jedimaster1227

^Well since we're sharing them here... Walt Disney World - 1990 Disneyland (Anaheim) - 2003 Tokyo Disneyland - 2006 Disneyland Paris - 2018 ️ Hong Kong Disneyland - 2019 ️ Shanghai Disneyland - 2017

What a neat find! Thanks for sharing!

Hakugei looks fantastic and Nagashima Spaland really seems like an excellent park to experience. I'll try to make my way out there at some point. Thanks for sharing!

I wondered what that random elevated path in Tomorrowland was about... That makes a lot more sense now!

Articles like these make me envy the model Europe has with tour guides where you're only authorized to act as a historical guide guests in a region if you're properly certified. That sad fact is that some unknowing general guest will find this article and think it is the gospel truth when it is full of nonsensical descriptions and "advice," planning their visit with these "insights" in mind.

Wild Arctic in San Diego seemed to be on its last legs a few years ago when I visited the park... I can only imagine how it is running now (especially seeing how it runs here in Orlando). It seems like an incredibly wise decision to maintain the animal habitats and use the raw simulator bay space for something new and more thrilling like a coaster. Four major new coasters in the span of nine years is not too shabby (five if you count Tidal Twister, though I'd argue that it is a flat ride)...

^Invadr was a pleasant surprise for Busch Gardens Williamsburg... This looks like it could be a really nice addition for this park!

^Bummer that so many of the park's attractions were closed... It looks like it is a decent regional park to visit when everything would actually be open.

^That is some pretty significant work! Nice to see the park investing in such a way!

Definitely one of the more "interesting" things I tried on the trip... The texture was probably the thing that surprised me the most. Like a savory marshmallow skewer. The crazy thing is just how many temples there are in Kyoto to choose from... We had planned for several more and simply ran out of time. We're probably going to plan another day to go back next time to hit some of the ones we missed. Seriously, the amount of Kit Kat flavor choices they have in Japan is overwhelming. There's a specialty store in Tokyo that we have to plan to get to at some point in one of our future trips. Thank you! Mitsukoshi was worth walking around just for the visuals! We need to go back when we have more time to explore more of the Nihonbashi store--it really was crazy just how much there was inside.

I totally forgot about F.L.Y. at Phantasialand! Thanks for putting this together Larry!

It has been announced that Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure will begin to open in the summer of 2020! https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2019/12/avengers-campus-at-disney-california-adventure-park-to-begin-recruiting-super-heroes-in-summer-2020/

