Photo TR: Wandering Canadian

[BrianLo]

Pt 1. Tokyo DisneyLand

Pt 2. Tokyo DisneySea (below) (May 2011)

Pt 3. RCCL Allure of the Seas & Dragon's Flight Line!(January 2012)

Pt 4. Canada's Wonderland ScotiaBank Day, and of course Leviathan!(April 29th 2012)

 

Hi all,

 

I figured I'd take my first spin at the trip report thing. I'll be attending the ScotiaBank Canada's Wonderland Day this Sunday, so look forward to that. Additionally I'm off to South-East Asia in under two weeks and should have some trip reports from Hong Kong Disney, Ocean Park, and Universal Studio's Singapore.

 

I also have pictures of Busch Gardens/Epcot/Universal Orlando over New Years, last day of Jaws and/or a cruise we did afterwards on Allure of the Seas. If any of those things are of interest let me know!

 

For now though I figured I'd do a test run with Tokyo Disney. The pictures are from last May so a little old, but I figured no one would complain. Timing wise that park had not been open very long since the earthquake, and attendance was way down. I'm very surprised/glad their 2012 attendance was still up, because I really was worried about the parks with the crowds we experienced.

 

I just want to emphasize how truly uncrowded the parks were. Where is the line?!

 

A little background, this was not a theme park trip, that said Tokyo Disney was definitely on my must list. I used British Airway points to book Cathay Pacific tickets, including a 3 day stopover in Hong Kong. I did the same thing for this upcoming trip except Singapore/Bangkok as the destination. Unfortunately BA overhauled their awards and this isn't as attainable anymore. Time in Hong Kong was limited so we didn't bother with any parks there (I figured I'd be back and there was just so much construction going on at Disney and Ocean Park, no idea it would be so soon spurred on by the BA devaluation). We spent two days doing the Tokyo Disney thing and 5 days sightseeing in and around Tokyo. It's definitely my favourite country I've been to. Enough preamble... onto the pictures!

The excitement is palpable!

No need to ride the monorail for Tokyo Disney, we were staying off property. I was looking forward to the ride around the park the following day.

Crowds were really light. This was my first visit but I can't imagine this is "normal".

Bought our tickets from the gate. Of course we are saving the best for last.

There was ample space everywhere.

Japanese really hate the rain...

We've made it! I have a huge sheepish grin still from the marching band welcoming us to the park. I think all parks should welcome you with a marching band...

Guess where we went first?

I think Splash mountain *might* be my favourite "Magic Kingdom" ride. It's just all around the perfect Disney ride. A nice meandering boat ride full of singing and dancing critters. The ride time is satisfying AND there is still a thrill element.

I'm having Disney withdrawal right now... this was a bad idea!

Either no one was there... or we frightened the Japanese. I can't complain it was awesome, but I was very concerned that the OLC would be taking a huge hit. I'm glad the crowds came back!

We went on everything... because why not?

...everything.

I've only been to Florida previously, but adventureland in Tokyo Disney was awesome! Japanese Metro regulations prevent the train from having stops, so it just takes you around the adventureland area.

I spy canoes... you bet we did that too. I'd recommend it, we were the butt of absolutely every joke from all the blank stares we gave when he was instructing everyone what to do. Sometimes it's amusing when the Japanese laugh at you.

I have a feeling we were being mocked right now.

That's ok... because popcorn makes us feel better. I really, really should have just gotten a bucket. You feel like an idiot initially, but seriously just cave and accept the fact you are going to purchase way too much popcorn.

Wahoo, time for a credit!

Star Tours exists in their tomorrowland!

So I knew all about Pooh... (err)... and was PUMPED!

It was about the only ride I remember with a line... So my thoughts on Pooh. I think the ride was a little overbuilt in my mind from all the universal praise it gets. It is a kids ride, that needs to be kept in mind, was expecting more scenes I think... That said the ride system was fantastic, the scenes were fantastic. I absolutely think this is an amazing dark ride. It's an absolute travesty Disney hasn't taken advantage of this stateside as Pooh is really just the tip of the iceberg. It's just such an amazing experience to have your vehicles "dance" around to the music. I take it back, I clearly love it and wasn't disappointed.

I went a little too crazy and got the rhythm down just right so the cups wouldn't break... needless to say I started feeling ill, NOT a good idea.

The small world exterior was interesting...

So the electric lights parade was being refurbed... instead we got this which looks neat, but that's literally 2/3 of the parade right there.

Oh look... the end. I felt like maybe they shouldn't have bothered, I think we were all confused and wondering where the rest of the parade went! Oh well, can't complain we had an amazing day!

