Yes - absolutely! I have been to Japan and the Toyko Disneyland resort three times so far and I was planning a fourth trip when the lousy covid-19 pandemic started and put all of my travel plans on hold. Now that the borders are opening up again soon, I am dusting off those plans and I plan to visit in the spring of 2023. I cannot state this enough. If you are a Disney theme park fan you must, must, absolutely MUST visit DisneySea. There is no other Disney theme park like it. Tokyo Disneyland is fantastic too!
Okay, I literally never noticed the projected floor to hide the marks. That's ....that's GENIUS. Next to nothing Disney does impresses me, but I'm genuinely impressed.
It's INSANE There are places in their other parks where ugly giant show buildings are left visible from themed streets, and yet they wouldn't even let TYRE MARKS be visible in one scene of this dark ride wtf
FYI, getting to Japan is expensive, but once you're there it's actually not that bad. There are competitively priced hotels and dining options in Tokyo, and it's easy to get around without needing a group tour. Don't let the price scare you off.
I been to Tokyo Disney once during my teenage year. And honestly it is the best Disney Park I’ve ever experienced. I really wish I could revisit Tokyo Disney again.
@@PalisadesParketeer The only part I had to use a travel company for was getting tickets to the Studio Ghibli Museum and arranging my JR Rail pass. Otherwise, I organized it all solo. There are LOTS of good resources from JNTO, JR, and other tourism organizations that can get you going with itineraries, recommendations, and so on. I even looked at the itineraries of some group tours and just worked out myself where they went (for example, a lot of commercial day trips to Nara from Kyoto advertise a half-dozen sites that are all short walking distance from each other in Nara Park, but they make it sound like you need the tour to be able to visit them all). Hotels are easily searchable through Google Maps and can be booked through Hotels, Bookings, or just the hotel website itself. JR Rail passes can now be purchased online. Honestly, it's easier today than it was when I did it, and it wasn't even that hard when I did it. For food, Japan has a highly mobile commuter population, which means there are a lot of relatively inexpensive food options out there. We're talking 100JPY ramen shops, 500JPY tempura restaurants, sushi out your eyeballs, and so on. Yeah, you can spring for an expensive meal now and then, but most of the time it can be dirt cheap. Booking for events can be challenging, like if you want to see some kabuki theatre or sumo wrestling or something. Japan has some quirks like being somewhat adverse to credit cards. The Disney ticket situation is very different from the US, but it's nothing too daunting if you're prepared to put in a little effort. Language is actually pretty fine in the major centres. Most tourism areas have people who speak passable English, Japanese people who don't are very gracious about it, and most places have names written in kanji and romanji (romanji just being Japanese translated into the Western alphabet). If you know the name of the place you're going and have researched your directions, it's not very hard to get there. Restaurants usually have picture menus and those plastic replicas of food, so you can just point to what you want and say "Onegaishimasu" and they'll understand. Besides "Onegaishimasu" (which is basically an all-purpose polite request), the minimal words you need to know to get by are "konichiwa/konbanwa," (good morning/good day) "arigato," (thank you), and "sumimaisen" (excuse me/sorry). I did it solo myself and had virtually no problems. My biggest advice is just to do research... I had everything so thoroughly researched that I was able to break from my set itinerary several times and feel comfortable in doing so. If I get some more money, I'd love to go back in the next couple years. My wife has never been, and there are a few places I didn't get to (or didn't exist the first time I went, like both Godzilla theme parks).
I am Japanese. Just as you Americans think Tokyo Disneyland is wonderful, we Japanese think the American parks are wonderful because they have many things that TDR does not. It is very interesting to be able to compare and contrast the parks I know well with those overseas. Sorry if this is hard to read as I am using the translate function.
As an American (and ex-cast member), the difference between the Japanese and all the other parks is the care that the Tokyo resort cast members have for the quality of the guest experience. During our visit we never felt like we were imposing on the cast members there and that they very much wanted us to have the best possible experience. The one time we encountered a non-functional ride, the cast member told us it would be working shortly and was visibly upset when it was still down when we returned. She remembered us, though as a 6ft tall American, I did kind of stand out in the crowd, and really felt bad that we couldn't ride. We ended up reassuring her that we weren't upset and really appreciated how much she wanted us to enjoy our visit. The Tokyo resort is easily the best built and maintained of all the parks, though others come close. The cast there, however, is operating at a level that no other park can even hope to achieve.
Yeah it's weird to me. I'm a newer Disney Park fan and I've been to both the Asian and US parks. US in the last few years has gotten unique attractions in Rise of the Resistance, Flight of Passage, Guardians Cosmic Rewind. All of which are some of the best Disney rides. Tokyo has a lot of unique rides the US doesn't have as well. But it's not true to say the US doesn't have unique, A-tier attractions either.
Just to add that not only are the attractions better at Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea, the quality of the merchandise is better and the cast members are at least as great if not greater. This is what you get when the Walt Imagineers take precedence over the Chapek budgeteers.
Tokyo Disney Resort is so impressive. They put every small details in their attractions. Even some of them are not important. Everything is so smooth in TDR, you seldom feel like you walk in another area in a sudden. Can't wait to see the Fantasy Springs. After seeing all the vehicles and Elsa's real animatronic. I know they will build something incredible again.
The Beast transformation is actually just a Pepper's Ghost effect. They obviously used a tiny bit of projection with the magical flourishes, but I'd say this is the most modern way to utilize the effect very well
Okay I’m glad someone else said it because I thought I was going crazy, I could’ve sworn I’d heard from a bunch of other sources it’s a figure and Pepper’s Ghost
@@averyemlthe Prince in his human form is an actual animatronic but it’s not shown until the transformation completes. When he’s still in his beast form, it’s just completely dark and the projection is projected on the glass in front of him.
I disagree. Please keep Enchanted Tale of Beauty and The Beast at Toyko Disneyland only. If that attraction was brought to any of the US Disney parks, it would be budget cut to death. Even if it did open here in the US, it would not be maintained to the super high standards that it receives at Tokyo Disneyland and thus all of the effects would not be working shortly after the grand opening. I always see WDW fans say that "this or that attraction from an overseas park should be built at WDW." No...keep the parks unique! If you want to ride Beauty and the Beast, just do what I did and stop spending all your hard earned money on the US parks and put that in a fund to pay for a vacation to Tokyo Disneyland instead. You would be amazed at how much you can buy if you skip going to Disneyland and/or Walt Disney World a few times. Trust me...it will be money well spent because it will open your eyes to how good a Disney theme park can be...once you leave Florida.
Tom the Toyko Disney Beauty & The Beast Ride and the Tokyo Disney Resort as a whole are a reminder of how great a Disney attraction and/or domestic theme park can be and shows you what the imagineers can do without the constraints of a limited budget and given a sizeable budget like the Oriental Land Company.
