Originally Posted By RCCRUISER Faith I am thinking of a potential gold mine of a book that would have an exclusive on the park. The book could also point out the Unique aspects of visiting TDR etc. It is amazing that there isn't a single publisher out there that would think this would be profitable.
Originally Posted By WorldDisney <<There's traveling, and there's vacationing. They're 2 different activities, but they overlap in a trip. My Kyoto trip will be more like traveling, and my Tokyo trip will be more like vacationing. And I reserve the right to also vacation in Kyoto.>> That's sooo true. I'm about to do both myself in a few months. I plan to see Vietnam and Thailand. In Vietnam, I plan to travel: get into the history, try to visit the out-the-way places and cities, visit the war museum, hit the Mekong river for a few days and see some of the boat people who live there and etc. When I get to Thailand: Vacation, vacation, vacation!!! Hit a few of the islands, find a nice beach and sit on it for a few days and party like I'm 29 again . Two different countries and two different ways of doing them.
Originally Posted By WorldDisney <<One thing I've discovered about travel is there really is a wide variety of different things that people are aiming to get out of a vacation: some want to shop, some want to sightsee, some want to learn about history, some want to relax, some want to have fun, some want to do activities, or some combination of these, and what you end up doing varies dramatically depending on how you feel about these things.>> Oh man, I can talk HEAPS about that issue, ESPECIALLY dealing with everyone's favorite hobby here: Disney. I actually mentioned this once before here, but I'm sure no one has a clue I said this already, but I remember when I went to Europe back in 2001 and toured it for about 3 months. I saved well over a year and worked two jobs just for that experience. Anyway, I stayed in England for a few weeks with a British friend and he showed me around England then (completely unemployed lol). Well, I told him I was going to spend 2 days seeing Disneyland Paris since naturally it was at the top of my list and I had never been there before...and he was TOTALLY appalled by the idea. I can't tell you how many times he kept saying to me, "Why would you go there? You're from L.A., you already been to the original DL. You should have more time to see the 'real' Europe?" Although I was polite and explained it over and over again, he REALLY pissed me off. I was on the continent for nearly 3 months, had plan to see 11 countries, 20 cities and countless churches, museums, galleries, landmarks and every other touristy thing you can think of in Europe. But, I include 2 days to see a theme park and it was sacriledge to him. Now mind you, we spent 3 days on a beach in this little English town and then went to Burmingham for 2 days where we did nothing but sit in pubs all day and drink. Now, he sees NO problem doing that even though we have beaches and bars in L.A. too (and MUCH better beaches btw ). But going to a theme park is a waste of time I guess since every waking moment, I suppose to spend it inside of a castle or art museum like every other robot tourist. That's the thing about traveling, its your experience, so don't do something that you THINK you are suppose to be doing. Ultimately, its you who is going to get the most out of it, not anyone else. If you HATE temples, don't go all through Japan looking at them. If you're not into shopping, don't spend time buying useless crap or souvineers that you are going to throw in a closet back home just to 'remind' yourself about your trip. Don't understand why the Effiel Tower is suppose to be something to see, don't waste the Euros and half a day to see it. The trip is YOUR trip, so make it your own .
Originally Posted By SuperDry You should have seen the look on Francois's face at London Waterloo Station last year when I was buying my EuroStar ticket from him for a day trip to DLP. He was appauled at where I was going, and strongly encouraged me to instead consider visiting the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the many other fine sites in Paris itself. I told him that I had seen all of those things before, but had never been to DLP. I was really trying to have an open mind about France, but they had managed to export their trademark rudeness so that I got a good dose of it before I had even crossed the channel. So I know what you mean. It's amazing when I look back at times that I ran into what you did: someone STRONGLY trying to coerce a change in travel plans (either including something I had zero interest in, or getting me to not do something I really wanted to). I just don't know what gets into people. I attribute it to a general narrow-mindedness that many people have ("Why would anyone want to do something differently than I would?" seems to be their line of thinking). What's fascinating is that in my experience, the stronger a person wants to discourage a overseas visit to a Disney park by an American, the more they would self-identify themselves as an open-minded person. Go figure. I think I've written about this before, but I rechecked it just now: The Lonely Planet guides for both Japan and Tokyo have nary a mention of TDR. I could find absolutely no mention whatever in the Japan guide, and the Tokyo city guide shows where it is on the corner of the greater Tokyo map, but there's no mention in the text of the book as far as I can tell. It's just astounding that among all of the things that are mentioned (such as the ramen museum, the salt museum, and so on), that TDR would not be. I can only conclude that this is done on purpose, as it does seem that generally speaking, the Lonely Planet type of people would be just the kind that would frown on an overseas visit to a Disney resort. It's funny because generally speaking, I find that I like the Lonely Planet style of travel the best compared to the other guide book series ("be a traveler, not a tourist" and so on), but stuff like this really bugs me. And as WD said, the overseas Disney thing is just an example of the wider issue of travel styles.
Originally Posted By Goofys Apprentice Must add Salt Museum to itinerary (where's the sarcasm symbol?) Actually if they have free pretzels ... Folks I think the problem with an English Tokyo Disney guidebook is there aren't enough primarily English speakers who visit there. An e-book may be the only way to do it, and you might have to charge something like $50 to make any money from it.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Pretzels.. actually that's a vey good question... I don't think I have ever seen pretzels being sold at TDL anywhere... Churros, turkey legs, popcorm of 10 different flaovers.. yes, but pretzels?
Originally Posted By Faith >>I think I've written about this before, but I rechecked it just now: The Lonely Planet guides for both Japan and Tokyo have nary a mention of TDR. << My version of Lonely Planet Japan has a paragraph on TDL. (copyright 2000) These stories remind me of the time I visited a friend who was living in Paris when I was spending a few months going through Europe- it was my 3rd straight year of visiting the city and I really only stopped there to see her. Anyway, I kept getting lectures about how I should get up and about earlier and not sleep so late. *rolls eyes* Ironically, she forced me to see an American movie which had French subtitles. That's sure not my idea of something to do when on vacation! (unless perhaps it happens to be a movie I really want to see which this didn't) I am no longer in touch with this friend. And I also don't recall seeing pretzels at TDR.
