Tokyo Disneyland
Topic: TDLFAN's TDR Fall Preview (photos)

#	Author	Message
1	TDLFAN Sun 9/9/2007 7:33p	Hello All, Just got back from Asia and am sitting here comfortable in my computer desk just 12 minutes away from WDW. Hehehe... Yours truly spent a few rushed hours at TDR the other day. Hot day, close to 90F, but mostly sunny, albeit quite windy, to the point of cancelling the fireworks yet again. Then again.. a little bit of wind will cause such traumas for the pyro dept at the resort. Whatever.. Anyways.. I was there Saturday and both TDL and TDS were packed with a gazillion visitors (again, putting doubt in my mind that WDW attendance numbers are flawed or manipulated to show a healthy crowd year long). Let's start with TDL.. Some of the halloween decor for this year is aleady completed or near conpletion. Decor around the Hub is fabulous as always.. Toontown and Westerland has a lot of the decor already up. Those silly ghosts have once again popped up everywhere in the park. Floral Mickey is sporting the colors of Halloween, and dozens of pumpkins have magically appeared at the Main entrance. :) Over in Fantasyland, the Haunted Mansion re-dressing for Nightmare is almost complete, and at night, lit-up pumpkins flicker on top of the Haunted Mansion as well... very nice. On other TDL news... there is new signage already up in World Bazaar (Dennis-in CT's favorite park area of them all) in anticipation of the new shoppes replacing the former Toy Shoppe, Storybook Store, Bee-Bop, and Mickey's Moderne Memories. For those of you who have no idea who/what the Orange Bird is.. take a look here. If you don't know who the Orange Bird is, then you should not be allowed to leave the UK, ever. TDLFAN also goes to the most uninteresting places at TDR... this one in particular being the newly built parking garage near TDL's entrance, next to the new TDL Hotel and parking auto plaza. After all... I just needed to see what the big deal was all about, and they have drink vending machines! Whoo-peee! Finally.. you will find some obligatory shots of the current state of construction at the TDL Hotel.. Now.. did you know that all of the pictures I have taken of the hotel so far have been of the hotel's BACKSIDE? YES INDEED!! The courtyard that faces the TDR Line Station and TDL itself is actually the backside of the hotel. On the other side of the hotel, facing those unsightly and very un-Disney-like (but WDW-like) JR Train tracks lies the very front of the hotel. Here the porte cochere and the lobby entrance and exit ramps are being built as we speak. So guests who drive up to the hotel's frontside and pull up to the lobby, will have to drive on the road paralleled to the JR Train Tracks and access the hotel from that side. Also, the porte cochere and front side of the hotel are being built ON TOP of the hotel's own parking garage, which is totally separate from the parking garage you see in this pictorial. And yes, folks... the cheapest rooms at the TDL Hotel will face the JR Tracks and the ugly Urayasu condominiums on the other side of them train tracks. (Don't forget to wave hello to Mr. X from the top floor facing the train tracks). So be very specific as to what view you want when you are ready to reserve at this grand palace: train track view, parking lot view, TDR Line station view, or Bon Voyage view... Not really much to look at from the TDL Hotel rooms I am affraid. Do what resident rich boy TDR_Fan does and book the Miracosta instead. Now on to TDS... TDS will soon be hosting the special event "Disney A La Carte", a culinary event for those discriminating food loving park goers. It's no secret to those who have been to TDS that this park offers the most varied and elegant dining experiences of any Disney park on Earth. Yes kiddies, better than EPCOT Center in my honest opinion. So it will be interesting to see how they plan to enhance the culinary experience here. So far, two restaurants have recieved special decor for the event. Casbah Food Court in Arabian Coast is becoming the Genie Cafe, and Cafe Portofino is being turned into a Pinocchio Village Haus of sorts, with lovely simulated stain glass windows that are quite lovely and colorful. More on "A la Carte" to follow on my next report after I return from TDR at the end of Sept. Nearby, the Miracosta is also selling some nifty merchandise for the delight of the most discriminating Disney fans. Just check out the pics and see for yourself.. Enjoy the album...but remember some shots are taken at night and turned out a bit too dark. Sorry. http://albums.photo.epson.com/ j/AlbumIndex?u=4334673&a=32583669&f=
2	The Goddess Mara Sun 9/9/2007 8:51p	Great photos, thanks! Can't wait to get there in October. Even though things must change, I'm kind of sorry to see that whole row of shops in World Bazar change so radically. Been visiting that toy shop, book store, and the bebop shop for years. TDLFAN: Do you know when the remodeling of the shops will be complete?
