Tokyo Disneyland Winter Trip Report – Part 1

This was our first trip since the closure of StormRider, which is being replaced by a Finding Nemo attraction. To be perfectly honest, StormRider was a weak attraction. Although we enjoyed it as quirky fun, it felt dated in the same Body Wars did when it closed. It was due to be replaced.

It was not due to be replaced by a Finding Nemo attraction. If Tokyo DisneySea is Japan’s EPCOT Center (and it’s close), Port Discovery has the potential to be its forward-looking thesis. This port should be the one pushing the envelope, offering something ambitious and with real vision. It has always fallen flat on its face in this regard, but injecting Finding Nemo only exacerbates that (and makes it feel like Epcot in another way).

While I don’t like the mural that will be added to the SeaRider building (it’s similar to the one added to The Living Seas at Epcot), I can’t say I mind the cooler color scheme–so long as it is replicated throughout Port Discovery. I know the previous, warm color scheme fits with the steam punk style, but it’s always felt a bit too much like the (failed) Disneyland Tomorrowland ’98 for my taste.

Aesthetics aside, the direction Tokyo DisneySea is going with character-driven attractions concerns me. While I do think the park arguably could have used more character-centric attractions at park opening, the additions since have been an over-correction. It now feels on a similar trajectory as EPCOT Center, and I hope this slows.

As implied above, I do think such a balance is necessary. I’m not a staunch purist who thinks Tokyo DisneySea should never have changed from its original form.

Personally, I prefer the original form and think it was a solid long game with Japan’s aging population, but I understand it didn’t play well in the short term.

I’m more of a moderate, who is fine with character/IP integration where appropriate and respectful to the theme of the land and mission of the area. As I said when it was announced, I am/was cautiously optimistic for the Scandinavia port, even as it meant Frozen being added to the park.

Mermaid Lagoon and Arabian Coast are both ports that draw heavily from Disney films (The Little Mermaid and Aladdin) and I think neither suffer for it. A Scandinavia port in the style of Arabian Coast has the potential to be one of Tokyo DisneySea’s strongest areas.

Alas, this plan is now on hold and may never happen. Personally, I still hope Scandinavia/Glacier Bay is added at some point; I think the icy waters are the most glaring omission from Tokyo DisneySea’s lineup of ports. Frozen seems like an appropriate fit for inclusion in such a real-world port, but I hope it is just part of that project.

It was then on to one of my favorite ports at Tokyo DisneySea, American Waterfront. More specifically, the Cape Cod section of American Waterfront…

While I think two American ports of call would be too much, I really wish Cape Cod were more fleshed out if only because I want more of what it offers. The ambiance in Cape Cod is perfect. I love just sitting outside, listening to the background music. It’s the perfect area for people watching.

Cape Cod is also home to Duffy. I’m guessing about half of the guests in Tokyo DisneySea that day were in Aunt Peg’s Village Store where Duffy merchandise is sold.

This was also our first peek at the “Sweet Duffy” decorations, which were abundant throughout Cape Cod. There are a ton of little touches for the festivities, right down to covers for the chairs. It just oozes kawaiiness.

A lot of U.S. fans are sure to roll their eyes at this character, whose presence was forced into the parks for a while before they abandoned the character.

I’ve written about the Duffy Phenomenon at Tokyo DisneySea before, and how it’s a totally different vibe than in the U.S. parks. He’s still not my favorite character ever, but he’s more interesting in Japan’s parks.

Before heading to lunch, we grabbed Tower of Terror FastPasses. Right next door was where we planned on dining: Sailing Day Buffet. I reviewed Sailing Day Buffet a while back, and stand by that review.

With the current exchange rate, our meal at Sailing Day Buffet worked out to be ~$27 per person, including tax. (No tipping in Japan.) Given the quality and unlimited nature of the food, plus unlimited caffeine, I think this is a tremendous dining value.

I was pretty hyped about this meal, as there were a variation of Eukiwa Buns on the buffet! (four of them are on my plate on the above left).

These are on our List of Awesome Tokyo DisneySea Snacks, and we normally buy ~4 of these per trip. Instead, I ate 8 (smaller ones) at this buffet.

Above is one of my plates of desserts.

Sailing Day Buffet Desserts – Tokyo DisneySea

A video posted by Tom Bricker (@tom_bricker) on Jan 22, 2017 at 6:28pm PST

Here’s a video of my plate for a better look. I’m absolutely addicted to the melon soda float. I need to start having this at the start of the meal and just filling up on melon soda floats and nothing else. I’m sure that’d be healthy.

We love strolling around the parks, grazing the various snack stands, but that can get expensive. This is especially true if you have stereotypical “American” appetites like we do and won’t fill up on a single, smaller meal. In that case, gorging yourself at a buffet might actually work out to be cheaper than doing a combination of counter service meals and snacks. (It most definitely does for us.)

This is about halfway through our first day in Tokyo DisneySea, so I’ll cut this installment of our Tokyo Disney Resort Winter Trip Report here. Before we go, we have a favor to ask of you–we would greatly appreciate if you would ‘support’ this post. Whether that be by sharing it with someone else (via Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, etc.) or simply by leaving a comment below. Even if you don’t have anything to say—it can be as simple as, “Greetings from ______________!” We did that in our Part 2 of our first Disneyland Paris Trip Report and it was really cool hearing from everyone! As previously mentioned, we plan on focusing a lot more energy on trip reports this year, and support of these trip reports makes that much more satisfying for us. 🙂