valleyfair!
Hyper Poster
Over Christmas time I took a vacation out to Hong Kong and Tokyo. It was a 12-day trip and I returned back home to Miami on New Year’s Eve. There was no way I was going to fly that far and not visit any parks, so I decided I would definitely do the Disney’s in each city. Doing so completed my rounds of the Disney Parks and I have now been to all of the Disney’s around the world! On top of that, I managed to make it to Ocean Park in Hong Kong as well!
I actually got some photos! Still not a ton, but at least got a decent amount. Some are pretty random or not from the best location (especially Ocean Park) just because I was hurrying around to get everything in. Most on-ride stuff from Disney rides, but not all. (No photos even without flash allowed on some.) Some blurry from the moving ride on just a iPhone camera too.
I want to make note that when rating Disney attractions I base the coasters on comparisons/ratings to coasters, while the slow moving sit down, dark ride, etc. attractions are evaluated on their own scale because obviously expectations are different of those attractions. For example, I may give a coaster a 8/10 and a slow moving sit down a 9/10, but that does not mean I would choose that over the coaster, just that I compare them on different standards.
On to the review…
Hong Kong Disneyland
The first full day of the trip, (Dec 22) I headed out to HKDL. I was not actually planning on going this early in the trip and got a later start then I probably would have. I left the hotel for the metro a little after 10:00am and made it to the park by 10:40 or so. I only had 7 attractions on my must ride list so I knew I would not have a problem getting it all in. I was shocked how dead the park actually was!
The park itself is very nice as expected and similar to what you would expect from a Disney Park. Sleeping Beauty Castle seemed to be identical to the one in California, and I forget how tiny it is!
I missed the Golden Mickey’s show because I was going to do this after the rides, and didn’t work out timing wise. I would’ve had to wait 150 minutes before the next show, so I headed to PhilharMagic and headed out. (So I could do Ocean Park too!)
Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars: 9/10
WOW! I was going into this coaster expecting something similar to the BTMRR coasters, and was happily surprised to find it was more on the scale of Expedition Everest! I started the day with this coaster because it was the newest ride and I was expecting long lines, but it was a walk on! This coaster not only had a backwards section, but also a launch!
RC Racer: 6.5/10
I had no expectations for this obviously. I think half pipe coasters are fun, but nothing special. Even though Toy Story is my favorite Disney movie but, that did not give this a bump in my count as I put this as my least favorite of the 3 half pipe coasters I have ridden. I like being able to spin and this does not have that, also the ride cycle is very short.
Jungle Cruise: 7/10
This comes in as my least favorite of all the Jungle Cruises. I was happy to see they offered an English version so I would at least know what was going on, but it still missed the most vital aspect of the Jungle Cruise, the cheesy jokes! It was literally, “Oh look hippos” followed by, “There are some elephants” then, “here are alligators”. The fire effects at the end were fantastic and should be on all Jungle Cruises, but that was the highlight of the cruise.
”it’s a small world”: 7.5/10
I like small world more than most people! Not much to say as they are all pretty similar, but at the time of riding this one, it became my new favorite small world!
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: 8/10
It’s hard to say that this even deserves an 8/10 after visiting Tokyo, but it still is pretty good. The hunny pot you ride in rocks in all directions adding a nice touch to the ride! Brings back all the Pooh memories from when I loved it as a little guy.
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters: 9/10
These are always some of my favorite shooters. Though all are similar, I would say this one is most comparable to the one in California. Queue features the Buzz animatronic as all the parks have. My score was 248,000!
Space Mountain: 8.5/10
I like Space Mountain’s more then most enthusiasts seem to. With that, I went in with high expectations knowing this was essentially “the same” as the one in California, which has been my favorite of the Space Mountains. While the ride was still awesome, I left a little disappointed. The quantity of stars was less (More on the WDW Space Mountain scale) and a lack of onboard audio caused this to fall short of the one in Cali and Paris.
