Mar 11
On Friday March 11, our family went to Disney Sea Tokyo. A detailed design for the park was developed by Disney so the company could extend its existing properties with an ocean-themed attraction, but it proved too costly to actually build in Orlando. A group of Japanese businessmen realized it could still succeed if they put it within easy rail distance of Tokyo. They invested $4 billion on the build-out and the result is excellent - right up there with Disneyworld or Epcot in Orlando (and even cleaner if you can imagine). Most of the rides and shows were completely new to us.
The park is laid out like a volcanic island with a lagoon in the middle and different lands all around. Our favorite was a full-sensory motion ride called Stormrider that sends you on a helicopter flight into the heart of a class 5+ hurricane that threatens Tokyo, so you can defuse the storm with a special missile. The ending is quite a surprise. The Indiana Jones ride is all different and brings out a stunning array of 3D, animatronics, and space—mountain like effects inside a dark cavern. The popcorn is flavored differently in each land – we tried a small box of each as we toured the park and declared strawberry the surprise winner.
Yes there are long lines but you can manage this through judicious Fastpass use. Meanwhile, the inevitable waits gave us the chance for people-watching. The Friday crowd at Disney Tokyo is predominantly teenagers in all kinds of strange fashions, and the vast majority sport Disney accessories and costumes, which heightens the festive atmosphere.
Whereas American teens are flashing gangsta signs these days, most Japanese pose their fingers in a V with a charming smile. The popular practice reportedly dates to a speech that Churchill gave after WW2. He flashed the V and told the Japanese it meant peace and one finger would always remember Hiroshima and the other Nagasaki. Another comment on the Internet said “During the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, the skater Janet Lynn fell during her routine and managed to smile and flash the V sign, which really struck a chord with the Japanese about good sportsmanship, doing your best and smiling through adversity. The media loved her spirit and girls all over Japan copied it.”
Around 2:30 a good portion of the day’s 40,000 park-goers gathered around the central lagoon to watch Mickey in the lavish water production called Mythica. Overhead the sunny day was turning cloudy. We arrived late and stayed only to catch a glimpse of a rousing motorboat sequence.
We left the show early to get a jump on the crowds, wandering back under the volcano and into the Jules Verne land. Carter and I decided we just had to enter the 90-minute long line for the major attraction there "Journey to the Center of the Earth." The girls shook their heads and left to go see the Mermaid Lagoon.