After taking the bullet train back from Kyoto the night before it was time for our last day in Japan... A full day in Tokyo before we'd head to the airport to end our trip with Hong Kong Disneyland. This final day meant indulging in a few like-to's that we didn't get to visit during our previous trip as well as one final Tokyo Disney stop before we had to say goodbye. Staying at the Sheraton Tokyo Bay (the same hotel we stayed at during our honeymoon), we got a later start, having lunch at Ikspiari Kitchen one more time before heading into the city. We were able to visit my host father (from my high school trip where I stayed with a host family in 2006--we visited the rest of the family for dinner at the beginning of the trip) for a light bite and a tour of Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi near where he worked. After our visit there, we moved back towards Odaiba to experience teamLab Borderless, a well known art installation that had come highly recommended, and even more highly Instagrammed. I'll let the photo captions do the talking to explain that unique attraction, but I strongly recommend giving it a visit if you're into trying something totally unique. It is always hard, especially writing about it months later, to reflect in the moment on leaving Japan. It is no exaggeration that the country is the most welcoming, polite, gracious you'll find, thanks so much in part to the people and their persistence of culture. Having visited three times now, I feel at ease knowing that my experience has been consistently warm and welcoming each and every time. I talked up Japan to my wife based on two weeks spent as a sixteen year old and let her experience what I loved about the country firsthand during our honeymoon years later. Going back once more, the common anxiety of travel--going somewhere you've never been before (because on this trip we were) and a place where your language is not the primary... Those concerns melt away as soon as you step off of the plane. It is no secret that Japan is my favorite place in the world and Tokyo easily is my favorite city. I have a family there that I consistently keep in touch with, which obviously tints my view a little bit, but every experience I've had has left me in a state of not wanting to leave... And desperately wanting to come back. There's a feeling of sadness, if not dread, that comes with a trip here coming to an end, unlike any I've experienced anywhere else. That is the best and worst part about Japan--the bliss of a trip here happening, and the sadness that follows it coming to an end. At least this time around we had one more stop left on our trip that we were excited about... Yotsubanokaori at Ikspiari Kitchen is another favorite of mine thanks to their fresh selection of tempura fried foods! One last meal at Ichizenya at Ikspiarari Kitchen for this trip. I'd always wanted to visit the Nihonbashi branch of Mitsukoshi. Many know the store because of the Epcot location at the Japan Pavilion but this is the real deal... And it is absolutely gorgeous inside! I can't look away! So this ended up being more luxury than Harrod's and less like Macy's than I would have expected. Lots of window shopping, but not a lot I'd buy unless I was willing to spend a good chunk of change. We did buy a few articles of clothing before heading out though. The Palette Town section of Odaiba features the MEGA WEB TOYOTA City Showcase, a show floor and driving hall to show off the latest Toyota creations. But that's not why we were here... teamLab Borderless is one of several teamLab installations throughout the world and one of four in Tokyo. The experiences this group designs are interactive, transformative and self-guided. There is no right or wrong way to explore... And if you take it at a casual pace, you'll probably be here for at least a few hours. We spent four and a half here. The thing about teamLab experiences is that the rooms don't remain the same forever, meaning that if you stand here for twenty minutes, the experience will be totally different. The lighting junkie in me was absolutely floored by Borderless. Animals play a big part in Borderless... teamLab basically took a large warehouse and turned it into an Instagrammable art exhibit and it is extremely popular... And huge. One