bert425

I never got to do that in school - which is strange, since Astroworld was so close to me while growing up. So it would have been an easy thing to discuss, as many of my fellow students had Season Passes and were there every day over Summer (as I was). what a cool topic tho. . I wish I had gotten a similar subject when I was in school.

^ well. . I mean, yeah. but besides that. why Fujiyama?

what an awesome report. . love seeing the slightly different takes on many of the same places I saw. Tho we're on the same page a lot! I loved Half-Pipe at Joypolis too! it was so much fun. how wonderful to see the tiny pubs/restaurants/alleys. . that's such a great experience to have in Japan. keep it coming! hehe. . we're gonna have double the Fuji-Q up in here (as I'm hoping to have my parts 2 & 3 of our surprisingly awesome day there as well (!) up this weekend too).

you take some amazing pics! I always love seeing your updates.

QFT!!!!

Thanks for the comments folks! really glad people are enjoying the report as I love writing them up - even when I try to be brief they end up long, LOL. I was wondering about these too, and forgot to ask last night: anyone know the "reasoning" behind the "pole dancers" on the Fujiyama station? I noticed them, and snapped a pic, but couldn't quite figure out why they were on this specific ride.

^ where is that tho? i've been to CP twice, but both times in the last 3 years, so Paddle Wheel was way gone when I visited. guess I could google, but seems like this would be the thread to ask in

ah. .that would explain the sign behind what I called "Superdeformed Fujiyama" what is the tie to Fuji-Q Highland? any idea.. or they just decided to theme that entry section to France (with some British shops thrown in), and so used them as mascots there?

did they say where the boat ride is going to go? into the area near the chute the shoots?

