Tokyo Disneyland Winter Trip Report – Part 2

Out of Shadowland debuted last summer, and one of our priorities for the trip was to see it for the first time. It replaced Mystic Rhythms, an excellent and high-energy show that felt something like Disney’s take on Cirque du Soleil.

Unfortunately, Out of Shadowland did not live up to its predecessor’s legacy. The show was not bad, it just wasn’t great. It was decidedly mediocre. There were a couple of really cool scenes (and being in one of the front few rows really enhances one of them), but the pace was slow and the show lacked any punch.

My biggest issue with Out of Shadowland was that each scene built up a little, but quickly fizzled out before doing anything with the (little) momentum developed. There was not much of a crescendo–much less a climax–within each scene. It was sort of like blowing up a balloon halfway, only to release the air slowly. By contrast, each scene in Mystic Rhythms blew up the balloon so intensely that it popped, and then feverishly started blowing up another.

Out of Shadowland wouldn’t bother me much if I knew there’d be a replacement in a couple of years. I am totally fine with ambitious concepts–and this is one–that fall flat rather than taking no creative risks at all, and the show is not bad, it’s just not nearly as good as what came before.

That’s sort of what worries me. Since we’ve been going to Tokyo DisneySea, each show that has been replaced has been replaced by an inferior successor (in this case), something roughly akin to its predecessor (the Mermaid show), or nothing at all (Legend of Mythica). This makes me really worried about what will replace A Table is Waiting, another favorite of mine…

At this point, maybe 45 minutes before sunset, the sky was starting to look good.

Everyone else in the group wanted to catch A Table is Waiting, but I figured I should wander around and take some photos…

I bounced back and forth between Cape Cod and the rest of American Waterfront, stopping multiple times at the platform that overlooks A Table is Waiting so I could catch bits of the show.

Over the course of both days, I think I took less than 10 photos in Port Discovery. Even though I find this area moderately photogenic, the construction walls around SeaRider made it difficult.

Throughout our days in Tokyo DisneySea, I was entranced by these flowers. This is over by where the Soarin’ construction is occurring, and this area always has nice flowers, but I was shocked that they were maintaining the flower beds in such cold weather. Granted, I know literally nothing about gardening, but I’m assuming freezing temperatures kill flowers.

The Venetian Gondolas on Mediterranean Harbor are always a favorite photo subject of mine. I usually wave with one hand while taking the photo, which gets the attention of the crew and passengers. The scene itself is so gorgeous that it’s hard to take a bad photo, but having everyone look at the camera is a nice touch, I think.

Even though it is not a fully-fledged land, I probably spend more time photographing Cape Cod than any other port in Tokyo DisneySea.

You can’t tell from this series of photos, but I have dozens more from the same sunset that I just haven’t edited yet.

More of the gondolas. I loved the way the light and shadows gave this scene depth.

Here’s a fun fact about Hotel MiraCosta (I swore I’ve mentioned this elsewhere on the blog, but I can’t find it now, so excuse me if I’m repeating myself): the painted facade is an art technique known as trompe-l’Å“il. When I saw this during our first visit, I assumed it was used because Tokyo DisneySea’s budget dried up.

To the contrary, effective trompe-l’Å“il is more expensive than dimensional details, and is just one of many ways the Imagineers crammed lavish detail and authenticity into Tokyo DisneySea. Have I mentioned that this park amazes me? 😉

The sunset fizzled out towards the end as clouds disappeared, but I’m still pleased with what I got. Plus, it’s hard to be disappointed about wandering around Tokyo DisneySea. There are times when I’d actually prefer to just absorb its atmosphere by myself. It’s almost like a heightened sensory experience.

After sunset, I met back up with the group, and we headed to Tower of Terror once again to experience Shadow of Shiriki. What I did not expect was a stunning dusk view out over Tokyo DisneySea.

As soon as we got off the attraction, we all raced up to the top of the S.S. Columbia to take in that view. With the wind coming off of the ocean, it was freezing up there, but that view made it worthwhile.

With the sky being incredibly clear (you could make out the outline of Mt. Fuji even at night!) and Tokyo DisneySea closing at 7 p.m. that night, I decided to break off from the group again for some night photos.

I don’t have anything particularly illuminating to say about any of these photos (I think the only thing going through my mind as I took them was: “BRRR BRRR BRRR BRRR…HOW DOES 30 DEGREES FEEL THIS COLD?!”), I’ll just present them without commentary…

Everyone else was heading to dinner at Ikspiari about 40 minutes after Tokyo DisneySea closed, and though I wanted to stick around until the bitter end, I didn’t mind having an excuse to go inside where there would be heat. Plus, how could I pass up the prospect of getting lost in Ikspiari again?!

…Of course, sitting here in the warmth of home, I’m Monday-morning quarterbacking myself. How could you not be the last person out of Tokyo DisneySea?! That’s a betrayal of your most deeply-held convictions.

It turned out that our Japanese friends were better at navigating Ikspiari than us. They led us to a Japanese restaurant we had never considered on one of the upper floors (we’ve learned from mall dining in Japan that, usually, higher floor equals higher price), as we’re normally basement dwellers when it comes to eating. We had some excellent sushi there, and the restaurant was reasonably priced. We told ourselves that we’d head back later in the trip…

And that concludes our first full day at Tokyo DisneySea. While the weather was colder than ideal, it honestly was not too bad (even then, I’d take intense cold over intense heat and humidity any day), and the low crowds were an perfectly acceptable trade-off. We want to end this trip report by thanking you all for the incredibly warm response to the first installment of this trip report. It was especially cool to hear from so many people who have either already been to Tokyo Disney Resort or are planning on going in the future. If you either have been or are planning to go, this time we would love to hear from you what you enjoy or what intrigues you most about Tokyo DisneySea. Since some people use these trip reports as quasi planning guides, I’m sure that will be both interesting and helpful to other readers. Thanks!