Why go to Tokyo Disneyland?
If you’re on vacation in Japan, Tokyo Disneyland might feel “too American” to be worth visiting. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Tokyo’s version of the Mouse Kingdom offers a unique perspective on theme park culture that you won’t find elsewhere. Japanese people are just as otaku-level crazy for Disney as Westerners are for anime, and it’s worth experiencing.
For example, you’ll see girls and boys of all ages coordinating outfits and accessories, even if they aren’t cosplaying. Adults will rent high school uniforms for dates and parents dress their toddlers in Disney-themed kigurumis. Certain characters — like Baymax , Mary Poppins, Stitch, and Moana — receive more love and appear regularly. Minnie Mouse is practically an idol girl.
Then there’s the Japanese-style food crafts, which make the cleverest treats. Ever wanted a Mike Wazowski-shaped melonpan? How about Toy Story alien mochi? What if I told you they are so obsessed with popcorn that you can get nearly a dozen different flavors on any given day?
But those are just a few unique things you’ll find in Tokyo Disneyland.
Explore the Beast’s Castle in a Giant Tea Cup
Beast’s Castle is in Florida. In Tokyo, you get Belle’s entire village. Gaston’s Tavern is a restaurant and the library, La Belle Librairie, sells merchandise. Maurice’s house is a photo spot, where you can meet Belle and the other characters.
The Beast’s Castle is the most extravagant ride in the park: Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast. The ride allows guests to sit back in a magic teacup and experience iconic moments and music from the film with the most advanced animatronics you’ve ever seen. You’ll believe the Beast is a man in a costume with how fluidly he moves.
Exit towards the gift shop and another popcorn stand, usually selling caramel flavor. Refills are offered at a tremendous discount and, once purchased, the popcorn boxes are acknowledged for a lifetime of discounts, even if the bucket design is discontinued.
The Intense Love for Baymax
Ever since Big Hero 6 was released, Baymax has been one of the most popular Western characters in Japan. This year, Baymax got his own merchandise line and his own mini parade at the park. He has his own ride in Tomorrowland. Happy Ride with Baymax is a family ride, typically with a 30-minute to 1-hour long wait. It features Baymax driving park guests along in a fun spinning and swinging car. This was the first upgrade to the park’s Tomorrowland, with further upgrades set to begin in 2024 and continue until 2027.
An Obsession with Popcorn
American Disney is obsessed with pin collection and trading. In Tokyo, popcorn is everywhere. Next door to Baymax is BIG POP, which sells nothing but popcorn and collectible buckets. Try various flavors such as cheddar cheese, cookies and cream, strawberry milk, garlic shrimp, and several limited seasonal flavors. The line is often long, but it moves fast.
Ever since Big Pop opened in 2020, I’ve started collecting the buckets. They are all so beautiful. Some even light up!
Not in America, Anymore
Splash Mountain at Disneyland California and Magic Kingdom, Florida have both been closed for reconstruction and reimagining as a new attraction featuring Tiana from The Princess and the Frog. However, Tokyo Disneyland has no plans to change the ride (at the time of writing this). For now, Br’er Rabbit still has a home in the Briar Patch in Tokyo. It’s one of the few rides in the park that is mostly in English, so you can relive this classic and feel right at home.
Although you won’t find merchandise of any of the Song of South characters, the ride area (known as Critter Country) also serves as a meeting spot for characters from Bambi, Chip & Dale, and even Pocahontas. She’s played by an actual Native American who speaks both English and Japanese.
Underneath the ride is Grandma Sara’s Kitchen, offering meal sets at surprisingly fair prices. The menu is changed every few months.
