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Hello everyone,
On our most recent trip to Tokyo Disney Resort we had the pleasure of dining at the Diamond Horseshoe for the Mickey and Company dinner show. The Diamond Horseshoe is a table service dinner show venue that offers two different shows daily (the other being the Horseshoe Roundup at lunchtime).
Reservations are always required, but sadly can only be made on the Japanese Tokyo Disney Resort website or by calling their reservation line, both of which are in Japanese language only. Fortunately we have some very good Japanese friends who are able to make the reservations for us. If you are able to get someone to make reservations for you, or you can read Japanese (which if you're reading this report is unlikely), then you should ensure that you do it well in advance of the date and time you want. In our experience, reservations for table service and buffet dining at Tokyo Disney Resort sell out virtually instantly, unfortunately.
On the plus side, the respectful and thoughtful nature of the Japanese means that if they cannot make their reservation they usually call to cancel it, which means times can show up at any moment. We have actually gotten several reservations this way in the past, so it's definitely worth checking back everyday before your trip to see if the venue you want has any availability.
On the day of your reservation you will need to go to collect a ticket for the meal at the will call window at the side of the restaurant. This must be done at least half hour before show time, I believe, but it might be more than that. You will not be allowed to enter later on without the ticket. Once you have the reservation ticket you simply come back later at the time specified (printed on the ticket). The Japanese are very particular about details, and so once you have your reservation there is no need to show up any more than about 5 or 10 minutes before the specified time. There will be a line outside the restaurant, but once the doors open everyone is let in very quickly, and your table is preassigned which means that you do not stand any better chance of a better table than if you were in line half hour before opening.
There are three categories of seating available for the shows, "A", "B" and "S", which all increase in price the closer you are to the stage (with "S" being the closest to the stage). The most expensive category was just short of US$50 per person. Prepayment is required and is non-refundable.
The restaurant is located on the left hand side of the entrance area to Westernland (Tokyo's equivalent of Frontierland), and looks very similar to its sister restaurants in Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom (both inside and out).
Once you have entered the restaurant and taken your seat, the show will begin very promptly. There is a warm up part which introduces some of the characters (not Mickey and friends, they come later!) and dinner service begins soon after.
The food is a set menu and is very difficult to change, however, being the awkward westerners that we are, we are vegetarian, which is non-existent in Japan. We had a Japanese friend with us who was able to call over the manager, and after some discussion they said that they could prepare something just for us! We have to say that we were exceptionally impressed with their willingness to accommodate us and the fact that we actually got something fairly decent to eat, despite their restaurant not being equipped for vegetarian diners.
The regular set items are potato wedges, sausage, grilled vegetables, pumpkin, chicken, corn on the cob and I think shrimp, but since I didn't eat it I can't remember exactly (the picture below shows the food, but I can't make out what is on the back of the plate).
For dessert the regular menu consisted of a fun cake that looks like Donald Duck's bottom! Drinks are included, and are refillable. Bread is in a basket on the table and can be refilled upon request. There is a bowl of salad on the table also, which is prepared and has salmon and eggs in it.
For our vegetarian selection we had basically the same, except we were given rice, and potatoes shaped like stars! For dessert sadly we only got strawberries, but it's nice that they made the effort to find out that the dessert had gelatine in it. Strawberries aren't even on the menu, so they must have put some effort in to obtain them, which we appreciate.
The show involves Mickey and his friends helping a hapless young romantic gain the affections of Slue Foot Sue. There are some really great scenes, including Mickey playing the drums! It's a great show and has a nice happy feel to it. It's something which I really wish that the other parks would bring back to their Horseshoe venues. It adds a life and vibrance to Westernland that sadly the other Frontierland's lack.
Overall we really enjoyed the show and the food. The cast members were amazing and went out of their way to help us with our needs and our food was very nice.
If you can make a reservation then I'd definitely recommend it, just remember that to do so will require someone who reads or speaks Japanese.
