Tokyo Disney on 2 Weeks’ Notice: Hightower Halloween Costume!

[lurkyloo]

When you get behind the reception desk, you can see this film running on a big screen. They show it once in English and once in Japanese, but I've created a custom mash-up for you here:

Translation…

Translation: "I am ADORABLE!"

Translation: "You've been in line for 2 hours? You're NUTS!"

And then, because, you know, why theme when you can slap up a couple posters…

The end is near!!! No, really—the ride's so short that when you get to the boarding area, the end is actually quite near!

These shots aren't great, but it gives you an idea what the ride cars look like…. And they look like "kawaii"!!!

I like to think that in three years of writing Disney trip reports I've gradually learned how not to let my obsession with reporting on the experience keep me from actually experiencing said experience. However, there are times when I still get carried away with the "You Are There!" coverage, and this was one of them. It probably had something to do with my guilt at going on the ride without Patrick, or maybe I watched too much TV or ate too much sugar in my youth. At any rate, like an idiot, I wasted at least the first third of the ride trying to snap pictures of the elaborate show scenes from a herky-jerky ride vehicle.

On the other hand… I got you these!

When I finally put my camera down, I had a great time! The ride is of course way better than the one in California Adventure, but I wish they didn't whip you through it so fast—I'd love to be able to really absorb all that detail. I will also never again wait 2 hours and 15 minutes to ride it, because, great theming or no, it's still just a Fantasyland-style dark ride, not an E-Ticket.

So long, suckers! … Oh wait…

 

[lurkyloo]

I didn't notice this til later, but Monsters Inc. is one of only a handful of rides in Tokyo Disney that deposit you in a gift shop. I think this one is the best though—for merchandise and for theming.

Mixed in with the wares are trophy cases and other "company store" displays…

I know who I'm going to be for Halloween!

Toilet paper roll cozy!

I wish they sold that poster

My favorite things were the actually useful items, like an official clipboard, the company letterhead, and this Harryhausen's menu-themed folder.

Wrongly assuming that the shop would also be closed during the ride rehab and that the merchandise couldn't be found elsewhere (what was I thinking? It's Disney!) I went on a bit of a spending spree. Later I got buyer's remorse about spending $120 of a family member's Tokyo Disney souvenir budget on Monsters, Inc. pins, so I returned them all. The transaction was remarkably smooth, considering the clerk didn't speak English and I was mangling words from my phrasebook!

Out front they have another opportunity to take pictures of adorable Japanese kids.

I'd read all about the carts scattered around the two parks, each selling a different unusual flavor of popcorn (curry, sea salt, honey, etc.) in elaborately themed buckets, some of which can only be found at one cart. There is a huge craze for collecting the popcorn buckets, and you can get them refilled at other carts for slightly less money (but the cheapest way to do it is to skip the bucket and by a ¥300 cardboard box of the stuff!).

I am not really that into popcorn, and the idea of spending upwards of ¥1500 on an otherwise useless plastic bucket sounded pretty silly to me. And then I saw THIS:

The lid is a Monsters, Inc. helmet! How cute is that?! I'd seen dozens of popcorn buckets while I was in line, and I decided this was the very best one. So if buying a souvenir popcorn bucket was The Thing To Do at Disney, by golly, this was the one I was gonna get.

The carts are notorious for having long lines—sometimes longer than lines for nearby rides! This one wasn't too bad.

Kawaii!!!

¥1400 later, I was munching unremarkable caramel corn from a blue hardhat and LOVING IT! The bucket hangs on a strap around your neck like a feedbag. The popcorn is inches from your mouth, and you CANNOT stop shoveling it in!

As I was meandering and munching, I came across an adorable future anecdote: I always like to tell people about seeing a family pay $$$ to get into Disneyland with their toddler, only to have her immediately take off running after a duck. Well guess what? The experience is universal!

