50 Easy Japanese Words to Learn | Rebroadcast 32

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, explorers, we're taking a little bit of a break for the summer, but don't you worry. We have some rebroadcast episodes for you. And we're turning back the clock to 2016 to episode 32, where we talk about easy japanese words to use for your upcoming trip. Now, this is a very timeless episode because the words have not really changed. So I think this is still quite relevant. It's kind of funny. I listened back to this episode and we have a different theme song at the beginning, and my voice actually sounds different. You can tell I've gained a little bit of confidence over the years. Anyway, we are taking a break, like I said. And here is episode 32 on easy japanese words to learn. We'll see you in the next one. [00:01:20] Speaker B: Welcome to episode 32 of the TDR now podcast, the first english speaking podcast focusing on Tokyo Disney resort coming to you directly from Japan. You can find [email protected] on Twitter ed and on [email protected]. tdrexplorer. I'm your host, Patricia, the official photographer for TDR Explorer. You can find me on Twitter dreamschool, sweets love. And here is my ever handsome and dapper co host, Chris. Chris, what's going on? [00:01:58] Speaker A: Oh, not much. Not much. I was actually just thinking about your Twitter handle, and every time I read it, I always say dreams. [00:02:07] Speaker B: I know, right? [00:02:07] Speaker A: I should change it even though it's dream sweets love. That's. That's tough. [00:02:13] Speaker B: I know. It's terrible. [00:02:17] Speaker A: Anyway, I am the chief content editor for TDR Explorer, and I'm the one that's always eating the seasonal offerings at the parks. And you can find me on my personal Twitter. It's a little bit easier to pronounce. Just a little bit. So, Patricia, for episode 32, what do we. What do we have going on? [00:02:45] Speaker B: We're talking about Hong Kong because it's awesome. Oh, wait. And the breakdown of topics. [00:02:54] Speaker A: You were jumping the gun there a little bit. [00:02:56] Speaker B: I got really excited because I love Hong Kong. Okay, we've got our news. We've got the crowd forecast, some a really interesting Tokyo Disney resort 101. You're not going to want to miss it. It's japanese words that you already know. I know you're thinking, what? But that's okay. It's all going to make sense. We've got our park tip, some listener questions, and then we are going to talk about next ep. Wait, we're also going to talk about Hong Kong somewhere in there. And then we're going to tell you what's going on next episode. So, Chris, what's going on with the news? [00:03:33] Speaker A: Oh, we got quite a few things. Well, first off, Easter has finally started at Tokyo Disneyland and only at Tokyo Disneyland this year. It's not happening at Disneysea because of the 15th anniversary. So Easter is happening from. Well, it started March 25, and it's running until mid June. I don't remember the exact date, but it's, like, June 16 or something like that 15th. So that's cool. That's fun. We're gonna be talking more about that next episode, so stay tuned for that. More information on Tanabata Days was released. It's gonna be the same as pretty much every year, I guess. But they're also. There's. They're doing this thing with the. If you. If you go to the park wearing a yukata, you get to go around the park taking pictures. Like, I don't quite understand the point of what they were talking about. [00:04:37] Speaker B: Okay, so, like, okay, tanabata. The Tanaba. The Tanabata Yukata campaign. Right? So it's actually a really cool campaign, you know? Cause people, like, in general, like, want to come to the park in Yukata because it's kind of cool and it's kind of fun and fashionable and, you know, all of that. And I like that they encourage people to wear yukata in the parks. It really makes for better atmosphere in general, you know what I mean? So it kind of feels like that festival atmosphere, you know? And, of course, people wearing Yukata want to accessorize with cute Disney accessories and wear their hair and cute hairstyles. And, you know, Tokyo Disney resort sells lots of cute accessories that people can use, so I'm sure they make better sales when people are dressed up in Yukata, too. Not so. Not so good for getting on some rides, like space mountain in particular. But in general, it's really fun. And I would recommend, if you have a yukata to wear a yukata, or you can buy one at the parks. And actually. Oh, you know what? This should be my tip of the. Okay, that's. Okay. I'm gonna. I'm gonna give you the tip. Even though it's not the tip of the episode. You can go. And there's, like, a little shop in expiari right next to. It's very close to Ambassador Hotel. It's right in between the body shop and in between Tully's coffee shop. And you'll notice, like, there's, like, a thing saying that they do hair and nails. They also do yukata rentals for, like, a really reasonable price, and they'll even style your hair and everything there. And it's like, it's all super reasonable. And if you don't want to, like, dress up yourself, they'll help you do it. So check it out. [00:06:18] Speaker A: That sounds kind of cool. [00:06:20] Speaker B: It's really fun, actually, you know? And you can even do, like, if you want to go to, like, a fireworks show later at night, you can go play in the park during the daytime and then make your way to, like, for example, if you're in Urayasu to the Urayasu fireworks show in the summer, you know, go from the park to there. Yeah, you can do that too. So you're already dressed up. [00:06:43] Speaker A: And also with tanabata days, it's one of the shortest or one of the shorter, I should say, events at the park. I think it's a little longer than New Year's, because I think New Year's is, like, a week. [00:06:57] Speaker B: Yeah, it used to be shorter. It used to be a week, but I like that they made it a little bit longer because more people can enjoy it. [00:07:06] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. It's. I think it's typically, like, a week or two, but they extended it to three this time around. [00:07:12] Speaker B: Yeah. And the goods are on sale for a shorter time than New Year's. So the new Year's, you have a lot more time to buy those New Year's goods. The tanabata goods, it's, like, really, really limited. So it's when the event starts and when it ends and it's gone. [00:07:26] Speaker A: Yeah, I guess with the New Year's stuff, they go on sale in, what, November? Was it last year? [00:07:31] Speaker B: Yeah. What's up with that? [00:07:33] Speaker A: You know, it's strange. But anyway, we will have more on tanabata days as we get closer to it, so we won't go too much into it. But it's coming. It's gonna be fun, and we're all. [00:07:47] Speaker B: Gonna go and make wishes and eat Kakigori. [00:07:51] Speaker A: I love Kakigori. So good. [00:07:53] Speaker B: Okay. [00:07:54] Speaker A: Okay. What's next here? Oh, our meetup that we're having on April 15. If you're going to be at Tokyo Disney Resort, well, specifically Tokyo Disneysea, on April 15 for the first day of the year of wishes, make sure you come to our meetup. We're gonna be at the park all day. It's gonna be kind of a come and go kind of thing. So if you're there, don't feel like you have to be with us the entire day. I wouldn't want to be with me the entire day. So it's totally cool. I get it. But we have more information on it on our facebook page. So facebook.com, tDR Explorer. And we have all the information there. There's going to be a mixture of people. There's going to be people who are traveling, people who live here, who are from different countries. So expats. And there's also going to be a lot of locals as well. So there's going to be a huge mixture of people, and it's going to be a lot of fun. So if you're in the area or you're gonna be at Disneysea, make sure you come and come and say hi. And also, Patricia and I might be drunk at 830 in the morning. [00:09:02] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a little tipsy. That's when we're getting the cocktails at the place that sells the potato thing. [00:09:08] Speaker A: The potato thing, the baked potato that are not really baked potatoes. [00:09:13] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Speaking of that area. Okay, so I met somebody today, and I. Because, you know. Oh, speaking of news, you know what went on sale today, Shelly Mae? Coffee cup sleeves. [00:09:26] Speaker A: Oh, they finally did that. [00:09:27] Speaker B: Yes. From today. And, you know, you don't have to buy the drink at that little booth. You can buy any drink. Did you know that? [00:09:35] Speaker A: I think so. Cause I think when I bought mine, I just bought it with the set, like, with one of the meal sets at Cape code. [00:09:44] Speaker B: Yeah. I didn't know you could do that. I was buying the stupid milk tea. I bought two of those milk teas. I didn't want two drinks. But they make you buy two drinks. I could have just bought, like, an oolong tea, which I would rather drink anyway, you know, because it's not, like, super sweet. I mean, at all. It's not sweet. It's not sweetened, and it's way cheaper. And instead I was buying this, which is fine sometimes, but not when you have to buy two of them. You know, this, uh, this milk tea with a jam in it. And I got so the little hazelnuts inside are good, but I was like, oh, I don't need this. I don't want it. I just want the sleeve. And. And I, you know, I should have bought just the tea, but, yeah, you can do that. That's another tip of the week. You can, you can. [00:10:31] Speaker