This just has to be written in seperate installments, otherwise no way will I ever finish it!

Two weeks ago, my wife and I left for a two week vacation in Japan. We started with Tokyo Disney Sea. Here's my trip report.

We flew Japan Air Lines, so our cultural exposure to Japan started in the United States. The flight is eleven hours from LAX. Let me describe an eleven-hour flight. Just when you think you can't stand it anymore, you realize you're almost half way there! for some reason, the trip back was much better. Maybe because it was almost 2 hours shorter (because of the Jet Stream), but also because once you do it, you are used to a longer flight.

In Japan, it is already tomorrow. The time difference will make you wide awake around 5 in the morning, and sleepy by early afternoon. Caffeine is an essential nutrient the first couple of days. Really it only took 2 days before things started feeling normal.

We arrived at Tokyo Narita airport around 4 in the afternoon. Customs took about a half-hour, but the people were very friendly. The man searching our bags was asking questions like "where are you staying, what are you seeing?". General questions to make sure we weren't just smuggling drugs or something, I guess. Nice guy though.

We had reservations at the Hilton Tokyo Bay, which is on the Disney property. We had to arrange transportation to the hotel. Acting on a tip by an earlier Mouse Planet trip report, I decided to use the Airport Limousine Bus. The Airport Limousine Bus is really just a nice tour-bus type bus. Many companies call their bus a limousine bus. Take my advice, use the one that is called the Friendly Limousine Bus.

This is really easy to do. Right when you get out the door from customs, right in front of you is a set of counters for rental cars and busses, just like every airport. You cannot miss the Friendly Limousine Bus counter. The person at the counter spoke English, but that doesn't matter. Just hold up your fingers for the number of tickets and say the name of your hotel. All the hotels they travel to are listed in romaji (english spelling using english letters) on a board behind the counter person. All the hotels on Tokyo Disney Resort Property are listed. She told us that the next bus would be in 20 minutes and that it would be at stop number seven just outside the doors. The price was around $25US a person. This is about 1/5th the price that a taxi would be.

Now the reason I say to use the Friendly brand is this: When we got outside the door, all the bus stands that belonged to Friendly were closest and VERY clearly marked. Big signs that listed the stand number (1-10 were all owned by Friendly, and my bus would be at number seven at 5:24). Each stand had a computerized LED sign on it that listed ALL the hotels that the next bus would stop at. These busses were like clockwork, each one would leave at the precice minute on the sign, and one was just pulling into the space as the previous one was leaving it. When they said 5:24, they MEANT 5:24, not 5:25. (Actually they said 17:24!) And just in case you are still a bit nervous about getting on the right bus, each bus also has an electronic sign listing in English and Japanese all the hotels it stops at. It is as close to fool-proof as you can get.

They put our luggage on the bus and we were off to Disney!

A couple of stops later (about 45 minutes) and we were at the Hilton. Japanese people are not accustomed to accepting tips, and it is reccomended that you don't tip people. I have heard that it is almost an insult to tip someone. Instead if someone goes way out of their way to help you, a small gift may be appropriate. I felt strange not giving the driver a tip, but none of the Japanese passengers did.

Checking into the Hilton Tokyo Bay was easy. The desk manager spoke enough English to communicate all that was necessary. I was merely checking in for the nights on my reservation, and my credit card would handle any other charges that would arise. Room rates were about $320 a night. Pricey, but in line with smaller rooms I have stayed in at the Grand Californian. I am sure that some other hotels might have been less expensive. We were taken upstairs by a smartly dressed bellhop. The hotel was run with a precision that was almost military. The bellhops stood at attention until called by the manager, and whisked us up to our room with a very cordial manner. We had a park view, and again I felt akward not tipping her.

Our room had twin beds! This happened almost everywhere we would stay in Japan. I guess husbands and wives don't sleep together much in Japan!

As we settled in to sleep, we watched the fireworks over Tokyo Disneyland, and about an hour later, as my wife drifted off in the next bed I watched Mt. Promethius erupt.

More to come.

oh come one man....

Dont leave me hanging like that!

-JRob

Oh the agony! Why torment us! And here I am 7 weeks from going to WDW, its about time MP turned its attention back to TDS for our morale. Yes please keep us posted or better yet why don't you make a formal trip report for the MP staff to post? Thanks Kuz and I hope its all that we believe TDS is, and what DCA aint.

