Tokyo DisneySea – American Waterfront

By Dejiki on September 2, 2013 in Attractions, Disney Parks, Theme Parks, Tokyo Disney Resort, Travel

American Waterfront at Tokyo DisneySea depicts scenes from New York and New England of the United States in the 1920s era. Directly connected to Mediterranean Harbor via a bridge over the waterways of Venice, this massive section (I believe the largest in the park, going by land area) is themed into two sections – New York Harbor and Cape Cod Village.

Regrettably, we didn’t spend a lot of time wandering around American Waterfront. We were either here mainly for Tower of Terror or DisneySea Electric Railway. This Photo Tour probably only covers less than 30% of what American Waterfront really is.

The New York Harbor section is home to two of the park’s top attractions: Tower of Terror and Toy Story Mania!

Hotel Hightower, the most sophisticated-looking building here, is also known as the “Tower of Terror”. We will have an in-depth tour in another entry.

Apart from the looming Hotel Hightower, the S.S. Columbia luxury liner is just a minute away. Inside this massive ship is an interactive theatre (Turtle Talk with Crush) and two of the park’s finest restaurants. There is also an outdoor stage show called A Table is Waiting.

Let’s also not forget that over at Broadway: Home to Big Bang Beat, a popular show at the Broadway Music Theater. We missed the show this trip because the lines were so long!

American Waterfront - Broadway Music Theatre

Another look of the theater’s architecture at night:

Perhaps it’s a good time to walk over to the Cape Cod village.

This is a much quieter section of the park. There is a DisneySea Transit Steamer Line station here that provides a sight-seeing tour around the park (that does not stop anywhere else). When the Mediterranean Harbor is used for Harbor shows, the ride from Lost River Delta will alter its route and stop here instead.

You’ll most likely find yourself here for the gentler sights… Or Duffy related attractions. This Cape Cod Cook-Off restaurant allows you to view the My Friend Duffy stage show while you dine. You see, the old Cape Cod town is where Duffy’s from (according to his backstory). Or more accurately, for park guests, Aunt Peg’s Village Store.

This used to be the only store in the entire Tokyo DisneySea park that sold Duffy merchandise. I heard it was very chaotic and eventually the park sold Duffy items at other places. One of them also in American Waterfront – McDuck’s Department Store.

American Waterfront - McDuck's Department Store - Exterior

McDuck’s is generally a good place to shop as they carry a LOT of items and the shop decor is very interesting. The store is actually three “stores” that are interconnected. You have the opulent Department Store, a Pawn Shop and what looks like a textiles wholesale store (the “Millinery” section).

The McDuck’s Department Store is owned by Scrooge McDuck – the world’s richest duck and Donald Duck’s uncle. His likeness is featured everywhere in the “luxurious” section of the store.

The Tokyo DisneySea exclusive Duffy and Shellie May outfits. I was so tempted to buy, but they were ¥3,300 (S$43) each!

American Waterfront - McDuck's Pawn Shop

An alternate entrance: McDuck’s Pawn Shop.

American Waterfront - McDuck's Department Store 3 Millinery

But one thing to note: Despite being one of the few stores to find Duffy items, I think Aunt Peg’s stocks a wider range (or just has a lot more organised store displays).

Also, this place seems like a better to find Toy Story merchandise (Toyville Trolley Park does not have a real store, but just a cart).

Nestled in its own corner is Toyville Trolley Park, a Coney-Island inspired sub-land that houses the park’s most popular Toy Story Mania! attraction – a ride that once had a record wait time of 400 minutes. We’ll visit this area in the Toy Story Mania entry.

While heavily themed, this is a very tiny area that just houses the popular ride, two side attractions and a small retail cart.

The Tokyo DisneySea Electric Railway is a transportation ride that connects American Waterfront to Port Discovery. If wait time is more than 10 minutes, it’s usually faster to walk.

The ride should not to be missed however, as it gives an interesting (but very short) perspective of the park, including Waterfront Park. You get to see the details of the New York buildings, the ships docked at American Waterfront, and an elevated view of Port Discovery as you arrive… into the future.

An overview of Broadway.

View from Port Discovery – see how far the Tower of Terror is.

Let’s end this tour of American Waterfront with some night photography of the area:

Liberty Fish Market. Here you can find Restaurant Sakura, a Japanese restaurant in a New York setting. It’s a very popular restaurant, so thankfully Priority Seating is available. Just remember to make a reservation.

The park uses gas street lamps (real flames and all)!

American Waterfront - New York Harbour - Hotel Hightower

Hotel Hightower emits a ghostly purple glow at night.

Sometimes you will see green lightning flash from the windows. It is not random, but precisely timed with the ride vehicles’ movement. The lightning starts from Hightower’s Penthouse (at the highest level) and connects to one of the three elevator shafts. Quite a sight at night, and it’s well accompanied with thunder and screams from riders.