Tokyo Disney on 2 Weeks’ Notice: Hightower Halloween Costume!

[PryncessChrysty]

How adorable are those stinkin' puppets?!? Your hubby & his company did an outstanding job!

Was he "friends" with one of the lions? What had me most intrigued was the scale of the whale - I'm sure this is a dumb question, but was it forced perspective? I saw their demonstration video a while back on the Audrey II and loved watching them dive through the mouth - I kept picturing that when the whale would come on screen.

DH2B & I were at DCA on Friday waiting for the Electrical Parade, and we struck up a conversation with the gentlemen next to us. He has been to Tokyo Disney a few times and I was totally captivated. Between our conversation with him and your TR, our credit card companies are gonna need to give you some sort of kick back cuz I don't think we'll be able to wait to save up all of the cash we'll need to go.

BTW, do you still listen to the DIS Unplugged podcast? If you have a chance to listen to this weeks DL show, I was a guest on the roundtable! It was all about the F&W festival - we were there Fri - Sun (I'm still stuffed from all the food...but we'll be back tomorrow! lol)

I can't wait for the next installment.

 

[justwinnie]

Hiiiii!

I've become a Lurkyloo stalker! I subscribed to your twitter feed!
I love your trip report and am living vicariously through your updates. I'd love to go to Japan one day!

 

[lurkyloo]

The commercials turned out great!!! I love how things in Japan have such a high cuteness factor!

Me TOO! That's the real reason a trip over there is a budget-buster for us... too much cute stuff to buy!

I
Does Patrick come up with the ideas for all the puppets and build them from scratch--or does the company come up with the concept and he takes it from there? Not trying to be too nosy, it's all just very fascinating to me.

It depends on the job. Most of the time, Patrick will do conceptual drawings for characters and then he and the other Swazzlers build them. Sometimes companies come to them with designs and ask for puppets. (Even then, Patrick usually still has to tweak them to be, uh, puppet-able.) For this job, the characters were designed by the company managing the puppet build,the Chiodo Bros. (they did the narwhal, et. al for the movie "Elf"!) and Swazzle built them.

Love all the shopping pictures. 100% Chocolate.....who wouldn't want to visit that shop? Very interesting TR, not sure if I will ever travel there, but I think you might be an inspiration for some fellow DISers.

Glad to hear you're enjoying it! My new mission is to make Tokyo Disney irresistible to you!

I just became a little nervous when it was announced that "World of Color" would debut two days before our arrival and I also realized that Grad Nights are scheduled for two evenings during our week there. We may not have chosen the best time to visit, but my hubby will be on R & R from Afghanistan so the Army basically chose for us. We are travelling with our DD 11 and 9.

If you have some advice for us, just PM me so I don't hijack your TR. Thanks so much, Carrie! And I look forward to hearing more, more, more about Japan!

I actually have a little Disneyland tip sheet all written up! I will think about what can be done to mitigate the effects of CrazyGoNuts season and PM you all my tips.

Was he "friends" with one of the lions? What had me most intrigued was the scale of the whale - I'm sure this is a dumb question, but was it forced perspective? I saw their demonstration video a while back on the Audrey II and loved watching them dive through the mouth - I kept picturing that when the whale would come on screen.

The lions were "friends" with an incredibly agile Japanese dude. The whale is actually only a little larger than the camel - they shot all the puppets against a green screen and comped them in at whatever size they needed. And I too love the "dive thru the mouth" part of the Audrey II demo!

BTW, do you still listen to the DIS Unplugged podcast? If you have a chance to listen to this weeks DL show, I was a guest on the roundtable! It was all about the F&W festival - we were there Fri - Sun (I'm still stuffed from all the food...but we'll be back tomorrow! lol)

I keep forgetting to check the podcast - that will be cool to hear you on it! Now how'd you score that sweet gig?

Hiiiii!

I've become a Lurkyloo stalker! I subscribed to your twitter feed!
I love your trip report and am living vicariously through your updates. I'd love to go to Japan one day!

I'm so glad to hear you're enjoying everything!