Mickey’s PhilharMagic: 7.5/10
Of all the times I’ve been/go to Disney, I have never seen this show so I finally gave in. Pretty much Donald Duck takes you through Disney Movies and shows you your favorite Disney songs! I enjoyed it, and would see it again if I had time to kill at another Disney park.
Ocean Park
I never knew this park even existed until roughly a year ago when I saw a few photos of Hair Raiser being built. I was absolutely shocked how big this park actually was! (About half was actually a zoo.) I arrived around 4:00 and it was packed! I was on a mission to just get the 4 credits in before park closing at 8:00, and that’s all I had time for unfortunately.
Cable Car
Not something worth rating, but definitely worth a mention. You enter the park on a ground level where a lot of animal houses/exhibits seemed to be, and to get to the rides, you have to take this cable car up the mountain. The view is beautiful and this layout and setting of the park makes this one of the most unique parks I’ve visited!
Hair Raiser: 8.5/10
I started with this coaster as it was closest off of the Cable Car. It’s a B&M so despite being a short ride it was still great! I would say it is most comparable to Hydra (Which I enjoy, though many of you rip on.) I was a little confused on the clown based theme, but fun nevertheless. Good to see some yellow track, don’t see that at many places.
Arctic Blast: 3.5/10
It’s a powered coaster so really not that much to expect. You get two circuits and actually get decent speed for a powered coaster.
Wild West Mine Train: 6.5/10 + .5 for the setting = 7/10
The location and view from this coaster is amazing. Right on the side of the mountain looking off out to the distance gives this coaster a really unique element. The ride itself is “meh”, but does have a helix with some cool supports.
Dragon: 7/10 + .5 for the setting = 7.5/10
Again, like Wild West Mine Train the setting is outstanding! I was actually expecting a very rough ride from this Arrow Looper and was happily surprised it really wasn’t too bad at all. Never a huge fan of a lift hill back to the station, but kind of unavoidable here I guess.
Tokyo Disneyland
I was in Tokyo for three full days and they were a Friday-Sunday. Leaving me not the best days of the week to choose from for a park visit. I found a website that predicted the lowest crowds for that Friday (Dec 28) so that is the day I went.
I was given the tough task of knocking off both parks in one day! Because of Tokyo Disney not offering a one day park hopper I unfortunately had to buy two 1-day tickets, but not the end of the world. (Literally the week before I guess?) All of my research had scared me just of how crowded this place gets, so I set a goal of 12 attractions to hit, (6 at each park) that I most wanted to go on. To my surprise, I was able to get much more in using the FASTPASS system well and being able to have simultaneous FASTPASSes due to having two tickets.
My plan (because of fear of crowds) was to get as much in early in the day as I could before I even think about eating. I made it all the way to 4:30 before I finally grabbed lunch/dinner, which was just a hot dog that I ate while walking to Tower of Terror.
I arrived at 7:30am an hour before opening and stayed until 10:00pm closing. This was one of the longest, and most tiring theme park days I have ever had, but totally worth it! Over the course of the day I went back and forth between each park 4 times, mostly to get back to FASTPASS return times. (Which Disney now unfortunately enforces.) It was disappointing that a single ride on the monorail was more expensive then the metro ride to the parks.
Of all the 5 Disney locations, this one by far gave me the most language barrier problems, but wasn’t too bad still.
First with Tokyo Disneyland:
Monsters Inc. Ride & Go Seek!: 9.5/10
I had heard the two longest lines in Tokyo were consistently at Pooh and Monster’s Inc, so when the gates opened, I ran and got a Pooh FASTPASS then got in line for Monster’s Inc. I got in line for this 15 minutes after gates opened, ONLY 15 MINUTES and my wait was already an hour! I did it and it was definitely worth it! You shine your flashlight on “M” helmets and different things will then happen. Very interactive and a unique idea to use flashlights in an attraction! My biggest complaint is there was no scene with all the doors, which is my favorite part of the movie.
”it’s a small world”: 8/10
This wasn’t on my 6 “must hit” in the park, yet due to having 10 minutes before my Pooh FASTPASS being ready, and this being the only thing nearby with no wait, I did it second. I have never been on a small world with holiday decorations, and this just stepped it up even more! Took the cake right from Hong Kong the week before as my new favorite small world!
