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The Most Magical Kingdom of Them All: Tokyo Disneyland One little thing I forgot to mention last time was that this visit marks the second time I’ve been at Tokyo Disney with TPR during some sort of “anniversary” event. This year it’s the . . . . . . which I presume means this is the resort’s “35th anniversary.” Well, I was last here with TPR in 2013, and that was the 30th anniversary, so, let’s see, do the math . . . yep--35th anniversary. Tokyo Disneyland is the best of Disney’s “Magic Kingdoms,” which immediately puts it in the top two of theme parks worldwide. It was modeled after the park in Florida, but there are some notable differences, such as: 1. There’s no Liberty Square, so the Haunted Mansion is located in Fantasyland (Splash Mountain, is located just behind the Mansion). 2. Their Winnie the Pooh dark ride is a big step up from other versions, thanks to a trackless ride system, full animatronics (not just statues and cutouts), and just a higher general level of fun. (People who hate that “silly old bear” love this ride.) 3. Space Mountain is a clone of the California version. 4. The International Bazaar, their “Main Street,” is enclosed under a canopy (a very nice feature in a country where it rains quite bit). 5. This is no knock against the customer service at the Florida park, but TDL reaches their level, then takes it a step or two higher. Hurry up! The Monorail is almost here! “The ring came off my pudding can! Take my penknife, my good man.” I guarantee that you will be happy at least 35 times/day at Tokyo Disneyland. Most likely more. Just in case you missed this earlier, it’s the “35 Happiest Celebration.” Looks a lot like you’re in Florida here. Hmm--appears to be a mite busy today. This will siphon off some of that crowd. The dude with the black pack on his chest looks worried. Maybe he’s allergic to bee stings. Well, if you’re gonna have a lovely garden, you’re gonna need bees. Since we rode this first thing, the wait was fairly short. “A story about Winnie the Pooh, and how, in his selfish lust for honey, he invoked Satan to raise a storm that nearly destroyed the 100 Acre Wood. I love that story!” “I say, jolly fun shooting the rapids while standing on a bear butt, eh wot?” “Oh, bother! I never should’ve drawn that pentagram in Eeyore’s blood.” “Damn you, Pooh! You’ve doomed us all!" Thus did the Gates of Hell open . . . . . . and chaos was vomited forth! Welcome to the Ninth Circle of Pooh Corner Gift Shop. Dear USA: Please note how neatly the Japanese line up their strollers and learn from their example. Thank you. Nearly time for our Space Mountain Fast Passes. Note how close DisneySea is to Disneyland, even though the park’s entrances are so far apart. Sorry, folks, but Coca Cola now owns the galaxy. This door is for Pepsi drinkers. It leads to the icy vacuum of SPACE! Making Space Coke is really high tech. It is no less crowded now. Thought you should know. Looks like the 999 Happy Haunts are doing a little sprucing up. No more Fast Passes left, so the queue winds through here. But it’s a pretty fast-moving line. “Have a drink. Our fresh spring water tastes likes bourbon and will appear once you sign over your soul!” Hmm--I think this retaining wall needs some work. I’m surprised the homeowners association hasn’t fined them for this. Aw, poor Fluffy! That’s odd. I thought Fluffy ate Skimmer. Such a cozy little room--from which there is no way out! I want these light fixtures for my house. According to the “Ghost Hunters” app on my phone, there are absolutely no ghosts here . . . OH MY GOD! Stupid app. Hey, “Paul Tergyst”! Get it, guys? Come on, it’s funny! One more set of photos to come.

They seem very uptight about it in the Tower of Terror queue after the pre-show, but not anywhere else. Why, I have no idea.

^Chandu eating vegetable curry? He's a vegetarian tiger?

They did try running Griffon one year, but the splash pool kept freezing over. December is a tricky month in Williamsburg. Some years, it feels more like spring, while other years it's frigid.

If the temperature drops below 42 degrees, they can't run Alpengiest. I remember visiting the park during a spring snowstorm years ago. I thought it was funny that the coaster themed to a ski lodge couldn't run in the snow.

^Good to hear that the train will be running during Christmas Town, as the local scuttlebutt was that it was closed until next year.

Verbolten's line will be pretty long when the hordes arrive around noon.

