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The Official "TPR Japan Trip 2007" Thread


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Say what you will about Fuji-Q, but at the very least it's a park that chases records. It has held the world record for tallest and/or fastest coaster no less than 3 times, with Moonsault Scramble, Fujiyama, and Dodonpa. Eejanaika is the record holder for inversions, if you count them in a JJ sort of way.

 

And Robb...as much as you say you hate this place, you said everyone needs to visit it at least once. That was EXACTLY what I was talking about when I said Fuji-Q is the park you love to hate!

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You know, Fuji-Q made SFMM look like Disneyland!

 

The one good thing about Fuji-Q...it taught me patience. After waiting 3 1/2 hours for Japanese X, I leanred to be more patient. The funny thing is, the Japanese folks who waited in line were very patient. I did not hear one complaint or people bitchin' and moaning. I saw some people break out newspapers and read them. I sure wish I had some reading material in that line. After a 2 1/2 hour wait and a line that moved 1/2 inch per year, I was ready for death.

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^ that's quite true actually. After Eejanaika (I'm convinced it's Japanese for "bloody long queue!") broke down after we had been in the queue for 2.5 hours already, most people were still really happy & chatty.

 

By pure coincidence we happened to be at Fuji-Q on the same day as Robb and the TPR crew, & quite frankly, that park can kiss my

 

Coasters that were closed because of rain....what rain??? 4 spits of drizzle for 2 seconds and the whole place goes into meltdown! But as Robb said, what made it so much worse was the way they managed the re-opening. My experience echoed every point Robb made - I think I got to ride 3 coasters in the entire day - & none of them would rate amongst the best in my ridelist - let alone the best in the world!

 

Yes, the Fuji-Q park is in a nice setting, but that also works against it because the weather there is so fickle. I will also support Robb (geez, becoming a habit today!) in saying that Ocean Park in Hong Kong is a far more beautiful setting. I had to ride the Wild West Mine Train there 3 times I reckon before I knew anything about the ride experience - the view just totally distracts you!

 

One thing I will give Fuji-Q though....damn that Squid on a Stick made for a tasty lunch!!

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The next few updates will cover the Tokyo Disneyland Resort. This place is so awesome that it's impossible to do it all in one update, so there will be several parts.

 

This part is DisneySea and mostly Tower of Terror since it was new since our last visit.

 

Now, I will say that Tokyo DisneySea's Tower is IMO, not the "best." The drop sequence is far weaker than California or Florida's and while there is some airtime, it is nowhere near as forcefull as the other two. And like the California version, the lack of the 5th dimension really does make it feel like it's "missing something."

 

Where the DisneySea version is freaking AMAZING is in it's theming and pre-shows.

 

It's just incredible. Some of the best story and effects I've ever seen for an attraction.

 

Those of you familar with the California and Florida versions know that the storyline is that you're in a maintenance service elevator that takes you to "The Twilight Zone." Since there is no Twilight Zone TV show in Japan, they needed a new story.

 

This story revolves around an exporer named "Hightower" and his evil little idol called "Shiriki Utundu." While not getting too much into the story, let's just say that when Hightower stumbled upon this would-be inanimate idol he got more than he bargined for, including his demise. And in the Hightower Hotel, the location of his museum and other works of his exploration, thanks to Shiriki, YOU ARE NEXT TO GO!

 

We've included a video on how one of the most amazing effects of the show is done, so if you don't want t know the spoilers, don't click on the video!!!

tot_shiriki.wmv

Tokyo DisneySea's Tower of Terror has a lot of really awesome effects! One of them is the "Dissapearing Shiriki" trick. Watch the video to see how it's done!

 

(downloadable version below)

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And we leave you with another photo of awesome "looking" Tower. I wish the ride was as good as Florida's but it's really not. It's basically California Adventure's version with a MUCH better story and theming, and a slightly weaker drop sequence.

 

Watch the video and check out the cool Shiriki effect. And we'll have more Tokyo Disney Resort photos soon!

Many thanks to Dan & Joey for their photos for this update!

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Yeah, did we mention how awesome it looked at night?

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OMG! HIDDEN SHIRIKI'S!!!!

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More museum looking stuff.

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Oh, BTW, did we mention the elevator's broke?

