Day 3 at Tokyo Disneyland and random UTTER FAILURES OF LIFE:

Today's secret word is... OBAKE.  O-B-A-K-E.  O-B-A-K-E.  OBAKE!

Obake is the Japanese word for spirit or dead people or ghost.  It sounds awfully like BUKKAKE.  Which could actually best some up what happened to us today... and boy did we not like it.

It all started when we got up and went downstairs to the lobby to purchase Cirque du Soleil tickets.  ZED is the show here and it is closing at the end of the year... so we all wanted to see it.  Unfortunately, BUKKAKE decided to rear it's ugly head and made it so there was only ONE seat in the entire house available.  Fail.  So now we're trying to see if we should go on the weekend, since the show is dark on Thursday and Fridays, or if I should try to see it on my own on Monday before my flight.  Scary.  Damn BUKKAKE. :(

So we went to Tokyo Disneyland and also saw the Disneyland Hotel later that day.  Boy, that Disneyland Hotel is so beautiful.  We went to Monster's Inc. and got a Fastpass for that and also hopped in the regular queue.  After that we had to go to lunch to meet up with Steve and Jeff's friend, who had cancelled at the last minute, so we had lunch at some Hawaiian burger place at Iskipari.  Jeff and I had a hawaiian pineapple bacon burger set.  Steve had a major fail and wound up getting a BLT avacado SANDWICH.  Who the hell goes to a good burger joint and gets a sandwich?  Unfortunately, he actually wanted the burger but didn't say that so they gave him the sandwich.  Lulz.

We then went back to Tokyo Disneyland and tried to get a Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Fastpass.  Well, we would have if we got there 10 seconds sooner because right as we popped our tickets in the machine, they ran out.   Queue the Price is Right fail horn sound.   FAIL.  BUKKAKE'd #3.

We then sat down to watch the Halloween parade, "Welcome to Spooky Street", which I got good video of and will post soon.  Horrible.  That's when we learned a new Japanese word.  OBAKE.  Again, sounds awfully like BUKKAKE.  O-B-A-K-E.  They also had this weird Macarena-style hand motion thing dance weird OBAKE thing.  It was hilarious to watch.

We saw Haunted Mansion Holiday which was AWESOME.  It's just weird to see Disneyland's version and then see what WDW's could be (since TDL's Mansion is almost exactly like WDW's version minus the upgrades in the last few years) and it made me sad because WDW really needs Haunted Mansion Holiday.  Fuck the tourists.

We then got a waffle!  They have a place that sells Mickey waffles ALL DAY LONG.  I was in heaven.

We then went back to use our Monster's Inc. Fastpasses and then went to the Disneyland Hotel.  The Disneyland Hotel is AMAZING.  Absolutely amazing.  Such detail and it's just so wonderful.  Speaking of Monster's Inc... that ride is amazing too.  So much fun.

After the Disneyland Hotel we went back to the room for a quick nap before heading outside of the Disney bubble to meet up with Steve and Jeff's friend who couldn't meet up with us for lunch.  We went to like this dive Japanese restaurant but it was fun.  My first visit outside of the bubble though was this really kinda rundown shopping mall that was kinda scary but hey, that's part of the real Tokyo right?

Boy, what a long day but super amazing.  So many people dressed up in costume (one of the few times of the year during Halloween season where even adults can go in full costume) and a lot of them were really good.

Rant time!

What is up with Tokyo Disney Resort's merchandise situation?  There is like NO good merchandise anywhere... and all the cool stuff I had heard about (like Shirki stuff at Tower of Terror and the Rocky character stuff from Monster's Inc.) is all gone and replaced with generic shit.  Seriously, that's the one thing that I don't like about Tokyo Disney Resort... the merchandise selection sucks balls.  Total bukkake.

The Cast Members are so polite and wonderful though... they thank you for waiting even if you only waited for like five seconds.  They spiel to Guests in walkways and attractions, even if there is no one to spiel to... they are constantly waving at you as you pass by them on foot or on an attraction.  The Guests don't raise their voice, I didn't see anyone screaming at anyone else, at parades and shows everyone is seated and doesn't crowd around you, there is no flash bulbs going off in ANY show or attraction... it's like the Twilight Zone of Disney Parks.  I wish we in the States could learn a lesson from the Guest and Cast Members here on how to fucking behave.  Being here for the last few days makes me realize how fucking awful we as a society are... it's really sad.

