Tray Tables and Time Zones

Disney Dreams Part 3B: Disney With A Passport

• Josh Bogle • Episode 21

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Ever wondered what Mickey Mouse is like with a passport? Prepare for a journey beyond the familiar gates of Disney World and Disneyland as we venture to the magical realms of Hong Kong Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Resort.

Hong Kong Disneyland may be compact, but it packs unique wonders you won't find stateside. Picture this: real mountains creating a stunning backdrop behind the castle, a Big Thunder Mountain that surprises with a reverse section, and the trackless wonder of Mystic Manor replacing the traditional Haunted Mansion. While easily experienced in a day, this park deserves to be part of your larger Asian adventure rather than a standalone destination.

Then there's Tokyo Disney Resort – quite possibly the crown jewel of Disney parks worldwide. The cast members here seem to have captured the essence of what Disney service was always meant to be, offering care and attention that feels like stepping into the company's golden era. Surprisingly affordable compared to American parks, Tokyo Disney delivers extraordinary value alongside unmatched experiences.

Tokyo DisneySea stands as perhaps the world's finest theme park, with immersive environments that transport you completely. From the Beauty and Beast area to the revolutionary Peter Pan ride in Fantasy Springs (which combines clear 3D technology with physical sets in ways that will astonish even non-fans of the movie), the creativity and execution are breathtaking.

For first-time visitors, vacation packages offer a stress-free way to experience Tokyo Disney with bundled accommodations, meals, and premier access reservations. More experienced travelers might explore partner hotels like Oriental Hotel Tokyo Bay, which offers dedicated Disney shuttles, direct train access, and amenities including an evening lounge with complimentary treats.

Whether you're planning your first international Disney adventure or adding to your global park collection, these destinations deserve a spot on your travel bucket list – just remember to incorporate them into a broader Asian journey to maximize both your airfare investment and cultural experiences. The international Disney magic awaits!

Disney with a Passport Introduction

Speaker 1

Flight 527, runway 8K. You're cleared for takeoff. This is your captain speaking. If you love travel and we know you do, buckle your seatbelts and keep your tray tables in the upright position. You should be seeing the illuminated fun signs throughout the aircraft because we're about to take off on a chat of epic proportions. Welcome to Tray Tables and Time Zones, the podcast where travel isn't just about taking vacations, it's about enriching your life. We'll dive into the highs, the lows and the downright absurd moments that come with exploring the world. Whether it's food poisoning on a long-haul flight, trekking to Mount Everest Base Camp or traveling to Disney parks worldwide, we cover it all Serious at moments, but mostly we're here to laugh and share some brutally honest travel stories. So let's do it one time zone at a time. This is Trey Tableson, time Zones, and this is your host. Josh Bogle, tables and Time Zones, and this is your host.

Speaker 2

Josh Bogle. What's up everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Trade Tables and Time Zones. I'm your host, josh Bogle, and on this episode we take a look at Disney with a passport, by looking at the two parks that I've been to outside the US Disneyland, hong Kong and Tokyo Disney Resort.

Speaker 2

Now, as you guys know that listen to the podcast I'm a huge travel nut. I mean, this podcast is about travel, so obviously I love to travel and another one of my loves again, as you guys well know, is Disney. So being able to combine them in this form into international travel for Disney is a pretty awesome combo, at least for me, because I get to do a bunch of things that I really, really enjoy all at the same time. Now Disney has four parks outside of the United States. One is in Paris, one is in Shanghai, one is in Tokyo and one is in Hong Kong. So I have been to all the US Disney parks and then I have been to Hong Kong Disney and to Disney Tokyo Resort. I haven't been to the other two yet. They are on the books to go at some point, but they just haven't been included in my travel yet. One thing I will say right off the jump about going to the parks internationally is that, for me at least, I think the smart move is to plan Disney as part of a larger trip, right? Because especially if you're in the United States, but I mean if you're in Europe or wherever, more than likely the flight into Asia are pretty long flights and so you want to take advantage of having to one spend the money to buy those plane tickets and to maximize your time while you're there. And so for me, I've always thought of the parks as being a part of a trip, but not the sole reason for the trip.

