There's about 5 truly unique rides at Tokyo Disney Sea, 6 if you include Tower of Terror. I couldn't ride the roller coaster Raging Spirits because it was down for refurbishment, but from what I've been told I didn't miss much.
Tower of Terror
in American Waterfront
So why would I include Tower of Terror? Because the story is completely different. The ride itself functions the same, but the rooms you see on the ride, and the story leading up to it is unique. There's no Twilight Zone theme at all. Instead we get a man--rich, powerful, adventurous, crazy--who travels and collects artifacts. You see his artifacts throughout the rides line, including one room with giant Egyptian sculptures.
While this man was journeying he had the great misfortune of collecting a Cursed Monkey Wooden Sculpture thingy, that the collector would not part with, who ended up cursing the man while on an elevator.
And I have to say, a creepy cursed monkey doll with some sort of evil spirit is really creepy, more creepy then a group of 1940's hotel goers disappearing on floor 13.
Good ol' ride photo.
Journey to the Center of the Earth
in Mysterious Island
This was the first ride we went on. We rode it twice, back to back.
This ride is crazy popular.
The ride itself is based on the Jules Verne book of the same name, but with a Japanese twist. Instead of meeting a dinosaur, we come across a really cool red beast of a dude with multiple eyes.
The dark room part of the ride is really imaginative with giant crystals, giant mushrooms, and creative creatures. The second part of the ride is a speed, rush to the finish, kind of like Radiator Springs in California Adventures.
It was fun, but surprisingly not my favorite ride.
Sinbad's Storybook Voyage
in the Arabian Coast
Sadly this isn't a very popular ride. The line is always short, from what I've read, and it was short for us. The shortest line apart for 20,000 Leagues.
But many who have visited the different Disney parks agree that this is the best dark room boat ride Disney has ever done. The animatronics are AMAZING. No, seriously, they are really impressive. Look up a POV on Youtube.
The ride is a 10 minute musical, following an adventurer with his friend Sindbad, the Tiger. You see the adventures they have, some right out of storybooks, and the music is really quite good. I read somewhere that Alan Menken did the music for it, but don't quote me.
I thought the ride was cute.
(Though I wish the main musical motive wasn't repeated so much,
just from a melodic perspective.)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
In Mysterious Island
I was really disapointed with this ride. You go underground to ride it, and you ride in a submarine, though you're not actually underwater. They create that feeling with bubbled, watered windows. You ride on a track looking at various sea creatures. It's dark, but you get to control a spot light to focus on different things.
This ride made me feel claustrophobic.
Storm Rider
In Port Discovery
This ride was a big surprise.
The time was nearing 9:00 PM, which was when we wanted to leave, but when we took one of the tunnels out of Mysterious Island, we suddenly found ourselves in Port Discovery, and I remembered reading about Storm Rider, so I led us to the ride.
What I read wasn't entirely favorable. But I was curious.
While in line you enter a room where a presenter leads you through the idea of the ride, riding into the storm, and the beam you're going to use. The presenter is live, it's a little play with effects, and even though it's all in Japanese, there's a screen above them that has abbreviated English.
Then you're led onto the ride, which functions just like Star Tours, only the room/theater really, is much larger. You fly over water, see a future civilization, and then enter a storm, where everything goes wrong, and this is when it gets really fun. The beam comes through the ceiling, for real, and then falls away, the walls of the ship start coming undone, and suddenly they start spraying water on you! Not mist, mind, full on sprays of water!!! I think I started screaming, and Michael, Krista, and I just kept looking at each other, laughing and screaming, with a "what in the World in going on!!??" look written all over our faces.
It was a blast.
And I think Storm Rider was all of our favorite ride.
Saved the best for last, and it was completely spontaneous. I think the best part was that we didn't really know what to expect.
Final Thoughts
I love the fact that so much of this park is original. That so many attractions had nothing to do with Disney movies, in the same way the original Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World, Matterhorn, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, etc, had nothing to do with movies. These rides were all about innovation, technology, and entertainment, they weren't created to promote some future or past flick. I feel modern Disneyland has lost the Walk Disney spark and vision, especially Tomorrowland!!!! (Don't get me started on Tomorrowland.) I feel Tokyo Disney Sea has the original Disneyland spark. I felt all the wonder that those who visited Disneyland in Anaheim during the 50's, 60's, and 70's must have felt. I remembered what it felt like visiting Disneyland as a kid.
And I have to quickly add, I love the music and focus on quality entertainment.
Tokyo Disney Sea is fun and magical.
One day is NOT enough.
(Photos by Sarah and Michael Stufflebeam)
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