Disney and Japan. Does this combination work? And should you visit Disney when you’re in Japan? If you want to see the most expensive theme park ever built, Disney themed rides, the politeness of Japaness people and an overload of cuteness thanks to Japanese visitors dressed at their Disney’s best, then Tokyo DisneySea won’t dissapoint you.

I too wondered if visiting a Disney theme park in Japan would be a good idea. Since I would only stay for 14 days in Japan, I should spend my time better – especially since Disneyland Paris is right next door for me. But then I discovered that Japan – and especially Tokyo – is next to a modern city, with ancient temples and perfect organisation, is also a city with teenagers dressed as their anime heroes, a city where the neighbourhood of Harajuku is full of shops with colorful and cute stuff and even a city that has its own Hello Kitty theme park. So popular culture and heroes from childhood memories are a big thing in Japan, and even have a huge influence on the ordinary life of people in Tokyo. I decided that I wanted to experience this part of Tokyo so why wouldn’t I choose a Disney theme park – being an adult that has grown up with the Disney movies.

Before travelling to Japan, I bought tickets to DisneySea. The Tokyo Disney Resort has two theme parks: Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea. I wanted to visit the resort only for one day – since I wanted to see as much as possible from Tokyo and Kyoto. I chose DisneySea because it is the only Disney park that’s themed to sea so that makes it unique in the world and because Tokyo Disneyland seems similar to Disneyland Paris and Disneyland California – which I’ve already visited both. Reading about DisneySea made me excited. I read it’s the most expensive park ever built in the world and I read many reviews complementing the perfect theming of the park.

But when arriving in Tokyo, I got even more excited. Because I soon found out that Disney is big –really big in Tokyo. There are many Disney stores in Tokyo, and many other shops offer specialized  Disney collections, almost every shop sells something Disney related, and everytime I was using the railway I saw someone – both teenagers and adults –  with a Disney cover for their phone. If Disney had such an impact at the daily life of so many people in Tokyo, I was very curious to see how that would relate to the Disney parks.

As soon as arriving at the resort, I could experience the typical Japanese organisation. People are helping you to get to your next point. Very soon I was at the monorail that goes around the Tokyo Disney resort. First stop was at Disneyland but the next one was at DisneySea. Again, everything was organised so well that in some minutes I entered the park.

It was a sunny day so arriving at the miniland (called ports DisneySea) Mediterranean  Harbor, it almost felt like I was on holiday in Italy. Every port was like another world and the attractions (even the ones you can find in other Disney parks) stand out because of the theming outside. Everywhere you look, you see a beautiful photo location. I really think you can just walk a whole day at DisneySea and have the feeling that you’ve seen a lot. DisneySea also offered the best food I had in all the the theme parks I’ve ever visited.

The park was full of surprises. An active volcano at the middle, a ship of Edwardian Times where you can sip cocktails, an Aztec temple, a copy of Aladdins Agrabah, an island out of Jules Vernes books and the castle of King Triton. The attention to detail is really amazing and it makes a huge difference between visiting a theme park and discovering the worlds that the theme park has created.

And there’s more, Disney is famous for its parades in its theme parks. But in DisneySea you have a parade at the water. In the center of the park there’s a huge lake, where allmost everyone has a great view, where parade boats sail. And just like everything in this park, this was Disney and Japan at its best.

So would I recommend visiting DisneySea? If you like Disney or theme parks, definitely yes. If you go to Japan only for history and nature, then this won’t be your thing. If you visit Japan and you want to see as much as possible and you’re curious about the popular culture in people’s lives in Tokyo, then you should really give this a try.

I’m also very glad I chose visiting DisneySea (and not Disneyland). The reviews I read before were correct cause the theming is really extraordinary. If not for the enthusiastic Japanese people, you would really forget that you are in a theme park. And that’s a big difference with other theme parks in the world; the people. Both the people who work there as the people who visit, it almost seems like they embody Disney. People are smiling all day, even waving, and visitors are dressed in Disney clothes (couples or best friends often matched). DisneySea is more then visiting a theme park and doing some attractions, it’s also experiencing the love of the Japanese people for Disney – and it seems to be true love.