Dan.
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Hello everyone,
Chef Mickey is a buffet service character dining restaurant located at Disney's Ambassador Hotel at Tokyo Disney Resort.
Reservations are always required, but sadly can only be made on the Japanese Tokyo Disney Resort website or by calling their reservation line, both of which are in Japanese language only. Fortunately we have some very good Japanese friends who are able to make the reservations for us.
If you are able to get someone to make reservations for you, or you can read Japanese (which if you're reading this report is unlikely), then you should ensure that you do it well in advance of the date and time you want. In our experience, reservations for table service and buffet dining at Tokyo Disney Resort sell out virtually instantly, unfortunately.
On the plus side, the respectful and thoughtful nature of the Japanese means that if they cannot make their reservation they usually call to cancel it, which means times can show up at any moment. We have actually gotten several reservations this way in the past, so it's definitely worth checking back everyday before your trip to see if the venue you want has any availability.
The Japanese are very particular about details, and so once you have your reservation there is no need to show up any more than a minute before your scheduled time. You won't be allowed in at least until your time, and in our experiences here, you'll nearly always have to wait ten minutes anyway for a table even once you check in.
The restaurant is located on the ground level of the Ambassador Hotel and can be reached by bus from the two theme parks, by walking from Tokyo Disneyland through Ikspiari, or via the bus station and across the street from Tokyo DisneySea.
The restaurant has some elements that I find reminiscent of Cafe Mickey at Disneyland Paris, as well as the Hollywood Hotel (and indeed its own Chef Mickey) at Hong Kong Disneyland.
Once you have checked in and eventually got to your table, you'll be served your drinks, which are refillable, and you can start on the buffet.
The variety of food here is actually pretty good. There's a wide variety to chose from, with the desserts selection being especially generous.
While you dine Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Donald will make their way around the tables, dressed in their cute Chef Mickey outfits.
The restaurant closes at 10pm, but if you have a late reservation and are already inside, the food will not be taken off until 10.30pm and the characters also stay until this time.
The good thing about character dining in Tokyo is that the characters are very efficient at getting around the tables. Even when they go to take their quick break, they are only gone for a moment and return to the table they left and carry on with excellent time keeping. This past trip when we ate here, we had a late reservation and I was thinking that the characters would not get to us before 10.30pm, but the cast members were doing a great job at pacing the greetings and we were one of the last tables before the characters had finished everybody left in the dining room, minutes before their set ended at 10.30pm.
If you are vegetarian, there are a few options, such as vegetables, potatoes, rice etc, but unfortunately nearly every menu item in Japan has some sort meat, seafood or poultry in it. Chef Mickey was no exception to this, and so we asked a manager about what options were available to us, and what we could eat (as the signs aren't always clear, and even something that shouldn't normally contain meat, for some reason does in Japan!).
The restaurant cast were amazing to say the least. We were walked around the buffet by the manager and the chef, and they told us what was in every item, pointing out what we could and could not eat. They were very helpful and friendly, and to cap it all they offered to custom prepare a pasta bowl with vegetables for us, and a vegetable pizza each! We were there pretty late and it was about 25 minutes before closing, yet they still cooked for us a huge bowl of pasta and a vegetarian pizza each! I cannot thank them or commend them enough on their efforts to accommodate us!
One final note; you pay at the end of the meal at the cash register. At time of writing, it costs 4740 Yen per adult. Your server will bring the bill early in the meal usually, but they aren't trying to get rid of you! The servers don't accept payments, and nor should you leave them a tip as this is actually against custom in Japan. Simply take the bill to the desk at the end and pay what is owed.
Overall our experience this time at Chef Mickey was excellent. The food was very good, and we were exceptionally impressed with the service we got when asking about vegetarian options. The characters are always fun and we love their costumes here. If you can make a reservation then I'd definitely recommend it, just remember that to do so will require someone who reads or speaks Japanese.