Speaker 2

Right, and this is especially true with Hong Kong Disney. Because even though it's an it's a fabulous park, it is quite small, right, it's, it's really small. It's kind of off by itself in that it's between the city and the airport. Right, it's kind of off on its own little thing. So unless you're staying at the resort for Disney, then it's a bit of a hike in from Hong Kong, the actual city part, out to the park. And then the vice versa is that if you're staying at Hong Kong Disney, it's a bit of a hike into Hong Kong to see the other good things, right? So for me, I think you roll that trip into a larger trip of Asia or of wherever you're going. So to me, hong Kong Disney is definitely being rolled into another trip because I've been one time to that park and, like I said, it's amazing to that park.

Speaker 2

And, like I said, it's amazing, it's pretty magical, because one of the coolest things is the landscape, because there's actual real mountains behind the park. So when you're walking down Main Street, usa, and you're looking at the castle which is very reminiscent to me of the castle at Disneyland because it's pretty small you have actual real mountains behind you and so it feels very, very authentic, even more so than what Disney has to do with in Orlando or in Anaheim, because they have to manufacture landscape right, because it's pretty flat in both places and the landscape that they're trying to portray for you know, the stories are not necessarily conducive to those flat pieces of property in Florida and California. So to have a real landscape of real mountains behind the park is really kind of a unique thing and it was. You know it was. It was surprising when I saw it the first time and it was very beautiful. I really, really enjoyed it.

Speaker 2

But you're literally talking about a park that is essentially, you know, quote unquote Disneyland. Right, it's, that's what it is, but there's not a DCA or there's not an Epcot or there's not, you know, animal Kingdom in addition. So, really, one to two days at Hong Kong Disney is all you need, and my wife and I did it in a day and with some planning and stuff you can easily do that. But if you wanted to take your time more, I mean you could stretch it out into two days. But, um, you know, it's, it's just, it's just not a big park. And, that being said, the food is really good at the park.

Speaker 2

The rides are very unique. Their version of big thunder mountain is a blast because it actually has a reverse section in it, sort of like expedition Everest If you've been to Disney world where the car you're in goes backwards and I didn't know that before I got on the ride and we're cruising along and then all of a sudden we start going backwards and that was a bit of a shock, but it was a blast right, it was really fun. I was expecting just normal kind of big, thinner mountain and it was a little bit more than that. And another great thing is, instead of the haunted mansion they have what's called Mystic Manor and that's a really cool ride, because that was the first ride I'd ever been on. That was the trackless ride system. So, if you know, rise of the Resistance or Ratatouille, or Beauty and the Beast in Tokyo or Winnie the Pooh in Tokyo, those are all trackless ride systems, right, and it adds such a cool element to not be stuck going one specific direction and you know you're going to be going that way. It's. You know the car can move around organically inside of the building, on the ride, and so you get different perspectives and it's. I love it, right. Well, that was the first time I got to ride that ride and that was really, really unique.

Speaker 2

And then, of course, there's all the classic rides as well. You know Space Mountain it's a small world, you know things like that it's. It feels very familiar, of course, which it should. It's a Disney park but it has, you know, a little bit of an Asian element. The food is different, it's just, it's very compact, like I said, so you can get a lot done quickly. They did not have the new frozen area when I was there, so you know I haven't seen that yet, but again, it's such a, it's such a cool park and it's such a unique experience and if you, if you're into Duffy, duffy is a very big player in Hong Kong and so you can kind of get your Disney Duffy mix at Hong Kong and I'll talk more about that once we get to Tokyo as well.

Speaker 2

But anyway, I would definitely recommend going, but I would recommend going to Hong Kong Disney as part of a larger trip. And that's like I said, that's what we did. We visited Hong Kong for like three days and one of those days was Disney, but the rest were in the city and we stayed in the city right, because everything else we were going to be doing is all in the city, versus staying out at the park where you're kind of isolated. So I really think that's the way to do it, because after we were done in Hong Kong, we still were going to Thailand and then to Singapore, and so it felt like the flight was justified because we got to do a bunch of different things while we were there, and so I didn't have a problem flying 15 hours to get you know to the other side of the world, because, hey, I got a lot out of it right. Plus, I love flying, I mean I'm sure my wife would have a different opinion. She's she. She tolerates flying, but you know it's not her favorite thing. It's not like a part of the trip Like it is.

