We should preface this post with the fact that theme parks aren’t really our thing. M isn’t really into rides and, personally, I vary between feeling ill/scared, overwhelmed by crowds and being in awe of the magic. But, for the kids, we felt we needed to do one of the three big ones in Japan. We decided on DisneySea as it’s the only Sea one in the world.

Looking online you get a lot of very hard core Disney folks who get there at least an hour before opening and spend multiple days at the park. We had one day, kids who don’t like getting up early and over an hour commute to the park. So, apparently, we were already behind the 8-ball!

We did some online research about the areas, rides and priority/Premier Access passes, which I would recommend, despite it kinda freaking me out 😬 We decided to cut out a whole area – “Fantasy Springs” which only opened last year and was therefore extra popular – so this simplified our plan of attack. (Yes, this is a battle folks!)

Also, this helped rule out some rides for those who don’t like certain things (like heights and big drops) and focus on the rides we might actually enjoy.

You have to give it to Disney though, they have thought of the details and even the train loop to the parks (Disneyland is right next to DisneySea & the hotel) is Disney themed:

The whole park was more walkable than I thought (we did just over 20,000 steps) and the crowds were well managed. There was an app (of course) that had wait times for rides & food which helped. It even had wait times for the nine different flavours of popcorn available around the park – seriously, who waits 30 mins for garlic-shrimp flavoured popcorn?! But then, who buys all these Mickey Mouse ear hats/other stuffed toys on their heads or to sit with… yep, you guessed it: the folks who come to Disneyland! One guy (who we weren’t quick enough to photograph) had sandy blonde hair and a headband with fuzzy bear ears of the same colour so they looked like they were actually his! 😆

We did a few rides, and some twice. There was an Indiana Jones ride which we did that was pretty cool (all in Japanese of course) except for the last bit where it went suddenly down & up (M was 🤢 and me not far behind). Kids loved it though and that was one of the few that had a “single rider” line. Once we did it as a family, we were happy to let the kids do it again in this line – and the best thing about this line is that is super fast. We walked past everyone (see the empty side of the walkway in the pic below), including the priority access folks and waited maybe ten minutes to get on. The kids were extra lucky and got on the ride together!

Some of the rides had 1-2 hour lines on the day we went (which was a not so busy day BTW) which is just crazy. But, this is handled well and the lines move so you feel like you are making progress – even if it’s just because they have opened up another loop for the queue of people to walk around. Plus they have decorated around the lining up areas with things to look at, so you don’t get too bored. Although, even Esti did sometimes sigh at the length of the line – much to the amusement of the “cast members” (not staff!).

Outside the rides, the themed worlds were nice to wander and sometimes you came across their characters. (We didn’t go to any of the parades or shows – if you were there for multiple days then you’d probably go to some.)

M caught the night time light show as the rest if us were lining up for another ride (often the lines are shorter at that time as most folks head to watch the show, but it didn’t really work for us).

The food was average but not too expensive. Think Japanese trying to do different culture’s food but on a budget and with time pressure.

Overall, it was an experience and the kids really enjoyed it – they are keen to go again in Paris! The adults are not so sure – we shall see what happens when we reach Europe.