Dan.
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Hello everyone,
As many of you are aware, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit made his grand debut at Tokyo DisneySea last month - the first time he has ever greeted fans at a Disney park.
We were there this past week and managed to meet him three times! His greeting area is behind the Cape Cod Cook-Off restaurant in American Waterfront, and has a nice little set up with the idea being that he's on a farm selling eggs.
Oswald looks absolutely amazing, and is a real pleasure to see and meet. He has some really funny movements and gestures that hark back to the early days of hand drawn animation which really gives him a distinctive personality and appeal.
Oswald does sign autographs, in case you were wondering.
It should be noted that Tokyo Disney Resort strictly enforce a "one photo per family" rule for all set greeting locations. This means that you will only be able to get one photo of Oswald with your own camera, whether that be you taking a photo of them, or you being in the photo.
However, there is a slight quirk to this rule. If you purchase their PhotoPass photo then you can take your own photo (still only one), and they will take your photo, which then you can purchase later.
So, if you want a picture of Oswald and with him too, then take your own and ask to be in theirs. Their PhotoPass pictures are actually very good. They aren't as expensive as you'd imagine, and come in excellent commemorative folders complete with stickers.
While we were there the wait time for Oswald was very short. Early morning it was always less than twenty minutes, and later in the day I never saw the line surpass seventy minutes, with sixty being the most often time.
Oswald is cute, fun and an honour to finally meet, having waited for so long for him to be brought into the magical worlds of the Disney parks.
I'll leave you with a few more photos of our greetings with Oswald.
Dan. |
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No trip to a Disney Park would be complete without meeting everybody's favourite star, and the world's most famous mouse, Mickey! I've compiled a list of our top places to meet him at each of the 11 Disney Parks around the world. Some of them are not as obvious as you would initially anticipate, as I have tried to offer suggestions of places where you find him wearing different outfits, or where lines are shorter.
So, let's take a look! I've organised the locations purely by destination, and not in any kind of rank order.
1. Disneyland Park at the Disneyland Resort in California
Disneyland is the gateway to the whimsical world of Toontown, and where better to meet Mickey than in his house there? Depending on your time of visiting, Mickey could be wearing a variety of outfits which include his classic suit, his bandleader outfit, Steamboat Willie outfit or Sorcerer's Apprentice hat and gown. You never know which one he'll be wearing, and while you wait you get to explore the magical home of the world's most beloved mouse!
2. Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort in California
When Mickey visits DCA, he greets is fans on the historical Buena Vista Street, wearing his 1920's Los Angeles clothes. It's a cute outfit and a fitting location indeed.
3. Magic Kingdom Park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida
Mickey's home at the Magic Kingdom is in Town Square Theater on Main Street USA. Here Mickey feels most comfortable, and actually talks to guests whilst wearing his special magicians costume! What sort of conversation will you have with him?
Sadly we haven't yet visited Mickey at Town Square Theater since he started talking to guests. The photo above is from a previous visit. The picture below is one taken by our good friend Lori, who has been lucky enough to meet him since he started talking!
4. EPCOT at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida
While visiting EPCOT, Mickey greets guests at the Character Spot. Although he doesn't wear a special outfit here, it is the only place you can meet him regularly in the park.
Note that the backdrop has changed since we last saw Mickey here, but remains largely similar.
5. Disney Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida
At Disney's Hollywood Studios, Mickey wears his Sorcerer's Apprentice inside the Magic of Disney Animation building. Which spells will you help him conjure up?
6. Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida
Join Mickey before he sets off on his next expedition, at the Adventurers Outpost on Discovery Island! Minnie is nearly always there too, also wearing her explorers costume.
7. Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris
This one is a bit more obscure (you might have expected I had chose 'Meet Mickey Mouse' in Fantasyland), but I have chosen Discoveryland because when Mickey visits the retro-future he dons his special space suit. Although he doesn't come out daily in Discoveryland, unlike the rest of the locations listed above, it is fairly regular, and it is the only place in the world you will find Mickey wearing a space suit!
8. Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris
When he's filming on location at the Studios, Mickey greets fans wearing his classic outfit at Toon Plaza, in Toon Studios. The backdrop is nearly always that of his house back in Toontown.
9. Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort
Again, you might have expected me to chose Mickey's permanent location in Toontown, but that can often get lines of 4 hours or more, and so I have picked somewhere a bit more "relaxed". Although he doesn't come out daily in Westernland, when he does, Mickey wears his special Western outfit. The Japanese call this a "free" character set, meaning he will walk around greeting guests, instead of having a multi-hour wait! Be warned though, when he appears, there will nearly always be hoards of Japanese fans screaming for the attention of their idol! The experience of watching them do that is alone worth meeting Mickey here over any structured location!
10. Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort
Deep in the heart of the Lost River Delta, Mickey is on an excavation trip. When he's taking a break from digging up ancient ruins, he greets his fans in his tent, wearing his cute archaeologist outfit. This is one of the few places at Tokyo Disney Resort where a structured meet 'n' greet location has relatively "short" lines, too, making it a great place to visit Mickey and friends!
11. Hong Kong Disneyland at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
Bears and gold are the main attraction in the little town of Grizzly Gulch. It's also where Mickey likes to hang out when visiting Hong Kong Disneyland, and he does it in style, wearing his excellent gold rush costume! Minnie nearly always appears alongside him, too.
Of course, these locations aren't the only places at the parks where you can meet the Big Cheese, but are the ones that I felt were different or unique in some way.
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
Today we finally have official confirmation from Tokyo Disney Resort that Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who had been rumoured to start appearing for some time, will appear from the 2nd April at Tokyo DisneySea's Cape Cod area! This will be the first time ever that Walt Disney's original cartoon star will appear at a Disney Park, and hopefully paves the way for him to make future appearances around the world!
It is not known if he will remain after their spring festivities end, as at the moment he is only listed under the spring pages of the Japanese language website. We can only hope he will remain!
Other offerings this spring at Tokyo Disney Resort include a brand new Easter parade at Tokyo Disneyland, Mickey and Duffy's Spring Voyage at DisneySea which features three separate shows around the park's ports, and greetings with Duffy who will be wearing a special outfit.
Over in WDW, the Disney Parks Blog today announced that Anna and Elsa would be leaving Norway at EPCOT and moving to the Princess Fairytale Hall at the Magic Kingdom from 20th April. FastPass+ is expected to be available. Cinderella and Rapunzel should still be available in one room, but Anna and Elsa will be replacing Aurora and Snow White in the other. The Parks Blog have said that Anna and Elsa would only be greeting during the day, and in the evening other princesses shall visit, meaning that hopefully Snow White and Aurora will still be greeting at some point during any given day.
Finally, Disneyland Paris last week celebrated their annual Welsh St. David's Day festival, and this coming Monday (17th) will be celebrating the Irish St. Patrick's Day. The schedule of events will include character greetings with Mickey and Minnie in special Irish costumes, lucky (and rather mischievous!) Leprechauns roaming around Frontierland, a small dance show featuring Chip 'n' Dale in their Irish finest, and a pre-parade featuring the Disney characters in their special Irish clothes. The day will be topped off with special St. Patrick's Day fireworks over Disneyland Park.
Have a great weekend everyone,
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
This week the Disney Parks Blog announced that the insanely popular Star Wars Weekend at Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios would be extended to a fifth weekend, up from its normal four. In addition, there would be brand new nightly fireworks (during the weekends), similar to those seen last year at the May the Fourth event. Other Disney news sites are also reporting that there will be a new "experience" to replace the long running and very popular Hyperspace Hoopla. There is no word yet as to why they are doing this and what exactly Hoopla will be replaced with, but we can only hope it's as energetic and fun as Hoopla has been in the past few years. We'll be sad to see Hoopla go, but look forward to having some new entertainment, hopefully!
