Monthly Archives: March 2011

The Story of Exploration:

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Today we are going to look at the last of the Tokyo Disney Sea Story Cards.

Actually I am not sure that these would even technically be considered Story cards. Unlike the previous pieces we looked at all five of these cards are available right out in the open, no need to either ask for them or simply look like a confused and lost foreigner. No, these are displayed right at the entrance to the Fortress Explorations. 


Photos have a hard time giving this thing justice.
The fortress is really an amazing accomplishment for a theme park, and something I honestly think could only exist in Japan. As we have discussed other times we have looked at the Tokyo parks the Japanese as a culture are very respectful. They respect each other and they respect property, therefore they tend not to scratch things, try to break things off, steal things, write on things, put gum on things, spit on things, urinate on things, climb over things to get to other things and then spit, urinate or worse on said things. No, the Japanese are more than happy to file past exhibits and displays and leave them as intact as they found them. 

So sweet.
Because of the nature of the people the designers in Tokyo are free to create very intricate and elaborate attractions with little fear of them being destroyed by guests, it is a win-win situation for all involved. So when creating the Fortress Imagineers not only designed a very cool centerpiece for the park visually, but unlike the Castle in the Magic Kingdom they fully fleshed out the interior as well. The fortress is full of chambers and hands on exhibits that range from the artistic to the physical. It appeals to pretty much any age group, but it is also complex.

Enter the story cards. (yes, you can click on them to make them large)



In this case there is a sort of master card, a small pamphlet that is printed on parchment like paper and unfolds to reveal a really cool map of the complex. This gives you a basic overview of the place, fills you in on some history and helps you get your bearings. It also introduces the concept of the S.E.A. No, not the sea as in the ocean but rather the Society of Explorers and Adventures… oh those witty writers. The S.E.A. is a group of world hopping explorers, adventurers, scientists and artists but S.E.A.S.A. was not as catchy. Imagine the Adventurers Club from Pleasure Island times a thousand and you get the basic idea. They have a cool crest and that crest is made up of four distinct symbols. Each of those symbols in turn has it’s own story card and little task to complete. 

You have to click me baby… do it!
These cards are more like those we have looked at previously they are dual sided, single page cards. Each one details a different aspect of the experience.

The first is Adventure as represented by the galleon docked out front. The card has a map of the ship which is it’s own mini attraction and has a scavenger hunt of sorts for guests to partake in. 



Next comes Romance, here is where a sort of generic “good looking” guy in a soap opera sort of way presents desperate woman with roses while pretending that he is not a scum bag… wait, that’s the Bachelor.  In this case Romance means the Chamber of Planets and a full on massive orrery (a mechanical model of the solar system) in a beautiful planetarium. 


We move on to Discovery as the compass symbolizes. This card leads guests through parts of the fortress in search of a sundial and then teaches them how to use it. 


Finally we come to Innovation, NOT Innoventions thank goodness as we will find no out-dated computer exhibits, poorly realized trade show booths or 8 bit video games on display. Rather we are led through labs and eventually to a large-scale camera obscura, which in essence puts you in the inside a camera. 


Everything about both the attraction and the cards are impeccably well done. The craftsmanship is out of the world; the cards are wonderfully illustrated and printed. It does not end there. Japanese speakers can participate in Leonardo’s Challenge that is an interactive adventure along the lines of Kim Possible in Epcot. Here you will also find the high end restaurant Magellan’s that serves classic European fare in a magnificent setting under a massive 2 story illuminated globe.

There is nothing like the Fortress Explorations in any other park. One could possibly relate it to Tom Sawyer Island but that is a little like comparing a Bentley to a Yugo… same basic concept but executed on a massively different level.

So you have seen the cards and a few photos… but lets take a better look at the Fortress Explorations. Here is an exclusive Parkeology video tour of the Fortress. 



Lets not forget why we started these posts to begin with… as a way to say thank you to the Japanese and to let everyone know that we are thinking of them. The earthquake and related events are unimaginably difficult and we all hope and know that they will get through it.

