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Live from Tokyo Disneyland...April 2010

mushu mama
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Re: Tokyo April 19th - 30th

Postby mushu mama » Mon Apr 05, 2010 10:12 pm

Wow Rick, your trip is so close now... the excitement must be really kicking in.

Lisa. :D
1999- Tokyo DL, 2008- DLR/Cal Adventure, 2012-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2013-Tokyo DLand/Sea, 2014-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2015- Paris DL, 2016 - WDW/Disneycruise , upcoming - May 2018 - HongKong DL

Mel
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Re: Tokyo April 19th - 30th

Postby Mel » Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:11 am

Sounds like you're getting it all under control - apart from the PSs.

That reminds me, I have to work out when we want to make them :)

We are taking our normal stroller as well as a tiny one just in case both boys need them. Our regular stroller/pram was one of the lightest and smallest you could buy at the time, with all the bells and whistles and will be perfect for the boys to take a nap in.

I'm like you, I'm thinking we're going to forget so much, but we figure we can pick up just about anything we need when we get there :)
The Big Trip: DL, WDW and Disney cruise 2016

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Re: Tokyo April 19th - 30th

Postby sandie » Tue Apr 06, 2010 1:42 pm

We were there at the same time last year and I wa surprised that it as't cold - it was realy cold two weeks before we got there but it really only got a bit chilly once the sun set.

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Re: Tokyo April 19th - 30th

Postby KeithS » Thu Apr 08, 2010 8:53 pm

Yep - I'm with Sandie on the temperature. When we went in April, the first few days were cold, but towards the middle of April, it began to warm up - especially when the sun came out. You'll just have to pack for all situations though - you just don't know what it'll be like. Take layers!
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

mushu mama
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Re: Tokyo April 19th - 30th

Postby mushu mama » Mon Apr 19, 2010 6:21 pm

Dang it...

I had reminded myself to wish you guys a wonderful trip on the weekend, but got caught up...
so, better late than never...

Hope your Disney fix is magical... :) looking forward to hearing the trip report when you guys get back.

Lisa. :D
1999- Tokyo DL, 2008- DLR/Cal Adventure, 2012-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2013-Tokyo DLand/Sea, 2014-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2015- Paris DL, 2016 - WDW/Disneycruise , upcoming - May 2018 - HongKong DL

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Re: Tokyo April 19th - 30th

Postby Mel » Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:57 am

I've been checking out the ride times at Deep Disney and I think Rick and his group are going to be lucky crowd-wise. The longest wait at the parks was for the Mickey Meet and Greet and that was 90 mins :shock: (character breakfasts are a good alternative methinks!). The next longest wait time was 45 mins for a few attractions. That pretty amazing by Tokyo standards.

Hope you're having a fabulous time Rick!
The Big Trip: DL, WDW and Disney cruise 2016

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Re: Tokyo April 19th - 30th

Postby KeithS » Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:21 pm

Wow - can't believe he's there already. And those wait times Mel posted are fantastic. He'll be having a ball!
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

mushu mama
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Re: Tokyo April 19th - 30th

Postby mushu mama » Tue Apr 20, 2010 9:43 pm

I didn't even know you could look up the wait times :shock:
1999- Tokyo DL, 2008- DLR/Cal Adventure, 2012-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2013-Tokyo DLand/Sea, 2014-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2015- Paris DL, 2016 - WDW/Disneycruise , upcoming - May 2018 - HongKong DL

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Re: Tokyo April 19th - 30th

Postby Mel » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:39 am

I didn't even know you could look up the wait times :shock:
A website, Deep Disney, has photos of the wait time boards. I assume they're fairly accurate, but could be wrong. All captions are in Japanese so the pics are all I have to go on :)
The Big Trip: DL, WDW and Disney cruise 2016

mushu mama
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Re: Tokyo April 19th - 30th

Postby mushu mama » Wed Apr 21, 2010 12:24 pm

Thats cool...

Do other parks have anything like this do you know? thats really interesting. The more I learn about the Parks, the more I realise how little I know. :roll:
1999- Tokyo DL, 2008- DLR/Cal Adventure, 2012-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2013-Tokyo DLand/Sea, 2014-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2015- Paris DL, 2016 - WDW/Disneycruise , upcoming - May 2018 - HongKong DL

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Re: Tokyo April 19th - 30th

Postby Mel » Wed Apr 21, 2010 3:30 pm

Thats cool...

Do other parks have anything like this do you know? thats really interesting. The more I learn about the Parks, the more I realise how little I know. :roll:
I don't think so. This is just a fan who goes to the parks every or nearly every day, from what I can gather. Getting info in English for TDR is very difficult. It's not like WDW where there are a million forums and websites.
The Big Trip: DL, WDW and Disney cruise 2016

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Re: Tokyo April 19th - 30th

Postby churros » Wed Apr 21, 2010 9:20 pm

You can get heaps of apps on iPhone with with wait times for the US parks.

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Live from Tokyo Disneyland...April 2010

Postby RickGainsmith » Wed Apr 21, 2010 11:20 pm

Hi Guys!

Live from Disneyland Resort, Hilton Tokyo Bay!!!

Quick run down on the last 2 days.

Flights from Melbourne to Sydney, Sydney to Tokyo were great, arriving everything is in English as well as Japanese so everything was really easy. Our chartered bus was waiting for and away we went. Trip from Narita to Disneyland was around 50 or so minutes, the traffic was very light.

