I thought I would be saying that Tokyo DisneySea was just like Epcot, but it's truly in a league of its own. The park is more detailed and beautiful than any themepark we've ever seen, and is definitely geared toward adults. That isn't too surprising because there must've been a 90/10 ratio of adults to kids. What really took me by surprise though was how few foreigners there were. I had been feeling terrible about spending our last day in Japan at Disney...it doesn't totally mesh with the "authentic experience" I've got built up in my head, but I'm actually incredibly glad that we went. Things didn't start off so hot though. This morning was the first time we caught the train at rush hour and I can honestly say that I've never felt more like a sardine in my life. We were in line early so we go on relatively easily, but then people just kept boarding, and boarding, and boarding. After two dozen more people than I thought should be in our train car had squeezed their way on, a lone girl wearing head phones and a "don't mess with me unless you want me to stab you" expression decided she wanted on. What she did was actually pretty brilliant: she put her back to the people already holding on for dear life at the door, lowered herself into a squat position, and then let her legs do the work to literally force her way in. We stared in amazement as the doors shut and we left the station. You would think that a train packed to the rafters with people would be a pretty loud and raucous place. Nay nay! Not in Japan! Instead you endure a stone-dead silence, the kind that envelopes you like darkness in a cave. It was a bizarre situation, and all I could think was, "man I hope neither of us *****!" The train dropped us off at a kind of middle-ground for Disney. From that point we could take a monorail to either one of the parks. I was pretty bewildered to learn that you actually PAY for the monorail here (say whaaaaaaaaat?) but I got over it by lunch time. I had been researching the park and which rides were worth waiting for last night so we knew exactly where to go and we nabbed fast passes for what we found to be the best ride in the park: Journey to the Center of the Earth. There was a short wait for a 20,000 leagues under the sea ride so we jumped on that too. It was instantly apparent that these rides were NOT designed for people over 6' tall and I felt like I had gotten on a kiddie ride. It was outrageously well made and fun, so I didn't have too much time to dwell on the fact that my knees were inches from my chin. Every ride we got on was clearly made for adults, which might explain why we saw hardly any kids the entire day. The Journey ride actually got so terrifying at one point that I was squishing into Brittany as I attempted to back away from the creature. I wanted to take a picture but I was fumbling so nervously that I missed my chance. I've been a lot of rides and that has never happened before, so I knew right away that this place was special! It's always interesting to learn how other cultures see us as Americans. As you can imagine, it's rarely in a glowing light and Japan appears to be no exception. We happened to be walking by a show that featured several different countries. We watched in amusement until the USA portion of the program, at which point we shook our heads in disbelief and shame. Is this REALLY what they think of us? We were depicted as clumsy morons in love with nothing but cheeseburgers and football. We laughed hysterically during the whole bit while hiding our tears of embarrassment, and the Japanese people surrounding us couldn't help but stare. I'm guessing they had no idea why we were laughing. "You mean Americans DON'T trip over themselves to sloppily devour cheeseburgers while watching football?" Too bad I can't definitively say no... The greatest temptation of the whole day was to buy the dumb and virtually unusable souvenirs that you wear once and then throw away. They have so many cool hats and even character popcorn tubs that I've never seen at home. And they're cheap! Relatively speaking. The food and souvenirs are nowhere near as expensive as they'd be at home, and these Japanese people take their Disney gear seriously. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE (even a guy covered in tattoos with a Mohawk) was decked out in some form of Mickey, Minnie, or Tigger-inspired ensemble. In the end I didn't buy a single thing, for which I should receive an honorary plaque in recognition of my outstanding achievement. (I never actually finished this one.  Who knows, maybe I'll get to it on a long flight some day and fill in the blanks from my notes below) Fast pass for tower of terror. Not twilight zone Girls toilet made bird and water sounds Massive two hour lines Cast members did great job. Some had lines, others just crowd surfed Volcano erupts with fire Waited in line but wanted to go home Gave fast pass away. First attempt unsuccessful Walked all around Tokyo station for ramen but settled on Gyoza Sat next to old crazy guy pointing at Madonna and Obama in newspaper At dinner it hit me leaving for Japan Going to miss so much about it (especially no tips or tax) Dropped bags at Shibuya and walked for ramen. Ate so much it sloshed in stomach Crossed Shibuya a bunch of times Flight lasted forever and impossible to sleep Best. Country. Ever.