It’s a sunny, extremely humid day in our lovely Tokyo Disney Resort. The Obon holiday season is here, as well as the school summer breaks. So, why don’t we check in on the incredible Tokyo DisneySea today during this short holiday season? Let’s dive right in!

JR Maihama Station & Ikspiari

If you exit down the escalators on the extreme ends of the platforms at JR Maihama Station, you’ll see this massive wall-size ad for Soaring: Fantastic Flight! This space is traditionally used for events that are a huge deal at the parks, such as the previous (and awesome) 35th Anniversary “Happiest Celebration” design. I wonder how long this will be here?

On the digital ad boards, there’s a fun stop-motion animation to celebrate Duffy’s Sunny Fun, running through August 27th.

I think we’ll walk through Ikspiari again this week and check in on the happenings here! Right inside the entrance plaza, there’s this fountain with a… strange sculpture on top. I’ve honestly never been able to determine what it’s meant to represent.

As I talked about a couple of weeks ago, it’s “Ikspiari Splashtown” right now. The centerpiece of this mini-event is in Celebration Plaza, featuring a chance to have tons of water sprayed on you via cannons.

One of my favorite hidden areas is the Tokyo DisneySea picnic area. It’s right off to the side of the north entrance, by the MiraCosta stairs, and features lovely shaded seating with trees!

Tokyo DisneySea

Like recently at Tokyo Disneyland, the turning of the months means new maps and Today Guides! As with last month, this month features the renowned Captain Jack Sparrow in celebration of Disney Pirates Summer.

Over at Soaring: Fantastic Flight, their FastPass machines see very little real use. Local Guests here have really caught on to the digital FastPasses via the Tokyo Disney Resort app, and pretty much only foreign guests use the real machines at this point. So, Cast have started using this area as a station for a drink cart, to keep Guests hydrated in this miserable humidity.

This morning, waits are only at 150 minutes. This is a bit lower than what we’ve seen it at so far, but still roughly normal for Soaring. Only time will tell if waits improve or stay high permanently.

On Mount Prometheus, you can see almost a sarcastic amount of scaffolding along the facade. The most annoying part for me is that only this very visible and photogenic side is currently covered. The work is scheduled to last through October 2020, and I’ll be very glad to see it completed.

Off in the distance, the actual theater and backstage part of the Broadway Music Theater is also covered in scaffolding. This is more likely routine repainting in preparation for the Olympics, and won’t last too long. Big Band Beat will remain, except from January 14 – February 7 for routine refurbishment.

As we cross the Ponte Vecchio, we can see this lovely view of Mediterranean Harbor! This park is just too gorgeous for words sometimes.

In front of the Duffy-centric McDuck’s Department store, we can see this mini tribute to New York City’s Columbus Circle, complete with Columbus himself on a large pedestal.

At Waterfront Park, lots of kids and adults alike are beating the heat with the fountain at the center. This fountain syncs up to the area music, and also has a few special programs that feature classic American marches as the water dances. And at night, it even lights up with the music!

Recently, I reported that the restrooms between Toy Story Mania and Tower of Terror were closed for refurb and had been for about three months. Well now, they’re back open and refreshed!

The details in this park that don’t even really need to be there are just lovely and add so much.

Being the busy summer season, the line for My Friend Duffy is a bit longer than usual, at about a 30-45 minute wait. As we reported a couple of weeks ago, you’re now required to buy a full meal set to attend this incomparably cute show.

Does this lighthouse need to be here? No. Does it add to Cape Cod’s atmosphere significantly? Yes.

Over in Port Discovery, we can see that Aquatopia has been drained for another breakdown. This attraction is wildly inconsistent sometimes, with a breakdown every day or two being common. But when it works, it’s quite a lot of fun! Don’t worry, it only takes maybe 10-20 minutes to refill the pond once the issue is fixed.

Near the entrance to Lost River Delta, we can see Indy’s seaplane has washed up. The tail number even carries a little reference to another Lucas film you might have heard of.

Very ominous, isn’t it? Indiana Jones is actually one of Tokyo DisneySea’s more intense attractions, mostly for its visuals. But it’s incredibly detailed and a masterpiece, as with most things in this park.

Between Lost River Delta and Arabian Coast, we can see the gateway that will lead to the new Fantasy Springs expansion in 2023! You have no idea how excited I am for these new additions!

In Arabian Coast, we can catch a glimpse of the Caravan Carousel! This lovely double-decker carousel not only features horses to ride on, but also elephants, griffins, camels, and even Genies!

Mermaid Lagoon is mostly indoors, but it does have its own kiddie coaster outside. Flounder’s Flying Fish Coaster actually just came out of a short annual refurbishment, and it looks like it’s in tip-top shape!

Over in Mysterious Island, we can see the lovely rock work that came out of refurbishment this spring. Vulcania Restaurant, in the lower background, is a buffeteria (similar to Horizon Bay Restaurant, which we recently reviewed) that serves up Chinese food. It actually isn’t that bad, and tends to hold shorter lines with a delightful Discoveryland-esque interior!

The new digital FastPass system has created some hiccups with people and their apps, and Journey to the Center of the Earth is no exception. If you look in the vast distance, you can see the end of the line near the light at the tunnel’s end. I wouldn’t be feeling the “fast” in FastPass as much if I was in that line!

Merchandise

Over at the Disney Store in Ikspiari, a lot of the traditional Japanese summer merchandise is on sale! Disney-themed yukatas, traditionally worn to summer festivals, are on sale for ¥7200, or $67.84. As for the geta, or traditional Japanese sandals, those were on sale for ¥2400, or about $22.61.

These fans were also on sale for ¥640, or about $6.

These accessories were available for ¥1600, or around $15. I actually think some of these look cool, and would probably buy them if I wore such kinds of accessories! All of these so far, to paraphrase from the Shanghai sales pitch, are authentically Disney, yet distinctly Japanese. It’s interesting to see Disney adapt to local culture in this way!

Awe, this stuffed Gelatoni with ice cream is just too gosh darn precious! He’s part of the Duffy’s Sunny Fun collection at McDuck’s and the other Duffy stores for just ¥3800, or around $35.80! It’s so hard to resist!

Over at Villa Donaldo Home Store and Bon Voyage, I’ve spotted these neat Toy Story Mania-themed plate sets! I love both the box and the plates themselves, and they seem pretty accurate to how the game looks! This set can be yours for only ¥2000, or about $18.84!

That’s about it this week at Tokyo DisneySea! Things are pretty quiet in live developments as the holiday season chugs on and preparations for the Olympics continue, but there’s always something cool to look at! Anything in particular you saw this week or in the past that excited you? Have you ever been to Tokyo DisneySea? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!

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