Horror Nights & Pokemon at Universal Studios Japan 2024 | 320

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, explorers, welcome to episode 320 of the TDR now podcast. We're the first english speaking podcast about the asian theme parks, like Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo Disneysea, Universal Studios Japan, universities. Singapore, Beijing. Hong Kong. Disneyland, Shanghai Disneyland. The list goes on. And you can find us over on our [email protected], and under social media, under the same name. I'm one of your hosts, Chris. I'm the one you see on camera all the time on YouTube and usually stuffing my face. And joining, as always, is the wonderful Patricia. [00:00:38] Speaker B: Hey, guys, my voice sounds weird. I'm really sorry. I'm recovering from a little cold, but I am the one. What am I doing? Taking photos and eating lots of Halloween food at the hotels. You can find me at Instagram. Instagram and threads under dream suites. Love. And hopefully participating in this thing by the city called Discover urayasu. Hopefully that gets off the ground a little bit more. We're trying to get it going, but, yeah, you guys, welcome back. Summer vacation is at its end. Chris, you've been having lots of adventures overseas. [00:01:26] Speaker A: Oh, yes. Yes, I have. I got back from the us a few weeks ago, and then I promptly went to Universal Studios Japan because their horror night stuff started. I also did horror nights over in Orlando, and then from Orlando. Not from Orlando, from Osaka. Flew to Beijing to also do their Halloween event as well, and then came back here. And then tomorrow I'm going to be going to Tokyo Disneysea for Halloween food. So, yeah, it's just, um, a lot of stuff is going on. Halloween time is usually pretty busy. There's a. The theme parks love to do stuff with Halloween. [00:02:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Spooky season around the world. We love to see it. Um, yeah. Exciting. [00:02:16] Speaker A: Yes. It's just, there's a. There's a lot there. There's always a lot. Um, but, uh, before we start talking about, like, all the. The Halloween stuff I I saw recently on, it was threads, I think you posted it on. You started taking, like, real photos. Like, by real, I mean, like, film. That. That's the word. Film. [00:02:40] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I used to. When I. In my young days, I used to take, like, black and white film photography. And, you know, I always said once my son was older, I wanted to get back into that. And he just turned 18 this week, which is crazy, which is insane to think about. So we found an old om two Olympus camera in storage, and then I got an early birthday present. And this probably has to be rehauled, but my husband gave me a Leica three Barnett camera, so that's it's hard to jump into because it's, like, om two is very easy to use for the most part. Maybe, like, a medium difficulty level. And then jumping to the barnac is a bit higher. There's no light meter. You know, I do like using a rangefinder. It has, like, a rangefinder system, so. And there's no battery. It's, like, all mechanical, which is really, really cool. Like, what? Like an 80, 90 year old camera. So it's kind of cool using, like, a piece of history as well. And so right now we're, like, testing, like, to see, like, getting used to it, and we're developing some film now to see how that comes out. And, yeah, it's really fun. I'm really enjoying it. [00:04:17] Speaker A: That's really cool. I couldn't tell you the last time I used actual film. Probably in the nineties. [00:04:25] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. Right. [00:04:28] Speaker A: I remember taking the jump from film to digital, and I was just, like, so blown away because I. I would have been in, like, high school at the time. Like, early high school. [00:04:38] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:38] Speaker A: I remember the jump to digital, and I thought, this is so cool. We get to take as many pictures as we want on this, you know, 256 megabyte SD card at the time. Yeah, or whatever. It's probably even smaller than that. It's probably eight megabytes, to be honest. Yeah, I just remember that. And I remember, like, I actually still have some photos from, like, most of my first digital cameras, and I kind of look at, like, the timestamps on them, and some of them will say, like, whatever. Month 2001. Yeah, it's just, like. It's very interesting. And. Yeah, of course, like, film, like, photos taken on, like, actual photos and stuff. Like, that's sitting in my mom's place. Oh, my gosh. Photo albums and stuff. [00:05:29] Speaker B: Yeah. Young people today are so lucky because they have, like, the best of both worlds, you know? And I don't know. Did you see the movie twisters? [00:05:38] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, I saw that when I was in the US. Yes. [00:05:40] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Did you see the girls camera harness? [00:05:44] Speaker A: Yes, I did. [00:05:45] Speaker B: Oh, my God. It was so cool. [00:05:48] Speaker A: Yeah, that was neat. [00:05:50] Speaker B: Yeah. I wish I had that when we were, you know, going to Disney more. [00:05:54] Speaker A: Right. That would have been nice. Um. What was I gonna say? Yeah. With, like, the. It's always interesting looking at, like, older photos. Like, the way photos, like, we're just obviously, I guess we would call them filters now, but, like, just the look of the photos from you, you can kind of tell what time period they were from. Like, I look at photos and, you know, photos of me as a baby or just like, things before I was even born. I look at them like that my mother has, and I can tell, like, this is from the eighties. And then if I go a little further back, like, this is clearly from the seventies, like, it's just everything had that, like, they each had very distinct, like, not just like what people were wearing in the photos because those are kind of a dead giveaway, but it's more just like the colors of the photos and like, the shape, like, the way they were printed. Yeah, some of them are like rounded. [00:06:49] Speaker B: Like, they'll have the rounded edges. [00:06:51] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Or some of them. And then we started kind of going towards like, the sharper edges of photos, which I guess kind of how we are now when we print things. It's just very, very fascinating kind of stuff. Actually, this is a complete aside. I know, but, um, I went down a rabbit hole yesterday because I want to get a new Sony camera. [00:07:11] Speaker B: Nice. [00:07:12] Speaker A: And, um, I ended up watching like 3 hours of different YouTube videos just trying to break down, like, what camera will work best for me. I don't necessarily need to spend $6,500 on a camera because I know, like, the Sony one alpha one is like the top tier Sony camera. [00:07:30] Speaker B: Amazing. [00:07:31] Speaker A: I don't need that. That's well beyond what I needed for. But then, like, there's obviously the lower end cameras, which I, those are kind of, I'm beyond that. Like, I need something with interchangeable lens, but I need video, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I guess that's a whole, we have a whole podcast episode on that. But I'm kind of like, I'm kind of leaning towards the Sony zv one. I can't remember now. There's so many names. But it was a model that was released last year, full frame, all that kind of stuff. So, because right now my current camera setup is I'm kind of, I use my osmo pocket mostly, and then I'll use my iPhone pro max for like b roll kind of shots. But I'm kind of getting to the point where my phone is kind of outgrowing what I need to, like, I'm kind of outgrowing what I can do with my phone. Because the big telltale was like this past couple of weeks, I was trying to get nice, nicer b roll shots. Yeah, the iPhone can only do so much in low light. So I could, like, I looked at back in my footage, like, oh, this, this stuff was, this was struggling or this, it just didn't work. And obviously, with the Osmo pocket, it's really great for kind of, you know, running around vlog style stuff, which I do a lot of, and that works perfectly fine. But where it kind of doesn't work for me is obviously there's no zooming in it. Like, there's, there's digital zoom, but I'm not going to use that. Right. [00:09:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:09:08] Speaker A: I kind of want a higher end camera for video to help with, like, in the b roll shots or, like, in situations where I'm not really doing vlog style, I'm doing more, you know, I need, like, a nicer shot kind of thing. And last year, I bought, I mistakenly. This was cut. This is my fault. I didn't do enough research. I bought the Sony Zve ten. [00:09:29] Speaker B: Mm hmm. [00:09:30] Speaker A: Terrible camera for video. It was just terrible. I wish I didn't spend the money on it. Over overheated a lot. It was the last model using their older type type of battery, so the battery did not last very long. It didn't have, like, image stabilization and stuff. So it was just like, it just, it didn't work for me. It wasn't for me. So I haven't used the camera since. I'm hoping to sell it. I did get, like, a nice prime, wide, ultra wide angle lens, which is great. It's a sony lens, and I will, I will keep that because I know I'll use it. It's always good to have an ultra wide lens, but I'm gonna replace the body. So I went on, like, a YouTube binge yesterday, and then I was, like, reading stuff, and then I went to, I went to bitcamera. Because you can play with all these cameras, right? They're all