 

[PryncessChrysty]

It depends on the job. Most of the time, Patrick will do conceptual drawings for characters and then he and the other Swazzlers build them. Sometimes companies come to them with designs and ask for puppets. (Even then, Patrick usually still has to tweak them to be, uh, puppet-able.) For this job, the characters were designed by the company managing the puppet build,the Chiodo Bros. (they did the narwhal, et. al for the movie "Elf"!) and Swazzle built them.

I'm glad you mentioned this because I completely forgot to ask you - is one of the brothers Joe Chiodo? I've heard DH2B talk about his work before, he's a big fan.
I am in LOVE with the stop-motion characters in Elf and DH2B is a sculptor, so a couple of years back he made a clay sculpture of them for me for Christmas. He even included the narwahl's horn in the background. It's awesome, like it's right off the screen. (Now all I hear can hear is "Bye, Buddy. Hope you find your dad." )

I keep forgetting to check the podcast - that will be cool to hear you on it! Now how'd you score that sweet gig?

While I did get to meet most of the crew when they were out here last week (Pete, Walter, Kevin & John - who are all just lovely), this show was only the Disneyland Correspondents, who I'm lucky enough to be really good friends with. We all met up on Fri & Sat to enjoy the festival and they invited me to join their recording on Sunday at the Grand Californian. It was so much fun! I rode ONE ride in 3 days at the parks, but honestly it was one of the best times we've ever had.

 

[A-T-G]

A-T-G I hope you get to Fance ok We're due to fly to Barcelona on Saturday and have been going up and down this week!

Thanks! I was obsessively watching the news and reading every single scrap of info on that dang volcano!! So far, all systems are 'go'! Keep your fingers crossed and I'll send very happy thoughts for your trip to Barcelona! Have a great time!!

 

[daisygirl902]

Those commercials were great! Loved the whale - I was just giggling to myself and thinking "what if Chevy did a commercial just like that?" - heh...I'd likely want one

 

[lurkyloo]

I'm glad you mentioned this because I completely forgot to ask you - is one of the brothers Joe Chiodo? I've heard DH2B talk about his work before, he's a big fan.
I am in LOVE with the stop-motion characters in Elf and DH2B is a sculptor, so a couple of years back he made a clay sculpture of them for me for Christmas. He even included the narwahl's horn in the background. It's awesome, like it's right off the screen. (Now all I hear can hear is "Bye, Buddy. Hope you find your dad." )

What a sweet gift! You know, none of the Chiodos are named Joe, but it's interesting that there's another Chiodo out there who sculpts!

Those commercials were great! Loved the whale - I was just giggling to myself and thinking "what if Chevy did a commercial just like that?" - heh...I'd likely want one

Seriously. And I'll bet if Chevy did do an ad like that, people would start thinking the company was hip and relevant again!

 

[lurkyloo]

My journal entry for Day 3 starts out: "I think that when you come back to the hotel after a day of hoofin’ it all over Tokyo, the first thing you do should not be to lie down on the bed… And the next thing you do should not be to soak in the tub—at least, not if you still have a journal entry to write!" It was a loooooong day!

I got to spend the first half of the day with Patrick because his call for the shoot wasn't until 2pm. We got up around 8am and, when 7-Eleven failed to yield as good a selection of breakfast items as the previous day, we hopped a train to the flagship Mitsukoshi Department Store to dine in the food hall.

Here are a couple of daytime views from our hotel room to set the scene…

Before we could hop on the subway, we had to get Patrick his own PASMO, so I decided to learn how to use the machine. There's a big "ENGLISH" button in the upper right hand corner on the first screen, and then it walks you through either buying a new card or adding money to an existing card.

Some of the subway train cars have light-up signs that show you which stop is coming up next, which is super helpful. (Even if it doesn't light up, there's still a map of that line above the door.)

Mitsukoshi has its own stop, and its own entrance right inside the subway station.

Unfortunately, I hadn't thought to check the hours, and Mitsukoshi wasn't open yet. So we decided to take a few pictures, grab breakfast, see the next thing on our list, and come back.

