The Imagineering Break Room

Voxel

Voxel

President of Progress City
David2319 said:
If one was to go to Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo (at least 5 days there), what from those that have been would be a good idea to do?

We'll either be going in July 2018 or July 2020, do you guys think Hong Kong (and Tokyo's?:confused:) Frozen land, and Beauty and The Beast ride are worth the wait? Also what are the top things to do in those cities for those that have been.

What do you guys think? And thanks!
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Tokyo is suppose to be Nuts for the olympics and if you timed it right you could go to Nintendo land among the other things. I have a list of everything you can do. It also depends on the time in each city/country. I'm a history buff so I'm going to kyoto for the temples and shrines and Hiroshima for the castles and history. I'm also stay with monks for a day to see what it's like. As for Tokyo itself there are a lot of things to do but it depends on your interest.
 
D Hulk

D Hulk

Well-Known Member
David2319 said:
If one was to go to Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo (at least 5 days there), what from those that have been would be a good idea to do?

We'll either be going in July 2018 or July 2020, do you guys think Hong Kong (and Tokyo's?:confused:) Frozen land, and Beauty and The Beast ride are worth the wait? Also what are the top things to do in those cities for those that have been.

What do you guys think? And thanks!
Click to expand...
There's always going to be something new coming in the parks' future, so my feeling is to go when you can, see the awesome stuff that's there now. (It's like waiting too long to visit old school EPCOT.)

This September, I'll be doing 1 day at Hong Kong Disneyland following two full days in the city. Then one transfer day to Tokyo (partial day in DisneySea), then 3 more days at TDR - 2 for DisneySea, 1 for Tokyo Disneyland. This is the common timing recommendation I've seen from lots of research. Then over to Osaka, exploring it and nearby Kyoto on the weekend, then a day at Universal. (They still have Jaws!) A few more days after that are reserved to explore more of Japan, especially Tokyo. I've seen much of these various cities already, but for a first time visitor I'd suggest even more time in them!

No Shanghai for me just yet. Waiting for the park's trees to grow in. (An odd reason to delay seeing a park?)

If time is limited, I'd suggest focusing on one destination. Tokyo, Kyoto and Japan in general have more than enough for a multi-week vacation! (Their parks are supposed to be the best too.) Giving yourself at least a couple of days for Kyoto is a must! It is an amazing, walkable, beautiful, romantic ancient city. Tokyo is bustling and vibrant. Go to its fish market early in the morning (like, rise before the sun early). Go to the Ghibli Museum. Go to Shibuya (with the world's largest crosswalk). Go to Akihabara, the nerd district. Go to Tokyo's other unique neighborhoods. There's great shopping, nightlife, food, history. It's overwhelming, so identify your interests and plan around them. (For me, the food.)

July is supposed to be the hottest and most humid time in China, especially in Hong Kong. It's basically a jungle. Tokyo has the mildest climate. It's not Golden Week in Japan then, which is the only "NEVER GO!" time for tourists. (I last visited during the cherry blossom festivals in early spring, which was gorgeous.)

Japan has a lot of hotel variety, and some could be uncomfortable for Westerners. If you're bold, I recommend staying in a ryokan for part of your trip (esp. in Kyoto) - it's a traditional private inn where you wear kimonos and sleep on mats. If you're truly adventurous, try a capsule hotel - basically a train station locker you sleep in!

Finally, I like this google airfare matrix site for finding flights. With early searches and flexibility, you can save a lot. For my upcoming trip, I have an open-jaw round trip arriving at Hong Kong and leaving from Tokyo, with an unrelated connecting flight between the two. Total airfare per person was under $500.
 
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Disney Dad 3000

Disney Dad 3000

Well-Known Member
spacemt354 said:
They way I've overcome my fear of flying recently is just staying up all night and then once on the plane falling right asleep. When we went to Nevada last year that worked!

Also for rest stops I've grown fond of the one in West Virginia since they have the A/C blasting so cold 24/7 it's like 50 degrees inside, very refreshing:p
216190_304533346312654_488764769_n.jpg
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Sadly, I know this stop. The product of many trips through WV in the last 8 years. They have some doozies.
 
