TPR in Japan - 2018 - Theme parks and Japanese Fun!

It looks like all of you had a great time at Fuji-Q! And I think too, the "Haunted Hospital" was in need of "something"

in it's place, when we were there in 2013. It had a good, long run.

 

The Fuji-shaped food is awesome!!! And that front entry "village" looks amazing too! So much done,

that looks to actually improve the park experience for everybody.

 

Did they still have the same kind FastPass system, like you and Elissa had to deal with back in 2013, Robb?

Or was it now more streamlined, and faster, etc? I'm just curious.

 

Thanks for the continued update of your TR, Robb. Much appreciated. I MISS JAPAN.

Didn't get on the Lucky Cat? We really enjoyed that when we went a few weeks ago! Japan Cool (the splash boat) was closed when we went, as was panic clock and the hospital.

Didn't get on the Lucky Cat? We really enjoyed that when we went a few weeks ago!

This wasn't our first visit to the park. We've ridden it before and I didn't find it all that amazing.

looks like y'all had an incredible time in Japan..can't believe you were there a month and if flew by so quickly.

 

thank you again so much for the reports! Loved following along both on Twitter and on here. not quite as good as actually being there with you, but a nice consolation prize for those of us stuck here in the States (or wherever a TPR member might live)

 

wonderful report thus far, and just as excited for the final installment (s)? .. .back at Tokyo Disney.

Day Twenty Three - Benyland & Lina World!

 

Today we traveled 300 kilometers north of Tokyo for a couple of smaller, quirky, but fun parks that we hadn't been to in about ten years. Both of them feature some pretty "interesting" rides and the parks themselves are nice so we thought we'd go a little north today and check out these places once again...

 

Welcome to Benyland! Disneyland, this is not!

Starting our day off with the Choo-Choo Train Jet Coaster!

Choo! Choo!

Seriously, though, this ride was a lot of fun!

Benyland is an interesting park... The grounds are actually VERY nice and well kept. We saw staff operating rides, and then when they were done, went back to trimming hedges. Seriously! lol

I'm not so sure what to make of this sign, but there it is!

Cyclone is an Arrow Mine Train...

And it's everything you would expect from old-school Arrow "Coat Hanger" designed goodness!

They also have an Arrow Corkscrew...

And yes, you get corkscrewed on it!

Doesn't this trash can look like someone stole it from Disney???

This was an odd flat ride. I'm not sure I've seen it before. But it just looked like "Shovel: The Ride." It wasn't terribly amazing.

Boo!

Oh yeah, they also have one of those awesome Zamperla suspended kiddie Fiesta Express coaster! lol

If you ever wanted to be a shrimp...

...or an ice cream cone, now you CAN at Benyland! yay!

Nice park, though. This is most certainly a worthy stop in the northern part of Japan.

Next stop was Lina World. Another smaller park that we've been to before, but quite enjoyed for it's quirkiness.

Another park with a nicely landscaped entrance.

Boobs.

The whole park has this interesting "woodsy" feel to it and some of it was nicely kept up, other parts looked like it had seen better days.

Upon arrival to the "Jetcorster" we were slightly disappointed that they had fixed their spelling mistake!

Aha! But we found that it STILL exists on some signs!

The ride itself is interesting as it is the text book definition of the "Figure 8" roller coaster.

It does stuff.

People rode it. It didn't kill us. So that's a good thing!

I love the little "shield" this log flume has installed on it! lol

"We don't want your fake comfort animals here!"

The next coaster was both funny and not! lol

Funny in that when you weren't riding it, you got to watch other people suffer in pain! lol

But "not" when you were riding it and you're that person!

The Hello Kitty area was pretty much all closed up.

It looked like it had seen better days and I hope they re-do this area.

They did, however have a Sanrio themed dark ride...

Yep, there it is.

There was a lot of glowy, blinky lights...

And characters that you probably know if you like Sanrio characters.

Hello, guys!

So happy to see this game is still just as popular in Japan!