A: You don't have tips all over the place. [00:10:33] Speaker B: There's tips everywhere. Okay. We're just giving them up freely now. There shouldn't even be a segment. So, um, yeah, you don't need to buy that. Drink. You can buy any. Any, like, drink at all. [00:10:44] Speaker A: Perfect. Well, I'm sure. I'm sure there's gonna be a lot of people buying that. [00:10:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm sure. So if you are, go inside the restaurant and buy it there. [00:10:53] Speaker A: Perfect. [00:10:54] Speaker B: And no line, by the way. So I guess either people don't know about it, or nobody cares about the coffee sleeves for some reason, because that's, like, the best product that they sell, quite frankly. I use that thing all the time. [00:11:06] Speaker A: Yeah, me too. I use Duffy's. [00:11:08] Speaker B: Right? It's super useful. It's, like, kind of echo, you know? [00:11:13] Speaker A: It's cute. [00:11:14] Speaker B: It's the best thing. It's the best thing that they made. Okay, what else is going on in the news? [00:11:19] Speaker A: Um, well, kind of diverting a little bit from Tokyo. I'm sure everyone has heard about this by now, but the. The tickets for Shanghai Disneyland went on sale this past week, and, well, I was one of a few people that got tickets to go, so I'm gonna be going for the grand opening. So that's exciting. [00:11:39] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. Chris, congratulations. [00:11:42] Speaker A: Yeah, we're staying at the Shanghai Disneyland hotel as well. [00:11:46] Speaker B: That is gonna be amazing. [00:11:48] Speaker A: It's gonna be a lot of fun. And don't worry, everyone. There's gonna be plenty of talk about it once we go and all that kind of fun stuff, so I'm really looking forward to it. [00:11:59] Speaker B: You've got a, like, periscope. You've got to, like, tweet. You got to be doing, like, everything while you're there. We. We want to live vicariously through you, Chris. [00:12:08] Speaker A: I'm going to try my best. I don't know how the whole great firewall of China is going to work when I'm there. [00:12:13] Speaker B: I know, but you better start doing your research. [00:12:16] Speaker A: I have to figure that out so I can tell everyone. Yeah. Oh, well, I will figure it out. [00:12:22] Speaker B: I'm sure you will. You will. [00:12:24] Speaker A: And finally. Finally. I mean, the last thing on our list is the vacation club is closing its sales room at the end of September and turning into a support center somewhere else. Yeah, expiari. [00:12:43] Speaker B: So, like, if, you know, like, the vacation club showroom that they had in expiry was right next to Disney store in that really big, you know, the building where they used to have planet Hollywood. So it's like a really big space. And I guess they're done. Maybe they met, like, the sales quota that they wanted to meet or whatever, and they're kind of, like, done pushing sales. I think they might still keep the little places in the parks, which I quite frankly, don't mind, because actually, the design for them isn't bad. They really kind of blend into their surroundings. So it's not like, it's not like an eyesore or anything, you know? But it's kind of exciting because it's a really big space, and I wonder what they're gonna put in there, you know? So it's. Maybe we'll be getting something really interesting in that area. It's a really prime location, and if you're part of the vacation club, don't worry. They are gonna be opening a support center somewhere in Ikspri, but they haven't announced where that's gonna be. [00:13:43] Speaker A: You know what would be really good to put in that space? [00:13:46] Speaker B: An ice cream store. [00:13:48] Speaker A: Another bibbidi bobbidi boutique. [00:13:50] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Shut up. You are terrible. Like a mega. A mega bibbidi bobbidi boutique. [00:13:58] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. So we can have three. [00:14:01] Speaker B: Yeah, because. [00:14:02] Speaker A: Because that's what we. [00:14:03] Speaker B: Let's just put them everywhere. Let's put one in Disneysea. What could they. What could be awesome that they could close at Disneysea? They can close fortress explorations and put, like, a big bibbidi bobbidi boutique in there. [00:14:14] Speaker A: Or they can take away Sid Ben's storybook adventure. [00:14:20] Speaker B: Oh, and you can ride the boat to the bibbidi muffin boutique. [00:14:27] Speaker A: Oh, we should not give them ideas. [00:14:29] Speaker B: Yes. We're gonna stop giving them ideas. Okay. [00:14:31] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So that's. That's it for the news. For now, though, there'll be more. Okay, so moving on to our crowd forecast. We get our crowd forecast information from TDr Navi JP. And the good thing about this website is they also have it in English, and they do it six months ahead of time. So if you're planning your vacation, make sure you head on over there and you can kind of get an idea what the crowd levels are going to be like. And it's updated almost every day, I believe. Or sorry. It is updated every day, so it changes quite frequently. And they're fairly accurate. So they are very reliable. Okay, so we're going to be looking at the second week of April and at both parks, it's kind of quiet, actually, because kids are going back to school finally. So the parks are going to be pretty empty. And it's also what I like to call the calm before the storm, because at the end of April, that's when golden week starts. And that's gonna be probably one of the busiest times. [00:15:55] Speaker B: Have you seen the photos, like on Twitter? [00:15:57] Speaker A: Lately of the spring break. [00:16:00] Speaker B: Yeah. People are kind of, like, freaking out. Like, like, there was, like, this one person on Twitter who's like, what's. What's going on? There's, like, people smoking. There's, like, people laying down on the floor. You know, it's like chaos. It's usually not that bad. I don't know. I don't know what's happening. [00:16:19] Speaker A: You know, I think it was maybe Tuesday or Wednesday they stopped ticket sales at 845 in the morning at Disneyland because they reached capacity. [00:16:32] Speaker B: Yeah, that happens sometimes. [00:16:34] Speaker A: That's crazy. So hopefully, hopefully anyone that's listening and you were there in that day, I hope you got in and bought your tickets ahead of time. [00:16:45] Speaker B: No. And the anniversary is coming up, and anniversary years, you know, this, it gets worse. It becomes like that a lot more often. So, like, be careful if you're coming during the anniversary year, especially if it's, like, at an event start or something, or if it's on the weekend, really, really try to get your tickets ahead of time because it does get a little crazier during these times, so watch out. [00:17:11] Speaker A: Yeah, it does. Oh, I did forget one thing in the news. [00:17:15] Speaker B: Oh, what's that? [00:17:16] Speaker A: To go back. Speaking of park tickets, tickets finally went up. [00:17:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:21] Speaker A: Because it's after. It's after April 1 now. So all the park tickets have gone up in price. So now a one day passport is ¥7400. [00:17:32] Speaker B: Oh, it's so painful. [00:17:35] Speaker A: Which it was 6800 before. So that kind of sucks that they're putting the prices up, but it is what it is. But they are having a quote unquote campaign where they're selling. I think it's weekday tickets at a discount price, which are basically what the prices were last year. [00:17:57] Speaker B: Oh, my God. That's so messed up. [00:18:00] Speaker A: Yeah, I saw it on a advertisement, actually a big billboard that was advertising it. [00:18:08] Speaker B: And that's so messed up. But it's also kind of so smart, you know, because the weekdays is, you know, especially like, like when, you know, when things like the school starts or things like that, it can get a little dead. So it might work. It might kind of work out, you know, it's kind of a smart move, you know? And the weekends really get so crowded anyway that maybe raising the price could control crowds a little bit on the weekend. So I'm kind of curious to see how that works out. It actually might be a really smart move. [00:18:45] Speaker A: The weekends do tend to get pretty crowded, and sometimes it's not very enjoyable because there's just so many people and wait times are high and you wait for everything. Yada, yada, yada. So it'd be kind of. Kind of nice to see if this curves it just a little bit. So next, next, our next segment. And, Patricia, I will let you go with that one. [00:19:06] Speaker B: Oh, my God, I'm so nervous. [00:19:08] Speaker A: Okay, I will let you start with it, and then I'll help you. [00:19:11] Speaker B: Thank you. It's our Tokyo Disney resort 101, where we kind of go into detail on how to get along in the Tokyo Disney resort. And today's segment is about japanese words that you already know. So what does that mean? Japanese words that you already know. You know, like any language, Japanese has lots of loan words, right? So if you speak English, you know, there's a lot of words that are, like, Latin based, that are German based, you know, Spanish based, French based. So, you know, Greek and Japanese is no exception. And so they use a lot of foreign loan words, which makes communicating for you really easy. Right, Chris? I always forget the difference between these. I think wase ego are words that sound like English, but they don't exist in English. That japanese people use, like baby, car. And what is gai raigo? What is