jedimaster1227

(continued) There's something special about the classic Tomorrowland architecture still being maintained in Tokyo! Look at this castle! Dreamlights is easily the most impressive night time parade I've seen... And I used to believe that title was reserved for Paint the Night! Dream Lights is Tokyo's Electrical Parade but it consistently sees floats taken out of rotation and upgraded or replaced so that the show is always fresh! Just two weeks after we left three new floats debuted in the show! I love it! The floats are huge and the lights do some incredible things! A very different Pete's Dragon float than the one I'm used to seeing! This Peter Pan float was incredible! The sails are screens that transform as the story told progresses! The Finding Nemo float is one of the newer floats introduced over the last few years... Along with a new Toy Story float featuring characters from all three films! The Genie float is the most incredible of the parade! The Genie transforms into Mr. Incredible! Then he becomes Mr. Smee! The Aladdin float is gorgeous! The Tangled float is great too! Pixie Hollow gives Tinkerbell her chance to shine! The finale floats represent "it's a small world" which is a such a pleasant surprise! And they transform from black & white to full color as they move along the parade route! Stunning! I love these! Such an incredible parade! I also think it is so neat that all of the Tokyo parades have a float at the end of the parade dedicated to the parade's sponsor. The fireworks were fun too! It was neat to see Snow White's Grotto in this park as it exists in Disneyland but not In Florida’s Magic Kingdom. Time for another Fastpass! A classic nighttime run of Big Thunder Mountain was definitely a great way to round out the day! Frontierland's shooting gallery was very different and super fun to play in! Looking back towards the entrance of the park. I love this shot! I also found the park's original dedication plaques! Heading towards the entrance... The World Bazaar shop windows feature tributes to those involved in the park's creation, just like the Main Street windows do in the other parks. The Oriental Land Company gets their own set of windows. I dreamed of seeing this in person for so many years! This park has a charm that I could have never expected... I absolutely adore Tokyo Disneyland as a result of our visit! Back in the monorail station on the way back to our hotel I noticed this tribute to monorail history! Shoutout to Alton Towers!

(continued) Time to check out something that has intrigued me for years! The Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall! In case you wondered what a menu in such a place would look like. The interior is beautiful! Definitely neat to see an Alice in Wonderland dining venue fleshed out! Time for lunch in a place that looks so similar to home but was so different... Plazma Ray's Diner opened last year and the menu caught our eye... It turned out to be so good we went back twice during the trip! The artwork inside of the venue is great and features easter eggs for many past Disney sci-fi attractions and films. Even more easter eggs! Another spontaneous performance in Tomorrowland! The Star Tours building is absolutely huge! I was incredibly excited to see Happiness is Here having fallen in love with the parade's soundtrack years earlier! Some great character interactions! These floats are all much bigger than I'd expected for daytime parade! Shoutout to Clarabelle Cow! I love how much Casey Jr. has been featured in the recent parade designs! It was also neat to see an Aristocats float and to know that those characters are still so popular here! I love the walking pelicans from Finding Nemo! The Toy Story float was cute too! Elephant Abu! The Disney Princesses! This be one of my favorite parade characters ever. The Mad Hatter is a much-beloved character here. And of course, Pooh and Tigger! Almost time for the finale... I love when these parades give Mary Poppins some love! One more spontaneous performance in Tomorrowland! We scored tickets for One Man's Dream II in the lottery, thankfully on our first try! The show is a cute, classic Disney revue... We parked ourselves in the Hub with a second serving from Plazma Ray's so that we could see Dreamlights and the park's fireworks shows... Definitely worth the visit if you have the time! Another one of those experiences I was more excited about that I probably should have been. I wasn't old enough to remember the seasonal versions of the Country Bear Jamboree that ran in Florida so I was thrilled to be able to see this in person! While I didn't understand all of the lyrics I got the gist of the show and I loved it! Big Al still wins the show as comedic relief. And this octopus isn't in the Collector's Vault! It was refreshing to hear some familiar tunes in the show! Camp Woodchuck is a newer area of the park that I was excited to check out. It is a cute little corner! And there's a great view of Splash Mountain to enjoy too! I'll be coming back to ride this later! I finally tried the Curry Popcorn and it was delicious! Even though I didn't get to ride the Explorer Canoes in Shanghai, I made it a point to ride the ones in Tokyo! The park's railroad has such a unique and picturesque layout! I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to see the classic Haunted Mansion! Check out the original Bride! The graveyard looks fantastic! And the original Hitchhiking Ghosts! So neat to see this again!