The Story Continues…

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Earlier this week we took a look at some of the special little touches that abound within the Tokyo Disney Resort. You can find that here.

We are going to continue today by looking at the remaining “Story Cards” the resort offers.

One major difference between the Japanese and most Western cultures are how they seem drawn to the printed word. Pick up a Japanese magazine sometime and you will see more text then you can believe. Even kids magazines are just overflowing with descriptions and type. Disney fans who collect printed materials are in heaven because the parks have all sorts of free give-aways. More than just park maps they have specialized materials for certain attractions (like Tom Sawyer Island or the Fortress Explorations) and much more.

But in the U.S. we tend to respond to pretty pictures more than words (stupid reading, you suck!)… who needs a book when the movie will be out soon? So lets get back to the pictures and check out some story cards.

Make sure you click on them to blow them up and see the detail.

First more from Tokyo Disneyland:

Now back to Tokyo Disney Sea:

The last one we will check out today is unique… it is for the Transit Steamer Line which is Tokyo Disney Sea’s version of the train, only in a boat. It is more or less what the old Animal Kingdom Discovery Boats aimed to be but failed miserably instead. The Transit Steamer on the other hand is a relaxing and fun boat ride around the entire park. Because there is much more to cover (considering all the sights to be seen) they could not fit everything on one simple card. So in this case you are presented with a small 4-page newspaper. Designed to fit with the American Waterfront theme (one of the main launch stations for the Steamer) it futures ads for local restaurants and a host of other fun things. I LOVE this type of extra, it makes the experience much more unique and rich, and is another cool souvenir.


Next time we will take a trip over to the Fortress Explorations to check out the five, yes FIVE different cards they have available to help you fully appreciate what is really one of the most incredible parts of the entire park.

So the Story Goes:

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Parkeology is all about having fun and not being too serious.  Afterall this is a blog about theme parks… not really world altering stuff.  But sometimes things are just not fun or funny, sometimes thet are serious and sad.

Thousands were trapped within the parks
The past week and a half has brought us many shocking images from Japan.
It is nearly unimaginable what has been taking place and trust me when I tell you that the Japanese infrastructure makes ours look like something that is pre-industrial revolution.  If it can happen there is can happen anywhere.
In some almost meaningless way I was directly affected by the unfolding disasters as well.  We had just confirmed reservations for a trip to Japan the day prior to the earthquake, a trip that has of course now been canceled.  By all accounts the actual parks and for the most part all of Tokyo Disney Resort escaped any major damage, but the immediate area was hit hard.  More so is the continued threat of a major nuclear disaster and the long lasting effect it could have on Tokyo.
With the world watching and hoping for the best I thought this would be a good time to take a look at some of the small things that make the Tokyo Disney Resort so specialas well as the Japanese as a whole.  They take enormous pride in how they run the resort; how they tend to guests needs and how smoothly the operation is handled day in and day out.  While we may think Disney has (or depending on your point of view used to have) great customer service in the U.S. it falls far short of what they offer in Tokyo.

Anyone would be proud of this.
It is deeply ingrained in the people of Japan to respect and honor those who they are serving.  Look at the situation in Tokyo now; there is no looting, no violence, and no mass hysteria that would make a horrible situation even worse.  Rather there is calm and order and dignity and those same basic tenants carry over to the guest experience at Tokyo Disney Resort.

More thoughtful and unique touches.  These models are not limited editions for sale
at extremely high prices.  Rather they are available so visually impaired
guests may touch and feel them to better understand the attractions.
One small touch is that even though the mass majority of visitors to the Tokyo parks are Japanese (only a couple of percent of the guests are non Japanese) the park bends over backwards to make sure non-Japanese guests have a great time.  This can be seen in many ways but today we are looking at something they call Story Cards.  These single page pamphlets are created for most of the popular rides and explain the plot to those who might not understand the language and therefore have trouble following the attractions storylines.  They are printed in English but also available in Japanese for those locals who cannot hear.  It is a very thoughtful and delightful touch.  But beyond that they are often beautiful.  As we saw with the old matchbooks what could be simple, practical and utilitarian objects are elevated into miniature works of design and art.  Care is given to these double-sided cards, not only in the clarity of the explanations of the story but in the aesthetics as well.
When a cast member spots a non Japanese-speaking guest they may offer the cards to help them out.  Otherwise guests may request them from guest relations or from the actual attraction hosts.  They are not widely known about and in fact it was only on my third trip to the resort that we discovered them when a host on the Sinbad attraction at Tokyo Disney Sea offered one to my daughter.
Both parks offer them; here are some from Tokyo Disney Sea: (all of the shots can be clicked on to enlarge… DO IT)

