Tokyo Disneyland Winter Trip Report – Part 5

Next up was A Table is Waiting. As I commented earlier in the report, this is one of our favorite things at Tokyo DisneySea. This would be our last time ever seeing it, which was sad.

The USA section of A Table is Waiting feels like it’s trolling America. Pluto loudly blows a whistle, as others chant “U.S.A!” and a cheeseburger clumsily tries to assemble itself, failing multiple times before getting it right. None of this is a joke–that’s an actual description of America’s musical number.

In fairness, all of the numbers are caricatures of the cultures they represent, and all are good-natured, even if there’s a subtle cultural critique just under the surface. (Our Japanese friends told us they feel the same way about the Japan number.)

For me, this is part of the appeal of A Table is Waiting. In addition to the beautiful costuming, catchy songs, and high energy dancing, it lightly pokes fun at cultural stereotypes, clumsily falling somewhere between tongue-in-cheek fun and politically incorrect humor.

You’d need incredibly thin skin to actually be offended by Pluto mocking ‘Murica, meaning the end result is something that’s easy to laugh along with. Moreover, the mix of absurdity, quality, and catchiness means A Table is Waiting is destined to garner a cult following once it’s retired.

Here are some A Table is Waiting photos from my viewings this trip:

I want to reiterate the quality and catchiness components so it doesn’t sound like this is just something we enjoy ironically. A Table is Waiting is a really well done show, with a wonderful energy and a bunch of ear-worm songs. We will miss it.

While waiting for A Table is Waiting, I ran around and took some photos of stuff in American Waterfront. Here are some of those:

If the Starbucks at Disneyland and Walt Disney World sold these mug warmers, I think they’d be big sellers. You cannot resist that cuteness.

Mysterious Island was next on the agenda, with the last of the afternoon light kissing the top of the mountain.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was a walk-on, so we decided to do that. Again, we both noticed details we had not seen before. Such an underrated attraction.

At this point, sunset was approaching, but the sky was looking pretty dull, so rather than breaking off from the group, we all headed back towards Mermaid Lagoon and Arabian Coast.

The golden hour light gave an ethereal to virtually everything it touched, turning our leisurely walk to the back of Tokyo DisneySea into a slow crawl. It was nice, for once, to not be running around like a madman at sunset.

We could think of no better way to watch day transition to night than by ordering two-dozen (I wish) Chandu Tails and chowing down.

Even though the Chandu Tail is beloved the world over, I think Sultan’s Oasis is underrated. Most people stop here for the Chandu Tail, but the entire menu is stacked. Almost everything here is delicious.

Once again, it was Sindbad & Chandu time…

I get a lot of crazy ideas while in the parks, most of which never come to fruition because I don’t have the time, or end up second-guessing myself, or flat-out forget. (It’s probably best for everyone this way.)

You should see the Notes app on my phone–it contains a bunch of half-baked shorthand I can barely decipher later. “Fax me some halibut.” Is that funny? Is that an idea?

I mention this because one of my ideas that won’t die is to turn the above scene into a shirt design. Above is a rough mock-up. I want the border around the graphic to mimic the border at the edge of the whale scene, and the “Storybook Voyages” text to pop more. Maybe someday…

From there, we continued back to Lost River Delta.

Finally, something new! We did Indiana Jones Adventure for the first (and only) time of the trip. I go back and forth on whether I prefer this version or California’s.

As of right now, I’ll give California the nod, as Disneyland has really plussed up its version with projection mapping and other effects.

Since we never explore Lost River Delta, we spent some time doing that, wandering through gift shops and a couple of detail rooms at the Embarcadero. There’s actually a good amount to see around the dock that we’d never noticed before.

Despite the cold weather, it was the perfect evening for a boat ride, so we headed to the dock…

After this, we passed by the nighttime version of Crystal Wishes Journey (for the finale, it’s called “Crystal Wishes Journey: Shine On!”). No one else wanted to watch this, so we didn’t. I’m not entirely sure why–we all enjoyed the daytime version of Crystal Wishes Journey, and it wouldn’t have been too difficult to grab a last minute spot in Fortress Explorations.