Hong Kong Disneyland Experience

Speaker 2

For me, tokyo Disney or Disney Tokyo Resort is a bit of a different thing. Now, again, I still say it should be incorporated into a larger trip, and I've been to Tokyo Disney four times and each time it was part of a larger trip, either to different parts of Asia or to Japan itself. Tokyo Disney Resort, my favorite Disney park in the world, it's that good. I mean it beats Disney World, it beats Disneyland, it beats Disney Hong Kong. Like I said, I haven't been to Shanghai yet and I haven't been to Paris, but I can pretty much guarantee you that it's not going to be beat by either one of those as well. It is a truly spectacular park and seems to be like the true essence of Disney and what that park and what the company was meant to be and should be happens at Tokyo Disney Resort. It is extremely special and extremely dear to my heart. So what makes it so good?

Speaker 2

The very first thing I will say is that the cast members are amazing there. I mean Disney cast members all over the world are fantastic. They do amazing things. They sprinkle Disney. Cast members all over the world are fantastic. They do amazing things. They sprinkle pixie dust everywhere. They almost universally are happy and helpful and enjoyable to be around.

Speaker 2

But if you've been going to the parks for a long time and I have over several decades you begin to see it's not a change, it's just a shift. It's a little ripple of change in the way guests are treated or are taken care of I guess should be the better word. It's just not quite as hands-on and as personable as it used to be. And I understand that the parks have gotten bigger. The crowds have gotten huge. It's hard to deal with that many people. You know that. That wears on you. So I'm not saying this as a a bad thing or a fault of the cast members at like Disney world, right. But they are under a lot of stress and have a lot of things to handle, and so I can see the shift.

Speaker 2

For some reason, in two places at Disney there is this feeling of old Disney, of the way you're treated and the way the cast members interact with the guests is very, very unique and special. One of those is on Cruise Line. I have got very high regard for the cast members on Cruise Line because they are some of the best. They are helpful to a fault and will do just about anything for you to make your trip enjoyable. And in Tokyo Disney Resort it's that same way, just a.

Speaker 2

The smiles and the way that the characters come out and mingle in the crowds, even though there's huge crowds Right and the way that they make sure you're having a good time, and the little bits of pixie dust and little stickers here and there, and the waves and the smile. It's just, it's spectacular. And even though there might be language barriers sometimes Right, spectacular. And even though there might be language barriers, sometimes right, where you know they may not quite understand what you're asking, or or you might not quite understand what, how they're telling you to do something. You know you, you get bits and pieces. They will go out of their way to make sure you understand and to take care of whatever you're asking, whatever you need. And it's like that in the hotels, it's like that in the restaurants, in the folks working on main street, the folks working at journey to the center of the earth. It doesn't matter, they're universally fantastic cast members and they make all the difference right. It's just, it's super special and you feel it the second you walk into the park.

Speaker 2

Another thing that makes it special is, frankly, its availability regarding cost. It is so much cheaper for the everyday things involved with the park that it's shocking. It's shocking Food Food is cheaper, drinks water is super cheap. Even some of the merch seems to be more reasonable than in the US, and I know the yen right now is weak against the dollar and that helps, which is very much true. But even when you do apples to apples it's still such a good deal right, compared to the US.

Speaker 2

For me, that makes it special is the theming, the immersion and the attention to detail and the theming I did not think could be topped by. You know, disney's ability to immerse you and then, prior to Epic Universe, harry Potter in Universal is another example of just masterful theming, right. Like when you go into those areas at Disney or Universal, you're immersed and you feel like you're in that place. It's amazing Tokyo Disney manages to take that to the nth degree. Like their immersion, their theming is so good. It manages to make you feel that you're absolutely at a Disney park but at the same time you're kind of transported right. You can close your eyes and be in that place. It's really neat.

