Hi all!

So here we are finally at part two of the trip report for Tokyo! In Part One I discussed the Japanese obsession with all things small, cute and Disney, and how it affects their behaviour in the parks. I am going to move on now to the other peculiarities of the Japanese Resort, including the strict regime and rules.

Japan for the most part runs on time. It is efficient and consistent in most areas including opening hours and public transport. This comes through at the Disney Parks too, but at a cost.

In the US and Paris, when you have a billed opening time, for the sake of convenience, easiness and all round good Guest service, most of the time you are allowed to enter the park early. Even if it's just half hour or so, you can at very least go onto Main Street to browse the shops. This not only provides immediate early morning sales for the parks (which makes good business sense - why have people stand and wait when they can shop?), but also allows the entrance areas and walkways to be less congested and overall safer, and a nicer environment. The US and Paris Parks even have Extra Magic Hours (EMH), which allows Resort Guests and (in Paris), Annual Passholders into the Parks up to two hours early. Again, good business practice and Guest service, right? In Japan, nothing. In Japan if the opening time is billed at 8am, expect the park to open it's turnstiles at 8am sharp, and not a second before. If you are a Resort Guest, you get a measly 15 minutes, yes you heard - FIFTEEN minutes extra in the parks. This is at a Resort where the lines to get in the parks in the mornings can be half a mile long (almost literally), and can take 20 minutes to get in the park once you're in line and the turnstiles open because of the sheer volume of people. This becomes very frustrating when you are standing in a MASSIVE line at 7.30am, and it is already baking hot, with 90% humidity.

Their ridiculous rules don't stop there. The photography one is the one that REALLY bugged me. As you all know, Jon and I are avid photographers. We can't live without our cameras. I have never, EVER known of a Disney Park to tell Guests to stop taking pictures. We aren't just talking in shows where the lighting is low here, we are talking in attraction lines and "normal" shows. We are talking "Dan takes a picture of a random rock in the line for a ride, and a Japanese Cast Member instantly appears practically demanding that I stop taking pictures immediately" - yes, it is that ridiculous. Theme parks are for people to rampage around with their friends and family having loads of fun and taking silly photos for their albums. Theme parks are public places where you EXPECT people to take pictures - but not in Japan apparently. It is just outright annoying and plain stupid. I try to be fair when I am reporting on things for others to read, but I cannot escape my complete contempt for their utterly preposterous rules. If you do not want 50,000 members of the public all on vacation with their families taking photos of their fun times, then why build a theme park?

We continue with the rules...

Anywhere you go in the parks, you will see random Cast Members standing there, anywhere, talking. Talking constantly to themselves. They talk, and talk and TALK. What are they saying? Well, they are giving out the rules and regulations of the park; what is expected, where to stand for the parade, what you can and cannot do - pretty much anything really. The Cast Members in Tokyo Disney talk more than any other Cast Members I've ever seen. This is how a scene for boarding a ride in the US and Paris would go:

"Ok folks as you board please keep your hands and legs inside the boat at all the times, watch your step as you enter and exit, and no standing at any time. And please watch your children. Enjoy your ride."

Fair and simple, right? Now, in Tokyo that would be extended by about ten lines, and would include pretty much every rule and possible variable of circumstances that could arise from entering and sitting on a ride vehicle. The same goes for waiting for the parades. Cast Members will stand at the ropes, at about 15 feet intervals, and ramble constantly, from about an hour before the parade, to the moment the parade steps into their area. They will constantly tell you to move back (even if you're already six feet from the rope and sitting down), and will run around in sheer panic the moment the parade comes because they are terrified that people may accidentally, randomly fall into an oncoming performer or float (six feet away behind a rope). Yes, it really IS this ridiculous.

