Like its counterpart, Tokyo DisneySea offers guests an excellent combination of fun rides, wonderful service, and delicious food. Try to make it to Magellan’s if you want some fine dining added in the mix.

This theme park visit occurred in April 2024.

View other posts in this series:

• Trip Introduction: Springing for Sakura
• Review: oneworld Qantas Business Lounge LAX
• Review: Starlux A350-900 Business Class LAX-TPE
• Review: Starlux Galactic Lounge TPE Terminal 1
• Review: Starlux A330neo Business Class TPE-NRT
• The Airport Limousine Bus is Indeed Friendly
• Quite a Grand Stay: The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel
• Thoughts on Tokyo Disneyland
• Thoughts on Tokyo DisneySea (this post)
• Japan Pro Tip: Luggage Delivery Services
• Review: Park Hyatt Tokyo
• teamLab Planets: I Don’t Understand The Hype
• Cuteness Overload: A Review of the Pokémon Cafe Tokyo

A Brief Word on Important Information

Please refer to the last post on Tokyo Disneyland where I discussed:

• Booking
• Starting the day
• How to use the app
• Service

While the information in that post pertained to Tokyo Disneyland, the details are largely relevant for Tokyo DisneySea as well.

For information on our ranking of Disney parks, please refer to this post.

Some Rides Not Suitable For All

Before chatting about the rides themselves, I should note that smaller visitors are given a wristband by staff to better indicate their height so that cast members don’t need to keep asking to measure their height throughout the day. Personally I think this is wonderful, as it can be frustrating to get questioned multiple times per ride and given inconsistent results on what works and what doesn’t (I’m looking at you, Universal Studios Hollywood).

Unlike at Tokyo Disneyland, where few rides have a height requirement, a larger proportion of rides have height requirements at Tokyo DisneySea.

Different colored wristbands are distributed to easily identify their height. Char was ecstatic to get one and proudly showed it off to everyone. We received the wristband while waiting in line for our first ride of the day.

That all being said, I would be remiss not to mention that they do have rider swap available here (for those unable to speak Japanese, tell the workers you want to “switch” and they will pick up on that key word). Unlike other theme parks, Tokyo Disney seems to issue the swap at the start of the line, not immediately before boarding as you would find elsewhere. They then ask you to return in about the same amount of time it would take to clear the line from that point. A couple of observations:

• I appreciate that the policy exists so as not to waste the time of the younger guest unable to board the ride. It can be tough to get little ones to wait an hour or two for a ride they will be unable to go on. Instead, the child can enjoy other areas of the park while waiting.
• The policy could be abused. If you’re given a free line pass for doing rider swap at the start of the line, you could just leave the line rather than wait and do other things to make better use of your time (such as eat at a restaurant or ride something else). I’m not going to tell you to do this, but the loophole seemed pretty obvious to us while we were there.

The Rides

As with Tokyo Disneyland, we received Happy Entry tickets for staying at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel to be used at Tokyo DisneySea (note this option goes away starting June 6, 2024 as the hotel prepares for additions to this theme park). The only ride open 15 minutes before the park was Soaring: Fantastic Flight. The ride simulates flying as you tour different worldly scenes, culminating with an aerial visit to the Tokyo Disney resort. If you’ve been to Soaring at other Disney theme parks, it will have a very similar feel to it. This ride has ridiculous lines (topping two hours when we were here), so it was nice to skip most of the pain with the Happy Entry benefit. But I don’t think it’s necessary to ride if you’ve already been on it elsewhere.

Raging Spirits is a fun rollercoaster. Surprisingly, it’s not that fast, but there is a section where you go upside down. Lines here can get lengthy—though not as bad as Soaring—but we were able to skip the line with the free Priority Pass. I found this a good entry ride for those first starting to like rides that go upside down. Hardcore thrill seekers might find this one a little lacking given its slower speeds, but this is one of my favorite rides here at the park.

Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull is nearly a carbon copy of the Indiana Jones Adventure ride at Disneyland in Anaheim. Despite the name suggesting it’s based off arguably the worst film in the franchise, there’s very little in here that comes from the movie itself (you’re chased by the big boulder in the end but that never happened in the movie). That doesn’t make it any less fun, though. If you like the ride in Anaheim, you’ll enjoy it here too.

Jasmine’s Flying Carpets is fun for kids. Think of it as your Dumbo-equivalent ride of this park. The difference is that a family of four can fit in one vehicle.

Sadly, Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage was going through renovations and closed for our stay. It’s a unique ride not found at other Disney theme parks. You can think of it as similar to “it’s a small world”, taking passengers through a story. It’s a simple ride but people like talking about it.

The Caravan Carousel is your typical carousel ride, except that it’s two stories tall. It gets some novelty for being so tall but otherwise it’s not too special. Some mounts (those on the outer ring) can explicitly carry both parent and child. I can appreciate that the map makes it obvious what’s acceptable.

Char made me go on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea twice. You’ll see all sorts of animatronic sea creatures on this ride, with some minor interactivity by moving a flashlight around in certain spots. I like it, but hopefully you won’t be stuck in a long line like I was.

