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The deadline for the 2008 tours' deposits is Sept.28, this Friday. After that date, Elissa and Robb will work out everything, and you will be notified by email as to whether you are on the tour or on the waiting list, etc. It can be a bit nervewracking I know - I (and others) went thru this in 2005, when the UK 2006 Tour was first offered. The Japan Tour offered last year was no different. A bit of anxiety I felt (A BIT???), but then E&R notified me accordingly, and all was well. And the Japan Tour of course, went fanOMGtastic. Just have patience. Only a few more days for the deadline, and then I'm sure they'll be on it in the following weeks, letting everybody know, etc.

Well yeah, 211 (currently polled) of us would certainly put the test to the "Maximum Patrons Allowed" in a any number of bars I've known thru the years, lol!

I totally agree on that. And me and Mike both hope the pain in your legs gradually went away, and left you with fond fastpass memories, instead. Again, awesome for you to do that for us, Peter. Many many thanks. And if you were having pain in your legs afterwards - remember how winded and close to a heart meltdown I was, that one (and thankfully only) time I left you guys at Peter Pan, to get fastpasses at Buzz? That was enough for me, I must tell you, heh heh. But - let's do it again at DisneyParis next year, shall we???

BUMP I also decided to do a little "photo shop" (hah) on one of the on-ride photos... (see below) I mean, we all gotta have our fangirls and fanboys, hmm? Hey Rich/sfne2005, great to see you again and tour around with you. (And thank the Sticker Gods for Parque Espana.... mini-stickers!) So who's got the fangirls/boys now, HUH? Smile and Grin.

Thanks. I was also The Only Canadian on the TPR Japan'07 Tour, too! Which was wierd and unique at the same time, heh heh. And I am sure Global had their logos somewhere in that park - just not on Corkscrew, heh heh. Or maybe it's when we have our annual fair there, The Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) in late August, that Global does it's thing with an on-site telecast booth, etc. Probably that.

