Weekend Update: Tokyo Halloween; Disney Parks and Expo; Gdansk, Poland; Niagara Falls
First up this week I want to thank all of the Weekend Update readers who stopped by the MiceChat booth at the D23 Expo. We had a lot of fun meeting all of the nice MiceChatters.
It's Halloween time at the Disney resorts and that includes Tokyo. TDLFAN has a report on the Halloween decorations that have gone up at the Tokyo Disney Resort. Denise nbodyhome Preskitt checks in with a bicoastal report. Boy has she been busy! First she shares some photos of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party in Florida, then takes us to the D23 Expo and the Disneyland Resort.
Following that, SummerInFL takes us on a moist journey to Niagara Falls. Apparently it was the bonus prize for visiting the in-laws. Then we have another chapter in Richard Williams and Ian Parkinson's Beautiful Baltic. These photos make me want to break out my passport!
Please join us for another edition of MiceAge's Weekend Update!
Disney's Halloween started at TOKYO DISNEY RESORT this past September 10th, and will last until November 3rd. Both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea share the halloween event for the first time since Halloween became a must-do yearly celebration at TDL park. While TDL retains the very popular happy/not-so-scary Disney halloween, TDS has introduced a different alternative with a very Venetian-style masquerade halloween event of their own. Both events play well against one another and offer TDR guests with two very distintive halloween alternative that cover ALL guest demographics. It's a strike of genious and the beginning of what is to be one of the most memorable Halloween seasons at TDR, ever!!!
Upon arriving at TDL, we are greeted by a very traditional halloween atmosphere, Disney style.
Happy ghosts materialize all over TDL!!
Welcome to TDL's Disney Halloween 2009!!
This year's hub centerpiece decor.
Some of the decor found around the Hub.
Yes folks.. this is the line you have to make if you want your photo taken at the Hub's centerpiece decor spot.
Those wacky TDL fans... dress up for halloween. Fun is the name of the game.
You never know who you will meet in TDL. That's TDS' Duffy stealing camera time.
Fantasyland.
Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare is back for an encore performance.
Fun, varied and colorful halloween banners (exclusive to this year's theme) can be enjoyed around the hub area.
Some cool and very TDL-exclusive halloween merchandise highlights this year's villains' theme.
In the meantime, a short trip on the Disney Resort Line away from TDL.. we arrive at TDSea, where a venetian halloween event is taking place... along with some stunning and elegant decor.. See the row of candles atop the decor? they flicker at night in glorious purple glow as a background.
Venetian masquedare decor around Mediterranean Harbor. At night, these decoration light up in beautiful flickering faux candlelights..
Gotta love those rainbow feathered masks....
Venetian Gondola alley...
American Waterfront streets are decorated for halloween. These "cobwebs" are lit in green and purple at night.. very pretty.
Marquee announced TDS' main halloween show, "Mysterious Masquerade", playing daily at Waterfront Park.
"Mysterious Masquerade" show stage is large and impressively decorated with "haunted" artifacts. Show story revolves around a mysterious masquerade being held at Hightower Hotel (aka TOT) where Mr' Hightower's impressive collection of artifacts comes to life and possess some very disneyesque masquerade guests...
The Halloween 'photo op' location near TOT is very elegant and popular with guests.
Cape Cod is also decorated for Halloween.. featuring traditional decor and the ever popular Duffy, the Disney bear.
Even the fire truck at Cape Cod got decorated for Halloween.
Duffy the Disney Bear... in a rare moment of solitude from pesky fanatic guests. He models this year's halloween costume.
Mickey and Minnie perform during "Mysterious Masquerade". The costuming on this show alone is probably much more expensive than any show produced for the castle stage at the MK park in the MK. The plush versions of Mickey and Minnie in the outfits seen here are the biggest sellers at TDS right now. Get yours while they last.. because they will not last until the end of the halloween event.. trust me on that!
The SS Columbia glitters in the night time hours..
Mount Prometheus does it's nightly roar, to remind the WDC management and guests everywhere it is the centerpiece of Disney's most fabulous theme park ever built.
"BraviSEAmo!" fiery finale.
Guests exit TDSea after a full day of venetian halloween fun.. Note "BraviSEAmo!"s fountains dancing in the background.
Back at TDL... Cinderella Castle is lit in Halloween orange and purple color in the night time.
