TDLFAN's Fall Preview at TDR (photos)

[TDLFAN]

Hello All,
Just got back from Asia and am sitting here comfortable in my computer desk just 12 minutes away from WDW. Hehehe...

Yours truly spent a few rushed hours at TDR the other day. Hot day, close to 90F, but mostly sunny, albeit quite windy, to the point of cancelling the fireworks yet again. Then again.. a little bit of wind will cause such traumas for the pyro dept at the resort.
Whatever..

Anyways.. I was there Saturday and both TDL and TDS were packed with a gazillion visitors (again, putting doubt in my mind that WDW attendance numbers are flawed or manipulated to show a healthy crowd year long).

Let's start with TDL.. Some of the halloween decor for this year is aleady completed or near conpletion. Decor around the Hub is fabulous as always.. Toontown and Westerland has a lot of the decor already up. Those silly ghosts have once again popped up everywhere in the park. Floral Mickey is sporting the colors of Halloween, and dozens of pumpkins have magically appeared at the Main entrance.
Over in Fantasyland, the Haunted Mansion re-dressing for Nightmare is almost complete, and at night, lit-up pumpkins flicker on top of the Haunted Mansion as well... very nice.

On other TDL news... there is new signage already up in World Bazaar (Dennis-in CT's favorite park area of them all) in anticipation of the new shoppes replacing the former Toy Shoppe, Storybook Store, Bee-Bop, and Mickey's Moderne Memories.

For those of you who have no idea who/what the Orange Bird is.. take a look here. If you don't know who the Orange Bird is, then you should not be allowed to leave the UK, ever.

TDLFAN also goes to the most uninteresting places at TDR... this one in particular being the newly built parking garage near TDL's entrance, next to the new TDL Hotel and parking auto plaza. After all... I just needed to see what the big deal was all about, and they have drink vending machines! Whoo-peee!

Finally.. you will find some obligatory shots of the current state of construction at the TDL Hotel.. Now.. did you know that all of the pictures I have taken of the hotel so far have been of the hotel's BACKSIDE? YES INDEED!! The courtyard that faces the TDR Line Station and TDL itself is actually the backside of the hotel. On the other side of the hotel, facing those unsightly and very un-Disney-like (but WDW-like) JR Train tracks lies the very front of the hotel. Here the porte cochere and the lobby entrance and exit ramps are being built as we speak. So guests who drive up to the hotel's frontside and pull up to the lobby, will have to drive on the road paralleled to the JR Train Tracks and access the hotel from that side. Also, the porte cochere and front side of the hotel are being built ON TOP of the hotel's own parking garage, which is totally separate from the parking garage you see in this pictorial. And yes, folks... the cheapest rooms at the TDL Hotel will face the JR Tracks and the ugly Urayasu condominiums on the other side of them train tracks. So be very specific as to what view you want when you are ready to reserve at this grand palace: train track view, parking lot view, TDR Line station view, or Bon Voyage view... Not really much to look at from the TDL Hotel rooms I am affraid. Do what resident rich boy TDR_Fan does and book the Miracosta instead.

Now on to TDS... TDS will soon be hosting the special event "Disney A La Carte", a culinary event for those discriminating food loving park goers. It's no secret to those who have been to TDS that this park offers the most varied and elegant dining experiences of any Disney park on Earth. Yes kiddies, better than EPCOT Center in my honest opinion. So it will be interesting to see how they plan to enhance the culinary experience here.

So far, two restaurants have recieved special decor for the event. Casbah Food Court in Arabian Coast is becoming the Genie Cafe, and Cafe Portofino is being turned into a Pinocchio Village Haus of sorts, with lovely simulated stain glass windows that are quite lovely and colorful.
More on "A la Carte" to follow on my next report after I return from TDR at the end of Sept.

Nearby, the Miracosta is also selling some nifty merchandise for the delight of the most discriminating Disney fans...such as Dustysage, Aimster or Big Piglet Fan... Just check out the pics and see for yourself..

Enjoy the album...but remember some shots are taken at night and turned out a bit too dark. Sorry.
http://albums.photo.epson.com/
j/AlbumIndex?u=4334673&a=32583669&f=

[aimster]

As always, wonderful pics!

[Kuhio]

Thanks for posting these beautiful photos. Seeing the Halloween decor reminds me of my trip in October last year; I can hardly believe that almost a year has already gone by. I can still taste the gyoza dogs...

