Disney Sea!

I went to Tokyo DisneySea with a couple of friends from school. Thinking back on it now, they were actually the first people I talked to from school when I first went to the campus for orientation. It has already been two months since that day, and we have roughly two months time left. It seems as if we just met, though!

So there are two Disney Resorts in Tokyo: Disneyland and DisneySea. You can say that Disneyland is like Florida's Disney World, where DisneySea is like California's Disneyland. I only went to Sea so far, but according to most, Sea has more rides, whereas land has more attractions/characters. DisneySea is not a water theme park, though; it is just built around bodies of water.

real fire

So for our first ride, we went to the Indiana Jones Adventure. It was about an hour wait, but it was so much fun. Normally, the wait would be much longer, but because the weather forecast predicted it to rain, many people decided to go to the day before. Luckily, though, it was bright, warm, and sunny contrary to the low temperature and showers that the weather channel had predicted.

curry flavored popcorn
munching while waiting

soooo pretty
I must say, the interior designs for all of the attractions and rides were amazing.

and a picture taken from the ride.
LOL, you can't see one of my friends because she's hiding behind the seat. xD

mini rollercoaster

The Arabian Coast
It was so pretty!! and people were claiming their spots on the floor for the show.

genie :)

We had lunch at a place called Flying Carpet Curry in the same Arabian Coast. We ate quite early in order to avoid the large crowd for lunch time.

It was so pretty inside. It really looked like an Arabian Palace!

and the staff all dressed accordingly.

Ladies Room--isn't that so cute?

and finally, my lunch: three different curries (chicken, shrimp, and beef) with naan.
The curry was sweeter than I would have preferred, and the naan wasn't that good either. The food wasn't terrible, but I've had better.

the flying magic carpet

ice cream for dessert!
This was actually surprisingly good. It didn't taste like tiramisu at all, but it was a really good ice cream sandwich.

For the first time in years, I rode the merry-go-round. Whenever I go to amusement parks, I always look for the more interesting ones, such as roller coasters, etc., and always tell myself to come back for the merry-go-round later, but I always end up running out of time.

all of those things hanging from the ceiling(?) are genies, by the way.

And let me reiterate once more how much I like the Arabian Coast. I love the culture of the area and it is one of the top must-visit places on my list.

and a prince bathroom sign!

Sinbad's Storybook Voyage was a long ride, but it was beautiful. The setting, the figures were all moving and talking, and the colors/lighting just captivated me.

flying on a magic carpet!

Now, raging spirits is one of my favorite rides. I really like roller coasters and this one actually turned so that you are entirely upside down. However, the coasters at Disney are not that fast or scary. I always wished that the rides are longer, but it was fun nonetheless.

Next, we went to the Mermaid Lagoon. This was probably the prettiest place in the entire park. It was beautiful inside! The colors were really bright and vivid (like watercolors) and I really felt like I was at paradise under the sea.

cups

jellyfish~~

Here, we also saw a musical performance in the Mermaid Lagoon Theater. The show was really cool because of all the high-tech equipment and costumes. Too bad we were not allowed to take pictures.

sea castle

We stopped by for a snack on our way towards the Mysterious Island. This is a gyoza sausage bun, which is literally a dumpling inside a steamed bun. The look? strange. The taste? ordinary. 

a music performance entirely from cooking utensils

The Tower of Terror

It only lasted about two minutes, but it was fun! Basically, we riding an elevator, which drops from the top story to the lowest story. I felt my bag float off the ground!

but look how happy I am xD

We had another snack~ a Happy Duffy cookie. It was soft, with mixed berry filling. I'm not usually a fan of cream fillings, but this one was really good.

Aquatopia-circling around and around.

The ride I've been looking the most forward to: Journey to the Center of the Earth. It's basically a coaster ride inside a mountain. Towards the end of the ride, though, you do "fly" outside for a bit, which is the scariest part of the ride, but it's not bad at all.

The nighttime Disney is even prettier than daytime. The lights are all lit up and the place just looks magical☆. Since it is by the sea, though, it gets chilly at night.
Around 20:30, we went to sit by the Mediterranean Harbor to watch Fantasmic! a spectacular show! It is definitely the top must-see/must-do thing in Disney!

The churros were sooo good..

This year is the thirtieth anniversary of Tokyo Disney Resort! nicknamed "The Happiness Year".

And the most important part of this trip was meeting my penpal. We started exchanging letters back in high school, so if we count the years, we've already known each other for seven years! But we met for the first time today. It was truly an exciting and moving experience for me. Actually, I was afraid to meet her until now because I had no confidence in my Japanese. But now I realize that you should just do it because there will never be a time where you finish learning a language. There will always be more to learn and room for improvement. Time is precious. But for those of you learning a new language (or even if you're not learning a language), I definitely recommend getting a penpal. It's one of those ancient traditions that is almost nonexistent now, but it's nice to exchange letters and escape the domination of electronics. And meeting for the first time is definitely an unforgettable experience.