that? [00:20:09] Speaker A: Kai raigo is basically just english words. [00:20:12] Speaker B: Okay. Okay. [00:20:14] Speaker A: Yeah. English words that are pronounced the japanese way. That's essentially what they are. [00:20:18] Speaker B: Got it. Okay, let's go through some of these asking for food or drink sizes, which is really straightforward. Right. So here's how you do it. For large, it's l size. M. M size, medium. M size, and s for small size, it's pretty straightforward. Right. M size. [00:20:44] Speaker A: Super easy. [00:20:45] Speaker B: What about drinks, Chris? [00:20:46] Speaker A: Drinks? There's quite a few. So if you want to ask for a coke, you say cola is basically. How is what you would say? Or if you. If you want to try and pronounce it very jap like. In the japanese way, you would say koda. But it's basically you're just saying cola, and that means coke. And then if you want to get a coffee, you say kohe, and that will get you a coffee. And if you want an iced coffee. And I love iced coffee, especially in the summer. Delicious. You say, I see, so, sounds like iced coffee. It's pretty easy. There is coke, which is kora. There's coffee, which is kohe, and iced coffee, which is ice. Kohe. [00:21:37] Speaker B: So let's put it together. Hot. [00:21:46] Speaker A: A large hot coffee. [00:21:48] Speaker B: See, look what I did there. I added an extra word. [00:21:53] Speaker A: Yeah. You can say hot coffee or kohe. Doesn't really matter. And then there's also food. Items which are pretty straightforward as well. So for a cheeseburger, pretty easy. It's cheesubaga, which is cheeseburger. I always feel weird saying these words in Japanese because I know the english word. I just want to say the english word, but I know if I say the english way, a japanese speaker may not understand what I'm saying. So I kind of have to. Have to force myself to say it that way. [00:22:33] Speaker B: It feels so weird. [00:22:34] Speaker A: Yeah, it feels kind of strange. But you. You. You get. Get the point across, I guess. [00:22:42] Speaker B: Okay, I know the next one because my. My son is, like, obsessed with it. This, like, I think this is the only reason he'll come with me to Disneyland is to get these. These french fries would be potato fraido potato. But he. Some people would just say potato, but really it should be fraido poteto. This one is kind of interesting. Self serve, self serve, soft serve, soft serve ice cream is. You make it shorter. Soft cream. [00:23:14] Speaker A: Softo. Creame. [00:23:16] Speaker B: There you go. So that's one of those examples of wasego, right? Because in English, we don't say soft cream. [00:23:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:23] Speaker B: We say soft serve ice cream. [00:23:26] Speaker A: Yeah. Cause if we were to say soft cream, like, what do you mean? Butter. You want some butter? What do you want? [00:23:33] Speaker B: Yeah. And the weird thing is that you get so used to asking for soft cream here, then when you go back to, like, North America, it's like, soft cream, and they're like, okay, what? You know, usually they'll know what you're saying, but they'll give you a look like, okay, whatever, you know? I guess I'm really lucky, because in my hometown, half the people don't speak English anyway, so they're like. They're like, okay, fine. But if I went somewhere else in the states, they'd probably, like, give me, like, a weird, weirder look. Like what? [00:24:07] Speaker A: You know, what are you saying? Why are you saying it that way? [00:24:11] Speaker B: In Miami, no one cares. They're like, okay, you want. You want ice cream? Some kind of ice cream. Got it. [00:24:19] Speaker A: So, so far, we've covered drink sizes, different types of drinks, and different types of food. And also, like, there are tons of words. And we actually have a article on the website that has 50 of these words that you can print off and bring with you. It's in English, it's in Japanese. So don't feel that you need to be writing these down furiously. Don't worry. We have them on the website, so it's all. It's all good. It's all good. Next. Next. I don't know why? I don't know why I wrote this one down, but I don't know when you would use it, but maybe at the hotel or something like that. But the word for email, this one is a, this one's a bit strange. So to say email in Japanese, you basically say meru or male. [00:25:13] Speaker B: And you don't say imeiru. [00:25:15] Speaker A: No, I always hear, shut up. [00:25:18] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Have I been saying it wrong this whole time? [00:25:20] Speaker A: Well, anytime I've said Emiru, people kind of like, people get it, what I'm saying. But if I, if I just say meru, they're like, oh, okay. Yeah, email. [00:25:30] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I always say Emiru. Darn it. All right. [00:25:39] Speaker A: How long have you been living here? [00:25:41] Speaker B: I don't know. I thought it was Emer. Okay. I bet. I bet you. You can say imedu, probably, but I haven't had a problem with it. [00:25:49] Speaker A: But every time I've seen it, like, written somewhere or whatever, it's always been Meru. And I always have to ask. I'm like, do you mean like mail that you send in the mail or do you mean email and it's always electronic mail? I'm like, okay. [00:26:03] Speaker B: Oh, okay. [00:26:05] Speaker A: I think it's one of those, like, weird, those words that, like, very subtle difference, I guess. I don't know. [00:26:10] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Hold on. I'm going to Google Translate. [00:26:13] Speaker A: Okay, well, while you're doing that, I'm going to go to the next word. Okay. For elevator. It's elevator. [00:26:21] Speaker B: Okay. Elevator. Yeah, that's right. [00:26:24] Speaker A: And also, same with escalator. Esculata. Um, moving on. I guess if you, if you want to ask about golden week, people just say gold. I can't even say it in Japanese. You just say golden week and people know what you mean. [00:26:43] Speaker B: It's true. Oh, yeah. This is a weird one. This is another one of those was a go remodeling. And you know what? Now, like, Japan has messed me up and I, and now I use this word and it's not even the real word. Renewal. Like for refurbishment too, right? Renewal. [00:27:04] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:27:04] Speaker B: Is what you use. [00:27:06] Speaker A: Yeah. So right now big band beat is going under a renewal. Yeah, but we wouldn't, we wouldn't really say that in English. We would say it's going under either renovation or refresh or it's getting updated. Renewal is a very japanese thing. [00:27:23] Speaker B: It's true. Yeah. [00:27:25] Speaker A: So if you ever hear that it means something's being refurbished or updated or something like that. Here's another weird one. So the word for roller coaster in Japanese is jetto Costa or jet coaster. [00:27:41] Speaker B: I kind of get that, though, because you have. Roller is a hard word to say in Japanese. You got, like, roller. Er, right. It's really hard to say in Japanese. So jet coaster, you get the point across. It's like a little shoom. Like a jet. Right. And coaster. I totally get why they changed this one. It makes total sense. [00:28:08] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. It's much easier in Japanese. [00:28:11] Speaker B: Jet coaster. [00:28:12] Speaker A: Jetto coaster. Yep. So here's another one that you'll. You'll actually hear a lot of. What if you're paying with credit card? [00:28:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:22] Speaker A: So when. When you're paying for a credit card, you usually have to sign your receipt. Like, put your signature on there. Japanese people don't say signature, they say sign. So they'll say, sign it. Sign the onigai shimasu. So whenever you hear them say sign it, they just mean they want your signature on it. [00:28:43] Speaker B: And I get where that one comes from, too. Right. Because if you think about it, like, they probably got it from please sign here. And they just kept it short like that for everything else. So instead of, like, signature, just like. Like, please sign. You know, I think that's where they got it from. [00:28:58] Speaker A: Yeah. And Japanese, they love to shorten words as much as they can because. Yes, signature is a little long to say in Japanese. Like, if they were to turn into a japanese word. [00:29:09] Speaker B: Yeah, a little long. [00:29:11] Speaker A: Another word is ticket. And this one's really easy. It's chiquetto. Really easy. It's just ticket. Another one that's important is toilet. So if you want to. If you want to say toilet, like, if you're looking for it or something, you just say toilet, which just means the toilet or the washroom or the bathroom or whatever you want to call it. [00:29:35] Speaker B: Yeah, it's not. So. It's not so bad. Surprised at the amount of words that are, like, basically English or, like, super, super close to, like, the English that you know. Our last two words, super easy, super used at the parks parade is paredo. Right? You just add an o at the end and make the. A soft and then character is either chiara. You make it short or chiara. That's it. That's it, guys. [00:30:04] Speaker A: Pretty simple. [00:30:05] Speaker B: Well, words that you already know. [00:30:08] Speaker A: Tons of words. And, yeah, as I said previously, we have a full article on the website that has a list of 50 words. Go over there, print it off, there's a printable PDF, and you're good to go. So that was it for our Tokyo Disney resort 101. And I feel that we butchered a lot of those words. [00:30:28] Speaker B: That's okay. That's