Live(ish) Tokyo Disney Halloween TR

Saskiwi

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg Konnichiwa!
We arrived at TDR 3 days ago - we have a 4 day pass (that's the longest they have) and added a one day pass for our first day, so will spend 5 days inthe parks in total.
We are a Kiwi family of 4 with multiple trips to US parks under our belts, esp. DL, but this is our first time in Japan. We are staying at the Hilton Tokyo Bay, a partner hotel, about 3 mins walk to Bayfront Station on the monorail loop.
We booked a Happy Family Magic Room (not just for the amazing name!) as it sleeps 5-6 so has plenty of space for us and two large teenage boys. It is also totally adorable witha quirky fairytale decor and a few little magic trick features in-room. It would be a fantastic choice for families with younger kids.
Brilliant 24 hour convenience store (konbini) in the hotel that sells everything you ever need, including great takeaway meals, beer, toiletries- awesome. Also a Segafredo espresso cafe for caffeine hits and a quick grab and go brekkie en route to the park.
So, very happy with the Hilton.
Overall, everything we had read about TDR has panned out so far- the parks are GORGEOUS - so much attention to detail, plus super-clean and loads of super-smiley, super-polite cast members who seem totally into their jobs. They seem to have a lot of employees-e.g. Half a dozen hired to just hang out at the monorail station, smile, wave and generally make sure everyone gets on and off safely, lots of CMs in the park too doing more of the above(smiling, waving) and generally keeping crowds flowing smoothly..
Ah, yes....the crowds... It is Halloween season here, which begins at the start of September, so it is busier than usual, which is pretty busy anyway, as there is a city of 40 million people right next door! - and this year (for the first time I think) they are allowing adult guests to be in Disney costumes at any time during Halloween - previously it was just on certain days.
So, this past weekend when we were in both TDL and TDSea, there were thousands of guests in the most awesome cosplay outfits. I was a bit shy about taking pics but got a few - some looked totally professional and others homemade, but very well- executed.
If anyone has any questions, fire away - we are here for two more park days, then move to Tokyo-proper.
 
As far as rides, I will just comment on unique ones, or ones that are different to their US versions. Tokyo Disney Sea: so far we have been on Journey to the Centre of the Earth twice, which is very impressive-incredible detail inthe queue( which is good as you can spend some time there....) and the ride is great - a little bit like Indy with a touch of Big Thunder Mountain and a massive animatronic monster thrown in (sorry - spoiler!)
This morning we decided to tackle the beast that is Toy Story Midway Mania, the most popular ride at the park. On our first day we tried to get fastpasses for it about 15 mins after park-open at 8am, but the queue to get FPs was already about 30 mins long and the return time was 3pm-yep, the queue to get a FP was 30 mins long!
Today, we just went straight to standby which was instantly up to 60 minutes and we watched as we queued and the FP allocation for the day was exhausted by 915am!! They do love Woody and friends in Japan...
The queue has a very cute indoor section in which you are in Andy's room, but the ride is otherwise identical to the US.
We rode Indy which is slightly different in theme -it is the Crystal Skull vs the Eye of Mara, but the ride is pretty much the same- gorgeous setting with lots of tropical planting etc.
Tower of Terror is great-but of a different theme to the old DL Hollywood Hotel version. This time based around a New York collector of treasures who insults an African idol he has stolen, and plunging elevators ensue :rotfl2:

The Adventures Of Sinbad showed how you can take Small World, remove the annoying song, add a cute little tiger character, and create a pretty neat little ride- even though it was entirely in Japanese we enjoyed it, and Chandu the Tiger is super-cute. One of the must-eat snacks here is a Chandu Tail - a steamed bao-bun, filled with creamy chicken, in the shape of his tail- pretty delicious too, although alarmingly orange and black striped!

We did a couple of shows yesterday too, but being all in Japanese meant we lost a bit, however it was worth it just to sit down in the cool for 15 minutes.
 
That sure is a long wait just to get fast passes. cant wait to see more photos.
 
Thanks for the report. Hope to hear more. We also did Tokyo Disney with our 2 teenage boys and stayed in a happy Magic room at the Hilton in April last year. It's so much fun.
Look forward to hearing about your time in Tokyo too.
 


We have been so impressed with the standard of food on offer at TDR - it has been amazing in most cases ( freshly made Mickey waffles from Great American Waffle shop at TDL- so good!) and the presentation is very thoughtful - Chandu Tail buns, waffle sandwiches from Camp Woodchuck, and these little beauties we stumbled across last night! Stormtrooper mochi dumplings! (from Pan Galactic Pizza in Tomorrowland). Not sure if they are a Halloween "villains" seasonal special or not, but they had the same fillings as the famous Little Green Men mochi: image.jpeg
 

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image.jpeg Also, this Halloween special from New York Deli at Tokyo Disney Sea -it's a 'poison apple' sandwich: soft roll, pretzel stick stalk, filled with creamy apple and red cabbage coleslaw, prosciutto, lettuce and cheese. It was pretty good once you got past the colour of the bread!
 
image.jpeg Seasonal Mickey waffle - caramel milk-ice (gelato pretty much) and apple, plus maple syrup, cream, custard and a mint leaf!

We were also impressed with the standard of the parades and shows we have seen: Fantasmic was incredible at TDS - Reminded us of elements of World of Colour too. The Halloween Hoppin' parade was short but full of energy and the dancers give 110% - great costuming too. We caught Big Band Beat at TDS yesterday too - a 30 min swing jazz tribute show at the Broadway Theatre. We missed out on tickets in the lottery system twice, and thought we were going to have to miss it, but walked in on stand-by, so it was easy in the end!

I think my favourite "land" at TD Sea is Arabian Coast - the theming is so detailed and gorgeous. It wasn't nearly so busy midweek, so we had time to ride Jasmin's Flying Carpets and the two-storey Aladdin carousel, where you can ride on the Genie! Such fun, and the lights and decor are stunning.

Also loved the Camp Woodchuck area in the back of Westernland behind Big Thunder railroad. Totally cute American summer camp theming, and really good food - waffle sandwiches, with either maple chicken , shrimp and avocado or BBQ bacon fillings. ( Yes, I may have had waffles twice in one day....)
image.jpeg One of the trails in Camp Woodchuck.

We did think the many varieties of pop corn on offer were a bit over-hyped - from what we had read online we expected mind-blowing awesomeness, but they were just ok really. The curry was the most interesting flavour - we also tried chocolate, soy sauce and butter and caramel. It is pretty hard to beat Garrett's popcorn if you have tried that in the US or Singapore- apparently there is a store in Harajuku too.

We are off into Tokyo for 5 nights today, staying at the Mercure Ginza, then Kyoto.
 



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