Spring Break 2013 - TDR & Tokyo - Trip Report

[AndyR]

Day 1, Part 1......Friday afternoon California time & Saturday afternoon Tokyo time (ain't the Date Line a wonderful thing)

Who:

Me - Andy
DW - Susan
DD -Sarah

When: March 29th - April 6th 2013

We left San Francisco headed to Narita on Friday March 29th. The plan was to spend 3 nights in the Disneyland Hotel, followed by 4 nights in the Four Seasons Marunouchi.

Our ride for the day:

Leaving San Francisco and the Golden Gate as we head west:

Fast forward 11hrs and we arrive at Narita, where is now Saturday March 30th:

After quickly clearing Immigration, baggage claim and Customs, we headed for the Airport Limousine counter and bought our tickets to TDR. It'd taken almost exactly one hour from touch down to having tix in our hands. At this point we had an hour to kill so we went and grabbed some drinks and candy at the nearby stores/vending machines.

Limo ticket for the last bus of the day to TDR:

On arriving at TDR we went to the check-in desk, and were immediately escorted to the Marceline Salon where Concierge level guests are checked in. This was a nice touch and the service was definatey superior.

After being 'on the road' for approaching 18hrs we were glad to sit and have the TDR CM's take care of us:

The Concierge staff checked us in, got our room keys, monorail passes, TDL early morning entry passes and "4-Day Magic Passport Special" pasports which allow hopping on all days.

The adult 4 day passes cost Y17,700 and the child pass Y12,000.

Then we were escorted to our room - One of the Cinderella Character rooms on the 9th floor.

What a nice room (but the beds are small, close to an american double).

Main room area. The couch does fold out into a sleeper:

Bedroom, you can just see the trundle bed poking out behind the left bed:

Reverse view:

The room comes with its own robes, slippers & PJs (never had Disney supply PJs before:

Slippers:

Disney PJs:

Bathroom goodies:

We dumped our stuff, took a quick shower and hit TDS for the remainder of the evening.

Disneyland Hotel from the monorail station:

Loved the monorail:

Part two to follow........

 

[AndyR]

Day 1, Part 2........Saturday Evening.

After the quick monorail ride to TDS, we enter the park stand there in awe of what the Imagineers have created. Photos don't do it justice. So after picking our jaws of the floor we proceed to get a spot for F! which starts in 20 mins......

Aquasphere Plaza by night:

Mount Prometheus:

We arrived in Mediterranean Harbor with 20 mins to spare and snagged a 2nd row spot to right of center, just past the 'beach'.

F! Opening:

Mickey's enterance:

Sorcerers Apprentice:

Lion King:

What's she doing up there?

Princess segment:

Mirror Mirror:

Here be dragons:

Mickey & gang.....

Finale:

Cue the exit music:

So how does TDS's version of F! stack up against DL & WDW.......?
Technically TDS's F! is amazing, making use of the full arena and Disney show effects. The story gets a bit 'lost' in places, but it's definately a much better experience than F! in WDW (As Buzz Lightbeer said: you are a sad little F!). Overall I'd still give DL's F! first place, especially with Murphy working. That said, it was an amazing show not to be missed.

Then it was time to grab some strap and head back to the hotel for a late dinner:

Susan & Sarah in the 'big chair' ordering dinner in the lounge:

Bring on the food:

Well that wraps up Day-1. Tomorrow we're doing rope drop at TDS, so need to get some needed shut eye.

 

[All Things Simba]

Amazing! Can't wait for more of your posts!
Thank you for sharing your amazing Disney vacation.

 

[Avery's mom]

After hearing all about your adventures today, it is so nice to see the photos to go along with it! I see what Sarah meant by the Mickey Monorail - so different! Also, no wonder your hotel was so expensive - your suite looks amazing!

I can't wait to see the rest! Thank you again for picking up the hat for us, and being so gracious to deliver it today - it was a special treat!

 

[AndyR]

It was great to meet you today. I'm glad the hat worked out

Now on to Day 2.

Andy

 

[TifffanyD]

So jealous! Can't wait to see the rest!

 

[AndyR]

Day 2, Part 1......Sunday morning. We started a little later than we'd of liked, so we hopped on the monorail and headed to TDS.

