Tokyo Disneyland
Topic: 25th anniversary, the good...the bad...the blah...

#	Author	Message
1	Mr X Mon 4/28/2008 6:14p	Well, I checked out the 25th anniversary offerings yesterday and I have a few thoughts (anyone surprised?). First of all, I'm sad to say that "the blah" would be the whole darned thing. I must express my sincere disappointment at the efforts of OLC this time around. :( It's not like it was "bad" per se. In fact, I'd say there's nothing bad about it at all. Just not very exciting and, much like the new parade, just not very memorable. I appreciate that some people see it as "understated", or "subtle", but can't there be a happy medium between a big pepto bismol monstrosity and an anniversary that is so understated it just doesn't seem like a big deal at all? The decorations...again, understated almost the the point where it doesn't even feel like an event at all. The castle seems half-finished during the day, somewhat better at night. But nothing more interesting or exciting than any of the many special events they've had over the years. I'd venture to say that the winter lights around the hub were a lot more spectacular than the castle or anything else for this 25th. Where are the banners? Where is the overarching theme of this big anniversary? I guess it's "dreams"? Or something? I sure didn't get the impression there was any big, grand idea at work here. I'm forced to think back to the 15th, which was my favorite. The theme was "carnivale" and it was everywhere (yeah, I know, that was part of the lyrics lol). Catchy music, memorable costumes (what the heck were the "special" costumes this time for Mickey and Minnie? I saw them a bunch of times yesterday but I've forgotten already!), the 15th just seemed like a big, special bash. The 20th seemed more lackluster than that, but I felt SURE they'd pull out all the stops for the 25th. Sadly, not so. Okay, I lied...there was one real, REAL bad for the day. That Character Greeting. Man, it suck suck suckity suck sucked with a capital "S"! HORRIBLE. One of the lamest, worst things I've ever seen from the OLC. They absolutely and totally cheaped out having that weak, lame lame lame offering instead of the usual amazing castle show they've always offered for big events. Just one lame float with Mickey and a few friends. Then more "friends" came out. No dancers. No cool music (more forgettable BGM frankly). No effects, no excitement. Totally, totally lame. Okay, the parade. It's not bad. In fact, as per normal with Tokyo Disney it's probably better than most anything you'd ever see in the states HOWEVER what everyone has said here is true in spades. The costumes and floats are very detailed, very cool, very elaborate. The performances were good, as usual. The characters did seem rather unrepresented but it didn't bother me. Lee said it was a choice by WDAJ or whatever to try and sway the management towards less character driven shows. However, another person in my party said "seems like they spent too much money on the floats and forgot to hire enough characters" lol. Well, that's one perspective. The only thing I didn't like about the parade, and it's probably my second or third favorite TDL parade ever so I'm not feeling all that negative, but man the MUSIC... It's forgettable. Totally and absolutely UN-catchy. I have an ear for music, and I spend time listening to Bartok and Prokofiev so I think I'm pretty good at catching subtle stuff and all...but I tried to listen for that intricate whatever stuff Lee talked about and damn if that sound system really sucks cause I didn't catch ANY of that...just really forgettable, rather boring music. And the show stop, show mode, park da floats whatever...was very lame. Either do it right or don't do it at all. I'm not a fan of show stops anyway, so I was glad this was quick but it was weak, and took away from the flow of the show, and just offered more forgettable music. Compared to some of the great, catchy and memorable stuff Disney is capable of, this just stunk (still talking just the music here). BUT, overall I thought the parade was fine...I like cool floats and there was some really good stuff there like the Peter Pan float, Tigger with the springy tale (he got some gasps from the crowd), All the acrobatics going on that was pretty neat. Okay, fireworks. More blah. And more forgettable music. Seemed like a few more shells than usual. Okay, nuff about the bad...here's the good... The little light show at the castle after closing was pretty cool, I thought, though the music reminded me of some lebo-m thing (was it the same music as before, I honestly couldn't tell