just there. [00:10:26] Speaker B: Oh, sure, yeah. [00:10:30] Speaker A: Getting a feel for the camera. Like, how does this feel in my hand? You know? How weighty is it? I'm pretty sold on the Sony ZV one, e one, or I don't remember the name, but I think that's probably the one I'll end up getting. So, yeah, I just want to, I don't know, I want to be able to take nicer videos, you know? [00:10:51] Speaker B: Oh, for sure, yeah. [00:10:53] Speaker A: Change it up a little bit, because, you know, I, you know, it's always nice to change things up every so often. And also, like, the, the thing that drives me nuts about my iPhone is that whole lens glare thing that happens. [00:11:08] Speaker B: I hate it so much. [00:11:09] Speaker A: I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. It happened. Like, it kept happening. I'm like, I don't like my nemesis. I don't like it. Like, yeah, the phone is great when I'm in ideal lighting conditions, like, outside. [00:11:23] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:23] Speaker A: Works perfectly fine. Like, I can get nice dynamic shots because I have, like, the. The five times zoom with it, which, you know, it's pretty good. Like, for that situation, it works pretty good. [00:11:34] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:34] Speaker A: But as soon as, like, the lighting, the light starts to go down, it's terrible. Or, like, the lighting glare and all that, and it's just like, eh. [00:11:43] Speaker B: Why does it do that? It's so annoying. [00:11:45] Speaker A: I don't know. I don't know. I haven't looked too much into the exact reasoning, but, yeah, it is very annoying. Yeah. So. Well, I'll keep you updated as to what I. What I end up doing. I did find a used version of the Sony camera one again, I think I save about $300 buying it used. [00:12:05] Speaker B: Wonderful. [00:12:06] Speaker A: But then I also saw today, big camera has, like, a sanman. ¥30,000 cash back. [00:12:14] Speaker B: Oh, wait a minute. [00:12:16] Speaker A: Yeah, buying it new. So I'm like, oh, maybe I could just buy it new then, instead of having to buy it. I don't know. But I kind of like buying used, because if I can, I will. You know, it's always good to, like, reuse things, right? So, yeah, I will do a little more research and see what I come up with. I will definitely buy lenses used. Like, I. Japan is great for electronics. Like, high end electronics. [00:12:42] Speaker B: There's such a good selection. Yeah. [00:12:44] Speaker A: Like, you can go into, like, akibar is a good place to go because there's so many, like, used shops. Like, there's used shops all over Japan. Akbar is probably the most accessible for people. Yeah, there's just. There's just used equipment everywhere, and everything is graded. And, like, if you. If you don't mind, like, stuff that maybe is a little more roughed up, but it still works perfectly fine. You know, you'll get it cheaper than something that looks pristine. It's. It's nice. Like, I actually, I bought. I bought an iPad and I saved, like, $500 or something. Off buying it new. [00:13:20] Speaker B: Nice. [00:13:21] Speaker A: I'm like. It's like. I think it said the body had, like, a slight scuff. I'm like, I'm gonna put this in a case. I don't care. [00:13:30] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, once I open something, it's like, all bets are off, you know? It's like. Yeah, and it's so funny. Like, it's true. Like, when something is being sold here, like, if it has, like, the tiniest little thing that you might not even notice. Like, it'll be, like, like, massively discounted because, like, people care about that, you know? [00:13:51] Speaker A: Mm hmm. The only thing that I don't particularly like buying here is retro games. It's kind of, like, the same in, like, I guess, like, in other countries where retro games are kind of priced too high, in my opinion. [00:14:06] Speaker B: It can be. Yeah. You have to go. You have to go to, like, really local shops, like akihabara. Like, everything is overpriced. Right. Because it's, like, tourism land. Right. [00:14:16] Speaker A: And, yeah, it's finally starting to get better. So it's not as good of a quote, unquote, deal in terms of exchange rate anymore for people. [00:14:25] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:26] Speaker A: But, um, like, a good example is. So I bought an analog. I'm going way off topic. I know. I apologize. We'll get to the main topic. Let me just finish this. I went. So I bought an analog pocket, which is, like, it looks like, it basically looks like a game Boy, but it plays, like, a wide range of retro games, like, actual cartridges. So, like, game Boy, game Boy advance, game Boy color, neo geo, I think, or something like that. Like, it plays a wide range of them, right? [00:14:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:56] Speaker A: And for. I like to play games that are usually meant for children. Like, Pokemon's a good example. I like to play the japanese versions because it's good for language learning. Right. You know, of course, some of the language is pretty specific for, like, that fantasy world. But I'm kind of, like, at the point of my, my level of Japanese, I can. I know when there's, like, it's fantasy or, like, heightened language, you know, the same thing we kind of do in English. Like, I know how to differentiate that now. It's just like, yeah, I just like to build my vocabulary by playing these games because then, like, stuff gets thrown at me that I never would think to use. But it's like, oh, it's nice to know that now thing, you know? Anyway, I wanted a copy of Leaf Green. Pokemon. Leaf green. And I went to the shops, and I thought, well, I kind of like to have the box with the games. I just, I just like having them because I'm a, I like them everywhere I went, leaf green and fire firered or whatever the other one is called, it was, like, ¥20,000 for it. And. And I just thought, this is ridiculous. And it was like, ¥50,000 for, like, just the cartridge. And I thought, that's a lot. And I checked around. I just thought, this is, like, I don't want to pay that. Like, yes, I want to play it, but I don't want to pay that. So then I thought, I'm going to check Mirakari. I got it. I got Pokemon leaf green with the box. The box is a little beat up, but I really don't care. We kind of, to me, it adds to the quote unquote aesthetic of it all. And then um, yeah, games perfectly fine. It got shipped to me. ¥5500. So like $40 easy, right? Yeah, yeah. Uh, anyway. Oh my goodness. That could be, went way too long. Let's talk about Halloween at Universal Studios Japan. I was kind of, I was trying to segue into that, but I kind of really went off the rails. [00:16:59] Speaker B: Oh, we haven't talked in a while. The price of retro games can be so scary. Just like Universal Studios Japan. Halloween. [00:17:09] Speaker A: There we go. Perfect, perfect segue. I think it's just we haven't talked in a while because, you know, we didn't, we batch recorded a bunch of episodes before I left and then we, other episodes, like we re quote unquote, re airedore some other episodes. So it's been a while since we talked. So forgive us if we have, if we're going on a little too long. That's okay. Yeah, yeah. Halloween is back at Universal Studios Japan, and they're doing like they always have, they have their Halloween horror nights and they're, they're calling it the hahahaha Halloween party, which is the family friendly Halloween event that's on at the park. And both of them are happening in tandem until November 4, 2024, which is really cute. Yeah. And the best, the best part about all of this, um, it's on every day, including, hello, horror nights. It's on every single day. You don't have to pay anything extra either. It's all included in your day ticket. You know, the only thing extra is if you want to pay for like express passes or um, like the special viewing area for the Pokemon show. Um, but everything's included in your, in your park ticket. There is so like, I know I, we've mentioned this many, many times, there's just so much to do in this one park when you add in all the event stuff. So they effectively have two events happening on top of everything else, like the normal operations of the park. So it's quite elaborate with how much they do in this park. It's wild. [00:18:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:42] Speaker A: And this. So let's talk about the Hahaha Halloween party first. [00:18:48] Speaker B: I love the title so much. [00:18:52] Speaker A: Halloween Halloween party. It's effectively turned into a Pokemon Halloween event. Is what's happened? [00:19:00] Speaker B: I'm not mad about it. It looks hella cute. [00:19:03] Speaker A: It is so cute. Probably the most popular thing is the character greetings. And it's so popular that they actually split it. Now they have it in two different places. [00:19:14] Speaker B: Awesome. [00:19:14] Speaker A: Which I, it works so well with what they do with these characters. So. Okay, so let me, let me explain how this works. So there's two character greetings. Well, two character greeting areas. And new this year, they added Litwick, which is little candle Pokemon. If you get too close to him, he steals your soul. [00:19:37] Speaker B: Oh, my God. [00:19:39] Speaker A: And then the other one is Pumpkaboo, which looks like a little cute little pumpkin. And it's a ghost Pokemon, both very cute. And they are meeting with other Pokemon characters. So there's DJ Pikachu, who is back, who actually has a new outfit this year. He has a little hood, a little pikachu hood. DJ Gengar, Mistrevis, Bayonet, and Mimikyu. They're all back. And so how it's working