Tokyo Disneyland
Topic: Why do hardly any visitors from aboard ever visit.

#	Author	Message
61	The Goddess Mara Tue 8/19/2008 7:33a	All good thoughts, karlg, and many of these things are addressed in Kevin Yee's new book. Having been to the Magic Lantern Theater several times, your translation device is a hand-held text reader, the plastic glasses are only for the 3D film.
62	jtomyl Tue 8/19/2008 8:46a	With the Magic Lantern, I found the device distracting because you were looking down at it and not up at the action.
63	The Goddess Mara Tue 8/19/2008 9:01a	Yes, indeed! It's very difficult to have to read from a hand-held device while trying to watch the show. Translation via a pre-recorded wireless headset would have been much better. I found that if I held the "reader" vertically in front of the back of the head of the person in front of me, that (like subtitles in a film) I was able to take in more of the action. Of course, if you're a nut like me, having read the text once or twice during the show, you never need it again because the specific dialogue is fairly irrelevant once you understand the story line.
64	SuperDry Tue 8/19/2008 9:54a	<<< The only accommodation I can remember in my last few visits is the Magic Lantern Theaters goggles that let you read the narration; how 1920’s? >>> <<< Having been to the Magic Lantern Theater several times, your translation device is a hand-held text reader, the plastic glasses are only for the 3D film. >>> At the Magic Lamp Theater, they USED to have goggles that provided subtitles that appeared to float in space as you watched the show. This was in addition to the 3D glasses that everyone wears. The glasses provided a superior experience, but had some downsides: they had to be adjusted just right or you couldn't see the subtitles (they worked like a teleprompter - there was a very tiny monitor mounted vertically at the top of the glasses, and a diagonal partial mirror that reflected the output into your eyeball while still allowing you to see through it to the stage), and they have to be sanitized between uses just like the 3D glasses. These have since been replaced by the handheld PDA-type units. Those are much easier to manage, as there's no sanitizing and no adjustments, but they provide a much more distracting experience: as others have pointed out, you're either looking down at the unit reading, OR looking at the stage. But I suspect that these will be the wave of the future because of the operational benefits.
65	The Goddess Mara Tue 8/19/2008 10:04a	SuperDry--very interesting! Never saw the subtitling goggles! Good to know.
66	karlg Tue 8/19/2008 10:26a	I may have confabulated my experience at the Magic Eye Theater as it was only a year ago, but the key point was WHY don't they have synchronized audio in this day and age? It just isn't that difficult or expensive. The same goes for hotel web sites. Like the airlines, let people bring their own ear buds/headsets and sell them for those that don't have them. Thus there is no sanitation to worry about. It would certainly help with the "story" attactions like 20K Leagues and the beginning of JTTCOTE. More to the point of TDL business, it would make Tokyo DL seem more accessable to people from outside of Japan. From the outside, I find the TDLR web site reasonable to navigate and good as far as it goes. But what they don't do is put themselves in the shoes of the out of country visitor and go the extra bit to help guide them to the park. The information on "how to get here" on the web site is almost the bare minimum. The should have an "electronic funnel" telling you how to get there from anywhere around Tokyo (for example building in a way to get to the Hyperpedia train planner).
67	The Goddess Mara Tue 8/19/2008 10:39a	I don't really think Oriental Land Company is interested in attracting visitors from the West (even though English maps are available). The park is packed with Japanese most of the time except during the most hideous part of the winter (and even then it can be very busy). Western folks, with the exception of a few of us nuts, go to one of the Disney resorts in the US or Europe and that's plenty for them. It doesn't seem that Oriental Land would spend the money and time required to attract a large enough group of people to TDR to make it worthwhile. I mean, really ... mention to a Western person that you're going to Japan. "Wow, that sounds great," will be the likely response. Now add, "Oh, yeah, I'm going to Tokyo Disneyland for part of my trip" and watch the person's face. The brain short circuits as they try to reconcile their idea of you as a rational person with what they've just heard. I've gone to the Tokyo Disney Resort for five days at a time and often not seen another Westerner for the entire trip.
68	karlg Tue 8/19/2008 10:42a	Regarding Kevin Yee's book, I got is because A) I have sort of an email friendship with Kevin on Disney Books from years back B) I was curious to see how is compared with my experiences C) I was hoping to pick up a few tips for my next trip. I'm about 80% through the book and I would say the book is OK but not great. Certainly not up to the U.S. Unofficial Guides but a big step up above nothing. It could really use more graphics, pictures of signs (like in the Tokyo train station). He was a little too centric on someone staying at the resort. He also should have warned people about taking the "Express" train from Tokyo that does not stop at TDL. Kevin seemed to like 20K a lot more than most people. I think people on this forum gave the good advise on 20K to wait until later in the day and the line would thin out. The one thing I learned it that there are some single rider lines (not obvious from the TDLR web site), but I am still a little confused how to do it at the various attractions. But armed with the information that they exist, I would come to this forum to ask how they work. BTW, does he mention this forum? Once I am done reading the book, I plan on emailing Kevin my suggestions for it he plans to update the book.
69	SuperDry Tue 8/19/2008 10:48a	<<< It would certainly help with the "story" attactions like 20K Leagues and the beginning of JTTCOTE. >>> JTTCOTE is rather self-explanatory: there's a "safety bar", then you start going deeper and deeper into the earth and see things at various strata, then something goes horribly wrong and you go too deep, then you tick off a lava creature and make a quick escape. Simple! :-) I agree that 20K could use some explanation. In particular, the whole bit about the seachlight will likely be totally missed by someone that can't hear the narration. I wonder if part of the reason is to maintain the mood. For example, the US park's Haunted Mansions, it is a bit jarring to hear the Ghost Host repeat the safety spiel in Spanish.
70	karlg Tue 8/19/2008 10:50a	Re #67 by The Goddess Mara: Post #1 says that OLC is looking to draw more visitors. I know on my last trip to TDS a year ago on a Sunday, I was surprised we were able to get through everything so easily. Part of it was strategy, but it really seemed like the attendance had fallen off. Personally, while TDS has some great eye candy, I think it is pretty thin on attractions. It seems to be easily doable in 1 day, were TDL requires at least 2 days to see it reasonably well.

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