We like to share ideas/knowledge/hacks

If you have read any of my previous post, I recently returned from Japan. Initially Tokyo Disney Sea (TDS) wasn't part of our plans however we changed our plans to squeeze it in. This last minute alteration came about when we started regretting not visiting Universal Studio Japan (USJ) during our stay in Osaka.

Buying a ticket to Disney Land doesn't mean you are required/expected to go on every ride in the park. Truth be told that is probably impossible unless you get a multi-day ticket. The cost of the ticket is worth every penny just to go in and take a photo with Mickey and his friends. There are also shows you can watch like Fantasmic! and Big Band Beat in TDS for visitors of any age. Every little detail of Disney Land was designed and built to bring you into a magical world like walking through a movie set. There are shows to watch t. From my experience in HKDL the food is exceptional and you would wish you can afford to buy EVERYTHING from the gift shop.

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When we were discussing our trip I was one of them who voted NOT to go to any theme parks; I've been to Universal Studio Singapore (USS) in summer (well its hot in Singapore all year round) and Hong Kong Disney Land (HKDL) also in summer. GUESS WHAT! The experience sucks big time! Going to a fairly outdoorsy theme park when the sun is hottest whilst queuing for 60-90+ minutes any rides is definitely not a good feeling or way to spend time during holidays. I didn't even stayed for the fireworks finale at night because we were so tired out.

I really feel that my visit to TDS was somehow fated. Tokyo was our last city in our tour and we had to catch the bus from Kawaguchiko to Shinjuku, funny enough the bus to Shinjuku was fully booked out and the alternative was to Shibuya instead. Guess what! There is a Disney store in Shibuya which we can get our tickets from!

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We had to choose between TDS and Tokyo Disney Land (TDL) because only had 2 days left in Japan and I couldn't justify spending all my remaining time in Japan in a magical world. I chose TDS since Tokyo is the only country in the world with Disney Sea and I have been to HKDL before so I shouldn't be missing out on much.

I started to read tourist blogs of people whom have visited the park and what their advise was, what to do first or what to eat etc. Don't you laugh! You need a strategy if you intend to get your moneys worth of a full day at any theme park. After reading a few blogs; I used the most information from Disney Tourist Blog. The only advise from me IF you intend to read his blog is that (I guess) he is American and he has access to Disney Land in US quite easily unlike me where I have to fly to another country to this.

The only thing I had to get my head around is how the FASTPASS system works. OK hear me out before you go WTF. I am sure you are thinking what do you mean you don't know how FASTPASS work since I have been to HKDL. I am laughing at myself now because I just Google'd HKDL park map and realise that they have FASTPASS system as well and guess what I DIDN'T KNOW and we didn't use any of them. WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!

OK back to how FASTPASS system work. The best way to explain FASTPASS = rain check. You don't have to pay extra, everyone that has a valid ticket to the park have FASTPASS enabled. There are only a handful of rides in TDS, they are marked with a FP logo.


So what do I mean by rain check? If you arrive at "Radiator Springs Racers" and the standby wait time is 70 minutes (every ride has a clock at its entrance to tell you how long the wait time is) and the ride is FP enabled; you can then scan your ticket at the FP machine to get a "come back later at this xx time" receipt.  A sample below:

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So rather than wait 70 minutes for Radiator Springs Racers you can come back later at the prescribed time and queue for something else with a shorter wait or grab a bite to eat.

I was determine to conquer all FP rides of TDS within the 1 day however when we arrived at Maihama JR station and saw a big sign; "Disney Sea closed at 6pm today!" I WAS LIKE WTF! Before I get your blood boiling too hot for my sake, it actually worked out well for us.


As we were waiting for the park to open I was handed a slip. The slip apologies for the early closure of TDS but we could crossover to TDL for an addition ¥2000. I wasn't as joyous as I should be initially but at the end of the day I sure was so happy about this! From the pic above there was a lot of people in front of us at the starting line but from what I've learnt it could have been a whole lot worst.

Due to the not that great weather in the morning and TDS closing at 6pm, I believe a lot of visitors chose to boycott visiting TDS that day and this worked out really really really extremely brilliantly well for us. The longest queue we waited was Toy Story Mania which was 40 minutes so we FP that ride and everything else was only a 10-15 minute wait; furthermore FP system for those enabled rides were closed! I threw my entire strategy into the bin and finish almost all FP enabled rides before 1pm.

We had so much time left I went on Toy Story Mania and House of Terror twice and that costed me a few hours. After completing our shopping at the gift store we cross over to TDL at 6+ pm.

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My favourite ride in TDS is Toy Story Mania, it is the lamest ride but I enjoyed it the most. If you are bringing your parents or anyone that has no interest in going on rides please ensure you make use of their ticket for FAST PASS to this ride.


The second ride that I enjoyed the most was Venetian Gondolas. The mood of the ride was relaxing and qoute from James "The Gondolas feature a rower and a "guide" who presumably narrates your voyage around italy ("presumably" because I didn't understand what he was saying). This includes singing in Italian with a thick Japanese accent which is exactly as amazing as it sounds."

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In my opinion all the water rides in Disney Sea is a must. The venetian gondolas is definitely one of them and you should board Disney Sea Transit Steamer Line just to circle around the park on water.

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My favourite theme within the park is Arabian Coast (World of Aladdin).

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My favourite food outlet is at New York Deli (Breakfast). I didn't have time to try them all, the 2nd place I went to was Zambini Brothers' Ristorante (Lunch) which was a thumbs down for me. We didn't have time for dinner since the park was closing early.

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The two things that you have to buy from the entire Disney Sea merchandise are:

Popcorn Bucket	Disney Character Hats

I did not see any of these Disney Character Hats when I was in HKDL, it appears to be a Tokyo Disney only type merchandise.

My gf got me this for my glasses. There is never NOTHING to buy from the gift shop. The only limit is your credit card.


In the end we finish the night in TDL, we caught a firework display but miss out on the grand finale whilst eating dinner at Tomorrowland's Plaza restaurant. I love this picture from my iPhone 6s+


I simply didn't have anymore energy to explore TDL. We managed to go on Monsters Inc (similar to Toy Story Mania but without points) and Star Tours (Star Wars simulator similar to Storm Rider; both equally shit). I was quite excited when I saw Pirates of the Carribean on the map but unfortunately it was closed for maintenance. Oh well...can't win them all! There is always next time.

One last thing I've learnt from all my research, please check the Tokyo Disney Resort crowd calendar to decide which days in your trip to visit the Parks. Might save you 30 minutes wait to eat ride!