Journey to the Center of the Earth is one of the most popular rides here. Expect high speeds and thrills as you zoom around the Mysterious Island. Alex had a blast on this ride despite its short duration. Wait times topped two hours for our visit and this is one ride where I recommend paying for the expedited access.

Aquatopia is one of my favorite rides here at Tokyo DisneySea. Think of it as your typical trackless ride but outdoors and surrounded by water. You’ll be spun around and may at times think you’ll end up in a whirlpool. I believe it was the first trackless ride I’ve ever been on, so it holds a special place in my heart. I consider this a must ride.

Mermaid Lagoon has a nice assortment of rides found in an area that makes you think you’re under the sea. This is an excellent section to bring your younger children.

The Blowfish Balloon Race is a standard balloon ride that gives kids the impression they’re flying. Yet another Dumbo-esque ride, but this one is out of the sun.

The Whirlpool is a wild ride that will spin you around. You can think of it as though it’s the teacups at Disneyland, but you can’t control how fast you spin. That being said, expect to get dizzy.

Jumpin’ Jellyfish is built for the younger crowd, where everyone sits under a jellyfish that bobs up and down at different times. It’s tame but Char loved it. Since more people can fit on this ride, the line for this one moved much quicker than the other rides in this section.

Ariel’s Playground is perhaps one of the best features of this area. There are rope bridges all throughout the playground, interactive shipwrecks, many caves to explore, and some hidden treasures lurking around here. It’s a nice area where kids can spend up a bit more of their energy while parents take a break. Just know that there are two entrances to this zone, so don’t lose your children!

Flounder’s Flying Fish Coaster is a fun smaller coaster intended more for the younger crowd, but there’s enough here for the accompanying parents to enjoy. This one doesn’t go upside-down and if you want a shorter line, it’s better to go as evening sets in.

Magellan’s

Getting reservations to Magellan’s is an exercise in both patience and planning. Dining reservations in the theme parks open one month in advance. If you are a hotel guest, you will get one extra day to book your reservation. This extra day is pivotal to ensuring you get your preferred time for this restaurant. If you are playing along with the same timeline as everyone else, you’ll find that the bookings are gone pretty quickly (but it’s not as bad as other hot tickets in and around Tokyo, which I’ll talk about in a future post). It’s a good idea to practice when bookings go live before it’s your turn to make your attempt as you’ll want to be efficient if you’re fighting with everyone else for the time slot.

Once you have your reservation, make sure you’re punctual! By punctual, I mean you arrive before your stated reservation time. If you show up a minute late, the reservation will disappear from your mobile app. The attendant at the front door has printouts of who to expect, so there could be some leniency given to late arrivals, but in a country that highly values being on time, I wouldn’t push it.

We were visiting Tokyo DisneySea with friends and had reservations about ten minutes apart. Speaking with staff, we were able to consolidate the reservations so we could all dine together at two adjacent tables. You won’t be seated until everyone in your party arrives.

Once inside, you’ll find some incredible theming, making you think you’re in another time when ships still roamed looking for new lands.

The kids were given paper hats for entertainment. My dad was a good sport for opting to stay at the kids table.

The menu here isn’t that extensive, but the food was phenomenal. Everything we ate was cooked perfectly and the ingredients used were high-quality. It had been a decade since Jenn and I last dined here, but the food is as good as I remembered it. This restaurant is still easily my favorite theme park restaurant in the world, even beating out Club 33 at Disneyland in Anaheim. Add on top the reasonable prices, and there is a reason why reservations are difficult to come by here.

The kids meals here are also adorable, starting with some corn soup and then transitioning to a plate full of enough variety to satisfy almost everyone.

Snacks

The snacks here are all on point. We went with similar options that we munched on at Tokyo Disneyland (churros and popcorn), but also added in some extras like the Mickey Ice Bar, the alien mochi, and gyoza dogs (I sadly don’t have a picture of that one as the kids ate it too quickly). Yum!

Miscellaneous

There are lockers found at the monorail station before entering the park. These lockers are larger than the ones inside the park. I’m not saying it will store all the luggage you could ever want, but it at least was tall enough to store our tall umbrellas (the lockers inside the theme parks are too small for that). There is a change machine here if you need 100 yen coins.

If you’re here during sakura season, you’ll find cherry blossoms outside the theme park while you’re waiting in line. These were in the area where the hotel guests with Happy Entry were waiting. We don’t recall seeing any inside the theme park, but it was a nice surprise for us as we waited for the park to open.

Recommendation: I love this park

Both Tokyo Disney theme parks rank highly, and it’s close to a tie between the two parks. The real choice you should make is between which set of rides appeal to you more. But the real kicker for me that pushes Tokyo DisneySea ever so slightly ahead of Tokyo Disneyland is the dining experience at Magellan’s. It is a world-class restaurant found inside a Disney theme park and well worth securing reservations to experience during your visit to the park. Even if you don’t get to experience it, there is enough here to hold the interest of everyone in your party.

Are you more of a Tokyo Disneyland fan or a Tokyo DisneySea fan?