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Tokyo Travels Day 4: Tokyo DisneySEA

TMH

Jul 10, 2012
40
16
SoCal
So some of you may remember this. I started this trip report nearly 6 months ago. Actually possibly exactly 6 months ago. Somewhere around there. It was an epic trip report. The TDR trip report to end all trip reports. Unfortunately the pages took forever to load sine each section contained about 50 pictures. I tried loading the old thread today and it brought my computer down to a crawl. So this time, I'm doing less pictures (and hopefully you'll help combat slow loading by commenting so there's less pictures per page.

So now, I give you day 4! I skipped a couple days (which I may come back to later) because I want to at least finish this report before my next trip this summer!

Ok. Yay. Let's go.

Day 4: July 21, 2013 (MY BIRTHDAY)
Tokyo DisneySea

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Wow would you look at those crowds! Insane, right? Well it doesn't matter because we're at :ears: Tokyo DisneySea :ears:

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Here's a handy map of the entry area. Do you see where I am on the map?

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My mom told one of the security people there it was my birthday and they made me my most treasured sticker ever, sans the fruit covering my last name. The sticker doesn't lie. It was my happiest birthday, obviously. :)

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I creeped up about 20 minutes before the park opened to the front of the line to capture the calm before the storm. So serine...

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I dashed to Tower of Terror to grab FastPasses before joining my mom and brother at Journey and stopped to enjoy this lovely view.

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Can you guess where we headed after Journey?

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That's right! We headed straight for the Lost River Delta Restrooms of Peril after riding Indy I think. Anyways, now you truly have all the material you need to construct your own visit to the best theme park in the world in your dreams!


- - - Updated - - -

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So after trekking all the way to the back of the park, it was already about time to head back to American Waterfront to use our TOT Fastpasses. We walked to Port Discovery and then took the Electric Railway the rest of the way.

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The line for this transportation ride was classier than the Little Mermaid queue at DCA. I wouldn't have even minded waiting in it, if there actually was a line...

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While on the Electric Railway, you pass backstage behind Cape Cod. However, you can't tell it's backstage. The buildings off stage visible only for a few seconds on a minor transportation ride are just as detailed as their facades. Think about the views you get riding from Main Street Station to New Orleans Square Station on the DLRR for comparison.

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You get a stunning view of American Waterfront, too.

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I felt obligated to document the sign because it was COMPLETELY in English. I felt so special that, despite being in a Japanese theme park, there were details that only English speakers could pick up. :p

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We SOMEHOW got my mom on Tower of Terror. We've always tried to get her on the DCA version, but she hates heights. We managed to convince her this was different somehow. Anyways, once the doors opened at the top of the tower to reveal the view, and your height, she turns to me, pale as a ghost, grabs my hand, and says "David, I'm going to die." It was actually really funny. In the on ride picture she looks so serious and focused on surviving.

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Classy bathrooms of TDS part 2.

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The latest addition to TDS. We didn't ride TSMM, the line was way too long, but we checked the area out. It was nicely themed. There were fun interactive elements around the area, like mirrors and bizarre games of skill (free).

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Let's take a short break from color...

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Step right up!

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What does this look like? Just a random cargo area? Wrong! It was actually a seating area for a little snack stand near by. It was just crammed on this small pier. You could so easily miss it between everything else going on.

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What'll those Imagineers think of next! (Club 33-->Pier 33)

More Soon-ish! :ears:
 
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Thank you so much for the replies! They keep me going; sifting through the thousands of pictures can get time consuming.


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So remember that random dock from the last post? If you walk to the end, you get a pretty nice view.

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We headed from big city America to small town New England. This sign was very Kawaii, and the store was home to...

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DUFFY!

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You could go up the the lighthouse for a scenic overlook.

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The extra elevation gave you a lovely panorama of Cape Cod.

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We also spotted members of the Cult of Duffy! Dressing up as Duffy would definitely be strange in America, but we, dressed in normal, non Disney attire, were definitely outnumbered! It seemed like every teenage girl was dressed up as Duffy, I'm not kidding.

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Despite running on the "wet" mode, we decided to do Aquatopia next. Basically, as you can see in this picture, the wet mode dumps a ton of water on you. Unlike Splash Mountain, there's no escaping it. It's like someone just spraying you with a hose.

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"GET WET!" (as the sign at the bottom of the picture reads)

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Now, like all the Japanese locals, we brought our umbrellas with us at all time to protect us from the sun and the possible rain. Now, my smart brother decided to take the umbrella with him onto Aquatopia. Towards the end of the ride, your vehicle creeps up in front of this waterfall, and then a huge fountain comes up from over it and drenches you with her. Right before we were going to be sprayed, my brother extracted the umbrella and shielded us from the torrent! You can see how wet the people in the picture are getting!... But we wouldn't stand for it.

On a side note, the ride has loads on the two sides of the station and then splits off into two paths each, so there's a grand total of four possible layouts.


More very soon. :)
 
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I could never get sick of the big reveal when entering Mysterious Island from any of the tunnels.

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The whole land is very raw and intense.

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I will also never get sick of Journey to the Center of the Earth.

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We then headed to VULCANIA which immediately became my favorite Disney restaurant ever.

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The backstory: Heated steam from deep within the Earth's core rises to the surface under great pressure. It provides an infinite source of energy that powers the entire island. It is even used to cook the food we eat.

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The restaurant serves Chinese food. That means we were eating Chinese food in an American theme park in Japan. Yup. We are quite cultured.

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It was dark and difficult to get a good pictures. Pictures DO NOT do it to justice. It is truly the most elaborately themed restaurant in the world. It was like dining inside a ride. The rock work was spectacular. It wasn't just a cookie cutter cave. It had character; evidence of drills and man's attempt to dominate nature. Fantastic.

