Toyko Disney Sea

[alebisi]

for the ones who are interested, the attractions seems pretty cool, I'll love to go there some time!
http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/index_e.html

 

[dpuck1998]

for the ones who are interested, the attractions seems pretty cool, I'll love to go there some time!
http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/index_e.html
just copy the site and paste it on the URL, don't know why the direct link isn't working

Because you put the http:// in twice, just edit it and remove one of them ;-)

 

[alebisi]

Because you put the http:// in twice, just edit it and remove one of them ;-)

thanks dpuck1998 you always manage to help with this things

 

[abish19]

Another Voice - that's the "vibe" I got from looking at both the official site, as well as several fan sites. Apparently, the level of service is phenomenal, the parks are sparkling, the theming is outstanding...every descriptive word was a superlative.

Thanks for your comments. It's disappointing, in a way, that it seems that the only way for a theme park to reflect Walt Disney's exacting standards is for another company to own the Tokyo Disney resort.

Since it will be many a long year before I'm in Japan, I'll still visit and love WDW.

Kevin - There must be SOME way you can convince John to add this trip to the budget, along with all those cruises, gift cards, etc.!

 

[rsauer]

My wife and I have been to all eleven Disney Parks and found that Disney Sea is perhaps the most original and exciting (even in January when we visited). A trip report was read on the podcast and printed in the Passporter website. There are some pics on the DIS website somewhere.

 

[alebisi]

My wife and I have been to all eleven Disney Parks

cool!

 

[Minnie Lor]

My wife and I have been to all eleven Disney Parks and found that Disney Sea is perhaps the most original and exciting (even in January when we visited). A trip report was read on the podcast and printed in the Passporter website. There are some pics on the DIS website somewhere.

I remember hearing that on the DIS. I'll head over to PP to read your TR.

 

[Another Voice]

It's disappointing, in a way, that it seems that the only way for a theme park to reflect Walt Disney's exacting standards is for another company to own the Tokyo Disney resort.

It's becasue, in the U.S., the theme parks are not treated as business unto themselves. Instead the parks are seen a just another "distribution channel" for Disney to sell it franshises to the public.

In Tokyo, the Oriental Land Company knows the way they get customers is by making people interested in seeing Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo DisneySea. They do that by having interesting attractions, good shows, and pleasant parks. In Japan, the parks are what Disney is all about.

In the U.S. Disney management thinks/wants people to go to WDW to see Mickey, Buzz Lightyear and 'High School Musical'. The actual attractions and shows have no purpose other than the branding they reinfornce. Look at how many different ways there is to find "Nemo" at WDW these days. It's all based on the assumption that if you like the movie, you'll pay for the musical, the ride with real fish and for a motel room with Dory on the shower curtain. It also saves the company a lot of time and effort. Using an existing franchise means you'll have a certain built in audience already; that's much easier and less risky than coming up with a new and interesting show.

In the U.S., the parks are just an ancillary business to the studio and it shows.

 

[disneyholic family]

It's becasue, in the U.S., the theme parks are not treated as business unto themselves. Instead the parks are seen a just another "distribution channel" for Disney to sell it franshises to the public.

In Tokyo, the Oriental Land Company knows the way they get customers is by making people interested in seeing Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo DisneySea. They do that by having interesting attractions, good shows, and pleasant parks. In Japan, the parks are what Disney is all about.

In the U.S. Disney management thinks/wants people to go to WDW to see Mickey, Buzz Lightyear and 'High School Musical'. The actual attractions and shows have no purpose other than the branding they reinfornce. Look at how many different ways there is to find "Nemo" at WDW these days. It's all based on the assumption that if you like the movie, you'll pay for the musical, the ride with real fish and for a motel room with Dory on the shower curtain. It also saves the company a lot of time and effort. Using an existing franchise means you'll have a certain built in audience already; that's much easier and less risky than coming up with a new and interesting show.