okay. [00:30:31] Speaker A: It's okay. Yeah. [00:30:33] Speaker B: We'll get better one day. [00:30:34] Speaker A: One day. One day we will. We will be fluent in Japanese. I don't know if it's gonna be anytime soon for me. [00:30:40] Speaker B: I don't know. I don't know, man. It's my fourth language. I'm hitting a. I'm hitting, like, a bump hitting a wall. See? I can't even speak English anymore. Thank you, Chris. All right. Okay, Chris, you gotta tell us about. [00:30:59] Speaker A: Your trip to Hong Kong. [00:31:02] Speaker B: Yes. [00:31:03] Speaker A: Yay. So we're gonna be here for the next 3 hours as I tell you everything about it. [00:31:08] Speaker B: Please do. Please do. I don't even mind. [00:31:11] Speaker A: Oh, man. Where do I start? Where do I start? Well, overall, it was fun. The park overall was. It's tiny. It really is tiny. I like, I went there knowing it was going to be small, but I didn't realize how small it was going to be, but that didn't take away from the entire experience in itself. It's a lovely park. It's beautiful. I really like the hills behind Sleeping Beauty's castle. That kind of gives it a nice texture, which is really cool. [00:31:47] Speaker B: How many days did you stay? [00:31:49] Speaker A: Uh, well, the first night I was in Hong Kong, we stayed in the city. We stayed at a hotel that. I would never stay at it again. [00:31:57] Speaker B: Oh, no. [00:31:59] Speaker A: It was. It was cheap and for good reason, and I'm just gonna say that. But thankfully, the next day, we did go and stay at Disney's Hollywood Hotel on property, which was a million times better than this other hotel we stayed at in Hong Kong itself. And with that, we actually got a. I guess a vacation package is the best way to describe it. And that included two nights at the Disney's Hollywood Hotel, and it also included six meal tickets for us to use at the park. [00:32:38] Speaker B: That's great. [00:32:39] Speaker A: It also included two breakfasts at Chef Mickey's, so we got to eat there. Our second day we were there, and then the day we were leaving, so that was nice. And we also got a Mickey plush aw. And it also included our park tickets, which was two adult tickets and one. One child ticket. And we did not use the child ticket because we didn't have a child with us. [00:33:04] Speaker B: Oh, that's right. That's kind of weird. [00:33:05] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, when we. When we checked in, you know, she was explaining to us, you know, our tickets, and she went and explained the whole child ticket, and we said, well, there's only two of us. And she's like, yeah, well, here's the. Here's the ticket anyway. Like, okay, I don't know what to do. [00:33:23] Speaker B: Like, some random kid at the park case here have a ticket. [00:33:27] Speaker A: Well, I was kind of thinking that, but then I'm thinking, well, if a kid's already here at Disneyland, they're gonna be going to the park anyway, so. [00:33:33] Speaker B: Yeah, but, yeah, we should have loaned you kai. [00:33:37] Speaker A: Just take him with us. [00:33:38] Speaker B: Yeah, just take him with you. [00:33:41] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, overall, the Disney. Disney's Hollywood hotel was really nice. It's almost identical to the ambassador hotel here. Tokyo. In Tokyo. [00:33:53] Speaker B: Oh, no way. [00:33:54] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, it's just, you know, the whole glitz and glamour kind of theme. That's what it was. [00:34:01] Speaker B: So they took the ambassador design, and we. We took their Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, their Hong Kong Disneyland hotel design, so kind of traded. We kind of traded, didn't we? Yeah, yeah. [00:34:13] Speaker A: What else at the hotel? I'm trying to think here. Yeah, there's a chef McGeese, which is really good. They had these really cute. I think there were banana. Banana and something else little, like, cakes, but they're in the shape of Winnie the pooh, which is. Which is really cute. And then they had these pork dumplings that were in the shape of little pigs. [00:34:38] Speaker B: Oh, those are so cute. Yes. The. The dim sum. [00:34:42] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, those are really, really good. Oh, and at our hotel, they actually, they upgraded us to the deluxe room. I think it was like we. We just booked a standard room, but we got upgraded to a deluxe room, and we were put on the top floor. [00:34:59] Speaker B: Oh, that's fantastic. [00:35:00] Speaker A: Really nice. And our room overlooked. Well, not overlooked the park, but it was facing the direction of the park. And you can kind of see the top of Space Mountain and also the RC racer in the distance. That was kind of cool. It was really nice. I liked it. It was kind of strange, like, going into the elevator at the hotel, because once you got in, Mickey would greet you in English, but then Minnie would do the same. Greedy as Mickey, but in Chinese or Cantonese. [00:35:35] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:35:37] Speaker A: So it was. It was a little. It was a little interesting to hear that. I guess it's. It's a kind of the same thing in here in Tokyo. Like, Mickey, Minnie, and all them speak Japanese, but I'm so used to hearing them in Japanese. It's normal to me now. So here, hearing them speak Cantonese was, like, a little. Little jarring at first. Like, oh, yeah, they're speaking Cantonese. Okay. [00:36:03] Speaker B: And the cool thing about Hong Kong is that so much of it is bilingual. You know, it's not just like the elevators, but, like, a lot of the attractions will have, like, a bilingual option, like, either English or Cantonese. [00:36:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:36:15] Speaker B: Mandarin. [00:36:16] Speaker A: Some of them also, I think so. Yeah. I don't know the difference, to be quite honest. Like, to, like, hear it and know the difference. I can't tell. Yeah. Like, speaking of the whole language thing, we did not run into language issues once when we were there. [00:36:34] Speaker B: Okay. Yeah. [00:36:35] Speaker A: Ever. Like, everyone spoke English. All the signage was in English. Like, there was zero issue, as you know, comparing it to Tokyo, where it's little bit tougher, because. Because not everything's bilingual here yet. [00:36:51] Speaker B: Right. [00:36:52] Speaker A: It was a little strange because, you know, I wasn't in a. Like, I wasn't in the. The US. So being in another asian country where a lot of English is being. Was being spoken, it was just a little. It was a little different for me, just, you know, living in Japan for so long now, and I'm just so used to speaking Japanese and not hearing a lot of English. So going to another asian country and hearing English all over the place, not having any. Any issues was a little different. [00:37:22] Speaker B: Your hotel, the Disney hotels there are really cool because a lot of the times, they'll have, like, actual, like, character greetings in the lobby or, like, the Mickey does, like, a. Like, a. Like, a thing in the PJ's where he'll do, like, good night to some of the guests or something. There's, like, a good night kind of, like, thing that they do, I think, at Disneyland Hotel, but I think. Did they do the character greetings at, like, the Hollywood hotel? [00:37:47] Speaker A: I didn't see any. They might have done it during the. [00:37:50] Speaker B: Day, maybe, but I think during the day. [00:37:52] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. We weren't there during the day. The only time we ever saw a character was Mickey, and that was at Chef Mickey's in the morning. [00:38:00] Speaker B: Oh, cool. So how is Chef Mickey's, like, comparing, like, have you been to the one in the US or the one here? [00:38:05] Speaker A: Um, I haven't been to the one in Tokyo, but I've been to one in the US. Um, but that was, like, four years ago, so I don't really remember. Uh, for Chef Mickey's in Hong Kong, they had so many different types of food. Like, if you were a picky eater, there was no issue. There was something there that you would eat or be able to eat. They had, um, what I assume was, like, a traditional chinese breakfast, because there was a lot of, like, there were some noodles, there were some fish, and there were some other, like, vegetables and stuff I've never seen before in my life. So there was that option, and then there was, you know, cereal with milk, bread, toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, waffles, fruit, yogurt. Like, there was so much stuff to choose from. [00:38:55] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh, I'm getting hungry. [00:38:59] Speaker A: And it was kind of. It was kind of cute. When Mickey would come in and out to do his greeting, he would actually exit through the kitchen, which was so cute, which is really cool. Yeah, which. Which was. Which was really cool because it was a busy kitchen, so there's, like, people coming in and out, you know, carrying trays of food, you know, to put out and everything, and making. Would just kind of walk back there. So I thought that. I thought that was kind of cool. [00:39:29] Speaker B: I like what Hong Kong, I think, does really well is they create a lot of these really, really good personal experiences, you know, with the cast and with the characters and, you know, like, they'll do, like, in the morning, like, an opening ceremony where they let the guests, like, kind of, like. Like, welcome the other guests to the park. You know, like, they'll pick somebody, like, at random, I guess, like, if you're there early or something. So, like, when we. When we went for the