Tokyo DisneySea was my first visit to a Disney park outside of the U.S. I didn’t know what to expect. However, I was happy to experience the Disney magic outside of its original home. Keep reading to see what I thought of the park.

Is Tokyo DisneySea the same as Tokyo Disneyland?

Tokyo DisneySea is a completely different park from Tokyo Disneyland.  Tokyo Disneyland is closer to your traditional Disneyland or Disney World park.

On the other hand, Tokyo DisneySea is a unique park and the only one of its kind in the world. It’s based on coastlines and ports of different countries and regions. It’s also the largest Disney park in the world.

Tickets

There are half day tickets that allow you to pay a lower rate when you go to the park only in the afternoon instead of the whole day. I purchased these half day tickets. It would have been nice to have had more time to see the park during daylight hours. However, I still enjoyed my time. 

If I was to go back to Tokyo DisneySea, and I believe I will, I would purchase the full day ticket. This would allow for more time to explore the park and experience the warmer weather longer. It became very cold in the park once the sun went down. 

Getting there

Tokyo DisneySea is actually located outside of Tokyo in the Chiba Prefecture of Japan. However, it is only about 30 minutes away by train.

There is a special Disney resort train line. The train is Disney-themed and allows you to experience that so-called “Disney Magic” before you even get to the park.

The Eight Ports of Call

There are eight ports in total. All are “inspired by myths and legends of the sea.” Since I purchased the half day ticket, I did not have time to see all of these areas. The ports include the Mediterranean Harbor, the American Waterfront, Port Discovery, Lost River Delta, Fantasy Springs, Arabian Coast, Mermaid Lagoon and Mysterious Island. I will go into more detail of the ones I did actually visit and what I did there.

One of the first places I visited was the Mediterranean Harbor. This included the Venetian Gondola ride. This is a must-visit to any Tokyo DisneySea trip. It was a nice calm relaxing ride. You are able to go out into the main harbor and see a lot of the other areas during this ride.

It was time to eat lunch, so we headed towards the Arabian Coast. On the way from the Mediterranean Harbor to the Arabian Coast, we passed the Mermaid Lagoon. It had a lot of children’s rides, and the area was very cute. The area had a lot of mermaid-themed sculptures to look at.

My sister and I had decided on the Casbah Food Court for lunch. It was located inside the Arabian Coast port of call.  

I love Middle Eastern architecture, so I thoroughly enjoyed walking around the Arabian Coast area. A lot of it looked like it was taken from the set of the movie Aladdin. My one disappointment was the gift shop in this area. They had a lot of items for purchase that referenced other areas of the park. I would have preferred it if they sold things that had to do with that specific port of call.

My sister rode the Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull in the Lost River Delta port of call. Unfortunately, the delicious food from the Casbah Food Court did not sit well with me and I did not go on many rides.

It worked out for my sister though, because she was able to use the single rider option to skip waiting in a long line. It was a nice surprise. Keep in mind though, that the single rider option is not available for all rides.

The prettiest part of the park in my opinion was the Fantasy Springs area. This included rides from the movies Frozen and Rapunzel. There was also a large Fantasy Springs Hotel. It was beautiful and featured a gift shop on the first floor.

The Food

The main menu item at the Casbah Food Court was Japanese curry. The curry came with naan bread and rice. The food was very good.

Visiting the park during the Food & Wine Festival was an added bonus. My sister and I each chose special menu items from the festival. She had the Muscat Grape Mousse Cake and the Butterfly Pea & Lemon Lassi drink. I tried the Tandoori Chicken with Cheese Sauce. We were both satisfied with what we chose.

Tokyo DisneySea has lots of different snacks for purchase all throughout the park. Popular items include popcorn and churros. Unfortunately, due to my stomach issues I didn’t try much outside of what I had for lunch. If you visit Tokyo DisneySea try the unique popcorn and churro flavors. I heard the curry flavored churros are very good.

The Park Atmosphere

When I saw the forecast was 84° F/ 28° C I had no idea that I would be freezing by the end of the night. It may be the fact that everything was on the water. I’m not sure, but by the end of the night when the sun went down, I was freezing. I searched every gift shop trying to buy a sweatshirt. I finally just ended up buying a T-shirt so I wouldn’t catch pneumonia. That extra layer saved me.

Also, it was hard to see around the park after sundown. The park was not well-lit. It was difficult to find where we were, or where we wanted to go, even with the map and the park app. Tokyo DisneySea needs to add more lights all throughout the park.

This means that even in the Summertime you will need to wear layers at Tokyo DisneySea. It doesn’t matter what the forecast says. The park becomes bitterly cold after sundown, even when the forecast says otherwise.

If you are on the fence about visiting Tokyo DisneySea, definitely visit the park. It is a unique experience, different from any other Disney park in the world.