Hello everyone,
In part one of this report I covered all the Disney Resort Hotels, the Disney Resort Line monorail, Ikspiari and other areas. In part two we explored World Bazaar and Adventureland. In part three we ventured into Westernland, Critter Country, Fantasyland, Toontown and Tomorrowland. In part four, I shared my photos from the Christmas parade, Dreamlights, Nightfall Glow and the fireworks. Now, in this part, we are going to explore three of the seven themed ports of Tokyo Disneyland's neighbouring park, Tokyo DisneySea.
The Tokyo DisneySea (TDS) entrance plaza is part of Mediterranean Harbor (Med Harbor), and where you'll find yourself upon passing through the turnstiles. In the entrance plaza area you'll find all the usual amenities, such as stroller and wheelchair rental and guest relations, as well as the Storytellers statue of Walt and Mickey (which there is a copy of at Disney California Adventure), and the large DisneySea globe fountain. The area is also the place to find certain characters throughout the day, mainly consisting of the Mickey and friends, plus Marie. They all wear special Med Harbor/DisneySea costumes, which is nice. There weren't any changes for Christmas season, but we did manage to meet Clarice in an outfit we had not seen her in before, so that was cool.
To get to the main part of Med Harbor you have to pass under the Hotel MiraCosta. The breezeway through here had been decorated for the Christmas season. The plaza on the other side, in front of the main lagoon, also had Christmas banners banners.
I thought I would share with you the wait times from one random moment while we were there, and a photo of some very magical leaves...
Over in the Venetian area there was a cute Christmas painting, depicting TDS's latest character addition, Gelatoni.
Around the main lagoon throughout the day you can usually find the Pinocchio characters. They all had something Christmassy about them for the season, ranging from scarves to just a broach. It was a nice touch.
Heading left, and into American Waterfront, I was pleasantly surprised with their efforts with the Christmas decorations, although the Christmas Tree was a little "rigid", for want of a better term. It all looked especially pretty at night as there were lots of lights strung around the port, including on the boats and railings. The Cape Cod area (home of Duffy), had a mixed celebration going on, with it being the 10th anniversary of Duffy's arrival at TDS, and Christmas season.
Throughout our trip there was a band in American Waterfront playing Christmas music. We also saw the custodial comedian a few times. If you aren't familiar with him, he is not really a custodial cast member, but actually an entertainer. The idea is that he surprises guests with his tricks and wackiness. You might pass by, thinking he is cleaning a trash can, etc, then suddenly you'll hear all sorts of crazy noises coming from his cart, and he'll proceed to do something quite amazing and comical.
The latest craze (if you can call it that) to hit Tokyo Disney Resort is the Mickey shaped hand soap. In fact, it's such a big thing that the very week we were there, a brand new dispenser was unveiled in American Waterfront - literally in the middle of the port! It looks like an old pump, and you can dispense soap from it at your leisure! The bathrooms near the Tower of Terror also have regular bathroom dispensers that now blob Mickey heads into your hands, too. Our Japanese friend was an expert, of course, and showed us how to do it. My attempt however was not so successful...
During our visits to American Waterfront we managed to meet a lot of different characters this trip. We managed to meet Bernard, Miss Bianca, Cruella de Vil, Clarice, Scrooge McDuck, Pluto, Marie and Daisy. All of those except Clarice had some sort of Christmas addition.
We also met Duffy and ShellieMay at their greeting locations. They were in special outfits for Duffy's 10th anniversary. While I don't mind new outfits, and liked seeing him in his 10th anniversary one, I would have preferred it if Duffy had been wearing a Christmas one.
The only other character we saw out in American Waterfront was Minnie Mouse, but unfortunately TDS didn't have the foresight to use their ticket system that I discussed in the previous part of this report. Instead, she was completely mobbed whenever she appeared, and I only managed to get a quick photo of her as she was leaving from a set one day.
American Waterfront is home to one of the most bizarre Disney shows I've ever seen, A Table is Waiting. For Christmas season, there was a different finale, and the characters had special Christmas outfits. I actually think the Christmas addition was the best part of this show that I've seen. The rest of it in its regular form is really quite, well, odd.
We also saw the Big Band Beat Christmas Special while in American Waterfront, and I have to say, it completely blew me away. We were really lucky one day with the lottery system for seats, and got a really good position, front and centre! I actually think that being in the front made a world of difference to my enjoyment of the show, because when we have seen the regular version before we haven't been quite so lucky, and I didn't really appreciate how talented the performers are. The Christmas changes to the show also really helped my enjoyment of it, and I would probably even be as bold as to say that Big Band Beat Christmas Special is perhaps the best live show I've ever seen inside a Disney park. Unfortunately, as with everything in Japan, there are strict rules, and you aren't allowed to take photos - and they are extremely hot on that too.
We leave American Waterfront behind and enter Port Discovery now. We really didn't do much here except meet a few characters, but that alone made the entire trip worthwhile for me. We met Chip, Dale and Goofy in special Port Discovery Christmas costumes, and by far they are amongst the best costumes I have ever seen. I absolutely adore Chip and Dale's jackets! They are so colourful and festive looking - while staying with a distinct Port Discovery look, too, which is incredible.
We also saw Max Goof out one day, but he was leaving, and we didn't wait around for his next appearance.
So, that's it for this part of the report! In the final part I will cover the rest of the ports in TDS and the entertainment that I skipped over from Med Harbor.
In case you missed them, here are the links to my Hong Kong reports that I wrote recently, which were all part of this same trip.
Have a great week everyone,
Dan. |