In the states, it’s just about building attractions to soak up the crowds and that’s it. If people would stop coming, they would be more thoughtful detailed and elaborate as we saw with Indy. But people keep going and settling for mediocrity. And as long as that is the case and as long as Disney doesn’t have a visionary CEO, that will sadly continue to be the case.
As a newer Disney fan, that hasn't seemed completely true either? Flight of Passage/Pandora, Rise/Galaxy's Edge, Cosmic Rewind are all really great attractions imo, and they are US only and recent. If we only got stuff like Slinky, Ratatouille (copy), TRON (copy), sure.
@@jamvng Rise is immersive but Galaxy’s Edge falls flat in a number of ways. There’s no kinetic energy to it and it seems a little forced. Rise is a good ride but it could have used a bit better capacity. Though one must understand that Galaxy’s Edge itself was tacked on to Disneyland to do exactly what I said up above: something to soak up the crowds and give Disneyland more room. If course if you only end up attracting more people than any such effort is offset, but that’s unavoidable really unless you cap attendance at an earlier level before the land was built. Pandora is immersive but a little on the smaller side. The riverboat attraction isn’t as good as it could have been and the land could use one more attraction. This is the same park where they did the wonderful Expedition Everest (though it was structurally built wrong so the animatronic cannot be repaired) but then also gave us Dinoland USA with it’s lackluster double spinning mouse coasters. They didn’t even need one of these much less two.And now they have ripped them out for…nothing? They should have had something good ready to break ground, but they don’t. They are rudderless right now. D23 was HORRIBLE. Just a bunch of stuff they might do. They don’t even know themselves!!
@@gregg5958 Your criticisms are completely fair. I just wouldn't say Rise/Flight of Passage/Cosmic Rewind are "just" crowd absorbers though. They definitely took a good amount of Imagineering and money to pull off. No doubt there's a lot of things that could be better still though, especially with the things surrounding the attractions themselves, as you mentioned yourself.
My daughter called trackless rides, Roomba rides because she said it felt like riding on a roomba. Her evaluation was that there were too many of them at WDW.
Great review Tom. I'm genuinely more entertained by your honest reviews than many things the parks are doing. I'll probably never have the time to go so I live vicariously through these travels you take us on. Ironic that the park Walt was always against ( Japan, and to be fair Nara Dreamland didn't turn out too well, validating Walt's concerns ) is now the one on top, both of them. The one Walt would be proud of is from the land where he refused to let one be built. I wish he could see it.
I feel like if I were ever to be able to get to Japan and ride that Beauty and the Beast ride I would probably cry. One of my fave movies as a kid. Why can’t the US be at this level 😭😭😭
My dream would be to visit Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea. Everything seems to be so much better run and planned. However, I don't have the money or language knowledge to be able to ever go, so I enjoy watching videos of the attractions. Easiest way to know that Mickey & Minnie's doesn't meet this quality is to watch the wait times. By afternoon, not even families with little kids want to ride it twice. Queues are significantly shorter.
money might be an issue but if you speak English, it will be fine language wise. Trust. Actually it should be easier than ever with the tech we have but legit, even without it, you would be fine.
One thing that makes it sure Fantasy Springs will live up to its expectations is that they announced to rebuilt their Space Mountain. It's so unreal that after Fanstay Springs we have another thing to look forward; which is so exciting to go in Japan.
If we ever go back to Disney parks again, it will be Tokyo. Tbh, we can visit Tokyo Disney, get the nostalgic vibes that the American Parks have lost, but with a much higher quality for everything. We would probably break even cost wise, but only b.c of airfare. The cleanliness, maintenence, etc is enough for me to want to go there. When we visit Europe, we will definitely be going to Efteling.
Japan was trained by the old Disney guard, and because the Japanese are the way they are, very little has changed concerning how they conduct their business in the traditional Disney style. While in the US, numbers control everything, and if Disney feels it can get away with cutting a corner in customer service, it will because all they seem to care about anymore is optimizing their earnings. So in many ways, this is the Disney Walt built.
Remember when you were going to do the cruise with WDWNT fans before it got cancelled due to Covid? You could do the same thing with a trip to Tokyo. :)
You’ll be happy to know the Disney Legend who dreamed up TDL’s Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast is also the guy behind Fantasy Springs and many other attractions.
Wonderful and detailed review Tom! Your love for the themepark truly shines through. Can you imagine when Fantasy Springs opens?? My goodness. I’m planning to go for the first time there once that opens next year. I need to be there at least 2 weeks from everything I’ve seen online! I can’t believe how much classic IP that’s well deserved gets the love there.
This was awesome. We felt like we were having a cup of thee with you while you are telling us about you trip and the review. So def yes to this concept!
Excellent Review! Tom I am glad you got to get to Tokyo Disney Resort and had a good time; from videos I have seen of other you tubers just walking around both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea would be amazing experiences unto itself. I remember listening to another youtube channel concerning Tokyo Disney Sea that allegedly an executive at OLC was quoted as saying "we Japanese are not really good at creating something from the beginning. But we are very good at making something better TV set, electronics, cars; you make it we will make it better". To be honest they did when it came to the Tokyo Disneyland Resort with them taking the things that they knew worked well in the domestic Disney parks and making them better. Tokyo puts in expansions and new rides at a pace at this current time every other Disney resort is envious of then making them better.
Kinda sad. That Beauty and the Beast ride is on par with the kind of attractions WDW would have if Walt Disney wasn’t hijacked by staunch corporatists. Instead we keep getting closer and closer to Six Flags with each new announcement lately.
I always felt like the Enchanted tale of beauty and the beast ride is missing a Gaston audio animatronic in the village invasion scene. It's such a missed opportunity for a Gaston animatronic. It totally would have taken it up a notch.
Thank you Tom for an frank and honest discussion. Sure you and I could have hours long conversations regarding what Disney can and should be doing. Perhaps one day I’ll get to visit Tokyo.
I live here in Japan and went to TDL earlier this month and I can say, as a person who doesn't care about Beauty and the Beast this ride was the best Disney ride hands down. The Castle was amazing to look at and the pre show room really does a good job in getting you into the world that you are about to enter.
@@PalisadesParketeer I would highly recomend going to Disney Sea. The park is amazing as far as theming. TDL is cool but if you have been to DL or MK you will feel like its a smaller version.
Oh my gosh, Tom, I was tearing up just hearing you describe that final scene. Beauty and the Beast is actually my favourite and I am now making it my ambition to get over to Tokyo someday so I can experience such a phenomenal park and this ride in particular. Thank you, as always, for sharing your thoughts.
