Disney World, where dreams come true and magic still lives. It is the most visited recreational park in the world. There is nothing else quite like it. Most of us have experienced the wonderful world of Disney in some way or another, be it through the movies, countless character goods, or through the parks themselves. The sheer mass appeal of Disney has permeated almost every culture in the world and Japan is certainly no exception.

Last October, I had the chance to go to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea with some fellow ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers). It was the first time I have been to a Disney park outside of the United States and also the first time I have been when the park is decorated for a holiday, in this case Halloween. In all honesty, I wasn’t expecting my experience to be very different from my U.S. Disney experiences but I was pleasantly surprised.

We traveled to Tokyo Disneyland from Akita prefecture by night bus or yakobasu which conveniently took us right up to the gates of the park. The downside of the night bus was the overall discomfort especially for people who are more than 5ft tall. At 5ft 2in, I had it the easiest in our group and had few problems sleeping for the duration of the 12 hour ride. On the up side, waking up with the pearly gates of Disney right in front of us brightened everyone’s mood.

We had heard that Tokyo DisneySea was geared towards adults and we were all excited to go there first. In true Disney fashion, the shops were the first things we saw after entering the park. The merchandise was the usual Disney fare but worthy of note was the fact that it seemed like everyone, and I mean absolutely everyone, was wearing some kind of Disney hat, costume, or head piece. I felt almost naked and rather blasphemous without a Tigger tail or a Mickey Sorcerer’s hat.

We had a lovely breakfast at “Mediterranean Harbor” which is also the location for most of the shows in DisneySea. A volcano known as Mt. Prometheus, the iconic centerpiece of the entire park, smoked ominously behind the harbor while we ate our egg salad sandwiches.

One of the design highlights of DisneySea was the steampunk style of “Mysterious Island,” especially the center of the volcano with the staircase leading down to the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride. The Journey to the Center of the Earth ride is also located in this area of the park. The detail throughout Mysterious Island was amazing and a lot of fun to explore. The most disappointing thing about DisneySea was the length of the rides. I felt like most of them were much too short (2 to 3min long) compared to the rides in Tokyo Disneyland (many of them are 10 to 15min long).

The most surprising thing for me was the storyline of the Tower of Terror ride. Tower of Terror is my favorite Disney ride and I bullied everyone into getting fast passes for that ride first. If you are familiar with the ride in the US, then you know that the theme is the classic Twilight Zone. Since the Twilight Zone television series is essentially unknown in Japan, the story for the ride had to be completely changed. Instead, we learned about the Hotel’s owner Harrison Hightower III, a very wealthy explorer and collector of artifacts who died in a freak elevator accident after returning from his travels with a mysterious artifact from Africa called Shiriki Utundu. Shiriki Utundu was the only thing found in the elevator after the incident. The Hotel was closed for 13 years after Mr. Hightower’s untimely death but lucky for you they decided to open its doors to the public once again. I highly recommend Tower of Terror as a unique Tokyo DisneySea experience.

Tokyo Disneyland is very similar to the U.S.’s Magic Kingdom and it is divided into the familiar Adventureland, Fantasyland etc. sections. The most amazing difference for me was the Haunted Mansion ride, also one of my favorites. As a special Halloween treat, the entire ride was themed after The Nightmare Before Christmas. Instead of Grim Grinning Ghosts, you are serenaded by the Nightmare Before Christmas characters singing the songs from the Tim Burton classic. I thoroughly enjoyed the unique opportunity to experience this version of the ride.

One of the other unique aspects of Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea was the wide variety of popcorn. In addition to the usual salt, caramel and chocolate popcorn you can find flavors like curry, butter soy sauce, honey, milk tea, black pepper, strawberry, and cranberry. We had a great time trying all the different flavors.

Enjoy exploring the Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea websites! If you have been to either one before I would love to hear about your experience. What surprised you the most?