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Gizmodo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
The 5 Best Disney Rides You Can Only Experience in Japan
For theme park enthusiasts, there's always something wonderful about experiencing a new park. The magic of discovery. The thrill of fresh attractions. And, if you're a Disney fan, it's even more exciting simply because there aren't that many parks. Only six places in the world (as of now) have Disney Parks, so any first-time visit is special—which is exactly what happened to me last month when I went to the Tokyo Disney Resort. Consisting of two separate theme parks, Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea, Tokyo Disney has many rides we know and love here in the United States. But, as an adult who not only frequents Walt Disney World in Orlando, but is a Magic Key holder at Disneyland, those weren't why I was most excited. It was the rides I could only ride there in Japan that made me wake up at the crack of dawn, line up, and pay that little extra to ensure I'd get on. Below, here are the five best Disney rides you can only ride in Japan. They're rides that, I'm happy to say, made the trip worth the visit all by themselves. The Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast – Tokyo Disneyland Like most Disney parks, Tokyo Disneyland has a big, beautiful castle at the center. But this park also has a second castle just for its Beauty and the Beast ride. And, once you ride it, you'll know why. Sitting in a large teacup, you are whisked away on a trackless system (like Rise of the Resistance or Ratatouille) through the film. The ride vehicles move around elaborate, stunning recreations of scenes from the animated classic with awesome animatronics and all your favorite songs to boot. By the time you get to the end, and Belle and the Beast are dancing together in the ballroom, it truly might bring a tear to your eye. Simply one of the best Disney rides I've ever been on, if not the best. Anna and Elsa's Frozen Journey – Tokyo DisneySea At Epcot in Orlando, Florida, there is a very good boat ride themed around Frozen. If you've ridden it, imagine what that's like, but three times longer with even more of the story, songs, and characters. Basically, you ride in a boat through the Frozen movie, combining all the tricks Disney Imagineers have come up with over the years—animatronics, projections, sets, etc. But what's the best part of Frozen? 'Let It Go,' right? Well, this ride uses three entire rooms to take you through the song, climaxing in some truly epic moments. This isn't a thrill ride of any kind, but the thrill you get in living in this world for a few minutes makes it incredibly special. Peter Pan's Never Land Adventure – Tokyo DisneySea Again, the best way to contextualize this ride is to compare it to other, similar rides. So imagine rides such as Universal's Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Transformers: The Ride or The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, in which you're in a vehicle on a track that goes between elaborate movie scenes and big, practical sets. That's this ride and, frankly, it's better than all of those. It's an epic retelling of the Peter Pan story with these dynamic technologies and, just when you think the story is over, it keeps going. It's a rousing experience. Nemo & Friends SeaRider – Tokyo DisneySea Finding Nemo has a huge presence in Disney parks, with rides in both Orlando and Anaheim. But the one in Tokyo is different. Think Star Tours, but Finding Nemo, as you get into a 'ship' (aka, a sort of movie theater) which is then shrunken down and whisked all through the ocean. Oh, and it's 4D, so expect to get a little wet. It's not the newest or most innovative ride, but it's still really fun. Journey to the Center of the Earth – Tokyo DisneySea If Journey to the Center of the Earth was one minute longer, it would be one of the best rides at the resort. As it stands now, it's too short to be on that full list but, if you don't have to wait too long for it, it's very much worth a spin. You basically take a vehicle through a story where you go to the center of the Earth and, once you encounter a big monster, are zipped away in a pseudo roller coaster moment, including a drop that takes you out of the mountain in the center of the theme park. That part happens a little too quickly but it's still great, as is everything before it. Of course, those are not the only Tokyo-only rides you find in its Disney parks. Aquatopia, a hovercraft ride, is super fun. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a relaxing, beautiful trip, with a nice nostalgic boost from the versions Disney has long since removed from its U.S. parks. Plus, there are exclusive rides based on Tangled, Big Hero 6, Monsters Inc., Winnie the Pooh, and many more. (Full disclosure, we were unable to ride the Monsters and Pooh rides, so I was unable to rank them.) Basically, if you are a Disney or theme park fan and you find yourself in Tokyo, be sure to prioritize the rides you can only do there. Get more information on Tokyo Disneyland here and Tokyo DisneySea here. (And yes, I bought the ride vehicle figures for as many of these as were available. Read more here.)
