Nic
Strata Poster
Day 6 - Thursday 12th September
With a reputation for being one of, if not the, best themed parks on the planet, DisneySea was definitely one of the most anticipated parks of the trip.
We made the trek across town once again and arrived at Maihama. Unlike DisneyLand, DisneySea cannot be reached by foot - the only way to get there is by the Disney Resort Line. This takes the place of the monorail at other resorts. However, due to some crazy rule, they apparently "have to" charge for each journey taken. The train runs on a loop stopping near the train station, DisneyLand, the hotels, then DisneySea before returning back to the station. Each journey costs 250 yen (Just under £1.70) no matter how far round the loop you travel. Therefore, the round trip from the station to the park and back will set you back 500 yen.
Initially, the entrance is underwhelming. You're greeted with the usual fare of tree-lined concrete plaza full of queues. Unlike its sister park, the queues to actually buy tickets here are very short indeed. Presumably most people choose to use the first day of their tickets at the other park, meaning it may be a good option to do Sea first if you plan to pay/collect on the gate and want to beat the queues.
Once the gates open and you head into the entrance plaza, you're greeted with a giant globe. It's a bit too much like Universal's signature entrance for my liking. Oh well.
We headed from there towards the park, and it quickly became apparent that, although the layout was familiarly Disney, this was not like any other park. We walked through the "Main street" area which itself is beautifully themed and built. Again, they had cast members everywhere reminding you to calm down and not run! haha!
As we emerged on the other side, we were greeted by the view that gives the park its reputation. It really is absolutely stunning. The lake with the Mediterranean style buildings surrounding it is somewhat reminiscent of Port Aventura, but is just in a completely different league. The Volcano and fortress buildings overlooking the lake on the other side are imposing yet beautiful. It really doesn't take a lot of imagination at all to completely suspend your disbelief and totally forget that you're actually stood in the middle of a theme park.
Not really having planned a strategy in the same way as for Disney, we decided to head for the bigger rides at the back of the park and work our way forwards. On the way, we got a bit distracted by Aquatopia. This was the park's test of a trackless ride system, but sits in several inches of water, and is surrounded by fountains and other features. Already being boiling hot, we decided to opt for the "Get Wet Version". It's essentially like being on a splash battle, but without the water pistols. We got totally soaked, and it was a fun little ride.
Being an Indiana Jones goon, John was eager to head there first. I loved the one in Cali, so was also looking forward to it. Determined not to miss out on anything, John wanted to join the queue, so we went and grabbed a Raging Spirits fastpass first to make the most of our time. Now, I'm not condoning this behaviour, but the fact is that the fastpass machines there still have override buttons. Occasionally, they're still enabled
Anyway, back to Indie and into the main queue. This was still only short, so after a brief wait in the cool station building (I spotted my first hidden Mickey in the wall, yay!) we were on. This is the same as Cali's, and equally good. Where the main park had disappointed me with an English speaking Johnny Depp, Sea delivered with Japanese Harrison Ford. Lol. I do love that ride.
There was still a short wait before our return time for Raging Spirits, so we wandered round to the Arabian area and rode Sinbad. This is an original ride for DisneySea and as such has divided opinions. The most noticeable thing about it is that every single model of a person or animal is animated. Really well animated too, with modern programmed systems, not just the mechanical cams etc of more traditional dark rides like Small World. This does mean that there's a few less models than other rides, and some scenes do look a little sparse, but its still beautiful. The ride also goes on forever. Whilst its not going on the list of my all time favourites, I do approve.
We headed back to Raging Spirits and went straight into the fastpass queue. We pretty much walked straight onto the ride, and into the front row. The theming around it really does add to the experience and makes it a really fun little coaster. The smoke effects (how the hell do they manage to make it actually warm?! - Take note Nemesis: Inferno!) were particularly effective. We went to grab a fastpass for Indie before coming back to re-ride it again. Good cred.
Mystic Rhythms was just about to start, so we grabbed some of the tropical Mickey ice lollies (OM NOM NOM NOM!) and rushed over there, not knowing what to expect. This is essentially the park's answer to Cirque Du Soleil with a combination of dance, gymnastics and acrobatics set to live music. Whilst it was pretty spectacular, it was a bit arty-farty and didn't feel very Disney. Good if you like that sort of thing.
We re-rode Indie, then took our places ready for the Skeleton Fiesta. This is a small Halloween parade through the South-American themed area of the park. Whilst all the performers were on foot, the combination of live bands, characters, puppets and dancers made this an entertaining extra.