Last day at the Tokyo Disney Resort tomorrow!  I can't wait to see the shit that I didn't yet and then move to the city the next day.

OBAKE Photo Album!

Day 2 in Tokyo DisneySea:

Full day at Tokyo DisneySea today.  After a semi-late start, we got a Fastpass for Journey to the Center of the Earth and then we went through the standby queue.  The lava monster looks like Magmaw from Blackwing Decent in World of Warcraft.  HA HA.

After that we got some Yukatan Sausage Rolls which was good... and I washed it down with a melon soda (their larges are not that large) and a apple tea soda.  Indiana Jones was down so we got some chocolate popcorn.  We went on the DisneySea Electric Railway to get Fastpasses for Tower of Terror.  The standby was too long so we decided to see the Mystic Rhythms show which was fucking good for a stageshow.  After that we went to the Fort and did this game called Leonardo's Challenge, which was all in Japanese but we still kicked it's ass.  Then Steve and I went to see the Legend of Mythica and that was FUCKING AWESOME.  I took video of the show so I'll post that soon.  We then we back to the room (Jeff had gone back to his room earlier because his vagina hurt and he was tired... oh yah, he's a Ginger and he can't be out in the sun for very long).

Steve and I went to Iskipari (which is like a non-Disney run Downtown Disney complete with drug store and supermarket) and we went shopping.  We got back to the room and I just hit the wall... I was so tired.  We took a nap for an hour and then we got up to go see FANTASMIC!.

O.M.G.  FANTASMIC! was FUCKING AWFUL.  Steve Davidson, what did you do?  World of Color was so AMAZING and this was absolutely AWFUL.  Honestly, I think Florida's FANTASMIC! was better.  HOLY SHIT.  Just kidding, they both are FUCKING AWFUL.

AFter that we went to use all of our Fastpasses starting with Tower of Terror.  I loved it and the queue (like all the other queues) are great.  Then at Indiana Jones, Steve and Jeff got "WOAH WOAH WOAH WOAH!!!"ed by the Cast Member checking Fastpasses because all of ours we like HOURS after the time we were supposed to use it.  I guess in Japan they can and have denied people coming back after their return time ended.  Indiana Jones felt like home and it made me miss working the attraction.  We then went back to Journey to the Center of the Earth and then left DisneySea.

Everything closes at like 11pm at the hotel so Steve and I ordered room service.  We had kasudon, however I didn't realize it had egg so literally I spent like $30 for rice and miso.  Ugh.  I couldn't scrap enough egg off and egg grosses me out.

So we're going to Tokyo Disneyland tomorrow bright and early... hopefully I can get enough sleep and I won't hit the wall halfway through the day like I did today.

Oh yah, yesterday going through Customs the agent asked me where I was going and I told him Tokyo Disney.  He then took a good look at me and asked, "Do you work for Disney?".  Mind you, I wasn't wearing ANY Disney apparel at all.  I guess I just have that fucking Disney magic aura or something.  Jeff is laughing and making fun of me right now... but he's a Ginger and he has no soul anyways so it doesn't matter.

Until next time!

Day 2 Photo Album!

SoCal & Day 1 in Tokyo, Japan:

Good lord... after all the stress of moving into a new (though temporary) place and then two days later coming out for BlizzCon only to then head out to Tokyo, it was damned worth it.  BlizzCon was a blast this year and I even got to hang out with some old friends to celebrate with lunch at Club 33 for their 25th wedding anniversary.  I went on Little Mermaid (SUPER AWESOME!), Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Ghost Galaxy, and Haunted Mansion Holiday while I was there as well.

The flight out to Tokyo wasn't too bad, though I had this older Korean gentleman that either didn't realize it's a TOUCHSCREEN in front of him and not actual push buttons or he was just kicking my seat.  I wanted to yell at him in Korean but I didn't.