first time, our friend had told us, oh, you should do this. So we got there really early, and we had a lot, like, like, our gear on Disney stuff, you know, and Kai was so little, and so they picked us to be the family, you know, to kind of, like, welcome the other guests to the. The park. So you get, like, a little certificate saying that you did the welcome ceremony, the opening ceremony, and you get to, like, cut a little ribbon, and you get to say to, like, welcome to Hong Kong Disneyland and take a picture with the cast members. And it was a really, really neat, like, little experiences. And there's so many, like, little experiences like that in that park, you know, like, where you really have, like, these, like, face to face experiences with the cast members, you know, whether it's playing little games or, you know, things like that. I think that park does that really well. And the character greetings are really good, too. Like, you get to spend time with the characters. Like, there's certain things that the characters do there that they don't do. Like, over here, for example, like, Duffy will actually do the signature, which he doesn't do in Japan, you know, and it's really cool. [00:41:11] Speaker A: Speaking of, like, personal stuff, when. When we checked in at the hotel, I was. I was talking to the cast member that was at. At the. At the. At the desk and I explained to her that this was our final Disney park to visit out of all of them in the world. And she was excited for us that, you know, this was our last park to visit. And, you know, she was really excited about that. And then that evening when we got back to our hotel room, there was balloons in the room, and there was two little notes sitting on our, on our table, and they had notes saying, you know, thank you. Thank you for making Hong Kong Disneyland youre final Disney park on your, on your worldwide trip, which was really nice. And then, then to top it off, they somehow got pictures that we took in the park that day and printed them off and put them inside with the notes. [00:42:23] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. It's little things like that. Like, that park, I think, really excels at that, you know, those. Those little experiences, and it's like, it's like, it's so. It's so, like, touching. Like, you. You always. It's like, things like that, like what they did for you that you always will remember that, you know, it was. [00:42:43] Speaker A: It was a really nice surprise, and that was something I was not expecting at all. It kind of, like, took my breath away, I guess the best way to put it. [00:42:52] Speaker B: Mm hmm. For sure. For sure. That's incredible. Okay, so I think a lot of people, and I disagree. A lot of people will say that this is a half day park. What do you think? [00:43:06] Speaker A: We usually spent a full day there. [00:43:09] Speaker B: It was easily right. To be honest with what they've added, I think I could easily spend two days really taking time to, because they also have a lot of really good entertainment, which we can get into a little bit later. They have really great entertainment. The attractions are great. There's not long lines, which is fantastic. Even during the, like, we went during, like, a. Like, the busier season, and it was still, like, barely any weights. And I think easily two days, maybe three, you know, if you really want to go back and, like, really, like, enjoy, enjoy certain things again. [00:43:45] Speaker A: Mm hmm. [00:43:46] Speaker B: It's. It's, I think, for sure not a half day park. [00:43:49] Speaker A: No, definitely not. Like, even with the short wait times, like, you can ride a lot of the bigger attractions over and over and over again. The longest wait time we actually saw was for Winnie the Pooh, and it was 30 minutes. That was the longest wait we saw. Everything else was mostly was, like, maybe 510 minutes, 15 maybe. [00:44:13] Speaker B: Yeah, it's nothing. It's nothing. It's. It's great. [00:44:17] Speaker A: Yeah. Especially, like, the. The attractions we really want to ride were mystic manor and the grizzly. Gulch. [00:44:26] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. I missed, though. [00:44:28] Speaker A: Yeah, those ones. They were always. They're always at five minutes. [00:44:32] Speaker B: That is so great. I missed grizzly gulch. It was under. Under rehab when we went there, so. Under rehab, what it's called under. [00:44:42] Speaker A: Does it have a drinking problem? Is that what it was going on? [00:44:46] Speaker B: Uh, it's not a rehab. Refurbishment. [00:44:51] Speaker A: There we go. [00:44:54] Speaker B: I'm from Miami. Okay. We use different words. [00:45:00] Speaker A: Okay, sorry. Continue. [00:45:01] Speaker B: Okay. Okay. Under refurbishment. And so we couldn't. I didn't get to write it that time, but we get to. We got to road mystic Manor. And it was amazing. Love it. I love it. It's such a cool ride, you know? And it's neat because you can see it from different perspectives, you know, depending on what car you're in. Everything. Everything about it. The outdoor design, the queue design. Everything was. Was fantastic. [00:45:28] Speaker A: Yeah. That was easily my favorite ride there. And I love that there was virtually no. Wait for it. [00:45:35] Speaker B: Yes. [00:45:36] Speaker A: I think we rode it, I want to say, six or seven times over the course of two days. [00:45:41] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness, you guys. That's awesome. [00:45:44] Speaker A: It is really, really good. I dare to say it is better than Pooh's honey hunt. [00:45:50] Speaker B: Oh, the gauntlet has been thrown. [00:45:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:45:55] Speaker B: I don't know. It's really hard to say because they're so. They're so different. [00:45:59] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:46:00] Speaker B: You know? [00:46:00] Speaker A: Yeah. I guess, like, you know, every. Every Disney park has that one attraction that everyone wants to do, right? [00:46:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:46:08] Speaker A: And for Hong Kong, I would say it's definitely mystic manor. [00:46:11] Speaker B: Yeah, I think so. I wanted to. Grizzly. [00:46:13] Speaker A: Got that one is fun. That one's kind of like if Big Thunder Mountain railroad was to have a baby with expedition Everest. That's probably the best way to describe it. [00:46:28] Speaker B: That sounds awesome. I like also the atmosphere, character costumes for those lands. [00:46:37] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. They're really well done. I liked Chip and Dale in the grizzly gulch area. They had, like, the little cowboy hats and little vests and everything. That was pretty cool. [00:46:48] Speaker B: Just so cute. [00:46:50] Speaker A: Oh, and speaking of characters, between fantasyland and tomorrowland, because they're side by side, Merlin was kind of wandering around fantasyland, and he was kind of trying to make his way back to, you know, the backstage or whatever. And there was two stormtroopers walking from Tomorrowland, kind of going in the same direction he was going. [00:47:15] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. [00:47:16] Speaker A: And Merlin was talking to someone, and then he kind of turns around and notices these two stormtroopers, like, walking his way. He screams and then he. And then he takes off and starts running towards the backstage, and then both the stormtroopers kind of, you know, were playing along with it, and they started chasing after him. [00:47:38] Speaker B: That is awesome. [00:47:39] Speaker A: It was. It was pretty funny. [00:47:42] Speaker B: And the characters. It's fantastic because there's no lines, so there's, like, an area where you can take. Do the signature and take a picture with, like, four of the princesses at the same time. You've got those walk around characters. It's really, really neat. [00:47:58] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. It's much different than Tokyo, that's for sure. And also the US parks. [00:48:04] Speaker B: Yeah. It's not like a battle, you know? [00:48:07] Speaker A: No, not at all. Yeah. As for the, like, other attractions, it's kind of the same, I guess. Like, it's a small world is. It's a small world, I think it's. [00:48:21] Speaker B: A small world is better. [00:48:23] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. I guess because it's the most updated one. [00:48:27] Speaker B: Yeah. Pretty big. [00:48:29] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. It's. It's quite nice. There's a lot of, like, actual Disney characters in it. [00:48:34] Speaker B: Mm hmm. [00:48:35] Speaker A: Which is really cool. [00:48:36] Speaker B: And that the china areas is really, really big, which is really interesting, you know? [00:48:40] Speaker A: Well, I guess it makes sense. [00:48:42] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. But it's cool. You get to see, like, you know, like, Hong Kong, I think they had, like, Shanghai. They had, like, different, like, different areas, which is such a huge country, you know? It only makes sense, you know? It was really cool. [00:48:56] Speaker A: Space Mountain was. Space Mountain. [00:48:58] Speaker B: Because you've been to California. [00:49:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:49:01] Speaker B: So I've been on, like. Like, the broke down Walt Disney world, Space Mountain, and I've been on the space mountain here. So it was my first time going on Space Mountain because I hadn't been to California yet with music, and I thought, oh, that's so cool. It's so new, you