Day 12 – Disney!

29,108 steps taken

Today marked our full day adventure to Disney Sea. We came here last time we were in Japan and it was still just as magical the second time. This is a place designed to bring as much happiness and magic to as many people as possible, and it definitely delivered! A 6 am alarm meant we were up and about early. The train trip took about an hour between four lines and we managed to make it just as the park was opening. Round 2 of Line Simulator began. In all honesty it was significantly busier last time we were here, which made for a more relaxed day!

The first stop was the gift shop as it was time to purchase some new Mickey Ears (I got some Minnie Ears and Drew picked up Stitch Ears), and a Minnie themed skirt to match Karen. We then had some American style sandwiches, picked up fast passes and headed into Agrabah. We were keen to get onto some kind of ride, so we lined up for the first thing we could find. This happened to be the Carousel; it wasn’t the most exciting ride, but it was a start! While in the area, we visited the Magic Lamp Theatre, a 4D show which tells a story within the Aladdin universe. This show (from what we could gather from the Japanese performance) was about a greedy magician who had discovered genie, and held him to harvest his magic for his shows. It was an interesting performance, but we were ready for some adrenaline! We quickly went through the Sinbad ride (which is more of a show really, as you sit in boats and slowly travel through sets with little animatronics singing to you), and headed towards Lost River Delta.

We were aware that the Journey to the Centre of the Earth ride was closed for maintenance, which was a huge blow since this was by far the ride I was most excited for, but when we went to the Indiana Jones Ride and discovered cast members turning people away, I was shattered! They informed us that the ride was temporarily closed for maintenance as well, but assured us that they would reopen it today. At this news, I was shattered, and may have acted like a child throwing a tantrum for a little while, as I felt that the few things I was really keen to do weren’t going to happen! But I went off and grabbed and drink and we headed towards the steam boats for a scenic tour of the park. Before we got far, Drew got a call from Amy who had an app on her phone which gave her the most up to date wait times on rides, which told her that they had reopened the Indiana Jones Adventure! Heck yeah! We quickly rushed over and had a quick walk through the sets (which are absolutely incredible – I can go on and on about the theming they do, but I did that in the last Disney blog!), and before we know it we’re strapped in ready to go. It was just as awesome as I remembered!

We headed back and went on the boat ride we had intended on, which took us to the Mediterranean Harbour area. We wandered a bit looking for food for lunch, and found ourselves at a dockside diner, where we chowed down on various foods, which everyone seemed pleased with. Since we hadn’t met up with Amy (fearless leader) quite yet, we seemed to be wandering without much purpose. Our wandering took us to Port Discovery, where we lined up for the Nemo & Friends Sea Rider. This is another 4D ride, where you go into a room and get strapped into your seats in front of a huge screen. You follow Dory playing a game of hide and seek, where you get yourself in trouble with a giant squid and run away through these cute little scenes with all the Nemo characters. You get sprayed as your ship hull cracks a little too. It was a cute ride which I enjoyed quite a bit!

We met up with Amy and Anthony at this point, so with our Disney Champion in the lead, we went on with purpose! First up we went on the Aquatopia ride, which appears to be like on water dodgem cars, but is actually a pre-determined track that you have no control over. It was nice, but I needed some speed! One area that I completely missed last time was the Mermaid Lagoon, and the fact that it was inside and in air conditioning when outside was getting really warm, sunny and unbearable, it sounded like the perfect time to explore it! Drew had given us a tip that there was ride inside that looked like the Tea Cups ride, which was the first ever ride I got dragged on, which started the whole ride thing for me, so I was very eager to get on! In this area, you walk in and immediately feel like you’re ‘under the sea’. It is entirely indoors, and in every available space you can see something which adds to the feel of the room. All the lights were either jelly fish, glowing sea cucumbers, or designed to look like it comes straight from The Little Mermaid movies, there were little glass panels separating different areas which had bubbles rising up through it. I mean the store itself is inside a giant whales mouth, which even blinks! Inside was quite busy (everyone seemed to have the same idea for escaping the heat), so the lines for rides were a little long. First up though, fake Tea Cups! It turns out that the Mermaid Lagoon is a little more child friendly, and you actually had no control over how fast you would spin like you would on the traditional Tea Cups ride, so that was a little disappointing, but it was still an enjoyable ride. We went straight over to ride the Blowfish Balloon Race, which again was quite cute.

It was about 4 o’clock at this stage, and we were interested in watching the Halloween show at 4.30, so headed towards the main area to snag a position to see the performance. As I mentioned before, it was hot out today, so the fact that these performers were able to come out in full costume and makeup, sing and dance for a solid 25 minute show was absolutely incredible. I was amazed at the energy they had, and the fact that they did it all with smiles on their faces was awesome! After the show we got another quick bite to eat and a drink, before heading over to the 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea ride. This was one I had missed the first time around, so I was excited to experience it! The line was a little longer than we had waited for so far, but I was happy to wait as the lining area has so much to look at! There were areas all the way along the line which had little displays of explorers notes and equipment, from books to suits to paintings to gadgets, there was enough to keep you busy the entire time! The ride itself was an interesting concept. You and your group heads into a little pod with viewing windows which are suspended from a track. The windows have the same effect as the dividers in Mermaid Lagoon, so as you’re tilted down, bubbles start appearing on your window, which makes you feel like you’re suddenly submerged in the ocean! You travel around the ocean floor looking at artefacts and deep sea creatures, it was so cool!