Pooh’s Hunny Hunt: 10/10
AMAZING! One of the best Disney attractions ever! Where has this technology/style of ride been!? You board your hunny pot and instead of being on a track your pot uses GPS like coordinates throughout the ride so you can dance, spin, and speed around other people’s hunny pots as well as the theming in the ride. One scene you get put less then a foot from a cannon that shoots a smoke ball in your face, then you go to a mirror which has elephants drinking the hunny from your pot! Another great scene, you watch a screen coving an entire wall of Tigger bouncing, and the entire floor that your hunny pot sits on bounces with him! Wish I could’ve ridden this thing more!
Pirates of the Caribbean: 9/10
Always one of my favorite Disney rides, and this did not fail to impress! All of these are very similar, but this one very much reminded me of California. Had to wait about 15 minutes which wasn’t too bad.
Haunted Mansion: 9/10
I liked the holiday theming for small world, but not as much for Haunted Mansion. With the theming it was pretty much “Nightmare Before Christmas the Ride”. With that said, it was still great! I got a FASTPASS for this after my Pooh one was up and oddly enough the return time was in 30 minutes, while the standby wait time was 80 minutes… never seen that before at a Disney Park, but that made me happy. This has most of the scenes you expect, but nothing to put it above the rest.
Space Mountain: 8.5/10
My expectations were lowered after Hong Kong, and this was about at the same level as the one in Hong Kong. Some of the light effects were a little cooler in my opinion, and that’s the only reason I put it slightly higher then HK’s.
Splash Mountain: 9/10
Despite it being quite cold outside, this was still very enjoyable. Very similar to all the others, but the music being in Japanse didn’t leave me singing along afterwards. Drop was great as always! I used the single rider line and I got on right away!
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters: 9/10
Pretty much identical to Hong Kong! My biggest complaint is that this one, majority of the queue is outside, and it was cold! My score this time around was not nearly as good with 112,500.
Pinocchio’s Daring Journey: 7/10
Again, similar to other Disney parks, and nothing new technology wise, but still some good fun, and had almost no wait near the end of the night!
Snow White’s Adventures: 7.5/10
Pretty good ride with some nice scenes from Snow White. Nothing too special about the ride, but worth a ride with a short wait like it was.
Peter Pan’s Flight: 7.5/10
My first ever trip to Disney in Orlando when I was 6 or 7, this was my favorite attraction. So, to this day, this has a special place for me. Similar, with it’s own subtle differences, it was fun as always!
Jungle Cruise: 7.5/10
Unlike Hong Kong, there is no English version here. It was after 9:00pm and when I walked to the queue, I was literally the only one. That had me wait on the boat until some others came. (I was glad 3 other people did come cause it would have been quite awkward being the only one on the boat not understanding one word the skipper said.) With only 4 of us on the boat we were off, and this skipper was hilarious and obviously loved his job. I had no idea what he was saying, but the others were laughing. (Maybe making jokes about me!?) Possibly the most fun I have had on a Jungle Cruise ride, but not knowing what was being said can’t let me make this my favorite one.
Enchanted Tiki Room: 5/10
I had a few minutes to kill before my BTM FASTPASS was ready, and this was closest to where I was so I went in. I knew it wouldn’t be in English, but wanted to warm up a little and get out of the rain. During the preshow a cast member came and gave me some papers that said the show could be in English at another time, but less then an hour until park closing, and not caring that much about Tiki Room, I said I would be fine. It was entertaining, for what I could understand. Stitch was very much involved in this version, unlike Orlando.
Big Thunder Mountain: 8/10
My second favorite of the four! Behind Paris, but this has a long ride time, and despite being cold and rainy, it was a fun coaster!
Tokyo DisneySea
Definitely the most unique of the Disney Parks! The volcano in the center of the park was massive! Everything was themed exceptionally well (as expected) and is maybe my favorite Disney Park now!