Yeah, definitely true about the tipping thing. Your best bet is to take a pile of the same things... for example, a stack of postcards from your hometown (for example, since I currently live in the San Francisco Bay Area, perhaps postcards of the Golden Gate Bridge or something), or some American candy. Tell them "Domo arigato" (thank you) and then with both hands held palm-side up, give them your little thank-you gift. That act of thankfulness is VERY much appreciated. :)

Yes, when this is all done, I'll submit it as a formal trip report, after everyone here gets a chance to ask questions and point out spelling errors ;-)

Yes, Lani, the postcards would be a great idea, and would be very welcome in Japan. I wanted to do something like that, but I just couldn't find the time before I left. I hadn't thought of postcards.



Anyway, part two.


Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun. Or as I call it, the Land of the Thirty-Dollar Breakfast.

Being jet-lagged Americans, it took great effort to sleep until 4:30 am. At 7 we made our way to the hotel lobby in search of breakfast before the park opened at 8. We had budgeted $10 each for breakfast, $20 for lunch and $30 for dinner each day. We were in for a shock.

The only restaurant open at 7 am was serving a breakfast buffet that was close to $30 per-person. An ordinary breakfast to the Japanese might mean some smoked fish (heads and all), scrambled eggs, spaghetti, hot dogs, miso soup, rice and french fries. This being a Hilton, there was also more appealing breakfast food for Americans, including some lovely baked goods in the shape of cartoon characters.

Rather than order the buffet, we found some menu items that would only break our budget a little. I found a $15 Eggs Benedict and with a $5 glass of milk and a 10% service charge that would just over double our estimate for breakfast. My eggs benedict was the smallest portion I have ever recieved in my life, and was served on english muffins that more resembled two ritz crackers. I suddenly became worried that I would soon starve in Japan if we stuck to our budget. I immidately lobbied my wife for a big slashing of our souvenier budget to pay for more food. I would find later that my worries were unfounded. The high price breakfast was merely at the hotel, and would not trouble us again.

In the lobby of the hotel there was a marvelous bakery. I mean great. This was, in fact, the best bakery I have ever seen in my life. More fancy breads than you have ever seen before. Sourdoughs, white, wheat, buttermilk, orange bread, croissants, breads baked in terra-cotta pots, breads tied in fancy designs, muffins, pastry, cakes and cookies cookies cookies. I would learn soon that the Japanese are absolutely nuts for their baked goods. One $20 breakfast was all the encouragement we needed. Every night before bed we would go to the bakery and get a big supply of morning treats, and a couple of drink boxes of milk and some butter and jam for the next morning in our room. Our breakfasts from then on were only about $5 a person and were far better than the fare at the hotel cafe. Our souvenier budget was saved and we wouldn't swoon from lack of food.

Transportation and ticketing.


A 2 day passport was 9800 yen per person, with no park-hopping allowed. We opted for DisneySea for both days. I recommend 2 or 3 days for Tokyo DisneySea. If you are staying at a Disney Good Neighbor hotel, you are guaranteed the ability to buy tickets. In addition, you are given complimentary passes to the Monorail system for the length of your stay. You have to buy your tickets at the hotel in order to guarantee admittance. This is important, as the second day we were there (a Tuesday!) the park admittance was cut off shortly after noon!

From the Hilton, a four-minute walk will bring you to the closest Monorail station, but we rarely walked. This is because the most beautiful transportation in the Disney Universe is the magnificent busses that pick you up at your hotel. These are fantastic silver streamline-moderne busses with Mickey-Shaped windows, headlights, taillights and other fanciful touches. A pilbox-hatted, silk-gloved, brass-buttoned driver cheerfully drops you right off at the nearby monorail terminal. The Monorails are all-electric and even cleaner, if that is possible, than ours. They also have Mickey-Shaped windows and Mickey-shaped handle-straps, with little red shorts attached. Cute!

A short note. Disneyworld REALLY needs to get these busses. I think Disneyworld is a slick operation, but some of the things like this at Tokyo Disney Resort really show what a little extra polish can do.

Anyway, we were through the turnstyle and at the Aquasphere. The Aquasphere is the entrance icon of the park, and it is a marvelous (and larger than I pictured) faux-bronze sculpture of the earth, with micro-grooved oceans, with water running under the continents and over the seas. Amazing.