It was time for our first fast pass of the day – Roaring Falls! This was the first ‘serious’ roller coaster I ever went on (it has a loop-de-loop!), and I was so very excited to get on it again! I somehow managed to get a front seat with Jed – I’ve never ridden up front for anything like this before, so I was trying to keep it cool. I think I squealed at every dip (sorry Jed), but I loved it so much that as soon as we got off, we immediately turned around and headed back to get single rider tickets and ride it again! Single rider is such an amazing idea. It basically tells the crew members that you don’t necessarily need to sit with your friends, which means you fill spots in other groups so there’s no empty seats! I rode the second time with a lovely group of Japanese girls. It was just as fun second time around! With our new-found discovery of Single Rider passes, we decided to do the same with the Indiana Jones ride, which was even faster that the Roaring Falls. It took us longer to walk through the waiting line than it took to wait to be put on the ride. I got a couple of weird looks from the group I had joined, but I had so much fun despite that!

We had a tiny bit of time before the night show was due to start, so we decided to get in line for the Nemo ride, as Amy and Anthony weren’t with us the first time. It was kind of cool because although the story was the same, this time around the scenery was a little different, different enough where it felt like a new ride! The wait for this time around was so quick, so we were in and out and in position for the night show to see most of it. The night show is a little different than the one we saw during the day. This one focussed less on singing and dancing and more on actual light effects. There were lasers, people dancing in costumes made of LED strips, fire works and pyro technics. It was fantastic. We caught the last fireworks display and headed over to Soaring – Fantastic Flight, which was to be our last ride of the day.

I could write a novel on how much I loved this ride. It was the best attraction I think i have ever been on or witnessed. Just the walkthrough through the attraction while you lined up was incredible! You are walked through framed samples of equipment and prototypes of flying machines and drawings of wings of different creatures, paintings and artworks through a set based in ‘The Museum of Fantastic Flight’, which is dedicated to humankind’s enduring dream to fly. The museum celebrates Camellia Falco who was a visionary innovator in the field of aviation, who was inspired by her pet falcon’s flight! You are lead through the set towards a room where there are more artworks on the wall, one of which is a portrait of Camellia. This is where a pre ride show starts, as her portrait comes to life and speaks to you of her passion for flight! It was done so immaculately well, it is entirely seamless, so much so that the paintings moving were such a surprise that it had me utterly amazed! After Camellia told us of her vision and passion, we were lead though to the ride itself. As we walked in I could see three flying machines close to the ground, each able to hold a dozen or more people. It was when we were lead to our machine that I noticed that we had the prime positions! Front and centre. Literally front row, middle seats. In front of us was a small balcony, and in front of that a huge half dome screen. We were strapped in, and before I knew it I was meters up in the air, feet dangling, right up in the middle of this dome! And the show began. We flew through scenes from all over the world – over mountains, through deserts, over forests and oceans, over the African Savannah where we were greeted with a breeze over our faces and a slight scent of grass, through clouds to India, where we flew towards the Taj Mahal with scents of jasmine in the air, over Sydney and the Harbour Bridge, over tropical islands with that fresh beach air scent, over the Niagara Falls all the way back to Japan, where we had magical view of Mount Fuji and the city of Tokyo and lastly over the Disney Parks. It was only a 5 minute experience, but it was magical! I would gladly line up for the 3+ hour wait to ride it again, and if you ever do get the chance, I plead you to 1 – get the fast pass or 2 – wait for it, it’s worth it!

With an obnoxiously happy spring in my step, we finished the day with a little bit of shopping and then a quick look inside one of the most sought over accommodations in the world. A quick walk through the Miracosta, with its fancy lobby and fancy painted roof and absolutely gorgeous view of the park, and our exhausted feet were barely able to carry us towards the train home.

One last food hunt on the agenda, we headed towards Lawsons across the street from the hotel. We were standing behind a group of fairly inebriated Japanese men, when they noticed the Mickey Ears on all of us. We’re pretty sure they were part of the Yakuza as we found out that the heavily tattooed gentleman had only today tattooed the other two men. At one point one had stolen Drew’s Stitch headband while we were joking about Australia. It was harmless, albeit a little intimidating.

With a quick late night dinner of Michelan Star dry ramen noodles and various other snacks purchased while hungry, it is now time for sleep. We have cancelled our Nikko plans for tomorrow, as we don’t feel our feet will make it through the day – plus it means we have another reason to come back! Tomorrow is a temple hopping day, we’re so close to filling my book!