There’s nothing that quite matches a rainy day at a Disney park. Lines are shorter, lights reflect in puddles of water, and it’s always a great day to warm up with some hot cocoa! Fortunately, we were able to visit Tokyo DisneySea on this dreary Saturday to find a rather quiet park, uncharacteristic for a weekend, and see the latest developments. Without further ado, let’s set sail!

Around the Park

Even on a rainy day, there’s nothing quite like the majesty of Mount Prometheus towering over Mediterranean Harbor. With all renovation work finally completed around the volcano and Fortress Explorations, she’s finally at tip-top condition once again.

Down in Piazza Topolino in the Porto Paradiso area, however, it’s a little bit more grim. Not because of the building condition, but just because of the sudden on-off bursts of rain.

In the harbor itself, work on the pit is almost complete! The pit has been filled in, and only the two barges and some sections of protruding wall remain. Time will tell whether this refurbishment was part of the new nighttime spectacular Believe! Sea of Dreams coming in 2021.

The rain didn’t deter Guests looking for a voyage on the Venetian Gondolas. It was still a walk-on, but gondoliers were happy to ferry Guests about the harbor and serenade them through the canals of Venice.

Over in American Waterfront, a whole quarter of Waterfront Park has been walled off with planters. When we visited, there was very little to show in the area, so construction had likely only just started.

Also unusual in Waterfront Park is that the fountains are still turned on. They aren’t dancing to music at night because of the special holiday loops, but normally these fountains are deactivated at the beginning of November as it starts to drop below 60F/15C every day in Tokyo. It only gets colder from here!

Between Cape Cod and Port Discovery, a small wodden photo spot has been set up for ‘Olu Mel, the latest Duffy friend to make his way to Tokyo DisneySea.

The rain also kept Aquatopia fairly empty. After all, who wants to spin around on water when it’s pouring rain?

Nemo & Friends SeaRider has seen lower wait times of late, with the attraction being a virtual walk-on today as well. This is in spite of its covered queue and indoor setting.

Most closed shops, like Steamboat Mickey’s, have their lights turned off so Guests can’t see the emptiness inside. Discovery Gifts in front of Aquatopia was not one of those stores, despite remaining closed.

Over in Arabian Coast, the construction for Fantasy Springs has started to peek into the park’s sightlines. While the cranes have always been visible, now the show buildings for the upcoming Tangled and Peter Pan-themed attractions can be seen, along with the waterfall bridge/arch entrance.

Last visit, we checked in on some construction in Arabian Coast, with planters and scaffolds up along the outer path of the port. Now, scaffolds have gone up rather high adjacent to the Sultan’s Oasis snack bar. No word yet on what these improvements could include.

As we announced last month, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea has finally reopened to Guests, the last major attraction to have remained closed. You can of course watch a full POV video on our YouTube channel.

Drink vending carts around the park have started selling hot bottled drinks alongside cold ones. Vending machines have made this transition as well. At the drink cart in Mysterious Island, Guests can now pick up hot or cold green tea, hot milk tea, hot black tea, or cold Kirin Lemon soda.

Social Distancing Reductions

Despite a staggering spike of as high as 584 new cases of COVID-19, a new record set on December 6th, the Oriental Land Company has moved to reduce social distancing measures at attractions around Tokyo Disney Resort. At Soaring: Fantastic Flight, Guests were formerly allocated to taped boxes in the boarding area. Now, Guests are trusted to maintain social distancing independently, which is a hit-or-miss effort. Fortunately the plexiglass barriers to separate the three queue rows remains in place.

Boxes have also been removed for the elevators at Journey to the Center of the Earth, with Cast Members now cramming as many Guests as possible into Terravators for the journey to the loading area. As many as eight Guests can be loaded at once in Terravators.

Fortunately at the newly-reopened 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, all parties are given their own submarine vehicle. This is especially helpful since these are not well ventilated vehicles.

At Toy Story Mania and other queue lines, spaces are no longer left between queue sections, with Guests now standing next to each other on yellow lines (when they are observed. This is also hit-or-miss with many Guests).

Boxes have also been removed at Tower of Terror, but rows are still skipped and one or two person parties are still given their own rows.

New plexiglass similar to those aboard The Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast at Tokyo Disneyland, or Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disney’s Hollywood Studios have also been added to Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull. With this, all three rows are now being filled.

When the parks first reopened, cleaning crews were on hand to wipe down the high-contact handlebars for shoulder restraints at Raging Spirits. These Cast Members are now gone, and vehicles are not wiped down between uses anymore.

And even aboard Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage, every row aboard the boat (without plexiglass or vinyl curtain dividers) is now also being boarded, depending on the number of Guests in line.

Although the rain makes things cool down a bit, it’s never a bad time at Tokyo DisneySea! Be sure to let us know what your favorite development was this week, and stay tuned to WDWNT for the latest news from Tokyo Disney Resort!