Discover Tokyo Disneyland: Overview Of The Unique Rides

Tokyo Disneyland is a major attraction in Tokyo. Immensley popular, it offers awe-inspiring sights and sounds that are both familiar and new to Disney fans alike. If you’re a Disney fan, there’s no doubt that you have a trip planned to visit Tokyo Disneyland and most likely Tokyo DisneySea as well.

Tokyo Disneyland’s History

Tokyo Disneyland opened it’s gates in April 1983 becoming the first Disney park to be built outside the United States. It, along with its companion park, Tokyo DisneySea are the only Disney parks in the world that are not owned or operated by The Walt Disney Company. They are both owned by the Oriental Land Company which licenses the intellectual property from the Walt Disney Company.

The park mainly mirrors the original Disneyland with both the same themed lands and many of the same rides and iconic structures. There are differences though. Tokyo Disneyland includes themed rides including Beauty & The Beast, Monsters Inc., and Baymax which are not in its American counterpart.

Here are the unique rides that can be found at Tokyo Disneyland:

Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast

As I mentioned above, Tokyo Disneyland has a few rides that are unique to the park and not found in any other Disney parks. The biggest of them all is the Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast. Opened in 2020, the attraction includes a 108 foot castle which you can admire as you wait in the always lengthy line.

Once inside the castle, you’re provided with pre-show that includes the backstory of how the Prince became the Beast and then Belle and Beast both make an appearance. This pre-show is fantastic and the animatronic Beast and Belle are really, really cool. The ride itself is amazing.

Seated in tea cups that are trackless, guests are whisked through various scenes and all the popular songs from the movie are played, including “Be Our Guest”, “Something There”, and “Beauty and the Beast”. What makes this so unique is how the tea cups dip and dive and spin in concert with the music. The way they move it makes you feel as if you’re dancing to the music. The all-around environment and presentation of the ride along with top notch animatronics, make the ride, well, magical to say the least. I’m not even a Beauty and the Beast fan but was really awed by the experience.

Pooh’s Hunny Hunt

I’m not entirely sure if the actual story and different scenes of Pooh’s story within the ride is different than other Pooh rides, but the presentation is certainly different and unique. Pooh’s Hunny Hunt is entirely trackless. This trackless technology allows for a new ride experience each and every time you go on the ride since the way your honey pot vehicles moves is different each time.

The ride itself and the story it tells may feel familiar (again, not sure if the other Pooh rides are exactly the same) with the ride taking you through the Hundred Acre Woods where all of Pooh’s famous pals reside. You’ll see plenty of Kanga, Roo, Eeyore, Owl, Rabbit, Piglet, as well as Tigger, who provides a fun “bouncing” experience.

In Tigger’s portion of the ride, as he comes bouncing into the scene, the entire room bounces, including the honey pots. It’s a really, really fun portion of the ride.

Pooh’s Hunny Hunt is colorful and vibrant and the attention to detail is outstanding. It’s a really fun ride with the trackless technology and is certainly a must ride while at Tokyo Disneyland.

The Happy Ride with Baymax

The only Big Hero 6 themed ride in the world, The Happy Ride with Baymax is a “whip ride” that has guests seated in a vehicle that is hitched to a “personal healthcare companion” vehicle which Baymax is seated in. The ride whips around in unpredictable routes in an arena that’s similar to a roller rink. The entire time one of six original songs, made specifically for the ride, is blaring.

The basis for the ride is that in order to take better care of people and keep them healthy, the first step is making them happy. What better way to do that than through upbeat music and lights?

I didn’t have time to jump aboard this one but guests were definitely jamming out to the music here and it seemed like a good time. Time permitting I would have gone on it, but I didn’t have it circled as a “must”. Hopefully next time!

Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek

Another Tokyo Disneyland exclusive, Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek, is based after the events of Monsters, Inc. The premise of the ride is that an exciting new event called Flashlight Tag is being held at the Monsters, Inc. factory where humans are invited back to the scare / laugh floor of the factory to play a game of hide and go seek but the ride takes you to various places outside the factory within Monstropolis as well.

The two person “security vehicles” are equipped with flashlights. Shining your flashlight at Monster Inc. helmets placed throughout the attraction causes items and monsters to react in fun ways. They might light up, pop up, or do some other form of movement. It’s a lot of fun as there’s a lot of these Monster, Inc. helmets throughout the ride. Some blend in well with the background and are harder to locate than others that are right in the line of sight.

This is a fun, interactive ride, where you can see all of your favorite characters from the Monsters, Inc. universe. Like all the rides, the attention to detail and the animatronics are top notch!