Disney Dad 3000

Disney Dad 3000

Well-Known Member
Daveeeeed

Daveeeeed

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Disney Dad 3000 said:
Excellent! I didn't get a chance to review all of yours and your competitors submissions, but what I saw of yours was incredibly detailed and thought out. Well deserved.
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Agreed. Everything I've seen (and yet to see) him do is stupendous. Can't wait to see your effort in Disney Dad's comp @D Hindley and congratulations!
 
Disney Dad 3000

Disney Dad 3000

Well-Known Member
So I know this isn't the place for trip reports, buy I'll throw in some imagineering thoughts to keep on topic. :)
We ended up planning a semi last minute trip to wdw. Going in sept, but this was our one shot this summer so we went for it with a short stay at disney hilton head (which is very nice btw)

Pandora is some thing else. Didn't get a ton of time theRe due to heat/crowds but hoping to go back and see it at night tonight before we leave tomorrow. From what I could tell, it's laid out very well. Some areas may look smaller, but then you walk and the perspective changes and there is all sorts of great visuals.
I actually think NRJ was a really good ride. I'm ok with no story or thrill in it. The visuals and effects are really well done. Rode it twice and saw new things each time. It's a ride that I think is a perfect complement in any disney park, especially AK. If it was maybe 45 sec to a minute longer, I don't think I'd have a complaint about it. The stuffed animals in the rookery did look a little silly at windtraders.We avoided the canteen.heard the service there is not so great. ;)

Experienced Disney movie magic at HS last night before star wars. I went into it fresh not having seen any clips. It was ok. I'm for any additions to nighttime entertainment and even though Fantasmic could use an update, I think HS has a really good nighttime lineup. Since GMR is going away (ugh), I know they won't do it, but would love to see them incorporate it into the show instead of all disney films. It would at least make me feel a little better, plus keep some of the ride and what made the park alive. On a side note, it's interesting how certain films lend themselves to the projection mapping at wdw. None that are absolutely terrible, Star wars is great (vader, star destroyer, etc), but with this show mary poppins and indy work perfect on the theater facade.
Rode EEA for first time in i can't remember how long. No complaints that it's leaving. Enough said.
Got a new film on star tours we hadn't had before. Oddly enough I think that attraction is actually getting better the older it gets. The film updates are really fun.
We went ahead and tried Pizzarizzo. Food was not terrible, actually was ok, but service not great. Really wish they'd gone all out muppets with the rizzo theme on this one. Could make for a really fun restaurant. The wedding room upstairs playing backstreet boys was not great.
On a side note, out jungle safari driver was top notch at AK. My son asked questions the entire ride and she worked it all into her script. She was excellent. And we got to see a giraffe run which was amazing.

Enough rambling!
 
Daveeeeed

Daveeeeed

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Disney Dad 3000 said:
So I know this isn't the place for trip reports, buy I'll throw in some imagineering thoughts to keep on topic. :)
We ended up planning a semi last minute trip to wdw. Going in sept, but this was our one shot this summer so we went for it with a short stay at disney hilton head (which is very nice btw)

Pandora is some thing else. Didn't get a ton of time theRe due to heat/crowds but hoping to go back and see it at night tonight before we leave tomorrow. From what I could tell, it's laid out very well. Some areas may look smaller, but then you walk and the perspective changes and there is all sorts of great visuals.
I actually think NRJ was a really good ride. I'm ok with no story or thrill in it. The visuals and effects are really well done. Rode it twice and saw new things each time. It's a ride that I think is a perfect complement in any disney park, especially AK. If it was maybe 45 sec to a minute longer, I don't think I'd have a complaint about it. The stuffed animals in the rookery did look a little silly at windtraders.We avoided the canteen.heard the service there is not so great. ;)

