Shanghai DIsneyland Railroad

[Locoboy5150]

Yes and no. DisneySea is spectacular... So much so that it gives Tokyo Disney the opposite problem of the American parks and Paris. Everywhere else, the second gates look poorer in comparison to the Magic Kingdom park. In Tokyo, it's the other way around. To me, Tokyo Disneyland was "another Disneyland" while DisneySea blew me away. It even has, as I said, my two favourite attractions in any Disney park, anywhere. But that said, I still rank it lower than Disneyland USA and Disneyland Paris, just by virtue of being SO different from a Magic Kingdom park. For me it doesn't evoke quite the same feelings.

I think that where Tokyo Disneyland (TDL) won me over was with the other "intangible" quantities that I consider whenever I visit a theme/amusement park. On the surface, TDL doesn't have all that fantastic of an attraction line up. It has been accurately (in my opinion) described by other Disney fans as a "greatest hits" attraction park that has the more popular attractions from both Disneyland (DL) and Magic Kingdom (MK.)

When I last went to TDL, my wife and I chit-chatted with a fellow Californian that was also at TDL for the first time after a lifetime of visiting DL since he was a kid. He mentioned that his family wasn't all that impressed with the attractions compared to those at DL and in fact much preferred DL over TDL. When looking at just the surface of the attractions, I would agree. DL has more attractions, there is no doubt about that. MK has newer versions of many of the DL attractions too, so I can see how people would prefer it over TDL. When I dig a little deeper into TDL and get past the top level of the attractions, that's when I find my self preferring the TDL versions of the attractions. They are better maintained for one thing. All of the effects are working in TDL, while they are almost never working or hit or miss at DL and MK. As an example, when was the last time that the stalactites were dripping water in DL's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad? Hmmmm...I think that the last time that I saw them dripping was at least 15 years ago. At TDL, they're dripping like they're supposed to be or at least they were when I was there. The Splash Mountain at TDL has all of its animatronics and lighting in full effect. At both DL and MK, the animatronics are often just sitting there still and lifeless and the lighting at DL has been very poorly maintained lately with some scenes practically pitch black.

Also this is just for me, but whenever I visit any theme/amusement park, the employees can really make or break it. Some parks out there have employees that are so friendly that they make me want to come back again and again, even if the parks are so far from home. (Holiday World and Silverwood are two such parks that immediately come to mind.) While others have employees that just have left such a sour taste in my mind that I honestly don't have any desire to ever return. (Magic Mountain, Islands of Adventure, and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay are in my hall of theme/amusement park shame due to their employees.) I loved how TDL's Cast Members were all so friendly and helpful throughout my visits there. I loved how they injected the over the top Japanese customer service to their routine jobs. (It's a culture thing that Japanese people are known for.) I liked how they would immediately say "come...follow me" when I asked for directions and they actually walked me and my wife over to the location that we were trying to find on the map. I liked how one Tomorrowland Cast Member apologized profusely for making me wait what she called "a long time" for her to find the key to unlock the fitting room door, which actually took about a minute at the most. I also liked how the Cast Members bowed to the ride vehicles as they were dispatched.

Also, and this is a big plus factor for me, TDL has unique food that cannot be found at any of the other Disney theme parks. I have to admit that I love Japanese food so that probably is why I like the food at TDL so much. All of the restaurants are also very well themed in my book compared to at DL and MK. Grandma Sara's Kitchen is a good example of how elaborately they themed what is essentially a quick and cheap counter service restaurant. DL has that too...it's called Pizza Port and its themeing is...well...several steps below that of Grandma Sara's.

Pizza Port:



Grandma Sara's Kitchen:



Another thing might be the whole Japanese culture. I have to admit that I am a big fan of JDM stuff. I like JDM merchandise and I like the Japanese culture. I was in pure heaven when I was wandering around the streets of Tokyo just looking out for JDM cars to photograph. My wife is a huge fan of Japanese kawaii ("cute stuff" - like Hello Kitty.) We both loved how TDL had incorporated parts of Japanese culture into what is essentially a 100% American concept, Disneyland, without insulting or stepping on top of its American aspects. TL gets a *huge* thumbs up from me in that regard.

Those are not huge deals I guess in the big picture, but they all made a lasting positive impression on both me and my wife in how much we liked TDL. Maybe I've been to too many parks with poor maintenance and rude employees so that when I go to TDL it just seems that much better than the rest of the field. I don't know why really but I liked TDL so much that I can't wait to go back again. The fact that DisneySea is just a short monorail ride away is just another plus factor (A huge plus factor) in its favor.

[Locoboy5150]

Oh, one thing that I forgot to mention. You had talked about how superior DisneySea is compared to all the other second gate Disney parks. I totally agree on that. One thing that DisneySea has working in its favor in my book is that it opened in 2001. That was the same year that California Adventure opened. I really shouldn't do this but those two parks, just because of their opening in the same year, will always be compared to one another in the back of my mind. I know...it's a terrible thing to do but I can't help myself. The whole time that I walked through DisneySea for the first time, I couldn't help but think, "we got that and they got this?!!!"

