Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
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Day 6 – July 4, 17: Tokyo DisneySea
Part 3: Meeting Shiriki Utundu
The Tower of Terror in Tokyo is quite different from the one in the other parks. It’s still a hotel, but not set in Hollywood, but in NYC. This is an explanation of the backstory (supposedly from a press release about the new attraction):
So, we are visiting as one of the tourist groups, the CMs are dressed as tour guides. The audio is all in Japanese, but you can still figure out what is going on most of the time.
I am lost most of the time as is. This is where, in the distant Before Times, put in some infantile joke at the expense of people who live in Delaware. But since a resident of that tiny backwater saved the Republic, I feel that maybe I shouldn't ... But maybe I should still? I'll ponder this for a while ... like as long as it takes a Delawarean to eat a meal at the highest class place in the state: the Waffle House.
You enter into the hotel lobby where of course you see more of Hightower:
A bit disconcerting is that you also see the broken main elevator:
The menu from the restaurant is still on display:
The pre-show is not in a library, but it has a very good introduction to the story with some amazing effects. In this room Shiriki Utundu is on display.
The special effect in pre-show is so amazing that it alone (along with the incredible attention to detail everywhere ... this ain't the Tragic Apocalypse Kingdom) is worth waiting for. I won't spoil it for the simple reason that I don't know how they do it --- and don't want to. But the little evil idol literally takes over the room and then just disappears in front of your eyes.
The ride mechanism itself is the same as the ToT in Paris and Anaheim, but everything else is quite different. All in all it is a fantastic version of the ride.
It’s really interesting how different those 4 Tower of Terrors around the world are. While I hate the outside look of Anaheim now, the ride there is probably the most of fun of them all now. Tokyo has probably the most in-depth theming all around. And Paris has recently added some storyline upgrades that are unique and really thrilling. They have also updated the drop sequence there. While Florida still has the best ride mechanism in my opinion. This elevator moving horizontally is just brilliant in my opinion.
What she said. We did experience the GotG version that is now at DCA on our VERY extended -- but not nearly enough -- honeymoon in November of 2019. And loved it, despite not wanting to. My issue is simply one of theming. Disney spent almost $3 billion to remake DCA and the ToT fit the new look perfectly. This doesn't. But It does allow them to shill their Marvel IP. Now, I could start a 5,000 word rant on why I enjoy theme parks and not BRAND/IP ones, but no way the dude from Delaware could keep up. Suffice to say, they are all great rides, but Tokyo's is a lot more detailed and some of us theme park snobs love that.
As all other towers, you end in the gift shop, here the hotel pool (as shown in a previous update):
From there we headed to the one store that was selling the (at that time) brand-new Stella Lou merchandise. A friend had requested that we pick up one for him.
And then we caught her driving by:
From there we headed out of the park for a bit of rest at the hotel. On the way out I took a picture of the information board with wait times:
And we briefly stopped at guest services where I saw these models of all ride vehicles that vision impaired guests could explore.
A view of the special Nemo monorail that was running during our visit:
It was promoting the Nemo & Friends Searider attraction. This was a re-theme of an attraction. It was very popular during our stay as it was newly reopened. And we had picked up a FastPass for later in the evening after our window had reopened.
Back at the hotel we decided to do something a bit crazy: we sent Michael’s underwear to the hotel laundry! With the incredibly hot and humid weather we were getting through clothes much quicker than we had planed. Unfortunately the Hilton did not have a laundry room. The Sheraton next door had one and we were thinking about going there. But I wasn’t really sure if we could use it without being guests there. Ultimately we decided that we just needed a few things and while it was not cheap to have them done at the Hilton, it was worth spending the money for making our lives easier. And it wasn’t just underwear, but a few more things.
I can't believe she is mentioning my unmentionables, but this is Germany where that kind of thing is appropriate ...
We of course headed to the lounge for some hanging out. Michael discovered his love for Fanta Grape there:
Michael went to high school in the inner city in Florida. He learned to love Fanta Grape back then ... Ok, I thought Fanta Grape was a Japanese thing, I guess it’s just not available in Germany thing…
We also snacked so much on the appetizers there that we called it an early dinner.
And then it was back to the park which looked beautiful in the evening light:
We even ran into Walt in the entrance area:
The first view of the park after entering is just stunning:
Our first stop was Big Band Beat, a show with Big Band music. Michael loved it. I nearly fell asleep. The music was nice, but I might have had some alcohol in the lounge and it was warm in there and the seat was comfy…
Big Sugar D seemed to enjoy the music though:
This is a great show. Phenomenal live singers and musicians and some characters too. The bear was classy enough to stay awake. Besides, one of his gal pals was a performer.
