Why I Oughta...

In the past couple of posts, I've talked about my trip to Tokyo DisneySea.  Today, I'm sharing a look at the Park Map that they were giving out while I was there.   During the month of February, they were having a 35th Birthday party for the resort.  Or as they call it their '35th Happiest Celebration! Grand Finale'.  Compare this with the park map I picked up on my first trip to Tokyo DisneySea a few years ago .   DisneySea is much younger than 35 years.  It opened on September 4, 2001 , so it hasn't even reached 20 years old yet, but the 'resort' - which includes Disneyland - opened back in 1983.   I've added this post to the [ Disney Parks Maps ] tag page here  where you can see the rest of the parks maps that I've shared including the most recent two from Anaheim that were holiday-themed earlier this year.  

Yesterday, I shared some of the details from my second visit to Tokyo DisneySea including how their "Mainstreet" is different than the typical Disney Park.  But, as you can imagine, there are quite a few *other* ways that the Tokyo parks are different from the one you visit in Orlando or Anaheim.  Of course, part of the difference is the guests and their behavior.  From the amazing costume'ing that guests wear at the Disney parks in Tokyo to the food items (the popcorn flavors!), there's so much to take in that is big picture stuff. But there's also little tiny details that caught my eye.  One of them is this sign in the men's room.  It says:  Clean Hands, Happy Faces!  That's a nice sentiment, isn't it?

This was my second trip to Tokyo DisneySea in as many years.  The first time I went was during Easter time in April of 2017 .  This visit didn't disappoint.  There's plenty of Disney bloggers out there who will tell you that Tokyo DisneySea is * the best* Disney Park in the world .  And I won't disagree.  It certainly is unique and at the same time, a little familiar.  On my last trip, I posted some photos of the place and took in the entire place.  This trip, I was on a little bit more of a mission to do some specific things (spend time in Cape Cod, ride Journey to the Center of the Earth , and buy a couple of Duffy and friends items for the kids).  Upon entering, you're greeted with this view of Mediterranean Harbor.  And the Bella Notte boat moored near the entrance.  There are guys rowing gondolas and people milling in and out of various places around the port.  This is a different kind of "Main Street" than the rest of the parks have:  it is more

Down at the Epcot Center in Florida, there is a store in the Japan pavilion that sells all sorts of novelty items from Japan including a live oyster/pearl tank where you can pick out an oyster and once opened, discover a pearl.  That store is called Mitsukoshi.  I had been going to the store for a couple of years until Natalie told me that it was called Mitsukoshi and that it is a department store in Japan.  Like...this isn't just a 'shop' in the Japan Pavilion, it is actually a location of this department store .  Having been to Japan a few times now for work, on my most recent trip, I decided to try to get into one of the Tokyo locations.  Turns out, the Ginza location was located on the walk between my hotel and the office I was working in all week.  You can see the store in the photo above:  the *older* store is the main portion located on the corner.  A bit down to the right, you can see the *newer* addition they've added.  Here's a look at that new s

I'm one lucky guy.  At least when it comes to timing trips with the show that Cherry Blossom trees put on.  Last year, I was in Tokyo during the Cherry Blossom season and documented it here on the blog . And earlier this month, I found myself in our nation's capital when their own Cherry Blossom trees were on full display .   Double bucket list visits, right? I also brushed up on the reason for why the Cherry Blossom trees are even there . Each year, the National Cherry Blossom Festival commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to the city of Washington, DC. The gift and annual celebration honor the lasting friendship between the United States and Japan and the continued close relationship between the two countries. My trip to Washington D.C. was brief, but I was able to take in the trees from a few different vantage points.  (I've posted about another trip to DC all the way back in 2012 when I took this photo of the Washingt

I posted about the beer I drank in Tokyo last week and I've covered a bunch of my trip to Tokyo Disney in various posts over the past few weeks, but this coffee experience seemed like it warranted it's own post.  Coffee? In a can?  That looks like a Mickey's bottle from my college days? Yeah. We were there in Japan on-site working on a client project in a few of their facilities; one of them an office building and the other a more of an assembly or manufacturing plant.  That's where I came across this Premium Boss Black Coffee in a hand-grenade can.  It came out of a vending machine (I forget how many yen it was), but what was cool was that there were two options:  hot or cold.  You got, what I think is the same exact can and same exact coffee, only one of the cans was piping hot and the other was ice cold.  Pretty neat.