It was a great day. We did literally every attraction and show in the park except Monsters Inc. (closed for reburb) and Jungle Cruise (I have never done it and I think it would be completely lost on us!). I'm glad Magic Kingdom is getting New Fantasyland, because it has such a long way to catch up to this absolutely amazing park!

The End!

Edited April 30, 2012 by BrianLo

[larrygator]

Wow that lack of crowds is amazing. As least you were contributing to the economy as the locals were adjusting to the ramifications of the earthquake.

[Meteornotes]

Nice report. You really did luck out with the crowds. And yes, getting the popcorn bucket is always a good idea!

 

dt

[BrianLo]

Wow that lack of crowds is amazing. As least you were contributing to the economy as the locals were adjusting to the ramifications of the earthquake.

 

Exactly, the trip was planned well before the earthquake I might add. I received a lot of pressure to change plans, but I really kept hearing things were back to normal by May in Tokyo and wanted to show my support. The misconstruing of information about the radiation threat seriously pissed me off. I would not change the decision at all! We had three aftershocks while there that we know of, one that woke me up and a different one that woke my friend, very minor.

[SharkTums]

Good for you going! We still got flack for going in June, but everyone was so happy we were there and there were only minor things that you wouldn't even notice unless you had visited a lot. If I remember correctly they only reopened at the end of April, so you did well with the timing for sure!

 

I'd love to see your Allure pictures!

[BrianLo]

Yes it did. I checked updates religiously hoping the park would be back up and running. Everyone was so thankful and happy to see tourists, they are such a wonderful culture and people!

[BrianLo]

Welcome to part 2 of this trip report, thanks for joining me and your comments/feedback are appreciated!

 

Tokyo DisneySea is everything its cracked up to be. Fantastic rides and theming that continues all throughout the park. It's also exactly where parks should aim to be by their ten year anniversary, it doesn't seem like a half-day park or incomplete like every other recent Disney effort. Like Tokyo Disneyland the crowds were light and that made for a very, very weird experience for us once again. Half way through the day we had exhausted nearly every attraction (we didn't bother with Turtle talk for obvious reasons and didn't go to the broadway show). Yes we went on the Venice boats, yes we rode the Little Mermaid kiddie flats and yes we hit up every E ticket at least twice. Reflecting back on it their are a lot of attractions at Tokyo DisneySea, without the lines we just felt like we wanted more!

 

Toy Story Mania is a perfect multi-ride addition I think the park really needs! At the time Fantasmic was brand new and the Jasmine's flying carpets were under construction.

 

Also I had looked up and Journey to the Center of the Earth was going to be down for refurb. I was extremely depressed about the fact but was glad at least the park was open... I've never done Monsters Inc. before so I wasn't exactly thrilled about that one either. It could have been worse, at least Pooh wasn't scheduled for refurb.

 

I also forgot to mention that they weren't running fast passes in either park while we were there, which was kind of nice. No bouncing around to maximize our rides, we just did the circuit in a logical fashion!

 

On with the photos!

On our way aboard the monorail!

Oh hello Tokyo Disneyland... clearly no one likes you.

Why the picture of the park lot? Because apparently they liquidated during the earthquake whatever the hell that means...

Yes a lot of parking lot work was going on. I wish I could have seen what a liquid parking lot looked like.

You can never tell from the pictures but the entire globe is also covered in water. If I have to be critical of DisneySea I'd say this isn't really the "best" gate landmark/statue, the colouring just seems off.

I wish we were staying here...

This is the holy crap moment! I love Islands of Adventure and both parks are going for the same feel, but DisneySea just takes the theming cake!

First up we rushed over to Tower of Terror! I think everyone else did too because we actually had to wait... for like 15-20 minutes. I know, we SUFFERED! The theme on this version is amazing superior to all others. However, I think the missing dark ride portion gives the Florida version the prize.

Perfection!

Duffy photo op!

It's not like everything HAS to have an attraction! (but I kind of wish this area had an attraction beyond Duffy...)

Proceeding clockwise the next section is Port Discovery, think tomorrow land of DisneySea. It consists of a trackless ride system (aka Winnie the Pooh) outdoors and a motion theatre storm riders attraction.

I hope this land is the next in line to receive a marquee attraction!

But... it's no Pooh, it's not really supposed to be though. For what it is, it's a fun little ride but something entirely skippable.

Continuing on, here comes a land with a real one, two punch! The "adventure land" of DisneySea!