Then it was time to get on Nemo Seariders. We decided to get the Electric Railway to get there. This runs on an elevated track and gives you additional views of the park. Since it was getting dark already, my pictures aren’t worth showing, but it was a fun little ride.
This would be like the Peoplemover, only themed to the nines. It also has a long history as WDI first contemplated something like this for FL's MSUSA and later itcamethisclose to being built at DLP’s. Yes, DLP’s Main Street nearly ended up as a 1920s type street, with speakeasy and such!
Seariders is a simulator attraction like star tours. You are going in a submarine and meet Nemo and his friends. It is cute. Maybe it had been cuter if we understood the Japanese audio. But ultimately it was not really that great. I am glad that we got to see it with a FP as it had insanely long lines all day long.
Nah, it was pretty lousy. It replaced Stormrider, which was like a Star Tours type ride, but with fire, electrical and water effects in the cabin as you track a storm and something goes horribly wrong. It wasn't great, but solid. This ride almost gave me motion sickness. It just rocks gently, sorta like being on a small boat at sea when there is a chop. The entire time. And there's no real payoff. You just sorta hang with Nemo and pals. If you ever make it there when they allow (was about to use the phrase that got me placed in Facebook jail for 30 days before I did the smart thing and deleted the evil platform from my life, so wondering how to use the words here just in case ... first word is opposite of clean, second word is my nationality and third word starts with ver and ends with min) this is another attraction you can totally skip and not miss a thing.
We then went to get a snack, a Nemo themes snack:
The churro was orange flavored and the slushies were pineapple with jelly pieces and boba balls filled with pineapple juice. They made a fun pattern in the straws!
From there we ventured to ride 2000 Leagues Under the Sea. This is a minor attraction where you travel in submarines. It is not overly exciting, but very well done and we managed to catch it a few times with very short waits. I think that evening it was a walk on.
MINOR?!?!? In your own sub?!?!
By the time we got out the slight drizzle that had started while we were on the Nemo ride had turned into heavier rain. But we did not let the weather deter us. We headed through streaming rain over to that supposedly magnificent ride Sinbad. Since we had not been on this often enough…
Chandu is life!!!
There we got chilled down very well with perfect air-conditioning while we were quite soaked. But we got to experience this from our own boat. No one else was in this corner of the park.
I think we might have taken two rides even and also added in a spin on Caravan Carousel which is quite interesting as it is a double-decker carousel.
From there we decided to head over to the Mermaid Lagoon. This is mainly an indoor land with a lot of attractions for small kids. Think Bug’s Land from DCA (when it existed). Being an indoor land was good for the rainy weather!
The rain had turned from drizzle at 730 into a downpour by 8. Waterfalls were running down walkways and we were soaked, but I wasn't cutting short our first day at TDS together and I knew it would chase away the crowds. Spoiler alert here: this was the ONLY rain we had on our entire almost three-week Asian Adventure.
He seems to have forgotten the downpour on our first day in Kyoto… But in general, yes, for going there in the rainy season, we were very lucky with the weather.
But bad for pictures as it is quite dark inside:
Besides the kiddie rides, there is also a show: King Triton’s Concert.
This show had very long wait times during the day, but now in the evening we didn’t have to wait. We had no real concept of what this show was going to be about besides being something Little Mermaid related. And then we were quite amazed how great this show is! The show is nearly circular and it uses screens, puppets, Ariel suspended from the ceiling and doing acrobatics while singing and then an impressive King Triton Animatronic. We were quite impressed!
This was a first for me as well. On my prior visit, the show (actually same subject, but different presentation) was closed.
On the way out I had to take a picture of the carpet in there:
By the time we left here, it was just before closing time at 10 pm. We figured that if we walked quickly, we would be able to get into Tower of Terror before it closed, so we walked quickly and made it into the ride! By then we were really soaked as it was still raining.
While in line we started to chat with two guys from Australia whom we had seen in the lounge at the Hilton. They commented on Michael’s DVC hat that he was wearing (a free one from one of our cruises).
The ride was great the second time around again and afterwards we returned to the hotel wet, tired but happy. It had been a very good day!