Speaker 2

And a couple of examples in the parks if you go for that is the Beauty and the Beast area in Disneyland is phenomenal. I've seen it as it's kind of developed right. I was in Tokyo when it was being built on one of my trips and then since then the last couple of trips. It's been finished and it just it looks fantastic. It's very quaint, very old French village style. It's beautiful. Another example of that is the new Fantasy Springs. From the hotel to the lands, you know whether it's the Frozen area, whether it's the Rapunzel area or the Peter Pan area, it's masterfully done in the way they used the waterfalls and the rocks you know, to create these carvings of the characters and of the princesses and things into it. It's just so well done. So that's another great thing.

Speaker 2

Next I would say the hotels. The Disneyland hotel spectacular, absolutely spectacular. The Mira Costa, which is essentially over the entrance to Tokyo DisneySea, is amazing. You can walk right out of the lobby into the park. They have an entrance that you literally go right into the park. It's a spectacular hotel, beautiful scenes. You're overlooking the park from a lot of the rooms, magnificent. The restaurants are set up great in those hotels. They all have buffets for breakfast and for dinner. There's tons of food. So even if you're not like a very adventurous eater I'm an extremely adventurous eater, so it doesn't faze me at all but even if you're an extremely picky eater or not very adventurous, you can find things to eat in the hotel restaurants and it's good right. I mean, we ate there several times and they're great. Another great thing is that the hotels have convenience, a convenience store in Japan. But if you know anything about Japan, the convenience store is king in Japan as far as just the breadth and the quality of the food and drinks and things that are available. So covers all your needs while you're there.

Tokyo Disney: World's Best Park

Speaker 2

Next I will say DisneySea. Many people consider DisneySea as the best theme park in the world and I'm here to tell you I haven't been to Epic Universe yet so I can't compare. So that's maybe this is an unfair statement, but at this point, with what I've experienced, I will say 100% it is the best theme park in the world. Don't know what it is, whether it's the theming, the rides, just the overall feel of it. It's amazing. It is so good. It is definitely a two-day park, for sure, but it's between the volcano in the middle and journey to the center of the earth and fantasy springs and tower of terror and the Duffy land, the Duffy area Right, and the snacks and the popcorn. It's just so so good.

Speaker 2

So now that I've pumped up Disney in Tokyo and said all these things about it, how do you experience it? I've got a couple of ways and I'll tell you what I think is the best route to go, because I know there's people that do Disney different and there's no real one right way, right, there's. Everybody has their own techniques and own ways. That is an experienced Disney traveler or, you know, if you're inexperienced and maybe you're looking for some direction, you know this may help you. But I will say that, having been several times and having stayed in several hotels, I have kind of a different setup depending on where you are in your stage of visiting Disney Tokyo, meaning, is it your first trip or is it your 10th trip?

Speaker 2

Right?

Speaker 2

Right, it varies. You can do different things to make it easier for yourself, depending on where you're at in your knowledge and understanding. Right, because you got to remember Tokyo. Disney Resort is in Tokyo, you know, the largest city in the world, 38 million people. It has everything. It's busy's busy, it's beautiful, it's amazing, but there's a lot of people and a lot of things happening around you and so, depending on your comfort level and that as well, you know, it can affect how you want to handle your trip to Disney in Tokyo. So here's my suggestion If you're traveling with your family and it's your first time they have vacation packages and I would highly highly recommend them.

Speaker 2

So I had been to Tokyo Disney Resort twice before. We planned a big family trip myself, my wife and my two kids, and Disney was going to be a part of it. But it was a larger trip to Japan, right, we were going to Tokyo, we were going to Kyoto, we were going to Nara, so we were making several stops, but as part, a larger trip to Japan. Right, we were going to Tokyo, we were going to Kyoto, we were going to Nara, so we were making several stops, but as part of the trip, a couple of the days in Tokyo were carved out for Disney, and so we did the vacation package because, again, we had the kids with us, my wife was with me for the first time, and so we wanted to basically have everything set up as much as we could to make it as easy as possible and we're not, you know, running around chasing premier access or anything like that. So we did the three day to night. I think it was three day to night, yeah, it was three day to night stay. And then we added on a day at the toy story hotel to try it out.