 

[lurkyloo]

Next I got a locker for all my stuff. They cost ¥300 and you have to pay (in coins) every time you take the key out—so you have to be really careful about what you leave and what you keep. I was surprised they didn't have a credit card system like in the US, but I guess it goes back to that whole cash-oriented-society thing.

I resolved not to go on any other rides without Patrick cuz I felt so guilty. I thought I’d wait to see the Dreamlights parade and the fireworks, so in the meantime, I just wandered around trying to get a handle on Tokyo Disneyland.

I decided that anyone who says you don't need to spend a lot of time in Tokyo Disneyland because it's just like the Magic Kingdom is nuts. It’s like Bizarro Magic Kingdom—nothing's in quite the same place and everything seems just a little off what you remember, kind of like when you dream about a place you've been. You start walking toward the castle, but it takes you twice as long to get there and you have to dodge around a fence behind the Partners statue.

Adventureland looks like it's going to be the same, but the moment you step through that familiar gate, everything's all turned around.

(Sorry these pix are so bad—they'll be much better when we get to the part where Patrick had the camera!)

Don't get me wrong—I loved that it was different! It was a little disorienting to be there for the first time at night, in a huge crowd, but I was glad to find that I hadn't traveled halfway around the world to see a replica of a place I'd already been a bunch of times.

The one place that was eerily familiar was the New Orleans part of Adventureland. Stick a couple of caricature artists in this shot and you're looking at New Orleans Square in Disneyland!

I poked my head in the Blue Bayou to get a preview.

I checked out the menu at the Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall but knew I'd better not eat there without Patrick cuz the theming was supposed to be amazing.

Instead I got a "Star-Shaped Bun" (filled with shrimp and pork) at a cart in Tomorrowland—delicious!

It's hard to see from this angle, but Space Mountain has this dramatic canopied entrance with an escalator.

 

[lurkyloo]

As I swung down through Tomorrowland toward Monsters, Inc., I discovered that even in Tokyo, Star Tours is a walk-on! I couldn't resist and figured Patrick wouldn't be too mad as long as I went back with him.

OK, you totally can't tell in this underexposed shot, but believe me, the boarding area for Tokyo's Star Tours is far more impressive than the ones in the US.

The cool thing about Star Tours in Tokyo is that the exit queue is really elaborate, with lots to look at, and, amazingly, it doesn't dump you into a gift shop!

Doko desuka "gift shop"?

The exit puts you on the second floor of the building across the way, which has some great views of Tomorrowland.

I can't believe Star Tours got such a grand building over here

The only Disney thing I collect is theme park concept art, so I was very excited to check out the Disney Gallery above Main Street.

No photos allowed, so this is all you get

What a dud—it was nothing more than a few awfully familiar-looking exhibits on the making of a handful of the animated movies. There was no theme park concept art and almost nothing to buy, except some of the same WDCC and Lenox pieces you can get in the US for cheaper. I guess it really is a gallery and not a gift shop of expensive stuff like at Disneyland.

Another place that looked promising was the stationery store, where I thought I would hit the jackpot in my quest for letter sets for Jensey.

But it was more just a typical Disney gift shop with a few added stationery items, and none of them were as interesting as the sets I found at Ito-ya in Tokyo.

On the other hand, this place really delivered on its promise…

I headed for the Hub in anticipation of the parade and fireworks, but a cast member was standing in the middle hollering that they'd both been cancelled due to high winds.

Now that I had all this free time, I decided to treat myself to a sit-down dinner. If only I could have eaten it here…


Look up there—it's Club 33!

Instead, I let the crowds carry me down Main Street.

I thought I'd try Restaurant Hokusai, the one traditional Japanese restaurant inside the parks.

There was a queue area out front but no line, so I took that as a good sign. Until I got inside…

OK, so there was a 15-minute wait to go upstairs to the restaurant—I could handle that. I checked out the menu.

 

[lurkyloo]

However, once I became The Chosen One and was called to the elevator, I discovered I'd been fooled by the classic Disney queue—there was a whole 'nother waiting room upstairs!