is. So the greetings happen at the same time. There's one kind of in the New York area in front of Louis, and the second one is in the Hollywood area, kind of between where the Pokemon restaurant is, studio stars, which is in front of the current demon Slayer ride, aka space fantasy, or in front of curious George. That's the best way to describe where it is. And so how it works is Litwick is in the one in New York. Pumpkaboo is in the one in front of curious George. Then all the other Pokemon I mentioned, they appear at both. So they're at. So there's two DJ pikachus in each location. Well, each location has DJ Pikachu, Gengar, mischievous bayonet, and Mimikyu. And how it works is you just line up. And the caveat is you can only pick one Pokemon to get your picture with. So if you. So once you get your picture with them, if you leave, well, you leave, and then you have to go join back the line if they let you, because they may cut it off. Yeah, they've, the times I did it twice, and the times I did it, they did cut it off. Like, I wasn't able to do it twice. And I think it's more just because it's so hot still. Yeah, kind of. They only have let so many people in because, you know, we all know there's people in those costumes. So, you know, they're outside in the heat. They can only be out there for so long. So I kind of understand why they had to do that. But they make, like, they kind of ask you which pokemon you want to see. So if you tell them Litwick, there's a different line to stand in. If you tell them pumpkaboo, there's another line. The other ones, you just kind of stand in a general line, and then you pick, once you go into, like, the little corral that they're in. Okay. And it's a, it's. It's a one photo policy kind of thing, which is pretty standard for general. [00:22:01] Speaker B: Because they have to keep it moving. Yeah. [00:22:03] Speaker A: It moves very efficiently, and it's very cute. Oh, my. Litwick. I love Litwick. Like, Litwick is one of my favorites. I have plush of him. I have earrings of him. I love him to death. And I love that he, I was gonna say transforms. Wow. Evolves into a chandelier eventually, which is, I think, is so wonderful. Yeah. So cute. They did such a good job with that. It happens, I think, three times a day, like morning, early afternoon, and mid afternoon kind of thing, something like that. It's. All this information's in the app as well, which they actually, the USJ app, they just. They must have just updated it. Like, did a rehaul of it very recently because it is so much easier to use, and there's so much more information in English now. [00:22:52] Speaker B: Oh, hey. [00:22:52] Speaker A: Which is really nice. So. No, because I know before, like, a few years ago, we had this weird, like, hybrid thing that was happening where some stuff was in English, some was in Japanese, and it was mixed up, and it was just kind of a nightmare that is fixed. It looks. It kind of matches the aesthetic or, like, the look, the branding, I guess, of, like, the ones in the US. [00:23:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:15] Speaker A: So they all kind of, I guess they're all kind of matching. So that's good. Yeah. The greetings is probably, honestly, probably my favorite part of the whole thing. It's so good. [00:23:27] Speaker B: It was kind of like a rare opportunity. Right. Like, when do you get usually a chance to meet the Pokemon characters? Right? [00:23:34] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, in, like, they do a lot of the greetings in Japan, but it's usually, like, special events, like, at the Pokemon centers. [00:23:43] Speaker B: And they're, like, mobbed, right? [00:23:45] Speaker A: Yeah. And they usually get mobbed, and it's. And it's usually only, like, one. And it's usually pikachu in some. [00:23:51] Speaker B: It's like the main, like, those main characters. It's not like the Ghost Pokemon, you know? [00:23:55] Speaker A: No, they don't bring those Pokemon out. The fact that they're doing that. [00:24:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:00] Speaker A: Love it. [00:24:01] Speaker B: That's massive. [00:24:02] Speaker A: I think we mentioned that last year. I wish they would, like, I would not be mad if they continuously had different Pokemon to meet every, like, every season. Like, in the wintertime, give us ice Pokemon. Like some sort of ice Pokemon, right? [00:24:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:17] Speaker A: Move that into the winter. And then in the springtime, like, there are Pokemon that are, you know, there. [00:24:24] Speaker B: Are, like, the plant Pokemon. Like, the little, like, they look like flowers and stuff. [00:24:28] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, give us, like, obviously ones that they can make into costumes. I know some of them you can't really. But you know the ones that you can. Right? Like, give us ones like that. It's just like, like, well, like what they did for the summertime, what we talked a few episodes ago, they had gyarados. Like, it wasn't a greeting, but he was in the, in the parade. Like, and they had, like, psyduck and, like, those kind of characters. Like, that's fun. I love. [00:24:53] Speaker B: It is. It's amazing. [00:24:55] Speaker A: I love that they're doing this. In addition to these characters, there's also other characters, too. Let's not, let's not forget the other people. [00:25:04] Speaker B: The other characters go, say, the most important ones, Chris. [00:25:07] Speaker A: That's true. Yeah. There's minions. Minions meet in their different Halloween costumes. [00:25:13] Speaker B: Nice. [00:25:14] Speaker A: Which is pretty standard. They do this everywhere. There's, like, the, there was the werewolf one vampire. Really cute. Um, peanuts. The Peanuts gang. Oh, my goodness. Charlie Brown was dressed as. Was it Charlie Brown or was it snoopy? I can't remember now. One of them was dressed as Dracula. [00:25:32] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. [00:25:33] Speaker A: And another one. And the other one was dressed as, like, a mummy. And then I think, uh, not, not peppermint patty. Um, Lucy. Lucy. Is that her name, the blue dress Lucy? [00:25:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:44] Speaker A: Yeah. She was dressed as a mummy, I think. [00:25:47] Speaker B: My God, it's so cute. [00:25:48] Speaker A: It was, it was mummy or pharaoh. I don't know. It was like, you know, I feel. [00:25:52] Speaker B: Like Lucy would be, like, a pharaoh. [00:25:54] Speaker A: Yeah. It was like, you know, it was like, classic, like, universal monsters type of. [00:25:58] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:25:58] Speaker A: They were doing Woody and Winnie Woodpecker. They have, like, little vampire outfits on, which is really cute. [00:26:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:26:06] Speaker A: Has to be street characters. They're all in their different outfits. I love it when they bring out the count because the count is already a vampire. But the thing is, like, they add, like, little, like, little accessories onto his outfit, which I think is just so fun. Like, we already know he's a vampire. We know. [00:26:23] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:26:24] Speaker A: So, like, you can't really dress him up as anything else. He's a vampire. He's the count. But like, I think this year they put like little like candy brooches and stuff on him. It was really cute. I really love that kind of stuff. And then they have hello Kitty, my melody. They have different outfits this year. I think they change their outfits every single year is what they end up doing. [00:26:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:26:46] Speaker A: Which is really nice. So, yeah, all these characters, they're all kind of in the front of the park, the entrance area, and they all kind of rotate throughout the day. And then some of the peanuts and sanrio characters are in the Wonderland area. So some of the Peanuts characters will show up in the front in different costumes. They'll show up again in Wonderland in different costumes. So there's two separate sets of costumes, which is interesting because in the front of the park, Snoopy shows up as a pumpkin and Charlie Brown is a ghost. Like, he has a sheet over him. And I think Lucy was a witch. But in Wonderland they were like Dracula, the mummy and the pharaoh, which I thought was pretty interesting. [00:27:32] Speaker B: Like, I feel like you could keep busy just doing all the character greetings. [00:27:37] Speaker A: You know, 100%, 100%. You could. Like, it's a character greeting paradise. Um, and same thing with hello Kitty and dear Daniel. They have different outfits in Wonderland and they come out and do like, they, they come out and do like a little, like a little dance show, which I think is really fun. [00:27:53] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:27:53] Speaker A: Yeah. So, so much, so many characters. Um, merchandise. I'll talk about merchandise quick. I was gonna talk about food, but we know we'll go long on food. Um, for sure. Uh, merchandise. Tons of Pokemon merchandise, all themed to the, you know, hahaha. Halloween party. There's DJ Gengar. There's DJ Pikachu. They don't have anything that is litwick or pumpkaboo or those characters. It's mainly just focused on pikachu and gengar. Don't know why, but here we are, lots of peanuts merchandise, which they usually typically, usually typically, they typically have, um. And the tradition they kind of do is every year Snoopy is in a different costume. [00:28:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:44] Speaker A: And this year