Our trip continued with our first day at Tokyo Disneyland! This was an entirely new experience for both of us as I had only visited Tokyo DisneySea during my trip eleven years earlier and this was my wife's first trip to Asia. Tokyo Disneyland is unique in that it presents a "best of" approach, borrowing elements from Disneyland Park and Magic Kingdom in Florida, while also having a lot of elements exclusive to this park. This was such an incredible experience for me in that it presented a true opportunity for me to fall in love with Tokyo Disneyland. Like a full-size Starspeeder 1000 parked inside of the entrance of the queue! And this gorgeous video monitor in the extended queue area. From here it becomes more familiar... But there are unique touches like these Hitchhiking Droids. The loading terminal is simply gorgeous! Monsters Inc's ride building was built from the ground up with none of the former Meet the World structure retained. First stop, Monsters Inc. Ride and Go Seek! This is the key to your experience! You point your flashlight at the many Monsters Inc symbols found throughout the ride, mostly atop these impressive animatronics. Such a well themed ride! There aren't any points earned for shining light on the targets--just the fun of triggering interactions through the ride! Honestly not much else to compare this one to, but a really fun experience! We went back for several more rides throughout our visit! We'll be coming back for this in a little bit thanks to some Fastpasses! With some time to kill on this corner of the park we figured we'd knock out Star Tours. While the ride itself is the same as the stateside (and now Parisian) counterparts, the show building is expansive and has some very unique elements... We went back several more times thanks to the old-style Fastpass system still being in use at the resort! There are some clever gags in the exit of Monsters Inc. that are worth a look. The Tokyo Disneyland Band was one of many spontaneous performances we witnessed during our day in the park! Pirates of the Caribbean is located in the park's New Orleans Square. Similar to Disneyland's version complete with the Blue Bayou Restaurant, but interestingly enough, riders exit before the lift hill return back to the entry station. Something's crashed in Adventureland and I couldn't be more excited! Honestly, this version of the Tiki Room was one of my most anticipated experiences in Tokyo Disneyland. The queue is like a cross between Disneyland's and Magic Kingdom's with the Tiki Garden from California... But the water features from Florida. This was likely used in the previous versions of the shows' pre-shows, but it is not in use for this version. I loved every minute of the show! I know purists will take great issue to this approach but the audience loved the show and it just felt so energetic and modern compared to the classic version of the show. Jungle Cruise Wildlife Expeditions is a recently-updated take on the classic Jungle Cruise. It is the first version of the ride to have a custom-designed audio track along with a new narrative featuring the spirits seen in these hanging totems. We couldn't understand any of the spieling but the ride was fun all the same. The ride's audio actually triggers the opening of "The Circle of Life" here which oddly works perfectly. Again purists may take issue but it garnered a ton of laughs in our boat! And the classic scenes remain intact. Wouldn't want to be the low man on that totem pole. Photos don't do it justice (so I won't try) but the inside of the temple has been updated with a neat projection mapping effect that I can only hope will make its way to Florida at some point. Good old Trader Sam! The Leaky Tikis don't leak here. Look at this beauty! I love the alternate brickwork that was applied to the lower portion of the castle... It just makes the whole thing feel that much more *real*. I was bummed I couldn't see the old Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour but Fairytale Hall was a cute replacement. Look at this detail! A pretty interior scene! And a neat little element that happens every few minutes or so. I always make it a point to look up in Disney attractions for design elements like these. It made me smile to see this beautiful tile mural originally designed for Florida's Magic Kingdom also present in Tokyo! And credit was even given to the original artist, Dorothea Redmond, a name many Disney fans know well. Time for another of my most hotly anticipated rides of the trip... Pooh's Hunny Hunt! Several other trackless rides have debuted around the world since this first opened but I don't think any hold a candle to this. Just so incredible! And the Heffalumps & Woozles scene is arguably one of my favorite moments in any Disney ride. Does it have to be? We rode Pooh's Hunny Hunt a total of seven times this trip, second only to the 8 times we rode Sinbad's Storybook Voyage! Even the exit is gorgeous! We rope dropped the park for our first day to make sure we could get our first rides in on Monsters Inc. and Pooh's Hunny Hunt. The super polite cast holding up "For safety please walk" signs really made me smile.

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I seriously cannot wait to have more of that fondue! This looks like another great festival for Epcot--and more delicious food for me to fawn over!

