Eating Our Way Through Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea【You, Me, And A Tanuki】

For Christmas 2012, my husband and I headed off our island and spent Christmas in Tokyo. We set aside a few days to mill around Shibuya, Shinjuku, Akihabara, and a few other places, but the main event of our trip was going to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. The only problem was that we chose to go during one of the busiest times of the year: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So what do you do when everyone in Tokyo came to Disneyland, all the Fast Passes are gone, and you have to wait at least an hour to ride a three-minute ride? Eat everything in sight, of course. Take a look at some of the awesome and unexpected food you can find in Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea.

The most interesting food we found at the parks was the popcorn. No matter what part of either park you went to, there was sure to be a popcorn stand in sight. But it isn’t just plain old buttered popcorn; the fluffy, puffed up corn kernels come in tons of different flavors. The park map even has a guide describing where each kind of popcorn can be found.

“Popcorn Wagons” in Tokyo Disneyland serve caramel, salt, honey, curry, and soy sauce & butter popcorn. In DisneySea, you can find black pepper, caramel, sea salt, strawberry, curry, milk tea, and apple cinnamon popcorn. Each carton of popcorn costs 300 yen (US $3.41). We tried the caramel, apple cinnamon, and honey popcorns and all three were delicious! Warm, sweet, and a little salty…the perfect snack for munching on while looking at Christmas decorations and fighting off the nip in the air.

There was the American Disneyland favorite: giant smoked turkey leg. However, I was a little disappointed to find that it wasn’t as big as my head like the ones back home:

There were plenty of other delicious meats as well. For example, teriyaki chicken legs:

“Bone-in” sausage…

I was really impressed with the wide variety of Japan-exclusive Disney-themed foods:

Mickey steamed buns

The ears are filled with teriyaki chicken and the head is filled with pork! They also sold a Minnie version that was pink and filled with strawberry and cream.

“Tiger Tail”

With a creamy chicken filling. Tasty if you can get past the bright orange color and adorable tiger face staring up at you.

There were also some unique sweet treats:

Maple-Apricot pastry

Strawberry and cream Mickey waffle

Churros shaped like Mickey!

They had cinnamon and maple flavored ones.

There were some other unexpected American favorites:

Ruben sandwich complete with sauerkraut and French dressing. Nice and greasy just like the original, but a little too flat for my tastes…bring on the meat!

Club Sandwich. The Mickey toothpick is a nice touch.

Enjoying a Budweiser and some roasted nuts at the American Waterfront area in DisneySea.

Even though we only got to go on one or two rides a day, my husband and I had an awesome time at Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea eating our way through the park. Since we live on an island that doesn’t have any restaurants and all food is either grown locally or brought in on a boat, satisfying our cravings was one of the goals for our trip to Tokyo. Looking back at the pictures, I’d say we did a pretty good job of meeting our goal. Actually, it seems like we spent just as much time taking pictures of the food we ate as we did taking pictures of scenic spots. I can’t wait until our next eating adventure…I mean trip.

Michelle is originally from California, but currently living in the tiny fishing village of Chibu, one of the Oki islands in Japan. Being one of two foreigners living in an island village of a little over 600 people presents many adventures. Come back every Saturday for a new article featuring the interesting and bizarre things she comes across in her life in rural Japan. Once a week not enough? Check out her blog, You, Me, And A Tanuki, for photographs and even more articles.

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