{"id":1351,"date":"2009-11-09T19:12:40","date_gmt":"2009-11-09T10:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2009-11-09\/1351"},"modified":"2009-11-09T19:12:40","modified_gmt":"2009-11-09T10:12:40","slug":"visit-to-tokyo-disneyland-the-second-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2009-11-09\/1351","title":{"rendered":"Visit to Tokyo Disneyland: the Second Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\nNOTE<\/b>: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.\n<\/div>\n\n\n

After our Evening at Tokyo Disneyland<\/a>, we awoke\nthe next morning to find this view from the hotel window....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 130 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHints of Magic<\/span>\nan empty parking lot\n<\/div>\n\n

After checking out of the hotel, we headed over to Disneyland to see it\nfor the first time in the daylight. Fumie and Anthony got ear-head-things,\nFumie's with a Minny<\/span> bow, and Anthony's with a Wizard's<\/span> hat (from\nFantasia, the first film my folks ever took me to)....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 34 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/13, ISO 900 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPair of Mice<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 38 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nThe Adventure Begins<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Lines early on had hour-long wait times, but we'd read about the\n“fastpass” system that allows you to get a ticket<\/span> that reserves a spot<\/span> for\nlater to an expedited line. It doesn't get you in any more quickly, but\nallows you to spend the wait doing other things beside standing in line.... or so I thought.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

The wait for the Space Mountain in-the-dark roller coaster was an hour\nwhen we first got there. Having done it the previous night (waiting only 45\nminutes!) and really enjoyed it, Anthony wanted to do it again, so, we got\nthe fastpass thing..... only to find out we could actually use it after about\nthree<\/i> hours, and couldn't use any fastpass again until then.\n(Fast-forward to then, by the time we could<\/i> use it again, the\nreservations were for 9pm, long after we had to leave, so for us it turned\nout to be a one<\/span>-time-only thing.)<\/p>\n\n

Wait for the Autotopia was only 20 minutes, so we did that, allowing me\nto try to get some photos in the presence of actual light this time....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 18 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPedal to the Metal<\/span>\nat 3.7mph\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 18 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nVigilant of the Competition<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 120 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/5.3, ISO 280 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nWay Cool Dude, Dude<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

While eating lunch, this guy was at the facing table with his family,\nand I was<\/span> struck by how mainstream normal his wife and kids looked compared\nto his 60s hippy motif. I was really<\/span> perplexed by the wide gap until after a\nlong<\/span> while it dawned on me: he was dressed up as a pirate,<\/span> like Johnny Depp<\/a> in\nDisney's Pirates of the Caribbean<\/a><\/i> franchise (for which Depp\nwas paid on the order of $50,000,000 so far, but I digress<\/span>).<\/p>\n\n

A lot<\/i> of people, kids and adults, get the clip-on ears like Fumie\nand Anthony (magnitudes more than I remember<\/span> in the California Disneyland\n10<\/span> years ago), but because this was Halloween season, customers were\nallowed to dress up in full costume, so long as it was a character<\/span> from a Disney<\/span> film or\npark attraction. And boy, did they ever!<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 90 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f<\/span>\/5.3, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTypical Park Visitors<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

When we first arrived the previous night, I didn't<\/span> make the connection\nto Halloween and thought that perhaps Disneyland was just a magnet<\/span> for\nfolks who liked to dress up all fancy and frilly, like this polite\ncouple I met<\/span> on a train<\/span><\/a>. I was somewhat<\/span> relieved to realize the\nHalloween connection.... somewhat.<\/p>\n\n

Most people who dressed up did so way over the top, so the relatively\nsubtle costume of the pirate guy totally caught me off guard, and for 20\nminutes I thought<\/span> it was really his style.<\/p>\n\n

Here are a few more park visitors....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 150 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nKing Mickey and his Pages<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 82 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 220 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nYellow Idunno Taking Photo of White Idunno<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRegal<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 52 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 1250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nIncontinent Duck?<\/span>\nPirate in the background is just a bonus<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 2000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBlue Idunno<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 95 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/5.3, ISO 2200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHawaiian Mickey?<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Dressed-up park patrons exceeded dressed-up staff by several orders of\nmagnitude in number, and often in complexity and ornateness. It was often<\/span>\ndifficult at first glance to tell whether a well<\/span>-done costume was park\npatron or park staff, but we soon figured out that those carrying cameras\nor anything else out of character were customers.<\/p>\n\n

As it got later, lines got longer, stretching past two hours, so we\nended up trying whatever seemed to have a shorter<\/span> line, almost regardless of\nwhat it was. We saw one<\/span> building whose attraction was big enough that it was\namong those with an electronic sign indicating the wait, and that the wait\nwas a shockingly<\/span> scant 10 minutes, so having no idea what it was, we entered.<\/p>\n\n