Still weird to see this so much happening with this park! I honestly think the brands they're getting are far more valuable than the park they're going into, so I'll be curious to see if the quality meets the standards of the Fox IPs and for how long.

Parques Reunidos has sent us a press release announcing the development of Ducati World at Mirabilandia!

Looks like a solid year at IAAPA with a few neat ride announcements (especially the return of the Steeplechase)! Thanks for all of the great updates this year!

It is definitely strange to see them pulling apart Eurosat. I'm curious to see how they work the rebuilt structure into the redesigned area where it will live. No matter what, Europa Park continues to appear to be one of the most beautiful European parks and it remains among the top of my list of places in Europe I need to get around to visiting at some point.

Disney doesn't have too many coasters that exclude their core audience though... Even their most thrilling attractions carry fairly reasonable height restrictions that make them accessible to early tweens/teens at the oldest end of the spectrum of guests that may not meet the minimum height required. The updating of Epcot has been touted repeatedly in each announcement as being "more timeless, more Disney, more thrilling and more family." I read that to be an indication that whatever this coaster will be, it will still be accessible for the most of the family, given how popular the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise is for families.

I'm still eager to see how F.L.Y. turns out, especially if the ride system will be used inventively in other parks after this first installation...

^They taste even better than their description lets on! Some of my favorite ribs in town!

Fixed.

