Ultimate Epcot: If money was no object --What would you add to Epcot: Part 5 Japan

 What would I change at Epcot if money was no object?

I thought this would be a fun little interactive new weekly blog where I will post my thoughts and then ask what you would like to see" If money was no object"  Think big....Like Carsland or Harry Potter big.  Some of my ideas you may love --others you may absolutely hate.   Feel free to chime in with ideas of your own.

Japan was a harder land to come up with something.  I've read online that at one point a Mt Fuji Matterhorn style ride was thought to be a good fit for Japan.  While thinking about how you could plus this already complete country I decided to go a little outside of the box on this one.  Digging into the Disney archives there really isn't a lot of stuff that could tie into the Japan Pavilion.   Japan has its own Disneyland park and Disney Sea---but nothing from those parks really screams "This is Japan".   You could do something with Big Hero 6 --but that actually takes place in a fictional mixed town of San Francisco and Toyko called San FranToyko.   So even though you could make a great Big Hero ride --it just didn't feel like the right fit.  Then a thought hit me while my daughter was watching Cars 2 in the living room.  Something that would be a great fun fit and would bring a major attraction that could give you a tour of Japan of parts of Japan.

I'm talking about bringing an interactive  Radiator Springs Racers style ride to Epcot with a Japanese twist.

Cars 2 is basically a spy flick starring Mater with the background story of Lightning McQueen racing around the world.  One of the best race sequences involved a race through Tokyo.  So I was thinking about how everyone loves Carsland and Radiator Springs so much .   How cool would it be to bring the ride in a different way to Japan.   

How cool would it be to bring the ride an indoor Tokyo Racing ride--you could do an amazing inside Cars themed drifting ride that plays on what they did with the dark ride portion of Radiator Springs .  Imagine racing through the streets of Tokyo at night in a Cars style ride vehicle with a drifting element.    

This ride would be a blast and would bring some excitement to the Japan pavilion.

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Animal Kingdom Picture of the Week: The Tusker House

Animal Kingdom Picture of the Week:

The Tusker House

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Exploring World Showcase at Epcot: Part 5 Japan (Part 2 of 3) Spirited Beasts: Anime Exhibit

Here is part 2 of our journey into the Japan Pavilion and the current exhibit that is there.  The exhibit is called  "Spirited Beasts From Ancient Stories to Anime Stars".    I'm not a big Anime fan -but still found this exhibit to be really interesting.

The exhibit is located under the gates of the Imperial palace.

Here is a little photo journey through the exhibit.

The exhibit features creatures from Japanese Mythology and artwork and how it has inspired some of today's modern day comics and anime.  It is always interesting to see the influences in modern works and what inspired them.   One of the things that made Star Wars and its universe some deep and rich in its world building is the fact that its stories and themes were influenced by mythology and strong mythic themes.    So if you are an Anime fan this exhibit will be right up your alley.

Up next will be explore the shopping in Japan and I'll post my out of the box idea for Ultimate Epcot and what could be added to Epcot if money was no object.

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Aladdin's Oasis -- The Perfect Spot for an Indiana Jones Bar???

My head was spinning early in the week when the news of an Indiana Jones themed bar going in at Disney Springs.  This is great news for fans of the franchise and a good sign of more possible Indy fun to come.

If you missed that news --here is my blog about it.

http://braddisneylandblog.blogspot.com/2015/05/indiana-jones-themed-bar-coming-to.html

I immediately started wishing for one out at Disneyland. 
With Trader Sam’s already at the Disneyland Hotel –where could it go?  The answer to that question is Aladdin’s Oasis in Disneyland.

The space is basically empty other than the occasional meet and 
greet for Aladdin and Jasmine.

In fact the last time it got regular usage was ironically during the summer of Indy –when Crystal Skull came out.   Here is Indy at Aladdin's Oasis..

The location is perfect  --situated between the Tiki Room and the Jungle Cruise.  This area already has the seating leftover from a long time ago when it was the Tahitian Terrace.  They could  knock out the one wall and have a view of the Jungle Cruise boats coming back into the dock.  