you...the stuff was THAT sadly forgettable!). But the lights themselves were very pretty, and it had a cool, almost special vibe (one of the few times I felt that way during my visit). The NEW HOTEL. When they first started building it I was like "okay, they finally decided to stick a hotel there. Makes sense". But WOW. I just can't tell you how that one hotel makes the whole place just feel so much more like a resort and less like an amusement park off the local train line. I walked around the main gate several times, absolutely floored by the fact that FINALLY TDL feels as though it's immersed in the resort. The keiyo line no longer dominates your view (this is a good combo I wonder if they planned, between Bon Voyage, the monorail and station, parking structure replacing the lot, and hotel...it's great), in fact it's barely visible and you'd really have to look for it. I've complained in the past that standing right inside the park in the past your view was TOTALLY "outside world" with a big honkin subway train line to one side and an ugly parking lot to the other. Not so anymore, I'm happy to report. This new hotel blends beautifully, and the maingate area of TDL finally feels complete and immersed (which is nice, since it's the main zone for meeting the characters and lots of people spend lots of time there throughout the day). The hotel looks particularly nice after dark, and reminds me of the Epcot resort area for some reason. VERY cool. The new Monsters Inc. building...Wow. It totally looks like the Monsters Inc. factory from the movie. I was shocked at how elaborate it came out, and can't wait to see the attraction now! The new name tags, I thought were cool. FINALLY we can see where all the CM's hail from, and while obviously it's all about Japan, I was surprised to see how relatively few of them are from Tokyo/Chiba, or rather how many come from other parts of the country...it's a nice conversation starter, and a nice new touch. Hope they keep it! The new and improved Space Mountain and Pirates, both very cool. Nice updates without losing the spirit of the old. And I'll finish up back at "blah", because I just remembered the only place where the 25th anniversary really hits you in the face (not in a great way). The shops. There's no way to miss the anniversary in there, since it seems like they've gone out of their way to slap a 2 and a 5 on every t-shirt, mug, trinket and whathaveyou in the place. Good? Bad? Not really. But kinda blah to me, given how little attention seems to have been paid to the celebration elsewhere. All in all, a disappointment I must say. For a regular day in the park, it was nice. But so strange that the park has in the past been so decked out and focused on even those little special events like Donald's whacky whatever, but this time it seems like they ran out of paper mache, or more likely money. Bummer.
2	TDR_Fan Mon 4/28/2008 7:52p	Sadly, I agree. There's nothing particularly special about this year's Anniversary celebration that really makes me want to visit. My main interest is in the new hotel and I guess the Monsters, Inc. attraction. Though I don't like it when a park overdecorates, what they've done this year is too sparse and certainly not fit for the park's Silver Anniversary.
3	Mr F Mon 4/28/2008 9:52p	Would you have liked it better if they had adone a Gigantic Pink Birthday Cake Castle just like the one WDW did for their 25th?
4	Mr X Mon 4/28/2008 9:55p	Probably, yes. Like I wrote though, a happy medium would be nice. It's so understated it seems cheap, and the fact that we've seen that park decked out to the 9's on so many minor occasions makes it that much stranger (although to be fair, they don't do as much of THAT stuff anymore either sad to say). Anyway Butters, you can't comment on the Florida Castle Cake, you never even saw it!
5	Malin Tue 4/29/2008 3:01a	Interesting throughts Mr X, and what you have writen is actually what I have been thinking, from just the videos and pictures I have seen. The Anniversary looks like a huge let down. Reason why I have no interest really, in visiting this park during the Anniversary. Except Jubilation nothing is saying to me, you must visit this year. I'm actually convinced DLRP put a better effort into its 15th Anniversary than what TDR has done with its 25th. The Hotel looks very grand and stunning but I really find it hard to count this as part of the Anniversary as this is a project that is designed to make more money and not a special attraction to say thanks for all the years of support. Sadly Monsters isn't coming anytime soon, so I may end up saving the trip until next year.