At that point I thought, "Forget this—I can eat Japanese food anyplace else in Tokyo!" grabbed a couple reference shots, and took off.

When they saw me taking pictures, the hostesses helpfully brought me a menu to shoot too!

Down the same street that leads you to Monsters, but on the opposite side of Main Street, I spotted Eastside Café. It had a line of its own, but at least it was entirely visible from the street so you knew what you were in for! The wait was less than 15 minutes.

The décor is turn-of-the-century American but the cuisine is vaguely Italian. I guess it's sort of comparable to Tony's at the Magic Kingdom, but with more windows and less grease!

The menu is prix fixe, but there are a ton of choices for each course, and you can skip dessert and pay less. It cost me about $18 for an appetizer, a pasta entrée and a drink that I turned down. It was decent, but nothing to write home about.

Chicken and Mushrooms with Balsamic Sauce

Pork Ragù special

After dinner I wandered some more. I was kind of overwhelmed by the crowds and how unfamiliar everything was. When I say the experience felt like a nightmare to me, I don't mean it hyperbolically—I mean it literally felt exactly like actual nightmares I’ve had about going to WDW at the last minute, getting there halfway through the day with no FASTPASSes, not being able to get on any rides, and wandering around stressing about everything I was missing. Except in this case, I was so dang happy to be in Tokyo, and I knew I’d have 5 days at Disney later with Patrick, that I just accepted that it felt weird and went with it!

The menu at Center Street Coffeehouse, for anyone who's interested and owns nightvision goggles…

More Thinkway Toy Story merch

This guy cost $136!!

 

[lurkyloo]

Another thing they do at the Tokyo parks that I love is sell souvenir desserts in real "china" mugs and plates at shockingly reasonable prices!

Ka….WAiiiiiii!

I have a pal who collects Little Green Men merchandise, and I'd heard the Japanese were crazy for the characters, so I figured the Buzz Lightyear ride gift shop would be the jackpot. While there was an entire section devoted to the stuff, none of it was terribly interesting. It was all more disposable than collectible.

(Park pass holders)

At that point it was getting on toward 9pm so I thought I’d beat the closing rush at 10pm. On my way out I passed the Confectionary shop, which appears to be ground zero for fulfilling the obligations of the Japanese tradition of omiyage. It was wall-to-wall bodies!

It was an hour before closing, but the shelves were already empty. There were cast members all over the store opening new cases of packaged candy and cookies, but the stuff never even made it to the shelves—people were taking them straight out of the cases!

The only candy left in the whole store…

Even crazier, half of the shop is a huge room filled with nothing but rows and rows of cash registers, each with a huge queue of people waiting to pay!

I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

As I headed out of the park, I stumbled on the perfect opportunity for a Twitter photo caption contest:

The eventual winner, submitted by Tw…eeter(?) Em0d:

"Why, Mr Disney these are not mine... well not ALL mine... well... ok, mostly all mine... but... I blame it on the kawaii!"

So long, Tokyo Disneyland!

There were already crowds heading toward the train station, but it turned out to be OK – everyone knows what to do to keep the crowd moving, and I got right on a train back to Tokyo. At first I fit in pretty well with the other Disney fans, but as more and more of them got off at each stop, I began to look more and more like a rube with my backpack, camera, and ginormous popcorn bucket hanging from my neck. When I got to Tokyo Station, I discovered first-hand why MiceChatters make such a big deal about the walk from the JR train to the Tokyo Metro – my dogs were barkin’!

As I staggered into my hotel, I not only looked at this sign, I took a picture of it—yet I *still* didn't register what this meant for us (hint: if I had, my dogs would most certainly not have been barkin'!)

Coming up next: Another jammy-packed day of sightseeing in Tokyo (but then it's back to Disney!)

