You just entered the front gate of the best Disney theme park in the world. Tokyo Disney Sea stands before you in all its magnificence. Where do you go from here?

Which Attractions at Tokyo Disney Sea?

You have a park map under one arm, and thousands of excited kids scurrying to their pre-chosen destination. You had better decide where to go quickly because the best rides fill up fast.

When you enter Tokyo Disney Sea you’ve got 2 quick decisions to make.

1. Which of the popular rides do want to go on first?
2. Which parades and shows do you want to see?

The best way to answer these important questions is to familiarise yourself with the park before you enter. Check out the Tokyo Disney Sea Planning page.

Be sure to also check out the Tokyo Disney Sea Map page before you arrive.

Tokyo Disney Sea Fast Pass

Some of the rides are seriously popular. Without proper planning you may have to stand in a line for around 2 hours. Option 1 is to arrive at the park early, before 10am. That way you will probably only have to line up for about an hour for the best rides. Option 2 is to get a Fast Pass. But how do you get a Fast Pass? Inside the park you will not see them on sale anywhere.

Overall there are 7 fast pass rides and 2 fast pass shows.

• • American Waterfront
    • • Tower of Terror
    • Toy Story Mania

• • Port Discover
    • Nemo and Friends Sea Rider

• • Lost River Delta
    • • Indiana Jones Adventure – Temple of the Crystal Skull
    • Raging Spirits

• • Arabian Coast
    • The Magic Lamp Theatre

• • Mermaid Lagoon
    • The Mermaid Lagoon Theatre

• Mysterious Island
  • • 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
  • Journey to the Centre of the Earth

How to get a FREE FAST PASS

Here is one amazing fact about Disney Sea Fast Passes. They are FREE. We did not realise that when we visited. We assumed you had to purchase them like at other big theme parks. But they are absolutely FREE. If we had know that we could have enjoyed more of the Free Pass rides. As it was, we only went on one fast pass ride, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. We had to line up for 80 minutes to enjoy it, whilst watching all the Free Pass people walk straight past us to the front of the line.

Here’s the Fast Pass explanation from the Disney website.

This is a system that lets you minimize the amount of time waiting in line at certain attractions by assigning you a specific time to enter the attraction.To receive a FASTPASS ticket, just go to the FASTPASS ticketing machines near the entrance of the FASTPASS attraction you want to ride and hold your Passport ticket under the reader. Then return during the time period printed on the FASTPASS ticket and enjoy the attraction without the wait.

How to Use Disney’s FASTPASS®

1. 1. Check the FASTPASS and Standby wait times at the attraction entrance.

1. 1. Hold your Passport ticket under the reader of the FASTPASS ticketing machine and receive a FASTPASS ticket with the designated time period printed on it.

1. 1. Until the designated period starts, you can use your time effectively at other attractions, shops, or restaurants.

1. Once the designated period starts, return to the attraction and enter through the FASTPASS entrance.

Getting around Tokyo Disney Sea

Tokyo Disney Sea is a big park to walk around.The best way to get around Tokyo Disney Sea is by boat or by train. Each of these is an entertaining ride and marvellous sight-seeing adventure.

1. 1. The Disney Transit Steamer Liner has several stops throughout the park and is the quickest way to go. There is a giant circular waterway which goes full way around the park.

1. The Disney Electric Railway typically has much longer lines than the Disney Transit Steamer Liner, however it is well worth doing at least once. The railway line is not circular, it’s just a single track which goes from one end of the park to the other.

You will probably use the Disney Transit Steamer Liner at least a couple of times during the day if you are serious about covering a lot of ground.

Waiting Times

Like any big theme park, Tokyo Disney Sea can vary dramatically in waiting times. In our September visit the popular rides had wait times of 50-70 minutes before lunch time. Then between lunch and 4pm it extended to 70-100 minutes. After 4pm it jumps to 90-120 minutes. After 6pm it really becomes quite difficult because practically every ride has enormous lines. It is worth saving all those attractions which do not require lining up until late in the day. Those are:

• • Fortress Explorations

• • Ariel’s Playground

• • Pirate Ship

• Exploring ‘the big ship’ SS Columbia

Food and Drinks

There’s absolutely no need to take food or drinks into the park. Most food establishments specialise in full sit down meals. Not only are these very expensive, they are very busy and hard to find a seat. Our recommendation is the hot-dog wagon in the American Waterfront. It is right next to the entrance of the first station of the Disney Electric Railway. Not only is it moderately priced, these are a proper meal of gourmet hot-dogs and other snacks. The hot-dog wagon was our favourite, hands down.