We are staying at the Hilton, check in went straight forward, if the person doesn't speak English they are very quick to find someone that does. Reminder to anyone arriving early, check in is at 3pm. To pass the time I had planned for us to organise the Disney Tickets (very easy, a little booth opposite Starbucks), then travel to Ikspiari on the monorail, tickets are purchased at the stations. The machine is sort of straight forward, you press the English button, press adult or child, then amount of days, they it says, Confirm Amount....we didn't know what we had to do so eventually I put the money in and again pressed how many adults, kids, the amount of days and it spat out the tickets. The monorail is great, it has 4 stations, 2 very close to the hilton, one for Ikspirari, one for DisneySea, one for Disneyland.

After spending the morning looking around the shops at Ikspiari (pretty average shopping I have to say), we had lunch at the rainforest cafe. Whilst the person didn't speak english we were still able to make the booking, sometimes you need to write, sometimes hand signals, you'll find a way.

We ended up getting into our rooms early, had a nap and headed for the parks! I know, how nuts are we...Flying, shopping, travelling, and still we all wanted to hit the Parks. I mentioned that Tokyo has evening passes, pretty cheap 3100 yen, for tickets from 6pm until closing, 10pm...It was raining so I knew the parks would be fairly empty.

Monorail, Disneyland, Yah!!!! Straight to Buzz Light Year, Space Mountain, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, the Dinner at Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall (very nice food, and lots of tables which made it easy when you have 13 people!). After Dinner it was Peter Pans flight, Pirates of the Caribbean, then back to the Hotel. I must say, even though it was raining and dark, I could just feel this Disneyland was going to be good.

This morning, we had b'fast in the hotel which was included in the room, it was good, everything you'd expect and more, basically two large buffets.

Monorail and straight to Disneyland. The first thing you will notice in Japan is how organise and considerate the Japanese are. At least in Disneyland anyway, I will test out in the citys later in the trip. Every line is straight, even the parking of the prams need to be centimetre perfect or one of case members we'll re align them for you...its almost comical. During parades, everyone sits, its amazing, your even asked by the cast members to collapse prams, and reduce the height of the ballons. In America its sardines pushing and shoving with people darting in front of you for an extra inch of view. Not so in Japan, they are very considerate and extremely organised. I LOVE this place!!...

So today it was..
1. Pirates, then booked dinner for the Blue Bayou for 5:50pm
2. Jungle cruise, no english, still great, its actually better viewing than all other versions, its longer, more detail, overall better! Shame about the no english.
3. Western river railroad. Again, better than all other versions, its not fully around the park, but its more entertaining, a lot more to look at, its an entertaining ride in its own right.
4. Watched the Easter Parade, fantastic, it was a Japanese spin on Disney Disco, just great!!!
5. Center Street Coffeehouse for lunch, was average at best.
6. Grand circuit raceway
7. Star Tours, virtually empty, I'm glad they are updating this ride, every park that has it its always empty, I always enjoy it!
8. Kids are asleep, time for adult rides, Splash Mountain....
9. Big Thunder Mountain
10. Kids are awake, It's a Small World.
11. Dinner at Blue Bayou, Gumbo is still good, probably not as good as LA.
12. Electric Parade, a favourite, hadn't seen it since 1987 in LA so it was great to see it again!
13. Fireworks. Average, La, Hong Kong, Disneyworld, all 10 times the size. I was very surprised by how small they were.

Back to the Hotel typing to you guys.

Any questions let me know and I will try to answer them.

Re the bar fridge I have uploaded a pic to the my public folder on picasa, I will post a link below. It is very small, smaller than a normal bar fridge.

Language has not been a big issue.

Child lap issue, no existent, yes they say put the child beside you, but once the ride starts, you can put the child on your lap, you'd only do it for really small kids but its not an issue.

Park is Fantastic, its probably my favorite Disneyland park of them all. It has to do with;
1. Park feels less cramped, the walk ways are larger. Critter Country is a little small but every other land is very spacious.
2. The people are fantastic, not just the cast members, the general public as well.
3. Rides are longer, Jungle Cruise, Rail Road, more entertaining, more to see.
4. Less commercial, after every ride your not forced to go through a shop, only Splash mountain has a purchasable photo option.
5. Parades are better, Electrical Parade is great.
6. The Castle is much better than LA, not as good as WDW. The tiles on the walls inside of the castle are a must see.

DisneySea tomorrow!

Link to folder. Let me know if you want a pic of something, we have already taken hundreds of photos!!! :-)

http://picasaweb.google.com/gainsville. ... directlink
Rick

Mel
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Re: Live from Tokyo Disneyland...

Postby Mel » Thu Apr 22, 2010 9:11 am

Hey Rick! Thanks so much for checking in with us! Thanks especially for the pics, including the fridge in the room, I really appreciate it. What a great pic of your group :)

It sounds like you guys are having a fabulous time. I fell in love with Japan when I was there too. The people are just so lovely.

Oooh, you've got me all hyped up now! :)
The Big Trip: DL, WDW and Disney cruise 2016

mushu mama
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Re: Live from Tokyo Disneyland...

Postby mushu mama » Thu Apr 22, 2010 9:48 am

great update and photos Rick... thanks :D looking forward to hearing more of the trip news.
1999- Tokyo DL, 2008- DLR/Cal Adventure, 2012-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2013-Tokyo DLand/Sea, 2014-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2015- Paris DL, 2016 - WDW/Disneycruise , upcoming - May 2018 - HongKong DL


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