I Never Cared about Winnie the Pooh until Tokyo Disneyland
Pooh’s Hunny Hunt is a personal favorite and easily tied with Beauty and the Beast as the best ride in the whole park. You might think that’s impossible if you’ve been on the Winnie the Pooh dark ride in California, but this ride is entirely different. Like Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast, Pooh’s Hunny Hunt is a trackless ride. Each of the three hunny pot cars offers a different perspective. The attraction immerses guests in the Hundred Acre Wood with video projections, motion sensors, and 3D holograms. It includes the most chaotic sequence of Pooh’s nightmare about the Hephalumps and Woozlers you’ll ever experience. Pooh Bear may still be for little children, but Pooh’s Hunny Hunt is one attraction so extreme that you’ll be enthralled by it no matter how old you are. The ride exits into the gift shop filled with plushies, honey candy, clothing, home goods, and… guess what…? Honey popcorn, which is tastier than you’d think.
Boo! I Found You
Want to play flashlight tag with Mike and Sully? This is always a fun one. Next to Space Moutain is Monster’s Inc. Headquarters, an all-ages dark ride, but it’s interactive. You’re given a flashlight to shine on the many Monster’s Inc. helmets throughout the factory. Doing so reveals all the hidden monsters while you try to help Mike and Sully find Boo! Watch out for Randel. There’s not much else to it, but a silly and joyful experience to have, and the level of detail put into bringing Monsters Inc. to life is incredible.
Tokyo Disneyland’s Shows Are Always Better
Typically when I go to Tokyo Disneyland, my focus is on the rides, food, merch, and character greetings. I couldn’t care less about the parades, fireworks, or stage shows. Maybe friends and I will run into Mickey’s Philharmagic if we agree we need to sit down in air conditioning for a few minutes. But Mickey’s Magical Music World is a rare exception I want to go to every time I’m in the park. The show happens only four or five times every day and requires reserved seating via the park app (at no additional cost).
The story is that Mickey and Friends find an enchanted music box that plays various songs from Disney’s animated works. However, one song appears to be broken. Worried, Mickey and Friends jump into the musical world to repair the song. Each highlight number features different genre remixes of classic songs such as a Las Vegas reimagining of “Be Our Guest” or a hip-hop version of “I Wan’na Be Like You”. It’s the only attraction of any Disney park in the world to still feature characters from The Jungle Book and one of few to feature characters from Zootopia. The whole show is a 25-minute musical extravaganza you don’t want to pass up.
Anyone Can Be a Princess for Five Minutes
Past the castle gate of Cinderella’s Castle is an elevator that goes up into Cinderella’s Fairytale Hall. Guests can view an art gallery of paintings and sculptures telling Cinderella’s story. In the main room are two photo spots where you can pretend to try on her glass slipper and sit on her throne before existing down the stairs into Fantasyland. There’s cool air conditioning during summer, too.
Tokyo Disneyland Merchandise Is Kawaii ASF
There’s nothing else to be said. While some clothing items are the same as in the US and Paris stores, Tokyo Disneyland offers a wide range of exclusive merch. Chopsticks, dishes, cutlery, and of course…plushies that you won’t find anywhere else.
Merch changes every season. Halloween focuses on villains, while summer offers a wide array of Japanese fans and mist sprayers. Springtime brings a variety of goods including figurines like this March Hare FairyTale figurine you can get from JBOX with a $20.00 deposit.
Tokyo Disneyland’s Halloween Brings Everyone Together
The Disney Halloween event is my favorite thing about Tokyo Disneyland. Guests can dress up as any Disney-owned character, with some restrictions including no weapons or concealed faces. You don’t see people running around as Marvel or Star Wars characters, most just come as the princesses.
The first time I went, friends and I decided to cosplay Terra, Aqua, and Ventus from Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. Surprisingly, we ran into a Japanese trio cosplaying Sora, Kairi, and Riku. Back then my Japanese was terrible (and I was the best in our group), but when we saw each other it was easy to make new friends and take a few photos together. Little moments like that can mean a lot when you’re living here. They remind us that, despite the language barrier, Japanese people still want to get to know you and spend time with you. A little common ground can bridge the gap.
So, Tokyo Disneyland is full of surprising differences and similarities. It’s worth a visit.
How about you? Are you planning to go to Tokyo Disneyland? Have you been before? Let us know in the comments.