All decorations around the Hub are lit with colorful effects and purple dark light effects.
A million guests leave TDL at the end of the day after a full day of Halloween fun (at regular day ticket rates mind you unlike that other MK park..) Everyone goes home HAPPY!!!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM TDR!!!
!!!
Cavalcade of Disney Photos
Anaheim, California and Orlando, Florida
Denise nbodyhome Preskitt has been a very busy Disney bee lately, with trips to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party in Orlando and the Disney Parks and D23 Expo in Anaheim. I'm not sure how she found the time to share these photos with us.
A couple of the 300 Not So Scary Halloween Party photos I have on my website mousesteps.com.
Christmas at Disneyland (part of Main Street was decorated for filming of a commercial):
California Adventure construction:
Disneyland photos:
And I was attending the D23 Expo, which was incredible! I have way too many photos of it. Here are a few:
The Legends Award Ceremony:
Richard Sherman:
Maynard visits D23:
Jay Rasulo:
Outside the convention center:
John Lasseter at the press conference:
And at a presentation on the last day:
MickeyMaxx and Monorail Man at the Micechat booth:
Fishbulb at the Micechat booth with a Mr. Toad car:
Staff members on the last day (after the event closed) in front of the Lego mosaic:
Cinderella's Coach on the last day after closing, getting ready to be taken away:
A weekend away from home to see the in-laws is usually not at the top of anyone's list (depending on your in-laws
) but if you happen to be near one of the world's best natural wonders, sometimes the trek is worth it.Quote:
The Niagara Falls are voluminous waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the international border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York. The falls are 17 miles (27 km) north-northwest of Buffalo, New York and 75 miles (120 km) south-southeast of Toronto, Ontario, between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Niagara Falls, New York.
Niagara Falls is composed of two major sections separated by Goat Island: Horseshoe Falls, the majority of which lies on the Canadian side of the border, and American Falls on the American side. The smaller Bridal Veil Falls are also located on the American side, separated from the main falls by Luna Island.
Niagara Falls is composed of two major sections separated by Goat Island: Horseshoe Falls, the majority of which lies on the Canadian side of the border, and American Falls on the American side. The smaller Bridal Veil Falls are also located on the American side, separated from the main falls by Luna Island.
As we wanted to get as close as possible to the falls, we discovered they had this wonderful attraction called The Cave of the Winds.
Quote:
The cave was some 130 feet (40m) high, 100 feet (30m) wide and 30 feet (9m) in depth. It was discovered in 1834, and originally dubbed Aeolus' Cave, after the Greek god of winds. Guided tours began officially in 1841, and continued until a rock fall in 1920 made it clear the passage was no longer safe. The tour officially reopened in 1924, now bringing visitors to the front of the Bridal Veil instead of behind it, on a series of decks and walkways. Tropical storm-like conditions can be experienced, as winds can reach up to 68 mph underneath the falls.
For $11 a piece, they give you these slip resistant shoes and a stylish yellow poncho. My guess is that it's yellow so they can spot you better should you fall into the river but I'm sure that's not something they would admit.
Inside this building is an elevator that takes you down 175ft to a tunnel that leads outside. As we headed down we were told by the elevator operator that they dug the elevator shaft by hand and created the structure above us with the extra rocks.
As we exit we see to our left this stunning view of Horseshoe Falls.
*sings* Oh Canada! (Off to the right)
The Sky Tower across the lake, don't get to close, I'm told it stings a little.
To our right we see our destination, the entrance to the left and the exit to the right. We knew the exit was to the right based on the considerable amount of water each person carried with them.
Time to break out the waterproof camera! I knew there was a reason I bought it!
We have to go....up there? *gulp*
The roar is defeaning to hear, being this close to something so massive you can't help but be in awe of it's power and beauty.
The closer you get the "hurricane deck" the more the falls would randomly fall over the walkways. Unfortunately when Phil decided to go stand and take a photo, a wave kind of caught him off caught. I didn't laugh....too hard.
Even though the rain was torrential, there was a level of peace in the air. You couldn't help but stare at the wonder of mother nature.
We edged closer to the hurricane deck, the already pelting water batting us in the face, it was such a rush!
(I'm going to ask that you forgive me for the water droplets in the photos now, I think given the situation you understand that it was impossible to clean the lens.)