Now we move onto the parade rules. The Japanese wait for HOURS for anything and everything. They will sit all day for the latest show. For the day parade, to get a good spot you can expect to wait at least an hour and a half. The interesting thing about how they organise Guests for the parades is that everyone has to sit. You cannot stand at any point. Now this isn't such a bad rule overall, but it takes up three times as much space to seat people than if they stood, and the park's walkways are already pretty crowded as it is. People will wait SO long for everything, that they even have a "plastic mats" rule. You can only save ground space with mats and blankets (or coats, or anything else) up to an hour before the parade or event starts. They actually make park wide announcements about it too! Never before in a Disney Park have I ever heard a Guest announcement informing me that I can now get out my plastic mat, as it is now an hour before the parade! And the Japanese will, too. The second it becomes an hour before the parade, out come the mats, coats, ponchos and blankets, and anything else that they can use to cover every square inch of floor space. The other problem with sitting is the height of the parades. Sitting does not bother me, but this is apparently the tried and tested method of doing things in Japan - so why are all the parade floats 50 feet high and the characters towering above the park? Who can see at that height? Who wants to crane their heads vertically for half an hour while the parade comes past? So why design the parade like this if it is the "normal" thing in Japan? Who knows. But it is annoying all the same!

Now to something different. Duffy the Disney Bear Duffy is the cute stuffed bear owned by Mickey Mouse, made for him by Minnie. The story has it that Mickey was going on a long voyage, and was going to be lonely, so Minnie made him a travelling teddy bear. The bear came to life in Mickey's dreams while he was away, and would read Minnie's letters to him. A little weird, I know. For those of you who don't know, in reality Duffy is the bear created by Walt Disney World a number of years back to feature at their former Teddy Bear and Doll Weekends at Epcot. He became very popular with the Japanese, and so they decided to relaunch him at DisneySea with a new name (Duffy, of course) and new back story (the one I described above). Apparently the name comes from the fact that Mickey would carry Duffy in his duffel bag.

Duffy is insanely popular in Japan, as Jon and I discovered. There are at least three stores in DisneySea that solely sell his merchandise, and people come to the parks decked out in as much Duffy stuff as possible. He also has his own show there, too, which is extremely popular.

Overall Jon and I were not won over by Duffy and do not get all the insane hype surrounding him - especially the two hour lines to get into the show at American Waterfront, and the 30 minute plus meet 'n' greet line. But, the Japanese flock in their thousands to meet him, and carry his merchandise around all day with them.

While we are on the subject of meet 'n' greets, this brings me to my next point about the peculiar Japanese rules and behaviour. Firstly, in the US and Paris Parks, even if a character is very popular, has a long line, or being mobbed by Guests, you cannot poke, prod, tap or lift them. In Japan, Guests quite frequently hammer on the shoulders of the Characters trying to get their attention. They lift their skirts, shirts and other clothing items, and basically do anything they feel is OK in order to get their attention or jest around with them. This is certainly something I think the Japanese need to address, not just for the performer's safety, but for the integrity and dignity of the character (performer) trying to deliver the magic.

The second thing regarding meet 'n' greets is to do with photographs, again. It is apparent that when there is some sort of queue system in place (I.E. Ariel's Grotto, Mickey's House, Duffy etc), you are only allowed one quick group picture and you are rapidly whisked away. At the Duffy line it even goes so far as them taking your camera for you before you get to him, and taking you picture and ushering you out the way before allowing you to have your camera back. I am not joking. Duffy does not sign autographs either. But this becomes even more ludicrous when for example, like happened to us, you meet a Character that has no line. We met Ariel in DisneySea one day, and she does have a queue line set up, but there was literally nobody there when we went to see her (which is a miracle in itself given the lines elsewhere in the park). But despite the non-line, and us being the only ones present, we were ushered in very quickly, allowed one picture each and basically pushed out the door. Beyond a joke? I think so.

There were murmurs from within Disney that Oriental Land Company (OLC) might buy the US Parks and Resorts a while back, and I am glad that nothing has so far come of it. If OLC tried to implement any of this at the US Parks, I think there would be uproar from the Cast and Guests alike.

Although I have written a long list of complaints here about our experiences in the Japanese Resort, it is purely because I want to forewarn people of some of the challenges they may face when they visit. Despite it's problems, Tokyo Disney Resort is an amazing place. It has a lot of very new and different things to offer, and a lot of old favourites too.

In my third and final report I shall talk about the Parks and resort themselves (as opposed to the weird rules and behaviours as discussed in the last two reports!). I'll talk about the food on offer, the theming and the different (and similar) rides, shows and attractions.

Ok, that's all for now!

Dan :)