The new Disney MiraCosta Hotel overlooks the park, and you actually walk under it to reach the "Main Street" of Tokyo DisneySea. It is themed as Italian buildings and ties into the Mediterranean Harbor land which is the entrance of the park. The arch serves as a curtain, and as you begin to exit, the majesty of Porto Paradiso and its great fortress, and the fantastic Mt. Promethius are revealed to you. It's dramatic and wonderful, and I suddenly felt the emotions of a year's vacation planning welling up in me. I felt a lump in my throat as I tried to say to my wife, "I can't believe it's really real! It's real. . . They actually built this."


Just outside the arch was a wait-time board with a hostess handing out guidemaps for guest who had dashed through the turnstyle without getting one. She didn't speak english, but mearly saying eigo? (english) was enough for her to understand and give us an English language map.

Knowing that Japanese crowds tend to travel to the left, we went to the right, making sure to notice the fine details like small fishermans boats moored in the Harbor, and the dedication plaque in English and Japanese. On the far side of the Harbor, approaching the Mysterious Island, we saw a popcorn cart that seemed to be selling Espresso and Popcorn. We were mistaken. It was selling Espresso FLAVORED Popcorn. EUGHHHHH!!! It had a big line of customers.

Next to that we saw a line that was growing and moving very rapidly, and the sign read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. We got in line. The rapid movement was because the que was still filling up. Our wait turned out to be about 35 minutes, which was fine.

Here's where spoilers come in. I will do spoilers with a color change. When the color changes back, spoiler is done. There will be light spoilers and heavy spoilers. Light means you want some info about the ride. Heavy spolers mean you never plan to go to Japan but you want to know a full description! Light spoilers will be in Light blue . Heavy spolers will be in Red .


SPOILER SPOILER


20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a dark-ride where you ride a submersible deep under the ocean. While it shares a name with the Walt Disney World version of the Submarine ride (now closed), it is a different ride totally. The adventure still goes deep under the sea to view strange creatures, a Giant Squid and the remnants of Atlantis (but not the movie version of Atlantis)



HEAVY SPOILER


The ride is an above-track, similar to Peter Pan, and doesn't take you underwater at all. The vehicle is a Captain-Nemo designed Victorian/Steampunk sumbersible with three bubble-shaped windows, one in front and one on each side. The ride is Dry-for-wet, and bubbles and water effects were pumped into the windows themselves. The effect is amazing, and very believable. The above track is invisible once inside, and the ride is very clever. The inside of the submersible is fitted with victorian couches and can seat six. The dialogue is all in Japanese, but there doesn't seem to be much story anyway. The Giant Squid attacks but is repelled by an electric charge. The vehicle runs low on power and begins to decend until it is discovered by a group of Atlantians (who kind of look like fish people). The Atlanteans push your ship to safety (in an ingenious effect, you can see the shadow of your ship sinking, then the shadow of a group of Atlantians swimming up and lifting your ship.). Various internal dials and gauges were dipping into the red, and interior lighting and booming sound conveyed the sense of danger even without understanding the dialogue. It followed the standard theme-park plotline of 1st, sense of awe and wonder, then danger, then escape from danger.


End Spoiler

The Mysterious Island area was magnificent inside the caldera. Steamboats were powering through the crater lake, while guysers erupted from a bubbling hell, and lava flows hissed and spurted steam as they met the water. The Nautilus was moored there, and I was disappointed that more wasn't made of it. It seemed to be one of the de-commissioned boats from the DisneyWorld ride, rather than one that you can enter like in Disneyland Paris. I pictured that 20,000 Leagues' que would be inside the submarine, but that was not the case. In addition to Leagues, Journey to the Center of the Earth is located there, as well as a gift shop and a restaurant, Vulcania. Shortly after the grand opening, the gift shop sold limited edition models of the Nautilus. I was sad to find no models for sale when I went, limited edition or not. That would have been a for-sure purchase.

That's enough for today.....

More to come. Next up, Arabian Coast.

Originally posted by Kuzcotopia
. Every night before bed we would go to the bakery and get a big supply of morning treats, and a couple of drink boxes of milk and some butter and jam for the next morning in our room. Our breakfasts from then on were only about $5 a person and were far better than the fare at the hotel cafe.

Great stuff- Kuzcotopia! You picked up on the breakfast thing really fast, and hit an excellent point. If you are a fan of baked goods, you will find Japan to be quite a pleasant surprise. In every bakery you will see, there will be at least 20 different varieties of baked goods, each item for around 90 cents to $1.75. Also, this stuff is baked fresh continuously throughout the day. The whole concept of 'yakitate' (fresh and hot from the oven/fresh off the grill) is really big here. Many shops actually label the items hot from the ovens with a little plastic sign, and other bakeries actually post baking times on the wall.