68mph winds is enough to drive anyone the other direction and we walked ever so carefully toward the exit.
We left a little bit wetter than when we arrived but we definitely still had smiles on our faces.
For a more dry view of the falls, we headed back up to the overlook area above the falls.
There is a boat ride called Maid of the Mist that takes you as close to the falls as you can get! Unfortunately it's only accessible on the Canada side so make sure you bring your passport if you go!
There are many walking paths scattered through out the island, most of them taking you along the rapids of the river.
There were little alcoves here and there that got you closer to the rapids themselves, you just have to make sure you are careful because it's not a lazy river!
A short 50 second video of the area:
Anybody got a barrel?
From this vantage point you can see where we were earlier.
An overview of the hurricane deck, that man is braver than I am!
It's amazing to me how something so massive can be so peaceful at the same time. If you ever have the opportunity, I highly recommend going at least once to experience the falls, you will never forget it!
Gdansk, Poland
Quote:
Gdańsk is the city at the center of the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Poland. It is Poland's principal seaport as well as the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is also historically the largest city of the Kashubian region. The city is close to the former boundary between West Slavic and Germanic lands and it has a complex political history with long spells of Polish rule interspersed with periods of German control and two spells as a free city. For much of its history the majority of its inhabitants were German-speakers who referred to their city as Danzig, but after World War II it again became part of Poland.
(All of the videos in this series feature award winning music from the Eurovision Song Contest.)
Quote:
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition. Each country participates via one of their national EBU-member television stations, whose task it is to select a singer and a song to represent their country in the international competition. The Contest has been broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1956 and is one of the longest-running television programmes in the world. It is also one of the most-watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally. Eurovision has also been broadcast outside Europe to such places as Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Egypt, India, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Uruguay despite the fact that they do not compete. Since the year 2000, the Contest has also been broadcast over the Internet, with more than 74,000 people in almost 140 countries having watched the 2006 edition online.
Looking for up-to-date reports from Disneyland
including photos, gossip, park schedules and more?
including photos, gossip, park schedules and more?
Visit these MiceChat columns each week:
Andy Castro's Dateline Disneyland
David DarkBeer Michael's In the Parks
And that brings us to the end of another week. Our photographers have just enough time to reload their cameras before we see you all again next weekend. Thank you to all of our wonderful readers, and as always, a huge thank you to our amazing team of global photographers, spies, and gossips:
TDLFAN
Denise nbodyhome Preskitt (mousesteps.com)
SummerInFl
sir clinksalot
MickeyMaxx
CaptPhoebus
Ian Parkinson and Richard Williams
BigPigletFan
Abominable Snowman
Fishbulb
PhotoMatt
Jack Hollywood 1939 Wixom
Your Editor - Rixter
Where have YOU been recently? We invite you to share your photos of theme parks or any other destination that may be of interest to our readers. Please feel free to contact me via MiceChat Private Message (screen name Rixter)
or send me an email: oceansiderick@gmail.com.
or send me an email: oceansiderick@gmail.com.
It is readers like you who make MiceChat such a special place.
Don't miss a single one of MiceChat's Featured Blogs (including the Weekend Update). Add our feed to your favorite feed software or site:
MiceChat: Featured Disney Blogs
Follow us on Twitter
MiceChat: Featured Disney Blogs
Follow us on Twitter
Total Comments 24
Comments
-
Yes! First post, finally! Thanks as usual to Rick and the many contributors for all of their hard work. I always love seeing the decorations at the Tokyo Disney Resort.
Oh yeah, and Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day everyone!Posted 09-19-2009 at 02:44 AM by pirate_tim
-
Wonderful update!
Tokyo Disneyland's Halloween decor is amazing and I must have a replica of that "Mysterious Masquerade" poster! Super neat stuff and I love all the pictures so thanks everyone! This fan enjoyed it.Posted 09-19-2009 at 06:09 AM by Disney Liz -
I love Weekend Update! Many thanks everyone that contributed. I see things every week that I would never get to see if it were not for all the wonderful MiceChatters. You are appreciated!Posted 09-19-2009 at 08:11 AM by Silver7 -
Outstanding shots this week everyone!