I really like the Cinderella-castle color scheme of the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. I don't mind the red-roofed Grand Floridian color scheme, but it was starting to get a bit stale.

The Disney A La Carte event sounds intriguing... the Genie decor looks OK, but I'm quite fond of the Pinocchio "stained glass" over at Cafe Portofino -- quite an appropriate Italy tie-in.

[TDLFAN]

Originally Posted by Kuhio

I can still taste the gyoza dogs....

You and the 100-some guests in line for it at the park on saturday..

[AtomicBear]

Fantastic Photos. Thank you. I wish I could go to every Disney Park for Halloween.

[Acetone]

Who do you think does Halloween better, Tokyo Disneyland or Disneyland? Based on what Al said they are really stepping it up in Anaheim this year.

I understand that Magic Kingdom's Halloween stuff is pretty generic. Does DLP do anything for Halloween?

[ZeekSlider]

Orange Bird looks familar, but I haven't been to the UK so I dont know why it looks familar. Still, though, vinal plushies? That's a new one on me.

Don't know how I feel about the cut-out Genies, but it's nice to see that they were quick on the Ratatouille refferance for this event. Meanwhile, the window decorations featuring Pinochio is very nice and elegant.

Thank you for the beautiful pictures!

[mikeland]

Thanks for the great report as always!

[TDLFAN]

Originally Posted by Acetone

Who do you think does Halloween better, Tokyo Disneyland or Disneyland?

I could not tell you, simply because I have not been to Halloween at DLR. However, since last year, DLR has been using former decor shipped from TDR to use in their resort. so that in itself is a step up in the right direction. However, the big difference here is that TDR offers halloween events at regular hours and under regular price schemes for regular day guests. I believe at DLR, like the case at WDW's MK, Halloween requires especially rpiced hard tickets since they are concidered "party" events, as opposed to regular offering. Someone correct me.

Now, if we were to compare WDW and DLR's halloweens.. then, by all means, I would choose CA. I mean, at least they offer the Nightmare overlay in the haunted Mansion!

I understand that Magic Kingdom's Halloween stuff is pretty generic. Does DLP do anything for Halloween?

DLP offers one of the more elaborate Halloween events of any Disney park as well.. but their Halloween is more spooky in terms of execution, and less Disney-centric like the TDR/WDW/DLR and even HKDL, but even in HK, they are testing a haunted maze this year... and we shall see how that goes. DLP's Halloween is one of the most popular events at the park and is well attended. They decorate extensively on Main Street and Frontierland. I hope to pay DLP a visit in Oct for Halloween.

[Malin]

Thanks for the pic report TDLFAN,looks like you beat your mates at Deep Disney on this one.

By the way I not once said I was personally disturbed or bothered by the Chip & Dale statues,just throught others would be.Please re read the orginal post.By the way the Halloween props all look fantastic yet again this year.Shame most people are too ignorant to see just how terrible a job WDW and Paris do every year.

Fantastic news to see the 2008 calenders out already.I plan to pick one up next week as well as the new Paris Calender the week after.TDR calenders are by far the best ones released at any Disney park,due to the fantastic illustrations.I have 2007 one up with all the classic Disney characters as well as Stitch all featured in a well known Jungle Cruise scene.

[seenoevil]

6th Anniversary merchandise? Hmmm, let me think...what was DCA's 6th Anniversary merchandise like? Hmmm....still thinking....hmmm, let me see now...it was...hmmm...uh...yeah.

[TDLFAN]

Originally Posted by seenoevil

6th Anniversary merchandise? Hmmm, let me think...what was DCA's 6th Anniversary merchandise like? Hmmm....still thinking....hmmm, let me see now...it was...hmmm...uh...yeah.

Ok, let's not trash DCA here... Ok, maybe a little bit BTW Evil, Did you see the 2nd Anniversary merchandise from HKDL in my HK pictorial?

[Disney Magic]

Thanks for the update. The hotel looks like it is making some nice progress.

[Monkey joe]

Great update. When is your next return to TDR plus any Universal Studios Japan visit planned?

[JoeInJpn]

Originally Posted by Disney Magic

Thanks for the update. The hotel looks like it is making some nice progress.

Here is a shot taken during the day. 28 NEW PICS are available on my TDL Hotel Preview page at: http://www.jtcent.com/resort/hottdl/index.html

JoeInJpn
http://www.jtcent.com