know? [00:49:19] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That one is, I guess, pretty much identical to the one at Disneyland, California. [00:49:25] Speaker B: Right. Right. [00:49:27] Speaker A: Then there's also a stitches encounter, which is there. And also at Tokyo. I don't think there's. There's none of those in the US, is there? [00:49:36] Speaker B: No. [00:49:37] Speaker A: Okay. [00:49:37] Speaker B: Not that I know. In the US, they have the one where he burps on you, a chili dog, which is disgusting. But the one in Hong Kong has English. [00:49:46] Speaker A: Yeah. That was very interesting. Yeah, they had. There was a list of English shows and. And then Cantonese, chinese shows. Yeah, that was pretty cool. [00:49:56] Speaker B: That is really cool. [00:49:57] Speaker A: Over in, I guess, Adventureland, the area jungle cruise also has different languages as well. Like, there's different lines. [00:50:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:50:06] Speaker A: Depending on what language you want. So there's an English line, and then there's two other lines for, I think, Cantonese and Mandarin. [00:50:12] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's what it is. Yeah. [00:50:14] Speaker A: Yeah. So I thought that is actually really. That's a smart idea. It really is. [00:50:20] Speaker B: You have to have the bilingual cast to do that. [00:50:22] Speaker A: Yeah. The cast member we got, she was a little tough to understand. Her accent was pretty thick, but it was still enjoyable. And she was really good. [00:50:32] Speaker B: I think it's a little hit or miss because. Yeah, we. We wrote it a couple of times, and one time was, like, a little, like you said, hard to understand, and the other time was, like, fair, fantastic. Like, really clear, like, really, really funny. Like, it was great, you know? So I think it's you. You kind of have to luck out on what skipper you get. [00:50:49] Speaker A: Yeah, I think so. I think you're right. [00:50:51] Speaker B: And that attraction is really different. [00:50:53] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. I guess. Is it more closer to the us ones? I can't really. No, I don't know where to place it. [00:51:01] Speaker B: It's really, like, open. And it's got that finale. [00:51:05] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, the finale. [00:51:07] Speaker B: You know, it's really different. It's really different. Like, I wouldn't even compare it to, like, because the us ones, I feel like, are more, like. Like Japan. They're, like, a little bit more intimate. Like, this is a really wide and open, which is a really different take on it, I think. [00:51:24] Speaker A: Yeah, that's true. [00:51:26] Speaker B: Yeah. Like you said, a lot of the attractions are not that different. Dumbo is. Dumbo pooh is like the american poo. Right? Not like honey hunt. Yeah. Philharmagic. Is philharmagic. In any country, toy story land is, no one cares about because this is Toy story land. [00:51:43] Speaker A: I liked toy story land. [00:51:45] Speaker B: Yeah, kind of. I mean, here's the thing. It's like. It's carnival rides, you know, and. Okay, the slinky dog ride is kind of awesome, but they're carnival rides, you know, like, they're filler, which I guess you do need filler sometimes. Like, it's like their toon town. Right. So. Okay, that's. Okay. I get that. Okay. [00:52:04] Speaker A: It fills that need out of those attractions. I really like the RC racer one. [00:52:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:10] Speaker A: It's quick and it's fun and. [00:52:13] Speaker B: Yeah, that's true. [00:52:15] Speaker A: I liked it. And, yeah, I. We also rode that one in Paris as well, so we kind of knew what to expect with it. [00:52:22] Speaker B: Was there any difference? [00:52:23] Speaker A: No. [00:52:24] Speaker B: Okay. All right. Well, it's good to know. It's good to know. Yeah. You know, like, for people coming, like, from Paris is, you know. Good. They already have, like, similar stuff. [00:52:32] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. I guess talking more about the food, because we did eat quite a bit there. [00:52:39] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. It's so good. [00:52:41] Speaker A: All the restaurants are really tasty. The only thing I was kind of disappointed with was there's not a lot of, like, snacks or cute snacks compared to Tokyo. Like, that's not really their main focus. I guess a good way to put it. [00:52:55] Speaker B: I want to say their offerings are closer. Like, besides, like, the food that's, like, more local to there. It's really close to the US in a lot of ways. Like, things like cotton candy for snacks. [00:53:07] Speaker A: Yeah. And caramel popcorn, I think, is the only popcorn they had. Like, there was no other flavors that I saw. [00:53:14] Speaker B: Yeah. And it comes in little bags, which is interesting. [00:53:20] Speaker A: Yeah. It's not. It's not freshly popped. [00:53:22] Speaker B: That's true. I like the cotton candy, though. It lights up the. Light up cotton candy. [00:53:27] Speaker A: I never got that. [00:53:28] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. I love anything that lights up. [00:53:32] Speaker A: We ate at a few of the restaurants we tried to stay away from, like, quote unquote north american type food. [00:53:40] Speaker B: Mm hmm. Of course. Right. Because how many times do you get to go to Hong Kong? Right? [00:53:44] Speaker A: Mm hmm. We ate at the. I think it was the Royal banquet hall, which is one of the halls in fantasyland. I think I picked one of the most expensive items on the menu because it was part of our meal ticket, so why not? [00:53:58] Speaker B: Right. Go for it, man. [00:54:00] Speaker A: I think it had, like, chicken and sausage and beef and, like, green beans and a salad and drink. [00:54:08] Speaker B: Okay. [00:54:08] Speaker A: I guess it's a. It's not really chinese, but, you know, it was. It was. It was pretty good. We had. I had wanton wonton soup, I think. [00:54:20] Speaker B: Okay. [00:54:20] Speaker A: Or something with, like, beef in it, like, chunks of beef with noodle, anything. Yeah. That was really good. And it was actually kind of spicy, too. [00:54:32] Speaker B: Yes. [00:54:33] Speaker A: Which is nice and different, because here in Japan, things aren't that spicy. [00:54:37] Speaker B: No, there's no spicy. [00:54:39] Speaker A: So it was nice to have something that was actually, like, you know, had some. Some kick to it for once. So that was really nice. [00:54:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:54:45] Speaker A: And that was over in tomorrowland. It was one of the. One of the restaurants. I can't remember the name of it now. [00:54:53] Speaker B: Oh, I think I know what you're talking about. And there's, like, a bunch of different, like, there's different lines for different selections. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That places is interesting because, like, if you have, like, different people in your family want to have different things, it's really good because you have like, lines for the different options in one place. [00:55:10] Speaker A: Which is really cool. [00:55:11] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. This selection was pretty good. [00:55:14] Speaker A: Another thing that we had was I had fried chicken. [00:55:19] Speaker B: But, Chris, I know fried chicken is not, it's not local food. [00:55:26] Speaker A: Not at all. [00:55:27] Speaker B: But you have a thing with fried chicken. [00:55:29] Speaker A: I do. I have to eat it everywhere. [00:55:31] Speaker B: Yeah. I was about to say, every park that you go to, you always order the fried, which is a good thing to do because, like, different parks around the world, it's gonna have a different flavor. So, like, what, out of all, you've been to all the parks now? [00:55:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:55:45] Speaker B: So which park had the best fried chicken? [00:55:47] Speaker A: I'd say Disneyland. California. [00:55:50] Speaker B: Oh, that one's pretty famous, right? Mm hmm. Okay, so now we was probably the best. [00:55:55] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:55:56] Speaker B: Okay. We know. [00:55:57] Speaker A: To go to California with the fried chicken. Here, they give you little plastic gloves to wear so youre fingers don't get all greasy. [00:56:05] Speaker B: See, that's what I'm talking about. Because I hate. Okay, you're gonna laugh at me. I don't like touching food. So, like, even. Okay. Don't disown me, America. Okay. Even pizza, I will use a knife and a fork. I know, I know. Right now, there's people that are just like, they're, they're unsubscribing. They're like, I can't do this. Goodbye, TDR now. And I would appreciate, you know, for things like fried chicken and for things like ribs. I would really appreciate gloves, to be honest. So I think that's a really nice option. [00:56:44] Speaker A: It was a little weird for me at first because I'm kind of used to, like, here we would get, like, the little, little hand wipes to wipe your hands. So I was kind of half expecting that. But, you know, then I get plastic gloves, I'm like, okay, well, I guess I'll use the plastic gloves. Why not? [00:57:02] Speaker B: Yes. [00:57:03] Speaker A: And then for entertainment. [00:57:06] Speaker B: Oh, man, their entertainment is so good. [00:57:08] Speaker A: Paint tonight was really good. Well, since I saw it in California, I kind of knew what to expect here. So it was pretty much, it's pretty much the same, except the one in California added a couple things to theirs. [00:57:20] Speaker B: In Hong Kong, you get to play with