So I ended up taking over 600 pics on "Fuji-Q Day" and although I'm not gonna include over 2/3rds of em, I couldn't bear to cut many of the "coaster train moving thru the course in succession" pics. . so this report is gonna end up being a three parter! apologies for those that are already sick of seeing pics of smiling me giving a silly thumbs up, as I seemed to do that a lot on this day. . LOL so I had to wake up insanely early - I think this pic is ~4am (as it was evening back in Texas so sent a good night wave home to the spouse). why was I up so early? A group of 7 of us were meeting up downstairs at 4:30 to head to Shinjuku. We were going to meet up with Zach (who had been in Japan for a few days doing culture stuff on his own), and we were headed to Fuji-Q for the day! Elissa helped us a TON ahead of the trip, with planning how to get to Fuji-Q (since it wasn't part of the "Official TPR" trip) - as well as tons of helpful info if the weather didn't cooperate, the crowds were terrible, or the operations were sub-standard. it was all about setting expectations, and I really appreciated all the advice. I was most excited about seeing Mt Fuji, and even if the weather was awful was excited - even tho it sounded as if the Mountain didn't often appear, and was often covered in fog/clouds/mist. but we had all pre-bought our reserved bus tickets (tho not actual park tickets, or skip the line tix yet. . just in case weather turned out to be terrible), so was up and dressed, and down in the lobby meeting up with the rest of the folks coming today: Jon, Alex, Luke, Trent, Allison & David. our bus left from the Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal at 6:05 am, and got us to Fuji-Q at 7:42 (~1:20 before opening). We were a few stops away from Shinjuku, leaving from Shinagawa . . and we still had to find our way from the train station to the Bus Terminal. Luckily Zach had been staying in a hotel at Shinjuku, and had pre-scouted to find out where we needed to go for the bus. So all we had to do was to meet up with Zach at the Train Station and follow his lead. It was a Wednesday, just before 5am. This early, the stations were all pretty empty. the architecture in some of the stations continued to impress me. . and with such light crowds, was able to get some nice pics. Go Straight? no thank you. . . but I will go "gaily forward" yeah. . not many folks headed to Shinjuku this early. We found Zach, and he led us outside, and across the street to the Bus Terminal. it was maybe 5:30 or so, and the sun was starting to come up and the city coming alive. up the stairs to the 2nd level of the Express Bus terminal, and I stopped to snap this pic out the floor to ceiling windows of what was looking to be a beautiful day - at least in Tokyo. Fuji-Q Highland is in Fujiyoshida, about 1 1/2 hours away. . so weather could be different, but I crossed my fingers and we made our way into the Bus waiting area (which looked remarkably like a small airport waiting room) - grabbing coffee and a snack from the little convenience store. before too long, our bus had pulled up outside and we were called to start boarding. this was a highway express bus, with only a few stops (the 2nd of which was Fuji-Q), but as noted we had to pre-purchase seats, and they were assigned. thanks to Elissa's recommendations, we had all purchased seats weeks in advance - which worked out great as the bus had sold out. I had purchased first from our group, so I was in row 1 and had chosen a window seat. I forgot that the driver would sit on the right, so I was behind the driver's booth. but still had a pretty good view. The seat next to me was open for a good 55 minutes, and the person next to me didn't join until the 1st stop. So it was a nice, comfy ride although I look really wiped out. the bus had free Wi-Fi (as well as a bathroom). . it was way nicer than any bus one would get in the States. as we started to get on the road, I spotted this ahead thru the driver's window. I knew Mt Fuji was often behind clouds, but this looked clear. There was no snow on the peaks tho.. was this Mt. Fuji? (I snapped the pic and sent it to the group chat to ask. . and yep, it was Mt. Fuji!). So I was already happy I had seen it - albeit from way far away. . but I could say I saw it. oh yeah. . . glad we're going out of Tokyo. . just look at that traffic headed into the city! clearer shot of Mt. Fuji. .tho still thru the bus window. just some random pics as we drove thru Japan, to get to Fuji-Q highland. the landscape was just beautiful, and the sky got clearer and clearer the farther we got out of Tokyo proper. the highways go THRU the mountains. Reminded me very much of traveling we had done in the hilly areas of Pennsylvania (particularly on the way to Knoebel's).. tho this elevated highway reminded me of driving on Oahu. the the front window screens, but really loved the "fog" in the crevices of the mountains. just really cool. but why did I include this pic? On the left there, thru the screen? yup, that's a ferris wheel, and what looked like a roller coaster. it's not Fuji-Q (were too far away still), but