This past tuesday 3/31st at TDL....

[TDLFAN]

Those of you going to TDL soon.. take notice! This is why it's so important to get there very earlyand enter the park ASAP after the gates open...

7:30am... a million guests waiting for the gates to open at 8am.


Little room to move around Tomorrowland.


Early afternoon hours... with Fastpasses gone, the stand by wait for "Monsters Inc Ride & go Seek" posted at 220 minutes...


Do you want to get one of those very cool personalized Mickey Dream Keys to this Kingdom?? So do the entire population of Tokyo. Stand in line for over an hour to place your order at Cosmic Encounters shop.


Pooh Pooh... now the forgotten child since Monsters' unofficial opening. 120 mins wait time in the stand by line after the Fastpasses were gone for the day.


Only preview day at HKDL saw lines this long for the carrousel. But this is Tokyo and we have a gazillion more rides and shows here.


Tha Haunted Mansion, with Fastpasses gone.. it's a haunting 120 mins in the stand by line. BTW.. isn't this Haunted Mansion much nicer and textured up close over the old MK version? Admit it. The picture does not lie.


Splash Mountain. Fastpasses gone and a splashy 160 minutes standby wait in that fabulously huge and cavernous queue.. which has a cool AA owl and even an indoors river to entertain you while you wait... unlike the MK's or DL's.


Big Thunder Mountain... and folks, believe it or not, the crowd you see here is actually the beginning of the Fastpass queue...


Those in the Big Thunder stand by had to wait for a lovely 150 mins..


In the meantime... let's check other popular E-ticket rides that do NOT offer Fastpass.. shall we?
The Jungle Cruise... still very popular with guests at TDL...


..but only a 40 minutes wait time since there is no Fastpass. This queue moves fast!!


The queue outside the Pirates of the Caribbean building...


...The queue INSIDE the Pirates of the Caribbean building.. (yes, there is more queue to wait in over DL's original indoor version.)



But POTC only posts a lovely and do-able 20 minutes wait time because there is no Fastpass to slow things down and the attraction has great capacity... just like Hunny Hunt, Monsters, Haunted mansion, Splash Mt... and many other rides that offer Fastpass. Therefore the POTC queue moves very very fast!!!


Oh well, with crowds like these... unseen at the MK on even their crowdest days... it's quite easy to see why TDL rules the Disney parks' universe. Walt would be so proud.

[draybook]

I'd rather walk onto the "inferior" MK versions than stand in line for 2-3 hours at TDL. No way in heck I'd wait that long for any ride, anywhere.

[Grizzly]

If it was your first and maybe only visit to TDL, it probably would not be a good idea. At this point, I probably would for a new ride there.

TDLFan, while you were there did you spot any new merchandise for Monsters? or the 26th Ann?

[tokyodisneydad]

Nice pictures and thanks for sharing them. That is exactly what it looked like when I went on Thursday and Friday last week and Monday this week. Just one correction if I may without getting yelled at and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. The 20 minutes from this point sign is actually at the door of POTC so only includes the waiting time inside. This was the only attraction that I actually felt like I waited for last week and the line was almost exactly as your pictures show---we waited a total of 55 minutes including the outside and inside lines. Believe it or not POOH, BTM and MONSTERs were actually worse on Monday. BTM standby line reached the Curry popcorn stand near Adventureland. Speaking of Popcorn--it was a 40 minute wait for Curry flavor and a 35 minute wait for Churros.
I understand what you are saying about the FP system and can agree to some point, but on Monday I wouldn't have been able to do several attractions without it.

[tasman]

Originally Posted by draybook

I'd rather walk onto the "inferior" MK versions than stand in line for 2-3 hours at TDL. No way in heck I'd wait that long for any ride, anywhere.

Much as I appreciate TDL's commitment to quality, gotta agree with you on that one. I guess if I make it to TDR some day it will definitely have to be in the off-season...if there is such a thing over there...and even if the weather is bad.

Thanks for the pics TDLFan. Though I must say...that Haunted Mansion does look identical to MK's to me

[JoeInJpn]

Originally Posted by tokyodisneydad

Just one correction if I may without getting yelled at and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. The 20 minutes from this point sign is actually at the door of POTC so only includes the waiting time inside.

Good point. No yelling from me tokyodisneydad. Your information here is more than welcome. May I ask where you entered the queue in relation to the baby carts and the churro cart?

Another rule of thumb, if the entrance to the outside queue reaches the baby cart "parking" across from Pirates, the wait is about 40-45min. If it reaches the churros stand, it's 60-65min.

[Grimezy]

I swear people in Japan don't work, 220 minutes to ride Monster Inc, that would be such a pain for people just visiting Japan for a holiday.

I can't believe that's a Tuesday.

Then again, are you lot in Holidays or whatnot right now?

[JoeInJpn]

Grimezy, right now there are three major factors accounting for larger crowds. The first is seasonal, it is spring break and most students are off. The second is promotional, these are the final days of the Resort's 25th Anniversary events. The third is economical, do the the global economic crisis, more families than usual are choosing a local place to visit instead of out-of-town/country destinations.

[tokyodisneydad]

When I rode Pirates on Monday the line started near the trees behind the Churros cart. It looped 4 times meaning had 4 turns in it before getting to the doorway. Below is a pic of the Monsters Inc wait time on Monday.

