RSoxNo1's visit to Tokyo Disneyland

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I just returned from a trip to Tokyo, and while I'll also be giving a full review on my podcast, I wanted to write something here as well.

As I've said in other threads, while some singular attractions stand out (Hunny Hunt, Journey to the Center of the Earth) no single attraction is worth the trip alone. It really is the entirety of the resort (and more specifically the entirety of Tokyo DisneySea) that made the trip worth it.

We started at the Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay. It's one of their good neighbor hotels and across the street from one of their monorail stations. To the uninitiated, the monorails have a small daily fee (I believe we got a 3 day pass here for 1100 yen/$10). The resort is closer in feel to Disneyland in that you can see backstage areas when you're offsite and/on the monorail. We could see the backside of Lost River Delta from our room at the Sheraton and we had good views of the fireworks and Mt. Prometheus.

I would definitely recommend the Sheraton. Of the three hotels we stayed at, the Sheraton had the nicest beds and pillows and was the cheapest.

Later in the trip we stayed at Hotel Mira Costa. This hotel is absolutely beautiful, and we had an in park view looking over the Venetian Gondolas. We didn't take advantage of our proximity to the parks when we were staying at the Sheraton, but when we were staying at Mira Costa we took afternoon breaks to relax for the days we spent in the park. Mira Costa's beds were a bit firm and the pillows were ok, just not as good as the Sheraton's. The worst pillows were by far at our Kyoto hotel, while Mira Costa had the worst beds.

Another significant complaint about Mira Costa. The hotel is literally in the park, and there is such a ridiculous amount of detail throughout DisneySea that I have to nitpick. I'd say about 70% of the exterior of Mira Costa is fully detailed with depth and proper masonry. However, there are parts of it that face Mediterranean Harbor that include painted detail similar to Portofino at Universal Orlando. Don't get me wrong, the hotel is still spectacular, but it is odd that there is detail everywhere else in DisneySea yet the skipped out on part of the hotel detail.

To the parks:
Tokyo Disneyland is your typical castle park. What really surprised me is that attraction marquees and even some attractions have a lot more English in them then you'd imagine. Pirates is almost entirely in English and it probably contributes to it's lack of popularity. I'd say most people speak little to know English, yet signage is at least 50/50 in favor of English.

Hunny Hunt was only open the first day we visited Disneyland and we wound up doing it three times. It was my first experience with the trackless system and it really was a lot of fun. Different ride profiles, and even different areas of the room that you visit on each trip. I'd imagine that Mystic Manor is even a step above this.

Monster's Inc Ride and Go Seek was a lot of fun. Not super elaborate animatronics, but the interactive flashlights makes for a fun ride without the need for competition.

Haunted Mansion is Florida's version pre attic update. Florida's Haunted Mansion really is awesome now, and this is just a reminder of what the old version used to be.

Both Space Mountain (similar to Disneyland sans on board audio) and Splash Mountain (Florida's version) have what I called "taint buster" seats. Seats that were more exaggerated than many major roller coasters that hit you near an unpleasant spot. Splash Mountain also had strings of leaves and grasses hanging from the ceilings and absolutely no light bleed which helped add to the theming of the ride.

We only rode Jungle Cruise once (it was down the first day we were there when we tried to ride it). Nothing was gained in translation, so really the ride was about seeing the scenery. It felt more like Florida's version with the temple, but the temple has projection effects inside. They also had music throughout the ride, including the opening bars of Circle of Life on the African Veldt. I appreciated the music because we don't speak Japanese so it added something to a ride that was otherwise just going to be a tour of the Jungle Cruise.

All in all, Tokyo Disneyland is an excellent park with solid versions of old favorites plus a few new to us things that we really enjoyed.

Disney Sea is a virtually flawless theme park. Aside from the Mira Costa gripe mentioned earlier, everything in this park is done at the highest level of quality. I also don't think this park could be built in the US. The water ways leave the park with a lot of stairs and steep ramps that Americans would complain about, it's unfortunate because the park truly is magnificent.

The American Waterfront has some Streets of America and Sunset Boulevard feel with the Toy Story section feeling like a mini Paradise Pier. Tower of Terror's story is well done, and the effect of the disappearing Shiriki Utundo in the pre-show is very impressive in person, even after you see how it's done. Unfortunately with the different theme, Tower is still a better version of DCA's Tower, I'll give the nod to DHS's version but this was still very enjoyable. Big Band Beat was also entirely in English. The show is about swing music and is quite enjoyable. For major Disney stage shows, I'd put it just behind Aladdin and Lion King in my book.

Mysterious Island was my favorite area of the park. A fully enclosed rockwork area dedicated to Jules Verne. The combination of rockwork with steampunk (that extends into Port Discovery) looks fantastic. Journey to the Center of the Earth is a high quality ride with incredible detail. I'd love it with a longer high speed portion, but even without it it's far superior to Test Track.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was cool, but unfortunately we kept getting the same seat every time we rode. You're in little capsules that are presumable on a ride system similar to Peter Pan's Flight. The capsules are fully enclosed and make it feel like you're under water. Seats face out the center, left and right and we were consistently on the right side. They addressed the capacity issue that previous versions of the ride had and we were able to walk on this every day we visited the park.