there's an amusement park up there in the mountains. I love Japan more every day I'm there! Cemetery on the hill right alongside the highway. the sky is a beautiful shade of Blue, with occasional low clouds.. Sorry for so many pics, but these are only a dozen or so of the 40 I took. . LOL Just wanted to share the experience of the bus ride from Tokyo. So lush and beautiful. Tunnel thru the mountains Misty Mountains, low clouds, and beautiful sky. we were getting closer to our destination, the weather was looking just lovely. Rural houses, along the highway Getting closer. . a better pic of Mt. Fuji. . and much clearer. over the houses, thru the "clear" part of the window? off in the distance, is our destination.. my first view of Fuji-Q highland.. . I'm getting Giddy. Holy crap. . . still thru the bus window, but look at this amazing cloudless weather. .and holy crap - Mt. Fuji is impressive as hell! not sure where the snow is, it looks naked. .but such a clear view today! I believe this is Eejanaika 's lift hill peeking out towards the highway, as we are approaching. Yup.. almost there! and passing right in front of Eejanaika, with Fujiyama's lift hill on the right. (and in the center of the tracks, you can also make out Takabisha's vertical lift section. all with a beautiful Mt. Fuji in the background. Coaster-Japan-gasm. . . I actually felt my stomach doing flip-flops when I saw this view from the bus. Making the turn off the highway, and pulling up to the Fuji-Q Bus Station (around 7:40 am). steps away from the front gate entrance - and just next to Fujiyama. Air is crisp and clear. exiting the bus, and I got my first view that wasn't thru a window. . and I was completely blown away with how gorgeous Mt Fuji is. see? I look dumbstruck. . or just dumb. . or maybe just tired. . LOL. . but I was so amazed to be seeing this with my own eyes! and the day was so clear. . I could have never imagined we'd get such a great clear day for visiting these parks, and had prepared myself to not be too disappointed. . .that added to how blown away by it I was. those stairs behind me in the prior picture, went to an elevated bridge that allowed one to go across the highway and get closer to a "lookout point" for Mt Fuji. . and also provided a great view of Fujiyama - which was the worlds tallest coaster when it was built back in 1996 looking a bit more to the right, the lift hill and 1st drop of Fujiyama no trains cycling yet, as it's still over an hour until the park gates open. stun. ning. it's the fresh mountain air, I think. . . yep, another "thumbs up from bert" pic. going across the bridge, there's a neat little look-out area, and a lovely clocktower down there at the base. nos sure which side the infamous Suicide Forest is located at, but I suspect it's on the opposite side of Mt. Fuji from where I am looking. I had gone back down the stairs to the bus-drop off and noted to some of the TPR folks that the stairs up gave a fantastic view, and most of us went back and came across to enjoy the view. (I believe Trent & Luke had already headed over to the front gates tho). thanks to Alex for taking this picture for me. It's treasured among my favorite 5 or 10 pics that I've ever had of me. we posed for a "TPR group shot" with Mt. Fuji, and posted it to the Messenger thread, and we initially got back a two word response from Elissa. . . before she elaborated. let's just say she was happy has hell for us that we ended up with this view (and weather) and noted that in 10 trips to Fuji-Q Highland, they had never seen Mt Fuji so clear. the universe was with us on this day, and we were starting out really, really well. clockwise from front center: Allison, Alex, David, Zach, Me, Jon most of us making "giddy" faces. . . after getting our Mt. Fuji fix in (and this clarity lasted for a few hours, but by 11am, the whole mountain was obscured by clouds and fog. . so it really was a perfect start to the day that we got to see it so clearly). . we headed towards the entrance gates for Fuji Q highland. we still had about an hour until opening, but better to be lined up when they open as we didn't know what kind of crowds to expect since the day was so beautiful. Fujiyama as we're walking toward the main gate. you get quite close to Fujiyama as you approach the park. still too early for the trains to be running, but the structure itself is impressive all on it's own. and here we are, ~40 minutes prior to opening, outside the main entrance. they had some pricing info up, and hours, and interestingly some changing rooms set up (I guess because it was October, and so people want to dress for Halloween, but not come to the park in costume but rather change AT the park?). there was also a Photo op - so of COURSE I posed i was one of the "ensemble stars" - which looking into after the fact ,are a Japanese Anime, based on a CCG (collectible card game), and seems to be very popular in Japan. tho to me they looked like an anime Scouts group. Regardless it was a photo op, so I stopped and op-ped. the series seems to be pretty popular, but I don't recall seeing them anywhere in the park other