Indiana Jones Adventure: 10/10
The Cali version has always topped my list as my favorite dark ride, so expectations were high going in to this one. Besides some Japanese, and what seemed to be less frequent onboard audio, the ride was the same! Outstanding theming, and fast paced attraction! Single rider line helped this move a little faster too.
Raging Spirits: 7/10
Very similar to Indiana Jones in Paris, but this one was quite a bit smoother. A slow moving single rider line, but still better then being in the main queue.
Tower of Terror: 9.5/10
The theming of this ToT is different from all the others. This one is haunted by Shiriki Utundu, and antique thing that Harrison Hightower, the owner of the hotel had owned. I don’t like this theme as much, but apparently it makes more sense for the Tokyo audience. The drop sequences are always surprising, and that’s such a great aspect of all of the ToT’s.
Journey to the Center of the Earth: 10/10
I really don’t know how to describe this attraction. You travel deep into the earth and see alien like creatures, then speed up and out of the volcano. Obviously a short summary, but it’s FANTASTIC! The ride system seemed similar to Test Track, (obviously theming is not) which I didn’t realize until the ride picked up speed.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: 8.5/10
A very unique attraction! I couldn’t understand any of the audio, but the theming was still great, and seemed to have a nice storyline. Nothing in the ride really wowed me, but still a great attraction.
Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage: 7.5/10
A Sindbad themed small world! Just float in your boat around Sindbad themed scenes with very basic animatronics. Still fun as it is not an attraction you find at any other Disney Park.
Disney Attraction Rankings
I did this a few years back after visiting Paris, and now that I have been to all the Disney’s this can be more extensive. I rank all the similar attractions across all the Disney Parks. In some that are almost identical, subtle differences or the queue could be reasons I rank one higher or lower than another. I’ve got a lot, so I’m not going to give descriptions why everything is ranked the way it is, but if you have any questions about it, fire away!
1- Expedition Everest, WDW
2- Big Grizzly Mountain Mine Cars, HKDL
1- Jungle Cruise, DL
2- Jungle Cruise, WDW
3- Jungle Cruise, TDL
4- Jungle Cruise, HKDL
1- “it’s a small world”, TDL
2- “it’s a small world”, HKDL
3- “it’s a small world”, DLRP
4- “it’s a small world”, DL
5- “it’s a small world”, WDW
1- Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, TDL
2- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, HKDL
3- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, WDW
1- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, WDW
2- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, DL
3- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, HKDL
4- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, TDL
5- Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast, DLRP
1- Space Mountain, DL
2- Space Mountain, DLRP
3- Space Mountain, TDL
4- Space Mountain, HKDL
5- Space Mountain, WDW
1- Phantom Manor, DLRP
2- Haunted Mansion, DL
3- Haunted Mansion, WDW
4- Haunted Mansion, TDL
1- Big Thunder Mountain, DLRP
2- Big Thunder Mountain, TDL
3- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, WDW
4- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, DL
1. Tower of Terror, WDW
2. Tower of Terror, DL
3. Tower of Terror, DLRP
4. Tower of Terror, TDL
1- Pirates of the Caribbean, DL
2- Pirates of the Caribbean, DLRP
3- Pirates of the Caribbean, TDL
4- Pirates of the Caribbean, WDW
1- Star Tours, DLRP
2- Star Tours, DL
3- Star Tours, WDW
1- Indiana Jones, DL
2- Indiana Jones Adventure, TDL
3- DINOSAUR, WDW
1- Soarin’, DL
2- Soarin’, WDW
1- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, DLRP
2- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, WDW
1- Splash Mountain, TDL
2- Splash Mountain, WDW
3- Splash Mountain, DL
1- Kali River Rapids, WDW
2- Grizzly River Run, DL
1- Monster’s Inc. Ride & Go Seek!, TDL
2- Monster’s Inc. Mike & Sully to the Rescue!, DL
1- Raging Spirits, TDL
2- Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril, DLRP
1- Enchanted Tiki Room, WDW
2- Enchanted Tiki Room, TDL
1- Peter Pan’s Flight, TDL
2- Peter Pan’s Flight, DL
3- Peter Pan’s Flight, WDW
4- Peter Pan’s Flight, DLRP
1- Snow White’s Adventures, TDL
2- Snow White’s Scary Adventures, WDW
1- Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, DLRP
2- Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, TDL
3- Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, DL
I actually got some photos! Still not a ton, but at least got a decent amount. Some are pretty random or not from the best location (especially Ocean Park) just because I was hurrying around to get everything in. Most on-ride stuff from Disney rides, but not all. (No photos even without flash allowed on some.) Some blurry from the moving ride on just a iPhone camera too.
