Tokyo DisneySea Part 1

We're back with our regularly scheduled Tokyo Disney recapping! Onto day 2 of our 2017 Tokyo Disney adventures and today is all about the amazing DisneySea!
Okay, so hands down, DisneySea is my absolute favorite Disney Park in the whole world. Yes, even more so than my "home" park, Disneyland. Why? Well, DisneySea is just so incredibly breathtaking. This park is unique theme wise to all other Disney parks around the world and it's beauty, mystery and details will forever leave you wanting more. I know that after every trip, I'm left wishing we had more time at the park. It never feels like I'll ever get my fill of the beauty that is DisneySea.
How gorgeous is this park?

Land Meets Sea
The premise of Tokyo DisneySea is one that is unlike any other Disney park around the world. The park itself is inspired by a nautical theme. Instead of "lands" each area of the park is divided into different "ports". Each port brings something absolutely magical, from the idyllic Italian seascape of Mediterranean Harbor, the epic Jules Verne inspired Mysterious Island, the exotic Arabian Coast, an adventurous Lost River Delta, a Tomorrowland-esque Port Discovery, an American Waterfront, Duffy Bear's home in Cape Cod, and my personal favorite, Mermaid Lagoon.

What sets DisneySea apart from all else is the amazing attention to details within the park. There isn't an inch of this park that isn't oozing Disney magic. 

DisneySea Dash
We started our Day two at DisneySea by making use of our "happy 15" pass, a magic morning style pass that allows Disney hotel guests to enter the parks 15 minutes early. I've mentioned in my previous post HERE that while 15 minutes may not seem like much of a magic morning entry, it actually makes a huge difference when it comes to the Tokyo parks. 

While we used to make a mad dash for our favorite rides to grab a FastPass, we decided to take this trip to use the extra time to soak in the park's atmosphere before the hordes of guests crowded the park. We took our time around the Mediterranean Harbor to take photos and even greet a few more of our obscure Disney character friends.
 


Mr. Hightower and his Terror Tower
We then made our way to the Tower of Terror attraction and were surprise to see that there was no wait, so we hopped right on! DisneySea's Tower of Terror (ToT) is incredibly unique from it's Twilight Zone, and now Guardians of the Galaxy counterparts. The backstory of this specific tower is that of a rich treasure collector, Mr. Hightower and the newest addition to his collection, his cursed idol Shiriki. Okay, so the story gets all sorts of fuzzy for me here because the attraction's introduction and pre-show is done entirely in Japanese, but you'll get the gist of what's going on. The pre-show is probably the best ToT introduction, ever. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, so just trust me on this one. This attraction is not to be missed!


Can you spot the PB&J?

Shellie May Style
After "dropping in" on Tower of Terror, we headed to do my favorite Disney pastime, shop! I was on a mission to find the most appropriate DisneySea style, so we headed to McDuck's, a huge store specializing in just Duffy Bear, Shellie May and Gelatoni goods. Okay, so to put it simply, Duffy and friends is NO JOKE here. It was barely 9am and this store was jam packed, with shelves already out of items. The CM's replenish the stock quite frequently, but it still feels like one mad, chaotic dash to find whatever you need in this shop.





 


Pasta Straws!
After suiting up in my Shellie May style for the day, we headed over to the Zambini Brother's Ristorante to grab a quick early lunch featuring the yummiest pasta, fried pasta straws (trust me, it was GOOD) and other goodies. *TIP* If you're visiting the park, try to eat during an off time, you'll beat the crowds and have plenty of space to game plan your day, enjoy your meal and take a breather.
Check out the adorable souvenir cup our dessert came in! Also pictures, PASTA STRAWS! So yummy!

A Whole Lot of Mystery
After fueling up with our early lunch, we headed towards the other ports of the park. I guess you could day DisneySea's icon, their version of a castle would be Mt. Prometheus. It's a giant volcano that spits out fire and basically erupts during parts of the day. It also serves as the entrance to Mysterious Island. This "port" is probably the best example of Disney Imagineering done extremely right. You really feel like you've been transported into another world. You almost forget you're in Tokyo, but rather feel like you've stepped into some magnificent steam punk-esque dream. This area of the park houses one of the most imaginative rides Disney has ever dreamed up, Journey to the Center of the Earth. No ride spoilers here, but let's just say it's a super bizarre, yet badass Disney ride! 




Check out that wait time! Thank the Disney Gods for FastPass!

You'll also find a very, very different version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea here, let just say there's more aliens than fish...