We arrival into the airport was long and man, where there a LOT of people!  Holy crap.  We bought our train tickets into the city and just chatted.  The N'ex is awesome.  The seats move so two rows can face each other and there's a vendor girl in there with drinks and snacks and stuff.  45 minutes later we were in Tokyo station and geeze, even MORE people.  AN INSANE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE.  We had to transfer to another line which was a pretty long walk to get to Maihama station, which is where Tokyo Disney Resort is at.  All in all, I think it took like two hours or so.

We checked into the Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay which is off-the-hook and get this, they have a Disney Cruiser Bus that takes you from the monorail station to the hotel... which is RIGHT ACCROSS THE STREET.  It was like a minute ride and would have been like a three minute walk, but they have a flippin' bus that runs if you don't want to walk.  We dropped off our stuff in the room, had enough time to take pictures of the bidet/heated seat toilet (it's nice!) and we bolted back to the Tokyo Disney Line (their monorail that you pay for) to get to Tokyo DisneySea for a few hours.

OMG.  The details EVERYWHERE were just absolutely amazing.  Even things like the monorail platform and the station... the details everywhere were just mind-blowing.  When I walked into DisneySea and saw the huge globe that graces their entryway... I literally cried.  I've always wanted to come to Japan and see Tokyo Disney and I'm finally here.  I didn't take a lot of pictures because we only had a few hours but today I will.  Folks were waiting for FANTASMIC! but even then lines were still long at the major attractions.

The detail, the sights, the smells... the sheer amount of people was absolutely mind-blowing.  The details everywhere, like the outside, were just awesome.  I couldn't even believe how awesome everything was.  That night we hit 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (which I thought was a walk-through display attraction BUT IT WAS A FLIPPIN' AWESOME DARK RIDE), Sinbad, StormChasers, Aquatopia, and the ferry ride back to the entrance.  We had a gyoza sausage roll (you know the one, the one with the pictures with like the two hour line or whatever for a outdoor vending cart!) which only took like five minutes.  They are SO efficient here... even on a short line they had someone in front taking orders and it was all like clockwork it was rediculous.

I saw like four popcorn carts (black pepper, curry, caramel, and strawberry) while I was here but didn't try any of them.  Maybe today I'll sample a few.

After the Park closed we went to the hotel bar and had a few drinks... two (very strong) screwdrivers and I was out for the night.  I feel pretty good right now.

Going back to DisneySea today so it should be very cool.  Will take pictures and the like today (maybe some video with my PlaySport).  I still can't believe I'm actually here and it's a dream come true.  I am so thankful for my friends Jeff and Steve and that they would be willing to let me tag along and for other stuff... and I can't thank them enough.  I'd never be able to do this on my own so it's nice to have friends that can show me around.  Thank GOD I didn't have to navigate the airport and train stations by myself like I was originally supposed to.

Day 2 here in Tokyo, Japan awaits!  Now to just get Jeff out of bed.

BlizzCon 2011 (didn't take much)

Club 33 / Trader Sam's / Disneyland Hotel

Arrival in Tokyo and a Few Hours at Tokyo DisneySea

I'm a Guardian! :P

Your Keirsey Temperament Sorter Results indicates that your personality type is that of the

Guardians are the cornerstone of society, for they are the temperament given to serving and preserving our most important social institutions. Guardians have natural talent in managing goods and services--from supervision to maintenance and supply -- and they use all their skills to keep things running smoothly in their families, communities, schools, churches, hospitals, and businesses.

Guardians can have a lot of fun with their friends, but they are quite serious about their duties and responsibilities. Guardians take pride in being dependable and trustworthy; if there's a job to be done, they can be counted on to put their shoulder to the wheel. Guardians also believe in law and order, and sometimes worry that respect for authority, even a fundamental sense of right and wrong, is being lost. Perhaps this is why Guardians honor customs and traditions so strongly -- they are familiar patterns that help bring stability to our modern, fast-paced world.

Practical and down-to-earth, Guardians believe in following the rules and cooperating with others. They are not very comfortable winging it or blazing new trails; working steadily within the system is the Guardian way, for in the long run loyalty, discipline, and teamwork get the job done right. Guardians are meticulous about schedules and have a sharp eye for proper procedures. They are cautious about change, even though they know that change can be healthy for an institution. Better to go slowly, they say, and look before you leap.

Guardians make up as much as 40 to 45 percent of the population, and a good thing, because they usually end up doing all the indispensable but thankless jobs everyone else takes for granted.

