Ik im super late, but just went here with my family. I got a lot to say. First The entrance is crazy. Arrived here decently early and ended up waiting almost an hour to just enter the park. I wish this was the worst part of the day. Second With fantasy springs open I was excited to see the new lands and ride the new stuff, but when we tried all tickets were sold out immediately 10 minutes after park opening. Remember you can’t book unless you’re in the park, and it took almost an hour to enter. More on Fantasy Springs later Third Design The design of this park is horrendous. Like laughably horrendous. Every other Disney park has a large plaza where crowds split to the themed areas. This one? Choose quickly left or right, as hundreds and hundreds of people shove you. Then the pair layout itself is even worse. To get to the entrance to leave you have to go through the mysterious island again, where the most people are, and once again takes forever to go anywhere. Fourth Capacity. I wish Disney managed how many guests they let enter each day. If they did, maybe all the attractions wouldn’t have hour plus weights. It’s understandable like any theme park, but this is crazy. Every single area was packed. And since there are so few rides here, the ones worth your time(exception of sindbad) all had 2+ hour weights Fifth Fantasy Springs This ruined the last straw I had when visiting as we tried all day to get tickets. The options popped up, we selected them, but as we payed, they disappeared. Later on around 4, we got lucky and snagged tickets. We rode Peter Pan, which was fine Ig for a new ride, had a bit too many screens. Then we ate since they don’t let you SIT DOWN indoors(it was forty degrees the entire day) unless you pay for food. After that we thought a good last ride would be frozen, and was happy to wai lt only 50 minutes. Only to find out that we needed yet another special pass for the STANDBY Queue. So they limited the entry of the area, only to limit the rides too?!?! So only people who paid for both could enjoy this new land Sixth Almost done The rides were somewhat underwhelming. Tower of Terror was unbelievably short and sinbads, contrary to what everybody said, was a snooze fest. I could literally see the rooms we were in along with the animatronics moving with wires and levers. Language barrier didn’t help either. Other rides like Indiana Jones’s were fine, no complaints. Now that I vented a bit I just want to say I’m not trying to hate, I just had a horrible experience here, and as a theme park enthusiast my whole I’ve looked forward to this park, and it went from future number 1 to least favorite ever. The only thing I have to say good was the employees here. The people as well were all amazing. The only reason I walked out with a smile. If you made it this far, thanks for letting me vent on you.
I visited the parks a few weeks ago and had similar experience. I will also add: long queues for rides is somewhat understandable given some of the points raised in this video, but 30 minute queues to buy literally any food item in the park like a hotdog or popcorn from a stall? What on earth are they thinking, completely insane. Get more food carts, hire more staff, train them to serve faster, whatever you need to do, but it was ridiculous looking at the app and realising there was not a single food option in the entire park I could buy without lining up for half an hour.
The pandemic really messed up Disneysea for many of us who didn’t get to visit it beforehand. But overall it was a fun day out. I’m really looking forward to see your experience at Fantasy Springs.
Yeah it’s shocking when you stop and think about how much has actually changed since 2020… I moved here April 2019 so I got to have less than a year of TDR being the best before everything went to 💩 ! Looking forward to sharing Fantasy Springs!!
Imagine if the Jamboree Mickey played the Happy Ride with Baymax music one day like next year for the ride's 5th anniversary, I think so many people would go nuts especially myself
Disney has a problem with merchandise. I’m at Disneyland and Disney World often, I’m a huge Disney theme park fan, and I can go through all the stores and not see a single thing that I want. It’s all just character graphic designs, and toys. Most annoying, is the collectibles they have, really aren’t collectibles at all. They are printed canvases, or mass produced things like miniatures of the singing busts from the haunted mansion. I would be interested in attraction specific collectibles. Or maybe one or two of these items available. Nice video by the way!
when I was a teenager, Disneyland Paris had beautiful small snow globes with characters,, so nice. and the merch was a very decent quality. now. it's just... the same stuff over and over again. I brought my nieces Disney cups from Starbuck home, the Disneyland Paris cups were just so ugly designed.
I agree with the oversaturation of character focused goods. My wife and I just returned from our second trip to Tokyo and we spent another day at DisneySea and we didn't buy a tenth of what we bought during our first trip. Once you've bought JP unique goods like the Duffy crew merch or Chandu (to prove that you're a real one, lol), you kind of don't really need anything else. However, I will also say that TDR does sell several unique collectibles that will cost you a pretty penny, you just need to scope them out and pray you can afford them.