Frequenting a bakery before hitting the park translates to drastically more in-park fun money, which is the whole point of the trip!

Keep up the great report!

Thanks Kuz for another day in your life, with all the events we have here in the US and Anthrax scares EVERYWHERE its a welcome relief to hear of some news from abroad like TDS, if nothing else you are contributing to positive feelings and morale, keep it up! EEEwwww, smoked fish heads? yuck, bread I love, sounds like a fine deal for breakfast and personally I usually eat oatmeal, so is 20K just a simple dark ride like PP as is at DL? It does not sound too thrilling to me, what I want to hear about is Stormrider when do you think you will get around to it? So was the crowds pretty good? How is it basically for an American visitor? It sounds like no real problems as engish signs are readily available, it also sounds like Disney in America could learn an awful lot about what OLC is doing.

Originally posted by TokyoInsider


The whole concept of 'yakitate' (fresh and hot from the oven/fresh off the grill) is really big here.

Yes, and if you're at the resort itself already, I suggest the "It's Mono Cafe" (bakery) in IKSPIARI near the main entrance or "Mamma Biscotti's Bakery" inside TDS's Mediterrainean Harbor.

JoeInJpn
http://www.jtcent.com

Arabian Coast.....


I'm doing this in a kind of memory order, which is why I skipped one of the Mysterious Island attractions. I'll do them in the order I visited them, more or less, so I remember more about them.


Arabian Coast


This doesn't look as much like a coast as the other lands do. Water only figures in to one of the attractions here, and the archetecture speaks more of the desert than the sea. The waterway here is narrower here and seems more a river than the great expanse of sea visible in American Waterfront and Port Discovery.

The attractions here consist of a Double-Decker Carousel, Magic Lamp Theater and Sinbad's Seven Voyages. There are also shops and restaurants. The Carousel looked nice, with the music being a caliope version of the same score playing in the rest of the land -- a nice touch.

Magic Lamp Theater is a combined stage show and 3-D movie starring the Genie from Aladdin (but not Robin Williams unless Robin speaks fluent Japanese!!).




SPOILER ZONE

The Pre-show features an Audio-Animatronic snake with video-projection eyes (which are very lifelike). He gives the back-story, in Japanese, along with a slideshow. The show is about an evil magician and his young male assistant. The assistant finds the lamp one day, but before he can rub it, the magician steals it and becomes the Genie's master. Then they take you into the theater and after a short magic show where the tricks go awry, the assistant lets loose the genie and they conspire to ruin the magician's show and make the boy the new master of the Genie. When the movie starts (when the genie comes out) is when the fun begins. The animation is very good and doesn't seem to make your eyes cross as much as most 3-d movies. There also isn't a lot of the uncomfortable effects like some other movies have. No water, no rats, no bees and only one interactive effect that is similar to the old Mission to the Moon effect ;-) The actors are constantly talking with and otherwise interacting with the Genie. This is simpler, but done way better than similar scenes in Terminator 2:3D. Maybe because the Genie is a toon, he can still be a little unreal and you believe him.

This show was one of the few that I really wished for a translation of. Most shows had at least the songs in English, but not this one (though I always wondered what "Friend Like Me" sounded like in Japanese!).



The wait for this show was long (about 40 minutes, but got even longer the next day). I saw the line really take off in the time since I got in line. The line isn't covered, but lots of people qued up in the rain. People in America would complain about uncovered ques, but I couldn't tell if anyone was complaining.

The next ride was Sinbad's Seven Voyages. This is a boat ride indoors through a storybook based on one of the Tales of the Arabian Nights. It seemed strange, since DreamWorks is making a Sinbad movie, but oh well. This ride has supposedly the largest AudioAnimatronic cast of any ride ever made. I assume that doesn't count it's a small world (maybe those aren't technically A-A figures). Here's the other main ride where a translation would have helped. I couldn't tell what it was about, other than just seeing scenes of characters in various perilous situations. I'm not going to put a spoiler alert on this description, because I didn't really understand enough to give anything away.

The ride is a boat ride similar to Pirates or small world. The characters are about half-scale, and have a slightly anime look to them. They move in a more lifelike way than the Pirates figures, which was nice, and their eyes and body poses were more expressive than the Pirates.

My wife agreed that this ride really needed a waterfall or two. It seemed very tame, and lacked drama. Perhaps it was meant to be the small world of this park, but if so, it is not on the level of the global phenomena of the Disney classic.

