Journey to the Center of the Earth

The steam powered vehicle

As I said in the previous Mysterious Island post, Journey to the Center of the Earth is my favorite ride there. Not only is the ride itself cool, but from any area of the park it looks stunning. Evan the queue is amazing. The story begins with Captain Nemo deciding to use Mount Prometheus as his new base. After walking through the caverns of the volcano, visitors board terravators to travel to the base station a half-mile below the surface. Here, you can find a giant machine pumping oxygen into pre-drilled tunnels and a communications center giving off warnings of increasing volcanic activity. Then, guests board steam-powered vehicles and travel through a cavern of glowing crystals. You then proceed into a dark tunnel with insects whizzing around just before entering a mushroom forest filled with countless insects and other strange life forms. Before guests can proceed into the lake of fire however, a cave-in occurs and you have to take an alternate route. As visitors travel off course, they will probably notice the giant egg-sacks covering the walls. The vehicle soon slows when it passes the Subterranean Sea but speeds up after it's almost hit by lightning. It then proceeds down a tunnel where strange sounds can be heard and weird shadows can be seen. The ride finally comes to a climax where the vehicle encounters a giant lava monster. If you look closely at the lava pit it's sitting in, you can see a vehicle identical to the one you ride in. The vehicle then escapes to the surface on the wave of an eruption.

American Waterfront

In this port of call, there are two sections: the Old Cape Cod section and the New York Harbor. The New York Harbor features both the Tower of Terror and the S.S. Columbia which is now housing Turtle Talk. Unlike the other versions of the Tower of Terror, the one in Japan is not themed with the Twilight Zone. Instead, it has a completely new story. In this version, the main character is Harrison Hightower who suddenly went missing ten years earlier.When you walk into the first room, you will be showed a picture of Hightower holding the african idol Shiriki Untundu(bite and stab in the tribe's native tongue) while being explained how after Hightower gained the trophy he disappeared. After you are done being spoken to, you will be lead into the first showroom and see Shiriki Untundu sitting on a a pedestal. The attendant will then put on a record with Hightower speaking.In the middle of his speech you will see a flashback of Shiriki Untundu sending Hightower down the elevator to smash into the ground below. When the elevator crashes, the idol sitting next to the depiction will come to life. it opens it's eyes, scans the audience, and disappears. You will then be lead out the door and into a room filled with artifacts he's collected. After walking through the room you will board an elevator actually ride the ride. This part isn't much different than it's counterparts because most of it is just about falling. Inside American Waterfront you can board the DisneySea Electric Railway and ride to Port Discovery.

Lost River Delta

The two rides in this "port of call" are some of my favorites. The first attraction is Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull which by the way has nothing to do with movie. This one is basically the same as the one in California but has a couple of noticeable differences. The most noticeable one however, is the exterior and queue. Since it is based in Mexico instead of California's India, the building and interior have to be much different. The first main queue room's walls are covered in pictures displaying the Crystal Skull's powers while the floor is under water and littered with skeletons. Replacing part of the Cavern of Bubbling Death on the left side of the bridge is the well of souls. Another very noticeable difference is a giant face carved into the wall replacing the rat cave. As the vehicle stalls, you will hear a voice yelling and a ring of orange colored smoke will burst out of the mouth.The other ride in the Lost River Delta is Raging Spirits. Much like the Indiana Jones in Paris, it is a high-speed roller coaster through excavated ruins. In my opinion, the fire, water and steam make this one a much better ride.  

Mermaid Lagoon

Unlike all of the other "port of calls", this one is underground. Most of the rides in this underwater haven are aimed more towards younger children. They include: Flounder's Flying Fish Coaster, Scuttles Scooters, Jumpin' Jellyfish, Blowfish Balloon Race, and the Whirlpool. It also features Ariel's Playground, a walk-through attraction with numerous scenes from the movie. Also in this area is The Mermaid Lagoon Theatre which shows "Under the Sea" recreating the movie with live actors, puppetry, and Animatronics.

Arabian Coast

Similar to the Mermaid Lagoon "port of call" this one is based of of an animated move. In this case it's Aladdin. Here, there are three attractions: Sinbad's Storybook Voyage, The Magic Lamp Theater, The Caravan Carousel, and Jasmine's  Flying Carpets. Sinbad's Storybook Voyage is a dark ride similar to both "it's a small world" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" that basically summarizes all of Sinbad's classic adventures. Jasmine's flying Carpets is an equivalent to Dumbo or the "Astro orbiter". As Disney put it the Caravan Carousel, "traveling through the Arabian desert is full of amazing and awe-inspiring beasts." The Magic Lamp Theatre begins with a magician (Shaban) showing off magic tricks to the audience. But once Asim releases the Genie, the pre-show seems mediocre.

Port Discovery

This "marina of the future" is often called the Tommorowland of Tokyo DisneySea. Some of it's aspects are of the Euro Disney concept Discovery Bay while others are just Tommorowland. In this port of call, you'll find Aquatopia, Stormrider, and the DisneySea electric railway. Stormrider is similar to Startours in the way it moves, but the whole plot line and everything else is very different. Aquatopia uses the same LPS technology that can be found in Pooh's Hunny Hunt at Tokyo Disneyland. Basically, the little vehicle you're in moves across a lagoon of water with waterfalls and other things threatening to spray water at you.

Mysterious Island

Mysterious island is the smallest "port of call" but it features two of the most popular rides in the park.  Journey to the Center of the Earth ( my personal favorite ride) is a high speed dark ride in Mount Prometheus where obviously, you go to the center of the earth. It features a giant lava monster and the sensation of being thrown out of a volcano. The other ride (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) involves exploring the lost city of Atlantis and an encounter with a giant squid. The architecture of this Jules Verne themed port is in a Victorian style.

Mediterranean Harbor

Mediterranean Harbor is the only "port of call" with no rides.It contains only little shops, restaurants and the Hotel MiraCosta. The harbor itself is used for shows such as: "The legend of Mythica" and "Fantasmic!". It also contains "Fortress Explorations" the main attraction. Fortress contains the "Leonardo Challenge" a puzzle game featuring different missions. S.E.A. picked the concepts they deemed most worthy: Adventure, Romance, Discovery, and innovation. 

The Best Park in the World

This park has won a Thea Award from the Themed Entertainment Association for the wonderful concept and design of the park. The logo above and Mount Prometheus ( The volcano in the middle of the park) are the park's main symbols.