Despite what it seems like based on the posts here, it wasn't all Disney during my time in Tokyo.  Besides the work proper, we also took in a bunch of the local sights and places.  One of them was the Tsukiji Market where we spent time in both parts - the inner market where we wandered around amongst fork lifts and workers and the outer market where they sell more retail items from food to household products.  And that's where I came across this Tawashi Scrubbing Brush.  It is billed as being "made by Traditional Craftsman of Japan" and as you can see, they even list the guy's name:  Shinichi Sagara.  It seemed like a nice, unique item to bring home that wouldn't sit on a shelf, but that we'd actually use. You can find these online like in this Japanese Restaurant supply shop where they describe their own version of the product thusly: This biodegradable, all-natural scrubbing brush has been around in Japanese households for over 100 years and i

I came home with a bunch of stuff for the kids from my visit to both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea including pins and easter stuff , but above you see both park maps.  I'm writing this post to go along with the deposit I'm making in my 'stash box'. Having gone to these two parks was on my Disney Bucket list and having gone to them both, I can now check them off.  Into the stash box they go, with this reminder of why they're there. It isn't used for the 'stash' you're probably thinking of, but rather is just a collection of my personal effects and items that I've come across and accumulated over the years.  Everything from race medals to cufflinks that were given to me as a gift to a bunch of lapel pins (fraternity, secret service cleared, etc).  There's a few paper items in there as well.  And now, it will include these maps.  Speaking of my stash box, I think it might be time to upgrade it in size.  Having a small one has been

I stayed at Tokyo Disneyland until late in the evening and long enough to see their main nighttime parade called " Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights ".  We've seen the the "Main Street Electrical Parade" at WDW and we've seen "Paint the Night" parade at DLR and this is kind of a combination of both of those things.  And because of that, it is awesome.  You get all the lights and action from "Paint the Night", but you get Baroque Hoedown blasting over the speakers .  (go ahead...click that link and listen to the song.  It transports you, like it does me???) Above you see the Casey Jr. train float with Mickey, Minnie and Goof on it.  (You'll also note the 2 dudes snapping vertical video/photos.  C'mon man.  Landscape mode, dudes.  Landscape mode!) And below you see the photo, the first float is lead by the Blue Fairy from Pinnochio.  And then is followed by the locomotive and big drum you see above.  Those are fl

Last week, I posted a photo of the Tokyo DisneySea pin that I picked up on my trip there for one of the girl's collection.  Today, here's the companion Tokyo Disneyland pin for the other girl.  They're very close in terms of looks and this was, as far as I could tell the only version of the park-centric pins that were available.  (at least in the store I was in at DisneySea) The cards on these are plastic, so that's a big difference between these Tokyo Disney pins and the domestic ones sold in the US parks.  Also, the backs are quite different as each of these has the specific park listed on the backs, which is kind of neat.  I bought another pin (non-park-specific) and that back is different than these, so I'm thinking that the park-specific ones have their own stamped backs.

Despite Beer Advocate giving this Asahi Super "Dry" a 'poor' rating , I found it quite drinkable at the various dinners and evening activities that we took on during my stay in Tokyo and Nagoya.  When we weren't drinking sake, I defaulted to beer and more often than not, it seemed that this Asahi Super "Dry" was amongst the beers available.