I just came back and didnt realize all the stuff that was missing from pre pandemic. I did feel the lack of rides especially since Sinbad and Toystory were closed the lines were huge! Stayed at the ambassador hotel and it was fantastic, the happt entry and 40th anniversary passes madr a huge difference but I did find myself having nothing to do a few times, so ate some food lol
I'm not sure if you know this, but at the Lost River Delta area, they sometimes have Rafiki and Timon from The Lion King meeting near the Mickey Greeting trails! When I was there on June 16, I was very fortunate enough to see them, especially since I got to pose with both of them! Also in the Mediterranean harbour they sometimes have Pinocchio characters like Pinocchio, Jiminy, Honest John, Gideon, and Geppetto
I see you take the left side when you go loading in. I'm a fan of the right side. I also walk from Maihama station because I'm cheap and rather not pay of the monorail.
I just visited TDR flying from the UK for a 6 day holiday (to see Fantasy Springs). I visited there quite often pre pandemic and I am sincerely shocked by how downgraded is TDS right now. I second nearly every word you say. And apart from those points I was very affectedly by how quickly they close after 9pm and how the CMs usher people away. During one of the raining days of my visit, Baymax was only 30 minutes wait and they still closed the line before the park closure time, at 8:45!!! That was insane!!! I tried to take a few photos in Belle's village around 9:20 and was ushered away because there were already clearing that area for closure. I was in Paris last year and there you are just able to freely wander around the hub in front of the castle after fireworks. Apparently there are securities waiting to clear the park but they won't urge you to walk away, people can still enjoy the night atmosphere and the park will eventually be emptied (in a more friendly way) as no one would wander there for forever, right? I know the cast members in Tokyo have to use public transport to return home, but pre-pandemic the parks closed at 10pm and were normally emptied at 11, so clearly it's more of a budget cutting thing.... Also, I don't know how they would allow the Fantasy chateau of the new hotel to be even designed, it looks so ugly from within the park...
You’re absolutely right it’s sad how things have changed. Being rushed out of the park was always a problem at Tokyo Disney but with the 9pm closing it really stings. I hope you were still able to have a good time during your visit though!
The lack of live entertainment and annual passes really made crowds so uncontrollable. It's also just so disappointing the mermaid theater hasn't reopened yet. It was always a highlight during our visits and the only reason we would even go inside mermaid lagoon.
As I said I think that’s the only reason most people go inside Mermaid Lagoon! I’m really hoping that reopens soon, it’s the most egregious cutback in my opinion
All very valid. As someone who visited post-covid, I know the park has seen better days. Far better than anything stateside but it's sort of falling into the same operational philosophies. The whole DPA thing is just the Japanese Genie+ except it's a la carte, of course as tourists, I had to get it but it blows up standby and probably kills standby guests' goodwill.
It’s still a stunning theme park, but that’s what makes the negative changes so upsetting… I’m confident things will improve, I just don’t know by how much…
Thank you for this! My family is planning our first trip to Japan and TDS is definitely on our to do lists. We’ve been hyping up this park ever since we’ve known about it, so having some realistic expectations is definitely something we need. At the very least it’ll lower our expectations so we can enjoy it more!
You’re very welcome I’m so glad to hear that! I adore this place and I’m sure you’ll have an amazing time, but bringing those expectations down never hurts!
Totally spot on here…. Especially about the entertainment… really miss those days. What really sucks is that when I had an AP I’d plan trips all the time. Now it seems like more work than it’s worth. SEA is still my favorite place to be on the planet. Oh by the way was the Tomica car collection featured your collection? Have I shown you mine before?
Yep those are mine, and I watched your video of yours! I like the ones that actually look like the ride vehicles so I tend to skip the special edition ones myself. They’ve been doing some odd ones lately though with food trucks and things that I’m not so sure about…
Your list is pretty spot on. I have always found TDS to be the most beautiful Disney Theme Park but given the choice between the two properties I would choose TDL 9 times out of 10. I think for me the biggest issue that I never hear discussed that much is the actual design of the park. The hub and spoke design of Disneyland is filled in with water and so you are contanstly having to walk around the perimeter of the park to get anywhere. It is very inefficient. Most times the boats that can get you around the park are shuttered for an upcoming show. The lack of rides is my second biggest gripe of the park and why I would choose TDL on most days. My favorite ride of the park is Sinbad because it is just such a special water ride to me. Indy being my second. Our latest trip in February of this year was dictated by dates we would be in Tokyo. Our visit had three large rides down (Toy Story, Indy, and Sinbad). That really hurt. The whole issue with Premiere Pass really highlights how paltry the offerings are in TDS as 4 E-Tickets need to be purchased to avoid the long lines. The merchandise seems much worse than in the past. All of the current event merch was all long gone (40th Anniversary Finale) and it was only a couple weeks into the promo. That is pretty ridiculous. It will sell so why does OLC purposely lose out on that money? The clothes size is also funny. I run about a Japanese XL, which is 2 sizes up from what I would wear in the US (a medium). Usually not a big deal but I really wanted a Disney Christmas Sweater a couple of years ago and nothing larger than a Japanese large. Someone mentioned fireworks being cancelled. That is my running joke as those are cancelled at the slightest breeze. I never make plans for the fireworks. Highlight of our last trip was not only getting the lottery for Big Band Beat but also getting front row seating. It is a fun show but I do miss the full band and performers. I have been enjoying you videos, you help ground visitors expectations but are also pretty upbeat.
