Nrthwnd

^^ Agreed, Bob. ^ Thanks. But wait! There's more souvenirs to show! (o: This set of photos is about food and food-related souvenirs. As well as some nice bathroom things to bring back with me. Sorry that the first photo is a touch blurry. These photos were taken right after I returned home, jet lagged and all. 3 food sets of erasers (!) there; a large "sundae" from Toys'R'Us that is actually a pen-holder; tea and coffee mugs from TDL; chopsticks and toothpicks holder; Skinkansen kids meal holder; car air freshner; beside it - a toy drinks dispenser machine, with candy! Gift food, boxed from Fuji-Q (grapes) and Nagashima Spaland (octagon); Kit Kat bars; Pepsi w/action figure; small juice glasses orig.with sake sold in them; lots of grape flavoured candy; small bottle that had "Straight Tea" in it, lol! Mainly for the bathroom, but still - "condiment" bath gels? How about pepper sauce bath gels? Facecloths from TDS and Wonder Rakutenchi; bath salts from convenience stores; soaps (apple and pineapple!) from Kijima & NagSpa shops; "mouthwash glass" from awesome Aquarium at Sea Paradise park.

I think I suggested this one, after my 2007 tour with TPR to Japan. Nevertheless... Calpis (big brand name - Calpico) It's a Japanese-created soft drink whose taste is actually difficult (for myself) to describe. But it's imported/sold locally here, and flavoured too! How about the sweet taste of ..... Aloe Vera??? Truth. And it's light green in colour! And actually tasty, too, (Also in easy-to-mix concentrated form, too.)

Hugs are always for good. It seems to me we just don't don't do it as much as we (me) used to.

Yes, my partner. Do you buy theme park souvenirs, to use at home? (like soaps, food)

^ Hi Mark! Yeah sadly, I picked up only two postcards from the whole trip. And these two weren't even from a theme park, LOL! I picked them up at the (last) hotel's convenience shop. One of that "famous wave" (I keep forgetting what that's all about, sorry) and of course, the wonderful Shinkansen = <3 Bullet Train! <3 So these sets of souvenirs in photos were collected and bought mainly for wearing....and waving? Here we go... The white hankerchief I won from the duck race at Wonder Rakutenchi; a cap from Fuji-Q (!); wrist bands from TokyoDisney and Fuji; another (now lost) kerchief from TDL; and this year's EARS! Pins from Universal (as welcome gifts, Thankyou USJ!), and Disney; free pins attached to bought drinks; a Disney pinbag; and a sad lonely (one only) fridge magnet from Cosmoworld. And I ended up buying SIX fans! All great ("We are Happy Hippies!" on yellow one, Pokemon below it), and the (red plastic) one from Disney even lit up! And two light-up neckthings from TDS' Fantasmic! and TDL's Monster,Inc. All very "cool" stuff, heh heh. And just to show I actually USE some of these souvenirs... Here I am at the Opening Night (Aug.11) of our queer film festival, Out On Screen. My Japanese pig anime' shirt on , light-up TDL fan in hand, and Fantasmic! around my neck, .

I remember when they turned Hellevator into an "upcharge ride" during the PNE run, and hardly anybody rode it during the fair. Now "the word I heard" is, that Atmosfear gets to be an upcharge for next year's fair, and Hellevator, won't. But - why can't they drop the upcharge idea for both of them in the first place? I mean, the Evolution and the Drop Zone are so low capacity, I fully understand there be a (possible) need for such a thing as upcharging for them. Maintenance, ride ops and all. But still - I think this will definitely be a Big Mistake at next year's fair, if management goes thru with that idea. Tune in and find out...

Red Burrito It's local, it's mexican and it's good and fast! Ole'!