Sitting in the theater hearing the familiar, haunting notes of The Point of No Return open the show, subtly serving as a connective bridge I found myself with chills and goosebumps... The thought of seeing a sequel to my favorite Broadway show before my eyes was a promising and daunting one. That's why when I was asked to report on the touring production of Love Never Dies: The Phantom Returns, I was both excited and extremely nervous. Having grown up on the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, particularly his classic Phantom of the Opera, I was no stranger to the sweeping grandiosity of the music, sets and complex characters, damaged and beautiful, enigmatic but wounded underneath. 'Phantom' has a beloved legacy and Love Never Dies will surely divide those first considering it whether the story should exist, but I found that two approaches would allow the original to be preserved without the continuation changing your perspective of the contained story that stands beloved on its own. You see, Love Never Dies is a sequel musical set ten long years after the events at the Paris Opera House and during that time, the previous musical's characters have evolved... Changed. Those changes were sometimes hard to swallow... If only because in order to succeed, Love Never Dies takes the feelings you had about these characters and shifts them--reinterprets them to further the story. Which is why I had to step back and look at the story of The Phantom in two ways to "see" this show. In one way, Phantom of the Opera can be seen as a self-contained story, where Christine and Raoul ride off together, leaving the tragedy of the Opera Populaire and the Phantom behind them, their remaining story left to the imagination and their love going on as if deserved for the trouble they endured to earn their freedom. In another view, their story once open ended has been continued--once left to wonder and now we know what happened. Opening up in this way allowed me to preserve the original ending's effect without letting the continuation take away from that classic story's beginning, middle and end. Love Never Dies picks up with The Phantom of the Opera, now acting as the mysterious proprietor of Phantasma, a collection of unique oddities and acts set upon the waterside charm of Coney Island. The shift in location is a perfect extension of the Phantom's twisted facade, beautiful, mysterious but with darkness beneath the shadows. The contrast between the ornate and upper-class establishment of the Paris Opera House is clear and no doubt a reflection of how far the characters have come since the original story ended. Christine Daae, now married to Raoul and with a ten year old son, arrives in Coney Island, saddled the baggage of the years. Raoul is a far cry from the man he once was in the eyes of the audience, with his drinking and gambling bringing the family crippling debt and a fall from the graces of high society. He cannot connect with their son Gustave, whose curiosity and savant-like mastery of music begs to question whose abilities he truly inherited - a point not to be ignored throughout the story. The Phantom has orchestrated a plan to heal his soul, going through a decade long withdrawal from the one drug that he lived on in Paris, the voice of Christine Daae. "Till I Hear You Sing" is a standout song within the show (reprised at several points throughout) that evidences the pain, love and desperation behind the Phantom's plan. Absolute chills upon its delivery. On the other end of the story is Madame Giry and her daughter Meg, previously characters on the side of The Phantom of the Opera but here main players, having toiled for ten years to raise the Phantom up to the heights, having done whatever it takes to further his ambition in the hopes that he would share his favor in return. The reintroduction of Christine in their lives derails their vision and threatens their ground, leading to a more villainous position in this story. Once again, a twist on the established character profiles of these two that takes some getting used to. Like the ten years that have passed between the musicals' timelines or the even greater span of time between their respective debuts, Love Never Dies feels like a maturation across the board. The setting, the story, the allusions, the actions and the music are all darker and deeper than the show's predecessor. Phantom of the Opera presented the dilemma of choice between two prospective lovers and the conflict between physical and emotional attraction versus the strength of mutual talent and the rush of a forbidden love. Love Never Dies challenges the decisions made in the prior story and paints a conflict over past choices and future direction for these characters, making the audience question who was right suitor chosen and what could have been. As the story unfolds, secrets are laid out that shift our understanding of the events of Phantom of the Opera, once again rewriting interpretations of the characters with whom so many had previously connected. No character carried over into this show is without fault or secret and as a result, they become more layered than you previously knew them to be. Make no mistake, Love Never Dies will be divisive, particularly for those with attachments to the dark fairy tale that was the original Phantom of the Opera. But there is something to be said for the connective tissue between shows that is presented tastefully and in a manner that is not overshadowing of the new ground Love Never Dies attempts to tread. Suspension of expectations of these characters allows for the story to reach new heights with several songs standing out as triumphs including "Look With Your Heart," "Beneath a Moonless Sky" and "Once Upon Another Time." As a Phantom fan, it would be a disservice to not give the show a chance. This alternate-universe ending to the story we already thought was finished has particular merit as a table-turning follow-up that furthers these characters in ways you wouldn't expect. While the show is not perfect (neither is the original), it succeeds in delivering a thought-provoking bookend with memorable music, incredible staging (akin to the inventiveness of the original Phantom of the Opera production) and unexpected motions that rewrite the history you once knew. Love Never Dies: The Phantom Returns can be seen at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts from November 21st through November 26th, 2017. For more information visit: https://www.drphillipscenter.org/events/tickets/2017/love-never-dies/ Richard Koons (“Squelch”), Katrina Kemp (“Fleck”) and Stephen Petrovich (“Gangle”) star in Love Never Dies. Sean Thompson (“Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny”) stars in Love Never Dies. Sean Thompson (“Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny”), Jake Heston Miller (“Gustave”) and Meghan Picerno (“Christine Daaé”) star in Love Never Dies. “The Coney Island Waltz” featuring Richard Koons (“Squelch”), Katrina Kemp (“Fleck”), Stephen Petrovich (“Gangle”) and the Ensemble of Love Never Dies. Karen Mason (“Madame Giry”) stars in Love Never Dies. Jake Heston Miller (“Gustave”), Meghan Picerno (“Christine Daaé”) and Sean Thompson (“Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny”) star in Love Never Dies. Katrina Kemp (“Fleck”), Stephen Petrovich (“Gangle”) and Richard Koons (“Squelch”), star in Love Never Dies. Richard Koons (“Squelch”), Katrina Kemp (“Fleck”) and Karen Mason (“Madame Giry”) star in Love Never Dies. Meghan Picerno (“Christine Daaé”) stars in Love Never Dies. “Dear Old Friend” – Mary Michael Patterson (“Meg Giry”), Meghan Picerno (“Christine Daaé”), Karen Mason (“Madame Giry”) and Sean Thompson (“Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny”) star in Love Never Dies. “Only For You” - Mary Michael Patterson (“Meg Giry”) and the Ensemble of Love Never Dies. Jake Heston Miller (“Gustave”) and Meghan Picerno (“Christine Daaé”) star in Love Never Dies.