In the U.S., the parks are just an ancillary business to the studio and it shows.

i have to disagree with you on one point - finding nemo the musical must have been a major investment for disney...
the score was written especially for the WDW show..
and it's a wonderful show....all 37 minutes of it...
i wouldn't consider the musical a case of them just using an existing franchise..
they expanded on an existing franchise and did it beautifully....
it was what we've come to expect from them in terms of their staging ability - anyone who saw the Hunchback of Notre Dame at MGM, wouldn't consider that production just disney resting on their laurels (although i do fault them for discontinuing the show in favor of that stupid car stunt show)...

 

[abish19]

rsauer - can you post a link to your PP TR?

 

[dpuck1998]

thanks dpuck1998 you always manage to help with this things

I do what I can! I'm just trying to get an invite to stay with you, all expenses paid

 

[rsauer]

I could not find the Passporter link so, at the risk of sending a long post, here it is. Some pics of Hong Kong are on the DIS site best accessed by typing in "Donna and Roger Sauer in Tokyo" on Google. Please note that the first picture in from Tibet.

As frequent WDW visitors and people who just like Disney, we just completed a trip that has allowed us to say we have now visited all the Disney parks in the world. Tokyo Disney Resort was fun even though the weather was in the 40’s.
First, some general orientation issues. Like its Hong Kong counterpart, Tokyo Disney Resort is built on a landfill in what used to be a large bay. Space, being what it is in Japan, is valuable and there was no extra space when the park was designed 25 years ago. As it is, the area that now adjacent to train tracks and highways and a busy bay, tries its best to show it is separate from the Tokyo metropolis. A train from downtown takes about 15 minutes and costs about $1.50. From the airport, one can take a shuttle for about $25.00 (about $45.00 round trip).
The Maihama station is the entrance to the park and features a three level shopping mall, Ikspiari as well as a suitcase shaped Disney shop featuring (as do all Tokyo Disney shopping venues) a plethora of what we found to be too “cute” selections of character items, snack foods, and toys. Forget pin trading- pins ware few and far between and a sign in one shop stated the resort did not participate in pin trading. A new Cirque du Soleil venue is almost finished between Ikspiari and the Ambassador.
The largest structure at the entrance to Disneyland Tokyo is the new Disneyland Hotel. This is a massive hotel in the French style and looks like the Los Vegas Paris resort - blue mansard roofs and gold-toned masonry. It will be open later this year.
The resort monorail runs around the entire resort servicing each of the two parks, two (soon to be three) Disney hotels, and the seven non-Disney hotels. We stayed at the Sheraton grand Tokyo Bay Hotel that looked out at the bay on one side and the parking lot and back side of Tokyo Disney Sea on the other. Transportation is either by the monorail (cost is about $2.00 per ride but passes are available or by Disney Resort Cruisers- very retro silver buses with large Mickey ear windows and other features inside. These buses are free to Disney area hotels.
First of all, when we visited the parks, it was very cold - a high of 47 and, in the shade, it was about 35 degrees. Sunday is a big park day and the initial crowds were huge, but once they were absorbed into the park things eased up a bit. It is not unusual for parks to be filled and then closed for periods of time and patrons cannot easily move from one park to the other as there are no park-hopping privileges.