It could be called Sallah’s Oasis,  or Shortround’s Tavern.  Just a skip away from Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye.  Think Trader Sam’s meets the Dawa Bar in Animal Kingdom with Indiana Jones treasures all over the bar

A major hurdle to this is that Disneyland doesn’t currently sell alcohol in the park (other than Club 33).

This old tradition is odd because just across the way at DCA you can pretty much get an adult drink at every food location.  There is Avalon Cove bar,  a beer cart and a entire wine section.  You can even order a beer at the hamburger restaurant.   They have drinks at Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Disney Studios ----It is time Disney stepped into the modern world in this respect.

Hang in there and let's see what happens!!!  If the Indy bar in Orlando is a success like Trader Sam's on both coasts and West Coast Indy Bar can't be far behind.

And the Star Wars Cantina is most certainly on the way once the expected Star Wars Expansion takes place.

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Exploring World Showcase at Epcot: Part 5 Japan (Part 1 of 3) General overview

Up next in our trip around World Showcase......Japan.

The Japan Pavilion is in my opinion one of the coolest looking pavilions.  The architecture is stunning which is hopefully captured in the these pictures.   

I love this picture which I posted previously as a picture of the day for Epcot which shows the view of the rest of world showcase from Japan.

 The Japan pavilion features several restaurants.  One is Teppan Edo which is a Teppanyaki style restaurant where the chefs cook in front of and entertain you.  If you have never had the chance to eat at one of these types of restaurants it is worth checking out.   Another restaurant is Tokyo Dining which features sushi and tempura. 

The last restaurant is a counter service restaurant called Katsura Grill which sits in the pagoda seen the picture below.  Just up the pathway from the Koi pond.

While in Japan we shared an iced Kirin which was surprisingly terrific while the kids had some strange Japanese style cola and candies from a little cart

In the Main building there are usually some interesting exhibits.  The last time I was here it was an exhibit on Tin Toys.  This time it was an exhibit called "Spirited Beasts From Ancient Stories to Anime Stars"  that showed how some of the creatures from Japanese Mythology have been used in Japanese culture and cartoons today.  I will have a separate blog with pictures from this exhibit.

There was a little exhibit where they would show you how to do Japanese writing and my stepdaughter had one of the girls from Japan write her name in Japanese letters.

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And then there is the  Mitsukoshi department store that has everything you could every want from Japan.  This is where the Lucky Cat pictures from a previous blog were from.  We have so many pictures from inside here that it will probably be another blog as well.

If you are Lucky you may catch Matsuriza which is a traditional Taiko which is a group of drummers and Japanese Storytellers.   Check them out if you get the chance.

In the next World Showcase we will hang around in Japan a little while longer to explore it in more detail

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Disneyland vs Disneyworld: Battle of Buzz Lightyears --Which is better

In this weeks coast vs coast ride battle ...I give you Buzz Lightyear.

The original Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin opened at the Magic Kingdom in 1998.   Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters opened in Disneyland in 2005 replacing the always broken Rocket Rods. 

Both rides are family friendly mobile shooting galleries that take full advantage of the Omnimover ride system (most notable from the Haunted Mansion).   The ride system gives you a joystick to maneuver around with as you shoot at colorful targets throughout this dark ride.  It is like a real life video game.  The ride keeps score as you make your way through an environment full of space aliens and robots.    You and the kids can help Buzz and the Little Green Men defeat the evil Emperor Zurg as you compete for top score.

When comparing these two rides there is a clear winner.
Visitors used to the Disneyland version will easily become frustrated at the older Magic Kingdom version.   I really don't know why they haven't updated this one fatal flaw in the Orlando Version....  I'm talking about the guns.

The guns on the Disneyland version came out of the holster and are attached by a cord allowing the rider to freely move them around and aim and shoot them.   The Space Ranger Spin version is stuck to the front of the ride vehicle and much more difficult to use,  Both rides are fun and have cool environments --but the gun issue is hard to get past when comparing them.   

The Winner:  Disneyland 
Disneyland clearly has the better BuzzLightyear ride.

Of course both rides pale in comparison to Toy Story Mania which is the next leap forward in this type of ride.

Which ride do you prefer??

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