Experienced Disney movie magic at HS last night before star wars. I went into it fresh not having seen any clips. It was ok. I'm for any additions to nighttime entertainment and even though Fantasmic could use an update, I think HS has a really good nighttime lineup. Since GMR is going away (ugh), I know they won't do it, but would love to see them incorporate it into the show instead of all disney films. It would at least make me feel a little better, plus keep some of the ride and what made the park alive. On a side note, it's interesting how certain films lend themselves to the projection mapping at wdw. None that are absolutely terrible, Star wars is great (vader, star destroyer, etc), but with this show mary poppins and indy work perfect on the theater facade.
Rode EEA for first time in i can't remember how long. No complaints that it's leaving. Enough said.
Got a new film on star tours we hadn't had before. Oddly enough I think that attraction is actually getting better the older it gets. The film updates are really fun.
We went ahead and tried Pizzarizzo. Food was not terrible, actually was ok, but service not great. Really wish they'd gone all out muppets with the rizzo theme on this one. Could make for a really fun restaurant. The wedding room upstairs playing backstreet boys was not great.
On a side note, out jungle safari driver was top notch at AK. My son asked questions the entire ride and she worked it all into her script. She was excellent. And we got to see a giraffe run which was amazing.

Enough rambling!
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Sounds like you had a blast! Did you get to ride Flight of Passage?
 
Daveeeeed

Daveeeeed

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
spacemt354 said:
No more we wants the redhead? o_O I have red hair so I always felt wanted. :p I get the underlying non-PC tone but is this necessary?

Also the story makes no sense...if you're looting things that = stealing, so why would there be an auction to pay for stolen goods? Why not just steal it:confused:
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I know right! It is very confusing:confused:.
It's not even bad or offensive which makes it all the more puzzling. Pirates are pirates, they are not angels (unless they're Jack Sparrow), so they should treat them as such. I guess Shanghai will have the most cohesive Pirates once this is done as this change + Jack sparrow's random placement made the pacing a bit odd too.
 
spacemt354

spacemt354

Chili's
David2319 said:
I know right! It is very confusing:confused:.
It's not even bad or offensive which makes it all the more puzzling. Pirates are pirates, they are not angels (unless they're Jack Sparrow), so they should treat them as such. I guess Shanghai will have the most cohesive Pirates once this is done as this change + Jack sparrow's random placement made the pacing a bit odd too.
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I mean in the end aside from convolution this scene it won't change the attraction too much. Obviously the scene was not promoting women being auctioned off. If you follow the story it's actually showing that pirates who commit these crimes end up in jail, left behind, and then wind up abandoned skeletons as seen in the beginning before jumping back in time.

Jack Sparrow's inclusion I think messed up the story more than this scene did - but alas this is the world we live in now. :grumpy:
 
Daveeeeed

Daveeeeed

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
spacemt354 said:
I mean in the end aside from convolution this scene it won't change the attraction too much. Obviously the scene was not promoting women being auctioned off. If you follow the story it's actually showing that pirates who commit these crimes end up in jail, left behind, and then wind up abandoned skeletons as seen in the beginning before jumping back in time.

Jack Sparrow's inclusion I think messed up the story more than this scene did - but alas this is the world we live in now. :grumpy:
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Exactly! As much as I love Jack Sparrow and the movies, the inclusion of Jack while technically minor, completely messed up the storyline of the ride. In a way it's like the queue for The Haunted Mansion at Disney World, but on a whole other level. People often overlook that. Personally, my favorite scene of the ride is the scene with the drunk pirates at the end in Disneyland, but my number 2 is "we want the red head" scene as it is so iconic. You explained it perfectly:).
 
Disney Dad 3000

Disney Dad 3000

Well-Known Member
David2319 said:
Sounds like you had a blast! Did you get to ride Flight of Passage?
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Very good time for the most part. Typical summer crowd and heat but used to it. W are supposed to leave tomorrow but I think I'm going to try and be first in line while wife and kiddo sleep. Was going to try it tonight during EMH, but kid worn out and storms threw off the wait times while we're there. Was like a 3 hr wait at 1040.
 

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