Originally Posted By Mr X Well, I know a bunch of LPers are in Tokyo right now (I know mostly cause I got drunk with some of em lol) for the end of anniversary festivities along with the 26th anniversary and Monsters Inc. grand opening... So, are we gonna get any trip reports? (personally, I don't do Tokyo trip reports in general because a) I live here, and b) I would not be caught dead in the parks during those uber-busy times lol)
Originally Posted By Roger55 Since it is still the eve of the anniversary and grand opening, I have nothing to report. Lol. If the weather holds up, I'll try to post pics and some comments.
Originally Posted By Mr X Holds up? It's pouring cats and dogs where I'm sitting (10 minutes walk from the resort). Yikes! Hope you get some sunshine tomorrow Roger!
Originally Posted By Roger55 It is "supposed" to stop raining in the AM. We shall see. I've been coming to TDL's anniversary every year for the past eight years, and I can't remember an anniversary when it didn't rain.
Originally Posted By MagicalNezumi Since TDR's 20th Anniversary in 2003, there's been rain or drizzle on April 15th in 2003, 2004 and 2006. Other days have had fair weather, including today. There was a big rush of people today diverted all the way through World Bazaar and back to where the Monsters building is. The way the queues we set up, many guests got confused between the stand-by area and FastPass. A large majority of guests chose to get FP first instead of standby. I got to ride twice by 10:30am. -- MagicalNezumi
Originally Posted By Roger55 Got there in time for the dasshu. As MN said, there was a lot of confusion as to where to go. I was looking for the ceremony but ended up in the FP line. I was told the ceremony was taking place back in the World Bazaar and I would have to go all the way around to get there. I knew it was going to be a short ceremony, so I decided not to go back. I was able to secure a FP and then get in the standby line. When I was lining up in the standby line, the cast members were telling people it was a 5 1/2 hr wait!!! I didn't believe them and just got in line. Many other guests did believe what the cast members were saying and gave up and left. My actual wait was only 80 minutes. I was very disappointed as to the exagerrated standby times being told to the guests. I saw some very sad faces of guests who gave up insted of facing a 5 1/2 hour wait. I tried to tell those who would listen that it wouldn't be that long. But most chose to believe the cast members over me. Understandable. That is what made the whole situation so disappointing and unfortunate. I decided to forego my FP time(keeping the FP in my collection), and went back after lunch to get in the standby line. Again, the cast memebers were telling people it was 160 minute wait. I got in line and waited only 80 minutes again. When I got to the final scene of the attraction, the animation wasn't working, and when the set of ride vehicles reached the unload area, the cast members appologized for the malfunction and offered us to go right back on the ride. We were lead to the boarding area and got on the very next vehicle. I'll post my pics later. Most likely after I get home.
Originally Posted By WorldDisney Yeah it is bizarre. SEVERAL people have rode Monsters Inc and there havent been a single trip report about it yet!! Some of us REALLY want a report . And 5 and a half hours?? LOL, c'mon even for TDR, that is a bit on the extreme side .
Originally Posted By Bob Paris That is Indy opening weeks time!!! I heard from a lady here who said her wait for Indy was seven hours and she joined the queue in....are you ready for this?......IN FREAKIN TOWN SQUARE!!!!!! That's just INSANE!!!! *Faints in WD's arms*
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I remember being at DL the summer that Indy opened (didn't go on it for another couple years, when we stayed in the DLH and got early morning Monorail service to the park before it opened, and literally ran across the park to be one of the first in line). The queue completely filled the normal Indy queue (in the days before FP made 2/3 of it just empty), went next door and filled up the entire second floor of the Jungle Cruise boat house, did a couple switchbacks the long way through Adventureland, wound its way around the Riverbelle Terrace into Frontierland, where it did a couple more switchbacks on the Big Thunder Trail (near the BTMRR exit), and then headed out toward Main Street. I don't think I ever saw it going down Main Street, but it doesn't surprise me one bit that it got that long at times. I don't remember for sure, but I'm pretty sure that we were there during a weekday in semi-off season time (late May?), so I can just imagine what the line was like during summer. Even knowing that, 5 and a half hours does seem a little rediculous for any attraction (the 4 hour wait that they were telling people for Indy seemed a little rediculous to wait in, but realistic for the length of the line). I can't say that I blame people for turning away when they heard that time. Eeek!
Originally Posted By Malin Thanks for the trip reports by MagicalNezumi and Roger55. *** As MN said, there was a lot of confusion as to where to go. I was looking for the ceremony but ended up in the FP line. *** I have to question the decision to use FastPass on the attraction today. With so many Guest visiting the park to ride Monsters Inc for the first time, I would had thought the smart move would be to open the stand by line only, that way you can get Guest in and out of the attraction in a quicker time without Fast Pass slowing down the process. *** My actual wait was only 80 minutes *** Thats got me thinking how acurate the 180 minute wait times you see in the park at times really are! *** That is Indy opening weeks time!!! *** Opening year more like it, I remember visiting in the fall and granted it was a Sunday with some sort of AP discount, but the line reaching for Indy was on Main Street, after 30 minutes of the park being opened. Mind you that day was the busiest I've ever experienced any Disney park, the place was so crowded a third performance of Fantasmic was put on.