"Coyote" Joni Mitchell from The Band's The Last Waltz album

^ LOL, EB! And to answer your 3 questions.... #1 - No. #2 - I brought everything back with me and did not ship anything home ahead of me. I did buy a new cloth bag, that I was allowed to bring on as carry-on for my flight home, along with my Balder backpack! (o: #3 - Our house is pretty big, so I think everything will fit into it just fine, heh heh. Here's a sampling of everything I brought back with me. One is what I call the "assorted stuff" group. And the second is from the soon-to-close Cirque du Soleil production of ZED. An ashtray from Nasu Highland; a pressed penny from Sea Paradise; an outdoor rainbow mobile hanger from Parque Espana; the only two postcards I bought on the entire tour... all on top of the cloth bag I bought and used to haul some of the lot home, heh heh. The ZED stuff. Souvenir programme, a washcloth and a Cirque wristwatch. I already owned the wonderful CD of the show, when it was first released over a year ago. And here's the cd soundtrack of the wonderful ZED - closing 12/31/11 at TDLR.

And now it's time to get home, do the laundry and sort out allllll of those souvenirs I bought and brought back with me, LOL! First the leaving Japan, then just the photos of the TONS of souvenirs all out on the floor, before I sort them all out into 'groups'. Enjoy the mess... The night before leaving - outside and up above the bar I had my last beers. Ominous, hmm? And one last shot of The Gang on My bag, lol! Before I dismantle it and pack it all away, to travel home. From the bus, from hotel to airport - that's Big Thunder in TDL on the left, Mt.Prometheus in TDS on the right. Bye bye Tokyo Disney Resort! Till next visit! And I am back home! With laundry to do! (o: Laundry done. And this is all the t-shirts I bought and/or collected on the tour. And I also bought a nice new pair of rubber boots/wellies for our rainy days here in Vancouver. The Pile of Bags that all the souvenirs were brought back, in. Pile of Souvenirs - left side. Pile of Souvenirs - right side. The whole mess of stuff.

Just dumb. Period. I don't care what country it happens in - it's dangerous, it could stop the ride operations totally, if "something" did happen. And thereby ruin the ride for everybody else in line. Idiots. Drunk or sober.

It's not a rant, but... It's been a month since the passing of our beautiful, wonderful cat, Camille. It's tough to let go.

Last day. Last full day at a park. Last coaster in the evening. It had to end sometime, lol. Nasu Highland was a great park to make our last day in Japan. Filled with coasters and all sorts of flat rides and entertainment, it made for a really enjoyable final day of the tour. Including a great afternoon buffet luncheon with everybody, before we packed up and headed back to our hotel and The Last Coaster. I didn't take any pix of Galaxy Express 999, so Robb and others have/had covered it in their TRs, thankyou! This is all of Nasu Highland. And then, to home - and allll of those souvenirssssss. Enjoy the photos. One more day. One more park. One more skywheel... Nasu Highland! We got ERT, and were led to the back of the park where all the coasters were! In all different colours, too! Very cool to see that. Great themeing to see along the way, to the coasters. On the left, Bat Flyer, in back there - Fright Flight, and all around, The Flume of the park. Me, Rosie and the park's LEGO Building in behind us! And Panic Drive, a wild mouse car coaster thingie, to the left in back there. Holger, and Rosie join me as we're about to see POKEMON 4D! And it was great! Even if we didn't totally understand it, lol! "It's A Fruity Skywheel, After All.." Of course we rode it! I think we were Pineapple Car. And in back there, Fright Flight in it's wild colour combo-ing. Neat colouring paint job, for the Kiddy Whip down below us. The parks Rapids Ride. The loading station looked like a giant Aztec Birthday Cake with candles on it, to me, LOL! I heard it was a slow-loader. Will have to find out if it is or not, next visit. Most of the coasters in the park, in back there. Was fascinating to see them all painted in those bright colours, lol. Holger in his Balloon Ride cab (me and Rosie were in another) and Fright Flight in back , and the new indoor coaster Shinpi, behind Holger. A nice "busy shot" of the park. I liked it. I liked this double-decker even though it sooo reminded me of Great America's, lol. But I liked the way it was done, and especially my fave mythical beastie, the Pegasus, up there with the others. (o: Before our last meal together - I found Mike! - in a thick "miso soup" like...stuff - to make the feet feel better. Thanks Nasu Highland! Some of the group there - and some of the buffet in front, heh heh. Good food it was. See ya, guys! Another group shot - but quick! - Fran needs his smoke break! Bye everybody! Robb, me and Elissa. What IS Robb smiling "that way," about...? And I look pretty dazed, myself lol. Elissa of course, looks per - fect! Thankyou guys so much, for another awesome fantastic TPR Tour! BearHugs!!! After our meal, and some more park time - getting close to Back-to-Hotel Time. So this is back up near the park's entrance. Bye bye everybody. Great time, touring with you all. Here's Bob, my great room mate. And me. And my carry bag of critters attached, LOL! And then, back to one more coaster (Galaxy Express 999) and packing and... leaving for home the next day.