than this display out front (inside the park there was tons of the "Power Rangers" type mascots that Fuji-Q uses, but no more of these characters). Park Map, with the red box showing us where we are. I didn't realize it at the time (probably because it's all in Japanese ???), but on this map, there is a greed dotted line, that shows where we ended up getting to go to: as at the 30 minute mark, the front of the "store" opened, and we were allowed into the area - which is an entire themed (to France?) section with shops, cafes, fountains, more photo ops and some amazing views of the park - along the way to the actual front gates - where they sell admission, as well as the main park entrance (noted on this map as "Park Entrance 1" so you can get pretty far into the place, before it really opens - although the only "ride" out here is a double decker Carousel, that wasn't open until the park opened (and never made it back out to ride this one, so I only rode the Carousel inside Fuji-Q's main gates). that blue dotted line, would appear to be the directions for Hotel guests to follow. .as it leads them right to the front gate as well (where they lined up in a separate queue and were allowed in about 15 minutes prior to official opening). as you can see from this map, if you're coming in Park Entrance #1 (not even sure if #2 was open, but if I had to guess it was not this day). . then you're coming immediately to 3 of the 4 "big" coasters at Fuji-Q Highland. literally steps straight ahead from the entrance is: Fujiyama if you hang a right just before Fujiyama's queue building, you immediately come upon Takabisha - and directly across the "street" from that queue is the queue for Do-Dodonpa so the only one of the big 4 that's off by itself is Eejanaika - much further back into the park from the main entrance. so it is possible to spend a bit of time just up here by the entrance and get 3/4ths of the parks' famous coasters without ever leaving this section. standing in front of the park map, just before they opened up the doors to the store, and we realized we were allowed to enter into the pre-entrance area. as noted, I hadn't realized we'd be able to get into this section so hadn't looked at the big park map too closely. .but there was a lot of stuff here, and very well themed. Almost Epcot level in some places. and some great shots of the coasters (which still weren't testing yet, as it was still ~35 minutes until park open). here's Takabisha's famous "steeper than vertical" drop at the midpoint of the ride. Looking to the left a little, here's Fujiyama on the left, with Eejanaika's track in the center of the pic. the morning weather was just so perfect, only could have gotten better pics if the trains had started cycling at this point. never did figure out who the black & white dog figures are, but they apparently are Fuji-Q Highland mascots too, as they were all over this entrance section to the park. here I am in a photo-op with them. . riding a super-deformed version of Fujiyama. whee!!! some interesting artwork here - that were down nooks and cranny "side streets" off the main path. a good pic down one of the "streets" with the shops, headed towards the main gate. see? very much reminded me of Epcot theming, and those two black/white dogs (?) were everywhere out here, including in signs, as well as some Halloween versions of them at the end of the street). and yes, at this point, we TPR folks were the only ones here. a fountain/cafe area, offering a great shot of Takabisha. . . and I love how they themed the planter into a Jack O Lantern for Halloween. yep. . we're in France, that's an Eiffel tower at the end of the pond with fountains, and there were some lovely gardens off to the right. Tho it looks like Fuji-Q ran out of budget and just stopped. . so there's a blank wall up against the rear of the building at the far back. Still, its pretty nicely done, was unexpected, and to the left there is the Double Decker Carousel (which as I noted I didn't get to ride today, since we didn't come out until after park close. . tho it IS included in your park ticket if you buy the ride pass, otherwise you can pay to ride it as single ride). continuing toward the main gates, a closer shot of the "nook" area and Takabisha. looking up at Fujiyama, as we head down this "street" towards the entrance. this area looked amazing at night, and yep, those two dog (?) characters are in the lights over the shops and glittered at night. they also had a photo op, where you could sit between them on a bench in front of a Fuji-Q version of the Arc de Triomphe. so of course I did. We've now made it all the way to the front gate area - which is over there to the right. to the left is where one can buy the tickets for the park. . which it turns out you get a discount (only $1, but hey a buck is a buck) if you show your passport when purchasing. Fuji-Q has now become a "free" park - there is no separate admission fee, but instead you purchase an entrance ticket (free), or Free Pass ticket (which includes all rides). OR you could just purchase for whatever specific rides you wish to enjoy