Showing posts with label Theme Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theme Park. Show all posts

Tuesday, 2 April 2013

[Day 4] Tokyo Disneyland (東京ディズニーランド)

Visiting Tokyo Disneyland is always one of my dream theme park which I would like to bring my kid to enjoy the fun and family time together. So when uncle Hock Cheng includes Disneyland as one the main highlight for this Tokyo trip we were all excited about it till the date we arrived at the park. As you could see from the above photo, we even bought the "open date" tickets way before hand at  JTB (ION Orchard) to avoid the crowds and queuing time just to make sure everything is on the right track.

There are a few ways to get to the Disneyland such as taking the JR Line or Subway to Maihama Station (舞浜駅), you could also board the complimentary Good Neighbor Shuttle Bus Service (reservations required) if you are staying in one of the Tokyo Disney Resort Good Neighbour Hotels (hotel list here) like what we did.

Walkway towards JR Maihama Station (舞浜駅) and Bon Voyage

As we board the 7.30am shuttle bus service, we were early before the park opens at 9.00am so we take a short walk around Bon Voyage which means "Have a good trip" om French. In the store, you could easily find large selections of Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea merchandise under one roof. Bon Voyage is also conveniently located next to JR Maihama Station (舞浜駅), at the gateway to Tokyo Disney Resort.

Opening Hour:
7:30 am - 11:00 pm

Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is about 8 minutes walk from JR Maihama Station (舞浜駅) or board the Disney Resort Line from "Resort Gateway Station", and get off at "Tokyo Disneyland Station" which takes about 1 minute walk.

Walkway towards Tokyo Disneyland Hotel and Tokyo Disneyland Themed Park

The crowds at the ticket booths at around 8.30am on a Wednesday morning.

Upon entering the park, most of the visitors started to scatter around the park into the different themed land area to queue for the rides or grab hold of some Disney Fastpass (advice to grab hold of a few Fastpass ahead from different attractions to cut short the waiting time) which allows guests to avoid long lines at the attractions.

Photo Credit: ©Disney
Tokyo Disneyland is made up of seven themed lands which features seasonal decorations and parades.

Amazed by their patience and queuing system. Even their strollers are so neatly arranged outside each attractions. 

Enjoy a 15 minutes ride on the Western River Railroad

Adventureland includes attractions such as Jungle cruise (above) that brings you through a 10 minutes ride to the Amazon, the Nile, the Irrawaddy and the Ganges…. Or you could explore the Swiss Family Treehouse, ride the Western River Railroad and even sail with the Pirates of the Caribbean (we love this ride which was quite thrilling and makes you hang there in suspend).

Exploring Tom Sawyer Island

12 minutes ride on a three-story Mark Twain Riverboat

Westernland is a theme made after the US western frontier along the Rivers of America and it is also the home of the popular roller coaster Big Thunder Mountain (too bad it was under renovation last year during our visit). In the middle of the river lies the Tom Sawyer Island which is accessible by hopping onto a log raft to cross over.

Another highlight of Westernland is the 12 minutes leisure ride on the three-story Mark Twain Riverboat which we are excited about. It was so beautiful when we spotted it from far during the autumn morning and you get to enjoy the sights and sounds of the old frontier from the ornate decks of the Riverboat around the Rivers of America.

In Tokyo Disneyland you could easily spot visitors especially young kids holding a buket of popcorn with Disney Characters Bucket design that comes in a few flavour such as honey, caramel, original, salted, curry and etc. Each bucket of popcorn cost around ¥1400 - ¥2000 (SG$20.00 - SG$26.00). My boy was disappointed when they went out of Winnie The Pooh Bucket whereas on the other hands I saved S$26.00 for not getting one :p (note: Hunny Popcorn can be enjoyed near the Winnie the Pooh attraction and Curry Popcorn can be found in Adventureland)

Other then popcorn, during the lunch hours everyone was also running after the Turkey Drumstick which was available at ¥500 (SG$6.50) each in conjunction of their Thanksgiving Day on 23 November.

After a quick bite we moved on to Critter Country as my boy wanted to try the Splash Mountain ride. The 10 minutes ride put you on a hollowed log boat through the waters of the South to visit all the little critters living in the area. The highlight of the ride was that 16-meter high waterfall that brings you straight down to a 45-degree dive ending with a big splash.

Tokyo Disneyland provides two parade showtimes to delight their guests. The "Daytime Parade" takes place around noontime whereby you could see the crowds sitting down at their best best viewing locations way before the parade starts. And for second parade, "Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights" usually starts quite late which is around the closing time where it marks the highlight of the theme park.

If you have a strong heart and daring enough to go for a 8 minutes spooky ride, head towards the Hunted Mansion at Fantasyland. Upon entering the mansion, you would be taken into a mysterious, dimly lit room. From there, board the eerie "doom" buggy and starts the journey through the library, music room and more leaving you getting more and more heart throbbing on each venue.

For family with little kids, do consider taking this 10 minutes relaxing boat ride and enjoy a vision of world peace and happiness in all the countries of the world at It's A Small World.

We had lunch at Huey, Dewey and Louie's Good Time Cafe (Toontown) where we get a set meal which consists of Micky Ham and Sweetcorn Pizza, Fries, Sweetcorn Soup, Salad and Apple Juice @ ¥1370 (SG$18.00). Although food at themed park is usually not cheap as compared with normal eateries but this cute Mickey Pizza Set is still quite worth the price.

