (just be brave and ask any of the lovely cast members in white that are waiting for you around the next corner. EVERY next corner!)
• let your inner child take over (even though the duck and I were never huge fans of the Little Mermaid, the Mermaid Lagoon had us pretty excited because you really feel as if you are becoming part of that world – you have to see it with your own eyes!)

Even if the weather is bad, you can enjoy life under the sea!

• don’t do it the Japanese way: Japanese seem to love lining up (a long line in front of a restaurant means that it’s very good and worth the wait even though you are already starving and hallucinating about all those beautiful sushi rolls) so that rides with little to no waiting time don’t seem too attractive. But, had we gone with that sentiment, we would have missed out on Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage which is super cheesy (in a good way) and also features our favorite sidekick: tiger cub Chandu (that we fanducked so much over that our amazing friend felt obligated to get us the key chain – thank youuuuu! ♥)
• if, like us, you’re a bit weirded out by characters (I’m talking Mickey Mouse, princesses, teddy bears, that are walking through the park or waiting at their own meeting spot just to interact with you), do give Jafar a chance – the character interactions were priceless (the duck and I were too excited to take any good photos, but please do a video search if you’re curious)
• take in the details: all areas are created beautifully with so much attention to detail so that it really pays off to stop your attraction-chase for a second and just spend some time exploring and taking in the distinct atmosphere that each area has to offer

Being the home of Chandu, Aladdin and lots of camels, the Arabian Coast has become our favorite place to just wander around and look at all the little details that contribute so much to the already amazing atmosphere!

• make use of single rider lines! Some attractions feature single rider lines that are so short sometimes, that you have to wait even less than those who have a FastPass. Sure, you’ll sit next to a stranger on the ride, but if you don’t mind, this is perfect for saving lots of time and making new friends (on one ride I was welcomed with cheers by the group of chatty girls that would be my rollercoaster-companions for the next few minutes)
• don’t forget about the shows! Since we’re not big on actually meeting or seeing characters, thus skipping the water parade, we actually did want to catch Big Band Beats, a musical stage performance that you need to enter a lottery for to score tickets. We did not win (when we left the lottery place the first thing we noticed was the stupid tower reminding us what failures we are). If you want to see it, I highly recommend checking out online guides on how to increase your odds of winning (like going shortly before the start of a show or waiting for a winning streak around you)
• don’t get too disappointed when some things don’t work out the way you are planning them to

The golden hour was probably our favorite time at the park – everything looked so beautiful, even with the Tower of Terror standing there and mocking us… all day!

• let other visitors’ excitement be contagious! Despite all the rave about saving time and money and paying attentions to all the lovely details, the most memorable experience of the day was when we ended up on the Indiana Jones ride (for the second time, this time not as single riders) together with a bunch of overly excited high school students who, we assume, made use of their annual passes to spend some quality after-school-time at Disney. The cheers and utterly honest fearful screams were definitely more entertaining than the attraction itself (and that’s not an easy feat) – if you see a group of high school students with their school bags, make sure to follow them (in a non-creepy way) so that you may end up on a ride with them!
• find the perfect spots for the water shows and parades some time in advance – so that you don’t end up seeing Fantasmic! standing behind a bunch of incredibly tall people
• even if the fireworks get canceled (again, after being out of luck that one other time you were at the park… when a typhoon single-handedly pretty much canceled everything: parades, lots of attractions, including your FastPass ride and, of course, the fireworks), look at that corny photo you took during the sunset and remember all the fun you had at the park (if you need a bonus portion of optimism: replay the video recording of the in-ride-snapshot that was displayed on the screens after your great high school student ride on repeat)

That’s all. We’ll finish geeking out about Disney now…

Have a Magical Day!