when there. (in addition, the 4 "big" coasters, all have machines in front of them that sell the Fuji-Q version of Fast Pass, which seemed to average ~$15.. but they give you an assigned time (you get to choose what timeframe), and you come back and bypass the standby queue). of course we purchased the Free Pass, as we wanted to ride everything - and we did confirm before purchasing that all the big coasters would be operating (minus the Mad Mouse which had been declared SBNO earlier in the year). they don't give you a wristband or ticket that you'll need to keep pulling out. . instead the park uses Facial Recognition! at the main gate, you pose for a picture, and then every ride (even the Carousel), you stop in the booth on the way to the ride, and smile, and it recognizes that you bought the ticket type that allows you to ride that ride (either free pass, or for that specific ride). Very cool, and a little bit "Technology is taking over" freaky. it worked really well tho, and I think the only time we even hit a small snag was when Allison put her hair up, and the booth didn't recognize her, until she took it back down for the green approval from the technology overlord. anyways, as you can see from this pic? the park was preparing to open! (and a cut out of the female "power ranger" type mascot of the park). a good look at the entrance gates, and the facial recognition booths where they snap your photo upon entering the park. also Eejanaika way back over there. no one in line, yet, as it was still about 20 minutes to opening, tho that would change as the Hotel guests started to show up shortly after for early admission. I absolutely adored this. the park name, as Vending Machines. LOVED it. even better? all Coke product, no nasty Pepsi to be found anywhere better look at the entrance facial recognition booths, and some of the Halloween Decorations the park had put up. less than 20 minutes until park opens, and the Hotel guests started to arrive in droves, and lined up at the special queues to let them into the early admission. (i think that maybe those that pre-bought tickets online got 15 minute early admission too). a few other non-early admission folks had shown up, and joined the line in front of us, but it wasn't much of a line. . the day was beautiful, but opening didn't seem too crowded (although the early admission line was growing and growing). still can't really believe I'm here, and the day is so beautiful. just after I snapped this pic, they opened up the park for the early admission, and folks just streamed in. . .and went directly ahead to join the Fujiyama queue. The Ride wasn't open yet, but that's right where everyone went. . we looked at each other and were a bit surprised that no one was heading to the right (for Do-Dodonpa or Takabisha) ,but it seemed almost every person went to get in line for Fujiyama. less than 10 minutes to "general" open, and Fujiyama has started testing (only Silver train tho, no Gold. . which never ran all day, but this was the only major coaster that was running 1 train). these set of pics are from just outside the main gates. and while Fujiyama was cycling, we started hearing the jet-engine take off sound of Do-Dodonpa tearing out of the launch, while they readied that. and then moments later? the gates opened for everyone, and into the park we went - a place I never in a million years thought I'd ever set foot in (same thoughts I'd have every day on this trip! especially once we got to Disney) thru the gates, and I/we followed the advice Elissa had given me to prepare us for a "not-perfect" day so we would still enjoy Fuji-Q: at open, head to the coaster I MOST wanted to ride, and get a ride on it standby. THEN go hit the skip the line machines to buy further passes if needed. for me, and for most of those on the TPR trip at Fuji-Q with me today, the #1 ride I MUST do was Do-Dodonpa, so we made a bee-line for it. a quick glance at Fujiyama as we walked by, confirmed what we thought we saw - everyone did seem to go there. The queue was full all the way down every ramp, and into the back&forths at entrance level. I knew from research, if the ramps were full? that's a 2+ hour wait. So we headed to the right, and were shocked to find Do-Dodonpa with a queue that wasn't even 1/2 way down the 2nd ramp. We're talking ~15 minute wait. . so we hopped right in line. looking across the walkway, Takabisha's queue wasn't even past the entrance door out into the back&forth queue area. . so we knew we'd be hitting that next. But from our wait on the Do-Dodonpa ramps, we got some nice visuals of Takabisha running, with multiple empty rows! wow, we picked a great day to go. . maybe the Typhoon kept people away? Maybe because it was a Wednesday? Or maybe just pure luck? but we had managed to hit Fuji-Q Highland on a perfect morning (great weather + light crowds). . HOLY. . the back portion of Takabisha's course So. many. inversions. . . and zooming into the frame? Do-Dodonpa train on the return to the station, still just FLYING. they were running two trains on Do-Dodonpa today, Purple and Red.. this is Purple. and they were