This building dates to 1914, although the Mitsukoshi empire started in 1673, with a dry goods store.

I thought it terribly novel to see a crew carefully planting flowers on a busy city street, so I made Patrick take a picture.

The other end of Mitsukoshi…

Classic Tokyo!

Our destination was the Nihombashi bridge, which used to mark the start of the great road running between Edo (now Tokyo) and Kyoto (then the capital of Japan) and is still the spot from which all distances from Tokyo are measured. It also used to be a beautiful red lacquered structure but, like so many of the historic structures in Tokyo, has long-since been destroyed by one of the Great Trifecta of Japanese Calamities: fire, earthquake, or Godzilla.

In fact, just about every historic sight we saw in Japan was a replica (although some of those replicas are still older than the US!). The bridge that stands today was constructed in 1911 and covered by the Shuto Expressway in 1962. I guess in an overbuilt city, it makes sense to plant an elevated highway over the river, but it's hard to look at this and imagine the vibrant fishing district that eventually became Tokyo's financial center.

It's hard to see in the photo, but this plaque depicts the original bridge and surrounding markets.

Patrick decided to risk life and limb to run out in the street and photograph the original distance marker…

…only to later discover that it's a replica too!


Actual distance marker, safely ensconced in a nearby park

The coolest part of the bridge are the elaborate details.

 

[lurkyloo]

We grabbed a bite to eat at a suspiciously Starbucks-esque coffee shop, and as we waited for Mitsukoshi to open, I cribbed from my guidebook to regale Patrick with a superficial and wildly inaccurate account of the history of Japan from 1457 to present day. ("And then there was this fire, so they rebuilt, and then there was this earthquake, so they rebuilt, and then there was this other fire, so they rebuilt…") I'm sure all the English-speaking patrons around us were rolling their eyes as they eavesdropped.

Not the best hot chocolate I've ever had, with some kind of fruit drink

Faux croque-monsieur and some kind of breakfast roll

We started taking pictures of all the kawaii (cute/adorable) signs everywhere.

Finally it was almost 10am, so we went to wait at the entrance of the Mitsukoshi Department Store.

As we waited, four staffers came to the door and performed an elaborate ritual of announcements and bowing and unlocking the doors, standing outside, bowing, then going back inside, relocking the doors, bowing and finally unlocking the doors again and welcoming us all inside.

All the big department stores have gleaming cosmetics counters at the front to lure the ladies inside

Oooh! Our second Slumming Celebrity Sighting!

Inside, all the salesclerks were lining the aisles, and as we walked down the main drag, every single person, on both sides, bowed and welcomed us. It was like running down the high-five line at a football game.

We were so excited, we almost did run, and as we rounded the corner, we saw this:

Say, this don't look nuthin' like the Mitsukoshi store at Epcot!

As our jaws hit the floor, organ music filled the air. Mitsukoshi imported a Wurlitzer theater organ in 1930, and it's still played daily.

The statue is of Magokoro, the Goddess of Sincerity, and was carved from 500-year-old cypress over the course of 10 years.

We are sincerely sorry this shot is crooked, Magokoro. Please do not eat us.

She literally has eyes in the back of her head!

 

[lurkyloo]

We decided to ride the escalator up to every floor and have a quick look around. At the time, we were gaping at all this opulence and comparing it unfavorably with the Mitsukoshi department store in Epcot. However, I've since learned that the interior of Epcot's store is supposed to look like that of the Imperial Palace—good thing, too, because when we later toured the Imperial Palace, all we got to see of the inside was a couple of pixilated photos.


Sheesh! This place doesn't look *anything* like the Imperial Palace!

There's even stuff to see on the roof, including the garden center, a small shrine, and an amphitheatre.

The next floor down sold some food items, but it was more like the various departments of the grocery store and less like a food court.

Mmmmm…. Purple….

Patrick totally ate one of these

…And then one of these totally tried to eat him!

The real action was in the basement, where you could get hot food from dozens of vendors for take-away.

