19/06/26 Visit thoughts (mostly a rant)
I’ve been to every Disney park around the world, including Aulani, so it’s very hard not to compare my experiences on my second visit here. In 2023 I did this park as a park hopper day on a second visit to the other park but probably only spent 4 hours in it taking pics and seeing characters. This time I devoted a full day to it.
POSITIVES ✨
•from every Disneyland, the setting is the most beautiful. There’s moments were I felt like I was walking through Italy and New York that just felt so authentic and perfect.
•they do Agrabah the best from anywhere! This was my favorite land
•Fantasy Springs (Frozen, Tangled and Neverland) feel like pure Disney magic. These are newer lands and it reminds you what you love about the immersive worlds that Disney can build.
•those shots of the Mayan temples makes you want to plan a trip to Guatemala and Mexico
•Classic Disney songs sung in Japanese is so so so beautiful 😍
•Animatronics on the rides feel best in the world
•Cost wise $40 dollars tickets vs sometimes $150 a day in the USA. If the priority pass system actually works then buying passes for individual rides (usually about $10 to skip a 2 hour to 4 hour queue) feels like good value. If you’re lucky to get a mobile order or restaurant booking, the food is exceptionally well priced and tasty.
•popcorn flavours are exceptional and the bucket designs are cool and well priced
•if you like just walking around and absorb the atmosphere and have no plans for rides or food it’s the best park for you
•if you like Lina Belle, you can sacrifice a third of your park time to wait to be in the front of the line to watch her dance on stage with her friends
The Rant
- I get to the park 1.5 hours before it opens and the queue is 1.5km long (from train station to entrance)
- there’s no separate queue to enter for pre booked tickets or on the day
- only got into the park at 10am (1 hour late) which meant that I already queued 2.5 hours just to get in.
- despite having pre booked tickets, you can’t use any of the benefits such as booking ride slots or restaurants until after you scan your ticket.
- food places , even for snacks, use the mobile order or in app reservation system where you need to book collection slots but again you can’t access that till you’re in the park so you can’t plan your meal schedule in advance or get snacks when you want them.
- while the locals respect the purpose of the single rider queue, the staff do not. You could be just about to board the ride and it gets delayed for temp operational issues and you would have to leave and then you have to leave without a guaranteed return pass and then they can close single riders lane for that ride and you’d be screwed
- while the rest of Japan is so beautifully organised that it’s like an art, the Disney Parks are not. Somehow even the USA ones which are far larger feels more well run.
- in 2023 I was scared to go on most rides, but for this visit my goal was to tick off all the thrill rides. They are incredibly short and not much thrill and you don’t feel the adrenaline rush.
- Barely any photo pass moments and the two I found don’t even know how to load the single photo they took on the app.
- if you don’t speak Japanese, good luck if there are any important announcements made
- Getting in touch with guest services is an issue. Flagging issues with staff eventually gets you an email address which they endeavour to respond to in 14 working days. Guest services is a 25 minute walk from one end of the park to the other while navigating busy crowds on walkway and adults pushing you out of the way because they think they saw Lina Belle
Ride issues:
- tower of terror only has about 4 drops and rises. Intensity felt more akin to Toy Story parachute drop compared to Tower in other parks
- Tangled ride despite the massive queues only lasts under 2 mins
- Frozen ride follows same setting as Epcot but no thrill elements
-if you are about to board frozen when using the single rider queue and the ride gets delayed or maintenance checks , you have to leave without a getting an experience pass to return when it’s operational.
- Journey to the centre of the earth is supposed to be their flag ship ride but 90 percent of it is a dull slow train with a really sudden and quick unexpected drop at the end which slightly redeems it.
- the only inversion coaster , Raging Spirits, felt like about 45 seconds. The girl next to me said “this is a very dangerous and scary ride”.
- Peter Pan was the only ride I was able to ride on twice because I managed to get a priority pass and the single rider queue was 10 mins vs 120 mins. Slow ride with a badly synced 3D screen.
-you do not know what is going on in any expedition rides because there’s no translation.