6	leemac Tue 4/29/2008 3:10a	X - the original conceit for the 25th was that Tokyo Disneyland is like a treasure trove full of wonder and all of these little joys that make the place so special for so many people - and you need a key to unlock all of that magic. That is where the keys all came from - the problem was that OLC Marketing felt that the word "treasures" is only associated with pirates and therefore had negative connotations. So they dropped the treasure aspect but kept the keys. They just couldn't come up with anything else more compelling. That is why the main theme for the parade is Treasure The Moment - and obviously the parade was Treasures on Parade originally and it only became Jubilation! very late in the process when the play mode was brought in. I am not about to try and convince you otherwise about the parade. Personally I think it has a visual style unlike anything I've seen in a Disney parade ever. The music is exceptionally nuanced (a specialty of Mark Hammond) and fits it like a glove IMHO. The play mode is 90 seconds and was needed according to the local folks - I could have easily done without it but appreciate that guests have an expectation of something like that. I was actually going to start a thread about this on a separate topic but might as well put it in here. Last night I watched the Viva! Magic bonus DVD from the 25th boxset. I hadn't seen the show in a decade and always had fond memories of the 15th Disney Carnivale. However watching that castle show made me squirm. Absolutely no storyline, highly repetitive music (although I loved the Viva! Magic theme song it was the It All Started with a Mouse song that I detested then and now) and just a zillion characters that served little purpose. I also realized seeing it what a nightmare it must be to create a show for such a wide open space - the stage is gigantic and you can do little with it except wheel on props or use the lifts. But it was the million characters that bugged me immensely - it starts off as a clever and fun chronology of Mickey's film career (that stops at Fantasia) but then disappears into some random montages like Snow White, Alice in Wonderful, Winnie The Pooh and an overly long Cinderella sequence. There is some vague villains sequence with Chernabog (the Night of Bald Mountain sequence was well-arranged by Joe Alfuso) but then it deflates to a drawn out finale. It was literally characters for the sake of characters and the poor performers never get a look-in for the DVD! It just made me wonder whether that is literally all the local audience want - characters in abundance in every way, shape or form. And as many as possible. Storyline just isn't necessary. They aren't there to watch theater and us pushing theater on to them isn't going to work. The guests only want One Man's Dream 2, Big Bad Beat and Over the Waves. I just find it exceptionally sad that there can't be a happy medium - some shows that are just character revues and others that actually have story. Mythica seems to be the only one that really hold that ethos - Mystic Rhythms tries (and is a good show) but fails to properly convey the book and The Little Mermaid is just a poorly sliced-up book report (I really detest what they did for that show although the execution of what is there is excellent mainly due to the Michael Curry puppets) - there is nothing else. I just can't understand why OLC just won't push the boat out and try for a Finding Nemo - The Musical or Toy Story - The Musical which would be great additions to TDR without the need for an original production (like The Snow Queen was to be). The success of that Anniversary Greeting show just proved to me that it is all about the characters. Same with the Meet 'n' Smile at TDS - and that is even more reprehensible as they have even brought TDL-only characters like Tweedledee and Tweedledum into TDS which was never supposed to happen. Still don't understand it. At least the new Meet 'n' Greets are TDS-relevant like Hercules and Megara by the ruins and the upcoming Indy in Lost River Delta.
7	Mr X Tue 4/29/2008 3:11a	Is "Jubilation" the day parade? If so, then I'd have to say no, that's not a good reason to bother going to TDL...besides it's probably going to run several years anyway so there's no rush right? For the record, the hotel isn't even open yet so all my comments are just about the exterior and how it enhances the resort and especially the main entrance (both outside and within) of TDL. I've no doubt it's as nice on the inside as on the outside, and am looking forward to checking it out in July when it officially opens. Seems weird they didn't push to open Monsters as part of the festivities. That would make up in large part for the stuff lacking elsewhere imho.
8	davewasbaloo Tue 4/29/2008 8:53a	>>>The success of that Anniversary Greeting show just proved to me that it is all about the characters.<<< Hmmmm, not selling me on the exalted TDL. Ok, maybe a shorter trip would be ok for the Baloos. Rather have a sense of place and storytelling than random rubber heads. Maybe 1 day tops at TDL for us, and 2 at TDS and away?
9	FerretAfros Tue 4/29/2008 1:33p	"...and an overly long Cinderella sequence." Isn't that the standard operating procedure for Disney these days? A little bit of everything, and a whole bunch of Cinderella! That show seems pretty similar in plot to Fantasmic!, which is one of my favorite shows Disney's ever done. I guess the difference between them is that Fantasmic! highlights the special effects and clever use of theme park attractions, while the other show is just characters everywhere. The pacing of Fantasmic! is also incredible, and pretty tough to beat with any other show anywhere. "Seems weird they didn't push to open Monsters as part of the festivities." But then they wouldn't have anything to advertise after the celebration's over. It seems like the American marketeers have made their way over to Japan...
10	Mr X Tue 4/29/2008 6:14p	***Maybe 1 day tops at TDL for us, and 2 at TDS and away?*** You could always go with the three day parkhopper and decide what you want on the third day (one or the other, OR you could do half a day at both). TDL of course depends greatly on how crowded it is, however it was very busy on Monday (they even opened a half-hour early, which is rare), but we felt like we got around to most of the park anyway by using fastpass and hitting some big rides right after the night parade time. We didn't rush either. Even left the park for a couple of hours in the afternoon to head over to Ikspiari for a relaxing lunch (highly recommended vs. the high prices and long lines on a busy TDL day). Saw the day parade, night parade (from afar, then headed to Adventureland for a Jungle Cruise walk on), fireworks, and showbase and pretty much all the attractions and also several character greetings. So I'd say yes, you can do TDL in a day. If it's not busy, it's even easier!

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