If you get there before opening, you should be able to get in all the coasters before noon. It might be best to get InvadR out of the way first, as it'll have a long line by noon. Tempesto is low capacity, too. (Plus, there's always Quick Queue). Here's the order of the shows based on quality: Monster Stomp, Fiends, and Night Beats Revamped. (None of them are really "bad," though--Night Beats in the Festhaus is the most "family friendly.") Howl to Coexist (wolf show) is worth seeing, too. The best of the haunts are Vault XX, Demented Dimensions, and Dystopia. Line will be long for the mazes early in the evening, but there's always Quick Queue (highly recommended for a Howl-o-Scream weekend night). Crappy weather might keep the crowds down on Saturday.

One last look at a great first day at DisneySea! Lost River Delta is yet another beautifully themed area that no one has been able to top. Once again, if you disagree, tell it too Shiriki! Temple of the Cyrstal Skull has nothing to do with the last Indiana Jones flick. I’ll let you decide if that’s good or bad. I think this was a sign for an Aztec chiropractor’s office. Oh no! Indy’s found the Necronomicon! Ash better load his boomstick and warm up his chain saw. Hmm--the fan in Indy’s office looks rather “Hidden Mickeyish.” Sigh! I really miss this park. So beautiful. Mickey, Donald says the Three Caballeros is his “thing.” Why are you copying his “thing”? Uh oh! Sudden bubble shower! Head for cover! I’m sure that the building and queue for the latest version of Soarin’ will look better than all the other versions. This park is simply a pleasure to walk through, even if you don’t ride a thing. Then again, taking a boat on a hot day is nice, too. I still have yet to ride the gondolas. Sounds like a good reason to come back. There’s a very nice bar on this ship. Eek! We’re listing! Both Indy and Samuel Jackson are sick of Jock's motherf***in’ snake on this motherf***in’ plane! Raging Spirits is a good example of of how to take a lemon and make lemonade. Actual, honest-to-god live bird. This is my favorite roller-coaster sign ever. It lights up, dings, and spins when the train goes through the loop. I like how this giant stone head rocks back and forth. This is essentially a beautifully themed, Intamin-built Pinfari-type ride . . . . . . that the Japanese rebuilt and made into a decent coaster, rather than a torture device. "I'm the freakin' Caballero, Mickey! Not you!" Yay! Fast Pass time! This is a wonderfully ironic quote from Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” The line is spoken by Pistol, a lowly cutpurse. Hightower, the rich "collector" of anicent artifacts, is, of course, a thief of a somewhat higher order. The best queue of any Tower of Terror ride. I haven’t seen the Guardians of the Galaxy version yet, though. Harrison Hightower was such a humble, self-effacing man. He painted this himself, you know--while drunk. Oh, Shiriki! You adorable little imp! Sending people to their doom! Time to head out. But we’ll be back after some time at Tokyo Disneyland. But that's all for this update.

Oh, that was damn good calamari. Back to DisneySea! It’s always nice to walk through Mermaid Lagoon. First, it’s a beautifully done kids area. Second, it’s indoors and air conditioned. Third, there are come-hither mermaid plushes for all you pervs out there to snuggle with. Arabian Coast is home to one of my favorite TDS attractions. D’oh! Stupid Sultan! Well, some people go there for the Sultan’s balls--with maple cream. “Oh, did someone say ‘balls’? Wish I had me some of them!” “Hey, no wishin’ for balls! This is a family park. Well, unless they’re ‘maple cream balls.’” OK, we were distracted there for a moment. Let’s forget about maple cream balls and ride one of my favorite TDS attractions, . . . . . . Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage. “Good luck, Sindbad!” “The local harlots will miss you.” “But the mermaids will be happy to fill in.” Sindbad’s sidekick, Chandu, is here to chew catnip and kick butt. And he’s all out of catnip. “Not even I would mess with Chandu, and I’m a freakin’ giant!” “Oh, yeah! It totally rules to be a mermaid-kissin’, boat-sailin’, treasure-seekin’ son-of-a-gun like me! Woo!” Sindbad parties like a rock star. “Hey, Sindbad! Light up a few of these!” “Oh, Chandu! We smoked way too much of that monkey ganja!” Yeah, I think Sindbad had a bit too much fun, based on his expression. “Yeah, these banana things are the best, man.” The party’s over for Chandu, too. I’ve been to Japan three times, but this was my first ride on the Caravan Carousel. Another achievement unlocked. My noble steed. This was another first--and really damn good (tastes a bit like pizza). Even the spots for cooling people off are well themed. One more set of photos to go.

