Tokyo Disneysea is one of the most popular theme parks in the world. So there will be long queues for the highly sought-after rides on a daily basis at the park.

Disneysea vs Disneyland 

Disneysea is part of the Tokyo Disney Resort along with Disneyland. They are two very separate theme parks located side by side, and you can only buy a ticket for one park, not both. I would strongly recommend you take two separate days if you wish to visit both parks. This is because you’ll never have the time to cover everything you want in a single day for two hugely popular theme parks.

Disneyland is targeted towards families and the rides are generally more family centric while Disneysea is catered more towards adults, so the rides generally have more of a thrill factor.

As well, Disneysea is unique to Japan, with the park having a sea and maritime theme throughout the decor and design of the park. With areas such as America Waterfront, Port Harbour, Arabian Coast and Lost River Delta, the sea theme is definitely apparent all around the park. 

Beating the queues

So you have decided to go to Disneysea. How then can you beat the queue at the theme park?

Buy your tickets early

Firstly, buy your tickets as soon as you know the date you are going, and turn up to the park early on the day itself.

Buying your tickets in advance is important because the tickets are time-stamped. So this means they are only valid for the day that you choose. Picking your date early means that you have full control over when you get to go to Disneysea and can plan your itinerary accordingly. Tickets sell out quickly so you should buy them fast. Don’t wait till the last minute. Do note that tickets cannot be bought on the day itself. While there are ticket counters at the park, these are currently closed so you can’t buy last-minute tickets on the spot.

On the day of our visit, I think we did not arrive early enough. The park opens at 9am and we got there at 8:45am. I think arriving at 8am to 8:30am should probably ensure you are one of the first few in line therefore allowing you to enter the park as soon as it opens. Sometimes, being kiasu definitely helps you. 

Timing of your trip 

The Halloween period is also not the best time to go, as we discovered, the queues at the park can get quite long. This is one of the popular periods for Japan theme parks. Another bad time to go would be during Sakura season. Try to go on a weekday if possible (Tuesday to Thursday) as Monday, Friday and the weekends can potentially be more crowded.

For us, as we were in Tokyo for a very short time due to it being a stopover trip, we had no choice but to go to Disneysea on a Friday. It wasn’t the best, but this brings me to my next point – with the use of fast passes, we were able to throw in some rides that we really wanted to take and save some time. 

Fast passes 

Fast passes at Disneysea are different to the system of Universal Studios Japan. This is because they cannot be purchased in advance. 

You have to log into the Disneysea app and grab the fast passes for the rides that you want. Fast passes are only available for some rides and not all, but it is crucial to saving time. Each fast pass costs between ¥1500 to ¥2000 depending on the ride. And yes, you have to buy fast passes for each ride, and every fast pass bought only entitles you to ride once. 

With adult basic entry tickets ranging from ¥7900 to ¥10900 depending on peak and off-peak days, a trip to Disneysea definitely does not come cheap and will weigh down your wallet. 

But the fast pass really helps you to skip the queue. We paid for fast passes on two occasions, and this saved a bucket load of time. 

The fast passes were used for the following two rides.

Toy Story Mania

Normal queue: 90 minutes

Fast pass: 12 minutes

We went into this ride at 11:26am and we were in at 11:38am. Lunch time hour is usually quite busy at Disneysea and the fast pass costs ¥2000.

This ride is a fun-filled interactive 3D shooting game that takes you straight into Andy’s bedroom and the world of Toy Story. Through the use of the ride’s CGI technology, you toss rings, shoot balls and throw eggs and pies at Toy Story related targets. 

If you love to play carnival games, this is a super fun and enjoyable ride. I really enjoyed this ride and found it to be a blast. 

Tower of Terror

Normal queue: 55 mins

Fast pass: 13 minutes

We took this ride at 3:32pm and we were inside at 3:45pm. 

While 55 minutes wait still sounds doable, we still went for the shortcut route and forked out ¥1500 for the fast pass, because we were damn sian to queue up for another ride. Yet this was a ride we wanted to take as it is deemed to be the most thrilling ride available in Disneysea.

This ride has a pretty fascinating and complicated back-story explaining the disappearance of Harrison Hightower, the owner of Hotel Hightower. The hotel was closed down following the accident as a result, but was recently opened up again for tours. In this ride, you get a tour of Hotel Hightower, following which you board a service lift that takes you all the way up to Harrison Hightower’s penthouse. Disaster then strikes when you reach the top.

