Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Halloween Presents Itself at DisneySea

The excitement on our third day didn’t falter what so ever! Now that we had a little experience under our belts, we were ready to take on DisneySea with full force. We weren’t at all experts, like the locals, but the overwhelmed feeling was gone. We even felt better at the local Lawson convenient market, near our apartment rental. I noticed the female clerk was still wearing her huge, strawberry blonde wig. Good for her.

The bus ride was still interesting for us. Every seat has its own button to notify the driver that you’d like to exit. And, we enjoyed the fun signage that each told his own cautionary tale of why you shouldn’t disobey safety rules. Seeing the various citizens heading to their daily routines, in their various uniforms, is something we don’t see often at home. Yes, we do see folks headed to work and school, but this was different. The independence shown by these young kids either headed to the trains or on the bus we rode was impressive. Eric and I were baffled to see what appeared to be 8/9 year olds heading out alone.

This time around, Eric and I were “in the know” and we stayed on the bus until it arrived at the DisneySea terminal. As fun as it is to ride, we avoided the Monorail fee of approximately 2.50. There was definitely a chill in the air that was multiplied as we entered the turnstile area. We were under the covered walkway with everyone else, waiting for the gates to open. Just like the day before at Disneyland, Eric and I were very close to the front of the queue. We had about 45 minutes to wait in anticipation.


Upon entering the park, we had the same plan as we did on Day 1. We would head straight to Journey to the Center of the Earth,  grab a fast pass and then ride it. This attraction is at the top of our list for Tokyo Disney Resort attractions. The excitement of the morning dash was just as fun as previous days. If any of you readers visit these parks, I can’t stress enough that you must see this for yourself! It all plays out like the Black Friday footage we see on the news broadcast!

                              Cool aqueduct structure in Mediterranean Harbor

                                  Journey to the Center of the Earth queue

After enjoying both 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth, we again bumped into some USA pals. Tom Bricker and wife Sarah, as well as Guy Selga and wife Jennifer asked us along to ride the gondolas. At this point, Eric and I had forgotten about the gondolas. How could we? They are tucked away in an almost hidden area of the park. If one were to enter from the main entrance, the attraction is nestled behind the shops on the left. The group also felt we should join them at the lottery for the DisneySea show “Big Band Beat”, which plays in American Waterfront. But, first we all headed to the Venetian themed canals to board a gondola.



They were very spacious, but since the queue was short they didn’t seem to load it as heavy as that might at busier times. Unlike the propelled gondolas at the Las Vegas Venetian hotel, here it appeared that Cast Member was using manual force to get us through the canals. The waterway themed to the canals wasn’t very long. When the canal ended we turned away from that area and coasted along the main lagoon, where Fantasmic is performed. The morning was slightly gloomy so it didn’t make for great photos. As we headed in the opposite direction, heading back to the station, the gondolier began his rendition of an un-named aria. He did pretty well until the last few moments when he struggled a bit. Still, we all applauded his performance. It’s tough to put yourself out there.


Thankfully the posted lottery schedule was near the gondola attraction. As we walked over, we all exchanged stories and opinions of what we had seen on our trip. All of us seemed to agree that we loved how crowded Disneyland was on the previous rainy day. I say we “loved” it because as I mentioned in a previous post, the determination of the Tokyo fans is amazing to see.  Our group soon found out that the show “Big Band Beat” would not offer the lottery for today. The show would load on a first come basis. Well, all that really meant was that we would need to arrive in time to wait for entry. Eric and I didn’t mind that. It was early in the day and there was plenty of time. We parted ways with the other four, but made tentative plans to meet at the Teddy Roosevelt Lounge a little later.


Although Eric and I had a pastry for breakfast, with a famous Coke Zero, it was time for another snack. Again, thanks to the helpful TDRExplorer.com we knew that the Halloween themed hot dog was nearby in American Waterfront! It was just a matter of finding the right location. It wasn’t hard at all. Starting from a parked vending truck, there was a small queue formed for the popular “black” hot dog with a ghostly white bun. We had been waiting to sample this for about a month!


The hot dog tasted like any other hot dog, but the texture of the meat itself was slightly different. I would say the texture seemed a little fake. But, has anyone ever had a hot dog with the same texture as a slab of beef right off the grill? I doubt it. The novelty of the whole thing was good enough for us. As we ate, on the back steps of the McDuck’s merchandise store, we could hear some interesting voices approaching our way. My next action may have come off as rude, but I assure you all that it was out of excitement.



I practically snatched Eric’s hot dog out of his hand, what was left of it, and may have shouted, “GO! GO!” as I pointed at the approaching skeleton family. I’m not proud of my actions, but Eric got some great shots of the family on vacation! They had their eerie sounding voices as they interacted with the crowd. They seemed to be in a hurry, maybe late for a fast pass, because they didn’t stop. Since they continued on their way, my understanding husband was able to return to enjoy his hot dog.




Once we finished our snack or mid-day meal (depends on one’s perspective) we took a stroll through McDuck’s. As reported on many sites before, it is a mecca to the Duffy enthusiast. Even though we already knew this fact we had to take a look for ourselves. Everywhere we gazed  guests jumped or shrieked with the excitement of a lottery winner. Even if they weren’t about to make a purchase, the love for Duffy, along with now Shellie May and Gelatoni, was infectious. There were Eric and myself joining in the fun as we examined all the various outfits for these three plush dolls. Nearing the front of the store we heard a familiar sound, and we both dashed out the door!

Behold!....more skeleton friends!!


This time the skeletons were from various backgrounds. One appeared to be a bell hop from the cursed hotel nearby and another looked like she may have been a celebrity of some sort. Maybe the bell hop wasn’t from Tower of Terror as his hat had the word “Chattanooga” across the front of it. They seemed to be improving with the guests as they posed for photos. I wish I knew what they were saying. As they spoke in Japanese, they had voice modulators to give them a high pitched, electronic sounding voice.


In our morning so far, we had some positive experiences with their Halloween offerings. There was still “Big Band Beat” and the “Follies” show we hoped to see. The only drawback of the “Follies” show is people seem to wait up to four hours for that one. I don’t know if we had that long to set aside in our day. Maybe we were wrong in thinking we had a lot of time? And don't forget that I'm still on the prowl for my Mickey popcorn bucket! 

 

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