Here, have some pretty pictures from our walk back across the park...
Having been unsuccessful in the ticket lottery for the show at the main park the day before, we decided not to bother here, and joined the queue for the non-ticketed performance of Big Band Beat. We left it rather late, but squeezed in. It was ok I guess. The band was great, and the singers were alright, but I found the choice of songs a bit odd. The bits with the characters were also a bit cringe, and I wasn't keen on the choice of which ones to include. They basically went for characters that are popular in Japan, rather than ones that actually make sense in the show. That's how you end up with a New Orleans themed show without any mention at all of Tiana or any of the other Princess and the Frog characters. Eugh.
Whilst faffing looking for lunch, we accidentally caught another short skeleton based parade through the New York area. Whilst it was only small, and similar to the one over the other side of the park, this was a cool little surprise. After much faff, we eventually settled on lunch in the NY Deli Sandwich place. It was ok.
We headed out to find a spot to watch The Legend of Mythica. This is DisneySea's signature water pageant show and (aside from the Halloween stuff) takes the place of a main parade. The sun by this point was ridiculous, but the viewing areas were starting to fill and it was hard to tell where would be best. We eventually settled on a spot on the terraces just below the main bridge and struggled to squeeze into any scrap of shade we could find. As its not an advertised viewing platform as such, it seems to be less busy than just about anywhere else. Despite that, it gave a pretty good view overall - probably better than some of the busier spots. The show itself is very good. The floats are spectacular, and there's plenty of effects etc to keep it interesting. Its just a shame that I have no idea what the story was. Ah well, there were lots of pretty things and fire and stuff. Yay.
Not having a clue what to expect, knowing nothing about the ride, we headed over to Journey to the Centre of the Earth. I'd spotted the ride vehicles coming down the side of the volcano outside, and thought it might be a splash ride. John thought it might even be a cred. After a long queue (through a very nicely themed cattle pen), we got inside and eventually worked out we were both very wrong - it's essentially Test Track in a very posh frock. Ok. It starts out like any old dark ride really. I actually thought some of the scenes in there were a bit below-par and dated looking, but others were very good. Before you know it, you're launched at what feels like a fair speed, and find out why the outside drop is always accompanied by screams. It was a good ride, but I wish the first section could get an update, and that the second section was longer.
Considering how late in the day it now was, it's somewhat surprising that we still had one more cred to get. On we went to the Little Mermaid themed section of the park, and rode Flounder's Flying Fish coaster. It's really odd. It also has a really pointless splash effect that you can't see from on the ride, and can barely see from off it. What?!
The indoor section of the area is really nicely themed. There's a ton of little spinny and jumpy things that we couldn't be arsed with.
Gavin had mentioned that the Little Mermaid show was worth a watch, so we headed in not really knowing what to expect. The first surprise was the theatre's seating arrangement - the stage is very small in the middle, with seats all the way around. As the show starts, you soon find out why. The majority of the action takes place in the air with Ariel "swimming" above the audience. The show makes use of some very clever puppets both on the ground, and in the air. Ursula is a particular highlight. We once again got the translation screens, and once again found them pretty distracting. That said, the story didn't quite go the way I expected it, and the ending was somewhat sudden, so I may not have worked out what had just gone on without it (yes, I am a bit thick like that). Good show, definitely worth a watch.
From there we headed back round to the Arabian themed area. Whilst waiting for the Genie show, we couldn't help but notice how immersive the main square is. It's pretty much impossible to see any other part of the park whilst stood there. It's really impressive, especially as the sun goes down and the lights start to come on. The shadows created by the reflections of the fountains are very pretty.
Having found them rather distracting, we decided to do without the translation screens for this, even though it is the only other attraction in the resort that has them available. The show is part 3D video, part live action involving a mixture of well known and original characters. I do feel like this one lacked something from not being able to understand, but I don't think the screens would've helped much as the timing of the jokes would've been lost anyway. It was interesting to see something different done with a well known IP though.
