In Tokyo there are two Disney parks – Disneyland and Disney Sea. Bethany had a day off teaching school, so she joined Caitlyn and I at Disney Sea. Caitlyn lives in California, so she has been to Disneyland a lot, which is why we picked Disney Sea! There are seven themed “ports of call” at Disney Sea – Mediterranean Harbor, American Waterfront, Port Discovery, Lost River Delta, Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast and Mysterious Island.

Each port of call has an elaborate detailed replica of a city. Each time you enter one of the ports, it feels like you are actually in that part of the world.

When we entered the park, we took a selfie near the huge globe near the entryway. This is the 15th anniversary of Disney Sea, so there was a beautiful white ship with Mickey and Minnie aboard behind the globe commemorating the 15th anniversary of the park. There were many pictures being taken near that ship!

Bethany has been to Disney Sea several times, so she suggested that we leave early since the park opens at 8 a.m. It took 3 train changes to arrive from the Tokyo area that Bethany lives in to Urayasu, Chiba which is right outside of Tokyo. The third train we rode had Mickey Mouse ears Windows, hand holds and several other touches that let you know you were on the Disney train!

After our photo session, we got in line to get a Fast pass on “Toy Story” ride. A fast pass enables you to get on the ride quickly and not stand in the long lines. Toy Story is one of the newer rides, and in spite of the fact it was not a “crowded day” at the park, there were still a lot of people there. Even after arriving at the park about 8:30 a.m the earliest we could get our fast pass was for 4:45 that afternoon. Once you apply for a fast pass, you can’t get another fast pass for 2 hours. Thanks to Bethany’s expertise with this we applied for 3 of them throughout the day! Instead of waiting an hour or more for a ride, you just walk right onto the ride!

Toy Story was a great ride. Just like being in a giant arcade. Everyone wore 3 D glasses and had different objects to shoot at for points. Each area was a scene from one of the Toy Story movies. It was really fun and Bethany won with the highest score. I think mine was the lowest score, but I still had fun!

Bethany steered us to The Lost Delta area to get on the “Indiana Jones” ride. Fortunately it was only a 30 minute wait to get on the ride. Since it was a Wednesday, a slight chance of rain forecasted, and a school day, the lines were much shorter than normal!

All 3 of us have watched all the “Indiana Jones” movies, so we enjoyed reliving parts of the movies as we rode through all the perilous journeys of the movie. Each car on the ride holds 12 people and I got to be the designated driver. Fortunately I got us back to civilization safely!

After our ride, Bethany bought some potato churros which were delicious. Some of the snacks at Tokyo Disney Sea are a bit different than the USA, but delicious. Popcorn is a huge favorite with different flavors such as soy sauce and butter, curry, milk tea, and strawberry to name a few. You can buy a commemorative character bucket to hold the popcorn and get a cheaper refill each time you bring it back. We didn’t want to carry around the bucket, so we didn’t choose to get popcorn.

People watching is always a fun part of going to a theme park. Groups of girls or guys would be dressed in matching outfits, a Disney character hat or headband and often sparkles or stars on their faces. Disney is very popular in Japan, so Disney clothes, charms, and other memorabilia can be seen all over Japan!

Our next port of call was Mysterious Island which includes Mount Prometheus, a huge volcano which is a centerpiece of the park. It occasionally spews fire and billows smoke.

We rode 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea which transported us to the world of Captain Nemo. There are really cool submarines to ride in that take you through the Lost civilization of Atlantis including some very interesting “aliens” with crystals.

While in the Mysterious Island area we also rode “Journey to the Center of the Earth”. We took Terravators down to mining cars that we boarded to ride down to the earth’s center. On our journey we encountered glowing crystals, strange creatures and a surprise roller coaster ride through the volcano. It was a lot of fun!

Our next port of call was Mermaid Island. “The Little Mermaid” movie has always been a favorite of both girls when they were little, so it was fun to enter Triton’s Kingdom. There are all kinds of cute rides for smaller children, shops and a variety of food. We enjoyed the show “ Triton’s Concert” which included 2 impressive puppeteers for Flounder and Sebastian the crab. Ariel was “swimming” above the crowd as a trapeze artist. Her sisters each appeared in their own screen during the concert and King Triton was a huge animated merman. It was a lively and entertaining show!

It was getting near lunchtime, so we decided to eat at Sailing Day Buffet in the American Waterfront area. The buffet had a nice variety of both American and Japanese cuisine including meat, salad bar, dessert bar and drinks. You are given a 90 minute time period to eat and enjoy the atmosphere. We liked the food and spent about the same as what we would have spent on food here and there throughout the park.

Bethany suggested that we try for a lottery to see the show “Big Band Beat” You put your entry ticket in a machine and you can get assigned seats to the show. We were really fortunate and got seats in the 5th row! Big Band Beat has an amazing theater and the show features a live 40’s Big Band including trumpets, trombones, saxes, drums, bass and piano. There were also singers and dancers. The performers were amazing and the music was fantastic! We were especially impressed with two of the guys dancing. They were ultra talented and kept the audience on the edge of their seats. I highly recommend seeing Big Band Beat if you go to Disney Sea.

Another great show that I love is “The Table is Waiting”! In the show, the Mickey, Minnie and friends have just returned from a world cruise and the stage is a huge table. The show takes you on a whirlwind dining adventure of foods from around the world including the good old American cheeseburger! Luminere is the host! My favorite part of the show is “Bento” which features Goofy dressed in traditional Japanese clothes and dancing with various Japanese food that can be found in a bento, or Japanese lunch box. The show is very cute for any age!

Tanabata is a festival held in Japan on July 7th. It celebrates two star crossed sweethearts that can only meet on the night of July 7th. There was a show on the water near Mt. Prometheus featuring Mickey and Minnie singing and dancing about Tanabata. The theme of the show was hoping your wishes can come true! I bought a Mickey and Minnie Tanabata doll so I could show my students at school the Tanabata outfits.

It rained briefly that day which is no surprise since June is the rainy season. Fortunately it wasn’t enough to close down the whole park or cancel the big “Fantasmic Show” at 7 p.m. We reserved our spot on the ground near the show about an hour before it started. I was very impressed to see how everyone calmly sat on the ground and formed even rows. The children were well-behaved and everyone followed directions so the show could easily be watched by all in that area.

Most of the outside shows take place by Mt. Prometheus on the Mediterranean Habor. There are three boats that motor around with lot of the Disney characters dancing and singing. It’s a great way for a huge crowd to see the show. The music, costumes and show were fantastic! The show was based on Fantasia with Mickey Mouse on top of a huge Sorceror’s hat that lit up and displayed other Disney characters and scenes from several movies including a fire breathing dragon. The grand finale was a brilliant fireworks display that ended with fire spewing from Mt. Prometheus and the giant Sorcerer’s hat lit in Blue with white stars! WOW!!

Fifteen minutes later, there was another fireworks display to celebrate the 15 year anniversary of Disney Sea. After that most people with children started to leave the park.

We road “20,000 Leagues Under the sea” again with no wait and then went to the Arabian Coast to ride “Sinbad’s Storybook Voyage”. The city of Agrabah was amazing and felt as if we were in the movie “Aladdin”. The ride took you through Sinbad’s many journeys and adventures. It was a great way to end a busy day at Disney.

We got back on the Disney train and headed back to Tokyo when the park closed at 10 p.m. It was a long and fun day!