Photo TR: Adam's 48 Hours at Tokyo Disney Resort

[jedimaster1227]

Following my adventure late last year in Singapore, I wasn't sure if I'd be back to Asia anytime soon, but when I got word that I'd be traveling briefly to Tokyo for work, I seized my opportunity to revisit one of my favorite places on the planet, if only for two days... I hadn't been back to Tokyo Disney Resort since my trip in 2019 and I was eager to see all of the new things that had changed/opened since, along with revisiting some of my favorites.

Given that this was a work trip, I was very limited on my choice of dates to visit, and it ended up that I would be there during the weekend of the Emperor's Birthday. Knowing this, I went in with an open mind and level-set expectations that I would accomplish what I could and aim to return in a future trip for what I couldn't. 

From Orlando to Los Angeles and Los Angeles to Haneda, it was not a short distance or time to travel but it was absolutely worth it.

I was excited to find a good rate at the Hilton Tokyo Bay where I'd stayed twice before (originally recommended to me by Robb and Elissa). The hotel is very conveniently located within the Tokyo Disney Resort complex and only a few minutes' walk from the entrance of the hotel to the Disney Resort Line Bayside Station.

I hadn't realized until this moment how close the Fantasy Spring Hotel is to the Bayside Station. The last time I was here this hotel wasn't even under construction.

The night I arrived in Tokyo, I dropped my things at the hotel and hopped on the monorail to venture into the city to see some of my host family who live in Tokyo. My first trip to Japan in 2006 involve a home stay with a Japanese family in Urayasu and I've been fortunate to stay in touch and see them with each return trip.

You know you're in Tokyo when you're greeted by Duffy and Friends!

Best monorail is still best.

I was pleasantly surprised to be treated to a fireworks show from the platform of the JR Maihama Station while I waited to head into the city.

Being totally off sync with the local time, I was wide awake by the time I got back to the hotel, so I grabbed some onigiri from the hotel's open-late Lawson and went about roaming the resort on foot.

New to me.

I wasn't able to see much since I didn't have a reservation, but the interior of the Fantasy Springs Hotel looks nice.

As did the exterior around the entrance.

Likewise, the Toy Story Hotel seemed to have a really fun entrance park. 

Definitely the most fleshed out Toy Story Hotel I've visited to date.

The next morning we got up exceptionally early (in the cold) to wait 2.5 hours in advance of Tokyo DisneySea's opening to line up. I was traveling with a first-timer, and so we had an intention to maximize our time and experience as much as we could. Knowing it was a holiday weekend we planned our second day to be for Tokyo Disneyland, but that plan could be adjusted to be a partial Tokyo DisneySea day if we needed more time in the park.

This wasn't my first rodeo, so the morning dash was part of the routine. New to me though was having to try to grab Disney Premier Access (paid FastPass) and the 40th Anniversary Pass (free FastPass) as I was entering the park. It was definitely a more stressful way to enter the park, but getting those reserved absolutely changes the course of your day from there.

Soaring: Fantastic Flight was under construction during my last visit. While I really would have loved to experience this one (I'm a completionist), at no point in time was I willing to waiting the 300 minutes posted for this one.

The only correct first stop of the day.

The queue for Journey to the Center of the Earth is absolutely filled to the brim with detail and theming!

One of my favorite details is this vehicle designed by Nemo to travel the world by air (as described in another Jules Verne classic, Around the World in 80 Days).

Context for the drilling machine that has dug the tunnels in Journey to the Center of the Earth, but also found poking out of the inside of the caldera within the Mysterious Island land.

It's like the Hydrolator, but so much better!

Long have I waited for this moment!

Lava Monster is simply the best.

So much so, that it deserves a second photo.

There's simply nothing that compares to this land.

The before-mentioned drilling machine can be seen here.

In my happy place!

One of my favorite subtle details about the design of Tokyo DisneySea is that the look/style of the rockwork of Mt. Prometheus changes from the perspective of the land you're in.

Just so ridiculously good.

I cannot express strongly enough how much I love that the park has an interconnected series of waterways that allow the Transit Steamer Line to move guests across the park via water.

Always a delicious and refreshing favorite!

The queue for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea provides a unique perspective of Mysterious Island...

And another queue filled with incredible Captain Nemo details...

I adore everything about this place.

The ride (and its added interactivity) is just such an exceptional execution of an otherwise very simple dark ride system.

I love it.

Time for something totally new to me!

Fantasy Springs feels like a very different land compared to the others found in Tokyo DisneySea.

It is definitely more IP-forward...

But the execution of those IPs is really impressive.

First up for our morning was Rapunzel's Lantern Festival. A great looking outdoor animatronic sets the tone for the whole experience.

A very cute station.

Having not watched any videos of the ride beforehand, I was pleased to find that the singing Rapunzel in the tower was actually a part of the show of the ride, not just a part of the land. This works really well for the ride.

Loved this Maximus figure!

The dark ride scenes inside are great too!

Recognizable scenes from the film play out as you float along...

Faithful recreations of key scenes in the film are played out beautifully inside.

But the real show-stopper is the ride's finale...

Absolutely incredible.

Some may consider the ride short (I don't) but it stacks up among some of the other classic dark rides in length and manages to pack a good deal of story into it. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this one! 

But there was still much more of Fantasy Springs and Tokyo DisneySea to experience...