Tokyo Disney Resort Discussion Thread

[miniviews]

It appears culture plays a big role regards to people's response to a disaster. Here in Hawaii, once a Tsunami watch was reported, the gas stations swell, people rushed to stores for supply of water and toilet paper, and eventually, people headed to higher ground outside of inundation zones. Because of Hawaii's isolation, people will panic to stock their supply of gas & water -- don't ask me about the toilet paper. One positive spin about Hawaii's culture is the respect to the ocean; no one was sweep out to sea when the tsunami waves, however "small", reached our shores. People here are aware a typically 20 ft wave from a storm differs significantly from a 6 ft tsunami wave.

 

Regarding the nuclear reactor coolant problems, I'm monitoring very closely due to my day job. I hope this does not change for the worse the public's perception of nuclear power.

 

All in all, I hope for the best and hope others incorporate lessons learned from this, and previous, disasters.

[robbalvey]

This is probably the best Tsunami video I've seen yet: http://tinyurl.com/663w6e9

[carolinacaniac]

I certainly give props to the folks over in Japan for the way they handle such situations, especially watching the TDL video....I have students who start freaking out when the rain gets a little heavy......it really is annoying!

 

-Gary

[robbalvey]

CNN guy is trying to report on Japan train service and he says.. "Sh...Shin...jooo...keyoo? station?" Ugh, it's Shinjuku dumbass. If I can pronounce it, it's not that hard. And I'm not on national TV reporting the news...

[DougMJr]

Regarding the nuclear reactor coolant problems, I'm monitoring very closely due to my day job. I hope this does not change for the worse the public's perception of nuclear power.

 

Unfortunately, the mass media is infamous for broadcasting stories filled with scandal and fear. Forget the facts, remember the ratings. When this is all said and done, I believe that there will be a more negative view on nuclear power... At least in America where nuclear power isn't widely used. Also, I believe that a lot of people are ignorant when it comes to nuclear power. When news broke about the hydrogen explosion, some friends of mine believed that there was a nuclear explosion. I explained that a reactor isn't like an atom bomb. I'm sure there are many more as confused about nuclear power as my friends are.

[vuurvogel]

Wow, the forces of nature are amazingly strong. Incredible footage, to keep your nerves and hold your cam steady while all things around you (and probably what he owns) is destroyed.

[Saldek]

This is probably the best Tsunami video I've seen yet: http://tinyurl.com/663w6e9

 

WOW! That looks like a rapids ride!

 

This one is pretty intense too.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12725646

[robbalvey]

Elissa's mom just came in the room and said "Is that Bill Nye the Science guy? WTF! Maybe next they'll have the cookie monster talk about the quake!" LMAO!

 

My response was... Or what about the Count? "One...ONE Nuclear Reactor! AH AH AH AH AH! Two..TWO Nuclear Reactors! AH AH AH AH AH! Three...THREE Nuclear Reactors! AH AH AH AH AH! What? Explosion? Two...TWO Nuclear Reactors! AH AH AH AH AH!"

 

--Robb "Not making fun of the disaster...making fun of the news..." Alvey

[robbalvey]

YES!!! Now Captain Sulu is on CNN talking about the quake!!! "It's a shame that Scotty died a few years back, otherwise he could have beamed up all the Japanese to safety..."

[cfc]

^At least he's Japanese.

 

I gave up watching TV news years ago.

[Ace Of Spades]

George Takei asking for donations?

 

Oh my.

 

[/injoke]

[Meteornotes]

Remember, if you scare people into thinking that every time they leave the house they have a very good chance of dying, they're more likely to stay inside and watch TV, where they can watch more commercials and have business-backed propaganda, err, I mean "news" shoved down their throats. Since most people in the US have the thinking power of drunken sea cucumbers, this method works. Open your brains and think for yourselves occasionally, America! It really won't kill you.

 

I would personally love to see Cookie Monster, Space Ghost, and Gamera interviewed about their ideas on earthquakes and natural disasters. And perhaps even give cooking tips.

 

dt

[xmichellex]

Agreed on CNN being kind of ridiculous. It's really bothering me that they keep going on and on about the "nuclear disaster " which, according to most experts, is under control. They are pushing it to the point that I swear they are waiting for it to really happen just so they can be even more dramatic.

[BeemerBoy]

I would personally love to see Cookie Monster, Space Ghost, and Gamera interviewed about their ideas on earthquakes and natural disasters. And perhaps even give cooking tips.

Or even Bam Bam from the Flinstones. I mean, he was able to shake the ground and stuff, right? He must be an expert on earthquakes. And where's Aquaman when you need him?

 

I gave up watching TV news years ago.

Yep.

 

 

By the way, does anyone know in what order Captain Sulu was interviewed by rank of celebrities? I had him as "Famous Japanese representative #3" in my office pool.

