Tokyo DisneySea Christmas Trip Report
This post offers thoughts, anecdotes, and photos from our holiday trip to Japan, with a focus on Tokyo DisneySea. It’s the “sequel” to our Tokyo Disneyland Christmas Trip Report, and takes a similar approach to that, with some commentary followed by 60 photos.
To be honest, I didn’t expect to be writing this Tokyo DisneySea Christmas trip report. I included a ‘let me know if you want it’ line to test the waters of reader interest, but given that I posted that on December 25 and the holiday season would by the time most people read it, I figured it was a foregone conclusion that no one would care. Boy, was I wrong.
That was heartening to see. I love writing about Japan’s parks, trying to coax other Disney fans to visit, and helping with the logistics of doing so. To that end, this “trip report” is going to be a mix of our experiences at Tokyo DisneySea, addressing some common questions, and that sort of thing…
Let’s start with the substance of the visit. What I like most about Christmas in Tokyo DisneySea is what I like most about DisneySea, period: the transportive environment.
I’ve never been to Venice or Cape Cod during the holidays, but I certainly feel like I’m there at this park. Riding around the Big City Vehicles evokes a sense of New York City at Christmas and a frigid night cruise on the Venetian Gondolas suspends my disbelief; for those few minutes, I’m actually in a Mediterranean harbor.
My favorite area in the entire park at Christmas–and right up there with Wilderness Lodge as my favorite Disney Christmas place in the world–is Cape Cod.
I detailed this in our “A Cap Cod Christmas” post last year, but the romanticized setting is perfect for a traditional Christmas setting. The area has a homey feeling; a certain charm and intimacy that evokes a sense of the holidays.
Another bit of decor that I really like this year is the Feliz Navidad stuff in Lost River Delta. It’s nice to see the Three Caballeros receive more attention in the parks.
The photos section below will convey more of the holiday ambiance in Tokyo DisneySea.
Colors of Christmas is the nighttime holiday show at Tokyo DisneySea.
It’s fine. A bit heavy-handed with the characters and light on elegance for my tastes (plus that stupid Crest whitecap float features heavily), but it’s worth seeing. We usually watch it once just to get the music stuck in our heads.
More than the show itself, I love the Colors of Christmas: Afterglow. Be sure to take a ride on the DisneySea Transit Steamer Line or Venetian Gondolas after Colors of Christmas to experience this.
Tokyo Disney Resort releases its entertainment on DVD/Blu-ray, and we own a set that includes high-def video of “Candlelight Reflections,” the predecessor to this show. I’d love to see something like that again. Colors of Christmas is overdue for a replacement, so perhaps next year?
By far the best Christmas entertainment at Tokyo Disney Resort is the brand-new “It’s Christmas Time!” This is the daytime holiday show performed in and around Mediterranean Harbor, described as “a spectacular revue set to popular Christmas music.”
Tokyo DisneySea has a show like this for every seasonal event, and they are fairly formulaic: tons of performers with lavish costumes, Disney characters jumping around on boats, a catchy soundtrack, jet skis pulling around random stuff (my dream job someday), and a superfluous plot.
More often than not, the daytime Harbor shows are one and done for us. We appreciate the costuming and the music, but the rest of the show is a drag, especially since they’re all so similar. Somehow, these shows manage to be pretty, yet prosaic.
They’re recently been improving, though. The Pirates Summer show is goofy, and the dudes with the water jet packs during the Halloween show being entrancing. Both of those could best be described as dumb fun.
By contrast, “It’s Christmas Time” is elegant–quintessential Tokyo DisneySea. This holiday revue follows the familiar approach of other harbor shows: excellent costuming, jet skis pulling stuff (giant ornaments!), and catchy music, but tweaks the formula in a couple of important ways for a significantly better overall result.
Basically, it cranked the elegance up a notch. This was done in a few ways. The Disney characters were still in the show, but they were clearly not the highlight. It presence of ancillary characters beyond the Fab Five was greatly reduced (Duffy and friends didn’t appear at all until the end), and they fit within the show’s musical numbers better.
As is suggested by the show description, the show basically was “just” a musical revue, with little to no pretense of a plot. This might not have worked but for incredibly strong musical numbers. The hosts were incredibly talented, there was tap-dancing, and some elegant numbers. It reminded me a lot of Big Band Beat, and its old Christmas finale.
We ended up watching “It’s Christmas Time!” four times during the trip, and the only thing stopping us from viewing it more was the number of days we were there. It excelled all around with great music, choreography, costuming–everything. It never got old.
It was also very refreshing to see something on the more sophisticated and adult side at Tokyo DisneySea. The park has been (fairly) criticized as becoming too character-centric and less original, and this show demonstrated how DisneySea can still effectively feature characters while doing so in a refined manner.
