I originally intended to write-up all Days 1-3 in one post, but found I had a lot more content from our trip than I originally thought, so this gave me an opportunity to focus on the various restaurants and eats we had at Tokyo DisneySea. Food at amusements tend to take a second seat to the rides and other attractions, but DisneySea offers a wide range of food from stall foods to fine dining, all with surprising excellent execution and service.
Leaving off from the last post, where my older daughter and I had our Una-don “snack”, it was time to head back to the MiraCosta to get ready for our dinner reservation at the Oceano. The Oceano is one of three restaurants located inside the DisneySea MiraCosta Hotel. It serves both a Mediterranean-style buffet and a fine dining set course meal. We opted for the fine dining course. When they say fine dining, it really is fine dining as I was impressed by the Oceano set course. You can read about it here.
However, being our first day in Japan, they didn’t have much of an appetite. After dinner, we headed back to our room for some needed R&R or at least tried to as I still could not believe that was day 1.
It was not too hard getting a good nights rest and we were up and ready for our Tokyo DisneySea day. For breakfast I had made reservations at the BellaVista, which is another restaurant located in the MiraCosta. They were offering a Mediterranean themed breakfast buffet.
The spread of items was not as large as I thought given the price point, but what they served was all done really well. I usually do not like buffets and I’m also not much of a breakfast person, but given the jet lag, this worked out pretty well as we all ate lightly.
After the BellaVista buffet, it was time to head to the DisneySea park. The convenience of having your own hotel entrance into the park was nice, as it was raining. We ended up getting ponchos at one of the nearby stores.
Since this was our second time here, we pretty much rode all the rides last year, so we were able to pace ourselves. We got fast passes as appropriate and rode rides here and there. My two favorite areas were Mermaid’s Lagoon and Arabian Harbor as posted below:
Although I am not into amusement parks, I do have to admit that DisneySea is really well done. It’s spacious, and each area of attractions brings to life the various aspect of the Disney movies to perfections.
For lunch, we snacked on various bites throughout the day. Again, I usually am not impressed with the food stalls in amusement parks both in the US and in Japan, but DisneySea is an exception.
I found that both of these savory options were delicious eats and really unique to DisneySea. Besides these food items, we had popcorn as we waited in line for the rides. Popcorn in Tokyo Disney and DisneySea is extremely popular with the locals. We initially didn’t understand the obsession last year, when our friends mentioned the popularity and lines. We would have skipped it if not given the recommendation, but once we tried one, we got hooked and became adventurous in trying out the flavors. You can get anywhere from safe options like sea salt and black pepper to exotic flavors like curry, milk tea, and corn potage. There are even seasonal flavors that rotate in and out. There are over a dozen popcorn carts spread throughout DisneySea and in a day can offer 7-8 different flavors. The buckets you can buy have their own cult followings and desirability.
My wife and kids have a serious sweet tooth, so they had to try the various desert in Disney sea. Some of the highlights included the following:
As can be seen in some of the photos, the weather eventually turned out really nice with the sky clearing up. Although sunny in the afternoon, it was the perfect weather.
As we wrapped up the various rides, I had made reservations for the SS Columbia for dinner. The SS Columbia was fun given its unique atmosphere as it made you feel like you’re stepping into the Titanic. Located in what is modeled after a huge ocean-liner in the American Waterfront port of DisneySea, the dining provides a unique experience and ambiance.
You can read about the full meal at the SS Columbia here.
Another great option for dinner in the park is at Magellan’s. We visited this place the previous year and you can read about our experiences here.
Amongst the three fine dining options we so far at DisneySea, I would rank them as following – Magellan’s, Oceano, and SS Columbia. They were all by far better than what I’ve eaten at Disneyland and California Disney in Los Angeles, but if I can only pick one, I would make sure to eat at Magellan’s.
Back to the trip from this year, after our meal at the SS Columbia, it was not the end of our night. We finished dinner at around 8pm, and there was still 2 more hours before closing at the park. At this point, I had made plans to meet with some of our local friends at Taka Bar near Hiroo Station in Tokyo, while my family continue to enjoy DisneySea. I’ve been to Taka Bar before, which is a tiny bar in Hiroo that focuses on Spanish Tapas.
The first time I visited Taka Bar, it was two years ago on my first trip to Japan. I really liked the place as it was small and cozy, yet everyone knew each other and was friendly with new guests. They had everything from Jamon Iberico Ham they sliced by hand to seasonal items like raw Kagoshima chicken. I was introduced to the place by a good friend, Satoshi, who always makes it out of his way to hang out whenever we visit and introduce new friends. I really love the atmosphere and places like Taka Bar is another reason why I love Tokyo.
After a great time drinking wine and reminiscing with old friends and chatting with new ones, I had to go back to make sure I didn’t miss the last train back to Tokyo DisneySea. It is about a 40-50 minute train ride and you do not want to take a taxi at night as prices go up significantly after the last train runs.
Once back at the MiraCosta, the family was pretty much all resting and in bed. I pretty much showered and hopped into bed for the needed rest as checkout for the hotel was at 10am, but more importantly, we had to catch our limo bus to Haneda airport to catch our flight at 11am to Asahikawa in Hokkaido.
Looking back, I cannot believe this is only day 2 of my trip. As I reflect back on Tokyo DisneySea, despite this being our second time at Tokyo DisneySea, I really had a great time and continued to enjoy the food. I’m not into amusement parks, but I have to admit if I had to stay at one, it would be DisneySea as it has a lot to offer.