As a VFX artist that made much of this attraction work, including the effects for the Beast transition, I thank you for your kind words. That transition effect is MUCH more intricate than “just” a pepper’s ghost. But who told you about the projected floor? I think we have a mole problem. 😅. With myself and many many other talented folks laid off from WDI don’t expect to see this caliber of attraction again anytime soon from Disney. Maybe never. PS. I was on the Soaring pre show too.
I loved this Vlog… probably my favorite of all time. It’s because finally someone gets it why this attraction is my favorite in the world…#1. Tokyo Disney being my home park I get to ride it often. I still tear up and get goosebumps.
One of my theatre professors who works for tokyo disney and disneyland paris on assignment actually worked on the mickey magic show from the very beginning concept of it. It was so awesome to hear all of the technical aspects and old concept drawings of the stage and set pieces that were going to be and are currently in the show. Cant wait to go see the show someday and see what my professor was talking about in real life
I actually believe that the beast transformation effect is done by peppers ghost. With a "real" beast animatronic hidden above the stage, not just a projection. A elaborate effect similar to the Jack Sparrow transformation at Shanghai Pirates Ride.
OMG! I've been waiting for this review & I'm sitting here feeling SO jealous! I love animatronics- loath screen based attractions.... everything you've talked about is just phenomenal. If only we could get something like that at home! Thank you for the review!!!
Absolutely the most beauful I've ever seen in all the attractions. 😮😍💗 My mouth dropped when I saw the crisp and clear visual of the beast transforing into the prince. I was blown! 😯
Tom, thank you so much for this great video. I have not ridden The Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast yet but I had seen videos of it when it first opened. I cannot comment on your opinions about the attraction specifically since I have not experienced it in person but when you spoke about the quality of The Tokyo Disneyland Resort you took the words right out of my mouth Tom. I have visited the Tokyo Disneyland Resort on three separate vacations so far. I was planning to visit it a fourth time but the blasted covid-19 pandemic delayed my vacation plans unfortunately. I loved Tokyo Disneyland but DisneySea completely blew me away every time that I visited it. Just like you said, the Tokyo Disneyland Resort shows what Imagineering can do if the suits and ties in Burbank would let them. It is disheartening and frustrating (as an American Disney park fan) to see the projects that US Disney theme park fans have to settle for when the parks in Japan always constantly get the best - time and time again. It is nice to finally hear from a Walt Disney World fan and loyal guest about how much better some things are at Tokyo Disneyland. I have said that ever since my first trip to Japan several years ago and then I usually get lambasted online from Disneyland and Walt Disney World fans because they just cannot accept that the Japanese parks might possibly do things better than the US parks. (Note that in almost every one of these discussions that I've had, the Disneyland and/or Walt Disney World fans have never been to Tokyo Disneyland.) It's like they cannot come to grips with the possibility that the "little" Tokyo Disneyland Resort could do things better than "The Original" or "The Biggest." My personal suggestion, as a fellow Disney theme park fan, is that you must, must, absolutely MUST visit the Tokyo Disneyland Resort. There is no other Disney theme park like the ones over there, particularly DisneySea. If you do like I have done and put the money that you would have spent on Disneyland or Walt Disney World vacations and put it towards a Tokyo Disneyland vacation instead, you'd be amazed at how going to Japan is actually possible. As an added bonus, since The Tokyo Disneyland Resort is completely owned by Oriental Land Company, none of your hard earned money will line the pockets of the suits and ties in Burbank. Well...OLC does pay licensing fees to The Walt Disney Company but you get my point - most of your money goes directly to OLC and not to Disney. (Take that Bob Chapek!) In a perfect world, US Disney park fans would demand better and do like I have done and refuse to spend any of their hard earned money at the US parks until the suits and ties in Burbank open their wallets and pay for high quality like what Oriental Land Company has done and is doing in Japan. Sadly though, as shown by my conversations with fellow fans about what is "the best" Disney theme park resort, US Disney theme park fans keep their minds closed and continue to pay for lower quality in record numbers. I keep hoping that one day more US fans will get to visit the Japanese parks, open their eyes, wake up to the fact that they have been paying more for lower quality for a long time, and demand better. So far, hope is all that I have in that regard. Thank you Tom for doing your best to show US Disney park fans what they are missing out on. Hopefully people will open their minds and demand better from the suits and ties in Burbank. Since you have a very public forum Tom, your words and opinions carry way more weight than mine and hopefully will make a difference. I'm just a lowly Disney fan in California.
Sounds like Tokyo Disneyland is where peak Disney World was back in the 90s. I really want to visit someday. How was the language barrier with cast members? Were you able to make your way around and get help if needed?
I have been to the Tokyo Disneyland Resort three times so far and I am currently planning my fourth trip there. I have never experienced a "language barrier" when I was there on my last vacations. There are Cast Members that do not speak English and if you have a problem with communication, they quickly will call over a Cast Member that is fluent in English. (The Tokyo Disneyland Cast Members are all very well trained in how to handle this exact situation.) Just remember to speak slowly and enunciate your words very clearly. When ordering a certain quantity of something, hold up the corresponding number of fingers to show the Cast Member the amount of items that you want. Also, point at the item that you want on the menus at restaurants so the Cast Member that is taking your order won't get confused and accidentally order the wrong thing. The difference at the Tokyo Disneyland Resort is that all of the Cast Members really make an effort and bend over backwards to understand their guests, even those that do not speak Japanese. I have, unfortunately, found out that that is not always the case with the Cast Members at other non-US Disney parks. I have seen Americans (not me personally) that have gotten totally blown off by Cast Members at the non-Japanese Disney parks that made absolutely zero effort to communicate with them. I imagine that that is totally frustrating for the guests. I have never experienced that myself though because, as I said before, I always pantomime a lot to communicate with non-English speaking Cast Members. (I do that at all of the parks and not just at the parks in Japan.) I find that Americans are always so concerned about non-English speaking Cast Members at the Disney theme parks outside of the US. I have never experienced any "language barriers" at any of the overseas parks so far. (Note that I have not been to Disneyland Paris yet so I do not know what the situation is like over there.) Simply put, there is no "language barrier" in any of the Disney parks that I have been to based on my personal experience. That cannot be said for the parts of some of the surrounding cities when off of Disney property however. I have not had that problem in Tokyo or Hong Kong but most definitely I have experienced it in Shanghai. Thankfully my wife is fluent in both Mandarin and Shanghainese so I'm OK over there. I hope that you make it to the Tokyo Disneyland Resort some day. It really is a "must visit" place if you are a Disney theme park fan.
@@Locoboy5150 I appreciate the reply. It was very helpful! Funny enough Disneyland Paris would be fairly easy for my family. I do speak a little French and my wife is fluent.
@@txag007 You're welcome and I am also planning out a Disneyland Paris vacation right now. I finally will get to use my two years of French class from way back in high school. My French is really rusty. Oh well...I am always up for an adventure!
