Tokyo Disneyland

Disneyland is magical. Even in the midst of the crowds and lines and heat of the day, it still transports you to a series of fantastic, intricately designed “lands” where worries do not exist and dreams definitely do come true. From Fantasyland to Tomorrowland to Adventureland, there’s so much to do, eat, and enjoy. Now, Tokyo Disneyland is honestly very similar to California Disneyland, though there are a few differences that we’d like to point out. In this post, we will focus on the physical aspects of Tokyo Disneyland, especially the atmosphere, rides, and parades. In our next post, we will discuss the food!

Tokyo Disneyland seems a lot bigger than California (CA) Disneyland. This doesn’t necessarily mean that there are more rides, but rather that everything is just a bit more spread out. I’ve read that it’s to make room for large crowds. Luckily, it really wasn’t very crowded when we went, so a lot of this just felt like empty space. In contrast, CA Disneyland feels much smaller and cozier. Another difference is visible when you first enter the park: where CA Disneyland has Main Street, USA, Tokyo Disneyland has the World Bazaar. Both house a large variety of shops and restaurants where you can step out of the heat and do some shopping, have a meal, or get some coffee before a big day at the park. The most visible difference, though, between Main Street, USA and the World Bazaar is that the World Bazaar is covered with a glass roof, which I’m sure is very useful for protecting guests in that area from summer monsoon rains. The second main difference between the two is that the World Bazaar has shortcuts midway through the street where you can walk straight to Tomorrowland on one side and Adventureland on the other. We found this very useful for getting around quickly in the morning - at CA Disneyland you would have to take a longer route to get where you need to go.

We recommend arriving at Tokyo Disneyland early - at opening time, or earlier - to wait in line for the gates to open. We used the 1-Day itinerary described in Tom Bricker’s Disney Tourist blog to help us plan our visits, especially on our first trip, but we definitely customized this plan based on our preferences.

He recommended doing a Monsters, Inc/Pooh/Pan dash first thing in the morning - so that’s what we did! Once we got in the gate, we went straight through the shortcut in the World Bazaar to Tomorrowland. From there, you can either get fastpasses for Monsters, Inc (the fastpass machines are on the left as you exit the World Bazaar shortcut), or you can continue on toward Fantasyland to get fastpasses for Pooh’s Hunny Hunt. We recommend getting the fastpasses for Pooh’s Hunny Hunt. We think it’s the best ride in the park, and those fastpasses run out quickly!

FANTASYLAND

Like in other Disney parks, Peter Pan’s Flight is a good ride to try to get in line for early, before the line gets too long. This ride is full of sparkly stars and a fun story. We felt that it seemed different from the Peter Pan’s Flight ride at CA Disneyland, but since we honestly haven’t been on that ride very many times (due to the long line), you shouldn’t necessarily take our word for it. Especially since we couldn’t tell you what was different!

Pooh’s Hunny Hunt is the BEST ride at Tokyo Disneyland. It is not just a copy of the Winnie the Pooh dark rides at CA Disneyland and Magic Kingdom. Taylor was very apprehensive about going on the Pooh ride since the CA Disneyland version is rather boring in his opinion, but he soon changed his mind.

The queue area for this ride is well-themed. You wind around outside the ride through an area with flowers and trees. There were a few water fountains as well, which we took advantage of to refill our water bottles. As you go through the line, you get a nice view of the front of the ride, which has a gigantic open storybook on the front that starts telling the story of Winnie the Pooh (in English). When you get inside, there’s a room with toys and maps of the Hundred Acre Wood. Then, the queue area is filled with ceiling-high book pages that you wind through. Each page has a piece of the Winnie the Pooh story! Michelle enjoyed reading them while we waited.

