Tokyo Disneysea - My Childhood Dream Come True xD

I never thought I'd be so excited going to a theme park at 22 years of age.

It started when I was researching on what I should be doing at the park - I mean, we knew that we were going to spend a whole lot of time inside; we knew we should be at Disneysea and we knew that the theme park was going to be expensive. 

But we didn't know what to do, where to go, what NOT to do and what we wanted...

And after my hours of research, discussion and planning/briefing altogether, I bring you a thorough guide based on my *own* expectations of the following:

• The prep work - planning the day to hit the park, how to get tickets, which park to go, what to bring, what NOT to bring
• The directions - how to get there, what time to reach
• Inside the park - a ride strategy + fastpass guide, a teensy food guide, show timings

Details after the jump!

Prep Work

Step 1: Find out which park you're interested in

In general, young adults opt for Disneysea for more thrilling (in relative sense, after you get there you will understand what I mean) rides. I have never been to Disneyland but I am a fan of Rapunzel and Marie so I'm not sure how that works out for me. :( 

But I managed to find Marie in Disneysea!!! So it wasn't so bad after all! 

Yeah I know, pics or it didn't happen so here!

Not a very flattering picture but I didn't have much time with her :(

Step 2: Find out what dates/days you can make

This should really be a no-brainer, pick weekdays over weekends, pick non-peak days over peak-days (during holidays). It should be a rule of thumb when choosing holiday dates! I know it doesn't look it here, but it was sweltering hot on the days we were first in Tokyo (this was our 2nd day).

But I have two pieces of good news for you! 

#1 We went to a theme park on a school holiday (read: Peak, Crowds, Summer, ABORT MISSION, expressions of HORROR)

But we survived, quite handsomely (rode all the rides we wanted, went to two shows) I might add! So if we can do it, you can too! 

How did we do it? Read the part on ride strategies to find out!

#2 A mythical piece of technology called the CROWD CALENDAR exists

That my friends might be the pinnacle of useful technology aside from mobile phones (I apologise for my hyperbolic exaggerations), but yes, it was a godsend.

Find it here! 

Here's a screencap of the site!

Now, it's in English so if you've survived the post thus far, it shouldn't be a problem for you! Choose between Land, Sea and Events, self-explanatory 'Danger' colours of red = please reconsider!

If you think you can outrun the savvy Japanese families who are there for the 20th time because of they've got a family/year-pass and they are just there to soak in the atmosphere for the Halloween event or Christmas decorations, you are TERRIBLY WRONG. Hours of research, personal experience have told me that typical families have a map and are so organised that they have their own roles, they plan their next rides/day's activities in queues, bring sufficient entertainment. They have the benefit of 0 language barrier and communication devices at their disposal so, do yourself a favour and avoid the peak periods!

Step 3: Getting your tickets!

The good news is... you can get your tickets online!

The bad news is... it's an e-ticket and doesn't feel as perfect as a souvenir/keepsake because it gets wrecked during the day.

But it is still very well-designed!

This was my real e-ticket!!!

Yes, you still get to keep it forever... electronically! This ticket is really important for you when you get into the park for FASTPASSES! It's a concept that I will explain later on. 

Moving on, the design of the e-ticket varies across the year but mostly ties in with the current event at Disneysea! During our visit, Minnie's Tropical Fruit Splash was the afternoon show and it was their Summer Festival Period!

If you've decided when you'd like to go and visit the theme park, get your tickets on the Tokyo Disneysea webpage! It is a pretty fuss-free process and I urge you to use an e-ticket to secure your entrance to the park on the day you planned to. I have heard of the park refusing to admit anymore people during a peak season and this was one of the reasons why I chose to purchase them online for our visit!

Step 4: What to bring and what not to

I'll go straight to the point here, while you can stow your backpacks and luggages, as a tourist it is really really difficult to decide what to bring while remaining light on foot and shoulders. It will be a long and painful day unless you make doubly sure you're not in excess/lacking of personal items!

• Water bottles with water
• Backpack large enough to fit your own water bottle
• Umbrella/Poncho (if rainy season/if you're game enough for shows)
• Tissue/Towel to freshen up
• Bento/Onigiri/Snacks/Sandwiches etc.
• Hair tie for girls with long hair
• Camera + extra battery, total standby battery life should not be below 8 hours.
• Entertainment like Kindle, Nintendo DS, PS Vita, Mobile Phone with a power bank, etc.
• Money

It would largely depend on the season for clothes to wear, but I recommend sneakers, as slippers are frowned upon in Japan or great walking shoes because you will be walking like you've never done before. 

Even though there are many things available like water, snacks and food, if you would rather save some money, bring your own! We stopped by convenience stores before we headed to the theme park to get our day's worth of food. Sandwiches, Onigiris, Biscuits, Tamago. Everyone bought what they liked so we didn't have to go into the table-service restaurants more than once. There are ample push carts for snacks in different lands available and I will post on the ones that I have tried later!

Bring a camera to record down what you've done! Surely, you'd want to treasure the moments you have had, I know I did! And I'm lucky to have snapped pictures of many things for remembrance, because my memory will surely fade. If you intend to spend a long time in the park, there are just so many shots to take and so many things to see, not capturing them would be a pity.

Bring your own entertainment because there will be times when you will need to queue for an extended period of time, and no one can talk for hours on end! 

However, if you do have tons of spare cash, you can skip bringing all of that and concentrate on just bringing all the money you intend to blow here. Everything in the above list can be bought (except a good enough camera/entertainment but then you can buy all the ride shots/play with your mobile phone(?) anyway so no loss.)

And you can become one of the Japanese girls below, with bows in their hair, popcorn buckets (unlimited refills cheaper in the long run) and also soft toys of different sizes!

Pic taken from where-to-next.com, belongs to original uploader!

Do not bring:

• Fragile items or leaky bottles, most rides allow your bag to stay with you but if you want something fun and thrilling, your stuff can't sit with you :( Bring your camera bag to stow your camera safely!!
• Spectacles, wear contact lenses if you can
• Sharp objects, there is a bag check
• Tripod (Bulky, inconvenient)

In general, do not wear anything you'll regret like heels or long-sleeved shirts (during summer), because it can get hot and stuffy in queues and also too much walking. If your significant other or you are willing to take turns carrying a shared bag, I don't see why you shouldn't share bags! It's a great idea.

This concludes the first post! I can't say I didn't know it was going to be so long, but for simplicity's sake, I'll split them into three! I will update this post and put the links down below when I'm done with the other two!

Part 2 - Where is it?
Part 3 - How to Disneysea like a pro!

xx wj