Having picked up one earlier in the day, we used a fastpass to ride Tower of Terror next. Whilst this one uses the same ride system as Paris and Cail, it has a completely original theme and story. The theming in the entrance is not too dissimilar from other versions, although the different theme is apparent. You're eventually batched into a small room where a cast member tells you the back-story (in Japanese, obviously) whilst pointing at a board with some photos and stuff on. This isn't a great start, and I get the feeling that even the people who understood what was being said weren't particularly interested. From there, you go into the pre-show room. This has a legendary effect that, no matter how hard we tried, we could not work out how it is done. That effect is pretty much the only thing of note though in what was a surprisingly short pre-show. You're then spat out back onto the queue for the actual elevators. Usually themed to the hotel's boiler room, here you find yourself amongst storage of a load of historical artifacts. Each batching area for each of the lifts is themed differently, which is a really nice touch. Once you board the lift, there's another subtle difference - 3-point seat belts. Eugh. Really?! The ride itself is the same as ever, and contains a ridiculous amount of airtime on the 2nd drop. I adore it.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed in this version of the ride. I love the different theme, but the fact that it's a hotel really doesn't make any sense to me at all. They'd have done much better to take the whole hotel thing out of the equation, and just have it as a manor house or something. I love the idea of the artefact storage, and the differently themed batching areas, but why does it all exist in a hotel? I just don't get it. Whilst *the* effect in the pre-show is stunningly good, the rest of it is totally lack-lustre.
It was then time to take our places for Fantasmic. Whilst not my favourite show at Cali, it was pretty spectacular. As DisneySea has a new, updated version, I was still very excited to see it. All of the floats moved into position as we took up our places, and preparations were obviously underway. 8pm came and went with still no sign of the show starting. A few minutes later, and an announcement was made in Japanese. The crowd made a huge noise, then people started to move. The show had been cancelled. Whilst this was hugely disappointing, we still had an opportunity to try again the following night, and had only been waiting for about 15 minutes. We'd seen some people camped out 2 hours before, so I can't imagine how annoyed they'd have been.
We'd made the decision earlier in the day to try a table service restaurant for dinner. Not being made of money, we decided on the Italian, as the prices weren't totally obscene, and it's in the Venice themed area which is gorgeous. Opting for an outside table on the edge of the canal, we were seated after a bit of a queue. John had pasta and I had a pizza. The food was good, but not as spectacular as the price-tag warrants. Oh well, what do you expect from a place like that.
That left us with just enough time to queue for Tower of Terror again before the end of the day.
After a look round the tat shops, it was time to head back for a few hours sleep before yet another long day at Disney.
With a reputation for being one of, if not the, best themed parks on the planet, DisneySea was definitely one of the most anticipated parks of the trip.
We made the trek across town once again and arrived at Maihama. Unlike DisneyLand, DisneySea cannot be reached by foot - the only way to get there is by the Disney Resort Line. This takes the place of the monorail at other resorts. However, due to some crazy rule, they apparently "have to" charge for each journey taken. The train runs on a loop stopping near the train station, DisneyLand, the hotels, then DisneySea before returning back to the station. Each journey costs 250 yen (Just under £1.70) no matter how far round the loop you travel. Therefore, the round trip from the station to the park and back will set you back 500 yen.
Initially, the entrance is underwhelming. You're greeted with the usual fare of tree-lined concrete plaza full of queues. Unlike its sister park, the queues to actually buy tickets here are very short indeed. Presumably most people choose to use the first day of their tickets at the other park, meaning it may be a good option to do Sea first if you plan to pay/collect on the gate and want to beat the queues.
Once the gates open and you head into the entrance plaza, you're greeted with a giant globe. It's a bit too much like Universal's signature entrance for my liking. Oh well.
We headed from there towards the park, and it quickly became apparent that, although the layout was familiarly Disney, this was not like any other park. We walked through the "Main street" area which itself is beautifully themed and built. Again, they had cast members everywhere reminding you to calm down and not run! haha!
As we emerged on the other side, we were greeted by the view that gives the park its reputation. It really is absolutely stunning. The lake with the Mediterranean style buildings surrounding it is somewhat reminiscent of Port Aventura, but is just in a completely different league. The Volcano and fortress buildings overlooking the lake on the other side are imposing yet beautiful. It really doesn't take a lot of imagination at all to completely suspend your disbelief and totally forget that you're actually stood in the middle of a theme park.
Not really having planned a strategy in the same way as for Disney, we decided to head for the bigger rides at the back of the park and work our way forwards. On the way, we got a bit distracted by Aquatopia. This was the park's test of a trackless ride system, but sits in several inches of water, and is surrounded by fountains and other features. Already being boiling hot, we decided to opt for the "Get Wet Version". It's essentially like being on a splash battle, but without the water pistols. We got totally soaked, and it was a fun little ride.