I want to make note that when rating Disney attractions I base the coasters on comparisons/ratings to coasters, while the slow moving sit down, dark ride, etc. attractions are evaluated on their own scale because obviously expectations are different of those attractions. For example, I may give a coaster a 8/10 and a slow moving sit down a 9/10, but that does not mean I would choose that over the coaster, just that I compare them on different standards.
On to the review…
Hong Kong Disneyland
The first full day of the trip, (Dec 22) I headed out to HKDL. I was not actually planning on going this early in the trip and got a later start then I probably would have. I left the hotel for the metro a little after 10:00am and made it to the park by 10:40 or so. I only had 7 attractions on my must ride list so I knew I would not have a problem getting it all in. I was shocked how dead the park actually was!
The park itself is very nice as expected and similar to what you would expect from a Disney Park. Sleeping Beauty Castle seemed to be identical to the one in California, and I forget how tiny it is!
I missed the Golden Mickey’s show because I was going to do this after the rides, and didn’t work out timing wise. I would’ve had to wait 150 minutes before the next show, so I headed to PhilharMagic and headed out. (So I could do Ocean Park too!)
Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars: 9/10
WOW! I was going into this coaster expecting something similar to the BTMRR coasters, and was happily surprised to find it was more on the scale of Expedition Everest! I started the day with this coaster because it was the newest ride and I was expecting long lines, but it was a walk on! This coaster not only had a backwards section, but also a launch!
RC Racer: 6.5/10
I had no expectations for this obviously. I think half pipe coasters are fun, but nothing special. Even though Toy Story is my favorite Disney movie but, that did not give this a bump in my count as I put this as my least favorite of the 3 half pipe coasters I have ridden. I like being able to spin and this does not have that, also the ride cycle is very short.
Jungle Cruise: 7/10
This comes in as my least favorite of all the Jungle Cruises. I was happy to see they offered an English version so I would at least know what was going on, but it still missed the most vital aspect of the Jungle Cruise, the cheesy jokes! It was literally, “Oh look hippos” followed by, “There are some elephants” then, “here are alligators”. The fire effects at the end were fantastic and should be on all Jungle Cruises, but that was the highlight of the cruise.
”it’s a small world”: 7.5/10
I like small world more than most people! Not much to say as they are all pretty similar, but at the time of riding this one, it became my new favorite small world!
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: 8/10
It’s hard to say that this even deserves an 8/10 after visiting Tokyo, but it still is pretty good. The hunny pot you ride in rocks in all directions adding a nice touch to the ride! Brings back all the Pooh memories from when I loved it as a little guy.
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters: 9/10
These are always some of my favorite shooters. Though all are similar, I would say this one is most comparable to the one in California. Queue features the Buzz animatronic as all the parks have. My score was 248,000!
Space Mountain: 8.5/10
I like Space Mountain’s more then most enthusiasts seem to. With that, I went in with high expectations knowing this was essentially “the same” as the one in California, which has been my favorite of the Space Mountains. While the ride was still awesome, I left a little disappointed. The quantity of stars was less (More on the WDW Space Mountain scale) and a lack of onboard audio caused this to fall short of the one in Cali and Paris.
Mickey’s PhilharMagic: 7.5/10
Of all the times I’ve been/go to Disney, I have never seen this show so I finally gave in. Pretty much Donald Duck takes you through Disney Movies and shows you your favorite Disney songs! I enjoyed it, and would see it again if I had time to kill at another Disney park.