Last night TPR was invited to preview the new Christmas offerings at the Gaylord Palms hotel in Kissimmee, Florida! A strong combination of the classic experiences that have operated here for fifteen years and the introduction of new components make give this year the strongest lineup I've been able to experience. With a unifying theme of "Christmas Around the World" found across several shows and attractions, this year's event feels incredibly well thought out with something for everyone to enjoy and a definite focus on the family audience. ICE! is slightly shorter this year than in previous years but the rooms it has inside are no less impressive than in past years. The Christmas Around the World theme allows for some very inventive displays, and of course, there is always the ice slide room. A tip for those that haven't been before: if you finish going through ICE! but aren't done with the attraction you are allowed to re-enter the immediately upon exiting the final scene--as long as you do not exit this holding area/transition room, you are able to go back through as many times as you want. New this year is the introduction of Santa's Snow Throw, a unique shooting-gallery style experience that allows you to attempt to hit targets with actual snow balls, that may activate effects when successfully hit. Mrs. Claus' Christmas Traditions, a new Cirque Dreams Unwrapped show and a new light show in the atrium, Joyful all add to the year's line-up along with many other offerings available for guests throughout the resort. Christmas at Gaylord Palms has been a tradition for many since it debuted with ICE! fifteen years ago, and with such a huge lineup of offerings available this year, the event has evolved to a must-visit status for locals and tourists alike. This will especially appeal to guests from warmer weather areas (like me) that don't often see snow, and for families that simply love Christmas time. Christmas at Gaylord Palms has a huge list of attractions, shows and more for guests to enjoy this year! The atrium of Gaylord Palms is dressed for the holidays and the stage is set for the debut of this year’s Cirque Dreams Unwrapped! We started with the debut of “Joyful,” a new light show in the atrium! [twitter] [/twitter] The show tells the story of a grandfather explaining to his grandson how Christmas is celebrated around the world, and through light and unique takes on classic Christmas songs, the atrium evokes this message. Some of the lighting effects are really awesome! This was a really neat effect to see in person! Cirque Dreams Unwrapped returns to Gaylord Palms for the third year, this time with a reimagined show and a new set of acts within. Lots of impressive acts cross this stage throughout the show. Stunning! And of course, there's some audience participation. Pretty neat to see this in person! [twitter] [/twitter] Jack & Jackie Frost, Snowflake, Mrs. Claus and the Peanuts Gang make an appearance at Gaylord Palms for the holidays! The Peanuts Gang is here! Time to parka up and head into ICE! (It is taking a great deal of strength for me to not break out my Batman & Robin Mr. Freeze puns...) This year's theme is Christmas Around the World. Some pretty neat ornaments sculpted in the first room. Some country-specific displays show off Christmas traditions from around the globe. Mistletoe anyone? There's no shortage of impressive ice sculptures here! Germany! The ICE! slide room has been rearranged this year and it looks fantastic! [twitter] [/twitter] The Taj Mahal! The lighting in the ICE! Slide room is spot on! Mexico! Looking down from the top of the ICE! Slide! Some really incredible sculpts this year! Beautiful! Time to go to the North Pole! Sadly, I wasn't on the Nice List. Neat to see some fresh ice sculptures side by side with their actual inspirations. Just hanging out with a teddy bear made of ice... No big deal. More ice sculptures and their actual inspirations side by side. I kept going back for more! The classic Nativity Scene room returns as the finale of ICE! Mrs. Claus' Christmas Traditions is a new story time show for young guests to enjoy in the Alpine Village. Mike's Italian Ice is available for purchase in classic flavors along with cold cocoa... It is basically hot chocolate in the form of Italian Ice, complete with marshmallows! Santa's Snow Throw is a new addition this year! It serves a chance to remind me why sports were never my forte. The Snow Tubing area of Christmas at Gaylord Palms returns as well! For many Floridians, this is the most snow some have ever seen. [twitter] [/twitter] There’s plenty more to see inside of the Alpine Village! Near the Everglades section of the hotel is a new Christmas Tree Trail with trees representing countries from around the world. Can you guess which country this tree represents? We’ve had a fantastic time at this year’s Christmas @GaylordPalms event including ICE!