Storm Rider closed the day we arrived at Port Discovery so we didn't get to experience that, but the area's music was various Epcot tunes including Future World loops and Illuminations. We really liked Aquatopia. It's probably only a B-ticket attraction, but we absolutely loved it and I really want to see a version of this stateside in Tomorrowland.

Lost River Delta is the Indiana Jones/South America section. Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull was very similar to Indy Adventure in Disneyland, but a few things have been simplified. Indy at Disneyland is one of my favorites so it was nice to experience this variant. Raging Spirits was the weakest major attraction in the park. We only did it once because it was a bit of a production for me to ride (I'm overweight and they had to bring me to a test seat).

Arabian Coast: We really enjoyed Sindbad's Storybook Voyage and the song, despite not being in English is still stuck in my head. While a bit cartoony for World Showcase, it would be a better fit in Morocco than Frozen is in Norway.

Mermaid Lagoon looked better than I expected it to in person, the Triton's Concert show was also pretty solid and a step above he DHS Mermaid show.

We also loved the kinetics of every land that was aided by trains and watercraft. On the Disney Steamer boats you could see how layered the detail was throughout the park. There are no siteline issues at all when you're in the park and even the underside of bridges were appropriately themed. Everything in the park felt right.

My biggest complaint is that the merchandise offerings were awful. DisneySea attractions are largely devoid of Disney classic characters yet they are everywhere on the merchandise. Combined with Duffy it's very difficult to find attraction specific merchandise. I struggled to find anything I could consider a worthwhile souvenir. I wound up with a tin that said Pooh's Hunny Hunt, a magnet that said Tokyo Disney Sea's 15th anniversary, and a Mickey Mouse plush dressed in a Mira Costa bellhop outfit. I didn't see a Chandu (the tiger from Sindbad's storybook voyage) plush or Shiriki Utundu (the evil monkey from Tower) figure for sale. I know versions of both exist and I'm disappointed eBay will be my only option for either.

We did other things as well, but since this is a Disney site I'll keep the detail to Disney stuff. I could go on a lot longer than I did, and would be happy to answer any questions people may have.
 

RandySavage

Well-Known Member
Another significant complaint about Mira Costa. The hotel is literally in the park, and there is such a ridiculous amount of detail throughout DisneySea that I have to nitpick. I'd say about 70% of the exterior of Mira Costa is fully detailed with depth and proper masonry. However, there are parts of it that face Mediterranean Harbor that include painted detail similar to Portofino at Universal Orlando. Don't get me wrong, the hotel is still spectacular, but it is odd that there is detail everywhere else in DisneySea yet the skipped out on part of the hotel detail.
Thanks for the report.

I think you're referring to the Trompe L'Oeil technique (painting ornament on a flat surface), which adorns the Portofino Wing of Mira Costa. It is authentic to the historic technique used in actual Portofino and other Italian towns. Trompe l'oeil is as or more expensive to maintain than a themed masonry facade, so they were actually splurging versus skipping out!

Some pics from the Amalfi/Portofino region of Italy:
546.jpg


20131103-175553.jpg
 

donsullivan

Premium Member
Cool. Where can I find the podcast so I can listen to the trip report/review?

I'm headed over for my first visit to TDR and Japan the first week of October so I'm up to my eyeballs in learning and planning for the trip and always looking for new sources and perspectives.
 

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thanks for the report.

I think you're referring to the Trompe L'Oeil technique (painting ornament on a flat surface), which adorns the Portofino Wing of Mira Costa. It is authentic to the historic technique used in actual Portofino and other Italian towns. Trompe l'oeil is as or more expensive to maintain than a themed masonry facade, so they were actually splurging versus skipping out!

Some pics from the Amalfi/Portofino region of Italy:
546.jpg


20131103-175553.jpg
Good to know, but I still say it looks better with actual detail, and there are instances where shutters are also painted on which I doubt is representative of this technique. I assume this also doesn't relate to some of the stone work on the first floor that also appears painted on.
 

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Cool. Where can I find the podcast so I can listen to the trip report/review?

I'm headed over for my first visit to TDR and Japan the first week of October so I'm up to my eyeballs in learning and planning for the trip and always looking for new sources and perspectives.
The podcast is the E-Ticket Report and it's available on iTunes. you should be able to find it by searching for "e ticket report" or "e-ticket report" on iTunes. I expect the trip report to be out by Friday.
 

ThemeParkTraveller

Well-Known Member
Good to know, but I still say it looks better with actual detail, and there are instances where shutters are also painted on which I doubt is representative of this technique. I assume this also doesn't relate to some of the stone work on the first floor that also appears painted on.

Authentic trompe l'oeil actually does frequently contrast real details with painted ones to trick the eyes. Fake shutters or windows are just one of the many techniques.

DSC08146.jpg
 

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Authentic trompe l'oeil actually does frequently contrast real details with painted ones to trick the eyes. Fake shutters or windows are just one of the many techniques.