Given Tokyo’s normal entertainment refresh cycles, I would expect “It’s Christmas Time!” to run again the next two years. Of course, this is not certain until OLC confirms it–I’d hazard a guess that the labor costs are high for this show, and who knows if they’ll want to refresh all entertainment for 2020.
If you’re up for going either year, my recommendation would be next year. Comparative crowd levels are the big reason why, and we cover that in our Visiting Tokyo Disneyland Near the 2020 Olympics.
I’m also expecting a new Christmas parade at Tokyo Disneyland next year, and TDS retaining its current holiday lineup and TDL getting new stuff is pretty much the best case scenario.
As for when within the holiday season to go, I mentioned the Halloween/Christmas timeframe in the last report (and in-depth in our HalloXmas: the Ultimate Disney Trip post), but I’d reiterate that here.
The beginning of the Christmas season is the least crowded part of it, and there is always a media day during which the entertainment runs (for everyone) prior to the official start of any season. Other stuff, like Country Bear Christmas, holiday menus, and merchandise all is offered/available by like November 2-3.
Now, for some other quick hits not necessarily related to Christmas…
The legendary Chandu Tail snack has been replaced with the Chandu bun. While we both slightly preferred the taste of the tail, this is mostly a lateral move. The new curry-flavored bun is still delicious, and a nice twist on a fan favorite.
Personally, I like changes like this. It’s a way to refresh snacks and give fans an excuse to revisit them. “Familiar but different” is a good approach to the iconic stuff; anything that isn’t iconic should just be outright replaced every few months. Theme parks being dynamic through entertainment, food, and merchandise seems logical to me.
On the food front, we dined at Magellan’s for the first time in a few years. Not for lack of trying, we just have been incredibly unlucky with same-day seating the last couple of years. In our Magellan’s Review, we call this the #1 Disney restaurant in the world, an assessment that holds true.
Magellan’s is Disney’s most elegantly-themed restaurant, and has a menu to match. Curiously, Magellan’s also has a 3-course lunch menu that’s around $30/person out the door, which is an absolute steal given the atmosphere, service, and food quality.
I was really tempted by the ~$100/person Christmas menu, which included some beautifully-plated dishes and wagyu beef.
However, there was no grade for the beef on the menu and we have plenty of favorite steakhouses in ‘real world’ Japan that offer exceptional wagyu beef at lower price points, so I decided to pass.
Instead, I ordered the pork cutlet and Sarah ordered the salmon. Both were better than they had any right to be, as were the shrimp & scallops appetizer and both desserts.
Suffice to say, dining at Magellan’s is a must–if you only splurge once on a meal in Tokyo, this should be it. (Note that this cheaper menu is only available at lunch; dinner starts at around $50/person.)
Another Christmas dining must-do at Tokyo DisneySea is Teddy Roosevelt Lounge, which is our favorite Disney bar in the world. It’s truly mystifying that this exists: a lavish bar honoring a U.S. president on a golden age ocean-liner…in a theme park…in Japan.
The food here is overpriced and not great, so stick to drinks or the ice cream sundae/parfait (buy the souvenir glass!). The beautiful Christmas tree and teddy bear decorations make it worth the visit, as does the extravagant decor.
While table service food can be reasonable in price at Tokyo Disney Resort, merchandise is another story entirely–especially Duffy merch.
Sarah really wanted the above wreath, but at ~$38, it was way too expensive for us.
Duffy is somewhat of a joke among American Disney fans, but he (and his crew) are perceived differently in Japan. I have to admit that I think a lot of the Duffy and Friends items are among the pinnacle of cute merchandise design.
However, I appreciate it “from a distance” since it’s all priced at a premium, and once you head down the path of collecting stuff like this, it can be a ridiculously expensive endeavor.
It’s been a while since we gushed about it, but Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage is the best attraction at Tokyo DisneySea, and is a contender for best in the world.
We have a this post covering why Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage is one of the best modern Disney dark rides anywhere plus this follow-up with more raving about the ride’s awesomeness (and a 180-degree ride video). Suffice to say, Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage is one of the big reasons to visit Japan, and also a great option if there are heavy crowds, as it’s almost always a 5 minute wait or less.
Here are a bunch more Christmas Tokyo DisneySea photos presented without commentary:
Finally, we’ll touch upon a couple of issues that arise when it comes to comfort level in traveling to Japan. First and most obvious is the language barrier. I’ve said before that I don’t think this is much of an issue, as most Cast Members are sufficiently proficient in English for common interactions. Things like ordering from menus, buying tickets, and all routine engagements go smoothly.
