Avoiding Tourists in Tokyo Means Following Japanese to Disneyland

There is a spirit living, much like a fungus, among certain travelers that, when they venture abroad, forces them to go where the natives go.

If this organism lives within you, it might take you to such tacky joints as Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum in London or the red-light district in Amsterdam. But it would also lead you to the indescribable wonders of the Taj Mahal in Agra, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, or Denali in Alaska--places where the Indians, the Israelis and the Alaskans take their own holidays. The theory is that you tell more about a people by how the masses spend their vacations than by what they do the bulk of their lives. It reveals their dreams, their disappointments, their aggravations and their beliefs in a cultural legacy.

All right, so it isn’t all that deep. Still, every traveler should have a theme for his or her trips, if only to keep the photos in the right albums. And for this kind of pop-cultural traveler, the lead album from the trip to Japan would start with Tokyo Disneyland--which opened in 1983 as the first Disneyland offshoot abroad.

While the highbrows among us would head off to the temples of Kyoto or the peace monuments of Hiroshima or the poisonous fugu sushi bars of back-street Tokyo, there is little that would keep us icon-gatherers from a place such as Tokyo Disneyland. Sure, it’s like the American Disneyland in Anaheim and Disney World in Orlando, Fla. But the Eiffel Tower is like the Statue of Liberty. They are both the signal monuments for their respective countries. They were both built at the end of the 19th Century by French guys. They’ve both been refurbished recently, and they both have great views from the top. But no one confuses one with the other. And just as no one mistakes the Eiffel Tower for the Statue of Liberty, one should not mistake Tokyo Disneyland for the American versions, no matter what the similarities.

According to any one of the scores of surveys--Japanese love statistics even more than American baseball announcers and diet-salon operators--the vast majority of Japanese say they want to make a pilgrimage to Tokyo Disneyland before they die. On a Monday visit in the off-season this past May (peak season being summer weekends), nearly all of the major rides and attractions had at least 45-minute lines all through the day. Go on a weekend and the lines are so long you’ll swear that the people at the heads of those lines must have been camping out there since the previous Wednesday.

It appears that nothing excites a Japanese tourist more than crowds. The old Yogi Berra dictum--”Nobody goes there any more. It’s too crowded.”--would not even bring the slightest giggle in Japan. Probably from necessity, there is no culture more mass than the Japanese. They are used to crunching together in subways, munching together at McDonald’s and rushing to the same stores to buy a new version of a product they had all rushed to the stores to buy last year.

Now, and for the foreseeable future, they all seem to want to rush to Tokyo Disneyland, so it is there that you have the greatest chance to see the greatest number of Japanese with their hair down and their wallets out all at once.

As you may imagine, Tokyo Disneyland is not the biggest bargain since the blue light last got stuck on at your local K-Mart. But it probably won’t set you back more than the American versions. An all-day, all-inclusive ticket costs about $35 for adults and about $24 for children. Parking in amusement park lots goes for about $10, but if you drive with the Japanese (known for exceeding speed limits on a complicated road system), Lloyd’s of London might not take a flyer on you. Besides, the train trip from the main Tokyo train station to Maihama station, adjacent to the grounds, takes only 25 minutes and costs less than $2.

It had been nearly 20 years since I had been to Disneyland and Disney World in the United States, but when I arrived at Tokyo Disneyland on the aforementioned Monday there were the same turnstile admission gates; the same slightly-larger-than-life costumed Mickey, Goofy, Snow White, Donald and the gang in the courtyard, and the crowds, although there may have been more large groups than the families and teen-age couples that predominate at U.S. Disneys.

I noticed that the crowd was almost entirely Japanese, as were the vast number of paid performers. On that day in May, I saw no Americans and few Europeans--who will soon have their own Disneyland with Continental flourishes when Euro Disneyland opens at Marne-la-Vallee, 20 miles east of Paris, next April.

While it’s true that the attractions you see in Tokyo are often quite similar to those at the American parks, the Japanese varnish on the place can make it a totally different experience for the truly appreciative of the slightly off-kilter.

For instance: You don’t go down a Victorian Main Street at the Tokyo Disneyland entrance, but rather something called The World Bazaar. It is a collection of souvenir shops and overpriced restaurants of allegedly different lands under a Plexiglas A-frame roof that mall owners from Boise to Bangalore would envy. There are actually only two cultures represented in The World Bazaar: the Japanese version of American and the Disney version of Japanese. Both seem to suit the Tokyo Disneyland visiting hordes, who are willing to stand in line to plunk down $12 for a minuscule portion of sushi at Restaurant Hokusai or $3 for what passes for American coffee in Japan at the Center Street Coffeehouse (no refills, please). Aside from such practical services as storage lockers, stroller rentals and a small bank branch, there are the Disney-type shops whose names describe their wares: Silhouette Studio, Victoria’s Jewelry Box, the Magic Shop, Uptown Boutique and the Storybook Store, to name just a few.

It is in the World Bazaar that the seeming miles of shelves with everything Disney proliferate. Japanese children, so polite to foreigners, resemble defensive linemen on a bender, knocking over any stray body in their way on their mission to buy anything with Mickey’s face on it. The flimsy personalized key chains ($6.50) are emblazoned not with Mike and Mary and Jennifer, but with Aiko and Junko and Miyuki. The ubiquitous ears go for $5 and a Mickey Mouse rice bowl is a steal at $2.25, but you can spend up to $290 for a quarter-ounce gold Mickey medallion. The Japanese have become the world’s greatest souvenir china consumers, so a “Where Dreams Have Come True Since 1983” Tokyo Disneyland plate is a hot item at $24.