As you can guess by now, it is basically a free-fall drop ride and I can definitely say it lives up to its billing as being a thrilling and adrenaline-pumping ride. Out of the rides that I took at Disneysea, I think this one was the best one in terms of its thrill factor. Definitely go for this if you like the high-adrenaline stuff.

Single Rider

Some rides have single rider lanes so you should make full use of this. Single rider means you will be split up from your buddies, but you will also save heaps of time. This is because the Japanese tend to like to stick together, so very few of them will take the single rider lanes. 

Indiana Jones

Single rider queue: 14 mins

Normal queue: 50 mins

We took the single rider for the Indiana Jones ride, which was one of the few rides which was offering single rider lanes. Not all the rides have this so do check each ride if a single rider option is available. Going for single rider when it is available saves money on buying fast passes too as the costs can really add up. 

I highly recommend the Indiana Jones ride. It is a high-speed indoor roller coaster ride to avoid the traps set and escape from the vengeful Crystal Skull. It is thrilling and there is plenty of fast action packed in the short ride. 

Normal queuing

For two rides, we braved the normal queue and one was extremely long.

Soaring

Normal queue: 100 mins

The queue for this ride was indeed crazy but we had no choice. This ride did not have single rider lanes and the fast pass was already completely sold out for the day. So we had to brave 100 mins of queueing. We entered the queue at 1:19pm and we were on the ride at 2:58pm. The queue began outdoors in the hot sun, before moving indoors. If you find yourself queuing, I strongly recommend you bring sunblock, cap or umbrella to shelter yourself from the heat. It was about 23 degree C but it was a very dry heat and the sun was already burning.  

Soaring is a magical flight motion 4D stimulator-type ride where you sit on giant chairlifts. The ride brings you to iconic attractions around the world, such as the Sydney Opera House, Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China. To take this ride, you should not be afraid of heights. I won’t spoil the surprise for you at the end but I will say that it is as beautiful as the rest of the ride. It is a ride that is suitable for all ages but is the five-minute ride worth 100 mins of queueing? Err, nope. So please be quicker than us and buy the fast pass when you are at Disneysea. 

Journey to the Centre of the Earth

Normal queue: 50 mins

This was the first ride we took in the morning and we rushed straight there, queuing 50 minutes for it the normal way. We took this ride at about 9:30am in the morning. Fast passes are available but single rider lanes are not. The queues for this ride on the day we went were pretty consistent at around 50 mins to 65 mins when I checked the queue times throughout the day.

This ride is a half roller coaster that lulls you into a sense of security at the beginning. It starts out as a beautiful and magical adventure down to the centre of the earth as you follow the footsteps of Captain Nemo. The first part is slow and scenic and you feel safe. But when a volcano erupts, the ride turns into a race against the clock to escape back to the surface. The second half then turns into a roller coaster and the pace picks up tremendously. Overall in terms of thrill rides, this is generally still more tame compared to Indiana Jones or Tower of Terror. 

Bonus ride: Disneysea Transit Steamer Line

Queue time: 10-15 mins

The queue for this was short so we decided to take it. This is a leisurely and serene ride aboard a boat and you get to see Disneysea from a different and interesting vantage point. If you love to take photos and videos as I do, then this ride is perfect for you, as you will get to snap some rather amazing shots of the park.

Other comments 

Honestly there were more rides that I would definitely have taken if the queues weren’t so damn long, such as the Raging Spirits outdoor roller coaster, but I admit I myself was getting damn sian by all the queue times. The queue for Raging Spirits hovered around 75 to 80 mins through the day and I was in no mood to queue for anything anymore, after that epic 100 minute wait for Soaring. That really spoiled my mood. I guess I should probably have done more research next time round. 

Recap Video

Conclusion

Overall the top three tips, as I have discussed earlier in my article are as follows.

• Arrive at the park at 8:30am or earlier
• Chope your fast pass for all the rides that you want to take as soon as they become live in the app  
• Utilise single rider lanes whenever they are available 

If you follow these tips, then I am sure you will have a stress-free day at Tokyo Disneysea with as little queueing as possible. If you are reading this and planning a Tokyo Disneysea trip, happy holidays to you and enjoy yourself.