The layout is a really good point. To be honest I love the way it always feels like you’re exploring and there are big reveals around every corner, but a day at DisneySea is always so tiring, especially compared to Disneyland next door which is so easy to get around (and a lot flatter too!) OLC understocking things is a joke and just serves the resellers who swarm the parks on merch release days and sell everything for triple the price online. I don’t know why they don’t seem to care about fixing it. Last year the fireworks were closed over 150 days 🤣 Big Band Beat WAS fantastic. Very excited as this month Mickey’s Magical Music World suddenly debuted the non-covid version, so I really hope BBB gets the same treatment soon! Thank you so much!! My goal is exactly that. These are my favorite places in the world, but to pretend they’re perfect is to make people’s expectations unreasonable. Thanks for the kind and thoughtful comment!
Absolutely incredible videos and b-roll you have filmed, thank you for all the insider knowledge! I am going back to TDL (before Fantasy Springs, lol) and would love any tips you have for Believe Sea Of Dreams 🌞
Thank you so much!! Believe Sea of Dreams… as I said in the video get there early and buy a DPA, preferably for the front if possible. Then arrive at the DPA spot at least an hour before the show starts, even earlier if it’s a particularly busy day. Front and center is the best spot as you’d imagine. Have fun!
From when I went there in January for the very first time: - Aesthetically probably the strongest Disney park, really beautiful place with clear design goal other than cramming IP everywhere (until Fantasy Springs opens of course) - Journey to the Center of the Earth was fantastic, some of the other rides were fun (Tower of Terror, Indiana Jones, Soarin, Sinbad etc) though mainly reused rides from overseas with updated aesthetics - Most of the big rides required either a 1-2 hour+ queue or paying for an individual lightning lane, which we had to do due to only having 1 day there - Toy Story Mania was closed but not a big deal cause we'd done it in Orlando - Believe Sea of Dreams was closed for maintenance for a few weeks which is weird considering its only on once a day (no replacement show either) - Fireworks show was cancelled after we waited 45 minutes for it due to "bad weather" (clear skies, no rain, no wind, so idk what on earth they meant by that) - Every ride closed an hour and 15 minutes minimum before official close time so we just had to leave after not seeing any night show because every decent ride wouldn't take new guests even with more than an hour till close - Merchandise is very targeted at Japanese guests, expect lots of character merch for Duffy and friends and Mickey Mouse, not much worth buying for foreigners tbh, universal much better on this front - Food is better than American Disney though still not anything special, and arguably even worse when compared with Japan's infinitely higher food standards
Tons of great points here! You didn’t miss anything with the fireworks as they’re only 4 minutes long 😅. I’m pretty sure they cancel them on less busy days just to save money seeing as they can’t sell DPA for it 😒
@@8bitthemepark wouldn't surprise me tbh, the whole park seemed to be in money saving mode which is insane considering how busy it is and how much money they must be raking in with only single day single park passes available
@@SchnookieC They’re making more money than ever by quite a substantial margin. No excuse for the cuts, but I guess from the business side there’s no excuse against them.
I'm so disappointed and upset because I still want to make an official animated movie about my favorite Tokyo Disneysea theme park in Japan someday. 😢😞
Dude, I SO feel you about the clothing sizes. After 20 years over there, one of my absolute favorite things about being back in America is being able to buy clothes my size!!! (I’m 192cm)
Thanks buddy! Sadly it just doesn’t make sense anymore to put months and months into the 8 Bit ride videos when I can comfortably(ish) make Tokyo Disney videos every week and they get even more attention. I do hope to do them again in the future though!
The first time we went to Disney sea we didn’t know what journey to the center of the earth was, we took my 5 year old daughter who had a strangely specific fear of volcanos on it not knowing any better. We had a blast but she took years to recover. 😂
Went for my first time 2 days ago. It was cool, but 3 hour waits for all the good rides all day long ruin the experience. Half hour lines for popcorn...
