Tokyo Disney Resort- Best? Worst?

[ChrisFL]

Replying to Andys2992

Tokyo Disneyland Park
- Tomorrowland is a complete mess
- Land transitions are non existant
- Fantasyland is in need of a huge update and makeover
- Large empty spaces and walkways
- Glass ceiling over the Bazaar can be seen from Adventureland and Tomorrowland and ruins the theme
- Crowded most of the year
- Bad layout, Critter Country is a complete dead end at Splash Mountain
- Missing several staple rides
- Fireworks are to the left of the castle not behind, same show shared by both parks, cheap

Tokyo DisneySea
- Lacking rides for such a big park

Tomorrowland...it's definitely old school, having never been truly redesigned since its open. The Sci-Fi city that was designed by Eddie Sotto would have been built if DisneySea hadn't been green-lit instead.

Land transitions, large empty spaces, crowds and glass ceilings....ALL of these are symptomatic of the location. Tokyo gets snow, so they decided to provide a place for people to get shelter and still shop, dine, etc.

The large empty spaces were designed to be that way. Tokyo is one of the most crowded cities on earth, people are literally pushed into the subway trains daily, Disneyland was designed to be an escape from that, but even being 96% Japanese guests...small islands with a tiny fraction of the population of the U.S., they still get 13 to 15 million guests per year, at EACH park. So they are a victim of their own success, but both times I've been to the parks it hasn't been crowded and I was able to see almost every attraction I wanted to.

I'm not sure what staple rides Disneyland is missing, can you tell me which ones?

 

[AndyS2992]

Fair enough, I shall respond shortly. Just collecting images to back up my points lol

Ok, one point of mine is incorrect as they do in fact have three rides of which I believed they did not such as Jungle Cruise. Oops.

 

[ChrisFL]

Fair enough, I shall respond shortly. Just collecting images to back up my points lol

Ok, one point of mine is incorrect as they do in fact have three rides of which I believed they did not such as Jungle Cruise. Oops.

Yeah, they have the same or better versions of practically every attraction the U.S. Disneyland parks have.

As far as DisneySea, I don't think they're lacking in attractions at all, and the reason for that is the environments are so richly detailed and involving, they become attractions in themselves. One of the few rides I can equate to this is Everest, where the experience starts way before you actually get onto the ride vehicle itself.

The lands at DisneySea are much more focused and less broad than Disneyland and other parks.

 

[flynnibus]

Often glanced over in the gushing for TDL is that many portions of it are like a time warp to 1980 MK.. the TL design, Dumbo, etc. While in other areas they have expanded and added, in some odd ball ways it's frozen in time.

 

[AndyS2992]

Often glanced over in the gushing for TDL is that many portions of it are like a time warp to 1980 MK.. the TL design, Dumbo, etc. While in other areas they have expanded and added, in some odd ball ways it's frozen in time.

Exactly, this is what I don't like about it, very outdated. Dumbo needs replacing asap.

Just look at it And you can see Splash Mountain from Fantasyland..

 

[yeti]

^^^Not NEARLY as bad in person, minus the HM being there. Their FL is actually much nicer than WDW's overall. And I mean really....it is a spinner.

DisneySea has a better attraction lineup than Epcot, HS, or AK. Bam.

 

[WDWFigment]

Sort of like being able to see Tangled Tower from Haunted Mansion (MK) or Splash Mountain from Haunted Mansion (DL)?

No Disney theme park has perfect sight lines. This isn't to say we shouldn't be concerned with them, but I'd say that Tokyo Disneyland does as good of a job with sight lines as any Castle park, and Tokyo DisneySea does a better job than perhaps any other park. While Haunted Mansion in Fantasyland is a bit jarring for Americans, this isn't a theme park located in America.

To me, the notion that TDR is the worst Disney resort is so ludicrous that I don't think it even bears further addressing.

 

[AndyS2992]

Sort of like being able to see Tangled Tower from Haunted Mansion (MK) or Splash Mountain from Haunted Mansion (DL)?

No Disney theme park has perfect sight lines. This isn't to say we shouldn't be concerned with them, but I'd say that Tokyo Disneyland does as good of a job with sight lines as any Castle park, and Tokyo DisneySea does a better job than perhaps any other park. While Haunted Mansion in Fantasyland is a bit jarring for Americans, this isn't a theme park located in America.

To me, the notion that TDR is the worst Disney resort is so ludicrous that I don't think it even bears further addressing.

Why is Tokyo stuck in the 80's? No other Disney Resort has this problem. It still even uses the same out dated audio loops from the 80's, no other park uses them anymore. The Snow White ride is also the same as the original WDW one from the seventies. Tokyo Disneyland needs a huge refurbishment to bring it to modern standards.

 

[ChrisFL]

Why is Tokyo stuck in the 80's? No other Disney Resort has this problem. It still even uses the same out dated audio loops from the 80's, no other park uses them anymore. The Snow White ride is also the same as the original WDW one from the seventies. Tokyo Disneyland needs a huge refurbishment to bring it to modern standards.

I suppose its all depending on what you're focused on.

I prefer to focus on the high quality attractions themselves, the buildings that all look brand new (unless they're supposed to look otherwise), then incredible staff that beckon back to the old days of WDW in their service quality, the orderly nature of the guests, the lack of strollers and ECV's nearly running into you at every corner, the ability to have a nice, peaceful meal without toddlers running around rampant or lots of noise from loud guests and families.

Yes, part of that is cultural and not a symptom of the parks themselves, but it does all go to the overall park experience.

That, and DisneySEA is arguably the best second gate ever created, at least on par with Epcot in the 1980's, though they're much different.

 

[pheneix]

Greetings from Tokyo, where I am in the middle of a four day TDR adventure this week.
I will happily write a long post elaborating on how out of control amazing this resort is, but for now I have few random thoughts:
1.) No one here gives a damn about 80's aesthetics. Compared to the hyper futuristic architecture around metro Tokyo, OLC would be fighting a lost cause trying to look futuristic. As this stage they've left TL as is for so long retro is in again and everyone digs the setting.

2.) Tokyo Disneyland is the best of the Magic Kingdoms without any competition. This is coming from someone who has been to the big four in 2013 and knows that HK can't come close to the attraction roster that is available at TDL. Disneyland Paris might have been a nicer looking park when it opened, but it is NOT the better park to visit now. Operations count. And TDL's operations make it one of the absolute finest parks in the world to visit. Only Europa Park is run better.3.) DisneySea is one of the best parks in the world. Indisputable. Theming is beyond top notch and only Efteling in the Netherlands succeeds so well at making its environments feel like a living world as opposed to just a movie set.4.) Anyone who looks at pictures of wide open streets and complains about wasted space has clearly never visited this resort and seen how it operates. All those vast swaths of pavement = extended queues on the street. Always.More later: I'm going to bed so I can make it to Tokyo Disneyland when they open at 8:30 tomorrow.