Whether the language barrier is any barrier at all really comes down to how much you ask questions beyond those types of encounters. Some of these interactions are unavoidable and necessary–if you have dietary restrictions, lose an item or child, and that sort of thing.
However, if you just like to ask questions, my advice would be…don’t. You have a wealth of resources constantly at your fingertips, so don’t ask any question that could likely be answered with a Google search. There’s so much English info online about Tokyo Disney Resort (and Japan) that many questions you might have are addressed somewhere.
This applies not just to Tokyo Disney Resort or Japan, but to life in general. Every time you ask someone a question with an objective answer–the type that could be solved with your own due diligence–there’s the implicit assumption that your time is more valuable than the person you’re asking.
Second, there are concerns about food. That’s even less of an issue. For the most part, food in Japan is mild and will appeal to almost all palates.
Sometimes the presentation is unfamiliar, but if you can get past the way things look, I’d say 95% of what’s served is approachable to everyone.
To the extent that Japanese cuisine is inventive or pushes the culinary territory into uncomfortable territory, it’s more about putting mayonnaise where it doesn’t belong. We’re talking uncomfortable in the way that some concoctions at Taco Bell or KFC are weird, not truly exotic cuisine.
This generally isn’t much of an issue in the parks, which are mostly serving American, Italian, and Chinese options–all of which are approachable–plus a limited set of things like (very mild) curry and rice bowls. Outside the parks, Japanese cuisine is predominant, but Tokyo is an international city, so it has pretty much every familiar U.S. chain.
That wraps up our Christmas-time visit to Tokyo DisneySea! Hopefully we’ve answered some questions, provided inspiration for you to visit Japan during the holidays, or simply offered something fun to read/look at. As always, if you want any advice or opinions about traveling to Tokyo Disney Resort, please feel free to ask! (Reiterating that so my stance on ‘asking questions’ doesn’t appear too harsh–there’s a big difference between asking something along the lines of which rides have FastPass and which rides are your favorites?)
If you’re thinking of visiting Japan for the first time and are overwhelmed with planning, definitely check out our Tokyo Disney Resort Planning Guide. It covers much more than the parks, from getting there to WiFi to currency and much, much more. For more photos and an idea of what we did day-by-day during our first visit, read our Tokyo Disney Resort Trip Report.
YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you visited Tokyo DisneySea at Christmas? If not, is this a time of year you’d like to take a Japan trip? If you’ve seen “It’s Christmas Time” (either in person or online), what did you think? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Thank you for the wonderful report & photos on Tokyo DL & DS. (And ALL of the Parks you’ve visited) My family and I are planning a trip to Japan XMas/New Year’s 2019/2020 and will definitely be visiting the Parks. Would you happen to know if the Cast Members trade pins? Stickers? Other items? I would love to bring things from DL & CDA to trade and share if that is something that occurs in Tokyo.
Thank you again.
Everything looks so beautiful.
Tom, you should have gotten the wreath! $38 sounds like a great price, and it is so cute! You know that wreath is going for like $150 on eBay right now? Sigh! But thanks for another great update! Happy new year!
Just wondering, are Disney gift cards accepted at Tokyo Disneysea and the resorts? We tend to buy them throughout the year when we find a sale, then use them on our trips.
Hi Rachael. Unless its changed recently, Disney Gift Cards are not accepted at Tokyo Disneyland parks
Hi Tom,
Re: the language barrier and how well the CMs can answer typical questions that arise, I think the biggest concern my wife and I have revolves around wheelchair accessibility. I’m sure it’s simple enough to convey “2 people in the party” but it’s tougher to communicate more complicated things, like “do you need the vehicle slowed down or stopped” or similar things. Have you ever seen how that kind of interaction is handled in your trips?
We’d love to visit the Tokyo parks, but that’s a pretty big big potential obstacle that’s giving us pause.
Unfortunately, I can’t really speak to this, as it’s not an interaction I’ve had or overheard. Hopefully another read with some experience here can help, though.
The Tokyo parks were built with the same type of accessibility standards as the U.S. parks, so there’s that–but I know that doesn’t address your concern about interactions. Sorry!
No worries, thanks for replying with the info that you do know of. Just the fact that the accessibility standards are the same as the US parks is useful, and more than we knew before.
We still refer to your recommendations for many things about the parks, we just alter or disregard the things that aren’t applicable for wheelchair users (a rare occurrence, to be sure, but it does happen)
Hi, we went early October this year and wheelchair accessiblity is very good. What you need to do is get a guest assistance card, you can get these from every attraction just approach one of the cast members for that attraction by the entrance and ask, if all else fails gesture to thebwheelchair. They will then take you to the cast member at that attraction that handles the gac. What they will do is write a return time for the card, by adding the posted wait time onto the current time, and you just return at the time, FYI if you are 2 minutes early they will make you wait for the exact time that is written. Each card has space for about 10 attractions and they will give you a new one when it is filled. Fun fact Disneyland are green and disneysea is blue, but you can transfer them from one park to another.