I agree that the animatronics at runaway railway aren’t that great. They kinda look like flat bobble heads with projections. Enchanted tales with Belle looks incredible! The animatronics in that ride also look phenomenal.
When I watched the on-ride POVs, I was underwhelmed, even though I knew it would be more impressive in person. Now that I understand that so many of those effects are real props instead of screens and the floors are projection-mapped, it is overwhelming.
I hope to experience that ride one day. Maybe the American audience needs something that we would find 'a weird ride' something fresh, something we wouldn't expect. Looking forward to the vlog!
The pessimistic side of me imagines that if this ride was in the US it'd easily have wait times of 1-2 hours on relatively slow days just because people are buying their individual Lightning Lane to bog down the queue to maddening levels.
I am looking forward to riding Mickey's Runway Railway for the first time when finished in Disneyland. I hope the floors will be more in keeping with the rest of the ride. Watching videos on UA-cam, it always bothers me to see the water flowing on the walls and not the floor.
41:52 It does look like Fantasy Springs will be using screen projections on some rides (recent Imagineering video clip shows a screen projection of Tick Tock the Crocodile on a screen background, rather than an animatronic in front of a physical set), but hopefully it's used sparingly and tastefully.
I was lucky enough to spend 4 days at TDR in Mid-May and didn’t know much about this ride but omg-wow, I was blown away! Truly a one of a kind attraction 🤩
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth are tied for my favourite theme park attractions anywhere in the world. Considering that, the Beauty and the Beast ride, the Jr. Woodchucks restaurant, Dear Danny merchandise, etc. I have the feeling that the Oriental Land Co. trust the Disney brand more than the Walt Disney Company Ltd. does. They are licensing the Disney brand and giving it their all, whereas Walt Disney Company Ltd. is just trying anything but Disney, remaking classic films, cheaping out, buying new IP, whatever. They'd never even think to do 20,000 Leagues stateside.
23:10 I can tell you that 100%!!! That ride looks like it would blow the ratatouille ride out of the water. The ratatouille ride is trash compared to that one. Tokyo Disney is the last bastion of what Walt wanted Disney to be.
Japan has announced they are fully opening up to tourism on October 11. If true Me my wife and pops are planning to go middle of May after golden week for a 4 day trip to TDR (have not been since the opening of soarin). This ride has me so excited to see and with the yen at 144 we have been buying up a bunch for this trip. Also going to finally go to Fuji-Q highlands which has been a bucket list park for a long time.
Yea, beauty and the beast DR is beautiful... going there this week for 4 days.... were you able to win the app-lotto for any other shows besides Mickey's Magic House?
The elephant in the room is that Fifi the Maid can only exist in Tokyo because the sensibilities of too many Americans would cry bloody murder to see an attractive character in animatronic form. It’s the reason Clarice the Chipmunk is such a popular character there, while she’s been so altered from her classic appearance in her current incarnation.
He's spot on about the Beauty and the Beast ride, it felt like they had spent most of their budget on the animatronics and didn't have anymore left to spend on the rest of the ride--- the castle looked as though the Beast had just moved in and the rest of the furniture had yet to arrive.
I had seen this featured on another UA-cam channel a while back but I certainly enjoyed your take on what I had already come to the conclusion... I think Walt would be most pleased with Tokyo Disney, I would even go on to say his spirit resides there when it comes to the love and care of the Legacy of Walter E Disney... I don't have a bucket list, but I know I will someday go to this magical place in Japan.
“Everything Runaway Railway isn’t!” You mean, like, visually attractive, respectful of its Disney source material, and based, not forcibly, on an IP the guests actually LIKE? 😄
If somehow they could tie the ride with the restaurant in Florida it would be amazing. You make your reservation online, go in and place your order, go into the ride while the food is prepared, come out and eat . A whole experience.
Are you planning to visit Japan?
Not really. I was just wondering if you heard or not.
Some day yes I want to go very badly
We hope to in 2024.
Yes - absolutely! I have been to Japan and the Toyko Disneyland resort three times so far and I was planning a fourth trip when the lousy covid-19 pandemic started and put all of my travel plans on hold. Now that the borders are opening up again soon, I am dusting off those plans and I plan to visit in the spring of 2023.
I cannot state this enough. If you are a Disney theme park fan you must, must, absolutely MUST visit DisneySea. There is no other Disney theme park like it. Tokyo Disneyland is fantastic too!
Yes when travel restrictions have opened up! It’s my next dream Disney trip
Okay, I literally never noticed the projected floor to hide the marks. That's ....that's GENIUS. Next to nothing Disney does impresses me, but I'm genuinely impressed.
It's INSANE
There are places in their other parks where ugly giant show buildings are left visible from themed streets, and yet they wouldn't even let TYRE MARKS be visible in one scene of this dark ride wtf
Wish I could afford to go to Japan and experience the real Walt Disney innovations, that Disney was known for. Thanks for the great review Tom!
FYI, getting to Japan is expensive, but once you're there it's actually not that bad. There are competitively priced hotels and dining options in Tokyo, and it's easy to get around without needing a group tour. Don't let the price scare you off.
I been to Tokyo Disney once during my teenage year. And honestly it is the best Disney Park I’ve ever experienced. I really wish I could revisit Tokyo Disney again.
@@MonsterKidCory Did you use a travel company? I want to go in May 2023, but going solo
@@PalisadesParketeer The only part I had to use a travel company for was getting tickets to the Studio Ghibli Museum and arranging my JR Rail pass. Otherwise, I organized it all solo.
There are LOTS of good resources from JNTO, JR, and other tourism organizations that can get you going with itineraries, recommendations, and so on. I even looked at the itineraries of some group tours and just worked out myself where they went (for example, a lot of commercial day trips to Nara from Kyoto advertise a half-dozen sites that are all short walking distance from each other in Nara Park, but they make it sound like you need the tour to be able to visit them all).
Hotels are easily searchable through Google Maps and can be booked through Hotels, Bookings, or just the hotel website itself. JR Rail passes can now be purchased online. Honestly, it's easier today than it was when I did it, and it wasn't even that hard when I did it.
For food, Japan has a highly mobile commuter population, which means there are a lot of relatively inexpensive food options out there. We're talking 100JPY ramen shops, 500JPY tempura restaurants, sushi out your eyeballs, and so on. Yeah, you can spring for an expensive meal now and then, but most of the time it can be dirt cheap.
Booking for events can be challenging, like if you want to see some kabuki theatre or sumo wrestling or something. Japan has some quirks like being somewhat adverse to credit cards. The Disney ticket situation is very different from the US, but it's nothing too daunting if you're prepared to put in a little effort.