Arabian Coast seemed to be a less popular land, but it was still crowded nonetheless. Our wait for Sinbad was about 20 minutes, which wasn't bad at all. The que had a really nice themed fig plantation, with irrigation canals that had running water fed by a water-wheel. The detail was amazing. Parts of the land were right up against the visible berm, and space seemed scarce, in contrast with all the other lands in the park. But other parts, like the giant courtyard that served as the line for Magic Lamp Theater and the Carousel gave the area a spacious feeling similar to Epcot. All the architecture and detailed design work gave this area a lush, rich feeling, much like a palace.



Next up: Lost River Delta

Thanks for the reports, Kuzco. Good stuff! Keep 'em coming!

Hey yeah Kuzco thanks even if it seems like just a couple of us read your posts, I am very interested because I had originally spent about $7000 for a very special luxury stay at WDW this coming Nov but I have cancelled and asked Disney for a refund, found out my air tickets were cheaper and collected $460 worth of vouchers and reformulated our vacation to stay at a vacation home outside WDW and not solely concentrate on WDW but spreading out an even longer (14 days) for others places and because Disney has decided to cutback their quality we will not spend much time there but at other Orlando places like IOA, Busch gardens. Sorry Disney but when you cut the shows I cut my spending. Now I am planning a similar vacation for TDS for a minimum one week to 10 days and hope fully WDW and DL in Anaheim will recover until then I am staying away from them, its not worth it to go there when 1) the parks like DCA are in poor shape 2) the major attraction is gone-Fantasmic/DL 3) poor overall return for my money. Obviously a smart person should put their money where they get the best return (TDS) Does anyone really disagree with me? I know its American to support Disney in the US, but if I wanted to do that then I will just send a donation for a needy cause, and in their case its justified.

I agree with Mr. D:) I used to be excited about going back to WDW or even just going down the street to good old DLR. But after seeing all the great pictures and descriptions of TDS, I'm saving my money to go there! It may take a couple of years but the money I would have spent at the stateside Disney parks is now going into my TDS fund.

One question, Kuz. Was this a vacation specifically to the Disney parks in Tokyo, or did you take in other parts of the country as well?

Your wonderful trip reports are making me think I should start saving my money!!

Its hard to imagine what TDS is after these terrible events here but I am trying to recapture the "vacation mood" Just think Lani, right now Kuzco is enjoying himself (he?) at a Disney theme park that is for most practical purposes the best of the best in the world, the CM's bow and do not ask for money, that is strange because that kind of courtesy is not here in the US and probably never will be, after reading what was on the MP homepage about careful and prudent spending its all the more reason to carefully plan your future Disney vacations. Hopefully we will all learn some important advice from Kuzco so as to get the most for our dollar, I just wish we had longer daily trip reports! I really do not feel bad about cancelling an inside the park stay and instead renting a vacation home, I just wish I knew about them sooner.

Lani,

The trip was two days at Disney, then two weeks travelling all over Japan. I'm back now, but just focusing on the disney part of the trip here on this site.

What I hope to do is to show how easy it is to go to Japan (airfare is cheap right now), even if they are just going to Disney. I plan to have parts of my story about beating the crowds in the park (I have some tips), and the overall getting around and getting fed hints.

I want people to understand that it's easier than they think, and they don't need to worry about getting lost and left somewhere at a bus terminal. I do hope they realize that going to Tokyo Disney isn't that much harder than going to Disneyworld, even without speaking Japanese, and the cost isn't prohibitive.

So how about Stormrider? and Indy? how about a direct comparison to DL/DCA and rub Eisners nose in his folly? What rides would fit in at DL or the 3rd park? If DCA was razed how much of what could go into that area from the TDS rides or shows? Thanks Kuzco, have a safe trip.

Mr. D. Indy is next up. I'll get to everything else in the order I visited it, but be warned, I didn't ride Stormrider, so I have no report. I'll reserve any side-by-side comparisons to other Disney parks to another post, as this is really just a trip report and not a start of an apples/oranges post. That really should be another thread, and I don't think I'll start it. ;-)


Lost River Delta.


This land represents the very back of the park, and is along the narrowest part of the waterway. The Lost River Delta consists of 3 attractions, Indiana Jones Adventure:Temple of the Crystal Skull, Mystic Rhythms (a stage show featuring music and dance) and the station for the Transit Steamer Line (the boats that take you around the park).