Up next:
A Relaxed Morning
Part 3: Meeting Shiriki Utundu
The Tower of Terror in Tokyo is quite different from the one in the other parks. It’s still a hotel, but not set in Hollywood, but in NYC. This is an explanation of the backstory (supposedly from a press release about the new attraction):
„Anyone who visits American Waterfront will soon find their gaze irresistibly drawn to the unique form of the lofty Hotel Hightower. The building's unusual design and extraordinary proportions were symbols of the wealth and power of its notorious creator, antiquities collector Harrison Hightower III, and indeed the stories of the man and the hotel are inextricably linked.
After inheriting his father's mansion, Harrison Hightower III decided to renovate his home, adding gardens, a pool and spa, the five-story "Caliph's Tower", the eight-story "Indian Tower" with its many guest rooms and a ballroom, and finally the 14-story "Great Tower" in which Hightower kept his personal apartments in the penthouse suite. Although the overall style of the hotel is Gothic, to a certain extent there are elements of other architectural styles from all over the world. Also, as a further testament to his greatness, Hightower installed many artifacts he had acquired during his globe-spanning expeditions in various places around the hotel.
Harrison Hightower III was a collector of cultural antiquities. Accompanied by his valet, Mr. Smelding, he traveled to every continent to collect his curiosities, including Asia, Europe, South America and Oceania. Once he found an artifact he wanted, he would use any method available to acquire it, including on occasion outright plunder.
In 1899, Hightower embarked on the most hazardous expedition of his life, heading up the Congo River and into the dangerous parts of uncharted Africa. Though his intention was to collect the art and craftwork of the region, Hightower soon found himself the object of attacks by hostile local tribes, and many members of his team lost their lives.
Then one day, Hightower's severely reduced party was chased into the area of the dreaded Mtundu tribe. Though greatly feared by neighboring tribes, the Mtundu welcomed Harrison Hightower's ill-fated expedition quite cordially, and actually invited the adventurers to eat with them.
During the meal, Hightower learned of the existence of the tribe's protective idol. The statue was called "Shiriki Utundu" and Harrison Hightower wanted it for his own. He tried to persuade the village headman to sell him the idol, but was refused, which only served to increase his desire. He then told his men to prepare for battle, and grabbing Shiriki Utundu from its altar, stole the idol and escaped the village.
The expedition was nervous and afraid that the many warriors of the Mtundu tribe would pursue and attack them, but strangely they only stood by and watched expressionlessly as Hightower took their idol. Some thought they may even have been slightly smiling…
On December 31, 1899, Harrison Hightower III was back in New York and held a press conference in his private office at Hotel Hightower to unveil his latest "find". Manfred Strang, a reporter from the New York Globe-Telegraph, asked if Shiriki Utundu wasn't really cursed, but was then thrown out of the building. After that, Hightower was his usual bombastic self, giving a heroic description of his adventure and allowing no real questions. That evening, he gave a spectacular New Year's Eve party to celebrate his return from Africa.
Though the party was a success, Hightower left early to find a place for Shiriki Utundu in his penthouse apartment. As Hightower boarded the elevator, Mr. Smelding warned him to give proper respect to the idol. Hightower refused to pay heed, and, sneering in defiance, even put out his cigar on Shiriki Utundu's head!
As the clock struck midnight, all lights in the hotel went out and the party was plunged into darkness. People outside witnessed a dazzling green light bursting out from Harrison Hightower's rooms at the top of the hotel. From the top floors to the bottom, the benighted hotel was pierced by hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity. The arched windows in front shattered with a loud crash, causing broken glass and other debris to rain down on the onlookers below. Small fires had broken out, and panicked party guests scrambled to escape, with many injured in the rush.
However, the most astonishing thing of all was that Harrison Hightower III, who should have been in his rooms at the top of the hotel, abruptly disappeared without a trace.
With the explosion on the top floors, the cables of the hotel elevator were also cut, and Harrison Hightower III was heard screaming in fright. The only thing that was found in the remains of the shattered elevator, though, was Shiriki Utundu. Harrison Hightower was gone. Had Hightower somehow escaped from the elevator unharmed, or was he not even riding it when it crashed? Could he have been transported away somewhere? No one knows the truth.
After Mr. Hightower's mysterious disappearance the hotel was closed down. People in New York began calling it the "Tower of Terror". For 13 years, no one dared to enter the hotel until the New York City Preservation Society, led by its president and founder, Miss Beatrice Rose Endicott, began a plan to offer tours of the building to the public. The Society hopes that through its efforts people will again appreciate the architectural beauty of the hotel and the cultural value of the treasures in Harrison Hightower's collection.