This weekend Theme Park Review was invited to experience the holidays at the Universal Orlando Resort, featuring new offerings like Christmas at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and returning favorites like Grinchmas! Along the way there was plenty of food, fun and holiday merriment to be had! Universal has had a strongly established line up of holiday offerings for over a decade, but this year the resort upped the ante with the introduction of a new holiday parade, Christmas decor and entertainment in both parks' respective Wizarding World of Harry Potter lands, the return of Grinchmas & Mannheim Steamroller and the introduction of the new nighttime projection show, "The Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle." There was so much to take in throughout the weekend and so much to love, to the point that we revisited all of the new shows at several times throughout our visit! We started out the media event with an evening at Universal Studios Florida, where the holidays greet you before you event enter the turnstiles! A huge Christmas tree in the New York section of the park sets the mood for our evening! The lead float of the parade spins and digitally displays the "Universal's Holiday Parade featuring Macy's" logo along with logos representing the other franchises found in the parade. The parade is a great mix of the old Macy's parade and a new Universal franchises. Not surprisingly, Despicable Me and the Minions have a significant role in the parade. This is the first time that Lucy from Despicable Me 2 has been seen in the parks! KING BOB!!!! In case you were wondering what we were doing here! Even the Universal Orlando Resort logo has gotten in on the holiday cheer! These pumpkin and marscapone ravioli were incredible! Little bites of heaven for sure! The second best kind of martini you can have... There was no shortage of sweets either. Lots of holiday treats to enjoy... Michael Aiello and Lora Sauls took the stage to share insight into the development of this year's new offerings. For Christmas in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter three new Frog Choir songs and four new Celestina Warbeck tunes were created. An unexpected visitor dropped in to remind us that Grinchmas is back this year too! One more Minions float for good measure... Next up is the Madagascar section of the parade, starting with The Penguins of Madagascar. Interestingly enough these characters used to meet guests in Universal but were retired following the end of an agreement previously established with Dreamworks, leading to the characters moving to Busch Gardens Tampa for a show in the Stanleyville Theater. Now that Dreamworks is owned by Universal and the deal with the SeaWorld Parks has concluded, these characters have returned to the Universal parks. It wouldn't be Madagascar without King Julien! Sadly, "I Like to Move It" is not included in the parade's audio loop. The final Madagascar float features all of the main characters from the films. The talking donkey and the flying donkey behind it should be an indication of what's next. That's right folks, Shrek is represented in Universal's Holiday Parade featuring Macy's. Following the Universal characters, some of Macy's most recognizable characters make their way down the parade route. These new floats are fantastic! So many recognizable images from Macy's past. Pretty awesome! Santa Claus has come to town! The London Waterfront in Universal Studios Florida has been dressed up for the holidays... As has the inside of Diagon Alley! Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees have four new songs to share with The Wizarding World, made especially for the holidays! Photo courtesy of the Universal Orlando Resort It is that magical time of year again when Hot Butterbeer is served fresh in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Hogsmeade station has a little bit of extra decor too! Looking in to Hogsmeade from the outside, you'll notice there's significantly more aglow here... Except here. The Frog Choir has three new holiday tunes to share in the shadow of Hogwarts Castle. "The Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle" is a new projection show running exclusively in Hogsmeade for the holiday season. The Weasely Brothers leave their mark on Hogwarts Castle during the show... Fireworks on the castle! The new projection show and the lighting that comes with it is stunning! Photo courtesy of the Universal Orlando Resort There's even some real fireworks to mark the end of the show! The Yule Ball section lights up the castle in a beautiful way! Another fantastic evening in Hogsmeade, made especially great thanks to the new evening entertainment! Suess Landing is dressed up for this year's edition of Grinchmas. Q is for Quan. Quan is for Quandary. Over at the Sapphire Falls Resort, we were able to see how the holidays are celebrated at the Universal Orlando Resort hotels. Chimichurri steak? Sign me up! Jerk pork? Sold! Back at Universal's Islands of Adventure guests can enjoy a live retelling of the classic story, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Cindy Lou carries the show... But the entire cast is spot on! The duet between the narrator and the Grinch for "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" is definitely my favorite moment of the show. And of course, there's a happy ending to be had! Grinchmas is definitely worth going out of your way for, especially if you're a fan of the source material. A look at Hogsmeade with the holiday decor during the day. The moose out front should've told ya. Back in Diagon Alley, the Leaky Cauldron has been dressed up for the holidays... As has much of Diagon Alley overall. Proper representation found! Even Gringotts Bank got in the spirit! We ran into some jolly snowmen while roaming Universal Studios Florida! Since we had a little time on our hands we stopped into Race Through New York starring Jimmy Fallon to see the Ragtime Gals. Mannheim Steamroller is another holiday classic for Universal Studios. You've undoubtedly heard their holiday arrangements before and the live concert is a great way to cap off an evening checking out the holiday offerings in the parks. Even the parks' merchandise has been updated to fit the holiday theme. Holiday Minion merchandise! And Grinchmas merchandise! We ended our weekend with a visit to the always-fabulous Cowfish for some burgushi (see above is the Big Squeal Burger between two Kani Buns with a side of seaweed salad!