^ You guys . So... what's the right word, here? Horny. Anyway! On to the next three Top Ten Picks of The TPR Japan Tour! #4 Japanese Efficiency & Cleanliness, Politeness & Friendliness A country full of pride in it's people and place. Most of us felt so guilty as to even consider dropping any bottles or garbage on the ground. And when entire crowds sit on the ground when waiting to either enter a park, or watch a parade, you know it's cleanliness at it's best. And the people were gracious, as helpful as they could be even under 'non-communication conditions,' and a friendliess (and all that gentle bowing) that just made me SMILE more and more as we toured more and more. I definitely want to come back and experience Japan again! #3 TOKYO DISNEY SEA Which I must confess, has it's own Top Ten List, lolol! So here: ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ #10 The Spaciousness, the Themeing.... the Night Lighting! Words cannot do this park justice. It was big, it was landscaped beyond imagination, it was... big. And to have an f-ing VOLCANOE as it's centerpiece icon??? Unheard of, for a Disney Park. Yeah there's AK, I know. Still... A wonderful look to an unebelieveable themepark. And nighttime lighting just made it all the more gorgeous and OMG to look at and admire. Plus active volcanoe activity nightly, heh heh! #9 Having Photos Taken with Complete Strangers = Fun! Best example I remember, is me sitting on a parked delivery van's seat while waiting for Big Band Beat show to start up. Four small ladies approach me and ask "for picture"? Sure I thought, starting to get off the truck. "Oh NO NO NO, we want picture with you!" And so I posed with four separate older Japanese women, as they each got their "for picture" with yours truly. Maybe it was the stickers all over my t-shirt. Maybe it was the towel tied around my head, bandana like. Maybe it was the EARS on top of my towel, LOL! I'll never know, but it was fun to sometimes be a part of somebody else's dream trip to this park. #8 Shows and Spectacles Easy to remember! In my last day at TDS, I took in first the daytime spectacle, "Legends of Mythica" ( in Med.Harbor); over to American Waterfront for "The Big Band Beat" awesome rocking live 20s-40s tribute stage show; then up to Mermaid Lagoon for Ariel's "Under The Sea" a Cirque de Soleil-like treat, that I eventually called a "quickie show" (Great visual and special effects but way too short, under 15 min. Could have been longer); then eventually waiting and taking in the HUGE, awesomely amazing "BraviSEAmo!" back in Mediterranean Harbor at night. It just couldn't get any better than all the shows I saw in this one park. #7 Food Glorious Food - Popcorns too! Many and varied, nicely priced and some with keepsake collectibles too, this park had it all, for all taste styles and pickiness. Including your fave flavor of POPCORN! Let's see: Curry, Soda, Strawberry, Coconut, Chocolate... even Capuccino! And all stands with MASSIVE keepsake large collectibles I saw many adults toting around and around, lol. #6 Journey To the Center of The Earth - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of The Crystal Skull Three of The Best Attractions any other park would be proud to have just one of. These were three faves, placed under a couple of more deserving mentions, IMhO. #5 An Oasis from TDL! Best example of this was the final day of our park hopper passes (most of us had a four-day one). A Friday. Waited early and got into Tokyo Disneyland, did my two fave attractions (HM/NBC, and Big Thunder) then hit a couple more souvenir shops (got my silhouette done after so many years, lol) and THEN hightailed it over to Tokyo Disney Sea - and stayed there the rest of the day.... mmmm. I thought I would go back to TDL later, but after a couple of hours of not-very-crowded park areas and a lovely non-busy lunch - it just never ocurred to me to go back, lol. And so I stayed and enjoyed My Park. Right through the spectacle of "BraviSEAmo!" And then did virtual walk-ons for everything I wanted to ride last, incl. Sinbad, Indy (9 times!), 20K, Aquatopia, Tower Of Terror, and Journey to The Center of The Earth. #4 Aquatopia A fun silly little boat/car ride that I went on and on again, trying to figure out the trackless patterns (yes this one was like Pooh over at TDL), and hoping to get The Car that would ride me thru a great little waterfall, lol! And an even better ride at night, with all the lighting on and IN the water and water effects and themeing. Hey - I even bought the candy dish car for this one, lol! An easy repeat just to reinforce one's smile.... #3 Sinbad's Storybook Voyage And it was "An Arabian World After All," LOL! I loved the attraction's theme song (even if I didn't understand any of the Japanese lyrics, lol)and lush orchestral working of it, the animatronics were 'on' with every voyage I took (over 6 times!) So happy this attraction was, I found myself thinking it was way happier than "The Happiest Cruise That Ever Sailed," heh heh. And, it was. I didn't want to leave the park w/o going on this just one more time. Again. #2 The Hightower TOWER OF TERROR Compared to basing this attraction on a past US television series, the TDS imagineers had their work cut out for them, working from scratch with an entirely new backstory etc. IMhO, they did not disappoint me, in the least. From the massive entrance into the building, thru the parlor pre-show area, with that mysterious disappearing "naughty idol" , through all the storage areas, to the elevator lifts - this ride just intrigued me more and more, to slow down and enjoy the 'atmosphere' of the experience. And I did, each and every time I went on it. I loved it all. It wasn't just the drop. It was true pure theater craft put into the pre-show, which WAS mainly the entire building, prior to boarding your lift car. Wonderfully, spectacularly amazing - and the drops were cool, too! Gift shop was great as well - my cc knows that for a fact, heh heh! #1 Location Location ... Locations!!! Seven ports of call. All starting through a massive huge Mediterranean Harbor "Main Street." They were all wonderful to walk through, enjoy, and just soak in ATMOSPHERE, as only Disney (and a couple of Billion Yen) could create. The lively American Waterfront (with a little Cape Cod on the side, lol); the streamlined futuristic Port Discovery; the lush and greenery-up-to the-eyeballs Lost River Delta; the massively ornate Arabian Coast; the cooly original undersea world of Mermaid Lagoon; and Mysterious Island located deep in the middle of one very active Mount Prometheus! It was all great no matter where I found myself. And again, the night lighting of every port just made it so much more than attractions and shows. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ #2 Old Tour Friends, New Tour Buds.... and A New Roomie! Every person on this tour deserves a mention if only for The Fact that WE DID IT, guys!!! We toured, we trained, we taxiied, we ran, climbed up and down stairs... this tour ROCKED and then some, heh heh. It was great to see so many of you from the prev.TPR UK Tour and chat on how things were going, between tours, etc. Special mention I must give though, to some touring buds I had for some of the parks, especially Mark/thrillerman1 and Adam/abgould (Us Three Caballeros, heh heh) on a few of the parks we hit; and Mike/miniviews, Peter/Loefet (We Three Amigos, lol) and eventually Ginny/ginny, for most of the Disney Resort touring. Peter was especially appreciated for his "fastpass aquisition skills" (ran like a demon, guys!), and we used him (hee hee) to full advantage in both parks. And of course my, "special ride bro" Brian/pagemaster_b for that awesome SPLASH Bandit (Yomuiriland) experience, LOLOL! And it great to have more women on the tours! Best three examples of this IMhO were on ours - Ginny, Falafel and the ever pornographic Louise - you were all great and wonderful to tour around with, compare attraction/park notes with, and generally chat with. I do hope we get to tour again in the near future. It was great! And Lou, I shall always remember our Wheel Ride together at Pal Pal. And for me, a better hotel room mate could not be found this time round, than in the guise of a "Truly Devoted - and Souvenir Demented - Father" like you, Shane. Your two boys are a really lucky couple of kids. I envied them, every time you appeared in the hotel room with another bagful of... stuff for them. And we divided the rooms up pretty good I thought. No muss or fuss - for us, eh? Happy to share it with you, and by all means let's do this again in future TPR tours, alrighty? Hugs. ~ ~ ~ And that's the next 3 Top Ten Picks for now. And in three days my #1 TOP PIC of the Japan Tour will be revealed. Also, I will be starting to post my TRIP REPORT this Wednesday/26th, so I hope you'll all join me for a great look-back at a truly amazing TPR tour experience. One that I know the majority of us "tourers" will never forget. Got the TPR Tour shirt, and added four more during the trip. Hmm. Not that many compared to everything else, huh? Me and Peter screaming "we want OFF" on Dodonpa at Fuji-Q park. I ended up calling it "Dumb-Dumb-Sh**" in response to the droning station 'music'. Ick.

