Tokyo Disneyland Winter Trip Report – Part 3

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is one attraction that has been cloned successfully with subtle variations among each version to make them unique to Disney fans, but without deviating from the tried and true formula.

Personally, I think a bit more deviation would suit Tokyo’s Big Thunder. Like all of the park’s attractions, it’s meticulously-maintained, but I don’t think it quite measures up to Disneyland’s, or the superlative Disneyland Paris version.

Then it was on to Pirates of the Caribbean. Same story here. Best maintenance out of the entire bunch, and subtle differences between this and the Disneyland version, but I wish there were more of a distinction.

One of the things I did before this trip was review old (2010ish) trip reports to see what worked and didn’t in those. I noticed parts were walls of text, and parts were walls of photos. More recently, I’ve tried to avoid this imbalance, and also have a caption (or paragraph) of text below each photo. While I still think a wall of text causes eyes to glaze over (let’s be real: nothing I have to say is that interesting that it couldn’t be served by some illustrations), I’ve decided to just allow for some walls of photos when I don’t have anything particularly insightful to say. Accordingly…

After this, we spent some more time wandering, checking out the merchandise scene and wandering around before stopping to watch the Bicycle Piano Man.

We’ve seen this same Cast Member every trip, and if I recall correctly, he’s performed in the park for something like 20 years. (He’s Canadian and can converse with guests in Japanese.)

We had gone almost an hour without eating, so it was time for more snacks. The Selgas grabbed a Melon Soda Sugar Churro, which is Star Wars-themed since it looks like a light saber (clever, eh?).

Sarah and I instead opted for the delicious seafood pizza from Captain Hook’s Galley. I have no doubt that we eat this more than any other food at Tokyo Disneyland. It’s convenient to grab and enjoy while waiting for a parade, which is exactly what we did…

As with the U.S. parks, Tokyo Disneyland provides complimentary cups of hot (or cold) water. We are caffeine-dependent (and frugal), so we bring packets of instant coffee to make our own while in the parks.

If you’re a Coke (uppercase “C”) addict, one thing to keep in mind is that portion sizes are small in Japan (no 32-ounce cups), and no in-park restaurants offer free refills except Sailing Day Buffet and Crystal Palace.

Since we pretty much watched two parades back to back, I’ll save my thoughts on Happiness is Here for our second day in Tokyo Disneyland (despite “not being parade people” we always seem to watch this more than once per trip). Here are some photos from this viewing, though:

Before the next parade, we had time some time to kill, so we did the distinctly patriotic thing and watched Country Bear Jamboree.

This was our first time seeing the regular show (as opposed to Country Bear Vacation Jamboree or Jingle Bell Jamboree) since our first trip, I believe. While the show alternates between English and Japanese depending upon the song, it’s a hoot to watch, especially if you have the English version committed to memory like we do.

It’s also nice that this is the full show, as opposed to the truncated version that now runs at Walt Disney World. Finally, the condition of this version is remarkable. While Walt Disney World redid the bears coats during its last refurbishment, the audio is still a mess and the bears’ movements are loud.

Neither are issues in Tokyo Disneyland, and all of the motion is fluid. Perhaps it benefits from regular, routine maintenance, or they do refurbishment work with each seasonal change. Whatever the case, it’s nice to see an attraction that I love receive TLC.

Here are some photos of Country Bear Jamboree:

Jungle Cruise was next up. This is another attraction that received a plussing a couple of years back, and was insanely popular for about 6 months after, commanding some of the longest wait times in all of Tokyo Disneyland. Its popularity has since died down considerably, with wait times back down to what they were pre-refurbishment.

I don’t think I’ve said much about these changes on the blog, so I’ll do that here. A plot has been added to the attraction that animal spirits are guiding the skippers along their journey, and this story is reinforced in various ways.

There are new props in the queue, an array of new audio, projection mapping in the temple, and lighting effects to create a different experience at night. This plussed version of the attraction is called Jungle Cruise: Wildlife Expeditions.

I’m not sure to what degree such a story contrivance was necessary (or whether it works) here, but WDI is obsessed with all things “story” so that’s what we got. Personally, I always thought Jungle Cruise was about visual gags and the humor of the skippers, but what do I know.

In any case, the additions to Jungle Cruise: Wildlife Expeditions largely work (outside of the story). The new queue props and audio are nice if the wait is long, and the onboard audio is also engaging and sometimes humorous.

There’s one controversial element: when approaching the lions’ den, music from The Lion King plays. There is no explicit reference to the movie, but this has nonetheless caught the ire of fans. I’m not entirely sure why, as Jungle Cruise has always been self-aware with its own style of ‘meta’ humor. Personally, I think the scene is tongue-in-cheek funny, and fits with the tone and style of Jungle Cruise’s humor.

The projection mapping is also well-done and the effect inside the temple is fairly convincing. We’ve also done the night version (albeit not on this trip) and found it to be a nice addition. I think a lot more could have been done with the lighting at night if they were going to make the effort, but it’s better than nothing. All in all, Jungle Cruise: Wildlife Expeditions is a nice plussing of a classic.

That wraps up the first half of day 1 at Tokyo Disneyland during Frozen Fantasy. I know it’s not all that Frozen-y thus far (aside from the Snowgie snack), but it’s about to get much more Frozen…and Fantastical, as we headed to the Hub for the Frozen parade and to check out the decorations. Before that, disaster would strike. (DUN DUN DUN…) And I do not mean that Olaf could not find his butt. We’ll pick up there in Part 4 of our Tokyo Disneyland Winter Trip Report. Please share your thoughts/questions/tips regarding Tokyo Disneyland or this installment of the trip report in the comments below!