I went to disneysea late april last year (it was my 3rd visit to disneysea) and I never got a ride that was more than 50 minutes long. I am shocked when people complaining they spent 2-3 hours queuing on a ride. The longest was soaring which is around 45 mins (this one was kinda lucky, it was over 1 1/2 hours all day, until I checked it in the afternoon and it was 40 mins). I got lucky with big band beat too, I didn't win the lottery on the previous two visits I finished everything before 6 PM (done 15 rides / shows) and kinda wandering around while waiting for the night time show (I think the show was amazing. the projector went all around the park including the walls of the hotel, it feels magical). *same also happened when I visit disneyland, finished everything before 6PM. me and my wife did 17 rides / shows in a day, the rest are either wet, not interesting, or closed due to maintenance. the only reason for this might be because I visited after sakura season. so foreigner who came for sakura already went back to their home country. and maybe also because I was a week away from golden week (people hold off going to disney and wait until golden week)
April is the busiest month because its when school starts in Japan so all the masses of students disappear. And it's also the start of the fiscal year in Japan, so most company workers are back in office to sit there pretending that they are working hard, so they are gone too.
It really was the best park in the world back in 2019. I hope it can return to its former glory some day, but now that they know they can get away with the bare minimum, I don't see any reason why they would. Crazy that it costs more than ever to visit (for locals) and you get 2 less hours at the park, such a shame. Nighttime at DisneySea was the best (even though night rides were still fairly limited then)
Yea the rides closing early has always been an issue even in the ‘before times’, it’s sad to see how far things have fallen, and whilst I do think things will gradually improve (the only way is up) I have no doubt it’s best years are in the past :/
Oh wow, I thought it was just us who were unlucky in not seeing characters, but the one and only we DID see was Jack Sparrow ;-) And HE approached US to chat and take photos so now I see why the entourage of people following him were so unhappy that we got the interaction without even asking for it..! Hadn't realised we were lucky indeed.
The park is too spread out which is only made worse with Fantasy Springs entry requirement. Not only does Fantasy Springs add more size to an already gigantic park, it places the very inconvenient time restricted entry pass on each attraction. Not fun needing to traverse back and forth throughout the park during summer heat when one entry pass is in the morning, the other afternoon, and last at night. Unless you want to spend the entire day in Fantasy Springs or the right side of the park all day… I thought Walt Disney World’s virtual queue made vacationing inconvenient, but Tokyo DisneySea took that times 10! Otherwise great park!
You’re right. I’m hoping the entry system for Fantasy Springs comes to an end pretty soon. I think it’ll be necessary during the busy months of October - December but maybe next January they can stop using it. It’ll be so nice when you can just stroll in and out like the rest of the park
Yea, I don't know why the O.L.C. has only been focusing on getting T.D.L. back online for the past 2 years in terms of their live entertainmemt venues and offerings 🤦🏻♂️ The live emtertainments at T.D.S. have completely been ignored since the pandemic aside from Believe ! Also, I remember the days (01 to 2012 ish) when the O.L.C. could afford to implement jet skis and custom boats for their harbor shows... The park closing at 9pm can't be helped since it's NOT a Tokyo Disney issue. In order for the O.L.C. to extend the park hours back, the entierty of Kanto needs to force their train conductors and bus drivere to crunch more hours a day for thoes who work at T.D.R.
People overhype TDS, I honestly enjoyed TdL way more. TDS looks nice but personally I want to ride as many rides as I can. I went to TDS and it wasn’t crowded but by the end of the day there was nothing to do.
@@CursedKeyblade1 Yeah it’s kind of funny, there was a heavily rumored boutique 3rd theme park in this space, and then what they ended up doing is basically a boutique 3rd theme park, but attached to DisneySea
you moved there to be closer to Tokyo Disney sea??? I won't judge... maybe a little bit. after I heard you saying this I was like "Would I move to Paris just to be closer top Disneyland Paris???" maybe. I can see myself doing this. Not really tho. But still. wann go to Tokyo next year... I will hit you up and we can spend a day together at Disney.
Have you been to Tokyo DisneySea? Did any of these things affect your trip?
Ik im super late, but just went here with my family. I got a lot to say.
First
The entrance is crazy. Arrived here decently early and ended up waiting almost an hour to just enter the park. I wish this was the worst part of the day.
Second
With fantasy springs open I was excited to see the new lands and ride the new stuff, but when we tried all tickets were sold out immediately 10 minutes after park opening. Remember you can’t book unless you’re in the park, and it took almost an hour to enter. More on Fantasy Springs later
Third
Design
The design of this park is horrendous. Like laughably horrendous. Every other Disney park has a large plaza where crowds split to the themed areas. This one? Choose quickly left or right, as hundreds and hundreds of people shove you. Then the pair layout itself is even worse. To get to the entrance to leave you have to go through the mysterious island again, where the most people are, and once again takes forever to go anywhere.