Language is actually pretty fine in the major centres. Most tourism areas have people who speak passable English, Japanese people who don't are very gracious about it, and most places have names written in kanji and romanji (romanji just being Japanese translated into the Western alphabet). If you know the name of the place you're going and have researched your directions, it's not very hard to get there. Restaurants usually have picture menus and those plastic replicas of food, so you can just point to what you want and say "Onegaishimasu" and they'll understand. Besides "Onegaishimasu" (which is basically an all-purpose polite request), the minimal words you need to know to get by are "konichiwa/konbanwa," (good morning/good day) "arigato," (thank you), and "sumimaisen" (excuse me/sorry).
I did it solo myself and had virtually no problems. My biggest advice is just to do research... I had everything so thoroughly researched that I was able to break from my set itinerary several times and feel comfortable in doing so. If I get some more money, I'd love to go back in the next couple years. My wife has never been, and there are a few places I didn't get to (or didn't exist the first time I went, like both Godzilla theme parks).
I am Japanese. Just as you Americans think Tokyo Disneyland is wonderful, we Japanese think the American parks are wonderful because they have many things that TDR does not.
It is very interesting to be able to compare and contrast the parks I know well with those overseas.
Sorry if this is hard to read as I am using the translate function.
As an American (and ex-cast member), the difference between the Japanese and all the other parks is the care that the Tokyo resort cast members have for the quality of the guest experience. During our visit we never felt like we were imposing on the cast members there and that they very much wanted us to have the best possible experience. The one time we encountered a non-functional ride, the cast member told us it would be working shortly and was visibly upset when it was still down when we returned. She remembered us, though as a 6ft tall American, I did kind of stand out in the crowd, and really felt bad that we couldn't ride. We ended up reassuring her that we weren't upset and really appreciated how much she wanted us to enjoy our visit. The Tokyo resort is easily the best built and maintained of all the parks, though others come close. The cast there, however, is operating at a level that no other park can even hope to achieve.
Yeah it's weird to me. I'm a newer Disney Park fan and I've been to both the Asian and US parks. US in the last few years has gotten unique attractions in Rise of the Resistance, Flight of Passage, Guardians Cosmic Rewind. All of which are some of the best Disney rides. Tokyo has a lot of unique rides the US doesn't have as well. But it's not true to say the US doesn't have unique, A-tier attractions either.
"Sorry if this is hard to read as I am using the translate function." Lol this is so Japanese 絶対日本人ってわかるね
Just to add that not only are the attractions better at Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea, the quality of the merchandise is better and the cast members are at least as great if not greater. This is what you get when the Walt Imagineers take precedence over the Chapek budgeteers.
as my dear old Grand-dad used to say: "If you go the extra mile, it will always be worthwhile."
That seems like something Walt himself would have said.
I’ve never heard anyone say that, and my god, that’s inspirational. And also makes sense. Don’t know the outcome of something unless you go for it.
is that a Hercules reference
Tokyo Disney Resort is so impressive. They put every small details in their attractions. Even some of them are not important.
Everything is so smooth in TDR, you seldom feel like you walk in another area in a sudden.
Can't wait to see the Fantasy Springs. After seeing all the vehicles and Elsa's real animatronic. I know they will build something incredible again.
Projecting a floor onto the floor is such a clever solution for dealing with smooth trackless ride floors.
The Beast transformation is actually just a Pepper's Ghost effect. They obviously used a tiny bit of projection with the magical flourishes, but I'd say this is the most modern way to utilize the effect very well
Okay I’m glad someone else said it because I thought I was going crazy, I could’ve sworn I’d heard from a bunch of other sources it’s a figure and Pepper’s Ghost
@@averyeml I coulda sworn from watching it that it was Peppers ghost. it looks just like the Pooh peppers ghost during the dream sequence.
@@averyemlthe Prince in his human form is an actual animatronic but it’s not shown until the transformation completes. When he’s still in his beast form, it’s just completely dark and the projection is projected on the glass in front of him.
I agree Remys is not imersive to me. they don't event have the projections go on the floor. and there is only two physical sets.
The Beast transition to the Prince...goosebumps! SO well done! We need this at WDW!
I disagree. Please keep Enchanted Tale of Beauty and The Beast at Toyko Disneyland only. If that attraction was brought to any of the US Disney parks, it would be budget cut to death. Even if it did open here in the US, it would not be maintained to the super high standards that it receives at Tokyo Disneyland and thus all of the effects would not be working shortly after the grand opening.
I always see WDW fans say that "this or that attraction from an overseas park should be built at WDW." No...keep the parks unique! If you want to ride Beauty and the Beast, just do what I did and stop spending all your hard earned money on the US parks and put that in a fund to pay for a vacation to Tokyo Disneyland instead. You would be amazed at how much you can buy if you skip going to Disneyland and/or Walt Disney World a few times. Trust me...it will be money well spent because it will open your eyes to how good a Disney theme park can be...once you leave Florida.
Tom the Toyko Disney Beauty & The Beast Ride and the Tokyo Disney Resort as a whole are a reminder of how great a Disney attraction and/or domestic theme park can be and shows you what the imagineers can do without the constraints of a limited budget and given a sizeable budget like the Oriental Land Company.
I will admit the only reason I watched this video was to see happy, passionate Tom give a review of something I know he absolutely loved. ❤️
In the states, it’s just about building attractions to soak up the crowds and that’s it. If people would stop coming, they would be more thoughtful detailed and elaborate as we saw with Indy. But people keep going and settling for mediocrity. And as long as that is the case and as long as Disney doesn’t have a visionary CEO, that will sadly continue to be the case.
As a newer Disney fan, that hasn't seemed completely true either? Flight of Passage/Pandora, Rise/Galaxy's Edge, Cosmic Rewind are all really great attractions imo, and they are US only and recent. If we only got stuff like Slinky, Ratatouille (copy), TRON (copy), sure.
@@jamvng Rise is immersive but Galaxy’s Edge falls flat in a number of ways. There’s no kinetic energy to it and it seems a little forced. Rise is a good ride but it could have used a bit better capacity. Though one must understand that Galaxy’s Edge itself was tacked on to Disneyland to do exactly what I said up above: something to soak up the crowds and give Disneyland more room. If course if you only end up attracting more people than any such effort is offset, but that’s unavoidable really unless you cap attendance at an earlier level before the land was built.
Pandora is immersive but a little on the smaller side. The riverboat attraction isn’t as good as it could have been and the land could use one more attraction.
This is the same park where they did the wonderful Expedition Everest (though it was structurally built wrong so the animatronic cannot be repaired) but then also gave us Dinoland USA with it’s lackluster double spinning mouse coasters. They didn’t even need one of these much less two.And now they have ripped them out for…nothing? They should have had something good ready to break ground, but they don’t. They are rudderless right now. D23 was HORRIBLE. Just a bunch of stuff they might do. They don’t even know themselves!!