 

[PrincessShea]

On our past WDW trips, whenever DH and I passed Soarin' or TSM and saw a ridiculous wait; DH would always say, "who the heck would wait in that? Nothing is worth 2 hours."

Well, I totally get it now. Because for some, going to WDW is once in a lifetime thing. And if we ever go to TDL, it will be a once in a lifetime thing... and if a ride there shows a 220 minute...welp, we'll be waiting! So I don't blame you at all, even if it wasn't that great of a ride.

And I believe I spied in the candy shop a girl with a Daisy Duck hat!!! God they have such fun merchandise there.

 

[A-T-G]

OMG! I want to eat everything you've posted and buy just about EVERY SINGLE PIECE of Monsters Merch you've shown. That is sad. Just sad.

DH said to thank you for the pic of the "Put That Thing Back Where It Came From Or So Help Me" 'show' poster - he had no idea he had a drawing in the Tokyo park! You made his night!

Is it wrong to want another update, like NOW?! (I can't talk - I'm due to start my DLP day photos and I'm DRAGGING!).

Just a fantabulous update! I'm going to go back and drool some more!

 

[JMcDisney]

So surreal to be in a foreign country and see a doppelganger Magic Kingdom where you wait in line for hours to ride an attraction! For what it's worth, I think you did the right thing documenting the ride for us (and Patrick, since it would be closed before he could see it)!!

Details like Mike's Melon Bread and the photos of the menu really help to see what it would be like to be standing there. And those dresses in the Town Center Fashions window display - Wowsa! And just so cool to see how the candy couldn't even be stocked at the Confectionery before being purchased as gifts!

All of the merchandise shots look like the Mitsukoshi store in Epcot - I have no idea how you can go without mortgaging your house and buying everything you possibly can.

Thank you, thank you again for sharing all of these details with us! I believe I will start planning how we might someday go to Tokyo!

 

[PopArtGal]

Really? The magazine is the reason I subscribed! hehe

 

[PopArtGal]

I love the mosaic! It looks like Mary Blair's work! And I heart Mary Blair!

 

[Chilly]

I sooo hope we can go in 2011. Well done for staying sane in that queue.

Will PM you about Disneyland at some point.

 

[PopArtGal]

I love the monsters pencil holder. That would look great on my desk!

 

[disney_princess_85]

Great update Carrie!

The merchandise looks sooo good, I think I'll spend far too much money when I eventually get there.

I can't believe you had to queue so long for the Monsters Inc. ride! Although, as someone else pointed out further up, it's not like going to Tokyo Disneyland is a regular occurence for most of us- it has to be done I guess.

Thanks for posting pics of the menus. The lack of vegetarian options is worrying! I would probably have to snack a lot, rather than eat whole meals.

 

[aharbin88]

I evidently didn't quote it, but that popcorn-jug-as-feedbag comment almost made me asphyxiate on a strawberry. You would think I would have learned not to eat or drink while reading a lurkyloo TR by now.

I loved the Roz glasses and necklace! Were those actual accessories, or stickers or something like that?

I decided that anyone who says you don't need to spend a lot of time in Tokyo Disneyland because it's just like the Magic Kingdom is nuts. It’s like Bizarro Magic Kingdom—nothing's in quite the same place and everything seems just a little off what you remember, kind of like when you dream about a place you've been. You start walking toward the castle, but it takes you twice as long to get there and you have to dodge around a fence behind the Partners statue.

Pardon my ignorance, but whose castle is that? It looks similar to Cinderella's, but I imagine it's for another princess.

I checked out the menu at the Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall but knew I'd better not eat there without Patrick cuz the theming was supposed to be amazing.

Yum! Heart Shaped Meat Patty!!! Nothing like patties of meat formed into cutesy shapes to satisfy you after a hard day at the theme park.

DH said to thank you for the pic of the "Put That Thing Back Where It Came From Or So Help Me" 'show' poster - he had no idea he had a drawing in the Tokyo park! You made his night![/QUOTE}

Your DH drew that poster?

