Kijima led us up the elevator and
down several lengthy hallways to reach our room, which turned
out was at the very end of one of the wings and quite a walk from the
elevators.
However, we were most pleased to find that, since the room was at the
very end of the building, and since we had requested a Porto Paradiso
room, we had windows that faced into the DisneySea park on two sides.
We had excellent views
of the American and Mediterranean Harbor areas (below), as well as of
Mount Prometheus, which "erupts" from time to time, at the
center of the park.
As we were facing west, we could also see Tokyo Bay, the city itself,
and even Mt. Fuji far in the distance (below).
Sunsets from our window were spectacular.
The television in our room
had hotel and resort information channels in both Japanese and English,
similar to those provided at other Disney resorts in the U.S.A.. These
are a very valuable resource, as things are sometimes done differently
in Japan. The hotel channel particularly emphasizes the importance of
restaurant reservations for every meal of the day, including breakfast.
This is important advice, which should be followed.
We also found a short hotel guide (in English and Japanese) in the
drawer of our room’s desk, which has a map of the hotel and all the
hotel service information, restaurant hours, and so on.
The hotel also provides complimentary use of their sauna, Jacuzzi,
indoor pool, outdoor pool (during warmer months), and workout room. They
also provide complimentary badge necklaces that guests can use to store
and more easily access their hotel keys, admission tickets, resort liner
passes, and fast passes during their stay. Laundry and pressing
services, mailing services, film processing, beauty services, and
in-room mini-bar items are all available for a fee.
Hair dryers are found in each room, but irons were not available; be
sure to bring your own travel iron if you anticipate needing to use one.
Also, power adapters are not needed in Japan, although we found that due
to lower voltage (I think) it sometimes took longer for our appliances
(curling iron, shaver, laptop) to initially turn on, warm up, or get
charged.
After checking out our room,
we went down to the lobby to purchase our park tickets. There is a desk
area set up for purchasing park tickets at the far left end of the hotel
reception desk. Single day tickets are available as well as 2-, 3-, and
4-day passes.
However, it is extremely important to understand how the passes work.
A 1-day pass is effective for only one park for one day. The 2-day pass
can be used for two parks, but it is not a park-hopper pass; when you
purchase the pass, you must specify which park you will be going to on
which day. The 3-day and 4-day passes are the same as a 2-day, but they
add on one (or two) park-hopper days, allowing you to go in and out of
both parks on the same day.
If you look closely at the
wallpaper in your room, you may spot a friend
We purchased 3-day passes, and had to specify when we purchased them
that we would go to DisneySea on the first day and Disneyland on the
second day, understanding that we could go to either on the third day. I
don’t know why they do it this way—it may have more to do with the
Japanese culture than anything else. I believe there is also a
discounted 1-day evening pass available for admission after a certain
hour of the day.
An exclusive entrance to the DisneySea park is available down the
stairs from the lobby (below); be sure to have your hotel key with you
to show the doormen when you want to go back to the hotel via this
entrance.
The hotel has three full-service
restaurants located on the lobby level: Oceano (breakfast
buffet, lunch, dinner buffet, dinner courses, and late-night supper),
Silk Road Garden (Chinese restaurant for lunch and dinner courses), and
Bellavista Lounge (breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner courses, as well
as cocktails). Again, reservations are basically mandatory for any and
all meals of the day.
In addition to these three restaurants, the Terme Venezia Spa and
Pool has the Hippocampi snack bar that serves drinks, salads,
sandwiches, and light snacks only to hotel guests using the spa and pool
facilities.
BACK
NEXT:
Visiting the DisneySea park
You can write Lisa at:
scarlett1214@ yahoo.com