Popcorn

We love popcorn. One pleasant surprise for us is that the park is dotted with popcorn outlets selling all different flavours. Some of these we have never seen anywhere and they were all delicious. Our personal favourite was the Black Pepper Popcorn.

Our hot tip is to check the bottom of the map for the location of each flavour. Here’s the full list:

• • Black Pepper popcorn

• • White Chocolate popcorn

• • Caramel popcorn

• • Milk Chocolate popcorn

• • Salt popcorn

• • Curry popcorn

• Herb-Tomato popcorn

Extreme Rides

My 9-year-old son does not like scary rides like roller coasters, thus some rides were not on our list. These rides are typically the main attractions for thrill seekers. If this is you, I suggest you go straight to the ‘big 4’ extreme rides.

• • Tower of Terror

• • Indiana Jones

• • Raging Spirits

• Journey to the Centre of the Earth

Best Rides at Tokyo Disney Sea

There are plenty of rides to suit even the most timid of park-goers. My 9-year-old son especially liked the 20,000 Leagues under the Sea ride. You enter an underwater kingdom in tiny submarines, it is breathtaking for kids.

Ariel’s Playground was surprisingly entertaining also. We thought it would be too kid-friendly, aimed at 4-5 year olds. Kids right up to 10-12 will have a blast in here, teens might find it a little boring. Kids will happily spend an hour or two in here, there’s also a couple of moderately priced cafeterias inside.

Pirate Ship

This is in the Mediterranean Harbour and is not actually listed as a ride. That is great because there are no lines and you can spend as long as you like at the pirate ship. It is basically a life-size replica of a pirate ship. You are welcome to explore all decks and even fire the cannons. Young boys will love it. Right near the Pirate Ship is Fortress Explorations which has a medieval planetarium inside. The whole area is amazing to explore, best to save this for when the rides are super busy.

Aquatopia is the other one we most liked, although it is fairly short. It is on some weird aqua bump-car looking contraptions. It is probably the most unusual ride you will see.

SS Columbia

Yet another free attraction, This is a good way to spend 20 minutes exploring the front half of the ship. You get a great view of the whole park from the bow of the ship.

Souvenirs

There are a few smaller souvenir shops dotted throughout the park, but they target souvenir shoppers on your final exit out of the park. Try to avoid this at all costs as it is shoulder to shoulder at closing time, trying maneuver through the hordes of souvenir shoppers. If you want to avoid carrying your souvenirs around all day, at least plan on getting your souvenirs 2-3 hours before closing time.

Parades and Shows

Dockside Stage

The big surprise for us was the Dockside Stage (American Waterfront) presentation. This show has all the popular Disney Stars in an all singing all dancing stage show spectacular. What surprised me was that my 9-year-old son absolutely loved it. And he’s not really a Donald and Mickey fan. We all loved it. This is a great show to catch and it runs several times per day, so there’s no excuse for missing it.

Fantasmic

This is spectacular light show which is the grand finale of the daily activities.

You will be required to get in early to get a good vantage point. You will have to sit on the ground, so it’s great if you brought your own ground sheet. If there is no wind they have a fireworks show, however we were not lucky enough to have a calm night. But the show itself is breathtaking, perfect in every way. By this time you will probably be exhausted and want to go back to your hotel. I strongly recommend you stick around for this last show.

Tokyo DisneySea night attractions pic.twitter.com/ACI0ubi50K

— Marischka Prudence (@marischkaprue) March 21, 2016

Summary

Overall we do agree with Tokyo Disney Sea’s reputation of being the best Disney park in the world. It’s great after a day at Tokyo Disneyland, where you are bombarded with all things Mickey Mouse for the entire day.

Disney Sea does still have Mickey, but nowhere near as much as Disneyland. There are so many more dimensions to Tokyo Disney Sea, and greater surprises around every corner. Whilst every kid deserves to see Disneyland once, I believe it is only the luckiest of kids who get to sea Disney Sea. Do yourself a favor. Do you family a favor, treat them to this utterly amazing theme park, the best Disney Park in the world!

Where to Buy Your Tickets

We were fortunate that we stayed at an excellent Disney Resort Partner Hotel, and purchased all our Disney tickets in the hotel Disney Shop. Click here to check out the Oriental Hotel Tokyo Bay.

Alternatively you can purchase online Tokyo Disney Sea passes by clicking HERE.

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