Also, as an extra gut punch to us Californians, DisneySea was originally proposed for Long Beach. Granted, that was a very different concept park (Port Disney) compared to what was eventually opened in Tokyo but still...just another reason to be jealous.

[Locoboy5150]

Another thing might be the whole Japanese culture.

This is another part of the Japanese culture being incorporated into TDL, but I also liked how clean the park was. It was noticeably cleaner than both DL and MK. I could not find any bit of trash anywhere on the ground, even though there were very few trash cans. That has everything to do with the Japanese people and how much they respect their surroundings. Just about everything in Japan is clean because people there don't throw things on the ground. I don't know what the people at TDL do with their old gyoza bun wrappers and popcorn boxes, but they don't throw them on the ground. I guess that they keep them with them until they come across one of the few trash cans in the park. I remember when I had to throw an old napkin away and I was stunned that there weren't 50 trashcans within eyesight, like at DL and MK.

This is a true story. My wife and I were resting our feet by sitting on a bench right in front of Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse (they still have theirs at TDL) in Adventureland and sharing a teriyaki chicken drumstick. A TDL Cast Member (a "white wing") came up near the bench and looked at the ground. We didn't know what she was looking at. She quickly unclipped a spray bottle of what looked like Windex from her belt and squirted it on the ground. She then took some paper towels and started to scrub the ground with them.

It turned out that she was cleaning up some bird poopie from the pavement in front of the treehouse. I got up to take a closer look because it was so unusual to see a white wing doing that compared to back home at DL. It was not a mountain of piled up bird poopie like what would be beneath a nest either. It was just two round dots of white stuff on the ground, each one about the diameter of a quarter. She kept scrubbing it off until absolutely none of it was left. I was so amazed that a routine Cast Member would take so much time and care into keeping TDL as spotlessly clean as that. It was *so* unusual for my American eyes that I took a photo of her working. Of course, when she saw me with my camera, she smiled. (That's another TDL plus factor - the Cast Members always smile and wave to the guests.)



(That photo is from the Disney Tourist Blog website.)

That incredible cleanliness and the Cast Members' level of personal pride in making TDL as presentable as possible so that their guests not only are comfortable but want to come back again and again are another of those intangible reasons why I like TDL so much. Is TDL "better" than MK and DL? That's hard to say. There are so many plus and minus factors for all of the three parks that we're talking about (note that I have not been to Disneyland Paris yet) that it's hard for me to directly compare them to one another. Despite me rattling on about TDL's pluses, it does have a few major minuses. (The first of which is that it's just too far from home for me!) I still don't know what Haunted Mansion is doing in Fantasyland directly across the walkway from Dumbo. I never ever got used to that. Though it does have a steam train ride, it only goes around half of the park. Though it is a drop dead gorgeous route that it takes, I would much prefer that it go completely around the park like at DL and MK. I also did not literally grow up at TDL, which I have done with DL ever since I was six months old. I have absolutely no sentimental attachment to TDL like I do with DL, though my wife and I did go to TDL on our second honeymoon.

In the end everyone has their own reasons for picking out their favorite Disney theme park and it's always fun to hear their reasons for their personal ranking.

[TFN5459]

Another thing might be the whole Japanese culture.

This is another part of the Japanese culture being incorporated into TDL, but I also liked how clean the park was. It was noticeably cleaner than both DL and MK. I could not find any bit of trash anywhere on the ground, even though there were very few trash cans. That has everything to do with the Japanese people and how much they respect their surroundings. Just about everything in Japan is clean because people there don't throw things on the ground. I don't know what the people at TDL do with their old gyoza bun wrappers and popcorn boxes, but they don't throw them on the ground. I guess that they keep them with them until they come across one of the few trash cans in the park. I remember when I had to throw an old napkin away and I was stunned that there weren't 50 trashcans within eyesight, like at DL and MK.


That incredible cleanliness and the Cast Members' level of personal pride in making TDL as presentable as possible so that their guests not only are comfortable but want to come back again and again are another of those intangible reasons why I like TDL so much. Is TDL "better" than MK and DL? That's hard to say. There are so many plus and minus factors for all of the three parks that we're talking about (note that I have not been to Disneyland Paris yet) that it's hard for me to directly compare them to one another. Despite me rattling on about TDL's pluses, it does have a few major minuses. (The first of which is that it's just too far from home for me!) I still don't know what Haunted Mansion is doing in Fantasyland directly across the walkway from Dumbo. I never ever got used to that. Though it does have a steam train ride, it only goes around half of the park. Though it is a drop dead gorgeous route that it takes, I would much prefer that it go completely around the park like at DL and MK. I also did not literally grow up at TDL, which I have done with DL ever since I was six months old. I have absolutely no sentimental attachment to TDL like I do with DL, though my wife and I did go to TDL on our second honeymoon.

In the end everyone has their own reasons for picking out their favorite Disney theme park and it's always fun to hear their reasons for their personal ranking.

