Candy Making In Japan?

[rentingspace]

Can anyone tell me a little more about this? I have heard about a lady in japan that makes candy, and it's a show? Where would one go to see her? I'm going Jan 24-27. Any information would be great

 

[goofy4tink]

Head over to the pavillion for Japan in the World Showcase. Miyuki (the candy lady) has a booth right out in front of the big store there, to the right as you enter the pavillion. Her shows are every few hours if I remember correctly. There is a list of the times in th guidemap for Epcot. She does a display of the ancient art of candy making, Japanese style. She takes a glob of 'taffy' and then adds coloring to it and then shapes and cuts it into the desired animal shape. She chooses several people out of each audience, usually children, and lets them make a choice of what animal they would like and then they get to keep it. She is very good at watching the crowd and knows who has been patient and who has been pushing and shoving.
My dd has gotten a unicorn and a monkey. The animals are all made on a long lollypop stick and then she puts a plastic bag over it and ties it up.
But be aware...it is hard to get them home in one piece. Our unicorn did not make the trip unscathed. The pieces are still in our freezer 4 years later!! And the monkey? Well, he made the trip home and was put into a vase for display. But, alas, we forgot about him and he melted...a big brown blob of candy on a stick. Just got tossed out a few weeks ago.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Its a great show. With all of our trips this was the first time I had seen her. She has a little cart where she makes the candy. It was raining the day we were there so the cart might have been in a different spot then normal. She was right in front of the first door to go into the gift shop. Hours are posted on the cart - get there ahead of time and wait!!
Its a taffy like candy that she colors, puts on sticks and makes into different animals. She selects people from the audience and asks them their favorite animal and then she makes it and gives it to the person. Some kids get really pushy. I was surprised at that even though I know I shouldn't be.
The woman is hard to understand so you really have to pay attention. She asked me first what my favorite animal was and while I was paying attention apparently it wasn't close enough. She had to prompt me and give me hints so I chose a hummingbird. It was absolutely beautiful!! She also ended up choosing my DD who picked a zebra. I felt kind of bad that our family received two of them. I noticed that she seemed to pick people that were not pushy. Some of the bigger kids got really pushy and she definitely ignored them. Have fun and enjoy!

 

[rentingspace]

A must do!!

 

[shovan]

On all of our trips, we've never seen her! We'll definitely check it out!

 

[marciemi]

Are there shows in the evening or is it only during the day usually? Is some of the candy for sale as well? My kids are older and while they wouldn't be pushing, they're probably not "cute" enough any more to be chosen (and I'd probably rather have a 4 or 5 year old get one than a teen). But I'm sure they'd enjoy the show, but would want some candy too! (Hey so would I for that matter!)

 

[tkd lisa]

There isn't a place to buy them. My kids have both been chosen, and they were 14 and almost 13 at the time, and although I love them, they don't fit the classic "cute" Disney kid definition. They were very attentive the whole time, and clearly were enjoying her work.

It is enjoyable to watch, even if you don't get chosen. I agree that she can be hard to understand. It takes a while to get the rhythm of how she speaks, but this is a big part of our EPCOT experience.

It's also only one person who does this, so there are many days that she doesn't work. I'd say she mostly works in the 1-6 pm timeframe, so if you are only there early you probably won't see her. I know there are entire weekends that she doesn't work, because she's not on the times guide at all then.

 

[ckay87]

Are there shows in the evening or is it only during the day usually? Is some of the candy for sale as well? My kids are older and while they wouldn't be pushing, they're probably not "cute" enough any more to be chosen (and I'd probably rather have a 4 or 5 year old get one than a teen). But I'm sure they'd enjoy the show, but would want some candy too! (Hey so would I for that matter!)

This is my thought exactly. My DS is 14, not at all pushy, and would so appreciate one of her candies. But like you said, probably not cute enough anymore. Which is a shame because he would appreciate it just as much, perhaps even more than a 4 or 5 year old. But oh well, my boys aren't complaining. They love to watch her either way. Funny because DS14 just brought this up last night. I had forgotten about her!

 

[conniehar90]

We saw her for the first time last week - awesome, but she is hard to understand. She picked about 5 kids from the audience and they were all standing right up front - everyone was well behaved. The ages of the kids were from 5 - 15 so you don't have to be "cute". My son got a tiger and my daughter a unicorn. The unicorn horn broke before we made it back to our condo so beware. One girl asked for an eagle and that was awesome.

The shows were from about 1 pm until 5 pm. We got there about 10 minutes before showtime and got right up front.

 

[goofy4tink]

It never occured to me that she might be hard to understand!!! I have a Japanese sister-in-law and have had several Japanese foreign exchange students, so she didn't sound strange to me. Sometimes we forget that others may have a different perception than we do. Thanks for the reminders!!
BTW....the candy is very sweet and not too many people actually eat it.

 

[bethbuchall]

We love Miyuki! I think that it helps to get there early and be one of the front people in order to get an animal made for you. Check the times guide and get to the earliest show, if possible. We went one drizzly morning in August when World Showcase was still almost empty. All three of my kids were chosen that day, including the non-cuddly, non-cute (in the little kid at Disney sense) 15-year old. My ds 7 was also chosen on a different day.

The candy is taffy-like while she is working with it, but only because it is still hot. It cools and hardens into a hard candy lollipop.

Here are some photos.

 

[jbmom]

After her show in September, my sons wanted to get a picture with Miyuki. She asked where the giraffe she made my youngest son was. He had been holding it and its neck broke. She took the time to repair it for him, it took her 10 minutes or so. He was so happy he gave her a big hug. We definately make this a must do!

 

[kccmommy]

If you want to get one check the times schedule and have your child stand right next to her cart waiting for her about 15 min before she gets there. There will be only a few people that know to do so, but when she comes out everyone will flock. She points out those that were waiting and made for them first and then does others if time allows.

 

[dixiedizfan]

We saw her show last week. My daughter and I were the second ones to arrive at her table, beside a group of 3 teens. When Miyuki came out, more people flocked around us. She made each of the teens an animal, then made one for a little girl near us. While she was making that animal, a girl around 11 or so came from nowhere and pushed in front of my daughter, who had been waiting patiently all this time. I could not believe it when Miyuki called on that girl next, and after that she made one for an adult. My daughter was completely ignored, and so disappointed.

 

[donnajon]

She usually makes one for whoever is there first. We had this done last year and it turned out to be one of my kids' favorite things at Disney. Also, if you go inside the gift shop, they will give you a box to put the candy home. That way, you have a better chance of getting it home safely.

 

[Lora]

This past Oct. was our first time seeing the Candy lady. We waited at least 20 min. for one show (we were about the 4th or 5th small group there). My girls did not get chosen that time. They decided to wait for her next show, so we took the front spot and waited again (maybe 20-30 min.). This was our last night, and what my girls really wanted to do. The candy lady recognized that we had waited and my girls were chosen first during that show. They had a shark and a monkey made. Only a tip of the shark fin broke on the plane ride home. My girls actually ate most of their candy that week.