Theme Park Review's 2008 Asia Tour!

Just got my Bag 'o' Crap from the caption contest! Woo hoo! Thank you, Robb and Elissa.

I just got mine as well !!! Thanks !! Very cool stuff. Lots of little surprises !!

Is the 10 Inversion coaster at Chimelong Paradise the same as Collosus at Thorpe Park?

Is the 10 Inversion coaster at Chimelong Paradise the same as Collosus at Thorpe Park?

Yes it is. Exactly the same.

--Robb

And now...part 3 of 4 Tokyo Disneyland Resort Photos!!!

Ooooh..Space Mountain all lit up...pretty!

OMG...does that say 140 minute standby with all FastPass sold out? YUP!

"What do you mean no pin trading at Tokyo Disney???"

"Hey Dale, who put the 'kick me' sign on your back?"

"I think I want to go on Buzz Light year...no I think I want to go on Pooh...no maybe Haunted Mansion..."

Not in the shot - Donald Duck wearing a Scream Mask holding a gun.

No, we're not at Universal...

SEE!

The entrance to DisneySea is very dark. No, it's not night time, it looks like this all day long. Weird.

We see you active volcano!

From some angles the lighting is very "minimalist" but it works so well!

"And this hours random popcorn flavor is Sea Salt!" (which oddly enough tastes just like normal salted popcorn!)

"Intense Shaking and Turbulence!" For some reason, Raging Spirits ran pretty smooth this visit!

There is a train there, it's just cloaked.

"Grrr! I'm the god of ANGRY FIRE!!! GIVE ME SOME CANDY!"

Little Miss Sitting on Fake Genie.

Yup, still active.

You never get sick of this ride, it's just "perfect" in every way.

"Is this floppy gyoza kosher?"

Aww, good thing Big Bird is around to help hold up the bottle!

Ooh..."Almost Good Tower" lookin' SEXXXXXY!

And OMG! Another angle of sexy almost good tower!

Flat Shiriki says "Which do I eat first? The bird or the baby?"

To view this photo correctly, please stand slightly cooked to one side. We aren't going to tell you which side, but if you really do not know which way to stand you can ASK DAN! mrt0ad13@aol.com We recommend you email Dan and ask him "Learning towards which direction should I stand to view this photo?"

Our hotel was amazing. I cannot stress how great it was staying on property. While some of the hotels here can be quite expensive, look into them as you may find some good deals to be had.

Now THAT is what a castle should look like!

"I thought you said we were getting my picture with Chip N' Dale?"

Can you find the hidden Mickey in this picture?

Here is the Mickey Mouse Revue. Originally opened at Walt Disney World in the 70s and moved here when Tokyo Disneyland opened.

The show features all the classic "Disney and Friends" characters as animatronics.

Ok, so it also features some apes, bunnies, and elephants too!

Take a really good look as all this will be gone VERY soon!

Bye bye Mickey! Soon you will be replaced with a 4D movie!

Did we mention that they have a castle that you can see from outside the park?

When you see this, you know that very soon...

...YOU WILL COME FACE TO FACE WITH THE EVIL LAVA MONSTER THAT WILL EAT YOUR SOUL!!!!

This is Tokyo Disneyland #25. I personally find this the best of the 30 Tokyo Disneylands.

Ok, so this is why Tokyo Disneyland is so amazing...while this may look like a normal "stroller parking" it is not. This is actually found about 2/3 of the way through the Pooh queue so that you can have your stroller in the line while you wait and then you come to this section, park your stroller to wait the last 1/3 of the queue, and they nice Japanese cast members take your stroller and line it up so it's ready for you when you exit the ride!

Hundred Acre Wood cost over a Hundred Million Dollars!

So random note...go to the park when it's raining! It looks like this!

Space Mountain only had a 15 minute wait this day!

So one day it's 140 minute wait for Big Thunder Mountain, the next day, due to the rain (and it wasn't even raining that hard) the place was a ghost town!

OMG!!! PEOPLE!!!

It is not often you see the entrance plaza this EMPTY!

Can you spot Elissa and KidTums in this photo of all the aliens? I can't.

Hey look! They've already got the Cars Land toys!

Cutest photo ever? I think so!

Yay! Star Tours was open! (Ok, so I'm only slightly excited because it was closed on our last two visits...) LIGHT-O SPEEEED-O!!!!! (No, seriously, it actually says that, I'm not just making fun of the Japanese!)

Oooh, what is this I see...something new?

That's ride! In Ride and Go Seek you'll be able to discover camcorders, Blu-Ray Players, and all sorts of other electronics made by Panasonic.

All I've heard about this ride is it's supposed to be "Toy Story Mania on Asteroids" ....or maybe it was steroids...I dunno, it was some kind of iods which means the ride is going to KICK ASS.

"How many TPR members can you cram into an elevator?" If you know the answer... EMAIL DAN! mrt0ad13@aol.com

And if you haven't seen our Tokyo Disneyland Video yet, check it out HERE!

--Robb

Not in the shot - Donald Duck wearing a Scream Mask holding a gun.

I just thought they were enjoying Bench: The Ride!

Great TR as usual.

DisneySea look incredible! When ever I think of theming I always think of DisneySea.

Great TR Robb!

--James

BTW, looks like Monsters Inc is in previews and it looks totally awesome!