he's dressed as like a mon, like a furry monster. So he has like a big purple head, like big purple, um, like furry head and big like monster, like purple paws with claws and same thing on his feet. And Charlie Brown also has the same outfit on, which is really cute. [00:29:06] Speaker B: That's amazing. [00:29:08] Speaker A: And then minions, of course, because minions sell the minion stuff is kind of the same every year. There's kind of, maybe I'll change up the design a little bit. But it's, you know, there's a vampire minion, there's a werewolf minion, things like that. Really cute stuff. [00:29:27] Speaker B: Like, looking around you. Like, what was the hot item that people are wearing this year? [00:29:33] Speaker A: The hot item, definitely for the Pokemon stuff would be the DJ Pikachu headband, because they. Pikachu is actually, like, in his DJ Pikachu outfit on your head, and there's, like, they added, like, some, like, music notes and lightning bolts on Pikachu's ears for some reason. Really cute with that. I think that's probably one of the hotter items this year that I saw, anyway. [00:30:00] Speaker B: Nice. [00:30:01] Speaker A: It was kind of hard to see, to tell. Like, I had kind of do a double take as to, like, okay, what's USA merchandise? And what is, like, pokemon, like, official Pokemon merchandise? Not that the USA stuff isn't official, but, you know, like, stuff that people bought from the Pokemon centers, and they. [00:30:17] Speaker B: Like, bring out people. [00:30:18] Speaker A: Yes. So many people would have, like, they were carrying their different Pokemon because they were, they were meeting all these Pokemon, so they want their pictures, you know, for whatever, like, whatever reason, we all have a favorite Pokemon, right? So, you know, they're all bringing little plushies and, like, little accessories with all these different Pokemon. It's just, it's, it's. It's nice to see. I really like that stuff. [00:30:39] Speaker B: I kind of love that this has become kind of, like, a place for Pokemon fans to gather and just, like, enjoy, like, their best Pokemon life, because I know that there's the Pokemon centers, but it's different, you know, because USJ is, like, a bigger world, right? To go and have fun and play in, and I think that's really cool. [00:31:03] Speaker A: I guess maybe that's their plan all along with all this stuff, I'm guessing. So, like, them partnering with Pokemon was the best idea. So smart company. Very smart. [00:31:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:31:15] Speaker A: I mean, Pokemon is big enough. They probably could build their own theme park, but they could. But I guess, like, dip, it's. It's a lesser, like, I guess from a business perspective, it's easier for them to partner with someone who runs theme parks that knows how to run theme parks and see how it works. [00:31:34] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:31:35] Speaker A: Before investing in something, like, because, you know, obviously a theme park is a big investment. Right. It's not. It's not a tiny thing to do. So, you know, very, very smart with them. Um, the Pokemon food, I don't know how they keep making it better. Like, I have to continuously remind myself, especially coming from the US, and, like, this is no shade to the us parks, the us park food is inexpensive. That's all I can say. And very expensive. Whereas our stuff here. Okay. Like, USJ, in terms, like, to kind of give people context, food at USJ is expensive by japanese standards. The food is priced quite high for. [00:32:24] Speaker B: Us here in Japan, but the quality is also high. [00:32:27] Speaker A: The quality is, like, I cannot get over just how good the food is. So I guess, like, the main highlight is studio stars restaurant, which usually that's the restaurant that gets, like, the themed food for, you know, whatever's happening. Before Pokemon, it was demon slayer, and before that, was it demons? What was it before demon slayer? I don't know. They. It rotates, right? So they rotate a lot of themed food, and right now it's Pokemon. And let me tell you, that food was. It had no business being that good. Probably my favorite was the Litwick yogurt mousse. He literally looked like litwick. It was just this mousse cake that look like litwick. And, like, I felt bad eating it. [00:33:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:33:22] Speaker A: And it was good. It was good. It was light, it was fluffy. It was yogurt flavored. Like, yogurt flavored mousses or yogurt flavored anything is quite common here. [00:33:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:33:33] Speaker A: It's a mild flavor, right. Um, I guess it'd be kind of equivalent to, like, a vanilla in terms of, like, it's just. It's a mild flavor, right. It's not strong. It's nice. It's. It's a nice flavor to have. Um, there was a gengar puff pastry stew. It was. It was pretty good, but it was very japanese stew and not like, what we would consider stew. Like, for me, a stew is very thick. Right. A very thick kind of stew. This was more soupy. [00:34:09] Speaker B: Okay. [00:34:10] Speaker A: So it was still very good, but it wasn't as, like, what I would expect when I see the word stew. Right? [00:34:16] Speaker B: Sure. [00:34:17] Speaker A: That's probably my big, like, my only complaint with it. Other than that, though. Like, it was. It was still pretty good. It had ganger shaped carrots in it. [00:34:27] Speaker B: Oh, my God. [00:34:28] Speaker A: They didn't have to do that, but they did, and it came with, like, healthy rice. Like, the rice with. What was it called? [00:34:37] Speaker B: It's like. What is it called? I know what you're talking about. [00:34:42] Speaker A: It has, like, the purple rice, right? [00:34:44] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, the whole. What is it called? The. [00:34:47] Speaker A: I don't know, whole. [00:34:49] Speaker B: It's not whole grain, is it whole grain rice? [00:34:52] Speaker A: You know, it's a good question. [00:34:52] Speaker B: Oh, no, but it's really good. I actually really kind of prefer that kind of rice. [00:34:57] Speaker A: Yeah. Over white rice. [00:34:58] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:34:59] Speaker A: And then, you know, came with a salad and stuff. And the presentation was really good, too, because it was, like, gengar's, like, shadow. It's kind of what it was. Kind of trying to represent it. The presentation was really good. My favorite, though, was the Mimikyu tonkotsu burger, baby. [00:35:18] Speaker B: So cute. [00:35:20] Speaker A: The bun was Mimikyu's face, and then the inside had a delicious tonkatsu. Like, I love tonkatsu, so, like, I have rarely had a terrible tonkatsu. [00:35:31] Speaker B: Maybe you can't go wrong with it, man. It's always good. [00:35:35] Speaker A: It's hard to mess up Tonkatsu. Like, even, like, when you buy, like, the. The, uh, pre made bentos, you know, to go on the train. [00:35:42] Speaker B: I know what you're talking about that time. It really depends on the quality. [00:35:48] Speaker A: That's kind of where you can kind of go wrong. But, yeah, for the most part, tonkatsu, it's really hard to mess up. [00:35:54] Speaker B: Mm hmm. [00:35:54] Speaker A: But it was. It was delicious, and it had an egg on it with, and it also had, like, scrambled egg on it as well, and a delicious tonkatsu sauce. And there was, like, a beshtamel as well. It was very hearty and delicious. And the bun was perfectly soft. It was so good. [00:36:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:12] Speaker A: Then there was a pikachu lemon sparkling drink. It was pretty basic. It's a lemon sparkling drink. Like, there was nothing really fancy in terms of the flavor, but it had, like, the little, like, you know, popping bobas with the, like, the juice in it. Yeah, like, some of those. It was a fun. It's. It was fine. Like, it's a. It's a lemon sparkling drink. What else do you want from it? Right. [00:36:36] Speaker B: You know, like, with summer kind of lasting longer and longer into the autumn season, like, you. You want those autumn y foods, like, those hearty foods, but it's so hot that you need something refreshing like that, and it just kinda of hits the spot. Right. [00:36:52] Speaker A: It's true. It really does. Um, and then, oh, oh, I forgot the other dessert, a pumpkaboo dessert, which was a pumpkin and chocolate cake dessert. [00:37:03] Speaker B: Yes. [00:37:03] Speaker A: Which was quite cute. It wasn't my favorite, mainly because, like, I'm not the biggest fan of japanese pumpkin in desserts. [00:37:11] Speaker B: Oh, kabbucha is so good, though, because it has that nice sweetness and texture. [00:37:17] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, like, if I had to pick between the two, like, I would go with lit, like, 100%. Um, it's not that pumpkin boo was bad. [00:37:25] Speaker B: Yeah. No, it wasn't. It's a totally different vibe. Right? [00:37:28] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, it's. I had to, like. Like, I had to look up, like, how to describe the difference with, like, kabucha? [00:37:37] Speaker B: It's like, a different would be heavier, right? [00:37:39] Speaker A: It's a little heavier. Um, little sweeter than, like, north american pumpkin. North american pumpkins. Pretty mild. [00:37:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:37:47] Speaker A: It just has a very distinct, like, flavor. Right. So, like, it's like a kabbucha is, like. Yeah, just a sweeter kind of pumpkin. [00:37:54] Speaker B: The texture is different, I guess. Same as american pumpkin. You can go sweet or savory, you