Now take, for example, Disneyland at Halloween.
Not only the front of the park, but also its many shops got a Halloween make-over.
As did its eating areas. For lunch, I partook of the mickey mouse shaped chicken, onion, and cheese (no mayonnaise, thank goodness!) pizza, and cream cheese stuffed pretzels.
I also happened to go on one of only 3 or 4 days of the year where people in costume were allowed to enter the park. Now, this is taken quite seriously here. Quite a few individual were dressed as Disney princesses, and quite a few as various characters from Monsters Inc (quite popular here, apparently). If you ask, they just might strike a pose for the camera, replete with gimmicks and props. Many cos-players had their pictures taken with the official Disney princesses as well - may I note, however, that these were played primarily by caucasians, so I know where to look for my next summer job. If these young girls look familiar, you probably also played with small soldiers as a child...
Yet other aspects of the park remained curiously unchanged, and even similar to their American counterparts.
This is the view of the enchanted castle from the international bazaar as you enter the park. Note that food and gift items here are all very reasonably priced, from my perspective. Disneyland for the people of Japan is a day trip, and although the American version can also be traversed in a day, I do not believe most people would view it as the kind of park you just decide to visit on a whim. That said, there were many parts of the park that were different, like the parade.
Take for example this innocent looking image. The people seated on the ground are having a picnic lunch. These picnics are quite an extraordinary thing, however. Right around snack time, you could walk through the park to find people beginning to lay out their picnic blankets one after another, side by side, in perfect lines spanning huge portions of the park. I do not have any clue how anyone knew where these lines were to begin or end, only that people lined up, single file, on their plastic "emergency blankets" and happily chowed down on obentou.
On another note, yes, that is Stitch shaking his blue booty up there on a Halloween float. The dance he is doing is played to a mostly English Halloween song that seems to be the Halloween theme song for all of Japan. The most interesting part of the dance, however, is its relation to those perfectly straight lines of picnic goers I mentioned earlier. Periodically, Disney employees would come around and teach, with great ceremony, the Halloween song to everyone. When the parade came through, everyone danced...and if you did not, people tried to teach you the dance. It was really quite amusing.
Familiar rides, like the Haunted House pictured above, were also dramatically different from their American counterparts. Perhaps in part because the Japanese culture is not one of frightening ghosts (ghosts are your deceased friends and family, so you should greet them with a smile, right?) the Haunted House is also anything but frightening. It is themed - this actually makes sense - on Disney's Nightmare before Christmas. While I knew some people who were disappointed by the change, I found it enjoyable. The ride was still breathtaking, and it felt like I was transported right into the popular video game, Kingdom Hearts...(should I admit that I love that game?). The familiar ghosts in a ballroom scene was also resplendent with a large Christmas tree and dining table!
The night then closed with the traditional festivities, like the Electrical Parade, which was again voiced entirely in English. I wonder how many people in the audience really understood. At any rate, thousands of twinkling lights only need so much explanation. Some of the displays, like the genie from Aladdin, were truly astounding in their complexity. Genie's color changed with every blink of the eye, from solid blue and red to tiger stripes, swirls, and even a swimming Nemo!
Tokyo Disneyland set up the daylight Halloween decorations to glow in the night as well, which I thoroughly enjoyed on the walk back to the exit after the parade.
And finally, the obligatory picture of the Enchanted Castle. Ah, it is truly glorious. The numerous cos-players and wonderful Disney music only made it better. I did not get the chance to visit the Japan exclusive DisneySea, but I still plan to!
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