The glocalization as we like it

It's almost Christmas and it's time for regression. So it's time to go and visit the Japanese version of the Disneyland Resort. We went to Disney Sea because it seemed to propose a few new things compared to our Disneyland Paris. The two parks (Land and Sea) are situated in the Easter surburb of Tokyo. You can acces the place easily with the JR line connected to Tokyo station or Shin-Kiba station, on the Yurakucho line.  It's a simple, easy, fast and cheap journey - first good surprise of the day.

Mysterious Island

Arabian Coast

Mermaid's Lagoon

Mediteranean Port

American Waterfront

TomorrowLand

I went several times to Disneyland Paris and I have to say that I definitely prefered Disney Sea Tokyo. Let me list the nicest points of Tokyo's park :

- It's quiet. The kids are patients, calms and nobody rushes to the attractions. No stress in the waiting lines. When you lost your friends because you were busy to take a picture, people kindly make some space in the line to let you join your group. As a result, the day was very relaxing - something that you can't expect from Disneyland Paris where kids are shouting at every corner and their parents insulting them in all the langages of the world...

- It's clean. Another difference from Disney Paris. Almost everyone is carrying a pop-corn bag but nothing falls on the flor and if it happens, a nice cleaning person immediatly appears to clean the place. So Disney Sea really looks like another planet where everything is pretty and easy-going.

- It's details-oriented. Inside the attractions, the level of attention to the details of the decoration and so on is really, really amazing. Nothing compared to the cheap Pinocchio/Peter Pan/etc. attrations I was used to. The journey to the Center of the Earth is properly a piece of Art, as well as the 20 000 Under the Sea and even Indiana Jones - the special effects are really high-standard and you don't regret the time that you spent waiting for it ! And I understand now why the Japanese are so crazy about Disney stuff - the park as a whole is really, really impressive. There are little rooms everywhere, full of stuff and decoration ; the music on the alleys is well-balanced with noises effects etc... How can you resist to the magic ?

Special mention to the Kingdom of Triton, it was so beautiful that I could have spent the hole day to watch the scenary... And there was the real Mermaid's cavern !!!

- It's not so full of tourists. We barely met something like ten gaijin groups or couples. All the staff workin at Disney Sea is bilingual but people seemed sincerely surprised and happy that I could question them politely in Japanese and two of them thanked me for my "kirei na nihongo". As a result, you don't have the feeling that the park is a "tourists thing"but a kind of part of the modern Japanese culture.

- The restaurants are not only fast-food spots, even the middle-range ones. You can have spicy food inside he Volcano, arabian pastries at the Arabian Coast and pasta at Little Venice. I didn't tried any restaurant but families have more choice to feed the kids than in Paris.

- The goodies are not so expensive. I didn't buy anything because there was no reason to but if you like to bring some stuff back to your friends, I suppose that you feel relieved about the range of prices.

- You can see Fuji-san from the water-front ! It's the fist time that I could see it so clearly !

A few strange things, anyway :

- In the Little Mermaid's show, after meeting the Witch, the mermaid finally decides to stay in the Ocean with her fishes-friends. Ok, they had to find a way to close the show, but personnally, I was shocked. The mermaid, in Disney's version, is curious about the world and wants to get out the protected familial area to make her own experiences. It's a metaphore of the way you become and adult, and make a step into a foreign world that you don't controle - the way you accept to take risks... It's really Japanese to prefer an ending where the mermaid stays with the people who look like her and rejects the dangers of the "outside world". Welcome to the Japanese society.

- You can GET MARRIED at Disneyland Tokyo... Oh my.

- For the strong sensations inside the attractions, prefer Disneyland Paris. I am not in this case but if you like adrenaline, you would be desappointed by the softness of the Japanese "fast-pace" experiences.
But I liked a lot the Tower of Terror... You are in a elevator suddenly falling from the highest floor. I really felt myself falling from high.

Tower of Terror

A really good day at Disney Sea !