Melanie
03-08-2007, 12:03 AM
The Bounds Do Tokyo Disney
:mickey3: :sumo: :mickey3:
Cast of Characters -
Melanie (37) - that's me
James (37) - that's hubby
Josh (8) - oldest, loves Donald and thrill rides
Ryan (7) - youngest, loves Stitch and Goofy, and not too sure about those thrill rides yet
Day Three, Part Two:
It was sure nice to be home – in the American Waterfront, that is! Ahhh, familiarity. From Port Discovery, you enter into early 20th century Cape Cod, with the famous lighthouse (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2545216440048685994FzzQGC) and beautiful waterfront (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2904389240048685994UPLpMc). Lots of shops (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2412653290048685994clnOKg) and restaurants (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2428464600048685994PfBLTm) in this area, including Donald’s Boat Builders (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2510949770048685994QIbFzS), which is a show with Donald and Chip ‘n Dale. We passed quickly through (we were hungry) and on to the New York Harbor section. While crossing the water, we realized The Legends of Mythica was being performed in the Mediterranean Harbor, as we saw some of the performers (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2149721980048685994bYQQcI) getting ready to go “onstage”. We had no idea of the incredible treat we were in for when we saw this show a couple of days later.
We wanted to eat on the SS Columbia (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2954960960048685994szLmvS), and the Teddy Roosevelt Lounge (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2474418630048685994IzHNZf) looked really cool! It’s located on the second floor and it didn’t disappoint. Excellent atmosphere - from the bar (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2223089280048685994ISWjxw), to the seating area with leather furnishings and all the Roosevelt portraits (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2613574830048685994iWFiNp) hanging on the walls. We even had a band to entertain in front of the fireplace (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2614001010048685994FwyYFW). I had a Sam Adams :beer: and the boys had melon soda floats to go along with the sandwiches we split. Great place!
After our late lunch, we explored the ship and it’s views (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2405610110048685994nhcnJM), and then walked around New York Harbor a bit. Josh just wasn’t sure if he wanted to tackle Tower of Terror (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2227504570048685994twqnMe) yet, and to be honest, neither was I. I usually have to really psyche myself up to ride ToT. Boy, is it impressive though! It’s huge!!!! The story is a bit different here. Guests are invited on a tour of the abandoned Hightower Hotel, where mysterious things take place. Apparently the Japanese aren’t familiar with all the Twilight Zone stuff. We looked at all the outside signage (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2465264330048685994vSbkwX) and even visited the gift shop before moving on.
Ryan really wanted to ride the DisneySea Electric Railway, so we boarded there in New York Harbor for the one-way trip (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2506548650048685994AevJWE) to Port Discovery. Josh and I hadn’t ridden Aquatopia earlier, so the boys and I got in line while James waited and took pictures. This is a fun little ride (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2824305270048685994mrdJDj) with the vehicles on tracks spinning you around the water making you think you are going to get wet and even enter into a cyclone.
So now the only area we hadn’t visited was the Fortress Explorations, part of Mediterranean Harbor. What great fun the boys had here! They had a Spanish galleon called the Renaissance (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2922050180048685994TMcDEl) with cannons and telescopes (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2540288030048685994GACFDn), a water play area, a planetarium (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2630809460048685994rxVGDG) type room inside the fortress with scientific instruments to tinker with, and tons of lookout towers to enjoy the view. We spent quite a while here. Josh also got some chocolate popcorn, which was just okay in my book.
Continuing around the backside of Mediterranean Harbor, we encountered some statues (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2495830540048685994kECktS) dealing with the Season of the Heart promotion. Very cute! I especially liked Donald and Daisy (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2890803060048685994FQXsJj). We then did some shopping, and right outside of the shops were Pinocchio and Gepetto. Ryan ran off to see them, and in transferring the shopping bags off my arm to give to James, I also pulled the camera off my wrist as well and it smashed to the hard ground. The view screen was ruined, all jumbled with a strange blob of black in it. Thank goodness I had brought our other digital camera as well. I did attempt to take another pic with the camera a few minutes later, just aiming and shooting at the beautiful sunset (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2221998750048685994SPfEIf), and it actually came out. It finally stopped taking pics though. :(
We were ready for some dessert, so we dropped into the Café Portofino right there on the Mediterranean Harbor waterfront. We got a couple of desserts to share, and everyone got a drink (a yummy Kirin beer for me), and we just relaxed and warmed up a bit. As night arrived, it was cooling down considerably.
