Tokyo Disneysea - Mysterious Island

In the centre of the park is the Mysterious Island, themed around the workings of Jules Verne. This part of the park features two attractions; The Journey to the Centre of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues under the sea.

This is one of the shops in the area, not just a shop but a really well themed shop! It's a shame that the theming is so strong that you're more inclined to stay on the outside and look at it than walk inside and buy anything. Well that's how I saw it.

Here is the infamous submarine from the Leagues movie. It is just theming however and you can't board it, which is a shame. But when the park was initially designed a 10 year plan was put in place and there is plenty of scope to put new rides in. It could be that in a few years time there will be a ride here that uses it. Actually it turns out that the park already has a submarine themed ride.

Another shot of the shop and Nautilus submarine. The stairs leading down to it don't go anywhere else and are only there for photo opportunities. You really don't mind getting lost in this park!

The walkway around the central lagoon and the ramp opposite is the queue line to the Leagues attraction. Even the queue lines are great here!

This pencil drawn sign on the queue line shows the layout of this part of the park, they've even managed to make this look authentic.

Looking up towards the top of the volcano, the magma pouring down the side of it and a custom built mining arrangement working into the rock face. The cave at the top left is where the cars on the Journey to the Centre of the Earth emerge.

The first attraction of the day was the "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" ride which uses the same ride system as Test Track at Epcot but themed a million times better.

The initial queue takes you to a series of lifts that descend into the body of the Volcano. Actually this is a visual trick; the lift actually takes you up.

On departing the lifts a little more queueing and you're soon boarding the vehicles ready to descend deep into the Earth's core. They've even themed the steam coming out of the pipes that power the ride.

The cars are 6 seater vehicles that hit a top speed of about 40 miles an hour. Because the car is enclosed visability is impaired particularly out the front if you're in rows 2 and 3. However the stuff to look at is all out of the side so nothing much is missed.

The ride takes you past some flora, fauna, animals and rocks, that get stranger and weirder the deeper you go. The staff had no problem with us taking pictures, which was great.

As you get deeper the light starts to diminish and you get the sense that something evil is looming around the corner. The ride has also been continually going down and you know that at some point you have to start going up.

You then turn a corner and if you're on the right-hand side of the car you come face to face with this animatronic monster living at the Earth's core. As it roars at you the car picks up speed and accelerates up and out of the volcano and back to the station. If you're on the left-hand side of the car you get a partial view but the same ride experience (or the else the car would have to split Herbie style). Quite a fun ride and because the queue was very short we ran back and had another go.

This is the queue line to the 20,000 Leagues attraction. The ride is an inverted powered ride which, through some clever visual tricks, gives the illusion of going undersea and exploring its depths. The seating arrangement is a little odd with pairs of people looking out of portholes either side an in the front. You can manipulate searchlights that allow you to explore and interact with the scenery. They have really clevered made the scenery move as if it was underwater and there are some really cool pieces such as the submarine getting a push from some strange mermaid alien creatures who you can't see other than from their shadows out of the side windows.

This was supposed to be a picture of the car, which it is but you're all no doubt looking through the window and wondering why I took a pic of a sleeping kid. Well when I took the picture I couldn't see through the window, the flash did that and I only discovered it when I downloaded the pictures from the camera.

Mermaid Lagoon