Originally Posted By CuriousConstance lol I love finding things I can be on the look out to sneak into a conversation! hahaha
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Ferret, you don't skip ANYTHING at TDR, especially the same attractions we have here that are found at other Disney parks simply because they tend to be better in some ways of the queues are more impressive. SO DONT SKIP ANYTHING OR YOU WILL MISS THE POINT OF GOING TO TDR in the first place. Strategies.. simple.. as you know, you arrive at least 75 mins early and wait to enter. Once inside you move fast to get your first fastpass. Period. At TDS, you make a hasty run to get FP for Toy Story Mania. Once you have that Fastpass, go next door to the TOT and do the stand by line. It will move fast because everyone will be in line for the Toy Story fastpass.. After TOT, you go to JTTCOTE and get FP for that as soon as the window time for another FP opens. After that then take your time.. Try to obtail FPs for Indy and 20K, Later in the day if available, get FP for Raging Spirits coaster. As for TDL... same thing, arrive there early and go straight to Monsters and get that Fastpass, then after that then two options to do.. either go straight to Pooh Hunny Hunt and do the Stand by, and get a fastpass for Star Tours later when your FP window allows you to get another one, OR.. option 2, after getting FP for Monsters, go next door to Star Tours, do stand by and then after riding get a FP to HUNNY Hunt asap. FP for Space, Big Thunder and Splash Mts are usually available until mid afternoon for later times in the evening. Astroblaster FPs also are highly desirable but I would not prioritize that ride over the E tickets. Also.. remember to stop by the lotto distribution place and play the lotto for reserved seating for One Mans Dream and Once Upon a Time shows. They are both great.. and remember you DO NOT MISS both daytime and electrical parades at TDL. Among the best parades of any Disney park. Minnie O Minnie show is also a cute 25 minutes to enjoy. Over at TDS, DO NOT MISS Legend of Mythica (in its final summer season before being retired in sept, so this is the last chance to enjoy that, and definitely you must catch Fantasmic! So catch good spots around the lagoon early. Thats my best advise.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN If Monsters is closed, then get Pooh's FP first thing. then get Star Wars FP 2nd. As for Cinderella's Fairy Tale Hall in the castle.. some people here think it's a gem. I personally don't think so. A better attraction was there before so don't go out of your way. Lately the line for the hall has been short so do this later in the day or evening time before park closing. Just bring your camera for some nice photo ops, but other than that, its nice but not a gem. Just unique.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Thanks for all your help! I'm headed to the airport now, and can't wait to get there (after several long flights)! : )
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Be advised... Afros, you may never see WDW the same way again after experiencing TDR. Good luck.
Originally Posted By Brad Another convert awaits. One by one, with the correct exposure to the best Disney resort on Earth, the DOMs will fall. ; )
Originally Posted By FerretAfros It’s been a few weeks since my actual visit, so I’ll just give some highlights. The parks were moderately busy when we were there (~30-45 minute waits for most E tickets) but entirely manageable, especially following the advice I’ve gotten here. Thanks again for all the help! We were able to do almost everything in each park in one day, and used our 3rd day to repeat some of the highlights, and see the things we missed. We were there for the last day of the Tanabata Festival and the first 2 days of Summer Matsuri, so we got to see a lot of different things in a short time Not surprisingly, the cast members were all great. This seemed to be something that we found everywhere in Japan, so I’m not sure if a Japanese guest would notice that they were especially outstanding compared to what they might find in a local store or restaurant The guests were also pretty incredible. Everybody followed the rules and was respectful of those around them. The little mats that people waited on for shows were great, since they didn’t take over a huge space, but still allowed people to spread out some. Even for popular shows, the 1-hour limit for getting a spot never seemed to be an issue, and made it quite easy to find a decent spot ~15 minutes before the shows; I’d like to see this rule implemented in the US parks too For the most part, it seemed like TDR has the best version of many of the big attractions. Obviously there are certain things that are a throwback to an earlier era (mostly in Fantasyland), but they seem to have captured many of the best elements from the other resorts. It was also interesting that there were many set pieces and AA’s within arm’s reach of guests (most notably, the overhead Pooh AA in the Heffalump room), but with such well-behaved guests, it seems like that’s not much of a concern Unsurprisingly, the