The land is a rich tropical zone meant to represent a lush Latin American jungle. One side of the river has settlements with restaurants, shops and the stage show, and the other has the large pyramid and temple, and a very large que area. This ride is one of only three attractions currently offering Fastpass.

Crystal Skull is a near direct lift from Disneyland, although strangely their que isn't nearly as well themed as ours, and it has no interactive elements. The pyramid is more dramatic than some of our que, but still I greatly prefer the feeling of ours. Indiana Jones's presence is everywere in the line in Disneyland, as if he had secured all the traps in advance of your arrival. In Crystal Skull, he seems more scarce.

After the que, the ride looks identical. The track layout is exactly the same, with a crystal skull directly where the forbidden eye would be. My wife and I joked that the voice over would be the same, but with some other person dubbing over the words "eye" with "Crystal Skull: "INFIDEL! YOU HAVE LOOKED INTO MY ___crystal skull____. YOUR PATH NOW LEADS YOU TO THE GATES OF ___crystal skull.___" The ride vehicles have been updated to be electrical rather than hydraulic, and my wife mentioned that these felt tamer. I didn't really notice it much.

spoiler zone, but if you've ridden Indy at Disneyland, it's mostly already spoiled


They seem to have taken out all the elements of randomness from this ride. While the cars have individual personalities (some have bad brakes, some stall...) at Disneyland, these seem to be all the same. There is only one door of Destiny in Crystal Skull, and I wouldn't be surprised if Indy always said the same thing to each car. Instead of the chamber of Destiny, there is one room decorated with skeletons of the people who presumably didn't make it so far. After the sharp left turn, it's identical to Forbidden eye with some small differences. When you cross the bridge, instead of a pit of lava there is a tornado of smoke that spins on your right. This is done with a wind-tunnel effect, and is pretty, but not especially scary. The giant head of Mara is now a giant skull, the giant cobra is a giant anaconda, or some other type of serpent, there is no spirit in the sky within the skull room, and less fire is there. There is no rat room, but instead there is a skull at the end of the hallway that spits a ball of flaming plasma right at your head. It's really just a ball of stage smoke, lit well, but it hits you right in the face and it got a similar laugh that the rats get. The hallway where you dodge blow-gun darts is actually sculpted stone rather than just painted-on warriors, and when the big ball falls they take your picture with some of the brightest strobes I've ever seen (I'm still seeing them, I think!).



Indy speaks Japanese only in this ride, and instead of Sallah, there is a Latino gentleman who provides safety instruction (I forget his name).

The ride had a five-hour wait on the Tuesday, but on Monday when it rained we rode it with about a 30 minute wait. If you've ridden the Disneyland one, you can safely skip this one. Of course if you want a ride souvenier photo, it's not available in Anaheim!


Mermaid Lagoon is NEXT!

So your trip is done at TDS Kuzco? And you didnt get on Stormrider? Or have you just kept it for the end? I really get an impression that this ride was the best at TDS and if so should it be copied at the other Disney parks? Could it fit in at Tomorrowland? And please do not say it should be in DCA but then you said no apples and oranges, I was thinking about a lemon:D Thanks again for keeping us posted I wonder if it is difficult gaining internet access there, or the price of access.

Hey kuzco-

Next time stay at the Shin Urayasu Oriental Hotel.

It is one stop on the Japan Rail train system from the TDR(get off at JR Maihama Station and make the short walk to the resort monorail station)and you receive a free breakfast everyday you are staying there.

And I am NOT talking about the "continental" breakfast we received in Anaheim(donuts and far too strong coffee-have you people NEVER heard of "tea"??? Actually scratch that-the one day I ate at Goofy's Kitchen in the Disneyland Hotel the two serving people actually had to have it explained to them that tea could be served hot and with breakfast!!! :rolleyes: ).

I am talking EVERY single kind of breakfast food you can think of, from cereals to all kinds of pastries and waffles to traditional fare like bacon and eggs(poached and scrambled)to even full salads plus unlimited beverages and even ice cream!!!


The rooms are kind of small but for a couple it did us fine-besides the fact that you WILL NOT be in the room much except to sleep anyway.

The price CANNOT be beaten either.

Brad -- What were the rates for that hotel, and how were they at taking calls for reservations in English?

What about guaranteed Disney tickets? I had heard that only the Disney Good Neighbor hotels could guarantee your tickets.


Mr D, I returned last week. Sorry, no Stormrider. You'll have to go yourself and tell us how it rates against SuperStar Limo!!