Indy wasn't open yet... NOOOOOO! *spoiler - it opened later so crisis averted*

Raging Spirit coaster was next door, and was pretty decent! Awesome theming as you'd expect.

Arabian coast was looming at us... but first...

...we went under the sea! I think the whole area is pretty cute. It's made for the kiddies, but I think I'd be ok if they had to sacrifice some of the flats for the dark ride clone. I have a feeling this area would have an awful capacity with crowds in the park so a high capacity omnimover attraction might make more sense.

Meh, why not? They also have a little mermaid show which we enjoyed. It's kind of a short retelling musical type affair. We even went on the flounder coaster outside of this area which I didn't feel deserved to be photographed apparently. I'm not a credit-whore, my friend wanted to go on it. I recall it being quite the squeeze and I'm only 6'1".

Yup I got one of these, and I didn't even have to use a fast pass!

And now we've arrive to another fantastic land! The best part... Journey was actually OPEN!!!

Journey was excellent! I don't quite understand when people complain about CarsLand in DCA *only* getting a retheme of test track, after all Journey is also *only* test track as well. Ultimately theme is king!

20,000 leagues is ok...

Rounding out the other side of the Bay.

The castle holds an expensive restaurant. Immediately behind me is a small expansion pad for the park I'm pretty sure. You can just tell there is an attraction begging to be born as nothing else is really around this walkway.

The gondola ride is a testament to the amazing beauty of DisneySea.

See how happy we all are?

Our gondolier serenaded us!

Not a high capacity attraction, but it is worth it to get the full DisneySea experience!

I don't know how they avoided the Japanese Metro regulations with this tram. Perhaps because it's not a "complete" circuit but just a back and forth from point A (American Waterfront) to point B (Port Discovery)

Amazing

We completed the transportation circuit with the via water! You can spot the Flounder coast on the far left. They had a cirque-esque show around here too which was pretty good. I think they shot fog into the entire theatre. I remember something scared the crap out of me, maybe a performer running down the aisle. Indy was open at this point and was fantastic! I've never been on Indy before, without a doubt it was my favourite attraction from DisneySea! Second I would give to Journey and third...

Sinbad! I'm a sucker for dark rides. New Disney dark rides are far and few between these days, especially on an E-ticket scale, so this was a real treat! Most of the song was in Japanese but I took away "follow the compass of your heart". Good ol'fashioned Disney fun, and fantastic new animatronics! We also caught an Genie show from Aladdin!

I'll leave you with a shot of the fantastic Tower of Terror. Fantasmic was Fantastic, what more can one expect from Tokyo DisneySea! Thanks for reading, I'll be back with some pictures of the amazing Allure of the Seas, and I even have quite the amazing "ride" to share from that cruise.

[cfc]

I miss DisneySea, the best theme park anywhere--and I still have yet to ride the gondolas and Raging Spirits.

[simon8899]

I need to visit this someday - and as Finnair is allowed to go over russia and the arctic the flight time isnt THAT intimmidating anymore from europe....

[gisco]

I miss DisneySea, the best theme park anywhere--and I still have yet to ride the gondolas and Raging Spirits.

 

There's gondolas?

 

I didn't even know they were there the first two times I went to the park. Still haven't been on them after four visits.

[delan]

Oh - My - God.....this just brought back all types of memories. DisneySea is perhaps the best park I have ever been to!

[larrygator]

I miss DisneySea, the best theme park anywhere--and I still have yet to ride the gondolas and Raging Spirits.

 

There's gondolas?

 

I didn't even know they were there the first two times I went to the park. Still haven't been on them after four visits.

 

I only saw the gondolas because I was searching for the Gelato shop.

[cfc]

^And I have yet to eat any gelato there. Another reason to go back!

Edited April 25, 2012 by cfc

[coasterkid21]

This trip report was excellent. It really did show everything. Thank you for amusing me while turning me green with envy at the same time!

[BrianLo]

Thanks for all the comments! It's been a whole year so I'm making myself pretty envious with this report too!

 

The gondolas really are hidden down a dead end near the entrance so I could see how they would be easy to miss. They are worth the visit for something distinctly DisneySea, but I would recommend visiting them very early or very late as a massive line would be probable with crowds.

 

Such a pretty little area of the park, every section doesn't need an E-ticket but an attraction with ambiance goes a long way in my books!

The canal at night.

[djjarvicious]

Great report! Thanks for sharing! My lady and I can't WAIT to get over there, taste that popcorn and hope we can still get a sprinkling of radiation. (I know, I know. In poor taste <---taste HA!) What ever doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

 

Did you get a chance to see the progress of Toy Trolley Park (ie: Toy Story Midway Mania) in the American Waterfront next to The TOT? I hear it's just about finished.