Ocean Park
I never knew this park even existed until roughly a year ago when I saw a few photos of Hair Raiser being built. I was absolutely shocked how big this park actually was! (About half was actually a zoo.) I arrived around 4:00 and it was packed! I was on a mission to just get the 4 credits in before park closing at 8:00, and that’s all I had time for unfortunately.
Cable Car
Not something worth rating, but definitely worth a mention. You enter the park on a ground level where a lot of animal houses/exhibits seemed to be, and to get to the rides, you have to take this cable car up the mountain. The view is beautiful and this layout and setting of the park makes this one of the most unique parks I’ve visited!
Hair Raiser: 8.5/10
I started with this coaster as it was closest off of the Cable Car. It’s a B&M so despite being a short ride it was still great! I would say it is most comparable to Hydra (Which I enjoy, though many of you rip on.) I was a little confused on the clown based theme, but fun nevertheless. Good to see some yellow track, don’t see that at many places.
Arctic Blast: 3.5/10
It’s a powered coaster so really not that much to expect. You get two circuits and actually get decent speed for a powered coaster.
Wild West Mine Train: 6.5/10 + .5 for the setting = 7/10
The location and view from this coaster is amazing. Right on the side of the mountain looking off out to the distance gives this coaster a really unique element. The ride itself is “meh”, but does have a helix with some cool supports.
Dragon: 7/10 + .5 for the setting = 7.5/10
Again, like Wild West Mine Train the setting is outstanding! I was actually expecting a very rough ride from this Arrow Looper and was happily surprised it really wasn’t too bad at all. Never a huge fan of a lift hill back to the station, but kind of unavoidable here I guess.
Tokyo Disneyland
I was in Tokyo for three full days and they were a Friday-Sunday. Leaving me not the best days of the week to choose from for a park visit. I found a website that predicted the lowest crowds for that Friday (Dec 28) so that is the day I went.
I was given the tough task of knocking off both parks in one day! Because of Tokyo Disney not offering a one day park hopper I unfortunately had to buy two 1-day tickets, but not the end of the world. (Literally the week before I guess?) All of my research had scared me just of how crowded this place gets, so I set a goal of 12 attractions to hit, (6 at each park) that I most wanted to go on. To my surprise, I was able to get much more in using the FASTPASS system well and being able to have simultaneous FASTPASSes due to having two tickets.
My plan (because of fear of crowds) was to get as much in early in the day as I could before I even think about eating. I made it all the way to 4:30 before I finally grabbed lunch/dinner, which was just a hot dog that I ate while walking to Tower of Terror.
I arrived at 7:30am an hour before opening and stayed until 10:00pm closing. This was one of the longest, and most tiring theme park days I have ever had, but totally worth it! Over the course of the day I went back and forth between each park 4 times, mostly to get back to FASTPASS return times. (Which Disney now unfortunately enforces.) It was disappointing that a single ride on the monorail was more expensive then the metro ride to the parks.
Of all the 5 Disney locations, this one by far gave me the most language barrier problems, but wasn’t too bad still.
First with Tokyo Disneyland:
Monsters Inc. Ride & Go Seek!: 9.5/10
I had heard the two longest lines in Tokyo were consistently at Pooh and Monster’s Inc, so when the gates opened, I ran and got a Pooh FASTPASS then got in line for Monster’s Inc. I got in line for this 15 minutes after gates opened, ONLY 15 MINUTES and my wait was already an hour! I did it and it was definitely worth it! You shine your flashlight on “M” helmets and different things will then happen. Very interactive and a unique idea to use flashlights in an attraction! My biggest complaint is there was no scene with all the doors, which is my favorite part of the movie.
”it’s a small world”: 8/10
This wasn’t on my 6 “must hit” in the park, yet due to having 10 minutes before my Pooh FASTPASS being ready, and this being the only thing nearby with no wait, I did it second. I have never been on a small world with holiday decorations, and this just stepped it up even more! Took the cake right from Hong Kong the week before as my new favorite small world!