Being an Indiana Jones goon, John was eager to head there first. I loved the one in Cali, so was also looking forward to it. Determined not to miss out on anything, John wanted to join the queue, so we went and grabbed a Raging Spirits fastpass first to make the most of our time. Now, I'm not condoning this behaviour, but the fact is that the fastpass machines there still have override buttons. Occasionally, they're still enabled
Anyway, back to Indie and into the main queue. This was still only short, so after a brief wait in the cool station building (I spotted my first hidden Mickey in the wall, yay!) we were on. This is the same as Cali's, and equally good. Where the main park had disappointed me with an English speaking Johnny Depp, Sea delivered with Japanese Harrison Ford. Lol. I do love that ride.
There was still a short wait before our return time for Raging Spirits, so we wandered round to the Arabian area and rode Sinbad. This is an original ride for DisneySea and as such has divided opinions. The most noticeable thing about it is that every single model of a person or animal is animated. Really well animated too, with modern programmed systems, not just the mechanical cams etc of more traditional dark rides like Small World. This does mean that there's a few less models than other rides, and some scenes do look a little sparse, but its still beautiful. The ride also goes on forever. Whilst its not going on the list of my all time favourites, I do approve.
We headed back to Raging Spirits and went straight into the fastpass queue. We pretty much walked straight onto the ride, and into the front row. The theming around it really does add to the experience and makes it a really fun little coaster. The smoke effects (how the hell do they manage to make it actually warm?! - Take note Nemesis: Inferno!) were particularly effective. We went to grab a fastpass for Indie before coming back to re-ride it again. Good cred.
Mystic Rhythms was just about to start, so we grabbed some of the tropical Mickey ice lollies (OM NOM NOM NOM!) and rushed over there, not knowing what to expect. This is essentially the park's answer to Cirque Du Soleil with a combination of dance, gymnastics and acrobatics set to live music. Whilst it was pretty spectacular, it was a bit arty-farty and didn't feel very Disney. Good if you like that sort of thing.
We re-rode Indie, then took our places ready for the Skeleton Fiesta. This is a small Halloween parade through the South-American themed area of the park. Whilst all the performers were on foot, the combination of live bands, characters, puppets and dancers made this an entertaining extra.
Here, have some pretty pictures from our walk back across the park...
Having been unsuccessful in the ticket lottery for the show at the main park the day before, we decided not to bother here, and joined the queue for the non-ticketed performance of Big Band Beat. We left it rather late, but squeezed in. It was ok I guess. The band was great, and the singers were alright, but I found the choice of songs a bit odd. The bits with the characters were also a bit cringe, and I wasn't keen on the choice of which ones to include. They basically went for characters that are popular in Japan, rather than ones that actually make sense in the show. That's how you end up with a New Orleans themed show without any mention at all of Tiana or any of the other Princess and the Frog characters. Eugh.
Whilst faffing looking for lunch, we accidentally caught another short skeleton based parade through the New York area. Whilst it was only small, and similar to the one over the other side of the park, this was a cool little surprise. After much faff, we eventually settled on lunch in the NY Deli Sandwich place. It was ok.
We headed out to find a spot to watch The Legend of Mythica. This is DisneySea's signature water pageant show and (aside from the Halloween stuff) takes the place of a main parade. The sun by this point was ridiculous, but the viewing areas were starting to fill and it was hard to tell where would be best. We eventually settled on a spot on the terraces just below the main bridge and struggled to squeeze into any scrap of shade we could find. As its not an advertised viewing platform as such, it seems to be less busy than just about anywhere else. Despite that, it gave a pretty good view overall - probably better than some of the busier spots. The show itself is very good. The floats are spectacular, and there's plenty of effects etc to keep it interesting. Its just a shame that I have no idea what the story was. Ah well, there were lots of pretty things and fire and stuff. Yay.
Not having a clue what to expect, knowing nothing about the ride, we headed over to Journey to the Centre of the Earth. I'd spotted the ride vehicles coming down the side of the volcano outside, and thought it might be a splash ride. John thought it might even be a cred. After a long queue (through a very nicely themed cattle pen), we got inside and eventually worked out we were both very wrong - it's essentially Test Track in a very posh frock. Ok. It starts out like any old dark ride really. I actually thought some of the scenes in there were a bit below-par and dated looking, but others were very good. Before you know it, you're launched at what feels like a fair speed, and find out why the outside drop is always accompanied by screams. It was a good ride, but I wish the first section could get an update, and that the second section was longer.