The ride follows the same main storyline as the Disneyland version of the ride: Pooh’s adventures with the other denizens of the Hundred Acre Wood, Pooh as a little black rain cloud, Pooh meeting Tigger, Pooh’s crazy Heffalump dreams - but it does so on a trackless system. While most dark rides are like little mini train cars, following a set track through the ride, in this ride the floor is smooth and the hunny pots are guided by a computer-controlled local positioning system. A group of hunny pots goes through each room together, weaving around in and out with each other. The grand finale is in the Heffalumps and Woozles room, where the hunny pots dance in a mad dash around the room in a motion much like a carnival scrambler-type ride. It was really, really fun. It would also, we imagine, serve to make each ride you take unique, since your hunny pot would likely move in a different way each time. Michelle’s only caveat about the ride was her realization that if she had been in the “scrambler” Heffalump room for much longer, she would have started getting seriously nauseous (she’s prone to motion-sickness - always on boats and occasionally in cars), so if you’re liable to get sick on rides, be forewarned. After you exit the ride (and the fantastic, well-stocked Winnie the Pooh gift shop), we recommend getting a box of Honey-flavored Popcorn! It’s so, so good.

We also visited Snow White’s Wishing Well! In the spring, the statues of the dwarves had been replaced with eggs painted to look like the dwarves. We peered in the wishing well and heard Snow White serenading us with “Someday My Prince Will Come” in Japanese.

We rode Haunted Mansion Holiday when we visited in the fall. The Nightmare Before Christmas overlay was great and lots of (slightly) spooky, Christmassy fun!

Visitors can walk through Cinderella’s Castle and enjoy gorgeous mosaic murals of the story of Cinderella. Little details like seeing the mice and birds from the movie carved into the top of the columns in the passageway made it all the more beautiful.

Other rides in Fantasyland include: Alice’s Tea Party, it’s a small world, Castle Carousel, Snow White’s Adventures, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, and Pinocchio’s Daring Journey. Toontown is just behind Fantasyland, and includes many rides for younger park guests.

TOMORROWLAND

Our favorite rides in CA Disneyland’s Tomorrowland were great at Tokyo Disneyland, as well! Taylor was pretty entertained by all the Japanese-speaking robots in the queue area for Star Tours, including C-3PO. The ride’s the same as it is in CA Disneyland, except that it’s completely in Japanese! Space Mountain in Tomorrowland was amazing, as well.

Also in Tomorrowland was Monsters, Inc Ride & Go Seek! The ride is similar to the Monsters, Inc ride in California Adventure in that it goes through the Monsters, Inc movie story like a typical dark ride. The rooms you go through are pretty similar to the rooms at California Adventure, but they’re not exactly the same. Michelle thought that the room with all the doors at California Adventure was much better than the one in Tokyo. But the big difference between the two rides is that the Tokyo Disneyland ride is interactive! You get a flashlight to shine on the Monsters, Inc worker helmets. If you shine your light in the right place, some of the animatronic monsters move! It’s cute, but I’ve heard a lot of people say that it detracts from their enjoyment of the story in the ride. Michelle likes the California Adventure version better, but Taylor really enjoyed this iteration.

ADVENTURELAND AND WESTERNLAND

For some reason, this park has “Westernland” instead of “Frontierland” - but it’s still just about the same thing. We went on Big Thunder Mountain, which is a wonderful little railroad roller coaster that speeds around a mining town in the southwestern US. For us, it looks like home - full of red rocks and cacti.

In Adventureland, we went on the Jungle Cruise. Like other rides, it’s the same as in CA Disneyland, except that it’s all in Japanese. The boat captain seemed to do a great job with narrating the journey, but Michelle felt like it wasn’t as fun since she couldn’t understand all the punny jokes. We also went on Pirates of the Caribbean a couple of times - always an excellent ride! Some parts were in English; others were in Japanese. Michelle really enjoyed some of the theming in Adventureland. One notable piece of decor is the mosaic murals of Jungle Book characters on various buildings!

Finally, we took the Western River Railroad for a tour around Adventureland, Westernland, and Critter Country. Unlike at CA Disneyland, the railroad does not go all the way around the entire park. But it does go back in time for a view of dinosaur dioramas! Another difference we found is the seating: everyone sits facing forward, not to the side - and, you only get to ride for one loop. You can’t stay on for as long as you’d like as with CA Disneyland Railroad (which is so nice when you’re tired, the lines are long, and all you want to do is sit and get some great park views). All the same, this was a great, relaxing ride with wonderful views of Adventureland and Westernland. The train also goes through the Splash Mountain ride in Critter Country!