Across the Twitterverse and beyond, many people have now been talking about the strong possibility that Oswald the Lucky Rabbit will finally be allowed to step out of Toontown and join the Disney Characters at the Disney Parks, for the first time ever this spring! It has been suggested by many that he will start appearing during Disneyland Paris' and Tokyo Disney Resort's spring events. Of course, it could be a rumour that has just spiralled and grown, or there could be something in it, but I have a feeling, and talking to some people I know, that it could very well be true! I guess we shall see at the end of next month! Let's hope it is true!
Speaking of the new spring season at Disneyland Paris, although I had talked about this before, and other sites have also all been talking about it, I wanted to just mention here what we know so far, to give a roundup of what we can expect.
There will be a brand new cavalcade at Disneyland Park, featuring around thirty characters, some of them I'm told are "uncommon". It's strongly hinted that Thumper and Miss Bunny will come to Disneyland Paris for the first time (as well as Oswald, who I mentioned above). The cavalcade will utilise the former Casey Jr train from years gone by, along with three of the cars from Stars 'n' Cars (Walt Disney Studios Park's parade). The cars being taken out of Stars 'n' Cars are Mary Poppins and Bert, Snow White and Dopey and Sulley. The loss of three cars and five characters means that the parade will no longer be able to operate in its current capacity, and therefore plans are in the works to use the remaining cars for a special meet 'n' greet cavalcade. Details are sketchy right now, so we will have to wait until next month to see how it all works out.
As well as the parade changes for both parks, Disneyland Park is also expected to get some awesome decorations, musicians, street artists and there has even been talk of a small show on Main Street, but, that's still as yet unconfirmed.
As you would expect, there will also be some special meet 'n' greets at Disneyland Park, with our favourite characters in special outfits.
Of course, as I said, much as all this is currently unconfirmed. Admittedly, a lot has come from usually very reliable sources, and the odd thing about DLP is that rumours more often than not tend to turn out true! So let's hope all of this works out that way, too!
Staying with DLP, I want to draw you attention my extensive report I posted the other day that covered the new changes at the Disney Hotels and character greetings around the park. It's a sort of hybrid trip report and news report, but if you're planning a trip to DLP soon, it's well worth reading.
Finally we skip over to Hong Kong Disneyland, where the popular blog Disney and More revealed that the long running Glow in the Park Halloween Parade will sadly not return this year. Jon and I saw it several times in 2012 and really liked it. However, the park will be gaining a brand new nighttime parade, titled 'Disney Paint the Night' which will be a permanent addition. This of course is awesome, but I'm sure the Hong Kong fan community will miss not having a dedicated Halloween parade during the season.
Ok, I think that's everything for today,
Dan. |
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| Hello everyone,
This week has actually been quite a news filled week for a change!
Disneyland Resort in California has been at the forefront of most of the news, so let's start there. On the 12th March, the brand new Fantasy Faire area officially opened to all guests. We have all talked about this a lot recently, but now it's officially open, and it seems to be really popular. Disneyland did an excellent job of it, and we can't wait to see it it in May!
The Disney Parks Blog also announced that the new Mickey and the Magical Map show at the Fantasyland Theatre will debut on May 25th. We will miss this by a few days, sadly, but plan to be back in DL in the summer, so we cannot wait to see it! Much to my happiness, it sounds like it will have Stitch in it too!
Apparently it will feature entertainment at both parks at the Resort, including one in DL that will feature Hercules! Hercules is a very rare character indeed, and it will be the first time outside of Tokyo DisneySea that he has met guests in a very long time.