One of the best so far! The shots of Niagra brought back some great memories as we stayed in the Embassy Suites which is perched right above the falls a few years ago. The shots of Gdansk were also very much appreciated along with the shots of the parks. Bravo to all of you! Posted 09-19-2009 at 09:15 AM by Mac Daddy -
Really spectacular shots! Great update!Posted 09-19-2009 at 09:42 AM by Steve DeGaetano -
those photos from TDL are amazing! The decor they have for both TDL and TDS are gorgeous - I love the hub decorations and the masquerade decorations are beautiful (love that poster too!).Posted 09-19-2009 at 09:55 AM by Oathkeeper -
Another great weekend of photos from around the world. Our Summer is definitely braver than I to get out on those walkways, but what wonderful pictures she captured.Posted 09-19-2009 at 10:17 AM by pratt55 -
Agree with Silver7.....we'd miss out on so much, if people didn't post their beautiful photos here. THANK YOU! Every week, it is an exciting thing to check out where everyone has gone.
One question: the Baltic photos....were they all taken in one city, or from the two red-dot destinations shown on the map?Posted 09-19-2009 at 10:21 AM by michael darling - Great photos this week - from everybody. Summer, thanks for the photos of the Falls - Being from Western New York, I love Niagara Falls and never get tired of seeing it - you made me homesick.Posted 09-19-2009 at 01:54 PM by celticdar
-
All the photos for the Gdansk photos were taken in the city of Gdansk, Poland. The map just shows the place we left before we went to Gdansk (which was Olso, shown in last weeks Weekend Update). In all we went to :-
Oslo, Norway - last week
Gdansk, Poland - this week
Stockholm, Sweden - future week
Tallinn, Estonia - future week
St. Petersburg, Russia - future week
Helsinki, Finland - future week
Copenhagen, Denmark - future week
Bruges, Belgium - future week
You will be getting photos from the other locations soon.
IanPosted 09-19-2009 at 02:19 PM by Ian P - Well thanks for the info. Now I really want to go. My family is from Poland, came over 3 generations ago. It looks beautiful and ornate.Posted 09-19-2009 at 04:59 PM by michael darling
- Great pictures of Niagra! Would like to visit some day...
I didn't know that Halloween was celebrated n Japan.Posted 09-19-2009 at 05:40 PM by Not My Real Name -
TDR, it look's great.Posted 09-19-2009 at 05:51 PM by Timekeeper -
I just L O V E all the picture's of NIAGRA, look like great place to go....... I do have fear of getting a bad cold,
for it does look like you be getting wet all day.....
again great pictures......
Also Enjoy Gdansk, Poland,
I think it's so pretty there.... great picture's!
Thanks All for the weekend report!Posted 09-19-2009 at 06:21 PM by Eagleman 
-
Great Weekend Update!Posted 09-19-2009 at 11:14 PM by Barbossa -
I live in Grand Island, NY, which is only five minutes from NF, so I was very excited to see a report about Niagara Falls! There was some incorrect info though...The Maid of The Mist definitely does launch from the American side as I've ridden it many times and that tower in Canada is called the Skylon Tower, not Sky Tower...Posted 09-20-2009 at 09:36 AM by Princess Misty -
I apologize, had I known Maid of the Mist launched from the US side, I would have taken advantage of that! Just goes to show that no matter how much research you do, it's really easy to miss some key information.Quote:Originally Posted by Princess Misty
I live in Grand Island, NY, which is only five minutes from NF, so I was very excited to see a report about Niagara Falls! There was some incorrect info though...The Maid of The Mist definitely does launch from the American side as I've ridden it many times and that tower in Canada is called the Skylon Tower, not Sky Tower...
Thank you so much for clearing that up Princess Misty!Posted 09-20-2009 at 07:04 PM by SummerInFL - Have yet to stop by and see the Falls. Maybe because it's usually winter time when we're in the area!Posted 09-20-2009 at 11:03 PM by bayouguy
- Actually you are both wrong and right, the Maid of the Mist launches from Canada and USA.Quote:Originally Posted by Princess Misty I live in Grand Island, NY, which is only five minutes from NF, so I was very excited to see a report about Niagara Falls! There was some incorrect info though...The Maid of The Mist definitely does launch from the American side as I've ridden it many times and that tower in Canada is called the Skylon Tower, not Sky Tower...Posted 09-21-2009 at 01:19 AM by Ian P
-
Great photos everyone!Posted 09-21-2009 at 07:44 AM by WheresMickey