know? [00:38:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:38:00] Speaker B: And they both work. [00:38:02] Speaker A: Yeah. You can eat it, like, it's like. You can eat it as, like, tempura. [00:38:05] Speaker B: Like, that's very common. [00:38:07] Speaker A: I like it in tempura. Tempura is really good. Perfect. [00:38:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:38:13] Speaker A: Yeah. So a lot of Pokemon food. Very good. [00:38:16] Speaker B: There's so much. I don't know. I guess you would choose by, like, the kind of flavors you enjoy, because there's so much. It would be so difficult to, like, choose, like, what to eat, you know? [00:38:28] Speaker A: Yes. Oh, I forgot to mention some of this stuff. I was, like, we were there for the media day, so universal gave us the food, so I was able to try all of it, because typically, like, it would be tough to try all of it all at once. [00:38:43] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Yeah. Just the volume. The amount of choice would be so difficult. Yeah. [00:38:49] Speaker A: So much. Yeah. [00:38:50] Speaker B: Which was your favorite, since you did try each one? [00:38:54] Speaker A: Well, definitely litwick and then the meat. The Mimi q burger. Those. When I go back, those are the two I'm gonna get. [00:39:02] Speaker B: Oh, wonderful. [00:39:04] Speaker A: They didn't have much else for food outside of that. Like, I guess, like, that's not related to horror nights. They had, like, some snoopy food in Wonderland, which was, like, a bolognese spaghetti and, like, I think it was an ice cream dessert or something like that. [00:39:25] Speaker B: Yeah. Like a crowd pleaser, you know? [00:39:27] Speaker A: Yeah. It's kind of like it's the same thing they have every year. They just changed up the design of the box. Like, it's. It's fine. Like, it's. It's a safe bet, I suppose, in terms of that. And then there's the Pokemon power up party, which is really cute. It's. It's exactly the same as last year. They didn't change anything, which I'm not mad at, because it was actually a. [00:39:51] Speaker B: Really good show, because it looks like a blast. Yeah. I can see why. [00:39:55] Speaker A: Energy. High energy. And to be honest, they probably paid a lot of money to get that show done, so. Okay, fine. One more year. Sure. We'll allow it. It's good fun. It's a, it's a high energy show. A lot of fun happens multiple times a day, but it's definitely worth seeing 100%. [00:40:16] Speaker B: Let's get into the scary stuff, Chris. [00:40:17] Speaker A: Yeah. The Halloween horror nights. [00:40:19] Speaker B: Heck yeah. [00:40:21] Speaker A: So like, like we mentioned, it's all included in your day ticket. Nothing extra to pay for, so you're good. And some of the stuff actually runs during the day as well, so you don't have to wait until the evening to do it, which is really nice. New this year is Chainsaw man, the chaos. [00:40:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:40:40] Speaker A: Yeah. And is this the first time they've done like, anime for horror nights? It might be, because usually the anime stuff is they kind of, I guess they've been kind of getting away from this because probably because it's so popular. Yeah, they used to only have anime stuff during cool Japan. Right. Which is kind of like our winter event. Like winter into spring. [00:41:03] Speaker B: And I kind of like that they're doing it like at different times now. Like, and they kind of like have different things going on, like on their own schedule. [00:41:11] Speaker A: Yeah, they're kind of spreading it out instead of having it all in like one condensed part of the year. [00:41:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:41:18] Speaker A: Like, like we still. Dre Demon Slayer just came back and it's running until I think January or something. So I kind of, I don't mind this direction because it keeps things fresh and it's always good to kind of be on top of what's hot. [00:41:33] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:41:34] Speaker A: Chainsaw man is quite popular and I think it's only had one season so far because it's relatively new in terms of an anime show. So yeah, there's a chainsaw man. It's the 4d show. So it's in the 4d theater. Long story short, this little pumpkin dude invites you to come to the theater. So you're at the, the movie theater with the, you know, the characters from Chainsaw man. And then, um, well, the little cute little pumpkin character, ghost guy, has other plans and he turns into a gigantic demon sort of thing. And of course all the characters have to come and like, um, save the day because the pumpkin starts eating the audience. [00:42:15] Speaker B: Oh, no. [00:42:17] Speaker A: I was like, oh, oh, they're eating us. Oh, okay, okay. Yeah, my favorite thing though. And oh my. Like, if they sold prints of this or like postcards or something, like, I would 100% buy this. Yeah, I wish they would have sold this. So during the pre show for the chainsaw man, like, you know when you walk into that room the big room and there's, like, posters and stuff. And then there's, like, the video that plays to kind of explain the story. Yeah, it's going on before the video plays. They, it's just kind of going through like a slideshow kind of thing. And they have anime artwork of Halloween horror nights in different spots of the park. And it looks so freaking good. Like, I just love that. It's like universal studio Japan Halloween horror nights. And it's like all anime style. Like, there's the arches and there's all these characters, but it's all anime style. And then there's characters eating Halloween food in the park at, like, in the Hollywood area. Like, I love that so much. Yeah, I would a hundred percent buy something. Like, if they'd sold something with that. I wish they would. Like, it was just so good. I took video of it because you're typically not allowed to take video, but because we were there for the media, we were allowed to take video. So if anyone's curious the videos up on YouTube, and I do show it because I just, I loved it so freaking much. So go watch it. Yeah, the show's good. It's fun. I, you know, I never really expect much from these shows because they don't run for very long, so I'm not expecting something that's gonna blow my mind. You know, there's only so much they can do with a short amount of time, so I cut them a little slack with it. [00:44:07] Speaker B: Yeah. And I feel like it's fan servicey too, you know, it's just fantastic. If you're a fan, you probably get more of it, you know? [00:44:14] Speaker A: Yeah. I've only watched one or two episodes of Chainsaw man, so I knew the characters. I'm like, I knew who they were, but that's kind of it. [00:44:22] Speaker B: I've only seen, like the, like, very beginning. [00:44:25] Speaker A: Yeah. The show runs all day, so in the morning and goes until night, so you don't have to wait until the evening to see it. There's also food association associated with it. Why don't. Yeah, let's just talk about the food. About the food. That's what chainsaw, man. So there's only two. There's two items and it's in front of the blue, not the bloggery Hollywood dream. So it's not, it's not directly beside the theater because right now the food beside theater is demon Slayer still. Yeah, a little strange, but it looks like the Pokemon food is gone for a while. Like the, like the pikachu steamed bun, the squirtle churro and the bulbasaur drink. Those look like they're gone for now because it's taken over by Chainsaw man. They have a pochita steamed bun, which is bacon and corn. [00:45:21] Speaker B: Yes. I was at the same time, if they have anything themed to change the man, it better be the little doggy chainsaw thing. [00:45:31] Speaker A: It's a steamed bun. It's actually quite good. Bacon and corn, even though I love it. [00:45:36] Speaker B: It sounds really good, actually. [00:45:38] Speaker A: It's very hearty. Yeah, it's very, very, very warm. And then they had a blood orange churro, which I didn't really care for. So that, that's all they have for chainsaw man stuff. And there's also merchandise as well. [00:45:52] Speaker B: That's all you need, man. That's all you need. A little Pochita steam bun. [00:45:57] Speaker A: Yeah. A lot of merchandise, too. The other thing is biohazard night of heroes. So this is a, it's effectively a 360 outdoor show. [00:46:12] Speaker B: Okay. [00:46:13] Speaker A: Which I've never seen before. I guess typically, like, this is the first time they've done it, to my knowledge. Typically they have like a biohazard scare house. And you kind of picked a side, like in years. It's like past years, it's like, oh, you get to pick. You either do Jill Valentine's side or the, the Claire or Chris Redfield side or you do the Leon Kennedy side or the Claire Redfield side or, you know, whatever, whatever the, whatever game they were promoting that year, that's usually what was happening. But this year that, that building's actually closed. [00:46:49] Speaker B: Okay. [00:46:49] Speaker A: Because it's, because it's attached to what, where the Spider man ride was. [00:46:53] Speaker B: Oh. [00:46:54] Speaker A: So something must be happening there. Don't know what. So that building is closed. So obviously they need to figure something else out. So here we have biohazard night of heroes, which is outside. It's kind of in the, it's in the New York area. You need a timed ticket which you can get through the app for free. Do it. Get it as soon as you go into the park. They don't start it until 630. I think, like, the shows don't start until 630 because it's dark. Like it needs to be darkest. You're not going to be wanting to see them shooting zombies in daylight. Like, it