After our time at Shanghai Disneyland it was time to head to the Tokyo Disney Resort... I had been to Tokyo DisneySea eleven years earlier, but I had never been to Tokyo Disneyland. And this trip would be the first time for my wife to visit either, so this was also an incredible experience for us to share together. And since my last visit to Tokyo DisneySea all of those years earlier, several significant changes had also taken place. With four days at our disposal versus my one previous half day, there was an abundance of time for us to take in the insane level of detail across these two parks and to try as much of the park offerings as possible during our stay. We began our time at Disney with our first day at Tokyo DisneySea... We stayed at the Sheraton Tokyo Bay which is accessible to all of the Tokyo Disney Resort via the monorail. Our travel day between Shanghai and Tokyo presented the opportunity to have dinner in Ikspiari, the resort's unique take on Downtown Disney. This is somehow a theme park. Mysterious Island is one of the most incredible themed lands ever created for a theme park. This queue structure continues to mesmerize me years later. I remember shortly after getting back from Tokyo on my last trip, reading Robb & Elissa's report from Tokyo that year, and realizing that I missed out on trying a Gyoza Dog during my trip. I made up for it this time around... Aquatopia is still the most nonsensical, awesome attraction out there. There's a full size cruise ship docked inside of the park. How is this real life? Ikspiari has a fantastic Disney Store with a great selection of merchandise not found inside of the parks. Ikspiari Kitchen presented an opportunity to have some authentic, fresh Japanese cuisine early into this portion of the trip. And like I was eleven years earlier, I was back in my personal paradise! Since my last visit saw us bussed in to Tokyo DisneySea, I never had the chance to ride the monorail before now... And this time around, I was really happy to get the chance. Unfortunately due to the time we had available to take this trip, the only dates available for us to visit Tokyo Disney included some where major attractions were closed for refurbishment. Journey into the Center of the Earth was only set to be open on the first day of our time in the parks, so the decision was made for us to start our trip with Tokyo DisneySea (I wasn't going to complain) just so we could get a few rides in before it closed. These elevators put the memory of the Hydrolators to shame. This queue is more heavily themed than most rides I've ever been on. The lava monster is still my favorite animatronic in existence! Mysterious Island is the centerpiece of the park and there is hardly any direction you can look where you miss the volcano. It is just so photogenic! Mysterious Island as seen from Mermaid Lagoon. The Arabian Coast is another one of the very unique ports found in DisneySea. The Magic Lamp Theater is home to a really neat 4D theater show with an equally awesome pre-show. No photos allowed in either beyond this but I really enjoyed it! The last time I was here Sinbad was closed for refurbishment, so this was the first time I had the chance to ride. Sinbad is a unique boat ride that tells the story of Sinbad's adventures to the tune of a single song that spans the length of the ride without deviating far from the lyrics between scenes. The best comparison to be made from a musical standpoint would be "it's a small world" in how the song transcends the individual scene of the ride. There are tons of animatronic characters throughout the duration of the ride. Chandu is Sinbad's pet tiger and an absolutely adorable sidekick for his journeys. So many awesome animatronics inside! The scenes are intensely detailed! And the giant is incredible! "Compass Of Your Heart" unseats "it's a small world" and "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" as the most infectious theme park ride tune in existence. The scene with the Monkey King is filled with the scent of fresh bananas! Pro Tip: If you do not speak Japanese, many of the attractions in the Tokyo Disney Resort offer "Story Cards" that explain the plot or details of the ride/show experience. Sinbad was one of the attractions featured and the story card provided us with the full details of the ride's story (scene by scene) including the English translation of the lyrics for Compass of Your Heart! Easily my favorite Disney dark ride of its kind! I was eager to try Japanese Curry during our visit and I was not disappointed! We visited Tokyo Disney during the Tanabata Days festival, which allowed us to try some really delicious speciality items like this dessert featuring a custard topped with whipped cream and blue raspberry jelly. And we got to keep the souvenir cup! I can never stop marveling at how incredible Mysterious Island is. Queue envy. Just thankful we were able to ride it three times before it closed for refurbishment. Funny story: I had never been overly fond of the music from the former fireworks show Wishes at Magic Kingdom in Florida, to the point that I was excited to see the show go away to welcome Happily Ever After. For our mini-moon, we went out to Disneyland and sure enough, we saw "Remember, Dreams Come True" which also features the same theme of Wishes briefly in the show. After that I thought I had finally escaped... As we were walking through the Mediterranean Harbor an upbeat version of the song played across the water. It turns out that the character greeting float was playing some variation of the song. Even on the other side of the globe, the song followed me. Tower of Terror was one of my favorite experiences from my visit in 2006 (the ride had just opened before we visited that year) and the ride's story and setting is one I prefer over that of Florida's Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. I have since argued that with the Tokyo theme adapted to the Florida ride system/layout, the ride would be perfect. Easily one of my favorite Disney rides in existence. Shiriki is the best! Stella Lou had just arrived at Tokyo Disney before our trip, so a daily welcome parade was set up to show her off! The last time I was in the Mermaid Lagoon Theater the show featured here was very different. This time around we could barely understand the show, but we were enamored with the theater effects and the many moving set pieces. No photography allowed in the show unfortunately! While waiting for Fantasmic we decided to grab a nosh, so we tried some Curry Bread (DELICIOUS), a chocolate biscotti and the Little Green Men mochi bites (these were bliss). This is how you make a volcano in a theme park erupt... Here's looking at you Volcano Bay. The sun begins to set on the Mediterranean Harbor... I'm in love. I never want to leave. This is inside of a theme park. INSANE. Fantasmic was incredibly different from those offered stateside. The core story is very similar but the execution is very different thanks to the show being offered on the water in a near "theater in the round" setting. I had forgotten from watching videos of the show in the past that these projection globes were also part of the show. Kind of like a flashback to Universal 360: A Cinesphere Spectacular. The magic mirror effect is pretty great! And the introduction of the dragon is wonderful! I only noticed when looking through my photos that the dragon's claws were projected on the mist screens. Overall I really liked the show a lot! It was a great way to cap off our day in the park before heading out... It was my goal to visit every major Disney resort hotel in Shanghai and Tokyo while we were on this trip so on this night we stopped into the Hotel Miracosta, where I found this beauty. Neat to read the official dedication from Michael Eisner all these years later... The Hotel Miracosta is a beautiful place! And I'm absolutely in love with this! We called it a night and hopped the monorail back to the Sheraton to get some rest, knowing that our next day at Tokyo Disneyland would be a long one...