running it with lots of empty seats - which seemed odd, but I think these were still some of the first trains with riders today. Selfie from the queue (and some serious side eye from the girl in front of me who is watching the speed of the train returning. she seemed to be wary about riding but was being egged on to ride by her boyfriend). this is really the only ramp full of folks between us and the ride - the load station is at the top of the ramp, on the left. and you can see on the right, that no one really filled in the queue behind us either, the remaining ramps are pretty empty! a peek across the "street" at the completely empty outside queue for Takabisha ! (and the empty ramps behind us on Do-Dodonpa) Silver Train of Fujiyama climbing the lift hill .. behind the return track from Do-Dodonpa (and thru the tunnel is the "out" track from Do-Dodonpa and across the park? Eejanaika has started to cycle. OMG. . never been on X2, didn't know what to expect. . but OMG. . this looks amazing. Do-Dodonpa's red train returning after the loop. we were going to be on this real soon. I believe we ended up riding purple, and myself and Allison got front row. Absolutely incredible launch - I had heard it described as feeling like you got hit by a truck. . and that's pretty much what it feels like, with a surprise pop of airtime as you enter the tunnel (the track does a little bunny-drop, and your ass just keeps lifted out of the seat). This is all about the speed, and boy does it deliver. i obviously never got to ride it with the "ejector airtime hill of death".. but I can imagine I would have HATED that. .but I really liked the replacement loop - which had quite the hang time as you went thru the giant loop. it's over pretty quickly and really doesn't do all that much. . but wow, that speed. so impressive. and the theme song playing in the station, and the launch tunnel (not to mention the LED display on the walls of the station.. which i didn't notice on our morning ride - so I think they weren't on - but certainly noticed on our afternoon ride? that's a wow moment as well. Very good. . so good, i was tempted to get right back in the short line for it. . but with Takabisha right across the way, with also a shortish line? yeah, common sense kicked in, and we exited and got in line for that. in line for Takabisha - it was ~ two ramps, and this wait was maybe ~20 minutes, but it went by really fast. we were all talking about how much we had enjoyed Do-Dodonpa, so the time flew, and we were at the station before we knew it. but before we got to the station, the ramps going to Takabisha's station offer some more great views of Fujiyama. . . and while taking that pic? Do-Dodonpa decided to photo bomb. some of my photo taking skills are ninja like! Still can't believe I got this shot, considering how fast Do-Dodonpa's train is moving at this point. although you have to put your stuff in cubbies (all provided free), after our ride on Takabisha, I hung out in the station for a moment to snap a pic of the mural that I loved. honestly, most all the stations on the big coasters were pretty spectacular, with either painted murals (Takabisha, Eejanaika), digital displays (Do-Dodonpa), or just some amazing classic Japanese architecture (Fujiyama). I didn't realize this mural would also be on the outside of the photo frame of any pictures purchased. . so I made sure to get a snap of it. I even like the checkerboard floors. . tho the top stripe is really nice. here's the pic i bought. SO. MUCH. FUN. and this "beyond vertical drop" is at the 1/2 way point of the ride! there's a bunch of inversions and a launch before you even get to this point. Tho it didn't end up being my favorite ride at Fuji-Q, Takabisha is top 3 for sure (and in the #2 spot if only counting Coasters) Jon, Allison, Me in back row screaming locals, Zach, and Alex in front row. Funny how the TPR folks are smiling. . LOL it turned out that with every "print" one buys, you get a digital copy too.. so what those of us who spent the day hanging out together did, was take turns buying them, then Alex would download the digital pic and share to the TPR messenger thread so we all got copies. i'm the only nerd who likes hard copies, so I really appreciated that everyone gifted me the hard copies of pics we bought. they make wonderful souvenirs for me. leaving Takabisha, and noting how light the crowds were, we as a group decided to hit up the remaining coasters first, to check them off our bucket lists. one look at Fujiyama confirmed that yes, not only was it still completely full on the ramps, but the queue had spilled out into the ground level queue as well. as I noted, it turned out it was because they were only running one train. So we all ended up going to the machine and purchasing a fast pass for Fujiyama (for later in the morning), as with 1 train, the line simply wasn't going to get any shorter, regardless of how light the crowd might be. pass purchased to come back to ride this in a little bit, we set our eyes on the remaining big coaster in the park, and headed towards Eejanaika. to be continued in part II