Our last mission of the evening was to see BraviSEAmo!, the nighttime spectacular presented on the waters of Mediterranean Harbor. We walked out of Café Portofino and found what we thought was a good spot along the water to view the show. Folks were already claiming their spots well over an hour before showtime. Soon the nicest CM came over and started out with “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry”, because he didn’t feel his English was very good. They seem to really want to get it right when speaking another language. He explained that we were sitting in an area that, because of the wind that night, would get a lot of smoke from the show, and said that we would do better on the other side of the harbor. How nice was that?
Over to the other side we went, and we asked one of the abundant CMs where a good place to view the show was, and she pointed out what turned out to be a great spot. We hunkered down and did our best to stay warm before showtime. James went and got coffee and hot chocolate. After playing around with some of the CMs and even posing for some pictures with some Japanese girls, the boys played their PSP and Ryan even fell asleep for few minutes. I sat there with incredible envy of the folks at the windows of their warm MiraCosta hotel rooms getting ready to watch the show.
With no pictures, it’s kind of hard to explain this show. I will say that I thought the story was somewhat slow, but visually, it was a wonderful show. Basically, the spirit of water and the spirit of fire meet and fall in love. Ahhh, they love each other! Like I said, we had great seats with the majority of the action taking place right in front of us, and in the end it was worth the wait in the cold.
We left with the masses after the show, and took a quick, easy monorail ride back to the hotel. A visit to the lounge to wind down, and I believe we were in the bed by 10pm. We couldn’t wait to return to DisneySea in a few days!
Thanks for hanging in with this long report, if you are still reading, that is. :thumbsup:
Next Up: Our second day at Tokyo Disneyland
:mickey3: :sumo: :mickey3:
Cast of Characters -
Melanie (37) - that's me
James (37) - that's hubby
Josh (8) - oldest, loves Donald and thrill rides
Ryan (7) - youngest, loves Stitch and Goofy, and not too sure about those thrill rides yet
Day Three, Part Two:
It was sure nice to be home – in the American Waterfront, that is! Ahhh, familiarity. From Port Discovery, you enter into early 20th century Cape Cod, with the famous lighthouse (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2545216440048685994FzzQGC) and beautiful waterfront (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2904389240048685994UPLpMc). Lots of shops (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2412653290048685994clnOKg) and restaurants (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2428464600048685994PfBLTm) in this area, including Donald’s Boat Builders (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2510949770048685994QIbFzS), which is a show with Donald and Chip ‘n Dale. We passed quickly through (we were hungry) and on to the New York Harbor section. While crossing the water, we realized The Legends of Mythica was being performed in the Mediterranean Harbor, as we saw some of the performers (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2149721980048685994bYQQcI) getting ready to go “onstage”. We had no idea of the incredible treat we were in for when we saw this show a couple of days later.
We wanted to eat on the SS Columbia (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2954960960048685994szLmvS), and the Teddy Roosevelt Lounge (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2474418630048685994IzHNZf) looked really cool! It’s located on the second floor and it didn’t disappoint. Excellent atmosphere - from the bar (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2223089280048685994ISWjxw), to the seating area with leather furnishings and all the Roosevelt portraits (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2613574830048685994iWFiNp) hanging on the walls. We even had a band to entertain in front of the fireplace (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2614001010048685994FwyYFW). I had a Sam Adams :beer: and the boys had melon soda floats to go along with the sandwiches we split. Great place!