just doesn't work. So it starts in the evening and then goes until park close. A good tip, though, is if you wait until later in the evening, probably about an hour before everything closes, they may turn off the timed entry ticket thing and it's just a, like, anyone can queue up for it. [00:47:48] Speaker B: So, like, what exactly is this? [00:47:51] Speaker A: So you go out. So, like I said, it's a 360 show. So you kind of go out. You're kind of in the backlot, and you go into, like, you walk in and you see the famous characters. Chris Redfield's there, Jill Valentine, Claire Redfield, and Leon Kennedy. The four of them are there, and they're just, they're just fighting the zombies. Like, the zombies. Zombie hordes start coming out and, like, everything's happening around you. Everyone stands in the middle of, and there's just stuff happening at all angles on the sides. [00:48:25] Speaker B: Okay? [00:48:25] Speaker A: There's zombies, there's lickers. Nemesis shows up. Another famous biohazard slash resident evil character shows up. I'm not gonna ruin it, but they make an appearance which gets a lot of fan. Fan service. Does a lot of fan service, I suppose. And, yeah, it lasts like five minutes. Five, five, six minutes. It's not very long. [00:48:49] Speaker B: Okay. [00:48:50] Speaker A: There's a lot of water that happens because it's supposed to be blood, a lot of gunfire, a lot of strobing lights, fog. It's very loud, very resident evil for what it was. I thought it was a lot of fun. [00:49:09] Speaker B: Are you moving around during this or. [00:49:12] Speaker A: No, you just kind of stand outside in the middle. That's all you do. [00:49:15] Speaker B: Okay. [00:49:16] Speaker A: There are points where, like, the characters will tell you to get down. [00:49:19] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:49:20] Speaker A: Because, like, one of the characters is shooting a rocket, you know? [00:49:23] Speaker B: Of course. Of course. [00:49:24] Speaker A: Get down, you know, kind of thing. Yeah. It's, it's, it's very much like fan service. It's a fan service show for sure. [00:49:34] Speaker B: It sounds super interesting. [00:49:36] Speaker A: It's interesting. It's an interesting concept of, like, I don't think I would like them to do it all the time, but for, it looks like for what they had to work with, I think it's fun. It's a fun little thing to do. And then, of course, there's merchandise associated with that as well. My favorite thing is they had a water bottle that looked like the first AidS spray from the game, which I thought was brilliant. That's amazing. They sold out of the liquor, um, liquor plushes. I was gonna buy one, and then they were gone. I was like, ah, I should have bought it when I saw it. Yeah. Um, then there's also food. They brought some food back. There's not too much. Um, at Finnegan's, the sit down irish pub restaurant, uh, they brought back the, the hearty meal. It's pretty similar to the one they did a few years ago. [00:50:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:50:36] Speaker A: Um, it was called the BSA. Bsaa plate. And it's quite hearty. It's like 3200, 3300 yen. Like, it's not cheap. [00:50:45] Speaker B: It's a lot of food, but it. [00:50:47] Speaker A: Comes with pork ribs and cajun chicken and, like, potatoes and soup and bread and a sandwich. So it, like, it's a pretty big meal. And then there's two drinks as well. One's a spiced cola, and I think that's Leon Kennedy themed. And the lemon ginger ale drink. And I think that one. I think that was Jill Valentine because it was blue. Something was Jill Valentine. And, of course, comes with a secret coaster. They all do, right? [00:51:21] Speaker B: It always has to. [00:51:22] Speaker A: Yeah. And these ones were Bsaa themed. So if you know the games, BSAA is like an organization that's around the world. And so every, like, part of the world has their own. And so, like, the. The coasters, like, one will say BSAa, I think, London, and one was like India. Like. Like just different places around the world. Right, cool. So, yeah, again, fan service stuff. Right? Like, yeah, if you looked at it, if you weren't, like, if you didn't know resident evil and you saw this, you'd think, like, what is this? I don't understand. But I like that they do that stuff. Like, they. It's very much for the fans. They know what fans will resonate with, I suppose. [00:52:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:09] Speaker A: For Finnegans, when we did it, there was no reservations, but they may require you to do one, but it's something you have to do in the park. So if you're keen on doing that, maybe sometime in the morning, just kind of go by the restaurant and see if you need to make one or not. There's nothing, like, you can't do it ahead of time that they don't do that, but they may have. You may have to do it, like, in the park kind of thing. So just go to the restaurant and check what else is there. Oh, my God. Hammy Kuma. What is. I don't know what they're doing with this bloody bear, but I freaking love it. Did you? Okay, so first we had Hammi kuma, right? Kuma. It was cool. It was great. It was new. This was a few years ago. Cute. Little deranged, disgustingly cute bear, right? [00:53:07] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:53:08] Speaker A: Has a very weird voice and everything, and he talks about death and all this kind of stuff. Very cute. [00:53:13] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:53:14] Speaker A: And then he was supposed to go away, but then he didn't, and he came back, but then this time his soul was like, he separated his soul from his body somehow, or, like, whatever the case is. And then Hamikuma's soul was born, which is like, a white bear version of him with a crown. [00:53:35] Speaker B: Yes. [00:53:36] Speaker A: Called Hamikuma's soul. So we have two of them now. Well, this year, there was now Hamekuma punk, which is a punk version of Hamekuma, and he's the most angstiest bear you'll ever meet. [00:53:53] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Wait, I gotta look this up. Okay. [00:53:55] Speaker A: Hamee. Hamikuma punk. [00:53:58] Speaker B: Hamekuma punk. [00:54:00] Speaker A: Ridiculous. Yeah. And they're all in the show. The new, or, like, the updated version of the Hamekuma shouted out party, which is in the same stage as the Pokemon, um, show. But this show is obviously in the evening. [00:54:13] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. [00:54:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:54:15] Speaker B: Okay. I saw it. [00:54:16] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, he has a mohawk. He has a blue mohawk. [00:54:20] Speaker B: He does. [00:54:21] Speaker A: And he's, like, a grayish, grayish blue kind of bear. And he has, like, a jean jacket kind of thing going on. [00:54:26] Speaker B: Very spiky cuffs. [00:54:29] Speaker A: Very punk. Hilarious. I love it. [00:54:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:54:33] Speaker A: So cute. [00:54:35] Speaker B: This is everything. [00:54:39] Speaker A: Man. [00:54:39] Speaker B: Eyes popping out. It's so funny. [00:54:42] Speaker A: They're making their own version of Duffy and friends. [00:54:44] Speaker B: I mean, I'm here for it. [00:54:47] Speaker A: You know what? Let's start bringing out, like, I don't know, like, hammy, usagi, Hami. [00:54:54] Speaker B: No, wait. No, no, no. We don't need a giant entourage. Keep it small, okay? That's where Duffy went wrong. Duffy. There's too many of them. Let's do anything. [00:55:03] Speaker A: Okay. It's funny. It's just hilarious. [00:55:08] Speaker B: It is. [00:55:09] Speaker A: I bet you anything. They'll probably make, like, a. Like, a female version next, because I think these are all. [00:55:14] Speaker B: They don't need to. Does Hamikuma need gender? It's just a spooky bear. [00:55:18] Speaker A: Yeah. Um, Hamikuma's great. The show was a lot of fun. Um, I'll be honest, I kind of preferred last year's show. I thought it was a little, like, just the music I thought was. I preferred it more. [00:55:31] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:55:32] Speaker A: Let's say, like, not to say the show was bad. It definitely wasn't. It was just. This one was more. There was less, like, acrobatics because last year had a lot of acrobatics. [00:55:43] Speaker B: I love acrobatics. [00:55:44] Speaker A: It was very visual k kind of last year. This year, it's not really that. It's more. If felt like it was toned down a little bit. Okay, whatever. It's still a good show. You should still see it. Very different from anything we've ever seen in terms of how in horror nights, entertainment. Very fun. It's a very fun show, so make sure you go and see it. There's also food associated with this. There's three freaking cakes over at the Bellajerie. [00:56:14] Speaker B: What? [00:56:15] Speaker A: Yeah. They have one theme to each of the bears. So there's the honeycomba one. Um, that is a chocolate cake, which is like, you know, uh, chocolate ganache, chocolate mousse, chocolate. Like, everything's just chocolate and has a bunch of, like, chocolate, like, white chocolate shaped candies to look like, you know, the candies come spilling out of him. Really cute. Um, I didn't particularly care for it. Not that it wasn't good. It's just, it's too much chocolate for me. I don't like that much chocolate. [00:56:43] Speaker B: Especially very rich when it's still so hot. It can be. Yeah. Just so heavy. [00:56:48] Speaker A: It's just. Yeah, it's. It's. It's too rich for me. Then for Hemikuma punk, it was a spicy blueberry. Two words I never thought would go together. [00:56:58] Speaker