A critique of the new Fantasy Springs branch of Tokyo DisneySea's ride, restaurants and ambiance. Most of it is excellent... but some of it is not so good.

"the absolute WORST popcorn I have ever had the MISFORTUNE of EATING in my LIFE!" - Luke,

Posted to YouTube by ReviewTyme.

Above: The billboard for Captain Eo, presented by JCB @ Tokyo Disneyland, just prior to the attraction's permanent closure.

After 14 years, Captain Eo reopened in Tomorrowland @ Tokyo Disneyland in 2010 and played until 2014 when it was replaced by Stitch's Encounter. Captain Eo originally ran in Tokyo Disneyland from 1987, replacing Magic Journeys, until 1996, when it was replaced by Honey, I Shrunk the Audience.

Unlike the American parks, the revival of Captain Eo wasn't billed as a "revival", rather it simply came back in its original form minus some of the special effects for which the hardware has since been removed from the theater.

Picture taken by me in 2013.

> 東京ディズニーランドでは、\ > きらびやかなクリスマスツリーを\ > はじめとするデコレーションが施され、\ > ファンタジーあふれるクリスマスを\ > お楽しみいただけます。\ > 子どもからおとなまで\ > 心温まる素敵なクリスマスを\ > お過ごしください。

At Tokyo Disneyland, you can enjoy a fantasy-filled Christmas with decorations, including a glittering Christmas tree. Everyone from children to adults can enjoy a heartwarming and wonderful Christmas.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61m-F1pP_vg

Tokyo DisneySea Christmas 2024: https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/treasure/christmas2024/tds/

A giant Jack-o-Lantern Mickey hanging in a shopping arcade in Suginami in 2013.

(A little late to the party, I know.)

Picture taken by me.

Last trip to Tokyo Disneyland!

(Japanese link)

The Hoot & Holler Hideout, a small gift shop that is built into the exit tunnel for Tokyo Disneyland's Splash Mountain is due to shut down permanently on November 30th of this year.

OLC has given no official reason for this closure. Some Disney bloggers online are speculating that this could be a signal that they are preparing to shut down Splash Mountain for renovation, and that the renovations could including converting the problematic Song of the South theme into Tiana's Bayou Adventure which is themed after The Princess and the Frog.

What do you think?

Piano arrangement of the theme for Sindbad's Storybook Voyage @ Tokyo DisneySea on the album Be Brave by Shinya Kiyozuka.

Composed by Alan Menken.

> ヴィランズたちが主催する、\ > 妖しくも最高に盛り上がる\ > ハロウィーンパーティー。

> A spooky and exciting Halloween party hosted by villains.

Details about Tokyo Disney Resort's Halloween 2024 celebration, taking place between October 1st and November 7th.

> The Tokyo Disney Resort is one of the best Disney Resorts in the entire world, which is rather ironic as... it's not Disney. So how did they manage to convince the Disney company to go against Walt's wishes and proceed to create one of the best Disney resorts worldwide?

Published by ReviewTyme on YouTube in 2021.

A remix of Main Street Electrical Parade by Shinichi Osawa on the album HOUSE ★ DISNEY, released in Japan in 2009.

Above: The classic Starjets ride at Tokyo Disneyland as it stood in mid-2017 just prior to its closure. Tokyo Disneyland was the last park to feature the space shuttle variation of the ride.

Back in 2017, when construction on the Beauty & the Beast area began, Starjets was one of Tomorrowland's attractions that had to be removed to make way for it. That and the one churro stand that served the "blue"-flavored churros. I still haven't forgiven OLC for that.

That year, Tokyo Disneyland held a "sayonara" campaign for Starjets so guests could say farewell and ride one last time. These are the pictures I took a couple of months before it was closed:

!Starjets at Tokyo Disneyland, as seen from the ground near the entrance of Toon Town.

!The sign for Starjets at Tokyo Disneyland, sponsored by Japan Airlines.

!The sign for the wait time for Starjets, showing that it will be approximately 40 minutes from that point. Pretty sure I only waited for about 15 minutes.

!The elevated boarding area of Starjets just before the ride starts, other people are boarding their cars. Standing on the platform, and even more so when you raised your car to the highest setting, you were given a great view of the initial construction of Beast's Castle (As well as the rest of the park).

!A handheld ice cream sundae featuring an edible card that reads "Starjets: The Last Mission". The snack stand that was built into the base of Starjets served a special sundae that commemorated the end of the ride.

Hilariously, the land that Starjets occupied was used for a building that houses the FastPass ticket machines for the Beauty & the Beast ride... ticket machines that were never used because COVID ended FastPass throughout the resort just before that area was suppose to open to the public. Now express ticketing is done exclusively through the TDR app, so those machines have been abandoned in place for half a decade now. The building is designed to look like Maurice's workshop from the animated movie, which is nice... I guess. It has a moving watermill.

> Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea are home to such incredible rides as Journey to the Center of the Earth, Indiana Jones Adventure and Tower of Terror, as well as some classics such as Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain and Haunted Mansion, but now with Fantasy Springs opening with Anna & Elsa's Frozen Journey, Peter Pan's Neverland Adventure, Rapunzel's Lantern Festival and CHEESE it's harder than ever to know which rides are the best and which ones you should skip.

Video by 8 Bit Theme Park Japan on YouTube.

A new Castle Projection is coming to Tokyo Disneyland later this month.

Press release: 「Reach for the Stars」はシンデレラ城を舞台に\ さまざまなキャラクターたちが\ 夢を追い求めて空を翔ける姿を描く\ キャッスルプロジェクション。

ディズニーの名曲とともに、\ シンデレラ城に映し出されるあざやかな映像や\ パイロの効果など、夜空いっぱいに\ 光の演出が広がります。

まるでキャラクターたちといっしょに\ 空を翔けているかのような臨場感と躍動感で\ あふれる時間をお楽しみください。

Translation:\ "Reach for the Stars" is a castle projection set at Cinderella Castle, depicting various characters soaring through the sky in pursuit of their dreams.

Along with famous Disney songs, the night sky is filled with light effects, including vivid images projected onto Cinderella Castle and pyro effects

Enjoy a time filled with realism and dynamism, as if you were soaring through the sky with the characters.

Start date: September 20th, 2024

Location: Tokyo Disneyland, Cinderella's Castle Courtyard

Duration: ~20 minutes

Frequency: One or twice daily

A look at the current landscape of Tokyo Disney Parks and U.S. Disney Parks. Which park do you think is better?

Video by Cinepark Rangers on YouTube.

A pair of black & white Mickey & Minnie dolls in the window of a bridal shop in Ginza, Tokyo.

I doubt they were for sale, but they look very well done for something made especially for that shop.

Picture taken by me in 2014.

Video by Chris @ TDR Explorer on YouTube.

The theme song written for the 5th anniversary of Tokyo DisneySea in 2006, performed by Japanese pop star Misia.

The delightful entrance to the Disney Store in Shibuya. Inside, it's quite small and multi-leveled. It feels more like a gift shop than a full Disney Store, which just makes it very cozy, IMO.

Picture taken by me in 2014.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18317484

> (Sorry, maxso216, but this is truly the shortest functional train line in Japan.) > > The DisneySea Electric Railway is a 2-station line coming in at less than half a kilometer in total length (0.48km). Even at the relaxed 15kph speed of the trains, it only takes two and a half minutes to traverse the entire line. The line runs between the American Waterfront and Port Discovery areas of Tokyo DisneySea. It also has what must be the smallest fleet of rolling stock of any line in Japan; Four two-car sets, of which only two or three sets are in operation at any given time. (Fewer sets than even the Tokyo Disney Resort Line monorail.) > > A trivial oddity about the trains is their numbering system. Which initially appears to not be a system at all. All eight cars of the four train sets have a unique (yet random) car number, and the set pairs are never separated from each other. The only discernible pattern with the car numbers is that the final digit in each number seems to represent in which order the sets were commissioned: > > Set #1) 5591 & 1111 > Set #2) 1022 & 2842 > Set #3) 1783 & 5593 > Set #4) 0214 & 4824 > > Set #1 traversing the elevated tracks over American Waterfront: > ! > > The origin of the train sets are a bit of mystery. Their manufacturer is not known. Since the beginning of operation in 2001, the DisneySea Electric Railway has been sponsored by Takara Tomy - A Japanese toy company that makes functioning toy train sets, including replicas of the trains on the DisneySea Electric Railway. > > Sign over the American Waterfront Station entrance: > ! > > It is possible that the train sets were designed and built by WED themselves as simply another park attraction, or possibly by Kyosan Kogyo Co. Ltd. which manufactured the sets used on the Western River Railroad in Tokyo Disneyland. The DisneySea Electric Railway sets are modeled to resemble some of the elevated streetcars used in what became the New York City subway system at the turn of the 20th century. > > ! > Preserved Brooklyn Union streetcar at the New York City Transit Museum, Wikipedia > > All four sets have been in service since Tokyo DisneySea opened on September 4th, 2001. Apart from having air conditioners installed in 2015, there have been no notable improvements to the trains themselves. > > Is the DisneySea Electric Railway an actual train line? Yes. In addition to having two stops which allows the line to be used by park guests to easily get from one side of the park to the other, the line falls under the jurisdiction of Japan's transit authority. Despite being on private land and requiring admission to the park to use, DisneySea Electric Railway must adhere to the same standards as any other public train line. > > Set #2 arriving at Port Discovery Station: > ! > > When Tokyo Disneyland was built and opened in 1983, the Western River Railroad was purposefully designed to have only one stop and run in a loop that sent riders back to where they started to avoid a law that required charging a train fare and that a departure schedule be posted and followed by the line's operators. This decision made it another attraction, rather than a functional line like the Disneyland Railroad in Anaheim. This particular law was abolished in 1987, allowing DisneySea Electric Railway to function as an actual line with destinations without needing to follow those rules. > > (This is my first attempt at a long form post here, let me know how I did. All pictures are by me unless noted.)