Fourth
Capacity. I wish Disney managed how many guests they let enter each day. If they did, maybe all the attractions wouldn’t have hour plus weights. It’s understandable like any theme park, but this is crazy. Every single area was packed. And since there are so few rides here, the ones worth your time(exception of sindbad) all had 2+ hour weights
Fifth
Fantasy Springs
This ruined the last straw I had when visiting as we tried all day to get tickets. The options popped up, we selected them, but as we payed, they disappeared. Later on around 4, we got lucky and snagged tickets. We rode Peter Pan, which was fine Ig for a new ride, had a bit too many screens. Then we ate since they don’t let you SIT DOWN indoors(it was forty degrees the entire day) unless you pay for food. After that we thought a good last ride would be frozen, and was happy to wai lt only 50 minutes. Only to find out that we needed yet another special pass for the STANDBY Queue. So they limited the entry of the area, only to limit the rides too?!?! So only people who paid for both could enjoy this new land
Sixth
Almost done
The rides were somewhat underwhelming. Tower of Terror was unbelievably short and sinbads, contrary to what everybody said, was a snooze fest. I could literally see the rooms we were in along with the animatronics moving with wires and levers. Language barrier didn’t help either. Other rides like Indiana Jones’s were fine, no complaints.
Now that I vented a bit I just want to say I’m not trying to hate, I just had a horrible experience here, and as a theme park enthusiast my whole I’ve looked forward to this park, and it went from future number 1 to least favorite ever. The only thing I have to say good was the employees here. The people as well were all amazing. The only reason I walked out with a smile. If you made it this far, thanks for letting me vent on you.
I visited the parks a few weeks ago and had similar experience. I will also add: long queues for rides is somewhat understandable given some of the points raised in this video, but 30 minute queues to buy literally any food item in the park like a hotdog or popcorn from a stall? What on earth are they thinking, completely insane. Get more food carts, hire more staff, train them to serve faster, whatever you need to do, but it was ridiculous looking at the app and realising there was not a single food option in the entire park I could buy without lining up for half an hour.
The pandemic really messed up Disneysea for many of us who didn’t get to visit it beforehand. But overall it was a fun day out. I’m really looking forward to see your experience at Fantasy Springs.
Yeah it’s shocking when you stop and think about how much has actually changed since 2020… I moved here April 2019 so I got to have less than a year of TDR being the best before everything went to 💩 !
Looking forward to sharing Fantasy Springs!!
Imagine if the Jamboree Mickey played the Happy Ride with Baymax music one day like next year for the ride's 5th anniversary, I think so many people would go nuts especially myself
Disney has a problem with merchandise. I’m at Disneyland and Disney World often, I’m a huge Disney theme park fan, and I can go through all the stores and not see a single thing that I want. It’s all just character graphic designs, and toys. Most annoying, is the collectibles they have, really aren’t collectibles at all. They are printed canvases, or mass produced things like miniatures of the singing busts from the haunted mansion. I would be interested in attraction specific collectibles. Or maybe one or two of these items available.
Nice video by the way!
Thanks friend!
Yeah merch is often tricky, when it’s good it’s great but when it’s bad it’s awful!
when I was a teenager, Disneyland Paris had beautiful small snow globes with characters,, so nice. and the merch was a very decent quality. now. it's just... the same stuff over and over again. I brought my nieces Disney cups from Starbuck home, the Disneyland Paris cups were just so ugly designed.
I agree with the oversaturation of character focused goods. My wife and I just returned from our second trip to Tokyo and we spent another day at DisneySea and we didn't buy a tenth of what we bought during our first trip. Once you've bought JP unique goods like the Duffy crew merch or Chandu (to prove that you're a real one, lol), you kind of don't really need anything else. However, I will also say that TDR does sell several unique collectibles that will cost you a pretty penny, you just need to scope them out and pray you can afford them.
I just came back and didnt realize all the stuff that was missing from pre pandemic. I did feel the lack of rides especially since Sinbad and Toystory were closed the lines were huge!
Stayed at the ambassador hotel and it was fantastic, the happt entry and 40th anniversary passes madr a huge difference but I did find myself having nothing to do a few times, so ate some food lol
Yea I often find I have gaps in my days at DisneySea, but free time at DisneySea isn’t the worst thing in the world!
I'm not sure if you know this, but at the Lost River Delta area, they sometimes have Rafiki and Timon from The Lion King meeting near the Mickey Greeting trails! When I was there on June 16, I was very fortunate enough to see them, especially since I got to pose with both of them! Also in the Mediterranean harbour they sometimes have Pinocchio characters like Pinocchio, Jiminy, Honest John, Gideon, and Geppetto
so technically there are interesting characters there but just not every day
I see you take the left side when you go loading in. I'm a fan of the right side. I also walk from Maihama station because I'm cheap and rather not pay of the monorail.