maintenance of everything was quite good. It wasn’t just that all of the effects were working, or that all of the lightbulbs were on, but everything looked fresh and new. I don’t know how often they replace the outer skin/fur on AAs in the US, but I’ve never seen them look nearly as fresh and fluffy as on Splash Mountain or the Country Bears (it was also great to get to see the Vacation show again, even if it was quite different) The exceptions to the good maintenance seemed to be the castle walkthrough (which looked pretty rough in places inside and in the queue), and Port Discovery. PD needs some top-to-bottom attentions to repaint most things, and StormRider needs some tech updates. They were only running one cabin of StormRider, with the other getting refurbished, so perhaps they’re working on that now. None of the ‘bad’ stuff would have been too out of place in the US parks (though it certainly would have raised an eye), but with the TDR standards so high, it really stood out As has often been said, entertainment is where TDR really shines. Instead of having just one or two big shows for each park, there are tons of them, with many in unassuming venues. Several of the ‘lesser’ character shows were still far better than ‘headliner’ shows in the US parks (Minnie, Oh Minnie or One Man’s Dream II compared to Mickey and the Magical Map or Dream Along with Mickey) which really caught us off guard. We also got to see both the regular and rainy versions of Dreamlights, which was a nice bonus Mythica: wow. To say that this show was like a 3-ring circus on the water wouldn’t do it justice. It was completely mind-blowing to see how many different things they had going on. Just when we thought we had it all figured out and it had reached the climax, out came the last set of huge ornately-detailed barges to kick it up another notch. It was a truly overwhelming experience (in a good way), and we never quite knew where to look or what was coming next. I’m just disappointed that due to the Summer Matsuri entertainment schedule pushing it later in the day (4:30 performance) we were unable to watch it a second time on our 3rd day; had we known that, we probably would have done TDL in the morning and TDS in the evening, but it was difficult to get information about the ‘other’ park to plan for the next day I think my favorite show we saw was Blazing Rhythms. For some reason, I had the impression that it was a character show, so when it began, I was completely surprised by the show’s format. The live music and incredible performers really made it memorable and outstanding. I was blown away by the number of things that they were doing, which OSHA would never allow in the US, yet seemed completely fine in Japan. We watched it twice, and it was neat to see how much of a storyline there was, which we completely missed the first time while focusing on the performance. My friend joked that if Cirque’s Zed show failed at TDR, it clearly wasn’t because the audience didn’t like that style of show, and it must have been Cirque’s fault. I was disappointed to learn that they weren’t selling the soundtrack for Blazing Rhythms or Mythica in the park, but it looks like I can buy used them online It’s no secret, but TDS’s Fantasmic! is kind of a mess. It has a tough venue to work with, but the show just didn’t work for me. The segments really didn’t flow well from one to the next, and the sightlines were difficult. Unlike other Harbor shows, they didn’t bring each barge past each viewing section, making it easy to miss seeing lots of characters. The music wasn’t as memorable as the US versions, and the center screen barge seemed awkward. It was cool to see them use Mt Prometheus during the villain segment, but it also seemed like kind of a tease to not have Chernabog pop out of the top (which is impractical, but would have been incredible) The castle projection show was cute, but nothing to write home about. From the oohs and aahs from the audience, it was clear that this was the first time most people had seen this type of show, since a lot of it was the standard schtick that has become common in the US. The use of lasers added to the projections for extra bubbles or pixie dust was neat, but the show didn’t seem to raise the bar on what we’ve seen before. IMO, DLP’s Disney Dreams is the best projection show at the moment Something else that I really enjoyed were the Summer Matsuri water shows that sprayed the audience down. We watched the TDL one from the back half of the hub, where we got a couple drops, and the TDS one from the side of the amphitheater which was in the ‘medium’ soak zone. It was so surprising to see the Japanese crowd, who was normally so quiet and reserved, get so into these shows, begging for more water and doing the dances. I couldn’t help but laugh at how entirely bizarre the sight was, and figuring that it would never really catch on (at least to that degree) with the US audiences. It was also impressive to see everything the performers did while soaking wet, and how fresh all of the costumes looked for each show It was also interesting to see how the audiences reacted to the shows in general. We