It’s not just the biggest attractions either.  Shows and even some small attractions have them:

 
Of course Tokyo Disneyland has them as well, even for some very well known attractions:
As well as some unique or smaller attractions:
We will post more in the upcoming days, but click on the pictures to see some of the wonderful details.
I’d like to end with a line from a letter sent to me by Ms. Sanae Sakurai from the Tokyo Disney Resort Guest Relations Center.  She replied to a request of mine and ended her note with this:
“We the cast members, pledge to never stop trying to give our guests the ultimate experience in Disney’s theme park entertainment.We wish you a happy future filled with joy and magic and look forward to seeing you again at Tokyo Disney Resort.”

 

This is a pledge I know they give from their hearts.  I too look forward to seeing them again in the future, lets hope it is in the very near future.

Merchandise Mashup

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I may not be the biggest fan when it comes to turning Disney theme parks into a shopping mall.  I still miss the days when the shops actually carried unique, one-of-a-kind items.  It was a simpler time, when the experience meant more than spreadsheets, spending trends, and maximizing ROI (which I think stands for “Roy Oliver Isney”)

But while I disapprove of seeing the same “Walt Disney World 2011″ sweatshirt sold everywhere from the Emporium to Yankee Trader to Mitsukoshi, I do have to admit, I’m developing a grudging respect for the merchandising folks’ ability to create interesting products, even if they end up homogenized on every resort gift shop shelf.  Here are a few favorites from my rounds this weekend…

Whoever thought up the idea of character mash-ups should be awarded a medal by the merch department.  Their best work is usually during events.  Especially Halloween, when you’ll see Mickey dressed as Captain Hook, Pluto dressed as Scar, or the Seven Dwarfs as each of Kevin Spacey’s kills in “Seven.”  They’ve also done Star Wars Weekend mash-ups, which give us Goofy as Vader, Donald Duck frozen in Carbonite, and Dumbo as a Bantha (fingers crossed).

But I came across this Minnie Mouse plush over the weekend and thought it was an inspired sort of bizarre.  In case you can’t tell, that’s Minnie decked out in Marie gear.  Yes, Marie, one of the kittens from Aristocats.  Marie has been steadily climbing the charts as a best selling character, in spite of her movie being utterly forgettable.  Blame Japan (they love them some cute kittens).  I don’t mind it so much, as she is obscure enough for me to love also.

What about this M&Ms knockoff?  There’s actually a whole line of rip-off candy that has rolled out lately.  Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, mints, etc.  All themed in some way to a Disney character.  This one had a special, obvious park connection, made even more awesome by the Spanish echo of the famous monorail saying.

Oh, and speaking of monorails, this next one is officially my favorite new thing about Cars 2, speeding into theaters this summer:

Yes!  It’s a monorail as a Cars character!  Dang, he looks friendly.  They’ve got him slapped on a ton of merchandise at the Studios, and it’s sheer awesome.  For me, Cars is one of those movies that keeps getting better the more times I watch it.  I’m totally psyched about Cars 2, and now I’m wondering if the Tronorail wrap will get replaced with this guy.

Could it possibly get even more awesome?  The answer is yes.  Yes it can:

Yeah, it’s the same Cars-ified monorail, but now we get a Cars parking lot tram too!  Seriously, if they start Cars-ifying all the ride vehicles, my bank account is going to take a hit.  Right now they’re just images on activity books and lunch boxes, but if these things come out as toys, I predict big sales.

So now I guess this makes two merchandise-related posts in a row.  First the balloons, now the mash-ups.  I guess it could be worse.  I could be posting about vinylmation.