^^ Didn't get back to TDS for Raging Spirits' re-opening, hmmm? But you did get some credits, and that's a good thing. Miss you already Peter. You and your "dashing style" to get our fastpasses, when (and which ones) needed, lol. Great touring around with you and Mike, and Mark and Adam, and Ginny, and ... WAAAAAAAAAAH. Miss everybody already, sniff sniff.

^ & ^^ Hey Mark and Adam! That was great fun chumming around with you through a few of the parks. And I have more pix of us, ready to post starting Wednesday, so I hope you enjoy what I have on you guys, lolol! I didn't do too badly, on ONLY five rolls of in-camera film! Think I greatly improved from the UK Tour, heh heh. You'll see.... And a reminder: Tomorrow, I post Top Ten Picks # 4, 3 and 2 with a few more related souvenirs and such to add to the posting! Kon bon wa.

Hmmm. And that's a .... good thing.

Somewhere in Europe. Starting June 22, 2008.

Just found out. He's left us, quietly just as he was with us in life. A genius in the art of not speaking but being able to tell a whole tale/story with just his body, spare props and a face that rivalled Charlie Chaplin in expression and emotion. Sad. And nothing else to say, really.

Our civic workers strike in Vancouver, Canada... Is still going... 66 days and counting... Yuck.

^ One of your blackouts is safe with me, roomie. How you doing since getting back, Shane? Your kids still going OMGOMGOMG over all the "stuff" you've bought and brought back for them? And have you saved at least one of those things for......Christmas maybe? Your concerned former roomie.

Thanks for posting your TRs. But one of the first photos I see that you've posted, made me go OMG - I know a few of them!!! Wish I could have added-on, but wasn't able to for this tour. Thanks for sharing what you've visited with the group, so far. OMG I know some of these people! (I hate you.) Some peeps have all the time, huh? (wink)

"My Junk" from the Orig.Broadway cast CD of Spring Awakening

Sorry, I forgot there's more than one "Playland" in North America, lol My home park in Vancouver, Canada is called Playland. Home to one of the top 25 (still, I hope?) wooden coasters in the world. Celebrating it's 50th Birthday next season! And that's about it for this crapular place. Here: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38879&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight= Take a look. Think some themeing of some/ANY kind would be good for it?