Pooh’s Hunny Hunt: 10/10
AMAZING! One of the best Disney attractions ever! Where has this technology/style of ride been!? You board your hunny pot and instead of being on a track your pot uses GPS like coordinates throughout the ride so you can dance, spin, and speed around other people’s hunny pots as well as the theming in the ride. One scene you get put less then a foot from a cannon that shoots a smoke ball in your face, then you go to a mirror which has elephants drinking the hunny from your pot! Another great scene, you watch a screen coving an entire wall of Tigger bouncing, and the entire floor that your hunny pot sits on bounces with him! Wish I could’ve ridden this thing more!
Pirates of the Caribbean: 9/10
Always one of my favorite Disney rides, and this did not fail to impress! All of these are very similar, but this one very much reminded me of California. Had to wait about 15 minutes which wasn’t too bad.
Haunted Mansion: 9/10
I liked the holiday theming for small world, but not as much for Haunted Mansion. With the theming it was pretty much “Nightmare Before Christmas the Ride”. With that said, it was still great! I got a FASTPASS for this after my Pooh one was up and oddly enough the return time was in 30 minutes, while the standby wait time was 80 minutes… never seen that before at a Disney Park, but that made me happy. This has most of the scenes you expect, but nothing to put it above the rest.
Space Mountain: 8.5/10
My expectations were lowered after Hong Kong, and this was about at the same level as the one in Hong Kong. Some of the light effects were a little cooler in my opinion, and that’s the only reason I put it slightly higher then HK’s.
Splash Mountain: 9/10
Despite it being quite cold outside, this was still very enjoyable. Very similar to all the others, but the music being in Japanse didn’t leave me singing along afterwards. Drop was great as always! I used the single rider line and I got on right away!
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters: 9/10
Pretty much identical to Hong Kong! My biggest complaint is that this one, majority of the queue is outside, and it was cold! My score this time around was not nearly as good with 112,500.
Pinocchio’s Daring Journey: 7/10
Again, similar to other Disney parks, and nothing new technology wise, but still some good fun, and had almost no wait near the end of the night!
Snow White’s Adventures: 7.5/10
Pretty good ride with some nice scenes from Snow White. Nothing too special about the ride, but worth a ride with a short wait like it was.
Peter Pan’s Flight: 7.5/10
My first ever trip to Disney in Orlando when I was 6 or 7, this was my favorite attraction. So, to this day, this has a special place for me. Similar, with it’s own subtle differences, it was fun as always!
Jungle Cruise: 7.5/10
Unlike Hong Kong, there is no English version here. It was after 9:00pm and when I walked to the queue, I was literally the only one. That had me wait on the boat until some others came. (I was glad 3 other people did come cause it would have been quite awkward being the only one on the boat not understanding one word the skipper said.) With only 4 of us on the boat we were off, and this skipper was hilarious and obviously loved his job. I had no idea what he was saying, but the others were laughing. (Maybe making jokes about me!?) Possibly the most fun I have had on a Jungle Cruise ride, but not knowing what was being said can’t let me make this my favorite one.
Enchanted Tiki Room: 5/10
I had a few minutes to kill before my BTM FASTPASS was ready, and this was closest to where I was so I went in. I knew it wouldn’t be in English, but wanted to warm up a little and get out of the rain. During the preshow a cast member came and gave me some papers that said the show could be in English at another time, but less then an hour until park closing, and not caring that much about Tiki Room, I said I would be fine. It was entertaining, for what I could understand. Stitch was very much involved in this version, unlike Orlando.
Big Thunder Mountain: 8/10
My second favorite of the four! Behind Paris, but this has a long ride time, and despite being cold and rainy, it was a fun coaster!
Tokyo DisneySea
Definitely the most unique of the Disney Parks! The volcano in the center of the park was massive! Everything was themed exceptionally well (as expected) and is maybe my favorite Disney Park now!
Indiana Jones Adventure: 10/10
The Cali version has always topped my list as my favorite dark ride, so expectations were high going in to this one. Besides some Japanese, and what seemed to be less frequent onboard audio, the ride was the same! Outstanding theming, and fast paced attraction! Single rider line helped this move a little faster too.
