I suppose I'll have to journey back in time a little for this post.
My family never really went anywhere exciting for family vacations. In fact, most of our vacation time as a family was spent visiting other family across America, playing with cousins I barely knew and meeting relatives I didn't know existed. We never had a "typical" vacation, whatever that means. To me, it means we never went to Disneyland. My parents sent my brother and I to CA when I was 5 to visit my aunt and uncle and they blessedly took us to the Magical Kingdom.
I have about 5 memories of that place:
1. Buying a Daisy Duck hat which I LOVED until I lost it...possibly the same day, I'm not sure...I can't remember because I was 5.
2. Looking at a big tree house...but I don't remember if I went inside or not.
3. Thinking I didn't want to go on Splash Mountain
4. Being in a gift shop and REALLY wanting to buy a stuffed Perdee, the mom dog from 101 Dalmations. That movie had just come out and was super popular...it was also my favorite movie for obvious reasons. The store was littered with stuffed animals and various paraphernalia, but that's the one I wanted. It cost $12 and some change. I distinctly remember asking my aunt if I could buy it and she said that my mom had sent me with exactly $10 to buy something in the gift shop. I ended up settling on a small dog that supposedly resembled Lucky. I wasn't satisfied, but I still have that stuffed dog and will always keep it.
5. Being ridiculously scared on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and thinking that the pirate sitting on the wall had shot the people behind me.
As you can see these memories aren't exactly pleasant, nor are they complete because I'm sure that I enjoyed that day at the time and probably talked about it for awhile. In short, I think that Disneyland and that kind of attraction is utterly wasted on the young. Truly they're for the enjoyment of adults. The adults get enjoyment out of seeing their kids' eyes light up, taking their picture with famous characters or their daughter's favorite princess. The kids enjoy it at the moment, of course, but under a certain age they're never going to remember it. I have more enjoyable memories of simple things and moments in time as a child than I do of visiting an expensive theme park. But that's just me...
Coming to the present day, one must remember I'm carrying a little bit of emotional baggage from the past. Perhaps I'm being a little dramatic but let's go with the story.
Today I went to Tokyo Disney Sea, not knowing what to expect other than I knew it was supposed to be different from Disneyland...which was fine by me.
Takae, Yuko, and I got up at 5:15, showered, shoved some breakfast down our throats and ran to catch the train. The two experienced members of our expedition donned Disney t-shirts and explained that lots of Japanese people like to dress up when they go to Disneyland.
The train ride required at least 5 or 6 transfers as we traversed downtown Tokyo at morning rush hour. The lines boarding the trains were impeccably straight and everyone knew their place. They probably stand next to the same people every morning because their routines are so ritualized...but I bet they never talk to each other. For the amount of people on the train, sandwiched between each other, it was deathly quiet. I was thinking about how Americans don't like silence and how it's so awkward for us. I was going to break the silence to make this little comment to Takae, then thought, "That would totally prove my point." So I stayed silent. It was awkward.
Approaching Disneyland the crowded trains of white-shirted men changed to trains of anxious children holding on to their parents' hands. Mothers often pushed a stroller while dads carried the family video camera and popcorn buckets for refills. While there is no lack of children's attractions, adults are more suited for Disney Sea compared to Disneyland. It is a little more "real;" less cutsey and more adultish in entertainment, they also allow alcohol consumption within the park.
Tokyo Disney Sea is a theme park divided into several sections, not necessarily based on specific movies. Here are examples of the different areas:
Middle East: This was based off of Aladdin, featuring architecture of the Sultan's palace, water fountain, market place, and a camel. Jafar was waltzing around in a very affluent manner, while the ride attendants were decked out in outfits mimicking Aladdin's puffy pantaloons and vest. Curry popcorn was my favorite feature, aside from the entertaining 3D genie show/movie.
Mediterranean: The center of the park was a large lagoon, and one side hosted a myriad of mediterranean style architecture, cobble stone streets, romantic violin music from Lady and the Tramp, and Gepetto-style gift shop.
New York old town: NYC got a little shout-out here as visitors walked down an old part of the water front/loading docks and also a street featuring "Broadway" and New York style deli. The musical of choice was a jazz/big band style number, complete with REAL American singers! There was a live band, tap dancing, and jazz hands!!! You can't really trace this back to a particular movie...
Under the Sea: Ariel's underwater castle, basically. Not my favorite place, but it was in a cave-like structure and a cool place to escape from the hot sunshine.
Other places included Cape Cod, Port of Discovery, Indiana Jones/Central American jungle, and Captain Nemo's adventures into the center of the earth and under water.
We waited in line for about an hour for the park to open at nine am. I saw some gaijin, or foreigners, and realized how much we stick out. It seems this group of white guys were from Canada because of the flags on their bags. We noticed each other, but tried not to notice that we had noticed. It was awkward, but kind of funny.