[tokyodisneydad]

One more pic to show you how crowded it was Monday

[TDRFAN25]

That's why i loved the time of the year that i went. the maximum time we waited was 60 minutes for Pooh's Hunny Hunt. All of the other rides had 20-30 minutes wait times.

[Rex Dopey24]

nice pictures and boy it is jam packed with people. nice trip report thanks.

[Rex Dopey24]

tdlfan you are one brave person.

[TDLFAN]

Rex, I am not brave, trust me.. and I did not ride any rides this day with the exception of Monsters Inc and my review is coming in the next two days with more pictures from the ride itself so I can spoil it for you all... However, the reason why I am not in the least scared of visiting TDL or TDS (which was just as crowded as well this past weekend/ 140 mins for TOT tuesday evening) on days like this is because I *know* the CMs at TDR do an excellent job with crowd control and also the culturally minded respect of people in Japan does come into play to make this situation bearable. I would say the only time when things are a bit out of control is in the morning time when the gates open and people are crammed into a funnel-like area to pass through the turnstyles (see 1st photo above in post 1) and hell break loose trying to get to the gate to enter, but even then, there is no pushing or shoving like you see in the train system during rush hours. But again, OLC staffs the parks so well that CMs seem to have a very tight control over the crowd all of the time... therefore everyone gets much enjoyment, even under the most trying circumstances. With the huge crowds I experienced on the 27th and the 31st.. I was still able to win a seat for the "Dreams Within" castle show *both* days!!! Now that was quite a lucky double hit!!!!

Originally Posted by draybook

I'd rather walk onto the "inferior" MK versions than stand in line for 2-3 hours at TDL. No way in heck I'd wait that long for any ride, anywhere.

That is EXACTLY the point I am trying to make!!! On crowded days like this one, you *must*must*must* get to TDL very early and wait until park opens... then play the Fastpass game all day long and try getting as many Fastpasses as you are able to get within the restrictions of the system or until all Fastpasses for all attractions have been distributed for the day. But keep in mind... on a day like this.. Fastpasses for all rides will be gone by 1pm at the latest, based on my previous experience. And draybook, it would really be a pitty if you skipped any attraction at TDL and missed the chance to see why they make their counterparts at the MK "inferior" as you put it. However, "inferior" is not the right way to describe the situation with the MK rides that are reproduced at TDL.. but instead I would call them "dated" since most of them are in bad need of "pixie dusting". BTW.. believe it or not, there are some things that are superior at the MK over TDL... such as the Haunted Mansion's indoor ride show, "Wishes" fireworks...and.. and.. sorry, can't think of anything else superior at the MK over TDL.
One thing though... Have you stood in the stand by line for Toy Story mania at DHS? You wait for 90 mins on average and trust me, I did it, and it was pure torture. That is the problem I have with the Fastpass system. I think it's horrible that Disney forces guests to make a decision about standing by in a ridiculously long line once Fastpass is gone.. and considering you *paid money* to see the parks... the option of passing up on a popular ride because of the wait times in the stand by line is even more tragic for a guest to be forced to make. This is the gripe that many pro-FP people fail to see. I call it the ME! ME! ME! Factor.

Originally Posted by Grizzly

TDLFan, while you were there did you spot any new merchandise for Monsters? or the 26th Ann?

No 26th anniversary merchandise as of last tuesday and I would guess that stuff will go on sale around the 12th.. but, there is a lot of new Monsters Inc. merchandise on sale all over but I did not see anything that was attraction specific yet. The store at the exit of the ride has not been opened yet to the public. It is possible it may have some new attraction merchandise coming... in fact, the 26th anniversary merchandise will feature Mickey a mickey plush dressed in the Monsters' inc CM costume. In the meantime this cool Sully hat seems to be a big seller...


This is the Monsters Inc Ride & Go Seek costume.


Not to be confused with the Space Mountain CM costume.. but you see the unifying theme here...

Originally Posted by Tokyodisneydad

Just one correction if I may without getting yelled at and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. The 20 minutes from this point sign is actually at the door of POTC so only includes the waiting time inside.

You are absolutely correct so I can't yell at you this time (not that I ever did.. yell, that is). The 20 minute sign is at the front door once you get inside the building.. so I would guess the total wait time for POTC to be just under an hour at the most. Still.. don't you think an hour wait time is better than 3 hours stand by at Monsters Inc because the person in front of you got the last Fastpass for the ride???

Originally Posted by Tasman

Much as I appreciate TDL's commitment to quality, gotta agree with you on that one. I guess if I make it to TDR some day it will definitely have to be in the off-season...if there is such a thing over there...and even if the weather is bad.

Then plan to visit during late January thru early March and bring a very heavy coat, but be advised a lot of rides and facades will be down for rehab, since TDR's commitment to quality means more closures than what we are used to seeing at the USA parks on a yearly basis. As for bad weather.. then plan to come in june during rainy season, or fall season when typhoons come into Japan every week it seems.. but even in typhoon weather, TDR is packed for Halloween.

Thanks for the pics TDLFan. Though I must say...that Haunted Mansion does look identical to MK's to me

It is identical, but take this picture and place it next to one of the MK's Mansion and you can clearly see why this Mansion has a more elaborate texture and show over the MK one.. and even thought the inside show is still the classic one from the MK, the conditions in which is it kept actually make it just as nice as the one refurbishment we just got at the MK. I love those walking books in the library room...

[lighttragic]

So in the guidebook do they list monsters inc in World Bazaar or Tommorowland... from what i remember from my trip in february it felt like it was just on the edge of world bazzar....