Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom is, by attendance, the most popular theme park in the world, a title it has held for a very long time. Having said that, while it is a destination that everybody who loves theme parks should visit, it’s rarely at the top of anybody’s list of best theme parks in the world or even best Disney theme parks in the world.
Tokyo DisneySea, the second gate of the Tokyo Disney Resort, is at the top of my theme park bucket list, as it is frequently ranked among the top, if not seen as the absolute best, theme park on Earth. This reputation is something that has clearly gotten out, as an Instagram post has gone viral showing that attraction wait times at Tokyo DisneySea are pretty rough compared to domestic parks.
The reel from Inside the Mouse shows all the major attractions at Tokyo DisneySea, with nothing running under 100 minutes, and Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey running an absolutely brutal 180 minutes. The ride is part of the newest addition to Tokyo DisneySea, Fantasy Springs, which explains the long wait, but doesn't make it any more palatable.
While rides like the Frozen attraction and Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival are exclusive to Tokyo, others are available to experience at Disneyland or Walt Disney World. For example, Toy Story Midway Mania is an identical ride at DisneySea in Tokyo, Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando and Disney California Adventure in Anaheim. As I write this, the attraction has a 90-minute wait in Florida and a 45-minute wait in California. Both are still significant, but far below Japan.
Other attractions, like Soarin and Tower of Terror, are among the Disney Parks attractions that are done differently in other countries, but are similar experiences. As of this writing, Soarin’s 160-minute wait in Japan is matched by 40 minutes in California and 35 in Florida. The Tower of Terror in Florida, the one that most closely resembles the Japanese version, only has a 40-minute wait as I write this.
While two-hour wait times certainly aren't unheard of at Walt Disney World or Disneyland, there have been some epic Disney World wait times over the years, I don’t remember a time I saw them happen on every attraction at once like this. It’s a clear indication that Tokyo DisneySea is wildly popular. It takes a lot of people to make that many attractions have waits like that all at once.
There’s a reason for that, because it’s widely believed that Tokyo Disney Resort gets the best attractions from Walt Disney Imagineering. The resort is run by the Oriental Land Company, not Disney, and as such, the company’s attention, and more importantly, its finances, aren’t split between multiple entertainment ventures.
It does put the 45-minute or hour-long waits that I tend to avoid in perspective. Maybe they’re not so bad after all. While I hope one day to visit Tokyo DisneySea, and will wait in whatever lines I need to in order to experience the attractions, maybe this means I need to plan to spend more time at Tokyo Disney Resort. That’s not a bad thing.