Entering through the gates on this cloudless morning I felt like a new person. I was with my two friends and no cares or worries. We could go anywhere or do anything we wanted for the whole day. It was so freeing! We settled on a show right after going on the churning seaweed ride. Sitting in the cool auditorium we faced the stage set up in the middle of the room. Ariel, with red hair flowing down her back, emerged from a treasure chest in the middle of the stage and soared up into the sky (or water, if you please) and burst into a perfect recitation of "Part of Your World," mimicking the Disney princesses movements and mannerisms. Her sea friends joined her, in a Japanese sort of way due to choreography and costume design. I felt like I was in the movie, taking part in that musical number with Sebastian, Flounder, and friends. Sinking into my seat and drinking in the magical aura I thought of my BFF Julia and I as little girls playing with Ariel paper dolls on the bedroom floor. I almost broke down crying it was so touching.
Turns out that in Japan, Ariel doesn't lose her voice or give into the temptation to become a human but decides that she does indeed belong with her friends and family under the sea and lives happily ever after without meeting Prince Charming. Who knew?! But, when you only have 25 minutes you have to make exceptions.
I won't bore you with the details of every show and every ride I went on, nor will I expound on the beauty of design, lighting, music, and overall quality of the attractions. I'm going to refrain from detailing my feelings when we saw an afternoon water show and boisterous latin rhythms played over the loudspeakers. Knowing that most Japanese people work 50 or 60 hour weeks (or more) without complaining, knowing that most children will finish an American equivalent of bachelor's degree education by the time they finish high school, and seeing every person putting all their energy into enjoying the hot summer day, eyes glued on the entertainment and participating whole-heartedly...this gave me more joy than I imagined...and brought a little guilt into my heart. American's think they are entitled to so much, but how much are we really GIVING to each other?
I think we have a lot to learn from each other, and from the Japanese.
Here are some of my favorite attractions: Tower of Terror, Broadway Big Band show, Journey to the Center of the Earth ride, "Okinawa Party" show on the water, jungle rhythms show, Genie show, tasting several kinds of popcorn like curry, milk tea, and caramel (I didn't get around to the strawberry, sea salt, and pepper), Little Mermaid show, trying on different hats, gelato, a cold Coca-Cola, and being happy all day long on a perfect summer day in Tokyo with my friends.
After the last show I bought my omiyage (gifts) to bring back to my work and bought a Minnie Mouse shirt for myself. Otoosan was soooo nice! Even after working a full work week, he got home from work only to turn around and come back into Tokyo to pick us up so we wouldn't have to ride the train home. Our feet were so tired...I figured we only sat down for 2 hours total the whole day, from 7am to 9:30pm.
Now that I have lots of pictures, video, and good memories of visiting the Magical Kingdom, I think I can let go of the past and live happily ever after.
My family never really went anywhere exciting for family vacations. In fact, most of our vacation time as a family was spent visiting other family across America, playing with cousins I barely knew and meeting relatives I didn't know existed. We never had a "typical" vacation, whatever that means. To me, it means we never went to Disneyland. My parents sent my brother and I to CA when I was 5 to visit my aunt and uncle and they blessedly took us to the Magical Kingdom.
I have about 5 memories of that place:
1. Buying a Daisy Duck hat which I LOVED until I lost it...possibly the same day, I'm not sure...I can't remember because I was 5.
2. Looking at a big tree house...but I don't remember if I went inside or not.
3. Thinking I didn't want to go on Splash Mountain
4. Being in a gift shop and REALLY wanting to buy a stuffed Perdee, the mom dog from 101 Dalmations. That movie had just come out and was super popular...it was also my favorite movie for obvious reasons. The store was littered with stuffed animals and various paraphernalia, but that's the one I wanted. It cost $12 and some change. I distinctly remember asking my aunt if I could buy it and she said that my mom had sent me with exactly $10 to buy something in the gift shop. I ended up settling on a small dog that supposedly resembled Lucky. I wasn't satisfied, but I still have that stuffed dog and will always keep it.
5. Being ridiculously scared on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and thinking that the pirate sitting on the wall had shot the people behind me.
As you can see these memories aren't exactly pleasant, nor are they complete because I'm sure that I enjoyed that day at the time and probably talked about it for awhile. In short, I think that Disneyland and that kind of attraction is utterly wasted on the young. Truly they're for the enjoyment of adults. The adults get enjoyment out of seeing their kids' eyes light up, taking their picture with famous characters or their daughter's favorite princess. The kids enjoy it at the moment, of course, but under a certain age they're never going to remember it. I have more enjoyable memories of simple things and moments in time as a child than I do of visiting an expensive theme park. But that's just me...
Coming to the present day, one must remember I'm carrying a little bit of emotional baggage from the past. Perhaps I'm being a little dramatic but let's go with the story.
Today I went to Tokyo Disney Sea, not knowing what to expect other than I knew it was supposed to be different from Disneyland...which was fine by me.
Takae, Yuko, and I got up at 5:15, showered, shoved some breakfast down our throats and ran to catch the train. The two experienced members of our expedition donned Disney t-shirts and explained that lots of Japanese people like to dress up when they go to Disneyland.