After our late lunch, we explored the ship and it’s views (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2405610110048685994nhcnJM), and then walked around New York Harbor a bit. Josh just wasn’t sure if he wanted to tackle Tower of Terror (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2227504570048685994twqnMe) yet, and to be honest, neither was I. I usually have to really psyche myself up to ride ToT. Boy, is it impressive though! It’s huge!!!! The story is a bit different here. Guests are invited on a tour of the abandoned Hightower Hotel, where mysterious things take place. Apparently the Japanese aren’t familiar with all the Twilight Zone stuff. We looked at all the outside signage (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2465264330048685994vSbkwX) and even visited the gift shop before moving on.
Ryan really wanted to ride the DisneySea Electric Railway, so we boarded there in New York Harbor for the one-way trip (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2506548650048685994AevJWE) to Port Discovery. Josh and I hadn’t ridden Aquatopia earlier, so the boys and I got in line while James waited and took pictures. This is a fun little ride (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2824305270048685994mrdJDj) with the vehicles on tracks spinning you around the water making you think you are going to get wet and even enter into a cyclone.
So now the only area we hadn’t visited was the Fortress Explorations, part of Mediterranean Harbor. What great fun the boys had here! They had a Spanish galleon called the Renaissance (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2922050180048685994TMcDEl) with cannons and telescopes (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2540288030048685994GACFDn), a water play area, a planetarium (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2630809460048685994rxVGDG) type room inside the fortress with scientific instruments to tinker with, and tons of lookout towers to enjoy the view. We spent quite a while here. Josh also got some chocolate popcorn, which was just okay in my book.
Continuing around the backside of Mediterranean Harbor, we encountered some statues (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2495830540048685994kECktS) dealing with the Season of the Heart promotion. Very cute! I especially liked Donald and Daisy (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2890803060048685994FQXsJj). We then did some shopping, and right outside of the shops were Pinocchio and Gepetto. Ryan ran off to see them, and in transferring the shopping bags off my arm to give to James, I also pulled the camera off my wrist as well and it smashed to the hard ground. The view screen was ruined, all jumbled with a strange blob of black in it. Thank goodness I had brought our other digital camera as well. I did attempt to take another pic with the camera a few minutes later, just aiming and shooting at the beautiful sunset (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2221998750048685994SPfEIf), and it actually came out. It finally stopped taking pics though. :(
We were ready for some dessert, so we dropped into the Café Portofino right there on the Mediterranean Harbor waterfront. We got a couple of desserts to share, and everyone got a drink (a yummy Kirin beer for me), and we just relaxed and warmed up a bit. As night arrived, it was cooling down considerably.
Our last mission of the evening was to see BraviSEAmo!, the nighttime spectacular presented on the waters of Mediterranean Harbor. We walked out of Café Portofino and found what we thought was a good spot along the water to view the show. Folks were already claiming their spots well over an hour before showtime. Soon the nicest CM came over and started out with “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry”, because he didn’t feel his English was very good. They seem to really want to get it right when speaking another language. He explained that we were sitting in an area that, because of the wind that night, would get a lot of smoke from the show, and said that we would do better on the other side of the harbor. How nice was that?
Over to the other side we went, and we asked one of the abundant CMs where a good place to view the show was, and she pointed out what turned out to be a great spot. We hunkered down and did our best to stay warm before showtime. James went and got coffee and hot chocolate. After playing around with some of the CMs and even posing for some pictures with some Japanese girls, the boys played their PSP and Ryan even fell asleep for few minutes. I sat there with incredible envy of the folks at the windows of their warm MiraCosta hotel rooms getting ready to watch the show.
With no pictures, it’s kind of hard to explain this show. I will say that I thought the story was somewhat slow, but visually, it was a wonderful show. Basically, the spirit of water and the spirit of fire meet and fall in love. Ahhh, they love each other! Like I said, we had great seats with the majority of the action taking place right in front of us, and in the end it was worth the wait in the cold.
We left with the masses after the show, and took a quick, easy monorail ride back to the hotel. A visit to the lounge to wind down, and I believe we were in the bed by 10pm. We couldn’t wait to return to DisneySea in a few days!
Thanks for hanging in with this long report, if you are still reading, that is. :thumbsup:
Next Up: Our second day at Tokyo Disneyland