Swanky elevator

We got a variety of snacks and sat on a bench in a breezeway to eat them because we couldn't find anyplace with tables. Then we walked a few steps to the subway and rode it to Shibuya station so I could show Patrick Hakuhinkan Toy Park. Along the way, I asked him to take pictures of a couple nearby shops I'd missed when I didn't have the camera.

Massive cube made of eyeshadows at Shiseido

The Swarovski store wouldn't let us take pix inside, so all you get is this…

 

[lurkyloo]

As expected, Patrick loved Hakuhinkan Toy Park. And I got the not-so-wacky picture I wanted!

Who knew? Even our cat slums in Japanese ads!

(Dr. J at home…)

Kawaii Overload

The Japanese can even make hideous deep-sea creatures adorable!

This is also where we discovered the secret lives of some beloved Disney characters. In Japan, Mickey and Minnie are MARRIED!

Even Stitch is married!!!

Why must they hide their love in America?





Another surprise was stumbling on a cache of what the Japanese call "Sylvanian Familes" but are better known to American children of the '80s as "Calico Critters"!

Patrick is a closeted Calico Critters fanatic. …Closeted until just now when I typed that on the Internets. I think he's embarrassed cuz they're so cutesy and girly, but he loves the tiny playsets with all their adorable little details.

So I let him get one (the candy shop, no less) and a little kitty to run the place.

We explored the building a little more and checked out the restaurants on the upper floors.

On the way back to the hotel we spotted another kawaii character:

And I discovered I'd been committing a great faux pas by applying my lipstick on the subway…


The full English translation is "Please litter, sit on the floor, and read the newspaper at home, you cretin!"

Here's what a subway tunnel looks like, if anyone's curious…

Before Patrick left for work, we got a pick-me-up at 7-Eleven:

And here's our toy store loot (yes, those ARE light saber chopsticks!)…

I'm going to break Day 3 into two parts because we're only at about 2pm and the installment is already this huge! Back with the rest in a few days….

 

[disney_princess_85]

I've been reading your trip report over the last couple of days and I'm now up to date. It's great! I love how much detail you include. My brother lives over there but I'm yet to visit- I will do soon enough, I'm sure.

By the way, I'm from the UK and we also refer to 'Calico Critters' as Sylvanian Families. Also, the hotel key card/light activation thing is also in European hotels.

 

[Aburns8]

I just love all of the pictures that you took! You can be the next Roots! If I remember correctly, I think I had some Calico Critters as a kid. I don't think we were huge fans, but my sister and I had a couple of them. I thought they were retired! I can't wait to read more about your day. You did so much before Patrick had to be at work!

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

More cuteness -- I love it! You weren't kidding about the real Mitsukoshi being nothing like the one in Epcot. The pictures kind of reminded me of Harrod's.

 

[shippedtosea]

Your posts just make me jealous! haha I wanna go so badly! I do think its funny that you guys grew up calling them Calico Critters because I grew up in NY and they were called them Sylvanian Families. My DF loves them as well (he grew up in the UK where the original TINY store is) so your DH isn't alone. Its too hard not to love them. I really want the set he bought tho...its so cute.

 

[Disneygrl36]

Wow everything is so inticate & opulent. That is some department store! I loved the toy store pics---they do have an overload of cuteness over there don't they?

 

[ChrisFL]

Amazing Photos!!

I gotta go back soon!!

 

[Lorelei528]

Carrie-
Well, I'm not sure how it took me so long to find this, but I'm glad I asked you about it!
Amazing report so far! Such detail and great information! And of course, the awesome pics!

We encountered the same room key with light switch power on our trip to Ireland back in Nov! Eoghan's parent's made reservations in a place in Galway that had them.

Can't wait to see and hear more!!! Excellent job so far!

Lori

 

[torsie24]

We encountered the same room key with light switch power on our trip to Ireland back in Nov!

Cool, I've not seen them in the UK!

We had one in our hotel in Marrakech and thought it was pretty cool. It's a great idea.

Eee - great update Carrie! I can't wait until you get to TDR! We're thinking of going in March 2012, so I'm eager to hear about the crowds.

 

[AlexJB]

I'm loving your report; making me want to visit Japan now! Can't wait to read more