Thanks for the congrats. We are living temporarily in the Middle East and so we are taking every travel opportunity we can.
As far as which park is the best, it is hands down DisneySea Tokyo. That park is AMAZING! I did a trip report for another website I belong to. I never did the same for Paris or Hong Kong. So... I'll post the Tokyo report a little later down and then tell you about the others first.
Paris: Was nice, but I'm sorry if I offend anyone, the tourists (mostly European) were incredibly rude. I know that queing up for character autographs and fast food is not done everywhere, but my one daughter (age 5 at the time) was nearly trambled many times. The parks were nice, but not up the the WDW or DL standards of cleanliness. In my opinion, it was nice to go and I would definitely go again the next time I am in Paris, but it just wasn't as special as the other parks. We stayed at a DVD affiliated time share, so I can't comment in the resorts.
Hong Kong: Very very nice. We went ??? a couple of months after it had opened. The staff wasn't very knowledgeable, but you couldn't beat the layout of everything. We stayed at the Disney Hollywood Hotel. It was very nice and the buffet restaurant, while expensive had everything for everyone. The park was shiny, new and the crowds were light (Oct. 05) I think what I missed the most about this park was that there wasn't a Downtown Disney type place that kind of tied it together. Also, I don't have a map in front of me but I understood that it was scaled down and they would be adding on as demand grew. I remember this being good and bad. The good thing is that you could easily do every attraction in one day. That's also the bad news, there is nothing left to look forward to the next day because you already did it all and will just do the same again. The one really really nice thing about DL Hong Kong which I can say more so than ANY OTHER PARK, is that there is so much non-Disney to see. Hong Kong is just magnificent. Transportation is wonderful. Don't let it intimidate you that Lantau Island seems so far out there. The subways / trains were terrific and we went everywhere on them or twice we took a ferry. We never had any "good" Chinese food except at the DL hotel.
Tokyo: Here is my trip report
Our Tokyo
Disneyland and DisneySea Adventure
March 2006
We spent three days; one at each park and one day, half at each. We never saw Tokyo itself as all our time in Japan was at Disney. The one thing that amazed me about Tokyo compared to South Korea, is how many people DONT speak English compared with So. Korea where English classes are compulsory in the public schools. Even in the service industries, most people did not speak English. Also, everything was very expensive. It was very cold (40-50 F degrees with a brisk wind) each day.
DisneySea
First , DisneySea is incredible. Here is a link to the map
http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/tds/english/attraction_search/index.html
The park is themed to represent different seas around the world. The different zones are: Mediterranean Harbor, Mysterious Island, Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast, Lost River Delta, Port Discovery and the American Waterfront. I cant even begin to describe how wonderful it is. It was much less crowded than Disneyland and you could definitely ride on all the rides at least once if you stayed all day. Its very much like Universal Studios, with the exception of Mermaid Lagoon, designed the over 6 years old crowd, but not boring to the young ones either.
The different zones and must see attractions:
Mysterious Island
This is a huge volcano at the center of the park. Through the volcano, you can then travel like spokes of a wheel to the different areas of the park, more or less. Mysterious Island has:
Journey to the Center of the Earth. Just like the 1959 movie based on the Jules Vern classic, which Ive always loved. You are seated in a space craft type vehicle designed to bore through the center of the earth. From there you slowly travel through mysterious crystal and mushroom caverns until you reach a dinosaur kind of creature and then whoosh! you are propelled extremely fast up spiraling up the inside of the volcano until you are spit out down the side of it and defy gravity staying in your seat. We had to do this one again and again. You can get fast passes every two hours, so it was very much a timing thing.
20,000 Leagues under the Sea Again, another Jules Vern classic where you board submarines who through the use of imagineering technology looks like you are underwater, but actually its just your windows filled up with bubbles. Had to tell my girls about the original 20,000 Leagues which is now Ariels Grotto at MK. Slow, but cute!
Lost River Delta
This is themed like a Mayan Ruins area with a huge Ruins Temple in the middle.
Indiana Jones Temple of the Crystal Skull Its a thrill ride, but not really fast.
Raging Spirits Both DDs were too short to ride (must be at least 55 inches!) I heard it it is an amazing roller coaster much like Rockin Rollercoaster
Arabian Coast
Sinbads Seven Voyages: Slow water ride through the different lands that Sinbad explored
Caravan Carousel: Two story carousel themed with Aladdin type characters.