B: Stop. [00:57:00] Speaker A: It was actually quite good. [00:57:01] Speaker B: It sounds good. [00:57:03] Speaker A: It had, like, it wasn't like, when I say spicy again, I've mentioned numerous times on this podcast, is it like autumn spices or. It's like. No, it's, like, japanese spicy. Like, there's, like, there's a hint of spice. There's, like, it's there, but it's not gonna be like, you know, very noticeable. Like, I think anyone can handle the spice, you know? [00:57:28] Speaker B: Oh, for sure. I've eaten. [00:57:29] Speaker A: Yeah, it's there, but it's not. It's not egregious. Right. [00:57:34] Speaker B: It's like a little kick. [00:57:35] Speaker A: Yeah, just like, oh, okay. Yeah, there's, like, little. Little kick there. That's nice. That's fun. It was actually quite good. It's very fruity. Like a very fruity kind of cake. Very light, much lighter than the hemi kuma one. It was, it was like a sliced cake is what it was. [00:57:54] Speaker B: Mm hmm. [00:57:56] Speaker A: And then. And they had, like, mousse on it and stuff too, was like a blueberry mousse or something. And then hamikuma soul, which was my favorite. It was a cheesecake. It was a rare cheesecake and cheesecake. Pardon me? And cheesecake together. And it was like, you know, the. The round cheesecakes they do. Yeah, it was like that, but it was, like, kind of sprinkled with sparkles and a little crown, like a chocolate crown on top of it. Yeah, it was. The mousse was like cheese mousse. And then had, like, a rare cheesecake on base. [00:58:32] Speaker B: It sounds really delightful. [00:58:33] Speaker A: That was my favorite. I love cheesecake, though, so, like, I'm fully for it. Nice and fluffy. Wasn't very rich. It was. It was. It was the perfect amount. The bellajerie has really good desserts. Like, probably the best theme park desserts I've had anywhere. The presentation is good, and the flavors are usually pretty good, too. [00:58:52] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:55] Speaker A: And then over at the wharf, which is across from the happiness cafe in the minions area, there's two hamekuma drinks. The hamikuma one is a cola and whipped cream drink. It was fine. [00:59:10] Speaker B: Like a soda float ish kind of feeling. [00:59:12] Speaker A: It was kind of like the cream was on the top. Yeah, like whipped cream was on top. The thing is, they just put a whole bunch of crap in it, but. [00:59:20] Speaker B: That'S, like, kind of like the drinks at the theme parks now are all like that. [00:59:24] Speaker A: Yeah, it was. It was very, like, it was very thematically correct to Hamekuma. Like, it just, like, it looked like Hammy Kuma's guts just kind of spilled into the drink. Like, it had, like, all these little bobas in it. Like, different colored bobas with little, like, different juices in them. And there was, like, some chocolate, like, chocolate candy kind of things on the top. So, like, it was very on point in terms of the theming. [00:59:46] Speaker B: Yeah. Flavor wise, young people would love this. I feel like I might be too old for these drinks. [00:59:52] Speaker A: It was just a lot of sugar. It was very sweet, and, like, flavor wise, I'm like, oh, it's just coke with whipped cream. Like, it just. It was fine. I liked the hamikuma soul one because it was vanilla and salt, and it was also, like a. Like, a ramune drink is what it was. But it had, like, the. The cream on the top was vanilla, and then it had salt on it, so it's just, like, a really nice, smooth, refreshing drink, so I prefer that one more. [01:00:29] Speaker B: Sure. [01:00:30] Speaker A: Very good, then. They only have one house this year, which is interesting. Chucky's carnival chaos, which is the exact same as last year. So I'm like, I'm wondering. I'm wondering why they didn't do universal monsters. Like, I understand why they didn't do biohazard. Because they couldn't. Because the building is closed. Um, but the universal monsters, nothing is in there. Nothing's in that building right now. So I don't know why they didn't. Just, like, even if they just did it again from last year, you know, I don't know why they didn't do it. So. Yeah, we just have the one. Chucky's carnival chaos. It's open from 10:00 a.m. i think, so you can do it during the day. It doesn't matter because it's all indoors anyway, so it's still dark inside. So whatever. It's fun. It's a fun little house, especially if you've never done it before. You wear 3d glasses in it, so, like, the neon paint kind of pops out. It can be kind of disorienting at times because it's like, it's kind of dark. Yeah, everything is, like, vibrant. It's kind of hard to explain. And then of course you have things like scare actors jumping out at you and stuff. It's like, kind of overwhelming sometimes. Like, I don't know where, like, oh, my goodness, there's so much going on. Yeah. Um, it's very gory. Um, the ending is, uh, how do I put. I don't want to. I don't want to, like, ruin the ending. The ending is surprising. Let's just put it that way. Not, it's something that they wouldn't do in the, uh, the US because they couldn't just put it that way. Um, scared the living hell out of me the first time. Um, because it's the same as last year. I kind of knew what to expect. Yeah, but still, like, if you've never. The first time you go through it, it's a treat. It definitely is a treat. If you're a fan of the show, like me. Glenn is in. It is in the house. Glen is Chucky's non binary son. [01:02:33] Speaker B: And also, do they have the show in Japan or. [01:02:36] Speaker A: No, I don't think so. So I don't know if people here. [01:02:41] Speaker B: Know it, but they must because probably, like, it has like a fandom. There's got to be a way for people to watch it. [01:02:49] Speaker A: Yeah, because it's on peacock in the US. I know that. [01:02:52] Speaker B: So it's not exactly, I haven't seen it because I don't know where to watch it here, if it's even available. [01:02:59] Speaker A: It's really good. It's a good show. It's very, it's very queer. It's a very queer show. [01:03:04] Speaker B: Nice. [01:03:06] Speaker A: You'd like it. I definitely. If you can find it, watch maybe Unix. [01:03:10] Speaker B: I got a search. Oh, maybe Unix has it. [01:03:12] Speaker A: Yeah, check Unix. Yeah. [01:03:14] Speaker B: Okay. [01:03:14] Speaker A: For those that don't know, Unix is like our. Well, we know we have Hulu here. I don't know what to call Unix. I don't know. It's something. In Japan, only a lot of the big publishers use it. [01:03:24] Speaker B: Mm hmm. [01:03:24] Speaker A: Doesn't HBO stuff show up on there? [01:03:27] Speaker B: Sometimes? Yes. [01:03:28] Speaker A: Sometimes, yeah. Okay. Kind of like our. I catch all for stuff that doesn't show up on Hulu or Netflix, I guess. [01:03:34] Speaker B: Pretty much. Yeah. [01:03:38] Speaker A: Or Disney, because. Yeah. You know, licensing rights, blah, blah, blah. All that stuff. Yeah. So that's the only house that we have. [01:03:47] Speaker B: Do you think they're moving away from, like, the houses or. [01:03:50] Speaker A: I'm wondering if that's the case because, like, I don't think it's not. Because the houses are not popular. I don't know. I think maybe. Maybe that maybe they're finding that the audience doesn't really gravitate towards that, like, in the US. I wonder, like, people love the shows. People love the scare zones. [01:04:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:04:10] Speaker A: Which are kind of turning to, like, a scare zones. I guess we can talk about those. Those, like, they're very much Japan made of their own. When they start doing the freaking dancing zombies, like, that just took off. People love it. I love it. I think it's fun. It's so campy. [01:04:28] Speaker B: It's really wonderful. And each of the monsters has their own personality, and it's just fun to see them acting out little scenes. [01:04:39] Speaker A: Yeah. So they kind of changed it up this year. So I guess they're kind of. They partnered with Ato. Ado is a big pop star in Japan. She's one of, like. She's like a faceless artist. Right. We don't really know what she looks like. She's. Yeah, she has a Persona, I guess. Right. Like an animated Persona. But her song was introduced last year in the Halloween horror nights, and they're using it again this year, which I'm not mad at. It's a good song. [01:05:10] Speaker B: It is a good song. [01:05:11] Speaker A: Like, before that, we had Rattata by. Who was it? [01:05:16] Speaker B: I don't know. [01:05:18] Speaker A: Can't remember. [01:05:19] Speaker B: It was like Soul brothers or something like that. I'd nothing. [01:05:22] Speaker A: Yeah. Like one JP boy bands. [01:05:25] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:05:26] Speaker A: It was Rattata, which was super catchy. Everybody knew it was. It was really good. And all the Sam zombies danced to it and everything, so. But, yeah, now it's Ato's song, and they're kind of doing more tie ins with that. And what they're doing this year is ado. Ado's blue rose troupe. And these. It's these characters that look like they came out of a freaking marine anime. Like, they have, like, the marine hats and these long white trench coats and, like, big army boots, like, and, like, really nice button up shirts and stuff. And these troops are in all the different scare zones and they are protecting the guests from these zombies. It's really campy. It's kind of silly. And they have guns which you'll never see in the US. [01:06:20] Speaker B: Oh, my God. For real? Yeah. [01:06:22] Speaker A: And they start shooting the zombies and, like. But it doesn't kill the zombies, it just stuns them. Yeah, it's very. It's very high