28. Go to at Least Three More Theme Parks

Completed: 09/24/2014

 

At Tokyo DisneySea

I love theme parks.There's just so much thrill-inducing excitement and splendor in one compact area. Part of my fascination and affinity to theme park amusement stems from the denial of entry to rides when I was a younger - and shorter - child. I remember on our trip to California when I was 5-6 years old, I was not allowed on many rides at Six Flags Magic Mountain because I didn't meet the height requirement. And I was also very bummed when I couldn't go on the Indiana Jones ride (which was a new ride at Disneyland at the time we went). Before putting this item on my bucket list, I had already gone to a bunch of theme parks, all of which I had fun on the rides I was able to get on. These included: Disneyland California, Universal Studios Hollywood, Knott's Berry Farm, (I don't count Magic Mountain since I couldn't really ride much when I went), Disney World (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM), Universal Studios Florida, Universal's Island of Adventure, Wonderland in Canada, Ontario Place, and Knoebel's in Pennsylvania. 

 

 Dad and Mom posing like Mickey and Minnie Mouse in the background

The first theme park after making this goal was Tokyo DisneySea. Our trip to Japan was a perfect opportunity to squeeze in some amusement park fun. DisneySea is apparently the only Disney Park that is not owned by Disney. It is mainly praised for its attention to detail in the construction of the park's features (including the volcano, which is the center of attraction at this park). These were the imaginings of the Oriental Land Company, which licenses the Disney themes that appear on the premises. 

  Disney parks are always so well-decorated

To make the most of my entry ticket to DisneySea, I planned what route I would take to hit up all the rides I could at the park. I hear that Disney attracts tons of visitors and that lines can get crazy. They were right about the crazy. We arrived at 7:45am, and there was already a line forming outside the park for the 9:00am official rope drop. When the park opened for the day, people started running (yours truly included). What we came to find out is that similar to techniques at other Disney parks, starting at the back of the park is the best strategy for knocking down a bunch of rides with little wait time. We hardly waited in line for any rides (the only major ride we had to skip out on was Toy Story Mania).

Dad driving the Indy Jones car and pointing at "something" coming for us from the back

Outside Raging Spirits

 

Here's how we did it: 

-Park opens at 9:00am, Sylvia to get fastpass for Tower of Terror. Meet up with rest of family at Indiana Jones.

-Indiana Jones (very fun), Raging Spirits (all right, but not worth it if have to wait, so luckily we didn't), Sindbad's Storybook Adventure (somewhat like It's a Small World, but Japanese, so could only guess at the storyline of the ride), with less than 5-minute waits.

-Disney Steamer Line back to the front of the park.

-Sylvia gets fastpass for Toy Story Mania while rest get coffee and make way over. Meet up outside Tower of Terror. When I went to get the Toy Story fastpass (around 10:00am), the next available time was already at 8:00pm. Had to skip :(

-Tower of Terror (different storyline than the American version, quite enjoyable). Watch "A Table is Waiting" show (kind of boring since we didn't understand the Japanese, so didn't stay for the whole thing). Autotopia and Storm Rider with little wait time. 

-Mystic Rhythms show (no dialogue so non-Japanese people can enjoy it, but it was all right). Lunch. -Big Band Beats jazz performance (this was worth it to see and we didn't really have to stand in line so perfect. The parents enjoyed very much, to both my sister and my surprise).

-Tried to see if wait time was shorter for Toy Story. Estimated 90-minute wait so no go for us.

-20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (kind of boring, definitely not worth it if we had to wait, but, again, didn't have to). Explored fortress (not that exciting). Caught some of afternoon water performance.

-Magic Lamp Theater (wish we could understand Japanese since it was a bunch of slapstick comedy, which is in line with our humor). Mermaid Lagoon Theater for Under the Sea performance.

-Tried to ride gondola, but it was closed because of the performance. Instead, headed for the airport at about 5:00pm.

 

 Sindbad's Storybook Adventure

Autotopia

The park was perfect for our last day, since we had to check out of the hotel by 10:00am but our flight wasn't until 9:00pm. The lockers are spacious so we were able to stuff it all in one locker (score!). One good thing about the park was that we were able to bring food, so instead of eating at the Disney dining establishments, we were able to quickly eat our lunch (bought bunch of stuff from 7-11 the previous day) on a park bench in between two shows. And speaking of food, the popcorn carts scattered around the park offered yummy flavors. I think there were a total of about 6 flavors: black peppercorn, curry, strawberry, apple cinnamon, caramel, and salt. We tried all except the last two. Lastly, we were sad that we had to miss the Journey to the Center of the Earth ride (closed for renovation), but I'd say we accomplished quite a bit for the time we were there.