When I had an AP I’d always walk too! So now when I take the monorail I always go to the left because I used to always do the right
I just visited TDR flying from the UK for a 6 day holiday (to see Fantasy Springs). I visited there quite often pre pandemic and I am sincerely shocked by how downgraded is TDS right now. I second nearly every word you say. And apart from those points I was very affectedly by how quickly they close after 9pm and how the CMs usher people away. During one of the raining days of my visit, Baymax was only 30 minutes wait and they still closed the line before the park closure time, at 8:45!!! That was insane!!! I tried to take a few photos in Belle's village around 9:20 and was ushered away because there were already clearing that area for closure. I was in Paris last year and there you are just able to freely wander around the hub in front of the castle after fireworks. Apparently there are securities waiting to clear the park but they won't urge you to walk away, people can still enjoy the night atmosphere and the park will eventually be emptied (in a more friendly way) as no one would wander there for forever, right? I know the cast members in Tokyo have to use public transport to return home, but pre-pandemic the parks closed at 10pm and were normally emptied at 11, so clearly it's more of a budget cutting thing.... Also, I don't know how they would allow the Fantasy chateau of the new hotel to be even designed, it looks so ugly from within the park...
You’re absolutely right it’s sad how things have changed. Being rushed out of the park was always a problem at Tokyo Disney but with the 9pm closing it really stings. I hope you were still able to have a good time during your visit though!
The lack of live entertainment and annual passes really made crowds so uncontrollable. It's also just so disappointing the mermaid theater hasn't reopened yet. It was always a highlight during our visits and the only reason we would even go inside mermaid lagoon.
As I said I think that’s the only reason most people go inside Mermaid Lagoon! I’m really hoping that reopens soon, it’s the most egregious cutback in my opinion
All very valid. As someone who visited post-covid, I know the park has seen better days. Far better than anything stateside but it's sort of falling into the same operational philosophies. The whole DPA thing is just the Japanese Genie+ except it's a la carte, of course as tourists, I had to get it but it blows up standby and probably kills standby guests' goodwill.
It’s still a stunning theme park, but that’s what makes the negative changes so upsetting… I’m confident things will improve, I just don’t know by how much…
Thank you for this! My family is planning our first trip to Japan and TDS is definitely on our to do lists. We’ve been hyping up this park ever since we’ve known about it, so having some realistic expectations is definitely something we need. At the very least it’ll lower our expectations so we can enjoy it more!
You’re very welcome I’m so glad to hear that! I adore this place and I’m sure you’ll have an amazing time, but bringing those expectations down never hurts!
Totally spot on here…. Especially about the entertainment… really miss those days. What really sucks is that when I had an AP I’d plan trips all the time. Now it seems like more work than it’s worth. SEA is still my favorite place to be on the planet. Oh by the way was the Tomica car collection featured your collection? Have I shown you mine before?
Yep those are mine, and I watched your video of yours! I like the ones that actually look like the ride vehicles so I tend to skip the special edition ones myself. They’ve been doing some odd ones lately though with food trucks and things that I’m not so sure about…
Your list is pretty spot on. I have always found TDS to be the most beautiful Disney Theme Park but given the choice between the two properties I would choose TDL 9 times out of 10. I think for me the biggest issue that I never hear discussed that much is the actual design of the park. The hub and spoke design of Disneyland is filled in with water and so you are contanstly having to walk around the perimeter of the park to get anywhere. It is very inefficient. Most times the boats that can get you around the park are shuttered for an upcoming show.
The lack of rides is my second biggest gripe of the park and why I would choose TDL on most days. My favorite ride of the park is Sinbad because it is just such a special water ride to me. Indy being my second. Our latest trip in February of this year was dictated by dates we would be in Tokyo. Our visit had three large rides down (Toy Story, Indy, and Sinbad). That really hurt. The whole issue with Premiere Pass really highlights how paltry the offerings are in TDS as 4 E-Tickets need to be purchased to avoid the long lines.
The merchandise seems much worse than in the past. All of the current event merch was all long gone (40th Anniversary Finale) and it was only a couple weeks into the promo. That is pretty ridiculous. It will sell so why does OLC purposely lose out on that money? The clothes size is also funny. I run about a Japanese XL, which is 2 sizes up from what I would wear in the US (a medium). Usually not a big deal but I really wanted a Disney Christmas Sweater a couple of years ago and nothing larger than a Japanese large.
Someone mentioned fireworks being cancelled. That is my running joke as those are cancelled at the slightest breeze. I never make plans for the fireworks.
Highlight of our last trip was not only getting the lottery for Big Band Beat but also getting front row seating. It is a fun show but I do miss the full band and performers.