View of the lobby area from the 9th floor. It felt a lot like the Grand Floridian but with touches of the Grand Californian:

Obligatory shot of the monorail at the TDS entry plaza:

8 mins after rope drop and we still have a way to go until the turnstiles:

8:25am - First up is a FP for Center of the Earth. While we were in line for the FP, we saw the standby time go from 20 to 30 to 40mins:

8:27am - Exiting the FP area, we headed for the end of the Standby line, where we found....:

8:39am - 12 mins later we were back at the main ride Standby enterance:

Lots of static displays in the ride line:

9:02am - The Standby and FP lines meet at the elavator area. Here you descend down to the loading area. Total time in line so far 35mins:

9:14am - Ride vehicle load area:

9:17am - We board our vehicle and we're away on a Journey to the Center of the Earth. Total wait time ~50mins (if my math is correct)

And we're finally back outside in Mysterious Island:

As we'd gotten a late start and skipped breakfast, we stopped for a Gyoza Dog:

Yummy:

Then it was time to return to JTTCOE to use our FPs. More theming from the ride load area:

With two runs of Center of the Earth done, it was time to explore other parts of TDS. Fist up a trip on the Electric Railway to the American Waterfront:

Car with ToT in background:

The Broadway Music Theater, home of the Big Band Beat:

The wonderfully themed ToT:

Toy Story Mania had nutzo lines. By 11am the wait is almost 4hrs for standby:

Then off to the Lost Delta to scope out Raging Spirits:

Plenty of warning signs:

Day 2, Part 2 coming up.......

 

[AndyR]

Day 2, Part 2.......Sunday afternoon & evening.

And then a quick boat trip, did I mention how professional and friendly the CMs were:

And finally the Arabian Coast with its double decker carousel:

I rode my steed hard, but still couldn't catch the girls:

And a certain genie:

But our favourite ride had to be Sinbad:

It was time to head back to the room for some R&R. We went via the wonderfully themed Mermaid Lagoon:

Amazing detail:

Through Mysterious Island:

After some R&R, it was time to hit Disneyland for a few hours in the evening. Sarah took her new Marie hat:

Entry Plaza for TDL:

The Castle:

We decided to hit some of the classics with the evening parade was running. First up PotC:

Dead men tell no tales:

Captain... Captain Jack Sparrow:

Jungle Cruise was a hoot. We didn't understand the Japanese spiel, but kind of went along with our version of the english DL/WDW ride:

Then off to the Tiki Room:

Where 626 was having a good time:

HM was next on the list:

Followed by IASW:

By now it was getting close to park closing (10pm) so we headed for the hub, but then we saw the standby time for Pooh's Hunny Hunt and decided to get in line. This was the lowest we saw the wait during our 4 day stay:

As we exited Pooh, they made tha Park Closing announcements. It was time to call it a day:

Castle front view:

We walked back to the hotel, ordered hamburgers from room service and hit the hay. We had another rope drop to be at tomorrow.

Next up, Day 3.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Fantastic pictures of the amazing details at TDR. Can't wait to see more....but I guess I'm gonna have to.

 

[AndyR]

Fantastic pictures of the amazing details at TDR. Can't wait to see more....but I guess I'm gonna have to.

Jet lag just caught up with me. Going to take a break.....

 

[Etoile]

Sorry you had to go during one of the rainiest weekends outside the actual rainy season! It seems to have pretty much ended though. Looks like you are having a great time!

That hotel room must be at least 5 times the size of my apartment, LOL.

I must admit one of my favorite features of TDR is the monorail...

Glad you did Journey to the Center of the Earth twice, that's definitely my favorite ride in DisneySea! (Don't miss Raging Spirits, too!)

 

[AndyR]

The rain wasn't too bad - we came prepared for it. The worst part was the cold on Sunday - we ended up buying hats

We did Raging Spirits on Tuesday (pics to follow), we got a front seat - it must be one of the worlds slowest roller coasters lol - I don't know how it makes it around the loop! The theming is excellent though, just like the rest of the park.

 

[Etoile]

LOL, yes, Raging Spirits is so slow! And it only goes 37.3mph, just a little faster than Usain Bolt can run, I think.

For comparison, Expedition Everest goes 50mph.

 

[AndyR]

Day 3 - Part 1.

The plan for day 3 was to do early entry into Disneyland, and hit up Pooh & Monsters Inc (FP), then just stroll around and take in the sights.

Looking back at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel:

Again, we had a slow start and had to skip breakfast. We headed for the central entry to TDL and handed in our "Early Entry" passes.