Mermaid Lagoon

Across the waterway from Arabian Coast lies Mermaid Lagoon, which is designed to look like the colorful King Triton's Castle from The Little Mermaid. (Folks old enough to remember the one embarrasing spire will be relieved to know that it isn't represented). The exterior of the castle is decorated with colorful tile mosaics, and two of the attractions are outside the castle. Flounder's Flying Fish Coaster is a fun little kid-coaster similar to Gadget's Go Coaster at Disneyland. Scuttle's Scooters is a spinning ride similar, but tamer, than many Alpine-themed carnival rides.

Inside the castle you are greeted by some amazingly themed areas. The entry area has a wonderful bronze sculpture of King Triton being pulled on his chariot by dolphins. Sheets of glass with rising bubbles surround you, and just below is Ariel's Grotto where she keeps her human artifacts. Down a long ramp you start to get a glimpse of the large indoor "land". It is all themed as though you are deep under the ocean, and sunlight dapples from above on all the rocks, sand and sealife below. There are 5 attractions and three shops inside.

Jumpin Jellyfish is a more-richly themed version of the kiddie-parachute ride at California Adventure. The jellyfish look like illuminated blown-glass. There is also Blowfish Balloon Race, an arial scrambler-type ride featuring big, friendly looking fish balloons. The Whirlpool is an ocean-themed version of the Mad Tea Party.

Ariel's Playground is a large play area with things to climb, water-fountains to chase and areas to explore and discover. It has the charm and the interactivity of Mickey's House in Toontown. There are also scarier areas for braver kids to explore, including Ursula's cave and the sunken ship where the Shark attacked Ariel and Flounder. Ariel's Grotto, with the heroic statue of Prince Eric is here as well.

Sometimes the Sleepy Whale Shop, in the mouth of what must be Monstro's friendly cousin, has a long line just to enter. This is the place to get Ariel-themed merchandise. This is attached to the two other shops, Mermaid Treasures (which is more of a girl-oriented shop), and Kiss de Girl Fashions, which offers clothing for girls.

Sebastian's Calypso Kitchen thankfully does not offer seafood, but rather pizzas.

But far and away the main attraction of Mermaid Lagoon is the Mermaid Lagoon Theater. The entrance to the theater is a sunken galleon, ornately decorated. A fastpass is offered, and probably should be taken advantage of. The show here is called "Under the Sea" and it is BY FAR the best show that has ever played at any Disney park.

It was getting to be about 8:30 in the evening on the first day were were at the park. It was raining, so Mermaid Lagoon, being inside, was a great place to go. Most of the small fry were off to an early bedtime, so this land was dry and uncrowded. Although waits for this show can be multiple hours long, we got in to the next show with about a 10 minute wait.

Usually a themepark show means people in big furry Jafar and Meeko costumes doing their best not to trip over their own feet while a teacup the size of a small horse spins by during "Be Our Guest." Under the Sea is a huge departure from that, and my only ABSOLUTE DON'T MISS at this park. (This is a don't miss, precicely because without that kind of recommendation, I would have skipped it.) Mix The Little Mermaid with the Broadway version of The Lion King, and Cirque du Soliel and make it 15 minutes long and you get Under the Sea. No dancer in a big furry Sebastian outfit, tripping over his claws, but what do you get?

SPOILER ALERT.... LIGHT SPOILERS

You get a show sung in English, with Japanese spoken dialogue. The whole show is performed in the round, with the dancers ABOVE you on elaborate flying rigs. They swim, tumble and glide over your head effortlessly, their magnificent silk costumes spreading like fins.



Heavy Spoilers.........

Ariel performs the whole show never once touching the ground, while Sebastian is performed by a dancer with a bunraku style rod-puppet rig, similar to Timon or Zazu in the Lion King. Rather than trying to encapsulate the entire story of The Little Mermaid, Under the Sea merely attempts to capture a portion of the story and the feeling of longing and the dilemma of Ariel. Only 3 songs are performed, Part of that World, Poor Unfortunate Souls and Under the Sea. For Poor Unfortunate Souls, their is no big fuzzy costume for Ursula. Instead, the wall opens, and a 20 FOOT TALL STEEL MECHA-URSULA ROBOT HEAD emerges! She is a HUGE robot/puppet, breathing smoke and strobes and laser-beams! Other performers on wires operate 12-foot tall hands on giant flying rigs, and the remainder of the dancers writhe and stretch above you, their legs becoming tentacles that nearly brush the top of your head! Ursula takes up the entire theater, and the head sings (with the voice of Pat Carrol!). This is a FANTASTIC puppet, something that really should be the climax to a show like Fantasmic. And to see it ENGULF the theater is really a thrill!