room is mirrored with a large number of rotating lamps... The light sequences were mesmerizing. I'm absolutely loving this! Animals hopping in a row along the walls of Borderless... One of the big showstopping rooms... My absolute favorite room was this overwhelming collection of hanging LEDs. The effect was incredible, with lights programmed to go off to simulate movement, rotation, rainfall, stars passing and more. The room's floors, ceilings and walls were mirrored so the already large number of lights was even more impressive due to the endless effect provided. In this room, you would lay on your back in a net suspended above the group looking up at a domed surface, where a brief transformative movie was shown. A similar standing experience was available in a room nearby, except this one could be controlled and manipulated by guests using a special app for the exhibit. Animals marching endlessly in a row... An awesome effect pulled off by glass projections and more mirrored walls. It's like you're walking through a traditional Japanese water painting. The most frequently Instagrammed room... Seriously incredible though. Mesmerizing! Another favorite of ours was the Lilypad room... As you walked through the room you went higher towards the tops of the lilypads to go from seeing their undersides... To their tops. All the while, the visual experience continues to change. This rock climbing experience challenges guests to climb from one end of the room to the other, stepping/holding only on rocks of the same color. Those who do are rewarded with a special light and sound combo. I didn't get very far... Another room had a projection mapped obstacle course... I didn't get very far on this one either. There's even an interactive play area for the younger guests. Believe it or not, this is an interactive trampoline that responds visually as you jump up and down on it. It is incredibly fun and very tiresome. Active projection mapped surfaces fill this roamable space... One final room... Prepare for a detailed look at the menu at Wendy's First Kitchen... If only because Wendy's is so different in Japan compared to what it is in the US. Look at all of the floats! Would you ever order alcohol from your local Wendy's if you could? I was tempted to try the UMAMI Chicken Tatsuta Sandwich... You'd never find pasta at a Wendy's back home, let alone one with fish eggs. All of the different french fry flavors! After all that, all we got was melon soda. Palette Town has its own ferris wheel but we passed this time around. Only in Japan would you find this kind of high quality tile mural installed in a public transit station. Time to say our final See Ya Real Soon to Tokyo Disney... Bon Voyage is really the place to go when it comes to Tokyo Disney Resort merchandise. Easter ears fun! I love this store so much! You can tell I'm stalling... Walking around the resorts has always been my way of squeezing a little more "Disney time" out of the trips when I've already had my time in the parks. I definitely bought one of these Usapiya to bring home. The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is gorgeous regardless of the time of day at which you visit. The interior is expansive... Not unlike the Grand Floridian Resort at Walt Disney World. Tile murals and marble floors... Zima is still a thing here. Tokyo Disneyland Hotel crest out front... Time to head out... While we won't likely be back in 2020, Tokyo is never far from top of mind when it comes to planning our travel. So many Kit-Kat flavors! Baumkuchen is a popular treat in Japan despite being rooted as a German pastry. We definitely brought some home with us. I miss these Japanese flavors... One last katsu curry for the road. What do you do when flying between Tokyo and Hong Kong? Watch Back to the Future Part 2 and drink Fanta Melon, obviously. Fun Fact: Needles is played by Flea, bassist for Red Hot Chili Peppers. As we left Japan, I turned out my window on the plane to be greeted with this view... The best view of Mt. Fuji I've ever gotten despite three total trips to Japan. I definitely took some sushi with me for the road... The next movie to watch, Into the Blue. And with that, we entered our final two days of the trip, spent entirely at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.