Helium Dreams

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Every now and then I’ll run across something straight out of the haunted past of Disney World, before it was overrun with FastPasses, princesses, and those awful parade performance stops.  I’m sure you’ve had similar experiences.  Maybe not with Disney World, but other things from childhood.  Like a familiar smell that triggers a memory of the school locker room, or grandpa’s pipe, or that substitute teacher who lived on nothing but beans and onions.
Yesterday I had such an experience at Champion Stadium over at ESPN Wide World of Sports.  I was watching a little Braves spring training, enjoying a nice summer day, and suddenly I get a whiff of beans and onions.  I can hardly believe it!  My substitute teacher is batting cleanup for the Astros!
Thinking how weird it was, since she has to be in her 80s by now, I start looking around for other hints from the universe as to what this could all mean, and I spot it.  High in the sky, drifting out over the parking lot, is a Mickey balloon.
It was so profound, I snapped a picture.  Lesson learned:  Mickey balloons do not photograph very well from a mile away.
For an instant, this seemed very natural to me.  Then it struck me just how rare a sight it was these days.  I’m not so old that I can’t taunt an 80-year-old woman when she grounds out to first, but neither am I so young that I don’t remember a time when the skies were full of lost balloons.
You younger readers rarely get to experience this, but for years, balloons were adept at escaping from the Magic Kingdom.  Disney simply lived with it.  It’s not like the balloons cost very much.  What were they, maybe a dollar?  Almost pure profit for Disney.
And they were simple things back then.  Just a standard rubber balloon that happened to have mouse ears, with the Disney World logo stamped on the side.  Now there are foil balloons, embedded inside clear shell balloons, surrounded by edible hologram balloons, filled with confetti and tiny battery-powered strobe lights.  They sing happy birthday to you and have a GPS system and can combine with other balloons to form a Devastator balloon.
These white blood cell balloons used to be available at Wonders of Life.
But back then, they were just helium filled rubber, with a string tied to it.  And the funny thing about kids is that they sometimes let go of things.  Toddlers were forever losing the blasted things.  You reach into your pocket for some animal crackers, or maybe to check the latest stock prices, and boom!  There goes your hard-earned balloon.
At any one time during the day, there were liable to be at least 2 or 3 balloons loose above Main Street, floating past the castle and on out of sight.  Sometimes the sky would be full of them, like a fleet of German zeppelins ready to lay siege to the Enchanted Tiki Room.
Sometimes the balloons also contained kids whose parents needed attention really really bad.
Parkeologists used to write long-winded blog posts about how balloons destroyed the theming of the attractions by breaking loose in mid-ride.  These articles were never published, because the Internet hadn’t been invented yet, but you were bound to see at least one stubborn balloon drifting around the ceiling inside Pirates, Small World, or Universe of Energy.  I used to wonder how they got those things out of there overnight.  Did they simply wait for the helium to leak out, or did they have BB guns?
At some point, probably in the early 90s, some bright young scientist discovered that a helium-filled balloon was not an aberrant force of nature, but rather a simple slave to physics.  In a stunning scientific breakthrough, it was learned that the balloon could be weighed down through the use of a cheap plastic chip that counteracted the lightness of the helium.
The red balloon has been plotting his escape for months, using only a rock hammer and a poster of Rita Hayworth.
Contrary to popular belief, this had nothing to do with environmental friendliness, since lost balloons are well known to be biodegradable, and rubber is a great source of fiber for forest animals.
I’m curious how many of you have this memory.  I know it still happens on occasion, but I was shocked to suddenly realize how infrequent it is.  What other memories have simply disappeared without us even knowing they’re gone?
How about our cherished memories of this classic Disney live-action movie about a balloon?  Admit it, you totally forgot about it.
It seems just a little sad that kids today will never know the wonder of looking up at the Magic Kingdom sky as some balloon breaks free from its child-master and goes soaring into the air like Icarus, out to touch the sun.
Some images courtesy of the fine folks at flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lapstrake/2756035555/sizes/z/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/expressmonorail/3857330855/