The dancers become beautiful fish once again for the finale, Under the Sea, an amazing, festive dance number, and the dazzling images and dance keep coming until the end.





****END SPOILERS*********************




Although the entire show is lip-synch, you cannot fault the amazing technical work, and the sheer vision that brought this show to life. Seeing this show in this park, you get the feeling that everything was designed here to be a few notches above everything that has been attempted before. This show is the one that highlights the change in thinking required. Some attractions used the bigger/better/faster formula to top things that had come before. Instead of that, this show required the re-thinking of concepts and raising the bar on the creative goals. Rather than a bigger version of Animazement, here we got something totally new and innovative. This show should be added to Disneyworld or Disneyland Resort as soon as possible, but the theater would have to be built from scratch.


Mermaid Lagoon is Fantasyland and Toontown rolled together, and then some. A wonderful land that should grow. I would love to see a dark ride here, or even a small water ride. I only wish I brought a kid. Great things will be added to this land, I am sure. It will be a favorite.

Hi kuzco!

The Oriental IS a Good Neighbour hotel with the TDR and we DID get our park tickets in advance-which was why I chose it.

The room rates for five nights was 48,000 Yen per person.

At current rates that worked out to $US394.75 per person.


A cheap price, the BEST breakfasts we had ANYWHERE on our trip(including the disappointing fare at places like IHOP and Denny's) one stop from the TDR *AND* guaranteed entry to the parks of your choice with the 4 day Magic Passport.


This CANNOT be beaten.


For those that think Japan is too hard do culturally or economically I would say that you are afraid for NO REASON.

I felt more culturally out of place at times in WDW with the constant signage and announcements in Spanish than I did in the heart of the TDR with its army of considerate and warm CM's.

Originally posted by Brad
Hi kuzco!

The Oriental IS a Good Neighbour hotel with the TDR and we DID get our park tickets in advance-which was why I chose it.

The room rates for five nights was 48,000 Yen per person.

At current rates that worked out to $US394.75 per person.



Wait a minute! THAT WAS FOR FIVE NIGHTS?!!?

Under $100 a night per person?

I'm impressed.

Originally posted by Brad
Hi kuzco!

The Oriental IS a Good Neighbour hotel with the TDR and we DID get our park tickets in advance-which was why I chose it.



Here is a list of other Good Neighbor Hotels for TDR other than the official or Disney-brand hotels on site...

Makuhari, Chiba (20 min SE of TDR) area
- Hotel Springs Makuhari
- Hotel New Otani Makuhari

Koto-ku and Sumida, Tokyo (20 min NW of TDR) area
- Daiichi Hotel Ryogoku
- Tokyo Marriot Hotel Kinshicho Tobu
- Hotel East 21 Tokyo

Shin-Urayasu, Chiba (4 min E of TDR) area
- Urayasu Brighton Hotel
- Shin-Urayasu Oriental Hotel

O-Daiba and Ariake, Tokyo (10 min W of TDR) area
- Tokyo Bay Ariake Washington Hotel
- Hotel Grand Pacific Meridien
- Hotel Nikko Tokyo

Hope it helps...

JoeInJpn
http://www.jtcent.com

By the way, I'm not surprised that an American "continental breakfast" in Tokyo still costs as much proportionately as it used to when I used to live there. Although cosmopolitan, our family usually made sure to eat a good hearty Japanese breakfast when we would take a vacation in-country, because the cost was substantially lower for rice and miso soup (with various other yummies) than for dry toast, orange juice, and a cup of coffee.

I'm telling ya... reading this thread REALLY makes me wanna visit!!

Originally posted by Brad
A cheap price, the BEST breakfasts we had ANYWHERE on our trip(including the disappointing fare at places like IHOP and Denny's)Brad, next time you might venture out to eat some local "commoner" food. You are likely to have a far better experience eating at a ramen noodle shop (if you have never eaten fresh ramen, it is NOTHING like the instant kind. It's a difference between Kraft Mac & Cheese and fresh pasta at a good Italian restaurant) or a local diner where you can enjoy various rice bowl dishes (yes, Jack in the Box tries to mimic them but taste nothing like the real thing). The food is FAR cheaper and way more filling. Better yet, restaurants in japan have wax replicas of the dishes so oftentimes you can just point to what you want.