"Venice Is Sinking" Spirit of The West

When I have been to a great park like Tokyo Disney Sea lately.... and then see a great trip report and very nice (and different) photos that you have taken of Europa Park.... I need a lottery win badly, so that I can go back to ALL my FAVE parks... like Tokyo Disney Sea. And Grona Lund. And Europa. The night photos look wonderful. I honestly believe this is one of those parks, where you need an extra day, just to tour around (and EAT around, LOL) the park itself, hardly riding rides or coasters. Just enjoying the themeing and atmosphere of it all. Thankyou for sharing your recent trip with us!

What Elissa and Hanno said, above. And - I never have gotten bored walking around and around Disney Sea. Tired, yes. Eventually. But never bored. Too much awesome themeing. Small details not seen before. The American Waterfront alone, yields tons of stuff to see and enjoy. Epcot is laid out as the map shows - and except for several here-and-there surprises in a few of the Showcase pavillions ~ Yes to UK and it's gardens! ~ it has become somewhat cut-and-dried, to me, IMhO. Diseny Sea could take much longer to move around, than EPCOT does. But I'd never notice it, lol. (EDIT To ADD: Disney Sea has exactly the same kind of up-the-middle escape route, not easily marked on it's maps, like the one is Disney Paris is noted. But it helped me get from Raging Spirits up to the entrance, back to my hotel to change a camera battery - and back into the park all under an hour, with monorail travel! I was very impressed, how well the access path system worked there at TDS.)

^ Ouch! Glad to hear (I assume) you and family are alright? Better the car than..... My rant - am totally tired and fed up with these stupid stupid arguments me and my partner put each other thru. We've been together nearly forty years now, and with some really heavy stuff going on and happening around us, and involving us, lately.... it's just getting to be really really energy-draining, at my age, now. And I feel, nowadays, it's better to just find an 'out,' go for it, and take the consequences afterwards of it. But at least, usually then, things have "quieted down." Still - I usually (now) have to give up stuff and compromise more than I feel he's ever having to. Grrrr. This one's resolving slowly - but it's a bad cycle. I hate it. I contribute to it. So does he. We're both to blame.

^ & ^^^ Lucky, lucky you two, lol! We saw a show in the last week's run (mid-July) of a locally produced professional production of HS, and although it was really really good (And like you rosscoe, I had not seen any staged production of it, till now.) I do envy you guys getting to see and hear Winokur and Fierstein et al at the Bowl. Green with envy - wish they'd made a DVD of it, HINT.

If it was for Tokyo Disney Resort.... and Tokyo Disney Sea... I'd be there. And buy it. And I would move, too! (Just kidding, to partner - but on second thought....hmmm.)

Write Stefan, Write! It's all great. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and impressions and photos and words about your tour.... Um...when do we go back, again?

^Congrats on your Best Actress nomination! How exciting and fun to be recognized for your work. "Break legs" up to the awards podium, lol!

^ Sorry Larry, I immediately thought that the naming of that beer spot might be a 'nod' to that upscale private restaurant Club 33 at Disneyland, above the Pirates of the Caribbean?

I think that looking for, and (sometimes) finding the "Hidden Hightowers" in all the themeing through-out Disney Sea was great! A definite (IMHO) better change from the Hidden Mickeys etc etc. everybody expects to find. Next time I am there, I intend to photograph them like you did at Indy, larry. Great TR by the way. I liked how you've found things that a lot of us never did. Like that beer place on the pier! I mean, "33"? How in heck did I miss that one, LOL? Must check that out, hopefully still there, next visit. Looking forward to more photos and commentary.

A bottle of (Imported!) Kokanee ("Glacier Fresh Beer") right here, right now. 'Leftovers' from our annual hot tub party, lol.

It was so cool when the volcanoe "went off", day or night. Great TR, Hanno.