Still, dark rumors persist amongst the people of New York. Some say how they saw the "strange, green lights" on that fateful night, while others recall hearing "a terrible scream". The passage of time seems only to have increased the mystery surrounding Hotel Hightower.“
So, we are visiting as one of the tourist groups, the CMs are dressed as tour guides. The audio is all in Japanese, but you can still figure out what is going on most of the time.
I am lost most of the time as is. This is where, in the distant Before Times, put in some infantile joke at the expense of people who live in Delaware. But since a resident of that tiny backwater saved the Republic, I feel that maybe I shouldn't ... But maybe I should still? I'll ponder this for a while ... like as long as it takes a Delawarean to eat a meal at the highest class place in the state: the Waffle House.
You enter into the hotel lobby where of course you see more of Hightower:
A bit disconcerting is that you also see the broken main elevator:
The menu from the restaurant is still on display:
The pre-show is not in a library, but it has a very good introduction to the story with some amazing effects. In this room Shiriki Utundu is on display.
The special effect in pre-show is so amazing that it alone (along with the incredible attention to detail everywhere ... this ain't the Tragic Apocalypse Kingdom) is worth waiting for. I won't spoil it for the simple reason that I don't know how they do it --- and don't want to. But the little evil idol literally takes over the room and then just disappears in front of your eyes.
The ride mechanism itself is the same as the ToT in Paris and Anaheim, but everything else is quite different. All in all it is a fantastic version of the ride.
It’s really interesting how different those 4 Tower of Terrors around the world are. While I hate the outside look of Anaheim now, the ride there is probably the most of fun of them all now. Tokyo has probably the most in-depth theming all around. And Paris has recently added some storyline upgrades that are unique and really thrilling. They have also updated the drop sequence there. While Florida still has the best ride mechanism in my opinion. This elevator moving horizontally is just brilliant in my opinion.
What she said. We did experience the GotG version that is now at DCA on our VERY extended -- but not nearly enough -- honeymoon in November of 2019. And loved it, despite not wanting to. My issue is simply one of theming. Disney spent almost $3 billion to remake DCA and the ToT fit the new look perfectly. This doesn't. But It does allow them to shill their Marvel IP. Now, I could start a 5,000 word rant on why I enjoy theme parks and not BRAND/IP ones, but no way the dude from Delaware could keep up. Suffice to say, they are all great rides, but Tokyo's is a lot more detailed and some of us theme park snobs love that.
As all other towers, you end in the gift shop, here the hotel pool (as shown in a previous update):
From there we headed to the one store that was selling the (at that time) brand-new Stella Lou merchandise. A friend had requested that we pick up one for him.
And then we caught her driving by:
From there we headed out of the park for a bit of rest at the hotel. On the way out I took a picture of the information board with wait times:
And we briefly stopped at guest services where I saw these models of all ride vehicles that vision impaired guests could explore.
A view of the special Nemo monorail that was running during our visit:
It was promoting the Nemo & Friends Searider attraction. This was a re-theme of an attraction. It was very popular during our stay as it was newly reopened. And we had picked up a FastPass for later in the evening after our window had reopened.
Back at the hotel we decided to do something a bit crazy: we sent Michael’s underwear to the hotel laundry! With the incredibly hot and humid weather we were getting through clothes much quicker than we had planed. Unfortunately the Hilton did not have a laundry room. The Sheraton next door had one and we were thinking about going there. But I wasn’t really sure if we could use it without being guests there. Ultimately we decided that we just needed a few things and while it was not cheap to have them done at the Hilton, it was worth spending the money for making our lives easier. And it wasn’t just underwear, but a few more things.
I can't believe she is mentioning my unmentionables, but this is Germany where that kind of thing is appropriate ...
We of course headed to the lounge for some hanging out. Michael discovered his love for Fanta Grape there:
Michael went to high school in the inner city in Florida. He learned to love Fanta Grape back then ... Ok, I thought Fanta Grape was a Japanese thing, I guess it’s just not available in Germany thing…
We also snacked so much on the appetizers there that we called it an early dinner.
And then it was back to the park which looked beautiful in the evening light:
We even ran into Walt in the entrance area:
The first view of the park after entering is just stunning:
Our first stop was Big Band Beat, a show with Big Band music. Michael loved it. I nearly fell asleep. The music was nice, but I might have had some alcohol in the lounge and it was warm in there and the seat was comfy…
Big Sugar D seemed to enjoy the music though:
This is a great show. Phenomenal live singers and musicians and some characters too. The bear was classy enough to stay awake. Besides, one of his gal pals was a performer.