A few observations and comparisons:
The covered Main Street area is nicely planned and even allows for easier access to areas left and right of the castle. The crowds are not forced to the end of the street to disperse into other areas.
The open area in front of the castle is very large and allows for large gardens and staging of events (Cinderellabration was being featured during our visit.) Interestingly, unlike the other parks, this park runs north to south, so it was surprising not to see the morning sun hit the front of the castle.
Space Mountain is better- interior and ride effects beat out Disneyland and Walt Disney World, but not Paris. Fast passes are available.
Pirates and Jungle Cruise ride are about the same a s in the US, but we had the fastest talking cruise pilot on the planet. Big Thunder and Haunted Mansion were closed and there was a lot of refurbishment going on.
The set up for Star Tours is much more dramatic as there is a hanger type building where one can see the vehicle from the outside.
We never made it to Toontown as the crowds in the area were large. This is a very child-centered park- the toys, character greetings, and shows really appeal to the local visitors who tend to celebrate small children (at least until they are 12 or so.)
Food is basically Japanese or Chinese with huge lines for the curry popcorn.
Prices are steep for food and merchandise, but park prices are about $50 per day. One day would not be enough for this park on a busier (and warmer) day.
We visited Tokyo Disney Sea on Monday, so the crowds (and number of small children) were smaller, despite a large number of high schoolers. All day I kept asking myself as I walked around Tokyo Disney Sea, “Why can’t we have a park like this in the US?”
Comparing this park to the Magic Kingdoms isn’t a fair comparison as the original models are too iconic to permit objectivity. But something within me says in big letters THIS MAY BE THE BEST DISNEY PARK. The scale, theming, and attention to detail is phenomenal. Mysterious Island with its E-ticket rides Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues is so massive and such a great park hub that it deserves a place somewhere in the US.
The adjacent Miracosta Hotel is better than the Universal Orlando Portofino. Its architecture flows well into the lakeside Mediterranean village ala Leonardo da Vinci. Once you`re through the tunnel on Mysterious Island there is Vulcania. “Journey to the Center of the Earth” is a great ride that moves from a land rover type vehicle to roller coaster in seconds. The vehicles seem to be modified Test Track cars with more decoration ala Jules Verne. “Leagues” is reminiscent of the WDW ride except the only water is in the windows of your mini subs that move beneath a track suspended above the roadway (seaway?).
The new Tower of Terror lacks some of the elevator car lateral movement but the theming is great- all about a curse on the hotel owner and explorer Harrison Hightower who (spoiler alert) looks remarkably a lot like Senior Imagineer Joe Rohde in a phony white beard! It can’t be a coincidence. Apparently, the Japanese audience would not understand the Twilight Zone references but would be savvy about rapacious American capitalists.
Indiana Jones adventure and its neighboring coaster are like the rides in DL and Paris respectively.

Port Discovery featured on major ride, Stormrider, a simulator ride like Star Tours except that the vehicle carried about 300 people. The effects and story line about flying into a hurricane were impressive and featured an errant weather control missile launched from the vehicle turning around and crashing into (literally) the audience compartment. There was also a smaller water scooter ride in one of the lake areas outside that also featured many futuristic water vehicles including fish-like submersibles.
The Arabian coast has a show we did not see but the Sindbad ride was cute- think Small World with a plot and better animatronics. We did not get over to the rides or shows in Mermaid Lagoon but the exteriors were colorful and fit well against the backside of Mount Prometheus.
The Legend of Mythica water show out in the lake between the hotel and Mount Prometheus was fun to watch despite the cold. I am not sure about the story, but the watercraft, large floats, and fireworks in the daytime and music were impressive. Mt. Prometheus exploded with fire every few minutes in the evening. Due to the cold there were no fireworks or evening water show.
Food in the parks tended toward the oriental (Chinese and Japanese) though the presence of the Miracosta Hotel allowed for some Italian options. Japanese Italian food is not a reason for eating there. The buffets looked great but were very expensive thanks to our weak dollar.Again, the flavored popcorn created big lines.
We hope this cursory view of these parks and its environs will be helpful.

 

[LovesThumper]

What a great report. Thanks- It would be so great to be able to go there.

 

[Another Voice]

A very good trip report. I'd like to add my own few comments.

As mentioned, the resort is built in landfill in Tokyo Bay. It is a very urban setting, more so than even Disneyland in Anaheim. That makes the whole transition from the hustle and disorder of "the real world" into the resort even more "magical". Reality seems to change just walking from the train station into Toyko Disneyland.

TDR (Tokyo Disney Resort) receives far fewer "foreign" guests as a percentage of it total attendance than any other Disney park. For the Japanese, Tokyo Disneyland is seen as "American" and there's a strong desire to make it as "authentically American" as possible. Every sign is in English, or English first and then Japanese. This is carried down to even restaurant menus and direction signs. Announcements are in both languages, and shows are generally a mixture too.

At the same time, the resort does tend to follow Japanese customs and practices. The western concept of the souvenir - buying something to commemorate a trip - is not very strong. Instead, it is the Japanese custom to buy gifts for family and friends back home. The custom is so strong that even office workers bring back gifts to their co-workers if they visit during on a weekday. Most of the merchandise is therefore geared towards this end. You'll won't find a lot of "Tokyo Disneyland" tee-shirts or snow globes. Instead you'll find lots (and I mean hundreds of different types) of boxes of cookies and candies, note pads, cell phone fobs and similar items. And postcards are nonexistent, only us foreigners use them.