Tip for non-Japanese speaking visitors to Tokyo DisneySea, you do lose some part of the experience by not knowing the language, but the park can still be enjoyed. The shows that don't necessarily require English: Mystic Rhythms (no dialogue), Big Band Beats (English dialogue), Magic Lamp Theater (it's all in Japanese, but some of the stuff can be enjoyed by context), Under the Sea (singing of Under the Sea in the beginning is in English, but then there's a Japanese dialogue part for much of the performance). There are rides that have Japanese commentary, but you can still enjoy the rides visually (Indy Jones, Storm Rider, Tower of Terror). Also, we were fascinated by how into Disney the park-goers were, all decked out in their Disney gear. From little children dressed like Woody from Toy Story to men with their Duffy bears (read about how big a craze they are in Japan), and grandmas with their Minnie ears and hats. Japanese people really go all out, and that just added to the atmosphere.

Ono popcorn

The second new park experience was Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida. The first time I went to Disney World back in 2008, we skipped out on this park. But in October 2013, I had the privilege to come back to Disney World and experience all four parks plus the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, this time with Jack and his sister, Jiali.

 

Got Butterbeer? (Wizarding World of Harry Potter)

 

Being Miss Planner, I mapped out our route for our days at each park. We were able to accomplish everything we set out for at Animal Kingdom. My personal highlight was Expedition Everest, which had an interesting twist that I did not expect at all. The Primeval Whirl was also another pleasant surprise. We marveled at the ingenuity of adding the spinning aspect to the roller coaster. Here's what we conquered at the park:

-Discovery Island: It's Tough to be a Bug

-Camp Minnie-Mickey: Festival of the Lion King

-Africa: Kilimanjaro Safaris

-Rafiki's Planet Watch: Wildlife Express Train

-Asia: Flights of Wonder, Expedition Everest, Maharajah Jungle Trek, Kali River Rapids

-Dinoland USA: Finding Nemo - the Musical, Primeval Whirl, DINOSAUR

 Expedition Everest

 Festival of the Lion King

 At It's Tough to be a Bug

Tree of Life in the background

Per the suggestion of other parkgoers, head to the safari ride during the morning time. In the afternoon, the animals tend to laze around since the sun is out, so you might not get a good view of them. Also, we brought ponchos for Kali River Rapids since it's a water ride. If it's a hot day, then forgo because the wetness factor is not too high.

On the Safari ride

The third new park that I visited also happened to be a Disney park: Disney California Adventure. I don't particularly prefer Disney parks, but I guess that's just the way the cookie crumbles. Anyway, I went to this park in September 2014 when our family followed my sister to Anaheim for her CPCU conference.

 

Like all other parks, I made sure to plan beforehand. I tried to map out a route, but all that went out the window when the Fastpass I got for the Radiator Springs ride (the most popular attraction of the park at the time of writing) was valid for 2:30pm in the afternoon instead of the morning time that I was hoping to get. Here's what we did instead:

 

Parked by around 10:00am, but still had to take the tram and walk to the gate entrance, so we got in a little past opening time. I grabbed Fastpasses for the Radiator Springs ride while the rest of the group made their way to Toy Story. We waited for maybe 40 minutes for the ride. Afterwards, we took the single rider for the California Screamin' to avoid the long wait. Cut our wait time to about 15 minutes. Then headed to the Little Mermaid ride. Had lunch at Flo's 8 and Award Wieners. Then went to the Grizzly River Run and Soarin before heading to the other side of the park. Did the Bakery Tour, and then went to Luigi's Flying Tires before getting onto Radiator Springs. Then we went to It's Tough to be a Bug, Tower of Terror and Monsters, Inc. We missed the next showing of Aladdin by 2 minutes, so did the Muppet 3-D and called it a day. Bummed we missed out on the Hollywood Backlot Stage and Aladdin, but we were just about getting hungry for dinner and so decided food was more important. Also, sorry for the lack of pictures from this park; I guess we were more focused on the rides than documenting our experience there.

 

Now that I'm getting older, I can tell that my endurance for thrill rides is going down. The amount of fervor I had when I put this item on my bucket list has certainly been diffused as I have gone on to complete these three new theme parks. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the theme park experience and am glad that I had a chance to complete them while I'm still young as opposed to being older, but I think I'm content with my share of amusement park rides under my belt.