[larrygator]

Did you get a chance to see the progress of Toy Trolley Park (ie: Toy Story Midway Mania) in the American Waterfront next to The TOT? I hear it's just about finished.

 

There was pretty much nothing the public could see when he was there last year. Even when TPR went a few months later nothing could be seen as the work is beyond the parks current "boundary."

at the time of the TPR visit

Edited April 25, 2012 by larrygator

[Mosaic513]

Thanks for a great report. I cannot wait to experience it all first-hand in about two weeks when I make my first trip to Japan and TDR. I am bummed that Journey will be in rehab while I am there but at least I will be celebrating my birthday Japanese style. I'll even have my Japanese TDR park maps in hand that I won in a Bag-o-crap last summer.

 

Sayonara

[TPDave]

Looks like both the wether and the crowds were decent, bliss!

 

I really should read Tokyo Disney TRs, it makes me sad I'm not back there! Some really nice pictures here, thanks for sharing.

 

Dave

[mikeykaise]

What an awesome trip report, its wierd to not see a jammed pack Walt Disney park but looks like you picked a good time for a vist.

[jynx242]

This is making me DESPERATELY want to take a TPR trip to Japan now. Thanks for the photos and comments! I enjoyed them.

[BrianLo]

Did you get a chance to see the progress of Toy Trolley Park (ie: Toy Story Midway Mania) in the American Waterfront next to The TOT? I hear it's just about finished.

 

There was pretty much nothing the public could see when he was there last year. Even when TPR went a few months later nothing could be seen as the work is beyond the parks current "boundary."

 

Yup as mentioned I could not see any construction. In fact I really don't think they had even started. I did not see any walls nor did I know TSM was coming up. The only construction we had was for Jasmine's flying carpets which were nearing completion at the time!

[BrianLo]

This one is for all you cruise lovers out there! Cruise ships are really just theme park resorts on water, so it's not hard to see how the two passions can overlap. Strangely there is even a credit you can earn by taking an RCCL cruise (which I didn't do - but you'll see what I did instead shortly and will probably agree I picked the better option).

 

This was my 5th Royal cruise (two short family vacations in the caribbean onboard the Majesty of the Seas and Grandeur of the Seas). Also I did a back-to-back Northern European cruise onboard the Voyager of the Seas in May 2010. Additionally I've been on a 13 night Western Med cruise with Norwegian Jade and we just did a 7 night Eastern Caribbean with the Princess Grande.

 

With so much cruising recently (mostly spurred on by my mom who absolutely loves them) we are quickly forming opinions on the cruise lines and their offerings. RCCL gets my recommendation without a doubt (I saw how awful that Carnivale Klassy Kruise was... no thank you...), Princess just felt too "old". We were ready for Princess to wow us with classiness (and yes it's waaaaayyy "Klassier" than Carnivale) but RCCL just delivers more. Norwegian was pretty decent, amazing number of speciality restaurants, but you end up having to pay to get the same food and level of service you'd just get on Royal.

 

Royal is just the ticket for all ages, especially now that I've tried a few lines I don't see myself venturing away in the future (and my family agrees). The only exception would be a Disney cruise, I think one of their new ships would be comparably wonderful (albeit more expensive).

 

Before Allure the newest ship I'd been on was the Norwegian Jade, and we'd only been on Royal's older offerings (which were all still fantastic without the bells and whistles). Needless to say is blew us away! H-o-l-y-c-r-a-p.

 

Our cruise was 5 nights, we hit up Fallsmouth, Jamaica (meh) and Labadee, Haiti (H-o-l-y-c-r-a-p!)

 

I lifted a few pictures from my sister in law who had more of the ship interior documented, and even if you aren't interested in cruise ships skip ahead for a very, very cool excursion in Haiti!

 

 

You arrive onboard the promenade. Yes the ship is long, but what you really notice is how wide it is, there are still shops and a deck flanking both sides.

Here's the same space at night, look how big it is!

The whole ship is essentially hollow! Pictured is central park, and several decks below that is the promenade from earlier. We were right on Central Park floor (10 I think?), it was great. I really appreciated the lunch bistro they had with a salad bar. It beats the buffet any day. They also have an Italian restaurant, and their super fancy restaurant here, plus a wine bar and art gallery. This whole area was the real innovation of the Oasis class vessels.

 

Another thing you immediately notice is they utilize open spaces everywhere. They could have easily crammed on another 2000 passengers if they really wanted to.