Speaker 2

Let me just tell you that package is fantastic. It's an amazing deal because what it does is it gets you your rooms, it gets you your meals, it gets you some special items like a special edition popcorn bucket and drinks in the parks and little gifts, and then it also gets you your tickets to the parks. It plans your days right, so you'll have a one one day ticket for disneyland and then the next day will be disney sea and then the next day will be disney sea. When we went it was disney sea with fantasy springs, because they were still limiting access into fantasy springs at that point. It includes everything and another nice thing it does is it allows you to pick rides to have premier access on right. So basically, you can walk right up and get right on the ride and you can time those right. You can set the time and you can set the rides. You know they have a list of everything you can get and you can set for each park. So before we even stepped in the park we knew what hotel we were going to be staying at, where we were going to be eating dinner, where we were going to be eating breakfast, what parks we were going to on what days, what rides we had to plan to be at, because we had reservations for and any character meet and greets that we wanted to do. We didn't end up doing any of the planned ones, but you could have that set up as well. So it's a very efficient way of doing things right.

Speaker 2

If you've got a bigger group or it's your first time, just do that and make it easier on yourself. And then, after that first trip, once you understand how everything works at Tokyo Disney and how you know to plan your day and how to plan for crowds and and what rides you really like and what you want to go on, and you can focus on more. Then you can more freelance it later because you have the knowledge at that point, right. But this, the vacation package, is so worth it. I would do it. I would do it again in a heartbeat and I I pretty much know what I'm doing. I've, I've been enough now to where I'm. I feel like I'm pretty experienced. But you know, if I had a, if my family and I were going again, I'd probably absolutely do the vacation package, cause it's just so nice and when you're traveling on a larger trip, like what I'm suggesting you do, it's nice to have some of those moments where things are just easy and things work the way they should, right.

Speaker 2

And that's what this was is that I knew, you know, at whatever 6.30, we were going to go have dinner in Sherwood Gardens at the Disneyland Hotel, right. And then the next night I knew we were going to go have dinner at you know whenever 6.15 in Mira Costa, right. It's just so nice to have that in the kind of chaos of a trip, to have that knowledge that you have everything set up and you don't have to worry about anything. It's kind of how it is on a cruise ship, right? Everything's kind of done. Right, you know when you're going to go have dinner, you know, you know that you have this plan, that there's okay, there's these, this trivia here, this bingo here, you're going to go up to the pool here, whatever. It's kind of the same thing which makes it very, very nice. But let's say it's just you and your wife, or you and one of your kids, or it's your whole family, but you don't feel like you need the vacation package. Well, great, then you can do it. You know, bit by bit, you can get your tickets over here, you can get a hotel, you know, separate from that, you can do how you can do it however you want. But now you know, right, because you've already been, you understand how to do it.

Speaker 2

And I will say Disney has several hotels that they own MiraCosta, fantasy Springs, tokyo DisneySea and a couple of others there right next to the parks. Right, it's Disney hotels, like you would expect. They also have something very similar to like in Disney World, where they have partner hotels. So these are hotels that are close to Disney but are not owned by Disney, right? And this last trip that's what I did I stayed in the Oriental Hotel Tokyo Bay.

Cast Members and Affordability

Speaker 2

Now, the cool thing about this is is that it is a partner hotel with Disney, and so they have a dedicated shuttle bus that goes back and forth between the hotel and Disney, and it's I don't know, I don't remember what it was maybe a seven-minute ride on the bus to it. But this hotel is located one train stop from the Myhama Station, which is the main station at Disney World. So not only do you have bus options to get back and forth to the parks, but you can also take the train, and it's one stop. And let me sweeten the pot for you again the hotel is connected to the train station, and I'll sweeten it again the hotel has a covered walkway not only to the train station, but also to several malls with restaurants and shopping. So if you need anything you need snacks, you need a new pair of shorts, or you broke your shoes, or whatever you can go and go get those things right next to the hotel. It's fantastic. And the topper for me for the Oriental Hotel was that they have a Lawson in the lobby. If you know Tokyo, you know about Lawson. It's one of the big three 7-Eleven. Lawson and, my personal favorite, family Mart, are the three big chains of convenience stores in Japan. Can't go wrong with any of them, but having one in the hotel lobby so you could go down and buy bottles of water or soda or snacks, or suntan lotion or whatever was right there and readily available, it's awesome.