I finished scanning all my photos from the TPR Japan Tour! Looking good, they are. All... 105 of them!

"What You Want" from the orig.Brodway Cast CD of Legally Blonde: The Musical

NO ^ you take another 35 hours+ (just a number I thought up, lol) and rest, enjoy the memories of the trips you've just been on (and supremely organized, kiss kiss ) ---- and then get everybody caught up... Mmmm'k??? Just a suggest.

^^ Great and nicely varied collection you have there. I especially like the shot glasses, heh heh. I have a couple of shooter glasses myself (one for 'Air' at Alton Towers; other of DisneyParis) that I use regularly; coffee mugs and drinking glasses, too. I didn't think any other parks but the American Disney parks did 'currency' in them. What's the (is that a) Dora The Explorer dollar from? I got two flattened pennies at Tokyo Disney - one for Scary Teddy at HM/NBC (my little hero) and the Disney Resort Line (shows the mouse ears hand strap on the monorails). And managed to keep a few un-used Fastpasses from the Tokyo parks I didn't think I wouldn't use. Also a few from the Universal FastBooks that I just couldn't use up in time, before leaving the park. Fun stuff to keep and look at, from time to time. And hey - some of it you can even use in daily life, LOL!

Sorry to hear you lose a pet that way. Sucks. Am glad to hear they found somebody who did it, although that'll be tough to go through too I know, finding out who actually did it, etc. But glad to hear you've found another new member of your family! The pain of loss will subside eventually, in it's own way/time. Never entirely, but enough to make current things easier for you and your family. Looking forward to pix of the newbie in your brood, lol.

Not sleepy enough to get to bed, yet.

The song you pick just starts, once you lave the station and head for the lifthill. Unlike the onride sound systems that Disney puts together (Space Mountain; Rock "n Roller Coaster) and usually creates and times it's music with the length and ups/downs of the ride.... This was just a matter of: you pick what style of music you wanted (out of five choices), and the song started just after you left the station. Then, if the song happens to run longer than the coaster ride istelf - they just faded the song out when you reached the station. My fave was the Classic Rock selection, being the Beatles' "Get back." But I never heard the entire song since like I just said, the ride was shorter than the actual music , heh heh. Nothing more complicated than that. And for the $$$$ money they probably spent on this ride, I owuld have thought they would have done more in synch-ing the music with the ride's timing. Like Disney does. But it was still a nice coaster with a great time riding over and around the Universal buildings, hitting a couple of air pops and a helix before hitting the station. And at night, it was great-looking with star-like bursts of lights (comet-like?) streaking from the front car to the back of the trains. First roller coaster I have ever seen using on-train running lights like this. It might be something Universal might use in one of their future coasters in IOA and/or the US Studio parks. Was definitely very cool to ride.

Very nice TR. I would imagine the place takes on an even more festive "look" to it when the winter and actual Christmas seasons roll around, hmmm? But to maintain that kind of atmosphere in a non-holiday season can be pretty hard. It looks like the people at this park, do just fine. Maybe that's what our Playland should do - go with a really heavy seasonal theme to it. Would certainly be an improvement over "Parking Lot Chic" lol. Thanks for sharing your trip.

My most excellent feline companion, She Who Is Named CAMILLE, has been following my posting of my TOP TEN LIST of the TPR Japan Tour with most interest, especially looking forward to who (or what) will be The #1 Pick of The List. In between postings though, she is bored as heck, so she started her usual "look at me pose and look cute" thing nearby, making sure I was close by to see AND to of course, have the available camera for such cuteness and posing.... So here she is, looking cute, and as bored as ever, lol. And stay tuned for TOP TEN LIST (of the TPR Japan Tour) #4-2 on Monday. Kon bon wa. Nothing like looking cute, to pass the time away.