It seems like we don’t watch too many of the Tokyo DisneySea harbor shows. The last one we watched multiple times all the way through was the brilliant Legend of Mythica, but since that was retired, most are one and done. A big part of this is that so many of the shows are of the ‘smile and wave’ variety. There’s not really anything substantive, they just are a photo op of the characters.

Another reason is that these shows are incredibly popular with other guests, meaning that for a good spot near one of the stages, you have to seriously commit to the show, grabbing a seat well over an hour in advance. If you don’t mind a ‘backside’ spot, you can show up much closer to showtime.

What Tokyo DisneySea really needs is a replacement for Legend of Mythica. That show was so good, and wasn’t just a smile and wave production. The rumor is that it was retired because it used a huge number of performers (even by Tokyo standards) and cost a lot to put on.

However, it brought something that could appeal to guests of all ages (my succinct description of it would be the abstract nature of IllumiNations meets the characters and production of Fantasmic…taking place during the day), and was beloved by guests.

We then wandered back to Arabian Coast (we’re able to eat so much because we take a boat from one end of the park only to walk back in that direction immediately after!) to end the night with Sindbad and Chandu. After that, it was time for photos.

Once again, I didn’t stay until the bitter end at Tokyo DisneySea. (I did take more photos than the one above, but I’m saving many of my night and sunset photos from later…) After making quick stops in Arabian Coast, Lost River Delta, and Mermaid Lagoon, it was time to go.

At least–unlike the previous night–we left “early” so we could park hop over to Tokyo Disneyland for dinner with our friends Yoshi and Kumi, who had made reservations for us at Crystal Palace.

Yoshi was the first friend we made in Japan, and we have met him many times since in California, Japan, and even China. He and Kumi are incredibly nice, and it’s always great to see them. (Yoshi is also one of the most talented Disney photographers in the world, and I highly recommend browsing his blog, if only for the photos.)

Crystal Palace had a special Frozen Fantasy version of its buffet, and we were excited to try this. In addition to special foods (mostly desserts), there were some decorations at the front of the restaurant.

To date, we’ve done the Christmas, Easter, and Frozen versions of the Crystal Palace buffet. I thought this Frozen version was solid, but Christmas is still my favorite (it didn’t hurt that–probably unrelated to Christmas–they had Chandu Tails on the buffet that time).

The food was definitely better this time than at Easter, though. There was a lot more seafood, which is always a plus for me. Also, there are now unlimited fountain drinks!

Sailing Day Buffet used to be the only buffet to have this, but now Crystal Palace does, too. A big plus for Coke addicts (there has to be a better way to word that) like me.

The buffet still isn’t as good as Sailing Day Buffet, but it’s getting closer. It’s another restaurant I’d recommend to anyone with an “American appetite.” You’ll end up paying less for the buffet (~$27 per person) than you will for a comparably-sized meal of counter service food.

After dinner, we headed back to Fantasyland with Yoshi and Kumi to do a few attractions before Tokyo Disneyland closed. I believe we did Pooh’s Hunny Hunt once or twice, and a couple other things before the park closing. This time, I did stay until the bitter end!

One of the bad things about the The Green Pod beanbag that I use for nighttime photos at Tokyo Disneyland is that sometimes the beans inside can settle ever-so-slightly and cause camera movement that is undetectable on the camera LCD screen. Such was the case with the photo above, but perhaps it’s undetectable at this lower resolution. (I have a portrait version of the same shot that was framed to keep the scrims out that’s perfectly sharp, so no big loss.)

Perhaps my favorite aspect of Frozen Fantasy at Tokyo Disneyland is the special lighting on Cinderella Castle. It’s a bit hard to tell from the photo, but it uses a two-tone turquoise and blue scheme that’s reminiscent of Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World from the 1980s (see the cover of this book). It’s probably a minor touch to most guests, but for an obsessive photographer, it’s a big difference. (Worth noting: Walt Disney World changed its lighting scheme for Cinderella Castle last spring/summer and it looks so much better. Big thumbs up there, too.) Anyway, that concludes this installment of our Tokyo Disney Resort Winter Trip Report. We’ll pick up the next installment with our final day! If you have any thoughts or feedback, please share in the comments–we love hearing from you!