the cast members, which I think is, like, a really nice bonus. You get to, like, we got, like, my son got a kick out of that. And I guess not so many people had the little one thing, and they kept coming up to him, and they're like, change the color. Change it again. You know? And it was really, really fun. [00:57:40] Speaker A: Yeah, that's cute. And then the daytime parade flights of fantasy. That was pretty good, too. [00:57:47] Speaker B: It is. It's a fun parade. Good parade. [00:57:49] Speaker A: Cute little parade. And then their fireworks show at the end of the night. I can't remember the name now. [00:57:55] Speaker B: That's intense, man. That is the. Okay, so there's no lines. And for the shows and the. For the parades, you don't have to wait that long. But for the fireworks, that is the one thing that the people in Hong Kong will wait for. [00:58:10] Speaker A: Yeah, I noticed that. [00:58:11] Speaker B: And. And that's the one thing I would recommend, if you're gonna wait for anything, is wait for the fireworks, like, in the sitting section. [00:58:18] Speaker A: Mm hmm. [00:58:19] Speaker B: Because you'll have a better experience. And it's so joyful because not only will they wait for the fireworks, the kids and everything freak out. They're like, oh, my God. They're really excited. And then you get excited, and it's like, oh, I got fireworks. So it's so fun. It's a blast, I feel. [00:58:41] Speaker A: Yeah, it was a lot of fun. It was. It was a bit of a culture shock, lack of a better term, how people would put their cameras above their heads to take photos of stuff and, like, video, because here we're told not to do it, and most people don't do it. Or if you do do it, cast members will tell you, like, stop it. Don't do that. [00:59:05] Speaker B: No, man. [00:59:05] Speaker A: But in Hong Kong, it's almost like a. Almost like a free for all, in a sense. [00:59:10] Speaker B: It's a free for all. It's like the states. [00:59:11] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:59:12] Speaker B: So, and if you. If you go in. If you go to that park thinking, like, approaching it kind of like the states where it's kind of like, you know. Yeah. Like you said, like a free for all, then I think you'll be ready for it. [00:59:24] Speaker A: Yeah. For me, I was. I was a little culture shocked, I guess, because I am not. I'm not used to that anymore. I kind of had to move around a little bit just so I can, you know, see everything properly, because sometimes it was in my line of sight, like, someone's iPad that they were holding up, like, well, I don't want to watch the show through your iPad. [00:59:46] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. Don't get me started on iPads. You know, my mother uses an iPad. I'm like, why? Why would you use something like that? It's so asinine. Just take out a camera. You'll get a better picture. You're not gonna block everyone. You know, it doesn't have to be an expensive camera. Get a cheap little camera, and it'll cut. It'll have better quality than the freaking iPad. Okay. It drives me crazy. [01:00:08] Speaker A: Do I feel another rant coming on? [01:00:11] Speaker B: No, I'm not gonna get started on that, because I will. I will lose my mind. [01:00:14] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. [01:00:15] Speaker B: You know, I can't deal with it. [01:00:17] Speaker A: Moving on, moving on. Moving on from that. [01:00:19] Speaker B: Moving on. [01:00:20] Speaker A: The. [01:00:21] Speaker B: Enter personal space. [01:00:22] Speaker A: Personal space. [01:00:24] Speaker B: Personal space. Did you feel there was a difference in terms of personal space? [01:00:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I didn't have any. [01:00:29] Speaker B: Exactly. And so, like, a lot of times, you can't control it. Like, in line, you can't control it. People are like. You know, it's like. It's. It's. Yeah. And it's. It's, like a culture thing. Some european countries, too. Like, you know how people, like, will talk really close to your face in Hong Kong? Like, people will line up, and it's, like, really close to each other, I guess, because they don't want to. You know what it is, is that they don't want to, I think, lose the spot. I think that's what it is. Right? [01:00:57] Speaker A: Yeah. Because as soon as, like, as soon as you move and there's a little bit of space, someone is gonna, like, swoop in. [01:01:03] Speaker B: So I think that's what it is. I think that's the reason. And then I found for the parades, what really helped was to bring a leisure seat, because it creates a line of demarcation that makes it awkward for people to cross. I'm not saying nobody's gonna cross not cross it, because there might be people that will, but I think, in general, people are less likely to cross onto your leisure seat line. [01:01:28] Speaker A: Yeah, that's true. [01:01:29] Speaker B: And I think that really helped us last time we went, but I think that's an important thing to note. You know, like, the personal space is a little different. [01:01:36] Speaker A: Yeah. Especially if you're used to Tokyo, where people, you know, are, you know, fairly keep to themselves and try not to bump into you or, you know, take up your personal space. In Hong Kong, it doesn't really exist. So it's kind of, like, kind of a free for all, in a sense. So do what you can, I guess. [01:01:58] Speaker B: Do what you can. [01:02:00] Speaker A: Do what you can. Yeah. But overall, Hong Kong Disneyland was fantastic, and I would. I would definitely go. Again, I wouldn't make Hong Kong Disneyland the. The main reason to come all the way to Asia. Like, if you're coming all the way over here just to go to Hong Kong Disneyland, you should probably go to other places, like Tokyo. [01:02:21] Speaker B: I mean, like Hong Kong. Like, around the city, there's so much to do. [01:02:25] Speaker A: Yeah, there is. [01:02:25] Speaker B: Like, as well. I mean, whether it's. Is enjoying the nature, because it's not just a big city. There's actually, like, really cool, like, natural, like, scenery. Like these really amazing rock formations. They have these really cool white dolphins, which it's not guaranteed that you'll see it, but, like, they're really, really interesting and really beautiful. In the city itself, there's so, so much to do and so much good food. It's, like, endless. I love that city. It is so, so fun. [01:03:01] Speaker A: Yeah. What I meant to say was, don't come all the way just to go to Hong Kong Disneyland. Like, definitely check out the other plate. Like, check out Hong Kong itself. And also, if you're. If you really want to do, like, a lot of Disney stuff, then make sure you also go to Tokyo as well. [01:03:18] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's so. It's so nearby, you know, so close. [01:03:21] Speaker A: And then soon it's gonna be Shanghai. So you could do a whole triangle. [01:03:26] Speaker B: Yeah, it's Shanghai. How close is Shanghai to Hong Kong? [01:03:29] Speaker A: It's. It's north of it, so I'm not too sure, like, to fly from Tokyo to Shanghai. It's about two and a half hours, 3 hours. [01:03:37] Speaker B: Okay, cool. So it's gotta be fairly close. [01:03:40] Speaker A: Yeah, probably an hour or two maybe. I'm thinking. I don't know. I will check. I will check. [01:03:46] Speaker B: I have a question. When you were in Hong Kong, did you have any issues with the photo people? [01:03:52] Speaker A: I never used them. [01:03:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Were they pushy with you or. [01:03:58] Speaker A: Not that I can recall. I don't think so. Why? Were they for you? [01:04:02] Speaker B: Oh, yes. [01:04:03] Speaker A: I. [01:04:07] Speaker B: There was a time when, you know, I was on the fence, oh, should I do the photo thing? Should I not do it? I don't know. And I decided at this point, yeah, no, I am going to have nothing to do with these photos, because we were. What was it we were in line for? What, like Anna and Elsa or something like that. And I wanted to go to a shop to buy something, you know? And the guy is like, oh, hey, you know, there's this photo card and whatever. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, okay. And they're like, no, no, no, go do the photo card now. And I'm like, no, I want to go. I want to go shopping, actually. And they're like, no, no, no, let's go right now. And he, like, literally led me with his hand, pushing my back gently. Not. Not hard or anything, but gently guiding me, physically guiding me to the photo registration thing to look at the photos, you know? And I probably would have done it on my own, but, like, at that point, I just. I wanted nothing to do with the photos. I'm like, okay, look, I'm here. Okay? Yes, I saw the photos. Okay. Okay, fine. I want. No, I don't want the photos. I know. You know? And I was, like, done. And I was like. It was so aggressive. [01:05:17] Speaker A: Hmm. I never. I never experienced that at all. [01:05:19] Speaker B: I didn't experience it the first time. Maybe it was just that one guy. I don't know. [01:05:23] Speaker A: I don't know. Maybe he was just really enthusiastic. I have no idea. [01:05:26] Speaker B: He was really aggressive, and I'm like, okay, dude, I. Fine. [01:05:30] Speaker A: Calm down. [01:05:31] Speaker B: I looked at the photos. I don't want them now. Like, that was my only kind of, like, weird. Like, my only kind of, like, oh, that. And some. Some people, they were not from Hong Kong. They were from. They were from Australia. And. Sorry, australian people, I love you, but. Okay, if you do visit any park, do not sit in the parade route, okay? Front of the garbage can where the dancers