Another notable mention for this area of the park is the amazing snacks and Disney eats you'll find here! As you exit Mysterious Island there's a little snack cart with usually a line a mile long for whatever "in" snack the park is serving. For years the cart featured the amazing steamed gyoza bun here, but this trip featured a Potato Churro. Our thoughts: giant french fry!


DisneySea Dreams and Part 2 Coming Soon!
I hope you've enjoyed part 1 of our DisneySea recap! There was just so much exploration and fun to share from this day that it needs to be broken down in a few recaps to allow for all park goodness to really be shown. So Stay tuned next week for part 2 of our DisneySea adventures. Thank you for reading along!

Tokyo Disneyland Hotel


 Today is all about our favorite Disney Hotel, ever: The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel.

Over the years, PB and I have been lucky enough to have stayed at various different Disney hotels and resorts around the world. We have our list of our favorites, but we can both agree on our #1 pick which happens to be the Disneyland Hotel at the Tokyo Disney Resort.




Disney Beauty
There's just something so enchanting and magical about a stay at this gorgeous hotel. From the moment you walk in, you're surrounded by Disney magic around every corner. Whether it's through the hidden Disney characters that decorate the wallpaper and art in the hallways, to the grandeur of the lobby and it's magnificent chandeliers and fountain. You're just enveloped in an abundance of Disney beauty.






There's even a Disney themed dollhouse in the far corner of the lobby that is quite incredible! Each room is decorated in a different Disney character theme, Ariel in the bathroom, a Peter Pan room, a Princess inspired room and more. It's a little Disney detail that isn't to be missed!




The Rooms
You can check out my previous post that talks all about our character room stay inside the Beauty and the Beast room HERE but for now we'll take a look at the prettiness that their standard rooms hold!

Each room is decorated in a soft pastel palette. It's not overwhelmingly Disney, but the little touches are what makes all the difference. There are dapper cut outs of Mickey and Minnie hanging between the beds and little touches of Disney magic throughout

The hotel provides these adorable Disney PJ's for you to use during your stay!



A Room with a View
There are different categories of room view types, on our most recent stay we opted for a "park view" room on a higher floor. In our experience, your view of the park can vary greatly with this type of view. On previous stays, we had more of a parking lot view with little hints of Disneyland's Tomorrowland in the far background, to a gorgeous park view, like our most recent stay. If you look at the hotel map on the Tokyo Disney Resort website, you can see the configuration of this massive hotel and try to see if you can get a room with a more direct view of the parks at check in.

The Little Details
The thing that makes everything about Tokyo Disney so top notch is the little details they infuse into almost everything! This includes the hotels and their attention to details with the themed room keys and the adorable toiletries.
All the Disney toiletries! These were adorably themed for Disneyland"s 30th anniversary back in 2013

The Perks
Staying at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel comes with a ton of Disney perks! You can check out the list of hotel guest benefits here *link*. Our favorite perks are the guarantee of park tickets at check in, which helps a ton on busy park days! There's also the "happy 15 early entry" which is basically their version of our "magic mornings". It's a pass you'll get at check in and it allows you to enter either Disneyland or DisneySea 15 minutes early! Okay, so you may be thinking, "15 minutes, thats it?!" Trust me, it helps a ton! It gives you a nice little cushion to get into the parks before the mad rush, hop on a popular ride before wait times get insane or line up for a store for some exclusive merch *ahem, Duffy and Friends*.

Another perk that we personally love is the hotel delivery service! Any merch that you pick up in the parks can be sent directly to your Disney hotel, that way you can literally #BuyAlltheThings and not have to worry about lugging it around the parks with you. There's also a convenient package delivery service if you are traveling to another Tokyo based hotel after your Disney trip. You can purchase one of these nifty boxes (great for packing breakables, popcorn buckets, etc), fill it with pretty much anything you need to, then Disney will ship it to your next destination. Unfortunately, this service only works if you're heading to another hotel within Tokyo and not to the U.S or internationally. We did ask for quotes to ship from the resort to home in California, but it ended up being a tad pricey.


Another perk we love about the Disneyland Hotel? The proximity to the park. Sure, the Miracosta hotel is literally within Disney Sea, but the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is just about as close as you'll get to the entrance of Disneyland! If your room is facing the park, you can even hear the park music playing in the mornings!
Early morning view of Disneyland's entrance. Check out the crowd forming for opening...This was about 1 1/2 before opening time!😱

Overall, we have a lot of PB&J love for the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel! I hope you've enjoyed this recap of our stay and all the hotel photo goodness. Until the next post, thanks for reading and take care. 💜