Quick sidetrack from Kyoto/Nara trip since I wanted to blog about day trip took to Tokyo Disneyland. Not really high on my list of Japanese places I expected to visit, but suffice it to say I found myself in the position to go and my curiosity to compare/contrast was too strong to pass up the chance :P (thanks Kayo!)
I have to say the Tokyo version was more similar to the US one than I expected, albeit much smaller. But then again, with Disney never leaving any room for error and is so strict with their branding, I guess that it's really no surprise. I felt that Disney in the setting of Japan was somehow fitting, while at the same time starkly in contrast to the US one. On the similar end of things, with Japan being the land of 'cute', its a no-brainer that Disney would be a big hit here. It's almost more fitting here than in the US in that respect perhaps. But something about seeing all those so American figures and cultural references in the context of Japan/Japanese was surreal for sure. Old west and pioneer stuff (and the cultural context inherent in that) must be so strange and hard to relate to for the Japanese, just as some very old traditonal Japanese cultural elements are completely lost on me. But as I find that stuff so interesting, perhaps its that same contrast that draws the crowds.
And when I saw crowds, I mean crowds. I went on a weekday and still all the fastpass rides were sold out by about 2pm. The average wait time for popular rides was about 1.5 hours. But just like everywhere here in Tokyo, people just take it in stride and make no big deal about it. Nonetheless, I wouldnt want to see what weekends are like there.
I gotta say, listening to Disney characters talking in Japanese was pretty strange and kind of funny : )
Up next (for real): Kyoto