I have been enjoying you videos, you help ground visitors expectations but are also pretty upbeat.
The layout is a really good point. To be honest I love the way it always feels like you’re exploring and there are big reveals around every corner, but a day at DisneySea is always so tiring, especially compared to Disneyland next door which is so easy to get around (and a lot flatter too!)
OLC understocking things is a joke and just serves the resellers who swarm the parks on merch release days and sell everything for triple the price online. I don’t know why they don’t seem to care about fixing it.
Last year the fireworks were closed over 150 days 🤣
Big Band Beat WAS fantastic. Very excited as this month Mickey’s Magical Music World suddenly debuted the non-covid version, so I really hope BBB gets the same treatment soon!
Thank you so much!! My goal is exactly that. These are my favorite places in the world, but to pretend they’re perfect is to make people’s expectations unreasonable. Thanks for the kind and thoughtful comment!
Absolutely incredible videos and b-roll you have filmed, thank you for all the insider knowledge! I am going back to TDL (before Fantasy Springs, lol) and would love any tips you have for Believe Sea Of Dreams 🌞
Thank you so much!!
Believe Sea of Dreams… as I said in the video get there early and buy a DPA, preferably for the front if possible. Then arrive at the DPA spot at least an hour before the show starts, even earlier if it’s a particularly busy day. Front and center is the best spot as you’d imagine. Have fun!
From when I went there in January for the very first time:
- Aesthetically probably the strongest Disney park, really beautiful place with clear design goal other than cramming IP everywhere (until Fantasy Springs opens of course)
- Journey to the Center of the Earth was fantastic, some of the other rides were fun (Tower of Terror, Indiana Jones, Soarin, Sinbad etc) though mainly reused rides from overseas with updated aesthetics
- Most of the big rides required either a 1-2 hour+ queue or paying for an individual lightning lane, which we had to do due to only having 1 day there
- Toy Story Mania was closed but not a big deal cause we'd done it in Orlando
- Believe Sea of Dreams was closed for maintenance for a few weeks which is weird considering its only on once a day (no replacement show either)
- Fireworks show was cancelled after we waited 45 minutes for it due to "bad weather" (clear skies, no rain, no wind, so idk what on earth they meant by that)
- Every ride closed an hour and 15 minutes minimum before official close time so we just had to leave after not seeing any night show because every decent ride wouldn't take new guests even with more than an hour till close
- Merchandise is very targeted at Japanese guests, expect lots of character merch for Duffy and friends and Mickey Mouse, not much worth buying for foreigners tbh, universal much better on this front
- Food is better than American Disney though still not anything special, and arguably even worse when compared with Japan's infinitely higher food standards
Tons of great points here! You didn’t miss anything with the fireworks as they’re only 4 minutes long 😅. I’m pretty sure they cancel them on less busy days just to save money seeing as they can’t sell DPA for it 😒
@@8bitthemepark wouldn't surprise me tbh, the whole park seemed to be in money saving mode which is insane considering how busy it is and how much money they must be raking in with only single day single park passes available
@@SchnookieC They’re making more money than ever by quite a substantial margin. No excuse for the cuts, but I guess from the business side there’s no excuse against them.
I'm so disappointed and upset because I still want to make an official animated movie about my favorite Tokyo Disneysea theme park in Japan someday. 😢😞
Dude, I SO feel you about the clothing sizes. After 20 years over there, one of my absolute favorite things about being back in America is being able to buy clothes my size!!!
(I’m 192cm)
You’re 192cm and you lived here for 20 years??? How many times did you bang your head? 😅
Dude, great video. One of your best. Outside of your 8 bit recreations, of course. Any chance any are in the works? I understand if not though.
Thanks buddy! Sadly it just doesn’t make sense anymore to put months and months into the 8 Bit ride videos when I can comfortably(ish) make Tokyo Disney videos every week and they get even more attention.
I do hope to do them again in the future though!
The first time we went to Disney sea we didn’t know what journey to the center of the earth was, we took my 5 year old daughter who had a strangely specific fear of volcanos on it not knowing any better.
We had a blast but she took years to recover. 😂
That is strangely specific, and I can’t think of a worse ride for her to go on 😂
I’m glad she’s recovered! 🌋
Went for my first time 2 days ago. It was cool, but 3 hour waits for all the good rides all day long ruin the experience. Half hour lines for popcorn...
Right?? And you feel like you’re doing something wrong but unless you’re incredibly lucky that’s basically the way DisneySea is!
I went to disneysea late april last year (it was my 3rd visit to disneysea) and I never got a ride that was more than 50 minutes long. I am shocked when people complaining they spent 2-3 hours queuing on a ride. The longest was soaring which is around 45 mins (this one was kinda lucky, it was over 1 1/2 hours all day, until I checked it in the afternoon and it was 40 mins).