are walking, you know? And, of course, the cast members don't say anything because I guess it's, like, really lax there, you know, like you said, it's like a free for all. And it was like. So they're blocking the view. They're sitting in a place which is dangerous for the performers and the floats or whatever, and it was just so rude. And they walked up at the very last minute, you know, I guess they knew they could get away with it, but I thought, oh, that's so. So. I wish they would have been a little bit more tight with the rules for the. Like you said, like, the rules for the parade or like, the rules for in general. [01:06:33] Speaker A: Yeah, I found the rules were a little lax, as you mentioned, which is very different compared to here. [01:06:39] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And I think one thing that we forgot to talk about was it was an anniversary year, right? Was it. Were they doing something special for that? [01:06:47] Speaker A: They did this little weird performance in front of the castle that was not that great to be quite, like, a little performance. [01:06:57] Speaker B: They do. They do the chinese new year, where the characters wear special costumes, which is specific to that park. They do a really, really good Halloween, which is something I would love to see. I think my son is getting just old enough that he won't be terrified of it because it's a little darker than our parks, which I kind of really like. And they do a really great Christmas. We went for Christmas one year, which is great. They have a Christmas parade and everything. And it was really nice, like a lighting ceremony. So there's a seasonal event going on. I think it's a really good time to go because they do some really nice seasonal events at Hong Kong as well. Oh, and one more thing. Did you try the dim sum at the Hong Kong Disneyland hotel? [01:07:51] Speaker A: No, we didn't get a chance. [01:07:52] Speaker B: Really, really good. One thing to note, book it in advance because you have to order the pieces ahead of time, so you can do that. And it is so cute. It is like all these little dim sum in the shape of Disney characters. And they have like, this giant chicken little, which is like, really good. They had like, all these little mini chicken littles as a part of it. They had like the little, I think, little green men, like the little, the little pig ones that you had, too. They had. What else did they have? They had olaf. They had, man, they had so many, so many cute things. But that is, it is ridiculous. And I, you go, I really, really recommend that you order in advance and you make a reservation for that, for the dim sum. And I think. Is that it? Did we cover everything? [01:08:44] Speaker A: I think so, but, yeah. So overall, Hong Kong Disneyland was fantastic. It was fun. And I would, I would definitely go again. I definitely want to check out all the different seasons as well. So I think that'd be kind of fun. [01:08:56] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. [01:08:57] Speaker A: Patricia, don't you have a park tip for Hong Kong? [01:09:02] Speaker B: So one of the really cool things, like, we were talking about. Okay, so here's our tip of the podcast. We were talking about all those kind of, like, face to face encounters with the cast members. And one of the ways that you can have an encounter with the cast member is to ask for stickers. Or sometimes they're doing cards. So it depends on, like, what they're doing at the time. But usually stickers, and there's all these different stickers and you can collect them all. Just keep going up to cast members and they will give you different stickers, like, different characters. They'll have seasonal ones for Christmas or for summer or for special events that they're having. And it's so fun. And the stickers are really cute, and it's a great way to interact with the cast, who is really fantastic at Hong Kong Disneyland. And that's the tip. That's it. [01:09:49] Speaker A: Perfect. Perfect. And moving on to our listener question. So this week our question comes from Donna. And they ask, Chris and Trish, I have been listening to your podcast since the day you started in anticipation. Anticipation. In anticipation of our long awaited trip to TDR in September 2016. So far, you guys have been a huge help. We would really like to stay at the Miracosta. We realize that you can't make a reservation until six months out. Can you suggest the best way for us to snag a reservation at this highly popular hotel? [01:10:29] Speaker B: Oh, man. [01:10:30] Speaker A: Well, Donna, I'm glad you asked. It's tough. I guess it's not exactly easy. Like, decide on the date that you want well ahead of time, and once you. You will hit the. Hit the six month mark, try and book it for that day or those days. That's pretty much all you can do. [01:10:59] Speaker B: From the beginning, you know, and keep checking. Keep checking. People will drop things, like, and check up to the last minute because there's check. You know when you should check. If you can't get it at the six month mark, check when they have the. What's it called? The cutoff day for reservations. So check during that time because people will cancel, like, if it's, like, before an event or something, or, like, before the date that you want. I think it's, like, two weeks before or something like that. Things will start opening up because people have to, like, it's their time limit for the cancellation. [01:11:35] Speaker A: Yeah, I think it's a two weeks prior that you can cancel without getting, like, any penalties or anything or have to pay any fees. [01:11:44] Speaker B: Right. So look at that. Because we've gotten rooms like that before. Like, it's been, like, booked solid. And we checked and we checked and we checked, and we got the room that we wanted. [01:11:55] Speaker A: So, yeah, it's. It's a little tough to do. Pick your date well ahead of time, so you know what dates you're looking for. And then once you hit the six month mark, check that day. And hopefully. Hopefully you can get in then. But if not, as we said, just keep checking because people do cancel for various reasons, I'm sure. So it's not impossible. You just have to be very diligent and very persistent in order to get it. So hopefully. Hopefully, Donna, that you can. You can get that booked. [01:12:31] Speaker B: Yeah. Good luck with that. [01:12:33] Speaker A: I guess. I guess that's it for this episode. What? What are we gonna talk about next episode, Patricia? [01:12:39] Speaker B: Easter or something? We're gonna talk about Easter, I guess, for sure. It's really cute. It's always cute. Okay. We also have our Tokyo Disney resort 101 on a budget. You know, I love that, that. That topic. So we will find so many cool budget stuff for you. [01:13:00] Speaker A: Maybe. [01:13:01] Speaker B: Maybe it's Tokyo Disney resort, like, okay. As close to a budget as we can get. It might involve doing some stuff outside of the park. [01:13:09] Speaker A: It always does. Okay, guys, thank you so much for listening. It's always fun hearing your guys's feedback and everything. On Twitter, on Facebook, all that fun stuff. If you want to ask us a question, you can send it to contactdrexplorer.com. and we read everything that you guys send, so please keep sending questions. We love getting them. We love reading them. We love answering them, because that forces us to do some research sometimes because we don't know all the. All the answers. [01:13:40] Speaker B: It's so true. [01:13:43] Speaker A: I'm your host, Chris. If you want to follow me on my personal Twitter, you can find me at Burnin Lover, and I'm always joined by my lovely co host, Patricia. [01:13:54] Speaker B: Yeah, you can follow me at Dream Sweets love on Twitter and on Instagram, where it's not so much Disney stuff, but it's some fun Japan stuff that you might be interested in. Oh, my God, Chris. You know, we went to this place like these. It's called, like, the hundred holes. It's like, like 216 holes in this mountain. And it's so interesting. You know, we should do, like, a segment on, like, other parts of Japan as well. [01:14:22] Speaker A: Just a little, like a small segment. [01:14:24] Speaker B: I think we should because there's so much going on, like, in other parts of the country and within the city as well, which you can tie up with your Tokyo Disney resort vacation. So we should do that. Let's think about that, you guys. Write to us in your comments and tell us, would you like us to talk about other places and other things going on in the city and in the country that you might be interested in checking out? Whether it's cafes, whether it's entertainment, whether it's sightseeing, let us know, because there's some really, really neat places and we never get to talk about it, you know? [01:15:00] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a good idea. [01:15:02] Speaker B: Right? So mail us and let us know if you want us to talk about it or not. So, yes, soremesceneslove on Twitter and on Instagram is the same name. And you guys, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for listening. Write to us. We're lonely. We want to hear from you. [01:15:19] Speaker A: We're very lonely. [01:15:20] Speaker B: We love you. Okay? [01:15:22] Speaker A: And as always, make sure you rate us on iTunes and on Stitcher so other people can find our podcasts and help them plan their trip to Tokyo. And you can also find us on our website, tdr explorer.com. also on facebook. Facebook.com tdr explorer and on twitter. Twitter.com tdr explorer. So thank you, guys, and we will talk to you soon. [01:15:50] Speaker B: See you next time. Keep exploring. Bye.