[SharkTums]

^Who was one and two!??!

[BeemerBoy]

^

#1 Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle Mariners)

#2 Daisuke Matsuzaka (Boston Red Sox)

[Swiminn6]

Yes CNN is really ridiculous right now!! They keep dragging the nuclear thing and last night around midnight they put re-runs about it on!!

 

Here is the latest news from my friends who live in Tokyo.

Its sunny and it's pretty calm. They actually have to evacuate sometime because of a warning about about another 8.0+ magnitude earthquake predicted for Wednesday March 16th. So far they also won't be going back to school for 2 weeks!

[ginzo]

^

#1 Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle Mariners)

#2 Daisuke Matsuzaka (Boston Red Sox)

 

If Pat Morita were still alive, would he be #1 on the call list?

[Amy Baby]

I just keep watching the news and get updates on the devastation of the area and so far the death toll is well over 10,000. I am just glad that Disneyland in Tokyo is alright. Another thing is that I hope the 4 nuclear plants don't meltdown otherwise it will be a bigger disaster. I just thought of something, does anyone know if Nagashima Spaland got touched by the tsunami?? I was just wondering.

[sfmmfreak101]

There was another explosion at one of the plants and a second Tsunami could be on the way so they're evacuating to higher ground.

[Angry_Gumball]

This is probably the best Tsunami video I've seen yet: http://tinyurl.com/663w6e9

 

WOW! That looks like a rapids ride!

 

This one is pretty intense too.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12725646

 

That's exactly what I said to my cousin when I watched it. Though I'm sure that current is much stronger than the rapids ride. But the way the cars were drifting along and spinning around as they bumped into the walls reminded me of the circular boats occasionally kissing the channel walls on the ride.

 

On a more serious note, that video is quite intense, horrifying, and amazing at the same time. Amazing because of how powerful it really was, especially towards the end when buildings were floating down the roadway and how quickly the store fronts were completely submerged. I wonder if those people ditched their car that was driving up the road at the beginning.

[BeemerBoy]

If Pat Morita were still alive, would he be #1 on the call list?

Certainly.

 

Yoko Ono is another popular choice I haven't heard from yet....although I couldn't care less about that either.

[OldJJman]

I'll add my two cents here.

 

I'm very confident in the ability of the Japanese to handle this horrific disaster, far better than any other place on the planet!

 

Insomuch that I believe that the "search and rescue" teams coming from the USA and other countries think they'll be a great help, I believe that they'll slow things down and f**k them up!!

 

When we had done the TPR Japan/Korea trip in 2007, we flew out of LAX knowing that a typhoon was heading for Japan. Turns out, we adjusted our trip accordingly and headed to southern Japan first, working our way back to Tokyo.

 

One of the days we were almost stuck in Osaka(?), due to the catagory 3 typhoon hitting Tokyo head on. It affected train travel north (which is where we had to go, as we were staying in Nagoya) at one point, as all trains going north were stopped. We got lucky about an hour+(?) later, as the announcement was made that they were sending ONE train north, only to Nagoya due to the typhoon which should hit during the night. Cramming a few thousand people onto a shinkansen was fun!! Cramped, but fun!

 

The next morning, we walked outside to see hundreds of bicycles blown over due to the heavy winds experienced in Nagoya from the typhoon in Tokyo (163 miles away).

 

In the USA, these would be lead stories for a week or more, including the "aftermath".

 

The lead story on the "Japan Times" (English version) the next morning was:

 

 

A drunk police officer stealing a purse from a woman in the Nagoya train station and being subdued and held by 6 passers-by, until police arrived.

 

The typhoon was the second story!! One bridge wiped out, and things were back to 85% operational, and should be back to normal by the end of the day.

 

I saved the newspaper just for that reason, as it seemed so unbelievable to me.

 

 

The Japaneese have their act together. I don't think they even know the meaning of the word "panic". And, it showed as we never felt panicked, but were more swept up in the attitude of "Disaster coming, fix it, move along".

 

The Japanese will be just fine.

[robbalvey]

^^ Scott, Yoko Ono was mentioned briefly on CNN tonight. Not anything important, just something like "We heard from Yoko Ono...her family is ok..."

 

So I guess all is right in the world now since Yoko Ono's family is ok...

[djrappa]

The Nuclear thing is just harious. Yes it's clearly a serious situation, but all we keep hearing is "last ditch effort to use seawater to prevent disaster". If the systems are in place to do this its hardly last ditch.

It's almost like because we are so against Japan for whaling we need to find all these ways to make them seem bad.

 

Let's not think about the rest of the time 1/3 of all they electricity comes from good clean nuclear power. Unlike countries like ours where we kill the earth burning coal for no good reason.

 

Australia has the same problem as America where our media needs to make it look like everyone else is clueless except for us.