Speaker 2

Now the hotel itself. So the hotel, it's an older hotel. It's been around, and I don't mean that in a bad way. It's an older hotel, but it knows its role. Let's say that it is an older hotel, but it's it knows its role. Let's say that it is a Disney hotel. So, therefore, partner hotels. So therefore, it's a lot of families right and a lot of people that may not be from Japan. They cater to that and make it very easy to check in. You know, go to dinner or whatever. They make it very easy there because they're used to dealing with people that are not from Japan, so the rooms are set up to where they can hold, you know, a lot of beds, or a few beds, you know, whatever you need, because they're, again, they're used to hosting groups that are going to Disney. So what I mean, though, but the whole hotel is older.

Speaker 2

Is that one? It's, it's been there for a while and it's not super fancy. In that it's not, as I don't know maybe I'm I'm looking for the wrong word but it's not as glitzy, right, it's not as shiny as maybe a new hotel would be, but what it has functions extremely well. The rooms great size, I mean big rooms for a hotel in Tokyo. Trust me, I've stayed in some really tiny rooms in Tokyo and these are big ass rooms, nice bathroom, it's got everything you want, right. It's clean, super clean for the amount of children and you know, obviously, transit traffic coming in and out of there, for for for Disney. It is very, very clean. It's got. It's worn a little around the edges on some spots, but I'm telling you it's super clean, it's very nice.

Speaker 2

They have a lovely big buffet where you can go get dinner, you can get breakfast. It's fantastic. And then they also have one of the coolest things I've ever seen, from like four o'clock, which is basically check-in time until 11 or midnight, I can't remember which one. They have with this lounge, and if you're a guest of the hotel, you can go up to this little area. It's kind of an elevated area in the lobby, kind of like a little restaurant area Right, and in this lounge you can get free soda, free beer, free wine, free beer, free wine. They have a whole candy bar for the kids to get individual candies out of. They have a cotton candy machine that you can make your own cotton candy. They have, you know, savory snacks and stuff. It's all included with your stay at the hotel. And, by the way, these rooms were like I don't know, I'm trying to remember like $150 a night US. It was crazy, I mean, it was so affordable and it was just magnificent. It's very well done.

Speaker 2

So if you're looking for an alternative to staying in a Disney hotel because, like all Disney hotels, the ones in Tokyo are, one, hard to get a reservation to and two, two pretty expensive, right, that's why the vacation package kind of works out, because it gets you a lot of things. But the Oriental hotel I can't speak for the other partner hotels, but the Oriental hotel was fantastic. I'd stay there and again a heartbeat, whether it was just myself or whether it was with my family because the convenience factor is extremely high and for being an off-site hotel and having multiple options to get to the parks and back easily is a real, real winner for me. So I would definitely recommend that once you kind of have a feel for the land, you know, you understand the trains, you understand Tokyo a little bit better and kind of have the feel for it, I would definitely consider one of the partner hotels to be an option. Okay, I'll wrap this one up here quickly.

Speaker 2

I do want to give a couple of tips for in the parks, and these are more fun tips, right, because Disney, it's a fun place. First thing is, if you go first thing in the morning before the park opens right, whether you have that early entry or not, when you're riding into the parks or you're walking up to the parks, you're likely to see huge lines. I'm just going to tell you it happens every day. The people show up early and they line up to get into the park. It looks daunting. As an American, the first time I saw it it freaked me out because I'm like I'm never getting in this park. The line is so long, I'm never getting in there. Not the case at all.

Speaker 2

Japan has lines to a science. They're very courteous, they're very understanding of the process and they do it extremely efficiently. What I'm saying is that if you see a long line, that doesn't mean you're going to be in that line a very long time. It will move and it will move quickly. So if you want to go to the parks early because you're trying to get inside so that you can, you know, access, premier access passes and things like that, or you're trying to get on that one ride you really want to do and you don't want to have to wait in a super long line once you get inside the park. Just know that when you see the lines for the first time it's going to freak you out. But have no fear, they move extremely fast. I've been in them many times, not a problem whatsoever.