Up above that is the pool deck! With 2 flow riders, a ton of pools, a sports deck, etc. etc. Yes the pool deck was wider and I love flow riders but its pretty comparable to most other ships. I was surprised they didn't bother with water slides and the mini golf was pretty weak. Nitty gritty I know, but all the other neighbourhoods are where it is at on this ship!

The dining room was gigantic. The food was great as always! In addition we visited the Italian restaurant (family style and excellent) and went to Rita's Cantina for a Fiesta night. My brother and sister-in-law went to the central park restaurant for their anniversary and said it was spectacular. I'm also a big Top Chef fan and the head chef for that restaurant Molly almost made the cut for the recent Texas season.

The boardwalk area is pretty neat. They added Rita's a Mexican restaurant since the Oasis because they found the area a little under-utilized by guests. There isn't as much to do here at night so I understand how that happens.

We spent one evening at this speciality restaurant. A couple of nights on the cruise they have a Fiesta. It was about 18$ a head and included three alcoholic drinks. It was a fun party atmosphere complete with mid-dinner dance offs and tequila shots as prizes. We had a lot of fun with it so I'd recommend indulging one of the nights. Plus you get three drinks TEQUILA!

We all had a good time!

I thought the rising tides bar was really cool, it takes a meandering trip between the promenade and the Central park decks.

Hmm... where did the bar go?

Continuing on the boardwalk has some excellent theming touches!

Your standard massive rock climbing wall.

And the really unique entertainment venue for movies and/or water diving show. They rapidly low that platform in the middle to form the dive people, constantly utilizing it to raise and lower swimmers during the show.

For entertainment (like everything the theatre is super sized) we had Chicago! Why cruise ships haven't gotten full length musicals onboard before now is beyond me. I'd say they did a pretty excellent job with the show! There was also a Blue Earth cirque de soliel type show later on in the cruise which I enjoyed. You prebook all your entertainment before going onboard the cruise which the planning side of me enjoyed.

The divers were also really excellent! It's nice to have a show you haven't seen a million times on other cruise ships.

These guys were ridiculous.

There were two shows at the ice skating venue. How to train your dragon (think Disney on Ice) and a tribute to Monopoly... Ya I know, weird. They had a quick change artist though which was also cool. I like how they layered their shows like diving/iceskating with external guests (the dudes who held each other....... and the quick change artists).

I shouldn't have loved it as much as I did...

If you can't tell already RCCL has paired up with Dreamworks which I think was a good idea for them to do. It just makes them that much more competitive in a space Disney is coming at full force.

I would seriously care less if the Allure of the Seas actually went anywhere, the cruise is just that great!

But we still got off at the ports. See what I mean about being hollow? At least it's pretty looking unlike the Norwegian Epic.

Don't bother leaving the "compound" in Jamaica without a tour. (Pictured: Little brother). The locals will make you feel uncomfortable. I give Jamaica without an excursion a big thumbs down.

That's because I spent a ton on the excursion in Labadee!

Do you know what I did yet? Nope... it wasn't this credit! (gasp) Yes they have the Dragon's breath coaster (I think it's a credit I'm still not sure on the proper criteria). I heard it's ok (it's also like to ride)

Any guesses?

Yup a zip line, but don't worry this is just the practice one.

Note how you are "supposed" to starfish to slow yourself down? I knew I would ignore those instructions...

THIS is what I was here for!!! I *think* it's the longest continuous zip line but don't hold me to that.

Excited? Yes!

There are five lines each progressively tighter. They sort you by weight so that a little kid doesn't get stuck halfway down. I was very happy they stuck me on line three which I'd classify as the lightweight adult line. I had few others with me so it was rapidly my turn. Line five is capped to 250lbs. They also told us the weather was good so we didn't have to starfish. I accepted that as lie perfectly flat to go as far as possible!

 

And now a POV video, just because I'm ever so nice!

 

Note those two people way in front of me towards the end of the video? Ya... I passed them. The video ends when I started to realize I was going a little too fast.

 

[

]

 

Just awesome getting to flyby the rest of the cruisers on the beach.

Here it is from the other end that I smacked into nicely.

Thanks for reading! Now you know, go on an Oasis class vessel, and hit up a credit AND an AMAZING zip line.

[alilstronger]

Awesome update! I only dream of getting there eventually!

[AllenA07]

This TR makes me really want to hit up Allure. I'm hoping Royal Caribbean decides to move it to Galveston once project Sunshine comes online. I'm very aware there isn't a chance of that happening, but one can dream.