A Eurofighter with lap bars sounds wonderful!

The facade is really starting to look great! Thanks for sharing Larry!

Back when Cypress Gardens still had all of its fair rides, I used to spend a significant amount of time riding their Power Surge. That is one heck of a flat ride!

After an amazing day at Universal Studios Japan, it was time to spend a day and a half in Kyoto enjoying the more tranquil side of Japan. I'd visited Kyoto for the day during my high school Japan trip, but during our honeymoon we didn't venture outside of Tokyo. This time around, with the Cherry Blossoms in bloom and the weather nice and cool, it was a great opportunity after going nonstop for first two thirds of the trip to take it a little more slowly. We started our morning with Ginkaku-ji followed by a stroll along the Philosopher's Walk. We were excited to find out in advance of our trip that Reikan-ji Temple, a temple only open to the public for four weeks out of the year (two in April and two in November) would be open during our visit. Nanzenji Temple was the next stop to follow. The next morning we roamed Nishiki Market and spent the afternoon climbing Mount Inari as we experienced Fushimi Inari Taisha. Ninen-zaka and Sannen-zaka were enjoyed after our stroll through the Tori Gates of Fushimi Inari. Kiyomizudera was how we capped off our time in Kyoto... The Cherry Blossoms were in bloom at the Philosopher's Walk... Ginkaku-ji is beautiful campus of shrines... Zen evoked. The most notable piece of architecture in Ginkaku-ji. Pretty impressive. Incredible gardens at Ginkaku-ji. A unique natural waterfall... Beautiful. Ginkaku-ji features a small walking trail along the mountainside. Beyond the cherry blossoms, there were many pretty flowers to be found throughout Kyoto. Quite a view! Time to say goodbye to Ginkaku-ji... So pretty. Something about roaming monkeys in Japan gets me every time. Reikan-ji Temple was an exciting prospect purely for the commodity of the "special opening" experience. Very unique. Much smaller than Ginkaku-ji but really neat. So many flowers! Nanzenji was our final complex for the day... The scale of these structures has always amazed me. What an incredible place! A look inside... One of the more quiet corners of Nanzenji... Beautiful. The next day we made the trek to Mount Inari... When in Japan... Fushimi Inari is truly something else. I've been enamored with this prospective view since I first saw Memoirs of a Geisha in 2005... The cinematography of that film romanticized the orange tori gates in a way that made me want nothing more than to visit Kyoto to see it for myself. It was a shame it took me this long in life to experience it, but I'm so very glad I finally did. It should be noted that sometimes the paths get this narrow and cramped due to crowds, though as you get higher up the mountain the crowds seem to thin out. Loving every minute! Once we were done hiking Fushimi Inari, it was time for some street food! I didn't know what Dango was but I was eager to give it a try... I was intrigued by the soy sauce on what looked like pillows of marshmallow. As it turns out, it is a combination of glutinous rice flour and water boiled until firm, and then grilled on an open fire. Not quite what I expected but I liked it! Kiyomizudera's complex is gorgeous. Quite an amazing way to round out our time in Kyoto. When in Japan... So glad we came here! Skewered pork for the road!

