Disney Sea

When our friends suggested taking a trip to Disney Sea, we scoffted at the idea.  Disney, that's for kids!  But boy, were we wrong!  Disney is the happiest place on Earth -- and for good reason too!  Disney Sea is especially nice; it's the newest Disney theme park here (opened in 2001) and is a little more geared towards adults.  They even sell liquor!  According to Wikipedia, it's also the most expensive theme park ever built (estimated to cost the US over $4 billion)!  Also, Disney Sea is run by Oriental Land Co., not Disney itself.  We figured it'd be fun to check out an old friend in a new country anyway.

DisneySea is arranged into seven "ports of call."  Each one has its own theme and its own rides. You'll see in my pictures how remarkably clean DisneySea is.    

For those of you who have never played hooky, I highly recommend it.  We came on a Thursday, and Japanese students have just started their semesters, so most of them were reluctant to play hooky so soon.  Really, the park belonged to us.  We walked into every ride we wanted to ride, and did several of them multiple times.  The lines were non-existent, even for bathrooms and food.  The weather was gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky -- and a full moon by night.  It truly is a happy place; you watch everyone walk by decked out in their Disney gear and you can't help but smile.  :)

This is me in front of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  A fun ride, but more for its concept than for the thrill.  We did it twice anyway.

I'm wearing a frog hat here.  I don't know what it's from.

This sums up the day pretty well.  Japanese people are obsessed with Disney.  I mean, obsessed.  Everyone wears Disney clothing when they come out here.  Almost 80% of the women had on Minnie ears, or a Minnie bow, or often Marie ears (from the Aristocats).  Heck, I've never even heard of Marie of the Aristocats!  Also, everyone has a souvenir popcorn bucket that they hang around their necks, along with the Disney bottle holder.

Tower of Terror -- the freefall ride.  The one ride I declined.  I hate freefalls.

Port Discovery -- they had StormRider here.

American Waterfront -- that's the SS Columbia you see there.

Venetian gondolas at Mediterranean Harbor

BraviSEAmo -- their nighttime show.  Truly spectacular, a combination of fire and water.  It's hard to explain the magnitude of this show unless you see it, but they basically set the whole lake on fire.  

I'll take this time to advertise the Disney shows.  I like the way Disney doesn't just focus on rides.  Their rides aren't really thrill-seeking, the way Six Flags rides are.  Their rides are themed and very detail-oriented.  They also have fantastic shows here.  We went to every show that we wanted to see, because the lines were so short!  Our favorite was definitely "Big Band Beat," which was a jazzy number (in English).  They had a real band and great jazz singers and dancers.  It almost felt like being on Broadway.  

All this, for $58!  You get rides and shows and fun galore.  You can't really complain!

I'm going to have another post just on Disney food, which was pretty fantastic as well.  ;)