At Long Last: Tokyo DisneySea What can I say about DisneySea that many (including me) haven’t said many times before? 1. It’s still the greatest theme park ever built. 2. Its version of Tower of Terror has the best back story of all the other towers--not to mention Shiriki Untundu. (Nothing against Rocket at Disneyland in California, but he’s no Shiriki.) 3. It’s home to some of the best popcorn anywhere. 4. Even with Journey to the Center of the Earth down for rehab, it's still the best theme park you'll ever visit. I did do a couple things I’ve never done at this park before, but I think I’ll just move on to the photos. Yes, the greatest day you could possibly imagine at almost any other park isn't as good as a bad day at Tokyo DisneySea--and there is no such thing as a bad day at Tokyo DisneySea. If you disagree with this statement, our Guest Relations CM will be happy to assist you. He'll give you all the attention you want and then some. Not a Shinkansen, but a monorail will do. The Japanese wait very patiently until it’s time to get a Toy Story Fast Pass. Then it’s everyone for him- or herself for about 15 minutes or so. No park tops the vistas of Tokyo DisneySea. Absolutely none! Temporary Hidden Mickeys? There isn’t a bad view in this park--even when you can see the access stairs to secured areas. May as well get this out of the way before the one-hour-plus queue kicks in. I just love all the little details in this park, such as the sea walls that appear to barely hold back the sea. Great touch. I’m not a fan of simulators, but this is a better than what it replaced (Stormrider). It’s a very gentle, family-friendly trip under the sea. As I recall, we’re riding inside a mechanical fish that’s shrunk down to regular fish size, or something like that. It's a good thing that they don't put you in a giant real fish then shrink you. If they did, you'd be surrounded by fish guts, and who wants that? Nemo isn’t too far from this cart, which is a point in its flavor, er, favor. Duffy’s Blueberry Popcorn is pretty dang good. Hell, Duffy probably eats Blueberry Popcorn and craps out Strawberry Popcorn. Back through the bucolic seaside of Cape Cod. Excuse me, but is that Duffy Happy Marching Time stuff happening around here somewhere? Guess which Fast Pass we were after. If you guessed Toy Story Midway Mania, you guessed poorly. Yes! Achievement unlocked! I’m sorry other theme parks, but you still haven’t topped this. I will brook no dissension on this point. We're entering my favorite part of DisneySea. The Mysterious Island of Captain Nemo (aka, “Vulcania”) really does the classic Verne novel and Disney movie justice. Looks like the Nautilus crew has some work to do yet. I hope Lava Monster had a good time hanging out with Bruce the Shark at Senor Frog’s while they were on vacation. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a great ride, too. Probably where they stow the grog. “Peek-a-boo! Are you something edible?” “Ow! Evidently not. Looks like I'm sharing a plate with some marinara sauce now.” For some reason, I'm craving calamari now. More to come.

How about Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Kings Dominion, and Six Flags America?

There are construction walls up, and they've been clearing the ground on the left as you enter Ireland.

The park is opening this Thursday from 5:00-11:00 pm. I went last Thursday, and it was great--a small crowd and minimal waits for mazes. When I drove by the park last Sunday around 5:00, they were already using the auxiliary parking lots on Rt. 60. So, if you can make it on Thursday night, go then. The weekend will be bonkers.

^There was a taco truck in Candy Apple Grove near Racer a few weeks ago. The only way to do Tollway Terror without a fairly long wait is to get Fright Lane and queue up for the ride when it just starts getting dark (not as much fun in broad daylight). You're right about the "artistry" in the mazes. I think Knott's is a pretty strong influence on the other Cedar Fair Haunts (but the talent used is variable).

I have yet to experience the Hoop-dee-Doo and their buckets of meat (although I have dined at Trail's End). Great report, Adam!

Hmm--reminds me a bit of my visit to Conneaut Lake years ago. Same vibe.

Nice report from a park that we don't hear much about. Oscar's Wacky Taxi looks like a lot of fun.

You can get "loop-de-loops" on Dominator without the "bang-da-bangs."

I say this every year, but I need to get back to Knott's Scary Farm (haven't done that event since 2001).

I watched a POV of Submarine Quest and thought how ticked off I'd be if I'd waited in line for it.

Thank you for the kind words, Andy. I need to finish this one, but there are a lot of Tokyo Disney photos to sort through. Plus, I've enjoyed writing it, and I'm kind of sad that it has to end. I hope to have it wrapped up this weekend.

I wonder if they all bought Express Passes?

^Oh, I'm sure it'll find its way to YouTube at some point. EDIT: Local news stations have the video (highly obscured, of course). Perhaps the park should hire this fellow and start a "Crazy Naked Guy Terror-tory."

I was wondering why two cop cars were speeding into the park as I left last night: https://pilotonline.com/news/local/crime/article_19d17052-cfc0-11e8-bc10-43d007430b50.html