I'm surprised given Triple Five's existing relationship with Nickelodeon that they didn't opt to leverage the Nick Universe IPs instead... Very interesting.

Several of the restaurants at Disney Springs will offer New Year's Eve special events this year! Check out the details below! Pepe is also offering Sangria by the glass tomorrow in honor of National Sangria Day!

^So it looks like somewhere along the way the Universal Studios partnership was dropped... Interesting that they were able to get a Sony IP in this new park, but also interesting that we've not heard or seen anything about this development since 2013 and yet it is close to opening.

Hey... The water park and the rest of the mall still aren't open yet. This is only slightly more alive than Artegon/Dezerland Action Park! There's still time for Miami's concept to remain in development hell!

^It definitely felt odd considering that everything else with Express that day worked pretty well. The ride never seemed to stop operating while we queued, it just moved incredibly slow... The worst thing that came of the line taking longer than expected was we had to choose between Terminator and the parade as we were running out of time... And the parade was the right choice to make.

(Continued) A tad bit overcooked... I love this. Yes, they have Jurassic Park: The Ride here. No, we did not ride it, because it was cold and we didn't want to be cold and wet. Long had I waited for this moment. The Flying Dinosaur changes the entire atmosphere of Jurassic Park. I hate Turkey Legs with a passion, but I was tempted to buy one just for this dinosaur grip. The lead car is gorgeous. Even with my Express Pass, I still waited 1.5 hours to ride The Flying Dinosaur. The operations on this coaster were incredibly disappointing... I give them credit for theming the station in such an intense manner... But aren't we supposed to be keeping the dinosaurs in and the people out? Familiar... But different. I've now visited Hogwarts via three different portkeys around the world. I've taken this photo many times before and yet this was the first time I'd taken this photo. Pretty close to similar. Same fun family coaster... And equipped with a wheelchair seat! No Magical Motorbike Creature Adventures for Hagrid. The path leading to Hogsmeade is long and winding and does a good job of separating the land from the rest of the park. The "Black Lake" was created thanks to the waterfront location of the land, and it is incredibly effective. Otherwise very similar to what we have back home. We ended up eating at the Three Broomsticks for lunch... Comparable food to what you'd find back home. Though this plate of profiteroles was definitely new, so I had to order it. BUTTERBEER!!! They sell gum here! I can't take this to the other park... I love the marquee. The Flying Dinosaur was easily the most intense, insane flying coaster I've been on... And one of the most intense coasters I've ridden ever, anywhere. It is like B&M woke up from their funk of forceless coasters for a brief moment to design this ridiculous coaster. The inside raven turn is one of the most forceful maneuvers I've ever experienced, and it is followed quickly by a tight pretzel loop. This thing took the wind out of me in the best way. I wish this ride was closer to home... It scares me how good it is. Night shots. I still feel my ribs being pressed down from this maneuver. YES PLEASE! I nearly left the park without remembering to visit Universal Wonderland. I've always been amazed that Universal was able to create a land where Sesame Street, Snoopy and Hello Kitty characters all coexisted. BEST QUICK SERVICE MEAL EVER! I love everything about these stacked track elements. This is a Rollercoaster Tycoon fantasy of mine, fleshed out in reality. So much fun! I love that the brake run cuts through the Pantages facade. The land is kind of amazing inside and out. We had to run back to the Hollywood section of the park to grab a spot for Universal's Spectacle Night Parade. The parade features floats from Harry Potter, Jurassic World, Transformers and Despicable Me, and the floats are supplemented by projection mapping to make this an incredible show-style experience in passing. The Hogwarts Express float was really a great way to start the show. Dementors on the train! The Quidditch float featured wizards flying on brooms, which was a neat effect. Bumblebee leads the Transformers segment of the parade. Megatron's float is huge! Optimus Prime transforms from a truck to his full form in a really clever effect. The Jurassic World section was surprising... Dinosaurs started to be carted in behind fenced paddocks... But these dinosaurs would escape... You bred raptors? They escaped. The T-Rex float is absolutely the star of the show. She's incredible! The finale of the parade features a series of Despicable Me/Minions floats... A good time for sure. So colorful! We ran out of time to experience Terminator 2: 3D, but it wasn't a huge loss considering the Florida version closed not too long ago. Time for some typical tourist shots. I love how Hollywood Dream frames the Hollywood coverings. And that the path of the coaster doubles back over the same hill. Yep, I did it. Backdrop has its own color scheme for its lighting and trains. Arriving two hours before opening and leaving an hour after close, we were exhausted... But we had little time to rest, as the next morning we'd be headed to Kyoto.