Over in WDW, not strictly character related, but worth a mention; the design for this year's Star Wars Weekends logo has been released, which features Chip and Dale as Ewoks - my favourite Star Wars characters! We hope to be able to attend SWW this year, and so we look forward to seeing which characters will be out... Maybe even Ewok Chip and Dale? Of course that's my own speculation, but that would be very cool indeed!
There will also be a new "nighttime" parade, although details were sketchy, we can hope that it'll be an electrical parade? Again, that'll bring more characters to the park, even if it is just for a parade. Whilst I mention Mystic Point, HKDL are pretty good with their themed characters, and having characters in special outfits in the different lands, which makes me wonder who might appear once Mystic Point opens in May? I guess we'll find out soon enough!
At Disneyland Paris, we have heard from various contacts that for the 20th Anniversary Extension (which runs past the end of April, through to the end of September this year), will include some minor day parade changes. Tiana and Naveen are likely to be replaced with Belle and Prince Adam, and Pluto will finally return to the day parade, having been absent since last year. He will now walk in front of the Mickey and Friends finale float, with Goofy who is being demoted down from the float to the ground. I have also heard that the music will be altered slightly, but from September (not April), but I have yet to get proper confirmation of this. I'll let you all know when I hear for sure.
Finally, here at Character Central we launched the first of our brand new Trip Planners. Covering pretty much anything you could possibly imagine about planning a trip, and tips and advice for while you're on your trip (complete with tons of useful links), the new Planners are an EXCELLENT resource, and we are proud to say that they are the first of their kind anywhere! The first one is for Tokyo Disney Resort, and we will gradually be adding the other Disney Parks, with Hong Kong being the next one, hopefully in the next week to ten days. So check it out and let us know what you think!
Ok, I think that's everything for now,
Dan. |
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| Hello everyone,
It is with great pride that I now present to you for the first time, our BRAND NEW excellent in-depth Tokyo Disney Resort Trip Planner! It is the first in a series of brand new pages that will cover all five Disney Resorts around the world. Everything from booking flights, hotels, dining recommendations and even where to get free wifi is covered! A MUST for anyone planning a trip to Tokyo Disney Resort!
The page includes MANY links which can be accessed under each section, as well as a wealth of information relating to pretty much anything you could imagine!
We really have out everything we had into this new chapter of the website, and I hope that you really find it very useful.
We are in the process of creating the next Trip Planner, which will be for Hong Kong Disneyland, and hope to have that up in the next 2 weeks.
If you have any comments, suggestions or questions, you can hit the blue title bar above, then click the 'Discuss' button that will appear under this article.
Dan. |
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 | Tokyo Disney Resort Trip Planning - Part One | |
| DisneyDan
Friday, February 22, 2013 9:53:07 AM |
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So you want to go to Tokyo Disney Resort?…
Planning a trip to Disney can be exciting, rewarding and indeed frustrating - and that's just to the US Parks! Now consider this, you find yourself wanting to visit Tokyo Disney Resort. Sounds exotic, right? Land of the Rising Sun, the Far East. Fortunately for you, Jon and I will be going for the third time this spring, and we are quite familiar now with the bizarre and even infuriating systems and hoops you have to jump through to get a trip organised. Hotels, tickets and dining reservations are not as easy as the US and DLP to arrange, and take some concentration and forward thinking.
Let us begin where all trips would begin, and that's with booking flights and hotels. [ Read More... ] |
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| Happy 11th Birthday Tokyo DisneySea! | |
| DisneyDan
Tuesday, September 4, 2012 10:07:02 AM |
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Hi all,
Today is the 11th anniversary of the grand opening of Disney's second Asian Park, Tokyo DisneySea.
Filled with unique attractions and experiences, DisneySea is often named the best theme park in the world. From the erupting Mount Prometheus, deep under the sea with Ariel, exploring lost jungles and wandering through the big city, DisneySea is simply spectacular.
Let's celebrate in Character Central's usual way with some pictures of our visits there.
Happy 11th birthday Tokyo DisneySea!
Dan. |
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