Pick a pearl in Japan, what did you think?

[DJ Disney Kid]

I think me and my girlfriend were stunned. What a waste of money! We paid $14 and my girlfriend picked an oyster and the japanese woman grabs it, shoves a knife in it, says something in japanese, hits the gong and rings it up. All within say 30 seconds. There wasn't even anyone else in line besides us. It wasn't exciting or anything. Maybe we just got a bad lady, but I would never do this again.

 

[hmmchowell]

Well, was there a pearl in your oyster or not? What is supposed to happen?

 

[Stitchfans]

Shame. We were looking forward to picking a pearl. Think we still will though. I figured it will be a nice souvenir for my DDs and me.

 

[disneymomtofour]

Funny how different your expriences can be. My family really enjoyed this. It was better picking them from a large tank and having a little Japanese "ceremony" instead of just grabbing it from a small bowl usually seen at these type places. I have a necklace from the pearl my son picked. We still talk about it everytime I wear it. Two of my girls got necklaces and the other daughter picked an extra for her birthday and made earrings. (She got her ears pierced for her birthday when we got home.) It was one of my favorite "low-key" things we did.

 

[disnutt]

My DDs loved it.

I don't know how you can make opening an oyster much more exciting. Maybe if they put a large aquarium tank in there and had the check-out girl actually dive down and drag up the oyster you pointed to...

 

[DJ Disney Kid]

Well atleast they could have done it slower. Drag it out a little bit. It was all done and paid for in honestly 30 seconds.

 

[Tam1067]

My 7 year old DS had a blast doing this and still talks about it, several months after our trip. Yes, it's kind of silly but I think it's fun for kids.

 

[kaysmommie]

We just did this on our trip and yes it was fast. It was sort of fun because we never did this before. DD got to pick it out because she wanted to make mom a necklace. They didn't bang the gong because we got a 7mm whit pearl. We had it put on a necklace, the total cost was about $40 if you get sterling silver. DD thought it was great though and wants to pick one for her next trip. I told her she has to wait for next trip because she picked so many souvenirs already and spent over $200.

 

[Hannathy]

My DD really looked forward to doing this before going and I thought it was pretty neat. Yes they open them quick but how else do you open an oyster. she opened it and cleaned it and told my DD the size, etc. and put it in a little bag. She then went to another counter and picked out what to mount it in and a chain. It took about 10 minutes for it to be mounted. It was the perfect souvenier for a 14 yr old girl who is too old for all the kid type souveniers at Disney. Came to about 45 with tax for pearl, swirled cage mounting and chain.

 

[ttfn3]

Yes, it is amazing how different each person's experience can be. My family really likes the pick a pearl in Japan. We have found the ladies quite nice - and the little ceremony fun. It's even better if you have a crowd of people. My DS used a bit of the Japanese that he picked up via karate - and the ladies really enjoyed it!

Here's a hint - okay - it may not work everytime - but pick out the ugliest oyster you can find. Often, they have the better pearls.

 

[barbie78]

DH and I watched this for the first time this week and it was so fun. The woman told us about pearls and how they are formed, she made a big deal over the finding of the pearl and the quality and size of it. She told us about each step of cleaning it. I wasn't even getting one and I still felt a part of the action. I can't wait till my DDs get a little older and we can do this with them!

 

[pennylynn]

I'm not sure what you were expecting but getting a pearl at Japan is my all time favorite thing to do at Disney. The excitement is in finding out how big your pearl is and what color it is. I always do it at least once and usually more every time I go to Disney.

 

[SarahKate]

I agree with the other posters....I'm not quite sure what else the CM could have done to make it a more exciting experience. You pick out a oyster, hand it to the CM, they shuck it, size it and hit the gong. Maybe the CM should have done a little dance or something? Actually I think they just hit the gong IF you get one that's a little bigger so you actually got MORE than what I got when we were there - and I still thought it was a neat experience. But DH is 1/2 Japanese, so maybe that's why it was more cool for us. What was neat for us was to have it mounted and made into a necklace - that took a little time and it was neat watching them drill the teeny tiny hole into it.

 

[DreaminDisney]

There was a thread a few months back with over 200 posts on picking a pearl at Epcot from Japan and most people have had great experiences doing this. Sorry yours wasn't good. maybe next time though.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1022091&referrerid=&highlight=pick+a+pearl+in+japan

 

[MrsToad]

DH and I watched this for the first time this week and it was so fun. The woman told us about pearls and how they are formed, she made a big deal over the finding of the pearl and the quality and size of it. She told us about each step of cleaning it. I wasn't even getting one and I still felt a part of the action. I can't wait till my DDs get a little older and we can do this with them!

barbie78's experience is what I would have hoped for if I was the OP. And, this is the experience we got when we purchased one at the Pearl cart on the Beach Club's boardwalk this past May. Like barbie78, we were told about how the pearls were formed, how they are cleaned with salt (I think) for their first cleaning only, how to care for them going forward, and how the pearls need to be worn or handled to become more lustrous.

 

[poohs_hunny]

I had a great time doing this last month. I did it the first night of my trip because I was so excited after hearing about it here. There were quite a few people around either buying or watching, so that made it more exciting. I got a 7 1/4mm white pearl and had it mounted on a sterling silver butterfly pendant setting. It was a great experience for me and I would do it again next time!

 

[kim]

We've done this twice--and loved it both times. My dd always picks the oyster. The first year I had a necklace made. The second time the oyster had 2 PEARLS in it!! I had earrings made. I could watch them do this for hours. It's just as exciting to watch as to get one for us!!!

kim

 

[Aneille]

We got ours at the Beach Club in May too! We were there for Mothers Day. And the woman was awesome explaing all the details and having fun with my 2 kids. I have it all on dvd. We gave the pearl and the setting to my Mom for Mothers Day when we got back and included the video so she could experience it all.

 

[Faerie]

I get a pearl every time I go I always have a great experience. I can't wait to do it again in a couple of weeks.

 

[Disneyholic]

I think me and my girlfriend were stunned. What a waste of money! We paid $14 and my girlfriend picked an oyster and the japanese woman grabs it, shoves a knife in it, says something in japanese, hits the gong and rings it up. All within say 30 seconds. There wasn't even anyone else in line besides us. It wasn't exciting or anything. Maybe we just got a bad lady, but I would never do this again.

Did they change the way they do it? We always had to go to a register away from the Pick-a-pearl area and pay first? They gave you a receipt and another paper to give to the girl at the pick-a-pearl.

Also, you never did tell us what size pearl you got or if it was a special color or twins. Large pearls, special colors and twins are the only things that get the gong.

Between my DS & I we have about 15 pearls from Japan at EPCOT and he has one from the Beach Club stand that he had set on a silver sharks tooth.

We have gotten large pearls and twins and also DS picked out an oyster for a girl, whose family we had dinner with at the Teppanyaki, and she got a black pearl. We have gotten the gong for all of these.

DH and I are going next week and plan to do it at least once and maybe more depending on how our money holds out. I love to watch when others have it done too. It is very exciting for me.