Further down to Tomorrowland, we tried the Grand Circuit Raceway which gives us a chance to get behind the wheel of a small racecar and test our skills in a challenging course of twists and turns. Between my boy was the driver whereas I am just the passenger sitting beside him enjoying the ride. He had so much fun driving the racecar on his own and it seems that 5 minutes are too short for that ride.

It's a pity that we did not get into Pooh's Hunny Hut at Fantasyland due to the overwhelming crowds that makes the queue seems impossible to get through.  Guess if we could stay a night at the Disneyland Hotel it would be good that we might be able to complete ALL the rides within a day or two.

Night view of Disneyland Tokyo


Tokyo Disneyland (東京ディズニーランド)
1-1 Maihama, Urayasu,
Chiba Prefecture 279-0031, Japan
Telephone: 0570-008-632
Website: http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/en/index.html

Opening Hours:
9.00am - 10.00pm (weekday)
8.00am - 10.00pm (weekend)
*check park operation calender here.






Read More...

Monday, 31 December 2012

Revisiting Universal Studios With More Rides

About two weeks back we went for our 2nd visit to Universal Studios Singapore (USS) which is located in Resort World Sentosa. And since during our first visit (read more here) we missed out quite a few rides especially the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure (under renovation) and TRANSFORMERS The Ride (not ready in operation) we decided to head back again this December holiday to complete all the rides as well as to see the "snowfalls" event specially prepared for Christmas and festive season.

As usual, first we queue for the Madagascar A Crate Adventure which is a water ride located in the Madagascar zone where you could enjoy the ride watching the adventures of the Madagascar characters like Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria and etc. This ride is first attraction on your left at the end of Hollywood zone.

Inside view of the Madagascar A Crate Adventure boat ride.

Next we head down to Far Far Away castle which showcases lifestyles of the rich and fairy tales and you could also enjoy the Shred 4-D Adventure ride to see, hear and FEEL the action right from your seat such as water, hairy spiders, wind and etc.

Preview of the dungeon entrance where park attendance briefing us on the storyline and ride details.

Waiting for our tun to take the Magic Potion Spin ride which is just outside the exit of the Shrek 4D theater. It was kind of a slow kiddy ride which allows about 2 - 3 person in one carriage.

This Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure is one of the ride that we missed out during our first visit to Universal Studios last year (read more here) due to the renovation and maintenance of this attraction. The queuing time was quite bearable (45 minutes) during that day and we really hope to take this ride since we missed it out last round. And for those who did not bring along any "raincoat" like us, you could actually purchase it with S$3.00 (a bit pricey for a piece of plastic over you) at their vending machines.

However half way through the queuing it started to rain and the ride was suspended due to safety reason. But despite of the rain most of the people still stay put in the queue hoping that the rain would clear up within 30 minutes or so.  Luckily after 30 minutes of observation since there was no thunder or lighting, they decided to open the ride and we get to ride on it even though it was raining. So that was indeed a super fun experience for us to ride this "water ride" on a raining day! Too bad we didn't managed to get a second ride after our WaterWorld show around 8.15pm due to ride maintenance.

The second attractions that we missed out last year was this Transformers ride which was located at the SCI-FI CITY zone that was opened in December 2011.

Due to the raining weather that day, we managed to get our 1st ride in about 30 minutes of queuing time whereas second ride at 5 minutes. The queuing area are well-design which provided guests with background information Transformers and some safety precautions of the ride.

Basically it is a motion rides with turnings, lighting, 3D effects and excitement which you won't want to miss out. And on peak season, you might have to queue up to at least 120 minutes just for the 5 minutes ride.

Transformers Design :- Bumble Bee and Optimus Prime Water Containers

With "Big Bird's Emporium" completed and in operation, Sesame Street fans can now shop for their desire sesame street related items from water bottles, wallet, soft toys, stationery and etc. 

There is also a pushcart outside Loui's NY Pizza Parlor selling Sesame Street related items too!

Soon maybe in 1st quarter of 2013, this Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase ride would be full operation too! Till then most of us are wondering what kind of ride this attraction will provided as it seems quite interesting and full of excitement from some of the Google search.

For this year they have relocated the Christmas tree and stage to NEW YORK zone instead of the usual place which was near the fountain area at Hollywood Zone.  And also for this year they included a daily special snowfalls event which happens on specific timing.

As you could see the snowfalls look wonderful at NEW YORK zone which makes it feel real and more magical as compared to the other zones. Everyone from young to old were so excited when the "snows (foams)" started to fall from the top during the specify timing.

Each snowfalls last about 5 minutes from the varies timing from 1.00pm; 3.00pm; 5.00pm and around 6.45pm daily from November 2012 - 06 January 2013. Just in case of any chances, do check out the timing with the park attendance to avoid disappointment.

A view of Ancient Egypt Zone and Battlestar Galactica (Cylon - Blue Track and Human - Red Track)

Since the park opened till 9.00pm (extension of operating hours due to festive season) during our last visit, we managed to catch the last WaterWorld showtime (7.30pm) before heading to our second Transformers Ride.

Although the weather was not very good (rain and drizzle) during the second half of that day but we did had an enjoyable day completing some of the rides in the rain (with raincoat on) and also the queuing time was shorten by big jump due to the gloomy weather and etc. And since the park opens till 9.00pm that day we really had a great time enjoying at least twice on each rides. Would definitely be back when the new attraction(s) are ready in another year or so.


Read More...

ShareThis

Latest Kitchen Updates @ Cuisine Paradise


Click on the above photos or HERE for more kitchen pantry ideas.