That's going to be one of my final memories of Japan. Take that, American Disney World.
Actually, Tokyo Disneyland isn't that much different from its English (and I presume French and Chinese) sister parks. But there are discrepancies:
1. Mickey ears. I know it's popular to buy the headbands with Mickey Mouse's ears at pretty much every Disney park, but in Japan, it's required. There might have been an actual written rule about it in the ticket I was given that I couldn't read. Even the boys have to buy the acccesories, which are modeled after many popular characters.
Also, most of the people at the park were junior-high and high school students, and although there were some very little kids with their families, the rides were dominated by teenagers and many in their 20s pretending (wishing?) that they were 6 years old.
2. Popcorn flavors. I counted at least four popcorn stands selling the snack coated with caramel, honey, salt and curry. That's right, curry. But the honey stand was cutest, because Winnie the Pooh was stirring the ... popcorn maker?
3. Historical inaccuracies. I guess because of Disney's global legal laws, every park employee has to dress in the costume of their themed area. Naturally, this is hilarious in the Far East, which has no history of Japanese pirates ...
Japanese safari hunters ...
or Japanese train conductors from the Wild West.
But out of all of the parks, Japan is probably the only one qualified to beam in Japanese people from the future. "Tomorrowland" probably should have been called "Yesterdaytown." Look how suspiciously comfortable these Japanese spacewalkers are!
The last time I was at Disney World, I was 12 years old and too terrified to ride Space Mountain, the speedy roller coaster in a dark room with thousands of tiny starlights fluttering around so they look like fireflies that just overdosed on Adderall. And I was probably too short to step foot on Thunder Mountain, the railroad coaster that barges through mountains like that Emily Dickinson poem I don't really like. I did ride Splash Mountain, although I'm still looking for my stomach that popped out during the adventure (see first picture).
This time, I was fearless. But I couldn't say the same for one of my friends who will remain nameless (Kohei), who emitted a stream of swear words directed at either Thunder Mountain itself or nobody in particular, apparently scared out of his mind on his first real roller coaster ride.
Equally amusing was the borderline racist safari cruise and boatride through "It's a Small World," which I apparently overlooked 10 years ago in my prebuscent state of mind.
In case you're wondering: Yes, we traversed through Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blast. And yes, I had the highest score (Level 3, with 48,900 points for zapping Emperor Zurg's alien minions.) Woody would have been proud of me.
Tokyo Disneyland is a place where "magic and dreams come true," but more importantly, it's a fantasy-world oasis just outside the city limits where thousands of young and mostly adult Japanese people visit every day regardless of the economy to escape the pressures of their culture. In Disneyland, nothing matters.
And when night falls, the dream really comes true, particularly when a neon-float parade (with "more than 1 million lights") romps around Mickey's castle and electrifies the dark sky. At least 5,000 visitors sat by the ropes for hours just to be in the front row.
But if you ask me, the real magic is where it always was, at the Magic Kingdom. Never mind that Disneyland is like a drug for overstressed Japanese people, or a completely superficial way to fall into a dreamscape for an entire day and ignore all the problems of the outside world.
Mickey is smiling as big as ever, and that's all that matters.
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