The Wife and I went to Tokyo Disneyland on our first trip to Tokyo together because we had very little time and we simply could not decide between which three of the million things there are to do. We assumed that we would have more time on future trips to Tokyo and would be able to see more of the city then. But on our next trip to Tokyo we went to both Disneyland and DisneySea, mainly because a water Disney sounded like an interesting idea when we first heard about it.
We went to Disneyland Paris for reasons I still do not understand. I can think of better things to do in Paris. But on this trip I spent six hours inside a Louis Vuitton, so clearly there were priority issues.
I first went to Hong Kong Disneyland because I had several hours between checking out of the hotel and the flight, and the park is on the way to the airport. More or less. I do not recall my excuse for subsequent visits to Hong Kong Disneyland.
They are building a new one in Shanghai. There is no way to know whether I will ever go to that one. But it will be interesting to have a Disney park in a totalitarian state where most of the world needs a visa.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong, China 2007
Tokyo Disneyland has its own JR station, Disneyland Paris has its own metro station and Hong Kong Disneyland has its own MTR station. Disneyland California would probably have something if public transportation existed in Southern California. But Hong Kong Disneyland goes further than everyone else with their own MTR trains. Rather than get off the dirty public subway onto the Disney station, you have to take a clean Mickey train just to get to the very clean station.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong, China 2007
Hong Kong has the smallest Disneyland in the world, not for lack of space. The park is surrounded by empty space. From the main entrance you have to walk through an open promenade which could easily house another land just to get to the ticket windows. There are small statues here and there, and in the middle is this fountain.
DisneySea
Chiba, Tokyo 2010
DisneySea incorporates the finest Disney tradition of making things look nice on the surface and the Japanese tradition of letting far too many people fill a very limited space.
Tokyo Disneyland
Chiba, Tokyo 2005
I read somewhere that Tokyo has the only Disneyland without a train station. I think this is false.
Disneyland Paris
Marne-la-Vallée, France 2006
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong, China 2006
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong, China 2007
Hong Kong’s Main Street is supposed to resemble California’s, but it feels nothing like it. For my money, Tokyo felt more like California than any other.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong, China 2007
Tokyo Disneyland
Chiba, Tokyo 2005
Disneyland Paris
Marne-la-Vallée, France 2006
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong, China 2007
from DisneySea
Chiba, Tokyo 2010
DisneySea
Chiba, Tokyo 2010
Tokyo Disneyland
Chiba, Tokyo 2005
Either I planned the last two shots five years apart when I knew almost nothing about DisneySea or it is a coincidence. Or Haneda Airport is just across the bay.
Tokyo Disneyland
Chiba, Tokyo 2010
Tokyo Disneyland
Chiba, Tokyo 2005
The biggest difference between Tokyo and California, besides the Haunted Mansion, is World Bazaar/Main Street USA. Tokyo’s Main Street USA is called World Bazaar even though it is pretty much just like other parks’ Main Street USA. The only real difference is that the front entrance is covered, probably because Tokyo gets more snow than Orlando and Anaheim. The shops are still turn of the previous century Main Street (USA). It opens up to an uncovered town square that leads to the other lands and the castle just like every other park.
Tokyo Disneyland
Chiba, Tokyo 2005
Disneyland Paris
Marne-la-Vallée, France 2006
Paris’ Main Street USA has no Tokyo covered entrance, but the side streets that lead to other lands are covered.
Disneyland Paris
Marne-la-Vallée, France 2006
Tokyo Disneyland
Chiba, Tokyo 2005
Tokyo Disneyland on a slow day.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong, China 2007
No other street in Hong Kong is this clean, empty and open. But the people walking in the middle of the road and the car driving in the center are accurate.
DisneySea
Chiba, Tokyo 2010
DisneySea’s version of Main Street USA, probably called Mediterranean Harbor instead of Main Street USA because it looks more like a Disney version of a Venetian Renaissance harbor than a 20th century street in downtown Happyville, Missouri.
DisneySea
Chiba, Tokyo 2010
Tokyo Disneyland
Chiba, Tokyo 2005
Anyone who knows Disneyland California will know where this is.