And make sure you pick up plenty of Girly Dolls on your way out of the park! lol

Lina World - Nice park. Needs a little bit of love, but still a fun place!

The nice thing about base camping at Tokyo Disney is that every time you come back home, you get to see this sign!

Tonight we didn't have time to visit the parks so instead we went into Iskpiari for dinner.

Pitta 00 is an Italian place we've been coming to since we first started visiting Tokyo Disney 14 years ago...

It hasn't changed much and it's still REALLY GOOD!

Even better when they make your pasta right in the cheese wheel!

Add a few snapchat filters and now you're in theme with the area!

Minnie Kristen enjoying her pasta!

This is just how Janice normally looks.

Pac-Man pizza FTW!

Seriously, the pizza here is great! We always recommend this place when visiting Ikspiari!

 

Now, POST YOUR COMMENTS!!!! After all, we took the time to write this report, the least you can do is post something nice about it!

 

Click HERE for Part Twenty Four of our TPR Japan 2018 Report!

Edited July 3, 2018 by robbalvey

Great report! Benyland and Lina World definitely look like two quirky parks.

 

And I was looking for somewhere to eat before leaving for my flight. Pitta 00 looks perfect!

that last pizza looks absolutely incredible.

 

wow.

 

 

love the smaller parks too. . hehe.. posting inside a shrimp! it's like human sushi.

the apparition mannequins are really neat too.

 

question: has Hello Kitty gone down in popularity in Japan? (wondering because of the apparently neglected Hello Kitty coaster).

 

she's there in the Sanrio dark ride, so the characters seem to still be popular enough, but wondering if HK herself has declined in popularity? did you notice anything like that during your trip?

Bit late, but glad to hear I wasn't crazy for thinking Fuji-Q was actually pretty good recently. Definitely hoping to see them continue the trend!

question: has Hello Kitty gone down in popularity in Japan? (wondering because of the apparently neglected Hello Kitty coaster).

 

she's there in the Sanrio dark ride, so the characters seem to still be popular enough, but wondering if HK herself has declined in popularity? did you notice anything like that during your trip?

I'd say kind of like a Mickey Mouse scenario with her: while still arguably the most recognizable of the Sanrio characters, definitely not the most prevalent, especially with newer characters popping up (e.g. Gudetama, Aggretsuko).

I've been scrolling through pictures and captions of your Japan trip telling myself that I'll stop in a couple minutes and go to bed. That was an hour ago. Looks like you guys had a blast. I'm going to be tired, tomorrow.

Day Twenty Four - Tokyo DisneySEA!

 

For the next four days we would be our "official" days at Tokyo Disney! Yes, the six visits made to Tokyo Disney previous were just "bonus" visits! We ended up taking 15,000 photos during this trip and probably five or six thousand of them were all at Tokyo Disney. So there is a LOT I still haven't posted yet. The most difficult part about the next few updates is choosing what to post. I'm going to start with the updates I did on Twitter since they tell more of a story (sort of) and then after I will probably post a stupid amount of random photos from Tokyo Disney just "because."

 

So enjoy the next few updates from Tokyo Disney!

 

Day Twenty Four - Tokyo DisneySEA

 

What can be said about this park that hasn't been said already. It is the most beautiful park in the world some of Disney's top attractions and hands down is my favorite park on the planet. I could spend countless days here, sometimes not riding a single thing and still have an amazing day.

 

I feel like the way I do Tokyo Disney parks is very different from your typical visitor and is not that different from how I visit my local Walt Disney World parks in Orlando. I have been here so many times now that I'm just as okay riding stuff as I am not riding stuff. And as much as I love all the attractions and will happily ride them over and over again, just being immersed into the atmosphere of the park is almost enough for me. If I didn't get on a certain attraction this time, I know I've done it in the past and I know I'll ride it again in the future, and there were actually quite a few things I didn't ride or go see this visit, and I was perfectly fine with that.

 

I know it's a strange way to visit a park, but it's completely "stress & hassle free" and for me it just makes my park visits that much more enjoyable.