It was wonderful<\/i>. It turns<\/span> out that it was the 3D movie\nexperience “Honey, I Shrunk<\/span> the Audience<\/i><\/a>” (related to\nthe 1989 movie Honey, I Shrunk<\/span> the Kids<\/a><\/i>, which I saw<\/span> back then and\nrecall it as being funny and cute). This Disney attraction was the first 3D\nmovie I'd ever seen, and it was fantastic. Fumie and Anthony also enjoyed\nit very much. Highly recommend.<\/p>\n\n

(Now that I think about it, while doing my undergraduate at Kent<\/a>, for some kind\nof class on presentations or media or something, I presented<\/span> a 3D<\/span>\nslideshow. I mounted<\/span> two cameras next to each other on a board,<\/span> loaded them\nwith slide film, and took various shots around the campus. For the presentation<\/span> I placed<\/span> polarizing filters in front of the projector lenses,\nand give the class members polarized-lens glasses. Hmmm, I seem to<\/span> remember\ngetting the glasses from my high-school physics teacher, so maybe this was\nfor a high<\/span>-school class. I overlapped<\/span> the two for several years, so now I\nget<\/span> confused about what was what. Anyway, I don't<\/span> remember much about the\nslideshow, so I'll manufacture the memory that the 3D effect was really cool. \ud83d\ude42 )<\/p>\n\n

The line for the Dumbo ride was “only” 45 minutes, and Anthony wanted to\ntry it, so he got in line with Fumie. The wait was<\/span> excruciatingly slow\nbecause while the ride lasted for only 1½ minutes, it took a full<\/span>\nfour minutes to get people set up between rides, so the lack of activity\nmade glaciers feel dynamic and exciting.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 18 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 3200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFinally Boarding The Dumbo Jet<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 170 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 1400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nWorth the Wait<\/span>\nperhaps\n<\/div>\n\n

As the deadline approached for our return to Kyoto, the possibilities\ndwindled to almost nothing, but we eventually found one attraction devoid\nof all customers due to an impending parade of some kind: Country Bear Jamboree<\/a>. Its overwhelming<\/span> appeal was that\nthe wait was only 15 minutes (when the next show would start), so we sat\nalone for 14 minutes in the waiting room. Just before it started, a mother<\/span>\nshowed up with her toddler, and together the five of us filed into the\ntheater designed for hundreds.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma 30mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAnimatronic Singing Bears<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Seven-year-old Anthony was on the older edge of the target audience, I\nthink.<\/span> Fumie and I took<\/span> the opportunity to rest.<\/p>\n\n

Then we made our way out to train station and headed home...<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma 30mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 280 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOne of the Many Underground Passageways at\nTokyo Station<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma 30mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSnoozing at 254kph<\/span>\non a bullet train 30 minutes out of Tokyo\n<\/div>\n\n

The lines were long and the crowds, er, crowded, but it could have been much, much<\/i> worse. Consider the view\nof the parking lot from our hotel window in the morning, showing overflow parking #5 or the like:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 36 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/13, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNo Overflow<\/span>\nOctober 30,<\/span> 2009\n<\/div>\n\n

Now consider the same location as seen on Google Maps on Dec 31, 2007:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nOverflow!<\/span>\nFrom Google Maps<\/a>, December 31,<\/span> 2007\n<\/div>\n\n

Yikes. Visit the map and pan over to the park, and judging from the\nant-like groups of people one can see, the crowds that day seemed\ncomparable to what we experienced, though part of that might be some\ncreative editing of the satellite photos (they're clearly edited, as this Photoshop disaster<\/a> illustrates).<\/p>\n\n

We'd chosen to go when we did — a Thursday<\/span> evening and Friday day — because Anthony's school was\nout for something school specific that Friday, and so most other kids across the\ncountry would still be in school (and, the point being, not in line in\nfront of us at Disneyland).<\/p>\n\n

I just couldn't imagine going on a weekend<\/span> or holiday. If you use<\/span> the\n“Historical Imagery” feature of Google Earth, you'll find views with\nshockingly<\/b> more people.<\/p>\n\n

It was a good trip and I'm glad to have it under my belt, but the next\ntime Anthony has a day<\/span> off from school that most other kids don't, we'll\nlikely head to the much-closer KidZania<\/a>\ninstead.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After our Evening at Tokyo Disneyland, we awoke the next morning to find this view from the hotel window....<\/p>

After checking out of the hotel, we headed over to Disneyland to see it for the first time in the daylight. Fumie and Anthony got ear-head-things, Fumie's with a Minny bow, and Anthony's with a Wizard's hat (from Fantasia, the first film my folks ever took me to)....<\/p>

Lines early on had hour-long wait times, but we'd read about the \"fastpass\" system that allows you to get a ticket that reserves a spot for later to an expedited line. It doesn't [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1351"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1351\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}