3	TDLFAN Sun 9/9/2007 8:53p	Re-opening day is Sept 21st. I believe. WDW will celebrate by offering a "Grand Re-opening" pin. (That was a joke)
4	Inspector 57 Sun 9/9/2007 9:02p	As always, thanks for another great update, TDLFAN! The photos of the Halloween decor (so far) reveal yet another incredibly impressive seasonal transition for the Park. Love the subtle orange Mickey floral. And the pumpkins. And the really nicely executed ghosts! And the lights on Dumbo. And... on and on... ESPECIALLY the VERY cool Halloween statues a la Haunted Mansion! Amazing. (Perfect evidence of the magic that imagination, standards, and the willingness to spend some money can do!) TDLFAN, what are your thoughts on the re-do of the stores? Do we know what changes are afoot internally? Will you miss old venues? Thanks for the photos of the Anniversary merchandise. Cool stuff. (Which made me wonder: are there "Disney outlets" in Japan? Where do unsold TDR souvenirs go when they leave the shops?) The props for the temporary eatery overlays are cool -- even if they're flat and/or recycled. But the Pinnochio windows are above and beyond! VERY nice! "Victorian motif" soda vending machines? Why does this make me think of Vegas? (Oh, yeah. It's because of a column Dave Berry wrote after a visit to Sin City. He said something to the effect that "The theming of Caesars Palace was amazing. It was so detailed, so realistic. It was like walking into ancient Rome. Well, that is, if ancient Rome consisted mostly of slot machines.") Still, nice touch on the vending machines, I guess. The use of the different Mickeys IS a very nice way to differentiate the floors of the place! Thanks for traveling to the very corners of the parking structure to bring us the news! Glad you got to visit! THANKS (yet AGAIN!) for taking the time to seek out, snap, upload, and caption your pics to share with us!
5	TDLFAN Sun 9/9/2007 10:00p	>>TDLFAN, what are your thoughts on the re-do of the stores? Do we know what changes are afoot internally? Will you miss old venues?<< I am impartial to the re-do of the old stores. I will offer a better opinion after I have seen the finished product. However, I will tell you this much... I peeked thru one of the shops' doors to see a very Main Street like theme inside the store ...and I liked the little I saw. Mostly because some of the old stores were a bit bland in decor and not so "turn of the century"-like. I think this new area of World Bazaar will turn out as nice as the entire Emporium side of main Street at HKDL. The Grand Emporium and Confectionary have been great themed additions, even if we lost the Cinema in the process... >>are there "Disney outlets" in Japan?<< No. >>Where do unsold TDR souvenirs go when they leave the shops?<< Whatever is left, goes to the CM shop backstage and sold at reduced prices. It is my understanding, that some left over merchandise is even destroyed for good, but I can't confirm that for sure. Thing is... uunlike the other Disney parks.. the merchandise at TDR is very unique and not really available in huge quantities, so mous stuff does sell and after a while sells out completely. Lately, they have been offering "Value zones" in some TDR stores (like Bon Voyage) to allow guests a last chance to buy some older merchandise at a reduced price, which is what Disney does with it's Character Outlets in the USA.
6	davewasbaloo Sun 9/9/2007 11:48p	Once again TDLFAN, thanks for sharing these. I like DLP's halloween celebrations, but I love TDL's decor. I really do look forward to you sharing your excellent pictures every year.
7	The Goddess Mara Mon 9/10/2007 8:28a	I can attest to the fact that the special event merchandise isn't produced in the overwhelming numbers you see for merchandise at the US parks. I collect the Halloween merchandise and it's very difficut to get many of the pieces from earlier years.
8	gurgitoy2 Tue 9/11/2007 8:01a	I heard somewhere that TDR destroys the merch after the events, so there is nothing that would show up at an outlet. I don't know if that's true or not, but I agree that finding stuff from previous years is VERY hard...and even harder if you're not in Japan.
9	mstaft Tue 9/11/2007 7:43p	Wonderful pics, once again. Thanks, TDLFAN!

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