Magic Lamp Theater we didnt attend as dialogue was in Japanese
Mermaid Lagoon
This was amazing. It was all for the little kids. The two outdoor rides were nice, but predictable with long lines. The rides were Flounders Flying Fish (much like Barnstormer) and Scuttles Scooters (very slow bumper cars.) Indoors was a different story, there were about four indoor rides like Jumping Jellyfish, Blowfish Balloon Race, that were kind of like the Dumbo Ride either spinning around or just going up and down. The real amazing thing was the vividness of the architecture. Also underground they had a multi-acre playground just for kids. All climate controlled which is so important for Tokyo which can be so cold. It was all about The Little Mermaid; a mock up of the ship with interactive activities, where you could climb up, Ariels grotto with plastic larger than life objects like clocks, mirrors, treasure chests, all kinds of cool things. You could stand in line to see Ariel, but Eric and even a four legged Max (imagine a very small man in a dog costume with working arms and legs. Freaky very animated looked real.
Port Discovery
This was a very futuristic wonderful looking place. Ill try and post some pictures in the next couple of days if I can figure out how.
StormRider: Amazing 4d Motion Picture Moving ride. Does that make sense? Kind of like Star Tours with pitching and motion and movie screen images that make you feel like you are flying and turning. It was really really cool. We did this several times.
Aquatopia: A whimsical journey aboard a watercraft (only 2 feet of water) which takes you spinning around and no two journey are alike. As near as I can figure they are on magnets, definitely not tracks. Kind of like those magnetic toys in the mall kiosks, you go spinning around and back and forth and you look like youll crash into someone but then you stop and turn around. Really fun.
Electric Train similar to the MK steam engine trains, but all Electric. They dont go around the park, (boo!) but just from point A to point B.
American Waterfront
This is themed at various points to look like Maine / Massachusets with a lighthouse and lobster traps to the New York Harbor. We missed the grand opening of TOWER OF TERROR!!!!! to open mid April. Other than that it didnt really have any rides, but they did have some quasi American food. We pigged out on Ruebens and a Sausage and Peppers Roll. Huge mock up or real steamship which doubles as a restaurant.
Mediterranean Harbor
This is where you enter the park and where much of the shopping is. They do have Venetian Gondolas which can take you on a short ride.
Thats all for DisneySea. All I can say is that the architecture was just amazing. So fresh and vivid. It is really worth the trip.
Tokyo Disneyland
Disneyland Map:
http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/tdl/english/attraction_search/index.html
Im going to keep this short because I am running out of steam. Imagine our Magic Kingdom 20 years newer with newer technology, better maintenance and cast members and guests who would never think of littering or putting their feet up on the walls.
All I can say is that it was all so vivid and beautiful. Just if they did our same Magic Kingdom but new and improved. Especially Toontown. It was so magical and vivid I cant begin to describe it. Even rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Big Thunder Mountain seemed to be longer and with more detail.
We never went on Space Mountain or Buzz Lightyear. Fast passes were sold out by 10 am each day. Because of jet lag, we never woke up early enough to get to the parks early. So, we always stayed until closing and then could ride most of the rides except these two.
They had three absolutely wonderful parades. The daytime parade, then at 5pm they had a Princess Parade and at night like the old night time Disney Electric Parade.
Okay, something different: Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour. Unfortunately all narration was in Japanese. Was a 20 minute walking tour (imagine a really good Halloween Haunted House tour) where you looked into various rooms or windows to see animatronic Disney villains and scenes from the original Fantasia (not the Fantasia 2000) So this was all the areas where we dine with Cindy and friends. Their castle is identical to the MK castle. It is Cinderellas Castle, not Sleeping Beauty.
Outside the Parks
Lodging: We stayed at the Hilton Disneyland Tokyo Bay. Highly recommended although next time I think I would like to stay inside DisneySea is the Hotel MiraCosta which is a part of the Mediterranean Harbor. That would really be lovely to see the fireworks and shows right from your window. From the Hilton and most other hotels, the monorail station is across the street. Here is a map
http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/tdr/english/plan/transfer/index.html
Monorail tickets are approximately $5 a day for adults and $2.50 for children, or $8 for 3 day stay and $4 a day for children. A very basic rule of thumb is 100 Yen = $1 so if the price is 500 Yen, then that is approximately $5.
There sort of is an area like Downtown Disney called Ikspiari. It was kind of lame and dead though. We went to the Hard Rock Café hoping to get a good Burger, Nope
lost in translation. Speaking of which if you have ever been to Tokyo or if you havent
its just like the movie. Even though they know you dont understand a word of what they say, they talk and talk and talk to you which is just incredible when they have to know you cant understand them. Literally, just to welcome you onto a ride, they go blah blah blah blah blah to you individually. Everyone is so cordial and gracious.
I hope this helps. If you have any specific questions, I'll be glad to answer them.