Frontierland also features the Mark Twain Riverboat, Tom Sawyer Island Rafts, and the Country Bear Theater. Adventureland includes the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse and The Enchanted Tiki Room: Stitch Presents “Aloha E Komo Mai!”

PARADES

Happiness is Here

One afternoon, we saw the Happiness is Here parade! Characters ride by on Mary Poppins-esque carousel horses, including Goofy, Lilo, Stitch, Genie, Rapunzel, Alice, and of course Mary Poppins and Bert! Michelle’s favorite part was when Snow White danced by with Dopey (on another dwarf’s shoulders). Notable floats included a lovely Aristocats float with the kittens and musical instruments, a float with Dory in a pelican’s mouth, a huge, intricately decorated elephant-Abu with Aladdin and Jasmine on his back, and, last, an adorably sweet Winnie-the-Pooh float with Tigger, Piglet, and Pooh in overflowing hunny pots and Eeyore on his back, floating in honey.

Usatama

On our spring trip, we were able to experience the Usatama parade! What is Usatama, you ask? Oho, let us tell you. Usa is short for “usagi,” which means bunny in Japanese. Tama is short for “tamago,” which means egg. So, yes, this is an Easter-themed parade dedicated to bunny/egg hybrids that have gotten loose in the park - and Mickey & friends are planning to catch them, and, it seems, to use these semi-anthropomorphic eggs to make food! All that aside, it’s all set to a ridiculously catchy, upbeat song. The more time we listened, the more song seemed to grow on us. Our favorite float from the parade was the one with all the Disney bunnies! Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh was there, along with the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, B’rer Rabbit, and Thumper and Blossom from Bambi. The back of the float had a wooden box full of carrots from Rabbit’s garden.

Disney Christmas Stories

The seasonal Disney Christmas stories parade featured Christmas music and a number of Christmas-themed floats and dancers. Dancers included: elves, toy soldiers, candy canes, reindeer, and Christmas tree ornaments. There were also dancers with really cute themed dresses. Two standouts were ones that looked like Christmas trees, as well as dresses themed for Beauty and the Beast that had stained glass rose designs.

There were a few really nice floats included in the parade. The best one was probably the Beauty and the Beast float! Other floats in the parade were: a Snow White float, Toy Story float, Mickey & Friends float, Lilo & Stitch float, and finally a Frozen float.

Dreaming Up

Dreaming Up! Is the parade for the 35th Anniversary of Tokyo Disneyland. This parade had some stunning floats. Like in the Disney Christmas stories parade, the costuming for the walking dancers is fantastic in this parade. Not only that, but the dancers always do such a great job with their dancing, energy, and interaction with the crowd.

Some of the first rainbow colorful floats in the parade included: a Fantasia-inspired float for Mickey, an Alice in Wonderland float, Pinnochio and Geppeto float.

There was a bejewelled and bedazzled Disney princesses float where the princesses twirl and wave at viewers underneath a stained glass canopy. Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, and Rapunzel (and the fairy godmother from Cinderella) were featured on this float.

Later there was a Beauty and the Beast float based on the Be Our Guest Song where Belle waves from between two elaborately decorated cakes. Heffalumps on hoverboards precede a small Winnie the Pooh float with Pooh and Piglet in a large hunny pot on top of a woozle head. The Baymax float was pretty awesome with Hiro riding on the back of a huge Baymax in his red armor beneath a San Fransokyo torii gate.

Mary Poppins floats up and down in front of Big Ben on a small float preceding The highlight of the parade: the Peter Pan float! Peter Pan and Wendy fly by spinning in the air together suspended in front of a crescent moon. This is probably the best float we’ve ever seen in a Disney parade!

Confusingly, the parade ends with walking characters like the mice from Cinderella, Goofy’s son Max, and Aladdin and Jasmine. It doesn’t really make sense that Donald and Daisy get an Aladdin-inspired mini-float on a magic carpet carried by one of the enchanted Fantasia-mops, but Aladdin and Jasmine have to walk at the back of the parade.

Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: Dream Lights

This sparkling parade was amazing. The floats were larger than life, and made more magical by the way they lit up the darkness. Standout floats included the Cheshire Cat (with Alice riding), the Genie, Rapuzel’s Tower (complete with floating lanterns), and the Beauty and the Beast ballroom float.