Considering how late in the day it now was, it's somewhat surprising that we still had one more cred to get. On we went to the Little Mermaid themed section of the park, and rode Flounder's Flying Fish coaster. It's really odd. It also has a really pointless splash effect that you can't see from on the ride, and can barely see from off it. What?!
The indoor section of the area is really nicely themed. There's a ton of little spinny and jumpy things that we couldn't be arsed with.
Gavin had mentioned that the Little Mermaid show was worth a watch, so we headed in not really knowing what to expect. The first surprise was the theatre's seating arrangement - the stage is very small in the middle, with seats all the way around. As the show starts, you soon find out why. The majority of the action takes place in the air with Ariel "swimming" above the audience. The show makes use of some very clever puppets both on the ground, and in the air. Ursula is a particular highlight. We once again got the translation screens, and once again found them pretty distracting. That said, the story didn't quite go the way I expected it, and the ending was somewhat sudden, so I may not have worked out what had just gone on without it (yes, I am a bit thick like that). Good show, definitely worth a watch.
From there we headed back round to the Arabian themed area. Whilst waiting for the Genie show, we couldn't help but notice how immersive the main square is. It's pretty much impossible to see any other part of the park whilst stood there. It's really impressive, especially as the sun goes down and the lights start to come on. The shadows created by the reflections of the fountains are very pretty.
Having found them rather distracting, we decided to do without the translation screens for this, even though it is the only other attraction in the resort that has them available. The show is part 3D video, part live action involving a mixture of well known and original characters. I do feel like this one lacked something from not being able to understand, but I don't think the screens would've helped much as the timing of the jokes would've been lost anyway. It was interesting to see something different done with a well known IP though.
Having picked up one earlier in the day, we used a fastpass to ride Tower of Terror next. Whilst this one uses the same ride system as Paris and Cail, it has a completely original theme and story. The theming in the entrance is not too dissimilar from other versions, although the different theme is apparent. You're eventually batched into a small room where a cast member tells you the back-story (in Japanese, obviously) whilst pointing at a board with some photos and stuff on. This isn't a great start, and I get the feeling that even the people who understood what was being said weren't particularly interested. From there, you go into the pre-show room. This has a legendary effect that, no matter how hard we tried, we could not work out how it is done. That effect is pretty much the only thing of note though in what was a surprisingly short pre-show. You're then spat out back onto the queue for the actual elevators. Usually themed to the hotel's boiler room, here you find yourself amongst storage of a load of historical artifacts. Each batching area for each of the lifts is themed differently, which is a really nice touch. Once you board the lift, there's another subtle difference - 3-point seat belts. Eugh. Really?! The ride itself is the same as ever, and contains a ridiculous amount of airtime on the 2nd drop. I adore it.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed in this version of the ride. I love the different theme, but the fact that it's a hotel really doesn't make any sense to me at all. They'd have done much better to take the whole hotel thing out of the equation, and just have it as a manor house or something. I love the idea of the artefact storage, and the differently themed batching areas, but why does it all exist in a hotel? I just don't get it. Whilst *the* effect in the pre-show is stunningly good, the rest of it is totally lack-lustre.
It was then time to take our places for Fantasmic. Whilst not my favourite show at Cali, it was pretty spectacular. As DisneySea has a new, updated version, I was still very excited to see it. All of the floats moved into position as we took up our places, and preparations were obviously underway. 8pm came and went with still no sign of the show starting. A few minutes later, and an announcement was made in Japanese. The crowd made a huge noise, then people started to move. The show had been cancelled. Whilst this was hugely disappointing, we still had an opportunity to try again the following night, and had only been waiting for about 15 minutes. We'd seen some people camped out 2 hours before, so I can't imagine how annoyed they'd have been.
We'd made the decision earlier in the day to try a table service restaurant for dinner. Not being made of money, we decided on the Italian, as the prices weren't totally obscene, and it's in the Venice themed area which is gorgeous. Opting for an outside table on the edge of the canal, we were seated after a bit of a queue. John had pasta and I had a pizza. The food was good, but not as spectacular as the price-tag warrants. Oh well, what do you expect from a place like that.
That left us with just enough time to queue for Tower of Terror again before the end of the day.
After a look round the tat shops, it was time to head back for a few hours sleep before yet another long day at Disney.