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Instead of the boiler room you are in the museum. This part of the queue was really freaking cool!

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Just a couple hours into the day and FastPass was nearly sold out. Standby at least wasn't too bad!

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This is the "Shiriki" room where you see the cool effect in the video happen! There he is on the right just looking all innocent and all. Mean little f**cker!!!

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Put on your 3D glasses as the Kodak and the Walt Disney Company proudly present....

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The lobby of the hotel looks pretty cool.

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More sexyness.

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The attention to detail even gets Jahan all hot and bothered.

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Speaking about things that look awesome at night, is it time for our Tower of Terror ride yet?

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And it gets bonus points for looking completely awesome at night!

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Two thumbs up for pointlessly awesome Aquatopia!

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Ahhh...Aquatopia. So stupid. So pointless. So TOTALLY AWESOME!!!

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"I totally just got the Ariel credit!"

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"The proper use of Ariel's shell! (later tonight this is all I will be wearing!"

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"Sea Salt Ice Cream anyone out of...um....what is this? Uhh....Ariel's SHELL?!?! WTF part of Ariel am I eating?!?! It's creamy...it's salty! OMG!!! OMG!!! EEEWWWWW!!!!!"

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We may be in Japan, but OMG, the Chinese food here was freaking amazing!!!

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"Thanks to the FastPass system we can now do the American thing and stuff our faces with food!"

(Hi Joey...nice fork!)

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"Caramel?" That's a pretty 'normal' popcorn flavor...we'll get to the really cool ones later....

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That's nothing compared to THIS line! No, that's not the standby line, that's still the line for FastPass! It goes on for what seems like a mile!!! Oddly enough, it only took like 10 minutes to get through. The Japanese are so awesome.

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Holy crap! Does that look like a lot of people getting FastPass?

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Ahh, there it is...the best "looking" Tower of Terror yet!

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If there is one thing to know about Tokyo Disney is "they love popcorn!" The English guides do not have the information about all their crazy popcorn flavors! Make sure you get a Japanese guide to find out and really interesting stuff!

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"Will the coaster enthusaists who are OBVIOUSLY not Japanese please stand up?"

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So we got to Tokyo DisneySea about an hour before opening and look at how many people are already there!

(BTW, does anyone else think this photo looks like a model, or am I just insane?)

tot_shiriki.zip

Zipped version of the video so you can download it!

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I loved the Japanese people's reaction to the tower ride itself.

 

Considering this was their first (for the most of them I figured, riding this one) experience in a ToT, I thought they were having a blast and enjoying the fun of being "scared" by Disney, lol.

 

It was great fun ride, every time I was on it.

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Tower sure does look impressive, I have only recently encountered MGM's Tower and was completely wowed by it. Just could not get enough, all that airtime with just a seatbelt!

 

Another great update Robb, I really hope to get to Japan one day.

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Awesome update. And Joey's right, as cool as that video is, seeing it in person is WAY better. The theming and pre-show of this version of ToT is just amazing. If they could combine this with the FL ride, they would have the greatest attraction ever. Even so, it's still really cool.

 

And that sea salt ice cream was really tasty. Looking forward to more pics...

 

dt

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Tokyo Disney Sea was totally the best park of the trip and their version off Tower was amazing. Photos and video don't do either justice. Harrison Hightower is the coolest evil white guy ever. One of my favorite things were the pictures in the hotel lobby they showed Hightower stealing all the great treasures of the world. In every one he was being chased by angry natives and in one case wolves.

 

Check out http://www.tot1899.com/english/ for the answers to all your questions about Harrison Hightower. Warning it will spoil the ride!!!!

 

I can hardly wait the next Disney update

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Great photos as always. Been waiting for the TDR photos. As with Tower, I've been on all of the operational ones and this one ranks at #2, with MGMs being #1 and DCA at #3. The theming and effects are amazing but the drop sequence just doesn't cut it.

 

Can't wait to see you guys again for the Tokyo 2008 trip.

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Wow the theming on the tower is amazing! Nice to see some photos, I haven't actually ever look at any before. Weird thing was I was looking at one of the first photos thinking 'is that a model?' before I saw the caption, glad I'm not the only one! Thanks for the update, it all looks fantastic.

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