The person at the entrance to each attraction has a large book with what looked like dozens of languages in and they have a page in there for all the questions needed for that ride, such as can the guest transfer to the ride vehicle and they will point to it and you just need to nod or shake your head.
Wow, that sounds like a great way to make things as simple as possible =)
That’s really good to know about, and will definitely make it less worrisome to plan a trip. Not that it’s in the immediate future or anything, but we shouldn’t let the communication re: accessibility deter us.
Thanks for the information =)
Never been at Christmas, but obvious (and not surprising) to see that the best Disney Theme Park also does the best Christmas celebration. I’m grateful that OLC has kept the quality and integrity of the Disney experience where it needs to be. Got to start planning my next trip!
Thank you for sharing TDS photos since I have never experienced TDS in person. From viewing your photos and watching YouTube videos, TDS does a fantastic job with Christmas. You will be probably be disappointed if you visit the real Cape Cod during Christmas because TDS’s version of Christmas Cape Cod looks wonderful and its romanticizes Cape Cod. I love the Three Caballeros Christmas décor in Lost River Delta. I also loved the Colors of Christmas and It’s Christmas Time shows. I wish they would add these shows to WDW or DL. Can WDW make a baseball type trade and send “Text Me Merry Christmas” to TDS for “It’s Christmas Time”? :). I love the Duffy and Friends merchandise. I equate Duffy and Friends fondly with Figment, Country Bears, Orange Bird, and Tiki Birds as original park characters. Its too bad we can only buy Duffy and Friends merchandise in USA via Ebay with major price markup.
Thanks for the review. My comments on other japnese park perhaps didn’t convey well, do they ever in these types of forums. When we decide to travel to a new location or country and there is an opportunity to visit a DL then we will most likely do it,, however for us it’s not the motivation for the travel to that location, for others it maybe. Travel is about experience and sometimes putting your self outside the comfort zone a little. I am lucky to have trevalled a bit and each and every time it is easier and that’s why a new place can be exciting.
We do want to tick all parks off because we are really close to doing so now, heck why wouldn’t we. I think it shows we are fans but perhaps not tragics when it comes to DL by virtue of the fact we read and partake in discussion on this great and informarive forum. It’s how we learned about the aster eggs at our first visit to Anaheim.
Happy new year all
I totally got what you’re saying and from a personal perspective, I agree.
I also understand that not everyone is like me, and international travel can be very intimidating. If Disney is the carrot that entices some people to step outside their comfort zones and visit Japan, that’s fine by me! 🙂
Love these trip reports Tom! These have inspire me to take the family (2adults and 2 kids) to Tokyo and Tokyo Disney next year! My son had always had a dream to go, even though he is only 7, so we will make it his bday present. While I would love to go for the hallo-Christmas time you suggest we can’t miss much school at my daughters age. If we go thanksgiving week next year that should be ok right, since it is an American holiday not a Japanese one? Also, any must do suggestion for kids 7-11 in Tokyo outside of Disney? My kids are adventurous eaters so cuisine should be no issue. Thanks for your advice….
Japan has its own Labor Thanksgiving Day, which is a pretty big travel holiday. So long as you avoid the parks Friday-Sunday (which you should do anyway), you’d be fine that week, though.
As far as 7-11 goes, I just generally eat whatever catches my eye. The matcha cookies are a must-try (as is the ice cream).
Regarding asking questions in life in general: By Googling a simple question instead of interacting with other humans, this only ads to the social isolation, which sadly, is becoming more common. There’s a word for it but I can’t remember what it is. Maybe I should…
I’d definitely agree about social isolation being a problem–I remember reading Bowling Alone over a decade ago, and I’d assume the issues posed there have been further exacerbated by technology, including Google and social media.
However, I think it’s pretty easy to distinguish between questions with objective answers and subjective ones. I’m hardly an agile conversationalist, but a go-to line of mine when talking to people I don’t know is, “what did you think of ___?” Having a conversation about subjective matters and exchanging opinions is something totally different–it’s interesting and makes others feel valued.
Maybe it’s just me (and that’s quite possibly the case), but I feel differently about that versus when someone asks for a quick and easy answer to something they could’ve figured out themselves with a bit of resourcefulness.
“Every time you ask someone a question with an objective answer—the type that could be solved with your own due diligence—there’s the implicit assumption that your time is more valuable than the person you’re asking.”
I couldn’t agree more. I’m a college professor, and the number of questions that I get either via email or face-to-face that can be answered easily without asking me is insane and borderline insulting.