@@gregg5958 Your criticisms are completely fair. I just wouldn't say Rise/Flight of Passage/Cosmic Rewind are "just" crowd absorbers though. They definitely took a good amount of Imagineering and money to pull off. No doubt there's a lot of things that could be better still though, especially with the things surrounding the attractions themselves, as you mentioned yourself.
@@jamvng LOL. Cosmic rewind is a rollercoaster you can find anywhere in the world with a good soundtrack.
My daughter called trackless rides, Roomba rides because she said it felt like riding on a roomba. Her evaluation was that there were too many of them at WDW.
Don't we just have Rise, Mickey, and Remy? Tokyo has Pooh and Beauty and the Beast.
Come for Tom’s passionate rants, stay for the fact that Tokyo built an animatronic Fifi!
Tom being gobsmacked by the animatronic Fifi was the best. 😂
@@tk98jd 🤣
Great review Tom. I'm genuinely more entertained by your honest reviews than many things the parks are doing. I'll probably never have the time to go so I live vicariously through these travels you take us on. Ironic that the park Walt was always against ( Japan, and to be fair Nara Dreamland didn't turn out too well, validating Walt's concerns ) is now the one on top, both of them. The one Walt would be proud of is from the land where he refused to let one be built. I wish he could see it.
I feel like if I were ever to be able to get to Japan and ride that Beauty and the Beast ride I would probably cry. One of my fave movies as a kid. Why can’t the US be at this level 😭😭😭
I'd be UGLY CRYING BIG UGLY TEARS OF JOY
My dream would be to visit Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea. Everything seems to be so much better run and planned. However, I don't have the money or language knowledge to be able to ever go, so I enjoy watching videos of the attractions. Easiest way to know that Mickey & Minnie's doesn't meet this quality is to watch the wait times. By afternoon, not even families with little kids want to ride it twice. Queues are significantly shorter.
money might be an issue but if you speak English, it will be fine language wise. Trust. Actually it should be easier than ever with the tech we have but legit, even without it, you would be fine.
One thing that makes it sure Fantasy Springs will live up to its expectations is that they announced to rebuilt their Space Mountain. It's so unreal that after Fanstay Springs we have another thing to look forward; which is so exciting to go in Japan.
Great Review Tom, as usual! I'm also impressed with what the OLC has done with the Beauty & The Beast ride and the animatronics they made.
If we ever go back to Disney parks again, it will be Tokyo. Tbh, we can visit Tokyo Disney, get the nostalgic vibes that the American Parks have lost, but with a much higher quality for everything. We would probably break even cost wise, but only b.c of airfare.
The cleanliness, maintenence, etc is enough for me to want to go there.
When we visit Europe, we will definitely be going to Efteling.
Such great detail in your review. Thank you. I am looking forward to more reviews of your Japan trip.
WDW News. Tom, Oriental Land Company doing Walt's Work. Cheers, Chris Perry.
Japan was trained by the old Disney guard, and because the Japanese are the way they are, very little has changed concerning how they conduct their business in the traditional Disney style. While in the US, numbers control everything, and if Disney feels it can get away with cutting a corner in customer service, it will because all they seem to care about anymore is optimizing their earnings. So in many ways, this is the Disney Walt built.
Remember when you were going to do the cruise with WDWNT fans before it got cancelled due to Covid? You could do the same thing with a trip to Tokyo. :)
What an exceptional review!! Made me want to see the Beauty and the Beast attraction Right now!!
You’ll be happy to know the Disney Legend who dreamed up TDL’s Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast is also the guy behind Fantasy Springs and many other attractions.
Wonderful and detailed review Tom! Your love for the themepark truly shines through. Can you imagine when Fantasy Springs opens?? My goodness. I’m planning to go for the first time there once that opens next year. I need to be there at least 2 weeks from everything I’ve seen online! I can’t believe how much classic IP that’s well deserved gets the love there.
Thanks again Tom. Real honesty. Tell it like it is. Im going to Tokyo.
That's cool, I've never noticed the projection mapping on the floor! I'm looking forward to seeing it the next time I fly down to Tokyo Disneyland
This was awesome. We felt like we were having a cup of thee with you while you are telling us about you trip and the review. So def yes to this concept!
Great review Tom…I bet being on this ride in person is amazing! I can only dream of riding it as I am a huge animatronics fan myself 😊
"Tokyo Disneyland has the most amazing ride. It puts runaway railway to shame"
Disneyland Paris locals: "can we have any of them?.. Half of one?"
Excellent Review! Tom I am glad you got to get to Tokyo Disney Resort and had a good time; from videos I have seen of other you tubers just walking around both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea would be amazing experiences unto itself. I remember listening to another youtube channel concerning Tokyo Disney Sea that allegedly an executive at OLC was quoted as saying "we Japanese are not really good at creating something from the beginning. But we are very good at making something better TV set, electronics, cars; you make it we will make it better". To be honest they did when it came to the Tokyo Disneyland Resort with them taking the things that they knew worked well in the domestic Disney parks and making them better. Tokyo puts in expansions and new rides at a pace at this current time every other Disney resort is envious of then making them better.
Don’t Forget DisneySea’s Toy Story Mania. It’s So DIFFERENT. Just Compare the POVs of Florida, California, & Japan.
Kinda sad. That Beauty and the Beast ride is on par with the kind of attractions WDW would have if Walt Disney wasn’t hijacked by staunch corporatists. Instead we keep getting closer and closer to Six Flags with each new announcement lately.
It is about time we fans stand up.
I always felt like the Enchanted tale of beauty and the beast ride is missing a Gaston audio animatronic in the village invasion scene. It's such a missed opportunity for a Gaston animatronic. It totally would have taken it up a notch.
Very cool thanks Tom. Hopefully I’ll get out there in the next few years.
Great breakdown of the trackless deficiencies of the US parks, love your channel.
i loved this video. incredibly informative and enjoyable content. hope to go to tokyo disneyland someday
Thank you Tom for an frank and honest discussion. Sure you and I could have hours long conversations regarding what Disney can and should be doing. Perhaps one day I’ll get to visit Tokyo.
why cant be have rides like this in the USA?😥
I live here in Japan and went to TDL earlier this month and I can say, as a person who doesn't care about Beauty and the Beast this ride was the best Disney ride hands down. The Castle was amazing to look at and the pre show room really does a good job in getting you into the world that you are about to enter.
Hope to get to TDL Resort in May 2023. Going solo though. Any suggestions?
@@PalisadesParketeer I would highly recomend going to Disney Sea. The park is amazing as far as theming. TDL is cool but if you have been to DL or MK you will feel like its a smaller version.
Oh my gosh, Tom, I was tearing up just hearing you describe that final scene. Beauty and the Beast is actually my favourite and I am now making it my ambition to get over to Tokyo someday so I can experience such a phenomenal park and this ride in particular. Thank you, as always, for sharing your thoughts.
