DAY 2 - TOKYO DISNEYSEA

We made it to Tokyo DisneySea! Among Disney fans - and fans of amusement parks in general - this one is arguably the best-themed park in the world. For example, here is just a pathway that’s been terraformed to resemble the Devil’s Postpile, a national monument in California. The entire park featured eye candy like this everywhere.

Here’s my favorite area of the park: The Mysterious Island. It was themed like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The immersion and detail was awe-inspiring.

Our favorite ride, Journey to the Center of the Earth, is constructed within the mountain You can see the car briefly peek out near the mountain crest.

Even the restaurant we ate at was themed like some kind of underground, cave-laboratory, complete with a soundscape and occasional rumblings under our feet.

Next we visited the Little Mermaid section of the park.

Under the facade in the picture above was an entire underwater-themed area. We could not help but feel totally transported to another world. Everything was themed perfectly, from the nautilus-shaped lamps, bubbles projected onto the walls, and reflective water-ripple panels suspended from the ceiling.

From there we travelled to the Aladdin-themed area, which was also richly detailed, of course.

Even the park staff are dressed according to the area they’re working!

Ali enjoys a view of the central bay.

Outside of the Indiana Jones themed area, we found an intriguing fire & water feature. We couldn’t walk up the steps, of course, but the effect was enthralling enough for us to stop and stare at it for a moment.

Ali captured a fairly typical Japanese bathroom, which includes a place to set small children, toilet seat disinfectant, hands-free flush, a heated toilet seat, bidet, privacy noises, and more, not to mention the floor-to-ceiling stall partitions. We both strongly agree that Japanese bathrooms are far superior to American ones.

After 6+ hours of enjoying the park, and with throbbing feet, we took one last picture and departed.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped outside of the Urayasu station to find Lance some dinner.

The ramen shop we chose to eat at had a meal ticket machine outside. Instead of stepping inside and having a waiter take your order, you purchase your meal outside, then hand your ticket to the staff inside. We enjoyed this transaction method because it gave us lots of time to decipher the menu.

We concluded our day with a giddy shopping spree at a 100-yen store (like a Dollar Tree).

Here’s why I’m wearing a mask: In Japan, and especially in dense urban areas, people wear masks not to protect themselves against germs, but to prevent their own germs from spreading to others. This speaks volumes about the level of social responsibility the Japanese people uphold. I chose to wear one because I was sniffly, and I didn’t want to be that irresponsible foreigner.