These are some excellent photos! Thank you for sharing them with us!

Thanks for another great update! I'd still love to get back to Japan to explore everything beyond Tokyo that I've missed the last two trips, but I continue to live vicariously through reports like these in the interim.

https://blog.universalorlando.com/whats-new/new-hotel-complex-announcement/ Official press release: ORLANDO, Fla. (November 6, 2017) – Universal Orlando Resort will soon offer two high-quality, high-value hotel options for families looking for theme park thrills, exclusive benefits and a seamless Universal Orlando Resort experience – starting at less than $100 per night. Set to begin opening in the summer of 2019, the hotels will feature a combined 2,800 guest rooms, including 1,450 two-bedroom suites designed to accommodate families of all sizes. Both options will be value-driven, with nightly rates starting below Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort and Universal’s Aventura Hotel. Guests will enjoy a seamless and convenient Universal Orlando experience with Early Park Admission to Universal Studios Florida, Universal’s Islands of Adventure or Universal’s Volcano Bay, complimentary transportation across the destination and resort-wide charging privileges. The 750-room and 2,050-room hotels will be located just minutes away from Universal Orlando’s three theme parks and Universal CityWalk’s dining and entertainment options. Amenities will include a combined three pools, two food courts offering breakfast, lunch, dinner and nearby coffee bars, plus poolside bars, fitness rooms, car rental facilities and more. Brought to life by the same Universal Creative team behind the incredibly-themed Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel, Loews Royal Pacific Resort, Loews Sapphire Falls Resort and Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort, these all-new options will be destinations unto themselves. Guests will enjoy the sun, surf and sand with a laid-back coastal feel. Towering exterior murals with vibrant and natural colors will set a free-spirited and beachy tone, inviting guests to hang loose throughout their stay. The hotels will be built on a 64-acre site at the intersection of Universal Blvd. and International Drive, and become the destination’s seventh and eighth hotels. This continues the unprecedented growth ongoing at Universal Orlando Resort. The new hotels will bring the total number of guest rooms at the destination to 9,000 when combined with the 600-room Universal’s Aventura Hotel opening in August 2018.

I'm always fond of parks getting creative with coasters interacting with their sky rides (like Cheetah Hunt), so I love this maneuver! This looks like a solid family addition for the park!

Darien Lake was such a nice park to visit back in 2008 so I'm glad to see them continuing to invest. These Eurofighters are crowdpleasers and they have a few moments that pack a punch so if this is the route they take, I'm sure it will only bring them success.

I'm eager to see just how great Steel Vengeance turns out to be... I've not yet been on an RMC, nor have I been to Cedar Point, so I feel like this could be a good excuse to knock both off of my list!

Tom, your photos continue to show the best of the parks here in Florida! It is rare that you find photos online that truly do justice to the beauty of the rides, characters and theming found in these parks but with each update you've posted, you've highlighted the best of what we have to offer and have done so in a way that truly sells the beauty and charm of our parks. I anxiously look forward to your next update and I often find myself revisiting this thread to go back and look at your previous photos! Thank you so much for sharing!