 

[lurkyloo]

On our past WDW trips, whenever DH and I passed Soarin' or TSM and saw a ridiculous wait; DH would always say, "who the heck would wait in that? Nothing is worth 2 hours."

Well, I totally get it now. Because for some, going to WDW is once in a lifetime thing. And if we ever go to TDL, it will be a once in a lifetime thing... and if a ride there shows a 220 minute...welp, we'll be waiting!

Exactly! We do the same thing at WDW, and now I finally get why some people are OK with standing in lines.

DH said to thank you for the pic of the "Put That Thing Back Where It Came From Or So Help Me" 'show' poster - he had no idea he had a drawing in the Tokyo park! You made his night!

That's fabulous! So do you guys have a poster-sized version of it at your house? Because they are totally missing the boat on that if they're not making posters of it!

All of the merchandise shots look like the Mitsukoshi store in Epcot - I have no idea how you can go without mortgaging your house and buying everything you possibly can.

It was super-hard not to buy everything. I was even looking at types of souvenirs I would NEVER consider in the US—it was just like "because I can only get this in Tokyo I must have it!"

I love the mosaic! It looks like Mary Blair's work! And I heart Mary Blair!

Me too!

I sooo hope we can go in 2011. Well done for staying sane in that queue.

Will PM you about Disneyland at some point.

Very cool! I hope I have some good tips for you!

Thanks for posting pics of the menus. The lack of vegetarian options is worrying! I would probably have to snack a lot, rather than eat whole meals.

I know some vegetarians eat fish, so in that case, you'd be OK! But yeah... I hear it can be hard for vegetarians. They do have a lot of tofu and egg products, but then again, everything seems to be in a meat-based broth.

I evidently didn't quote it, but that popcorn-jug-as-feedbag comment almost made me asphyxiate on a strawberry.

Whohoo! I've still got it!

I loved the Roz glasses and necklace! Were those actual accessories, or stickers or something like that?

Actual accessories made of actual plastic!

Pardon my ignorance, but whose castle is that? It looks similar to Cinderella's, but I imagine it's for another princess.

It is indeed Cinderella's castle, and it's supposed to look just like the Magic Kingdom's castle. I haven't compared them side-by-side yet, but Tokyo's seems more elaborate than WDW's...

 

[JMcDisney]

Great update Carrie!

Thanks for posting pics of the menus. The lack of vegetarian options is worrying! I would probably have to snack a lot, rather than eat whole meals.

I totally agree!! I did notice a spaghetti with tomato sauce and vegetables on the East Side Cafe menu, but not too much else.

 

[A-T-G]

That's fabulous! So do you guys have a poster-sized version of it at your house? Because they are totally missing the boat on that if they're not making posters of it!

HA! I wish they did! I think he said he did it for an in-house gag and they used it on the ride, too. The fellow he did it for was one of the over-seers for the ride - what a great treat! I'll tell DH he should get them to make posters, as there's a demand!

That update of yours was so amazing! I'm off to attempt a pale substitute on my own TR...

 

[Aburns8]

What a great update! And what an action packed day! You must have gone through a memory card with all of the pictures that you took on this day! I have to say you are a brave soul to wait in that line with nothing to do. I loved that popcorn bucket! I would have bought some as well. I loved every minute of that report, I can't wait to read more!

 

[Becx N Gav]

Thanks Carrie - I was showing DH the pictures and he asked when we could go there I think it was the Green Alien under pants that did it

I love that little Rocky plush - too cute

In fact everything is too cute and I would need to re-mortgage the house to afford it all, then there's all that cute stationary in Tokyo

The park kind of looked like DLRP but then SM and the castle are totally WDW - so cool.

So did the good neighbour hotel mean you could have got a bus for free? But hey at least you've tried it the DIY way - and you've experienced THE walk

I can't wait to see more - loved all the pictures and I could just picture those fake dessert in our kitchen