Gizmodo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
At Tokyo Disneyland, I Found a New Collecting Obsession
Tomica makes mini versions of Disney ride vehicles, and they are incredibly awesome. We have too much Disney stuff. In our home, one entire room is specifically dedicated to Disney posters and memorabilia. In other rooms, we have shelves dedicated to Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, Robin Hood, Toy Story, and more. It's too much. And so, when finally making that bucket list trip to Japan to visit Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea we knew we had to take it easy with the buying. But then I saw it. Leaving DisneySea's Indiana Jones ride (which is just like the Disneyland ride, except Crystal Skull themed), I noticed they were selling a tiny, Matchbox-sized replica of the ride vehicle. I had to have it. It was small, themed to something I love, and hyper-specific. That was the key. This wasn't just some Indiana Jones-themed shirt, it was the ride vehicle from this ride. I scooped it up. A few rides later, I realized the amazing Frozen ride I just exited also had a mini-ride vehicle. And the Peter Pan ride. And at the end of the day, I was carrying eight new ride vehicles in my backpack. The next day, at Tokyo Disneyland, the buying continued, and by the end of our trip, I'd purchased 12 vehicles, at a cost of about $15 apiece. (On the top level, you've got, from left to right, Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones and Beauty and the Beast, Frozen and Peter Pan, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Jungle Cruise. On the bottom, you've got Soarin', the resort Monorail and Aquatopia, Happy Ride with Baymax, and Toy Story Mania.) The vehicles are made by a company called Tomica and they've been teaming up with Disney since, according to Wiki, 2001. So it's not like I'm the first person to discover these. They've been around for literal decades. But the size, exclusively, and specificity just spoke to me. Plus, because of their size, I knew that I could pretty easily find places for them to display in our very, very Disney-filled home. But I had to set limits. An important part of my buying was being selective. I wasn't buying everything. I was buying vehicles for rides I actually rode and really liked. And while I certainly bought a lot, in one of the stores at Tokyo Disneyland, there was a display with what appeared to be every vehicle currently available. There were way more than 12. You may notice one famous ride vehicle that's not in there: the Starcruiser from Star Tours. When I started buying these, one of my first thoughts was, 'Is there one for Star Tours?' I then checked all around the ride and park but no, there wasn't. At least not now. I later found out there were out-of-print vehicles for Star Tours that, maybe, I'd purchase at a later date. But, that later date almost happened much sooner. Later on our Japan trip, I found myself in a geek mecca called Nakano Broadway. A few minutes outside of Tokyo, this four-story mall is filled with all manner of geek merchandise and you could spend days getting lost in its stores. At one point, I walked into a store and saw what I believed was the Star Tours ride vehicle I was after. This one looked a little different, though, and had a sign next to it that said something about '330.' I asked the employee for more information. Turns out, this particular piece wasn't 330 yen, nor was it 3300 yen. It was 330,000 yen, the U.S. equivalent to about $2,300. According to a translation of the sign, it was some discontinued version of the vehicle and, clearly, very rare and valuable. 'Do you still want it?' she asked. The answer, of course, was yes, but I couldn't afford it, so I said 'No, thank you.' She then took the sign and wrote on it, making it clearer what the piece cost. That was the moment, though. In the two minutes before realizing how expensive that piece was, but also knowing it was going to be more expensive than the ones in the park, I was ready. If it had been $200 or something, I would've pulled the trigger. I was on vacation! I wanted Star Tours for my collection! Of course, I didn't buy it, but I did realize I had officially added mini ride vehicles to my long list of collecting obsessions.
Japan Times
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Times
JR Central unveils Disney-themed shinkansen train in Tokaido line first
Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Pref. – Central Japan Railway (JR Central) unveiled a specially painted shinkansen bullet train Monday with the theme of Fantasy Springs, a new area of the Tokyo DisneySea amusement park. The train, which features characters of popular Disney movies including "Frozen," will make up to two round trips a day between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations from Friday to mid-September. It is the first specially painted shinkansen train to operate since the Tokaido Shinkansen line opened in 1964, JR Central officials said. "We hope (passengers) will feel as if they're in a dream while traveling on the Shinkansen," JR Central President Shunsuke Niwa told a news conference in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture.