 

Onto some photos & video!

 

I will simply never tire of this view!

 

Or this view...

 

Thematically, Tokyo DisneySEA’s version of Tower of Terror is by far the best.

 

And it’s one of the top attractions Walt Disney Imagineering has created!

 

There are a few things in this world that no matter how many times I walk past it, I always have to take a photo. This is one of those things!

 

So one of our TPR members randomly got the "popcorn pass" during the 35 Happiest Celebration! (And yes, ShellieMay is now officially a TPR member!)

 

Let me explain... Do you remember the "Year of a million dreams" at Walt Disney World? Tokyo Disney is doing something very similar where randomly throughout your day, guests may receive little "magical moments" that will add to your visit. This popcorn pass is one of those things! (And those guys ended up getting 17 boxes of popcorn that day with it!)

 

I will tell you that lots of time was spent in the Duffy store this visit!

 

Many thousands of Yen was spent on the best plush animals money can buy!

 

Megan has to choose the "perfect" StellaLou!

 

ShellieMay was a little too naked so we bought her a costume!

 

HAPPY MARCHING FUN!

 

StellaLou cosplaying as ShellieMay?

 

Can you guess which popcorn flavor Elissa is having? Hint: It’s very exotic!!!

 

It is always awesome catching the volcano when it is erupting!

 

There are times walking around DisneySEA when I have to remind myself that I am in a "theme park."

 

I have to tell myself that quite a bit, actually.

 

I have been on Tower of Terror at Tokyo DisneySEA more times than I can count...

 

...and I still cannot get over how well themed this ride is and how impressed I am with the attention to detail.

 

Apparently Harrison Hightower has kept records on cannibalism! lol

 

Love the detail!

 

We all loved Tower! (We includes ShellieMay and StellaLou!)

 

WOODY!!!! DO NOT EAT SHELLIEMAY!!! She is not a gummy bear!

 

These little guys are cute AND delicious!!! Just like veal!!!

 

What's this??? A Buzz Lightyear transformer??? Watch this video on how it works...

 

[twitter]

[/twitter]

 

HAPPY MARCHING FUN!!!

 

Taking a break to our favourite Yakitori place in Shibuya for one last “meat on sticks” meal!

 

And yes, even ShellieMay approves of this meal!

 

[twitter]

[/twitter]

 

We are on the monorail heading back to our happy place!

 

Made it back in the park to catch the last 10 minutes of Fantasmic! That’s a huge bunch of fire, BTW! And yes, this is by far the best version of the show!

 

In the “Tokyo Disney does it better than any other park that has this ride system” department, I give you Indiana Jones.

 

[twitter]

[/twitter]

 

Shout out to this guy making a flashlight Mickey Mouse! I swear the Cast Members here are the nicest, friendliest, most respectful, fun, charming, just want to make you hug every one of them & honestly make the world a better place! We you!

 

I love all these Mickey statues they have in both parks for the 35 Happiest Celebration!

 

And the lighting on them at night is wonderful!

 

Raging Spirits isn't a great coaster, but it's a "good" coaster and the theming of the ride, especially at night makes up for it!

 

How's it going Chandu?

 

ShellieMay had her own row on Sindbad!

 

[twitter]

[/twitter]

 

The volcano is looking quite active tonight!

 

20,000 Leagues is great to ride at night because there is never any line! And your eyes always seem to adjust better to the sets in the ride also.

 

SQUID!!!

 

I love all this attention to detail on the Indy ride!

 

This doesn’t NEED to exist but we are sure happy that it does! Goodnight from Tokyo DisneySea!

 

Now, POST YOUR COMMENTS!!!! After all, we took the time to write this report, the least you can do is post something nice about it!

 

Click HERE for part Twenty Five of our TPR Japan 2018 Trip update!

Calico System.nltrack

Broken_[R]_(Real).nlpack

Edited July 8, 2018 by robbalvey

June went by so quickly! Happy to see you got to spend lots of time taking in all Tokyo Disney/Sea had to offer. It's really fun to read your takes on the little things the park does better than other Disney parks.