glad to see y'all had such a good visit, and those are some fantastic pics you have posted. thanks for sharing.

it just might be. Tony on Twitter hashtagged his post about the announcement with: #notpolerhypergigaaquahyperetc bwaaaa-haaaaa-haaaaa here's the full post from last night: Tony Clark It’s not a coaster. It’s a collection of things. A party. Fun for all ages. A celebration of our past and a look to the future. Sleep well. See you at 11 am.

best of luck on Freeze - it took me over 10 years of visits to the park for us to get a visit when it was running (and during that two day visit, it broke down BOTH DAYS we were there, and both times while I was in line). luckily, I did manage to get a ride on it, after waiting out the 1st break down, since I was so close to the station, I elected to wait out the downtime, which was about 40 minutes). at SFStl, it was only running 1 side, but it was running the entire time I was there on our 1 visit (tho I did need Flash Pass for it, even on a "slow" day, since only running one side. it's a great coaster, so really. . best of luck with it!

the return of the giant ball ornaments (I think we have only 1 here at Fiesta), they really are super photogenic. great pics, thanks for sharing - the event looks great.

we eyeballed those crepes. that booth was right next to the food court on the upper level and we actually had a discussion over "eat light and stay here" or "let's go into the mall and get a real meal" since I had wiped myself out on the Transformers spinning thing? I had no problem going into the mall to eat. unfortunately, we finished too late to get back into Joypolis, or would have hit the souvenir shop, and likely, the crepes! yet another reason to go back to Japan, I suppose.

you're in the next update with me, since it's Fuji-Q ! been uploading pics for a bit now, and really fingers crossed, will have it up by end of day tomorrow. (it might end up being a 2 part, since was a very full day once we met up with you at the Bus Terminal).

what a wonderful update, and brought back a flood of fantastic memories for me! i honestly don't even recall seeing the Gadget coaster - tho I did go to Toontown twice! (once for Roger Rabbit spin, and once on the hunt for a Haunted Mansion candy carrier). So thanks so much for sharing those. . your pics are spectacular. I too experienced this version of Haunted Mansion Nightmare as my first time ever seeing the overlay. I was stunned how it appeared 90% of the experience is "new". . it was less an overlay, and more a brand new ride to me. I loved it, as you did too. the Mt. Fuji pics are incredible, because although we got a perfect day at Fuji-Q with views of it ? Even tho I was only there a couple of weeks before you, my views of Mt Fuji had *zero* snow on the cap! It was majestic, tho your pics with the snow, are just stunning. I guess there was some snowfall in the period between when we visited and you were there. great report, and I'm loving reading along (and geeking out at your Godzilla set-stops).

we don't have our Hanukkah bush up yet - that's a task for at some point this week. but we did get our Holiday lights up! Hanukkah blue/white, in the front, and red/yellow/green for Nick on back patio.

^^ holy. . . . that's gorgeous!

I mean. . .

heh.

that Toontown sign has been there for ~ two months (at least). . . here are the pics I took with it back in Oct and yeah, saw TONS of folks taking pics with it, since I was hanging out near here to meet up with Jon once I discovered where I could get that Haunted Mansion candy holder! Eventually these will show up in my TPR Spooktacular Trip report. . but since you can't help yourself, Bill, and scour the net for pics

thank goodness. that state of the Carousel, when we visited in May, was appalling.

these are some fantastic pics Elissa, thanks so much for sharing. . I did not realize there is so much pre-show! so how long is the overall experience? with the preshow rooms, it's got to be at least a 15 minute ride. and tho major focus has been on the trackless portion, I'm also kinda blown away by the "standing transport". . LOL. is it like being in an airport terminal shuttle? from what you've said, the movements aren't enough that it could cause someone to fall, correct? one last question.. you noted no Fast Pass yet, but that y'all went thru the queue for it. So is the queue going to be like TokyoDisney does it, where the fast pass queue just moves along side the main standby ride queue (Similar to Indy? or Tower of Terror)?

wonderful trip update, and how cool to see the Osaka Castle. (someone in our group went to do that, but I missed that - tho I did spend a morning at Himeji castle during our trip, is that the other one you went to?). Too funny, too.. . the meal you had at the Citywalk? Same place a bunch of us went to on the arrival day in Osaka for lunch it was really good, even if not much leg room under the table, due to the burner there! I'll have pics of the rooms in Hotel Universal Port when I get to that portion of my TR (they are quite big), but how interesting to see the "sister" hotel. Very similar displays in the lobby with all the minions - did you catch the "show" with the crashed NY Taxi in front of the other hotel? I guess that it's an "official" hotel, is why they had the action scene set up there outside the 1st floor. you missed out not using the bidet function, man! I was really wary at 1st too - any toilet that has a lid covered with warnings? I didn't really wanna sit on. . but once I used it? I was so sold on it, we just bought a "Tushy" brand convertor for our toilet during the Black Friday sales! as a fellow Godzilla fan, am I correct in assuming you did visit the giant Gozilla statue at Hotel Gracery in Shinjuku? I hope you did, as the store in the hotel lobby is where most of my $$ went that was spent on Godzilla swag during my Japan trip ! - and you can even go out onto the patio on the higher floor, and pose right under the big G's head! - I think it's a perk mainly for hotel guests, but we were welcomed out on the patio when we checked it out - before buying tons of stuff at the front desk store. great report! keep it coming..