Raging Spirits: 7/10
Very similar to Indiana Jones in Paris, but this one was quite a bit smoother. A slow moving single rider line, but still better then being in the main queue.
Tower of Terror: 9.5/10
The theming of this ToT is different from all the others. This one is haunted by Shiriki Utundu, and antique thing that Harrison Hightower, the owner of the hotel had owned. I don’t like this theme as much, but apparently it makes more sense for the Tokyo audience. The drop sequences are always surprising, and that’s such a great aspect of all of the ToT’s.
Journey to the Center of the Earth: 10/10
I really don’t know how to describe this attraction. You travel deep into the earth and see alien like creatures, then speed up and out of the volcano. Obviously a short summary, but it’s FANTASTIC! The ride system seemed similar to Test Track, (obviously theming is not) which I didn’t realize until the ride picked up speed.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: 8.5/10
A very unique attraction! I couldn’t understand any of the audio, but the theming was still great, and seemed to have a nice storyline. Nothing in the ride really wowed me, but still a great attraction.
Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage: 7.5/10
A Sindbad themed small world! Just float in your boat around Sindbad themed scenes with very basic animatronics. Still fun as it is not an attraction you find at any other Disney Park.
Disney Attraction Rankings
I did this a few years back after visiting Paris, and now that I have been to all the Disney’s this can be more extensive. I rank all the similar attractions across all the Disney Parks. In some that are almost identical, subtle differences or the queue could be reasons I rank one higher or lower than another. I’ve got a lot, so I’m not going to give descriptions why everything is ranked the way it is, but if you have any questions about it, fire away!
1- Expedition Everest, WDW
2- Big Grizzly Mountain Mine Cars, HKDL
1- Jungle Cruise, DL
2- Jungle Cruise, WDW
3- Jungle Cruise, TDL
4- Jungle Cruise, HKDL
1- “it’s a small world”, TDL
2- “it’s a small world”, HKDL
3- “it’s a small world”, DLRP
4- “it’s a small world”, DL
5- “it’s a small world”, WDW
1- Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, TDL
2- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, HKDL
3- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, WDW
1- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, WDW
2- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, DL
3- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, HKDL
4- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, TDL
5- Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast, DLRP
1- Space Mountain, DL
2- Space Mountain, DLRP
3- Space Mountain, TDL
4- Space Mountain, HKDL
5- Space Mountain, WDW
1- Phantom Manor, DLRP
2- Haunted Mansion, DL
3- Haunted Mansion, WDW
4- Haunted Mansion, TDL
1- Big Thunder Mountain, DLRP
2- Big Thunder Mountain, TDL
3- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, WDW
4- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, DL
1. Tower of Terror, WDW
2. Tower of Terror, DL
3. Tower of Terror, DLRP
4. Tower of Terror, TDL
1- Pirates of the Caribbean, DL
2- Pirates of the Caribbean, DLRP
3- Pirates of the Caribbean, TDL
4- Pirates of the Caribbean, WDW
1- Star Tours, DLRP
2- Star Tours, DL
3- Star Tours, WDW
1- Indiana Jones, DL
2- Indiana Jones Adventure, TDL
3- DINOSAUR, WDW
1- Soarin’, DL
2- Soarin’, WDW
1- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, DLRP
2- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, WDW
1- Splash Mountain, TDL
2- Splash Mountain, WDW
3- Splash Mountain, DL
1- Kali River Rapids, WDW
2- Grizzly River Run, DL
1- Monster’s Inc. Ride & Go Seek!, TDL
2- Monster’s Inc. Mike & Sully to the Rescue!, DL
1- Raging Spirits, TDL
2- Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril, DLRP
1- Enchanted Tiki Room, WDW
2- Enchanted Tiki Room, TDL
1- Peter Pan’s Flight, TDL
2- Peter Pan’s Flight, DL
3- Peter Pan’s Flight, WDW
4- Peter Pan’s Flight, DLRP
1- Snow White’s Adventures, TDL
2- Snow White’s Scary Adventures, WDW
1- Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, DLRP
2- Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, TDL
3- Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, DL