Would Journey to the Center of the Earth be compared to Test Track at WDW? From the videos, it seems like they both kind of have similar vehicles on similar tracks....you start off at a moderate speed, going around lefts and rights, ups and downs a bit....then BAM! You launch off (in Test Track) the 65mph and whip around the facility; (in Journey) it looks like you launch off, then up and out of the volcano area and finally come to a stop.

OF COURSE Test Track is probably nothing in comparison to Journey, but regardless if you were comparing them it'd be something like Cedar Point to SFMM; you'd say Millennium Force to Goliath.

Does that...make sense? I'm just trying to get a feel for the ride since I hear so many good things about the ride, and nearly all of it is hidden. It looks like such a cool attraction! Especially with ANGRY LAVA MONSTER!!!!!!

-JZ

^^

(after watching video...)

And as usual - - I miss Japan.

Especially DisneySea.

^^Yes Journey does essentially use the same vehicle system as Test Track. I also believe the next generation of this technology will be used at DCA for Carsland. Of course as you said theming wise Test Track does not compare to Journey.

While I agree with Robb that Journey is the near perfect ride, my only complaint is that its too short. Of course, I wouldn't be complaining about this if the ride wasn't awesome. After it was over I found myself wanting more.

I loved practically every ride at DisneySea. From Journey, to the "ToT With The Far Superior Story" and even the 20,000 League "submarines". I can't believe how many "E" ticket attractions they have put into that park and the atmosphere is truly amazing. Perhaps my biggest surprise was how much I loved Sinbad. We walked around the park for two days singing the lyrics, "The compass of your heart" simply because that is the only English portion of the song.

With them still having land in the back of the park for expansion and the rumors of Toy Storia Midway Mania coming to the American Waterfront, it seems that DisneySea will just keep getting better and better.

Thanks for the great update.

Shawn "I am a Tokyo Disney Fanboy" Coomer

Would Journey to the Center of the Earth be compared to Test Track at WDW? From the videos, it seems like they both kind of have similar vehicles on similar tracks....you start off at a moderate speed, going around lefts and rights, ups and downs a bit....then BAM! You launch off (in Test Track) the 65mph and whip around the facility; (in Journey) it looks like you launch off, then up and out of the volcano area and finally come to a stop.

 

OF COURSE Test Track is probably nothing in comparison to Journey, but regardless if you were comparing them it'd be something like Cedar Point to SFMM; you'd say Millennium Force to Goliath.

 

Does that...make sense? I'm just trying to get a feel for the ride since I hear so many good things about the ride, and nearly all of it is hidden. It looks like such a cool attraction! Especially with ANGRY LAVA MONSTER!!!!!!

 

-JZ

Test Track and Journey do use the same ride system, but they are completely different rides! It's like saying Aquatopia and Pooh's Hunny Hunt use the same ride system....

Great pictures! Monsters Inc looks incredible!

(^Or like TSMM and Monster's Inc...LOL )

It's like saying Aquatopia and Pooh's Hunny Hunt use the same ride system....

And you can compare both at the same resort, too!

And then there'll be a third-generation of that system, for (hopefully) the "Ratatouille" attraction at Walt Disney Studios in Paris, in a few years....

I miss Lava Monster.

Ok, so this is why Tokyo Disneyland is so amazing...while this may look like a normal "stroller parking" it is not. This is actually found about 2/3 of the way through the Pooh queue so that you can have your stroller in the line while you wait and then you come to this section, park your stroller to wait the last 1/3 of the queue, and they nice Japanese cast members take your stroller and line it up so it's ready for you when you exit the ride!

We do this at Tough to be a Bug and a Kilimanjaro Safaris as well. It's a side effect of being ADA compliant.

Great stuff! Thanks Robb. Hope to get there soon.

What are the best days of the week to go to TDL?

Yet again, thanks for even more fabulous piccies (that one of Kidtums with the Micky/Minnie Halloween stuffed toys was precious). And yes, the new Monster's Inc. ride looks FABULOUS! Wish they could revamp the DCA version like that.

I've been behind on getting online. I recieved my bag of crap from the caption contest last week - it is awesome! Thanks so much!

Perhaps my biggest surprise was how much I loved Sinbad. We walked around the park for two days singing the lyrics, "The compass of your heart" simply because that is the only English portion of the song.

We did that too! I loved the Pirate Ninja Evil Sailors the most though

I was very teary-eyed by the end of my last time on Sinbad, back in the TPR Sept.2007 tour. I just didn't want to go, and possibly never get to ride it again. At the time.

I also looked for any park CD that had the wonderful theme song and music of the attraction, but found out that since this new 're-do' of it had just premiered that same year, they hadn't recorded it for the public (yet) by the time I was there.

So - I am hoping that by the time I am there again, and as part of another TPR tour I hope, there will be something available with the music and/or song on it.

^

We also looked for a CD for Sinbad and also Splash Mountain but all we could find was the Halloween special CD.

Maybe next time...

Great update!

I also looked for any park CD that had the wonderful theme song and music of the attraction, but found out that since this new 're-do' of it had just premiered that same year, they hadn't recorded it for the public (yet) by the time I was there.

 

I have the re-scored soundtrack for this. PM me for an MP3.

^

 

We also looked for a CD for Sinbad and also Splash Mountain but all we could find was the Halloween special CD.

 

Maybe next time...

Ditto for Splash Mountain Tokyo...

Great trip report.. I'm dying to get out there!

I look at the video for their Monster's Inc. ride and all I can think is.. DCA got screwed :S. (Granted, I know that the ride is the way it is because they merely rethemed an old attraction.)