A comparison of the parks

While I don't consider myself an expert by any stretch of the imagination, I've been on a couple Disney adventures in my time.  I went to Disneyland in California a handful of times.  Then I graduated to Walt Disney World for my honeymoon.  My husband and I had such a great time, we returned the next year for another magical time with the mouse.  But, I had never been to Tokyo's version of Disney - either land or sea - until this week.

Tokyo Disneyland is very similar to the original.  Most of the rides are the same.  I love the classics and loved sharing them with my son even more.  I found it easy to maneuver the park and everything was so familiar.  I had a grand time, just like every visit before.  We were able to enjoy the rides that we've enjoyed many times before and the parades made us feel like children, excited to see the characters that we love and cherish.

DisneySea is a whole new creature.  There is familiarity all over, but there is also something different.  The park is based on a water theme, so many characters are water based, like Ariel and Nemo.  But there is also Aladdin and Indiana Jones that are a bit of a stretch.  The biggest stretch though is Japan's own Disney character Duffy - a teddy bear!  Duffy and his friend Stella Lou, a rabbit, were everywhere.  They are seriously loved here! 

Photo curtesy of: wdwnt.com

I found DisneySea to be a mashup of several aspects of Disney World, with a Japanese twist of course!  The layout of the park reminded me of Epcot.  The night time show, Fanstasimic, is right out of MGM (now called Disney Studios).  I have not been to California Adventures, but I've heard that it is basically a park for all the Pixar characters, just like DisneySea.  They also have a few surprises that I've never seen before.  Mermaid Lagoon was an underground/underwater world that was an incredible surprise that I've never seen anything like.  And the American Waterfront was quite special, too.

Overall, both parks were a lot of fun.  And while I liked the new adventure of DisneySea, I truly transform into a child with a special glee anytime I am in Disneyland.