camp. I love it. It's. And, like, these troops will go around, like, ask the guests, like, are you okay? Come with me. I'll take you to where it's safe. And they'll just, like, kind of run you across the street and, like, shoot the zombies as they're running through the street. It's like. It's so funny. [01:06:46] Speaker B: It sounds so fun. [01:06:47] Speaker A: It's such a. Like, it's such a stark contrast from the US, right? Yeah, just a lot. It's a lot of fun. And they even have, like, these, like, lookout posts in the different scare zones. So, like, some of the troops will go up there and they go on a microphone telling everyone to be like, be careful of the zombies. Don't get bit by them, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like, people are just eating it up. [01:07:12] Speaker B: Oh, for sure. [01:07:13] Speaker A: It's very Japan. [01:07:15] Speaker B: It is. [01:07:18] Speaker A: They know exactly what they're doing with these characters. So, yeah, there's even more. There's merchandise with this. So if you. If you love the blue rose troop, there's merchandise with them. And Atto is like the captain or like the leader of this troop, and there's merchandise. So if you're an Addo fan, you're definitely. You probably already know about it. Yeah, there's, like, some merchandise with her on it with the troops. It's very, very interesting. [01:07:47] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [01:07:49] Speaker A: They have, like, all the different scare zones and they're all the same from last, like, last previous year. So, like, there's a chainsaw gang, the possessed playthings, decadent nightmares, execution enclave, infernal sanctum and psycho circus. And they're very popular. Those start at, like 630, I think. Six or 630. That's one of the things that starts in the evening and then goes until park close. That's pretty much it for horror nights. [01:08:22] Speaker B: There's so much happening. [01:08:24] Speaker A: I know. Like, everything we just talked about, this is all happening all pretty much all at once. [01:08:30] Speaker B: There's basically no way you could do the park in one day because, like, on top of all of this, there's, like, the normal attractions you know, so. [01:08:38] Speaker A: You kind of have to. If you want to do Halloween hornets and the hahaha. Halloween stuff, you need a full day just to cherry pick what you want to do there and not worry about anything else. [01:08:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:08:49] Speaker A: Have a separate day for all the normal stuff. Like it's, it's, it's a lot. It is, but it's good. [01:08:58] Speaker B: It's really, I mean, it's fantastic that there's so much, you know? [01:09:02] Speaker A: And again, it's all including your day ticket. So even if you're paying ¥10,000 for a ticket, how much is that in us dollars? That's $71 us. Like, that's, that's a lot. Like, you get a lot for your money. Yeah, it's wild just how much you get with all of it. I want to do it one more time. They are doing this year, I I didn't get tickets because I slept on it and I shouldn't have because tickets sold out really quick. They're doing a one all night Halloween horror nights night. It goes all night until 05:00 a.m. that's amazing. But tickets are sold out now, so. [01:09:51] Speaker B: Can you imagine playing all night? [01:09:55] Speaker A: It's, I guess, similar to what they do for New Year's. [01:10:01] Speaker B: Yeah, but it's Halloween. [01:10:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:10:04] Speaker B: Which is way better. [01:10:06] Speaker A: And most of the park is open in the evening. [01:10:09] Speaker B: Wow. [01:10:12] Speaker A: Yeah. Except for like, I think super Nintendo world closes at like one or two. [01:10:17] Speaker B: Forget super Nintendo World. It's a Halloween all night. [01:10:22] Speaker A: Oh, I forgot to mention too, in the wizarding world of Harry Potter, they brought back the Death Eaters. So the Death Eaters came back, which is kind of cool. [01:10:32] Speaker B: No, don't care. But I guess if someone does care, I guess good for them. But yeah, yeah, yeah. [01:10:45] Speaker A: I forgot to put that in the notes. But yeah, the Death Eaters are back for that as well. I mean, that, that's all they're doing over in the wizarding world of Harry Potter. That's just like I said, there's just so much, so much to do. I kind of, I have the tips in the, in the notes here, but I kind of said them all. [01:11:04] Speaker B: Okay. [01:11:05] Speaker A: I kind of said them all already. I guess the only thing I haven't said is, um. Well, I guess for the Pokemon studio stars restaurant, there's no reservation, so you just have to line up. [01:11:15] Speaker B: Oh, okay. That's good to know. [01:11:17] Speaker A: So obviously, the earlier the better, right. The later you wait, the longer the line is going to be. So I check, like, just check the hours in the app because it's all in there because they do change. But when I last check, I think they open at 09:30 a.m. so you could do that for like a late breakfast, early lunch if you wanted to. Yeah. Other than that, yeah, the line does, it tends to get a little long and they do sell express passes for the hell me hornet stuff. So like the Chucky house, the resident evil or the biohazard show, is that own the chainsaw, man. Unless you're going on like a holiday or a weekend, I don't think you need it. Save that money for, like, the regular express pass. Put the money towards that. That's probably more worth your time. [01:12:13] Speaker B: But it's like such a peace of mind, you know? [01:12:16] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, I went two or three times during the week and nothing was like those ones in particular. Nothing was really outrageous in terms of a wait time. So, yeah, kind of, I guess decide. Oh, the other thing I forgot to mention, Hollywood dream. So they have a whole bunch of, like, the character stuff that they always do. So. Yeah, so for those that don't know, in the Hollywood dream, you get to pick a track. So, like, there, you know, there's music tracks you get to pick from but they also put in, like, these audio tracks of, like, characters talking to each other like, as if they're on the ride. [01:12:53] Speaker B: Yeah. Very ridiculous. Yeah. [01:12:55] Speaker A: Fanfare type of stuff. So they have one with Ado and. And that's for the Hollywood dream, which is the forward facing. Then they actually have, for the first time ever, they have two versions of Chainsaw man. One is on the Hollywood dream, the forward facing. And they have. The other one is on the backdrop version. They've, to my knowledge, I don't think they've ever put something on the backdrop version. Okay, so if you're a chainsaw man fan, you're gonna have to do both rides to listen to two different tracks. [01:13:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:13:28] Speaker A: Which is very interesting. I didn't get to do them, but it's, it's typically, like with the anime stuff. It's just the main characters are talking and they're like, oh, we're on the coaster and they start bickering and blah, blah, blah, blah. Then they start screaming because, you know, it's kind of. It's like it's in sync with what's happening on the ride. Right. [01:13:48] Speaker B: Like, yeah. [01:13:49] Speaker A: So it's like you're riding with them. It's all in Japanese too. So depending on your level, you may not really understand what they're saying. But screaming is universal. Right. [01:14:03] Speaker B: For sure. [01:14:05] Speaker A: Okay. That is everything. Okay. We got everything. That is everything. [01:14:08] Speaker B: So much. [01:14:09] Speaker A: So much. Oh, my goodness. I am looking forward to us look talking about more Halloween stuff in the next upcoming episodes, because I know we're just gonna be talking about that. [01:14:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:14:21] Speaker A: The next while season. [01:14:23] Speaker B: Let's go. [01:14:24] Speaker A: I know. I am. I am ready. I am excited. So before we go, though, we want to thank some wonderful explorers who are supporting us over on Patreon. So if you want to support the show, head on over to patreon.com tdr now. And a big thank you to acro Disney girl. Adam, Amanda. C. Amy. B. Amy, c. Mama. Explorer. Benjamin, Brent. M. Carrie, Crispy, Claire, Claudia, Dave, David, Baker, Kevin, Harry, Marina, Beth, Eli, Abby, Robinson, and Taylor, and. [01:14:52] Speaker B: And Jamie, Jose, Kathy, Lee, Marie, Michelle, Murray, Sophie, Spoopy, Thomas, Kate, Alexandra, Lizzie, Amy and Andy, Dana, Cassandra, Annie, Sonia, WW, Paige, and Tara. [01:15:05] Speaker A: And if you haven't already hit that subscribe button or follow button so, you know, you don't miss any of our new episodes coming out, so you can stay up to date with everything. Theme parks over on the side of the world. I'm one of your host, Chris, one that I've been more than just eating on camera lately. I've been screaming on camera a lot lately. So you can go check all my horror nights videos up on the YouTube channel TDR Explorer. It's all there. Yeah. And there's still more to come, so don't you worry. And joining us always is the wonderful Patricia. [01:15:38] Speaker B: Oh, my God. It's Halloween, you guys. Spooky season. We're gonna be putting up the Halloween tree, watching lots of scary movies. This is the time, right? This is the best time of the year. It is, you guys. I hope you're having a fun and spooky autumn. And, yeah, stay tuned because we're going to talk about lots of other spooky stuff. And until then, keep exploring. [01:16:06] Speaker A: All right, guys, see you on the next one. Bye.