Originally Posted By MagicalNezumi Forgot to add that I met a number of LPers on Wednesday. Thankfully the Kawamura's (contributors to LP and the Magazine) got there a whole lot earlier than I did and claimed a spot in the front of the line. Also met Leemac, LindsayC, SuperDry and his friend (who runs a cool Disney podcast site), the always cute TokyoSweets and her very cute son, and the one and only TDLFAN. Hehehe. Also got to meet some long-time CM's that I hadn't seen in a while. It was a great day overall. -- MagicalNezumi
Originally Posted By Malin *** and the one and only TDLFAN *** It sounded like a good crowd, until you dropped that name! *** It was a great day overall *** And thats what its all about. Forget the tacky decorations, merchadise and entertainment. The real purpose to any Anniversary is to celebrate the Tokyo Disney Resort experience with friends, family, Cast Members and Disney fans. The other stuff comes second.
Originally Posted By Malin *** It sounded like a good crowd, until you dropped that name! *** I should point out I'm joking
Originally Posted By leemac I must admit that I've never seen such a quiet anniversary ever. Attendance was nearly 30k down on predictions and it seems most of that was driven by the lack of a free gift. The MIR&GS! ceremony was meant to be held in front of the attraction as rain was forecast through noon. When the rain cleared around sunrise OLC opted to keep the ceremony in Center Street despite everyone's protestations. It was very disappointing that few guests were able to experience the short show. It was chaos as management failed to adequately deal with the rush as there were three queues in front of the attraction (FP, Standby and Company Store) and people ended up double-backing from the attraction against the traffic flow as they tried to get to the ceremony. I lost count how many people I saw fall down. It wasn't pretty.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Forgot to add that I met a number of LPers on Wednesday. Thankfully the Kawamura's (contributors to LP and the Magazine) got there a whole lot earlier than I did and claimed a spot in the front of the line. Also met Leemac, LindsayC, SuperDry and his friend (who runs a cool Disney podcast site), the always cute TokyoSweets and her very cute son, and the one and only TDLFAN. Hehehe. Also got to meet some long-time CM's that I hadn't seen in a while. It was a great day overall. -- MagicalNezumi>> It was great to see you too, MN! I was so surprised to see so few people in line when we got there about 7:15. Thankfully the Kawamuras are seasoned queuers so the 5:15am start at the gates is no sweat to them! It was also great to meet TokyoSweets and her son. We managed to spend a fair bit of time with SD and his friend Jeff (although I have to remember that his podcasts involve wandering the park and my comments can be captured!). X - I'm sorry we didn't make it to the lunch this week. I was knee-deep in work at the start of the week and my schedule didn't properly clear up until after Wednesday. Hopefully we can do it next time!
Originally Posted By Mr X ***X - I'm sorry we didn't make it to the lunch this week. I was knee-deep in work at the start of the week and my schedule didn't properly clear up until after Wednesday. Hopefully we can do it next time!*** No prob. As you probably have read, I don't go near the parks when crowds are expected, so it'll have to be Ikspiari someplace, someday.
Originally Posted By leemac <<How was the attraction Lee?>> I'm bias but it is the best dark ride I've ever experienced. Tight sets, great AAs and wonderful playability. I wish that there were more of the tag scenes (technically there are only two - the locker room and the streetscape) but there is also a need to further the story and the site space just wasn't big enough for anything else. The ride is deinitely faster than it was last year which I'm not convinced is the right move. Plus the turrets still aren't as smooth as Midway Mania but all in all it is a great attraction.
Originally Posted By MagicalNezumi It was fun to talk Lee. Seems we could have all stayed under that tree in front of Pirates all day. Hehehe. Sorry I didn't get to talk to Lindsay much this time. By the way, I enjoyed Jubilation! a lot better without the "pause" and HSM number (I won't call it a show stop, hehehe). Just seemed to flow better. And for some reason, I really enjoy watching the very end at Toontown (D-2) when the fairies have their final dance as the music ends. -- MagicalNezumi
Originally Posted By DuffyDad ~Yeah it is bizarre. SEVERAL people have rode Monsters Inc and there havent been a single trip report about it yet!! Some of us REALLY want a report .~ -WorldDisney I would post pics here if I knew how. It seems like there are a lot of people here from MiceChat, too. I think, unfortunately, that you have to be an MC member to view galleries, but you can find pics in my gallery there: <a href="http://micechat.com/forums/members/duffydad-albums-tokyo-disneyland.html" target="_blank">http://micechat.com/forums/mem...and.html</a> And a report here: <a href="http://micechat.com/forums/tokyo-disney-resort/114555-tdlfan-reviews-monsters-inc-hide-go-seek-ride.html" target="_blank">http://micechat.com/forums/tok...ide.html</a> And here: <a href="http://micechat.com/forums/tokyo-disney-resort/115051-monsters-inc-grand-opening-report.html" target="_blank">http://micechat.com/forums/tok...ort.html</a>