I think it's been mentioned quite a lot on other Disney forums by now, but I believe part of the success of TDL is the fact that it is owned and operated by the Oriental Land Company and not Disney proper. They seem to have a rather large budget for operations and show for the Resort and it definitely shows in their day to day operations at the resort. I recall that a lot of Imagineers were stunned that they got such large budgets to work with regarding Tokyo Sea after seeing what dismal funds were allotted for the opening day version of DCA, and believe me it shows. Overall TDL just seems to stick the guest experience and show quality above anything else, a quality that I feel hasn't been around the past couple of years at the domestic parks and something that I think Walt and his original team at WED would approve of.

[Locoboy5150]

I think it's been mentioned quite a lot on other Disney forums by now, but I believe part of the success of TDL is the fact that it is owned and operated by the Oriental Land Company and not Disney proper.

I think that you're right about that. I remember when TDL was being built and I found out that it was owned by Oriental Land Company (OLC) and not by Walt Disney Productions (as it was called then.) I was shocked and I hoped that OLC could keep up to the Disney standards of quality at the then-new park. They not only kept up to those standards, they went *WAY* above them to the point that the US Disney parks could learn a *LOT* if their team of suits and ties simply went to Japan to observe and learn. Sadly, that probably will not happen or not happen very often.

One of my biggest pet peeves about the Disney theme parks these days is that it sure seems to this life-long fan that when it comes to the Disney theme park division, the left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing. It seems like the parks do not observe and learn new ideas from other parks within the company's chain. One thing that I've learned at least in my field is that a good idea is a good idea, no matter where or whom it came from. If Disneyland Paris has a good idea of how to dispatch roller coasters more efficiently, then it makes perfect sense for that technique to be evaluated and then possibly used at Disneyland. Sadly, that seems to not happen too often. It seems like within the Disney theme parks, they have a level of arrogance to the point where they'll never ever use a good idea from another park because they're not "the original" (Disneyland) or not "the biggest" (Walt Disney World.) That is a crying shame in my opinion.

Some good examples of this were the popcorn boxes at TDL that I saw. Yeah...something as simple and ho-hum as a paper box to hold guests' popcorn was a small but glaring example of what I perceived to be Disneyland (DL) and Walt Disney World (WDW) management's arrogance. The tops of the popcorn boxes at TDL can be folded and locked shut, like the top of a milk carton, so that people can carry their popcorn throughout the park without spilling it anywhere. Here's a picture of one of the boxes and you can barely see the perforations where you can fold it closed at the top:



Guests can simply close the top of the box when they enter the ride queues so they won't spill it on the ride or in the queue and then simply open the top again when they're done riding. (Like at the US parks, you are not allowed to eat or drink on the rides at TDL.) That makes absolute *perfect* sense! The guests can keep their popcorn fresh while they're riding and Cast Members don't have to spend time cleaning up spilled popcorn. Whenever I go to DL or WDW, I see spilled popcorn everywhere. When I went to TDL I saw spilled popcorn nowhere.

Are we learning something here? If you're a suit and tie at DL or WDW, no you're not. Their philosophy is "why would us the original or us the biggest learn from little TDL and TDS? They don't know what they're doing over there!"

Another example of this simple idea that should be transported to other Disney parks are the boxes that TDL sells pizza slices in. Like the popcorn boxes over there, they sell pizza in boxes that can be folded shut to keep the pizza warm and prevent a mess. The boxes even have a nice carrying handle on top that guests can hold onto to prevent their pizza from dropping on the rides. Here's a picture of two of them in different shapes:





I saw people using these boxes and taking their unfinished slices of pizza on rides without any problems and once again I was stumped as to why such a simple and good idea was not implemented throughout the WDW and DL parks in the US. The TDL guests probably didn't think anything about it as they ate their pizza and popcorn but my wife and I were both impressed that the TDL suits and ties came up with such simple and effective solutions to a problem within their two parks but we also were shocked that the US parks haven't copied the idea to fix the same problems in their own parks.

I know that the simple answer is cost. Providing such easily closed containers costs more than what we have at DL and WDW:





Plus someone (a bean counter) probably did the math and figured that it was more profitable to use cheaper containers and then pay Cast Members to clean up the messes because that meant that rich parents would have to buy more popcorn and pizza to replace what their kids spilled/dropped on the ground in WDW and DL. Also note that wasting food is a major no-no in Japanese culture so they rarely dump uneaten food at TDL at the end of a meal, which is *way* too common at DL and WDW. (My old wise grandmother once told me that throwing away food is just like throwing away your money. She was so right about that.)

I hope that that was the reason any way. The negative side of my mind thinks that the suits and ties that run the US parks are way too arrogant to even think of observing and using a good idea from "that little meaningless park in Japan because they're not as old as us or as big as us."

All that I know is that this life-long, die-hard US based Disney park fan went to TDL and saw plenty of ideas that would work and work well at the US parks if and only if the suits and ties opened their eyes, ears, and minds, got on the corporate jet, and went on the chartered flight to Tokyo to borrow their simple ideas to solve problems. I'm probably asking for *WAY* too much from the suit and tie crowd though and that's a shame.