Why Disney fans will travel all the way to Japan for Tokyo Disneyland, DisneySea

If you ever want to experience pure joy, go to Tokyo Disney Resort.

More specifically, The Happy Ride with Baymax at Tokyo Disneyland.

It may operate like Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree at Disney California Adventure or Alien Swirling Saucers at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but the vibe is truly one-of-a-kind.

Cast members sing and dance in sync with the infectiously bubbly music. Fellow guests of all ages bop along while waiting patiently in line and wave their arms as the ride spins them around like kids who’ve had too much candy. You can’t help but feel happy.

“I want our guests to feel transported and to kind of escape from the daily grind. And I think that's what really Tokyo Disney Resort, the entire resort, does best,” Daniel Jue with Walt Disney Imagineering said ahead of Thursday’s opening of Fantasy Springs, the resort’s largest expansion since the opening of Tokyo DisneySea.

Disneyland may be the happiest place on Earth, but Tokyo Disney Resort is right up there. That’s just one of the reasons why Disney fans will fly across the world to visit its two parks: Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea. Here’s what travelers should know before they go.

A new Fantasyland? See inside Tokyo DisneySea’s new Fantasy Springs

Tokyo Disneyland feels familiar

Tokyo Disneyland feels very much like the original Disneyland in California and Magic Kingdom in Florida, with some notable differences.

There are numerous rides unique to the location, like The Happy Ride with Baymax and the wildly popular Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast, which swirls and sways like Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway through beloved scenes from “Beauty and the Beast” on trackless oversized dishes. The park is getting a totally new Space Mountain, expected to open in 2027. And it still has Splash Mountain, as Tokyo Disney Resort is owned by Oriental Land Company, which licenses from and partners with Disney.

Instead of Main Street U.S.A., guests enter the park through the glass-canopied World Bazaar. Instead of Frontierland, there's Westernland. The park’s Cinderella Castle may look like the one at Disney World, but guests can walk right through its upper chambers into Cinderella’s Fairy Tale Hall and throne room. The park also has a Toontown like Disneyland, whereas Disney World’s Mickey’s Toontown Fair closed years ago for New Fantasyland. Guests may also notice the Japan section of “it’s a small world” is larger than at other parks.

Tokyo DisneySea feels foreign in the best way

As Jasmine and Aladdin sang, Tokyo DisneySea is like “a whole new world.” Instead of lands, the park is organized into ports like American Waterfront, which looks like a coastal New England town, and Mermaid Lagoon, an indoor port, which makes fans of “The Little Mermaid” feel like they’re under the sea.

The park’s newest port, Fantasy Springs, opened Thursday. It features four new, location-exclusive attractions including the world’s only “Tangled”-theme ride, as well as Captain Hook’s ship, multiple restaurants, and stunning Disney-inspired rockwork fans will want to take time to explore. There’s also an adjacent Fantasy Springs Hotel overlooking the port with its own park entrance, like Disney’s Grand Californian with Disney California Adventure.

In the middle of Tokyo DisneySea, there’s a towering mountain, Mount Prometheus, and a large lagoon. One of the park's most popular and unique rides, Journey to the Center of the Earth, takes guests deep into the mountain, where unusual creatures await in the darkness. Nearby, guests can still ride 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, which closed at both Disney World and Disneyland years ago. At night, guests gather around the lagoon for the Believe! Sea of Dreams spectacular show.

There is no Genie+

There's no Disney Genie+ at Tokyo Disney Resort, but there are ways to cut waits for fees and for free.

Guests staying at the resort’s hotels can get a head start with Happy Entry. Instead of 30 minutes of early entry like at Disney World and Disneyland, Tokyo Disney Resort hotel guests get into the parks 15 minutes early through dedicated entrance lanes. That may not sound like much, but when you see the massive lines that form outside park gates early each morning, you’ll see what a difference 15 minutes make.

Instead of Individual Lightning Lanes, guests can purchase Premier Access for the parks’ most popular attractions. That lets them into shorter lines at designated times. Each one has a separate à la carte fee. Guests can also purchase Premier Access for reserved seating for parades and nighttime spectaculars.

Currently, Tokyo Disney Resort is also offering 40th Anniversary Priority Passes that work like Disney World and Disneyland’s old Fast Passes, granting access to shorter lines at select attractions and other experiences for free. Guests can request one pass at a time, pending availability on the resort’s free app.

The park app is also needed for free Entry Requests to Tokyo Disney Resort’s stage shows. These shows offer seating on a lottery basis rather than first-come, first-served.

During certain times of the year, a free Standby Pass may also be required to enter certain shops with high-demand, limited-edition merchandise.

Nearly everything is in Japanese

Guests who don’t understand Japanese will want to download a free app like Google Translate to read menu ingredients and ask for directions. Some cast members speak English, but unlike at Disney World and Disneyland, there are no paper park maps. There are only digital maps on the app.

Most rides are also in Japanese, but you can get the gist of what’s going on from other audio and visual cues, even on attractions like Sinbad’s Storybook Voyage, which has no equivalent in the U.S.

The food is almost too cute to eat

From custard-filled mochi that looks like the aliens from “Toy Story” to sandwiches made with fluffy white buns shaped like Mickey Mouse’s gloves to rice molded into Baymax sitting in a plate of curry, the food is almost too cute to eat at Tokyo Disney Resort. Don’t miss the many flavors of popcorn, like Matcha White Chocolate and the new Roast Beef, as well as the elaborately themed popcorn buckets and themed vending machines with both hot and cold drinks, depending on the season.

Guests with food allergies may want to bring a notecard indicating the allergy in Japanese to show at park eateries. Vegetarians may find fewer options than at Disney World and Disneyland. Picky eaters should note substitutions or modifications may not be allowed, particularly with set menu items.

Everything is cheaper

Flying to Japan is expensive, but nearly everything else is cheaper at Tokyo Disney Resort, including park tickets, food, and souvenirs like Mouse ear headbands, which are about half the price of those at Disney World and Disneyland. The favorable dollar-to-yen exchange rate also helps.

Disney fans will want to arrive with extra space in their luggage or a spare bag for the haul they’ll bring back home.

There’s no shame in Disney adulting

“I have this hypothesis that what so connects our guests here is that it is a place where they can be who they want to be,” Imagineering’s Jue said. “It’s OK to dance to the parades here. It's OK to walk around with a teddy bear here.”

And they do. Duffy the Disney Bear and his friends are a big deal. Not only do they have a whole show at Tokyo DisneySea, Duffy and Friends’ Wonderful Friendship, but there are numerous pint-sized photo opps for Duffy and friends plushies and tons of themed merchandise.

“I do think that we provide something very emotional that is necessary for our guests ... in a very safe place where you are not judged,” Jue said. “That's why they like their Duffys. Duffy does not judge them. Duffy accepts them for who they are.”

Cast members are magical

Cast members are the magic at any Disney destination, but they're especially effusive at Tokyo Disneyland. With exuberant smiles, they'll often enthusiastically wave with both hands.

Make sure to wave back.

The reporter on this story received access to the resort from Disney. USA TODAY maintains editorial control of reviews.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tokyo Disney Resort is both familiar and foreign – in the best way