the tall blond guy goes to japanthe tall blond guy goes to japan
(This one's for you, Ryan)
The Happiest Place in JapanSo easy to find. The hardest part was getting to the right JR line in Tokyo station. It costs Y160 to get there from Tokyo Station, and by the time I got to the correct platform, I thought I'd already walked most of the way there. Head for the Keiyo Line (the colour scheme is a light blue) and go to Maihama station. You'll go over a couple of amazing bridges along the way. Great views.
A daypass is Y5200, and that gives you access to all the rides. There is a "park entry pass" that lets you in to the park, and then you have to buy tickets for the individual rides (er.. "attractions").
Disneyland's main gates are right next to Maihama station, so I didn't even have to walk very far at all (remember SkiDome? Yow!). They're in the same general area too, by the way.
Star Tours is so nifty! There's more to see in the lineups, and it's just so odd hearing all the little anamatronic robots making jokes in Japanese. The ride itself is exactly the same as it is in California, but (of course) everything is in Japanese. My new favourite Japanese phrase is "loito speedo!"
According to some people I met in the lineup, Michael Jackson's "Captain EO" (oooh!) used to be where a very new attraction called "MicroAdventure" is now located. Basically, it's a very well done 3D show based on the "Honey I Shrunk the..." series. This one is "Honey I Shrunk the Audience". So that I don't spoil the surprises, I'll just say that some of the effects go a little beyond just simple 3D. The whole audience yelped when the... um.. never mind. The funniest part about this was watching Rick Moranis and Eric Idle (yes...) dubbed into Japanese.
Eeeeiiiiiiiieeeeee!!(Hi Jenny)
Splash mountain is even cuter here than it is in California. All the little animals are speaking Japanese, and singing those songs in Japanese. Even the *big drop* seems smaller. People sit in larger boat-type things two-by-two rather than on each other's laps like in California. I wonder if this was to get people moving through the ride faster or was it to prevent the embarassment of Japanese people who don't feel confortable sitting in each other's laps? I don't know. In any case, it was a cool ride.
Ooh, and they still have gondolas there. They were "removed" from Disneyland California because (ahem) too many people were leaving before the ride was over. Oh! I just realized! They have no Matterhorn in Tokyo Disneyland! At least I didn't see one, and it would be rather hard to miss. That's too bad! I knew something was missing...
Maxwell Smart, agent 86...They've got conspicuous security people everywhere! They're all wearing really bad secret-agent type trenchcoats and they all have wires coming out of one of their ears. Um, that's for the walkie talkies. They hang around the trees and look uncomfortable. When they're bored, they swap trees. Oh- and it's actually cleaner there than it is in California, if that's possible amazing. I could eat off the ground there.
A penguin!Right now, the big thing seems to be "Mickey's Dance Fever". You don't want to know. It involves polyester jumpsuits and the Bee Gees. I'm not kidding.