Then it was time to get on Nemo Seariders. We decided to get the Electric Railway to get there. This runs on an elevated track and gives you additional views of the park. Since it was getting dark already, my pictures aren’t worth showing, but it was a fun little ride.
This would be like the Peoplemover, only themed to the nines. It also has a long history as WDI first contemplated something like this for FL's MSUSA and later itcamethisclose to being built at DLP’s. Yes, DLP’s Main Street nearly ended up as a 1920s type street, with speakeasy and such!
Seariders is a simulator attraction like star tours. You are going in a submarine and meet Nemo and his friends. It is cute. Maybe it had been cuter if we understood the Japanese audio. But ultimately it was not really that great. I am glad that we got to see it with a FP as it had insanely long lines all day long.
Nah, it was pretty lousy. It replaced Stormrider, which was like a Star Tours type ride, but with fire, electrical and water effects in the cabin as you track a storm and something goes horribly wrong. It wasn't great, but solid. This ride almost gave me motion sickness. It just rocks gently, sorta like being on a small boat at sea when there is a chop. The entire time. And there's no real payoff. You just sorta hang with Nemo and pals. If you ever make it there when they allow (was about to use the phrase that got me placed in Facebook jail for 30 days before I did the smart thing and deleted the evil platform from my life, so wondering how to use the words here just in case ... first word is opposite of clean, second word is my nationality and third word starts with ver and ends with min) this is another attraction you can totally skip and not miss a thing.
We then went to get a snack, a Nemo themes snack:
The churro was orange flavored and the slushies were pineapple with jelly pieces and boba balls filled with pineapple juice. They made a fun pattern in the straws!
From there we ventured to ride 2000 Leagues Under the Sea. This is a minor attraction where you travel in submarines. It is not overly exciting, but very well done and we managed to catch it a few times with very short waits. I think that evening it was a walk on.
MINOR?!?!? In your own sub?!?!
By the time we got out the slight drizzle that had started while we were on the Nemo ride had turned into heavier rain. But we did not let the weather deter us. We headed through streaming rain over to that supposedly magnificent ride Sinbad. Since we had not been on this often enough…
Chandu is life!!!
There we got chilled down very well with perfect air-conditioning while we were quite soaked. But we got to experience this from our own boat. No one else was in this corner of the park.
I think we might have taken two rides even and also added in a spin on Caravan Carousel which is quite interesting as it is a double-decker carousel.
From there we decided to head over to the Mermaid Lagoon. This is mainly an indoor land with a lot of attractions for small kids. Think Bug’s Land from DCA (when it existed). Being an indoor land was good for the rainy weather!
The rain had turned from drizzle at 730 into a downpour by 8. Waterfalls were running down walkways and we were soaked, but I wasn't cutting short our first day at TDS together and I knew it would chase away the crowds. Spoiler alert here: this was the ONLY rain we had on our entire almost three-week Asian Adventure.
He seems to have forgotten the downpour on our first day in Kyoto… But in general, yes, for going there in the rainy season, we were very lucky with the weather.
But bad for pictures as it is quite dark inside:
Besides the kiddie rides, there is also a show: King Triton’s Concert.
This show had very long wait times during the day, but now in the evening we didn’t have to wait. We had no real concept of what this show was going to be about besides being something Little Mermaid related. And then we were quite amazed how great this show is! The show is nearly circular and it uses screens, puppets, Ariel suspended from the ceiling and doing acrobatics while singing and then an impressive King Triton Animatronic. We were quite impressed!
This was a first for me as well. On my prior visit, the show (actually same subject, but different presentation) was closed.
On the way out I had to take a picture of the carpet in there:
By the time we left here, it was just before closing time at 10 pm. We figured that if we walked quickly, we would be able to get into Tower of Terror before it closed, so we walked quickly and made it into the ride! By then we were really soaked as it was still raining.
While in line we started to chat with two guys from Australia whom we had seen in the lounge at the Hilton. They commented on Michael’s DVC hat that he was wearing (a free one from one of our cruises).
The ride was great the second time around again and afterwards we returned to the hotel wet, tired but happy. It had been a very good day!
Up next:
A Relaxed Morning
We were teased about the same thing on our recent visit to Disneyland.
I'm going to start calling him Dory.
And the rest just adds spice to life!