Guardians at Work
As a Guardian, you enjoy working as a valued member of a team, whether you are leading it or following a credible leader. You like to work with people who carry their weight. You appreciate having clear-cut responsibilities and being recognized for your dedication and achievements. Your natural traits are those that employers have traditionally valued - and that successful companies still respect. You are responsible and loyal to an organization once you've signed on.

On the job, you seem to innately understand how to create smooth, working processes in your environment. You can excel at directing others to fulfill their duties. In your ideal workplace, you and your colleagues would know what is expected of you and be predictably rewarded for meeting these expectations.

(FINAL VERSION) Disney's Adventurers Club, in Garry's Mod

Things to do on my next two days off...

1) Exploit my friends and beg for money so I can go to Japan next year then remember not to thank anyone afterwards. A few months after that I can do it again for Disneyland Paris. My friends should be paying for my vacations anyways, that's all they are good for.

2) Keep calling Apple and nag them for discounts on their products because I'm a Disney podcast e-lebrity and then get comments about it written about me on my Apple account.

3) Sell someone else's broadcast/video of some random Disney show on a DVD... maybe one of those testing sessions of World of Color that's on YouTube. I'm sure the creator won't notice and I could make a killing.

4) Throw a hissy fit and leave some group that I'm a part of because I can't have my way... then tell everyone that they kicked me out.

5) Give a fellow Disney podcaster the wrong audio settings to sabotage their audio, fail to mention that I'm in town as well, and then run out to my car to be the first one on the block with a new recording of a brand new ride.

Some of you might be curious on where this is coming from.  Well, there is a podcaster that does Window to the Magic.  It's a fairly popular (if not boring) podcast in the Disney community done by a guy named Paul Barrie.  Paul is not someone that I would call very trustworthy or very respectable, but his fans seem to love him.

Currently, he's been asking for donations... for his vacations to Disney.  He's dropped from weekly shows to two shows a week and now he's saying that if his fans don't donate to him then he might stop making the shows entirely... which needless to say has caused a small panic among the Window Lickers (my little pet name for his fans).  He says it costs too much to produce and host his shows... when we all know it isn't.

While I do admire that he has come out and said that the donations will be used to offset the costs of his vacations to Disney; park tickets, hotel, airfare, and other associated travel costs... I feel that there is something not right about the whole thing.  I feel that he's exploiting his fans to help pay for his... VACATIONS.  Not for hosting or for bandwidth or for his equipment... but for his vacations to Disney.  That doesn't sit well with me.  Vacations are a luxury.

Bottom line is, that's what it is.  He's holding his hand out to his fans, that for some odd reason love him, to help pay for his vacations to Disneyland... not to mention a few years ago he did that so he and his son can go to Walt Disney World for the first time.  That doesn't sit well with me and reminds me how televangelists exploit the faithful or that asshole Kevin Trudeau exploits the stupid.  It reeks something awful and the sad thing is, his loyal fans are falling for it.  One Window Licker I saw is donating $5 a month to help pay for Paul to go on vacation.

It's sad when someone takes something that is magical and brings people together like Disney and then exploits it for their own greed.  It angers me as a long time Disney fan and it should anger you too.

Westfest 2010:

So my one real vacation planned for the year is coming up.  I'm taking a two weeks off to go back to SoCal for a week or so for the Disney Podcast Network's Westfest event at my old stomping grounds.  It'll be nice to come back home and visit with my friends and family again, I'll have a few days or so before Westfest to visit with family and then the weekend I'll be at Disneyland.

We'll also see if I can get tickets to this year's BlizzCon and I'll probably make it out for that weekend as well.  I guess I should put in for the time off just in case I do get a ticket.

Hrmn...

One thing that I miss about blogging on Blogger instead of LiveJournal is to make your blog private and people who want to join, sending you a request to follow.  There doesn't seem to be anyway to do that and I'd rather not have random people read my stuff, just the people I know personally.

Hrmn.

It's been a long time old friend...

So I haven't posted on this as much as I thought I would.  It's been a while since it's been so busy or I let World of Warcraft take over my free time again.

