A Disney Parks Around the World Journey: Day 15 – Tokyo Disneyland Part II

Big Thunder Mountain is pretty near Splash Mountain so we then head over to Critter Country where it is.

The queue here is loaded from a cavern in the mountain which gives it more of a mysterious feel than the ones in the US.

Like all the Splash Mountains it starts with you ascending the mountain. You get a real nice view of the park from the top.

We really miss Splash Mountain. After having just gone on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure 10 days ago, riding Splash Mountain now makes me realize how much better I like it in comparison to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.

It’s just as good as I remember it. While I enjoy Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, and the animatronics are vastly improved in comparison to Splash Mountain, the new song, Special Spice, just doesn’t hold a candle to Zip-a-Dee-Dooh-Dah.

Unfortunately, Lucy gets absolutely soaked. Luckily the weather today isn’t too cold, and her winter coat is waterproof, so she shakes off the water and dries up without too much issue.

Next up is Happy Ride with Baymax over in Tomorrowland so we have to trek back through Fantasyland. We pass by It’s a Small World, but sadly it is closed at this time most likely because they are installing the “I am Groot” overlay.

A short bit later we arrive at The Happy Ride with Baymax.

I was very skeptical of this ride as it’s basically a reskinned Alien Swirling Saucer’s. It has a consistent 80-120 minute wait the whole day so I’m curious as to why people are willing to wait this long for a ride that is basically in any basic amusement park.

I must say the ride is greater than the sum of its parts. The music is SUPER HAPPY, and all the cast members, and large number of the people either in the line or outside of it REALLY get into the music and start dancing. It’s really hard to be in this line, do the ride, and be sad. It’s just a very fun and happy experience. We enjoy the ride about the same as Alien Swirling Saucers, which for us is not that much in all honesty. I must say that the music and atmosphere is great and is without a doubt the best part of the ride.

Star Tours is right next door so we head to it next and use our Premier Access.

The queue is just like all the other Star Tours.

Of any ride this is probably the most consistent in terms of theming and experience. The boarding area is totally different in that it felt way more sci-fi than the other boarding areas which can be pretty bland.

The ride is identical to the other Star Tours aside from it being in Japanese. Once we exit Star Tours we start to walk to Monsters, Inc. Ride and Go Seek. On the way we can see Space Mountain behind some barriers being deconstructed.

They are in the process of demolishing Space Mountain Tokyo and are going to rebuild a brand new version.

Monsters, Inc. Ride and Go Seek is an attraction unique to Tokyo Disneyland.

We use the Premier Access line which cuts down on the queue but we still have about a 15 minute wait. The queue is themed to the Monster’s Inc. headquarters, and is very well done.

This is a tracked dark ride where you board a Monsters, Inc. themed vehicle.

There are flashlights in the vehicle that you can shine on targets. If you hit a target it then activates them and cause some type of motion in the attraction.

It adds some interactivity to the ride which elevates the experience so you aren’t just a passive observer. No score is kept, so it’s primarily to just add some interactivity.

It is a very cute ride, that even without the flashlight it would be a be pretty entertaining ride but the flashlight adds some interactivity.

For those that don’t feel like using the flashlight that’s fine as the ride is good without it. We all really enjoyed it. It’s not a ride I feel is so amazing that you instantly want to do it again, but I’d definitely want to do it at least once per trip.

At this point it’s about 1 hour till Reach for the Stars, the brand new nighttime spectacular so we decide to stake out a spot. One of the only benefits of having a wheelchair in the parks is there is typically a designated wheelchair seating area for the main shows. We eventually find a Cast Member, and with some Google translate they understand we are looking for the wheelchair seating. They then walked us to where the viewing area was, and it was a pretty nice spot just a little off center.

We are pretty hungry at this point and sticking with the theme of if it works, don’t fix it, Lucy and I walk to Adventureland to get gumbo again.

Lucy doesn’t like it as much as the first time as there is a little more tomato taste to it, but thankfully the cinnamon rolls taste identical to last time.

As we wait for the fireworks, everything just seems calmer compared to waiting for fireworks in the US parks. Maybe it’s the cold, but everyone just sits down and sticks to their space. There is no fighting over spaces, no arguments, it’s just people waiting to watch a show. It was the easiest time I’ve ever had waiting for a nighttime show by far.

The show was nice, but in all honesty given this was nighttime spectacular number five of the trip they are all starting to run together. It was also completely in Japanese except for the main theme song which I found odd, given the rest of the show and all the other songs were in Japanese. For that reason I just found it hard for me to really give it a review.

There were lots of movie clips including some from the Marvel movies. It was beautiful as all the nighttime spectaculars are with great projections and lighting. There really wasn’t too much fireworks though. I can’t speak to the narrative due to it all being in Japanese. From a gut feeling perspective, it was just ok for me in comparison to the other shows we’d seen this trip.

Afterwards we go stake out a spot for the night parade, Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights. Yes, that really is the name and it is a mouthful. This parade has rave reviews and many have stated it is the BEST Disney nighttime parade of all time. We decided to go sit somewhere in Fantasyland so afterwards we can head over to the Beauty and the Beast ride one last time before we leave as it was just incredible.