The train ride required at least 5 or 6 transfers as we traversed downtown Tokyo at morning rush hour. The lines boarding the trains were impeccably straight and everyone knew their place. They probably stand next to the same people every morning because their routines are so ritualized...but I bet they never talk to each other. For the amount of people on the train, sandwiched between each other, it was deathly quiet. I was thinking about how Americans don't like silence and how it's so awkward for us. I was going to break the silence to make this little comment to Takae, then thought, "That would totally prove my point." So I stayed silent. It was awkward.
Approaching Disneyland the crowded trains of white-shirted men changed to trains of anxious children holding on to their parents' hands. Mothers often pushed a stroller while dads carried the family video camera and popcorn buckets for refills. While there is no lack of children's attractions, adults are more suited for Disney Sea compared to Disneyland. It is a little more "real;" less cutsey and more adultish in entertainment, they also allow alcohol consumption within the park.
Tokyo Disney Sea is a theme park divided into several sections, not necessarily based on specific movies. Here are examples of the different areas:
Middle East: This was based off of Aladdin, featuring architecture of the Sultan's palace, water fountain, market place, and a camel. Jafar was waltzing around in a very affluent manner, while the ride attendants were decked out in outfits mimicking Aladdin's puffy pantaloons and vest. Curry popcorn was my favorite feature, aside from the entertaining 3D genie show/movie.
Mediterranean: The center of the park was a large lagoon, and one side hosted a myriad of mediterranean style architecture, cobble stone streets, romantic violin music from Lady and the Tramp, and Gepetto-style gift shop.
New York old town: NYC got a little shout-out here as visitors walked down an old part of the water front/loading docks and also a street featuring "Broadway" and New York style deli. The musical of choice was a jazz/big band style number, complete with REAL American singers! There was a live band, tap dancing, and jazz hands!!! You can't really trace this back to a particular movie...
Under the Sea: Ariel's underwater castle, basically. Not my favorite place, but it was in a cave-like structure and a cool place to escape from the hot sunshine.
Other places included Cape Cod, Port of Discovery, Indiana Jones/Central American jungle, and Captain Nemo's adventures into the center of the earth and under water.
We waited in line for about an hour for the park to open at nine am. I saw some gaijin, or foreigners, and realized how much we stick out. It seems this group of white guys were from Canada because of the flags on their bags. We noticed each other, but tried not to notice that we had noticed. It was awkward, but kind of funny.
Entering through the gates on this cloudless morning I felt like a new person. I was with my two friends and no cares or worries. We could go anywhere or do anything we wanted for the whole day. It was so freeing! We settled on a show right after going on the churning seaweed ride. Sitting in the cool auditorium we faced the stage set up in the middle of the room. Ariel, with red hair flowing down her back, emerged from a treasure chest in the middle of the stage and soared up into the sky (or water, if you please) and burst into a perfect recitation of "Part of Your World," mimicking the Disney princesses movements and mannerisms. Her sea friends joined her, in a Japanese sort of way due to choreography and costume design. I felt like I was in the movie, taking part in that musical number with Sebastian, Flounder, and friends. Sinking into my seat and drinking in the magical aura I thought of my BFF Julia and I as little girls playing with Ariel paper dolls on the bedroom floor. I almost broke down crying it was so touching.
Turns out that in Japan, Ariel doesn't lose her voice or give into the temptation to become a human but decides that she does indeed belong with her friends and family under the sea and lives happily ever after without meeting Prince Charming. Who knew?! But, when you only have 25 minutes you have to make exceptions.
I won't bore you with the details of every show and every ride I went on, nor will I expound on the beauty of design, lighting, music, and overall quality of the attractions. I'm going to refrain from detailing my feelings when we saw an afternoon water show and boisterous latin rhythms played over the loudspeakers. Knowing that most Japanese people work 50 or 60 hour weeks (or more) without complaining, knowing that most children will finish an American equivalent of bachelor's degree education by the time they finish high school, and seeing every person putting all their energy into enjoying the hot summer day, eyes glued on the entertainment and participating whole-heartedly...this gave me more joy than I imagined...and brought a little guilt into my heart. American's think they are entitled to so much, but how much are we really GIVING to each other?
I think we have a lot to learn from each other, and from the Japanese.
Here are some of my favorite attractions: Tower of Terror, Broadway Big Band show, Journey to the Center of the Earth ride, "Okinawa Party" show on the water, jungle rhythms show, Genie show, tasting several kinds of popcorn like curry, milk tea, and caramel (I didn't get around to the strawberry, sea salt, and pepper), Little Mermaid show, trying on different hats, gelato, a cold Coca-Cola, and being happy all day long on a perfect summer day in Tokyo with my friends.
After the last show I bought my omiyage (gifts) to bring back to my work and bought a Minnie Mouse shirt for myself. Otoosan was soooo nice! Even after working a full work week, he got home from work only to turn around and come back into Tokyo to pick us up so we wouldn't have to ride the train home. Our feet were so tired...I figured we only sat down for 2 hours total the whole day, from 7am to 9:30pm.
Now that I have lots of pictures, video, and good memories of visiting the Magical Kingdom, I think I can let go of the past and live happily ever after.
RSS Feed