Under the sea

One fun thing we did in Japan was visit Tokyo DisneySea, which is a Japan-only Disney theme park.  It's located right next to Tokyo Disneyland, and is actually right on Tokyo Bay, so it really is on the sea.  It's only about four miles from Yumiko's mom's house, but about a 10-or 15-mile trip by train that takes about an hour.

Once you get to the closest station, the entrance to Disneyland is within easy walking distance, DisneySea is on the other side.  Getting there requires a short trip on the Mickey Mouse monorail.

Even the straps for hanging on to have the Mickey theme.

Cinderalla's castle comes into view as we go past Disneyland.

Now we see the buildings of DisneySea.

Just inside the entrance is a giant spinning globe.  The oceans are actually water, flowing down around the globe.

The centerpiece of DisneySea is the volcano.  It's exactly the same height as Cinderella's castle in Disneyland.

The Tower of Terror, where you ride in an "elevator" that drops in a free fall for about five stories.  It's supposedly a haunted hotel; I think the top three floors (and maybe some of the lower floors) are actually hotel rooms you can stay in.

Here's a panoramic shot of one end of the park.

Kind of like Disneyland, the park is divided into several regions, each having something to do with the ocean.  The panorama above shows mostly "American Waterfront" -- there are buildings that look a lot like old-time New York or other eastern seaboard port towns.

Below is part of the Mediterranean Harbor area.

There were a variety of things to see and do inside these castle buildings.

In the center, inside a lagoon that's inside the lower part of the volcano, is Mysterious Island, which is named after the Jules Verne novel and has various Vernian attractions, such as the Nautilus, below.

Here we are heading into the Journey to the Center of the Earth ride.

I like how "lava" has flowed down and covered one of the drinking fountains.

Here we emerge back out into the outside after journeying to the center of the earth.

A few more shots of the Mysterious Island lagoon.  The spiral walkway on the far side goes down to the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride.

Here is part of the Mermaid Lagoon, which is styled after and has attractions based on The Little Mermaid.  Inside this structure is "Ariel's Grotto," with some kids' rides, stores, restaurants, etc.

Also inside was this Monstroso the Whale gift shop.  Check out the ribs on the ceiling inside.

We didn't spend too much time here, since the rides were more oriented toward younger kids.  They did have one smaller roller coaster that the kids thought was pretty fun.

Now we're in the Lost River Delta, at the Indiana Jones ride.

Crossing a bridge in the Lost River Delta area.  The Tokyo area is tropical enough that the vegetation really works well here.

Port Discovery is a futuristic area.

Here's part of a steampunk-ish brass band that was playing in the area.

This ride was pretty fun.  They were like bumper boats, only they didn't bump.  They were controlled by some sort of computer that sent each boat on a random path around lake, spinning around, going through tunnels, making sharp turns, etc.

Now we move back into the American Waterfront area.  I think the big ship is actually a stage for some live shows, and I think it also has a restaurant in it.  There was way more to see than could be seen in one day; we walked around and saw everything from the outside, and rode all the major big-kid rides that were in operation (a couple weren't; we were there before summer vacation started, so everything wasn't up and running), but there are a lot of places -- shows, shops, exhibitions, restaurants, etc. -- that we didn't go into.

Here we are.  Could I look any dorkier?

After riding the Tower of Terror again, we headed to the Arabian Coast.

Yumm, sounds good. :)

Rachel liked this area.

Besides the general Arabianness of the decor, this area had various Aladdin-themed attractions.

Here is Lisa enjoying "Jasmine's Flying Carpets,"

By this time the sun was really low, making for really cool light and some fun shadows.

One last walk through the Mediterranean Harbor area.

Across the water from the castle area here was a section that looked more like Florence or Venice.

We went to one show in the evening, a collection of live big band music and dancing.  It was really, really good.  The musicians were amazing.

After that the kids were tired, so we headed back, via another ride on the Mickey monorail...

...and then the crowded regular train back home.