After our fantastic day in Osaka, it was time to experience our first ever Universal Studios park outside of the USA. I'd read/observed for years that this was a "best hits" of Universal park plus some exclusive offerings... A smattering of popular attractions from the stateside parks, plussed with a few unique experiences. I'd prepared for insane crowds and decided with Robb & Elissa's advice to splurge on Express Passes for the park. I researched the park heavily and with my planned Express Pass (I went with the maximum non-unlimited option for seven attractions) lineup, I figured out which attractions to go to in a rough order that would minimize the wait times and maximize our time in the park. As researched proved, the park gets absolutely swamped, even before officially opening its gates. Express Pass is an absolute must. We visited during the Universal Cool Japan festival, which also impacted the way we experienced certain attractions. This was also a neat park for me because it gave me the opportunity to experience a few new things, a few old favorites and one of the most intense coasters I've ever been on. The park experience from morning to night was almost entirely fantastic, with the operation of Space Fantasy's Lupin the Third coaster and The Flying Dinosaur being the only disappointments of the day. But much like how Tokyo's parks take the best of Disney's stateside experiences and makes them better, Universal Japan has managed to take popular attractions and lands like Jurassic Park and Despicable Me and make them better with their own execution. I wish we had more time at the resort to breath and visit CityWalk, and for this reason we both agreed Osaka would be back on our plans for our next visit to Japan. I woke up that morning to a breakfast of fluffy cheesecake... With fluff in my belly and Jaws in my soul, it was time to roll. Similar but different. I'd been told Hollywood Dream was a pretty standard mini-B&M hyper, but I was unreasonably excited to experience it. I'm not ashamed to say I have wished for years that this is what Florida got instead of Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit! Since it wasn't included in our Express Pass package, we went straight to the Lupin the Third XR coaster, an overlay of Space Fantasy. The queue has received a minor overlay to support the story of the anime... Which I had no background in, and didn't really need to understand to enjoy the experience. My research on the park strongly recommended waiting in the Single Rider queue to avoid a 2-3 hour wait. As it turns out, this would cut our wait time down to 65 minutes. Even though the coaster has seating forward facing and back, during the Universal Cool Japan XR Coaster overlays the coaster only loads the front facing seats... Which cuts the popular ride's capacity in half... The story of the coaster is that you're on a chase with Lupin the Third through the city... I rode the first half of the coaster with the VR on since I'd not been on many VR coasters (and none that were spinning coasters) and I was really impressed with the synchronicity of the movement of the coaster with the visuals. That being said, I was curious to see just how much of Space Fantasy was still active to be seen without the goggles, so about halfway through I lifted my visor enough to get a glimpse. Pretty much all of the lighting effects from the regular ride remained on to see without the VR headset... Having seen what I did, I really wished I could have experienced the normal coaster without the VR. I'm glad they've pulled the XR experiences off of this coaster for the upcoming Universal Cool Japan. Overall a neat experience but the coaster would be better suited to operate without the XR Coaster overlays. The pre-show starts off the same as those found in Florida and Hollywood... But given the fact that the ride leverages a different ride system (the Back to the Future: The Ride system versus Hanna-Barbera), there was an added loading video that played before you board. Having ridden both ride system versions, I can honestly say that this is the better execution of the concept. The huge screen and increased range of motion in the simulator pods makes this a much more immersive experience. The ride film even features adding beginning and ending segments to better match the setup of this attraction's ride system. Backdraft was an experience I was really interested to try for myself having never gotten to Hollywood's park in time to try it out (construction of Transformers: The Ride was already under way during my first visit to Universal Studios Hollywood). It was like an alternate universe Twister-meets-Earthquake, with the interludes from the film director/cast and the multiple pre-shows before the big finale effects room. Overall, this was a really fun and unique attraction... I can only imagine what it costs to operate. FIERY WATER!!! Fun Fact: The film that inspired this attraction now has a direct to video sequel for some reason. I've not seen either of these films. My wife got super excited about the fact that Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue lives on (in a way) at Universal Studios Japan. It is just as cheesy as you remembered. This version of the show matches the one that ran at Universal Studios Florida from 2006 - 2014 (the show closed to make way for Fast and Furious: Supercharged in 2016). This is about the best "close up" photo I could get of Hollywood Dream from the queue. The park is *extremely* strict when it comes to loose articles and anything in your pockets that you choose not to put in a locker gets carried with you in a plastic basket to be put on the side of the station... Basically, the moral of the story here is just put your stuff in a locker for this and The Flying Dinosaur. Sing! Live was under construction during our visit. As someone that enjoyed the film, I'm curious to see how this turns out and if it eventually ends up stateside. Mel's looks VERY different here. The body of water in the center of this park is much larger than the one at Universal Studios Florida... And it is even more strange to see Jurassic Park in the corner where I'd expect to find Diagon Alley and Fear Factor Live! Hollywood Dream was not particularly intense, but it was silky smooth and had some great pops of air. I absolutely prefer it to Rip, Ride, Rockit. A very strange Bollywood Sesame Street show was running during our visit. No Jimmy Fallon here. These guests really love Minions! I would've enjoyed this visual a lot more if I had gotten MY CUP OF COFFEE!!! (Japanese Spider-Man was equally as fun as its Floridian sibling.) I was incredibly intrigued to see how Super Silly Fun Land would turn out, knowing that Despicable Me Minion Mayhem took over Back to the Future: The Ride. Such an interesting view... I was very tempted. I absolutely love that Richter's is a Coca-Cola-themed quick service eatery here... Sadly there was nothing for my wife to eat here but I loved the theme nonetheless. Super Silly Fun Land really is an insanely detailed plaza! I remembered to take a photo of the sign for Larry, but not the ride itself... Shame on me. Some of the best carnival games I've ever seen in a park. Practically ripped from the films! Since it was Easter time during our visit, the land received some slight updates to match the season. Tons of references from the film Minions too! I can't deny how much I enjoy these films. A hidden nod to Snowball from The Secret Life of Pets films, another Illuminations Entertainment production. Time to head in! The land is overflowing with detail! Similar but different... KING BOB!!!! For Larry... Hello beautiful! I'm so happy to be home in Amity! It does exist! One for the books... The queue for Jaws in Japan is a little different than the one that existed in Florida... But it is filled with some really fun details! Well worth the wait! Details... Details... Details... I know you. I photo'd you once upon a dream. A sight for sore eyes! Time to find some dolphins! Amity 6 to base! SHAAAAAAAAARKKKKKKKUUUUUU!!!! Quint's will be safe... For sure. Definitely. Wrong. FIRE!!! Somewhere under the rainbow...