Tokyo looks very much like California except for the corporate sponsorship. Disneyland probably has sponsors now, but that is not how I remember it (outside of Tomorrowland). And their sponsors probably do not include Japanese beer and Japanese department stores.
California and Tokyo are the only parks to have New Orleans Square, Mickey’s Toontown and Critter Country.
Disneyland Paris
Marne-la-Vallée, France 2006
Phantom Manor is very different from other Haunted Mansions. It has its own story and characters. The outside looks like it should be a condemned building. The garden and surrounding grounds are dead. The inside is less child-friendly. The Paris ghosts are not so happy go lucky. California is Casper, Paris is Poltergeist.
Tokyo Disneyland
Chiba, Tokyo 2005
The biggest difference between Tokyo and California, besides World Bazaar/Main Street USA, is the Haunted Mansion. The Tokyo version copies the Florida version and looks nothing like the California version.
DisneySea
Chiba, Tokyo 2010
They obviously put a great deal of thought into the park’s appearance. This is good if you like fake architecture, but not so good if you want to go on rides.
DisneySea
Chiba, Tokyo 2010
DisneySea
Chiba, Tokyo 2010
People waiting in line for an hour to get popcorn. This is not a joke. In the time it took me to climb the lighthouse that you are not supposed to climb (the sign should be in English as well as Japanese), these people got a small bag of popcorn.
DisneySea
Chiba, Tokyo 2010
The unusual thing about American Waterfront is that it actually is on the water. Port Discovery and American Waterfront border Tokyo Bay. The rocks and trees are imported and artificial, but the water is straight from the Pacific Ocean.
Disneyland Paris
Marne-la-Vallée, France 2006
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong, China 2007
Adventureland became Pirateland during the summer of 2007. They were obviously whoring one of those Johnny Depp movies.
Disneyland Paris
Marne-la-Vallée, France 2006
Disneyland
Anaheim, California circa 1978
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong, China 2007
Hong Kong’s Jungle Cruise is set in an Asian river delta rather than African, which seems far less exotic when you are actually in Asia. But they still have African elephants, gorillas, rhinoceros and other African animals.
DisneySea
Chiba, Tokyo 2010
Tokyo Disneyland
Chiba, Tokyo 2010
Tokyo’s Frontierland is called Westernland because apparently there is no word for frontier in Japanese. Whereas the Japanese know all about adventure, tomorrow, fantasy and cartoons with gigantic eyes.
Disneyland
Anaheim, California 1989
DisneySea
Chiba, Tokyo 2010
Tokyo Disneyland
Chiba, Tokyo 2005
I hate parades. I hate Disneyland parades even more. But this was the Wife’s first Disneyland and Disney parade and she wanted to watch it. She was not the wife at the time, so I caved in. The things I do for the ladies.
DisneySea
Chiba, Tokyo 2010
Mysterious Island is shopping and food. There are two rides. But you have to walk through air conditioned caves to get to it. It seems to be based on Paris’ Discoveryland.
Disneyland Paris
Marne-la-Vallée, France 2006
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong, China 2006
Disneyland Paris
Marne-la-Vallée, France 2006
The ride was closed several years ago, but they have yet to tear it down, transform or replace it.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong, China 2007
Tokyo Disneyland
Chiba, Tokyo 2010
The most obvious difference between Tokyo and Hong Kong, beside signs in Japanese and Chinese, is that Tokyo is filled to the rim every day while Hong Kong is as empty as a Mormon’s cup.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong, China 2007
Disneyland
Anaheim, California circa 1978
Disneyland
Anaheim, California 1989
Disneyland Paris
Marne-la-Vallée, France 2006
DisneySea
Chiba, Tokyo 2010
The SS Columbia houses shopping, an interactive aquarium and restaurants. One of the restaurants is supposed to be a cruise ship dining room. The other is the Teddy Roosevelt Lounge, which specializes in sandwiches because when you think of Roosevelt, you think of sandwiches. The aquarium does not have animals from the bay or animals from anywhere else. It is interactive because you can talk to the cartoon sea turtle on the monitor that is supposed to be a tank, and it will talk back.