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The food was delicious. We got Chinese fried chicken or something like that... I'm not a very good food photographer.

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Once again I found myself alone in a bathroom, so of course I had to document it!

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We headed down to the Nautilus Gallery to check out the other place to eat at Mysterious Island...

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...Allowing us to get up close and personal with it.
COMING UP NEXT: LEONARDO'S CHALLENGE (FROM HELL)

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Yup.

If you enjoyed this update please leave a comment. :)
 
Thanks for your enthusiasm! :)

LEONARDO'S CHALLENGE

Tokyo DisneySEA has a secret attraction. You've probably never heard of it. It's called Leonardo's Challenge, and it's offered only in Japanese.

Basically, it's like Kim Possible's Challenge at EPCOT but 100 times better since it's in Tokyo DisneySea. The attraction is a part of Forstress Exploration. We saw people lining up near a secret door at Forstress Exploration and tried to find out what was going on. The cast member politely explained to us that it was for "Leonardo's Challenge," an experience only offered in Japanese. She handed us an official looking card warning us it would be VERY difficult for foreigners because basically there's no way we'd have any idea what was going on. We tried anyways...

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The beginning of your challenge starts through a small wooden door located to the left of this shot. It leads to a secret room where some old guy's portrait comes alive and starts explaining the challenge, in Japanese naturally (but with no subtitles). All I remembered was at the end, an animation showed the volcano exploding.

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After the little pre-show, each group was handed a large map. As you can see, it was rather tricky to decipher. Well, nearly impossible actually. This whole challenge was the most confusing part of the trip, worst than any subway trip!

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We wandered around and saw someone using a printing press thingy to stamp their map. They looked like they knew what they were doing so we followed. After seeing us do this, one of the employees quickly went over to us and explained we were doing it wrong. Turns out, there are different versions of the challenge, so we couldn't just follow other people. She gave us a new map and explained how to play. We understood... sort of.

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I think we actually figured it out, but I forget now. Anyways, we wandered up to the upper level.

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The park just spills out into the ocean.

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This was one scene for the challenge. You can see the stamp-thingy in the bottom right hand corner.

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There was a clue somewhere in this ornate wall...

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Finally, over an hour later we made it to the final tower. We put our map in, and some Japanese voiceover came over and nothing happened. I think he was telling us we still did it wrong. Another group came in and we watched as they tried. Sure enough, a more excited spiel started playing. Lava started to flow up the hole in the middle and they had to pump this lever to get the pipes to close. They didn't close it in time and... suddenly we heard a huge boom! We looked up and the volcano had ACTUALLY exploded. All as a result of some guests being able to close the gates in time. Now that's interactive. I NEVER realized guests actually caused the volcano to explode.

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Anyway, we still enjoyed the video of the beautiful Italian village.

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They give you these awesome pamphlets explaining S.E.A. anywhere in the Fortress.

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There're also plenty of snazzy maps.

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More soon...
Thanks for reading!
 
I'm glad you're enjoying because I have a lot more pictures... ;)

Arabian Coast

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After exhausting ourselves with Leonardo's Challenge we headed to Arabian Coast to enjoy Sinbad's Voyage a couple times. But first, we spent some time wandering through Arabian Coast to absorb the details.

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It may have been my favorite area of the park. Then again, I think that about every area after reliving it. With its highly detailed alleyways, unique shops and restaurants, and slow moving boat ride, it is the New Orleans Square of Tokyo DisneySea.

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The center courtyard with the Caravan Carousel (fantastic name) is sunken about 15 feet below where you enter.

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From ground level (the detail on that lamp is exquisite btw).

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Sandwiched between the carousel courtyard and Sinbad is a web of highly detailed alleys. Here's the view back.

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And here's the view forward, into the alleys.

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It's like a fully built out Morocco pavilion (not coincidentally my favorite "country" in World Showcase).

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Another slightly zoomed-in view.

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I remember distinctly walking through the Souq in the old city in Jerusalem... It was pretty cool except all the incense made me sick. This was like that. But I didn't feel like I was going to vomit. Random side note: whenever I smell curry now, if I close my eyes I'm taken back to Arabian Coast.

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More vignettes, just laying around.

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Like a fractal, there's just more and more details the more you zoom in...

More later on tonight! Happy Friday!
 
I love the sudden influx of Japanese PTR's we're getting. Knowing we have world travelers in our ranks adds a certain level of class to this site. :cheers: Keep it up!
 
Glad to make my favorite theme park discussion forum a little classier. :thumbs:

Arabian Coast Continued

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The maze of paths opens up again towards Sinbad.

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Sultan's Oasis.

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Some lovely spires.

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I think Sinbad had a 10 minute wait, which was pretty long for it. When we got off it though, it was back down to a 5 minute wait (really a walk on).

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I had a chance to document some parts of the queue. The main portion is very short. Just one switchback. Although if you look left when you enter you see this huge extended queue. Originally it was meant for Sinbad, but now it is used for the spinner. The spinner also took up a good chunk of the extended queue. There used to be enough line for a three hour wait probably...

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It's lightly themed. Kind of like Pirates. Just a corridor with some posters.

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A map of our journey.

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The only picture I took during the two consecutive rides. It's such an enjoyable ride. Just warms my heart whenever I hear the Compass of your Heart music. :blush:

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Leaving Arabian Coast...

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And onto our next destination!

More soon. :)
 
Great photos of my favorite place on earth. I never, ever get tired of seeing new pics of TDS even though i've been there twice.

I do think you stole my picture, though, the idea for the photo of the sundial in front of the volcano :p

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