My family really loves Mickey's runaway railway. The look is so unique. I'm very much looking forward to it opening next year in Toon Town.
I love your passion Tom!
As a VFX artist that made much of this attraction work, including the effects for the Beast transition, I thank you for your kind words. That transition effect is MUCH more intricate than “just” a pepper’s ghost. But who told you about the projected floor? I think we have a mole problem. 😅. With myself and many many other talented folks laid off from WDI don’t expect to see this caliber of attraction again anytime soon from Disney. Maybe never. PS. I was on the Soaring pre show too.
BB ride is ok. Not even close to recent classics such at Mickey Train, Guardians, Flight of Passage. The pacing of BB ride is a bore.
I loved this Vlog… probably my favorite of all time. It’s because finally someone gets it why this attraction is my favorite in the world…#1. Tokyo Disney being my home park I get to ride it often. I still tear up and get goosebumps.
That theatre is WOW.....and then the ride. Holy S. Great vid !
9:12 this room makes me think of the minnie's bow toons shorts that either were or still are on disney junior
Wow. The parks look gorgeous. Thanks for taking us along! I wanted to do Paris next. Now I'm rethinking that plan.
One of my theatre professors who works for tokyo disney and disneyland paris on assignment actually worked on the mickey magic show from the very beginning concept of it. It was so awesome to hear all of the technical aspects and old concept drawings of the stage and set pieces that were going to be and are currently in the show. Cant wait to go see the show someday and see what my professor was talking about in real life
"What do you mean Doc? All the best stuff is made in Japan." - Marty Mcfly
I actually believe that the beast transformation effect is done by peppers ghost. With a "real" beast animatronic hidden above the stage, not just a projection. A elaborate effect similar to the Jack Sparrow transformation at Shanghai Pirates Ride.
I came here to say the same! Looks like a beautiful melding of both pepper’s ghost and projection that works so so well!!!
The Beast-to-Prince transformation is NOT done by projection mapping; it's our old friend, Pepper's Ghost.
I love they started the ride with the show stopping number. what a banger of an opening to a ride!
Keep doing what you do Tom!! Love these review videos and i know they take a good amount of time to put together. Great work!
OMG! I've been waiting for this review & I'm sitting here feeling SO jealous! I love animatronics- loath screen based attractions.... everything you've talked about is just phenomenal. If only we could get something like that at home! Thank you for the review!!!
“…. The floating Beast carcass.” 😂
Great video.. I did not know how much WDW lacked.
Absolutely the most beauful I've ever seen in all the attractions. 😮😍💗 My mouth dropped when I saw the crisp and clear visual of the beast transforing into the prince. I was blown! 😯
Exciting news thank you as always!😊
Tom, thank you so much for this great video. I have not ridden The Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast yet but I had seen videos of it when it first opened. I cannot comment on your opinions about the attraction specifically since I have not experienced it in person but when you spoke about the quality of The Tokyo Disneyland Resort you took the words right out of my mouth Tom.
I have visited the Tokyo Disneyland Resort on three separate vacations so far. I was planning to visit it a fourth time but the blasted covid-19 pandemic delayed my vacation plans unfortunately. I loved Tokyo Disneyland but DisneySea completely blew me away every time that I visited it. Just like you said, the Tokyo Disneyland Resort shows what Imagineering can do if the suits and ties in Burbank would let them. It is disheartening and frustrating (as an American Disney park fan) to see the projects that US Disney theme park fans have to settle for when the parks in Japan always constantly get the best - time and time again.
It is nice to finally hear from a Walt Disney World fan and loyal guest about how much better some things are at Tokyo Disneyland. I have said that ever since my first trip to Japan several years ago and then I usually get lambasted online from Disneyland and Walt Disney World fans because they just cannot accept that the Japanese parks might possibly do things better than the US parks. (Note that in almost every one of these discussions that I've had, the Disneyland and/or Walt Disney World fans have never been to Tokyo Disneyland.) It's like they cannot come to grips with the possibility that the "little" Tokyo Disneyland Resort could do things better than "The Original" or "The Biggest."
My personal suggestion, as a fellow Disney theme park fan, is that you must, must, absolutely MUST visit the Tokyo Disneyland Resort. There is no other Disney theme park like the ones over there, particularly DisneySea. If you do like I have done and put the money that you would have spent on Disneyland or Walt Disney World vacations and put it towards a Tokyo Disneyland vacation instead, you'd be amazed at how going to Japan is actually possible. As an added bonus, since The Tokyo Disneyland Resort is completely owned by Oriental Land Company, none of your hard earned money will line the pockets of the suits and ties in Burbank. Well...OLC does pay licensing fees to The Walt Disney Company but you get my point - most of your money goes directly to OLC and not to Disney. (Take that Bob Chapek!)
In a perfect world, US Disney park fans would demand better and do like I have done and refuse to spend any of their hard earned money at the US parks until the suits and ties in Burbank open their wallets and pay for high quality like what Oriental Land Company has done and is doing in Japan. Sadly though, as shown by my conversations with fellow fans about what is "the best" Disney theme park resort, US Disney theme park fans keep their minds closed and continue to pay for lower quality in record numbers. I keep hoping that one day more US fans will get to visit the Japanese parks, open their eyes, wake up to the fact that they have been paying more for lower quality for a long time, and demand better. So far, hope is all that I have in that regard.
Thank you Tom for doing your best to show US Disney park fans what they are missing out on. Hopefully people will open their minds and demand better from the suits and ties in Burbank. Since you have a very public forum Tom, your words and opinions carry way more weight than mine and hopefully will make a difference. I'm just a lowly Disney fan in California.
“Almost in tears?!” I’m blubbering just watching your RECAP! 🥹
I hope to visit Tokyo Disney in the fall of 2023. I can't wait to experience the parks there. I know I will love it.
Tom - Amazing review, well done.
Sounds like Tokyo Disneyland is where peak Disney World was back in the 90s. I really want to visit someday. How was the language barrier with cast members? Were you able to make your way around and get help if needed?
I have been to the Tokyo Disneyland Resort three times so far and I am currently planning my fourth trip there. I have never experienced a "language barrier" when I was there on my last vacations. There are Cast Members that do not speak English and if you have a problem with communication, they quickly will call over a Cast Member that is fluent in English. (The Tokyo Disneyland Cast Members are all very well trained in how to handle this exact situation.) Just remember to speak slowly and enunciate your words very clearly. When ordering a certain quantity of something, hold up the corresponding number of fingers to show the Cast Member the amount of items that you want. Also, point at the item that you want on the menus at restaurants so the Cast Member that is taking your order won't get confused and accidentally order the wrong thing.