Speaker 2

Another tip come hungry, the food's amazing, the snack's amazing. They have all kinds of fun and unique snacks, including popcorn, in like 10 or 12 different flavors. They'll have different little popcorn stands all around the parks and one might be chocolate, one might be strawberry, one might be garlic shrimp I'm kidding you not. One might be Japanese curry, one might be black pepper Caramel. You know they have tons of different flavors and they have these amazing popcorn buckets that are a cool souvenir. They also have, you know, like hot snacks like bao buns and dumplings and all types of stuff. It's really good, so go hungry because it's worth it.

Speaker 2

I will say that the popular rides get very big lines Soarin', journey to the Center of the Earth, all the rides in Fantasy Springs, rapunzel, peter Pan, frozen. Those are all extremely long lines, so plan for those to either be long waits. Go pick you a couple of them out and get there early to shorten the wait, or buy Premier Access and get in the Premier Access line to shorten the wait, or buy premier access and get in the premier access line, and that'll just make it easier, especially when you're talking about. You know being there for a finite amount of time and you're trying to do as much as you can. Another thing be prepared to see characters that you're absolutely not used to seeing. You're going to see tons of like niche characters that will just blow you away, like I've seen so many different random characters that I've never seen at. Like Disney world or Disneyland show up in at Tokyo and they also there's rarely a character that has like a photo line attached to it. Right, the characters will literally walk around main street or wherever, but a lot of times it's main street and they're just walking around and people will come up and the characters kind of choose who they want to take photos with and but they try to accommodate everybody obviously. But you know it's they kind of move through the crowd to keep it moving and you know people respect that and they don't rush them or anything like that.

Hotel and Transportation Options

Speaker 2

It's great, it's, it's a lot of fun. If you like Duffy, it's great, it's a lot of fun. If you like Duffy, you're in for a world of fun. My daughter is a big Duffy fan and they have an entire area at Tokyo DisneySea for Duffy. It is really neat, it's really unique, because Duffy was never really big in the US but in Hong Kong I'm assuming. It is in Shanghai, I believe, but I know for a fact in Hong Kong and in Tokyo it is huge, huge, it's a very big thing.

Speaker 2

Another thing too is enjoy the people watching. The people that frequent Tokyo Disney are amazing the way that they plan their outfits and they coordinate with their friends and they are unafraid to wear the biggest, silliest Disney hats and clothes and just have so much fun with it that it is really enjoyable to sit down on a bench and just kind of watch the world. Go by and see how everybody is just so into it and so happy and dressed to the nines, you know, with all these creative outfits and everything. It's really neat. It's very unique to Japan and it's so cool. I just love sitting there and people watching because it brings a smile to my face, because so many people are having such a good time and it's bringing out so much joy in people and they're so proud of their outfits and how they've planned themselves.

Speaker 2

And then one last thing I will say about Tokyo Disney, and this is a very biased view, but I tend to take the view that a lot of rides that Disney will create and I understand why they do it, it's because they have the IP but they will create rides that are just retellings of the story and that's fine. But you're going to have to give me a little bit more. Make it unique in some way, whether it's the ride system you use or you know some unique feature or some unique way of telling the story or whatever. You can't just recreate a ride. Put me in a boat and float me slowly down you know an indoor river and tell me the story again. It's just, it's boring. And when I went to Fantasy Springs. The technology used in the Frozen ride and the Rapunzel ride at Fantasy Springs and Disney Tokyo Sea are amazing. Right, there's some scenes in there that will make you just gasp because it's such cool technology in the way they do it, but the riding of itself a little slow, a little boring, just straight through the stories of Rapunzel and of Frozen. So while I appreciate the rides, they're not, you know, super exciting to me.

