Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
There are animated characters all around me and they are singing, in Japanese. And no, this isn't creepy. It is charming and enchanting. Today I am spending the day in Japanese Disneyworld! I figure it's a nice way to cap off the tail end of my trip, just as it began. Though I am going to Chicago after this, it's getting time for my return back to Ohio. The food is a lot different than the food at Florida Disney, and some of the names of the sections of the park are different. In researching it, I found out that Tokyo Disney uses on a daily basis the equivalent of the energy used from 57,000 households. Some of the rides are changed a bit, for example unless you speak Japanese, the Jungle Cruise drivers' corny jokes get lost in translation. Space Mountain's coaster seems faster with more turns but less drops, and Start Tours has not yet gotten the much needed upgrade that the American Disney parks got. I sat down next to an old Japanese man who spoke broken English, and like the famous scene in any good Karate movie, he wove me tales of ancient times. In this case, 1983 when Tokyo Disney opened its gates. In Japan during the 1980's the economy was doing really well, because buyers found themselves paying the highest price for goods and services. Culturally, this is where anime and manga really took hold in Japanese culture, and the economy grew 4% during this time. Also during this time Tokyo became a major finance center of the world. At the end of the 80's, 1989 exactly, Emperor Showa passed away after serving Japan for more than 60 years. At this point, the line for space mountain has died down again, and I leap from my seat, thank the old man, and get my place in line.
- comments