We pass by The Big Pop on the way.

This is the super famous popcorn shop we have read about, and Tik-Tokkers are always advertising. We figure we’ll go stake out a spot real quick and then I’ll head back and get some popcorn. They have a Strawberry Napoleon flavor we thought might be worth a try. So far this trip we’ve had roast beef, milk chocolate, and caramel.

We have not been adventurous nor willing to spend the time to get popular flavors such as soy sauce and butter, garlic shrimp, or curry. We are directed to the wheelchair area, and find a spot. I then head back to The Big Pop. The Big Pop is a nicely themed store devoted to popcorn and popcorn buckets.

It takes about 5 minutes to get into the building. Once I get inside I have an “Aha!” Moment in that The Big Pop is a take on The Big Bang!

I suddenly felt so enlightened and so stupid all at once. The line takes about 10 minutes once I enter the building. Unlike any other place in the park, they serve THREE types of popcorn here instead of one. This is crazy talk. I honestly don’t know what people do given they actually have to make a choice unlike every single other stand that only has one type of popcorn. Here they serve Strawberry Napoleon, Cheddar Cheese, and Salted Caramel. Aside from Strawberry Napoleon, these were the most normal flavors we have seen thus far in Tokyo. The Strawberry Napoleon, which is basically Neopolitan, is an exclusive to The Big Pop and cannot be found anywhere else.

They also sell a variety of popcorn buckets here. From what I can tell, it’s practically every currently available popcorn bucket. Like all popcorn stands there are no soft drinks or drinks of any kind available here. I then get back to our spot and Lucy is dead asleep on the ground.

We have a bit before the parade so we let her nap and eat the Strawberry Napoleon popcorn. It’s actually pretty good. It’s basically three flavors in one just like Neapolitan ice cream.

A random observation, but they stick glow sticks in the rope which is a nice safety feature.

Definitely helps keep people from clotheslining themselves on the rope as it is getting pretty dark at this point.

Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights then starts.

It has the classic electrical parade music much like Disney’s Electrical Sky Parade in Paris. It is absolutely incredible.

The floats are plentiful, have a lot of variety and are beautifully lit. The parade is VERY long, and might be the longest Disney parade in recent memory. They have a plethora of characters and pretty much cover nearly every era of Disney.

It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip, and we enjoyed it much more than Reach for the Stars. Once it ended we made a beeline for Beauty and the Beast.

Everyone has the same idea, as the lines always go down during the parade and everyone rushes to get in line before it get’s too long. Thankfully, with our Premier Access we don’t have to worry about the line growing too much.

The line goes quickly and we get on Beauty and the Beast one last time. It truly is a spectacular ride, and it only makes me wish they would make dark rides like this and Pooh’s Honey Hunt for the US as they are just so impressive. It’s sad we have no dark ride attractions on this scale for any of the classic movies in the US. The closest thing we have is Rise of the Resistance and it’s based on Star Wars and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure which is not nearly as good as either Pooh’s Honey Hunt or Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast.

At this point it’s getting pretty close to closing time so we start to head out. We walk past Monsters Inc. on the way out. I get a better view of the building at this point and notice it does pretty good job of looking like the HQ.

It’s a little congested in the World Bazaar, and this is probably the biggest crowd we’ve encountered in our time at Tokyo Disneyland thus far. Despite the heavy crowd it is very orderly.

We return the wheelchair just past the entrance.

After we return the wheelchair, we head to the monorail. It’s just a short ride and we arrive at the Tokyo DisneySea station where the Hotel Miracosta is.

Like every hotel so far, the lobby is of course absolutely beautiful.

Check in goes smoothly without issue, and amazingly our luggage is already waiting for us in our room. At the Disneyland Hotel we had to call bell services to bring it up, so this was a very pleasant surprise. We are very excited for this stay as for the first time in 4 hotels, we are going to stay in a room for longer than 1 night. This time we’re going to stay for 2 WHOLE NIGHTS. This was such a treat it felt like we were practically moving in. This greatly simplifies our morning routine as we don’t have to pack in the morning!!

The room we booked at the Hotel MiraCosta this time was a Venice Canal View room.

I really wanted a harbor view room, but this room was part of our Unlimited Premier Access Vacation Package and we were very lucky to just get the package as it is highly competitive to just book this Vacation Package. After having just been to Venice this July, we were not super impressed with the view, but I must say they did a pretty good job of simulating Venice.

The room was very nice and well themed with lots of Disney details.

Like all the other rooms we’ve had comes with the standard amenities such as a robe, amenity kit, hot water kettle, slippers and some bags.

Lucy then eats the ramen we bought earlier today as a late night snack. Notre Dame was initially slated to play today while we were at Disneyland, but due to the tragedy in New Orleans the game was delayed till tomorrow. For this reason, I am now getting up by 6AM to watch Notre Dame hopefully beat Georgia. It’s about 10:30PM so we all get ready for bed. I fall fast asleep with dreams of an Irish victory running through my head.

Day 15, January 2nd, 2025 Step Count – 18,315 Steps

Total Step Count – 251,503

Continue to the next day here.

Read about the previous day here.