So my best friend Ryan (http://rjhendrix.blogspot.com/) recently decided that he was going to start a Blogger account and he started to post.  That got me to think, wow... he used to make fun of me for blogging and now look at him!  He's blogging and I'm not! Like WTF right?

Anyways, so I'm going to try very hard to be somewhat regular with this.  If anything, it's good stress relief and good therapy to reflect in all of the changes that I've made in my life.   I'm glad that Ryan has decided to do so and it's gotten me to realize that it's something that I need to do as well.

So here it is.  Last time on "Burnt Toast's Corner of the Web", we see our hero packing up very little of his crap in glamorous Orange County, California and moving out to Orlando, Florida.  He had just gotten a transfer to Walt Disney World to work at one of the numerous Resort hotels that they have.  He starts as a lowly part-timer and is determined to make the best of it, work as hard as he can, and be happy with his life.  He's also 33 years old as of March 19th!  Where has that time gone?

Fast forward to the present... I'm still at the same Resort hotel.  I'm now full-time, but in a totally different position, and I've been promoted to one of the low-level Operations positions.  Put in an interest in becoming a training facilitator for the numerous new hires that come to us from all around the country and the world with their initial on-the-job training as well as the general Resort orientation tour.  I live in a kick-ass townhouse (three-bedroom, three bath with full appliances and washer/dryer for $950 a month?  Wut wut?!) with a friend of his from his many trips out to Walt Disney World and one of his co-workers at the Resort I work at.  I still miss my friends (like Ryan, who's always been a good friend through thick and thin... even if sometimes I forget that and let my insecurities get in the way) and family dearly.  I have fallen in absolute love with Publix fried chicken and their "Marshmallow Delight".

All joking aside and all in all, I'm generally pretty happy.  The work is tough sometimes (especially the hours, thankfully I'm on a 4/10 schedule so I get three days off a week), but I am definitely making the best of it.  I've been trying really hard to keep a positive attitude but I'll admit that sometimes the old angry me explodes out and lets everyone know that it still is around... just buried and covered up as best as I can.  I got a new kick-ass gaming laptop, AS I CAN ACTUALLY MAKE A LIVING OUT HERE, but I'm taking a break from World of Warcraft so I'm keeping busy with all sorts of other stuff.  Recently I made that decision to take a break from WoW and try to go out more... and I have a new wonderful friend named Christina, who works with me, who has made a true effort to get me to go out and get a little sun.  I've been trying to go to the Parks a little bit more too, but it isn't the same when your partner-in-crime isn't around to enjoy them with you (yes Ryan, I AM trying to guilt trip you here) and the peak season is coming up on us again.

I've seen a lot of old friends and old co-workers while I've been here at Walt Disney World, certainly a lot more then when I worked at the DLR... though sometimes I haven't been able to meet up with a lot of them as much as I would because of my quirky work schedule.  I still get to go back home for things like Westfest or whatnot when I want... because I actually have a savings out here without worrying about hours or really busting my ass with a lot of overtime.

So all and all, everything is generally pretty good. I know I keep saying that... but it's weird to actually say that and actually mean it.  Other then being around my friends and family, I was unhappy in SoCal for so long.  I didn't know what it was like to actually be happy with work and my life... it kinda sucks that the trade off to have that happiness is that I have to be away from my friends and my family.  Sometimes I question if it is really worth it... and I think so far it is.

 I miss my buddy though. :(

Angryface!

Happy trails...

So it's been a little over a week since I packed up all my shit, got on a plane, and moved out to Orlando. Florida is certainly different then Southern California, that's for sure!

I don't start Walt Disney World's version of Traditions until this upcoming Saturday, so I've had time to kinda explore my temporary surroundings here. I'm currently staying in a house owned by two friends of mine from the Disney podcast community and it's been great... they've been so wonderful during this stressful time that it's actually so different then what I'm used to! I like go to the local Wal-Mart (which is open 24 hours!) and I feel like everyone is staring at me... like they haven't seen a skinny Asian guy in a hawaiian tee-shirt and cargo shorts before.

I haven't spent much time in the Parks either, mainly because I'd mostly be going by myself. I figure that when my friends come to down I'll spend more time in the Parks then.

Other then that, it's been going pretty good. I'm so thankful that I have really good friends here in Florida as well as in Southern California! I couldn't have done this without you all.