noticed many moments (most notably in Mythica and the Duffy shows) where the music would swell to the big applause moment, only for the audience to remain completely silent. On the flipside, the audiences loved to clap along to nearly anything, and were quite good at it. As a musician, I hate how American audiences try to clap along, and after a few moments begin to speed up and then fad out; the Japanese audiences kept time perfectly and did it for the entire song. It really was a sight to behold! One of my favorite moments was in Minnie, Oh Minnie when the audience was split into 3 sections, each assigned a fairly-complicated rhythm, and successfully clapped all of them at the same time. Something like that would work with a group of musicians in the US, but not an average theme park crowd. It was just strange to see that, but not get any applause at big moments in the shows Overall, it was an awesome experience. Having been to TDR before (though this was my first time doing both parks in the same trip and staying on the monorail line), I knew what to expect so I’m not really a huge convert after this trip. It’s just really refreshing to see that there’s still somewhere that they set your expectations high, and truly deliver every time. In large part, it’s due to the well-behaved guests and outstanding cast, but it’s also due to direction from above. It would be great to see them be able to do stuff like that in the US too
Originally Posted By dagobert Thanks for this wonderful report. I guess you made a lot of pictures. It's a pitty that you can't post them here. Is there a chance to see them somewhere else?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Yah, I have tons of pictures from the trip (~2,300 all together) that I haven't even begun to upload to my computer yet. Eventually I'll post them to Facebook, and I'll try to share a link here when I get around to it. Even though it was toward the beginning of my trip, it will probably be a week or two before I have a chance to post the TDR photos
Originally Posted By Mr X I suggest opening up a Flickr account - it's a lot easier to upload large amounts of photos at one time, organize them, plus you can easily share from there to FB, Pinterest and Twitter. ☜(⌒▽⌒)☞ ☆ﾟ♪
Originally Posted By leemac <<Mythica: wow. To say that this show was like a 3-ring circus on the water wouldn’t do it justice. It was completely mind-blowing to see how many different things they had going on. Just when we thought we had it all figured out and it had reached the climax, out came the last set of huge ornately-detailed barges to kick it up another notch. It was a truly overwhelming experience (in a good way), and we never quite knew where to look or what was coming next. >> Glad to loved it. I've seen it a couple of times this summer and the guest response is the same as since Day 1. I don't think we have ever staged a better live entertainment experience anywhere. It is perfect IMHO. It is a travesty that OLC are cutting the entire show simply to save on the (albeit high) operating costs. It will be an emotional weekend on September 6/7 for the last few performances. I hope that the weather stays clear on September 7 and I can say goodbye to it properly.
Originally Posted By leemac <<I think my favorite show we saw was Blazing Rhythms.>> Mystic Rhythms? Blazing Rhythms was actually a summer event a few years ago! I'm surprised that Rhythms has lasted for nearly 13 years. It never quite captured guests' imaginations in the surveys but it has been a decent draw (although I wonder how much of that is down to the fact that it is a fully enclosed venue). It was always a weird Cirque du Soleil rip-off but the stage area was just too small to pull it off properly. I do think it is a product of its time (it was developed in the late 90s) but it seems to work. I'm just glad that at the moment the replacement is not a character show. The park has enough character experiences and it is great that this venue is remaining a more adult-type show.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Something else that I really enjoyed were the Summer Matsuri water shows that sprayed the audience down. We watched the TDL one from the back half of the hub, where we got a couple drops, and the TDS one from the side of the amphitheater which was in the ‘medium’ soak zone. It was so surprising to see the Japanese crowd, who was normally so quiet and reserved, get so into these shows, begging for more water and doing the dances. I couldn’t help but laugh at how entirely bizarre the sight was, and figuring that it would never really catch on (at least to that degree) with the US audiences. It was also impressive to see everything the performers did while soaking wet, and how fresh all of the costumes looked for each show>> IMHO this summer's TDL Matsuri show is the best one since they began a few years back (and had the best music). The recent Cool The Heat shows didn't work for me. I think it all began with the weird Donald's Super Splash show as I can't remember an early one. The TDS summer show was far wetter this year. The Med Harbor frontage was soaked to the bone.