DSC08146.jpg
I stand corrected. Having said that, where does Portofino fit in? Is that accurate or can I continue criticizing that?
 

ThemeParkTraveller

Well-Known Member
I stand corrected. Having said that, where does Portofino fit in? Is that accurate or can I continue criticizing that?

I think Portofino Bay at Universal is an example where the execution failed to live up to its inspiration. The end result looks like a poor copy of the real Portofino in Italy, whereas the MiraCosta is far more elaborate in execution and architecturally representative of the regions of Italy it was based on.
 

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I think Portofino Bay at Universal is an example where the execution failed to live up to its inspiration. The end result looks like a poor copy of the real Portofino in Italy, whereas the MiraCosta is far more elaborate in execution and architecturally representative of the regions of Italy it was based on.
With Portofino there is no real layered detail it's all painted.
 

RandySavage

Well-Known Member
In addition to being executed at a much higher level than the Loews hotel, Mira Costa is themed to 3 or 4 very distinct regions of Italy.

The main harbor is the Riviera, including Portofino:
HotelMiraCostaNight.jpg


A large portion is themed to the towns of Tuscany:
img_0435.jpg


The canal area is Venice:
gallery012.jpg


The car approach looks influenced by Rome, to my eye:
hotel_miracosta_night.jpg


It's astounding piece of design. IMO, easily one of best-themed hotels in the world.
 

BrerJon

Well-Known Member
My biggest complaint is that the merchandise offerings were awful. DisneySea attractions are largely devoid of Disney classic characters yet they are everywhere on the merchandise. Combined with Duffy it's very difficult to find attraction specific merchandise. I struggled to find anything I could consider a worthwhile souvenir. I wound up with a tin that said Pooh's Hunny Hunt, a magnet that said Tokyo Disney Sea's 15th anniversary, and a Mickey Mouse plush dressed in a Mira Costa bellhop outfit. I didn't see a Chandu (the tiger from Sindbad's storybook voyage) plush or Shiriki Utundu (the evil monkey from Tower) figure for sale. I know versions of both exist and I'm disappointed eBay will be my only option for either.

Great trip report, glad you enjoyed it. Merchandise is sadly the thing that gets most people used to American parks - it never occurred to me before I went that a Disney park wouldn't sell T-shirts, mugs etc. with the park or ride logos on, but that's just a cultural difference I guess.

You mentioned you couldn't find plush Chandus - there was a merchandise hut near the ride in Arabian Coast that had several varieties when I was there, might not be anymore but I know they don't sell them away from the attraction, whereas in the USA most merchandise can also be found in Emporium/World of Disney if you don't pick it up when you're at the ride shop.
 

Disneysea05

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
Great trip report, glad you enjoyed it. Merchandise is sadly the thing that gets most people used to American parks - it never occurred to me before I went that a Disney park wouldn't sell T-shirts, mugs etc. with the park or ride logos on, but that's just a cultural difference I guess.

They do sell the traditional merchandise. Ironically, Tokyo Disney branded clothing is what I like collecting the most. Picked up two more Tokyo Disneyland branded shirts just last month.
 

BrerJon

Well-Known Member
They do sell the traditional merchandise. Ironically, Tokyo Disney branded clothing is what I like collecting the most. Picked up two more Tokyo Disneyland branded shirts just last month.

That's good to hear. When I went the only clothing with the park brand on were anniversary items, or things related to specific events.
 

Disneysea05

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
Don't have an explanation for that. It's true that ride specific merchandise is typically only found when rides first open until they sell out, but I've always found something available. Not always some thing that I must have, but still. If you decide that you simply can not have even one character on a shirt, then I can see where you'd have a problem.

This most recent shirt I bought at TDL is the first in a long time to be character free.
 

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I wound up buying a DisneySea 15th anniversary magnet, a Pooh's Hunny Hunt cookie tin and a Hotel Mira Costa Mickey Mouse plush. That was really the best stuff I could find that would have been unique to the Tokyo Disney resort.
 

asianway

Well-Known Member
I wound up buying a DisneySea 15th anniversary magnet, a Pooh's Hunny Hunt cookie tin and a Hotel Mira Costa Mickey Mouse plush. That was really the best stuff I could find that would have been unique to the Tokyo Disney resort.
Stormrider had a few closing commemorative items, but i think those would have been gone by your trip. Was the 33rd shirt and Henry plush sold out? Those were the best items Ive seen in a while.
 

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I had a custom made DisneySea shirt and Mira Costa shirt made on redbubble. I put the order in, they said that it shipped but the items were pulled. We'll see if I actually get them. I've got a friend trying to design a Journey to the Center of the Earth shirt with the fire writing that if it's different enough should be available for anyone that wants it.
 

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Stormrider had a few closing commemorative items, but i think those would have been gone by your trip. Was the 33rd shirt and Henry plush sold out? Those were the best items Ive seen in a while.
Was it a 33rd anniversary shirt? I didn't see that. A friend was there a few weeks before me and picked up a small Henry plush but I didn't see them. I'm ok with the Mira Costa Mickey plush I got but would have liked a Chandu and Shiriki Utundu figure as well.
 

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