Looking back at the monorail station and hotel from the central 'early access' entry area:

Right on time, we were allowed in 15 mins early, but still there was a mad dash through the plaza and World Bazzar. We saw a couple of people fall, and one kid did a nasty faceplant. Seeing the CM's lined up outside all the stores in World Bazzar was a neat sight.

CMs line World Bazzar:

Once inside, we headed to the Hub to wait for rope drop:

A few characters were out during the 15mins before rope drop:

Just prior to 8am the CMs wrapped up the ropes and promptly at 8am another mad dash followed. We headed to Pooh for a walk on:

After riding Pooh we headed over to Monsters Inc. to grab a FP. We arrived at the Monsters Inc. FP area at 8:21am where the standby line was already 80mins long:

By the time we worked out way through the FP line, our printed return time was 1:45PM!

As we'd missed breakfast, we stopped at the bakery for a few tasty pastries for a late breakfast.

It was now after 9am and most of the Standby lines were over an hour long, so we decided to do the Tiki Room as Susan had missed it when Sarah and I did it the previous evening.

Amazing flower displays throughout the park:

We also stopped to checkout the Chip & Dale hats:

Where's Stitch?

Stitch was not only missing from his car, the whole Tiki Room was closed for maintenance - so much for that idea, at least we'd been able to see it the night before.

But then we ran into this guy:

Our next stop was to be the Country Bears as this is now a RIP ride in California:

It was great to see the show again:

And the 'star':

With Standby lines approaching insane wait times, we decided to head over to TDS, grab some lunch and then return for our FP to Monsters Inc.

Guests still arriving in World Bazzar:

Fairy Godmother in the entry plaza - the mask was a bit creepy as she's usually a 'face' back home:

At least Minnie was her usual good looking self:

Toy Story Monorail:

So off to TDS we go.

Continued in Day 3 - Part 2.

 

[AndyR]

Day 3 - Part 2.

The Aquasphere in TDS:

The girls help search:

And spy Mount Prometheus:

Mount Promethesus & Fortress:

Port Discovery & Aquatopia:

American Waterfront:

Captain Mickey - not sure if this version has the same title as the on on the Disney Magic:

Columbia and the Tower of Terror:

DisneySea Electric Railway Conductor:

Venetian Gondolas:

Center of the Earth ride vehicle:

Fortress:

Mediterranean Harbor:

Lost Delta landing:

Raging Spirits:

Raging Spirits ride vehicle:

Mysterious Island:

Nemo Sub:

Center of Earth ride vehicle above drilling machine:

Standby time, FPs all gone:

Miracosta:

Ducks, why did it have to be ducks!

The girls:

Toy Story Monorail:

Next up, Day 3 - Part 3.

 

[tfc3rid]

Great stuff... Is there in room internet at the TDL Hotel? I'm leaving Friday and staying at Miracosta and TDL Hotel?? Is internet free?

 

[AndyR]

Great stuff... Is there in room internet at the TDL Hotel? I'm leaving Friday and staying at Miracosta and TDL Hotel?? Is internet free?

We had wired ethernet in the TDL Hotel and it was free.

Andy

 

[AndyR]

LOL, yes, Raging Spirits is so slow! And it only goes 37.3mph, just a little faster than Usain Bolt can run, I think.

For comparison, Expedition Everest goes 50mph.

Yep, we're used to California Screamin' (0 to 55mph in 4 seconds), but we're glad we did Raging Spirits.

 

[AndyR]

Day 3 - Part 3.

So with our brief detour for lunch over (the sandwich shop over in American Waterfront), we headed back to TDL for Montsters Inc.

The sun had finally come around to light the front of Cinderella Castle:

Sarah got front row - which we some managed to do a lot on this trip:

But first a quick briefing from Roz:

By the time we came out at 2:20pm all the FPs were gone and the Standby time was 2.5 hrs!

With the sun in the right place, time for some pics:

As we headed back to the room for some R&R, a few critters were out:

We'd seen 'guests' manhandling characters to get a photo earlier in the trip - it seemed that the character handlers did nothing to stop the poor character from being mobbed. Here a guest pulled Chip around as he was just starting to pose:

Da girls:

Then after some R&R it was back to TDS for dinner in Restaurante Canaletto:

Yummy dinner menu:

Show kitchen area:

Final pic of the nite and back to the hotel:

Next up day 4......

 

[PrincessInOz]

Those stand-by times are just ridiculous! Are they like that all the time?