Originally Posted By leemac <<The castle projection show was cute, but nothing to write home about. From the oohs and aahs from the audience, it was clear that this was the first time most people had seen this type of show, since a lot of it was the standard schtick that has become common in the US. >> It is new and insanely popular. There are elements I like a lot (mainly the art images like the playing cards and the rotating turrets) but the show isn't well-structured or well-paced. The Once Upon A Time song is also one of the weakest entries in recent year despite the warm vocals of Disney regular Kellie Coffey. Ops already hate the show with a passion. It is an absolute nightmare to police the crowds with three shows (Dreamlights and then 2x OUAT) sandwiched together.
Originally Posted By Malin *** It is a travesty that OLC are cutting the entire show simply to save on the (albeit high) operating costs. It will be an emotional weekend on September 6/7 for the last few performances. I hope that the weather stays clear on September 7 and I can say goodbye to it properly. *** How much of the Mythica retirement is also down to construction beginning on the Harbour to expand capacity. I find it interesting its scheduled to begin the day after Mythica finishes. I too was planning to be at Sea that Weekend but the crowds that are likely to turn up to see the final performances scare me a little. So going to try sticking to watching it on the 4th instead. Which is DisneySea's Birthday.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Mystic Rhythms? Blazing Rhythms was actually a summer event a few years ago!<< Doh! Of course! I'd heard of Blazing Rhythms when it happened, but never knew much about it, so I must have swapped them in my mind! I agree that the show is a little strange and definitely reflects the era, but I have a soft spot for that sort of stuff (I love what was done for the Millennium Celebration at Epcot) so it totally worked for me >>The TDS summer show was far wetter this year. The Med Harbor frontage was soaked to the bone.<< I'd believe it! We saw it from the amphitheater area, and people were drenched (many wearing ponchos). There were multiple times where performers were literally just spraying hoses and dumping buckets into the audience, and the guests just kept cheering for more. The show itself wasn't especially memorable but we had so much fun watching the audience get soaked that it really was a highlight of the trip! >>Ops already hate the show with a passion. It is an absolute nightmare to police the crowds with three shows (Dreamlights and then 2x OUAT) sandwiched together.<< That's really interesting to hear. I know that it's been a concern regarding bringing a nighttime parade back to DL, since they would have so many things to schedule around (though they did it for a few years in the 90's) with the parade, fireworks, Fantasmic! and potentially WOC to consider. Overall, the park is so big that it never felt crowded around show times for us, but Dreamlights did begin before it was quite dark enough >>How much of the Mythica retirement is also down to construction beginning on the Harbour to expand capacity.<< Have they said which areas they're expanding? For us, it was quite easy to grab a pretty good spot about 15 minutes before each show we saw (Tanabata Greeting, Mythica, Summer Splash, Fantasmic!) so it seems odd that they'd need more capacity. The front-facing spots were a little more tough to come by, simply due to the shape of the harbor, but I can't imagine what they could do to fix that while maintaining the open piazza there
Originally Posted By leemac <<The show itself wasn't especially memorable but we had so much fun watching the audience get soaked that it really was a highlight of the trip!>> The TDS spring and summer events have been very feminine in recent years - I've struggled to pay much attention too. This one was marginally more entertaining than Primavera. Not sure what weather you had FA but I was very grateful for the soakings I got! It has been a very hot summer so far.