The difference at the Tokyo Disneyland Resort is that all of the Cast Members really make an effort and bend over backwards to understand their guests, even those that do not speak Japanese. I have, unfortunately, found out that that is not always the case with the Cast Members at other non-US Disney parks. I have seen Americans (not me personally) that have gotten totally blown off by Cast Members at the non-Japanese Disney parks that made absolutely zero effort to communicate with them. I imagine that that is totally frustrating for the guests. I have never experienced that myself though because, as I said before, I always pantomime a lot to communicate with non-English speaking Cast Members. (I do that at all of the parks and not just at the parks in Japan.)
I find that Americans are always so concerned about non-English speaking Cast Members at the Disney theme parks outside of the US. I have never experienced any "language barriers" at any of the overseas parks so far. (Note that I have not been to Disneyland Paris yet so I do not know what the situation is like over there.) Simply put, there is no "language barrier" in any of the Disney parks that I have been to based on my personal experience. That cannot be said for the parts of some of the surrounding cities when off of Disney property however. I have not had that problem in Tokyo or Hong Kong but most definitely I have experienced it in Shanghai. Thankfully my wife is fluent in both Mandarin and Shanghainese so I'm OK over there.
I hope that you make it to the Tokyo Disneyland Resort some day. It really is a "must visit" place if you are a Disney theme park fan.
@@Locoboy5150 I appreciate the reply. It was very helpful! Funny enough Disneyland Paris would be fairly easy for my family. I do speak a little French and my wife is fluent.
@@txag007 You're welcome and I am also planning out a Disneyland Paris vacation right now. I finally will get to use my two years of French class from way back in high school. My French is really rusty. Oh well...I am always up for an adventure!
@@Locoboy5150 Just remember that if you hold up your fingers for an amount, the thumb is #1!
@@txag007 Oh thank you (merci) for that tip. I most definitely would have messed up on that one if you hadn't mentioned it!
I miss more trees in the MK New Fantasyland, as showed in the first renditions of the land. In Tokyo, it seems no problem with that.
I agree that the animatronics at runaway railway aren’t that great. They kinda look like flat bobble heads with projections. Enchanted tales with Belle looks incredible! The animatronics in that ride also look phenomenal.
When I watched the on-ride POVs, I was underwhelmed, even though I knew it would be more impressive in person. Now that I understand that so many of those effects are real props instead of screens and the floors are projection-mapped, it is overwhelming.
Tokyo Disney puts the U.S. parks to shame.
I hope to experience that ride one day. Maybe the American audience needs something that we would find 'a weird ride' something fresh, something we wouldn't expect.
Looking forward to the vlog!
Oh i would love this ride! Beauty and the Beast! I would be in tears.
The pessimistic side of me imagines that if this ride was in the US it'd easily have wait times of 1-2 hours on relatively slow days just because people are buying their individual Lightning Lane to bog down the queue to maddening levels.
I am looking forward to riding Mickey's Runway Railway for the first time when finished in Disneyland. I hope the floors will be more in keeping with the rest of the ride. Watching videos on UA-cam, it always bothers me to see the water flowing on the walls and not the floor.
The Oriental Land Company seems to understand that you need to spend money to make money.
Wish we would get new innovative rides like Avatar was.
How is Flight of Passage innovative, it's a newer version of Soarin' with a different seat.
Amazing can’t wait to see it and your enthusiasm is infectious Tom!
41:52 It does look like Fantasy Springs will be using screen projections on some rides (recent Imagineering video clip shows a screen projection of Tick Tock the Crocodile on a screen background, rather than an animatronic in front of a physical set), but hopefully it's used sparingly and tastefully.
I was lucky enough to spend 4 days at TDR in Mid-May and didn’t know much about this ride but omg-wow, I was blown away! Truly a one of a kind attraction 🤩
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth are tied for my favourite theme park attractions anywhere in the world. Considering that, the Beauty and the Beast ride, the Jr. Woodchucks restaurant, Dear Danny merchandise, etc. I have the feeling that the Oriental Land Co. trust the Disney brand more than the Walt Disney Company Ltd. does. They are licensing the Disney brand and giving it their all, whereas Walt Disney Company Ltd. is just trying anything but Disney, remaking classic films, cheaping out, buying new IP, whatever. They'd never even think to do 20,000 Leagues stateside.
23:10 I can tell you that 100%!!! That ride looks like it would blow the ratatouille ride out of the water. The ratatouille ride is trash compared to that one. Tokyo Disney is the last bastion of what Walt wanted Disney to be.
Japan has announced they are fully opening up to tourism on October 11. If true Me my wife and pops are planning to go middle of May after golden week for a 4 day trip to TDR (have not been since the opening of soarin). This ride has me so excited to see and with the yen at 144 we have been buying up a bunch for this trip. Also going to finally go to Fuji-Q highlands which has been a bucket list park for a long time.
Looks good!
Yea, beauty and the beast DR is beautiful... going there this week for 4 days.... were you able to win the app-lotto for any other shows besides Mickey's Magic House?
great commentary
Beauty and the Beast looks amazing! I wish there was a Gaston animatronic.
Absolutely fabulous!!!
It’s a cultural thing… Japan has a culture of fine-tuning details. Little things matter to them that are overlooked in the USA.
They need to copy this to WDW expansion which is of course all ‘Blue Sky’😕
I'm glad Tokyo keeps making the domestic parks look like Six Flags... Far too many pixie dusters thanking the company for their subpar efforts...
28:55 Tom starts channelling Rich Evans.
The elephant in the room is that Fifi the Maid can only exist in Tokyo because the sensibilities of too many Americans would cry bloody murder to see an attractive character in animatronic form. It’s the reason Clarice the Chipmunk is such a popular character there, while she’s been so altered from her classic appearance in her current incarnation.
He's spot on about the Beauty and the Beast ride, it felt like they had spent most of their budget on the animatronics and didn't have anymore left to spend on the rest of the ride--- the castle looked as though the Beast had just moved in and the rest of the furniture had yet to arrive.
Great review! When will the Frozen, Tangled and Peter Pan additions be completed?
I had seen this featured on another UA-cam channel a while back but I certainly enjoyed your take on what I had already come to the conclusion... I think Walt would be most pleased with Tokyo Disney, I would even go on to say his spirit resides there when it comes to the love and care of the Legacy of Walter E Disney... I don't have a bucket list, but I know I will someday go to this magical place in Japan.
Very nice vlog
“Everything Runaway Railway isn’t!”
You mean, like, visually attractive, respectful of its Disney source material, and based, not forcibly, on an IP the guests actually LIKE? 😄
If somehow they could tie the ride with the restaurant in Florida it would be amazing. You make your reservation online, go in and place your order, go into the ride while the food is prepared, come out and eat . A whole experience.
Oriental Land Company doesn’t play corporate games unlike the company who owns the properties they license.