My trip to Tokyo was timed perfectly - in terms of seeing the famed Cherry Blossom trees in all their glory .  If you have ready anything about them this year, there was concern that they were emerging 'early' - officially - five days earlier than average .  Here in Illinois, we have our little 'blossom season' going on with the widely planted Cleveland Pear tree.  They're the trees that are blooming white flowers like crazy all over the suburbs.  They're a common tree planted in the front of new houses and in parkways and along parking lots.  They grow in a tight area and they are quite show-y during this period of time.   We had a Cleveland Select Pear tree in the front yard our old house and I loved it .  Loved it so much that I bought a few more.  (And we've included one in our plan for the new place.) But, back to these Cherry Blossoms.  We don't live in Seattle or DC - where these things are present.  So, I haven't really experienced '

Over the weekend, I posted some photos from my visit to Tokyo DisneySea t hat showed off the Easter decorations and a bunch of the Easter-related merchandise available in the stores at both DisneySea and Tokyo Disneyland .  I bought a bunch of that Easter stuff, but I also picked up some other items including, of course, some pins. I ended up getting a pin for Tokyo DisneySea the park itself as one of them.  You can see that pin above.  Once we get our pin boards out, this will join its brethren in the 'places' section that mostly features Resorts/hotels like the Contemporary pin in posted at the beginning of April  or the holiday-themed resort pins we picked up on our 2015 Christmas trip .  This might be the first park-specific pin that we've bought, although I believe we've traded for some park-specific pins over time. You can see the full post archives of various Disney pins here on the blog and once we get the pin boards and full pin sets out of storage, I&

As I posted yesterday, Easter is a (surprising, at least to me) big deal at Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea .  Lots of displays around the parks, but the stores are loaded with Easter-related items.  It wouldn't be a trip to a Disney Park without buying stuff you don't really need, right?  And holiday-related items for my kids?  Couldn't pass some of this stuff up. Here's a look at some of the displays in the stores including "Grand Emporium" at Tokyo Disneyland (which is the big store on their version of MainStreet USA) and the Emporio - the version at DisneySea. They have a big display of towels in different sizes featuring Mickey and Minnie in their Easter best. Pay attention to those outfits.  More on that down below. They also have these pretty awesome eggs in a package.  Inside of each of those are little candies.  You can see the display in the bottom left of the photo. There's a bunch of pins and post-it notes that are all egg-

One of the things that I was surprised by was how prominent the Easter holiday was present at the Disney Parks in Tokyo.   Based on this story from 2015, the idea of celebrating Easter is fairly new to Japan  and brands were just starting to package their products with special Easter packaging.  Fast forward two years and you'll see that they've totally embraced Easter at the Disney Parks! From J apanInfo.com from 2015 : With Japan easily getting interested in foreign holidays, and celebrating them in their own unique way, it is surprising to notice, that Easter has so far not being targeted by brands and companies as one would suggest it might do. DisneySea went all-in on Easter.  And they did a really spectacular job! Most of the Easter-related displays were in the part of the park called American Waterfront, so perhaps having most of this stuff displayed there was purposeful?  They also had this big display at the entrance to the park, for all to see. He

As I mentioned yesterday in a post , I spent a few days recently in Tokyo.  Part of that trip included an escape to see both Disney parks located there of course.  Yeah...I went to Tokyo.  And I went to their two Disney parks.  The first park I visited was Tokyo DisneySea.  Pretty incredible place and unlike any other Disney Park I've ever been to.  Over a bunch of posts, I'll share more of that experience including some of the things I saw and rode.  But for now?  Take a look at their Carousel.  It is back in the far corner of the park in the Arabian Coast land that features the Agrabah Marketplace and flying carpets from Aladdin. But that carousel?  First, it is two stories tall.  And then they've built this beautiful building around it.  Just magnificent. Here's the ride listing from the official Tokyo DisneySea site .  They list both the ride duration (2.5 minutes), the capacity (190 persons) and the number of mounts (126).  That's something that the d