I got lucky with big band beat too, I didn't win the lottery on the previous two visits
I finished everything before 6 PM (done 15 rides / shows) and kinda wandering around while waiting for the night time show (I think the show was amazing. the projector went all around the park including the walls of the hotel, it feels magical).
*same also happened when I visit disneyland, finished everything before 6PM. me and my wife did 17 rides / shows in a day, the rest are either wet, not interesting, or closed due to maintenance.
the only reason for this might be because I visited after sakura season. so foreigner who came for sakura already went back to their home country. and maybe also because I was a week away from golden week (people hold off going to disney and wait until golden week)
April is the busiest month because its when school starts in Japan so all the masses of students disappear. And it's also the start of the fiscal year in Japan, so most company workers are back in office to sit there pretending that they are working hard, so they are gone too.
It really was the best park in the world back in 2019. I hope it can return to its former glory some day, but now that they know they can get away with the bare minimum, I don't see any reason why they would. Crazy that it costs more than ever to visit (for locals) and you get 2 less hours at the park, such a shame. Nighttime at DisneySea was the best (even though night rides were still fairly limited then)
Yea the rides closing early has always been an issue even in the ‘before times’, it’s sad to see how far things have fallen, and whilst I do think things will gradually improve (the only way is up) I have no doubt it’s best years are in the past :/
@@8bitthemepark weird to think late 2000's/2010's disneysea might be remembered the way 80's/90's epcot is today.
Oh wow, I thought it was just us who were unlucky in not seeing characters, but the one and only we DID see was Jack Sparrow ;-) And HE approached US to chat and take photos so now I see why the entourage of people following him were so unhappy that we got the interaction without even asking for it..! Hadn't realised we were lucky indeed.
Jack is great isn’t he! Yeah that was definitely a very lucky moment for sure!
The park is too spread out which is only made worse with Fantasy Springs entry requirement.
Not only does Fantasy Springs add more size to an already gigantic park, it places the very inconvenient time restricted entry pass on each attraction.
Not fun needing to traverse back and forth throughout the park during summer heat when one entry pass is in the morning, the other afternoon, and last at night.
Unless you want to spend the entire day in Fantasy Springs or the right side of the park all day…
I thought Walt Disney World’s virtual queue made vacationing inconvenient, but Tokyo DisneySea took that times 10!
Otherwise great park!
You’re right. I’m hoping the entry system for Fantasy Springs comes to an end pretty soon. I think it’ll be necessary during the busy months of October - December but maybe next January they can stop using it. It’ll be so nice when you can just stroll in and out like the rest of the park
Yea, I don't know why the O.L.C. has only been focusing on getting T.D.L. back online for the past 2 years in terms of their live entertainmemt venues and offerings 🤦🏻♂️ The live emtertainments at T.D.S. have completely been ignored since the pandemic aside from Believe ! Also, I remember the days (01 to 2012 ish) when the O.L.C. could afford to implement jet skis and custom boats for their harbor shows... The park closing at 9pm can't be helped since it's NOT a Tokyo Disney issue. In order for the O.L.C. to extend the park hours back, the entierty of Kanto needs to force their train conductors and bus drivere to crunch more hours a day for thoes who work at T.D.R.
I'm going in November and I can;t wait to go
I hope you have an amazing time!!!
Notification squad 🙌
Friends for Eternity!
Whilst I agree, it just sounds like an angry local 😂
I moved here expecting to have an annual pass every year 😭😭😭
People overhype TDS, I honestly enjoyed TdL way more. TDS looks nice but personally I want to ride as many rides as I can. I went to TDS and it wasn’t crowded but by the end of the day there was nothing to do.
Tokyo Disneyland has had an extra 20 years to grow and it shows for sure. Sea desperately needs more rides.
@@8bitthemeparkeven fantasy springs won't help TDS much, its going to be so insanely crowded that I can't see it helping out the crowds for a while.
@@CursedKeyblade1 Yeah it’s kind of funny, there was a heavily rumored boutique 3rd theme park in this space, and then what they ended up doing is basically a boutique 3rd theme park, but attached to DisneySea
you moved there to be closer to Tokyo Disney sea??? I won't judge... maybe a little bit. after I heard you saying this I was like "Would I move to Paris just to be closer top Disneyland Paris???" maybe. I can see myself doing this. Not really tho. But still. wann go to Tokyo next year... I will hit you up and we can spend a day together at Disney.
Well… it’s a long story. I moved here for a lot of reasons but probably the biggest reason I was so into Tokyo specifically was TDR yeah
Seriously superb video
Thanks buddy!
UNLIMITED! 😂
UNLIMITED!!!!