Day 10: DisneySea

Table of Contents

DisneySea #

On the one-mile walk to DisneySea from our hotel, we saw absolutely no other tourists on our way there as we passed a park and baseball field, which begged the question: Did everyone else use a shuttle to get there?

I’ll never know the answer to that, but I appreciated the fresh air and brief absence of crowds as we made our way to the theme park. It’d be the only day the entire trip that we didn’t ride public transit. (We did end up riding a train, but it was inside the park.)

The lines at the gate moved quickly and once we were through, we headed immediately to Guest Services to inquire about getting Premiere Access passes for rides.

It turned out you could only get one pass for one ride at a time. Then, if you wanted another Premiere Access pass, you could come back to Guest Services and get another one. What madness was this? We weren’t thrilled by this limit at first but, again, that Japanese foresight proved wisest: We bought a Premiere Access pass for the most popular ride in the park, Soaring, and then afterward found the wait times for the all other rides in the park to be reasonable enough that we didn’t need any more Premiere Access passes.

Our timed slot for Soaring was scheduled for mid-morning, so Vannie and I first went to Toy Story Mania, a fun 3D shooting gallery game that already had a substantial line. The line did not, unsurprisingly, improve as the day progressed, so we were grateful we were able to get in when we did.

Van stands in the long line for Toy Story Mania — In line for Toy Story Mania 🫠

By then it was time for our Soaring: Fantastic Flight slot. How satisfying it was to be able to bypass the line! The ride turned out exactly as my research had suggested: supremely gentle and a great experience. You got strapped into a contraption that slowly lifted you into the air as you gazed at the domed screen that surrounded you, which made you feel as though you were gliding over the notable current and historic monuments showing on the screen.

Lunch was at Zambini Brothers’ Ristorante, an Italian place with a pretty good set meal of seafood pasta with a slice of chocolate cake and mango sauce as well as a drink. We threw a churro in, too.

Van and I sit at a table at the Zambini Brothers restaurant with our tray of food. — Seafood pasta, cake and churros at the Zambini Brothers

Afterward, we waited in line for Journey to the Center of the Earth, a rough-going ride with an inevitable drop — but it was manageable! I did it!

I wasn’t as thrilled with the seemingly innocuous 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride, which simulates going underwater. My claustrophobia already didn’t like the cramped car we huddled inside with a few other riders. This was made worse when the ride malfunctioned and we had to wait in these sardine cans until Disney cast members came and let us out. We climbed out onto scaffolding — our only peek behind the curtain — and were directed to the nearest exit.

Van and I sit underneath the glare of the emergency lights inside our enclosed car on the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride — Waiting for rescue from our abruptly aborted ride on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

By now I’d worked up the courage to ride Tower of Terror, the screams of which you could hear from pretty much any vantage of the park. It was set in a formerly grand decrepit old hotel with a possessed elevator. The elevator took us up several times, twice to the top of the hotel into a wrecked room with caved-in walls that let the sun shine in and gave us a brief glimpse out onto the theme park and the bay behind it — only to immediately drop us several stories straight down in the pitch dark.

Between my repeated moans of “No!” and “I don’t like it!” I had so much fun that we went ended up riding the Tower of Terror twice.

The weird T-shape exterior of the Tower of Terror “hotel” — There’s something wrong with the elevator at the Tower of Terror 😆

In between, we rode the DisneySea Electric Railway, a short train ride that took you from one side of the park to the other (a distance that was easily walkable, but I appreciated the chance to sit down) and the Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull roller coaster, as well as some kids’ rides like Scuttle’s Scooters and Flouder’s Flying Fish Coaster.

Vannie wanted to watch the scheduled afternoon performance of the Disney characters dancing on a boat that floated out into the lake in the middle of the park, so we staked out some spots by the water beforehand. While we were there, a cast member that did a fantastic Captain Jack Sparrow impression emerged with his handler to charm the crowds. I am terrified of situation like this, so hastily retreated until the pair left.

Tonkatsu at Maihama Station #

When we finally had our fill of DisneySea rides, Vannie and I made our way toward Maihama Station, where there’d be much more eating options than around our hotel.

We ended up picking a tonkatsu place with a short waiting list. I wrote my name in katakana on the paper waiting list, which Van took great interest in, since she’d never seen what Vivi looks like spelled that way (ヴィヴィ).

“My name written out in katakana, ヴィヴィ” — This is how I write my name in katakana

The restaurant served us a delicious traditional Japanese meal with a variety of breaded and fried food: pork cutlet, meatball, egg plant and shrimp, along with miso soup, rice and a chewy mochi dessert. I was so pleased we got a chance to eat these dishes; I love them, but almost never eat them back in the U.S.

My tray of food included a bowl of rice, miso soup, chawan-mushi, shredded cabbage, breaded and fried shrimp, eggplant, meatballs and port cutlet, and mochi. — Our traditional Japanese dinner at a tonkatsu restaurant

Our bellies full, coming off the high of a day spent at our second theme park in Japan, we hopped on the hotel shuttle for the night.