June went by so quickly! Happy to see you got to spend lots of time taking in all Tokyo Disney/Sea had to offer.

I think at 30 days this may have been our longest trip to Japan so far. The bonus day at Tokyo Disney was certainly helpful. I think I said it already but I shot something like 15,000 photos during this trip and haven't even scratched the surface of posting most of them. I have a stupid amount of video to go through also! lol

Actually speaking about video, I posted this today:

This actually didn't start happening until our last two days at Tokyo DisneySEA so I'm getting a little ahead of myself in this report, but this video clup is too good not to share!

"Splash Autopia" I love it! Great video, Robb.

^ “Get Wet Aquatopia” is what it’s called.

^ as I commented on Twitter (yes! I signed up for Twitter, JUST so I could follow and comment on ThemeParkReview).

 

"I don't really understand the point of Aquatopia, but it is awesome"

 

 

In particular, the get wet version. . . LOL. . surprised they don't have Mickey Mouse with a squirtgun perched on one of the rocks spraying everyone.

I've been waterfalled. Kinda fun in a weird erotic way.

^ “Get Wet Aquatopia” is what it’s called.

 

Noted.

surprised they don't have Mickey Mouse with a squirtgun perched on one of the rocks spraying everyone.

Careful what you wish for! During “Chip N Dale’s Summer Splash” they have the two characters on a boat with a firehose spraying down anyone within reach! lol

Edited July 4, 2018 by robbalvey

^^ HAHAHA. . that's wonderful!

Tokyo Disney is the best way to finish off a great trip.

I do want to address a few Fuji Q points as everyone seems to be throwing a LOT of praise in their direction...

 

- Yes, we had a really good day but it was not without effort, money, and some decent weather.

 

- Fujiyama was closed (and we knew it would be as it was scheduled down for the day on their calendar about a month out). We have found that the park is MUCH more manageable on weekdays due to crowds, but something will always be closed on a weekday so this is important to note when you schedule going to the park.

 

- We paid $12 x three rides for each participant on top of admission to get them a skip the line ticket for the other big three coasters. Even with minimal crowds these tickets were needed to avoid hour plus long lines. Sometimes these skip the line tickets are randomly not offered, sometimes they are sold out before you arrive, and sometimes you can't get them for what you want. They recently started selling them online three days prior to some day visits, but only to people with Japanese Yahoo accounts.

 

- Yes, operations were MUCH better, but Eejanaika opened with one train, and then put the second train on one hour after opening which was frustrating. Dodonpa has super low capacity, so with the skip the line tickets taking about half of each train and two, eight person trains running...well, you do the math on capacity there.

 

- Weather ended up mostly in our favor. Weather can really derail this park fast. We did have some wind on our visit which closed flat rides and the suspended junior coaster off and on throughout the day.

 

- Food was MUCH MUCH improved and their kiosk ordering system was AWESOME!!!

 

- We had a friend who went two days after we did and had a terrible time. Only one coaster was running, it had a 240min line, and they were not selling the fast pass for it. It was windy he said. That was the FujiQ visit we were used to. I hope that his visit was the anomaly these days and not ours, but we don't have enough visits and statistics to really confirm that the park has indeed turned the corner. I truly hope it has, as we had a great time and will return again soon!

^ I was going to ask about those Passes, like the ones you and Robb got for us in 2011 and 2013 trips. Still needed, huh?

Well, after so many of those hour+ queues on most (if not all) of the big rides, even on weekdays, that's not surprising.

HAPPY MARCHING FUN!!!

I do want to address a few Fuji Q points as everyone seems to be throwing a LOT of praise in their direction...

While I definitely don't have enough data points with personal visits, I'm happy to say I'm 2 for 2 on having good visits in the last year. I'm similarly hoping I didn't just catch the park on unusually good days both times, but I've been pretty happy with both my visits (even if I did run into a few of the snags you mentioned).