After a heavy bout of buying, it is usually off to Westernland (there is apparently no “frontier” in Japan), the most popular of the Disneyland sections in Tokyo. The two longest lines were for the Big Thunder Mountain ride, the runaway mine-car roller coaster, and for the Westernland Shootin’ Gallery. Trim, ten-galloned Japanese teen-agers direct you to your electric rifle and politely show nearly everyone how to hold it. For most locals, this is quite necessary since guns are all but outlawed in Japan and this is the first time many have held even this harmless laser-shooting model.

Nearby, the Lucky Nugget Cafe has a driftwood sign saying that it was established in 1859 in California, though the abbreviated menu speaks of a different time and place. There you can find tuna croquettes, seafood salad, Valencia oranges cut in sections, oolong tea and apple tea soda, among other diverse edibles. The menu modifications continue at the Hungry Bear Cafe, which specializes in seafood and chicken curries, surely a standard for the “Lonesome Dove” crowd, and at the Pecos Bill Cafe, whose top seller is a bacon quiche--real men being in apparent short supply in Westernland.

The same kind of culinary cross-cultural chuckle is alive in nearby Adventureland, where the Royal Street Cafe’s most popular drinks are not New Orleans Hurricanes or espresso, but honey-lemon or apple-tea soda.

Yet what is most lovely about Tokyo Disneyland is how enthusiastic its patrons are in delving into this Americo-Disney adventure. No identifiable carping or arguing was heard by this observer in any line, and smiles and camera shutters whirred at every traveling troubadour, clown or parade. Tokyo Disneyland has at least 44 daily scheduled parades and revues, even on weekdays, but as in America, there seem to be dozens of sideshow events going on all the time. Perhaps it is because the grounds are about half the size of Anaheim’s Disneyland, but it is also because visitors rush headlong toward even the most low-key of jugglers or balloon-twisters.

Tomorrowland and Fantasyland are more similar to the American versions than the other Tokyo Disneyland sections, and, maybe consequently, they are not nearly as crowded. “It’s a Small World” had rather long lines, but the other Fantasyland kiddie rides--Alice’s Tea Party, Peter Pan’s Flight, Captain Hook’s Pirate Ship, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, etc.--were less crowded that day. And in the world’s most future-oriented nation, even Tomorrowland’s hottest attractions--Space Mountain and Star Tours--are only a little removed from the present.

In fact, one of the most well-attended places in Tokyo Tomorrowland is “American Journeys in Circle-Vision,” a 360-degree film of a trip through the United States, sponsored by Fuji Photo Film Co. (Nearly all Tokyo Disneyland attractions have appropriate corporate sponsors, from Kikkoman--the soy sauce people--at the Polynesian Terrace Restaurant to Dai-Ichi Life Insurance for the Big Thunder roller coaster.) The usual suspects are covered in the Tomorrowland film--from Miss Liberty to the Golden Gate--narrated in Japanese, of course, but with English-language translations provided by earphones.

Speaking of language, or rather lack of language, it didn’t prove to be much of a problem. I don’t speak Japanese but, as in most of Tokyo, if a clerk or other employee doesn’t speak English, most will eagerly find you someone who does. An English-language guide to the park is available free with ticket purchase.

In the afternoon, the courtyard by Tokyo Disneyland’s entrance was filled with costumed Disney characters, the better for the Japanese visitors to finish up their last rolls of film and head out through the huge mock-Torii gate, back to a somewhat simpler reality.

GUIDEBOOK

Tokyo Disneyland

Getting there: From Tokyo Station downtown, take the Keiyo Line to the Maihama Station (a 25-minute ride), right next to the Tokyo Disneyland grounds. Costs 210 yen or about $1.60.

Hours and admission: Open daily 9 a.m.-10 p.m. in summer season (May through September), 10 a.m.-6 p.m. winters (October through April). Closed Dec. 3-4, 10-11; Jan. 14, 21-22, 28-29; Feb. 5, 12, 18-19.

Tokyo Disneyland Passport tickets are good for one day’s admission and all rides cost $35 (4,400 yen) for adults, $29 (3,700 yen) for seniors, $23 (3,000 yen) for children. A general admission pass (excluding rides) is $23 (3,000 yen) for adults and $15.50 (2,000 yen) for children, but since single-ride tickets cost up to $4 (500 yen) apiece, it is usually worth it to get the Passport.

Park facilities: English is spoken in most areas, but not by all employees, though English signs abound and a free English guide is available at the entrance. Strollers and wheelchairs are available at $4 per day; a majority of rides are wheelchair-accessible.

There are several money-exchange booths around the park. Baby Center has nursing areas and formula-warming facilities. Pets, except seeing-eye dogs, aren’t allowed, but can board in the park’s Pet Club for $8.

For more information: Contact the Tokyo Disneyland Information Center in Tokyo. From U.S. phones, call 011-04-7354-0001. Or the Japan National Tourist Organization, 624 S. Grand Ave., Suite 2640, Los Angeles 90017, (213) 623-1952.