Speaker 2

Then there's the genius of the Peter Pan ride in Fantasy Springs. First, to tell you, not a big Peter Pan fan, not in the least. I don't like the movie, never have. It's just not my gig, right, that damn ride is so badass and so much damn fun. I have ridden it a ton of times DisneySea. And not ride that ride? I don't care what it cost, I don't care how much time it took. That ride is so kick-ass and so innovative that I cannot get enough of it. It is amazing, absolutely amazing. It is 3D and the 3D is clear, it's not fuzzy, it's not blurry, it's not trash. It is great 3D. It uses 3D, it uses big screens and it uses physical sets. Right, it incorporates all of that into this one ride. And as you move through the ride, you get you know feelings of flying Like when you're on Soarin' you get feelings of exhilaration and speed. You get everything. It is an amazing ride. So do yourself a favor when you go to Tokyo Disney Resort. Make an absolute point to go ride Peter Pan, because it is absolutely worth it and you will be amazed at how good it is. It's so good. Do yourself a favor, ride it.

Speaker 2

Okay, guys, this wraps up this podcast. I don't want to drag it out and beat you down with a bunch of little facts and stuff that you can obviously figure out on your own. I'm here to tell you the international parks that I've been to Hong Kong and Tokyo Disney Resort are amazing. They're worth your time. Make them a part of a bigger trip and experience Asia for all its glory, because there's so much to see in that part of the world, so much to do, so many experiences that I would hate for you to fly all the way there and only get to do Disney, that I would hate for you to fly all the way there and only get to do Disney. Make it a part of a bigger trip, but make Disney a part of that trip, because Disney there is so good, especially Tokyo Disney. It is so good, it is worth your time, it's worth the experience. If you're a Disney fan, it is one of those places that you just have to go. It's one of those absolute must-dos if you're a Disney fan. So just go do it, get out there and experience it, because it's amazing.

Speaker 2

Guys, I know this one's been a long time coming and it's just been crazy here. I got sick and work's been crazy and we're finishing up the school year and so there's just been a lot of obstacles to getting this podcast out. But I think I'm back into the rhythm now and there should be more coming on a more regular basis. So I apologize for the slow response of getting this podcast out, but I hope you all enjoy it. If you have any questions or comments about the parks overseas man, leave them in the comments, shoot me an email it's down in the information below this episode. Send me a DM on Instagram or comment on a post.

Speaker 2

I love talking about the parks overseas with people, and so if you've got any questions, comments, whatever experiences that you've had, man, let me know, because I'd love to hear about them. As always, if you get a chance, please leave me a review and a rating. I would really appreciate it. You know, those five-star ratings really push up the podcast, help it get exposed to more people and, you know, your comments are, again, always appreciated and I love. I love hearing from them and I love getting to read them. Be sure, and follow us on instagram. That is the number one social media I tend to use for this podcast, and so I post a lot of photos and things like that from trips on there. So if you want to see some cool photos and some cool places, check out the podcast instagram page. It's also linked down below. Lastly, you know, if you get a chance and you know somebody that likes travel and wants to hear more about these types of experiences, then you know.

Speaker 2

Please let them know about the podcast so that they can check it out and hopefully they'll like it and subscribe as well. But everyone, thanks so much for listening. I really appreciate it. Again, I'm trying to make the podcast a little shorter, to make it a little bit more accessible. I know some of the last episodes were really long and that's just because it's about topics that I really have a passion for and love to talk about, so this one's a little shorter. I'm getting better at it. I'll continue to get better and more concise, but I appreciate y'all's patience with me on this, because I love doing the podcast. It's so much fun and it's good to get to share these experiences with everyone, and I hope you will feel free to share your experiences with me. Anyway, thanks for coming with me on this journey and I'll see you in the next episode. Thanks, bye.

Park Tips and Character Experiences

Speaker 1

This has been Trade Tables and Time Zones Worldwide travel is one of the funnest things you can do in life and it's our passion to talk about the good, the bad, the funny and the ugly. Nothing is off limits. We hope you've enjoyed the show. If you did, make sure to like, rate and review. We'll be back soon, but in the meantime, find us on Instagram at Trade Tables and Time Zones, and for questions or comments, send your email to TradesAndTimes at gmailcom. Take care and see you next time on Trade Tables and Time Zones.

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Josh Bogle

Host