I actually found the food to be heavily western, especially in Tokyo Disneyland. I also found the food to be the same or slightly cheaper than the American counterpart, although portions tend to be smaller. Tokyo Disneyland has the Blue Bayou full service restaurant which specializes in Creole seafood, several buffets (the Royal Banquet Hall is theme to Alice in Wonderland and is an attraction in its own right) with western chicken and dishes. There are also several burger and pizza joints and numerous snack stands. Some serve Chinese fast food (very tasty sausage buns and soups) to clam chowder to banana and chocolate crepes at Cafe Orleans. There is one traditional Japanese restaurant, Restaurant Hokusai in World Bazaar (Tokyo Disneyland's version of Main Street - that's a whole story on its own). In general, I found the food at Tokyo Disneyland to be substantially superior to the Magic Kingdoms in both quality and variety. And Tokyo DisneySea surpasses Tokyo Disneyland in that respect.

And yes, the Japanese go wild for flavored popcorn: caramel, salt, strawberry, chocolate, soda, sea salt, cappuccino and curry are a few I remember. But the biggest shock was that the Hungry Bear Restaurant is a curry house - not exactly the rugged western place of its setting. Again, it's a cultural difference. Curry is a common food to make while camping in Japan, it's easy to make and light to carry. So, many people associate the smell of curry with the smell of the outdoors - exactly the mood that Disney wants to set for Westernland (again, there's a whole story behind the name).

Noting those differences actually becomes and interesting aspect of a trip. At Tokyo Disneyland you get to see some that's so common to us from an entirely different perspective. In Tokyo, the 'Haunted Mansion' is located in Fantasyland because our concepts of both death and what's scary are so very different. And the Mansion is one of the most popular rides.

The park itself is larger than the Magic Kingdom - if nothing else to accommodate the crowds. The wide open walkways preclude some sense of intimacy and charm that you get at Disneyland Anaheim, but not enough to be a bother. The attractions are very similar to their Anaheim or Orlando counterparts - it's mix of the best of both parks. And 'Pooh's Honey Hunt' is the wildest, most enjoyable and wonderful dark ride Disney has ever created. It is a crime Disney refused to use this version here.

I've rambled on long enough. But let me first agree 100% - DISNEYSEA IS THE BEST DISNEY PARK. If anyone is interested, I can post my thoughts about that place.


One last comment. I know that getting to Tokyo Disney is very expensive. In reality, it's probably not that more expensive than it used to be to visit Disneyland in the sixties or Walt Disney World in the seventies (anyone else remember regulated airfares?). And unlike what WDW has become, a trip to Tokyo Disney is meant to be a special trip, not an annual occurrence. There's nothing wrong with saving up and having a really, really wonder trip ever five years.

 

[drakethib]

So lets say someone wanted to fly from Houston, Texas to get there.

How long of a flight are we talking?

Just wondering. I have no intention of ever going there even if it was a free trip (I am not a world traveler) and am good for about 3 hours on a plane then I am antsy.

My wife on the other hand would go in a second if she could.

 

[dpuck1998]

So lets say someone wanted to fly from Houston, Texas to get there.

How long of a flight are we talking?

Just wondering. I have no intention of ever going there even if it was a free trip (I am not a world traveler) and am good for about 3 hours on a plane then I am antsy.

My wife on the other hand would go in a second if she could.

So are you looking for someone to take her? I'd be happy to escort her on the trip. For safety only of course...

 

[drakethib]

So are you looking for someone to take her? I'd be happy to escort her on the trip. For safety only of course...

Have at it.

Keep in mind that you will be responsible to cover her shopping cost.

Remember when Trump filed bankruptcy years ago. She was married to him then.....

 

[MenashaCorp]

Man, I hope you two know each other!!

 

[dpuck1998]

Man, I hope you two know each other!!

I guess we do now!

I think I'll just have to risk going to Tokyo on my own, sounds like it will be a lot cheaper!

 

[Minnie Lor]

Excellent reviews and thoughts. I'd love to go.